(NEW YORK) — Police are seeking a suspect in an assault on a New York City subway train that is being investigated as a hate crime after the assailant allegedly used an anti-gay slur.
The New York Police Department recently released video and images of the attack, which it said occurred March 19 on an uptown A train in Manhattan.
The assailant approached the 22-year-old male victim on the train as it approached the 190th Street subway station at around 2:22 p.m., police said.
“The unidentified individual sat across from the victim and stated ‘I wish I had my pepper spray’ before spitting at him,” the NYPD said in a statement.
The suspect then reportedly said, “I have to start carrying my pepper spray” before spitting at the victim again, police said.
When the victim stood up, the assailant “charged” at him and “grabbed him by the hair before punching him several times in the face and head,” police said.
An apparent cellphone video of the attack released by police showed the perpetrator punching the victim on the moving train.
“The perpetrator then ripped hair from the victim’s head and stated ‘I’m sick of all you f—,'” police said.
The victim was transported to a nearby hospital in stable condition with cuts to his head, the NYPD said. He also lost hair during the attack.
The NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force is investigating the incident.
Police are also seeking a suspect in a separate subway attack that occurred Wednesday afternoon at a station in Manhattan. The suspect slashed a 47-year-old man on the arm before fleeing the Wall Street 2-train station, police said.
The city has increased the police presence in the subways in an effort to reduce crime in the public transit system since Mayor Eric Adams took office earlier this year. The killing of 40-year-old Michelle Go, who died after a stranger pushed her in front of an oncoming train, drew further attention to subway safety concerns.
“While we are by no means out of the woods, and there is a lot of progress that needs to be made on subway safety, I just want to acknowledge that the work has begun,” MTA Chairman and CEO Janno Lieber said at an MTA board meeting Wednesday. “Serious effort is underway.”
Anyone with information on the incidents is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-8477 or online at crimestoppers.nypdonline.org.
(NEW YORK) — Skippy Foods announced a voluntary recall of some peanut butter products due to the possibility that a limited number of jars may contain small fragment of stainless steel from a piece of manufacturing equipment, according to a statement released by the Food and Drug Administration.
The recall includes a limited number of dates of Skippy Reduced Fat Creamy Peanut, Skippy Reduced Fat Chunky Peanut Butter Spread and Skippy Creamy Peanut Butter Blended with Plant Protein. The recalled items have use by dates from early May 2023.
The products were sold in 18 states: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma and Wisconsin.
There have been no consumer complaints to date and all retailers that have received the affected product have been notified.
No other sizes, varieties or packages of Skippy brand peanut butter or peanut butter spreads are included in this recall.
“From our family to yours, we want you to know that we take the quality of our products very seriously and apologize to our fans for this situation,” Skippy said in a statement. “Our company is committed to product quality and will continue to invest in our processes to ensure the quality and wholesomeness of our products.”
ABC News’ Sasha Pezenik contributed to this report.
It looks like the people behind the Golden Raspberry Awards don’t want to add insult to injury.
The Oscars-spoofing organization recently “honored” Bruce Willis with his own historic category — “Worst Performance by Bruce Willis in a 2021 movie,” for a series of eight straight-to-streaming films.
However, the Razzies have announced they’ve had an official change of heart in light of the revelation the Die Hard star is retiring because he is suffering from the degenerative cognitive disorder aphasia.
“After much thought and consideration, the Razzies have made the decision to rescind the Razzie Award given to Bruce Willis, due to his recently disclosed diagnosis,” said co-founders John Wilson and Mo Murphy in a statement. “If someone’s medical condition is a factor in their decision making and/or their performance, we acknowledge that it is not appropriate to give them a Razzie.”
Incidentally, this year’s Razzies bestowed Will Smith with it’s “Redeemer” award, following his Oscar-winning performance in King Richard.
ABC Audio tried to reach the pair for a comment about whether Will’s award — ironically named, considering Smith’s behavior at the Academy Awards ceremony — could also be rescinded. However, The Razzies didn’t reply as of press time.
If you have about $20 million to burn and love Katy Perry, listen up — she’s moving out of Los Angeles and just listed her sprawling mansion.
Peopleconfirms that the “Roar” hitmaker is moving to the LA suburb of Montecito after living in her swanky 5,427-square-foot home for the past five years. The price tag? $19,475,000!
The mansion offers over an acre of land and lots of parking. In addition, it comes with on-site security and a private gym, and is located near plenty of private hiking paths and trails. But, for those wondering about the home’s more luxurious perks, Katy’s old digs offers canyon views, and features a cold plunge pool, an infinity pool, a sauna, a library complete with a fireplace, five bedrooms and six bathrooms — one of which comes with a marble-clad bath.
In addition, the home is close to fellow A-listers Cameron Diaz, Mila Kunis, Nicole Richie and their famous spouses.
Katy and her fiance, Orlando Bloom, dropped $14.2 million for their new abode in Montecito, and the outlet reports that they envision raising their daughter, Daisy, in the seaside community.
“They agree that raising their little girl in Montecito will be amazing,” an insider told the outlet. “They were looking for a house for a while before they put in an offer. They are very excited about their new house. It comes with a lot of history and a gorgeous ocean view.”
In addition, the place offers way more acreage than their old place — nine to be exact — as well as 12 bathrooms and six bedrooms.
Katy will also live closer to Oprah Winfrey, Ariana Grande, EllenDeGeneres, and Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, who all reside in the Montecito area.
— Ahead of his upcoming album, blacksummers’NIGHT, trailblazing R&B artist Maxwell kicked off his The Night Tour this month. And while the “Pretty Wings” smooth operator has been delivering lovemaking ballads for nearly three decades, he says he enjoys creating passionate music.
When asked in a recent interview with the New York Post “how many babies” he thinks his music helped make, he said, “At the end of the day, I am a musician. I love making music. That’s my joy. I’m here to make people have fun, have a good time and go home and have more babies.”
The 48-year-old Caribbean native was recently nicknamed “Maxwell the Stallion” after a video circulated of him dancing on his knees at one of his shows recently. In response to the new label, Maxwell said, “I’m Haitian… that’s how we dance.”
— South Asian film producer Joseph Patel says he felt “robbed” of his Oscar win, after comedian Chris Rock announced the Summer of Soul winners for Best Documentary as “Ahmir Thompson and four white guys.”
Patel says he was angry that “Chris Rock lumped me in as one of ‘four white guys.'” And, like many other celebrities who have spoken out about the infamous slap incident, Patel condemned Will Smith‘s actions, saying, “It robbed the other excellent and amazing films of their moment to be acknowledged in what was a STRONG year for docs.”
— Miami rap group City Girls has new music on the way! Earlier this week the duo teased their upcoming single, “Top Notch,” featuring New York rapper Fivio Foreign. On Thursday, the ladies posted behind-the-scenes footage and photos of what seems to be a video shoot for the new track.
(NEW YORK) — Nearly two months after the unexplained death of Navy SEAL candidate Kyle Mullen, his mother broke her silence, saying she wants to prevent another family from experiencing the same type of tragedy.
“I wake up every night thinking of him, thinking of how he died probably not breathing,” Regina Mullen said on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
The 24-year-old former football player from New Jersey had just completed “hell week,” a grueling 5 1/2 sleepless days of underwater and tactical training designed to push seal candidates to their physical and mental limits. Those who drop out during hell week or “ring the bell” have to wait two years to try again. But Kyle Mullen made it through and texted his mom to let her know of his success.
“Hell Week secured,” he wrote.
“I saw it and I call him, and he says, ‘I did it, Mom.’ And he was so happy,” Regina Mullen said.
“And I heard him outta breath. And I said, “Kyle, are you OK? Are you hurt? Are you in a hospital?” And he just responded, ‘Don’t worry, Mom, I’m good. I love you.’ And he hung up.”
She texted her son again immediately after the call, worried about his condition, but she never reached him or spoke to him again.
As a mother and a nurse, she said she knew something was off when she last talked to her son.
“It was just his breathing. He could — it was difficult for him to form the words with the airflow. It sounded labored. He couldn’t breathe properly.”
The day after Kyle Mullen’s death, Navy officials arrived at Regina Mullen’s house, a dreaded sight for anyone with family in the military.
“I let them in, and I said, ‘He’s not coming home, is he?’ And they said, ‘No ma’am, he’s not coming home.'”
At the time of his death, the Navy released a statement saying Kyle Mullen and another sailor had “reported symptoms” and were taken to the hospital. The other sailor recovered. Kyle Mullen’s death is now under investigation and no official cause has been released.
Regina Mullen believes her son was abandoned when he was most in need.
“I believe…they laid him flat, and he had SIPE, and he most likely couldn’t breathe, and he probably suffocated from his own bodily fluids.
SIPE stands for swimming induced pulmonary edema, fluid buildup in the lungs without choking on water. The majority of cases clear up within 48 hours, but in rare instances, it can be deadly.
Regina Mullen said her son had been treated for SIPE during training in January. Later that month during “hell week,” NCIS investigators told her he was treated with oxygen twice, including on the day he died.
“My son was telling me that it’s discouraged to say, ‘I need to go to the medical.’ He said..they wouldn’t let him go [to] the medical unless you quit and ring the bell,” Regina Mullen said.
She added that when she flew out to California after her son’s death, a commander told her that he had twice been offered medical treatment but refused it.
“At that point, I said, ‘He doesn’t know what day of the week it is. He hasn’t slept in five days. How can he make that determination?'”
The Naval Special Warfare Command told ABC News in a statement that “all candidates receive head-to-toe medical evaluations, including a full set of core vitals, a minimum of once a day and as required throughout the week, as well as upon conclusion of the assessment event.”
Regina Mullen said she hopes no family has to experience what she has gone through and believes was preventable.
“They need better training. They need better monitoring. And this could never, ever happen again,” she said. “No mother should ever have to feel my pain that I have.”
Family attorney Ryan Andrews agreed that her son didn’t have to die.
“He just needed someone to care about his condition when he came off before he went to go lay down and go to sleep,” he said. “That’s it. A medical professional with a stethoscope could’ve prevented this.”
The last Navy SEAL candidate to die during this training was 21-year-old Seaman James Lovelace, who drowned in a pool during his first week in May 2016. After his drowning, the Navy instituted additional safety protocols to the swimming program.
“SEAL training takes you beyond your personal limits,” said Eric Oehlerich, a retired SEAL and ABC News contributor. “It’s designed to push you beyond your perception of what’s possible, breaking glass ceilings of what you’re capable of both mentally and physically.”
Oehlerich said he believes the difficult training for prospective SEALs is carried out within proven medical boundaries and run by highly trained professional instructors, but he acknowledged that there are risks involved in all types of military training.
“From time to time training fatalities do occur. Although tragic, adhering to the training curriculum keeps SEALs alive in combat,” he said. “It’s necessary; it can’t be diluted.”
But Kevin Uniglicht, a family attorney for the Mullen family, took a different view.
“We’ve heard it many times, ‘No one left behind,'” he said. “And I think, unfortunately, you know, Kyle was left behind in this situation.”
(LONDON) — Our team spent five days tracing the southern border of Ukraine. We drove more than 650 long miles through the big open, empty lands and packed small towns of Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova, countries that have welcomed more than 1 million people fleeing the war.
On the way, we found countless individual stories of horror, perseverance and kindness — and a group of unique countries giving back any way they can, while living with their own fears that they could be next.
Moldova in some ways felt the most like Ukraine. The only other non-NATO, non-EU country along the border, Moldova and Ukraine are also two of the poorest countries in Europe. Many families live across the border here, and both countries have lost territory to Russian aggression in the past.
There’s a kinship you can feel between the countries, with so many people we meet here calling Ukrainians “their neighbors, their brothers.”
Despite few resources and crushing numbers, Moldovans are doing whatever they can to help. Since the start of the war, more than 380,000 people have fled through the country, more than 15% of the country’s entire population and the most per capita of any other country.
We discovered an old movie theater in the country’s capital of Chisinau that had been left standing empty for four years, now converted into a shelter for up to 200 people. The walls were crumbling, but the place had brand new mattresses on the floor.
The makeshift home meant a place to stay for Irina and her four-year-old son, Arcadyi. Irina tells us she didn’t want to leave Odessa. Her other son turned 18 in October and since he is now old enough to fight, he isn’t allowed to leave Ukraine. But she says he told her she had to go, she had to save his little brother. She had to make sure at least one son survived this war.
She chose to come here to Moldova, because it was the closest that she could stay to her other son. It’s something we hear from many refugees — the desire to stay as close to home as they can. But Moldova is complicated. It’s close to Ukraine, but also to Russia. There are pro-Russian parties in the government and in some groups in town.
While we’re at the shelter, a tractor pulls up to drop off supplies. On it — a large Z, a symbol that’s now become synonymous with Putin’s forces in Russia and is often seen on the tanks there. A tractor with support for Russia, dropping off items that locals have donated to help Ukrainians feeling the Russian attack? Nothing about the scene makes sense, but it’s perhaps the best explanation of life in Moldova.
Close proximity to Russia means some people befriend the country, and many are worried that they could be invaded next.
We found a similar fear in Romania. On my way out of the region, we flew out of a small airport close to the border. A security guard there asked us what it was like in Ukraine. I asked if he had family there. He said, “No, I’m just worried that Putin will come after us next.”
Romania is also a NATO and European Union member. Attacking it would have worldwide implications. But even with these assurances, people here still live in fear.
Romania has the largest border with Ukraine of any EU country. Driving along the winding road as it hugs the dividing line between the two countries, we see mostly vast, empty miles. It makes sense that it’s a well-known route for illegal crossings. That could mean men trying to flee Ukraine. We see at least one man sitting with police on the side of the road. But at official crossings, it is almost exclusively women and children.
In Siret, Romania’s busiest border crossing, we meet Elenea and her young daughter Katya just moments after they cross. The mother tells us they’re from Kiev and lived right by the television tower that was bombed recently. They wanted to stay, but when one of Katya’s classmates died, Elenea knew she had to leave. We’re there as she FaceTimes her husband to let him know they made it across safely. He had to stay behind to fight.
Working in this job, you’re used to being with people during the worst and often hardest moments of their lives. But witnessing this intimate moment broke me. A simple check in between husband and wife, now torn apart by war. Their daughter now asking when she would be able to see her dad again. A heartbreak so big, you could see it.
Sadly, their story isn’t uncommon. We met so many families forced to separate, unsure when, or if, they will ever be together again.
And as war rages on, the numbers of those fleeing only keep increasing. We hear rumblings from NGOs and volunteers, even other refugees, about hundreds of thousands of internally displaced Ukrainians waiting just on the other side of the border. People want to stay in Ukraine, but may have to flee as the fighting moves west. We ask for numbers of those at the border, but no one is able to tell us for certain.
While everyone says they want to remain open to refugees, resources are already stretched thin. If one million people turns into 2 or 3 million, there are concerns about how these countries can keep up.
For now, people are stepping up however they can.
In Slovakia, we meet Father Pavel Novack who leads a congregation at a small church less than a mile from the border. He helped turn a school nearby into a shelter, one of 24 in this small region. Everything inside is donated from the community. He’s already helped more than 100 refugees, and on the day we visit there are 34 people living inside. Entire groups of families and friends share one room, but always with a roof, food and plenty of hope to go around.
Father Pavel says refugees of all faiths are welcome. He shows us his church and tells us that in Orthodox Christianity the sermons are always sung, and as the sun sets outside he begins to pray. After a day of running around chasing stories and driving hundreds of miles, his song stopped our whole crew and forced us to stand still. His voice filled the tiny house of worship with a calmness we hadn’t felt in days. In that brief moment, the war, the heartache, the violence all felt far away.
It’s these moments that will stick with me. Of people sacrificing everything to save their families. Of people giving everything of what little they have to help others. Of people trying to find joy even in the darkest moments of war.
On our final day, we visited a small park in Moldova and stumbled into a group of older people dancing. As Moldovan music blasted on speakers and elderly couples held hands and shouted in delight, you could feel their joy from across the park. With war just a few dozen miles from where they stood, and with refugees fleeing unthinkable violence, this group remembered to dance.
We watched this moment of joy, of life lived well, and were reminded what’s worth fighting for.
Paul Drinkwater/NBCUniversal Media, LLC via Getty Images
Chris Evans and his Avengers series co-star Scarlett Johansson will finally re-team, for an Apple TV+ film called Project Artemis.
The big budget, hush-hush feature will be directed by Ozark‘s Emmy nominated star and Emmy-winning director, Jason Bateman, ABC Audio has confirmed.
In response to the headline, Evans tweeted, “Very excited!!!”
Plot details are being kept quiet, though the real-life Project Artemis is NASA’s mission to send humans back to the moon, including landing the first female astronaut there.
Incidentally, Evans and Johansson, who first met on the set of the 2004 teen comedy The Perfect Score, were supposed to reunite in a different film for the streaming service called Ghosted. However, as previously reported, No Time to Die star Ana de Armas took Johansson’s place in the “a high-concept romantic action adventure film.”
Johansson is also starring in and producing Bride, a genre-bending film for the streamer, which will be directed by Oscar winner Sebastián Lelio.
(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. State Department announced on Thursday that starting April 11 people applying for U.S. passports will be able to select “X” to mark their gender in a move designed to accommodate nonbinary, intersex and gender non-conforming individuals.
“The Department of State has reached another milestone in our work to better serve all U.S. citizens, regardless of their gender identity,” Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said in a statement released on Thursday, which marks Transgender Day of Visibility.
Blinken first announced the State Department’s intention to make this change in June and said that the option to select “X” for gender will also become available on other documentation in the coming year.
The White House introduced additional changes to travel-related policies, including replacing the Transportation Security Administration’s “gender-based system” with new and more precise technology aimed at reducing pat-downs and unnecessary additional screenings.
The Department of Homeland Security is also in the process of adding “X” gender markers to the systems to facilitate the check-in process for gender non-conforming travelers, the White House said.
“These updates to passports and TSA policy will make it safer for transgender, nonbinary, and intersex members of our community to travel and to walk through everyday life,” said the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation known as GLAAD in a statement on Thursday. “Everyone deserves the right to have identity documents that reflect who they are, and to go through airport security without harassment and public humiliation.”
The changes to the travel experience are part of a series of new policies and actions announced by the Biden White House on Thursday that address discrimination against transgender individuals and come as Republican lawmakers push a wave of transgender and LGBTQ legislation across the country that many see as discriminatory.
Most recently, Oklahoma and Arizona became the latest states to impose transgender sports bans. Similar legislation has been introduced in more than 30 states. On Monday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the Parental Rights in Education bill into law. The legislation, which is dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by LGBTQ activists, limits what classrooms can teach about sexual orientation and gender identity. Meanwhile, various states have introduced legislation banning and/or criminalizing gender-affirming care for transgender youth.
The White House condemned anti-LGBTQ legislation and vowed to fight against it at the state level.
“The evidence is clear that these types of bills stigmatize and worsen the well-being and mental health of transgender kids, and they put loving and supportive families across the country at risk of discrimination and harassment,” the White House said. “As the President has said, these bills are government overreach at its worst, they are un-American, and they must stop.”
The White House vowed to provide additional mental health resources and investments in education for LGBTQ youth, their families and their support networks, as well as enhance federal services and benefits for the community.
“To everyone celebrating Transgender Day of Visibility, I want you to know that your President sees you. The First Lady, the Vice President, the Second Gentleman, and my entire Administration see you for who you are — made in the image of God and deserving of dignity, respect, and support,” President Joe Biden said in a statement on Thursday.
“We’re committed to advancing transgender equality in the classroom, on the playing field, at work, in our military, and our housing and healthcare systems – everywhere, simply everywhere,” the statement said.
Jeopardy champion Amy Schneider, the first openly transgender individual to compete on the show, visited the White House for the Transgender Day of Visibility to meet with second gentleman Doug Emhoff.
Schneider, who won a historic 40-game streak, told ABC News she hopes that her visit would advance visibility for the transgender community.
“I think just the same thing that I have been accomplishing, which is being a trans person out there that isn’t monstrous, that isn’t threatening, and is just a normal person like we all are. So the more people like me can be seen, the harder it is to sustain the myths that are driving a lot [of] this hate and fear,” she said.
Many civil rights groups advocating for LGBTQ rights welcomed the changes announced by the White House.
“Today’s actions prove that transgender people have an ally in the White House, and come at a much needed time when transgender people – particularly young people – are under attack in statehouses across the country,” the Human Rights Campaign said in a statement on Thursday.
The National Center for Transgender Equality said in a statement that at a time when “transgender people are being attacked and targeted by state and local politicians,” the White House’s new policies show the community “that the president of the United States has their back.”
ABC News’ Molly Nagle, Conor Finnegan, Robert Zepeda and Luke Barr contributed to this report.
Watchara Phomicinda/The Press-Enterprise via Getty Images
(RIVERSIDE COUNTY, Calif.) — Top officials in California’s Riverside County said this week that they continue to be frustrated in their efforts to find out why social services systems have “harmed” some of the 13 Turpin children who were rescued in 2018 from captivity and torture at the hands of their parents.
The Riverside County Board of Supervisors had vowed to fix the system that broke down for some of the 13 Turpin siblings, but said this week that the process has been bogged down by a tangle of court-mandated confidentiality rules and other state laws that prevent information-sharing.
“We’re trying to do what we can do because we all take this very serious,” county Supervisor Karen Spiegel said Tuesday of the ongoing investigation into revelations first reported in 2021 by ABC News that many of the Turpin children were not given access to many of services and resources they were guaranteed by the system. “There are things that our hands are totally tied on.”
The 13 siblings were rescued in January 2018 from their home in Perris, California, where their parents had subjected them to brutal violence and deprived them of food, sleep, hygiene, education, and health care.
In 2021, Jennifer and Jordan Turpin spoke to ABC News’ Diane Sawyer for the first time about the challenges and hardships they and their siblings have faced in the years since sheriff’s deputies rescued them from a life of home imprisonment.
An ABC News investigation found that some of the Turpin children continue to face challenges and hardships since they were rescued, and some of them had even faced danger again.
In the wake of ABC News’ 20/20 report, Riverside County hired an outside firm to conduct an independent investigation into the county’s care of the Turpin children. The firm, headed by retired federal Judge Stephen Larson, was due to deliver its finding this week on March 31. But on Tuesday his team announced the findings would be delayed by two months as investigators continue to press for access to “vital” court and county records that underpin the Turpin cases.
“These records are vital to ensure that … the final report comprehensively addresses each area of inquiry,” Hillary Potashner, a partner at Larson LLP helping lead the investigation, told the board on Tuesday. “The process to require the records nonetheless remains slow moving.”
In the meantime, Potashner reported to the Board that the team has already reviewed more than 2,600 documents and conducted over 85 interviews — including with two of the Turpin siblings and two staffers with the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office. District Attorney Mike Hestrin went public with his concerns that the county had “failed” the Turpin siblings in the ABC broadcast.
Also interviewed by the outside investigators were 11 members of the Riverside County Public Guardian’s Office, which was responsible for helping the seven oldest Turpin children obtain critical medical, educational and life-skill resources after their parents were arrested.
Still, the supervisors expressed frustration that other aspects of state and federal law have blocked them — as well as other county departments — from sharing information with each other, which has led to what Riverside County Supervisor Kevin Jeffries said was a “disconnected — and I’m being generous — a disconnected level of service to our children.”
“It is the most frustrating experience in my time I’ve had on the Board of Supervisors,” Jeffries said, “to be told you’re responsible as an elected official to make sure all these things run smoothly and you have the right people in place, but you can’t ask any questions about how they do their job, or how effective they are, or the problems they face.”
Last week, a separate Board of Supervisors committee that was formed in the wake of the ABC News report found that “more must be done” to improve care and services to the vulnerable for which they are responsible, including the Turpin siblings.
“Although much work is already in process to continue to improve on our delivery of services to children and adults, leaders recognize that more must be done,” according to a five-page report issued Friday.
Among the changes the supervisors are eyeing, according to the report, is a change to the “legislative hurdle that prevents departments from sharing information.” The report said the committee is pushing to change state law to “allow for the disclosing of information between county adult protective agencies and county child welfare agencies.”
Additionally, the report said the county has created a new “multi-department, multi-disciplinary team” to oversee the care of the 13 Turpin children — one of the first reforms since the probe was enacted.
