(BUFFALO, N.Y.) — As she stared down the teenager who murdered her sister and nine other Black people in the racially motivated Buffalo mass shooting, Barbara Massey Mapps said her blood was boiling to the point she wanted to reach out and wring his neck.
As Mapps gave a blistering victim impact statement in Erie County Court Wednesday, she said her anger grew as she interpreted the look on killer Payton Gendron’s face as someone “who doesn’t care.” But it was her 46-year-old son, Damore Mapps, the oldest of her late sister Katherine “Kat” Massey’s nephews, who made an attempt in court to physically assault Gendron.
As his mother was speaking and pounding her hand on the prosecution’s table to seize Gendron’s attention, Damore Mapps, who was standing next to her, suddenly charged towards Gendron and lunged at the 19-year-old, wildly swinging his fists as courtroom guards restrained him and hustled the handcuffed defendant out of the courtroom.
“He wouldn’t have went up there if it weren’t for me. He saw me emotional and I’m his mom. ‘Mom’s hurt, I’m gonna protect my mother,'” Barbara Massey Mapps said of her son at a post-sentencing news conference. “This is the way we were brought up. You hurt one of us, you hurt us all.”
The courtroom outburst briefly halted the hearing and cut short Mapps’ statement, moments after she told Gendron “you don’t know a damn thing about Black people. We’re human.”
She said her son was extremely close to her 72-year-old sister and that his still “raw” emotions emerged in the courtroom.
“He’s the one who called Kat ‘Triple Black’ … because she was so proud of her heritage,” said Mapps, who referenced the nickname in her statement.
No charges were filed against Damore Mapps, who was not allowed back in the courtroom when the sentencing hearing resumed.
Barbara Massey Mapps, 65, said that as she spoke directly to Gendron, anger and satisfaction coursed through her body. While telling Gendron, “I would hurt you so bad,” if he weren’t surrounded by guards, she said it felt good to finally unburden her pent-up rage.
“I wanted to choke him until my fingerprints left a mark around his neck. That’s what I wanted from the bottom of my heart,” she said. “I have not felt this good since 5/14, since I could speak to him.”
During the hearing, Gendron apologized to the families of the 10 people he killed and the three he wounded in the May 14, 2022, racially motivated mass shooting at a Tops supermarket on Buffalo’s east side.
But Mapps said she felt Gendron’s mea culpa did not strike her as sincere. She said she suspects he only gave a statement in an attempt to avoid the death penalty, which he still faces in the pending federal case against him.
“I feel that he could care less about what he did,” Mapps said.
Gendron pleaded guilty in November to 15 state charges, including murder and attempted murder. He is the first person in state history to be charged with domestic terrorism motivated by hate.
Judge Susan Eagan imposed mandatory sentences of life in prison without the possibility of parole for each of the 10 victims Gendron killed and 25 years for each of the three victims he shot and wounded. Eagan told Gendron there would be “no mercy for you, no understanding, no second chances.”
In addition to the state case, Gendron is facing hate and domestic terrorism charges in federal court. His attorneys said he might consider pleading guilty if federal prosecutors agree not to pursue the death penalty.
While several family members who spoke in state court on Wednesday said they would rather see Gendron rot in prison, Mapps said, “I want to have the death penalty.”
“A lot of my family now wants him to be in jail for 200 to 300 years. I think that’s a waste of money,” Mapps said. “If anybody deserves the death penalty, it’s him.”
(NEW YORK) — Fox News anchors and producers privately acknowledged that former President Donald Trump and his allies’ allegations of election fraud in the aftermath of the 2020 election were false despite their network’s promotion of those claims, according to a new court filing by Dominion Voting Systems.
In a nearly 200-page document filed as part of its billion-dollar defamation suit against the network, Dominion Voting Systems shared emails, texts, testimony, and other private communications from Fox News personnel that cast doubt on claims that Dominion’s voting machines had somehow rigged the presidential election in Joe Biden’s favor.
The voting company is suing Fox News for $1.6 billion for allegedly defaming the company in the aftermath of the 2020 election.
“Fox knew,” according to the filing, which cited excerpts of evidence gathered as part of the suit. “From the top down, Fox knew ‘the Dominion stuff’ was ‘total BS.’ Yet despite knowing the truth — or at minimum, recklessly disregarding that truth — Fox spread and endorsed these ‘outlandish voter fraud claims’ about Dominion even as it internally recognized the lies as ‘crazy,’ ‘absurd,’ and ‘shockingly reckless.”
Fox News, in a statement, said, “There will be a lot of noise and confusion generated by Dominion and their opportunistic private equity owners, but the core of this case remains about freedom of the press and freedom of speech, which are fundamental rights afforded by the Constitution and protected by New York Times v. Sullivan.
Thursday’s filing lays out the Dominion’s company’s top evidence against Fox News, which Dominion claims pushed false accusations that the voting company had rigged the 2020 election in order for the news channel to boost its rating and make a profit. The filing contains material Dominion has obtained via discovery from Fox News over the past few months, including text messages, internal emails, and depositions.
The Fox suit is one of several lawsuits launched by the Denver-based voting company after it became the center of far-reaching false conspiracy theories surrounding its involvement in the 2020 election, fueled largely by right-wing figures close to then-President Donald Trump as part of the effort to overturn the results of the election.
Among the Fox News hosts who were scheduled to be deposed in the suit were Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson and Jeannine Pirro, as well as former Fox Business host Lou Dobbs.
“The critical issue here is the state of mind of Fox and those individual people,” Floyd Abrams, one of the country’s leading experts on First Amendment law, told ABC News last summer. “What did they say about Dominion, and did they believe it?”
“In order for Dominion to win, it has to show that what was said was not just false, but that it was known or suspected to be false,” Abrams said.
In a statement issued in response to the suit, Fox News officials said, “FOX News Media is proud of our 2020 election coverage, which stands in the highest tradition of American journalism, and will vigorously defend against this baseless lawsuit in court.”
(WASHINGTON) — Joe Biden on Thursday had his second physical as president, at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, more than a year after his first physical since taking the White House.
According to a memo released from the president’s physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, Biden “remains fit for duty, and fully executes all of his responsibilities without any exemptions or accommodations.”
“President Biden remains a healthy, vigorous, 80-year-old male, who is fit to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency, to include those as Chief Executive, Head of State and Commander in Chief,” O’Connor wrote.
Biden, who is the oldest sitting president, has said he is leaning toward seeking a second term, and his physical fitness and mental acuity will likely be top of mind for voters if he does run again.
He has largely brushed off those age questions amid speculation about his 2024 plans.
“Look, I’m a great respecter of fate. I would be completely, thoroughly honest with the American people if I thought there was any health problem, anything that would keep me from being able to do the job. And and, so we’ll see. But, you know, I just — I think people have to just watch me,” Biden said in an interview with “PBS NewsHour” earlier this month.
Biden didn’t comment on his physical as left the White House on Thursday morning or upon arriving at the hospital, where he greeted members of the military.
He previously indicated some portions of the physical had already been completed back in November.
“I’ve gotten my — I will get — part of my physical is already done, and I’ll be getting it before the end of the year,” Biden told reporters on Thanksgiving.
Biden’s first physical as president took place Nov. 19, 2021 — one day before his 79th birthday.
The president’s physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, wrote following the exam that Biden was a ‘healthy, vigorous 78-year-old man,” who is “fit for duty” and “fully executes all of his responsibilities without exemptions or accommodations.”
O’Connor said Biden has been under treatment for four different conditions: non-valvular atrial fibrillation, a type of irregular heart rhythm; hyperlipidemia, involving higher concentrations of fats or lipids in the blood; gastroesophageal reflux and seasonal allergies.
While Biden got a mostly clean bill of health, O’Connor — who has been Biden’s doctor since 2009 — noted two specific observations: his frequent throat clearing, and a stiffened gate, compared to previous exams.
“The president has exhibited increasing frequency and severity of “throat clearing” and coughing during speaking engagements,” O’Connor wrote.
“He has exhibited such symptoms for as long as I have known him, but they certainly seem more frequent and more pronounced over the last few months,” he added, noting he ascribed this to his gastroesophageal reflux.
Biden also underwent a routine colonoscopy as part of his first physical, requiring him to undergo anesthesia, and briefly transfer power to his Vice President Kamala Harris.
Notably since his first physical, the president had COVID-19, and a rebound case of COVID following his Paxlovid treatment in July 2022.
Biden also took a spill while riding his bike in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, in June 2022, though he required no medical attention for the fall.
Before he came to the White House, his most recent physical and medical report was one his campaign released in December 2019. That was a three-page summary that declared Biden “a healthy, vigorous, 77-year-old male, who is fit to successfully execute the duties of the presidency.”
Biden also suffered a fractured foot just before taking office in November 2020, after he fell while chasing his dog Major at his Wilmington, Delaware, home.
The most notable health incidents in Biden’s past were the two cranial aneurysms he suffered in 1988.
Physicals typically include measures of height, weight, blood pressure, heart rate and cholesterol, although Biden’s 2021 exam also included an exam of his eyes, skin, ears, nose and throat, neurological and pulmonary system, thyroid and even his teeth.
Biden was initially slated to complete his physical by the end of January, though it was delayed due to a busy period of presidential travel, per a White House official.
ABC News’ Sarah Kolinovsky contributed to this report.
(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — The family of a 20-year-old man who was fatally shot by Columbus police is now filing a wrongful death lawsuit against the officer who shot him.
According to the complaint, Donovan Lewis, an expecting father, was unarmed and in his bed when he was shot last August after officers arrived at his home to serve a warrant for his arrest.
Officers came to his residence to arrest him on three separate charges: domestic violence, assault and improper handling of a firearm.
Body camera footage was released of the encounter last September and Columbus Police officer Ricky Anderson, a 30-year veteran of the Columbus Police Department, appears to open fire almost immediately after police open the bedroom door to where Lewis was sleeping. He later died at a hospital.
A total of five officers are listed in the official complaint that was announced Thursday, including Anderson– Chance Knox, Harry Dorsey, Jack Randall and Justin Dodrill– all involved in the 2:30 am raid of the Hilltop neighborhood apartment in Ohio.
“This senseless death was completely preventable,” the complaint read.
The family held a press conference Thursday morning where family attorney Rex Elliott and Lewis’ mother, Rebecca Duran, spoke.
According to the complaint, Anderson has had a total of 58 complaints against him over the years, including use of force complaints, and has also been reprimanded for sexual harassment while on the job.
Anderson is on paid administrative leave, according to previous reports from the Columbus Police Department, and is still employed.
Mark Collins, the attorney representing Anderson, previously called for a “thorough investigation.”
“When we analyze police-involved shootings, we must look to the totality of the circumstances, and we are expressly forbidden from using 20/20 hindsight, because unlike all of us, officers are not afforded the luxury of armchair reflection when they are faced with rapidly evolving, volatile encounters in dangerous situations,” Collins said in a statement last September.
Elliott criticized that Anderson was still on the “taxpayer’s dime” during the press conference.
“He has, for 170 days after he killed a young man, has been on the payroll. … We continue to demand that Ricky Anderson be terminated by the city immediately,” Elliott said.
It has been nearly 70 days since the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation completed its review of the case, according to Elliott, and he urged the submission of this case to the grand jury.
Sgt. David Scarpitti, public information officer for the Columbus Division of Police, told ABC News earlier this month that BCI will forward the investigation to the Franklin County Prosecutor, who will present the evidence to a grand jury when the investigation is complete.
He continued with information that the coroner’s office ruled the Aug. 30, 2022, death as a homicide.
“It’s been my worst nightmare,” Duran said about her son’s case. “It’s also been extremely frustrating with the amount of information that’s available. The fact that any governmental agency, any courts, judges, anything, has been continually pushed off and delayed and delayed. That allows more violence to occur, and they’re not taking it seriously.”
The 21-page complaint does not include the City of Columbus because the family and Elliott believe the city “needs to be sued in federal court.”
The document also includes images from the police body camera footage.
Since her son’s funeral, Duran mentioned that Mayor Andrew Ginther has not reached out to her.
“I’ve left messages. I was at a conference just this month that he was present at. He did not speak to me. He has not reached out to me,” Duran said.
During the conference, Duran suggested bans on most late-night warrants, quicker accountability in police and mental health evaluations for officers.
The lawsuit comes just two weeks after Duran renewed calls for Anderson to be terminated and criminally charged.
(NEW YORK) — Inflation has eased in recent months but remains sky-high, especially for some household items like eggs and flour.
Price hikes for other products, however, have not only slowed but reversed altogether, offering much-needed relief for buyers, government data released this week showed.
Used cars, for instance, cost roughly 10% less than they did a year ago. The price of bacon has dropped 4% over that time, the data showed.
Still, the overall surge in prices traces back to the pandemic-induced supply bottlenecks that made it harder to access a slew of goods, including essentials like gas and food.
Meanwhile, COVID forced billions worldwide indoors, shifting demand away from concert tickets and restaurant meals and toward the exact goods in short supply. The Russia-Ukraine war has exacerbated the shortages and sent prices even higher, experts said.
Some price drops show an easing of the dynamics behind inflation, but many items reveal a unique dynamic playing out in a corner of the economy with little connection to broader economic headwinds, experts said.
“Every good, every service has its own story,” Mark Zandi, the chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, told ABC News. “Whether you’re talking about a pound of ground beef, a gallon of milk, an iPad or a medical procedure.”
Here’s what you need to know about which prices are falling and why:
Steaks and bacon
Grocery shoppers may have noticed a friendlier price tag on some meat products.
The price of uncooked beef steaks has fallen 3% over the past year; while the cost of bacon has dropped nearly 4% in that period. Other pork products, like roasts and ribs, have undergone a price decline of almost 2%.
Those price decreases may appear slight but they contrast starkly with the cost of another protein staple: Eggs. The cost of eggs has jumped 70% over the past year, government data showed.
The decline in meat prices owes to a drought in the Western U.S. that has made it more expensive for farmers to raise some animals, said Zandi. In response, farmers have culled their herds and delivered a glut of meat, sending prices downward temporarily, he added.
“For the time being, we’re enjoying falling prices because they’re slaughtering more cattle,” he said. “That means ultimately smaller herds and prices will rise more in the future.”
Smartphones, televisions and home assistants
The most dramatic price drops have arisen in consumer electronics, where some popular items cost much less than they did a year ago.
The cost of a smartphone has fallen nearly 24% over the past year, while the price of a TV has dropped about 13%. Smart home assistants cost 6% less than they did a year ago, the government data showed.
The drop in electronics prices owes to a decadeslong trend in the sector: Over time, a new product or technology loses its novelty and its price falls, Elizabeth Renter, a data analyst at personal finance research firm NerdWallet, told ABC News. At the same time, companies often find more cost-effective ways of producing a given technology, further reducing its price.
The price of televisions, for instance, has declined annually by double-digit percentage points for decades, Renter said. Smartphones, meanwhile, have fallen in price since the government began collecting consumer price data on them in 2019, she added.
“It’s not so novel to have a smartphone or a flatscreen anymore,” Renter said. “Prices tend to come down.”
A pandemic-era financial force has amplified the longstanding cost savings in electronics, however, Zandi said. At the outset of COVID, consumers forced indoors shifted from buying services to goods, such as televisions; but they’ve reversed that shift, cutting demand for and pushing down the price of electronics.
“In the teeth of the pandemic we were buying stuff – now we’re not,” Zandi said. “We’re buying trips to Europe or going to see the Eagles play or going to a restaurant.”
Used cars
The easing of another pandemic-related price pressure has slashed the cost of used cars, which has fallen more than 11% over the last year, Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate.com, told ABC News.
A COVID-induced supply chain disruption led to a shortage of auto parts, especially the electric chips used in many car models, McBride said.
As some of the supply bottlenecks have loosened up, car parts have become more accessible and the supply of cars has moved back up toward pre-pandemic levels.
“In the early stages of inflation taking off, used car prices were one of the big contributors,” McBride said. “As there’s been an easing of some of the manufacturing backlogs, we’re seeing downward pressure on used car prices.
Renter acknowledged the improvement of some supply challenges but also attributed the price drop to a base effect, in which price changes appear to be an improvement because the current price is compared to the highly elevated price point where products stood a year ago.
“We’re seeing a return to something closer to normal after historic highs,” she said.
(NEW YORK) — Almost a year after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion into neighboring Ukraine, the two countries are engaged in a struggle for control of areas throughout eastern and southern Ukraine.
Putin’s forces pulled out of key positions in November, retreating from Kherson as Ukrainian troops led a counteroffensive targeting the southern port city. Russian drones have continued bombarding civilian targets throughout Ukraine, knocking out critical power infrastructure as winter sets in.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Feb 16, 5:28 PM EST
Ukrainian vice prime minister tells remaining civilians in Bakhmut to evacuate
Vice Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk called on the roughly 6,000 civilians still in Bakhmut to evacuate “immediately.”
Officials said they don’t want the people still in the city to put themselves and their children at risk and don’t want them to interfere with the Ukrainian army. Five civilians were killed and nine others were injured on Thursday, according to the vice prime minister.
“Frankly speaking, I am very surprised that 6,000 civilians are still working there,” Vereshchuk said in a statement.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Feb 16, 3:25 PM EST
Belarus will fight alongside Russia if it is attacked, president warns
Belarus would only join the war in Ukraine, fighting alongside Russia, if it is attacked, President Alexander Lukashenko told state-run Belta news agency.
“We don’t want a war. And in no case are we going to send our troops into the territory of Ukraine. Unless you commit aggression against the territory of Belarus from there. Here is my answer. It was given a long time ago,” Lukashenko said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed Lukashenko’s threat in an interview with the BBC.
“I hope [Belarus] won’t join [the war],” he said. “If it does, we will fight and we will survive.”
Allowing Russia to use Belarus as a staging post for an attack again would be a “huge mistake,” he added.
Russian forces launched part of their full-scale invasion from Belarus 12 months ago. They drove south toward Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, but were fought back and made to retreat within weeks, after suffering heavy casualties.
Lukashenko is set to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky and Tanya Stukalova
Feb 16, 3:11 PM EST
Zelenskyy rules out territorial deal with Putin in BBC interview
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has ruled out giving up any of his country’s territory in a potential peace deal with Russia.
In a BBC interview to mark a year since Russia’s full-scale invasion, he warned conceding land would mean Russia could “keep coming back,” while Western weapons would bring peace closer.
However, he does believe Ukrainian forces can keep resisting Russia’s advance until they are able to launch a counteroffensive — although he repeated his calls for more military aid from the West.
“Of course, modern weapons speed up peace. Weapons are the only language Russia understands,” Zelensky told the BBC.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Feb 16, 12:13 AM EST
Russian strikes hit infrastructure in Lviv, Ukrainians shoot down eight Russian missiles: Officials
An infrastructure object was hit in Lviv in the early morning hours of Thursday, the head of the Lviv Regional Military Administration, Maksym Kozytskyi, said on Telegram.
There were no casualties, and the fire from the impact has since been put out, Kozytskyi said.
Six Kalibr missiles were also shot down over the Mykolaiv region, and two Kalibr missiles were shot down over the Kherson region overnight, Odesa Military Administration spokesman Serhii Bratchuk posted on Telegram.
All eight of the missiles were fired from a Russian ship in the Black Sea, Bratchuk said in the post.
Feb 15, 2:48 PM EST
6 ‘reconnaissance’ balloons shot down over Kyiv
Authorities in Kyiv are investigating who owns six balloons that were in Ukraine’s airspace and what the balloons were doing over Kyiv. The balloons were shot down by Ukrainian air defense.
After a preliminary assessment, authorities think the balloons had intelligence gathering equipment.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Feb 14, 11:43 AM EST
If Bakhmut falls, won’t have ‘strategic impact’ on Ukraine war: White House
White House spokesman John Kirby said during a briefing Tuesday that the U.S. could not “predict one way or the other” whether Bakhmut will fall to the Russians and if it does fall, “on what timeline.”
“We’re watching this every day, and it is certainly true that the Russians are continuing to make incremental progress there,” Kirby said. “Again, I can’t predict one way or the other whether it falls or it doesn’t fall or on what timeline. They have made incremental progress again in just the last 24, 48 hours.”
He added that the U.S. did not think Russia obtaining control of Bakhmut would have any “strategic impact” on either the overall war or even fighting in that part of the country.
The U.S. thinks Russia — and specifically the Wagner Group and its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, which is doing much of the fighting for Bakhmut — wants to take over and benefit financially from gypsum and salt mines located in the area, Kirby said.
“Even if Bakhmut were to fall, it would not have a strategic impact on the overall war,” Kirby said. “I would go so far as to say it won’t even have, necessarily, a strategic impact on the fighting in that part of the country. We think one of the reasons why Prigozhin is so interested in Bakhmut is because there’s a gypsum mine there, and up in Soledar, there’s a salt mine. And it’s entirely possible that Mr. Prigozhin sees some economic benefit to him and his company to take Bakhmut and to take and hold Soledar.”
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson
Feb 11, 9:43 AM EST
US surveillance data ‘crucial’: Ukrainian commander
Ukrainian Lt. Gen. Serhiy Nayev told ABC News in an interview that the U.S. provides “surveillance data,” allowing the Ukrainian Armed Forces to more accurately pinpoint Russian targets within Ukraine’s borders.
“This help is crucial for us,” he said.
Nayev said he was in “constant contact” with American generals stationed in other parts of Europe. An exchange of data between the Ukrainians and Americans helped the Ukrainian military to pinpoint targets using US-supplied HIMARS rocket systems.
“This work goes perfectly in real time,” he said.
-ABC News’ Tom Soufi Burridge, Dragana Jovanovic and Ale Pavone
Feb 10, 3:09 PM EST
Biden to visit Poland on eve of first anniversary of invasion of Ukraine
President Joe Biden will visit Poland on Feb. 20, on the eve of the first anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Biden will meet with Polish President Andrzej Duda as well as the leaders of the Bucharest Nine, a group of our eastern flank NATO allies, and he’ll deliver remarks to mark the one-year anniversary, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Friday.
“President Biden will deliver remarks ahead of the one-year anniversary of Russia’s brutal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, addressing how the United States has rallied the world, to support the people of Ukraine, as they defend their freedom and democracy, and how we will continue to stand with the people of Ukraine for as long as it takes,” Jean-Pierre said.
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson
Feb 10, 12:25 PM EST
Russian missile comes within 22 miles of Romanian border with Ukraine
Romania, a member of NATO, said Friday a Russian missile had come within 22 miles of its border but that it did not cross into the country’s territory, countering a claim made by the Ukrainian military.
“The Romanian Air Forces’ air surveillance system detected on Friday, February 10th, an aerial target launched by a Russian Federation’s ship, navigating in the Black Sea, nearby the Crimean Peninsula. The target is most likely a cruise missile, which flew over the air space of Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova and reentered the Ukrainian air space without ever infringing Romania’s air space,” Romanian Defense Minister Angel Tîlvăr said in a statement Friday.
Ukrainian officials had said earlier Friday that two Russian missiles crossed into the airspace of Moldova and Romania before entering Ukraine and being directed at targets in the country.
“Several Russian missiles passed through the airspace of Moldova and Romania. These missiles are a challenge to NATO and collective security. This is terror that can and must be stopped,” Zelenskyy said Friday.
(NEW YORK) — Since late January, four vessels, including a suspected Chinese spy balloon, have been seen in U.S. and Canadian airspace and were all subsequently shot down by the U.S. military.
Some details link the incidents, including all of them occurring within a few days of each other, but there are key differences as well — with U.S. officials saying that the objects, which were not all flying at the same height or following the same path, did not necessarily resemble one another.
Despite the first balloon being described as a Chinese reconnaissance vessel — an assessment China has sought to undercut — the origins and purpose of the other objects have not been confirmed by the U.S. military.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on ABC’s “This Week,” before a fourth object was downed, that he had been briefed that three of them were balloons.
Below is a timeline of key moments involving all four objects.
One U.S. official attributed the rise in the sightings to boosted surveillance capabilities by the military and not a rush of new foreign objects flying over American airspace.
“Northern Command has adjusted the parameters of their radar capabilities in a way that they can see more than they could before,” this official said.
“That’s not to say they were blissfully ignorant before,” the official said, “but there are lots of things floating around and now we are more finely attuned to it.”
The first balloon
Jan. 28
The balloon entered U.S. airspace on Jan. 28 north of the Aleutian Islands in Alaska, according to a senior military official. Photos from later sightings appear to show the craft was an enormous white dirigible with an undercarriage described by one U.S. official as the size of three buses.
Jan. 30
The vessel then entered Canadian airspace over the Northwest Territories on Jan. 30, the senior military official said.
Jan. 31
The balloon then traveled south and reentered U.S. airspace over northern Idaho on Jan. 31, according to a senior military official. The White House later said that President Joe Biden was briefed the same day, for the first time, about the balloon.
Feb. 1
4:21 p.m. ET: One of the earliest sightings confirmed by ABC News was in Reed Point, Montana, on Feb. 1.
From Montana, the balloon traveled southeast through South Dakota and Nebraska, according to U.S. officials.
The administration later said that Feb. 1 is when President Biden first ordered the balloon to be taken down once it was feasible, with the threat of harm to civilians ultimately delaying military action.
Feb. 4
11:15 a.m.: The balloon was captured over South Carolina, in Lancaster, as it continued moving southeastward toward the coast.
2:39 p.m. ET: Footage captured the balloon being shot down over the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of South Carolina.
The balloon was ultimately downed in U.S. airspace over U.S. territorial waters by fighter aircraft assigned to U.S. Northern Command, according to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.
The balloon was struck by an F-22 firing a missile roughly six nautical miles off the South Carolina coast, according to a senior U.S. defense official.
The Chinese foreign ministry criticized the United States for downing its balloon.
“China expresses its strong dissatisfaction and protest against the U.S. using force to attack civilian unmanned airships,” officials said in a statement.
The ministry asserted that they told the U.S. that the balloon was an airship “for civilian use and entered the US due to force majeure, which was completely accidental.”
Feb. 6
U.S. Navy vessels swarmed a widespread debris field with divers and cranes to retrieve pieces of the balloon.
A senior government said the FBI was expected to take custody of any recovered components of the balloon’s payload and to ship those to its laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, for analysis and intelligence gathering.
Feb. 8
The Pentagon’s Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder disclosed that China had conducted four balloon surveillance missions over “sensitive sites” within U.S. territory during recent years, but did not disclose exactly where or when the incidents occurred.
Feb. 9
Senior FBI officials familiar with the operation said in a conference call with reporters that the bureau’s evidence response team had retrieved only a small amount of the balloon and didn’t yet have enough evidence to conclude what China’s intent was.
Only an “extremely limited” amount of the vessel was recovered so far and brought to the FBI’s evidence collection lab at Quantico, the officials said.
Separately, State Department official said that the Biden administration was looking into “taking action” against China for the surveillance balloons sent over U.S. territory.
An official confirmed that the U.S. assesses that China has overflown surveillance balloons above 40 countries, which ABC News and other outlets have previously reported.
The downed balloon “had multiple antennas to include an array likely capable of collecting and geo-locating communications. It was equipped with solar panels large enough to produce the requisite power to operate multiple active intelligence collection sensors,” a State Department official said.
Administration officials also revealed more information on China’s prior balloon operations targeting the U.S. In a television interview, Defense Secretary Austin said the aircraft had been detected over parts of Florida and Texas.
A senior U.S. official previously told ABC Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Martha Raddatz that incursions into American airspace had also taken place over Hawaii and off the coast of the continental U.S. — specifically near Coronado, California, and Norfolk, Virginia — where two of the nation’s largest naval bases are located.
Feb. 10
U.S. officials said the undercarriage of the balloon was located in waters off South Carolina.
An official told ABC News Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Martha Raddatz it was found on Feb. 9 and was largely intact.
It had not yet been retrieved, the officials said, but would likely be done with a crane or a winch from a vessel.
Feb. 14
ABC News confirms U.S. intelligences agencies were tracking the spy balloon when it left China on what they thought would be an eastward path toward Guam and Hawaii when it took an unexpected northern turn toward Alaska, according to a U.S. official.
The agencies are examining the possibility that weather conditions pushed the balloon off course as first reported by the Washington Post and that the Chinese may not have initially intended to traverse the United States. However, once the balloon was in U.S. airspace, it was intentionally flown over sensitive U.S. sites.
Feb. 15
State Dept Ned Price said it didn’t matter whether the aircraft was blown off course it was still a violation of U.S. sovereignty.
“In some ways it doesn’t matter, and I’m not going to opine on what the PRC may or may not have intended, but in key ways it doesn’t matter. It’s completely immaterial,” Price said. “It’s immaterial because this was a high-altitude surveillance balloon that did violate our airspace. It did violate international law.”
A second flying object, over Alaska
Feb. 9
Another object was seen late on Feb. 9, White House spokesman John Kirby later told reporters. He said it was a small object and, according to the Pentagon, it was traveling “northeasterly across Alaska” and two F-35 fighter jets were sent up to identify it.
Feb. 10
The jets did another flight “early this morning,” on Feb. 10, to try to learn more and that flight “ended in a shootdown,” Kirby said.
Two F-22s tracked the object and one of them fired the AIM-9X sidewinder missile near the location of Deadhorse, Alaska, which is right on Prudhoe Bay, according to the Pentagon.
Fighter aircraft checked if the object was manned and determined it wasn’t, Kirby said.
“It was difficult for the pilots to glean a whole lot of information,” he said, adding, “There was a limit to how much they could divine.”
The object was described as “cylindrical and silver-ish gray” and seemed to be floating, a U.S. official said.
Asked if was “balloon-like,” the official said, “All I say is that it wasn’t ‘flying’ with any sort of propulsion, so if that is ‘balloon-like’ well — we just don’t have enough at this point.”
President Biden, briefed on Feb. 9, gave the order to shoot it down on the morning of Feb. 10. Kirby said the “predominant” reason Biden ordered it shot down was the “safety” of flights traveling at that altitude and the fact that it was at the mercy of prevailing winds made its flight path less predictable. “And the president just wasn’t able to take that risk.”
“We don’t know who owns this object,” Kirby said.
At the Pentagon, Brig Gen. Ryder said the object was detected by ground radar. He said it was shot down at 1:45 p.m. ET.
A third object, over Canada
Feb. 10
The North American Aerospace Defense Command detected a high-altitude object over Alaska late on Feb. 10, according to Ryder, the Pentagon spokesperson. Two U.S. F-22 aircraft monitored the object over Alaska, then Canadian aircraft joined as it crossed into Canadian airspace, he said.
Feb. 11
Following a call from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to President Biden, Biden authorized that U.S. aircraft take down the new high-altitude object and a U.S. F-22 shot it down with a sidewinder missile, Ryder said.
The leaders authorized that the “unidentified, unmanned object” be taken down “out of an abundance of caution and at the recommendation of their militaries,” according to a White House readout of Trudeau and Biden’s call. They also stressed the importance of recovering the object to determine its purpose or origin, the readout stated.
“Canadian and U.S. aircraft were scrambled, and a U.S. F-22 successfully fired at the object,” Trudeau tweeted.
The object was shot down approximately 100 miles from the Canada-U.S. border in central Yukon, Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand told reporters during a press briefing on Feb. 11.
It appears to have been a “small, cylindrical object” that was flying at about 40,000 feet, she said.
“These objects did not closely resemble and were much smaller than the [suspected Chinese] balloon and we will not definitively characterize them until we can recover the debris, which we are working on,” a spokesperson for the White House Security Council later told ABC News.
A fourth flying object, over Lake Huron
Feb. 12
Another high-altitude object was shot down on the afternoon of Feb. 12, this one over Lake Huron, three U.S. officials confirmed to ABC News, marking the latest in a string of such incidents.
The object was shot down by a U.S. military aircraft, according to one of the officials.
A senior administration official said Biden directed that the object be shot down “out of an abundance of caution and at the recommendation of military leaders.”
This official said the object was detected on radar over Montana on Feb. 11 and was seen again on radar over Wisconsin and Michigan on Feb. 12.
The object was octagonal in structure, unmanned and traveling at about 20,000 feet, the official said. There was no indication of surveillance capabilities but the administration could not rule that out.
President Biden speaks out
Feb. 16
President Biden, after facing pressure from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to be more transparent, gave a formal speech on the Chinese spy balloon and other aerial objects shot down by the U.S. military.
Biden said the U.S. “acted out of an abundance of caution” when it shot down the three unidentified aerial objects flying over North American airspace.
Biden said they didn’t believe the objects were related to China’s surveillance program or that they were surveillance vehicles from other countries. He said the most likely scenario is that they were balloons tied to private companies or research institutions for studying weather or conducting scientific research.
He said he ordered them to be taken down “due to hazards to civilian commercial air traffic” and because they couldn’t rule out the surveillance risk of sensitive sites.
On the Chinese spy balloon, Biden said he would “make no apologies” for taking it down.
The action, he said, sent “a clear message: the violation of our sovereignty is unacceptable. We’ll act to protect our country and we did.”
ABC News’ Luke Barr, Victoria Beaule, Adam Carlson, Shannon K. Crawford, Jack Date, Meredith Deliso, Layla Ferris, Justin Fishel, Cheryl Gendron, Ben Gittleson, Kerem Inal, Julia Jacobo, Chris Looft, Luis Martinez, Josh Margolin and Matt Seyler contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — A federal judge in New York on Thursday raised the possibility of revoking bail and remanding Sam Bankman-Fried into custody for possible witness tampering but opted to give his attorneys and federal prosecutors more time to propose stricter conditions of his pre-trial release.
Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to fraud and conspiracy charges that accused him of misappropriating billions of dollars from the crypto exchange he founded, FTX, and he has been free on a $250 million bail package.
Federal prosecutors have sought to prevent Bankman-Fried from contacting potential witnesses and restrict his use of encrypted communications and the internet but, during a hearing, the judge expressed concern the government’s proposed rules did not go far enough.
There may be probable cause to believe Bankman-Fried “committed or attempted to commit a federal felony,” witness tampering, by contacting FTX’s general counsel and others associated with the case, the judge said.
“There is a solution,” Lewis Kaplan said, but noted that prosecutors had not asked him to revoke Bankman-Fried’s bail.
“Having him live with his parents is a check against some other risks,” said assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Roos, who said the government was trying to balance a need to ensure Bankman-Fried behaves himself with the defendant’s First Amendment rights and his ability to prepare a defense.
“We’re trying to find the right balance,” Roos said, proposing Bankman-Fried be limited to using one mobile phone and one computer that are each equipped with monitoring software.
Kaplan wondered about other phones, computers and internet-connected electronics in the Palo Alto, California, home of Bankman-Fried’s parents, where he is confined.
“Why am I being asked to turn him loose in this garden of electronic devices,” Kaplan asked.
Alarmed by the prospect of bail revocation, the defense signaled it would agree to additional restrictions.
“We understand from your comments today there is no margin for error,” defense attorney Marc Cohen said.
Bankman-Fried is barred from using a VPN to access the internet after the government raised concerns about him trying to conceal his online activities. Kaplan was skeptical of the defense excuse that Bankman-Fried was merely trying to watch the Super Bowl by using his online NFL Game Pass account.
“What was he doing watching a football game on a VPN that anyone can turn on a television and watch for free,” Kaplan asked.
(EAST PALESTINE, Ohio) — The mayor of an Ohio village where a train carrying toxic chemicals derailed earlier this month told ABC News that he “wasn’t built for this” and needs “help.”
East Palestine Mayor Trent Conaway briefly spoke to reporters on Wednesday evening, before a town hall meeting with residents in the local high school’s gymnasium. ABC News asked Conaway about the pressure of being in the national spotlight and whether he has a message for U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan ahead of his visit to the village on Thursday.
“I need help,” the mayor responded. “I’m not ready for this. I wasn’t built for this. I always thought of myself as a leader. I will do whatever it takes.”
Regan traveled to the northeastern Ohio derailment site on Thursday, heard from affected residents and met with the state’s emergency responders before holding a news conference where he reiterated the federal government’s commitment to “getting to the bottom” of the incident.
“Let me be clear, EPA will exercise our oversight and our enforcement authority under the law to be sure we are getting the results that the community deserves,” Regan said.
The said the Biden administration would hold Norfolk Southern rail company accountable for the derailment while touting the partnerships he said the administration has maintained with local and national leaders on mitigating the crisis thus far. He spoke amid increased criticism from Republicans and other critics who’ve said the White House is not taking the disaster seriously enough.
“From the very beginning, EPA personnel had been on site supporting local and state partners as they lead emergency response efforts,” he said. “We’ve had boots on the ground, leading robust air quality testing including the advanced technological aspect claims and our mobile analytical laboratory in and around East Palestine.”
Regan said that the EPA has assisted with the screening of more than 480 homes under the voluntary screening program offered to residents, with no vinyl chloride or hydrogen chloride detected. But Regan also said he understands why some residents are questioning some of the information they’re being provided, still calling on East Palestinians to trust the EPA testing and reach out to get their home tested if they have any concerns.
“But for those who can’t,” he said, “I am asking that they trust the government. And that’s hard. We know that there is a – a lack of trust, which is why the state and the federal government have pledged to be very transparent.”
About 50 cars of a freight train operated by Norfolk Southern Railway derailed in a fiery crash on the outskirts of East Palestine, Ohio, near the state line with Pennsylvania, on the night of Feb. 3. Ten of the derailed cars were transporting hazardous materials, five of which contained vinyl chloride, a highly volatile colorless gas produced for commercial uses. There were no injuries reported from the accident, officials said.
Efforts to contain a fire at the derailment site stalled the following night, as firefighters withdrew from the blaze due to concerns about air quality and explosions. About half of East Palestine’s roughly 4,700 residents were warned to leave before officials decided on Feb. 6 to conduct a controlled release and burn of the toxic vinyl chloride from the five tanker cars, which were in danger of exploding. A large ball of fire and a plume of black smoke filled with contaminants could be seen billowing high into the sky from the smoldering derailment site as the controlled burn took place that afternoon, prompting concerns from residents about the potential effects.
A mandatory evacuation order for homes and businesses within a 1-mile radius of the derailment site was lifted on Feb. 8, after air and water samples taken the day before were deemed safe, officials said.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine spoke with White House officials on Thursday morning and requested on-the-ground federal assistance in East Palestine, according to his office and the White House later said President Biden and DeWine had spoken. The second-term Republican had told reporters on Tuesday prior that he had been contacted by Biden with offers of assistance, which DeWine declined.
“Look, the president called me and said: ‘Anything you need.’ I have not called him back after that conversation,” DeWine said during a press conference Tuesday. “We will not hesitate to do that if we’re seeing a problem or anything, but I’m not seeing it.”
According to the governor’s office, the requested assistance would come from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health and Emergency Response Team and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. DeWine’s office said they have also been in “daily contact” with the Federal Emergency Management Agency “to discuss the need for federal support, however FEMA continues to tell Governor DeWine that Ohio is not eligible for assistance at this time.”
On Wednesday, DeWine’s office announced that the latest tests conducted by the state’s EPA show five wells feeding into East Palestine’s municipal water system are free from contaminants. But residents with private wells are encouraged to drink from bottled water instead, until their well water has been tested and cleared for consumption, according to the governor’s office.
“With these tests results, Ohio EPA is confident that the municipal water is safe to drink,” DeWine’s office said in a statement. “Because private water wells may be closer to the surface than the municipal water wells, the Ohio EPA recommends that those who receive drinking water from private water wells schedule an appointment for well water testing by an independent consultant.”
Regan and other leaders like Ohio GOP Rep. Bill Johnson emphasized that residents should trust the testing if they’re told it’s safe to move back home, but that individual families could make different decisions based on their health concerns and that families who haven’t had their homes tested yet should stay put.
“If those homes have been tested, and if those homes have been tested by the state and given a clean bill of health, yes, as a father, I trust the science. I trust the methodology that the state is using. And as a parent I would,” Regan said.
“I would encourage every family in this community to reach out to the state or EPA to get their home air quality tested and their water system. We have the resources to do it. We want to do it and want people to feel secure and safe in their own homes.”
Still, some residents say they need more assurance that the testing will protect themselves and their families before moving back into their homes.
East Palestine resident Kristina Ferguson told reporters before Regan toured her home on Thursday afternoon that she wants to know if her mother’s home will be sufficient to protect her family. Ferguson raised concerns that the air monitors weren’t giving accurate readings and said she still had side effects from smelling the chemicals, even when only in the house for 15 minutes.
Afterward, Regan said he could “slightly” smell the chemicals in the home and said EPA would directly test Ferguson’s home in response to her concerns about the testing done by the contractors hired by Norfolk Southern.
“We should not have been let back into town until all of this was done. You don’t bring families back with their kids and their loved ones and then tell them to scrub the dog,” she told reporters.
Ohio Department of Natural Resources director Mary Mertz said during a press conference Tuesday that four tributaries over a space of 7.5 miles along the Ohio River are contaminated, but officials are confident that those waterways are contained and not affecting water supplies. Nevertheless, the contaminated waterways have led to the deaths of some 3,500 fish. None of the 12 different species of dead fish that were detected are considered threatened or endangered, and there was no evidence that non-aquatic life has been impacted, according to Mertz.
Tiffani Kavalec, chief of the Ohio EPA’s surface water division, told reporters Tuesday that no vinyl chloride or pre-product has been detected in the water. The contamination mostly consists of fire contaminant combustion materials, according to Kavalec.
The National Transportation Safety Board is conducting an investigation to determine the probable cause of the derailment. Two videos show preliminary indications of mechanical issues on one of the tanker car’s axles. The train’s emergency brake was activated after crews said an alarm went off, according to the NTSB.
Norfolk Southern Railway announced in a statement Tuesday that it has helped 1,000 families as well as a number of businesses in East Palestine, Ohio, since the Feb. 3 derailment. The Atlanta-based rail operator said it has also distributed $1.2 million to families to cover costs related to the evacuation.
Representatives from Norfolk Southern Railway did not attend Wednesday night’s town hall meeting due to concerns “about the growing physical threat to our employees and members of the community around this event stemming from the increasing likelihood of the participation of outside parties,” according to a company press release.
“We know that many are rightfully angry and frustrated right now,” Norfolk Southern Railway said in the press release. “We want to continue our dialogue with the community and address their concerns, and our people will remain in East Palestine, respond to this situation, and meet with residents. We are not going anywhere.”
Later, an open letter from Norfolk Southern President and CEO Alan Shaw stated that the rail company has not abandoned the community but will be on the ground, committing $1 million to a community support fund as a “down payment” on their contribution in rebuilding the town.
“We will not walk away, East Palestine…I hear you, we hear you… we will not let you down.”
“My simple answer is that we are here and will stay here for as long as it takes to ensure your safety and to help East Palestine recover and thrive,” he added, noting the work the company has begun, including cleaning the site, working to facilitate testing on the village’s water, air and soil.
ABC News’ Peter Charalambous, Julia Jacobo, Stephanie Ebbs, Alexandra Faul and Victoria Arancio contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — Nikki Haley, a former South Carolina governor and new GOP presidential candidate, this week accused President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris of thinking America is racist, echoing past attack lines that Biden and Harris have dismissed.
“Every day we’re told America is flawed, rotten and full of hate. Joe and Kamala even say America is racist. Nothing could be further from the truth,” Haley, whose parents emigrated from India, said during her campaign launch speech on Wednesday. “The American people know better. My immigrant parents know better. And take it from me, the first minority female governor in history, America is not a racist country.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Thursday declined to discuss Haley’s campaign launch when asked about her proposal for all politicians over 75 years old to take a mental acuity test, citing a law barring government employees from commenting on campaigns in their official capacities.
Citing a law barring government employees from commenting on campaigns while in their official capacities, Jean-Pierre said she couldn’t respond to anything Haley said.
“I’m going to be very careful as I am speaking about a candidate — she’s currently, as you well know, a candidate for 2024. So, I am covered by the Hatch Act. So, I am not going to speak to her directly and her comments specifically,” Jean-Pierre said.
Lines like Haley’s have been used to put Democrats on defense and to criticize what Republicans call a culture of needless racial division.
Haley has long pushed back on what she said in 2020 was the “lie” from Democrats that the U.S. is racist.
Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., the only Black Republican in the Senate who is also thought to be mulling a presidential campaign, said in his 2021 speech in response to Biden’s State of the Union address that year that “America is not a racist country.”
“Today, kids are being taught that the color of their skin defines them again. … It’s backwards to fight discrimination with different types of discrimination,” Scott said then, “and it’s wrong to try to use our painful past to dishonestly shut down debates in the present.”
However, Biden and Harris have both said they don’t believe America is racist while noting the country’s history, which encompasses centuries of slavery and legalized racial discrimination.
“No, I don’t think the American people are racist,” Biden told NBC News in 2021 after Scott’s response to his State of the Union. “But I think after 400 years, African Americans have been left in the position where they are so far behind the eight ball in terms of education, health, in terms of opportunity. I think the overhang from all of the Jim Crow and, before that, slavery have had a cost and we have to deal with it.”
Harris, in an interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos in 2021, also said that she agreed with Scott’s view — to a point.
“First of all, no, I don’t think America is a racist country,” she said. “But we also do have to speak truth about the history of racism in our country and its existence today.”
ABC News’ Chris Donovan contributed to this report.
