(SOLVANG, Calif) — Over 1,000 firefighters continue to battle a wildfire in California that has over 72,000 acres, prompted evacuation orders and caused three injuries, according to officials.
The Gifford Fire, which began on Friday afternoon, is situated within the Los Padres National Forest in Solvang, California, impacting those within Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, officials said. As of Monday, the fire has engulfed 72,460 acres and is only 3% contained, according to Cal Fire.
While the flames have been centered around thick brush and rugged terrain, officials said 460 structures are threatened by this wildfire.
On Sunday, officials said the fire “showed significant growth as it aligned with topographical features, especially in grass-dominated areas.”
Evacuation orders and warnings are in effect for areas in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, and Highway 166 has been closed due to flames burning on both sides of the road, officials said.
Three people have been injured by the wildfire, including one civilian who was hospitalized for burn injuries and two contractor employees who were injured in a UTV rollover incident, officials said on Saturday.
An air quality alert in Cuyama, California, and an air quality watch for the rest of Santa Barbara County will remain in effect “until conditions improve,” the Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District said on Saturday.
“If you see or smell smoke in the air, be cautious and use common sense to protect your and your family’s health. Everyone, especially people with heart or lung conditions, older adults, pregnant women and children, should limit time spent outdoors and avoid outdoor exercise when high concentrations of smoke and particles are in the air,” the air pollution control district said.
The cause of the fire is under investigation, according to Cal Fire.
The fire is located west of the Madre Fire, which burned over 80,000 acres and was fully contained on July 26, officials said.
Two more fires erupted in Southern California on Monday afternoon.
The Rosa Fire in Riverside County started just after noon local time and has burned over 1,200 acres.
In San Bernardino County, the Gold Fire has spread 348 acres with 0% containment.
(NEW YORK) — Two people have died and at least 58 people have been diagnosed with Legionnaires’ disease in a cluster that broke out in the Harlem area of New York City last week, officials said on Monday.
The New York City Health Department had reported on Thursday that one person had died and 22 people were sick in the cluster.
“People living or working in the area with flu-like symptoms, such as cough, fever, chills, muscle aches, or difficulty breathing should contact a health care provider immediately,” the department said in a statement on Monday. “It is especially important for people at higher risk — including those ages 50 and older, cigarette smokers, and people with chronic lung disease or compromised immune systems — to get care if they have symptoms.”
Legionnaires’ disease is a type of pneumonia that is caused by the bacteria Legionella, which grows in warm water, health officials said, and people can get Legionnaires’ disease by breathing in water vapor that contains Legionella bacteria.
“Anyone in these zip codes with flu-like symptoms should contact a health care provider as soon as possible,” said Acting Health Commissioner Dr. Michelle Morse. “Legionnaires’ disease can be effectively treated if diagnosed early, but New Yorkers at higher risk, like adults aged 50 and older and those who smoke or have chronic lung conditions, should be especially mindful of their symptoms and seek care as soon as symptoms begin.”
Legionnaires’ disease can be caused by plumbing systems where conditions are favorable for Legionella growth, such as cooling towers, whirlpool spas, hot tubs, humidifiers, hot water tanks and evaporative condensers of large air-conditioning systems, health officials said.
People can get Legionnaires’ disease by breathing in water vapor that contains Legionella bacteria, though officials reminded people that the disease cannot be transmitted from person to person and can be treated with antibiotics.
The respiratory disease takes its name from an outbreak at the Pennsylvania American Legion convention held at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia in July 1976 and the bacterium believed to be responsible is found in soil and grows in water, such as air-conditioning ducts, storage tanks and rivers.
No details about the two people who died have been released by officials as of Tuesday.
(LONDON) — A Denmark zoo is asking the public to donate their pets — particularly chickens, rabbits and guinea pigs — so that they can feed them to the zoo’s predators.
“In zoos we have a responsibility to imitate the natural food chain of the animals — in terms of both animal welfare and professional integrity,” the Aalborg Zoo said in a statement last Thursday.
The request created a backlash online with many disagreeing with the practice, but the zoo said the purpose of the program is to make sure “nothing goes to waste — and [to] ensure natural behavior, nutrition and well-being of our predators,” according to the zoo’s website.
The zoo also said they would accept larger animals, such as horses, which they euthanize and slaughter for food, though they said that the zoo’s needs vary throughout the year and there might be a waiting list.
For horses, Aalborg Zoo receives the horse as a donation and the owner of the horse can obtain a tax deduction for the value of the horse, according to the zoo’s website.
The zoo also said they will “accept chickens, rabbits and guinea pigs on weekdays between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., but no more than four at a time.”
ABC News has reached out to Aalborg Zoo for comment.
The practice is not unheard of in Denmark and, in 2014, the Copenhagen Zoo garnered attention on social media when it killed a healthy giraffe and fed it to their predators.
Four lions, including two cubs, were also euthanized several weeks later to make room for a new male lion in the Danish zoo. The lions were euthanized for not being able to defend themselves against him, zoo officials said at the time.
“If you have an animal that has to leave here for various reasons, feel free to donate it to us,” the zoo said. “The animals are gently euthanized by trained staff and are afterwards used as fodder.”
(DELPHI, Ind.) — The wife of convicted Delphi, Indiana, double murderer Richard Allen is breaking her silence on the shocking crime that catapulted her small town into the national spotlight.
A new three-part series, “Capturing Their Killer: The Girls on the High Bridge,” is a deep dive into the mysterious case, with interviews from key players including the victims’ friends and relatives. The series also reveals exclusive, behind-the-scenes footage of defense attorneys as they verdict came in, and an interview with Richard Allen’s wife, Kathy Allen, who opens up for the first time about her marriage and her perspective on the killings that captured the nation’s attention.
ABC News Studios’ “Capturing Their Killer: The Girls on the High Bridge” is streaming in its entirety on Hulu from Tuesday, Aug. 5.
A big crime in a small town On Feb. 13, 2017, best friends Abby Williams, 13, and Libby German, 14, were enjoying a day off from school and decided to walk along a hiking trail in their hometown of Delphi.
They were near the Monon High Bridge when they were attacked; their throats were slit and they were dumped in the nearby woods.
When they didn’t come home, their frantic families called the police, who launched a massive search. Their bodies were found the next day.
“The whole town was devastated,” Kathy Allen said. “I felt so badly, especially for the mothers.”
“I don’t know how we got through it,” Libby’s grandmother and guardian, Becky Patty, said. “I do remember we learned how Libby died because the funeral director told us we needed to bring in clothes, and he said, ‘You need to make sure you have a scarf.'”
No arrests were made, but police did have a major clue.
Moments before the murders, Libby posted a photo of Abby on Snapchat showing her on the Monon High Bridge. After crossing the bridge, the girls saw a man behind them — who became known as “bridge guy” — and Libby started a recording on her phone.
As police looked for the suspect, they released footage from Libby’s phone to the public: a grainy image of “bridge guy” and an audio clip of him telling the girls to go “down the hill.”
“The first time I saw the picture of ‘bridge guy,’ it could’ve been anybody,” Kathy Allen said.
‘My husband’s not a monster’ Richard and Kathy Allen married right after high school and their daughter, Brittany, was born in 1994.
“He is a family man,” Kathy Allen said. “Ricky is a wonderful, caring, compassionate father. Non-judgmental, very giving. He has good morals.”
In 2006, the family moved to Delphi, where Richard Allen worked at the local CVS.
On Feb. 13, 2017, Richard Allen had the day off. Kathy Allen said when she got home that evening, her husband was on the couch.
When she saw on the news that night that two girls were missing, she said her husband seemed surprised.
Richard Allen told her he was out on the trail that day. When Kathy Allen asked him if he saw the girls, he said no, she recalled.
“Ricky called the police department to speak to the officers — he was more than willing to help,” she said.
Richard Allen met with an officer, she said — and “then we heard nothing.”
As the Allens’ lives went on, Abby and Libby’s families worked through their grief and pleaded for answers.
More than five years ticked by. Each year, police said they were continuing to follow leads in the mysterious slayings.
Then on Oct. 13, 2022, Kathy Allen said officers knocked on their door and took Richard Allen to the police station for an interview.
When officers descended on their home with a search warrant, she said her husband consoled her as they waited outside.
“Ricky said something like, ‘Well, it’s over, it doesn’t matter anymore,'” she recalled.
On Oct. 26, 2022, Kathy Allen joined her husband in a police interrogation room. She said Richard Allen told her, “You know I’m not capable of something like this.”
“Capturing Their Killer: The Girls on the High Bridge” is the first streaming documentary to feature newly-released interrogation footage.
On Halloween 2022, police announced Richard Allen’s arrest in the double homicide. He admitted he was on the trail that day, but he denied being involved.
“I was floored, quite honestly,” Abby’s mom, Anna Williams, said. “We really had somebody living amongst us that had done this and never let on.”
Kathy Allen was also in disbelief, but adamantly believed her husband.
“My husband’s not a monster. He’s not the monster that people think he is,” she said.
The case against Richard Allen Police said they zeroed in on Richard Allen after discovering a misfiled statement.
In the days after the killings, Richard Allen did self-report being at the crime scene — but that statement “fell in the cracks,” Carroll County Sheriff Tony Liggett testified at Allen’s trial.
A volunteer file clerk who arranged boxes of information and tips in the case testified that in September 2022 — weeks before Allen’s arrest — she came across a file folder that was not with the others she was managing.
The sheet said that three days after the murders, a person listed as “Richard Allen Whiteman” self-reported being on the trails between 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. on the day of the crime. The self-reporter listed seeing three girls.
The volunteer testified that she wrote a lead sheet and changed the name to Richard Allen. Allen lived on Whiteman Drive, so she said she believed the names were transposed and it was misfiled.
At Richard Allen’s fall 2024 trial, the prosecution’s key physical evidence was a .40-caliber unspent round discovered by the girls’ bodies. Prosecutors argued that police analysis determined that the unspent round was cycled through Richard Allen’s Sig Sauer Model P226. Even though the girls were stabbed, authorities believed their killer used a gun to intimidate them.
Prosecutors also focused on multiple confessions Richard Allen made in jail to his psychologist, corrections officers and his wife.
In one call, according to testimony, he told his wife, “I did it. I killed Abby and Libby.”
“No, you didn’t,” Kathy Allen said. He replied, “Yes, I did.”
“Why would you say that?” Kathy said. “I know you didn’t. There’s something wrong.”
One psychologist testified that Richard Allen confessed to her that he ordered the girls “down the hill” and intended to rape them, but then he saw something — either a person or a van — and was startled. An Indiana State Police trooper testified that he believed that van belonged to a man who lived near the crime scene; the trooper said the time it would’ve taken the man to drive home from work fits with the timing of the murders.
The defense argued Richard Allen’s mental health deteriorated rapidly while in solitary confinement, which lasted 13 months, and that he was in a psychotic state during the confessions.
Despite the emotional pain of hearing the details of the case, Libby’s mom, Carrie Timmons, said, “I was there for the entire trial, every day.”
“I did that for her,” Timmons said. “It was the least I could do.”
When the case went to the jury, Timmons said the four days of waiting for a verdict “were excruciating.”
Kathy Allen said, “I felt pretty positive that [the jury is] gonna make the right decision, because reasonable doubt was written all over the place. … On my phone conversations with Ricky, I heard some joy in his voice.”
‘The girls are still gone’ In November 2024, Richard Allen was found guilty on all charges: felony murder for the killing of Abby while attempting to commit kidnapping; felony murder for the killing of Libby while attempting to commit kidnapping; murder for knowingly killing Abby; and murder for knowingly killing Libby.
Kathy Allen sobbed when the verdict was read.
“Ricky looked confused, and I wanted to stand there and scream for him,” she said.
The convicted double murderer was sentenced to 130 years in prison.
Judge Fran Gull said to him at sentencing, “I’ve spent 27 years as a judge and you rank right up there with the most heinous crimes in the state of Indiana.”
After sentencing, prosecutor Nicholas McLeland thanked Abby and Libby for helping catch their own killer.
Libby had the “wherewithal to pull out her phone … to know that something wasn’t right” and record the suspect as he walked across the bridge, McLeland said at a news conference, calling it “arguably the biggest piece of evidence that we had — that recording.”
He praised Abby for hiding the phone from the killer so law enforcement could find it.
As Richard Allen begins his life sentence, his wife is still in his corner.
“I want true justice for Abby and Libby, but it should not be at the expense of an innocent person,” Kathy Allen said, holding back tears.
“I’m very hopeful for an appeal,” she said in February. “It was definitely our dream to grow old together, and it still is. I’m looking forward to that. I’m not giving up.”
But for Abby and Libby’s families, the pain persists.
“It still feels much like it did the first day the girls were gone,” Abby’s mom, Anna Williams, said.
“You think hearing ‘guilty’ is gonna be enough, and you think the sentencing is gonna be enough. And it’s just not true,” Williams said. “This doesn’t bring her back. The girls are still gone.”
(WASHINGTON) — As the Trump administration says it’s continuing its effort to reduce waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government through cuts at key agencies such as the Social Security Administration and the Education Department, Sen. Elizabeth Warren is touting her ongoing investigations that she said work to protect millions of Americans from restricted access to higher education and retirement benefits.
“We cannot stand by and let Trump abuse his power by ripping away the programs that help people breathe a little easier,” Warren said in an exclusive interview with ABC News. “People voted Democrats into office to fight for them, and they do not expect us to roll over and play dead.”
The Massachusetts Democrat, a former teacher and fierce defender of public education, launched her Save Our Schools campaign this spring to investigate the administration’s attempts to shutter the Department of Education. The investigations probe the Department of Education’s cuts including downsizing the Federal Student Aid (FSA) office and changes to the student loan system.
Democrats contend slashing FSA’s workforce will hinder low-income Americans’ access to college and urged the agency to rehire employees critical to its financial aid operations.
In April, Warren launched the Social Security War Room, a coordinated effort to combat the administration’s so-called “attack on Americans’ Social Security” at the Social Security Administration (SSA), which is responsible for distributing retirement disability, and survivor benefits to more than 70 million Americans. So far, Warren said her campaign has worked to cut down Social Security wait times on the phone and in person at regional offices.
Warren urged President Donald Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency to take their “hands off” Social Security. She said her pressure campaign — which included an inspector general review of the agency — has impeded Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano from making additional layoffs after the agency announced it was aiming to cut roughly 7,000 people from its workforce.
Warren said if Democrats do nothing, the Trump administration will “go ahead with no pushback.”
“There’s a lot of anger over what Trump and the Republicans are trying to do to the Social Security Administration,” she said. “We will push back with everything we’ve got.”
While Trump has vowed to safeguard Social Security and Medicare, some actions from the administration have raised concerns about potential impacts on the program — including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s recent comments that the so-called Trump savings accounts for newborns could be a “back door” to start privatizing Social Security. Bessent later walked back the comments.
The Trump administration says its workforce restructuring is part of the president’s efforts to cut waste, fraud and abuse and improve Americans’ lives, White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Harrison Fields told ABC News. He added that the president’s success through DOGE is “undisputed and legal.”
Republicans argue the SSA changes will ensure fraudsters won’t tamper with retirees’ benefits and streamline the experience by utilizing artificial intelligence.
Warren said large-scale changes to these agencies could have dire consequences for Americans.
“Save Our Schools and the Social Security War Room are two ways that, internally, the Democrats are fighting back against administration cuts that undermine people all across this country,” Warren said.
SSA has said the focus of its workforce reduction and organizational restructuring is to eliminate things that don’t provide “mission critical” services. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon also stressed she is not defunding federal programs and will continue to perform all of the agency’s “statutory duties.”
Through a combination of federal investigations, oversight, storytelling and even lawsuits, Warren told ABC News her campaigns have worked to provide the administration with checks and balances. Warren took credit for recently helping millions of students receive roughly $6 billion in FY25 title funding that is typically allocated on July 1, but was withheld for more than three weeks by the Office of Management and Budget for a “programmatic review” of education funding.
During the funding freeze, McMahon told ABC News that the administration wanted to ensure that student programs had “the right focus” and funds weren’t being misused.
“We organized groups and individuals to pressure the department to release those funds…,” Warren said. “This matters because that’s the money that’s often used for our kids with special needs, for after-school programs and others who help our kids get a high-quality education.”
Despite union criticism that the Education Department is carrying out unlawful layoffs, the department’s spokesperson, Madi Biedermann, told ABC News the agency followed all applicable laws and regulations when implementing its reduction in force.
Before the Senate left town, Warren vowed to continue fighting for the federal workforce.
“The Trump administration is committed to undercutting Social Security and eliminating the Department of Education,” she said. “This is not going to be a one and done.”
(NEW YORK) — A man has been missing for over a week after reportedly hiking along one of the most challenging trails in the Grand Canyon, according to the National Park Service.
Thomas Daniel Gibbs, 35, from Freehold, New Jersey, was reported missing on July 28 by his family and friends, according to a press release shared by the National Park Service.
Gibbs was last heard from on July 22 and is believed to have been traveling along the Grandview Trail, which is one of the most difficult paths in the Grand Canyon, according to the National Park Service.
The hiker’s Tesla Cybertruck was discovered in the Grandview Point parking lot on the South Rim of the canyon the same day he was reported missing, officials said.
Gibbs is described as 6 feet, 1 inch tall with brown hair and brown eyes, officials said.
Officials said anyone who was “in the Grandview Trail around July 22 and who may have seen Gibbs or has information on his whereabouts” should contact the NPS Investigative Services Branch Tip line at 888-653-0009. Tips can also be submitted online or via email at nps_isb@nps.gov.
Updates regarding the search for Gibbs will be provided “as soon as they become available,” officials said.
Gibbs’ disappearance comes as a fire continues to burn along the canyon’s North Rim. The Dragon Bravo Fire has now burned over 116,000 acres and is 12% contained as of Sunday, officials said.
ABC News requests for comment sent to Grand Canyon National Park and National Park Service officials did not immediately receive a response.
(AUSTIN, Texas) — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says he wants to oust and replace Democratic lawmakers who fled the state in an attempt to prevent Republican redistricting efforts and charge them with felonies. But that might be a challenge and take some time, the state’s attorney general said Monday.
Abbott said if legislators did not return to Texas by 3 p.m. CT, he would remove them then “swiftly” fill the vacancies.
“I believe they have forfeited their seats in the state legislature because they’re not doing the job they were elected to do,” he said Monday on Fox News.
The governor also said the Democrats could be committing felonies if they solicit funds to pay the $500 daily fines they face for skipping the session.
Republican state Attorney General Ken Paxton said those threats might not be practical.
“We’d have to go through a court process, and we’d have to file that maybe in districts that are not friendly to Republicans. So it’s a challenge because every district would be different. We’d have to go sue in every legislator’s home district,” Paxton said in a Monday interview with conservative commentator Benny Johnson.
Democratic Texas state Rep. Jolanda Jones, an attorney, said Abbott’s threat was merely “smoke and mirrors” during a press conference on Monday from Albany, New York.
“There is no felony in the Texas penal code for what he says. So respectfully, he’s making up some s—,” Jones said. “Subpoenas from Texas don’t work in New York, so he’s going to come get us how?”
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said at the news conference that Democrats were “not breaking the law.”
“This is a legitimate process that has been used before,” Hochul said.
Democratic Texas state Rep. Mihaela Plesa, also speaking from Albany, said Abbott is “trying to manipulate the situation to make it play in his favor. It’s not going to work.”
Experts say Abbott’s threats are more effective as intimidation than as legally enforceable action.
“The governor doesn’t have unilateral power to charge members with bribery or to vacate their seats,” said Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston.
But, “Even if it’s not the case that he can do this, it’s certainly the case that he’s made the high stakes very obvious to Democrats,” he added.
Despite the challenge, Paxton said he was “optimistic” the governor would prevail in the standoff with Democrats. Texas Democrats have said they plan to stay out of state until the end of this special session in two weeks, but Abbott is able to call another special session after that.
“If he keeps calling them back, it’s going to be a challenge for all 51 of them to stay out of the state for the rest of their lives,” Paxton said.
State Rep. Gene Wu, Texas House Democratic Caucus Chair, said Sunday that the lawmakers have received an “outpouring of support from people, from Americans around the country” to help pay their fines.
“My phone has not stopped ringing of people texting us, like, keep going, tell us what you need, give me the donation link,” Wu said during a press conference with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker.
(DYER COUNTY, Tenn.) — As the search continued on Monday for a 28-year-old man suspected in the homicides of four people in Tennessee, two additional individuals have been arrested on charges linked to the killings, authorities said.
Dyer County, Tennessee, District Attorney Danny Goodman said Dearrah Sanders and Brandon Powell were the latest suspects arrested in connection with the quadruple killing that included three victims from the same family. Goodman made the announcement at the arraignment on Monday of Tanaka Brown, who is charged with being an accessory to the killings after the fact and tampering with evidence.
Sanders is also charged with being an accessory after the fact, while Powell is charged with possession of schedule six drugs and criminal conspiracy, Goodman said. Also arrested in the homicide case was Giovante Thomas, who has been charged with being an accessory after the fact, authorities said.
The primary suspect, Austin Robert Drummond, is considered armed and dangerous following the killings of 38-year-old Cortney Rose, Rose’s children, 20-year-old Adrianna Williams and 15-year-old Braydon Williams, and Adrianna Williams’ boyfriend, 21-year-old James “Michael” Wilson, according to authorities and family. The victims were killed on Tuesday and found along a road in Lake County, in northwest Tennessee, authorities said.
The same day, Wilson and Williams’ baby was left in a car seat in a “random individual’s front yard” in nearby Dyer County, according to the Dyer County Sheriff’s Office.
A motive for the killings remains under investigation.
Drummond is wanted on four counts of first-degree murder, one count of aggravated kidnapping, four counts of felon in possession of a firearm and one count of possession of a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI).
A $17,500 reward has been offered for information leading to Drummond’s arrest.
Investigators believe Drummond is still in the Lake County area. Drummond’s white 2016 Audi was found last week in Jackson, Tennessee, where Drummond has ties, according to officials. A white 1988 Ford pickup truck linked to Drummond was found in Dyer County, Tennessee.
Efrain Villalobos is seen in a photo released by the Los Angeles Police Department. Los Angeles Police Department
(LOS ANGELES) — A man is in custody on attempted murder for allegedly shooting a driver who plowed his car through a crowd in Los Angeles last month, police announced Monday.
The arrest comes more than two weeks after what police called the “chaotic” incident outside the music venue The Vermont in East Hollywood.
Prosecutors allege the driver intentionally drove his vehicle onto a sidewalk and into the crowd gathered outside the club around 2 a.m. local time on July 19, injuring 37 people.
When the vehicle became disabled, bystanders in the crowd dragged the driver outside the car and began to physically assault him, according to police. At some point during the altercation, police said a man shot the driver once in the lower back then fled the scene on foot.
The shooting suspect — Efrain Villalobos, of Lawndale — was arrested on Sunday in the Redondo Beach area, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
He was booked for attempted murder and is being held without bail, police said Monday.
The case will be presented to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office for filing consideration, police said.
The identity of the shooting suspect was unknown in the wake of the incident, with authorities releasing images of the alleged gunman while attempting to identify him.
The LAPD identified Villalobos as the suspect on Friday while warning that he should be considered armed and dangerous.
Amid the search for the suspect, Los Angeles Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell called the shooter’s actions “unlawful and dangerous.”
“We understand the emotions involved, but when the threat had ended and the suspect was no longer actively harming others, the use of deadly force was both unlawful and dangerous to everybody present,” McDonnell said at a press briefing last month.
The alleged driver, Fernando Ramirez, was charged with 37 counts of attempted murder and 37 counts of assault with a deadly weapon in connection with the car plowing. The 37 counts represent the 37 victims in the incident, according to Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman.
Among the victims, eight suffered “great bodily injury,” such as serious fractures and lacerations, according to Hochman.
Ramirez remains in jail on more than $37 million bail, with an arraignment scheduled for Sept. 4.
(AUSTIN, Texas) — A showdown is unfolding in Texas as Gov. Greg Abbott threatens to remove Democrats who have fled the state in protest of Republican-led effort to create a new congressional map.
Abbott said Texas House Democrats have until 3 p.m. local time on Monday to return to the statehouse for the special session or risk losing their jobs. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton suggested Democrats who left should be arrested and forcibly brought back.
The response from the Texas House Democratic Caucus to Abbott’s threat was, “Come and take it.”
Democratic members who left the state are slated to hold various events throughout the day Monday in Democrat-led states.
The proposed congressional map, backed by President Donald Trump, could create up to five new Republican seats and help Republicans keep control of the House in the 2026 midterm elections. Consideration of the bill had been set for Monday, but cannot proceed if Democrats deny a quorum.
Democrats hold events in New York, Massachusetts and Illinois
The first press conference with Texas Democrats on Monday was with New York Gov. Kathy Hochul in Albany.
“We won’t sit on the sidelines while Republicans try to rig the system to give Donald Trump more unchecked power,” Hochul said in a statement. “Texas Democrats are standing up for the future of our democracy, and I’m proud to stand with them in the fight against disenfranchisement.”
Texas House Democrats who have gone to Massachusetts for the National Conference of State Legislators summit will be joined by Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker for a press conference in Boston on Monday at 1 p.m. ET. Then, Texas House Democrats who have gathered in Illinois will hold a press conference with Democratic members of Congress in Chicago.
Pritzker on Sunday accused Trump of “rigging” the new Texas maps out of desperation and worry that due to his policies, he was in danger of losing House Republican majorities in Washington. The Illinois governor also warned the newly-proposed maps set a dangerous precedent across the country.
“This is not just rigging the system in Texas,” Pritzker said. “It’s about rigging the system against the rights of all Americans for years to come.”
Abbott, Paxton threaten action against Democrats
Abbott, in his warning to Texas House Democrats, said leaving the state in protest amounted to “abandonment or forfeiture of an elected state office.”
“Real Texans do not run from a fight,” Abbott said in the statement. “But that’s exactly what most of the Texas House Democrats just did. Rather than doing their job and voting on urgent legislation affecting the lives of all Texans, they have fled Texas to deprive the House of the quorum necessary to meet and conduct business.”
Abbott said if they didn’t return by 3 p.m. local time on Monday, he would invoke Texas Attorney General Opinion No. KP-0382 to remove the missing Democrats from membership in the Texas House. He further went on to claim the lawmakers who left “may also have committed felonies” by fundraising in order to pay the $500 fine they risk accruing each day they are absent.
Paxton, in a social media post, wrote that “Democrats in the Texas House who try and run away like cowards should be found, arrested, and brought back to the Capitol immediately. We should use every tool at our disposal to hunt down those who think they are above the law.”
What’s at stake
The new congressional map was proposed by Texas Republicans following a push by Trump for maps more favorable to Republicans to help the party keep the majority in the House in 2026. Currently, House Republicans are operating with a narrow majority.
Trump has said he wants Republicans to pick up five new seats in Texas and others around the country. Democrats have slammed the move and said it risks hurting minority voters.
As the redistricting battle heats up, a House Republican will introduce legislation to ban mid-decade redrawing of congressional maps nationwide.
California GOP Rep. Kevin Kiley will formally introduce the bill on Tuesday which will “nullify new maps adopted by states before the 2030 census, including any that are adopted this year.” The bill’s future remains uncertain, however, as it’s unlikely to be backed by House Republican leadership.
ABC News’ Lauren Peller contributed to this report.
