(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — More than a dozen migrants were dropped off on the doorstep of a California church after being transported to the state via private plane, according to state officials.
The migrants were dropped off at the Diocese of Sacramento on Saturday “with no prior arrangement or care in place” and in possession of documentation purporting to be from the government of the State of Florida, California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement.
The group had been transported from Texas to New Mexico before being flown by private chartered jet to Sacramento, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement.
Officials are evaluating potential civil action against those who transported or arranged for the transport of “these vulnerable immigrants,” Bonta said, comparing the move to “state-sanctioned kidnapping.”
The California Department of Justice is investigating the circumstances around who paid for the group’s travel and whether the individuals orchestrating this trip misled anyone with false promises or have violated any criminal laws, including kidnapping, Newsom said.
The group of migrants was allegedly approached by a private contractor in El Paso, Texas, who told them they would be provided with jobs, free support and help getting into a migrant center, ABC Sacramento affiliate KXTV reported, citing the Sacramento Area Congregations Together (ACT).
The 16 migrants did not know where they were and only had a backpack’s worth of belongings, Diocese of Sacramento Bishop Jaime Soto said in a statement.
“While we continue to collect evidence, I want to say this very clearly: State-sanctioned kidnapping is not a public policy choice, it is immoral and disgusting,” Bonta said. “We are a nation built by immigrants and we must condemn the cruelty and hateful rhetoric of those, whether they are state leaders or private parties, who refuse to recognize humanity and who turn their backs on extending dignity and care to fellow human beings.”
Newsom and Bonta met with the group of migrants on Saturday and are working with the office of Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg and local and nonprofit partners to ensure the migrants are treated with respect and dignity and get to their intended destination as they pursue their immigration cases, officials said.
The city is welcoming the migrants with open arms, Steinberg said in a statement, accusing those who transported the migrants of “using scared human beings to score cheap political points.”
“California and the Sacramento community will welcome these individuals with open arms and provide them with the respect, compassion, and care they will need after such a harrowing experience,” Bonta said.
(NEW YORK) — Joran van der Sloot, the prime suspect in the unsolved 2005 disappearance of American teenager Natalee Holloway, will likely be extradited to the United States Tuesday, a source close to the family told ABC News.
Van der Sloot left the Challapalca prison on Saturday as planned. He was then transferred from the Juliaca airport and will be landing in Lima, Peru, by 12 p.m. local time, according to authorities. Peruvian officials confirmed he began his transfer from Challapalca jail to another prison in Lima. He will be transferred to Peruvian Intel service in order to be extradited to the U.S.
The Dutch citizen has been serving a 28-year sentence in Peru for the 2010 murder of 21-year-old college student Stephany Flores.
U.S. Justice Department officials acknowledge that a “temporary surrender” was granted by Peru under Article X of an existing extradition treaty between the two countries. The department would not comment on the timing of his movement, citing policy regarding safety and security concerns.
In the U.S., van der Sloot faces extortion and wire fraud charges stemming from an accusation that he tried to profit from his connection to the Holloway case.
Holloway, 18, went missing in May 2005 while on a high school graduation trip in Aruba. She was last seen driving off with a group of young men, including van der Sloot, then 17.
Van der Sloot, who was detained as a suspect in the teen’s disappearance and then later released, was indicted by an Alabama federal grand jury in 2010 for allegedly trying to extort Holloway’s family.
Federal prosecutors alleged that in March 2010 van der Sloot contacted Holloway’s mother, Beth Holloway, through her lawyer and claimed he would reveal the location of the teen’s body in exchange for $250,000, with $25,000 paid upfront. During a recorded sting operation, Beth Holloway’s attorney, John Q. Kelly, met with van der Sloot at an Aruba hotel, giving him $10,000 in cash as Beth Holloway wired $15,000 to van der Sloot’s bank account, according to prosecutors.
Then, van der Sloot allegedly changed his story about the night he had been with Natalee Holloway, prosecutors said. Van der Sloot claimed he had picked her up but that she had demanded to be put down, so he threw her to the ground. He said her head hit a rock and she was killed instantly by the impact, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors said van der Sloot then took Kelly to a house and claimed that his father, who had since died, buried Natalee Holloway’s body in the building’s foundation.
Kelly later emailed van der Sloot, saying the information he had provided was “worthless,” according to prosecutors. Within days, van der Sloot left Aruba for Peru.
ABC News’ Jack Date and Nadine El-Bawab contributed to this report
(KHARTOUM, Sudan) — When electricity shortages closed the Ibrahim Malik Teaching Hospital where Dr. Mohamed Karrar worked, he packed a bag with any medical equipment and medicine he could carry.
“I posted on Twitter that I am an emergency doctor in Al Mamoura available at any time for anyone who needs me for free, along with my phone number,” Karrar said.
The doctor is one of many Sudanese medical professionals working in neighborhood primary health care centers amid the ongoing conflict in Sudan, where rival forces are battling for control of the country. Cease-fire talks that could end the bloody conflict have stalled. Karrar’s parents call him daily from the safety of a village in South Sudan.
“They worry about me. But I studied for years to do this,” he told ABC News. “I feel like I can’t just leave those sick and wounded people to die.”
Data from Sudan’s Doctor’s Trade Union suggests 70% of health care services are no longer functioning due to lack of supplies, personnel and access. Twenty-one hospitals have been forcibly evacuated by militants. And 17 hospitals have suffered aerial or land bombings, with nine ambulances attacked. A video filmed by an eyewitness on May 15 shows smoke billowing from the East Nile Hospital in Bahri, Khartoum.
“It’s no longer safe for patients or healthcare providers to reach hospitals,” said Dr. Yasir Elamin, president of the Sudanese American Physicians Association, which supports health care facilities countrywide.
The number of civilian deaths has climbed to 866 with 3,721 injuries, according the union. Some died from shrapnel and bullet wounds, others had medical conditions and died as a result of not being able to access medical help, said Elamin, speaking to ABC News from Houston, Texas.
Weak health infrastructure
“Before the war, the health infrastructures were weak anyway,” Elamin said. “Almost 80% of health care services in Sudan are based in Khartoum. And now Khartoum is really one of two hotspots of the war. The second being West Darfur. So paralyzing healthcare in Khartoum effectively means paralyzing healthcare in Sudan.”
SAPA has more than 200 volunteers who provide telemedicine consultations 24 hours every day. The challenge is when you speak to people who have acute injuries from the war, because you can’t just tell them to go to a hospital, Elamin said.
“The majority of Sudanese people wouldn’t have standard access to the Internet. So the poorest people can’t benefit from this service,” he said.
“We know that there has been a very big disparity within the country, in terms of service provision, rural versus urban, in addition to differential access, depending on people’s socioeconomic circumstances,” Kate Nolan, Deputy Director of Operation Medecins San Frontieres, said.
Some of the worst of the fighting has been concentrated in impoverished West Darfur. Last week Sudan’s Doctor’s Union reported more than 280 civilian deaths in two days alone. MSF has been forced to seize almost all activities in the region.
Photos taken at West Darfur’s Geneina Teaching Hospital, which is funded by MSF, show the aftermath of looting at the facility. Hospital beds are seen without mattresses. Cabinets have been emptied. Boxes of medicine have been combed through.
“After the looting of one of our medical warehouses in Khartoum, fridges were unplugged and medicines removed,” Jean-Nicolas Armstrong Dangelser, MSF’s emergency coordinator in Sudan, said in a press release. “The entire cold chain was ruined so the medicines are spoiled and can’t be used to treat anyone.”
Getting aid from Port Sudan to desperate civilians in West and South Darfur will be a ‘major challenge’ with no clear solution, both MSF and SAPA said.
Resistance committees
A neighborhood WhatsApp group reviewed by ABC News called the “Central Emergency Room,” which counts health sector workers from the Al Mamoura neighborhood as its members, is being used to share logistic and medical advice.
Elamin says the Sudanese uprising led to the growth of so-called “resistance committees” within neighborhoods. They have been playing the critical role of bolstering communication within communities.
Clinics are using social media to facilitate transporting people to hospitals, identifying patients, reuniting them with family and burying them.
“A colleague of mine told me about his uncle who was killed alongside his son in his car. Someone took photos of them with their cell phone. The family were looking for them for almost four or five days,” Elamin said.
The photos were shared online and the family were eventually able to bury the bodies, he said.
Threats to medical personnel
Whilst civilian resistance committees are plugging the gaps, every day is a struggle. Elamin said he doesn’t know how long his colleagues in Sudan can continue. Intense battles have continued to rage in Khartoum in spite of repeated cease-fire declarations aimed at securing humanitarian access.
Sudan Doctor’s Trade Union condemned a “series of assaults on facilities, medical personnel and civilian volunteers” in their latest situation report.
“I am worried someone will find out I am a doctor”, says Dr. Noah Madni, who is unable to travel to his place of work, the Elrazi hospital, located in an embattled area of Khartoum, “I hear that one of my friends was at the Elrazi and the RSF came and forced them to treat them. Now we have no contact.”
This is a sentiment echoed by several physicians ABC News spoke with in Sudan. They said they hide their IDs and monitor entrances to hospitals.
In a graphic video seen by ABC News, Karrar, a primary care doctor, filmed the inside of the abandoned Alraqi hospital in Khartoum. The video from April 21 shows military boots and blood stains inside the evacuated facility. Service at the hospital is still suspended.
“When we arrived, it was empty and there was blood on the floor in the emergency room, corpses belonging to soldiers and civilians lying on the ground and on trolleys,” Karrar said. He was told by staff that it had been taken over by soldiers from the Rapid Support Forces, one of two rival factions fighting for control of Sudan. Doctors were made to treat injured soldiers by force, Karrar said.
“Every day we live out the worst days of our lives,” Madni said. “We see death in front of our eyes. Our families are terrified.”
ABC News’ Ayat Al-Tawy contributed to this report.
(DAVENPORT, Iowa) — The body of one of the missing residents still thought to be inside of a partially collapsed apartment building in Iowa has been found, officials told ABC News.
Branden Colvin, 42, was found on Saturday — a week after the building in downtown Davenport, Iowa, collapsed, Sarah Ott, chief strategy officer for the City of Davenport, confirmed to ABC News.
Colvin was one of three people still unaccounted for. Ryan Hitchcock, 51, and Daniel Prien, 60, remain missing.
All three residents lived in apartments in the section of the building that collapsed, according to authorities, officials said.
They were likely inside the structure in an area that’s “not sustainable for life,” officials said.
The Iowa Task Force 1, an urban search and rescue team trained and equipped by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, arrived in the city on Thursday with live and cadaver dogs to search for humans, alive and dead, the city announced in a press release.
More than a dozen people were evacuated at the time of the collapse, while an additional eight people and several pets were evacuated in the 24 hours after.
Members of the community called for the demolition to be delayed after rescuers pulled a ninth person alive through a fourth-story window last Monday.
The day after the crash, city officials announced there was no credible information that anyone was still missing and that the city would move forward with plans to demolish the remaining structure on Tuesday. It is unclear how the woman had not been found earlier, despite the use of thermal imaging, drones and dogs.
The structure is unstable and continues to degrade, officials warned. Search crews are working with structural engineers on how to best search the building while avoiding the piles of debris.
The debris is currently helping to stabilize the building, and removing it could “jeopardize or accelerate the inevitable collapse,” according to city officials.
Ott said the city has no additional comment at this time.
ABC News’ Jianna Cousin, Alex Perez and Morgan Winsor contributed to this report.
(TAIPEI, Taiwan) — In the second major provocation by China’s military in the span of a week, a Chinese warship carried out what the U.S. military called “an unsafe maritime interaction” when it crossed an American warship’s bow at a distance of 150 yards forcing the U.S. Navy destroyer to take evasive maneuvers to avoid a collision.
The incident occurred on Saturday as the American destroyer USS Chung-Hoon and the Canadian frigate HMCS Montreal executed a transit in the international waters of the Taiwan Strait, the body of water that separates the Chinese mainland and Taiwan, according to officials.
“During the transit, PLA(N) LUYANG III DDG 132 (PRC LY 132) executed maneuvers in an unsafe manner in the vicinity of Chung-Hoon,” said a statement from U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.
“The PRC LY 132 overtook Chung-Hoon on their port side and crossed their bow at 150 yards. Chung-Hoon maintained course and slowed to 10 kts to avoid a collision,” said the statement.
The Chinese warship then executed a second pass in front of the American warship’s bow at a distance of 2,000 yards and remained off the destroyer’s port bow.
“The LY 132’s closest point of approach was 150 yards and its actions violated the maritime ‘Rules of the Road’ of safe passage in international waters,” the Indo-Pacific Command said.
The close call at sea was captured on video by journalists with Canadian news outlet Global News that were traveling aboard the HMCS Montreal, which was sailing a distance behind the Chung-Hoon.
That video showed the Chinese warship appearing to head left to right in front of the warship’s path.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to the Indo-Pacific as China engages in provocative behavior in the region in a speech Saturday to a security conference in Singapore.
“We will support our allies and partners as they defend themselves against coercion and bullying,” said Austin. “To be clear, we do not seek conflict or confrontation, but we will not flinch in the face of bullying or coercion.”
China’s Defense Minister Li Shangfu also referenced “bullying” and “double standards” in Asia by “some country,” an apparent reference to the U.S., in remarks Sunday to the Shangri-La Dialogue summit.
“A cold war mentality is now resurgent, greatly increasing security risks,” he said. “Mutual respect should prevail over bullying and hegemony.”
Chinese aircraft and warships have encountered harassment from Chinese planes and ships as they have transited the South China Sea where China has made territorial maritime claims in recent years.
U.S. officials said they believe that the harassment is coordinated and increasing in frequency.
A Chinese fighter jet crossed the path of an American reconnaissance plane in late May as it flew in international airspace, above the South China Sea, forcing the American plane to fly through the Chinese aircraft’s wake.
A senior U.S. defense official spoke Tuesday about that incident, expressing the belief that the Chinese harassment is coordinated and increasing in frequency.
“We don’t believe it’s done by pilots operating independently,” the official told a small group of reporters. “We believe it’s part of a wider pattern we see in the South China Sea, the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait, and elsewhere.”
Austin has sought to engage in substantive discussions with China to emphasize the need for regular discussions to avoid potential miscalculations or escalations that could develop from such incidents.
Before arriving in Singapore, China declined his offer to meet with Li, but on Friday Austin was able to shake Li’s hand and engage in a brief discussion at a dinner for senior leaders attending the conference.
“A cordial handshake over dinner is no substitute for a substantive engagement,” Austin said in his remarks Saturday. “And the more that we talk, the more that we can avoid the misunderstandings and miscalculations that could lead to crisis or conflict.”
Another previous such incident occurred on Dec. 21, 2022, when a PLA J-11 fighter pilot came within 10 feet of what INDO-PACOM labeled “an unsafe maneuver.”
(WASHINGTON) — Rep. Mike Turner, the chair of the House Intelligence Committee, on Sunday lambasted what he called increased military hostility by China and insisted the U.S. “stand strong” after recent close calls near American ships and planes and the suspected spy balloon that was shot down off the East Coast.
“What we’re seeing is an unbelievable aggression by China,” Turner, R-Ohio, told ABC “This Week” co-anchor Martha Raddatz. “If you look at the balloon that flew over the United States, the Chinese police stations, the aggressiveness against our both planes and ships and international water, it goes right to the heart of what President Xi [Jinping] said when he stood next to [President Vladimir] Putin in Russia where he said they are trying to make change that has not happened in 100 years.”
“They’re trying to flex their muscles and advance authoritarianism. We need to stand strong,” Turner said, “and this administration needs to stand strong against this type of coercion.”
The tough rhetoric from Turner comes as relations between Washington and Beijing have become frayed over issues including Taiwan, trade and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, though President Joe Biden has said he seeks “competition, not conflict.”
U.S. officials believe China has been coordinating an increasing campaign of harassment, including two incidents in recent days between U.S. and Chinese planes and ships.
When pressed by Raddatz on Sunday on what would be a sufficient response, Turner said President Biden should make it clear that the government views China as an “adversary.”
“I think it means calling them out. I mean, this is unacceptable,” Turner said. “I think the administration needs to step up and make clear that China has identified itself as an adversary, and we’re going to treat it as such.”
On Friday in Singapore, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin both reaffirmed a commitment to the Indo-Pacific region and called for more communication after being refused a sit-down with his Chinese counterpart, Li Shangfu.
“The more that we talk, the more that we can avoid the misunderstandings and miscalculations that could lead to crisis or conflict,” Austin said. On Saturday, he said, “We will not flinch in the face of bullying or coercion.”
Shangfu recently blamed “bullying” and “double standards” by “some country” and said, “A cold war mentality is now resurgent.”
In his “This Week” appearance, Turner said the U.S. should also bolster its defense capabilities against North Korea, which continues to develop a nuclear program and gets much of its aid from China.
“The concept of deterrence — we have weapons, they have weapons — is dead. We need to go to deterrence plus defense,” he said. “That means an aggressive missile defense system.”
Turner singled out a need for more robust protection around New York City, pointing to efforts by Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik and others to increase missile defense capabilities at Fort Drum, in upstate New York.
“We need to build out that system and we need to hold China accountable for North Korea,” he said.
He also praised efforts to arm the Ukrainian military ahead of an expected counteroffensive against Russia, saying it was “amazing to see the ingenuity” with which troops there have used U.S.-supplied munitions, including by taking out a key Russian Kinzhal missile.
However, Turner said the U.S. weaponry should not be used to launch attacks inside of Russia — as Russian border towns have experienced a sharp spike in violence fueled by paramilitary groups who maintain they’re fighting for Ukraine.
The Biden administration has said it’s investigating.
“Certainly, we have to understand that Ukraine needs to be able to defend its territory, they need to defend themselves from Russian aggression,” Turner said. “President [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy made a commitment that he would not use U.S. weapon systems in [Russia] and he’s made that commitment to me when I saw him last.”
(WASHINGTON) — Vivek Ramaswamy, the youngest 2024 Republican presidential candidate and self-proclaimed political outsider, on Sunday made his “America first” pitch for the White House while defending his view that the U.S. must force “major concessions” from Ukraine in order to end Russia’s invasion and allow a sharper focus on facing China.
“The job of the U.S. president is to look after American interests,” he told ABC “This Week” co-anchor Martha Raddatz, arguing that militarily backing Ukraine’s continued resistance to Russia’s invasion is a less compelling goal than dealing with Beijing.
Ramaswamy’s position on Ukraine and Russia puts him in the minority among politicians, with leading Republicans and Democrats saying Russia’s invasion must not be successful in order to preserve stability in Europe.
“You said in a speech in New Hampshire on Friday that you would not spend another dime of American money on a war that does not affect our interests. You don’t think the possibility of Russia taking over Ukraine is in our interest?” Raddatz asked him on “This Week.”
“I don’t think that’s a top foreign policy priority,” Ramaswamy said, later adding, “I don’t think it is preferable for Russia to be able to invade a sovereign country that is its neighbor. But … I think the No. 1 threat to the U.S. military is right now, our top military threat, is the China-Russian alliance. I think that by fighting further in Russia, by further arming Ukraine, we are driving Russia into China’s hands.”
Instead, he said, he would “end this war” as long as Putin ended his country’s alliance with China.
“No one tells Vladimir Putin what to do. That has not worked yet,” Raddatz pressed. “And you said you would want to give them the Donbas [a region of Ukraine currently occupied by Russia]. … That would be rewarding Putin, wouldn’t it?”
“I don’t trust Putin, but I do trust Putin to follow his self-interest,” Ramaswamy maintained.
“What I think we need to do is end the Ukraine war on peaceful terms that, yes, do make some major concessions to Russia, including freezing those current lines of control in a Korean-war style armistice agreement. … Which Ukraine wouldn’t want to do,” he continued. “And also a permanent commitment not to allow Ukraine to enter NATO. But in return, Russia has to leave its treaty and its joint military agreement with China.”
Ramaswamy raised concerns of a future invasion of Taiwan, the self-governing island that Beijing views as a breakaway province.
Stopping a war there “is a much higher priority,” he said.
“China’s bet is that they’re going to go for Taiwan, the U.S. won’t want to be in simultaneous conflict with two nuclear superpowers at the same time. But if Russia’s no longer at China’s back and vice versa, we’re in a stronger position,” he said.
Early in Ramaswamy’s “This Week” interview, Raddatz noted that he is polling in the back of the pack of GOP hopefuls and asked him on how he would walk the “fine line” of appealing to former President Donald Trump’s base, who make up a large number of Republican primary voters.
“America first does not belong to Trump. It doesn’t belong to me,” said Ramaswamy, a former biotech entrepreneur. “It belongs to the people of this country. And I think we take that agenda even further if we’re doing it based on first principles and moral authority, as [Ronald] Reagan did, rather than on vengeance and grievance.”
No revival of Trump’s trans military ban
In light of his criticism of “woke” policies around identity, diversity and historical oppression, Ramaswamy was asked by Raddatz if, as president, he would revive a controversial Trump-era ban on transgender military members that was reversed under President Joe Biden.
“I would not reinstate a ban on transgender members,” Ramaswamy said. “I would, however, be very clear that for kids, that’s where my policies are very focused.”
Conservatives have increasingly called out policies around transgender children that they view as concerning, including pushing for limits on the health care that those kids can receive related to their gender, arguing they are extreme, which advocates and many doctors reject.
“We should not be forcing this ideology onto children,” Ramaswamy said.
Back in 2021, the Fugees canceled their planned world tour. But Saturday night in Philadelphia, some lucky fans got to see the legendary group reunite for a surprise performance at the annual Roots Picnic.
Variety reports that Lauryn Hill, who was headlining the event, celebrated the 25th anniversary of her landmark album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill with performances of “Doo Wop (That Thing)” and “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You.” She then brought her former Fugees bandmates Wyclef Jean and Pras Michel onstage for a six-song set that included “The Score,” “Fu-Gee-La, “Ready or Not” and, of course, “Killing Me Softly.”
Variety reports that the reunion was made possible by The Roots’ Questlove and the group’s manager Shawn Gee. After the event, Questlove took to Instagram to reminisce about how, back in 1993, a then-unknown Fugees opened for The Roots in Philadelphia, in one of their first major gigs since landing their record deal.
He then continued, “Now 30 years later & look at us now. What a journey. @MsLaurynHill did us a solid by letting us not only letting us celebrate with her the classic #MiseducationOfLaurynHill but she also made a moment by bringing together her bredren @WyclefJean & @PrasMichel ……in what could possibly be one of the last times we will see this institution together in this setting.”
“I’m giving all the gratitude for making this miracle of a night happen. On what woulda been my father’s 87th birthday,” he concluded.
Variety notes that in April, Pras Michel was convicted on international conspiracy charges and might be facing a long stretch in prison — a fact which makes Questlove’s comment about “one of the last times we see this institution together” ring true.
(NEW YORK) — As Pride Month kicks off, the continuing anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and legislation that has grown over the past several years is on the minds of many people, and event organizers across the country say they have prepared for this and have implemented security protocols that ensure performers and attendees can have fun without fear.
“Are we increasing our plans for security? The answer is no, not because we don’t see the need for it, but because our plans have been incredibly robust to begin with for many years,” said Dan Dimant, the media director for NYC Pride.
Cameron Jay Harrelson, the parade director for Georgia’s Athens Pride, said that hosting such events in the deep South has always made organizers “hyper aware and hyper-focused” on safety.
“That feels a little more heavy this year with the attacks that we’ve seen in legislation, in politics across the country,” Harrelson said.
The Department of Homeland Security has recently sounded the alarm on the growing threat of violence or extremism, but queer communities nationwide say they have been prepared for backlash for years.
Since the Pulse club massacre in Orlando, Florida, in 2016 that left 49 dead at the LGBTQ+ venue – and after the recent November mass shooting at a Colorado queer bar that killed five – the community has been on high alert.
“We’re in a very scary time,” said Harrelson. “We saw what happened in Colorado Springs not too long ago. We saw what happened at Pulse several years ago … we know what the next iteration of anti-LGBTQ protesters are capable of, so we have to be prepared, hyper aware and vigilant.”
Fears of violence aren’t new for the LGBTQ+ community. According to DHS, about 20% of all hate crimes reported throughout the country in 2021 were motivated by bias linked to sexual orientation and gender.
Event goers can expect heavy security, blocked off streets, ample medical personnel, and more at Pride events throughout the country.
In states with few firearm restrictions like Texas, Jeremy Liebbe, director of security for Dallas Pride, told ABC News that there are layers of police, security and threat management both invisible and visible to the public for all events in the city.
“State law allows us to restrict who can possess a firearm at Dallas Pride,” Liebbe said. “Both unlicensed possession of firearms and licensed open carry of handguns will be prohibited with the requisite signs” during the festivities.
Where there are counterprotesters, event goers may be shielded by volunteers who block out the hate so attendees can enjoy the festivities in peace.
“We actually have a group of what we call our queer dads,” said Harrelson. “They are a group of fathers of queer kids, queer youth. And they are coming and holding these large sheets … and they just stand in front of protesters and completely block their signage, their sound, everything.”
In some cases, the themes of Pride events this year will be reflective of the issues going on around the country facing the queer community.
Organizers say they are highlighting the communities most vulnerable to legislative attacks in recent years, including restrictions facing drag performers and transgender health care.
“If you’re going to try to take away our drag, we’re just going to add more,” Kylan L. Durant, president of the Oklahoma City Pride Alliance, told ABC News.
“Then also we have always put – and even more so this year – putting emphasis on having trans performers on the stage, too, because we know that that is part of the community that is hard hit with a lot of this legislation.”
Event organizers say that it’s natural for participants to have a heightened sense of awareness amid the current political climate – but they say going back into hiding is exactly what hateful threats are aiming to do. Still, they say people should do what makes them feel the safest.
“We understand the reality of it and we understand people are gonna feel hesitant this year,” said Durant. “But I also want to remind folks that’s the thing that they want to do. They want to instill fear so we don’t have the celebration, so we don’t show up to be around each other.”
Dimant added, “There are bad actors out there who are making threats, who are sharing falsehoods, who are just spreading hateful rhetoric. And they’re doing that so that you’ll stay home and you won’t show up at Pride and live your truth.”
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) — President Joe Biden addressed the nation in a prime-time speech Friday after Congress averted an economically disastrous default with just days to spare by passing legislation to raise the nation’s $31.4 trillion debt ceiling.
The president, speaking from behind the Resolute Desk in his first Oval Office address, stressed that “unity” had made it possible.
“When I ran for president, I was told the days of bipartisanship were over,” he said. “That Democrats, Republicans could no longer work together. I refused to believe that because America can never give into that way of thinking.”
Biden signed the bill into law Saturday.
“I just signed into law a bipartisan budget agreement that prevents a first-ever default while reducing the deficit, safeguarding Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, and fulfilling our scared obligation to our veterans. Now, we continue the work of building the strongest economy in the world,” Biden tweeted Saturday.
Biden touted the deal he made with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy as a win for American families and proof of his ability to compromise to keep the nation on track — themes he’s using in his 2024 reelection campaign.
“Essential to all the progress we’ve made in the last few years is keeping the full, faith, and credit of the United States and passing a budget that continues to grow our economy and reflects our values as a nation,” he said. “That’s why I’m speaking to you tonight. To report on a crisis averted and what we are doing to protect America’s future. Passing this budget agreement was critical. The stakes could not have been higher.”
In noting how the deal came together, he said no one got everything they wanted but still acted to stave off the worst-case scenario: a default that would have likely triggered a recession and caused millions of jobs to be lost.
“I know bipartisanship is hard, and unity is hard,” he said. “But we can never stop trying. Because in the moments like this one, the ones we just faced, where the American economy the world economy is at risk of collapsing, there’s no other way, no matter how tough our politics gets, we must see each other not as adversaries but as fellow Americans.”
Reiterating one of his key lines from his inaugural address, he urged Americans to “stop shouting, lower the temperature and work together to pursue progress.”
The Fiscal Responsibility Act is the result of months of back-and-forth between Biden and McCarthy. It lifts the debt ceiling through Jan. 1, 2025, in exchange for some cuts to federal spending.
Biden’s signing of the bill Saturday puts an end to weeks of anxiety that the nation would nose-dive into economic turmoil by not being able to pay all its bills, including Social Security or Medicaid benefits, on time and in full for the first time in history.
In his Oval Office address, Biden notably commended McCarthy and the GOP and White House negotiating teams for being “completely honest and respectful with one another,” as well as praising the work of other top congressional leaders.
“They acted responsibly to put the good of the country ahead of politics,” Biden said, adding that “both sides kept their word.”
Earlier, when asked by ABC News’ Elizabeth Schulze why Biden chose the Oval Office for the speech, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said he wanted to meet the “gravity” of the moment.
As Biden worked behind-the-scenes to hammer out the deal, he at times frustrated Democrats — members of the party’s progressive wing, especially — who worried he was giving in too much to Republican demands.
At one point, several in his party urged him to go it alone and use the 14th Amendment to unilaterally raise the debt ceiling, an idea Biden ultimately rejected in this situation, but one he said he would study.
“I have been clear that the only path forward is a bipartisan compromise that can earn the support of both parties,” he said earlier this week. “This agreement meets that test.”
The final product did give both Democrats and Republicans something to celebrate: the White House touted the protection of key priorities and legislative accomplishments while McCarthy sold it to his caucus as much-needed reining in of government spending.
“I wanted to make history,” McCarthy said as he took a victory lap after the House passed the bill. “I wanted to do something no other Congress has done, that we would literally turn the ship and for the first time in quite some time, we’d spend less than we spent the year before. Tonight, we all made history.”
Moderates from both parties gave the bill its necessary stamp of approval in the House and Senate, but in the end more congressional Democrats voted for the bill than Republicans.
“Democrats are feeling very good tonight,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., triumphantly said after Thursday’s vote. “We’ve saved the country from the scourge of default.”
Schumer contended Democrats “beat back the worst of the Republican agenda” including deeper spending cuts that would’ve dismantled parts of the Inflation Reduction Act, taken people off federal aid and blocked Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan.
Biden on Friday also celebrated that the bill leaves Social Security, Medicaid, veterans benefits and other priorities untouched before turning to a list of other priorities he wants to get done next, including more deficit reduction and raising revenues by making wealthy Americans “pay their fair share.”
“I’m gonna be coming back and with your help, I’m going to win,” he said.
