Lyle Menendez dealt parole decision decades after parents’ shotgun slayings
SAN DIEGO — Lyle Menendez, one of the two brothers convicted in the 1989 shotgun slayings of their parents in Beverly Hills, was denied parole by a California review board on Friday in his first appearance before the board.
The decision came after his brother, Erik, was denied parole on Thursday. The brothers will be eligible to go before the parole board again in three years.
The California Board of Parole Hearings recommendation marks a significant development in the decades-long case that drew international attention, with the brothers’ televised trial becoming one of the most infamous of the 1990s. Lyle, now 57, has spent more than 30 years behind bars.
Gov. Gavin Newsom can still review, and potentially veto, the decision.
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A panel of parole hearing officers evaluated the brothers individually. Similarly to his brother, Lyle Menendez faced the board via video conference from the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego.
“The panel has found today that there are still signs” that Lyle poses a risk to the public, Parole Commissioner Julie Garland said.
“We find your remorse is genuine,” she said. “In many ways, you look like you’ve been a model inmate. You have been a model inmate in many ways who has demonstrated the potential for change. But despite all those outward positives, we see … you still struggle with anti-social personality traits like deception, minimization and rule breaking that lie beneath that positive surface.”
“Don’t ever not have hope … this denial is not … it’s not the end,” Garland added. “It’s a way for you to spend some time to demonstrate, to practice what you preach about who you are, who you want to be.”
The board members mentioned Lyle’s history of breaking rules behind bars and his repeated cellphone use in prison.
“You seem to be different things at different times,” Deputy Parole Commissioner Patrick Reardon said.
Lyle’s attorney, Heidi Rummel, said during the hearing that he “spent the first 21 years of life in the prison of his home, and the rest of his life in prison… I hope that we’re in a place today that we have a deeper understanding of childhood sexual abuse.”
Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Ethan Milius said that Lyle has shown “no growth,” however.
“When he commits a violation, he lies about it, and tries to avoid responsibility.” Milius said.
Lyle said he does take “responsibility for all this pain,” though. “My Mom and Dad did not have to die that day.”
Lyle, who cried during his closing remarks, spoke with a strained voice about Aug. 20, the date that he and his brother murdered their parents.
“It’s the anniversary of a crushing day for so many in my family,” he said. “I think about all the phone calls on that day with the shattering news and the loss and the grief.”
“I will never be able to make up for the harm and grief I caused everyone in my family,” he added. “I am so sorry to everyone, and I will be forever sorry.”
The brothers’ family said in a statement after Lyle’s hearing that “this is not the end of the road,” and that both will go before the board again, and their habeas petition remains under review.
“While we are of course disappointed by today’s decision as well, we are not discouraged. The process for parole is exceptionally rigorous, but we are incredibly proud of how Erik and Lyle showed up — with honesty, accountability, and integrity.”
Next steps
The California Board of Parole Hearings (BPH), under the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), has 21 full-time commissioners. Each commissioner is appointed by the Governor of California and confirmed by the state Senate. The commissioners serve three-year terms, with the brothers’ each meeting with 2-3 commissioners.
Because the California Board of Parole Hearings did not recommend Lyle Menendez for parole, he will remain incarcerated.
Newsom, while he’ll be unable to reverse the independent board’s decision, will still be able to affirm, reverse, or take no action on the board’s decision. Under California law, he has 30 days to make a decision.
If the governor chooses not to act, the parole board’s decision stands.
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During Thursday’s parole board hearing, Erik Menendez was denied a recommendation for parole.
Commissioner Robert Barton emphasized the weight of Erik’s actions and subsequent prison conduct.
“I believe in redemption or I wouldn’t be doing this job … but based on the legal standards, we find that you continue to pose an unreasonable risk to public safety.”
He said that while the family’s forgiveness was “amazing,” forgiveness and parole eligibility were separate matters: “Two things can be true. They can love and forgive you and you can still be found unsuitable for parole.”
Barton raised concerns, not only of the nature of the shotgun killings, but of Erik’s misconduct during his sentence. He pointed to his use of contraband, including a cell phone, drug and alcohol, as well as his role in a prison gang tax scheme.
The decision came on the heels of a bombshell resentencing hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court in May, where Judge Michael Jesic reduced their life-without-parole sentences to 50-to-life, making them eligible for parole consideration.
In a press conference following the ruling on Wednesday, May 14, Newsom explained the multi-layered process of considering the Menendez brothers’ eligibility for release.
The governor explained that, before any decision was finalized, a team of forensic psychologists conducted individualized risk assessments on each brother.
“We thought that would be prudent to do,” he said, saying that those assessments have been “debated” not only by Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman and the victim’s family, but also by the judge “both publicly in another conversation, some of it behind closed doors.”
The topic of the brothers’ Comprehensive Risk Assessments (CRA) has been a sticking point for Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman.
The brothers’ were marked as “moderate risk,” an increase from their previous “low risk” assessment. The moderate risk increase came after each report found that Erik and Lyle, in recent months, had been cited for breaking prison rules for contraband violations, specifically the possession of cell phones.
Hochman shared the findings on Lyle Menendez first, whose “actions perpetrated deceit,” speaking about the contraband phone.
He added that Lyle had “downplayed his rule-breaking” and that his report showed his “entitlement and willingness to meet his own needs.”
MENENDEZ BROTHERS ASK CALIFORNIA GOV. NEWSOM FOR CLEMENCY
Along with the illicit cell phone usage, Erik was flagged for possessing and dealing drugs, as well as helping other inmates with tax fraud. Hochman, who ran on a tough-on-crime platform, has been vocal about the brothers’ lack of rehabilitation.
In August 1989, Beverly Hills socialites José and Kitty Menendez were shot to death in their home.
Hochman previously called the murders “mafia-like hits,” remarking on the violent nature of the repeated rounds that were fired at the parents.
The boys, then 18 and 21, were convicted in 1996.
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The defense’s assertion was that the brothers had been driven to violence by years of physical and sexual abuse at their father’s hands.
Despite the first trial resulting in a hung juror, leading to their eventual conviction in 1996, the public has remained divided on whether the brothers acted in greed or in self-defense.
Epstein gal pal Ghislaine Maxwell drops Trump, Clinton names in newly released transcripts
The Justice Department released hours of interviews between a top federal prosecutor and Ghislaine Maxwell, the only person convicted of or held civilly liable for a role in Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche sat down with Maxwell in a federal prison in Tallahassee, where she was being held until recently. In the interview, she denied having trafficked anyone or having witnessed any nonconsensual sexual activity or any sex involving minors.
She said she never witnessed President Donald Trump doing anything “inappropriate with anybody.” She shot down claims that former President Bill Clinton had traveled to Epstein’s infamous island in the U.S. Virgin Islands and said the Clintons were her friends, not Epstein’s.
“I do believe that Epstein did a lot of, not all, but some of what he’s accused of, and I’m not here to defend him in any respect whatsoever,” Maxwell told Blanche. “I don’t want to, and I don’t think he requires, nor deserves any type of protection or – from me in any way, to sugarcoat what he did or didn’t do”
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Authorities published hundreds of pages of transcripts as well as audio recordings of the interview on the DOJ website. The terms of the interview granted her limited immunity from further prosecution unless she told lies.
Maxwell denied Epstein had a “client list” and said he did not maintain a stockpile of blackmail material against prominent associates.
This is one man. He’s not some – they’ve made him into this. He’s not that interesting. He’s a disgusting guy who did terrible things to young kids.
Maxwell also attempted to explain what she believes is the origin of claims that Epstein kept the “list.”
In 2009, she said Epstein had finished a slap-on-the-wrist sentence for child sex trafficking, but civil suits were pouring in, some from the law firm Rothstein Adler. A lawyer there called the FBI to say he had a “piece of evidence” that belonged to Epstein, she said. That was “the list,” she said, adding that she believed he became a confidential informant to the FBI.
She said he obtained the list through a sting operation involving Epstein’s former butler, who said in a deposition he had “handwritten notes, or a journal, whatever,” according to Maxwell.
Rothstein Adler was later raided by the FBI. Lawyers at the firm were prosecuted for a number of alleged crimes, including money laundering, fraud, conspiracy and a Ponzi scheme.
“This is one man,” Maxwell said. “He’s not some – they’ve made him into this. He’s not that interesting. He’s a disgusting guy who did terrible things to young kids.”
She reiterated past statements that she does not believe he killed himself, and she revealed Epstein told her he had a heart condition that prevented him from having normal sexual intercourse.
She said she met Epstein in the early 1990s and began working for him. She said their own sexual relationship ended in 1999.
In one exchange, she told Blanche she had grown to believe that Epstein wasn’t very into her.
“There was some indications that he would actively tell other people to lie to me or conceal things from me, and that he never loved me, and I wasn’t his type,” she said.
In the mid-to-late ‘90s, she said, Epstein began traveling increasingly with “masseuses.” According to Epstein’s accusers, he used massages as cover for sex.
“In the early ’90s, I don’t remember traveling so much with other people,” she said. “There would be a masseuse or a yoga person, but now he started to travel with more, always a masseuse.”
Also around that time, he began a testosterone dosage, she said.
“He started doing testosterone, and that altered his character,” she told Blanche. “And I believe that started in the late ’90s. And I believe that the FBI has his medical records, and you may see that on his medical records.”
Another person she said she never saw act inappropriately was the U.K.’s Prince Andrew, a friend of Epstein’s who appears in an image with her and the late Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre, 17 at the time, that she said isn’t real.
“I believe it’s literally a fake photo,” she said of the infamous snap, purported to have been taken at her former London townhouse. “I do not know that they met.”
Giuffre died by suicide earlier this year. She had accused the royal of forcing her into sex inside Maxwell’s home in London’s ritzy Belgravia neighborhood. The prince was relieved of his royal duties amid fallout from the scandal but has always denied allegations of wrongdoing. He agreed to pay Giuffre an undisclosed settlement in 2022 and to donate to her charity for crime victims.
Maxwell also said she was not responsible for introducing Epstein to Andrew. She said they met at a dinner party in Martha’s Vineyard or Nantucket in the late 1990s or early 2000s.
In a statement on Twitter, Maxwell’s attorney, David Oscar Markus, alleged that she had only been convicted because the DOJ needed a scapegoat after Epstein died in jail before his case went to trial.
“Ghislaine Maxwell is innocent and never should have been tried, much less convicted, in this case,” Markus wrote. “She never committed or participated in sexual abuse against minors, or anyone else for that matter.”
Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence after she was convicted at trial in 2021 of helping Epstein traffic teen girls.
She has an ongoing appeal and has signaled that she is willing to sit for interviews with both federal prosecutors and Congress.
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Epstein died in a federal jail cell in 2019 before he faced trial himself. His official cause of death has been ruled a suicide, a conclusion rejected by his brother.
The release came with little warning, days after federal judges denied the DOJ’s requests to unseal grand jury materials from both Maxwell and Epstein’s criminal cases.
Cracker Barrel criticized for abandoning traditional American values
Cracker Barrel is firmly in the crosshairs of consumer backlash, but conservative activist Robby Starbuck believes the negative reaction boils down to something deeper than just a new logo and reflects a broader abandonment of traditional American values.
Consumers quickly spoke out against Cracker Barrel after it unveiled a new logo that eliminated the image of a man leaning on a barrel and instead just has the restaurant’s name in black text over a yellow barrel-shaped backdrop. The chain also redesigned the interior of its restaurants, ditching the kitschy American aesthetic and replacing it with a slick modernist motif.
“The American people are sick of having our culture and heritage stripped from us,” Starbuck told Fox News Digital.
“All these things that are nostalgic Americana are constantly being stomped on, and we’re being told that there’s something wrong with it, that we should be ashamed of it in some way, that it needs to be replaced with something more inclusive or more driven by these DEI characteristics,” he continued. “I think people are just sick of it. We’ve had enough, and we don’t want our whole country stripped down to where we have no semblance of, you know, that sort of nostalgic Americana culture.”
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Starbuck, a Visiting Fellow for the Capital Markets Initiative at The Heritage Foundation who acknowledged that he is “pretty well-known at this point for turning companies away from wokeness,” believes Americans appreciate Cracker Barrel’s iconic, pre-remodeled decor.
“They feel at home when they’re around it,” he said.
Starbuck called Cracker Barrel’s changes “Brand Destruction 101,” and said the logo change was simply the tip of the iceberg.
“They’re trying to ditch their previous customers and vibe, right? They want to say, ‘No, we’re going to be fresh and modern,’” Starbuck said.
The conservative activist pointed to a pop-up event that Cracker Barrel hosted on Thursday in New York City that included line dancing and live country music. The “A Taste of Country, Anytime” event featured classic Cracker Barrel menu items, rocking chairs, games, line dancing and a performance by country music singer Jordan Davis, who starred in a new commercial for the company. The closest Cracker Barrel to New York City is about 45 miles away in Mount Arlington, New Jersey.
“We note that we had an opportunity to partner with Jordan Davis at this event while he was in town for the Today Show, similar to how we have brought the goodness of country hospitality to our guests with NASCAR races at Speedway tracks like Ft Worth, Atlanta, and obviously our home race in Nashville, the Cracker Barrel 400. These events are part of a larger initiative to bring our signature country hospitality to people all over the US whether they’re lucky enough to live close to a Cracker Barrel or not,” a Cracker Barrel spokesperson said.
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“They’re essentially marketing to a clientele that doesn’t exist, right? Because there’s not a Cracker Barrel in New York City. So why are you doing this event there? And it’s about virtue signaling to a group of people that frankly don’t go to Cracker Barrel and never have gone to Cracker Barrel, don’t want to go to Cracker Barrel,” Starbuck said.
Starbuck revealed to Fox News Digital that he had previously been tipped off to “woke” issues inside Cracker Barrel and the attention surrounding the controversial logo change prompted him to dig a little deeper.
“What we found is really that they are totally out of alignment with their customer base,” Starbuck said.
Starbuck said he found “very concerning actions,” including a “deep and long-term association” with the Human Rights Campaign, which bills itself as a group that has “led the way in fighting for LGBTQ+ equality and inclusion” since 1980.
The HRC has wielded immense power in the corporate world in recent years with its Corporate Equality Index. The index, which, on its website, is defined as a “national benchmarking tool on corporate policies, practices, and benefits pertinent to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer employees,” would assign companies a score based on how inclusive the HRC determined they were to gay employees. Companies would then jockey to increase their scores by instituting more DEI-related policies, some of which, critics alleged, went too far.
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The HRC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Cracker Barrel was originally given a score of zero when the CEI debuted in 2002. Later that year, the franchise added “sexual orientation” to its list of characteristics protected by its employment discrimination policy. Over time, Cracker Barrel’s score increased. It achieved a score of 80 in 2021 after it had taken some high-profile pro-LGBT stands.
Cracker Barrel told Fox News Digital it “has not participated in the Human Rights Campaign Index or had any affiliation with HRC in several years.”
“I don’t believe this was just about a logo change and a fresh new look. I think this was about rejecting what they see as sort of a redneck old image that they had, right? And it’s a slap in the face of their customers, because there’s nothing wrong with the image that Cracker Barrel already had,” Starbuck said. “That’s where you see a big separation between the executive class and the American people.”
As an example, Starbuck posted a packet on creating safe spaces he said was distributed within its corporate offices in “recent years,” which talked about not tolerating “heterosexist, cisgenderism comments and actions.”
Cracker Barrel said the image wasn’t part of a company training.
“We note that image [shown] is not part of any Cracker Barrel training,” a spokesperson said. “Cracker Barrel’s trainings focus on educating leadership and employees on business practices and policies and include required training under federal, state, and local law.”
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Cracker Barrel has stood by its recent moves and said 87 percent of respondents in their research either loved or liked the new logo.
“Our values haven’t changed, and the heart and soul of Cracker Barrel haven’t changed,” a spokesperson previously told Fox News Digital.
“And Uncle Herschel remains front and center in our restaurants and on our menu. He is the face of ‘The Herschel Way,’ the foundation of how our 70,000-plus employees provide the country hospitality for which we are known,” the spokesperson continued. “Cracker Barrel has been a destination for comfort and community for more than half a century, and this fifth evolution of the brand’s logo, which works across digital platforms as well as billboards and roadside signs, is a call-back to the original and rooted even more in the iconic barrel shape and word mark that started it all back in 1969.”
A spokesperson also said the feedback from guests and team members has been “overwhelmingly positive and enthusiastic about the refreshed dining and shopping experience,” but a “vocal minority” may feel differently.
Cracker Barrel did not immediately respond to a request for additional comment.
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Trans athlete’s mom blasts board member after volleyball team forfeits to her child
A school board meeting in California descended into explosive debate after a girls’ volleyball team forfeited to an opponent with a transgender player.
The players on the Riverside Poly High School girls’ volleyball team chose to forfeit last Friday’s game against Jurupa Valley High School. Multiple parents previously told Fox News Digital the forfeit was in response to the presence of trans athlete AB Hernandez on the Jurupa Valley team.
Local parents showed up to the Riverside Unified School District board meeting on Thursday to speak out in support of the girls who forfeited and against the school district for its current gender policies, while others spoke in support of trans athletes in girls’ sports.
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Hernandez’s mother, Nereyda Hernandez, showed up to defend AB’s right to play in girls’ sports, and condemned board member Amanda Vickers for previously interviewing with Fox News Digital about the forfeit last week.
“Amanda Vickers, you interviewed with Fox. You actually entertained and welcomed harassment to my child. You are a board member. You have an oath to protect, to support all children, not just the ones that fit your ideas, your beliefs,” Hernandez said.
“When you allow or tolerate targeted harassment, whether online, in person or allowing false narratives to be spread at board meetings, you are only failing morally.
“My daughter is not the problem. The problem is coordinated external efforts often led by individuals that travel from district to district… to spread fear and put parents against each other using religion as a shield for discrimination. This has nothing to do with fairness in sports and everything to do with erasing transgender children.”
One mother, Maria Correo, spoke in support of the Riverside Poly players and condemned parents enabling male children to play in girls’ sports.
“The girls, great job. Poly girls, we stand with you. Keep fighting, because these parents that support their confused child are the problem,” Correo said. “If my child was on drugs, I would love him, but guess what? I would tell him the truth; drugs are bad for you. I would not feed him more drugs.”
Riverside became a hotbed of controversy involving trans athletes in girls’ sports last year during Hernandez’s highly-publicized season and after a lawsuit was filed by two girls at Martin Luther King High School that alleged a trans athlete took one of the girls’ varsity spots on the cross-country team.
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The students at the school then began wearing the “Save Girls Sports” T-shirts every week in response after school administrators allegedly compared the shirts to swastikas, according to the lawsuit.
One mother, who only identified herself as Sandy R., urged the board members to adopt their own resolution to ban trans athletes from girls’ sports, breaking from state law. One school board in California has already done this – the Kern County Board of Education, earlier in August. Sandy R. referenced the lawsuit that had been filed by the two students.
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“I will be so proud and so honored that an RUSD family will be the ones that take down an unlawful and unconstitutional California law,” she said.
President Donald Trump warned California and Gov. Gavin Newsom about the state’s transgender policies in a post on Truth Social on Thursday.
“Any California school district that doesn’t adhere to our Transgender policies, will not be funded. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” Trump wrote in the post.
Riverside Unified School District board meetings featured several tense moments that went viral last fall amid the controversy at Martin Luther King High School.
Meanwhile, AB Hernandez was the focus of a national media firestorm in May during the athlete’s run to a California girls’ track and field championship. The postseason meets that Hernandez competed in were met with protests by female athletes and their families, who often wore the “Save Girls Sports” T-shirts.
In July, the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the California Department of Education (CDE) and CIF for its policies that have allowed biological males to compete in girls’ sports across the state despite Trump signing an executive order in February to prohibit it.
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A bipartisan survey by the Public Policy Institute of California found a majority of California residents oppose biological male trans athletes competing in women’s sports.
That figure included more than 70% of the state’s school parents.
“Most Californians support requiring transgender athletes to compete on teams matching the sex they were assigned at birth,” the poll stated.
“Solid majorities of adults (65%) and likely voters (64%) support requiring that transgender athletes compete on teams that match the sex they were assigned at birth, not the gender they identify with. An overwhelming majority of public school parents (71%) support such a requirement.”
Hegseth fires Defense Intelligence Agency head Kruse in wake of Iran strike assessment
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has fired the head of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), which issued an assessment on U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, as well as other senior military officials.
Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse will no longer serve as head of the DIA, a senior defense official told Fox News Digital on Friday.
The firing came months after DIA details of the preliminary assessment of Operation Midnight Hammer were leaked to the news media. The assessment questioned the effectiveness of the strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.
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After the June strikes, President Donald Trump said Iran’s nuclear program had been “completely and fully obliterated.” However, the DIA found that the strikes only set Tehran back a few months.
In a news conference after the strikes, Hegseth tore into the media and accused the press of misrepresenting the facts.
“You, the press, specifically you, the press corps, because you cheer against Trump so hard,” he said. “It’s like in your DNA and in your blood to cheer against Trump because you want him not to be successful so bad. You have to cheer against the efficacy of these strikes. You have to hope maybe they weren’t effective.”
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“You want to call it destroyed, you want to call it defeated, you want to call it obliterated — choose your word. This was an historically successful attack,” he added.
In addition to Kruse, Hegseth removed Vice Adm. Nancy Lacore, the chief of the Navy Reserve, and Rear Adm. Milton Sands, a Navy SEAL officer who oversees Naval Special Warfare Command.
“Effective immediately, Rear Admiral Milton ‘Jamie’ Sands III will no longer serve as Commander, Naval Special Warfare Command,” a Navy official said. “Effective immediately, Vice Admiral Nancy Lacore will no longer serve as the Chief of Navy Reserve.”
Lacore led around 59,000 reserve component personnel in the Navy and the Marine Corps. As a Naval aviator, she has 1,300 flight hours in military aircraft and was commanding officer of the U.S. base in Djibouti before becoming Chief of the Navy Reserve. The reason she was fired is unknown.
Sands was a Navy SEAL who served in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He was the Chief of Staff for U.S. Special Operations Command, Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command Africa, and Commander of Naval Service Training Command. The reason he was fired is unknown.
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Trump has fired other military officials in recent months, including Air Force Gen. CQ Brown Jr. as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as well as the Navy’s top officer, the Air Force’s second highest-ranking officer, and the top lawyers for three military service branches.
King Charles, Queen Camilla battling ‘terrible’ issue at Sandringham Estate
A royal summer is being wrecked by some uninvited guests.
Queen Camilla revealed this week that Sandringham — the royal family’s Norfolk estate — is in the middle of a full-blown wasp invasion, calling it a “terrible” situation that’s disrupting life on the King’s private grounds.
The 78-year-old Queen made the remark during a solo appearance at the Ebor Festival on Aug. 21, where she opened a new facility at York Racecourse, according to Hello! Magazine.
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Camilla shared the frustrating update and admitted it’s not just Sandringham being stung. Her own bees at her private Wiltshire home are also causing trouble by “swarming.”
The royal sting operation comes just days after King Charles III himself issued a formal warning to visitors at Sandringham.
On Aug. 18, signs were posted near public areas of the estate that read: “Please be aware that wasp activity is currently high in this area. Thank you.”
Camilla is one of several beekeepers in the royal family.
Princess Kate Middleton’s bees are at Anmer Hall, in the corner of the gardens on the Sandringham estate, British royals expert, Hilary Fordwich, previously told Fox News Digital.
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Meghan Markle has also pursued the hobby, as she featured a beekeeping segment in her show, “With Love, Meghan.”
The wasp infestation is just the latest issue to hit the monarch’s Sandringham Estate. King Charles was also said to be “livid” over a potential shortage of pheasants, according to The Sun.
The shortage could affect the chances of a full shooting calendar this winter. It is known as one of the monarch’s favorite pastimes during the holiday season.
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“King Charles III is livid, frustrated and disappointed, reflecting both his deep personal attachment to the cherished family tradition and his broader commitment to his royal heritage,” British royal expert Hilary Fordwich previously told Fox News Digital.
“He’s also annoyed that the mishap reflects rather poorly on the management of Sandringham, which he inherited from his mother, Queen Elizabeth II,” she explained.
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“The shoot gathers his extended royal family and guests, reinforcing bonds while upholding a long-standing aristocratic tradition. The root of the problem is that Charles has always opposed importing birds from elsewhere, preferring to maintain the estate’s game population. The eco-friendly approach has failed.”
According to the outlet, the number of birds currently available has dropped. This may force Charles, who is battling an undisclosed form of cancer, to cancel the traditional Boxing Day shoot, which is described as a central part of the royal family’s holiday plans.
Fox News Digital reached out to Buckingham Palace for comment.
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California couple in custody after baby’s disappearance takes horrific turn
The parents of a missing 7-month-old Southern California child have been arrested on suspicion of murder after the child was falsely reported kidnapped, authorities said Friday.
Jake Haro, 32, and Rebecca Haro, 41, were taken into custody at their home in Cabazon, 90 miles east of Los Angeles, the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department said. The agency added that it would continue the ongoing search for Emmanuel Haro.
“The circumstances surrounding this investigation are tragic, and we will continue to search for Emmanuel,” San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus said. “I trust our justice system will hold the parents accountable.”
The child was reported missing on Aug. 14. His mother told investigators that she took her children to football practice with her husband before stopping at a Big 5 Sporting Goods store in Yucaipa to buy a mouthguard.
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Rebecca Haro said she was attacked while changing Emmanuel’s diaper in the parking lot, authorities said. She claimed that someone said “Hola” to her, after which everything “went blank.”
“I woke up on the floor and my son was gone,” she said in an interview last week with FOX Los Angeles.
Authorities said there was no security footage in the area at the time of the incident and that an Amber Alert was not issued due to the lack of suspect or vehicle descriptions, which did not meet the criteria for activation.
Over the weekend, investigators said the couple had stopped cooperating, adding that there were “inconsistencies” in the mother’s story.
“Multiple individuals, including the child’s parents, Jake and Rebecca Haro, were interviewed,” the department stated. “During questioning, inconsistencies were noted in Rebecca’s original statement, after which she chose not to continue the interview.”
After conducting “numerous” interviews and analyzing digital and electronic evidence, investigators determined a kidnapping never happened.
“It is believed Emmauel is deceased and the search to recover his remains is ongoing,” the sheriff’s office said.
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Footage posted to social media by the sheriff’s department shows both parents being led away from their home in handcuffs into law enforcement vehicles.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Vincent Hughes, an attorney for Jake Haro.
Jake Haro previously pleaded guilty to child cruelty charges in Riverside County in a separate case in 2018, Fox Los Angeles reported.
At the time of Friday’s arrest, he was on probation after he was convicted of those charges and jailed in 2023.
“He did not serve in state prison for four years as being reported. He reached that deal through a plea agreement,” Hughes said. “He acknowledged his role in that situation and there was more than one person convicted.”
The case immediately drew attention from advocacy groups, including the Uvalde Foundation for Kids, which initially offered a $5,000 reward for Emmanuel’s recovery. However, less than a day later, the foundation withdrew its support.
In a statement, the foundation said it was “cautiously optimistic” that news of Friday’s arrests “illustrates the tenacity and dedication” of investigators to find answers.
“Our foundation has suspected foul play from the very beginning and will now be reassessing how we might provide support and aide to the community at this time,” the foundation said in a statement. “First and foremost the focus will be on recovering Emmanuel. He deserves at least that much …”
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In another statement, Daniel Chapin, founder of the Uvalde Foundation For Kids, called for a full investigation into Emmanuel’s disappearance, including his grandmother.
“The grandmother’s involvement, or lack thereof, must be fully examined,” Chapin said. “We are calling on law enforcement to investigate every possible angle and person connected to this tragedy. The community deserves answers, and this precious child deserves justice. We will continue to advocate for Emmanuel until every person responsible is held accountable.”
Social media explodes after ‘unacceptable’ release of Abrego Garcia from custody
Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s release from custody is making waves on social media amid Immigration and Customs Enforcement being told they are not allowed to arrest him due to an order from a federal judge in Maryland.
“Activist liberal judges have attempted to obstruct our law enforcement every step of the way in removing the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens from our country,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem posted on X. Today, we reached a new low with this publicity hungry Maryland judge mandating this illegal alien who is a MS-13 gang member, human trafficker, serial domestic abuser, and child predator be allowed free.”
“By ordering this monster loose on America’s streets, this judge has shown a complete disregard for the safety of the American people. We will not stop fighting till this Salvadoran man faces justice and is OUT of our country,” she continued.
Abrego Garcia is on his way back to Maryland from Tennessee, and a U.S. Magistrate Judge ordered that if he is taken into ICE custody that he will have “access to his attorneys” in order to “prepare for trial in this case.”
‘LAWLESS AND INSANE’: TRUMP ADMIN READIES FOR FIGHT AFTER JUDGES BLOCK ABREGO GARCIA REMOVAL FOR NOW
Abrego Garica was first deported to El Salvador for being a suspected gang member, which caused a nationwide controversy that sparked visits to the Central American country, including by Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Maryland.
However, he ended up later facing charges in the U.S. for alleged human smuggling after a 2022 Tennessee traffic stop resurfaced.
“Abrego is reminded, as stated in the conditions of release appended hereto, that he must comply with any conditions of release, bond, or bail imposed by any other governmental agency, including, without limitation, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) or Department of Homeland Security,” Judge Barbara Holmes wrote on Friday. “Abrego is further reminded that, if he is taken into ICE custody, he is required by the conditions of his release to consent to being transported back to this district for further proceedings in this case.”
Those who disagreed with the order expressed their frustrations on social media.
“Abrego Garcia is a criminal illegal alien, wife-beater, and an MS-13 gang member facing serious charges of human smuggling,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital. “He will face justice for his crimes. It’s an insult to his victims that this left-wing magistrate intervened to put him back on the streets. Garcia will be subject to ankle monitoring to ensure the safety of the American public until further action can be taken.”
“THIS IS INSANE! Our justice system needs an OVERHAUL!” conservative podcaster Nick Sortor posted to X.
“This is why we can’t have nice things,” Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk replied.
FEDERAL PROSECUTORS TELL JUDGE THEY WILL DEPORT KILMAR ABREGO GARCIA TO A THIRD COUNTRY AFTER DETENTION
“This is UNACCEPTABLE!” a political commentator under the name of “Gunther Eagleman” posted.
“These federal judges are trying their best to fill our streets with dangerous illegal criminals. They are a disaster for our nation, and know nothing about justice,” one user posted.
While there was frustration on the right, some on the left cheered his release.
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“Finally!!! Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia has been released from TN custody and is on his way to reunite with his family in Maryland,” one user posted to X.
ABREGO GARCIA LAWYERS ASK US JUDGE TO ORDER RETURN TO MARYLAND AMID ONGOING CRIMINAL CASE
“Abrego Garcia has landed in the United States to face justice,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in June. “A grand jury in the Middle District of Tennessee returned a sealed indictment charging him with alien smuggling and conspiracy.”
His lawyers have maintained that the case is politically motivated.
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“A group of the most senior officials in the United States sought vengeance: they began a public campaign to punish Mr. Abrego for daring to fight back, culminating in the criminal investigation that led to the charges in this case,” his lawyers said in a filing on Tuesday.
“Rather than fix its mistake and return Mr. Abrego to the United States, the government fought back at every level of the federal court system. And at every level, Mr. Abrego won,” they added. “This case results from the government’s concerted effort to punish him for having the audacity to fight back, rather than accept a brutal injustice.”