News

(NEW ORLEANS) — During the ongoing massive manhunt for 10 inmates who escaped from a New Orleans jail last week, authorities say the use of facial recognition cameras run by a private organization helped lead to the recapture of one of the fugitives — even as the police department has come under scrutiny by critics from civil rights organizations to conservative politicians over its use of the technology.

Earlier this week, New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick told ABC News that facial recognition cameras maintained by Project N.O.L.A. had been used in the New Orleans manhunt despite the fact that she recently ordered a pause in the automated alerts her officers had been receiving from the group, which operates independently of the police department.

Kirkpatrick recently told The Washington Post she ordered the alerts to officers turned off until she is “sure that the use of the app meets all the requirements of the law and policies.”

Citing the New Orleans Police Department’s partnership with Project N.O.L.A., the American Civil Liberties Union said in a statement it is believed to be the first known widespread effort by a major American law enforcement agency to use artificial intelligence technology to identify suspects in an assortment of crimes across the city.

In a statement, the ACLU said the use of live facial recognition raises constitutional and privacy issues and “is a radical and dangerous escalation of the power to surveil people as we go about our daily lives.”

Critics of the New Orleans Police Department’s use of facial recognition cameras said that the average citizen should understand that they are not opting in or are being made aware that they are being scanned by the cameras.

“Facial recognition technology poses a direct threat to the fundamental rights of every individual and has no place in our cities,” Alanah Odoms, executive director of the ACLU of Louisiana, said in a statement about the city’s partnership with Project N.O.L.A. “We call on the New Orleans Police Department and the City of New Orleans to halt this program indefinitely and terminate all use of live-feed facial recognition technology.”

Some Republicans in Congress also opposed the unchecked use of the technology, most notably Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio, Andy Biggs of Arizona, Warren Davidson of Ohio, Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Sens. Mike Lee of Utah and Steve Daines of Montana.

In a March 27, 2025 letter to Kash Patel, who was then acting director of the federal Bureau Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms Explosives, Biggs, the chairman of the House Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance, and Davidson raised concerns over news reports indicating the ATF utilized facial recognition technology to identify gun owners. “The Subcommittee has concerns about ATF’s use of facial recognition and Al programs and the effects that its use has upon American citizens’ Second Amendment rights and rights to privacy,” the lawmakers wrote in their letter, requesting documents on policies and training in the use of facial recognition technology.

Democrats, including Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California and Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon have also joined bipartisan efforts to curtail the use of such surveillance.

How authorities are using live facial recognition

The 10 inmates escaped from the Orleans Justice Center in New Orleans on May 16, officials said. Five of the fugitives have since been recaptured, leaving five others, including three charged with murder, still on the run as of Thursday afternoon.

Kirkpatrick told ABC News this week that one of the fugitives was caught and another narrowly got away after live facial recognition cameras operated by Project N.O.L.A. located them while scanning crowds in the French Quarter.

Bryan Lagarde, executive director of Project N.O.L.A., told ABC News that after being notified of the jailbreak on Friday, state police gave his group a list of the escapees.

“We put that into our facial recognition. It took approximately four minutes to do that and within, literally, less than a minute later we started tracking two of the escapees,” Lagarde said.

He said the information about fugitive Kendall Myles and another escaped inmate, who he said is facing attempted second-degree murder charges, was sent to state police investigators who confirmed the two men were part of the jailbreak.

“Then they immediately went out to the French Quarter, which is where we were tracking them walking down Bourbon Street,” Lagarde said.

Myles was arrested after police found him hiding under a car. The second escapee, however, managed to get away.

“I’m sure they knew there were cameras because they were walking around with their faces held down and things like that. All it takes is just a second for them to look up and then there’s facial recognition,” Lagarde said.

Citing the ongoing investigation, Lagarde declined to say if his cameras have located any of the other escapees.

Group operates 200 facial recognition cameras in New Orleans
Largarde said that his organization has been using live facial recognition cameras in New Orleans for the past two years.

In response to potential privacy concerns, Lagarde said, “As far as the facial recognition is concerned, it’s scanning your face, my face, everyone’s faces. If you’re wanted and we know that you’re wanted, you’re going to be in trouble. If you are not wanted, its going to instantly disregard your face and just move on to the next person.”

He said his group maintains about 5,000 cameras in New Orleans, including 200 that have facial recognition capabilities. He said the facial recognition cameras not only scan faces, but also clothing, vehicle and license plates.

“We work a very large number of the major crimes here in New Orleans: Homicides, shootings, stabbings, home invasions, rapes, robberies all the way down to the thefts and the burglaries,” Lagarde said.

Project N.O.L.A. works with the New Orleans Police Department and the Louisiana State Police but does not have an official contract with either agency, officials said.

Before the manhunt, the New Orleans police had appeared to distance themselves from Project N.O.L.A..

The police department “does not own, rely on, manage, or condone the use by members of the department of any artificial intelligence systems associated with the vast network” of Project N.O.L.A.’s cameras, a spokesman for the police department agency said in a statement to The Washington Post.

Kirkpatrick, the New Orleans police superintendent, said her agency has operated surveillance cameras across the city, many in the entertainment districts, but none of them have facial recognition capabilities. According to the New Orleans Police & Justice Foundation, the city has about 3,600 police operated cameras across the city.

What local laws say

While the city has an ordinance on the use of facial recognition technology, Kirkpatrick said there are exceptions to the rules.

“Sometimes, people think that we have a total ban on the use of facial recognition and that is not quite accurate,” Kirkpatrick said. “There are exceptions, and I think that this one would meet the exception of those ordinances.”

According to the city ordinance, “Evidence obtained from facial recognition alone shall not be sufficient to establish probable cause for the purpose of effectuating an arrest by the NOPD or another law enforcement agency. The source of the image and the underlying reasons for the requested use of facial recognition systems as an investigative lead shall be documented in a police report.”

The ordinance says “facial-recognition technology, shall not be used as a surveillance tool.” But the ordinance also states that “nothing in this section shall prohibit NOPD from requesting the use of facial recognition technology in the investigation of the prior occurrence of the following significant crimes as defined in Louisiana Revised Statute,” including murder, manslaughter, solicitation of murder, first-degree robbery, drive-by shootings and carjackings.

“They had my permission, that’s for sure,” Kirkpatrick said of the use of facial recognition technology in the manhunt.

Three of the five escaped inmates still being sought on Friday have been have been charged with murder or attempted murder, including one who was convicted in a double homicide, authorities.

A ‘dragnet system?’

The Washington Post investigation published this week reported that New Orleans police were using Project N.O.L.A.’s network of facial recognition cameras to monitor the streets for wanted suspects over the past two years in ways that appeared “out of step” with the local ordinance.

In the interview with ABC about the manhunt, Kirkpatrick said that Project N.O.L.A. is a “useful partner” but stressed that it is not law enforcement and is not bound by the local ordinance, raising issues of accountability about Project N.O.L.A. and the data it collects on ordinary citizens who are being surveilled in this untargeted manner.

“I’m very supportive of any technology that we can use to bring violent people back in, and then we can deal with the issues later, but we actually operate within the boundaries of the law,” she said. “As long as it’s constitutional, ethical, we’re going to stay within the boundaries. But this is a bigger topic and discussion, mainly for our politicians to decide what kind of laws they want.”

Other police departments across the country have faced questions over their use of the technology.

The use of facial recognition software by U.S. businesses has also grown sharply in recent years, analysts and privacy advocates told ABC News.

The uses range from tech companies securing personal devices and retailers scanning for potential shoplifters to e-commerce giants tracking delivery drivers. Retailers are also using facial recognition scanning on shoppers to adjust pricing in stores.

Companies contend that the technology helps them achieve a safe and efficient operation, benefiting consumers and employees alike. Critics say the powerful tool encroaches on the privacy of everyday people, risking undue punishment or discrimination, the experts said.

Jake Laperruque, deputy director of the Center for Democracy & Technology’s Security and Surveillance Project, said facial recognition cameras are an “unproven, error-prone tool.”

“This is the first documented case in the U.S. of police using untargeted facial recognition, which countries like China employ to track people across cities and surveil their Uyghur citizens,” Laperruque said in a statement to ABC News regarding New Orleans’ police use of the technology. “This kind of dragnet system belongs in a dystopian sci-fi movie, not in American cities. Average pedestrians shouldn’t have to worry that untested AI technology will set off alarm bells and send police after them.”

One of the key issues of facial recognition and AI is that studies have shown that it can be racially biased and is particularly error prone with people of color, older people and women.

“There’s been error rates between 80 and 90%. That means nine out of every ten times that the system says, ‘Hey, here’s someone from our watch list,’ it’s actually a false alarm,” Laperruque said of the use of these cameras as untargeted or real-time surveillance tools based on pilot programs run in the United Kingdom.

“Facial recognition could be used to catalog attendees at a protest or political rallies of any affiliation, individuals going to a church, people visiting a medical clinic, or an array of other sensitive activities,” Laperruque told ABCNews.

He added, “Given these risks it’s no surprise that surveillance reform in general — and placing guardrails on facial recognition in particular — has support from across the political spectrum, including some of the most progressive and conservative members of Congress — just last month at a Congressional hearing conservative members of Congress highlighted the dangers of facial recognition and other unchecked forms of surveillance.”

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(SOUTH PACIFIC) — A Carnival Cruise Line ship rescued four people and three dogs from a disabled catamaran caught in treacherous conditions in the South Pacific on Thursday morning, marking the second rescue operation by the cruise line in a week, according to a press release from Carnival Cruise Line.

“We were stuck in an interesting position,” one of the rescued passengers said in video obtained by ABC News. “We got demasted, lost our engines, and after we got demasted, it was stuck under the boat, and it was hitting it on every big wave.”

The Carnival Splendor diverted its course after receiving an alert from the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Nouméa about a distress call. The ship reached the stranded vessel after a five-hour journey south of New Caledonia.

The situation had become increasingly dangerous for the stranded sailors.

“It was like four to five meters swell, 30 to 40 knot winds, and we’re in this massive lightning storm, and the swell was coming over the boat,” the rescued passenger said. “Yeah, we were dead in the water, 170 nautical miles off of New Caledonia with the three puppies.”

The rescued passengers—two couples and their three dogs—are now receiving food, water, and medical assistance aboard the Carnival Splendor.

“Luckily, Carnival, the captain here was an absolute legend came and he saved the day, and now the doggies get their first cruise,” the rescued passenger added.

The rescue operation won’t impact the cruise schedule, with the ship’s 3,300 passengers still set to visit Mystery Island and Noumea as planned before returning to Sydney on Tuesday. The Splendor departed Sydney on Monday for an eight-day round trip cruise to Vanuatu and New Caledonia, Carnival Cruise stated.

This rescue follows another recent Carnival Cruise Line operation in which the Carnival Paradise rescued five men from a makeshift raft south of Cuba last week, according to video obtained by FOX35.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Following a nearly 10-hour court hearing Thursday, an immigration judge will not immediately decide if Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, who the Trump administration has targeted for deportation after he helped organize pro-Palestinian protests as a student at Columbia University, is eligible for asylum.

Instead Judge Jamee Comans is giving attorneys for Khalil, who took the stand Thursday, as well as attorneys for the Trump administration until June 2 to file written closing statements on the matter before she makes her decision.

Khalil, a green card holder who is married to an American citizen, has been held in a Louisiana detention facility since ICE agents arrested him in the lobby of his apartment building in New York City in March.

When he took the stand Thursday, Khalil testified in support of his case for asylum and for withholding of removal to either Algeria or Syria.

He spoke at length about growing up in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria where he said his friends and family faced torture, kidnappings and, in some cases, death. He repeatedly stated that the Trump administration’s accusations that he’s a Hamas supporter makes him a target for Israel in any country he could be deported to. In Syria, he also said remnants of the Assad regime as well as military factions within the country could target him as well or that he could be used as a “bargaining chip” in negotiations between the new Syrian government and other nations including the U.S.

Prior to the hearing, Khalil met his infant son for the first time. The proceedings were attended by Khalil’s wife, Dr. Noor Abdalla, who gave birth to the couple’s son on April 21 during Khalil’s ongoing detention in Louisiana.

Throughout the hearing Khalil would often look back toward his baby when the newborn cooed.

Khalil also testified about his role negotiating between different protest groups at Columbia.

“The liberation of Jewish people and Palestinian people are intertwined,” he said.

In one of his final remarks on the stand, Khalil said he would continue to protest against the war in Gaza.

“I spent a good time of my life fleeing from harm, advocating for the marginalized to have rights. That’s what put me in danger. Israel is committing genocide. America is funding that genocide. Columbia is investing in it. That is what I was protesting. This is what I will continue to protest. This is what everyone should protest. This is where our efforts should go,” he said.

Earlier in the hearing, several expert witnesses were called by Khalil’s legal team, including U.C. Davis historian Muriam Davis, an expert on the Middle East and North Africa, who testified to the dangers Khalil might face if deported to Algeria or Syria, due to the notoriety of the case.

“In general, his case has achieved an international prominence that would make him a target,” Davis testified.

During a cross-examination Thursday, DHS Deputy Chief Counsel Numa Metoyer pressed Khalil about whether he was ever personally harmed when he lived in Syria, or the few times he’s visited Algeria.

Khalil recalled that the Assad regime would often kidnap and torture people involved in humanitarian efforts, like he was. When two of his friends were “disappeared” he said he made the decision to flee to Lebanon. He also repeated that he had friends and family members who were either killed by the regime or kidnapped and tortured.

“What physical persecution did you face before you left,” Metoyer asked, attempting to make the point that Khalil himself had not been harmed.

“In December 2012, the regime attacked my camp. We were under bombardment by the regime,” Khalil said.

When pressed if he had been harmed, Khalil said no, but that his neighbors had been.

Last month, Comans ruled that Khalil is deportable based on Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s assertion that his continued presence and actions in the country poses “adverse foreign policy consequence.” She did not ask to review any evidence backing those claims.

Officials from President Donald Trump’s administration have said Khalil was detained for his purported support of Hamas — a claim his legal team has rejected.

In a memo filed in the case, Rubio wrote that Khalil should be deported because of his alleged role in “antisemitic protests and disruptive activities, which fosters a hostile environment for Jewish students in the United States.”

Earlier in Thursday’s proceedings, Comans denied Khalil’s motion to terminate the case based on his allegation that his arrest and detention is illegal because he was arrested without a warrant.

The judge also declined to hear argument from Khalil’s team pertaining to the government’s allegations that Khalil lied on his application for a green card, saying the issue was “irrelevant” because she had already determined that Khalil was removable.

There were several heated exchanges between Khalil’s counsel, Marc Van Der Hout, and Judge Comans, who at one point cautioned Van Der Hout “not to argue with her.”

Van Der Hout, his voice rising, replied, “Well, I am going to argue with you.”

“And you’re going to lose,” Comans responded.

Ahead of the hearing, Khalil’s attorney submitted over 600 pages of documents, declarations and expert analyses supporting their claim that he is not antisemitic and that he could face torture and death if he were to be deported.

 

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — Boeing has reached an agreement in principle with the Department of Justice to avoid prosecution in the case over two deadly 737 Max crashes, also allowing Boeing to avoid going to trial next month, according to a new court filing.

The agreement still has to go through the judge in the Northern District of Texas, who rejected a previous version of the deal due to a diversity, equity and inclusion provision.

The terms of the agreement include that Boeing “will admit to conspiracy to obstruct and impede the lawful operation of the Federal Aviation Administration Aircraft Evaluation Group,” according to a DOJ status report filed on Friday.

They also include that Boeing pay and invest over $1.1 billion — including $444.5 million to crash victims’ families, $455 million to strengthen Boeing’s compliance, safety and quality programs, and an additional $243.6 million fine, according to the filing.

The DOJ said it will file the motion to dismiss and the written agreement by the end of next week.

“It is the Government’s judgment that the Agreement is a fair and just resolution that serves the public interest,” the DOJ said in the filing. “The Agreement guarantees further accountability and substantial benefits from Boeing immediately, while avoiding the uncertainty and litigation risk presented by proceeding to trial.”

Lawyers representing the families of the crash victims said they hope to convince the judge to reject the agreement.

“This kind of non-prosecution deal is unprecedented and obviously wrong for the deadliest corporate crime in U.S. history,” Paul Cassell, a lawyer representing some of the families, said in a statement. “My families will object and hope to convince the court to reject it.”

The two 737 Max crashes killed 346 people in total.

The first crash, on Oct. 29, 2018, in Jakarta, Indonesia, killed all 189 passengers and crew. Black box data from the Lion Air jet revealed the pilots struggled to fight the plane’s malfunctioning safety system from takeoff to the moment it nose-dived into the water.

The second crash, on March 10, 2019, happened in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, when a Boeing aircraft crashed minutes after takeoff and killed 157 people onboard.

The initial plea agreement over the crashes was rejected by U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor in December 2024, who cited the government’s DEI policies as a factor in the selection of an independent compliance monitor for Boeing. Under that deal, the aircraft manufacturing giant had agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States and pay a fine of at least $243 million.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(CORVALLIS, Ore.) — Two women have been arrested in connection with a dating app scheme that led to the shooting of a man in Corvallis, Oregon, authorities said.

Julia Dell Yepez, 20, and Alexa Montano Corral, 20, were taken into custody following an investigation into the May 17 shooting of a man they allegedly met through the Chispa dating app, according to the Benton County Sheriff’s Office.

Investigators believe the women used the app to lure the victim with the intention of robbery. The victim, who has not been identified, remains hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.

Chispa is a dating app where Latino and Latina singles can connect with others in their area. The company did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.

According to investigators, Yepez and Corral are also suspects in similar criminal activity in a nearby county.

The incident unfolded around 5:30 a.m. local time on May 17 when emergency dispatchers received a 911 call reporting a shooting near Highway 99W and Lakeside Drive in Corvallis. Witnesses described seeing two Hispanic women, one wearing a long-sleeve black shirt, fleeing the scene on foot.

Yepez was arrested Tuesday and faces multiple charges, including attempted murder, first-degree assault and kidnapping. She is being held at the Benton County Jail on $300,000 bail, court records show.

Corral, who was arrested Thursday, faces multiple conspiracy charges. Her bail was set at $250,000, according to court records.

The case has prompted authorities to issue renewed warnings about dating app safety.

“Always meet in public and never isolate yourself until you are certain of the other person’s intentions,” the sheriff’s office advised in a statement.

Anyone who may have had contact with either suspect through dating apps is urged to contact the Benton County Sheriff’s Office or submit anonymous tips at 541-573-8477.

The investigation remains ongoing with assistance from multiple law enforcement agencies, including the U.S. Marshals Service.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.