State’s high court drops hammer against defiant Wisconsin judge
The Wisconsin Supreme Court issued an administrative order on Tuesday calling for Milwaukee Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan to be “temporarily relieved of her official duties.”
Dugan was arrested and charged with obstruction of an official proceeding on Friday after evidence came to light that she had shielded an illegal immigrant from federal agents, according to a criminal complaint. She was also charged with concealing an individual to prevent discovery and arrest.
The order on Tuesday reads that Dugan “is temporarily prohibited from exercising the powers of a circuit court judge in the State of Wisconsin.”
WISCONSIN JUDGE THREATENS COURTROOM BOYCOTT OVER HANNAH DUGAN ARREST
The state Supreme Court said the order will remain in effect “until further order of the court.”
The Wisconsin Court System confirmed with Fox News on Tuesday afternoon that Dugan will not return to the bench this week, adding that her caseload will be covered by other judges.
Dugan is expected back in federal court on May 15 to face federal charges of felony obstruction of a federal agency and concealing a person to help them avoid arrest, which is a misdemeanor.
The FBI arrested Dugan on Friday for allegedly hiding a previously deported illegal immigrant in her jury room to stop him from being arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
Federal agents from ICE, FBI, CBP and DEA attempted to arrest Mexican national Eduardo Flores-Ruiz after his scheduled criminal court appearance before Dugan on April 18 to face three misdemeanor battery charges for allegedly beating up two people.
Dugan demanded that the officers proceed to the chief judge’s office and, after his hearing ended, escorted Flores-Ruiz and his attorney out a restricted jury door, bypassing the public area where agents were waiting in order to help him avoid arrest, per the complaint.
Dugan appeared in federal court in Milwaukee on Friday and made no public comments during the brief hearing, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Her attorney, Craig Mastantuono, told the court, “Judge Dugan wholeheartedly regrets and protests her arrest. It was not made in the interest of public safety.”
Dugan disputed the accuracy of local reports that claimed she had shielded the illegal immigrant from ICE.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that Dugan had responded to the accusations in its publication last Tuesday, writing, “Nearly every fact regarding the ‘tips’ in your email is inaccurate.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi blasted Dugan’s actions on Fox’s “America Reports.”
“We could not believe that a judge really did that,” Bondi said. “You cannot obstruct a criminal case. And really, shame on her. It was a domestic violence case of all cases, and she’s protecting a criminal defendant over victims of crime.”
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Bondi said Flores-Ruiz beat up two people, “a guy and a girl.”
“[He] beat the guy, hit the guy 30 times, knocked him to the ground, choked him, beat up a woman so badly; they both had to go to the hospital,” she said.
Trump admin removes former second gentleman Doug Emhoff from special post
Former Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff lashed out at the Trump administration, accusing it of politicizing the Holocaust and dishonoring the memory of six million murdered Jews after he was removed from the United States Holocaust Memorial Council.
The Holocaust Memorial Council oversees the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. Most of the members of the council are appointed by the president and serve five-year terms.
Emhoff, who is Jewish and is married to former Vice President Kamala Harris, was appointed to the council by former President Joe Biden.
Along with Emhoff, the Trump administration also removed several other council members appointed by Biden, according to The Hill.
After receiving news of his dismissal from the council, Emhoff took to social media to slam the administration, saying it was turning “one of the worst atrocities in history into a wedge issue.”
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“Today, I was informed of my removal from the United States Holocaust Memorial Council,” he said. “Let me be clear: Holocaust remembrance and education should never be politicized. To turn one of the worst atrocities in history into a wedge issue is dangerous – and it dishonors the memory of six million Jews murdered by Nazis that this museum was created to preserve.”
Emhoff said that despite his removal, he would continue to speak out against hate “in all its forms.”
“No divisive political decision will ever shake my commitment to Holocaust remembrance and education or combatting hate and antisemitism,” he said, adding: “I will continue to speak out, to educate, and to fight hate in all its forms – because silence is never an option.”
Emhoff has previously been criticized for getting basic facts wrong about the Jewish religion, such as the origin of one of its most significant feasts, Hanukkah. Meanwhile, both his wife and Biden took heavy criticism for not being more supportive of Israel and its war against Hamas after the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks.
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Emhoff has also accused President Donald Trump of being a “threat” to Jews. At a speech in Pittsburgh during the 2024 presidential campaign, Emhoff said: “Whenever chaos and cruelty are given a green light, Jew-hatred is historically not far behind.” He added, “That matters today because Donald Trump is nothing if not an agent of chaos and cruelty.”
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In his first 100 days in office, however, Trump has made combating antisemitism, especially on college campuses, a major focus.
Among other actions, the Trump Department of Homeland Security has arrested Hamas sympathizers on college campuses who they say pose a threat to national security. The administration has also moved to pull funding from universities, including Harvard, unless they reform their governing processes and change their international admissions processes to avoid admitting students who are “hostile” to American values or support terrorism or antisemitism.
In response to a request for comment by Fox News Digital, a spokesperson for the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum said: “At this time of high antisemitism and Holocaust distortion and denial, the Museum is gratified that our visitation is robust and demand for Holocaust education is increasing.”
The representative added, “We look forward to continuing to advance our vitally important mission as we work with the Trump Administration.”
AOC leaves more questions than answers after being confronted about viral video
EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., did not rule out 2028 presidential aspirations when asked by Fox News Digital about the viral video that had pundits guessing if she was soft-launching her campaign.
“I think what people should be most concerned about is the fact that Republicans are trying to cut Medicaid right now, and people’s healthcare is in danger. That’s really what my central focus is,” the New York Democrat said when asked if she was considering a run for president, despite President Donald Trump’s assurances that he wouldn’t cut Medicaid.
“This moment isn’t about campaigns, or elections, or about politics. It’s about making sure people are protected, and we’ve got people that are getting locked up for exercising their First Amendment rights. We’re getting 2-year-olds that are getting deported into cells in Honduras. We’re getting people that are about to get kicked off of Medicaid. That, to me, is most important,” Ocasio-Cortez said on Capitol Hill on Trump’s 100th day in office.
Ocasio-Cortez has crisscrossed the United States with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., on the “Fighting Oligarchy” tour, and Americans have been speculating about whether the New York Democrat is launching a shadow campaign for president.
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Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign account posted a video on X last week that invigorated those rumors as the four-term Democrat from New York City and a progressive leader proclaimed, “We are one.”
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“I’m a girl from the Bronx,” Ocasio-Cortez said on a campaign-style stage in Idaho. “To be welcomed here in this state, all of us together, seeing our common cause, this is what this country is all about.”
FiveThirtyEight founder and prominent pollster Nate Silver signaled earlier this month that Ocasio-Cortez is the leading Democrat to pick up the party’s presidential nomination in 2028. In a draft 2028 pick with FiveThirtyEight’s Galen Druke, Silver chose Ocasio-Cortez as his top choice to lead the Democratic Party’s presidential ticket.
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“I think there’s a lot of points in her favor at this very moment,” Druke said, adding, “Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has broad appeal across the Democratic Party.”
Americans have been reposting Ocasio-Cortez’s video across X, pointing to the video as proof of her 2028 presidential ambitions. “Get ready America. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will almost undoubtedly run for president in 2028,” political reporter Eric Daugherty said in response to the video.
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As rumors swirl over Ocasio-Cortez’s ambition for higher office, back at home in New York, a Siena College poll found Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s favorability is down, at 39% among New York state voters questioned in the poll, which was conducted April 14-16. Meanwhile, Ocasio-Cortez’s favorability soared to 47%.
The longtime senator from New York faced pushback from the Democratic Party in March for supporting the Republican budget bill backed by Trump that averted a government shutdown and stirred up outrage among congressional Democrats who planned to boycott the bill.
That growing disapproval among Democrats was reflected in the poll, and the shifting perception comes as DNC vice chair David Hogg, through his political arm, Leaders We Deserve, faced blowback from the DNC this week for investing $20 million into electing younger Democrats to safe House Democrat seats.
Ocasio-Cortez raked in a massive $9.6 million over the past three months. The record-breaking fundraising haul was one of the biggest ever for any House lawmaker. Ocasio-Cortez’s team highlighted that the fundraising came from 266,000 individual donors, with an average contribution of just $21.
“I cannot convey enough how grateful I am to the millions of people supporting us with your time, resources, & energy. Your support has allowed us to rally people together at record scale to organize their communities,” Ocasio-Cortez emphasized in a social media post.
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Democratic strategist Joe Caiazzo, a veteran of Sanders’ 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns, said that Ocasio-Cortez appears to be one of a small group of politicians in his party who “are test ballooning a potential 2028 run for the presidency” as Democrats search “for a path out of the wilderness.”
“We’re not really sure who or what it will be, but one of the pathways there is to drill down on economic populism. There are many people that occupy that lane and she is one of them. And there’s clearly energy behind what her and Bernie Sanders did criss-crossing the country.”
Colin Reed, a Republican strategist, said Ocasio-Cortez “shouldn’t be discounted” by Democrats “who are standing in her way” of running for whichever office she decides to seek — whether as a U.S. senator or president of the United States.
While Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders garnered plenty of national attention as they jetsetted across the country, Reed said their passion and energy might invigorate the progressive portion of the Democratic Party, but “her ideas are way too outside the mainstream to ever be electable at a nationwide level.”
“Ultimately, in a Democratic base there’s always going to be a percentage of voters who are drawn to that message. The issue they run to is it’s just not the majority of Americans. The majority of Americans don’t want to transform our country into some sort of ‘European-style government rules all’ vision. That’s why America was founded in the first place — to get away from oppression, from an overbearing, overreaching government,” Reed said.
As Democrats struggle to land on a consistent message and search for a clear party leader following Republicans’ November wins, there is an opportunity within the party to dominate the national Democratic narrative, Reed explained.
“Chaos loves a vacuum, and right now, there is a vacuum in leadership in the Democratic Party, and thus chaos is ruling the roost,” Reed said.
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“As long as those two are out there, they’re going to get attention because nobody else is doing anything. The house of cards will come crumbling down, especially when you’ve got two folks out there, Sen. Sanders and Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez, holding themselves out as climate warriors as they jet around the country on private jets spewing untold carbon emissions into the air. That hypocrisy is one that’s tough for a lot of folks’ stomachs,” Reed added.
Federal judge rules on whether accused Hamas sympathizer can sue US
A New Jersey federal judge ruled that anti-Israel ringleader, Mahoud Khalil, can sue the U.S. government as the Trump administration seeks to deport him.
The ruling by the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey came after a Louisiana judge ruled that the U.S. government could deport the Ivy League graduate.
Khalil has separate court cases playing out in two states – the Louisiana case is focused on his deportation order and the New Jersey case is focused on his habeas petition challenging the legality of his detention.
Federal authorities attempted to dismiss Khalil’s case, arguing that provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act stripped the court of jurisdiction to review his constitutional claims at this stage.
Judge Claire C. Cecchi disagreed on Tuesday, ruling that Khalil’s lawsuit must be heard.
COLUMBIA ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTER MAHMOUD KHALIL CAN BE DEPORTED, JUDGE RULES
Khalil, who was approved for deportation by a U.S. immigration judge, has argued that his free speech rights were being “eroded” by the Trump administration.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) attorneys have argued that Khalil’s free speech claims were a “red herring,” saying that the 30-year-old green card holder lied on his visa applications.
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Khalil, they said, willfully failed to disclose his employment with the Syrian office in the British Embassy in Beirut when he applied for permanent U.S. residency.
Federal officials alleged that Khalil was “inadmissible at the time of his adjustment” because of “fraud or willful misrepresentation of material fact” in his status application.
The agency also accused Khalil of failing to disclose his work with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees and membership in Columbia University Apartheid Divest.
He was accused of being a ringleader of pro-Palestinian protests at the university. The DHS has also alleged that he “led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization,” though Khalil has denied the allegations.
Following the ruling, Khalil’s immigration attorney, Sabrine Mohamah, called the decision “unjust as it is alarming.”
“This is a blatant violation of the First Amendment and a dangerous precedent for anyone who believes in free speech and political expression,” she said.
“Mahmoud is currently imprisoned in Louisiana, a state that detains over 7,000 people daily and serves as the second-largest hub for immigration detention in the U.S. Louisiana’s nine detention centers, eight of which are privately operated, include the only ICE facility in the country directly connected to an airport, thus streamlining mass deportations across the state.”
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DHS Secretary Kristi Noem also weighed in on the ruling, saying that the Columbia University graduate “hates America.”
“It is a privilege to be granted a visa or green card to live and study in the United States of America. When you advocate for violence, glorify and support terrorists that relish the killing of Americans, and harass Jews, that privilege should be revoked, and you should not be in this country,” she said. “Good riddance.”
A judge in Louisiana has stated that he would be deported to either Syria or Algeria.
Khalil has Algerian citizenship through his mother, but was born in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria.
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Khalil and Abdalla, a U.S. citizen, met in 2016 while volunteering in Lebanon. They married in 2023 and she was eight months pregnant at the time of his arrest.
Dozens of Carnival Cruise Line passengers have been placed on the popular cruise line’s “do not sail list” and are banned from setting sail on any of the company’s vessels again after getting involved in a violent brawl in Galveston, Texas, where their ship was docked.
The violence was captured on video, which was later posted to social media. In the clip, several cruise passengers push through a crowd in the terminal before someone gets pushed to the ground and begins to get pummeled by at least two men.
The brawl then expanded to additional areas of the disembarkation zone. While the majority of the violence was not visible in the clip, several people were seen pushing another person to the ground before throwing punches and kicking the victim.
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At one point, a security officer is seen jogging to break up the brawl. Additional officers joined the security officer, though the brawl continued.
While adults continued to fight, children were seen on video standing alone and watching from a distance. Luggage was also strewn throughout the area.
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Carnival told Fox News Digital the incident occurred in the disembarkation area, which is under the authority of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
“The matter was turned over to law enforcement,” Carnival said. “We will not tolerate such behavior, and 24 people have been placed on our Do Not Sail list.”
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Fox News Digital has reached out to CBP for comment on the matter.
The New York Post reported that the passengers were disembarking from the ship Carnival Jubilee.
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According to CruiseMapper.com, the ship had just returned from a seven-day cruise to the western Caribbean, stopping in places like Cozumel, Mexico; Costa Maya, Mexico; and Roatán, Honduras.
Rock star canceled by the Left stuns White House with free speech question
Former Mumford & Sons musician and podcast host Winston Marshall asked the White House on Monday if President Donald Trump would give “political asylum” to UK citizens punished for their speech.
The British rock star-turned-political commentator appeared at Monday’s press briefing where he addressed concerns about free speech being under threat in his home country and asked if the U.S. would consider granting asylum to Brits who faced prosecution for posting “hate speech” online.
“In Britain, we have had a quarter of a million people issued non-crime hate incidents. As we speak, there are people in prison for quite literally posting memes,” Marshall told White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
“We have extensive prison sentences for tweets, social media posts and general free speech issues. Would the Trump administration consider political asylum for British citizens in such a situation?” he asked.
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Leavitt chuckled before complimenting Marshall for broaching the topic.
“It’s a very good one. I have not heard that proposed to the president nor have I spoken to him about that idea, but I certainly can and talk to our national security team and see if it’s something the administration would entertain,” she began.
Leavitt relayed that Vice President JD Vance had been “incredibly outspoken” about free speech concerns in the UK.
“The president has spoken about this as well, directly with your prime minister when he was here for a visit to the White House,” Leavitt told Marshall. “So it remains a critical endeavor of ours, to show the Brits, and your country, which we love and admire, about the First Amendment and the importance of free speech in a sovereign nation.”
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In a speech to European leaders in February, Vance warned that Europe appeared to be retreating from some of its fundamental values it shares with the U.S. and returning to “Soviet-era” censorship.
Marshall, a co-founder and former lead guitarist for the folk rock band Mumford & Sons, has become an outspoken advocate for free speech after being “canceled” in 2021 for expressing his political opinion.
He left the band that year after causing an uproar by sending a tweet in support of conservative journalist Andy Ngo’s book, “Unmasked,” about the left-wing anti-fascist movement known as Antifa.
In a November 2022 interview with Fox News Digital, Marshall said he had “no regrets” about leaving the band and now feels “liberated” to speak out on controversial issues.
From 2022-2023, Marshall hosted the podcast “Marshall Matters” with The Spectator. He currently hosts the podcast, “The Winston Marshall Show,” where he interviews “leading writers, authors, artists, journalists, musicians, scientists, entrepreneurs and heterodox voices across the world.”
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George Clooney’s wife could reportedly be barred from entering the US
George Clooney’s wife of 11 years could find herself barred from entering the United States because of her work with the International Criminal Court, according to a report.
Amal Clooney, a British human rights lawyer, has given legal advice to the court in a war crimes case against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over the war in Gaza, according to the Financial Times.
George Clooney is an American citizen, and the couple, who share two young children, have properties in the United States.
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They mainly live in France, but have temporarily relocated to New York City while the “Ocean’s 11” actor stars on Broadway in “Good Night, and Good Luck” about Edward R. Murrow.
“They love being here,” Clooney recently told Stephen Colbert of his family. “I mean, come on, how do you not love this? It’s New York City.”
He added, “Actually, a play is kind of a good schedule because you’re working at night. You get to see the kids during the day. So, it’s OK,” Clooney added.
They also have homes in London and Lake Como, Italy.
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The U.K. Foreign Office recently warned lawyers, including Amal Clooney, giving legal advice to the International Criminal Court that they could face sanctions due to a February executive order President Donald Trump signed that claims the court “engaged in illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel. The ICC has, without a legitimate basis, asserted jurisdiction over and opened preliminary investigations concerning personnel of the United States and certain of its allies, including Israel, and has further abused its power by issuing baseless arrest warrants targeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant,” per the Financial Times.
The executive order goes on to say, “The United States will impose tangible and significant consequences on those responsible for the ICC’s transgressions, some of which may include the blocking of property and assets, as well as the suspension of entry into the United States of ICC officials, employees, and agents, as well as their immediate family members.”
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ICC prosecutor Karim Khan, who is British, was named in the executive order as facing U.S. sanctions.
Amal Clooney practices law both in England and the United States. The 47-year-old was born in Lebanon and raised in Britain.
Last year, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant over their retaliation against Hamas in Gaza that has left tens of thousands dead following Hamas’ unprovoked Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. The court also charged three Hamas leaders who have since died.
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Fox News Digital has reached out to reps for Clooney and the U.K. Foreign Office for comment.
Shedeur Sanders turns heads with staggering amount of cash in suitcase at celebration
Shedeur Sanders may not have been drafted as high as he expected in the NFL Draft last weekend, but that didn’t stop him from partying after getting picked.
Sanders, 23, was selected in the fifth round of the draft by the Cleveland Browns after an unexpected and historic slide.
Sanders threw a party at Hyde & Seek in Dallas after finally being drafted, according to Page Six.
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Sanders was pictured holding a Louis Vuitton case full of money while partying, and Sanders’ brother, Deion Jr., revealed how much money was in the case.
“Let’s tell the correct story now… It was actually a gift that he received… and it was a million (dollars),” Deion Jr. posted to X.
Deion Jr. did not say in his post who gave Shedeur the $1 million.
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Sanders reportedly partied until after 2 a.m. with guests, including his sister Deiondra, brother Deion Jr. and musicians Kodak Black, Yung Miami and TrapBoyFreddy. Sanders wore a Browns hat while he enjoyed the night.
Shedeur is one of five quarterbacks the Browns have on their roster. However, they have no clear starting quarterback. Deshaun Watson ruptured an Achilles tendon for a second time in January after he underwent surgery on that same tendon in October 2024, and his status for the upcoming season is in doubt.
The Browns acquired Kenny Pickett in a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles and signed Joe Flacco to a one-year contract before the NFL Draft.
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Sanders was the second quarterback the Browns took in the NFL Draft after selecting former Oregon star Dillon Gabriel in the third round.
With the additions of Gabriel and Sanders to an already packed quarterback room, it remains to be seen who will get the Week 1 nod.
But Sanders wasn’t worried about his playing time Saturday night as he celebrated making it to the NFL with a whole lot of money.
Ominous letter written by Titanic passenger sells for large sum at auction
A “prophetic” letter written aboard the ill-fated RMS Titanic ocean liner has been auctioned in England for a stunning sum.
The letter was sold by Wiltshire-based Henry Aldridge & Son Ltd. on April 26. It was written by Archibald Gracie IV on April 10, 1912 – just five days before the ship sank on April 15.
Gracie penned the note on April 10, when the ship left Southampton, England. The letter was postmarked in London two days later, on April 12.
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“It is a fine ship but I shall await my journey’s end before I pass judgment on her,” Gracie wrote compellingly in the letter.
“The Oceanic is like an old friend and while she does not possess the elaborate style and varied amusement of this big ship, still her seaworthy qualities and yacht-like appearance make me miss her,” he added.
As noted by Henry Aldridge & Son Ltd, Gracie woke up suddenly before midnight on April 14 when the Titanic hit an iceberg.
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“He later wrote that more than half the men who had originally reached the lifeboat either died from exhaustion or cold, quietly slipping off the keel during the night,” the auction house said.
“As dawn broke, Col Gracie returned to New York City aboard the rescue ship Carpathia, where he began writing about what he had been through.”
Though Gracie survived the shipwreck, his health was severely impacted by the disaster.
He suffered from hypothermia and various physical injuries on the day of the sinking.
In Dec. 1912, he fell into a coma before dying of complications from diabetes.
Originally predicted to fetch the equivalent of $80,000, the 103-year-old piece of paper was sold for an eye-popping 300,000 pounds, or $399,000.
Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge called the letter “one of the finest of its type known.”
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“Not only is it written by one of the most important first-class passengers on Titanic, [but] the letter itself contains the most prophetic line: ‘It is a fine ship but I shall await my journey’s end before I pass judgment on her,'” Aldridge said.
“Five days later, Titanic was at the bottom of the North Atlantic.”
The auction is proof of the public’s enduring fascination with the Titanic over 110 years after the tragic shipwreck.
In November, a similar postcard from a Titanic victim at another Henry Aldridge & Son Ltd. auction sold for $25,000.
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At the same auction, a Tiffany and Co. timepiece given to a Titanic rescuer went for just under $2 million, 10 times more than the original guided price.