(MOSCOW, Idaho) — Four University of Idaho students were killed in “an isolated, targeted attack” with an “edged weapon” like a knife, police revealed on Tuesday.
The students, who were found dead on Sunday, were identified by the Moscow, Idaho, police as: Ethan Chapin, 20, of Conway, Washington; Madison Mogen, 21, of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; Xana Kernodle, 20, of Avondale, Arizona; and Kaylee GonCalves, 21, of Rathdrum, Idaho.
Moscow police Capt. Anthony Dahlinger told the Idaho Statesman that all four students are considered victims, not suspects.
“We certainly have a crime here, so we are looking for a suspect,” he told the newspaper.
No one is in custody but police said they believe there’s “no imminent threat to the community.”
The victims were found at an off-campus house around noon on Sunday when officers responded to a report of an unconscious person, according to police. When officers arrived, they found the four students dead, police said.
Police said they’re working to “re-create the victims’ activities” on Saturday night and early Sunday morning.
The fatalities appear to be a “one-off type of situation,” Moscow Mayor Art Bettge told ABC News on Monday.
“Something had occurred that resulted in these deaths — there was no robbery,” he said.
The weapon wasn’t found at the scene, police added.
Chapin, a freshman, was in the Sigma Chi fraternity and was majoring in recreation, sport and tourism management, university president Scott Green said.
Mogen, a senior, and Kernodle, a junior, were both marketing majors in the Pi Beta Phi sorority, Green said.
Goncalves, a senior, was majoring in general studies and was in the Alpha Phi sorority, Green said.
“Words cannot adequately describe the light these students brought to this world or ease the depth of suffering we feel at their passing under these tragic circumstances,” Green said in a statement. “The university is working directly with those affected and is committed to supporting all students, families and employees as this event undeniably touches all of us.”
The police department said it’s “deeply saddened for the families of these individuals, fellow students and friends, and our community during this time. Our heartfelt sympathies go out to each and every person affected by this incident.”
Anyone with information is asked to call the Moscow Police Department at 208-882-2677.
ABC News’ Marilyn Heck and Nicholas Cirone contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — More than six months after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion into neighboring Ukraine, the two countries are engaged in a struggle for control of areas throughout eastern and southern Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose forces began an offensive in August, has vowed to take back all Russian-occupied territory. But Putin in September announced a mobilization of reservists, which is expected to call up as many as 300,000 additional troops.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Nov 15, 9:22 AM EST
Kyiv hit with a series of missile strikes
There have been a series of Russian missile strikes on Kyiv, with the city’s mayor, Vitaliy Klitchko, saying two residential buildings have been hit and several missiles were shot down by air defense.
So far there are no details on casualties; however, unverified videos circulating show an apartment block engulfed in flames.
Nov 14, 3:17 PM EST
International Atomic Energy Agency to dispatch security missions to 3 nuclear plants
The International Atomic Energy Agency will send security missions to three nuclear plants in Ukraine, the agency announced Monday.
Safety and security experts will be dispatched to the South Ukraine, Khmelnytskyi and Rivne Nuclear power plants following a request from Ukraine, the IAEA said in a statement. A security mission will also be conducted at the Chernobyl site, said IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi.
The IAEA already has a team of experts continuously present at the country’s largest such facility, the Zaporizhzhya plant, and has been carrying out safety measures and checks at three other locations in Ukraine at the request of the Ukrainian government following allegations by the Russian Federation about activities there, according to the agency.
“From the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the IAEA has been doing everything it can to prevent a nuclear accident with potentially serious consequences for public health and the environment,” Grossi said. “We have delivered nuclear safety and security equipment, produced impartial assessments of the situation, and provided technical expertise and advice.”
-ABC News’ Will Gretzky
Nov 14, 3:06 PM EST
UN General Assembly calls on Russia to pay reparations
The United Nations General Assembly has approved its fifth resolution this year that supports Ukraine and rebukes Russia, declaring that Moscow should pay for damages caused by its invasion.
The resolution, which 94 countries voted in favor of, calls for the creation of “an international mechanism for reparation for damage, loss or injury” resulting from the war.
The resolution was co-sponsored by Canada, Guatemala, Netherlands and Ukraine. China was among the 14 countries that voted against it. There were 73 absentations.
While not legally binding, General Assembly resolutions have been viewed by Western powers as a powerful messaging tool through the conflict, communicating worldwide opposition to Russia’s invasion.
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Nov 14, 1:21 PM EST
US citizen among prisoners freed in liberated Kherson
A U.S. citizen has been freed from prison in Kherson, the southern city that Russia had occupied for about eight months, according to a member of Ukraine’s parliament.
Swede Merekezi was arrested in Kherson in July and had not been in contact with officials for “a long time,” Ukraine parliament member Alexandr Kovaliov said in a statement posted to Facebook on Monday.
Merekezi was in Ukraine to defend “our country’s independence” and will be heading home on Monday, Kovaliov said.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State said they are aware of unconfirmed reports but declined to comment further due to privacy concerns.
“This once again proves the cohesion and hard work of our team,” Kovaliov said.
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford and Will Gretsky
Nov 14, 6:31 AM EST
Zelenskyy visits Kherson after liberation
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksyy on Monday visited Kherson, the southern city that Russia had occupied for about eight months.
He handed out awards and was seen speaking to soldiers and civilians. Video footage showed Zelenskyy waving to residents who waved at him from an apartment window and yelled, “Glory to Ukraine!”
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on the visit, other than to say that it was Russian territory.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Nov 13, 1:36 PM EST
Ukrainians celebrate Kherson liberation
Russian forces completed their retreat from the Ukrainian city of Kherson on Friday. Now, Ukrainians are celebrating the liberation.
Nov 12, 2:45 PM EST
Banksy mural unveiled in Ukraine
Renowned street artist Banksy debuted a new work in a war-torn Ukrainian town in the Kyiv region.
The anonymous British artist posted photos of a mural to Instagram on Friday in Borodyanka, which was liberated from Russian forces in April.
The piece, which depicts a young girl doing a handstand on a pile of concrete rubble, was painted onto the wall of a building destroyed by shelling.
Fans were taking photos of the work, as well as several others presumed to be by the artist, in the region on Saturday.
Nov 11, 3:15 PM EST
Satellite images show damage to bridge near Kherson
New satellite images from Maxar, a Colorado space technology company, show massive damage to Kherson’s Antonovskiy Bridge and other structures after the Russian withdrawal across the Dnipro River.
The bridge is the main way to cross over the Dnipro River near the city of Kherson.
Photos show several sections of the key bridge have been completely destroyed.
ABC News’ Stephen Wood
Nov 11, 10:54 AM EST
Russians leave Kherson Oblast, not just the city
Russian forces have retreated not just from the city of Kherson, but the rest of Kherson province that surrounds the city and lies north of the Dnipro River.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said that its 30,000 troops have now crossed to the other bank of the river, a figure that is in line with how many forces U.S. officials had estimated were in Kherson.
Russians claimed they are continuing to shell areas around Kherson that they’ve just left, which could be a concern for Ukrainian troops who will be in the range of Russian artillery fire while in the city.
Russia also claimed that fire damage is being inflicted on the accumulations of manpower and military equipment of the Ukrainian armed forces on the right bank of the Dnipro River.
ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Nov 11, 10:06 AM EST
Russia says withdrawal from Kherson complete
Russian forces have completed their retreat from the Ukrainian city of Kherson, the Russian Ministry of Defense said, saying the last of its troops crossed over to the other side of the Dnipro river.
In a statement carried by Russia’s state news agencies, the ministry said the withdrawal was completed at 5 a.m. Moscow time on Friday.
ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Nov 10, 3:53 PM EST
Pentagon announces $400M in aid to Ukraine
The Pentagon announced a new $400 million defense package for Ukraine on Thursday.
The new aid will include four short-range Avenger air defense systems, which is a first for the packages approved for the war in Ukraine. It will also include more missiles for HAWK air defense systems, more anti-aircraft Stinger missiles, HIMARS ammunition, precision-guided artillery rounds and Humvees.
The Ukrainians will need some training on the Avengers, according to Deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh, who did not give an estimate on when the systems might arrive and be ready to use.
With this latest drawdown, the U.S. has now committed more than $18.6 billion for the war since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.
ABC News’ Matt Seyler
Nov 10, 11:51 AM EST
US estimates 100,000 Russians killed or wounded in Ukraine
A new U.S. assessment estimates 100,000 Russians have been killed or wounded in the war in Ukraine, according to Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The U.S. last gave an estimate in early August that the number of Russians killed and wounded was between 70,000 and 80,000.
“There has been a tremendous amount of suffering, human suffering, you’re looking at maybe 15, 20, 30 million refugees, probably 40,000 Ukrainian innocent people who are civilians have been killed as collateral damage,” said Milley.
He added, “You’re looking at well over 100,000 Russian soldiers killed or wounded, same thing probably on the Ukrainian side.”
He pointed out that Russia invaded Ukraine with a force of 170,000 troops.
ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Nov 09, 12:54 PM EST
Oligarch close to Putin says Russian troop retreat was necessary
Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin, who runs the private military company Wagner, said Wednesday that Russia’s retreat from the key Ukrainian city of Kherson was painful but necessary.
Prigozhin, nicknamed “Putin’s Chef” due to his restaurant and catering businesses, said Russian troops had to withdraw from Kherson because they were nearly surrounded by Ukrainian forces and cut off from supply lines.
“Neither I, nor Wagner abandoned Kherson,” Pigozhin said. “Without question, it is not a victorious step in this war, but it’s important not to agonize, nor to fall into paranoia, but to make conclusions and work on mistakes.”
He praised Russian Gen. Sergey Surovikin for making the decision to withdraw Russian troops and saving the lives of thousands of soldiers.
ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Nov 09, 11:32 AM EST
Russian troops retreat from key Ukrainian city
Russia’s defense minister and top commander in Ukraine announced Wednesday that Russian troops will pull back from the key city of Kherson in southern Ukraine.
Defense minister Sergey Shoigu said he accepted a proposal from Russian Gen. Sergey Surovikin to order Russian forces to retreat to the eastern bank of the Dnieper River, in effect abandoning the city of Kherson.
Surovikin said it was a “very difficult decision” and justified it as necessary to save the lives of Russian soldiers and to preserve their capacity for future operations.
“Besides that, it frees up part of the forces and resources, which will be employed for active actions, including offensive, in other directions,” Surovikin said in the televised meeting with Shoigu.
Kherson is the only regional capital the Russians have occupied since 2014. The city and the surrounding area act as a gateway to Crimea Peninsula, which was annexed by Russia in 2014.
Nov 09, 3:21 AM EST
White House denounces Griner transfer to penal colony
Brittney Griner, the WNBA star detained in Russia, has been transferred to a penal colony, a move decried by White House officials.
“Every minute that Brittney Griner must endure wrongful detention in Russia is a minute too long,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement early Wednesday. “As the Administration continues to work tirelessly to secure her release, the President has directed the Administration to prevail on her Russian captors to improve her treatment and the conditions she may be forced to endure in a penal colony.”
Griner’s lawyers said in a statement that she was transferred on Nov. 4 from a detention center in Iksha. She’s now on her way to a penal colony in an undisclosed location.
“We do not have any information on her exact current location or her final destination,” the lawyers, Blagovolina and Alexander Boykov, said in a statement. “In accordance with the standard Russian procedure the attorneys, as well as the U.S. Embassy, should be notified upon her arrival at her destination.”
The White House said it had made a “significant offer” to Russian officials to “resolve the current unacceptable and wrongful detentions of American citizens.”
“In the subsequent weeks, despite a lack of good faith negotiation by the Russians, the U.S. Government has continued to follow up on that offer and propose alternative potential ways forward with the Russians through all available channels,” Jean-Pierre said in a statement.
She added, “The U.S. Government is unwavering in its commitment to its work on behalf of Brittney and other Americans detained in Russia — including fellow wrongful detainee Paul Whelan.”
ABC News’ Cindy Smith, Ahmad Hemingway and Tanya Stukalova
(NEW YORK) — The global population is projected to hit eight billion on Tuesday, according to a report by the United Nations’ population division.
“This year’s World Population Day falls during a milestone year, when we anticipate the birth of the Earth’s eight billionth inhabitant. This is an occasion to celebrate our diversity, recognize our common humanity, and marvel at advancements in health that have extended lifespans and dramatically reduced maternal and child mortality rates,” U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said in a news release. “At the same time, it is a reminder of our shared responsibility to care for our planet and a moment to reflect on where we still fall short of our commitments to one another.”
According to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, India will surpass China as the world’s most populous country next year.
The global population has been growing at its slowest rate since the 1950s, falling under 1% in 2020.
The latest projections by the U.N. show the global population may reach 8.5 billion in 2030 and 9.7 billion in 2050. It is projected to peak at around 10.4 billion during the 2080s and remain at that level until 2100.
According to the U.N., it took 12 years for the global population to go from seven billion to eight billion.
In recent decades, fertility has dipped in many countries. Around two-thirds of the world’s population lives in a country or area where lifetime fertility is under 2.1 births per woman, which is the level needed for no growth in the long term for a population with low mortality, according to the U.N.
Over half of the projected global population growth up to 2050 will happen in eight countries: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and the United Republic of Tanzania.
(LONDON) — As Britain’s royal family gathered on Remembrance Sunday to honor members of the U.K. and Commonwealth who died in war, for the first time at the event, a wreath was laid on behalf of Camilla, the queen consort.
The wreath, laid at the Cenotaph war memorial in London, featured Camilla’s racing colors and her new cypher, which is her monogram below a symbol of the crown.
Camilla’s monogram is now CR, which incorporates her initial, “C,” and “R” for Regina, which is Latin for queen.
Camilla, who became queen consort after the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September, watched the Remembrance Sunday service from the balcony of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, alongside her daughter-in-law Kate, the princess of Wales.
With the death of the queen, Britain’s longest-reigning monarch, Camilla and Kate are now the two highest-ranking and most high-profile women in the royal family.
It is Camilla who will be crowned next May at the coronation ceremony of her husband, King Charles III.
The stature of Camilla today within both the royal family and public opinion is a far cry from her low popularity more than 20 years ago when she and Charles first began dating publicly.
Much of the public attention on Camilla, a mom of two with ex-husband Andrew Parker Bowles, was as the other woman in the failed marriage between Charles and the late Princess Diana. That tangled relationship is the subject of the new season of Netflix’s The Crown, a fictionalized drama focused on Britain’s royal family.
When Charles and Camilla finally married in 2005, there was debate as to what title Camilla would take when Charles became king, including concern that the public might resent Camilla being known as Queen Camilla.
At the time of their wedding, a spokesperson for the couple suggested she would take the title princess consort.
It was not until Elizabeth gave her blessing earlier this year that it was confirmed Camilla would be known as queen consort, the title given to the spouse of a king. Under U.K. law, whoever is married to a king would immediately become queen consort and be known as queen.
Victoria Murphy, an ABC News royal contributor, said that while Camilla’s popularity is not as high as Kate and her husband Prince William, she is now “very much publicly accepted” as a senior member of the royal family.
“When it came to turning around her public image, an aide once told me that she took the view that she just wanted to go out and meet people and let them decide for themselves about her,” said Murphy. “There was a concerted PR effort to get the public to warm to her after years of seeing her as Diana’s enemy, but I don’t think it would have worked if she hadn’t also turned perceptions around by herself through the way she behaved.”
Murphy said of her own observations of Camilla, “She is also very friendly and polite to journalists, often stopping to chat with people covering her engagements, despite the fact that she has been intensely scrutinized and criticized in the media.”
Though she had some guidance from the late queen, it is Charles whom Camilla has leaned on the most to learn the ins and outs of royal life, according to Murphy.
“She grew up in a wealthy family so was familiar with the activities and social circles of the royals, but royal work was still new to her when she married,” said Murphy. “She had not had a career and like many women of her generation had grown up expecting to focus on her family.”
Murphy said Camilla at first did what was expected of her in the royal role to support her husband, but has since forged her own path, saying, “She has become more and more personally invested in her own causes and the impact she can have.”
The causes Camilla has focused her work on include literacy, osteoporosis and domestic violence.
Murphy said she expects Camilla to continue to focus on those issues as queen consort, in addition to supporting Charles in his role as monarch.
“I expect there will be a focus on key royal events alongside the king as far as her diary goes, but she will still keep up many of her charity visits, both publicly and privately,” said Murphy. “We have already seen things like her Reading Room initiative continue under a new name, and I think she will be keen to continue working to advance the causes she has become passionate about.”
Camilla is also expected to maintain some of her independence, as she has throughout her marriage to Charles, according to Murphy.
Camilla was in her late 50s when she married Charles, and was already the mother of two grown children. She is now a grandmother of five, and a step-grandmother to five more, the children of William and Kate and Prince Harry and Meghan, the duchess of Sussex.
“She retained her own home in Wiltshire when she married Charles in 2005,” said Murphy. “This is where she often spends weekends and sees her grandchildren and I would expect this to continue as they are a couple who do like to occasionally have time apart as well as together.”
The role of family matriarch
What role Camilla will play as the new matriarch on Charles’ side of the family remains less certain, according to Murphy, who said Camilla grew close to the late queen over the years, but is less close with Charles’ three siblings, Princess Anne, Prince Edward and Prince Andrew.
“I think Camilla gets along with but is not particularly close to her husband’s siblings,” said Murphy. “Camilla has her own circle of friends and family, such as her sister Annabel Elliot, who are her main confidantes, and I think most important to Camilla is her relationship with her husband.”
Murphy continued, “They are quite different but they have always worked as a team and she has always resolved first and foremost to support him. He can be quite serious and I think she brings a lightness and sense of fun, which is reflected in many of the images that you see of them laughing together.”
In recent years, Charles and Camilla have presented themselves as a united front with William, the heir to the throne, and Kate, with whom Camilla has a warm relationship, according to Murphy.
“Before Kate married William she took advice from Camilla and their relationship has remained on good terms,” she said. “Camilla recently invited Kate to photograph her for Country Life Magazine which I think shows a lot of trust and fondness for her.”
Murphy added of Kate and Camilla’s common goals, “Ultimately, I think both women are first and foremost loyal to, and work in a team with, their husbands.”
Though Charles’ youngest son Harry is now less in the picture after having stepped down from his senior royal role in 2020, both he and William have spoken warmly of Camilla in the past, Murphy said.
“I think that it’s always hard to get a handle on exactly what things are like behind closed doors, but we have certainly heard William and Harry speak warmly of Camilla in the past and frequently seen them greet her warmly publicly,” she said. “Obviously things have changed in the past few years when it comes to Harry’s relationship with other members of the royal family, and I believe it’s fair to say that his relationship with Camilla has followed that trend.”
Elizabeth was known as the great uniter in her family, the one about whom no one had a bad word to say, according to Murphy.
In past years, royal family members would devotedly travel to Sandringham each year to celebrate Christmas together at the queen’s beloved estate.
Murphy said she expects the family to follow tradition this Christmas, their first without the queen, but then new traditions may take shape.
“I still think that family gatherings will be important in the reign of King Charles, but over time it’s possible that we may see the focus shift in terms of who attends,” said Murphy. “Will William’s cousins spend every Christmas with their uncle in the way they did with their grandmother, for example? It’s also possible that Camilla’s children and grandchildren will become part of the Sandringham royal Christmas if she and Charles are hosting.”
(NEW YORK) — A Washington state mother is warning about the dangers of respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, after her 7-month-old daughter was hospitalized with the illness.
Mya Walker said her daughter, Ariella Rain, was a happy, healthy baby until the end of October, when she started developing symptoms of RSV.
“She had a cough for like a day and usually she typically was coughing after she ate her bottle so I wasn’t really worried about it,” Walker told ABC News. “And then I was at work and her grandma actually took her temperature and it came back 102 F. So that’s when we took her to the emergency room.”
Ariella was taken to Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center in Vancouver on Oct. 28, where she was diagnosed with RSV.
Across the United States, cases of RSV have been appearing earlier this year than usual and are on the rise. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 13,126 infections were diagnosed in September 2022 — which rose to 47,910 for the month of October.
According to the CDC, other symptoms can include runny nose, sneezing, wheezing and a decrease in appetite.
RSV is especially dangerous among infants and babies, with an estimated 58,000 to 80,000 children under age 5 being hospitalized with the virus, the CDC said.
However, some are at an even greater risk of severe illness, including those born prematurely, immunocompromised children and those suffering from congenital heart and lung diseases.
Ariella was born prematurely on March 24, at 30 weeks, via emergency C-section weighing one pound, five ounces because she was not thriving inside the womb, according to Walker.
She also has pulmonary vein stenosis, a rare condition in which the blood vessels that bring blood from the lungs to the heart are too narrow or even blocked.
However, Walker said that despite Ariella’s medical conditions, she was thriving and hitting her developmental milestones.
“Outside of her sickness, she was pretty much just a normal baby, always laughing and kicking her feet,” Walker said.
However, not long after Ariella was admitted to the hospital, she was transferred to Oregon Health & Science University Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland, where she is currently in the pediatric intensive care unit.
Walker said Ariella’s lungs have been so greatly affected by RSV that she developed bronchitis, or inflammation of her airways. She has since been on a ventilator and even had to be put on an Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) machine.
The machine pumps a patient’s blood outside the body, oxygenates it and then sends it back into the bloodstream, which allows the heart and lungs to rest.
Walker said the past several days have been very difficult. She has been at the hospital every day with Ariella while her partner stays home with their 5-year-old daughter.
Walker said the hospital is not allowing child visitors so her older daughter can’t visit Ariella.
“It’s been really hard on her sister because her sister loves [Ariella] so much and wants to see her but she’s not able to come up here and see her,” she said.
On Nov. 2, Ariella went into respiratory arrest, which is when a person stops breathing, and had to have CPR performed on her as well as intubation.
“It was the scariest [moment of my life],” Walker said. “I never want to see my child get CPR ever again. It was so scary. I lost it.”
Although Ariella has since been taken off the ECMO machine, Walker said she has a long way to go before she’s close to recovering. She said she wants to warn other families about the dangers of RSV and to make sure they receive medical attention if they notice a change in behavior.
“My main message is to warn families of this RSV, and this season is really, really bad,” she said. “So just really pay attention to your child’s behavior, because my daughter, she was just learning how to laugh and the next day she was critically ill.”
(NEW YORK) — A grand jury convened on Monday morning in Louisiana’s Union Parish to hear evidence that could lead to charges in the death of Ronald Greene, who died in police custody in 2019, District Attorney John Belton confirmed to ABC News.
Belton, the district attorney for the Third Judicial District, confirmed to ABC News in a phone call Monday evening that grand jury proceedings in Greene’s case are ongoing and evidence will continue to be presented this week.
As the grand jury convened, the Special Committee to Inquire into the Circumstances and Investigation of the Death of Ronald Greene held a hearing at the Louisiana Capitol on Monday where Greene’s mother, Mona Hardin, was among those who testified.
Hardin told ABC News in a phone interview Monday that she hopes the new development will lead to charges against the officers involved in the deadly arrest of her son.
“This is such a travesty … Here we are almost into 2023,” Hardin said. “No one takes accountability for nothing.”
Greene, a 49-year-old Black man, died in May 2019 after a struggle with Louisiana State Police officers. The struggle took place following a high-speed chase in northern Louisiana, near Monroe, where Greene failed to stop for a traffic violation.
The initial police report said Greene died due to a car crash, but two years after Greene’s death, in May 2021, Louisiana State Police released hours of bodycam video evidence that included a violent struggle between Greene and police.
“It’s sickening,” Hardin said, referring to the bodycam footage. “It was right there for all to see.”
When asked about the grand jury proceedings, a spokesperson for the Louisiana State Police (LSP) told ABC News in a statement Monday that “LSP continues to offer our full cooperation in the legal proceedings.”
“Over the last two years, LSP has and continues to make fundamental improvements to our operations, training and administration leading to the implementation of critical changes throughout the department and progress toward building trust within the communities we serve,” the spokesperson said.
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, who previously defended his actions in the wake of Greene’s death, declined an invitation to testify before the committee on Monday, citing scheduling conflicts, his office confirmed to ABC News.
“On Wednesday, the governor was invited to testify at today’s hearing. Due to the short notice, there are conflicts with previously scheduled events and meetings for the governor, including a public event he will be attending out of town. He will not be attending today’s hearing,” a spokesman for Edwards said in a statement to ABC News on Monday.
Edwards previously denied that he delayed or interfered with the investigation into Greene’s death.
“There are implications that I knew more or that one or more of my staff members tried to cover up what happened. I will say that that is simply and categorically false,” Edwards said during a press conference in February. “It is sad. It is regrettable that I am here under these circumstances talking about these things. But unfortunately, it is unavoidable. But we can do better. We must do better.”
Attorney Lee Merritt, who represents the Greene family in a wrongful death lawsuit against the Louisiana State Police, previously told ABC News that authorities initially told the family that Greene died when his car crashed into a tree or shrub during an attempted traffic stop, but the family disputed the initial report.
The family released photos of Greene from after the incident, showing what appear to be multiple bruises and lacerations around his face and head.
An autopsy report by the Union Parish Coroner’s Office obtained by ABC News found blunt force injury to Greene’s head, neck and torso. The cause of death was listed as “cocaine-induced agitated delirium complicated by motor vehicle collision, physical struggle, inflicted head injury and restraint.”
The Louisiana State Police opened an investigation into the case in August 2020, which led to the firing of one officer, the suspension of another and a third who was reprimanded for his involvement in the incident.
“One trooper involved in the death, Dakota DeMoss, was given letters of reprimand and counseling for violating the department’s rules about courtesy and recordings. DeMoss was later arrested for using excessive force while handcuffing a motorist in a separate incident; he was subsequently fired in June 2021,” a spokesperson for the Louisiana State Police told ABC News. “A second trooper, Chris Hollingsworth, died in a single-vehicle car accident in September 2020, hours after learning he would be fired for his role in Greene’s death. A third trooper, Kory York, was suspended for 50 hours for dragging Greene and improperly turning off his body camera, and has since returned to duty.”
Amid ongoing investigations into Greene’s death by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, Hardin said she won’t stop fighting for justice.
“This is my son,” she told ABC News. “I couldn’t breathe another moment knowing that I didn’t do all I can.”
(NEW YORK) — Twitter’s struggles have been mounting since Elon Musk bought the social media company and among the challenges are the thousands of employee layoffs.
From top executives to contract workers who kept an eye on misinformation, no one was spared from Musk’s orders.
Melissa Ingle was laid off from the company over the weekend and spoke with “Start Here” Monday about her experience, the harassment she faced and her concerns about the direction that Musk is taking Twitter.
START HERE: Melissa, first of all, can you just describe what you did on Twitter?
MELISSA INGLE: Absolutely. So I was a data scientist in the Civic Integrity Department, which basically means I wrote and monitored algorithms which scanned Twitter for tweets that violated our policies around political misinformation.
My specific department was just the three of us data scientists, and we were just looking for political misinformation. The larger department that we rolled up into was about 30 people, and they were looking for all kinds of misinformation, hate speech, targeted abuse, pornography [and] child abuse.
We were just trying to keep the site as free and as clear as possible and safe to use for so many people.
START HERE:Did you like it?
INGLE:I loved it. I really, really enjoyed working for Twitter. It felt like it was an important job trying to prevent the spread of misinformation… I love the product, and I’m a longtime Twitter user even before I was hired there.
START HERE:Can you give me examples of what you guys would moderate? How would you get involved with some example of how you guys would help the service?
INGLE:Absolutely. So we used a process called Natural Language Processing, which you may have heard about. It’s searches, language…for keywords or phrases which we had identified as belonging to political misinformation.
So we would flag those tweets and a certain subsection of those, say 200 a week, would be sent for human review.
START HERE:Like someone says “so and so’s campaign is committing fraud,” that could be fake.
INGLE:So, No. 1, we would need to check that it had political information at all. Most people are tweeting about politics. And No. 2, we would check that it had political misinformation.
So we’re trying to keep the elections clean as possible. You can express your opinion. We want you to express your opinion. But the moment you start spreading misinformation, we want to make sure that that is curtailed.
START HERE:So after Elon Musk takes over a couple weeks ago…he started having some all-hands meetings. We’ve actually obtained audio of one last Thursday. Can you just describe how he was talking about the company and what employees thought of it?
INGLE: Yeah, absolutely.
The message was that the financial situation of Twitter was shaky, [and] uncertain, let me say that. And he was not ruling out further cuts and he was requiring everybody to come in to work. Those were some of the things that I heard.
I’ve been in the tech industry here for over 12 years, and I’ve never seen anything like it. People were openly saying in meetings, ‘I don’t trust the new CEO.’ And tech is generally [a] very rah-rah place. We’re all committed to the vision and the mission of the company, And I’ve just, I’ve never heard such disparaging terms about the new company leadership. Many of the senior executives were laid off who were people we had trusted.
On Saturday the 12th, I happened to be looking at my phone. At about 5:30 p.m. I had a popup. It said one or more of your access tokens had been removed from this app and it was my Twitter Gmail app. So I tried to log in. I was locked out. I tried to log into the company Slack on my phone, locked out as well. With no warning at all.
START HERE: Ah, that’s the moment when you realized you were laid off. What’s going through your mind then?
INGLE:It’s a horrible feeling. This area, the Bay Area, is extremely expensive to live in, and I’m a single parent, and I was thinking, ‘Well, am I going to be able to afford to live here? Am I going to be able [to pay] my rent? Am I going to be able to give my children a good Christmas? These were my fears throughout the week. There was some uncertainty, and this really drove it home that, well, I don’t have any income, anymore. So I was really terrified for my future.
START HERE: What happened after that? Because you were quite vocal about this.
INGLE:Yeah, for sure. I tweeted immediately.
A journalist reported that they had seen that they heard reports of the contract [workers] were being laid off. And I responded to this and I said, “Yeah, this happened to me.”
I’ve had people say, ‘hey, I’ve heard about this job and why don’t you submit your resume,’ which is just incredible and so heartwarming that people would want to do that for somebody they don’t even know. And not to be cheesy, that’s what’s great about Twitter. It really can help you learn. It’s just empathy machine in a way. It can be at its best.
But then, also not relevant, and I’m a trans woman and I usually keep a pretty low profile. And the amount of hate I’ve received just in the past, I don’t know, 12 to 14 hours, has been absolutely wild. People [were] digging up old posts of mine, tweeting out memes about me. A meme mocking me has over 36,000 likes at this point.
START HERE: Really? Wait, you’re talking about ‘I got laid off’ and then people respond to you with, like, transphobic stuff?
INGLE:Yeah, absolutely. 100%. Not even not dog whistles and outright misgendering. “Good. You are a pedophile. You’re a groomer. You’re a Nazi sympathizer.” Just the worst. “You have a beard. You’re a man.” All this kind of stuff. Yeah.
It’s awful. It’s really upsetting. It’s really upsetting to have to experience it. I’m not talking about that in my post. I’m just talking about being laid off from this company that I really love to work at. I’m expressing my sadness and grief and I’m not saying it to anybody, and it’s just been really tough. People are DM’ing me really awful things and it’s just really terrible.
START HERE:What’s that like for you, knowing that you were part of this team that’s responsible for making Twitter feel safer to use? Because that seems like a really sad, ironic twist.
INGLE:Yeah, it’s a really interesting phenomenon right now. So I want to say that. All right. Now, all of the content moderation is still in place. It hasn’t been removed yet.
But [with] these machine learning models, people like to think that they’re just, they just operate by themselves and they’re great. No. They need constant human input and tuning because over time, with fewer people there, they’re absolutely going to degrade.
Content moderation is important. I know it’s not like a “sexy topic” or some people don’t think it’s important, but without it, your platform can crash and burn.
START HERE:What are you going to do next? Do you have any thoughts about that or what do you do?
INGLE: I understand that there is a class-action lawsuit ongoing under the WARN Act. People on my group chat are mentioning it or actively talking about it. So I know that that is something that people are pursuing. I have not looked into this, as a contract employee, if my rights are still covered. I’m honestly not certain. So in the immediate term, I have to make sure that I can make my rent. I have to make sure that I can get food on the table. And so my immediate concern is just to apply for a bunch of jobs starting immediately.
(NEW YORK) — A woman has been arrested for allegedly attempting to smuggle nearly half a million dollars’ worth of cocaine into the United States in the wheels of her wheelchair after authorities said they noticed the wheels wouldn’t turn as she tried to travel in it.
The incident occurred on Nov. 10 at John F. Kennedy International Airport when Emelinda Paulino De Rivas — a citizen from the Dominican Republic — arrived in New York City on a flight from Punta Cana in a wheelchair when U.S. Customs and Border Protection noticed that the wheels on the wheelchair she was traveling in were not actually turning and decided to interview her.
“[CBP] x-rayed the wheelchair and noticed an anomaly in all four wheels,” U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement following the incident. “CBP officers probed the four wheels revealing a white powder that tested positive for cocaine.”
Officers ended up seizing approximately 28 lbs. of cocaine from the wheelchair which translates to an estimated 75,000 doses of the drug and a street value of $450,000, according to CBP.
“A lethal dose of cocaine is roughly one to three grams, so the amount seized by CBP and kept out of our neighborhoods amounts to roughly 6,000 lethal doses,” CBP said in their statement following De Rivas’ arrest.
De Rivas is now facing federal narcotics smuggling charges and will be prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the U.S. Eastern District Court of New York, according to CBP.
A trial date has not yet been set.
“CBP stands steadfast and determined in working with our partners to identify the trans- national criminal networks responsible for importing these deadly drugs into our neighborhoods,” said Francis J. Russo, director of CBP’s New York Field Operations. “CBP’s mission is to guard the borders and ports of entry 24/7, 365 days a year to prevent these dangerous drugs from potentially killing our family, friends, and neighbors.”
(NEW YORK) — If your Christmas wish list includes a nostalgic real estate investment, then the perfect property just hit the market: the house from A Christmas Story.
The iconic Cleveland, Ohio, home where Ralphie Parker begrudgingly dawned a pale pink bunny onesie and shot his spectacles in the backyard with his brand new Red Ryder BB gun, is officially for sale.
The main property, located at 3159 W 11th St., is part of a package deal with the Bumpus House, a museum and a detached garage that’s home to a 1939 Ford LaFrance firetruck — just like the one in the movie, according to the listing.
The 1.3 acre property boasts five buildings on seven parcels and includes two public and one private parking lots, plus two empty lots for possible further expansion.
Upon emailing the listing agent from the site, interested buyers will receive the following automated response:
“Thank you for your interest in the sale of A Christmas Story House & Museum. There is no list price for this opportunity. We are simply putting it our there and letting the market decide,” the email reply stated. “We will try to answer your questions. However, depending on the volume of inquires we receive we may not be able address every question.”
The email then points people to the frequently asked questions page on the listing site and encourages anyone looking to “make an offer” to respond with the following information:
1. Yourself and your background.
2. Your finances: Income, net worth, source of funds for purchase.
3. A Theme: Why I want to buy A Christmas Story House & Museum.
Chad Whitmer, the agent representing the home for Hoff & Leigh, did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
The famed house was built in 1895 and was purchased for $150,000 in December 2004 off eBay, according to the listing information, which at the time “required a massive renovation to restore it to its original movie splendor.”
Since the house opened its renovated doors on Nov. 25, 2006, for public tours, the property has welcomed over one million guests and counting. The house and the neighbor’s house are also available for overnight rentals.
“Wall-to-wall anecdotes throughout, this lovely classic is both spacious and intimate. Nostalgically upgraded with somewhat ancient appliances, you’ll be sure to be the talk of town when you own this world-famous house and museum based on a beloved Christmas classic film,” the listing states.
(WASHINGTON) — Former President Donald Trump is expected to announce Tuesday night that he is running for president in 2024, marking his third bid for the White House.
Speaking at a rally in Ohio last week, Trump told supporters, “I’m going to be making a very big announcement on Tuesday, November 15, at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida.”
The announcement, which Trump has been hinting at for months, would come as the embattled former president faces multiple criminal and civil investigations and as his party is grappling with a worse-than-expected showing in the midterm elections, raising questions about the former president’s power over the GOP.
Trump, who lost his reelection bid in 2020 but did not concede and has continued to spread false claims that the 2020 election was “rigged” and “stolen,” repeatedly teased another run for the White House throughout the last year and told a rally crowd last week to expect a “big announcement.”
The third presidential run for Trump, who transformed himself from a real estate mogul into a reality TV star before becoming the self-described “MAGA king,” would come at an unprecedented point in American history that would see a former one-term president who never conceded his election loss enter a bid to regain power as the frontrunner for his party’s nomination.
Trump’s election falsehoods culminated on Jan. 6, 2021, in a violent attack on the U.S. Capitol that was carried out by pro-Trump supporters, for which nearly 1,000 people have now been criminally charged. The former president has repeatedly downplayed the riot and has vowed to pardon those charged in the attack if he becomes president again.
Trump is the subject of several federal investigations, including the Jan. 6 probe, the investigation into Trump’s handling of documents recovered at Mar-a-Lago, and an investigation into his fledgling social media company, Truth Social.
Some aides have suggested the former president believes that declaring his candidacy would shield him from the probes — but many legal experts say a run would not result in any special protections for the former president.
In addition, Trump’s namesake family real estate business, The Trump Organization, is currently on trial in New York for tax evasion and fraud — charges that would not be affected if he’s reelected president. The company has denied wrongdoing.
Trump, who was twice impeached during his four years in office but was not convicted either time, maintains a tight grasp on his Republican base. Six in 10 Republicans back the former president as their party’s leader, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll from earlier this year.
In the lead-up to the 2022 midterms, Trump’s Super PAC poured millions into key races, and the former president wielded his political power by endorsing hand-picked candidates for major congressional seats, including Senate candidates Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania and Herschel Walker in Georgia. The former president ramped up his already busy rally schedule in the final weeks of the campaign, holding multiple events over the weekend leading into Election Day.
But after at least 30 of Trump’s endorsed candidates, including Oz, lost their races, some have begun to question his ability to continue winning elections for the party.
Trump has already taken aim at some potential presidential primary opponents, including possible 2024 rival Ron DeSantis, who on Tuesday cruised to reelection as governor of Florida. In a statement released last week, Trump attacked DeSantis as an “average” governor, saying that DeSantis was “politically dead” until Trump endorsed him in 2018 and griping over DeSantis’ refusal to say whether he’ll run for president in 2024.
“Well, in terms of loyalty and class, that’s really not the right answer,” Trump said, disparaging the Florida governor as “Ron DeSanctimonious.”
Sources close to Trump say he has soured on DeSantis as the Florida governor’s political star has risen and as some in the party have expressed that they would prefer DeSantis to run for president instead of him.
