Fox News 2024-09-28 12:09:37


FAA contractor accused of spying for Iran, sharing private information on US airports

A former Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) contractor was indicted Friday for acting as an illegal agent for the Iranian government, the Department of Justice said.

According to a DOJ release, from at least December 2017 through June 2024, 42-year-old Abouzar Rahmati allegedly met with Iranian government officials and acted on their behalf.

Rahmati, a naturalized U.S. citizen and resident of Great Falls, Virginia, previously was an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) 1st Lt., a branch of the Iranian Armed Forces, from June 2009 to May 2010. The IRGC is a designated terrorist group by the U.S. government.

After being discharged from the IRGC, the indictment alleges that Rahmati lied to the U.S. government regarding his military service with the IRGC in order to gain employment as a U.S. contractor.

3 HACKERS WITH TIES TO IRAN INDICTED IN PLOT AGAINST TRUMP CAMPAIGN: DOJ

In Aug. 2017, prosecutors allege that Rahmati began communicating with a senior Iranian government official with whom he had previously attended college.

Four months later, Rahmati traveled to Iran and met with intelligence operatives. During the meetings, he agreed to obtain and provide them with information on the U.S. solar energy industry.

Following the initial meetings, Rahmati got to work as a spy for the Iranian government. Prosecutors said that he eventually became a contractor for FAA’s National Airspace System (NAS), which allowed him to be privy to sensitive information.

Authorities alleged that in April 2022, Rahmati downloaded private documents related to the FAA and the NAS power and electrical architecture and passed them along to Iran’s government.

DOES IRAN’S HACKING OF THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN PROVE THEY WANT KAMALA HARRIS TO WIN THE ELECTION? EXPERTS WEIGH IN

He also gave the Government of Iran additional information relating to solar energy, solar panels, the FAA, U.S. airports, and U.S. air traffic control.

“As alleged, the defendant conspired with Iranian officials and intelligence operatives, even lying to obtain employment as a U.S. government contractor only to then share sensitive government materials with Iran,” Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division said. “When undisclosed agents of Iran or any other foreign government seek to infiltrate American companies or government agencies, the Justice Department will use every available tool to identify them and bring them to justice.”

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Rahmani made his initial appearance in the District of Columbia on Friday afternoon.

GOP gubernatorial candidate hospitalized after ‘incident’ at campaign event

North Carolina gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson was hospitalized following an “incident” at a campaign event on Friday evening, Fox News Digital has confirmed. 

“Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson is currently being treated for burns following an incident at a campaign event in Mt. Airy. He is in good spirits,” Mike Lonergan, Robinson’s campaign communications director told Fox News Digital. 

The extent of Robinson’s injuries is unknown, and it’s unclear exactly how Robinson was burned.

Robinson, the current Republican lieutenant governor running against Democratic state Attorney General Josh Stein to replace Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper in the battleground state, was recently accused of making controversial comments on a porn website. 

NC GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE MARK ROBINSON HIRES TRUMP-FRIENDLY LAWYER TO INVESTIGATE PORN WEBSITE ALLEGATIONS

Robinson denies the allegations. He hired an attorney who previously worked for former President Trump. The Binnall Law Group from northern Virginia is investigating claims raised in a CNN report published earlier this week. 

“Normally, something like this, an investigation, you know, run by the Department of Justice and the FBI would take months or years,” Binnall previously told Fox News Digital. “We can’t do that in this case because the voters need an answer before the election. And so we are going to move very quickly and still give them a very fulsome report.” 

“He absolutely denies saying any of the things that are in the CNN piece,” Binnall said of Robinson. “What my investigation is going to do is we are going to follow the facts. We are going to investigate this strenuously. We are going to leave no stone unturned. We’re going to be very, very aggressive. And the citizens of North Carolina deserve nothing less than a full investigation of this matter, which is what we are going to do.”

BATTLEGROUND STATE REPUBLICAN DENIES INVOLVEMENT IN PORN SCANDAL, DISMISSES IT AS ‘TABLOID TRASH’

The CNN report surfaced comments Robinson allegedly made more than a decade ago on a porn site messaging board, including describing himself as a “black NAZI;” saying he enjoyed transgender pornography; saying that he preferred Hitler to then-President Barack Obama in 2012; and criticizing the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. as “worse than a maggot.” 

Robinson has denied saying those words, but Republicans have begun to distance themselves from the candidate, who, if elected, would be North Carolina’s first Black governor. Trump did not mention Robinson, who he endorsed before the March primary and has spoken at other Trump events, during the Republican presidential nominee’s campaign rally in Wilmington, North Carolina, Saturday. 

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“The allegations against me are outright lies, fabricated to distract voters from Josh Stein’s disastrous record,” Robinson previously said in a statement to Fox News Digital regarding the investigation. “The great people of North Carolina deserve the truth, and I am fully committed to ensuring they get it with complete transparency.”

Diddy’s lawyer brings up Costco to explain away 1,000 baby oil bottles — Costco responds

Sean “Diddy” Combs is “very eager” to testify and tell his story in his impending sex trafficking trial.

Combs pleaded not guilty to charges of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution Sept. 17. The rapper remained behind bars at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center after two judges denied his request to be released on bail. If found guilty, he faces a minimum of 15 years behind bars and a maximum sentence of life in prison. Combs has denied all sexual assault allegations brought against him in the last year and maintained his innocence in the federal criminal investigation.

Combs’ lawyer, former PR executives, industry professionals and others explored the allegations brought against the “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down” singer in TMZ’s documentary, “Downfall of Diddy: The Indictment.” The musician has been accused of forcing sex workers and female victims into sexual encounters, also referred to as “freak offs,” with him.

The documentary revealed the music industry was aware of Combs’ sexual preferences far before the bombshell indictment was unsealed.

FOX NATION SPECIAL EXPLORES SEAN ‘DIDDY’ COMBS INVESTIGATION, RAIDS

Diddy ‘eager’ to testify in criminal trial

Combs will likely testify in his criminal trial, according to his defense attorney, Marc Agnifilo.

“I don’t know that I can keep him off the stand,” Agnifilo said in the documentary. “I think he is very eager to tell his story. And I think he will tell every part of the story, including what you see on the video. So, I expect it’s going to be explained by the both of us.” 

The video he referenced was of Combs allegedly beating his girlfriend at the time, Cassie Ventura.

“The thing that’s missing from this story is the overall context of the entire situation,” he added. “Clearly, this was a long-term, loving, intense relationship that had mutual infidelities. And that is the reason why you see some of what you see on the video.

“He has his story, and he has a story that I think only he can tell in the way he can tell it in real time. And it’s a human story. It’s a story of love. And it’s a story of hurt. It’s a story of heartbreak. I mean, when he describes that relationship, the word he uses more than any other word is heartbreak. He was heartbroken. She was heartbroken.”

WATCH ‘TMZ: THE DOWNFALL OF DIDDY’ FREE ON TUBI

Bad Boy exec claims there was no safety after a certain hour at Diddy’s infamous parties

A former PR executive who worked closely with Combs’ Bad Boy Entertainment roster knew there was “no safety” after a certain time at the music mogul’s infamous parties.

“My spidey senses were always on high alert,” Dr. LaJoyce Brookshire recalled. “And I know that there’s no safety after a certain hour when you’ve got drinks flowing and people behind your back doing drugs in bathrooms, two or three people walking out of a bathroom together. There’s no safety in that. So, could there potentially be? Absolutely. Did I see it? No. I never stayed at the party late enough to see.

“Did I sense that there could be trouble? There could be trouble riding on the subway,” she added. “Yes, I sensed it. Yes.”

Brookshire has handled publicity for A-list celebs, including Aretha Franklin, Notorious B.I.G., Toni Braxton and others.

TOP 5 DIDDY INDICTMENT BOMBSHELLS: WHAT EXPERTS PREDICT FOR FUTURE OF FALLEN MUSIC MOGUL

Diddy’s lawyer attempts to explain 1,000 bottles of baby oil found at musician’s compound

The feds seized “cases and cases of the kinds of personal lubricant and baby oil that Combs’ staff allegedly used to stock hotel rooms for the freak offs, more than 1,000 bottles altogether,” Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said at a press conference.

However, Combs’ attorney insisted the musician just buys in bulk when faced with the assumption the baby oil was used as a “lubricant for an orgy.”

“I guess. I don’t know what you need a thousand for. One bottle of baby oil goes a long way. I don’t know what you’d need a thousand for,” Agnifilo said. “I mean, he has a big house. He buys in bulk. You know, I think they have Costcos in every place where he has a home. I mean, have you sat in a parking lot of a Costco and see what people walk out of there with?

“I don’t think it was a thousand. I think it was — let’s just say it was a lot. OK?”

In response to Agnifilo’s claim, Costco told TMZ in a statement it does not sell baby oil in any of its United States locations.

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The music industry heard rumblings of Diddy’s alleged sexual inclinations for years

Combs was allegedly known as a “highly sexual individual” for years within the music industry.

“It was always sort of known that if you went to a party at Puff’s house and were you to stay past certain hours that you might be introduced to some sort of massive orgy,” Adam Grandmaison, host of the “No Jumper” podcast, claimed in the documentary. “It was just a lot of whispers about what it might have consisted of.

“Certainly, I don’t think that it was common knowledge that there was so much nonconsensual stuff going on or any of the seedier allegations, but it was definitely discussed years ago that Diddy was a highly sexual individual and that he certainly was a fan of drugs in general,” Grandmaison, who’s been interviewing rappers and hip-hop artists for years, added.

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Diddy likely wouldn’t accept a plea deal

Combs’ lawyer presumed the “I’ll Be Missing You” singer would not accept a plea deal.

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“He believes he’s innocent,” Agnifilo said. “And what’s more, he believes that he needs to stand up not just for himself — for his family and for everybody who’s been targeted by the federal government.

“He feels an obligation to those people to say, ‘You know what, maybe I can break the model. Maybe I can show the world that a Black man can win in federal court.’ And I think he probably is the only person I know of who might be able to actually accomplish that goal.”

Deion Sanders’ Colorado program deletes social media post after hurricane deaths

The University of Colorado’s football team, led by head coach Deion Sanders, will play the University of Central Florida Saturday in Orange County, Florida. Hurricane Helene has wreaked havoc in recent days across multiple states, including Florida, with a death toll near 40 and an expected $15 billion to $26 billion in property damage.

Despite this destruction, Colorado’s social media team posted on social media Friday a computer-designed graphic showing safety Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig standing on a Florida beach with water up to his knees. 

The post said “24 hours,” an apparent reference to the countdown to the game Saturday. The post was later deleted from Colorado’s social media account. The image also had a sign in the background that said “Beware of Sharks,” an apparent reference to Silmon-Craig’s nickname, “Shark.” 

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Colorado football program for comment but had not received a response before the time of publication. 

Flooding has been one of the biggest destructive forces of the hurricane, beginning along Florida’s coast well before Hurricane Helene made landfall, with rapidly rising waters reported as far south as Fort Myers on the state’s Gulf Coast. FOX Weather’s Ian Oliver said the surge quickly flooded streets around St. Pete Beach Thursday evening, with high tide several hours away.

The hurricane made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region, after intensifying into a catastrophic Category 4 hurricane with winds of 140 mph. The monster hurricane is unleashing a potentially “unsurvivable” 20-foot storm surge, catastrophic hurricane-force winds and flooding.

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The National Weather Service in Tallahassee issued a rare extreme wind warning for several counties in the Big Bend ahead of the approach of the eyewall.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) said there is a significant risk of a life-threatening storm surge along the entire west coast of the Florida Peninsula, as well as Florida’s Big Bend region because of Hurricane Helene’s massive size.

Due to the storm, Saturday’s game between Colorado and UCF was moved inland to Orlando. 

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Sanders spoke about the weather before the Baylor game, saying the team was preparing as if it was not going to rain. Sanders bickered with a reporter who asked about his plans for the rain.

“I’m one of those good weathermen … 30% (chance of rain) is 70% (chance) it won’t. Let’s do drills that say, ‘It won’t rain,'” Sanders said at a press conference this week. 

The game will mark the first-ever meeting between Colorado and UCF. The Knights became a Division I program in 1996 and joined the Big 12 in 2023.

Brittney Griner takes direct aim at ‘new fans’ who crossed the line this year

Ten-time All-Star Brittney Griner says the WNBA’s “new fans” crossed the line this year.

The Phoenix Mercury star opened up about the “racial slurs” she and other players heard from “new fans” throughout the 2024 season.

“I don’t appreciate the new fans that sit there and yell racial slurs at myself, my teammates and the people that I play against because, yeah, those might be opponents but those are friends too,” Griner said Thursday night

“They don’t deserve that. So, I don’t appreciate the new fans who think it’s OK to do that.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

“But I do appreciate the new fans that respect the game, that are here to grow our league, bringing people that maybe never watched the W to a WNBA game so that we can grow our fans.”

A number of players have spoken out on hateful comments and vitriol, and the WNBA put out a statement earlier this week to acknowledge the issue.

WNBPA ISSUES SCATHING STATEMENT ACCUSING USA TODAY COLUMNIST OF INTERVIEW ‘DESIGNED TO FUEL’ RACISM

“The WNBA is a competitive league with some of the most elite athletes in the world. While we welcome a growing fan base, the WNBA will not tolerate racist, derogatory or threatening comments made about players, teams and anyone affiliated with the league,” the statement said.

Griner was in her second season back in the league after missing the 2022 campaign while being imprisoned in Russia.

Last year, Griner was involved in an incident with a social media sensation who asked her why she “hates” and “still want[s] to boycott” America.

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The WNBA playoffs began earlier this week.

Residents fume at MIA ‘Squad’ firebrand as prostitutes flood ‘red light’ district

It’s the Third World meets Bangkok.

In “Squad” member Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s district in New York City, those who are described as scantily dressed migrant prostitutes line blocks of a long commercial strip during all hours of the day and night, brazenly soliciting sex to passersby while their pimps strike fear into local business owners, one of whom told Fox News Digital he’s been threatened for speaking out and is on the verge of closing his store.

The trash-filled streets of Roosevelt Avenue in Queens, which encompasses the migrant-heavy communities of Corona, Jackson Heights and Elmhurst, has become a veritable hotbed for one of the world’s oldest professions, and residents say that most elected officials and police are turning a blind eye to the neighborhood nightmare, which looks more like the famed brothel-filled red-light district streets of Bangkok than one of America’s biggest cities.

Illegal vendors also overrun the sidewalks, plying their hustle in what residents have likened to “Third World” conditions, cooking hot food out in the open devoid of any health certifications or inspections as hungry birds swoop down in search of leftovers and leaving their droppings along the way. 

AOC DISTRICT NEIGHBORHOOD LABELED ‘THIRD WORLD’ AS MIGRANTS CLOG STREETS AND PROSTITUTES OVERRUN EVERY BLOCK

Known to locals as the “Avenue of the Sweethearts,” this epicenter of vice is not some desolate area on the outskirts of a city but rather the heart of the borough of Queens underneath the area’s main subway track that serves as a vital cog connecting Manhattan and its local schools to families, many of whom stream down the subway steps and are then inescapably met by armies of prowling solicitors. 

Fox News Digital even recorded a man pushing his young son in a stroller past a group of five sex workers.

Residents say that students pass prostitutes every day on their way to school or on their way to local taekwondo centers situated along the busy strip and that the situation has become the norm for their youthful eyes with the alleged sex workers, mostly composed of Asian and Hispanic women, filling the sidewalks. 

On Sept. 18, the NYPD raided a brothel just off Roosevelt Avenue and arrested three people. The following evening, Fox News Digital was conducting an interview in front of the raided premises when an alleged sex worker and her reported john casually walked out of the same building. 

On one block along Roosevelt Avenue, Fox News Digital cameras recorded a line of no less than 19 alleged sex workers on the sidewalk. Around the corner, there were at least seven more, and a woman on the next block was witnessed soliciting sex for $60.

Nearby, vendors sell everything from used clothes to pots and pans or tools. More recently, female vendors have begun cutting hair and painting nails under canopies on the cluttered sidewalks, with all of these illegal vendors operating feet from legitimate brick-and-mortar stores whose owners rage they are being undercut in prices while also having to pay taxes, unlike the illegal vendors.

Shoplifting and pick-pocketing is also widespread, business owners say, and there’s a sense here that lawlessness is breeding more lawlessness.

VIDEO: Curtis Sliwa, local activist, blast rampant prostitution on NYC streets, AOC’s district

NYPD SWEEPS VENDORS OVERRUNNING AOC’S DISTRICT — BUT SELLERS SWARM THE STREETS AGAIN, SELLING GOODS

On Sept. 19, the day after the raid, Fox News Digital witnessed a man being arrested for allegedly groping a 17-year-old girl as she walked down the subway steps. 

In police handcuffs, he denied the accusations to onlookers. The girl, who was being comforted by adults, looked visibly shaken.

Ramses Frías, a local resident turned activist, is furious with the deterioration of his neighborhood and says “it feels like Bangkok with women outside locations and pulling men off the street.”

“This area has been run rampant with prostitution,” he told Fox News Digital outside the raided brothel. “It’s just been out of control and the lawlessness continues to happen.” 

“This doesn’t feel like my home. I’ve been here my whole life, and this feels like I’m a tourist in a Third World country. This is not how this is supposed to look, this is not how it’s supposed to feel,” he insisted. “This is a neighborhood and a community full of hardworking individuals, immigrants and second-generation Americans that worked really hard to be here and are facing all this evil and all these bad things. … And it’s just causing more issues daily and our quality of life just continues to drop.”

Seconds later, an alleged sex worker and her client emerged from the brothel.

A neighboring business owner then ushered Fox News Digital into his store, warning that “pimps” were watching via CCTV. The store owner did not want to be named but said he had reported the cathouse to police and had been threatened by those involved with the brothel. 

“I’m so scared, this is my business,” he said, adding that his business is suffering because customers are avoiding the area and will likely have to close because of it. 

Curtis Sliwa, the founder of the Guardian Angels and a Republican candidate for mayor, says prostitution has exploded in the neighborhood after the pimps and sex workers were driven out of the nearby area of Flushing, well known for its Asian population. 

“It was never like this. It was a family area with a lot of retail,” Sliwa told Fox News Digital of Roosevelt Avenue. “The Chinese community pushed it out [of Flushing] and Asian cops were getting busted because they were on the take, so they just decided, the madams, bring the girls over here … and its open prostitution, 24/7. [It’s] lawless. Anarchy. You get to do what you want when you want.”

Two NYPD officers were busted in 2006 on bribery charges relating to the protection of a brothel in Flushing, and there are similar cases stretching back further. 

Sliwa says the police and New York City Mayor Eric Adams are not doing enough to clamp down on the racket. In January, the NYPD raided six establishments allegedly engaged in prostitution, which were issued closing orders. The raid was well publicized, with Adams and local Democrat City Council member Francisco Moya present. However, it appears to have done little to curb the problem. 

Sliwa slammed it as a “show raid” and said there were no arrests. 

“They didn’t arrest the johns, prostitutes, madams; they never went after the landlords, and they were back in business the next day,” said Sliwa, who joined Fox News Digital and Frías on a walking tour of the area. 

The Queens District Attorney’s Office confirmed that no arrests were made, saying it was strictly carried out to serve court closure orders of nuisance abatement over which the NYPD has jurisdiction. 

“This would never be tolerated in Manhattan. They tolerate it because it’s … a poor and impoverished area in the eyes of many New Yorkers, but that doesn’t give you a reason to allow this to exist,” Sliwa said. “This is so unfair … and the mayor is allowing a culture of corruption to exist. These police officers are on the takeIt’s the only way they could operate openly. They’ll say, ‘We deny that.’ Well, that’s what happened in Flushing and that’s why they pushed it over here.”

Adams’ office did not respond to a request for comment. The NYPD confirmed the three arrests after the Sept. 18 raid but did not respond to a request for further comment.

No police officers have been charged for being involved in prostitution in recent years. In 2018, seven NYPD officers — three sergeants, two detectives and two officers — were indicted in connection with an illegal prostitution and gambling ring in Brooklyn and Queens, which encompassed Roosevelt Avenue.

Separately, NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell told Fox News that it suspects members of the brutal Tren de Aragua are linked to prostitution in the area, trafficking women into the industry to pay off the debts the gang is owed for smuggling them into the country. 

Meanwhile, the Queens District Attorney’s Office says it is working hard to stamp out prostitution and crime in the area, noting the office has “evicted 13 prostitution locations this year being used for illegal activity on or near Roosevelt Avenue.” The office says it’s in the process of permanently shutting down the raided brothel.

Of Ocasio-Cortez, Frías said the socialist lawmaker has not been seen in the neighborhood since she took part in a rally there in August 2023, where she condemned a city crackdown on illegally operating vendors and called for the city to issue more permits to those vendors. 

“She does not visit this area; this is actually an area where she campaigned the hardest and a lot of people went out [to vote] for her, and she doesn’t come over here. She has totally neglected us,” Frías said, noting that other local elected officials are rarely seen in the area, which is only represented by Democrats.

“So, we’re totally neglected, we’re here to fend for ourselves and this is what we have to do now. We’re going to organize. We’re going to have a rally coming up on Sept. 29, and we’re going to let our voices be heard and make sure that the city understands that they need to come over here and do their job,” he adds. 

VIDEO: Illegal vendors selling food and clothes clog up streets of AOC’s district: city council candidate

Ocasio-Cortez’s office did not respond to repeated requests for comment on this story or on a March story in which Fox News Digital brought attention to the neighborhood’s plight, featuring the additional publication of a now-viral video provided by Frías showing an almost endless stream of vendors with piles of clothes stacked along the streets.

Police swept the area days later and Frías – a former Democrat who is running for City Council as a Republican next year – said vendors have simply set up shop there again. 

Rep. Grace Meng, whose district also encompasses Roosevelt Avenue, said in a one-line statement, “Quality of life and safety issues need to always be addressed, and I remain in contact with the 110th precinct, Councilman Moya, our local community board and other local elected officials.”

‘SHARK TANK’S’ KEVIN O’LEARY SHREDS AOC OVER HER DISTRICT LOOKING LIKE A ‘THIRD WORLD COUNTRY’

Frías also took aim at state Sen. Jessica Ramos, a Democrat who represents the area and is running for mayor. She has previously labeled prostitution on the strip as “survival work” and in 2019 co-sponsored a series of bills that would have decriminalized sex work and vacated the records of people arrested or charged with prostitution or related offenses.

Ramos told Fox News Digital she was happy to see the recent raid take place and pitted blame on the mayor for the unsavory situation, saying Adams’ office has been sidetracked by scandals rather than addressing the concerns of the community. 

“No one wants to see people selling sex, especially when they’re being coerced by traffickers. It’s unclear what took so long,” Ramos said in a statement. 

“The underground economy has spiraled out of control,” she added, referencing the illegal vendors. “Without work permits from the ‘feds,’ migrants need honest work to provide for themselves. The fact is the migrants are here, and they want to work.”

Meanwhile, Moya, who attended the January raid and has rallied alongside so-called “clean streets” advocates like Frías, said that his fellow Democrats are impeding efforts to shut down the brothels and illegal vendors. 

“I’ve lived my entire life in this district, and I’ve never seen it this bad,” Moya said of the prostitution. “After COVID, the situation has worsened significantly. The influx of migrants plays a part in this issue, as many have no other means of survival. The federal government has turned a blind eye to the situation and there’s only so much the city can do, since we don’t have the authority to grant work permits or legal status to those in need.”

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Moya said other elected officials have been calling up city agencies demanding that all enforcement stop.

“Some elected officials don’t see this as a problem, suggesting that ‘work is work’ and we should let it be. I believe that if a state representative wants to legalize prostitution, it should be done with strict rules and regulations, in designated areas like the city of Amsterdam – not in our community, especially near schools where children pass by and witness these activities daily,” he insisted. 

“I’m doing everything in my power to mitigate this issue, as you can see many have been investigated and shutdown – but what I have been doing is being undermined by these leaders who don’t recognize the urgent need for change. Yet, I assure you, I will not stop until significant change is made.”