(WASHINGTON) — Four members of the United States Secret Service, including one member who was on first lady Jill Biden’s protective detail, were suspended after they allegedly associated with and were provided gifts from two men who are accused of pretending to be Homeland Security Investigations agents.
The two men, Arian Taherzadeh and Haider Ali, were charged with impersonating federal law enforcement officers and allegedly provided members of the Secret Service gifts such as rent-free apartments totaling $40,000, surveillance systems, a drone, law enforcement paraphernalia and more, court documents said.
“All personnel involved in this matter are on administrative leave and are restricted from accessing Secret Service facilities, equipment and systems. The Secret Service adheres to the highest levels of professional standards and conduct and will remain in active coordination with the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security,” the Secret Service said in a statement Wednesday night.
Taherzadeh and Ali allegedly posed as “Special Police,” claiming “to be involved in undercover gang-related investigations as well as conducting investigations related to the violence at the United States Capitol on January 6,” according to court documents unsealed Wednesday night.
Taherzadeh went so far as to show someone who is identified in court documents as “Witness 1” an “HSI casefile” they were “working on” that was marked “confidential.” They even went so far as to have identical Chevy Tahoes fitted with police lights.
“TAHERZADEH told Witness 1 that as part of the recruiting process, TAHERZADEH would have to shoot Witness 1 with an air rifle in order to evaluate Witness 1’s reaction and pain tolerance. According to Witness 1, because he/she believed this was part of the DHS/HSI recruiting process, he/she agreed to be shot and subsequently was shot by TAHERZADEH. During the shooting, ALI was present,” court documents revealed.
Another witness who was interviewed in court documents, and is on the first lady’s detail, was told by Taherzadeh that he was on a “covert task force” and he provided many favors to residents who were members of law enforcement. He also offered to gift the unnamed witness an AR-style rifle.
Additionally, the unnamed Secret Service agent on the first lady’s detail was told by Taherzadeh that he had the same agency gun the witness did.
“TAHERZADEH came to Witness 2’s apartment carrying a Glock 19 Generation 5 in an Ayin Tactical Holster. TAHERZADEH stated that he had an extra holster and wanted to give Witness 2 the Ayin Tactical Holster for Witness 2’s newly issued Glock 19 Generation 5. Witness 2 is still in possession of this holster,” according to court documents.
Another witness, who is not named, allegedly saw Taherzadeh’s fraudulent Department of Homeland Security computer and Federal Training Center certificate.
The men told residents of the Navy Yard apartment complex where they lived that they were renting out apartments paid for by the DHS and set up a surveillance system around the apartment complex in which residents could access it at any time from their mobile device.
“These residents stated that they believe that TAHERZADEH and ALI had access to personal information of all the residents at the apartment complex,” court documents said.
One witness believed the two men had access codes to everywhere in the building due to them posing as law enforcement.
Taherzadeh allegedly walked up to another DHS employee who worked for HSI. However, when the employee looked him up in the database, he could not be found.
The investigation began when the suspects were witnesses to an assault involving a letter carrier and Postal Inspection Agents interviewed them.
“The USPIS Inspector provided this information to the DHS Office of Inspector General, which then referred the information to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for further investigation. It was at this point that the FBI began its investigation, which corroborated the statements of residents obtained by the USPIS Inspector,” court documents said.
The names of the suspended Secret Service members have not been released. The court documents did not say when these alleged interactions occurred.
(NEW YORK) — At the end of this school year, a family of four from Austin, Texas, plans to uproot their lives and move over 2,000 miles away to Portland, Oregon.
The family, native Texans, say they are moving because they fear for the safety of their 10-year-old transgender daughter in the wake of Gov. Greg Abbott’s decision in February to direct the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services to investigate reports of gender-affirming care as child abuse.
“Our house is halfway packed in boxes,” said the mom, whom ABC News is identifying under the pseudonym, Marin, because she asked that her name not be used for privacy reasons. “[My kids] are sad to leave their friends … but they know where we’re moving, my daughter will be able to play on the sports team of her choice, with the girls. She will never have a problem using the girls’ restroom.”
“We want our kids to have the opportunity to grow up in a place where they can just focus on being kids, and that’s something that Portland can provide,” she said.
Marin was among a group of moms who publicly advocated for transgender rights during the Texas legislature’s last session, testifying at the Texas Capitol and ultimately helping to defeat dozens of bills targeting transgender people. When Abbott announced the directive in February, she thought her family would stay put and continue to fight in Texas, but she said the threat became too great.
“With the situation as it is, I’m not fighting effectively,” said Marin. “You can’t fight when you’re down on the ground, just trying to fend people off of your children.”
According to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, at least nine investigations have been opened on families since February, when Abbott and state Attorney General Ken Paxton issued their opinion on transgender care, calling gender-transitioning or affirming procedures for minors “child abuse.”
The Texas Supreme Court is expected to rule soon whether the state can resume the investigations. In March, a district judge blocked state agencies from investigating gender-confirming care as child abuse, issuing a temporary injunction after hearing from the parents of a 16-year-old transgender girl who were under investigation.
Gender affirmation is when transgender people make changes to their lives in accordance with their gender identity, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That can be done through a change of clothing, hairstyles, mannerisms, names and pronouns.
Gender affirmation can also come in the form of hormone therapy or surgeries to alter one’s physical characteristics.
Abbott’s directive on gender-affirming care is contrary to guidance from the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychological Association, all of which classify gender-affirming care as medically necessary.
In anticipation of a regulation like Abbott’s, Camille Rey said she made the decision to leave Texas last summer in an effort to protect her 9-year-old son Leon, who is transgender.
During the past legislative session, Rey said both she and Leon testified against anti-transgender legislation. She said she saw Leon begin to suffer mentally and then physically, becoming withdrawn and experiencing stomachaches severe enough to go to the emergency room.
“Unfortunately, he was exposed to a lot of hate in listening to the testimony of people who were for the bills and also just hearing us talk at the dinner table like, ‘what are we going to do?'” said Rey. “The teachers from his school called me and were worried about him because they said he used to be the one who made everyone else laugh and now he doesn’t really talk.”
In August, the family moved to Maryland where Camille said Leon is “much happier.”
“Our move was all about being in a place where Leon could just be Leon, so, yeah, we feel protected because there’s laws on the books, but honestly, we just need a normal environment and that’s what we have here,” she said. “It’s not that we need anything special for him, just the absence of attack and the absence of threats to our family. That’s all we need.”
Rey said that while her family has been met with support in their new home, she worries about families still in Texas.
“I’m heartbroken over these directives coming out of Texas and I know people that I testified with and protested with last year … some of them leaving, some of them being investigated for child abuse,” she said. “And that was my nightmare.”
John Pachankis, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist and professor at the Yale School of Public Health who has studied the mental health of gay and bisexual men who move from a country with high LGTBQ stigma to one more accepting, said his research shows that feeling forced to move can be traumatic, but ultimately result in improved mental health.
“Movement away from states with discriminatory laws and policies might lead to improved mental health over the long-term, but in the short term, moving can be highly stressful because of the disruptions and uncertainties associated with moving,” Pachankis told ABC News by email. “Our research conducted across 44 countries shows that for gay men who move from homophobic countries to more supportive countries, it takes at least five years before the negative mental health impact of moving from a homophobic country dissipates.”
“But thereafter, our research shows that individuals who move to a more supportive location experience lower odds of depression and suicidality because they are less likely to hide their identities and are less socially isolated,” he said.
Families staying behind in Texas
Many families of transgender children who remain in Texas may be doing so without a choice due to family or career obligations or because a move out of state is too big a financial burden.
“Most families in the U.S. don’t have the financial and job flexibility necessary to move,” said Pachankis. “Families with higher income have more ability to move, but when families do move, they likely relinquish the social capital, and possibly even some of the economic capital, that they’ve accumulated in their hometowns.”
Anne, a mom of two daughters in Austin, for whom a pseudonym is also being used because she wants her name to remain private, said she and her family plan to stay put in Texas for the time being despite their fears for their 8-year-old daughter, who is transgender.
Anne shares custody of her older daughter with her ex-husband and said that by moving for her one daughter, she would have to forgo seeing her other daughter for much of the year. A move would also be a daunting financial burden for the family, likely costing them tens of thousands of dollars in addition to she and her husband having to find new jobs and the family having to find a new, supportive community and new medical care, according to Anne.
“I’m having to balance keeping both of my kids safe and happy,” she said. “And it takes so much to even consider like, ‘Okay, let’s go do this all over again.'”
While they remain in Texas, Anne and her husband say they have retained an attorney for their family, and have prepared a safe folder, which contains their daughter’s medical records and documentation from health care professionals, family and friends, in case they would be investigated.
“I don’t know anybody in this community that’s okay right now,” Anne said of the fear she sees among friends in the transgender community.
Ricardo Martinez, CEO of Equality Texas, an advocacy organization focused on LGBTQ rights, told ABC News there are additional challenges that families of transgender children who remain in Texas could face.
“For people who don’t have the means to leave, what does that mean? That they might be incurring additional costs for homeschooling; that they might have to pay more for childcare; that they may have to either quit their job or work a third-shift so that there’s always a parent or caretaker at home,” he said.
Martinez also said there is also a mental health impact that comes with the fear of investigations for parents and transgender children.
“We are talking about kids not disclosing their identities at school and navigating the world secretly, which is pushing people back into the closet, which we know isn’t really great for mental health,” he said. “These kids have heard their humanity debated every single day for almost two years.”
In Houston, Lisa Stanton, a mom of 11-year-old twins, one of whom is transgender, said she and her husband have decided to stay put for now, but at the same time they are planning an “emergency escape plan” and putting out feelers for job opportunities in states with more protections for transgender children.
“We shouldn’t have to leave. This is our home,” she said. “We have a network and have built a lot of relationships in this community and we’re established in our careers here and our children are established and have friends.”
Stanton said she and her husband are closely watching the Texas Supreme Court’s decision on the judge’s injunction before making a decision about their family’s future.
“Our hope is that we will be able to stay and not face any emergent issue where we need to go, but if things don’t go the right way with this case, then we may have to reevaluate,” she said. “It’s really hard because we are just trying to get through life and do all the things you have to do to take care of your family, and it should not be a concern of mine that I would have the government intervening or getting involved in private, personal family medical decisions.”
If Stanton and her family decide to move, one of the states they are considering is Colorado, one of the top LGBTQ-friendly states, according to the Human Rights Committee’s 2021 State Equality Index.
Nadine Bridges, executive director of One Colorado, the state’s largest LGBTQ advocacy group, said she and other leaders are working on a resource guide for parents of transgender children in preparation for the influx of families they anticipate could move to the state.
She said that even with protections for transgender youth, there are currently not enough providers in Colorado to meet the demand of kids seeking gender-affirming care.
“That’s the other area we’re working on, to connect with those providers that are supporting transgender, non-binary and gender-expansive youth to make sure they also know they can reach out to us,” said Bridges. “Hopefully we’ll be able to find a pipeline to provide support [for parents and providers].”
In California, a major LGBTQ advocacy organization there, Equality California, is working to advance legislation that would make the state a refuge for transgender kids and families.
The legislation, which will soon be introduced, would prevent the implementation of other states’ laws and policies that “would deny trans people life-saving, gender-affirming care” within the state’s borders, according to Tony Hoang, executive director of Equality California.
“For us, California has always led the fight for LGBTQ+ equality, including ensuring that trans kids are protected from discrimination and have access to life-saving, gender-affirming care,” said Hoang. “We have served as a beacon of hope to LGBTQ+ people everywhere, and we have a responsibility to stand up to hate and injustice no matter where it occurs.”
Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — Images emerging out of Borodyanka, a small town on the outskirts of Kyiv, show how much devastation has been left in the wake of Russian occupation.
Buildings are seen burned and completely destroyed, surrounded by rubble left behind by Russian forces that failed to overtake the Ukrainian capital. Widespread destruction was seen in the suburbs surrounding Kyiv, including Bucha, Irpin and Borodyanka. Burned-out cars litter the roadways.
ABC News foreign correspondent James Longman, who reported from Borodyanka on Wednesday, described an apartment complex “cut in half” and another building that had so much of its exterior blown off that it’s possible to “see right into people’s homes.”
BREAKING OVERNIGHT: New images this morning of Russian atrocities in Ukraine, as Ukrainian president Zelenskyy blasts the U.N. in a fiery address.@JamesAALongman reports live from the war zone this morning.
The town of Borodyanka, about 30 miles northwest of Kyiv, “is almost destroyed,” Oleksiy Kuleba, the governor of Kyiv Oblast, said Tuesday after visiting the Borodyanka.
After Ukrainian officials began to discover the atrocities committed in Bucha, Ukrainian prosecutor-general Iryna Venediktova said the situation in Borodyanka, about 50 miles northwest of Kyiv, could be worse.
“In fact, the worst situation, when we talk about civilian casualties in Kyiv region, is in Borodyanka,” Venediktova said Monday on Ukrainian TV.
The death toll in Borodyanka and other liberated cities may be even higher than in Bucha, where at least 300 people were killed or tortured, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an address on Monday. Russian troops occupied Borodyanka even longer than Bucha.
“We are already doing everything possible to identify all the Russian military involved in these crimes as soon as possible — everything to punish them,” Zelenskyy said. “This will be a joint work of our state with the European Union and international institutions, in particular with the International Criminal Court.”
Drone video filmed in early March showed the extent of devastation and destruction in residential areas of Borodyanka after strikes from Russian forces began.
Humanitarian corridors from Borodyanka had been established as Ukrainian nationalists moved into residential areas of the town, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on March 3. It is unclear how many were able to flee the small town of about 13,000.
Zelenskyy began recounting the annihilation of Borodyanka as early as March 5, detailing destroyed schools and the Kharkiv Assumption Cathedral, which had been badly damaged in the air raids.
“Look what Russia has done,” Zelenskyy said in a March 5 address. “It did it right in front of your eyes. Protect yourself!”
After nine months of wedded bliss, Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani are as smitten with each other as ever — and they’ve got the nicknames to prove it.
Gwen stopped by The Ellen DeGeneres Show this week, and during Ellen’s “Burning Questions” segment, the singer revealed that her nickname for Blake is “Blakey,” while he calls her “Pretty Girl.”
“I didn’t make that up, he made it up,” Gwen quickly clarifies of the latter name. “He calls me ‘Pretty Girl.’”
Blake and Gwen’s adoring nicknames may be some of the cutest in the genre, but Reba McEntire and Rex Linn have got them beat when it comes to originality. During an episode of her Living & Learning with Reba McEntire podcast, the country legend explained that Rex started calling her “Tater Tot” after her appetizer of choice during an early night out together.
So Reba fired back, dubbing her boyfriend “Sugar Tot,” and ever since then, the couple’s billed themselves as “The Tots.”
Em Beihold‘s song “Numb Little Bug” blew up on TikTok. Now it’s a radio hit and her first major tour starts April 19. But the singer/songwriter says she isn’t trying to become a superstar or get to number one: For her, it’s all about helping people with her music.
“My biggest goal is to create a safe, inclusive place,” she tells ABC Audio. “‘Cause I definitely grew up kinda being excluded from things and people didn’t really understand me. And so when people are like, ‘I had my first day at school and no one talked to me, but I listened to your song and I feel like I have a friend through the phone’ — like, that’s the most meaningful by far.”
In fact, Em says some of the stories that fans have shared with her make her cry.
“There was someone who was like, “I’ve never felt seen before, and your song literally invited me to take the steps to see a therapist and talk to my friends and family,'” she recalls. “It’s crazy! That’s crazy that someone can change their whole life based on a song!”
And while Em released a number of songs prior to “Numb Little Bug,” she’s happy that it’s this particular song that’s really introduced her to listeners.
“This would be the one that I want them to hear, because it’s the bluntest song I’ve ever written,” she explains. “I’m also a very blunt person. I don’t sugarcoat things.”
She laughs, “I’ve always been too much of an open book, which isn’t the best for me. But if it’s able to help other people, that’s great.”
And stay tuned: Em says “there are also more songs in the pipeline moving forward that have kind of a different sound.”
Sure, the title track of Cole Swindell’s upcoming album, Stereotype, is a fun-loving song — but there’s a deeper meaning behind its name.
“I was like, ‘I want my album to be called Stereotype,’ because there have been times in my career where people thought, ‘This is all this guy can do. He’s the ‘Chillin’ It’ guy. Here’s the beer guy.’ Whatever it is,” the singer reflects.
But as he put together the track list for his fourth outing, Cole made sure to include plenty of songs that would prove that opinion wrong. “There’s the fun stuff, and then there’s also stuff like ‘Walk on Whiskey’ and ‘Girl Goes Crazy,’” he says, pointing to the album’s final two tracks.
“Stuff that I haven’t really sang about before. That, I think, makes the album really what it is,” the singer adds.
It’s not the first time Cole’s been able to express his more vulnerable, singer-songwriter side in his music. Songs like “You Should Be Here,” “Dad’s Old Number” and “Break Up in the End” all speak from a more intimate and reflective place, he notes. But as his success has continued to grow, Cole says he’s found more leeway to release more and more music in that vein.
“Now I can play those stripped-down songs that hit you right here in the heart: That I love to write and I love to record,” he points out.
Stereotype arrives on Friday. The song’s lead single is “Never Say Never,” Cole’s duet with Lainey Wilson, which recently made it to the final six nominees for Video of the Year at the upcoming CMT Music Awards. They’ll perform together during the show, which airs on CBS April 11.
Halestorm‘s 2012 sophomore album The Strange Case of… celebrates its 10th anniversary this Sunday, April 10. The RIAA Gold-certified record helped the Pennsylvania rockers break out with the Grammy-winning hit “Love Bites (So Do I),” as well as the singles “I Miss the Misery” and “Freak Like Me.”
Speaking with ABC Audio, frontwoman Lzzy Hale recalls the Strange Case era being “such an exciting time” for her and her band mates.
“We had already gotten through our first album cycle…which was more, like, wonder, and ‘I don’t know what’s gonna to happen! Is the world gonna like us, are we going to do this again?'” Hale shares. “I feel like Strange Case of… had a mission to it…we had a better idea of who was listening to us, what we wanted to do.”
Another important difference was the upgraded transportation for the Strange Case tour.
“It was our first time in a bus,” says guitarist Joe Hottinger. “We weren’t driving ourselves anymore. It was, like, ‘All right! This is amazing!’ We just went crazy for a few months, ’cause we were, like, ‘Yay, we’re on a bus, whee!'”
Hale laughs, “It was a lot of partying that went on.”
The duo remembers one time in particular having to wake up early for a midday festival set after a long night of partying to celebrate bassist Josh Smith‘s birthday.
“Our tour manager blasted in the bunk, like, ‘Guys, you’re on an hour!'” Hottinger recalls. “We’re, like, ‘What? Oh, my god, I forgot!'”
“It’s 99 degrees out and high noon and you’re gonna sweat it out!” he laughs.
Halestorm’s next album, Back from the Dead, drops May 6.
The Clash will mark the 40th anniversary of the band’s classic 1982 album Combat Rock with a special expanded reissue titled Combat Rock/The People’s Hall that will be released on May 20.
The People’s Hall is a 12-track collection compiled by The Clash featuring recordings made at the same time as the Combat Rock sessions in a London building called The People’s Hall located in an area of the city given the name of the Republic of Frestonia, where some residents had attempted to secede from the U.K. in 1977.
Released on May 14, 1982, Combat Rock was the final Clash album by the group’s classic lineup of Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon and Topper Headon, and the band’s most successful studio effort. The album peaked at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100, and featured the singles “Rock the Casbah” and “Should I Stay or Should I Go,” as well as such gems as “Know Your Rights” and “Straight to Hell.”
The People’s Hall includes unheard, rare and early versions of songs, among them an alternate version of “Know Your Rights,” the previously unreleased instrumental “He Who Dares or Is Tired,” and the outtakes “The Fulham Connection” and “Idle in Kangaroo Court.”
Coinciding with the announcement of the reissue, two previously unreleased versions of two Combat Rock songs featuring The Clash collaborating with late English Beat and General Public member Ranking Roger — “Rock the Casbah” and “Red Angel Dragnet” — have been made available as a digital EP, while a limited-edition vinyl EP featuring the tracks will be issued on May 20.
Combat Rock/The People’s Hall, which can be pre-ordered now, will be available as a two-CD set, a three-LP collection and via digital formats.
Here’s the CD track list:
CD 1: Combat Rock
“Know Your Rights”
“Car Jamming”
“Should I Stay or Should I Go”
“Rock the Casbah”
“Red Angel Dragnet”
“Straight to Hell”
“Overpowered by Funk”
“Atom Tan”
“Sean Flynn”
“Ghetto Defendant”
“Inoculated City”
“Death Is a Star”
CD 2: The People’s Hall
“Outside Bonds”
“Radio Clash”
“Futura 2000”
“First Night Back in London”
“Radio One” — Mikey Dread
“He Who Dares or Is Tired”*
“Long Time Jerk”
“The Fulham Connection” (aka “The Beautiful People Are Ugly Too”)
“Midnight to Stevens”
“Sean Flyn”
“Idle in Kangaroo Court”
“Know Your Rights”*
Paras Griffin/Getty Images for Tyler Perry Studios
Celebrated actress Sheryl Lee Ralph has played and starred in roles that have cemented her as one of the most beloved actresses in Black film and TV.
Her current portrayal as the hard yet warmhearted veteran teacher Barbara Howard on the hit series Abbott Elementary, shows why the 65-year-old actress is loved by many. But according to Ralph, she wasn’t always shown appreciation. In a recent interview with People, she opens up about a time she was fired from a project after being told she wasn’t “Black enough.”
The exclusive interview details the highs and lows of Ralph’s decades-long career, including the hurtful memory of the star’s early years.
“People’s thinking was not very inclusive. You [had] directors who were still trying to tell you how to be Black,” Ralph said. “I was fired from a pilot because the producer told me I was ‘not Black enough.’ Those were his words. It was horrible. I can still remember the way I felt.”
Ralph recalled a similar incident in a March interview with the hosts of The View: “[I] had a memorable audition with a big casting director who looked at me and said, ‘Everybody knows you’re a beautiful, talented, Black girl. But what do I do with a beautiful, talented, Black girl? Do I put you in a movie with Tom Cruise? Do you kiss? Who goes to see thatmovie?'”
She told the co-hosts she left that audition “with some of the best ammunition.”
“Everybody knew I was a beautiful, talented, Black girl and I should be in the movies with the likes of a Tom Cruise, and he shouldkiss me,” she said.
Despite feeling hurt by the comments, Ralph remains positive, saying, “Look at me now.”
The new Hulu true crime series The Girl from Plainville is inspired by the true story of Michelle Carter‘s unprecedented “texting-suicide” case, which led to the death of Conrad Roy III and Carter’s conviction of involuntary manslaughter.
In the limited series, Chloë Sevigny plays Conrad’s mother, Lynn Roy, and tells ABC Audio that she was “surprised” how much the role affected her.
“I think [because] I’m a new mother, had a child in 2020 and the material, yeah, really hit in a way that was harder than I had anticipated,” she explains.
Elle Fanning, who plays Michelle, also admits the material was heavy, and adds that she felt a strong responsibility to tell the story “the right way,” which doesn’t necessarily mean you agree with everything.
“You don’t have to like someone to play them, but you have to at least understand and come at it from a human perspective,” she says. “And I do feel like I understand her.”
One way that Elle understands is when it comes to technology and social media.
“I could relate, in a sense, to growing up in social media,” the actress shares. “Like this false intimacy that our phones can create and especially like a relationship that was literally all over text. You know, [Michelle and Conrad] met only a handful of times, and that just felt — it’s very modern.”
Elle adds the series can be looked at as a cautionary tale to remind people “words matter.”
“Like it’s so easy to bully over a device… It’s so easy to do that because you’re not standing in front of someone and see how those words you’re saying affect them, and you probably wouldn’t say the same things if you were standing in front of them,” she says.
