Trump orders massive rebuild of notorious prison to house America’s most ruthless
President Donald Trump is calling for the notorious prison and now historical landmark, Alcatraz, in San Francisco, California, to be rebuilt larger and reopened to house the country’s most ruthless and violent criminals.
Trump made the announcement in a Truth Social post on Sunday evening.
“REBUILD, AND OPEN ALCATRAZ!” the president said. “For too long, America has been plagued by vicious, violent, and repeat Criminal Offenders, the dregs of society, who will never contribute anything other than Misery and Suffering.
“When we were a more serious Nation, in times past, we did not hesitate to lock up the most dangerous criminals, and keep them far away from anyone they could harm,” Trump continued, adding that it’s supposed to be this way. “No longer will we tolerate these Serial Offenders who spread filth, bloodshed, and mayhem on our streets.”
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY, AUGUST 11, 1934, AMERICA’S MOST NOTORIOUS PRISONERS ARRIVE AT ALCATRAZ
Trump said he is directing the Bureau of Prisons, Department of Justice, FBI and Department of Homeland Security to reopen a “substantially enlarged and rebuilt” Alcatraz, “to house America’s most ruthless and violent offenders.”
“We will no longer be held hostage to criminals, thugs, and Judges that are afraid to do their job and allow us to remove criminals, who came into our Country illegally,” he said in the post. “The reopening of ALCATRAZ will serve as a symbol of Law, Order, and JUSTICE. We will, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Alcatraz opened in 1934, but the prison, located on a 22-acre spit of rock, was shuttered after 29 years.
THE ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ: WHAT HAPPENED, BIGGEST CONSPIRACY THEORIES SURROUNDING THE INFAMOUS PRISON BREAK
Considering its 1.25-mile distance to shore, the Bay Area island was considered practically escape-proof, although there were 14 documented attempted escapes.
The most notorious one was the June 11, 1962, escape by John and Clarence Anglin and Frank Morris, which inspired “Escape from Alcatraz.”
It remains a mystery whether the three reached the shore and survived. The FBI concluded the escapees drowned due to harsh conditions.
BUILDING ALCATRAZ: AMERICA’S INESCAPABLE, ISLAND-RIDDEN PRISON
The three prisoners chiseled an escape route from their own jail cells and built makeshift, papier-mâché heads.
The final attempted escape from the prison, almost six months later, inspired what has become the swimming route of the “Escape from Alcatraz” triathlon.
Its most notorious inmates included gangsters James “Whitey” Bulger, Al Capone and George “Machine Gun” Kelly, plus infamous “Birdman of Alcatraz” Robert Stroud and “Public Enemy No. 1” Alvin Karpis.
Alcatraz ultimately closed in 1963 after its island operations proved far more costly than mainland-based prisons.
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Alcatraz Island today is a popular San Francisco tourist attraction operated by the National Park Service.
Dems’ war on deportations hits snag as damning revelations about Abrego Garcia mount
Democrats rallying around illegal immigrant KIlmar Abrego Garcia are facing a narrative reckoning as allegations of violent and criminal behavior mount against the man they made a poster child in the fight against President Trump’s mass deportations.
In recent weeks, evidence has emerged that Abrego Garcia beat his wife and was caught trafficking migrants during his time living illegally in Maryland. He has since been deported to El Salvador, where several Democrats, including Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, have rushed to meet with him and decry what they say was a lack of due process extended to him.
“The fact that they went to the mat for this guy just shows exactly who they are,” Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on “Fox & Friends Weekend” on Saturday. “That they are people who don’t put America first. They don’t care about our citizens and protecting our communities. So, I’m glad that the onion’s been peeled back and that their true motivations have been revealed, and this is just one of the cases that we’re getting off the streets.”
Van Hollen has led the surge of Democrats traveling to El Salvador since April, after Abrego Garcia was deported to the country in March and sent to its notoriously high-security prison equipped to handle violent gang members, known as CECOT. The Trump administration has repeatedly cited court and police documents showing that the El Salvadoran man was not only in the U.S. illegally, but also connected to the MS-13 gang and that his wife had sounded the alarm to police about his violence.
ABREGO GARCIA’S WIFE BEGGED JUDGE FOR PROTECTION ORDER, SAYING ‘HE SLAPPED ME’: AUDIO
Democrats and the media had characterized Abrego Garcia as a “family man” and a “Maryland man” who was wrongly deported back in March and the following weeks.
Van Hollen met last month with Abrego Garcia and advocated for his release, declaring that the deportation risks “the constitutional rights of everyone who resides in the United States of America.” Van Hollen’s trip sparked other left-wing lawmakers to also make the trip south, including Reps. Yassamin Ansari of Arizona, Maxine Dexter of Oregon, Maxwell Frost of Florida and Robert Garcia of California last month. At one point, Dexter pledged to remain in El Salvador until Abrego Garcia was brought back to the U.S.
But Democrats have gone largely silent amid a flood of newly unearthed evidence against Abrego Garcia.
‘I AM AFRAID’: ANOTHER PROTECTIVE ORDER FILING AGAINST DEPORTED ‘MARYLAND MAN’ CHAMPIONED BY DEMS SURFACES
Fox News Digital exclusively reported on Thursday that new court records show Abrego Garcia’s wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, filed a protective order against her husband in August of 2020. The order said their shared son and stepchildren needed protection from Abrego Garcia, accusing him of verbal and physical abuse against her and mental abuse against her children.
The protection form described an incident in November 2019 when Abrego Garcia allegedly grabbed Vasquez Sura “by the hair in the car,” “dragged” her “out of car and left [her] in the street.” She wrote that he also “broke” her son’s tablet, “broke doors” in the house, pushed her against a wall, broke a phone and a television and damaged the walls that spring.
TENNESSEE BODYCAM OF ‘MARYLAND MAN’ TRAFFIC STOP SHOWS TROOPERS’ HANDS TIED DESPITE SMUGGLING CLUES
Audio recordings allegedly of Vasquez Sura asking for the protection order in 2020 have also surfaced.
“On Wednesday, he hit me, like around like, three in the morning, he would just wake up and like, hit me,” Vasquez Sura told the court in the recordings, Fox Digital previously reported.
Vasquez Sura said that while she was trying to escape Abrego Garcia, she saw a neighbor walking their dog and screamed “help.” Vasquez Sura said Abrego Garcia then “grabbed me from my hair, and then he slapped me.”
Vasquez Sura asked for the petition to be rescinded, however, saying her family wanted to take part in their son’s birthday, and Abrego Garcia “also agreed to continue counseling and if not [he’s] willing to sign divorce papers.”
The 2020 protective order is the second publicly-known order filed against Abrego Garcia. Vasquez Sura filed a separate protective request against her husband in 2021, accusing him of repeatedly hitting her.
“At this point, I am afraid to be close to him. I have multiple photos/videos of how violent he can be and all the bruises he [has] left me,” she told a Prince George’s County, Maryland, court, Fox Digital previously reported.
“In November 2020, he hit me with his work boot,” she added of the alleged attacks. “In August 2020, he hit me in the eye leaving a purple eye.”
DEM SENATOR SAYS ABREGO GARCIA SITUATION ‘NOT GOING TO END WELL’ FOR TRUMP, ARGUES HE’S ‘UNDERMINING’ FREEDOM
His wife, however, has since publicly defended him and addressed the domestic violence allegations following the revelation of the first protective order request.
“After surviving domestic violence in a previous relationship, I acted out of caution following a disagreement with Kilmar by seeking a civil protective order, in case things escalated. Things did not escalate, and I decided not to follow through with the civil court process. We were able to work through the situation privately as a family, including by going to counseling,” she said in a statement last month.
The Trump administration and conservatives have come out in full force condemning Democrats for supporting an illegal immigrant accused of gang ties, human trafficking and domestic violence. Trump designated violent gangs such as MS-13 and Tre de Aragua as terrorist organizations in his second administration.
“I think it’s bizarre that you see these Democrat politicians making a pilgrimage down there … to sit there with this guy, because I never have seen those Democrat politicians meet with angel moms who’ve lost kids because of illegal alien crime,” Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said on Fox News last week.
MARYLAND GOVERNOR SAYS HE WON’T TRAVEL TO EL SALVADOR FOR ABREGO GARCIA
“This is a person that was a clear and present danger to the safety of the American people. And it is … a sad reflection on the state of our media and many of the outlets represented in this room that you obsessively try to shill for this MS-13 terrorist. Well, no coverage occurred in your papers about any of the Americans that were raped and tortured and murdered by the illegals that Biden was importing into our country,” White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller said during a White House press briefing on Thursday.
Democrats have amplified the argument that the Trump administration has thwarted Abrego Garcia’s right to due process amid the mounting evidence that the so-called “Maryland Man” was wrongfully deported.
California Sen. Alex Padilla told CNN last week that Democrats are more focused on Abrego Garcia’s due process and ensuring he receives a fair court battle, and not on the individual.
“I think our advocacy here has a little bit less to do with him individually and more the process,” Padilla said. “The lack of due process that this administration continues to act with. The laws are clear in this country, even if you are undocumented, you have the right to due process.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries allegedly called on Democrats last week to slow their visits to and comments regarding El Salvador, though his office vehemently denied he made such a request to colleagues, saying “House Democrats will never stop fighting for the release of Mr. Abrego Garcia.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Jeffries’ and Padilla’s offices for comment on Sunday regarding the ongoing condemnation from conservatives and the Trump administration over Democrats advocating on behalf of Abrego Garcia and Padilla’s comments outlining how the party is working to protect due process, but did not immediately receive replies.
DEPORTED ‘MARYLAND MAN’ CHAMPIONED BY DEMS WAS PULLED OVER DRIVING CAR BELONGING TO HUMAN SMUGGLER
While Democratic Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar told a Daily Caller reporter last week, “I think you should f— off” when asked whether she believed that more Democrats should travel to El Salvador to advocate for Abrego Garcia.
Abrego Garcia entered the U.S. illegally from his home country of El Salvador in 2011 and was issued a deportation order in 2019, Fox News Digital previously reported.
Abrego Garcia was suspected of partaking in labor/human trafficking, according to a 2022 Homeland Security Investigations report previously obtained by Fox News. The report also stated that “official law enforcement investigations” revealed that Abrego Garcia was a member of the notorious gang MS-13, which Trump has designated as a terror organization.
Abrego Garcia was pulled over by a Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper on Dec. 1, 2022, after he spotted the car speeding and not remaining in its lane, according to the Homeland Security Investigations report.
The trooper noticed eight individuals in the car with Abrego Garcia, who said he had begun driving three days prior from Houston to Temple Hills, Maryland, via St. Louis to “perform construction work,” Fox Digital previously reported. The report states that the trooper suspected the group was involved with a human trafficking incident, as there was no luggage in the vehicle.
Documents further revealed that Abrego Garcia was driving a black 2001 Chevrolet Suburban that he said belonged to his “boss.” The Suburban was identified by the Department of Homeland Security as belonging to Hernandez Reyes, who pleaded guilty to human smuggling after being caught in Mississippi in a car with passengers from Mexico, El Salvador and Honduras, Fox Digital previously reported.
DEPORTED ILLEGAL ALIEN AND SUSPECTED MS-13 GANG MEMBER TRANSFERRED FROM NOTORIOUS EL SALVADORAN MEGA-PRISON
Body camera video, obtained by Fox News Digital through a public records request last week, showed the Tennessee Highway Patrol troopers pulling over Abrego Garcia, who had eight other individuals in his car.
“How many rows have you got in here? Four seats? Four rows of seats?” a state trooper can be heard saying in the video. “Did y’all put an extra one in? Huh? Did yall put another one in no? They come like this I’ve never seen one with that many seats in it.”
Abrego Garcia’s legal team responded to the new bodycam footage in a comment to Fox Digital on Sunday, saying it did not constitute evidence of a crime.
“I have represented Kilmar Abrego Garcia for more than a month, and this bodycam video is the first time I’ve heard his voice. He has been denied the most basic protections of due process—no phone call to his lawyer, no call to his wife or child, and no opportunity to be heard,” Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, the lead attorney for the case.
“As an attorney, I see no evidence of a crime in this footage. But the point is not the traffic stop—it’s that Mr. Abrego Garcia deserves his day in court. Bring him back to the United States, return him before the same immigration judge who heard his case in 2019, and let him speak for himself,” Sandoval-Moshenberg continued.
“He’s hauling these people for money,” one state trooper said.
The Homeland Security Investigations report also notes that in October 2019, the Prince Georges County Police Gang Unit identified Abrego Garcia as a member of MS-13.
NEW AUDIO REVEALS ABREGO GARCIA’S ALLEGED ABUSE OF HIS WIFE
The deportation has been wrapped up in court proceedings since March, with a Maryland federal judge ordering the Department of Justice to “take all available steps to facilitate” his return to the U.S., which was a ruling upheld by an appeals court and the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Trump administration, however, contends that it “cannot guarantee success in sensitive international negotiations” with El Salvador to secure the release.
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“The United States does not control the sovereign nation of El Salvador, nor can it compel El Salvador to follow a federal judge’s bidding,” Solicitor General John Sauer wrote in the Trump administration’s Supreme Court petition last month, the New York Post reported.
Polls say one thing — but here’s what voters on the ground are actually saying
For the past month, since President Donald Trump announced Liberation Day with a flurry of tariffs and then paused to negotiate trade deals, the Democrats and even some Republicans have cited polls that show Americans think this policy will hurt them economically, and so surely they must be souring on Trump.
The past few days I have traveled around West Virginia, Indiana and Kentucky, and I could not find a single Trump voter who regretted their choice over tariffs. Not one.
FOX NEWS POLL: THE FIRST 100 DAYS OF PRESIDENT TRUMP’S SECOND TERM
I met Terry and his wife Cassandra, both in their late 60s, in Jeffersonville, Indiana. They live in Arizona and run a small business in which Terry flies horse trainers to events, in this case the Kentucky Derby.
“We need change, and that can hurt at first,” Terry told me. “Trump needs time to make that change.”
I pressed the couple a bit, asking if part of the deal was that it has to be a meaningful and lasting change, not just words. They both nodded emphatically.
“That’s what I voted for,” Cassandra told me.
As simple and clear as my new friends made it to me, this logical position, that might be summed up as “no pain, no gain,” seems to have left all the experts in New York City and Washington, D.C. completely baffled.
Last week, pollster Frank Luntz expressed his surprise this way: “I’ve never seen this before,” he said. “Because usually, when you’re hurt economically, that changes your perspective and your politics. Not with these people. They’re staying firm.”
Luntz is good at his job, and he’s accurate here. But it shouldn’t come as a surprise. It is a quite predictable result of just how fed up Trump’s voters are with the status quo.
Those in power or with loud voices in DC and Gotham still haven’t fully come to terms with the Trump phenomenon.
Look at it this way: The American people elected Donald Trump president of the United States. DONALD TRUMP! Twice! There is no rational way to look at that and conclude that voters wanted a steady hand to fix things on the margins but not break anything.
Trump’s supporters are not going to run to the hills because the stock market gets bouncy or Barbie dolls get a few bucks pricier, because they clearly see Trump’s upside.
Trump’s supporters are not going to run to the hills because the stock market gets bouncy or Barbie dolls get a few bucks pricier, because they clearly see Trump’s upside.
Doug and Danny are both in their fifties, Doug is Danny’s boss, and Danny runs the steel cleaning crew at the Voss Clark plant in Indiana. Chatting with them, I was talking to both management and labor, and also two good friends.
Both guys are still all in on Trump. “In a heartbeat,” Danny told me when asked if he would still vote for Trump. And it wasn’t tariffs they wanted to talk about, it was the president’s promise to end taxes on overtime.
Doug told me that this policy would “encourage [younger workers] to give up their time, away from loved ones and produce for customers that we have, that need steel, that they want that we did not produce Monday through Friday and get it done.”
I got to see some of this in action at the steel cleaning facility just down the road, and even though it was 10 p.m., the workers were cleaning their giant rolls of steel, and would be overnight.
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These guys like what they do more than anyone I’ve ever met who works in a cubicle, and they’d like it even more if their sacrifice of overtime was rewarded with a tax break.
Over half of the employees at Voss Clark make more than $100,000 a year. In southern Indiana, where the cost of living is low, that’s buy-a-house-and-raise-a-family kinda money. Don’t tell me these are jobs native-born Americans don’t want.
It may be remarkable that despite the entirety of the liberal media and even a decent chunk of the conservative media railing against tariffs, Trump’s voters still trust him on the issue. But it should not come as a surprise.
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For the first time in decades in places like Jeffersonville, the working man and woman feel they have a president who is on their side, who will put their needs before those of the stock market and the intelligentsia.
Do these working Americans know that Trump’s policies might fail? Sure, they aren’t stupid. They get the risk. But they didn’t vote to spruce up the status quo, they voted to destroy it, and that is why some economic discomfort will not scare them away from Donald Trump.
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Mysterious deaths put small towns on edge as retired FBI agent shares most likely culprit
New England authorities are not sharing “enough” information to quash speculation about a serial killer following the recent discoveries of 12 sets of human remains between March and April, according to former FBI instructor and certified police instructor Scott Duffey.
The discoveries of 12 human remains in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts between March and April, with few details from police as to how the 12 victims died, have prompted rumors of a serial killer online.
“From what I’ve seen or heard, first and foremost, not enough is being put out there, so we’ll continue to create that serial killer idea,” Duffey said of social media sleuths. “But at the same time, nothing has been said to make any type of connection [between victims]. And so that’s what leads me down to … let law enforcement continue to answer the questions that they need to answer. But nothing that I have seen would arise to a serial killer [being] responsible for any or most of these people who have been found.”
The former FBI investigator, who is originally from Norwalk, said that after looking into what information was available about the 12 deaths, he reassured his family of his belief that there is not a serial killer roaming New England.
NEW ENGLAND INVESTIGATORS NOT ‘RULING OUT ANYTHING’ AMID SERIAL KILLER FEARS: FORMER HOMICIDE DETECTIVE
“I personally don’t think there’s anybody on the loose targeting women in New England … along the waterways and pathways,” Duffey said. “But at the same time, you can disregard a serial killer out there, but don’t let your guard down. … An individual who’s looking to take advantage of a vulnerable situation will do so. … I always talk about the buddy system. If you’re going out running, if you’re going out somewhere dark, and you’re going to be outside … walking, trailing, whatever, take somebody with you, have your phone and just be aware of your surroundings.”
“I personally don’t think there’s anybody on the loose targeting women in New England … along the waterways and pathways.”
Of the 12 bodies found in the three states over the last two months, few developments have been made in the victims’ respective cases, but police are investigating each of them.
Last week, however, Connecticut police arrested a man named Donald Coffel in connection with the murder of a Groton woman, his roommate, Suzanne Wormser, who was found dismembered and stuffed into a suitcase in March. Police said a preliminary investigation revealed that he allegedly murdered her over an argument about crack cocaine.
NEW ENGLAND SERIAL KILLER FEARS: MASSACHUSETTS INVESTIGATORS IDENTIFY BODY PULLED FROM RIVER
The Connecticut State Police recently told Fox News Digital that “there is no information at this time suggesting any connection to similar remains discoveries, and there is also no known threat to the public at this time,” regarding the deaths in Connecticut.
Other remains have been located in New Haven, Norwalk, Groton, Killingly and Rocky Hill, Connecticut; Foster and Pawtucket, Rhode Island; and Framingham, Plymouth, Springfield and two bodies in Taunton, Massachusetts. Some social media sleuths say these discoveries of human remains, particularly female remains, in the three neighboring states may indicate a serial killer, but police have made no indication of that being the case.
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“It doesn’t take a lot to create a conspiracy,” Duffey said. “And when you have a vacuum of information … and then one person puts out, really, somewhat of a logical idea, and then it catches, and then people start following that idea even though there’s no evidence to back it up.”
“It doesn’t take a lot to create a conspiracy.”
The serial killer rumors, which stem from a private Facebook group with nearly 70,000 users all searching for answers surrounding these recent morbid discoveries, also led Rhode Island police on a hunt for clandestine graves along Narragansett Beach last week after an anonymous member of the group made an eerie confession that prompted the Narragansett police to investigate.
NEW ENGLAND SERIAL KILLER FEARS: 10 BODIES NOW FOUND IN LESS THAN 2 MONTHS
“It looked like someone was trying to get a rise. I mean, he referenced Rick Rolling [in] the group, he referenced this being prose. One of his poems actually spelled out the word ‘hoax’ if you spelled out the first letter of the paragraphs,” Det. Sgt. Brent Kuzman told Fox News Digital on Thursday. “So, it seemed pretty obvious that this was kind of a nothing thing, but I never want to be the person that didn’t do something.”
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His fellow officers agreed, and they expensed some resources for searches on April 21 and again on April 22 with cadaver dogs. The searches came up negative.
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Duffey believes police in the area who are called to respond to suspicious deaths will have their eye on the Facebook page and related social media discussions.
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“The mystery is definitely a hook,” he said. “And just like anybody else, I’m waiting for more and more answers to come out. But also, I think with what has come out, I feel strongly that it is just that – a set of circumstances that caught a social media whirlwind – and now law enforcement has to kind of temper it down with evidence and information coming from credible sources.”
The Facebook group has garnered nearly 20,000 new members over the last month. Searches for “New England serial killer” on Google spiked around April 7, according to data from the search engine.
Father who lost son warns of crisis terrorizing families across America
As officials look to combat the flow of fentanyl coming through the United States’ southern border, parents who have experienced the drug’s deadly consequences are warning others of the risks after losing their own children to opioid overdoses.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and first lady Suzanne Youngkin have launched a litany of campaigns looking to curb the flow of fentanyl into the state, and data shows their efforts are working. Virginia is leading the nation in year-over-year percentage declines in drug overdose deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
“Governor Youngkin and his administration’s approach to stopping the scourge of fentanyl stands on four principles: interrupt the drug trade, enhance penalties for drug dealers, educate people about the dangers of fentanyl, and equip them to save the life of someone in crisis,” Peter Finocchio, a spokesperson for the governor’s office, said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Everyone must know the danger posed by fentanyl: it only takes one pill to kill.”
SOME FENTANYL DEALERS WOULD BE CHARGED WITH FELONY MURDER UNDER NEW BILL
The administration’s “It Only Takes One” campaign is aiming to educate parents on the dangers surrounding fentanyl by teaching them how to spot the signs of a drug overdose and administer naloxone (Narcan).
“We passed new laws banning pill presses, notifying parents of overdose in their child’s school and finally establishing a new felony to hold accountable drug dealers whose victims die from an overdose,” Youngkin said in a press release. “The First Lady launched ‘It Only Takes One,’ a comprehensive education and engagement initiative to give parents, family members, educators, and caretakers the knowledge they need to warn their loved ones about the dangers of fentanyl.”
The initiative comes as drug overdose deaths throughout the country are at their lowest point since June 2020, with preliminary data showing a 24% drop for the 12 months ending in September 2024, according to the CDC.
MY STATE IS CONQUERING THE OPIOID CRISIS. OTHER STATES NEED TO DO THE SAME
But for some parents, the decline in deaths means very little after losing their own children to drug overdoses.
Steve Muth’s only child, Zachary, died at 23 years old after taking a pill laced with fentanyl in February 2021. Zachary was a college student and a member of a fraternity when he took a Xanax pill from a friend that was unknowingly laced with fentanyl.
“It can happen to anyone, because my son looked me in the eye and said it would never happen to him,” Muth told Fox News Digital. “He said that all his friends have Narcan, and so I think, first and foremost, if there’s any notification that [kids are] dabbling in anything foreign on campus, get control of it immediately. Just make sure they stay away from anything and everything, and if you have to get them out of that school or that fraternity, because it’s a real problem.”
CIA USES DRONES TO SNIFF OUT CARTELS AND FENTANYL LABS IN MEXICO: US OFFICIAL
After the death of his son, Muth co-founded ZEM Life alongside Dr. Joanna Sawyer, a board-certified anesthesiologist. The tech startup is working to formulate a smartwatch that can pinpoint the signs of a drug overdose and automatically provide a potentially life-saving dose of Narcan to the wearer.
Sawyer insists one of the key dangers surrounding fentanyl is how quickly it can enter a person’s system, with the drug’s deadly effects taking over almost immediately.
“It’s an extremely potent synthetic drug where just thousands of grams can cause someone to stop breathing,” Sawyer told Fox News Digital. “We’re finding in our communities [that] these pills contain massive doses of the drug; there’s enough coming into our country to kill millions. The danger is that there’s no way to control what’s in something that someone is getting on the street, and it’s likely extremely dangerous.”
DRUG OVERDOSES SURGE IN SOME STATES: 5 TAKEAWAYS ON NUMBERS THAT ‘ARE PEOPLE’S LIVES,’ EXPERT SAYS
In addition to the Virginia first lady’s efforts to protect families from loss due to overdose, Gov. Youngkin has aimed to crack down on illicit drugs ending up in the hands of Virginians.
Youngkin’s Operation FREE is working alongside federal, state and local law enforcement to combat the flow of illicit drugs into the state.
“Overdose deaths skyrocketed across America and in Virginia driven primarily by illicit fentanyl flowing across our southern border,” Youngkin said in a press release. “With an average of five [Virginians dying] each day, in 2022 we launched a comprehensive effort to stop the scourge of fentanyl, it’s working, and Virginia is leading.”
The partnership has seized approximately 55,350 pounds of illicit narcotics – including 800 pounds of fentanyl – and made more than 2,500 arrests throughout Virginia since it was announced in May 2023. State lawmakers have also passed laws banning pill presses, requiring school employees to report signs of overdoses to parents within 24 hours, and introducing a new felony charge for drug dealers suspected of providing narcotics leading to an individual’s death.
LAPD SEIZES $4M IN FENTANYL, ENOUGH DOSAGE TO POTENTIALLY KILL ENTIRE POPULATION OF LOS ANGELES
Virginia has also declared the opioid a “weapon of terrorism,” opening up the legal ability to slap terrorism charges on drug-related offenses.
“There is much more work to be done, but all Virginians are grateful for the leadership of the First Lady and our Fentanyl Family Ambassadors, all of our state agencies, and our amazing federal partners including President [Donald] Trump, Attorney General [Pam] Bondi, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and the men and women of the Drug Enforcement Administration,” Youngkin wrote.
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As state and federal officials aim to crack down on the drug’s infiltration of communities throughout the country, Muth said the dangers can seep into any family after his son fell victim to a fentanyl overdose.
“There are so many deaths that take place from fentanyl,” Muth said. “My son was not a drug addict. He functioned, he worked, he went to school. Did he have weaknesses at parties? Absolutely, just like all of us do. It’s the everyday person, and that’s the biggest misconception. These are more than drug addicts; they’re human beings that are part of the community, going to school, [my son] was a hockey player. It’s just incredible the different types of people that are passing away from this problem.”
American tourist reportedly impaled on Rome’s Colosseum fence as dozens looked on
Dozens of witnesses reportedly looked on in horror as a U.S. tourist visiting Rome screamed in pain after impaling himself on a metal fence at the Colosseum.
The man — a 47-year-old American citizen living in Taiwan — was stabbed in the spine while attempting to climb over the historic monument’s fence. He was possibly attempting to get a better view, according to Italian newspaper Il Messaggero.
THREE TOURISTS AMONG 4 KILLED AFTER ITALIAN CABLE CAR CRASHES TO THE GROUND NEAR NAPLES
Bystanders who saw the horrific event called for help as the tourist, stuck on the fence, screamed until he lost consciousness. Law enforcement and paramedics quickly arrived at the scene, but it took them more than 20 minutes to remove him from the fence, Il Messaggero reported.
ARCHAEOLOGISTS UNEARTH STRANGE HEAD DEPICTING ROMAN GOD BENEATH CATHOLIC BASILICA
Once freed, the tourist was immediately brought to the emergency room, where doctors performed surgery. The man’s lower back wound was closed with more than 80 stitches, and he was hospitalized in serious condition, the outlet reported.
WORLD LEADERS AND MOURNERS OF THE CATHOLIC FAITH GATHER IN VATICAN CITY FOR POPE FRANCIS’ FUNERAL
The unidentified man — who was unable to speak for hours after the incident — was on vacation with family and friends and had only been in Rome for a few days, Il Messaggero reported.
The horrifying incident took place less than a week after Pope Francis was laid to rest in Rome’s Santa Maria Maggiore. The April 26 funeral ceremony at St. Peter’s Basilica drew more than 250,000 mourners from across the globe to the country’s capital, according to the Vatican.
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Italy’s Civil Protection Department and police force Polizia di Stato did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Powerball winner winds up behind bars days after scoring massive jackpot
Law enforcement officials in Pinellas County, Florida, arrested a Kentucky man who, just days after winning the $167 million Powerball jackpot, allegedly kicked a deputy during a fight at a resort.
The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office said 50-year-old James Farthing was charged with felony battery on a law enforcement officer, as well as misdemeanor charges of resisting an officer without violence and simple battery.
According to an arrest affidavit filed in Pinellas County Circuit Court by the sheriff’s office, Farthing was involved in a fight with another guest at the TradeWinds Resort in St. Pete Beach, Florida just after 11 p.m. on Tuesday.
When a deputy attempted to break up the altercation, Farthing kicked the deputy in the face, according to the affidavit.
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Farthing allegedly kicked the deputy in the right cheek.
After the alleged assault, Farthing was ordered to turn around and place his hands behind his back, but instead, police claimed, he refused and attempted to run out of the hotel.
Farthing is also accused of punching a victim on the left side of their face with a closed fist during an argument.
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Deputies ultimately arrested Farthing, as well as his girlfriend, Jaqueline Fightmaster, who was charged with disorderly intoxication.
Farthing’s arrest came three days after winning the Powerball jackpot in Kentucky.
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The Powerball website said Farthing bought a $2 ticket from a gas station in Georgetown, Kentucky. After hitting all of the numbers, Farthing and his mother, Linda Grizzle, made Kentucky history with a $167.3 million jackpot prize, the largest ever awarded in the state.
Despite hitting the jackpot, Farthing remains in custody because of a parole violation stemming from a prior incident in Kentucky, according to FOX 13 in Tampa.
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Fightmaster, though, posted bond and was released from custody.
Archaeologists discover proof of grisly gladiator-lion clash in unexpected tourist destination
Archaeologists recently discovered proof of a gladiatorial fight with a lion in an unexpected tourist destination.
York, a city in northern England known for its breathtaking medieval architecture, welcomes millions of visitors annually – but its history goes much further back than the Middle Ages.
The area was inhabited by the ancient Romans, who founded the city in 71 A.D. and named it Eboracum.
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Until now, archaeologists weren’t sure that gladiatorial fights with lions took place outside of Italy – and didn’t have much evidence of these battles, other than Roman art depicting the fights.
The recent findings, publicized in the journalPLOS One, analyze a puncture wound that was found on the pelvis of a gladiator buried in a York cemetery.
The gladiator lived during the 3rd century A.D. and was between 26 and 35 years old at the time of his death.
Analyzing the man’s wound, researchers found that the bite mark was made by a big cat, most likely a lion.
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“Skeletal evidence associated with gladiatorial combat is rare, with most evidence deriving from written or visual sources,” the article states.
The bite mark was made by a big cat, most likely a lion.
“A single skeleton from a Roman cemetery outside of York where gladiators arguably were buried presented with unusual lesions.”
The piece noted, “Investigation, including comparative work from modern zoological institutions, has demonstrated that these marks originate from large cat scavenging.”
The discovery is the “first physical evidence for human-animal gladiatorial combat from the Roman period seen anywhere in Europe,” according to the study’s authors.
Although researchers believe that the gladiator died in battle, they don’t believe the pelvic puncture was the fatal blow.
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“We don’t think that this was the killing wound, as it would be possible to survive this injury, and it is in an unusual location for such a large cat,” forensic anthropologist Tim Thompson of Maynooth University said in a statement to Reuters.
“We think it indicates the dragging of an incapacitated individual.”
John Pearce, a Roman archaeologist at King’s College London and a co-author of the study, told Reuters that the cat may have been starved before the fight in order to increase its aggression.
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“Very speculatively, from the gladiator’s perspective, perhaps an approach like a matador’s would have been applied – to dodge and progressively wound, so as to extend the performance,” Pearce said.
“In this case, clearly that ended unsuccessfully, with it being likely, given the position of the bite mark, that the lion is mauling or dragging this individual on the ground,” he continued.
“At the end, when one or both were dead, there would be a burial for the gladiator and the use of the animal carcass for meat for the spectators.”
The expert added that the discovery reflects the “spectacle culture” central to Roman life.
“This new analysis gives us very concrete and specific evidence of a human-animal violent encounter, either as combat or punishment, showing that the big cats caught in North Africa were shown and fought not only in Rome or Italy but also surprisingly widely, even if we don’t know how frequently,” Pearce concluded.
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