Federal authorities responded to the CIA headquarters in Virginia on Wednesday after a man brandished what appeared to be a handgun outside the building, sources told ABC News.
At one point, the man pointed a gun at his head, and local police and security personnel were negotiating, according to the sources.
The man was taken into custody Wednesday afternoon after several hours in the “barricade incident,” police said.
“The barricade incident has been resolved,” Fairfax County police said. “The suspect surrendered to FCPD negotiators and is in custody.”
A CIA spokesperson said law enforcement responded to an “incident” outside the CIA headquarters, located in Fairfax County.
“Additional details will be made available as appropriate,” the spokesperson said.
The incident prompted a large police response, including from the FBI.
“Members of the FBI Washington Field Office’s National Capital Response Squad and other FBI resources have been deployed to assist our law enforcement partners in response to an incident outside CIA Headquarters,” the FBI Washington Field Office said in a statement earlier Wednesday.
(PITTSBURGH) — Joshua Riibe, the 22-year-old Minnesota college student who was with University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki the night she went missing on a spring break trip to the Dominican Republic, will receive his passport back on Thursday, a source in the prosecutor’s office told ABC News.
Riibe — who is considered a witness and not a suspect in Konanki’s disappearance — had his passport and cellphone taken away as he was being interviewed over the last several days.
Earlier Wednesday, Riibe’s legal team confirmed to ABC News they were trying to get a new U.S. passport for Riibe from the U.S. Embassy in the Dominican Republic so he could leave the country.
“The U.S. Embassy is in communication with Mr. Riibe, his family, and his lawyer and is providing all appropriate consular assistance,” the U.S. Embassy in the Dominican Republic told ABC News.
A Dominican judge ruled during a habeus corpus hearing Tuesday that Riibe is free to move without police surveillance around the Dominican Republic, because he is only a witness of an accident, not a suspect. But the judge did not give Riibe his passport back, because he said it was not in his jurisdiction to hand over the passport. The judge did not specify whose jurisdiction it is to give the passport back.
“I can’t go anywhere. And I really want to be able to go home, talk to my family, give them hugs, tell them I miss them,” Riibe said in court on Tuesday. “I understand I’m here to help, but it’s been 10 days and I can’t leave.”
If the U.S. Embassy in the Dominican Republic issues Riibe a new passport, he will be able to use it to leave the country.
Riibe said in court on Tuesday that he is “ready to go home and go back to my life.”
Authorities have said they believe Konancki died by drowning in Punta Cana early on March 6, officials told ABC News.
Riibe, who met Konanki that night, told prosecutors the two went swimming and kissed in the ocean. The two were then hit by a wave and pulled into the ocean by the tide, according to a transcript provided to ABC News from two Dominican Republic sources.
Riibe said he held Konanki and tried to get them out of the water. He said he tried to “make sure she could breathe the entire time,” which prevented Riibe from getting in enough air and he “took in a lot of water.”
Once they touched the sand, Riibe told prosecutors Konanki got up to get her belongings, but “she was not out of the water since it was up to her knee” and was “walking at an angle in the water.”
“The last time I saw her, I asked her if she was OK,” he told prosecutors. “I didn’t hear her response because I began to vomit with all the water I had swallowed. After vomiting, I looked around and I didn’t see anything. I thought she had taken her things and left.”
Riibe said he then passed out on a beach chair, woke up several hours later and returned to his hotel room.
Konanki’s family sent a formal request on Monday to Dominican police requesting they declare their daughter dead, according to two sources with knowledge of the investigation.
On Tuesday evening, Dominican Republic’s Civil Defense said they are significantly scaling back the search-and-rescue efforts.
The judge will decide if Riibe will be charged with anything in a full ruling on March 28.
(NEW YORK) — Attorney General Pam Bondi called the recent spate of arson attacks and vandalism against Tesla vehicles “nothing short of domestic terrorism” and promised harsh punishments for perpetrators if they are caught.
The White House also weighed in on the recent attacks Wednesday, with Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt calling the vandalisms “despicable.”
“Democrats were big supporters of Tesla and of electric vehicles until Elon Musk decided to vote for Donald Trump. So we would like Democrats to also come out and condemn this heinous violence that we have seen,” Leavitt said.
The statements from Bondi and Leavitt came after the latest incident in which five Tesla vehicles were damaged when a fire was started at a Tesla Collision Center in Las Vegas on Tuesday morning. That was the latest in a wave of incidents aimed at the electric vehicle company, according to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.
“This was a targeted attack against a Tesla facility,” said Dori Koren, assistant sheriff for the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.
Along with the burning vehicles, officials said the word “RESIST” was spray-painted across the doors of the facility and three rounds of shots were fired at the additional Teslas. The suspect approached the business wearing black clothing and is believed to have used Molotov cocktails and a firearm to conduct his attack, police said.
Officials received notice that an individual had “set several vehicles on fire in the parking lot and caused damage to the property.”
Police and the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force are investigating this incident, which they believe was an isolated attack. Authorities are still searching for a suspect.
Two Tesla Cybertrucks also caught on fire at a dealership in Kansas City, Missouri, on Monday evening, according to the Kansas City Police Department.
Tesla vehicles, dealerships and charging stations have been vandalized, suffered arson and faced protests in recent weeks since the company’s CEO Elon Musk began his work at the White House spearheading the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
In the statement Tuesday, Bondi said, “The swarm of violent attacks on Tesla property is nothing short of domestic terrorism.” In some of the cases, she said the Justice Department is charging perpetrators with crimes that carry five-year mandatory minimum sentences.
“We will continue investigations that impose severe consequences on those involved in these attacks, including those operating behind the scenes to coordinate and fund these crimes,” she said in the statement.
In the Kansas incident, a police officer in the area spotted smoke coming from one Cybertruck at a Tesla dealership on State Line Road shortly before midnight. The officer attempted to put out the flames using a fire extinguisher, but the fire spread to a second Cybertruck parked next to the original one, police said.
The Kansas City Fire Department ordered the bomb and arson unit to assist on the scene, the fire department said. Officials were able to put out the flames and the vehicles were “covered with a fire blanket to prevent reignition,” the fire department said.
“The circumstances are under investigation but preliminarily the fire is being investigated for the potential of being an arson,” police said in a statement on Monday.
There have been no arrests made for this incident, police said. The FBI is assisting the Kansas City Police Department in this investigation.
This follows a spree of similar incidents that have occurred across the country in the last few weeks.
Last week, “more than a dozen” shots were fired at a Tesla dealership in Tigard, Oregon, according to Kelsey Anderson, the public information officer at the Tigard Police Department.
Additionally, three Teslas were vandalized in Dedham, Massachusetts on March 11, according to the Dedham Police Department. Officials said “words had been spray-painted” on two Tesla Cybertrucks, with all four tires of the trucks and a Tesla Model S being “reportedly damaged.”
Earlier this month, a Tesla charging station was targeted in South Carolina, where an individual spray-painted an expletive directed at President Trump along with “LONG LIVE UKRAINE” on the ground in red paint and threw homemade Molotov cocktails at the station, according to the North Charleston Police Department.
Federal ATF agents arrested 24-year-old Daniel Clarke-Pounder in that incident, charging him with arson of property in interstate commerce.
During a search of his apartment, agents said they found a purple composition notebook that contained a three-page handwritten statement which asserted anti-government beliefs and statements opposed to DOGE.
“The statement made mention of sending a message based on these beliefs and was signed with the initials ‘DC,'” court records said.
Protests against the company have also occurred at dealerships nationwide. Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs told ABC News the demonstrations and the company’s plummeting stocks — which have tumbled nearly 48% this year — can all “be tied to [Musk’s] time at DOGE.”
“It has been a distraction for the company and it’s been a problem for the brand,” Frerichs said.
In recent weeks, four top officers at the company have sold off $100 million in stock, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Musk, the owner of X, said on Monday that his companies “make great products that people love and I’ve never physically hurt anyone, so why the hate and violence against me?”
“Because I am a deadly threat to the woke mind parasite and the humans it controls,” Musk said on X.
Musk has also reposted reactions that criticized previous Tesla attacks, including one that said those responsible for the Las Vegas attack are “terrorists and should be treated accordingly.”
A spokesperson for Tesla did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
ABC News’ Jack Moore and Aaron Katersky contributed to this report.
A woman was charged for allegedly holding her “severely emaciated” stepson in captivity for over 20 years, since he was 11 years old, and forcing him to endure “prolonged abuse, starvation, severe neglect, and inhumane treatment,” police said. Facebook / Waterbury Police Department
(WATERBURY, Conn.) — A crowdfunding effort has raised over $100,000 for a Connecticut man who was held captive for over 20 years in his home.
His stepmother was arrested last week for allegedly holding her “severely emaciated” stepson in captivity since he was 11 years old.
The now-32-year-old man suffered prolonged abuse, starvation, severe neglect and inhumane treatment, according to police. He had not received basic medical and dental care and an education.
The man is 5-foot-9 and weighed just 68 pounds when he was found, according to officials.
The crowdsourced effort, organized by Safe Haven of Greater Waterbury, will be used to pay for medical and dental care, counseling and therapy for physical and emotional recovery, housing and daily living expenses and support for legal fees, the nonprofit said.
Safe Haven of Greater Waterbury said it is in the process of setting up a trust for the man. The crowdfunding effort has gathered donations from over 300 people as of Wednesday morning.
The man was discovered on Feb. 17, when Waterbury Police Department officers, along with personnel from the Waterbury Fire Department, responded to a house fire.
The fire was quickly extinguished and two occupants were found inside the home at the time. The first person was identified as 56-year-old Kimberly Sullivan, the owner of the property who called authorities for help, and the second person was identified as a 32-year-old man who was later determined to be Sullivan’s stepson.
Sullivan was evacuated to safety following the fire but the male occupant, who had suffered smoke inhalation and exposure to the fire, had to be assisted from the home by Waterbury Fire Department personnel and was placed in the care of emergency medical services, police said.
Investigators quickly realized there was a room in the house that appeared to have exterior locks on the door and, as they began speaking to the male victim, he disclosed he had been held captive in the house for approximately 20 years.
The victim then told police he had started the fire, telling first responders, “I wanted my freedom,” officials said.
Sullivan’s lawyer defended his client and said it was the victim’s late father who was responsible.
“He was not locked in the room. She did not restrain him in any way. She provided food. She provided shelter. She is blown away by these allegations,” her lawyer, Ioannis Kaloidis, told New Haven ABC affiliate WTNH last week.
Kaloidis said the stepson’s late biological father “dictated how the boy would be raised.”
(NORMAN, Okla.) — Winds of up to 75 mph were fanning multiple fast-moving Oklahoma wildfires on Wednesday morning, prompting evacuation orders for towns in the path of the flames, officials said.
Firefighters are battling blazes in Logan, Pawnee, Beckham and Roger Mills counties, including one about seven miles northwest of Sweetwater, near the Oklahoma-Texas border, officials said.
Residents of Meridian were ordered to evacuate early Wednesday as a fire came within two miles of the Logan County town. Officials rescinded the order after several hours as a cold front developed and raised humidity in the area, officials said.
In Roger Mills County, residents of Durham and Dead Warrior Lake were also told to evacuate around 4 a.m. local time Wednesday, as a fire nearby was spreading rapidly, officials said.
The fires erupted amid red flag warnings for extreme fire danger that were issued by the National Weather Service.
“Firefighters and incident responders should anticipate extreme fire behavior, including wind-driven and torching fire,” the NWS office in Norman, Oklahoma, said in a social media post around 6 a.m.
There were no reports of injuries or structures damaged from the blazes.
The fires came on the heels of a 30,000 acre wildfire that erupted on Friday in Logan County and destroyed more than 100 homes. The Logan County fire was just 25% contained on Tuesday and officials suspect embers from the blaze caused the new fire near Meridian on Wednesday.
At one point over the weekend, there were 130 fires reported in 44 counties across Oklahoma that killed four people, destroyed more than 400 homes and burned a total of 170,000 acres, officials said.
The Oklahoma fires erupted amid severe weather across the South and Midwest, which included several deadly tornadoes and dust storms. At least 42 people were killed, including two young brothers in North Carolina when an uprooted tree fell on their mobile home.
Up to 26 million people were under red flag warnings on Wednesday morning from west Texas to Illinois. Dangerous fire conditions — including high winds, dry vegetation and low humidity — are also expected Wednesday in parts of West Virginia, eastern Ohio and eastern Kentucky.
Up to 75 million people were under high wind alerts on Wednesday in 20 states from Nebraska to Georgia.
Meanwhile, more than 3 million people were under a blizzard warning on Wednesday from Colorado to Minnesota, where blowing snow is expected to be so strong that visibility will be reduced to a quarter-mile or less, making travel on roadways hazardous. Snow accumulations could reach 2 to 10 inches across the area, with winds gusting over 70 mph.
A line of thunderstorms is expected to move through the upper Midwest on Wednesday, creating the risk of strong tornadoes. Cities with the greatest risk of seeing severe weather include Peoria and Springfield, Illinois. Severe weather is also expected to move into Chicago; Fort Wayne and Indianapolis, Indiana; and Louisville, Kentucky.
ABC News’ Kenton Gewecke and Ginger Zee contributed to this report.
Martin Pope/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
(LONDON) — Israel has resumed “focused ground operations” in the “center of the Gaza Strip” over the past 24 hours, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
Israeli forces have also taken control and “re-expanded their control to the center of the Netzarim” corridor — the line that separates northern Gaza from the south — an IDF spokesperson said.
As a part of the terms of the ceasefire deal that went into effect on Jan. 19, Israeli forces agreed to withdraw troops on the ground in Gaza to a buffer zone they carved out along the perimeter of Gaza, and troops remained in the Philadelphi corridor – the 8-mile-long border between Gaza and Egypt.
During phase one of the ceasefire deal, Israel withdrew completely from the Netzarim corridor.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned the residents of Gaza that “the evacuation of the population from the battle zones” in Gaza will “begin again soon,” in a video message in Hebrew on Wednesday.
Katz encouraged Gaza residents to go to “other places in the world for those who wish.”
“Take the advice of the U.S. President. Return the hostages and eliminate Hamas, and other options will open up for you — including going to other places in the world for those who wish,” Katz said.
Last month, President Donald Trump called for the forced displacement of Palestinians in Gaza, drawing wide international criticism and accusations from allies and the United Nations. He has since said that Palestinians should want to leave voluntarily due to the destruction.
Residents of Gaza are currently unable to leave on their own because the border crossing into Egypt is closed.
Israel’s current plan is to make Gaza unlivable, re-establish those so-called “humanitarian zones,” concentrate Palestinians in those bubbles or islands and from there offer voluntary transfer out of Gaza, retired Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi, a security hawk who continues to advise the military and defense ministry, told ABC News.
Avivi stressed leaving would be voluntary. They would be loaded on buses and sent through the Kerem Shalom crossing either to Ashdod port, or to an airport near Eilat.
Prior to resuming ground operations, an Israeli official told ABC News that its renewed campaign of strikes on the Gaza Strip would continue until all remaining hostages are released.
Palestinian health officials said that at least 436 people have been killed — including more than 130 children, according to UNICEF figures — since Israel renewed its bombardment of the coastal territory overnight Tuesday, marking the collapse of a ceasefire with Hamas that began in January. Another 678 people have been wounded, Palestinian officials said.
On Tuesday, an Israeli official told ABC News of Hamas, “They got hammered last night and they’re going to continue to be hammered until we get the hostages out.”
The official described the Israel Defense Forces’ renewed attacks against Hamas in Gaza as a “different form of negotiating,” and said Israel had “not closed the door” to talks resuming via mediators if Hamas is willing to accept further hostage-prisoner swaps.
An Israeli official told ABC News on Tuesday that the offensive will continue “as long as necessary,” and will “expand beyond air strikes.”
Far-right Israeli Minister Ben Gvir and his party have rejoined Netanyahu’s coalition in the Knesset, after leaving when the ceasefire went into effect earlier this year.
Gvir has extreme views and wants Netanyahu to go even further in Gaza. There is a vote on Israel’s budget at the end of March.
If Netanyahu’s coalition fails to pass that budget, his government falls, according to Israeli law.
Wednesday brought fresh strikes in Gaza. The IDF said it attacked what it called “a Hamas military site in northern Gaza where preparations were being made to fire projectiles at Israeli territory.”
The Israeli navy also “struck several vessels in the coastal area of the Gaza Strip,” which the IDF said were slated for use by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
The Ministry of Health in Gaza said Wednesday that one foreign staffer working for the United Nations was killed by an Israeli strike in central Gaza, with five others suffering “severe” injuries. The wounded were taken to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, the ministry said.
The IDF denied involvement. “Contrary to reports, the IDF did not strike a UN compound in Deir el Balah,” it said in a statement.
Israel’s renewed campaign in Gaza marked the end of nearly two months of relative quiet in the region, which has been devastated by intense fighting since October 2023. The ceasefire saw 33 Israeli hostages released from Gaza in return for the release of nearly 1,800 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons.
Fifty-nine hostages are believed to remain in Gaza — 24 of whom are presumed to be alive. Edan Alexander is the last American-Israeli hostage still thought to be alive.
Several members of Hamas’ administrative and civil wings were killed in the renewed strikes. They included Deputy Minister of the Interior Maj. Gen. Mahmoud Abu Tuffah and Deputy Minister of Justice Omar al-Hatta.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that his country would act against Hamas “with increasing intensity.”
“From now on, negotiations will only take place under fire,” he said in a statement. “Hamas has already felt the presence of our force in the last 24 hours and I want to assure you: This is just the beginning.”
“The military strike on Hamas and the release of our hostages are not contradictory goals — they are goals that are intertwined,” Netanyahu said.
The renewed offensive prompted major protests in Israel, including from the families of those still being held hostage in Gaza.
“The greatest fear of the families, the kidnapped and the citizens of Israel has come true,” the Hostage Families’ Forum said in a statement issued on Tuesday. “The Israeli government has chosen to give up on the kidnapped.”
ABC News’ Guy Davies, Jordana Miller, Diaa Ostaz, Samy Zyara, Dana Savir and Victoria Beaule contributed to this report.
(PITTSBURGH) — Joshua Riibe, the 22-year-old Minnesota college student who was with University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki the night she went missing on a spring break trip to the Dominican Republic, is trying to get a new passport to return back to the United States, according to his lawyers.
Riibe’s legal team confirmed to ABC News they are trying to get a new U.S. passport for Riibe from the U.S. Embassy in the Dominican Republic.
“The U.S. Embassy is in communication with Mr. Riibe, his family, and his lawyer and is providing all appropriate consular assistance,” the U.S. Embassy in the Dominican Republic told ABC News.
A Dominican judge ruled during a habeus corpus hearing Tuesday that Riibe is free to move without police surveillance around the Dominican Republic, because he is only a witness of an accident, not a suspect. But the judge did not give Riibe his passport back, because he said it was not in his jurisdiction to hand over the passport. The judge did not specify whose jurisdiction it is to give the passport back.
If the U.S. Embassy in the Dominican Republic issues Riibe a new passport, he will be able to use it to leave the country.
Riibe said in court on Tuesday that he is “ready to go home and go back to my life.”
Authorities have said they believe Konancki died by drowning in Punta Cana early on March 6, officials told ABC News.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — A day after a federal judge ordered the Justice Department to provide details about two deportation flights to El Salvador over the weekend, the Trump administration is escalating its legal battle against him.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg on Saturday blocked the Trump administration from deporting noncitizens under the Alien Enemies Act and ordered that they turn around two flights the administration said were deporting migrant gang members to El Salvador.
After officials failed to turn the flights around, Judge Boasberg demanded that they provide more information about the flights, under seal, but DOJ attorneys refused, citing national security concerns.
According to a court filing Wednesday morning, DOJ attorneys say they are considering invoking the state secrets privilege to deny the judge that information.
Despite signaling a willingness, in a filing Tuesday, to provide the information if it’s shielded from public view, the administration said Wednesday they should not be forced to provide the information privately.
“The underlying premise of these orders, including the most recent one requiring the production of these facts ex parte today at noon, is that the Judicial Branch is superior to the Executive Branch, particularly on non-legal matters involving foreign affairs and national security,” they wrote. “The Government disagrees. The two branches are coequal, and the Court’s continued intrusions into the prerogatives of the Executive Branch, especially on a non-legal and factually irrelevant matter, should end.”
President Donald Trump lashed out again at Boasberg Wednesday morning in a post on his Truth Social platform.
“If a President doesn’t have the right to throw murderers, and other criminals, out of our Country because a Radical Left Lunatic Judge wants to assume the role of President, then our Country is in very big trouble, and destined to fail!” Trump wrote.
The escalation comes after Trump called for Boasberg’s impeachment.
“Many people have called for his impeachment, the impeachment of this judge. I don’t know who the judge is, but he’s radical left,” Trump told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham in a Fox News interview on Tuesday.
“He was Obama-appointed, and he actually said we shouldn’t be able to take criminals, killers, murderers, horrible, the worst people, gang members, gang leaders, that we shouldn’t be allowed to take them out of our country,” Trump said. “That’s not for a local judge to be making that determination.”
In the wake of Trump’s call for impeachment, Chief Justice Roberts issued an unusual statement of rebuke.
“For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision,” Roberts said in the statement. “The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose.”
Congress can impeach a judge if a simple majority is reached in the House. If the articles were taken up and ultimately clear the House, the Senate would need to hold a trial. It would require a two-thirds majority vote in the upper chamber to convict a judge.
It’s rare, but not unprecedented, for members of Congress to file articles of impeachment against a judge.
Trump, meanwhile, brushed off Roberts’ criticism, saying, “He didn’t mention my name in the statement. I just saw it quickly. He didn’t mention my name.”
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump will speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday as talks continue to try to end the Russia-Ukraine war, according to sources familiar.
Their conversation will come one day after Trump failed to convince Russian President Vladimir Putin to agree to a 30-day total ceasefire proposed by the U.S. and backed by Ukraine, though Putin agreed to pause attacks on energy infrastructure.
Zelenskyy told ABC News Chief International Correspondent James Longman on Tuesday that he counted on having a conversation with Trump about the “details” of a partial energy ceasefire.
“We have always supported the ceasefire position and not to use any weapons against the energy infrastructure, and also we have supported the position of not to attack the naval corridors,” Zelenskyy said.
But Russia and Ukraine continued to trade strikes following Tuesday’s developments. Ukrainian authorities reported a drone attack on a hospital, while Moscow said Ukraine struck an oil depot facility.
The actions prompted Zelenskyy to say “only a real cessation by Russia of attacks on civilian infrastructure as evidence of a desire to end this war can bring peace close.”
Wednesday’s call will be the first between Trump and Zelenskyy since their Oval Office clash last month, in which Trump accused the Ukrainian leader of not being ready for peace and not holding any cards in negotiations.
Following the tense exchange, the Trump administration cut off military assistance and some intelligence sharing to Kyiv. Those tools, however, were reinstated after Ukraine agreed to a 30-day truce during talks with top U.S. officials in Saudi Arabia last week.
Trump had expressed optimism ahead of his call with Putin that there would a good chance of success in securing the monthlong ceasefire. But then in an interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham on Tuesday night, Trump conceded it “would have been tough.”
The Kremlin said following Tuesday’s call that in terms of the monthlong ceasefire, Russia “identified a number of significant issues related to ensuring effective control over a possible ceasefire along the entire line of contact.”
Plus, it said a key condition for ending the war would be the total “cessation” of military and intelligence assistance to Kyiv.
“Today, Putin effectively rejected the proposal for a full ceasefire. It would be right for the world to respond by rejecting any attempts by Putin to prolong the war,” Zelenskyy responded on Tuesday.
“Sanctions against Russia. Assistance to Ukraine. Strengthening allies in the free world and working toward security guarantees. And only a real cessation of strikes on civilian infrastructure by Russia, as proof of its willingness to end this war, can bring peace closer.”
Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump’s attempt to ban transgender people from military service continues an unfortunate history of the armed services excluding marginalized people from the “privilege of serving,” a federal judge wrote Tuesday night.
In a 79-page decision, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes blocked the Trump administration from enacting the policy and offered a scathing rebuke of the Pentagon’s development of the policy.
“The Court’s opinion is long, but its premise is simple. In the self-evident truth that all people are created equal, all means all. Nothing more. And certainly nothing less,” Judge Reyes wrote.
A Defense Department memo last month said the Pentagon will be required to form a procedure to identify transgender troops by March 26 and separate them from the military by June 25, unless they receive an exemption. This includes service members receiving some form of treatment or hormones for that diagnosis of gender dysphoria, as well as those who have gone through a gender-affirming surgery.
According to Reyes, the Trump administration failed to justify the policy by articulating its impact on military readiness, harmed thousands of transgender servicemembers, and likely violated the United States Constitution.
“The President has the power—indeed the obligation—to ensure military readiness. At times, however, leaders have used concern for military readiness to deny marginalized persons the privilege of serving,” Reyes wrote.
“[Fill in the blank] is not fully capable and will hinder combat effectiveness; [fill in the blank] will disrupt unit cohesion and so diminish military effectiveness; allowing [fill in the blank] to serve will undermine training, make it impossible to recruit successfully, and disrupt military order,” she added. “First minorities, then women in combat, then gays filled in that blank. Today, however, our military is stronger and our Nation is safer for the millions of such blanks (and all other persons) who serve.”
While the judge acknowledged that the judiciary should generally defer to military leadership, she said that permitting the policy to be enforced would be her following the Pentagon “blindly” after it justified the policy with “pure conjecture” during multiple court hearings.
Anticipating the Trump administration’s appeal, Reyes delayed her decision from taking effect until Friday so the Department of Justice could ask a higher court to stay her order.
“The Court knows that this opinion will lead to heated public debate and appeals. In a healthy democracy, both are positive outcomes. We should all agree, however, that every person who has answered the call to serve deserves our gratitude and respect. For, as Elmer Davis observed, ‘[t]his nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.’ The Court extends its appreciation to every current servicemember and veteran. Thank you,” the judge concluded her opinion.
There are currently 4,240 active-duty, National Guard and Reserve service members who have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria, a defense official previously told ABC News.
