Diddy trial day 23: ‘I don’t want any loose ends’: Witness testifies about Combs’ unraveling after Cassie’s lawsuit

Diddy trial day 23: ‘I don’t want any loose ends’: Witness testifies about Combs’ unraveling after Cassie’s lawsuit
Diddy trial day 23: ‘I don’t want any loose ends’: Witness testifies about Combs’ unraveling after Cassie’s lawsuit
Jefferson Siegel-Pool/Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — The walls were closing in on Sean “Diddy” Combs, his former girlfriend testified Monday, and the rap mogul turned fashion tastemaker was allegedly lashing out.

“I remember we were sleeping and one of the sons knocked on the door and said that something happened, and then I was just by myself,” the former girlfriend told a hushed Manhattan courtroom. “I went downstairs and could see everyone speaking amongst each other.”

Combs was huddling with his team and his family. They needed a response — urgently. A hotel security video obtained by CNN was being played repeatedly on national television, and it showed Combs kicking and beating another of his former romantic partners, the singer Cassie Ventura.

“They were trying to come up with some kind of sincere apology post or something regarding the video,” she said.

Testifying under the pseudonym “Jane,” the woman offered jurors a window into the last two years of Combs’s life, as legal troubles and bad publicity threatened to unravel his music empire and fiercely protected reputation.

Until that point, she said that Combs had not resorted to the type of violence Ventura said she suffered at Combs’ hands. But she told the jury she was subjected to the same coerced and degrading sex on demand with male prostitutes to satisfy Combs’ urges — just as Ventura has testified in her own account.

“I just couldn’t sleep. I was just reading these pages and going through a nightmare,” Jane testified, explaining her first reaction after reading Ventura’s 2023 lawsuit in which Ventura narrated a story that Jane said was painfully similar to the life she had been forced to lead. “I can’t believe I am reading my own story.”

Ventura’s lawsuit, settled only hours after it was filed for $20 million, was the first domino to fall, as Combs faced a wave of public criticism, a federal investigation, and criminal indictment. He is accused of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution. He could spend the rest of his life in prison if convicted on all counts. He denies all charges.

The emotional and graphic testimony from Jane comes as jurors are entering the fifth week of testimony in Combs’ sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy trial. His lawyers have told jurors that Combs is a flawed and violent man who has abused drugs and his romantic partners, but they insist he did not commit the crimes he is being tried for.

“Jane” testified that Ventura’s lawsuit was like “reading my own sexual trauma.”

Jane testified that she reached her breaking point with Combs by October 2023, after three years of what she believed was unrequited love. She told jurors how nearly every one of their dates or romantic getaways would become an opportunity for Combs to push her to have sex with male escorts during marathon sex parties she called “hotel nights” that could last days and were often fueled by drugs and booze.

“I’m not a porn star. I’m not an animal. I need a break. I don’t want to do anything. I’ve hit a wall,” Ventura texted Combs after he asked her to arrange a marathon evening of sex with a male prostitute while Combs watched and masturbated. “It’s been three years of me having f— strangers. I’m tired.”

Her testimony grew more emotional as she read aloud texts she sent Combs in 2023 in which she tried to salvage a relationship with the rapper without having to participate in the alleged prolonged orgies.

“My spirit and my soul is tired. I need a break,” she wrote in one message. “I can’t be used like this anymore. I wanted to make you happy but it’s creating a war inside me.”

As their relationship deteriorated, Jane told jurors that learning of Ventura’s lawsuit in November 2023 prompted her to look at her own relationship with Combs in a new light. She testified she nearly fainted when she recognized her own relationship with Combs in the pages of Ventura’s retelling.

“I can’t believe I am reading my own story,” Jane told jurors about learning about Ventura’s allegations.

In one of her messages to Combs, Jane wrote, “I feel like I’m reading my own sexual trauma.”

Jurors hear recording of Combs allegedly pressuring her into silence about sexual encounters

Three days after the lawsuit was filed, Combs and Jane spoke on the phone about the allegations. The jury heard a recording of the phone call taken from the phone of Combs’ top assistant after it was seized at the airport in Miami. Jane testified she did not know she was being recorded.

“This is when I need you to be there for me,” Combs is heard saying, as the recording echoed through the hushed courtroom. “You know we did all that s— together.”

“You know, I have been feeling so manipulated. What am I to do with that feeling? Who is there for me?” Jane is heard saying back.

Prosecutors then played for the jury a second recording of a call Combs made to Jane 22 minutes later.

“I need your friendship right now,” Combs is heard saying. “I can’t even talk on the phone. Please don’t send no texts.”

“I just needed to tell you that I need your friendship,” Combs is heard saying. “You know you ain’t got to worry about nothing else, you feel me?”

Jane testified she believed Combs was offering to continue paying her $10,000 monthly rent. Prosecutors have argued the recording is proof that Combs tried to tamper with Jane’s testimony by attempting to pressure her into saying their sexual interactions were consensual.

“Jane” said Combs threatened to release her sex tapes

As her relationship with Combs deteriorated in the days after Ventura’s lawsuit was filed, Jane testified that Combs escalated his threats. For the first time, she told jurors that Combs threatened to release videos he recorded of her having sex with male prostitutes.

She told the jury that Combs’ first threatened to release the tapes after he offered her money to end their relationship quietly.

“I remember he said, ‘Charge me, charge me, charge me for your resentment. I don’t want any loose ends,'” she alleged Combs said over a video call.

But after Jane requested hundreds of thousands of dollars to end the relationship — saying she deserved compensation for the three years she lost during their relationship — she testified that Combs erupted.

“F—- you. I am blocking you,” Combs texted Jane. “Leave me alone. Con artist.”

“You keep describing yourself. You conned me into…having strangers run trains on me,” she wrote back.

As their fight escalated — and Jane texted Combs that she would kill herself — Jane testified that Combs began to threaten to release the recordings of her having sex with other men.

“At the height of this anger, he said I am just going to show your child’s father these tapes. I have nothing to lose,” Jane testified.

She told the jury that she tried to contact Combs’ chief of staff, Kristina Khorram, to defuse the situation and stop Combs from releasing any of the tapes.

“Why did you reach out to [Khorram] after Sean threatened to release your tapes?” prosecutor Maureen Comey asked.

“Because [Khorram] is like his right brain – she is one of the people he listens to,” Jane testified.

Despite the threats to release her sex tapes and her concerns about the allegations in Ventura’s civil lawsuit, Jane told jurors that she reconciled with Combs by February 2024. She testified that she resumed participating in hotel nights — now hosted in private residences instead of hotel rooms — and spending time with Combs, even as negative publicity stemming from Ventura’s lawsuit was growing.

On the day in 2024 that federal agents raided Combs’ residences, she said an agent from Homeland Security Investigations left a card at her home. Jane testified she contacted Combs, who got her a lawyer, and that the rap mogul continues to pay for her legal expenses, even as her testimony is being used by prosecutors trying to lock Combs up for life.

“Jane” testified Combs attacked her, forced her to participate in sex with male escort

After the hotel video was broadcast, Jane testified she watched Sean Combs pledge in an Instagram post to become a “better man,” and next saw Combs in person on June 18, 2024.

“It was a very terrible day,” Jane testified.

She told the jury she had been “bottling up a lot of resentment and anger towards him” and confronted him about a younger woman who had accompanied him on a recent trip.

“I said, ‘You’re a pedophile,'” Jane testified. The woman he had been with was over 18, but “I felt like he was 25 or 27 years her senior,” Jane explained.

Jane told jurors that she initiated the fight, pushing Combs’ head into a counter and throwing candles at him. She said she retreated to her bedroom, shouting “just leave, just leave,” when he kicked open the door. She went into the bathroom, where, she said, Combs then kicked the bathroom door “literally off the hinges.”

Jane testified that Combs “kicked me on the back of my thigh,” causing her to fall. “He put me in a chokehold on the ground, and I couldn’t breathe,” she said.

Jane testified she managed to escape, hide for about two hours and return, thinking he would be gone. But, she testified, Combs once again found her and chased her to the backyard of the residence, where she balled herself up to protect her face from Combs’ attack.

Jane testified that Combs punched and kicked her while she was on the ground, grabbed her by the hair and arm and dragged her toward the house. Inside the house, Jane said she noticed Combs’ phone and tried to call the woman she believed Combs had travelled with.

“I took his phone, and I ended up calling the girl I assumed he was with,” Jane testified. “Sean was holding me down and making me listen to her insults.”

In the bathroom later, Jane testified she noticed two welts on her forehead and a black eye forming. She went to take a shower, where she testified that Combs slapped her face three times, causing her to lose balance.

“Sean said just put some ice on it and put an outfit on,” Jane testified, saying that she covered her bruises with makeup before a male escort, Anton, arrived.

In the bathroom preparing for the evening, Jane said she remembered Combs telling her, “Take this f—— pill. You’re not going to ruin my f—— night. Get out there and suck his d—.. F— him. I don’t care.”

“I don’t want to, I don’t want to, I don’t want to,” Jane said she responded. She told the jury that Combs got right in her face and asked, “Is this coercion?” before forcing her to take ecstasy and perform oral sex on Anton.

“For how long?” Comey asked.

“It just felt like forever,” Jane answered.

She said she received about $12,000 in cash from Combs’ bodyguard the next day to cover the damage to her home and the cost of the male escort. The jury saw multiple photos of the doors damaged by what she testified was “Sean’s kick,” which Jane said she sent to a repair company.

Jane testified she saw Combs a few days later at his home. The jury saw a video she took that captured her alleged injuries through the foundation and concealer she told the jury she had put on. The jury saw a second selfie video that also briefly captured the injuries she testified Combs inflicted.

“Jane” tells jury about her final interactions with Combs before his arrest

At the end of July 2024, Jane testified she visited Combs in Miami where she said he gave her the drug “liquid molly” and she had “high octane” sex with a male escort named Paul.

She said the final trip to see Combs in Miami occurred in August 2024, when she testified she had sex with a male escort named Don.

She told the jury that she originally planned to visit Combs in New York in September 2024, as Combs was staying at a hotel, on the verge of being arrested by federal authorities.

Their plans were cut short by agents who took him into custody.

“I guess he got arrested,” she told the jury.

She said she hasn’t seen Combs since August 2024 but has met with his defense attorneys as recently as April of this year. She testified that his lawyers were the first people she told about the violent incident in June 2024.

Jane said she has been in therapy for about three months and hired her own lawyer, though Combs still pays her legal bills and rent.

To conclude the direct questioning, a prosecutor asked Jane the pointed question: “Sitting here today, how do you feel about Sean now?”

“I just pray,” Jane testified, “for his continued healing and I pray for peace for him.”

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

New Orleans jail escape: Girlfriend of inmate arrested for allegedly aiding in jailbreak

New Orleans jail escape: Girlfriend of inmate arrested for allegedly aiding in jailbreak
New Orleans jail escape: Girlfriend of inmate arrested for allegedly aiding in jailbreak
Derrick Groves. (Louisiana State Police)

(NEW ORLEANS) — The girlfriend of one of the two remaining inmates who broke out of a New Orleans jail last month has been arrested for allegedly helping in his escape, officials said Monday.

Derrick Groves is among 10 inmates who escaped from the Orleans Justice Center on May 16, according to Louisiana State Police. Eight of the inmates have since been captured, but Groves and another inmate — Antoine Massey — remain on the run, police said.

Over a dozen people have been arrested on suspicion of helping the escapees, including another inmate in the jail and a jail maintenance worker who is accused of shutting off water to the toilet, allowing escapees to remove it.

Most recently, Darriana Burton, 28, of New Orleans, was arrested on Monday for allegedly helping Groves escape, the Louisiana Attorney General’s Office announced.

Burton is a former Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office correctional employee, according to the office, which described her and Groves as having an on-again, off-again relationship for three years.

She allegedly had an “active involvement in the planning phase of the escape,” according to the affidavit for her arrest warrant, including relaying “escape-related information” and coordinating communications between Groves and people outside the jail.

Two days before the escape, Groves and Burton had a FaceTime video call via the facility’s iPads during which Burton “was observed holding a secondary device in front of the camera” that displayed an unknown man in a separate FaceTime call, according to the affidavit.

“This conversation remained intentionally vague, as Groves, Burton and the unknown male appeared to recognize the call was being recorded,” the affidavit stated, noting that it was implied that Burton and the unknown man would have a separate, unmonitored call to allegedly discuss details of the escape.”

Shortly after the initial video call, the three were present on another call during which the unknown man “advised against the escape, calling it a ‘bad move’ and warning that it would trigger a ‘manhunt,'” the affidavit stated.

“This exchange confirmed that Burton had already disclosed the escape plan to the outside contact, actively soliciting his involvement,” the affidavit stated. “It further demonstrates her direct role in facilitating communication and supporting the coordination of Groves’ escape.

Burton has been transported to the Plaquemines Parish Jail and faces a felony charge of conspiracy to commit simple escape, officials said.

“We will continue to pursue anyone and everyone who has aided and abetted these criminals. We will find you, arrest you, and prosecute you to the full extent of the law,” Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said in a statement. “We will arrest all aiders and abettors, and we will eventually get Antoine Massey and Derrick Groves back to prison where they belong.”

Burton was employed at the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office from August 2022 until her termination in March 2023, the Louisiana Attorney General’s Office said. She was arrested and charged for allegedly bringing contraband into the jail and “malfeasance in office,” though the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office refused the charges, according to the state attorney general’s office.

The reward for the arrest of Groves and Massey increased to $50,000, authorities announced late last month, as police said they believe they are closing in on the “dangerous” fugitives.

Groves was convicted last year of two counts of second-degree murder in a 2018 Mardi Gras Day shooting and faces a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole, prosecutors said. Unrelated to that case, he also subsequently pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter, online court records show.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

DOJ says Milwaukee judge accused of helping undocumented immigrant evade arrest not immune from criminal prosecution

DOJ says Milwaukee judge accused of helping undocumented immigrant evade arrest not immune from criminal prosecution
DOJ says Milwaukee judge accused of helping undocumented immigrant evade arrest not immune from criminal prosecution
Scott Olson/Getty Images

(MILWAUKEE, WI) — Federal prosecutors argued Monday that a court should reject a Wisconsin judge’s attempt to have the obstruction case against her dismissed based on judicial immunity.

Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan, 65, was arrested by the FBI on April 25 and is charged with concealing a defendant, Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, to prevent his arrest by immigration authorities.

Prosecutors contend that her motion to dismiss the charges ignores “well-established law that has long permitted judges to be prosecuted for crimes they commit,” according to court documents.

“Her state judicial post is not a license to engage in conduct that violates federal criminal law,” wrote Richard Frohling, the Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin.

The government’s filing also takes aim at Dugan’s claim that federal agents on April 18 disrupted active proceedings in her courtroom when they showed up in the courthouse seeking to arrest Flores-Ruiz on alleged immigration violations, arguing that it was Dugan “who took it upon herself to interfere with the federal agents’ performance of their responsibilities,” according to the filing.

Prosecutors allege that “Dugan chose to pause an unrelated case, leave her courtroom, disrupt proceedings in a colleague’s courtroom to commandeer her assistance, and then confront agents in the public hallway.”

The filing goes on to allege that Dugan directed agents through a set of double doors to the chief judge’s office even though she knew the chief judge was not in the office. “Dugan quickly returned to her courtroom and, among other things, directed E.F.R.’s attorney to ‘take your client out and come back and get a date’ and then to go through the jury door and ‘down the stairs’ before physically escorting E.F.R. and his attorney into a non-public hallway with access to a stairwell that led to a courthouse exit,” stated the filing, which refers to Flores-Ruiz by his initials. “She did this all just days after thanking a colleague for providing information which explained that ICE could lawfully make arrests in the courthouse hallway.”

The filing is the first time federal prosecutors have alleged that Dugan instructed the man to go “down the stairs,” and the first time they have referenced access to a stairwell leading to an exit.

Video from more than two dozen surveillance cameras at the Milwaukee County Circuit Court, obtained by ABC News through a public records request, shows the man and his attorney did not, in fact, take the stairs after the encounter with the judge but exited a private door that led to a public hallway. From there, the video shows the man and his attorney take the elevator down to the court’s main floor while being followed by federal agents. The videos obtained by ABC News do not have sound.

Flores-Ruiz, who was due to appear before Dugan that day on a battery charge, was captured outside the court building after a brief foot chase.

“Put simply, nothing in the indictment or the anticipated evidence at trial supports Dugan’s assertion that agents ‘disrupted’ the court’s docket; instead, all events arose from Dugan’s unilateral, non-judicial, and unofficial actions in obstructing a federal immigration matter over which she, as a Wisconsin state judge, had no authority,” prosecutors said in the filing.

In the filing, the prosecution argues that even if judicial immunity applied in this case, it would “not help Dugan” because her actions “went well beyond her official role when she endeavored to prevent federal law enforcement officers from executing a valid arrest…in a public area of the Milwaukee County Courthouse.”

Dugan has pleaded not guilty to the charges, and a trial date is set for July 21.

Lawyers for Dugan, in part citing the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in President Donald Trump’s immunity case, have argued she has judicial immunity for official acts and that her prosecution is unconstitutional.

“The problems with this prosecution are legion, but most immediately, the government cannot prosecute Judge Dugan because she is entitled to judicial immunity for her official acts,” her attorneys wrote in a motion to dismiss filed last month. “Immunity is not a defense to the prosecution to be determined later by a jury or court; it is an absolute bar to the prosecution at the outset. The prosecution against her is barred. The Court should dismiss the indictment.”

The Wisconsin Supreme Court suspended Dugan in the wake of her arrest, stating in an order that it found it was “in the public interest that she be temporarily relieved of her official duties.”

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Trump says LA is under siege, but the mayor and governor paint a different picture

Trump says LA is under siege, but the mayor and governor paint a different picture
Trump says LA is under siege, but the mayor and governor paint a different picture
Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images

(LOS ANGELES) — President Donald Trump defended his decision to send the National Guard troops to Los Angeles to quash protests that turned violent, saying in a social media post on Sunday that “if we had not done so, Los Angeles would have been completely obliterated.”

Trump alleged the nation’s second largest city, which covers more than 500 square miles, had been “invaded and occupied by illegal aliens and criminals” and that he had directed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Attorney General Pam Bondi to coordinate with all relevant agencies to “take all such actions necessary to liberate Los Angeles from the Migrant Invasion, and put an end to these Migrant riots.”

While Trump has painted Los Angeles as being under siege and out of control, most of the demonstrations this past weekend over his administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration has been concentrated in downtown Los Angeles near the federal building and federal detention center. Other protests have also occurred outside of the downtown area, one in the Los Angeles County city of Paramount, about 14 miles from downtown, and another in Compton, which is next to Paramount, and about 12 miles from downtown LA, according to local law enforcement.

Meanwhile the rest of Los Angeles appeared to go about life as normal over the weekend. The city’s annual Pride Parade even took place on Sunday without incident in Hollywood about 7 miles from downtown.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and California Gov. Gavin Newsom have accused Trump of making sensational public claims about how widespread the violence has been, and both have said the Los Angeles police and sheriff’s departments could handle the unrest on their own.

“He flamed the fires and illegally acted” by mobilizing the National Guard to go to LA without the conscent of local and state officials, Newsom said of the president in a statement on Monday posted on social media. “The order he signed doesn’t just apply to CA. It will allow him to go into ANY STATE and do the same thing. We’re suing him.”

On Monday, a U.S. official confirmed that 700 Marines in California have been ordered to assist in Los Angeles and they’re expected to arrive over the next 24 hours, a U.S. official confirmed.

LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell has decried the escalation of violence during the protests, saying officers had been targeted with Molotov cocktails, fireworks and rocks.

But he also said Monday that the arrival of the military troops in Los Angeles “presents a significant logistical and operation challenge for those of us charged with safeguarding this city.”

“The Los Angeles Police Department, alongside our mutual aid partners, has decades of experience managing large-scale public demonstrations, and we remain confident in our ability to do so professionally and effectively. That said, our top priority is the safety of both the public and the officers on the ground,” McDonnell said.

At a news conference Monday evening, as the protests entered their fourth night — with some tense confrontations between protesters and police leading to the firing of less lethal munitions by police — Bass insisted the city could handle the unrest on its own.

Asked about the deployment of the Marines, Bass responded incredulously.

“We didn’t need the National Guard,” she told reporters. “Why on earth — what are they going to do? Do you know what the National Guard is doing now? They are guarding two buildings. They’re guarding the federal building here in downtown and they’re guarding the federal building in Westwood. That’s what they’re doing. So they need Marines on top of it, I don’t understand that.”

Trump bypassed Newsom and activated 2,100 California National Guard troops, including 1,700 on the ground in Los Angeles as of Monday night and the remainder on standby to be sent there, the U.S. Northern Command said in a social media post late Monday night. It marks the first time a president has mobilized troops without a governor’s consent since President Lyndon B. Johnson did so in 1965, when he sent National Guard troops to Alabama to protect civil rights activists marching from Selma to Montgomery.

Protest erupts

The protests erupted on Friday in downtown Los Angeles after word filtered into the community that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were conducting raids on multiple locations in the downtown area without the consent of city officials, including a Home Depot in the Westlake neighborhood near downtown. The raids resulted in the arrests of 40 people, 35 of them Mexican citizens, Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Sunday.

Dozens of protesters began gathering in the Fashion District of downtown, where one of the raids occurred at an apparel business, officials said. Around 3 p.m. local time on Friday, aerial footage taken by ABC Los Angeles station KABC, showed what appeared to be ICE agents loading two white vans with people in handcuffs. As the vans left the apparel business, protesters tried unsuccessfully to stop them, including one individual who was seen lying down the road in the path of one of the vans.

As the raids were unfolding on Friday, Mayor Bass, issued a post on X, condemning ICE’s actions, writing, “we will not stand for this.”

Around 6 p.m. on Friday, crowds gathered outside the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building and the U.S. Courthouse downtown and began vandalizing the buildings, spay painting profanities directed at ICE on the facade and clashing with ICE agents. Federal authorities asked the LAPD to assist around 6:30 p.m., but it took city officers about an hour to arrive at the scene due to “significant traffic congestions, and the presence of demonstrators, and notably, by the fact that federal agents had deployed irritants into the crowd prior to LAPD’s arrival.”

The LAPD declared the protest an “unlawful assembly” soon after officers arrived on scene on Friday night, writing on social media that “officers are reporting that a small group of violent individuals are throwing large pieces of concrete” and warning protesters that “the use of less lethal munitions has been authorized by the Incident Commander” to disperse the crowd.

“Within 55 minutes of receiving the call, we began to disperse the hostile and riotous crowd,” the LAPD said.

Video showed police in riot gear confronting protesters with batons and firing what appeared to be tear gas canisters and flash bangs at the demonstators.

Around the same time, a protest broke out in neighboring Compton, where a vehicle was set ablaze in the street near the iconic Dale’s Donuts sign, according to video taken at the scene.

Demonstration moves to Paramount

On Saturday, the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department received calls around 10:15 a.m. that a “significant” crowd was gathering in Paramount and obstructing traffic and that deputies observed the presence of federal agents in the area.

“As the situation escalated, the crowd of protesters became increasingly agitated, throwing objects and exhibiting violent behavior toward federal agents and deputy sheriffs,” the sheriff’s department said in a statement. “In response, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) requested additional resources countywide, deploying additional deputies to maintain order.”

The sheriff’s department said it responded to the scene to protect federal agents under attack, but emphasized, “This does not mean that we are assisting with their immigration actions or operations.”

Bass said that there were no ICE raids in Paramount or anywhere else in Los Angeles County on Saturday. She said the building that protesters gathered near was being used as a staging area for federal resources.

The LAPD said 29 people were arrested during Saturday’s protest, mostly for failing to disperse, but overall it said in a statement that demonstrations across the city of Los Angeles on Saturday “remained peaceful, and we commend all those who exercised their First Amendment rights responsibly.”

Trump deploys National Guard

On Saturday night, Trump signed a presidential memorandum authorizing the deployment of National Guard members to Los Angeles, saying it was necessary to “address the lawlessness” in Los Angeles.

Newsom called Trump’s move, “purposely inflammatory and will only escalate tensions.”

Bass agreed and issued a plea to the White House to reverse the decision.

“Deploying federalized troops on the heels of these raids is a chaotic escalation,” Bass said in a statement posted on social media on Saturday afternoon. “The fear people are feeling in our city right now is very real — it’s felt in our communities and within our families and it puts our neighborhoods at risk. This is the last thing that our city needs, and I urge protestors to remain peaceful.”

Newsom called the president’s decision “an alarming abuse of power.”

Around 2:18 a.m. local time time on Sunday, the LAPD issued a traffic advisory, reporting that demonstrators were approaching the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles and warned that the unlawful assembly order declared on Friday was still in effect. Around the same time, the LAPD said it received reports that demonstrators were jumping onto the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation tracks near the Little Tokyo Train Station downtown, causing all trains to be halted as officers reponded.

The National Guard began arriving in Los Angeles around 4 a.m. on Sunday, taking up a position outside the Roybal federal building.

Protesters who defied the order to stay away, assembled in front of the Roybal federal building and detention center, heckling National Guard members and police within earshot. Around 3:30 p.m., the LAPD issued another traffic advisory that a group of demonstrators was marching into the downtown area.

Later Sunday, demonstrators began approaching to 101 Freeway and eventually got onto the southbound lanes of the freeway, prompting authorities to close the freeway in both directions, police said.

The protest soon devolved into demonstrators standing on an overpass throwing concrete, bottles and other objects at officers attempting to remove demonstrators from the freeway.

As the protest grew more rowdy, several Waymo autonomous vehicles were set on fire in the downtown area, prompting the company to halt service to downtown LA. Police said protesters threw fireworks at officers during the standoff and police said stores were looted in the downtown area.

Officials said two LAPD officers were injured by motorcyclists attempting to breach a skirmish line police had established.

The LAPD said 21 people were arrested on Sunday on charges ranging from attempted murder with a Molotov cocktail to looting to failure to disperse. The California Highway Patrol said 19 people were arrested for disobeying orders to disperse from the 101 Freeway.

The LAPD announced on Monday that the police force was going on “Tactical Alert,” meaning all personnel are to remain on duty as the city braced for another evening of protests.

As protests in Los Angeles entered their fourth night, photos from the scene showed tense moments as demonstrators confronted authorities.

At one point, police said protesters near Temple Street and Los Angeles Street in downtown LA began throwing objects at police and police authorized the use of “less lethal munitions” in response.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Spirit Airlines plane passenger calls in fake bomb threat after missing flight: Officials

Spirit Airlines plane passenger calls in fake bomb threat after missing flight: Officials
Spirit Airlines plane passenger calls in fake bomb threat after missing flight: Officials
Detroit Metro Airport

(DETROIT) — A Michigan man has been arrested after missing his flight to Los Angeles and calling in a fake bomb threat after being made to book another flight, officials said.

The incident took place last Thursday at approximately 6:25 a.m. at Detroit Metropolitan Airport when an individual, later identified as 23-year-old John Charles Robinson of Monore, Michigan, “used a cell phone to call into Spirit Airlines and conveyed false information about a bomb threat to Flight 2145 departing from Detroit Metro bound for Los Angeles,” according to a statement from United States Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon, Jr. from the Eastern District of Michigan United States Attorney’s Office.

“During the call, Robinson stated in part, ‘I was calling about 2145… because I have information about that flight,’ and ‘there’s gonna be someone who’s gonna try to blow up the airport,’ and ‘there’s gonna be someone that’s gonna try to blow up that flight, 2145,’” according to the affidavit. “After giving a description of an individual, he then stated: ‘they’re going to be carrying a bomb through the TSA,’ and ‘they’re still threatening to do it, they’re still attempted to do it, they said it’s not going to be able to be detected. Please don’t let that flight board.’”

The flight was immediately canceled, officials said and the flight’s passengers and crew were deplaned for safety precautions.

“Bomb sniffing dogs and FBI agents were deployed to sweep the airplane, officials said. “No bomb or explosives were found.”

Federal agents investigating the bomb threat soon learned that Robinson was booked on Flight 2145 but missed the flight and was told at the gate that he needed to rebook.

“FBI agents subsequently arrested Robinson when he returned to the airport to depart on another flight bound for Los Angeles,” officials said.

After taking Robinson into custody, authorities played back the phone call that was made for him.

“Robinson listened to the above-mentioned recording and confirmed he was the one that made the recorded phone call to Spirit Airlines,” officials said. “Robinson also stated that the phone number that called the bomb threat in to Spirit Airlines was his phone number (and had been for approximately 6 years), that the target cellular device was his device, and he gave written consent for a search of his device.”

Robinson was subsequently charged with two charges. The first being use of a cellphone to threaten/maliciously convey false information concerning an attempt or alleged attempt to damage/destroy an airplane by means of an explosive and the second being false information and hoaxes.

“No American wants to hear the words ‘bomb’ and ‘airplane’ in the same sentence. Making this kind of threat undermines our collective sense of security and wastes valuable law enforcement resources,” said U.S. Attorney Gorgon.

“Anyone who threatens to bomb an aircraft and endanger public safety will be swiftly investigated and brought to justice,” said Cheyvoryea Gibson, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Detroit Field Office. “The alleged bomb threat prompted a coordinated response by our FBI Detroit Joint Terrorism Task Force, in partnership with the Wayne County Airport Authority Police Department and the U.S. Federal Air Marshal Service, leading to the arrest of John Robinson as he attempted to board another flight at Detroit Metropolitan Airport. We remain committed to protecting the public and confronting those who seek to spread fear in our communities.”

Robinson appeared in federal court in Detroit on Friday afternoon and was released on a $10,000 bond, according to court documents. His next court appearance will be June 27 for a preliminary examination.

The case against Robinson is being investigated by special agents from the FBI and is currently ongoing.

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Hegseth to testify on Capitol Hill as House Dem calls Marine deployment to LA ‘outrageous’

Hegseth to testify on Capitol Hill as House Dem calls Marine deployment to LA ‘outrageous’
Hegseth to testify on Capitol Hill as House Dem calls Marine deployment to LA ‘outrageous’
Kiran Ridley/Getty Images

(WASHINGTON) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is expected to testify before a House panel on Tuesday, his first time on Capitol Hill since being sworn in five months ago and as questions swirl about the deployment of troops to Los Angeles as part of an immigration crackdown.

Hegseth planned to appear before the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee alongside Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, and acting Pentagon Comptroller Bryn Woollacott MacDonnell to discuss the administration’s upcoming 2026 budget request.

During the hearing, Hegseth is widely expected to dodge many of the specifics on the military’s spending blueprint, which has not been released, and instead highlight recent gains in recruiting numbers and new technology initiatives in the Army.

But overshadowing much of his testimony will be the Pentagon’s decision to send some 4,800 troops, including 700 Marines, to Los Angeles following several days of clashes between protesters and law enforcement there. The troops, known as Task Force 51, are being called under a law known as Title 10, which allows the president to send military forces to protect federal property and personnel.

Gen. Eric Smith, commandant of the Marine Corps, is scheduled to testify separately Tuesday before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

On the eve of Hegseth’s testimony, Rep. Betty McCollum on Minnesota, the top Democrat on the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, accused President Donald Trump of deliberately escalating the situation in Los Angeles by pushing for military reinforcements not requested by California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. She called decision to send Marines in particular “outrageous.”

“The active duty military has absolutely no legal role in domestic law enforcement. President Trump and Secretary Hegseth should read the Constitution and follow the law,” she said.

The Pentagon has not had a news conference since the deployment of troops to Los Angeles, referring reporters with questions about the mission to Hegseth’s posts on X.

On X, Hegseth said the troops were needed to protect federal immigration officers and detention buildings.

“There is plenty of room for peaceful protest, but ZERO tolerance for attacking federal agents who are doing their job. The National Guard, and Marines if need be, stand with ICE,” Hegseth said in a statement.

U.S. officials said the troops would carry guns and ammunition separately for use only in self-defense and to protect federal property. They would not patrol the streets or help law enforcement arrest protesters, the officials said.

Unclear is whether Trump is preparing to invoke the Insurrection Act, an 1807 law that says the president can call on a militia or the U.S. armed forces if there’s been “any insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy” in a state that “opposes or obstructs the execution of the laws of the United States or impedes the course of justice under those laws.”

On his Truth Social platform on Sunday, Trump referred to the L.A. protesters as “violent, insurrectionist mobs” and “paid insurrectionists.”

When asked if Hegseth had spoken with Trump on Monday, Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson told ABC News, “the Secretary is in regular contact with the President regarding the National Guard presence in Los Angeles.”

Following his testimony, Hegseth is expected to travel with the president to Fort Bragg in North Carolina on Tuesday to participate in activities tied to the Army’s 250th birthday celebration.

Under Hegseth, the military has taken over control of hundreds of miles along the U.S. southern border with Mexico in an effort to tamp down unauthorized entry by migrants. He’s also eliminated programs aimed at increasing diversity among military personnel, slashed the number of general officers and initiated efforts to build a $175 billion U.S. missile defense shield.

At the same time, Hegseth also faces reports of dysfunction and infighting among his personal staff at the Pentagon. Since his Jan. 25 swearing in, Hegseth has fired or sidelined several of his own top political advisers and he’s gone without a chief of staff since April.

Tuesday’s hearing also would be Hegseth’s first appearance since revelations that he relied on a commercial messaging app known as Signal to relay details about a pending military attack to other high-ranking officials and others, including his wife. Hegseth’s use of Signal is now under internal investigation by the Defense Department’s inspector general.

ABC’s Luis Martinez contributed to this report.

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New Jersey holds primaries for governor, setting up a key 2025 race

New Jersey holds primaries for governor, setting up a key 2025 race
New Jersey holds primaries for governor, setting up a key 2025 race
From left, Ed Kelly, general president of the International Association of Fire Fighters, Reps. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., and Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J., conduct a news conference to advocate for inclusion of the state and local tax (SALT) deduction in the Build Back Better Act reconciliation bill, outside the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, December 8, 2021. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

(TRENTON, NJ) — Voters head to the polls on Tuesday for New Jersey’s primary elections, which will set up the state’s 2025 gubernatorial election — the results of which could be a potential harbinger for the mood of the country ahead of 2026’s critical midterm elections.

The Democratic candidates are sparring over how to best respond to President Donald Trump’s agenda in the Garden State and each hopes to keep the state’s governorship in Democratic hands. The state’s current governor, Democrat Phil Murphy, can’t run again after serving two terms.

There are six candidates in the Democratic primary. Polling has shown that Rep. Mikie Sherrill, a former Navy helicopter pilot who represents the state’s 11th Congressional District, leads the crowded Democratic field, but the race could still be anyone’s to win.

The other Democratic candidates are Rep. Josh Gottheimer, who represents the state’s 5th District; Newark Mayor Ras Baraka; Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop; New Jersey Education Association President Sean Spiller; and former state Senate president Steve Sweeney.

Republicans, meanwhile, hope to flip New Jersey’s governorship red in November and also have a crowded primary field. President Donald Trump has endorsed former state assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli, who ran for governor in 2021, narrowly losing to Murphy.

“This year’s election for governor is critical for New Jersey’s future. You’ll decide whether New Jersey is a high tax, high crime, sanctuary state,” Trump said during a rally held by telephone last week. “New Jersey is ready to pop out of that blue horror show.”

Ciattarelli faces conservative radio personality Bill Spadea, state Sen. Jon Bramnick, former Englewood Cliffs Mayor Mario Kranjac, and contractor Justin Barbera.

The contest is on track to become the priciest election in New Jersey history, with over $85 million spent on advertising as of last Wednesday, according to a report from media tracking agency AdImpact.

Among Democrats, Gottheimer has the most ad spending supporting him ($22.8 million), followed by Fulop ($17.8 million).

Ciattarelli leads among Republicans with $5.9 million in ad spending or reservations supporting him, dwarfing Spadea’s $2.2 million and Bramnick’s $1.2 million.

About 70% of broadcast ad airings have mentioned Trump, according to AdImpact.

-ABC News’ Emily Chang and Halle Troadec contributed to this report.

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Several dead in Austrian school shooting, local police say

Several dead in Austrian school shooting, local police say
Several dead in Austrian school shooting, local police say

(LONDON and PARIS) — Several people are dead and several others are injured after a shooting at a school in Graz, Austria, local police told ABC News by phone Tuesday.

Austrian state police also said on social media that there had been several fatalities at the school, the BORG Dreierschützengasse.

“The reason for the deployment was heard gunshots in the building,” the Styria State Police said in a message posted on social media, later adding, “The school was evacuated and all persons were brought to a safe meeting point.”

Several emergency vehicles, including Cobra tactical vehicles, were traveling to the site, police said.

The city of Graz sits in southern Austria, in the Styria province. It’s the second-largest Austrian city by population, with about 300,000 residents.

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

ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman contributed to this report.

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Zelenskyy demands ‘action from America’ after latest Russian drone, missile attack

Zelenskyy demands ‘action from America’ after latest Russian drone, missile attack
Zelenskyy demands ‘action from America’ after latest Russian drone, missile attack
Ukrinform/NurPhoto via Getty Images

(ODESA, UKRAINE) — At least two people were killed in the Ukrainian city of Odesa overnight into Tuesday morning amid another night of intense nationwide Russian drone and missile strikes.

Ukraine’s air force said in a post to Telegram that Russia launched a total of 322 “air attack vehicles” into the country, among them 315 drones and seven missiles. The air force said 277 drones were shot down or otherwise neutralized, as were seven missiles.

Kyiv’s military administration said that at least four people were injured. “The majority of the damage was sustained by civilian infrastructure,” the administration wrote in a post to Telegram.

Two people were also killed in Odesa, local authorities said, with nine others injured. Among the buildings hit in the Black Sea coastal city were a maternity hospital and an emergency medical center, officials said.

Closer to the front, local officials said that three people were killed and eight injured in the eastern Donetsk region by artillery fire and drone attacks. One person was killed and eight injured in the southern city of Kherson, local authorities said.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a post to social media that Kyiv, Odesa, Dnipro and Chernihiv regions were targeted. Russia’s bombardment included at least two North Korean-made ballistic missiles, he added.

“Residential buildings and urban infrastructure were damaged,” Zelenskyy wrote. “In Odesa, even a maternity hospital became a Russian target. Thirteen people were injured. Tragically, there are fatalities. My condolences to the families.”

“It is vital that the response to this and other similar Russian attacks is not silence from the world, but concrete action,” Zelenskyy said in his statement.

“Action from America, which has the power to force Russia into peace,” he continued. “Action from Europe, which has no alternative but to be strong. Action from others around the world who called for diplomacy and an end to the war — and whom Russia has ignored. There must be strong pressure for the sake of peace.”

Ukraine continued its own drone strike campaign overnight, according to Russia’s Defense Ministry. Russian forces downed 103 Ukrainian drones on Monday night and Tuesday morning, the ministry said in a post to Telegram.

Monday night’s attacks came 24 hours after Russian forces targeted regions throughout Ukraine with more than 470 attack drones — one of the largest aerial strikes of the war, according to Ukraine’s air force.

Earlier Monday, Russia and Ukraine held the first stage of a prisoner swap following an agreement reached during peace talks in Istanbul, Turkey.

ABC News’ Oleskiy Pshemyskiy, Morgan Winsor and Joe Simonetti contributed to this report.

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Zelenskyy: US moved ‘20,000 missiles’ to fight drones from Ukraine to the Middle East

Zelenskyy: US moved ‘20,000 missiles’ to fight drones from Ukraine to the Middle East
Zelenskyy: US moved ‘20,000 missiles’ to fight drones from Ukraine to the Middle East
ABC News

(WASHINGTON) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told ABC News’ Martha Raddatz that his defense minister told him Friday the U.S. had transferred anti-drone weapons which defended against Russian attacks.

Zelenskyy said the U.S. would divert “20,000 missiles” from Ukraine’s arsenal to the Middle East, where it appears the U.S. would use them for its own force protection.

“Without the help of the United States, we will have more losses,” Zelenskyy told Raddatz in Kyiv last week.

The move comes as Russia ramps up its drone attacks and after Ukraine struck deep inside Russia with its own drones last week, shocking Russia in a clandestine operation.

Overnight Sunday, Russia launched 479 drones and 20 missiles into Ukraine in an attack the Ukrainian Air Force called an “absolute record” for a Russian aerial offensive.

The Pentagon declined to confirm the assets were being relocated.

The Ukrainian president said the assets were “not expensive, but [a] special technology” which specifically defended against Shahed drones.

The Shaheds are an inexpensive drone originally made by Iran and imported by Moscow. Russia now mass produces them.

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that the Pentagon authorized a transfer of an anti-drone technology utilized by Ukraine to take down Russian drones.

“We counted on these 20,000 missiles,” Zelesnkyy told Raddatz in their exclusive Friday sit-down. He said that earlier in the day, “my Minister of Defense told me that United States moved it to the Middle East.”

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