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ICE did not have warrant when agents detained Mahmoud Khalil: Court filing

April 25, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Government lawyers say officers with Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) did not have a warrant for Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil’s arrest when they took him into custody last month, according to a filing submitted in the case.

Khalil’s lawyers say the admission contradicts what officers told Khalil and his lawyers at the time of his arrest and in a subsequent arrest report.

In the filing, lawyers for the Department of Homeland Security said Khalil, a green card holder and permanent legal resident, was served with a warrant once he was brought into an ICE office in New York after his arrest.

The officers “had exigent circumstances to conduct the warrantless arrest, it is the pattern and practice of DHS to fully process a respondent once in custody with an I-200 (warrant) as part of that intake processing,” government lawyers wrote.

DHS claimed its officers were not required to obtain a warrant for Khalil’s arrest, in part, because they had reasons to believe it was likely “he would escape before they could obtain a warrant.”

In the filing, DHS attorneys said agents approached Khalil inside the foyer of his Columbia-owned apartment building and claimed that, while his wife went to retrieve his identification, Khalil told them he was going to leave the scene.

“The HSI supervisory agent believed there was a flight risk and arrest was necessary,” the filing stated.

Khalil’s lawyers have pushed back on the claim that he was uncooperative with authorities.

In a sworn declaration submitted in court last month, attorney Amy Greer, who was on the phone with Khalil’s wife at the time of his arrest, said an agent at the scene told her they had an administrative warrant.

“I asked the basis of the warrant, and he said the U.S. Department of State revoked Mahmoud’s student visa,” Greer said. “When I told Agent Hernandez that Mahmoud does not have a student visa because he is a green card holder and permanent resident in the U.S., he said DHS revoked the green card, too,” she wrote in the declaration.

Khalil’s lawyers say the warrantless arrest is one of the reasons he should be released.

“That night, I was on the phone with Mahmoud, Noor, and even the arresting agent,” Greer said in a statement. “In the face of multiple agents in plain clothes who clearly intended to abduct him, and despite the fact that those agents repeatedly failed to show us a warrant, Mahmoud remained calm and complied with their orders. Today we now know why they never showed Mahmoud that warrant – they didn’t have one.

The statement went on to say: “This is clearly yet another desperate attempt by the Trump administration to justify its unlawful arrest and detention of human rights defender Mahmoud Khalil, who is now, by the government’s own tacit admission, a political prisoner of the United States.”

An immigration judge earlier this month ruled that Khalil, a leader of Columbia’s encampment protests in the spring of 2024, could be deported on grounds that he threatens foreign policy, as alleged by the Trump administration.

Whooping cough cases have doubled in a year, CDC data shows

April 24, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Whooping cough cases are on the rise in the United States, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

For the week ending April 12, at least 8,064 whooping cough cases have been recorded nationwide. This is more than double the 3,835 cases recorded at the same time last year.

Whooping cough, or pertussis, is especially dangerous for babies and young children, and several deaths have been recorded this year.

In Washington, health officials confirmed a death in a child under age 5, which is the first in the state since 2011. In Louisiana, two young infants have died from whooping within the past seven months. In Idaho, officials reported an adult resident died from whooping cough in February 2025.

“Last year, the United States had about 35,000 cases of pertussis and about 10 deaths, give or take,” Chad Neilsen, head of infection control and prevention for Nemours Children’s Health in Florida, told ABC News. “If we continue this pace, we’ll have close to 70,000 cases of pertussis, making it one of the worst years we’ve seen in the U.S. in quite some time.”

If that occurs, it would be the highest number of whooping cough cases recorded since 1950, CDC data shows.

Whooping cough cases have been recorded in all 50 states, according to Nielsen, who believes the increase in cases is due to a decline in vaccination rates.

A vaccine for whooping cough was introduced in the late 1940s and the number of cases each year has since dropped dramatically, decreasing more than 90% compared to the pre-vaccine era.

Before the vaccine, there were an estimated 200,000 cases annually among children and up to 9,000 children died, according to the CDC.

There are two types of vaccines used today to protect against whooping cough: diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (DTaP) vaccine for babies and children younger age 7 and tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (Tdap) vaccines for children aged 7 and older, adults and pregnant women.

However, vaccination rates have been declining. According to a 2024 provisional CDC report, more than 7% of children between 6 months old and 6 years old who developed whooping cough were unvaccinated. This is much higher than any figure recorded since at least 2021.

Additionally, only 92.3% of kindergarteners were vaccinated against whooping cough in the 2023-24 school year, compared to about 95% before the COVID-19 pandemic began, CDC data shows.

“We think [the lack of vaccinations] is probably the primary driver of these cases right now in the U.S.,” Neilsen said.

He said he believes the reasons for the drop in vaccination rates include misinformation about the safety and efficacy of vaccines as well as vaccine fatigue leftover from the pandemic.

What to know about whooping cough

Whooping cough is a very contagious respiratory illness caused by a type of bacteria called Bordetella pertussis.

These bacteria attach to the cilia in the upper respiratory system and release toxins. The toxins damage the cilia, tiny, hair-like structures found on the surface of cells, and cause the upper airways to swell, according to the CDC.

Whooping cough is spread from person-to-person through coughing and sneezing. Infected people can be contagious for weeks without knowing they have whooping cough.

Early symptoms often resemble a common cold — runny nose, cough and low-grade fever — and typically last for one to two weeks. Symptoms, however, can progress to rapid, violent cough coughing fits that can last up to 12 weeks.

Infants under age one, pregnant women and immunocompromised people are at highest risk, but anybody can develop the condition.

Babies who contract whooping cough may have a cold-like illness, struggle to breathe or have apnea, the CDC said.

Whooping cough can be treated with antibiotics and receiving treatment early can reduce the severity of the infection. Most whooping cough symptoms can be managed at home, according to the CDC.

To drive vaccination rates up, Neilsen said it’s important to explain the seriousness of whooping cough to the public.

“Pertussis, like measles, are not just run-of-the-mill diseases,” he said. “These can cause harm … to some of our youngest people. These are diseases that children get [and] they become extremely ill.”

He said the other important thing is to address the concerns of vaccine-hesitant parents, educating them on the safety and efficacy of the vaccine.

Nielsen added that people may have forgotten how contagious or life-threatening whooping cough is because of how effective the vaccine has been at reducing cases.

“We’ve got new doctors who have never seen measles, they’ve never seen pertussis,” Neilsen said. “It was only something they saw on textbooks. The vaccines were so successful.

ABC News Youri Benadjaoud contributed to this report.

Trump grants interview to ‘The Atlantic”s Jeffrey Goldberg despite Signal chat bombshell, past criticism

April 24, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — For years, President Donald Trump has blasted politically damaging reporting by The Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg as fake, made-up.

His most recent criticism has been over Goldberg’s bombshell story about a Signal chat he was accidentally invited to, one that included top members of Trump’s national security team, conversing about an impending military attack on Houthi terrorists in Yemen.

Now, in a surprise twist, Trump said he would speak face-to-face with Goldberg on Thursday after claiming on Truth Social that Goldberg, along with The Atlantic writers Michael Scherer and Ashley Parker, would sit down with him for an interview.

“The story they are writing, they have told my representatives, will be entitled, “The Most Consequential President of this Century,” he said.

Goldberg and The Atlantic have not commented about Trump’s post or the alleged meeting as of Thursday afternoon.

Although the president claimed Goldberg was “responsible for many fictional stories about me,” he said he is looking forward to the meeting.

“I am doing this interview out of curiosity, and as a competition with myself, just to see if it’s possible for The Atlantic to be ‘truthful,'” Trump posted. “Are they capable of writing a fair story on ‘TRUMP’? The way I look at it, what can be so bad.”

Goldberg and Trump have had a contentious back-and-forth going since the president’s 2016 campaign, when the journalist criticized Trump’s rhetoric.

“At the very least, he traffics in racial invective knowingly. To me, that’s a threshold question. If you do that and if you know what you’re doing then, yes, you’re a racist. I think he’s a racist,” he said in a 2016 NPR interview.

Trump criticized The Atlantic’s coverage of his campaign and first term, but things heated up in 2020 after Goldberg wrote an article that described a 2018 incident in which president reportedly refused to visit an American cemetery in France where World War I service members were buried.

“Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers,” Trump told his advisers, according to the article. It also said Trump called fallen Marines “suckers.”

The president heatedly denied he had used those terms on what was then Twitter and went after Goldberg’s sources. Retired Marine Gen. John Kelly, Trump’s former chief of staff, later confirmed Goldberg’s account in an interview with CNN.

In Trump’s Thursday post, he brought up that story and claimed it was a “made-up HOAX.”

Goldberg became the target of the president’s ire again last month after he revealed he was inadvertently invited to the Signal chat that consisted of several top U.S. officials, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Vice President JD Vance, in which they discussed plans for the March 15 military attack against Houthis in Yemen ahead of the airstrike occurring.

Trump and White House officials slammed Goldberg, claiming his reporting was biased.

“He is, as you know, is a sleaze bag, but at the highest level. His magazine is failing,” Trump said of Goldberg on March 26 during an appearance on the “VINCE Show” podcast.

Goldberg has repeatedly defended his reporting on the scandal.

“They’ve decided to blame the guy who they invited into the conversation. It’s a little bit strange behavior,” he told ABC News in March. “Honestly, I don’t know why they’re acting like this except to think that they’re — they know how serious a national security breach it is. And so they have to deflect it and push it onto the guy, again, they invited into the chat — namely me.”

Judge blocks Trump administration from requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote

April 24, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Donald Trump’s unilateral effort to reshape election processes is an attempt to “short-circuit Congress’s deliberative process by executive order,” a federal judge in Washington, D.C. wrote Thursday afternoon.

In a 120-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly blocked the Trump administration from requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote and ordering that election officials “assess” the citizenship of anyone who receives public assistance before allowing them to register. She also barred the Election Assistance Commission from withholding federal funding from states that did not comply with the order.

“Our Constitution entrusts Congress and the States—not the President—with the authority to regulate federal elections,” she wrote. “No statutory delegation of authority to the Executive Branch permits the President to short-circuit Congress’s deliberative process by executive order.”

After Trump issued an executive order last month “preserving and protecting the integrity of American elections,” three separate lawsuits were filed in the D.C. federal court to challenge the policy, including lawsuits filed by the Democratic National Committee (with New York Sen. Charles Schumer and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries), the League of United Latin American Citizens and National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

“These consolidated cases are about the separation of powers,” Judge Kollar-Kotelly wrote.

She concluded that Trump’s unilateral effort to reshape elections exceeds his own authority, noting that the Department of Justice “offered almost no defense of the President’s order.”

If Trump wishes to reform election processes, she wrote, Congress would be the appropriate branch to do so, adding Congress is “currently debating legislation that would effect many of the changes the President purports to order.”

Rwandan genocide leader living in exclusive New York enclave arrested for alleged immigration violations

April 24, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — An alleged leader of violence during the Rwandan genocide in 1994 has been living in an exclusive enclave on Long Island, where he was arrested Thursday and accused of concealing his role in horrific violence and human rights violations by making false statements in his applications for a visa, green card and for U.S. citizenship, according to the Justice Department.

Faustin Nsabumukunzi is charged with visa fraud and attempted naturalization fraud for allegedly lying on his application for a green card and for U.S. citizenship.

Nsabumukunzi was arrested at his home in Bridgehampton and was scheduled to appear later Thursday in Central Islip federal court.

“As alleged, Nsabumukunzi repeatedly lied to conceal his involvement in the horrific Rwandan genocide while seeking to become a lawful permanent resident and citizen of the United States,” said United States Attorney John Durham. “For over two decades, he got away with those lies and lived in the United States with an undeserved clean slate, a luxury that his victims will never have, but thanks to the tenacious efforts of our investigators and prosecutors, the defendant finally will be held accountable for his brutal actions.”

According to officials, Nsabumukunzi served as a local leader with the title of “Sector Councilor” in Rwanda in 1994 when the genocide began. Between April 1994 and July 1994, members of the majority Hutu population persecuted the minority Tutsis, committing acts of violence, including murder, rape and sexual violence. During the three-month genocide, an estimated 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus died.

According to the indictment, Nsabumukunzi used his leadership position as Sector Councilor to oversee the violence and killings of Tutsis in his local sector of Kibirizi and directed groups of armed Hutus to kill Tutsis. He set up roadblocks during the genocide to detain and kill Tutsis and participated in killings and violence, according to court documents.

Nsabumukunzi allegedly ordered a group of armed Hutus to locations where Tutsis were sheltering, and the Hutus killed them. Nsabumukunzi also allegedly facilitated the rape of Tutsi women by verbally encouraging Hutu men to do so. According to court filings, Nsabumukunzi has been convicted of genocide in absentia by a Rwandan court.

The suspect applied for refugee resettlement in the United States in August 2003 and then applied for and received a green card in November 2007. He later applied for naturalization in 2009 and 2015. Nsabumukunzi allegedly lied to United States immigration officials to gain admission to the United States as a refugee, by falsely denying in the applications under penalty of perjury that he ever engaged in genocide, federal prosecutors said.

He allegedly repeated those lies in his subsequent applications for a green card and for naturalization. Nsabumukunzi has lived and worked in the United States since 2003.

If convicted, Nsabumukunzi faces a maximum of 30 years in prison.

Judge partially blocks Trump’s effort to ban DEI from K-12 education

April 24, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The Trump administration’s attempt to make federal funding to schools conditional on them eliminating any DEI policies erodes the “foundational principles” that separates the United States from totalitarian regimes, a federal judge said on Thursday.

In an 82-page order, U.S. District Judge Landya McCafferty partially blocked the Department of Education from enforcing a memo issued earlier this year that directed any institution that receives federal funding to end discrimination on the basis of race or face funding cuts.

“Ours is a nation deeply committed to safeguarding academic freedom, which is of transcendent value to all of us and not merely to the teachers concerned,” Judge McCafferty wrote, adding the “right to speak freely and to promote diversity of ideas and programs is…one of the chief distinctions that sets us apart from totalitarian regimes.”

“In this case, the court reviews action by the executive branch that threatens to erode these foundational principles,” she wrote.

The judge stopped short of issuing the nationwide injunction, instead limiting the relief to any entity that employs or contacts with the groups that filed the lawsuit, including the National Education Association and the Center for Black Educator Development.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

DOJ accidentally files document outlining flaws with Trump administration’s plan to kill NYC congestion pricing

April 24, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Lawyers with the Department of Justice accidentally filed a document overnight that outlined a series of legal flaws with the Trump administration’s plan to kill New York City’s congestion pricing tolls.

In an 11-page letter to the Department of Transportation, lawyers with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York wrote that Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy’s attempt to terminate congestion pricing faces “considerable litigation risk” and is “unlikely” to be accepted by the court.

“As discussed below, there is considerable litigation risk in defending the Secretary’s February 19, 2025 decision against plaintiffs’ claims under the Administrative Procedure Act, that the decision was contrary to law, pretextual, procedurally arbitrary and capricious, and violated due process,” the letter said.

According to DOJ lawyers, both of Duffy’s arguments for canceling the program — that the tolls raise revenue rather than prevent congestion and that the program does not offer a toll-free option — are unlikely to convince the court.

DOJ lawyers instead proposed an alternative justification to defend canceling the program, urging the Department of Justice to use regulations set by the Office of Management and Budget to say the program was canceled “as a matter of changed agency priorities.”

“Importantly, DOT can seek termination of the agreement pursuant to the OMB regulations in addition to, and not in place of, defending the rationale laid out in the Secretary’s letter,” the letter said.

In a letter to the judge overseeing the lawsuit challenging congestion pricing, DOJ lawyers on Thursday morning acknowledged the document was “plainly filed in error” and asked to permanently seal the record. They argued the internal legal guidance included in the letter is privileged and should not be considered in the ongoing lawsuit.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York said the filing was an “honest error.”

“Unfortunately, an attorney-client privileged document was erroneously filed on the public docket last night,” the spokesperson said in a statement Thursday. “This was a completely honest error and was not intentional in any way. Upon realizing the error, we immediately took steps to have the document removed. We look forward to continuing to vigorously advocate in the best interest of our clients, the DOT and FHWA, in this matter.”

The Metropolitan Transit Authority’s congestion pricing program, the first of its kind in the nation, went into effect in January. Weeks later, with Donald Trump now in office, the Federal Highway Administration terminated approval of the plan, with Duffy saying at the time that the “scope of this pilot project as approved exceeds the authority authorized by Congress.”

In February, the Metropolitan Transit Authority sued over the Trump administration’s attempt to rescind the agreement between the Federal Highway Administration and MTA that authorized the collection of the congestion toll. Lawyers for the MTA argued the termination was unlawful, contradicts the DOT’s own publicly stated policies and seeks to end a program that benefits the public.

“The region’s subways, buses, and commuter railroads — vital lifelines for so many New Yorkers who live in the New York City metropolitan area and beyond — are already benefiting from substantial investments that have been made as a result of the Program,” they argued. “New Yorkers support the Program because it is working.”

New York officials have said they will not turn off the tolls without a court order.

The congestion pricing plan charges passenger vehicles $9 to access Manhattan below 60th Street during peak hours as part of an effort to ease congestion and raise funds for the city’s public transit system. During peak hours, small trucks and charter buses are charged $14.40 and large trucks and tour buses pay $21.60.

Highland Park shooter Robert Crimo III sentenced to life in prison without parole

April 24, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(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, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on Thursday.

Crimo was sentenced to seven consecutive life sentences, Judge Victoria A. Rossetti announced on Thursday.

“This court hopes this sentence hopes brings a sense of justice and an end to the continued horror,” Rossetti said.

The sentencing hearing, which began Wednesday, finished Thursday morning after the court heard from multiple survivors and relatives of those killed in the shooting at the Independence Day parade.

Crimo decided to not appear in court on Wednesday or Thursday. The shooter’s parents, who have attended most court proceedings, were also not present.

The victims, who expected to address Crimo at the sentencing hearing, still shared the impact Crimo’s attack had on their lives.

Leah Sundheim, daughter of victim Jacqueline Sundheim, said Crimo “threw the balance of this world off” by killing her mother.

“I hope you wake in the middle of the night, gasping air you don’t deserve,” Sundheim said in court on Wednesday.

Sundheim also read a statement on behalf of her father, Bruce Sundheim, who said their family’s lives have been destroyed by Crimo’s “violent tantrum.”

Marcia Moran, whose husband was shot by Crimo, said she has been in therapy for over two years due to the emotional trauma. Her family has since moved out of Highland Park and is now living in Tennessee.

“The shooter doesn’t get to take anything more from me,” Moran said in court via Zoom.

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

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,” Sundheim 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.

Trump asks Supreme Court to lift block on transgender military ban

April 24, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The Trump administration has made a new emergency request of the U.S. Supreme Court seeking an immediate stay of a nationwide injunction blocking the ban on openly transgender military service members.

Solicitor General John Sauer said the injunction, issued by a district court in Washington, usurps the authority of the president in determining who can serve in the nation’s armed forces and runs counter to the high court’s own decision in the first Trump administration to allow the ban to move forward.

The case is Trump v. Shilling in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

There is a separate nationwide injunction in place in a case out of the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

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

Teen charged with allegedly starting massive New Jersey wildfire

April 24, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(OCEAN COUNTY, N.J.) — A 19-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of starting a massive New Jersey wildfire that has consumed at least 15,000 acres and continued to burn Thursday, authorities said.

In a statement released Thursday morning, New Jersey officials, including Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer, announced the arrest of Joseph Kling of Waretown, New Jersey, on charges of aggravated arson and arson in connection with the wildfire that ignited early Tuesday.

Kling was arrested after investigators determined the fire to be “incendiary by an improperly extinguished bonfire,” according to the statement.

The Jones Road Wildfire was first spotted about 9:45 a.m. on Tuesday in the Greenwood Wildlife Management area near Waretown, officials said.

Fueled by drought-ravaged vegetation, blustery winds and low relative humidity, the fire quickly spread through the Pine Barrens of the wildlife area, jumped the busy Garden State Parkway and threatened around 1,300 structures at one point, fire officials said.

At least 5,000 people heeded mandatory evacuation orders or voluntarily evacuated, according to officials.

Officials said investigators tracked the origin of the fire to Waretown.

“Further investigation has revealed that Kling was the individual responsible for setting wooden pallets on fire — and then leaving the area without the fire being fully extinguished,” they said in the statement.

Kling was taken into custody at Ocean Township Police Headquarters in Waretown, officials said.

It was not immediately clear what led authorities to suspect Kling was involved in the fire.

Kling was booked at the Ocean County Jail, where he is presently lodged pending a detention hearing.

During a news conference on Wednesday, Shawn LaTourette, New Jersey’s commissioner of Environmental Protection, praised firefighters for “truly averting a major disaster.”

Although one commercial building was destroyed and several cabins were damaged, officials said no homes have been lost and no injuries were reported.

The Jones Road Wildfire continued to burn on Thursday. The fire has burned at least 15,000 acres and was 50% contained Thursday morning, according to the Fire Service.

The fire is expected to grow as dry conditions, winds and low humidity aid the blaze’s activity, according to the New Jersey Forest Fire Service.

With the fire ongoing and winds shifting north, authorities expect some of the wildfire smoke to make it to New York City and Long Island. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation issued an air quality advisory on Thursday morning that will remain in effect through midnight.

“Air quality levels in outdoor air are predicted to be greater than an Air Quality Index value of 100 for the pollutant of Fine Particulates,” the agency said in a statement.

According to the air quality index, anything over 100 for pollutants and fine particulates in the air is considered unhealthy, especially for people who are sensitive to the effects of elevated levels of pollutants, including children and adults with pre existing respiratory problems.

Winds are expected to shift overnight away from New York City and Long Island, but could shift back again on Friday, bringing wildfire smoke to the region.

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