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RFK Jr. tells food leaders he wants artificial dyes removed from food products before he leaves office

March 11, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told food industry leaders in a closed-door meeting on Monday that he wants them to remove artificial color additives from their products by the end of his time in office, according to a memo describing the meeting, which was obtained by ABC News.

At the Washington gathering, which included the CEOs of Kellogg’s, Smucker’s and General Mills, Kennedy said it is a top priority of the Trump administration to rid America’s food of the artificial dyes, wrote Melissa Hockstad, president and CEO of the Consumer Brands Association, a trade group, who penned the memo.

Hockstad addressed the memo to “Consumer Brands Member CEOs.”

“The Secretary made clear his intention to take action unless the industry is willing to be proactive with solutions,” Hockstad wrote.

Kennedy has long championed removing artificial coloring from America’s food, and the effort has become a pillar of the “Make America Healthy Again” movement.

In January, the Food and Drug Administration revoked its authorization of one type of red food dye — Red No. 3. The dye is known to cause cancer in laboratory animals but was allowed to be used by manufacturers for years because scientists didn’t believe it raised cancer risk in humans at the level typically consumed.

The FDA, under then-President Joe Biden, acted after longtime pressure by consumer advocates.

But a different type, Red No. 40, remains on the market and hasn’t been studied by the FDA in more than 20 years. FDA and health officials said there is no evidence though that it is harmful, and food manufacturers said they need to be able to rely on ingredients generally recognized as safe.

In the memo, Hockstad said her association will work with HHS leaders about removing “roadblocks” so food companies can help meet Kennedy’s goal.

“We will be working with your teams to gain as much alignment as possible about how we move forward and ensure the industry is positioned in the best possible way as we navigate next steps forward,” she wrote. “But to underscore, decision time is imminent.”

A spokeswoman for the Consumer Brands Association confirmed the authenticity of the letter, which was first reported by Bloomberg, but did not provide further comment.

The spokeswoman provided ABC News with a copy of a thank-you letter Hockstad sent Kennedy after the meeting.

“The industry is committed to delivering safe, affordable and convenient product choices to consumers,” she wrote. “We will engage with you and the administration on solutions to improve transparency, ensure ingredient evaluations are grounded in a science and risk-based process and increase healthier options for consumers.”

Vani Hari, an activist and founder of Food Babe and Truvani who delivered 400,000 petition signatures to the Michigan headquarters for Kellogg’s last year asking the company to remove artificial food dyes, applauded Kennedy.

“I have been working on this issue for over a decade and I am thrilled Secretary Kennedy laid out an ultimatum,” Hari told ABC News in a statement.

“These food companies have already reformulated their products without dyes in so many countries, now it’s time for them to do the same in America. Americans deserve the same safer foods other countries get,” she continued.

Trump vowed to make the economy better on Day 1. Now, he says the US is in ‘transition’

March 11, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Then-candidate Donald Trump, at a campaign rally last August as the 2024 race for the White House was heating up, made a promise to voters to quickly bring economic relief if elected.

“Starting on Day 1, we will end inflation and make America affordable again,” he said at a rally in Montana, where he told supporters: “This election is about saving our economy.”

A week later, he made a show of displaying cartons of eggs, bacon, milk and other grocery products outside his New Jersey golf course as he railed against the Biden administration’s policies.

“When I win, I will immediately bring prices down,” Trump said at the time.

Trump started to change his tune not long after his victory, however, saying in an interview with Time magazine, published in December, that bringing down food costs will be “very hard.”

Now, seven weeks into his administration, Trump is declining to rule out the possibility of a recession and is warning of short-term “disturbance” for American families from his tariff policies.

During his first major speech to Congress and the nation since his inauguration, Trump last week defended his imposition of steep levies on key U.S. trading partners like Canada, China and Mexico.

“Tariffs are about making America rich again and making America great again. And it’s happening, and it will happen rather quickly. There will be a little disturbance, but we’re okay with that. It won’t be much,” he said.

Since then, his back-and-forth on tariffs for Canada and Mexico roiled the stock market, with the S&P 500 recording its worst week since last September.

During an interview on Fox News “Sunday Morning Futures,” Trump was asked if he is expecting a recession this year after the Atlanta Federal Reserve projected negative GDP growth for the first quarter of 2025.

“I hate to predict things like that,” Trump responded. “There is a period of transition, because what we’re doing is very big. We’re bringing wealth back to America. That’s a big thing, and there are always periods of, it takes a little time. It takes a little time, but I think it should be great for us.”

He was pressed on his hesitation to strike down the possibility later Sunday as he spoke with reporters on Air Force One.

“I’ll tell you what, of course you hesitate. Who knows? All I know is this: We’re going to take in hundreds of billions of dollars in tariffs, and we’re going to become so rich, you’re not going to know where to spend all that money,” he said. “I’m telling you, you just watch. We’re going to have jobs. We’re going to have open factories. It’s going to be great.”

Stock losses continued Monday and Tuesday after Trump’s comments. More tariffs are being implemented against steel and aluminum products on Wednesday, and Trump’s pledging to move forward with “reciprocal” tariffs starting on April 2.

The White House on Tuesday also declined to rule out a recession, as officials sought to cast the market turmoil as a “snapshot of a moment in time” before Trump’s policies bear their intended impact.

“We are in a period of economic transition,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters when asked directly if she could reassure Americans there wouldn’t be a downturn.

Leavitt blamed the Biden administration for what she said was an “economic disaster” left to Trump — despite Biden overseeing a soft economic landing — and pointed to other indicators she said were positive signs for Americans, including a boost in manufacturing jobs last month and reports of companies looking to expand operations in America.

“The American people, CEOs, and people on Wall Street and on Main Street should bet on this president,” Leavitt told reporters. “He is a dealmaker. He is a businessman and he’s doing what’s right for our country.”

Tariffs could impact longstanding electricity trade between US and Canada

March 11, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The tariffs the Trump administration is imposing on Canada could disrupt the longstanding trade of electricity between the United States and its northern neighbor, effectively raising energy bills in multiple U.S. states.

President Donald Trump ignited a trade war on Canada and Mexico immediately upon taking office, announcing on Inauguration Day that he expected to place 25% tariffs on both countries. After weeks of back and forth, the trade war escalated further after Ontario slapped a 25% surcharge on electricity sent to the U.S. in response to Trumps’ tariffs.

The tariffs will likely have reverberations for Americans who use electricity imported by Canada, as the U.S. and Canada are each other’s largest energy trade partners, according to Washington, D.C.-based research institute Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

The history of electricity trade between the U.S. and Canada

The U.S. and Canada have been trading electricity for more than a century — long enough to have established an integrated grid, which offers a sense of security for both countries’ energy needs, according to Ontario-based utilities association Electricity Canada.

The electricity interdependence between the two countries was borne out of complementary needs — Canadians tend to use more electricity in the winter for heating, while demand is higher in the U.S. during the summer for cooling, according to Electricity Canada. An integrated grid offers strategic balance and reliability for both countries. according to the Canada Energy Regulator (CER).

The cumulative volume of energy trade between the U.S. and Canada has consistently risen year over year, according to the CSIS.

For the better part of the last two decades, the U.S. has imported “significantly more” electricity from Canada than it has exported, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The balance shifted in the fall of 2023, however, because severe drought significantly reduced the amount of hydropower generated in Canada.

In 2023, electricity exports from the U.S. to Canada were valued at about $1.1 billion and electricity imports from Canada to the U.S. were valued at $2.9 billion, according to the CER.

Tariffs could cause Americans’ electricity bills to increase

Since the integrated electricity system between the U.S. and Canada was built on the idea of tariff-free trade, introducing tariffs is “hugely disruptive” and will be felt by citizens of both countries, according to Electricity Canada.

Both American and Canadian consumers and businesses can expect to pay more for electricity, the association said.

On Monday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced a 25% surcharge on electricity from Ontario to the U.S. Customers in states that import the most electricity from Ontario — like Minnesota, Michigan and New York — could see higher prices as a result.

Ford said during a press conference on Monday that he would “not back down” until the tariffs are abolished “once and for all.”

“Believe me when I say I do not want to do this,” Ford said. “I feel terrible for the American people who didn’t start this trade war.”

Ford suspended the surcharge on Tuesday after a “productive conservation about the economic relationship between the United States and Canada,” he wrote on a statement posted to X.

Other states that are top importers of Canadian electricity include California, Nevada, Arizona, North Dakota, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, according to the CSIS.

The amount of electricity imported from Canada is a small portion of the overall power supply in the U.S., but the transmission connections are an important component of markets in northern states, according to the EIA.

On Tuesday, Trump imposed another round of tariffs on Canadian steal and aluminum products in response to Ontario’s surcharge on electricity.

Trump also announced that he planned to declare a national emergency in the regions of the U.S. impacted by the surcharge but did not provide any specifics on actions the government might take.

ABC News’ Michelle Stoddart and Max Zahn contributed to this report.

14 House members demand release of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil after arrest at Columbia

March 11, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Fourteen members of Congress have signed a letter demanding the release of Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil, who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement last week, despite being a legal permanent resident.

Khalil was detained on Saturday after two plainclothes Department of Homeland Security agents entered Columbia student housing and detained Khalil without presenting a warrant or any filed charges, according to the letter.

Khalil is a legal permanent resident and is married to a U.S. citizen who is eight months pregnant, according to the letter.

The 14 members of Congress — including “Squad” members Reps. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich.; Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.; and Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass. — called Khalil’s detention an “attempt to criminalize political protest” and a “direct assault on freedom of speech.”

“Khalil has not been charged or convicted of any crime. As the Trump Administration proudly admits, he was targeted solely for his activism and organizing as a student leader and negotiator for the Gaza Solidarity Encampment on Columbia University’s campus,” the members of Congress wrote in a letter addressed to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

The members of Congress, all Democrats, also called Khalil’s detention an act of “anti-Palestinian racism intended to silence the Palestine solidarity movement in this country.”

The ICE agents who arrested Khalil at his home first said that the State Department had revoked his student visa. After being informed by Khalil’s attorney that he was a permanent resident with a green card, the ICE agents said that his green card was being revoked instead, according to the letter.

The agents also threatened to arrest Khalil’s pregnant wife, according to the letter.

“DHS initially informed them he was being held in Elizabeth New Jersey, but his wife attempted to visit the facility on Sunday only to learn that he was not there. DHS refused to provide additional information on his location to his attorney or spouse,” the letter said.

Shortly after his arrest, Khalil was transferred to an ICE facility in central Louisiana.

“Khalil’s constitutional rights have been violated. He has been denied meaningful access to counsel and any visitation from his family. This is absolutely unacceptable — and illegal,” the letter said.

A federal judge has blocked Khalil’s removal while weighing a petition challenging his arrest.

The Trump administration said it has the authority to remove Khalil under the Immigration and Nationality Act.

“Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, the secretary of state has the right to revoke a green card or a visa for individuals who serve, or are adversarial to the foreign policy and the national security interests of the United States of America,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday. “Mahmoud Khalil was an individual who was given the privilege of coming to this country to study at one of our nation’s finest universities and colleges and he took advantage of that opportunity, of that privilege, by siding with terrorists, Hamas terrorists.”

Baher Azmy, one of Khalil’s lawyers, called his client’s alleged alignment with Hamas “false and preposterous.”

“Setting aside the false and preposterous premise that advocating on behalf of Palestinian human rights and to plead with public officials to stop an ongoing genocide constitutes alignment with Hamas, his speech is absolutely protected by the Constitution, and it should be chilling to everyone that the United States government could punish or try to deport someone because they disapprove of the speech they’re engaged in,” Azmy told ABC News on Monday.

Khalil completed his program at the university in December and expects to graduate in May, according to the habeas corpus petition filed by his lawyer.

Leavitt also said Tuesday that more arrests will come and added Columbia University is “refusing to help” DHS in identifying other individuals.

“I also know that Columbia University has been given the names of other individuals who have engaged in pro-Hamas activity and they are refusing to help DHS identify those individuals on campus,” Leavitt said.

DC plane crash: NTSB calls for immediate changes at Reagan airport

March 11, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The National Transportation Safety Board chairman called for immediate changes at Washington, D.C.’s Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, saying the current helicopter routes around the airport “pose an intolerable risk to aviation safety.”

Chairman Jennifer Homendy said the NTSB is recommending that the Federal Aviation Administration permanently ban helicopter operations near Reagan when runways 15 and 33 are in use.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has “restricted helicopter traffic from operating over the Potomac River at DCA until March 31,” Homendy said at a news conference Tuesday. “And I want to commend him for that and commend the work of the FAA to also take swift action.”

However, “as that deadline nears, we remain concerned about the significant potential for future midair collision at DCA,” she said.

Homendy outlined a history of close calls at Reagan and offered a solution as the NTSB continues to the investigate the devastating crash between an American Airlines plane and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter that killed all 67 people on board both aircraft.

The crash happened on the night of Jan. 29 when the PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet, which had departed from Wichita, Kansas, with 64 people on board, was about to land at Reagan (DCA). The three soldiers on the helicopter were conducting an annual training flight and night vision goggle check ride for one of the pilots at the time when the two aircraft collided. Both aircraft plunged into the Potomac River.

Between October 2021 and December 2024, there were 944,179 commercial operations at Reagan, Homendy said. During that time, there were 15,214 close proximity events between commercial airplanes and helicopters, she said.

Encounters between helicopters and commercial aircraft near Reagan show that, from 2011 through 2024, a vast majority of reported events occurred on approach to landing, she said.

Homendy said last month that there was no indication the helicopter crew involved in the January crash could tell there was an impending collision.

The soldiers may have had “bad data” on the altitude from their altimeter, as the pilots had differing altitudes in the seconds before the crash, Homendy said. One helicopter pilot thought they were at 400 feet and the other thought they were at 300 feet.

The transmission from the tower that instructed the helicopter to go behind the plane may not have been heard by the crew because the pilot may have keyed her radio at the same second and stepped on the transmission from ATC, the NTSB added.

The Black Hawk crew was likely wearing night vision goggles throughout the flight, Homendy said.

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

SpaceX mission set to launch on Wednesday will bring home Starliner astronauts

March 11, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — An upcoming SpaceX mission on Wednesday will bring the next crew set to work on the International Space Station (ISS), but also return a pair of astronauts back to Earth.

Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams have been in space since June 2024 after they performed the first crewed test flight of Boeing’s Starliner. When they launched, they were only supposed to be on the ISS for about a week.

However, NASA and Boeing officials decided to send the uncrewed Starliner back to Earth in September after several issues and keep Wilmore and Williams onboard until early 2025 when Crew-10 was ready to launch on the Dragon spacecraft.

The pair integrated with the ongoing Crew-9 mission aboard the ISS and could not return to Earth until Crew-9 completed its six-month mission and were replaced by Crew-10.

Wilmore and Williams assisted the crew with research and other responsibilities. However, NASA officials said the pair were using up more supplies meant for the ISS crew.

Steve Stich, program manager for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, said that NASA teams spent all summer looking over the data on Starliner and felt there was too much risk with regard to the vehicle’s thrusters.

During a press conference in September, Wilmore said he and Williams did not feel let down by anything during the mission.

“Let down? Absolutely not,” Wilmore said. “It’s never entered my mind. It’s a fair question. I can tell you, I thought a lot about this press conference … and what I wanted to say and convey.”

“NASA does a great job of making a lot of things look easy,” he said, adding, “That’s just the way it goes. sometimes because we are pushing the edges of the envelope in everything that we do.”

SpaceX and NASA are currently targeting Crew-10 to launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island in Florida around 7:26 p.m. ET with a backup window of Thursday, March 13, at 7:26 p.m. ET. If the mission is successful, it’s unclear when exactly Wilmore and Williams will return to Earth.

The crew consists of two NASA astronauts, an astronaut from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and an astronaut from Russia’s Roscosmos.

SpaceX will share a live webcast of the mission beginning one hour and 20 minutes prior to liftoff on its website and on its X account. NASA will also air coverage on its X account.

“During their time on the orbiting laboratory, the crew will conduct new research to prepare for human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit and to benefit humanity on Earth,” SpaceX said on its website.

SpaceX’s contracted missions are part of the larger Commercial Crew Program at NASA, which are certified to perform routine missions to and from the ISS.

InfoWars reporter shot dead outside his apartment after possibly interrupting burglars: Police

March 11, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(AUSTIN, Texas) — A homicide investigation is underway after a reporter for InfoWars, the website run by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, was shot dead outside his apartment complex in Austin, Texas, according to police.

The victim, Jamie White, 36, was found lying on the ground in the parking lot around 11:56 p.m. Sunday, Austin police said. Infowars is based in Austin.

The suspects may have been burglarizing White’s car when White interrupted them, police said.

The suspects fled the scene after the shooting, police said.

Jones wrote on X, “We pledge that Jamie’s tragic death will not be in vain, and those responsible for this senseless violence will be brought to justice.”

Anyone with information about this shooting should call police at 512-974-TIPS, or submit a tip to Crime Stoppers at 512-472-8477.

Trump adds another 25% to tariff on Canadian steel and aluminum

March 11, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday escalated a trade war with Canada, imposing a fresh round of tariffs on steel and aluminum products, threatening additional duties, and reiterating a call for Canada to give up its sovereignty and become a part of the United States.

Top Canadian officials responded forcefully, saying the country would keep its countermeasures in place until Trump withdraws U.S. tariffs.

Trump announced the new policies a day after Ontario slapped a 25% surcharge on electricity sent to the U.S., saying that he is adding another 25% tariff on Canadian steel and aluminum, bringing the total to 50%.

Trump said in a post on Truth Social that the increased tariff “will go into effect TOMORROW MORNING, March 12th.”

The U.S. imports more steel and aluminum from Canada than any other country.

In an interview on Tuesday after Trump’s announcement, Ontario Premier Doug Ford urged Trump to withdraw the tariffs, threatening to further escalate the standoff by shutting off electricity Canada supplies to the U.S.

“That’s the last thing I want to do,” Ford told CNBC. “I want to send more electricity down to the U.S., to our closest allies.”

“Is it a tool in our toolkit? 100%. And as [Trump] continues to hurt Canadian families, Ontario families, I won’t hesitate to do that,” Ford continued.

A spokesperson for Canada’s incoming Prime Minister Mark Carney described Trump’s latest tariffs as an “attack on Canadian workers, families and businesses.”

“My government will keep our tariffs on until the Americans show us respect and make credible, reliable commitments to free and fair trade,” the spokesperson added in a statement to ABC News.

Trump also said in his post that he will “shortly be declaring a National Emergency on Electricity” in the area impacted by the tariffs from Canada. He said that the national emergency will “allow the U.S to quickly do what has to be done” to respond to the tariff from Canada, without providing any specifics on what actions the U.S. might take.

Earlier Tuesday, Ford urged Trump to reconsider his tariffs, saying that they are “causing chaos.”

“Markets are tanking. He needs to drop his tariffs and come to the table to negotiate a fair trade deal. Until he does, we won’t back down,” Ford said in a post on X.

The announcement from Trump escalated a trade war between set off last week after the U.S. imposed 25% tariffs on imports from Canada. In a near-immediate response, Canada slapped a 25% retaliatory tariff on $30 billion worth of goods. Tariffs on an additional $125 billion worth of products will take effect in 21 days, then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said

Trudeau sharply criticized the tariffs, calling them a “dumb” policy that does not “make sense.”

The tit-for-tat measures reignited a trade war that had been averted a month earlier, when Trump paused the implementation of tariffs after reaching an agreement with Canada on border enforcement.

In late February, Trump alleged that illicit drugs such as fentanyl had continued to enter the U.S. through Canada, despite the agreements reached weeks earlier to address the issue.

Since September, nearly all fentanyl seized by the U.S. came through the Southern border with Mexico, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agency. Less than 1% of fentanyl was seized at the northern border with Canada, the CBP found.

The reason for the tariffs is based on a false allegation about Canada as a major source of drugs entering the U.S., Trudeau said last week.

As part of his announcement on Tuesday, Trump threatened to impose additional retaliatory tariffs on Canada if duties on U.S. goods remain in place.

“If other egregious, long time Tariffs are not likewise dropped by Canada, I will substantially increase, on April 2nd, the Tariffs on Cars coming into the U.S. which will, essentially, permanently shut down the automobile manufacturing business in Canada,” Trump said in the Truth Social post.

He also called on Canada to drop their tariffs on dairy farmers, and again asserted that Canada should become America’s 51st state.

“The artificial line of separation drawn many years ago will finally disappear, and we will have the safest and most beautiful Nation anywhere in the World – And your brilliant anthem, “O Canada,” will continue to play, but now representing a GREAT and POWERFUL STATE within the greatest Nation that the World has ever seen!,” Trump said in the post.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

ABC News’ William Gretsky contributed to this report.

DOJ pardon attorney says she was removed after dispute over Mel Gibson’s gun rights

March 11, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — A top official leading the Justice Department’s Office of the Pardon Attorney said she was fired from her post one day after refusing to recommend that actor Mel Gibson’s access to firearms be restored, according to a new interview and a statement provided to ABC News on Tuesday.

In an interview with the New York Times, pardon attorney Elizabeth Oyer said the request to add Gibson’s name to a memo of people who should have their gun rights restored came at the last minute, after attorneys for Gibson had written directly to senior DOJ officials citing a recent special appointment he had received from President Donald Trump.

After she refused, Oyer said she received a call from a senior official in Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s office who repeatedly pressed her to reconsider, citing Gibson’s close personal relationship with Trump.

On Friday, Oyer posted on LinkedIn a termination letter from Blanche, which did not include any justification for her firing.

“Unfortunately, experienced professionals throughout the Department are afraid to voice their opinions because dissent is being punished,” Oyer said in a statement to ABC News. “Decisions are being made based on relationships and loyalty, not based on facts or expertise or sound analysis, which is very alarming given what is at stake is our public safety.”

A DOJ official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, disputed Oyer’s account, telling ABC News the spat over Gibson’s gun rights was not a factor in removal.

Gibson’s access to guns is prohibited due to a 2011 “no contest” plea he entered to a misdemeanor charge of battering his former girlfriend.

Oyer, who has led the Office of the Pardon Attorney since 2022, told the New York Times she was recently put on a working group tasked with assembling a list of candidates who could have their gun rights restored. After assembling a list that was then circulated to Blanche’s office, she was instructed to add Gibson’s name, a development that she said was troubling.

“Giving guns back to domestic abusers is a serious matter that, in my view, is not something that I could recommend lightly because there are real consequences that flow from people who have a history of domestic violence being in possession of firearms,” Oyer said.

It is not clear whether the recommendation will move forward now that Oyer has been removed. Gibson notably was seen just this weekend alongside FBI Director Kash Patel attending a UFC fight in Las Vegas.

A representative for Gibson did not respond to a request for comment.

3 charged with second-degree murder after 5-year-old killed in hyperbaric chamber explosion

March 11, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(TROY, Mich.) — Three people have been charged with second-degree murder after a 5-year-old boy was killed when a hyperbaric chamber exploded at a medical facility in Michigan earlier this year, officials announced Tuesday.

Thomas Cooper died on Jan. 31 in the incident at the Oxford Center in Troy, officials said.

The chamber contained 100% oxygen, making it extremely flammable, Lt. Keith Young of the Detroit Fire Department said at the time.

The owner of the Oxford Center, Tamela Peterson, and two other employees of the facility, have now been charged with second-degree murder in connection with his death, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said.

They also face an alternative charge of involuntary manslaughter. Nessel said a jury will ultimately decide if the state has enough evidence to prove the murder charge.

The operator of the hyperbaric chamber also faces a charge of involuntary manslaughter, Nessel said.

“Due to many failures by men and women who would call themselves medical professionals — and wanton or willful disregard for the likelihood that their actions would cause the death of a patient — 5-year-old Thomas Cooper was killed,” Nessel said at a press briefing.

The Oxford Center said it has been cooperating with multiple investigations into the “tragic accident” and is “disappointed” in the decision to file charges.

“The timing of these charges is surprising, as the typical protocol after a fire-related accident has not yet been completed,” the Oxford Center said in a statement. “There are still outstanding questions about how this occurred. Yet, the Attorney General’s office proceeded to pursue charges without those answers.”

“Our highest priority every day is the safety and wellbeing of the children and families we serve, which continues during this process,” the statement added.

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

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