Suspect in brutal Cincinnati attack that left mom with brain trauma faces federal charge

CINCINNATI – A previous felon and suspect in the viral downtown Cincinnati beating that reverberated nationwide is facing a new federal gun charge. 

“A federal grand jury today indicted Montanez Merriweather, 34, with illegally possessing a firearm as a previously convicted felon,” according to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio. 

“According to the indictment, on July 2, Merriweather illegally possessed a 9mm pistol. As a previously convicted felon, he is prohibited from possessing firearms,” the release from the attorney’s office said. 

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Merriweather is accused of partaking in the early morning July 26 beating that injured six. It occurred outside a popular nightclub in Cincinnati’s downtown business district. 

Stemming from that incident, he was charged with three counts of alleged felonious assault, three charges of assault and two charges of aggravated rioting. He is currently in state custody. 

If convicted on the gun charge, Merriweather faces up to 15 years in prison. 

“There is no place for violence in our communities,” said U.S. Attorney Dominick S. Gerace II. “Those who commit violent acts can expect to be scrutinized and they will be held accountable for violations of federal criminal law.”

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The brutal beatdown left an Ohio mother of three with brain trauma. 

The woman, identified only as Holly, was diagnosed with a severe concussion, along with neurological damage and injuries to her vision. 

“I’m having someone help take care of me financially, mentally and physically,” Holly told Fox News Digital. “It’s very humbling, it’s very embarrassing to not be able to just be able to hang out by myself. I think that’s the scary part, to not know just how deep the damage is going to be.” 

Holly said she does not know the degree to which she will recover. 

Five other suspects in the beatings also face three counts of alleged felonious assault, three charges of assault and two charges of aggravated rioting after the beating each. 

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A seventh suspect in the attacks, Gregory Wright, 32, was charged with alleged aggravated riot and aggravated robbery, Hamilton County Jail records show. Wright was booked into jail at approximately 4:30 p.m. on Monday.

‘Stick your Subway sandwich somewhere else’: US Attorney for DC warns after assault

A man is facing federal assault charges after allegedly “forcefully” throwing a Subway sandwich at a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agent during a confrontation Sunday night in Washington, D.C.

Metro Transit Police said they were patrolling the U Street area, seemingly as part of the Trump administration’s initiative to crackdown on crime in the nation’s capital, when a man later identified as Sean Charles Dunn shouted obscenities at a CBP agent, standing inches from his face and calling him a “fascist.”

Moments later, police said Dunn returned, wound up, and “forcefully threw” a sandwich at the agent, hitting him in the chest, according to court documents. He then ran away, with a trail of federal officers chasing him.

Witnesses could be heard giggling as Dunn darted from the cops, according to an Instagram video posted by a bystander. 

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After being arrested and taken to the police station, Dunn allegedly told another officer, “I did it. I threw a sandwich.” 

He is charged with felony assault on a law enforcement officer.

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U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro reacted to the incident on social media Wednesday, serving up a strong message for anyone else considering assaulting an officer.

“He thought it was funny,” Pirro said in the video. “Well, he doesn’t think it’s funny today, because we charged him with a felony assault on a police officer, and we’re going to back the police to the hilt. So there. Stick your Subway sandwich somewhere else.”

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The incident comes after President Donald Trump on Monday federalized the DC Metropolitan Police Department under section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, which allows the president to take emergency control of the police force for 30 days. 

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Hundreds of National Guard members have been deployed to the city, joining agents from federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), U.S. Capitol Police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

Subway did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Sophie Cunningham rips Caitlin Clark, mocks her skin amid spat over swimsuit video

Sophie Cunningham may be Caitlin Clark’s “enforcer” teammate, but isn’t holding back from clapping back at Clark herself for disagreements on how they spend their off-time. 

Clark recently took aim at Cunningham and fellow Fever star Lexie Hull for a social media video showing Cunningham and Hull in swimsuits by a pool ahead of last week’s game against the Los Angeles Sparks. The caption read, “Convince us there’s a swimsuit brand that wants to partner with two Indiana Fever mermaids.”

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Clark commented on the video, “Swimsuit brands plz comment ‘focus on basketball.”

Cunningham addressed the online interaction during an episode of her podcast on Wednesday, pointing out the fact that Clark has been sidelined with injury from the team for about a month. 

“Dude, you are ruining me and Lexie’s deals. We’re the ones who have actually been playing, and we need a little break, and that’s when we go to the pool. And I think only like five companies reached out,” Cunningham said.

Cunningham then made it a point to mock Clark for her apparent differing swimsuit style and even Clark’s skin tone.

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“I was like, ‘Dude, you don’t have to be a hater. I’ll get you like a one piece that only shows your eyes,'” Cunningham said. “She did something and has this big bruise on her leg, and I was like, ‘You’re finally getting color.'”

Cunningham originally responded to Clark in the TikTok with a since-deleted comment that read, “maybe a brand will make a full body wet suit for your pale a– too… We all win!”

Cunningham previously became a viral sensation and one of the WNBA’s most popular players after starting a fight against Connecticut Sun player Jacy Sheldon in defense of Clark in June. Cunningham was ejected and fined for the altercation, but saw a surge in social media followers after the incident, quickly crossing a million on TikTok and Instagram.

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It quickly earned Cunningham the title of “enforcer” among Clark’s fans. Cunningham has also repeatedly spoken out in defense of Clark against perceived unfair referee treatment and targeting by other players, and has asserted Clark is the “face of the league.”

But now, Cunningham isn’t straying away from taking some verbal jabs at Clark herself. 

Viral 12-3-30 treadmill trend may burn more fat than running, researchers say

A fitness trend that took TikTok by storm, racking up more than 14 million views, may have some science behind it.

The 12-3-30 treadmill workout, popularized by influencer Lauren Giraldo, promises a fat-burning, low-impact fitness solution: Walk at a 12% incline, at a pace of three miles per hour, for 30 minutes.

But how does it compare to regular running?

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A new peer-reviewed study published in the International Journal of Exercise Science compares the 12-3-30 trend to “self-paced” treadmill running. 

Researchers sought to determine not just how many calories each method burns, but how the body fuels each workout — specifically, whether the body uses carbohydrates or fat as fuel.

In the study, 16 healthy young adults (male and female) participated in two workouts: one session of 12-3-30 and one session of running at a pace they could maintain for about 20 to 25 minutes. 

Both workouts were adjusted to burn the same total number of calories.

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The researchers discovered that 12-3-30 took longer to complete than running to achieve the same output.

Running burned calories faster — roughly 13 calories per minute versus 10 calories per minute for 12-3-30.

Maelee Wells Sutton, a certified personal trainer at Crunch Fitness in New York, told Fox News Digital that it is “no surprise” calories are burned faster during a workout with higher aerobic intensity. 

“Walking at 12-3-30 is certainly more intense than walking on a flat surface, but is less intense than a run,” she said.

However, 12-3-30 used more fat as a fuel source — about 41% of energy came from fat, compared to 33% during running. Running also relied more heavily on carbohydrates for energy.

Potential limitations

The participants in the study were already exercising at least three times a week for the last three months, according to Sutton. 

“That means [the study] doesn’t consider less active individuals, who actually make up a large percentage of the population,” she said. “Essentially, we can’t draw conclusions about how the average person’s body may adapt to these workouts over time.”

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The researchers emphasized that the actual fat-burning advantage of 12-3-30 is modest. Total calories burned still matter more for weight loss than whether you’re burning fat or carbs.

“This study confirms what exercise science has already known: the ‘fat-burning’ percentage of a workout is not the same as total calorie burn,” Sutton added.

Which is better?

If you’re short on time and want to burn a certain number of calories quickly, running seems to be more efficient.

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But if your goal is to burn more fat, and you prefer a lower-impact workout, the 12-3-30 method has its benefits, particularly for beginners or those with joint concerns, the study suggests.

The most important thing with exercise is consistency, according to Sutton.

“If a person dislikes running but loves 12-3-30, it’s far better to do that consistently than to force a certain workout that a person rarely completes,” she said.

“Trends should be viewed through both a scientific and personal lens — look to experts for guidance rather than relying on social media.”

Military expert tells Trump admin how Chile stopped migrant gangs in 48 hours

A former high-ranking Venezuelan military officer is urging the Trump administration, particularly Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, to look to South America for best strategies in fighting against the migrant gangs and cartels that flooded the U.S. under the Biden administration.  

José Gustavo Arocha, a former lieutenant colonel in the Venezuelan army and now national security expert at the Center for a Secure Free Society, told Fox News Digital that South American countries’ varied responses to organized crime groups hold the key to what the U.S. should do and not do. 

He said the region especially teaches valuable lessons on how to respond to Tren de Aragua, also known by its acronym “TdA,” a brutal transnational criminal group with alleged ties to Venezuelan socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro. The gang’s name means “Train from Aragua,” indicating its origin as a prison gang in Venezuela’s Aragua region.

Following Noem’s visit to Chile and Peru in late July, Arocha said the U.S. should “think of the region as a living laboratory.”

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In line with this laboratory analogy, Arocha said that while countries like Chile and Ecuador “grabbed the scalpel early; Colombia left the petri dish wide open.”

Overall, he said the lesson for Washington is “act fast, act in unison, or spend years mopping up a disaster.”

He said that Chile acted decisively to unite all aspects of government together to fight the migrant gangs spilling over its borders, fusing police, tax and customs intelligence with one another. This enabled the Chilean government to quickly identify hundreds of members of a Tren de Aragua offshoot gang known as the “Los Gallegos clique” and march them into prison.

“Chile turned intel into jail time,” explained Arocha. “Every migrant-shelter interview, every crypto-remittance slip, every fingerprint goes into one national fusion hub; detectives then launch ‘mega-operativos’ that knock out stash houses, mules, and shell companies in the same forty-eight-hour punch.”

“That stops the gang before it can splinter and re-spawn,” he said.

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Likewise, he explained that if Noem similarly connects U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations into a shared, real-time biometric feed, typical gang tactics like using a fake ID won’t outrun the database and “our prosecutors can bring bundle indictments the way Chile bundled Los Gallegos.”

It is Ecuador, however, that Arocha said “set the gold standard hands down.”

He explained that the Ecuadorian government “went one step further” by labeling Tren de Aragua a terrorist group, something the U.S. has also done under the Trump administration. Ecuador also unleashed joint police-military sweeps of prisons and border posts for gang activity so that today he said the country “still reports no major TdA enclave on its soil.”

“By stamping TdA as a terrorist outfit before bodies piled up, Ecuador unlocked instant asset freezes and extradition-on-sight rules,” he said. “We already have the Foreign Terrorist Organization label; now we need the Treasury-FinCEN [Financial Crimes Enforcement Network] sledgehammer, so every crypto hop tied to TdA or its Venezuelan sponsors, the Maduro Regime, trips an automatic choke.”

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By contrast, Arocha said the U.S. should look to Colombia for what not to do. He said the country reopened its borders and “hoped goodwill would tame the chaos.”

He said that open borders without synchronized vetting turned the migrant route through the country into a “rolling ATM.”

“TdA simply moved its toll booths from jungle trails to the shiny new bridges and kept fleecing migrants in broad daylight,” he explained. “The misstep was policy without policing: agencies split their intel streams, extraditions stalled on politics, and the gang slipped through the seams.”

“For Washington, that means no border liberalization unless vetting, rapid removal, and financial choke points are already locked in. Otherwise, the ‘train’ will ride our own policy gaps straight into every ZIP code,” he said.

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“Tren de Aragua isn’t a rogue band of street punks; it’s the muscle car hitched to Maduro’s smuggling convoy,” he went on. “Think of it as Caracas outsourcing hybrid warfare: the cartel ships cocaine north, the gang escorts the loads and terrorizes migrants, and the regime pockets hard currency while claiming clean hands.”

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“If we freeze their dollars, seize their crypto, and indict their officers alongside TdA couriers, the whole war machine stutters. Anything less is just chasing boxcars while the locomotive keeps rolling.”

Pittsylvania County deputies shot serving warrants, suspect surrenders after standoff

Multiple deputies were shot Wednesday while serving warrants and a protective order at a home in rural Pittsylvania County, Virginia.

The shooting was confirmed by Rep. John McGuire, R-Va., on social media.

“My thoughts and prayers are with the deputies who were shot in Pittsylvania County, as well as their families,” McGuire said in a post on X. “We are closely following the situation and keeping everyone affected in our hearts during this difficult time.”

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Pennsylvania County Sheriff Mike Taylor said officers were met with gunfire when they approached the home and called for backup. Two deputies were hit by shrapnel and another was taken to ED out of an “abundance of caution” but has since been released, Taylor said. 

A standoff ensued before the suspect eventually gave up and came out of the house on his own. The suspect, James Andru Lehnerd was taken into custody and is awaiting charges. 

A large police presence remained at the scene late Wednesday in Gretna, near the border between North Carolina and Virginia.

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Fox News Digital reached out to the Pittsylvania Sheriff’s Office for more information, but has not yet heard back.

Man’s best friend becomes farmer’s ally as invasive species threatens 19 states

BLACKSBURG, Virgina – Researchers at Virginia Tech say man’s best friend may also be one of nature’s best defenses against an invasive pest. For the first time, a study shows that pet dogs could help stop the rapid spread of the spotted lanternfly.

Spotted lanternflies feed on different plants and excrete a sugary substance called honeydew, which promotes mold growth. They are considered so destructive that some states have launched campaigns urging residents to stomp them on sight. Experts say the real solution is to wipe out their egg masses, but those can be hard to find because they often resemble dried mud and can blend in with their surroundings. 

That’s where the dogs can come in to help with their strong sense of smell. 

“Dogs have one dominant sense. It’s their nose. We use our eyes. Dogs use their nose like their eyes,” said study participant, Katie Thomas. 

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Thomas and her nine-year-old pitbull mix, Finch, participated in the study, hoping to put their years of recreational scent work to good use. They went through indoor and outdoor tests, sniffing out egg masses, and receiving an award when Finch was right on the money. 

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“To be able to do things that we already do, that we are having a lot of fun with… Train our dogs to sniff stuff, being able to apply that to something like a real problem that affects our community is really fulfilling,” said Thomas. 

The spotted lanternfly is native to Asia and was first detected in the United States in Pennsylvania over ten years ago. Since then, it has spread to 19 states, according to the USDA. 

“They are everywhere, and we need to search out the eggs. The problem is it’s too late once we have the lanternfly,” said study participant, Carolyn Shelburne. 

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Carolyn and her 9-year-old border collie, Hermes, was one of the first five K9 and handler teams to pass their field tests. Ultimately, 182 volunteer teams across the U.S. took part in the study.

For indoor tests, dogs identified the lanternfly scent correctly more than 80% of the time. For more real-world outdoor tests, dogs identified the scent correctly more than 60% of the time. That’s still better than most human searches. 

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“Hopefully, more people will see that you can train any dog to do this, and it gives you something fun to do with your dog,” said Shelburne.

Researchers are hoping this is just the beginning for dogs to protect local environments. Even in areas where spotted laternflies aren’t a problem, dogs could be trained to sniff out other invasive species.

Leonardo DiCaprio waits at security before entering exclusive party with friends

Leonardo DiCaprio waited patiently at a police security checkpoint recently before entering an exclusive party in Ibiza, Spain, video shows. 

The “Titanic” star” appeared calm as he, model girlfriend Vittoria Ceretti and friends stood outside until they were allowed into the event. 

The 50-year-old, who often wears a face mask but did not this time, held the contents of his pockets in his hands for inspection by Spanish police, who apparently didn’t recognize him at first. 

“They are searching me right now, full on,” a woman says in the video.

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DiCaprio was eventually allowed into the private party held by Patron and Spanish singer Arón Piper after waiting a few minutes, a source told Fox News Digital. 

The source said everyone entering the party was carded and patted down, including other notables.

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Another source told the Daily Mail DiCaprio was “kind and joking” with the police. 

WATCH: Leonardo DiCaprio waiting at security before entering exclusive party

“The Revenant” star’s best friend, “Spider-Man” actor Tobey Maguire, was also at the party, along with Kendall Jenner, according to the Daily Mail. 

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Fox News Digital has reached out to reps for DiCaprio for comment. 

Trump-backed D.C. crackdown sees migrant arrested after tense food truck standoff

Immigration and Customs Enforcement said on Wednesday that an illegal migrant was detained in Washington, D.C., after he was stopped by agents and subsequently motioned that he would harm himself with a butcher knife.

Jimmy Anderson Ayala Mayuri, of Peru, was stopped by federal officers on Wednesday as he was driving his food truck in the nation’s capital, according to ICE.

“Capital city cleanup continues!” ICE wrote on X.

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“Illegal Peruvian alien Jimmy Anderson Ayala Mayuri presented a large butcher knife to federal officers and motioned that he’d harm himself with it when we stopped his food truck on National Park Service property in D.C. today,” the post continued.

ICE said the man briefly barricaded himself in the truck before he was apprehended.

He will be detained until a deportation decision is made, according to the agency.

This comes after President Donald Trump’s recent move to increase the presence of federal law enforcement in Washington in an effort to cut down on crime in the district, although the mayor has said crime had already been on the decline in the city.

The federal takeover of D.C. would also include the deployment of the National Guard and the U.S. Justice Department taking control of the city’s police department.

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The arrest on Wednesday also comes amid the Trump administration’s mass deportation policies targeting migrants in cities across the country.