(PARIS, FRANCE) — Kim Kardashian made a defiant walk into Paris’ Palace of Justice in May, to face the criminals who held the reality star at gunpoint and robbed in 2016. The trial’s shocking outcome would only prompt more questions.
Ten suspects, dubbed the “Grandpa Robbers” by French media because most of them were in their 60s and 70s, stood trial in Paris for the notorious 2016 jewel heist that terrorized the reality star.
Despite finding eight of the 10 suspects guilty of crimes related to the 2016 heist, the French court allowed all defendants to walk free, with some receiving suspended sentences or credit for time already served. The judge cited the defendants’ ages and health concerns as reasons for leniency. Two were acquitted.
The crime occurred during Paris Fashion Week in October 2016, when Kardashian was staying at the exclusive “No Name Hotel,” reportedly known for hosting celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio and Madonna. That night, while Kardashian’s security detail accompanied her sister Kourtney to a nightclub, the robbers struck.
In an interview with ABC News, Yunice Abbas, one of the convicted robbers, said he didn’t even know who Kardashian was at the time.
“I was always told ‘wife of an American rapper,'” Abbas said.
The robbers, wearing fake police jackets, first confronted the hotel’s night concierge, Abderrahmane Ouatiki. They forced him at gunpoint to lead them to Kardashian’s suite.
“When you feel the cold steel of a gun on the back of your neck, you have to be calm,” Ouatiki told ABC News. “You have to be wise in such situations.”
The thieves escaped with more than $6 million worth of jewelry, including Kardashian’s upgraded 18.8-carat wedding ring from then-husband Kanye West. In their hasty bicycle getaway, Abbas admitted to falling and spilling some of the stolen jewels on the street.
Following the verdict, Kardashian, who has become an advocate for criminal justice reform, released a statement.
“While I’ll never forget what happened, I believe in the power of growth and accountability and pray for healing for all. I remain committed to advocating for justice, and promoting a fair legal system.”
The outcome of the trial surprised even the defendants. When asked if he expected the lenient sentence, Abbas responded with a simple “No” as he left the courthouse a free man.
The unexpected verdict left some questioning the French justice system.
“I respect Kim Kardashian, but I call foul. Justice was not served,” legal commentator Nancy Grace told ABC News. “They should be in jail for what they did.”
(TENNESSEE) Mistakenly deported Salvadoran native Kilmar Abrego Garcia has been brought back to the United States where he will face criminal charges for allegedly transporting undocumented migrants within the U.S.
More than two months after the Trump administration admitted it mistakenly deported Abrego Garcia from Maryland to his native El Salvador, a federal grand jury has indicted him for allegedly transporting undocumented migrants within the United States.
A two-count indictment, which was filed under seal in federal court in Tennessee last month and unsealed Friday, alleges Abrego Garcia, 29, participated in a yearslong conspiracy to haul undocumented migrants from Texas to the interior of the country.
The alleged conspiracy spanned nearly a decade and involved the domestic transport of thousands of noncitizens from Mexico and Central America, including some children, in exchange for thousands of dollars, according to the indictment.
Abrego-Garcia is alleged to have participated in more than 100 such trips, according to the indictment. Among those allegedly transported were members of the Salvadoran gang MS-13, sources familiar with the investigation said.
Abrego-Garcia is the only member of the alleged conspiracy charged in the indictment.
His return to the U.S. comes after the Trump administration repeatedly said that they were unable to bring him back despite his mistaken deportation.
Attorney General Pam Bondi, at a Friday afternoon press conference, thanked Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele for “agreeing to return Abrego Garcia to the United States.”
“Our government presented El Salvador with an arrest warrant and they agreed to return him to our country,” Bondi said.
Bondi said that if Abrego Garcia is convicted of the charges, upon the completion of his sentence he will be deported back to his home country of El Salvador.
“The grand jury found that over the past nine years, Abrego Garcia has played a significant role in an alien smuggling ring,” Bondi said. “They found this was his full time job, not a contractor. He was a smuggler of humans and children and women. He made over 100 trips, the grand jury found, smuggling people throughout our country.”
The decision to pursue the indictment against Abrego Garcia led to the abrupt departure of Ben Schrader, a high-ranking federal prosecutor in Tennessee, sources briefed on Schrader’s decision told ABC News. Schrader’s resignation was prompted by concerns that the case was being pursued for political reasons, the sources said.
Schrader, who spent 15 years in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Nashville and was most recently the chief of the criminal division, did not respond to messages from ABC News seeking comment.
In a statement to ABC News, Abrego Garcia’s attorney said that he’s going to keep fighting to ensure Abrego Garcia receives a fair trial.
“From the beginning, this case has made one thing painfully clear: The government had the power to bring him back at any time. Instead, they chose to play games with the court and with a man’s life,” said attorney Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg. “We’re not just fighting for Kilmar — we’re fighting to ensure due process rights are protected for everyone. Because tomorrow, this could be any one of us — if we let power go unchecked, if we ignore our Constitution.”
In a detention memo filed Friday afternoon in court in Tennessee, federal prosecutors moved to have Abrego Garcia held in pretrial custody “because he poses a danger to the community and a serious risk of flight, and no condition or combination of conditions would ensure the safety of the community or his appearance in court.”
Federal prosecutors, in a detention memo filed this afternoon in court in Tennessee, have moved for pre-trial detention of Abrego Garcia, writing that “…the United States will request that the defendant be held in pretrial custody because he poses a danger to the community and a serious risk of flight, and no condition or combination of conditions would ensure the safety of the community or his appearance in court.”
“If convicted at trial, the defendant faces a maximum punishment of 10 years’ imprisonment for ‘each alien’ he transported,” the memo said, “Accordingly, the sentencing exposure for the defendant — given the number of undocumented aliens involved — goes well beyond the remainder of the defendant’s life.”
Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran native who had been living with his wife and children in Maryland, was deported in March to El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison — despite a 2019 court order barring his deportation to that country due to fear of persecution — after the Trump administration claimed he was a member of the criminal gang MS-13. His wife and attorneys deny that he is an MS-13 member.
The Justice Department’s move to criminally prosecute Abrego Garcia represents the most aggressive step yet in the administration’s efforts to gather potentially incriminating information about Abrego Garcia’s background, following a federal judge’s order requiring the government to facilitate his return to the U.S. to be afforded due process in deportation proceedings.
The Trump administration has acknowledged in court filings that Abrego Garcia’s removal to El Salvador in March was in error, because it violated a U.S. immigration court order in 2019 that shielded Abrego Garcia from deportation to his native country, according to immigration court records. An immigration judge had determined that Abrego Garcia would likely face persecution there by local gangs that had allegedly terrorized him and his family.
The administration argued, however, that Abrego Garcia should not be returned to the U.S. because he is a member of the transnational Salvadoran gang MS-13, a claim his family and attorneys have denied. In recent weeks, Trump administration officials have been publicizing Abrego Garcia’s interactions with police over the years, despite a lack of corresponding criminal charges.
In March, Abrego Garcia’s family filed a lawsuit over his deportation. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis in Maryland ultimately ordered the Trump administration to facilitate his return to the U.S. The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed that ruling on April 10.
Abrego Garcia was initially sent to El Salvador’s notorious CECOT prison but was believed to have later been transferred to a different facility in the country.
The criminal investigation that led to the charges was launched in April as federal authorities began scrutinizing the circumstances of a 2022 traffic stop of Abrego Garcia by the Tennessee Highway Patrol, according to the sources. Abrego Garcia was pulled over for speeding in a vehicle with eight passengers and told police they had been working construction in Missouri.
According to body camera footage of the 2022 traffic stop, the Tennessee troopers — after questioning Abrego Garcia — discussed among themselves their suspicions that Abrego Garcia might be transporting people for money because nine people were traveling without luggage, but Abrego Garcia was not ticketed or charged.
The officers ultimately allowed Abrego Garcia to drive on with just a warning about an expired driver’s license, according to a report about the stop released last month by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Asked what circumstances have changed since Abrego Garcia was not taken in custody during that traffic stop in Tennessee, Bondi replied, “What has changed is Donald Trump is now president of the United States, and our borders are again secure, and thanks to the bright light that has been shined on Abrego Garcia — this investigation continued with actually amazing police work, and we were able to track this case and stop this international smuggling ring from continuing.”
Asked by ABC News’ Pierre Thomas asked whether this should be seen as resolving the separate civil case in Maryland in which a federal judge ordered the government to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said, “There’s a big difference between what the state of play was before the indictment and after the indictment. And so the reason why he is back and was returned was because an arrest warrant which was presented to the government and in El Salvador. So there’s, there’s a big difference there as far as whether it makes the ongoing litigation in Maryland moot. I would think so, but we don’t know about this. He just landed today.”
As ABC News first reported last month, the Justice Department had been quietly investigating the Tenessee traffic stop. As part of the probe, federal agents in late April visited a federal prison in Talladega, Alabama to question Jose Ramon Hernandez-Reyes, a convicted felon who was the registered owner of the vehicle Abrego Garcia was driving when stopped on Interstate 40 east of Nashville, sources previously told ABC News. Hernandez-Reyes was not present at the traffic stop.
Hernandez-Reyes, 38, is currently serving a 30-month sentence for illegally re-entering the U.S. after a prior felony conviction for illegal transportation of aliens.
After being granted limited immunity, Hernandez-Reyes allegedly told investigators that he previously operated a “taxi service” based in Baltimore. He claimed to have met Abrego Garcia around 2015 and claimed to have hired him on multiple occasions to transport undocumented migrants from Texas to various locations in the United States, sources told ABC News.
When details of the Tennessee traffic stop were first publicized, Abrego Garcia’s wife said her husband sometimes transported groups of fellow construction workers between job sites.
“Unfortunately, Kilmar is currently imprisoned without contact with the outside world, which means he cannot respond to the claims,” Jennifer Vasquez Sura said in mid-April.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, who flew to El Salvador and met with Abrego Garcia shortly after his deportation, said Friday that the Trump administration had “relented” regarding his return.
“After months of ignoring our Constitution, it seems the Trump Admin has relented to our demands for compliance with court orders and due process for Kilmar Abrego Garcia,” Van Hollen posted on X. “This has never been about the man — it’s about his constitutional rights & the rights of all.”
Abrego Garcia entered the U.S. illegally as a teenager in 2012, according to court records. He had been living in Maryland for the past 13 years, and married Vasquez Sura, a U.S. citizen, in 2019. The couple has one child together.
ABC News’ Laura Romero contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — In a phone interview Friday morning, hours after his blistering exchange with Elon Musk, President Donald Trump sounded remarkably unconcerned about their feud, as if it weren’t even the most interesting thing that happened Thursday.
Speaking on a phone call Friday morning shortly before 7 a.m., ABC News asked him about reports he had a call scheduled with Musk for later in the day.
“You mean the man who has lost his mind?” he asked, saying he was “not particularly” interested in talking to him right now.
He said Musk wants to talk to him, but he’s not ready to talk to Musk.
Trump then talked for a couple of minutes about other things — referring to inflation (down), foreign investment (up) and his plans for a visit to China (huge).
People close to Trump have described him as more sad than angry at Musk. One adviser who was with Trump on Thursday night said he seemed “bummed” about the breakup. And that’s the way he sounded on Friday morning.
Trump is considering either giving away or selling the red Tesla he purchased to support Musk, a senior administration official told ABC News’ Rachel Scott Friday morning. The Tesla was parked just on West Executive Avenue on Thursday. Trump made a show of checking out Tesla models at the White House in March as Musk’s company took a hit as he arrived in Washington.
Speaking to Al Arabiya English from the Delhi Airport lounge, Musk’s father, Errol Musk, said he urged his tech billionaire son to end the feud.
“I haven’t spoken to him, but I did send him a message, you know, telling him to make sure this fizzles out,” he said before saying who he thinks will come out of this battle victorious. “Trump, of course, will prevail, because he is has been voted in by the majority of the people in America.”
The elder Musk blamed “a great deal of stress” for his son’s actions on Thursday.
The war of words on Thursday, stemming from Musk’s criticism of Trump’s signature tax and immigration bill, had Musk suggesting Trump would have lost the 2024 election without him, backing calls for Trump’s impeachment and even claiming Trump was “in” the Epstein files regarding the investigation into the accused sex trafficker.
“That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!” Musk posted.
Trump, in turn, had said Musk had gone “CRAZY” and suggested terminating Musk’s government contracts and subsidies.
Vice President JD Vance expressed his support for Trump amid the public dispute in a brief post to X — albeit hours after the back-and-forth between Trump and Musk began. The post didn’t directly weigh in on Musk’s attacks or criticize the Tesla billionaire, with whom Vance has his own history that predates his time as Trump’s running mate and vice president.
“President Trump has done more than anyone in my lifetime to earn the trust of the movement he leads. I am proud to stand beside him,” Vance wrote on social media.
Vance still hadn’t directly responded to Musk’s accusations against Trump when he posted again on Friday morning.
“There are many lies the corporate media tells about President Trump. One of the most glaring is that he’s impulsive or short-tempered. Anyone who has seen him operate under pressure knows that’s ridiculous,” Vance wrote, focusing his fury on the media.
The White House called the public feud between Trump and Elon Musk “an unfortunate episode from Elon, who doesn’t like the One Big Beautiful Bill because it doesn’t include his policies.”
“The President is focused on passing this historic piece of legislation and making our country great again,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
Just hours after accusing Trump, without evidence, of appearing in the Epstein files, Musk showed some signs of trying to soften his tone — even appearing to agree with a post on X calling for the two to “make peace.”
The first sign Musk was starting to walk things back came thanks to an account with just over 141 followers on X who suggested to “cool off” and “take a step back.”
The post from the seemingly random user led Musk to reverse his threat to decommission the spacecraft used to transport astronauts and supplies to the International Space Station, a threat Musk had made just hours earlier.
“Good advice,” Musk responded to the user. “Ok, we won’t decommission Dragon.”
ABC News’ Will Steakin and Lalee Ibssa contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — A feud between President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk hammered shares of the electric carmaker on Thursday, before a lull in the acrimony on Friday prompted a recovery of some losses.
Still, as of midday Friday, shares had dropped nearly 10%, wiping out tens of billions of dollars in company value.
The falling out between Trump and Musk raises serious concern for Tesla, threatening crucial regulatory approvals and government subsidies, while risking ire from conservative car buyers who may otherwise have eased sales woes suffered as liberals turned elsewhere, some industry analysts told ABC News.
The outcome remains unclear, however, leaving open the possibility the two sides may patch up the relationship or Tesla could navigate fraught ties with the White House, they added.
The feud “puts massive pressure on Tesla shares with fears that Trump will turn from friend to foe and create a tough regulatory environment for Musk in the Beltway,” Dan Ives, a managing director of equity research at the investment firm Wedbush and a longtime Tesla bull, said in a memo to clients on Friday.
The president and the world’s richest person volleyed tit-for-tat barbs on rival social media platforms Thursday in a public clash that Ives described as “one of the strangest Twilight Zone days we have seen.”
Tesla shares sank as much as 18% on Thursday, before closing down 14%. In early trading on Friday, Tesla climbed nearly 6% as tensions appeared to thaw.
Overall, the stock is down nearly a third from an all-time high in December, which resulted from a sharp rise after the election of Trump.
Tesla remains a top electric carmaker but the company faces growing competition, especially from Chinese firms such as BYD.
Tesla’s profits fell 71% over the first three months of this year, a company earnings release in April showed. The decline coincided with a sales slump at Tesla and came amid worldwide protests against Musk over his role in Trump’s administration.
As car sales slowed, Musk touted a future autonomous car service, dubbed robotaxis, as a growth area for the business. The company plans to roll out its robotaxi test program in Austin, Texas, later this month.
Trump could threaten those aspirations, however, if he pressures federal regulators to deny necessary approvals for the company’s autonomous driving program or renews investigations into the safety of the company’s full self-driving software, analysts said.
“If full self-driving were to be invalidated, that would be a huge hit to Tesla stock and to Musk,” Gordon Johnson, CEO and founder of data firm GLJ Research, who is bearish on Tesla, told ABC News.
Tesla also generates significant revenue from the sale of carbon emissions credits to other car manufacturers, which helps the firms comply with environmental standards set by a range of government entities.
Tesla earned nearly $2.8 billion last year on the collection of such government subsidies while incurring few costs in this area of its business, the firm said in its 2024 annual report.
In theory, Trump could seek to erode state-level emissions standards in a manner that alleviates much of the need for rival carmakers to purchase them. If California were to do away with its emissions credit system, it could cost Tesla roughly $2 billion, a JPMorgan report last month found.
“I can’t stress enough the risk of these credits going away,” Johnson said.
For now, the outcome of the fallout remains unknown and could prove minimal, some analysts told ABC News.
They pointed to the likelihood of at least partial reconciliation between Trump and Musk, who as recently as last week exchanged effusive praise in the Oval Office. All-out government attacks on Tesla would incite a prolonged, combative relationship, analysts said, which may not benefit either side.
The company still offers longstanding, affordable EV models and an extensive battery-charging network.
Observers who focus on the headlines and stock gyrations risk overstating Trump’s role in the fortunes of Tesla anyway, Seth Goldstein, an analyst at research firm Morningstar who studies the EV sector, told ABC News.
“While political fallout and potential retribution will move the stock, I don’t think this is as big an event as Tesla’s other events coming up this year,” Goldstein said, pointing to the robotaxi testing.
Ives, of Wedbush, voiced similar optimism about the possibility of moving past the feud.
“We believe cooler heads will prevail today and into the weekend,” Ives said. “Hopefully.”
(WASHINGTON) — On the heels of the public war of words between President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, anxiety is mounting among the remaining staff of the Musk-founded Department of Government Efficiency, with some staffers worried not only about their future in government but about potentially becoming future targets of the administration, according to sources.
Some DOGE staffers still embedded across federal agencies fear that the rift and public mudslinging between Trump and Musk could leave them vulnerable to political retribution and damage their future job prospects, multiple sources familiar with internal discussions told ABC News.
Some fear their association with DOGE could make them targets if the feud escalates and Trump moves to investigate the government-slashing initiative that Musk led until he stepped away last week, the sources said.
Others worry that if Trump distances himself from DOGE, their ties to it could become a professional liability, said sources.
Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, grew close to Trump over the last year as he campaigned for Trump’s reelection before helping launch DOGE to try to fulfill Trump’s goal of slashing the federal government. A quasi-governmental entity, DOGE has generated controversy as it’s shuttered government agencies and gained access to sensitive data.
The relationship between the president and the world’s richest person erupted into an exchange of insults on social media Thursday as Musk slammed Trump for “ingratitude” over the 2024 election while Trump threatened to “terminate Elon’s governmental subsidies and contracts.”
Amid the spat, War Room host and former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, a longtime ally of Trump who has been critical of Musk for years, has been calling for the president to launch investigations into the billionaire following Thursday’s blowup.
“This is a national security issue,” Bannon said on his show Thursday. “We’re dealing with a very unstable individual out saying dangerous things about the president of the United States. He must be investigated … and all government contracts should be suspended.”
Several of Musk’s top allies who served as special government employees with Musk, including Steve Davis, his longtime lieutenant and DOGE operational lead, departed DOGE last week along with Musk. But many DOGE employees remain embedded across federal agencies, including at the Office of Personnel Management, Veterans Affairs, Treasury, IRS, and Social Security Administration, sources said.
Still, Musk’s departure marked a major turning point for DOGE and how it will function day to day, given officials like Davis helped lead the DOGE team on a daily basis for months across the federal government.
In Musk’s absence, DOGE staff will continue to report to their respective agency leadership, sources said. Last week, the White House said that moving forward the “DOGE leaders are each and every member of the president’s cabinet and the president himself.”
Sources tell ABC News that some DOGE staffers still working inside the federal government have begun looking for jobs elsewhere. And while there is concern among some about their future career prospects, some major tech companies have expressed interest in hiring DOGE alumni — with companies like Coinbase even creating a dedicated hiring portal specifically recruiting former DOGE staff.
White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Harrison Fields told ABC News in a statement, “The mission of eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse is a part of the DNA of the federal government and will continue under the direction of the President, his cabinet, and agency heads to enhance government efficiency and prioritize responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars.”
Asked about any potential investigations into DOGE, a White House adviser said the president was only focused on passing his signature spending bill, known as the “Big Beautiful Bill.”
Despite Trump and Musk’s public feud, the president has yet to publicly criticize DOGE during the war of words, and has previously lauded the initiative.
At a White House press availability in the Oval Office last week, Trump said Musk “delivered a colossal change in the old ways of doing business in Washington” and described DOGE as “the most sweeping and consequential government reform program in generations”.
Musk, for his part, downplayed the idea that DOGE needed him to survive as he left the Trump administration last week.
“DOGE is a way of life, like Buddhism,” he said. “You wouldn’t ask the question, ‘Who would lead Buddhism?'”
(WASHINGTON) — Speaker Mike Johnson is working to keep the focus on the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” on Friday as all eyes remain on President Donald Trump and Elon Musk amid their bitter public feud.
Johnson is pushing the House-passed bill that advances Trump’s legislative agenda, which is being negotiated in the Senate. Musk has publicly criticized the bill, calling it a “disgusting abomination” and encouraging members of Congress to “kill the bill.”
Musk’s criticism reached a boiling point on Thursday — ending with an explosive spat between the president and the tech billionaire. On Friday morning, Trump told ABC News that Musk had “lost his mind.”
Johnson was once one of Musk’s most powerful boosters on Capitol Hill. Johnson met with Musk repeatedly and would even talk him through legislation by phone. Musk even addressed a meeting of House Republicans in March.
Asked by ABC News if it was a mistake to trust Musk, Johnson dismissed the question and turned the focus back to the bill.
“I’m not going to engage in this back-and-forth stuff. I don’t think the American people care much about Twitter wars. I think they care about us accomplishing our legislative agenda, and the ‘One Big, Beautiful Bill’ does that.”
Johnson reiterated Friday that he has a job to do — and it’s not to get involved in the Musk-Trump squabble. Still, Johnson engaged in the online battle Thursday, responding to a Musk post criticizing the speaker.
Several other House Republicans are weighing in on the dispute and whether Musk’s influence and strong opinions about the megabill could influence its passage.
“I think Elon probably did change the trajectory of this bill two or three days ago when he came out against it because people trust the guy who can land rockets backwards more than they do the politicians,” Republican Rep. Thomas Massie said. Massie was one of two House Republicans who opposed the bill when the House voted on it last month.
GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene sided with both Trump and Musk on different aspects of the bill — favoring Musk on the price tag. She said ultimately she thinks the focus should be on passing Trump’s agenda.
“I don’t think lashing out on the Internet is the way to handle any kind of disagreement, especially when you have each other’s cell phones,” Greene told reporters Friday. “I hope this gets worked out, but I will tell you right now that people are going to be focused on making sure that we get the agenda that we voted for.”
Republican Rep Troy Nehls, a staunch Trump ally, called for an end to the spat between the president and Musk, saying “enough is enough.”
Despite Musk publicly clashing with the head of their party — even seeming to suggest the House should impeach the president — some Republicans didn’t go out of their way to bad mouth the billionaire.
“Elon Musk can use his funds as he sees fit,” Republican Rep. Ralph Norman said when asked if he’s worried Musk would primary Republicans. “Again, he’s a patriot and if he disagrees, I respect the honesty, really.”
Republican Rep. Warren Davidson called for unity.
“I just hope that people that I care a lot about get along, that they mend, that they patch up their relationship,” he said. “It’s disappointing to see them arguing in public that way.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries capitalized on the clash, calling it a “welcome development.”
“To the extent that the developments of this week will make it more likely that we can kill the GOP tax scam, that’s a welcome development,” he said.
Police cordon off Pearl Street following an attack on the Pearl Street Mall, June 1, 2025, in Boulder, Colo. Chet Strange/Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — The FBI and Department of Homeland Security are warning of an “elevated threat” facing the Jewish community in the wake of two attacks: Sunday’s Molotov cocktail assault in Boulder, Colorado, and last month’s killing of two Israeli Embassy staff members in Washington, D.C.
The Israel-Hamas conflict “may motivate other violent extremists and hate crime perpetrators with similar grievances to conduct violence against Jewish and Israeli communities and their supporters,” the FBI and DHS said in a public service announcement issued Thursday night. “Foreign terrorist organizations also may try to exploit narratives related to the conflict to inspire attacks in the United States.”
The public should “remain vigilant” and “report any threats of violence or suspicious activity to law enforcement,” the agencies said.
The PSA references Sunday’s attack in Boulder when Mohamed Soliman allegedly threw Molotov cocktails at a group of marchers advocating for the release of Israeli hostages, according to prosecutors. Fifteen people, including a Holocaust survivor, were injured, officials said.
Soliman, who was arrested at the scene, allegedly yelled “Free Palestine” during the attack, the FBI said.
Soliman later told police “he wanted to kill all Zionist people,” court documents said. He “said this had nothing to do with the Jewish community and was specific in the Zionist group supporting the killings of people on his land (Palestine),” documents said.
Soliman has been charged with a federal hate crime as well as 118 state charges, including attempted murder, assault and explosives charges. He has not entered a plea in either case.
The PSA also mentions the May 21 killings of two Israeli Embassy staff members. Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim were fatally shot as they left an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in D.C. When the suspect was arrested, he began to chant, “free, free Palestine,” according to police.
The Anti-Defamation League has documented a dramatic rise in acts of hate targeting Jewish people in the U.S. since the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack in Israel. In 2024, the ADL said it recorded a record high of 9,354 antisemitic incidents in the U.S., marking a 344% increase over the past five years and a 893% increase over the past 10 years.
“I am angry,” ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said a news conference in Boulder on Wednesday.
“It’s way past time for our political leaders, community groups, media outlets, tech platforms, faith leaders to take action before more Jewish blood is spilled. And it’s way past time to stop excusing antisemitic rhetoric,” he said.
Greenblatt urged the public to speak out against hate and shared small, specific actions people can take.
“Flag a hateful post, sign a petition, attend a service, make a comment in city council,” he said.
(WASHINGTON) — Vice President JD Vance on Friday continued to stand by President Donald Trump during his public feud with Elon Musk, but is notably not criticizing the Tesla billionaire directly.
Vance first weighed in hours after the explosive exchange began on Thursday, offering only a brief post on X.
“President Trump has done more than anyone in my lifetime to earn the trust of the movement he leads. I am proud to stand beside him,” Vance wrote.
On Friday morning, Vance turned his attention to the news media while still staying silent on Musk’s accusations against the president.
“There are many lies the corporate media tells about President Trump. One of the most glaring is that he’s impulsive or short-tempered. Anyone who has seen him operate under pressure knows that’s ridiculous,” Vance wrote on X. Musk on Thursday had not made any claims about Trump being “impulsive” or “short-tempered.”
Musk lobbied for Vance to be Trump’s 2024 running mate. Back in late February, Musk had posted to X that Vance was the “Best VP ever and our future President.”
Tensions between Trump and Musk, largely stemming from Musk’s relentless criticism in recent days of Trump’s signature legislation, reached a fever pitch on Thursday.
Trump in the Oval Office offered his harshest words yet for his former close adviser, saying he was “disappointed” in Musk. Musk hit back in real time, going on a X rampage that included suggesting Trump would have lost the 2024 election without him and even claiming Trump was “in” the Epstein files regarding the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, charged in 2019 with sex trafficking of minors.
At one point, he agreed with one user calling for Trump to be impeached and replaced with Vance. Vance has not responded to that, either.
Trump hit back on his own conservative social media platform, claiming Musk had gone “CRAZY” and floated the possibility of ending Musk’s government contracts.
The president told ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jon Karl on Friday morning that Musk “has lost his mind” and that he was “not particularly” interested in talking to him right now.
(WASHINGTON) — In a phone interview Friday morning, hours after his blistering exchange with Elon Musk, President Donald Trump sounded remarkably unconcerned about their feud, as if it weren’t even the most interesting thing that happened Thursday.
Speaking on a phone call Friday morning shortly before 7 a.m., ABC News asked him about reports he had a call scheduled with Musk for later in the day..
“You mean the man who has lost his mind?” he asked, saying he was “not particularly” interested in talking to him right now.
He said Musk wants to talk to him, but he’s not ready to talk to Musk.
Trump then talked for a couple of minutes about other things — referring to inflation (down), foreign investment (up) and his plans for a visit to China (huge).
People close to Trump have described him as more sad than angry at Musk. One adviser who was with Trump on Thursday night said he seemed “bummed” about the breakup. And that’s the way he sounded on Friday morning.
Trump is considering either giving away or selling the red Tesla he purchased to support Musk, a senior administration official told ABC News’ Rachel Scott Friday morning. The Tesla was parked just on West Executive Avenue on Thursday. Trump made a show of checking out Tesla models at the White House in March as Musk’s company took a hit as he arrived in Washington.
The war of words on Thursday, stemming from Musk’s criticism of Trump’s signature tax and immigration bill, had Musk suggesting Trump would have lost the 2024 election without him, backing calls for Trump’s impeachment and even claiming Trump was “in” the Epstein files regarding the investigation into the accused sex trafficker.
“That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!” Musk posted.
Trump, in turn, had said Musk had gone “CRAZY” and suggested terminating Musk’s government contracts and subsidies.
Vice President JD Vance expressed his support for Trump amid the public dispute in a brief post to X — albeit hours after the back-and-forth between Trump and Musk began. The post didn’t directly weigh in on Musk’s attacks or criticize the Tesla billionaire, with whom Vance has his own history with that predates his time as Trump’s running mate and vice president.
“President Trump has done more than anyone in my lifetime to earn the trust of the movement he leads. I am proud to stand beside him,” Vance wrote on social media.
Vance still hadn’t directly responded to Musk’s accusations against Trump when he posted again on Friday morning.
“There are many lies the corporate media tells about President Trump. One of the most glaring is that he’s impulsive or short-tempered. Anyone who has seen him operate under pressure knows that’s ridiculous,” Vance wrote, focusing his fury on the media.
The White House called the public feud between Trump and Elon Musk “an unfortunate episode from Elon, who doesn’t like the One Big Beautiful Bill because it doesn’t include his policies.”
“The President is focused on passing this historic piece of legislation and making our country great again,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
Just hours after accusing Trump, without evidence, of appearing in the Epstein files, Musk showed some signs of trying to soften his tone — even appearing to agree with a post on X calling for the two to “make peace.”
The first sign Musk was starting to walk things back came thanks to an account with just over 141 followers on X who suggested to “cool off” and “take a step back.”
The post from the seemingly random user led Musk to reverse his threat to decommission the spacecraft used to transport astronauts and supplies to the International Space Station, a threat Musk had made just hours earlier.
“Good advice,” Musk responded to the user. “Ok, we won’t decommission Dragon.”
ABC News’ Will Steakin and Lalee Ibssa contributed to this report.
(CHICAGO) — A 36-year-old police officer who was a mother to a young daughter and four-year veteran of the Chicago Police Department has been shot and killed while on duty in Chicago, police said.
The incident occurred at approximately 9:50 p.m. on Thursday night when Chicago Police Department officers assigned to the 6th (Gresham) District Tactical Team were on patrol when they attempted to conduct an investigatory stop on a male suspect in the 8200 block of S. Drexel Avenue, according to a statement from the Chicago Police Department.
Officers approached the suspect, but the individual immediately fled on foot into a nearby building, police said.
Law enforcement subsequently pursued the suspect into the building but were confronted by another individual who was armed inside of the residence which the suspect fled to, authorities continued.
“The armed offender fled the residence and was taken into custody,” police said. “An officer sustained a gunshot wound and was taken to an area hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries.”
The police officer who died has not yet been named but Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said said she was a 36-year-old female officer who had been with the department for four years at the 6th District and was a mother to a young daughter.
“She lost her life tragically doing the job that she loved and that was one of the things that her mother said, she loved her job and the way that she worked, it was evident that she did love her job and she wanted to make Chicago a better place,” Snelling said during a press conference. “She wanted to make it safer.”
Mayor Brandon Johnson said the entire city is mourning the loss of this officer.
“This young woman served honorably and courageously. I am calling on the entire city of Chicago to keep this officer’s family in your prayers along with our entire police department,” Mayor Johnson said. “Her young, energetic bold approach toward keeping us safe is the memory that we will honor.”
An additional officer sustained an injury to the wrist and was taken to the hospital in fair condition, police said, but no other injuries were reported.
Three firearms were located on the scene and multiple people were taken into custody, police said.
Overall, between Jan. 1 and April 30, 16 police officers in the United States have been feloniously killed in the line of duty and firearms were used in 75% of those incidents, according to statistics compiled by the U.S. Department of Justice.
The leading circumstances surrounding officers’ deaths included activities related to responses to unlawful or suspicious activities, pursuits and traffic stops, according to the Justice Department.
Accidental law enforcement deaths, however, have decreased 68.2% when comparing the first four months of 2024 (22 deaths) with those of 2025 (7 deaths), with the leading causes of accidental deaths in 2025 being motor vehicle crashes and officers struck by vehicle.
The investigation into the death of the 36-year-old officer is currently ongoing.
