(STOCKTON, Calif.) — Five unprovoked murders in the past several months appear to be the work of one person, according to the Stockton, California, Police Department.
Authorities are searching for a person of interest tied to the five slayings, the first of which occurred on July 8. All of the victims were men and all were alone at the time they were fatally shot, police said.
The killings all happened at night or in the early morning hours.
Police released only a few details about the string of murders and when they happened: a 35-year-old man fatally shot at 12:31 a.m. on July 8; a 43-year-old man fatally shot at 9:49 p.m. on Aug. 11; a 21-year-old man fatally shot at 6:41 a.m. on Aug. 30; a 52-year-old man fatally shot at 4:27 a.m. on Sept. 21; and a 54-year-old man fatally shot at 1:53 a.m. on Sept. 27.
Stockton police told ABC News that all of the victims were ambushed, none were robbed and none were drug- or gang-related. Police also told ABC News that they have physical evidence linking the five crime scenes together.
None of the victims were publicly identified by police, but the family of the most recent victim identified him as Lorenzo Lopez, according to Sacramento ABC affiliate KXTV.
“He was just a person who was out here at the wrong place at the wrong time at the wrong circumstance,” his brother Jerry Lopez told KXTV. “It’s hard to process that this has happened. I mean, me and my brother have been like twins. We were a year a part so we were pretty close.”
The city of Stockton said it was putting forward a $75,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the investigation. Stockton Crime Stoppers is posting an additional $10,000 reward.
The day after Lopez’s killing, Stockton police had said at a press conference they were not sure if the string of killings were related.
“[We’re] still looking at it from a random point of view, but we do see some similarities,” Police Chief Stanley McFadden said Wednesday. “We have been provided absolutely zero evidence that leads us to believe that one individual is running rampant in the city of Stockton killing people.”
But that changed two days later when the department tied the five killings together and released an image of a person of interest.
ABC News’ Caroline Guthrie contributed to this report.
(MALANG, Indonesia) — At least 125 people died after a soccer match in Indonesia, where police fired tear gas into crowds of rioting fans, causing a stampede, officials said.
East Java Vice Governor Emil Dardak told a local news station Sunday that at least 125 died in the incident. Authorities revised the death toll after previously counting some fatalities twice. Local media reported about 180 others were injured.
“I regret this tragedy and I hope this is the last tragedy of football in the country,” Widodo said in a statement.
The deaths followed football club Arema FC’s 3-2 loss to visiting Persebaya Surabaya at Kanjuruhan Stadium, in Malang, East Java.
The 42,000-seat stadium hosts games from the Liga 1 league of the professional Football Association of Indonesia, known locally as PSSI.
“We are mourning and apologize to the families of the victims and all parties over the incident,” PSSI Chief Mochamad Iriawan said in a statement. “For that, PSSI immediately formed an investigation team and immediately left for Malang.”
Widodo ordered the league suspended. He called for an investigation into the deaths, along with “a thorough evaluation of the implementation of football matches and also the security procedures for their implementation.”
Videos and photos from the stadium appeared to show fans rioting in the stands and rushing the pitch. Other images showed police officers in riot gear on the field, with smoke from what appeared to be tear gas billowing from the stands.
At least two police officers were among the victims, officials said.
The event ranks among the deadliest soccer riots in history. The two previous deadliest riots that involved tear gas use occurred in Peru in 1964, when 318 people were killed, and in Ghana in 2001, when 126 people were killed.
FIFA, soccer’s governing body, includes among its regulations for pitchside stewards: “No firearms or ‘crowd control gas’ shall be carried or used.”
“The football world is in a state of shock following the tragic incidents that have taken place in Indonesia at the end of the match between Arema FC and Persebaya Surabaya at the Kanjuruhan Stadium,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino said in a statement.
“This is a dark day for all involved in football and a tragedy beyond comprehension. I extend my deepest condolences to the families and friends of the victims who lost their lives following this tragic incident,” he said. “Together with FIFA and the global football community, all our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, those who have been injured, together with the people of the Republic of Indonesia, the Asian Football Confederation, the Indonesian Football Association, and the Indonesian Football League, at this difficult time.”
Authorities in Indonesia have revised the death toll following the stampede at a soccer match on Sunday to at least 125 after previously counting some fatalities twice.
-ABC News’ Victoria Arancio, Karson Yiu, Tomek Rolski and Randy Mulyanto contributed to this report.
(VENEZUELA) — Seven Americans detained in Venezuela have been released, the White House announced Saturday.
“Today, after years of being wrongfully detained in Venezuela, we are bringing home Jorge Toledo, Tomeu Vadell, Alirio Zambrano, Jose Luis Zambrano, Jose Pereira, Matthew Heath and Osman Khan,” President Joe Biden said in a statement.
Five of the individuals released were oil executives who were part of the “Citgo 6” group that was jailed in 2017 after being arrested on corruption charges when they were called to the country for a meeting. Earlier this year, Venezuela released the sixth oil executive, Gustavo Cardenas.
Biden expressed his gratitude for the “hard work of dedicated public servants across the U.S. Government who made this possible, and who continue to deliver on my Administration’s unflinching commitment to keep faith with Americans held hostage and wrongfully detained all around the world.”
Amid the positive news, Biden also noted there are still many families who have family members detained, recommitting his administration’s commitment to bring them home.
“Today, we celebrate that seven families will be whole once more. To all the families who are still suffering and separated from their loved ones who are wrongfully detained — know that we remain dedicated to securing their release,” he said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
(NORTH CAROLINA) — At least 52 people in Florida have died due to Hurricane Ian, according to local officials.
Four people were also reported dead due to the storm in North Carolina, the governor’s office said.
The Category 4 storm slammed into Florida’s southwest coast Wednesday afternoon, causing catastrophic damage, fierce winds and dangerous, record-breaking storm surges.
The deaths span multiple counties in Florida, including 35 in Lee County, six in Charlotte County, four in Volusia County, three in Collier County, two in Sarasota County, and one each in Lake and Manatee counties, ABC News has determined based on information from the Florida Medical Examiners Commission and inquiries with local officials and authorities.
The death toll from the catastrophic storm has been rising amid ongoing search and rescue missions.
Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno updated Saturday that upwards of 700 people were rescued in the devastated county, though they have reported 35 deaths so far due to the storm.
“It’s what a heavy heart that I say that number,” Marceno, whose county is home to hard-hit Fort Myers and the barrier island Sanibel, said in video posted to Facebook.
During a press conference Friday morning, Florida officials said there were 21 deaths from Ian, of which 20 were unconfirmed because they were spotted during search and rescue operations and crews were told to prioritize those found alive and still trapped.
Kevin Guthrie, director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, told reporters those included 12 fatalities recorded in Charlotte County and eight fatalities in Collier County, but they have not been confirmed to be as a result of the hurricane.
He added there have been deaths in Lee County, which encompasses hard-hit Fort Myers and Sanibel Island, but officials are still counting.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement said Friday evening that there are 10 confirmed deaths attributed to Ian. The causes of death were primarily drownings, as well as two vehicle accidents and a roofing accident. The tally, confirmed by the Medical Examiners Commission, does not include any fatalities from hard-hit Lee or Charlotte counties.
It is unclear whether the state’s figures overlap with ABC News’ analysis.
The state confirms deaths by reviewing medical examiner records, which can take some time.
The confirmed deaths from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement occurred in Lake, Sarasota, Manatee, Volusia and Collier counties between Sept. 27 and 30. The victims ranged in age from 22 to 91. One, a 68-year-old woman, drowned after being swept into the ocean by a wave on Sept. 29, the department said.
The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office was among the first to publicly announce a fatality from Ian. A 72-year-old man in Deltona died after attempting to drain his pool during the storm, the office said Thursday.
The man, who was not publicly identified, “disappeared” after heading outside, the sheriff’s office said. Deputies found him unresponsive in a canal behind the home and he was pronounced dead at a local hospital, the sheriff’s office said.
The storm made landfall again on Friday in South Carolina, which has reported no deaths due to the storm so far, Gov. Henry McMaster said Saturday.
Though in neighboring North Carolina, four storm-related deaths have been reported, Gov. Roy Cooper said in a statement Saturday. Three involved vehicle accidents on Friday, with the victims ranging in age from 22 to 25. Additionally, a 65-year-old man died Saturday from carbon monoxide poisoning after running a generator in his closed garage while the power was out.
Emergency response was largely halted Wednesday as the storm slammed Florida with high winds and heavy rain. Search and rescue efforts were underway throughout the state Thursday.
Florida Rep. Kathy Castor, who represents the Tampa Bay area, called the situation a “major catastrophe.”
“I’m afraid we’re going to be dealing with a larger loss of life than we anticipated,” she said on “ABC News Live” Thursday.
Florida Sen. Rick Scott told “Good Morning America” Thursday morning there were “thousands of rescue efforts going on right now.”
“We’ve got great sheriff’s departments, police departments, fire departments, state rescue teams. They’re working hard. But there’s a lot of people that need help right now,” he said.
He expressed concern for the state’s many low-lying areas.
“The water kills and I’m just — I’m scared to death of, you know, what’s happened here and I hope everybody stays safe,” he said.
President Joe Biden spoke with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday morning, telling DeSantis that FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell will travel to Florida on Friday to check in on response efforts.
Sheriff Marceno told “Good Morning America” Thursday that they had thousands of 911 calls that they were currently answering.
“We still cannot access many of the people that are in need,” Marceno said. “It’s a real, real rough road ahead.”
ABC News’ Jay O’Brien, Ahmad Hemmingway, Benjamin Stein and Will Gretsky contributed to this report.
(TEXAS) — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and his Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke faced off in a debate on Friday less than six weeks before Election Day.
The debate — the first and only planned debate for the gubernatorial race — took place at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in Edinburgh, where Abbott and O’Rourke sat at tables with no audience as they clashed over some of the biggest issues facing the state.
The two candidates sparred over immigration, abortion and gun control, with the Uvalde school shooting being one of the hottest topics of the debate.
Nineteen children and two adults were killed at Robb Elementary School on May 24 in what is the deadliest shooting ever at a Texas public school.
O’Rourke held a press conference with Uvalde families affected by the shooting before the debate, speaking about the need for gun reform. O’Rourke also alleged that Abbott banned the families and others from attending the debate, to which Abbott’s team responded that both candidates had agreed to the rules of the debate.
The first debate question regarding gun control opened with a video of a Robb Elementary survivor stating that in Texas, an 18-year-old cannot buy beer, but can purchase an assault-style weapon similar to that which killed her classmates in Uvalde.
When asked to explain their view on the issue, Gov. Abbott said any attempt to raise the legal purchasing age will be met “with it being overturned” and that he aims to address “what is really ailing our communities” which he cited was mental health issues.
O’Rourke rebutted Abbott’s claim that any attempt would be immediately overturned, pointing to Parkland, Florida, where 23 days after its own mass school shooting, the legal purchasing age limit was raised and is still being held, years later.
“All we need is action and the only person standing in our way is the governor of the state of Texas,” he said.
Abbott said he approves of expanding background checks to include juvenile records but is still against red flag laws. O’Rourke sidestepped questions on whether he supported confiscating AR-15-style weapons as he focused on what he believes he can get done as governor: raising the minimum age of purchase to 21, implementing red flag laws, and requiring universal background checks.
When asked about preventing another Uvalde, O’Rourke pointed criticisms at Abbott, who he said “has not lifted a finger to make it any less likely that any of our kids will meet that same fate.”
Here’s what the candidates had to say on other hot-button issues facing Texans.
Immigration
Abbott has been in the national spotlight over his busing of migrants from Texas to Democrat-run states and cities across the country, spending at least $12 million on the effort. Most recently, Abbott bused migrants to Washington near Vice President Kamala Harris’s residence.
The panel showed a clip of New York City Mayor Eric Adams speaking on the busing of migrants saying he has reached out to the Texas governor’s office to coordinate a plan. Adams says the governor has refused to do so.
“Mayor Adams has never called my office, never talked about it in my administration. And so, what he’s saying is just flat out false,” said Gov. Abbott. “There has been communication between non-governmental organizations in Texas as well as the ultimate location, whether it be Washington, D.C., or New York.”
O’Rourke, speaking on the busing of migrants, said “We don’t need any more stunts. We need solutions. We need those coming here to follow our laws. We need to make sure our laws follow up.”
The two also disagreed on Operation Lone Star, an initiative started by Abbott to place more troopers at the border, with Abbott saying the $4 billion program was only necessary because of President Joe Biden’s immigration policies. “I’m telling you $0 should be going to Operation Lone Star and that’s what it would be if we had a president who was enforcing the immigration laws of the United States of America,” Abbott said.
O’Rourke said Operation Lone Star was a failed system and is not deterring people from arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Abortion
Abortions in Texas have all but ceased after the state’s trigger law went into effect on Aug. 25. The trigger law established civil and criminal penalties for performing banned abortions and prohibits the procedure with few exceptions, including cases where a pregnancy poses serious health risks to the pregnant woman.
During the debate, the panel of moderators played a clip where Gov. Abbott said victims of rape and incest can get the Plan B pill that can “prevent a pregnancy from occurring in the first place.”
Yet when asked is emergency contraception a viable alternative to abortion for victims of rape and incest, Gov. Abbott said, “Well, it depends on what you mean by alternative. An alternative obviously, is to do what we can to assist and aid the victim, and that is to help get them medical assistance that they need and the care that they need, but also to know what their options are. They’re going to know that [in] the state there are alternatives to abortion program provides living assistance, baby supplies, all kinds of things that can help them also with increased funding for prenatal and postpartum care.”
When O’Rourke was asked if he would support any limit on when a woman can’t have an abortion, he said this election is about reproductive freedom.
“I will fight to make sure that every woman in Texas can make her own decisions about her own body, her own future and her own health care and will work with the legislature and my fellow Texans to return us to the standard that Texas women want in the first place, Roe vs. Wade,” he said.
(NEW YORK) — More than two dozen brands of cheese have been recalled in connection with a listeria outbreak that has left multiple people hospitalized, federal officials said.
Old Europe Cheese recalled 25 brands of brie and camembert on Friday amid a multistate outbreak of listeria monocytogenes infections that have been linked to the products, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
Six people have been infected, with five requiring hospitalization, said the CDC, which is investigating the outbreak. No deaths have been reported. Those infected live in California, Georgia, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey and Texas.
Four of the patients reported eating brie or camembert prior to their illness. An analysis of environmental samples taken from Old Europe Cheese’s Michigan facility showed the presence of a listeria strain that matched the strain causing illnesses in the current outbreak, the Food and Drug Administration said.
Old Europe Cheese has voluntarily recalled the brie and camembert cheeses produced at the facility and is working with the FDA “on corrective actions,” the agency said.
The recalled products include best-by dates ranging from Sept. 28, 2022, to Dec. 14, 2022, and include brands sold nationwide at multiple retailers such as Stop & Shop, Whole Foods, Sprout and Lidl.
A full list of recalled products can be found here.
“Investigators are working to determine if additional products may be contaminated,” the CDC said.
Anyone with a recalled product is advised to throw it away and clean any surfaces and containers that may have come into contact with it.
Listeria can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections. Young children, those with weakened immune systems and the elderly are most at risk. Listeria infection can also cause miscarriages and stillbirths.
Symptoms include high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea. Anyone with symptoms of severe listeria illness after eating the recalled cheese should call their health care provider right away.
The recall comes after more than 87,000 pounds of various ready-to-eat meat products manufactured by Illinois-based Behrmann Meat and Processing were recalled due to possible listeria contamination.
The items were produced from July 7, 2022, to Sept. 9, 2022, and distributed in Illinois, Kentucky, and Missouri. There have been no confirmed reports of illness in connection with the products, the Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service said in a press release last week announcing the recall.
(FORT MYERS, Fla.) — Across Florida, at least 52 people died in the storm, according to information compiled from local officials. Of those, about 35 were in Lee County, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office said Saturday.
At least two people died on Sanibel Island, with Mayor Holly Smith telling “ABC News Live Prime” Friday night there were four recorded fatalities.
“This is going to be a very long recovery process,” Smith said. “But right now, [the plan is] getting everybody off that island and to safety. It is not habitable.”
A video posted by Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno Thursday afternoon showed continued flooding across Lee County as well as destruction to roads, including bridges that appear partially sunken.
“Florida Guard has about 5,000 soldiers and airmen on duty throughout the state, primarily focused right now on Lee and Charlotte Counties,” Chief of the National Guard Bureau General Daniel R. Hokanson told “GMA3” Friday.
The extent of the damage is not yet known as towns wait for the storm to fully pass and for floodwaters to recede and search and rescue operations continue.
Destruction in Sanibel Island and other barrier islands
The barrier islands in the county were largely decimated, according to Lee County’s Department of Public Safety. An ABC News team on the ground with international rescue group Project Dynamo on Friday called Sanibel “unrecognizable.”
“We jumped right onto the beach near, around the middle of the island. Everything we saw was either destroyed or sustained damage,” said the ABC News team, which includes Rachel DeLima, Timmy Truong and Victor Oquendo.
Sanibel, a barrier island outside Fort Myers that’s home to fewer than 7,000 residents, faced the brunt of the storm as it made landfall Wednesday afternoon.
The Sanibel Causeway, which connects the island to the mainland, and the Matlacha Pass Bridge, which connects nearby Pine Island to the mainland in Cape Coral, were destroyed and will both need rebuilds, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Friday.
With the bridges destroyed, getting people off the island is a top priority, Mayor Smith, who was on Sanibel on Friday via boat, told ABC News. First responders have been working on search and rescue operations, including going through a list of 300 residents to check in on, Smith said.
That process is difficult because it’s possible individuals are leaving the island by other means, the mayor said, and there are “several areas that still our assets haven’t been able to get to and get through.”
“Right now, it’s going to be all helicopter operations to get distribution, food supplies, medical aid, [and] people in and out of there,” Hokanson of the National Guard said Friday.
Devastation across Lee County, including inland
Lee County Public Safety officials said this was the most damage they had ever seen from a storm, including the most damage they have seen at Fort Myers Beach. Beaches in the area were destroyed and images show destruction caused by the forceful movement of boats and floating vehicles in flooding.
There was obvious destruction throughout Fort Myers from the hurricane. DeSantis said Friday that newer construction was better able to withstand the storm.
“But I’ll tell you those older homes that just aren’t as strong built, they got washed into the sea, some of them,” the governor said Friday afternoon. “If you were hunkering down in that, that’s something that I think would be very difficult to be survivable. So, they’re still trying to figure out who was home and who wasn’t.”
Lee County officials have asked for support for a water main break at the facility, DeSantis said Friday. The county did not have water as of Friday and FEMA and the Army Corp of engineers were working to get the water back up and running.
President Joe Biden said Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell spoke with Lee County Commissioner Cecil Pendergrass on Thursday to discuss ways the administration can support the county in the aftermath of Ian.
The Biden administration said it would assist with search and rescue efforts, power restoration, helping to address challenges faced by local hospitals and problems presented by damage to roads and bridges, according to a statement from the White House.
Lee and Charlotte Counties were 85% without power as of Friday morning, DeSantis said.
Rescues and fatalities
City of Sanibel officials said Thursday evening they have confirmed at least two fatalities, while Smith said Friday there could be four.
More than 500 individuals were rescued in Lee and Charlotte Counties, according to the Florida Division of Emergency Management, and search and rescue operations are continuing. There were 600-700 rescues in the county as of Saturday morning, the sheriff’s office said.
The U.S. Coast Guard and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue have been involved in search and rescue efforts, including in Sanibel and Captiva. Many rescues were made in waist-high water, public safety officials said Thursday.
Marceno said Wednesday night it was clear the area had been hit very hard and there were reports of buildings being compromised. A curfew was enacted at 6 p.m. but officials were unable to enforce it.
Storm surge was a major concern with this hurricane due to the movement and conditions in the area. It is likely that some areas in southwest Florida had storm surge higher than 12 feet.
Where Hurricane Ian went next
Hurricane Ian initially made landfall in Florida on Wednesday afternoon near Cayo Costa. At that point, it was a Category 4 storm, with winds around 150 mph.
Landfall occurred about 20 miles west northwest of Fort Myers and 20 miles west southwest of Punta Gorda, which was struck by Hurricane Charley in 2004.
The storm then moved east and north before making another landfall, this time in South Carolina on Friday afternoon.
ABC News’ Alexandra Faul, Justin Gomez and Victoria Arancio contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Despite major progress in recent years in the fight for LGBTQ equality, older LGBTQ activists say the country is seeing increased political pushback against the LGBTQ communities, reminiscent of past anti-LGBTQ movements they lived through during the 20th century.
History repeating itself, is something of which they say everyone should be aware.
When Ellen Ensig-Brodsky, 89, first began embracing her identity as a lesbian, she said meeting other women was done in secret.
“It was secretive, you were considered sick and nasty and terrible — you were a sick criminal to be gay,” said Ensig-Brodsky.
She said the landscape for the LGBTQ community has changed completely.
“During this period that I’m talking about, after the ’80s, the ’90s, there was an enormous amount of openness in the LGBT field that we never had before,” she said. “I feel confident that the LGBT world is now very solidified and strong,”
Alston Green, 71, says he’s tired of fighting efforts to turn back the clock on progress after so many decades of steps toward equality for queer people.
“It’s fearmongering, which I think is really very dangerous,” said Green. “They want to take us back … I have to say — confidently — I don’t think people are gonna go for it.”
Pushback against LGBTQ identities
Anti-LGBTQ attacks have grown across the country.
Last weekend, a LGBTQ community center in Gainesville, Florida, claimed on social media that it was vandalized when a perpetrator allegedly threw a rock through the front door and window, accompanied by a hateful note.
Anti-LGBTQ history repeating, activists say
Such violence follows the introduction of legislation in recent years restricting LGBTQ rights, including LGBTQ-related content bans in some schools, gender-affirming care bans for trans youth and more.
“We’re definitely seeing history repeating itself in frustrating ways because we’ve been through it before so many times,” said Andrew Shaffer, the director of development and communications at the GLBT Historical Society.
He continued, “The rhetoric that people are using now is almost copy and pasted from 20 or 40 years ago. You’ve seen attempts to erase from existence or to erase from the visible landscape [the LGBTQ community] going on for well over a century.”
For instance, in the 1970s, then-popular singer Anita Bryant created the “Save Our Children” movement in opposition of a local ordinance in Florida that protected LGBTQ people from discrimination.
“In the 70s, that’s really when I would say the LGBT community was really getting its foothold in society,” said Green. “It was clear that people like Anita Bryant, they got very upset because gay rights are being passed, less job discrimination and all these things [were changing] for gay people.”
In the 1990s, some who have studied LGBTQ history who spoke with ABC News, said so-called “no promo homo” laws barred educators from discussing LGBTQ topics in schools.
Presently, legislators in support of anti-LGBTQ legislation often claim their efforts are to protect children and ensure parents’ rights.
“We will make sure that parents can send their kids to school to get an education, not an indoctrination,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said before signing the Parental Rights in Education bill in March that bans LGBTQ content in some classrooms.
In Virginia, where Gov. Glenn Youngkin reversed protections for transgender students, the governor’s spokesperson told NBC News that the updated policy “delivers on the governor’s commitment to preserving parental rights and upholding the dignity and respect of all public school students.”
In a statement to ABC News, Deputy Communications Director for Gov. Youngkin, Rob Damschen, said critiques of the policy changes are “disingenuous” and that schools will ensure that trans students are treated with “respect, compassion and dignity.”
DeSantis’ office did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
Shaffer, a historian, said this kind of rhetoric has been used to mask anti-LGBTQ efforts.
“They’ve always couched in the language of protection or, you know, ‘we’re trying to preserve some things,’ some intangible heritage,” said Shaffer.
‘The kids are alright:’ hope for the future
Students have been active in the fight against anti-LGBTQ efforts nationwide.
Green says it’s a sign that the LGBTQ community isn’t going to live in fear, and has the support it needs to continue on toward progress.
On Tuesday, students in Virginia walked out of school in protest of Youngkin’s proposed changes to the state’s guidance that would roll back protections for transgender people against discrimination.
This effort follows other student-led movements across the country, which include other protests in support of the LGBTQ community, including efforts to supply banned books to students where LGBTQ or racially diverse narratives have been removed from shelves.
“I am hopeful not only for the present, but for the future,” said Shaffer. “The kids are alright, as they say.”
Specialist 1st Class Patrick W. Menah Jr/U.S. Navy
(SAN DIEGO) — A sailor accused of setting a $1.2 billion Navy amphibious assault ship ablaze in San Diego was found not guilty by a military judge Friday.
Ryan Sawyer Mays was charged with aggravated arson and willfully hazarding a vessel after a four-day inferno in July 2020 relegated the costly USS Bonhomme Richard to a scrap yard in Texas.
Mays maintained his innocence from the beginning.
“Thankfully the military judge today reaffirmed that innocence,” said Lt. Cmdr. Jordi Torees, Mays’ lead defense attorney.
After his not guilty verdict Friday, the 21-year-old told reporters gathered outside the courthouse he is eager move on with his life.
“I’ve lost friends, I’ve lost time with family, and my entire Navy career was ruined. I am looking forward to starting over,” Mays said..
Prosecutors presented no physical evidence against Mays, instead relying on a witness whose account changed over time and an allegation that Mays was disgruntled from failing to make it into the Navy SEALs, according to Mays’ former attorney Gary Barthel, who attended the trial in person.
Barthel said Mays was “absolutely not” embittered against the Navy after he quit five days into Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUDS) selection in 2019.
“His dream has always been to make the Navy a career,” Barthel told ABC News in August 2021.
But speaking to ABC News on Friday after his former client’s winning verdict, Barthel said a future in the Navy is unlikely for the young sailor.
“Here he has an employer that just accused him of committing a crime, threw him in the brig for two months, and now he’s just been found not guilty. How would you feel? Would you want to stay with that employer? Probably not. So it’s probably best for the Navy and Mays to part ways,” Barthel said.
While prosecutors put blame on Mays after the catastrophic fire, the Navy acknowledged a series of leadership and safety failures that exacerbated the fire, punishing more than 20 individuals as a result.
(PARIS) — The restoration work inside Notre Dame cathedral is ramping up.
Less than two years before the grand reopening, Notre Dame’s exceptional stained glass windows and paintings, which were spared by the flames that ravaged the monument back in April 2019, are now being given a fresh look.
This past spring, eight workshops of master glassmakers and artistic locksmiths were selected across France and entrusted with the cleaning and restoration of the cathedral’s stained glass windows.
“This is the first time they have been cleaned since … they were laid in the 19th century, 150 years ago,” president of the Manufacture Vincent-Petit and restorer Flavie Vincent-Petit revealed to ABC News.
Located in the city of Troyes, Vincent-Petit’s workshop has been awarded the cleaning and restoration of the stained glass windows of eight high bays.
“[Notre Dame] represents all the French and European medieval culture of the Middle Ages and how finally all these European nations were built around a spiritual impulse,” Vincent-Petit told ABC News, adding “It is extremely positive to be able to participate in the reconstruction.”
After months of preparatory work — including decontamination against lead due to fire, documentation and restoration tests — the restorers are only now starting the delicate and arduous cleaning and restoration process.
But caring for Notre Dame’s stained glass windows is not solely a French affair as the Cologne Cathedral workshop from Germany has joined the effort by restoring the stained glass windows of four other high bays.
Another project in this huge undertaking is the restoration of 22 paintings out of the 25 removed from the cathedral post fire.
Global donations for the project is an estimated at around €2,700,000 euros (approximately $2,703,000) and their restoration is carried out by 50 experts under the project management of the Regional Department of Cultural Affairs of Île-de-France (DRAC).
“No damage requiring the restoration of these paintings is linked to the fire of Notre Dame. These canvases are restored because they are old. Their restorations date back decades,” regional conservator of historical monuments at the DRAC Ile-de-France, Antoine-Marie Préaux, told ABC News.
At work since October 2021 in a secret location near Paris, the experts have been repairing 17th and 18th century works by masters such as French painters Charles Le Brun and Jacques Blanchard, as well as Italian painter Guido Reni, by sometimes recreating colors that no longer exist with the help of period documents.
Notre Dame is currently scheduled to reopen on April 15, 2024, exactly five years to the day after the devastating fire destroyed the upper part of Notre-Dame Cathedral and the surrounding areas.
