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(CHARLOTTE, N.C.) — Federal agents fanned out across North Carolina’s largest city over the weekend, detaining more than 130 people in the first 48 hours of its immigration crackdown that has prompted protests and resistance from local leaders.

Greg Bovino, commander-at-large spearheading the crackdown for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), vowed in a social media post on Sunday that his agents would “hit Charlotte like a storm.”

On Monday, a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson told ABC News that those arrested in Charlotte over the weekend by CBP and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) allegedly “have all broken the immigration laws of our country.”

“Criminal records of those arrested include known gang membership, aggravated assault, possession of a dangerous weapon, felony larceny, simple assault, hit and run, possession of stolen goods, shoplifting, DUI, DWI, and illegal re-entry after prior deportation, a felony,” a DHS spokesperson said. “We will not stop enforcing the laws of our nation until every criminal illegal alien is arrested and removed from our country.”

Of the more than 130 people taken into custody in Charlotte over the weekend, 81 people were arrested in the first five hours of operation “Charlotte’s Web” on Saturday, according to Bovino.

Charlotte is the latest city targeted in a nationwide Trump administration immigration enforcement blitz that has included Los Angeles and Chicago — which, like Charlotte, are Sanctuary Cities that are run by a Democratic mayors.

Federal agents are expected to stay in Charlotte until Friday, according to preliminary information from federal authorities. By the end of the week, about 200 agents are expected to be re-deployed to New Orleans to begin “Operation Catahoula Crunch” in the Big Easy, according to multiple law enforcement sources.

In a joint statement released on Saturday, Charlotte and Mecklenburg County elected officials, including Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles, slammed the CBP operations, saying they are “causing unnecessary fear and uncertainty in our community.”

“It is critical for all residents to feel secure in our community and know they can live their lives without being fearful while walking down the street, going to school, work or the grocery store.”

In advance of the CBP arriving in Charlotte, North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat, released a statement, asking residents to report any “inappropriate behavior” they witness from federal agents.

“If you see any inappropriate behavior, use your phones to record and notify local law enforcement, who will continue to keep our communities safe after these federal agents leave,” Stein said.

In advance of the CBP arriving in Charlotte, North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat, released a statement, asking residents to report any “inappropriate behavior” they witness from federal agents.

“If you see any inappropriate behavior, use your phones to record and notify local law enforcement, who will continue to keep our communities safe after these federal agents leave,” Stein said.

Over the weekend, eyewitnesses filmed and photographed several incidents in which masked agents arrested residents in Charlotte. The footage captured CPB agents stopping and pulling people from vehicles, and rounding up others at stores and parking lots.

Even naturalized U.S. citizens like 46-year-old Willy Aceituno were not spared from getting snared in “Charlotte’s Web.”

Aceituno told ABC affiliate station WSOC in Charlotte that he was stopped twice within five minutes by federal agents on Saturday. He said the second time he was stopped, agents broke his window and forced him out of his vehicle. He said he told them he was a U.S. citizen.

“They asked me, ‘Hey, give me your papers.’ I say, ‘I’m scared because I give [them to] you five minutes ago’,” said Aceituno, adding that he was released after he showed agents documents proving his citizenship.

The Department of Homeland Security told ABC News that Aceituno was stopped because he was interfering with their operations, an allegation Aceituno denied.

A DHS spokesperson made no apologies for the federal crackdown in Charlotte.

“We are surging DHS law enforcement to Charlotte to ensure Americans are safe and public safety threats are removed,” the DHS spokesperson said in a statement. “There have been too many victims of criminal illegal aliens and President [Donald] Trump and Secretary [Kristi] Noem will step up to protect Americans when sanctuary politicians won’t.”

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(NEW YORK) — A magistrate judge expressed alarm Monday at what he called “a disturbing pattern of profound investigative missteps” that may have irreversibly tainted the prosecution of James Comey and violated the former FBI director’s constitutional rights, in a scathing opinion granting Comey’s attorneys access to a vast trove of grand jury evidence. 

Judge William Fitzpatrick ordered the Trump administration to turn over a full transcript and recording of the September grand jury presentation by Trump-appointed U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan, which he said included instances where she may have made “fundamental misstatements of the law that could compromise the integrity of the grand jury process.”

“The Court recognizes that the relief sought by the defense is rarely granted,” Fitzpatrick said in a ruling Monday. “However, the record points to a disturbing pattern of profound investigative missteps, missteps that led an FBI agent and a prosecutor to potentially undermine the integrity of the grand jury proceeding.” 

Comey pleaded not guilty in October to one count of false statements and one count of obstruction of a congressional proceeding related to his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2020, amid what critics call Trump’s campaign of retribution against his perceived political foes.

Halligan, Trump’s handpicked U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, sought the indictment of Comey over the objections of career prosecutors after Trump forced out previous U.S. attorney Erik Siebert who sources said had resisted bringing cases against Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James. Halligan, who had no experience as a prosecutor, sought the indictment after Trump, in a social media post, called on Attorney General Pam Bondi to act “NOW!!!” to prosecute Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Fitzpatrick, in Monday’s ruling, wrote, “Having been requested by the government to review the grand jury materials, the Court has identified two statements by the prosecutor to the grand jurors that on their face appear to be fundamental misstatements of the law that could compromise the integrity of the grand jury process.”

Separately, the judge raised concerns that based on materials handed over by the government, it appears the indictment that Halligan ultimately returned in open court may not have been presented or deliberated on by the grand jury, which initially rejected one of the three charges she had sought. 

“If this procedure did not take place, then the Court is in uncharted legal territory in that the indictment returned in open court was not the same charging document presented to and deliberated upon by the grand jury,” Fitzpatrick said. “Either way, this unusual series of events, still not fully explained by the prosecutor’s declaration, calls into question the presumption of regularity generally associated with grand jury proceedings, and provides another genuine issue the defense may raise to challenge the manner in which the government obtained the indictment.”

Based on his outlined concerns about potential government misconduct, Fitzpatrick ordered the government to provide all of the grand jury materials to Comey’s attorneys by 5 p.m. ET Monday. 

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(CHINO HILLS, Calif.) — A suspected gas leak caused a home in California to explode, injuring nine people, officials said. An investigation is underway.

The explosion also forced an evacuation of nearby homes in the Chino Hills neighborhood Sunday night, according to authorities.

Jenny Smith, a spokesperson for the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, told ABC News that the explosion was caused by a possible gas leak.

“Deputies found a residence, in the 42000 block of Sierra Vista Drive, that had caught fire from a possible gas leak. There was damage to surrounding homes due to the incident. The fire department, SoCal Edison and SoCal Gas, were called and arrived on scene,” Smith said in a statement.

Smith added that none of the injuries sustained by the victims appear to be life threatening.

“The initial report was that nine people who were in the house were transported to a local hospital. No injuries appeared to be life threatening. The cause of the fire is still under investigation,” she added.

Members of the Chino Valley Fire District closed the impacted street and took multiple injured individuals to the hospital, according to a social media post.

“Firefighters found major damage to the reported house and minor damage to surrounding homes. Four patients were transported with varying injures to an area hospital,” the Facebook post read.

The Chino Valley Fire District also noted that the gas leak was contained by the end of the evening and evacuated residents could return to the their homes.

“Final Update 10:45 PM: The gas leak has been stopped. Crews will remain on scene to continue the overhaul and investigation. Residents will be allowed back into the unaffected homes at approximately 11:00 pm,” the post added.

One neighbor and her sister, who did not want to be identified, spoke to ABC Los Angeles affiliate KABC, saying that children had been injured.

“They were just screaming for help, saying, ‘Ow. It hurts! Help me!’ You know, barefooted in their pajamas. The little boy without a shirt, just in his sweatpants. It was hard,” a neighbor said.

“Their hair was burnt, they had blood on their faces,” the other neighbor said.

SoCal Edison and SoCal Gas did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.

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(NEWARK, N.J.) — Officials are urging the suspects involved in the deadly shooting of a 10-year-old boy and a 21-year-old woman in New Jersey over the weekend to turn themselves in for committing the “heinous crime.”

“What you did was cowardly, heartless and unforgivable. You prove nothing but your own weakness,” Essex County Sheriff Amir Jones said during a press conference on Monday. “We are coming, there is no hiding, there is no running. There is no corner of this county that will keep you hidden. Turn yourselves in before we come knocking on your door.”

At approximately 7 p.m. on Saturday, police received reports of multiple shots fired in Newark’s South Ward, officials said. A total of five people were injured in the shooting, with two of them later pronounced dead at a local hospital, officials said.

The victims were identified as 10-year-old Jordan Garcia and 21-year-old Kia Mae Scott, according to New York ABC station WABC.

“To hear the yelling and the wailing of those mothers in the hospital is something that I will never forget,” Newark Public Safety Director Emanuel Miranda said on Monday.

An 11-year-old boy, who is Garcia’s brother, was also injured in the shooting, but is in stable condition, officials said.

The two others injured in the shooting, a 60-year-old and a 19-year-old, remain in the hospital, with the 19-year-old in critical condition, officials said.

As of Monday morning, no suspects have been arrested in connection to the shooting, officials said.

“The best thing for them to do is turn themselves in immediately. The entire community is on alert. There is nothing that you can say or do that would justify a 10-year-old losing his life. The community is on alert and on lookout and we’ll make sure that justice is done in this community,” Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka said on Monday.

A $10,000 reward is currently available for any information that leads to an arrest, Jones said, calling the shooting an “attack on everything this city and county stands for.”

Essex County Prosecutor Theodore Stephens said the shooting goes “against the trend of downward crime” in the county and the city of Newark, which makes the incident more “vexing” and “difficult.” Stephens said there has been more than a 50% decrease in homicides in Newark this year compared to 2021.

There were 49 murders in 2022 year-to-date, with the number dropping to 46 in 2023, 37 in 2024 and 21 so far this year, according to data from the Newark Department of Public Safety.

A motive for the shooting and whether there were multiple suspects involved was not revealed on Monday.

Officials said they have obtained video surveillance from the night of the shooting and are continuing to canvas the area to find “as much as possible.”

Anyone with information on the shooting is encouraged to contact the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office at 1-877-TIPS-4EC.

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(NEW YORK) — New York Jets player Kris Boyd was hospitalized in critical condition after being shot on Sunday morning on a New York City street.

A 29-year-old male was shot in the abdomen just after 2 a.m. in front of a restaurant at 156 W. 38th Street in Midtown Manhattan, the NYPD confirmed to ABC News. The victim was taken to Bellevue Hospital in New York, the NYPD said, where he was listed in critical but stable condition.

Though the NYPD would not confirm that it was Boyd who was shot, the New York Jets said in a statement to ABC News that they are aware of the situation involving Kris Boyd and have no further comment at this time.

No arrests have yet been made in the shooting, which is under investigation, according to the NYPD. Police are searching for a man who was seen leaving the scene in a blue BMW, the NYPD said.

Police early on Monday released two images of a person of interest in the case. The NYPD described the person as a “male, medium complexion. He was last seen wearing a black cap, black sweatshirt, black pants, multi-colored sneakers, and carrying a black bookbag.”

The Jets did not play on Sunday. The team played Thursday night, losing to the New England Patriots.

In March, Boyd, a defensive cornerback and specialty teams player, signed a one-year, $1.6 million contract to play for the Jets, according to the team. He suffered a season-ending shoulder injury during team scrimmage in August and hasn’t played since.

A native of Gilmore, Texas, Boyd played college football for the University of Texas, and joined the NFL in 2019 as a seventh round draft pick by the Minnesota Vikings. He also played for the Arizona Cardinals and the Houston Texans before coming to the Jets.

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(NEW YORK) — The suspect who was killed in a shootout over the weekend that left four Kansas law enforcement officers injured was identified on Sunday as a 22-year-old man, whose grandfather was also hurt in the incident, authorities said.

The suspect, Stephen M. McMillan, allegedly opened fire on officers who responded to a “domestic disturbance” call at his family’s rural farmhouse in Osage County, Kansas, at around 10:30 on Saturday morning, according to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI).

Three Osage County Sheriff’s Department deputies and a Kansas Highway Patrol trooper were shot in the confrontation that unfolded near Carbondale, about 16 miles south of Topeka, authorities said.

Two wounded deputies underwent surgery overnight at Stormont-Vail Regional Medical Center in Topeka and were listed in good condition, the KBI said in a statement on Sunday. The third deputy was discharged from the hospital, according to the KBI.

The injured highway patrol trooper was initially treated for a gunshot wound at Stormont-Vail Regional Health Center and later transferred to the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, according to the KBI. He has since been released, officials said.

McMillan’s 77-year-old grandfather, whose name was not released, remained hospitalized as of Saturday evening with a gunshot injury and is expected to survive, according to the KBI.

During a news conference on Saturday, Col. Erik Smith, superintendent of the Kansas Highway Patrol, said the shooting occurred after a woman at the farmhouse called 911 seeking help for a domestic disturbance that was unfolding.

Upon arrival, the officers encountered the allegedly armed McMillan standing outside the residence, authorities said.

“After being on scene for less than 10 minutes, gunfire erupted,” Smith said.

Five officers, including an additional highway patrol trooper who was not injured, opened fire on the suspect outside the farmhouse, killing him, according to KBI Director Tony Mattivi, who also said McMillan’s grandfather was injured during the exchange of gunfire.

A motive for the shooting remains under investigation by the KBI, Mattivi said.

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