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(COLCHESTER, Vt.) — A federal judge in Vermont set a hearing for next Wednesday to decide whether to release Mohsen Mahdawi, the Columbia student who was arrested last week, while his case proceeds.

Mahdawi, who was arrested last Monday during his citizenship interview, was present during the hearing.

U.S. District Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford kicked off Wednesday’s hearing by asking Mahdawi if he was being treated well in the deletion facility in Vermont.

“I’m grateful for the kindness of the state, your honor,” Mahdawi said.

Before briefly discussing the motion from Mahdawi’s attorneys to release him, Judge Crawford extended the temporary restraining order that was issued by a separate judge last week to keep Mahdawi in Vermont.

“I don’t want Mr. Mahdawi to be whisked away to another state,” Judge Crawford said.

Mahdawi, who co-founded a university organization called Palestinian Student Union with detained Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil, is a permanent resident of the U.S. and was taking his last step in the process for him to become a U.S. citizen before his arrest, his attorneys said.

In a court filing on Monday, Mahdawi’s attorneys said that he is not a flight risk or a danger to the community.

Mahdawi’s attorneys said his release is necessary to avoid “what is a devastating punitive consequence of Mahdawi’s continued detention, namely, the disruption of his education.”

During the hearing Wednesday, attorneys for Mahdawi argued that the federal judge in Vermont should preserve the court’s jurisdiction in the case and said that an immigration court “does not have the authority to address the egregious violation of his First Amendment.”

The judge seemed to agree with Mahdawi’s attorneys and pointed out that Mahdawi is a Vermont resident and that he was arrested in the state.

“If he’s moved to another state, it creates a second tier of issues,” Judge Crawford said. “He’s a Vermont resident, he was arrested in Vermont.”

The judge said that he will give the government until Monday to reply to Mahdawi’s attorneys’ motion for release.

During the hearing, Michael Drescher, the acting U.S. attorney for the District of Vermont, said he was not authorized to “justify” the extension of the TRO to keep Mahdawi in Vermont. Drescher also requested an opportunity to respond to Mahdawi’s attorney’s motion from Tuesday requesting his release.

The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately reply to ABC News’ request for comment.

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(WASHINGTON) — A day after a federal judge ordered the government to more fully answer questions about the wrongful deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Trump administration, in a sealed motion Wednesday, asked the judge to pause discovery for seven days.

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, who last week slammed Justice Department attorneys over their inaction over Abrego Garcia’s wrongful detention and ordered government officials to testify under oath through expedited discovery, ordered the government Tuesday to more fully answer and respond by Wednesday evening to discovery requests from Abrego Garcia’s attorneys.

“Given that this Court expressly warned Defendants and their counsel to adhere strictly to their discovery obligations … their boilerplate, non-particularized objections are presumptively invalid and reflect a willful refusal to comply with this Court’s Discovery Order and governing rules,” Xinis wrote Tuesday.

Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran native who has 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.

The Trump administration, while acknowledging that Abrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador in error, has said that his alleged MS-13 affiliation makes him ineligible to return to the United States. His wife and attorney have denied that he is an MS-13 member.

Judge Xinis early this month ruled that the Trump administration must “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return, and the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously affirmed that ruling, “with due regard for the deference owed to the Executive Branch in the conduct of foreign affairs.”

Earlier Tuesday, government attorneys asserted that providing detailed information on the legal basis for Abrego Garcia’s confinement would be “wholly inappropriate and an invasion of diplomatic discussions,” according to a joint letter outlining the discovery disputes between the parties.

“Upon Abrego’s repatriation to El Salvador, his detention was no longer a matter of the United States’ confinement, but a matter belonging to the government of El Salvador — which has been explained to the Plaintiffs repeatedly,” the government said.

Attorneys for Abrego Garcia in the letter accused the Trump administration of responding to their discovery requests by producing “nothing of substance” and providing interrogatory responses that are “non-responsive.”

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(HIGHLAND PARK, Ill.) — Robert Crimo III, the gunman who killed seven people and injured dozens in a mass shooting in Highland Park, Illinois, on July 4, 2022, will be sentenced on Wednesday after pleading guilty in March.

Survivors and relatives of those killed in the shooting at the Independence Day parade are expected to address Crimo at the sentencing hearing, according to The Associated Press.

In March, Crimo pleaded guilty to 21 counts of first-degree murder, three counts for each person killed, and dozens of attempted murder charges, according to Chicago ABC station WLS.

Survivor Ashbey Beasley, who fled the parade with her son when the gunfire broke out, said in March the plea brought an “immense amount of relief.”

“Every single time I see [Crimo], it’s stressful,” she told reporters back in March. “I think it’s upsetting for everyone…Just knowing that his plea has been entered and we will not have to see him again is what we all need.”

Crimo appeared ready to accept a guilty plea last June during a hearing, only to reject the deal in front of devastated members of the victims’ families. He was expected to plead guilty to seven counts of murder and 48 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm at the hearing at the time, according to the AP.

“We have Fourth of July coming up and it will be two years,” Leah Sundheim, whose mother, Jacquelyn Sundheim, was killed in the shooting, said at a news conference at the time. “All I wanted was to be able to fully grieve my mom without the looming trial, knowing that he was going to spend the rest of his life in jail. And instead, we were yet again shown [Crimo’s] complete and blatant disregard for humans.”

Crimo told police he wore women’s clothing during the shooting and used makeup to hide his facial tattoos and blend in with the crowd during the chaos, prosecutors said. Crimo was apprehended hours later and prosecutors said he confessed to the shooting.

Crimo’s father, Robert Crimo Jr., pleaded guilty last year to reckless conduct, admitting to signing the Firearm Owner’s Identification card for his son to apply for gun ownership.

The younger Crimo was 19 at the time and too young to get a FOID card on his own. Illinois at the time required people ages 18, 19 or 20 to have parent or guardian authorization.

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(OCEAN COUNTY, N.J.) — A wildfire in New Jersey has exploded to over 8,500 acres after igniting Tuesday near Toms River and threatening more than 1,000 structures, shutting down a major highway and causing thousands of people to flee the flames.

The Jones Road Wildfire was just 10% contained on Wednesday morning, according to the New Jersey Forest Fire Service.

“Smoke and everything was right in my backyard. Everything was covered in black ashes,” said Kelly Mendoza, one of the evacuees.

Fanned by wind gusts and dry vegetation, the fire started in Ocean County around 12:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday and exploded overnight from a few hundred acres to 8,500, according to the Forest Fire.

New Jersey Lt. Gov. Gov. Tahesha Way, who is serving as acting governor while Gov. Phil Murphy is out of the country, declared a state of emergency in Ocean County on Wednesday morning, freeing up resources to battle the blaze.

“Due to its accelerated growth, with an estimated burn of 8,500 acres, threatening more than 1,000 structures, requiring the evacuation of residents in the area, and the loss of power to over 25,000 residents, I am declaring a State of Emergency for Ocean County,” Way said in a statement. “I encourage all residents in the County to continue to monitor the proper channels, and to use caution and follow all safety protocols.”

The fire is located south of Toms River along the Garden State Parkway. At one point on Tuesday evening, flames jumped the parkway, prompting officials to close it and bringing one of New Jersey’s busiest roads to a halt.

Officials said the blaze was threatening structures in Ocean and Lacey Townships.

“As the day progressed, it was kind of scary,” evacuated resident Michael Ferrara told ABC News about weighing his decision to leave or stay.

Ferrara said he watched in horror as flames and smoke closed in on his neighborhood, prompting him to heed the mandatory evacuation orders.

He said the first thing that went through his mind was keeping himself and his family safe.

“But what are you going to take with you — birth certificates, passports?” Ferrara said. “It’s just a very eerie feeling.”

According to ABC News’ Philadelphia station WPVI, more than a thousand structures are under threat and more than 3,000 residents have evacuated the area as evacuation notices remain in place.

A forced power outage due to the fires has also left at least 25,000 customers in the dark, though no injuries across the states of New Jersey have been reported as of Wednesday morning.

Wednesday’s forecast is expected to be breezy through the morning with winds gusting up to 20 mph from the north, but winds should calm this afternoon as high pressure starts moving into the region with the next chance for rain beginning Friday night.

On Wednesday morning, firefighters lifted the evacuation order and cautioned residents to stay on alert.

“I hope that I have a home to return back to,” one distraught evacuee told ABC News.

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(OCEAN COUNTY, NJ) — A wildfire in New Jersey has exploded to approximately 8,500 acres since it was first reported on Tuesday afternoon.

The Jones Road Wildfire is now burning across 8,500 acres and is currently under 10% containment on Wednesday morning, according to the New Jersey Forest Fire Service.

The fire is located south of Toms River along the Garden State Parkway, bringing traffic there to a halt as the fire managed to jump one of New Jersey’s busiest roads and is now burning in Ocean and Lacey Townships in Ocean County.

According to ABC News’ Philadelphia station WPVI, more than a thousand structures are under threat and more than 3,000 residents have evacuated the area as evacuation notices remain in place.

A forced power outage due to the fires have also left at least 25,000 customers in the dark though no injuries across the states of New Jersey have been reported as of Wednesday morning.

Wednesday’s forecast is expected to be breezy through the morning with winds gusting up to 20 mph from the north, but winds should calm this afternoon as high pressure starts moving into the region with the next chance for rain for New Jersey beginning Friday night.

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(UVALDE, TEXAS) — An attorney representing the families of the Robb Elementary School mass shooting victims confirmed to ABC News on Tuesday night that a settlement was reached and approved by a unanimous vote at a city council meeting in Uvalde, Texas.

Josh Koskoff, one of the attorneys who filed the lawsuit against the city, did not specify the exact terms of the settlement.

The lawsuit responds to the circumstances surrounding the school shooting that took place on May 24, 2022, claiming the lives of two teachers and 19 students.

In addition to a monetary settlement that would be paid out by the city’s insurance, the families were asking for Uvalde Police to adopt new fitness standards for the force and boost officer training, attorneys announced at a press conference in May 2024.

At the time of filing the suit, Koskoff told ABC News that the plaintiffs also were asking the city to maintain the cemetery where many of the victims are buried and to provide an updated accounting of the donations and spending related to May 24.

The plaintiffs were also asking to designate May 24 as an official day of remembrance in Uvalde and to create a committee for a permanent memorial in town.

The attorney confirmed all 21 victims’ families were represented in the lawsuit, but didn’t disclose any others who are listed as plaintiffs.

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(CHANDLER, AZ) — Lori Daybell, the mother convicted of murdering two of her children in a so-called doomsday plot, has now been found guilty of conspiring with her brother to kill her fourth husband.

The jury in Maricopa County, Arizona, was handed the case Monday afternoon before reaching a verdict Tuesday afternoon.

Lori Daybell, 51, represented herself in the Phoenix trial. She did not take the stand or call any witnesses.

Dubbed the “doomsday mom,” Lori Daybell has maintained that her brother shot her then-husband of 13 years, Charles Vallow, in self-defense in her home in Chandler, Arizona, in July 2019. Her brother, Alex Cox, died from natural causes months after the shooting.

She had pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.

Prosecutors, meanwhile, said the shooting was a ploy for Daybell to get rid of her estranged husband so she could get his $1 million life insurance policy and be with her current husband, Chad Daybell, whom she married four months after the shooting.

Prosecutors further said she invoked their “twisted” religious beliefs as justification for the murder and gave her brother “religious authority” to kill Vallow because they believed he was possessed by an evil spirit they referred to as “Ned.”

Over two weeks, the state called more than a dozen witnesses, including Daybell’s other brother, Adam Cox, who testified that he had “no doubt” his two siblings conspired to kill Vallow upon learning that his brother had fatally shot him.

In her closing argument, Maricopa County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Treena Kay said the evidence at the scene showed that Vallow was not shot in self-defense, but was “executed” and the scene “staged.” She recounted text messages sent from Lori Daybell to her husband, Chad, seven days after Vallow was killed, discussing her now-deceased husband’s life insurance policy. Kay said that, upon learning she was no longer the beneficiary of the plan, the defendant messaged Chad that “Ned” probably changed it “before we got rid of him.”

The prosecutor also discussed a text message the defendant sent Alex Cox days before the deadly shooting in which she said they could “be like Nephi,” a prophet in the Book of Mormon who God commanded to kill Laban.

“Lori Vallow wanted the million dollars, and she wanted Chad Daybell, and she and Alex used that twisted religious beliefs they had so that they could kill the evil, possessed Charles and ‘be like Nephi,'” Kay said.

Three jurors who spoke to reporters following the verdict said the text message evidence in the case had stood out while they were deliberating. The jurors said they had no knowledge of Lori Daybell’s prior convictions, which were not discussed during the Phoenix trial.

Members of Vallow’s family expressed relief at the guilty verdict.

“I’m ready to move on,” Vallow’s sister, Kay Woodcock, told reporters outside the courthouse.

“This was thrust upon us, and our lives just went into, like a tornado, for a long time,” she said.

Following the guilty verdict, Lori Daybell agreed to several aggravating factors in the case, instead of having a jury make a finding on them. Among them, she agreed that this was a dangerous offense and that it involved the presence of an accomplice. When asked if she agreed that as a result of her conduct, the victim or the victim’s family “suffered emotional or financial harm,” she said, “Absolutely.”

She will be sentenced following another upcoming trial in Maricopa County, where she is further accused of scheming with her brother Alex Cox to kill Brandon Boudreaux, the ex-husband of her niece.

Three months after the shooting of Vallow, Boudreaux called 911 to report that someone driving by in a Jeep shot at his vehicle outside his home in Gilbert, Arizona.

She has pleaded not guilty in that case.

Both Lori and Chad Daybell were found guilty of first-degree murder for the deaths of her children, Joshua “J.J.” Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 16, who went missing months after Charles Vallow was killed. In separate trials in 2023 and 2024, prosecutors argued the couple thought the children were possessed zombies and murdered them so that they could be together. The children’s remains were found on an Idaho property belonging to Daybell in June 2020 following a monthslong search.

Lori Daybell is currently serving life in prison without parole for the murders of her two children. She has denied killing them.

Chad Daybell was sentenced to death after being convicted of murdering the two children, as well as his first wife, Tamara Daybell, and now awaits execution on Idaho’s death row.

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