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Kilmar Abrego Garcia released from criminal custody in Tennessee

August 22, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was wrongly deported in March before being brought back to the U.S., has been released from criminal custody in Tennessee and is on his way to Maryland, an attorney for Abrego Garcia told ABC News.

The Salvadoran native has been in criminal custody since the federal government brought him back to the U.S. in June to face human smuggling charges.

Once he is is released, immigration authorities will not be allowed to detain Abrego Garcia due to a ruling from a federal judge who last month ordered the government to return him to Maryland and blocked the administration from deporting him upon his release in Tennessee.

Abrego Garcia’s lawyers said this week that they hired a private security company to bring him to Maryland.

In her July order, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ruled that the U.S. government “shall restore Abrego Garcia to his ICE Order of Supervision out of the Baltimore Field Office.”

Xinis said her order to have Abrego Garcia placed under ICE supervision in Maryland, where he was living with his wife and children before he was mistakenly deported in March, is necessary to “provide the kind of effective relief to which a wrongfully removed alien is entitled upon return.”

The July order, which also requires the government to provide 72 hours’ notice if it intends to deport Abrego Garcia to a third country, is “narrowly tailored” to allow the Trump administration to initiate “lawful immigration proceedings upon Abrego Garcia’s return to Maryland.”

The immigration proceedings may or may not include “lawful arrest, detention and eventual removal,” Xinis said.

Abrego Garcia was deported in March to El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison — despite a 2019 court order barring his deportation to that country due to fear of persecution — after the Trump administration claimed he was a member of the criminal gang MS-13, which his family and attorneys deny.

He was brought back to the U.S. last month to face charges in Tennessee of allegedly transporting undocumented migrants within the U.S. while he was living in Maryland. He has pleaded not guilty.

On Tuesday, Abrego Garcia’s attorneys accused federal prosecutors of “vindictive and selective prosecution” in a motion seeking to dismiss the criminal charges against him.

In the 25-page filing, the attorneys argued that the government charged him “because he refused to acquiesce in the government’s violation of his due process rights.”

“Kilmar Abrego Garcia has been singled out by the United States government,” his attorneys said.

Abrego Garcia’s trial in his human smuggling case is set to begin on Jan. 27, 2027.

Rescue operation underway after tour bus crashes in Upstate New York: Governor

August 22, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(PEMBROKE, N.Y.) — A rescue operation is underway after a collision involving a tour bus and a semi-truck in Upstate New York on Friday, officials said.

The “serious crash” occurred on Interstate 90 in Pembroke, near Buffalo, according to New York State Police. Images from the scene showed the bus on its side and a large emergency response.

“Emergency personnel are on scene, and additional ambulances and medical support have been requested,” New York State Police Sgt. Jack Keller said in a statement.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she has been “briefed on the tragic tour bus accident” and that a rescue is underway.

“My team is coordinating closely with @nyspolice and local officials who are working to rescue and provide assistance to everyone involved,” she said in a statement on X.

Authorities have not released any details on possible injuries in the collision.

All lanes on the thruway at Pembroke were closed due to the crash.

“Expect heavy delays and alternate routes of travel,” New York State Police said.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Parents of missing 7-month-old child in California arrested for murder: Sheriff

August 22, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY, Calif.) — The parents of a 7-month-old child who has been missing for over a week have been arrested for murder, authorities in California announced Friday.

Emmanuel Haro was reported missing on Aug. 14 at approximately 7:47 p.m. local time after the child’s mother “reported being attacked outside a retail store on Yucaipa Boulevard,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement last week.

Jake and Rebecca Haro were arrested at their residence in Cabazon, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said Friday.

“Investigators will continue their search for seven-month-old Emmanuel Haro,” the department said.

No additional details were immediately released on the arrest.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Manhunt on for suspect accused of fatally shooting ex-wife at Detroit hospital

August 22, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(DETROIT) — Police are looking for a man they said shot and killed his ex-wife at a hospital in Detroit and then fled the scene.

The shooting occurred before 10 a.m. local time Friday in the basement of Henry Ford Hospital, where the victim worked, according to Detroit Police Chief Todd Bettison.

The suspect allegedly fired multiple shots from a handgun after getting into a “verbal altercation” with his ex-wife, Bettison said during a press briefing.

The suspect — identified as 53-year-old Mario Green — then fled the hospital in a 2011 white Dodge Charger, Bettison said. He was captured on video leaving the facility at approximately 9:55 a.m., the chief said.

“He is presumed to be armed and dangerous,” Bettison said. “We expect to have him in custody very, very shortly, but we’re asking for the community’s help.”

Bettison said there is no longer an active situation at the hospital, but it remains a crime scene. No other victims were located following a sweep of the hospital, police said.

Police did not release the name of the victim, who was approximately 40 years old. Bettison said he did not know what she did at the hospital or how Green was able to access the basement.

About a month ago, the victim had filed for a personal protection order against her Green, according to Detroit Assistant Police Chief Charles Fitzgerald.

“Unfortunately, it was not served on her ex husband, so it almost brings us here today, ” Fitzgerald told ABC Detroit affiliate WXYZ.

Green has an address in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and is described as being approximately 6 feet 4 inches.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Gaza City could be destroyed if Hamas does not agree to terms to end war, Israel’s defense minister says

August 22, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(LONDON) — Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned Friday that Gaza city could “turn into Rafah and Beit Hanoun,” areas that were destroyed earlier in the war, unless Hamas agrees to Israel’s terms.

This comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would approve the military’s plans to seize Gaza City.

“Soon, the gates of hell will open on the heads of Hamas’ murderers and rapists in Gaza – until they agree to Israel’s conditions for ending the war, primarily the release of all hostages and their disarmament. If they do not agree – Gaza, the capital of Hamas, will become Rafah and Beit Hanoun. Exactly as I promised – so it will be,” Katz said in a post on X.

The Israel Defense Forces said Friday that ground troops are “operating on the outskirts of Gaza City locating and dismantling terrorist infrastructure above and underground.”

The IDF has said it plans to escalate the war soon by seizing Gaza City and other Hamas strongholds in the Gaza Strip, which humanitarian organizations warned will exacerbate the hunger crisis.

A United Nations-backed food security monitor announced on Friday that a famine determination has been made in Gaza City. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) raised its classification for the Gaza City region in the north-central Gaza Strip to Phase 5, the highest and worst level of its acute food insecurity scale. The IPC itself does not declare a famine, but its famine determination can inform decision-makers in governments and bodies such as the U.N.

In a report published Friday, the IPC said “this Famine is entirely man-made,” adding that it can be “halted and reversed.

The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, the Israeli defense body in charge of coordinating aid to Gaza, said Friday it “firmly rejects the claim of famine in the Gaza Strip, and particularly in Gaza City,” alleging that the IPC report “is based on partial and unreliable sources, many of them affiliated with Hamas.”

In a statement Friday, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office called the IPC’s famine determination in parts of the Gaza Strip “an outright lie” and “a modern blood libel.”

The IDF said its troops are operating in the Jabalia area, Khan Younis and on the outskirts of Gaza City to “eliminate terrorists and dismantle terrorist infrastructure.”

At least 71 Palestinians were killed and 251 injured throughout the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours, Gaza’s Hamas-run Ministry of Health said Friday.

Among those killed were 24 people trying to get humanitarian aid, while another 133 aid seekers were wounded, according to the health ministry.

Two others died of starvation over the past day, bringing the total number of deaths due to starvation to 273, including 112 children, the health ministry said.

FBI searching former Trump adviser John Bolton’s home and office

August 22, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Federal agents were seen Friday morning searching the Maryland residence and Washington, D.C., office of former Trump national security adviser John Bolton, ABC News has learned.

Sources familiar with the matter told ABC News that the search, carried out by the FBI, is related to allegations that Bolton is in possession of classified records.

“NO ONE is above the law… @FBI agents on mission,” FBI director Kash Patel said on social media.

It was not immediately clear what sensitive records federal investigators believe Bolton may have possessed.

The federal agents, along with approximately six FBI vehicles, were seen at Bolton’s home for over an hour early this morning around 7 a.m. Local Montgomery County police were observed by ABC News blocking both entrances to Bolton’s street but have since left.

Agents were seen coming in and out of the house and it is still unclear if anything was removed from inside Bolton’s home.

The extraordinary move comes as President Donald Trump has recently ramped up pressure on the Justice Department to bring charges against his political opponents.

Bolton has long been a target of Trump’s ire. Most recently Trump has taken aim at Bolton’s criticisms of Trump’s engagements with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Trump told reporters Friday morning that he didn’t know about the FBI raid on Bolton’s house.

When asked whether he expected the DOJ to brief him on the raid, Trump said that they “probably” would give him updates “today sometime” but added that he didn’t want to know about the details.

“You have to do what you have to do. I don’t want to know about it,” Trump said in reference to Attorney General Pam Bondi and other officials involved in the investigation.

“America’s safety isn’t negotiable,” Bondi said in a response to Patel’s earlier post on social media. “Justice will be pursued. Always.”

A federal magistrate judge in Maryland signed off on the search at Bolton’s home, sources said.

A separate federal magistrate judge in Washington had authorized the search of his downtown D.C. office, according to sources.

To obtain a search warrant, investigators need to have probable cause of a violation of federal law.

That means authorities would need to convince a judge that there is sufficient reason based on known facts to believe that a crime has been committed, or that a certain property is connected with a crime.

The search, however, does not mean prosecutors have determined Bolton committed a crime.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

RNC elects longtime Trump loyalist, Florida state Sen. Joe Gruters, as new chair

August 22, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The Republican National Committee on Friday elected President Donald Trump’s candidate of choice, Florida state Sen. Joe Gruters, by unanimous voice vote.

Gruters’ ascendency underscores the RNC’s commitments to boosting those who share Trump’s political vision as the White House zeros in on its priorities ahead of the midterms.

The position had been left open by departing chairman Michael Whatley, who last month launched a bid for retiring GOP Sen. Thom Tillis’ Senate seat. While co-signing Whatley’s campaign on his social media site, Trump offered his “complete and total endorsement” to Gruters, who he said would do a “wonderful” job as chairman.

Trump’s backing cleared the prospective field instantly and Gruters ran unopposed.

Whatley also gave Gruters his stamp of approval to replace him.

Gruters chaired the Florida GOP from 2019 to 2023 – and Republicans told ABC News he was mission-critical in eliminating Democrats’ voter registration advantage in the state. After the 2018 election, Democrats had a voter advantage of 263,269. Yet, in the fall of 2022, Republicans expanded their reach, leading voter registration by 292,533 voters — a near 556,000 registered voter swing, per PBS.

“You’re registering almost a million new Republicans in Florida. That was what Joe’s chairmanship was, kind of the hallmark of what he was able to do …after Joe’s chairmanship, Florida slipped from battleground status,” said Scott Golden, a longtime friend of Gruters, who currently chairs the Tennessee Republican Party.

And Golden noted that Gruters, who is currently the RNC’s treasurer, is a “terrific, terrific” fundraiser, another key trait for a party chairman.

“I think everybody feels very comfortable that he’s going to do a very good job as Chairman. He’s a great analyst, a CPA by trade. Obviously, Florida is a great proving ground for politics,” said Golden. “I think most members around the country recognize that and know that he knows what he’s doing. He will run the party competently and make sure that all the resources are on the field to make us successful in ’26.”

Gruters was one of the earliest backers of Trump, throwing his support behind him way back in 2016. Trump paid the favor back and endorsed Gruters’ state Senate re-election run in 2022, and boosted him once again, this time to be Florida’s chief financial officer, noting the pair’s long history.

“Joe was on the ‘Trump Train’ before it even left the station,” Trump wrote on social media in May 2024. “As a State Senator and Chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, Joe has done more than anyone to help turn Florida RED, and elect Republicans across the State.”

While Gruters faced nearly no public opposition from members of the committee and members of the president’s political orbit – he does have one public detractor: Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis.

During a news conference where DeSantis offered support to the candidate that would ultimately become Florida’s chief financial officer, he slammed Gruters.

“Joe Gruters has taken major positions that are totally contrary from what our voter base wants to do,” DeSantis said during the July event. “So, if George Washington rose from the dead and came back and tapped me on the shoulder and said, ‘Will you appoint Joe Gruters CFO?’ My response would be ‘no.'”

Though Gruters told local publication Florida Politics, he is open to mending fences.

ABC News has reached out to DeSantis for comment.

Veteran Republican political strategist Brett Doster told ABC that Trump not only gets a fundraiser, but a fighter, in Gruters.

“I’ve known Joe for more than 20 years now – since before he was elected to the state house. Joe took a big risk and went with Trump back in 2015 when almost every leader in Florida, out of personal loyalty, was sticking with either Jeb or Marco,” Doster said.

“With Joe Gruters as GOP chairman, Trump gets a practiced mouthpiece who will go to war for the administration on the Sunday shows and will keep the RNC rigidly fixed on the Trump – Wiles playbook for the midterms. Gruters will be undistracted by Congressional or Senate power plays.”

Famine determined in parts of Gaza, 500,000 experiencing ‘catastrophic’ hunger: Report

August 22, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(LONDON) — Famine has been determined in Gaza Governorate, where Gaza City is located, according to a warning issued Friday by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).

The report from IPC — a global initiative monitoring hunger with the backing of governments, the United Nations and non-governmental organizations — projected famine would expand to Deir al-Balah Governorate, in central Gaza, and Khan Younis Governorate, in southern Gaza, by the end of September.

The IPC itself doesn’t issue official declarations of famine, but its findings can inform governments and bodies such as the U.N. to make a famine declaration.

The report also found that more than half a million people in the Gaza Strip are facing Phase 5 conditions, which are characterized as catastrophic levels of food insecurity. About 1.07 million people, 54% of the population, are facing Phase 4 conditions, characterized as emergency levels of food insecurity.

Between mid-August and the end of September 2025, almost a third of the population — nearly 641,000 people — are expected to face Phase 5 catastrophic conditions and the number of people facing emergency levels will likely increase to 1.14 million, according to the report.

The IPC report stated that, given the inability to classify North Gaza due to barriers reaching the area, the figures in the report are an underestimate. Estimates also exclude any remaining population in Rafah, in southern Gaza, because it is mostly uninhabited, according to the IPC.

The food crisis in Gaza has worsened since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas ended in March and Israel instituted a blockade on aid into Gaza. An increasing number of deaths due to malnutrition have also been reported and gut-wrenching images have emerged of suffering children and long food lines.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Judge blocks transfers to ‘Alligator Alcatraz,’ effectively winding down operations

August 22, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(OCHOPEE, Fla.)– A federal judge is ordering the Trump administration and the state of Florida to effectively wind down operations at the controversial immigrant detention center in the Everglades known as “Alligator Alcatraz” over environmental concerns.

In an 82-page ruling Thursday evening, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams granted a preliminary injunction that prohibits the government from transferring any additional detainees to the site or performing any more construction work.

Within 60 days, the judge ordered the Trump administration to remove temporary fencing, industrial lighting, generators, sewage and waste receptacles from the site.

A coalition of environmental groups and a Native American Tribe sued over the site, arguing that the government bypassed necessary environmental reviews before constructing the sprawling facility. The judge agreed with the plaintiffs that Florida officials and the Trump administration violated the National Environmental Policy Act, risking irreparable harm to the sensitive environment of the Everglades.

“Plaintiffs have provided extensive evidence supporting their claims of significant ongoing and likely future environmental harms from the project,” the judge wrote.

Williams had issued a temporary restraining order two weeks ago blocking additional construction at the site.

The preliminary injunction marks one of the most high-profile uses of environmental law to challenge the Trump administration’s policies.

“Every Florida governor, every Florida senator, and countless local and national political figures, including presidents, have publicly pledged their unequivocal support for the restoration, conservation, and protection of the Everglades. This Order does nothing more than uphold the basic requirements of legislation designed to fulfill those promises,” the judge wrote.

Florida officials are already signaling plans to appeal today’s decision to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, filing a notice of appeal in Florida federal court.

The environmental groups that filed the lawsuit celebrated the decision as a “landmark victory for the Everglades.”

“This brutal detention center was burning a hole in the fabric of life that supports our most iconic wetland and a whole host of endangered species, from majestic Florida panthers to wizened wood storks. The judge’s order came just in time to stop it all from unraveling,” said Eve Samples, executive director of Friends of the Everglades.

There were two major lawsuits challenging the use of the facility — one based on the limited legal access to the facility and another based on environmental concerns. Earlier this week, a federal judge dismissed part of the lawsuit related to legal access because the Department of Justice designated a nearby immigration court for the facility.

Defense Secretary Hegseth authorizes 2K National Guard troops to carry arms in DC

August 22, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has signed an order authorizing the latest National Guard troops to arrive in Washington, D.C. to carry weapons if their mission requires it, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The new authority is expected to be acted on in coming days, the person said.

Hegseth’s decision paves the way for the nearly 2,000 troops now mobilized in Washington, D.C., to expand their operations significantly, including possible security patrols in neighborhoods that struggle with crime.

In a visit to Guard personnel on Thursday, President Donald Trump suggested the military personnel would be playing a larger role in law enforcement in the city.

“You got to be strong, you got to be tough,” Trump told Guard personnel at the U.S. Park Police Anacostia Operations Facility. “You got to do your job. Whatever it takes to do your job.”

Last week, Trump declared that crime in D.C. was out of control and that he would take over D.C. police operations. He also ordered 800 members of the D.C. National Guard to report to active duty.

Working in shifts, the troops began arriving in small numbers at popular tourist spots like the Washington Monument along the National Mall, where crime is relatively low. Standing alongside armored Humvees, the unarmed soldiers and airman could be seen posing for pictures with tourists and talking with children.

Trump though has moved to expand the effort considerably, requesting additional troops from nearby states. So far, six Republican governors have complied, with troops arriving this week from Louisiana, Tennessee, Ohio, South Carolina and Mississippi.

The military task force overseeing the operation said that most of those troops were in place as of Thursday morning, bringing the force size in the nation’s capital up to nearly 2,000.

In his visit to the Guard troops on Thursday, Trump suggested the troops could stay for six months or longer.

“You do the job on safety, and I’ll get this place fixed up physically, and we’re going to be so proud of it at the end of six months,” he said.

“But let’s say at the end of the year, this place will be maxed out in terms of beauty. You’ll have all new surfaces. You’ll have all new medians, everything’s going to look beautiful,” he added.

Historically, presidents have relied upon the National Guard to secure cities in only extraordinary circumstances, such as large-scale events like the presidential inauguration or in response to riots, like the Jan. 6, 2021, protests at the Capitol.

Violent crime levels in the city have decreased compared to years prior, down 26% since 2024, a 30-year low, according to crime stats released by the D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department.

On Wednesday, Mayor Muriel Bowser criticized Trump’s use of the Guard as an “armed militia in the Nation’s Capital.”

“Crime has gone down in our city and it has gone down precipitously over the last two years because of a lot of hard work, changes to our public safety ecosystem, including changes to the law,” Bowser said.

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

ABC News’ Karen Travers and Arthur Jones contributed to this report.

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