FBI warns gangs in AOC’s district as locals protest: ‘We have infiltrated you’
EXCLUSIVE: NEW YORK – The FBI has warned it is getting ready to smash and dismantle the transnational gangs who have helped transform a busy commercial strip in Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s district into a crime-infested hot spot blighted by illegal prostitution, drugs, human trafficking and violence.
In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, Christopher Raia, the FBI’s assistant director in charge of the New York office, said he has deployed multiple squads to patrol the troubled two-mile strip along Roosevelt Avenue in Queens and said that agents are aggressively working with the NYPD to “cut off the head of the snake” in terms of the gangs’ hierarchy. The area is also represented by Rep. Grace Meng, a progressive Democrat like Ocasio-Cortez.
The news comes after local leaders repeated their calls for FBI Director Kash Patel to finally crush the ruthless gangs, as concerned residents hold weekly protests outside what they say are well-known brothels openly operating in the area, often disguised as beauty salons.
The immigrant-heavy neighborhood is often referred to as a red-light district and is also scarred by trash and unsanitary conditions, with illegal vendors selling unregulated food and suspected stolen goods.
LEADERS IN AOC’S ‘RED LIGHT’ DISTRICT PUSH FBI’S KASH PATEL TO END BROTHEL SCOURGE
PHOTOS: Swipe to see images of NYC ‘red light’ district
Earlier this summer, eight members of the 18th Street gang were arrested in a major FBI-led operation, accused of carrying out several brutal beatings and stabbings to maintain their dominance of the strip. The 18th Street gang began as a street crew in Los Angeles in the 1960s and is made up largely of Hispanic and Latino members.
“What happened in June was only the tip of the iceberg. We have only just begun out there,” Raia told Fox News Digital in a sit-down interview at the FBI’s field office in Manhattan. “We have infiltrated you. We are watching you. And someday down the line, you will go to jail.”
Raia, the bureau’s top official in New York, was appointed to his role in April and said he has made Roosevelt Avenue a top priority, with his mission molding into Patel’s wider strategy of “crushing” violent crime in major cities.
“One of the first letters I received was from the local officials in that area talking about the crime problem,” Raia said. “And so, to those local officials who sent us those letters again, we hear you. We are working relentlessly there to keep that community safe.”
“I hear you. The FBI hears you. Director Patel hears you… we are working around the clock to clean up that community.”
As well as the 18th Street gang, Raia said that several Asian gangs are also operating in the area.
“We’re getting a lot of intelligence about Asian gangs…and of course, you’ve got other neighborhood-based street gangs and different associates there that obviously we’re concerned about,” he said.
Some locals say that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and MS-13 operate there, too.
Raia, who previously served in Washington as a deputy assistant director overseeing counterterrorism, said gangs on Roosevelt Avenue are engaged in a wide spectrum of criminal activity, including armed robbery, assaults and sex trafficking, as well as narcotics and weapons trafficking.
“All of these gangs…they’re kind of involved in everything. You may have certain parts of one gang that’s involved in, say, prostitution, robberies, narcotics smuggling, and you may have another part of the gang that only does narcotics smuggling. It’s kind of a smorgasbord when it comes to these gangs.”
Raia said gangs are also profiting from prostitution and believes many of the women working along Roosevelt Avenue are trafficking victims.
“Obviously, there are plenty of sex workers who we know are victims there. We’re still kind of picking that apart, we’re peeling back that onion. We are looking at a human trafficking angle, we are looking at a prostitution angle,” Raia said.
WATCH: New York City block becomes open-air brothel with alleged prostitutes working in the open
AOC, PROGRESSIVES RIPPED FOR IGNORING ‘RED LIGHT’ DISTRICT AS PROSTITUTION, FILTHY STREETS RETURN
Meanwhile, a Queens grand jury recently indicted a 31-year-old woman on sex trafficking charges tied to at least two women, including one she allegedly brought from Mexico in 2022. Prosecutors say Valezka Echeverrias forced the victim into prostitution on Roosevelt Avenue for $800 a night and beat her when she failed to meet quotas. Echeverrias had already been indicted last year for allegedly forcing a transgender woman into prostitution and trying to extort another victim.
Fox News Digital witnessed at least 30 women appearing to solicit sex on one block on the strip earlier this year following Ocasio-Cortez’s town hall.
Earlier this week, police said a man was stabbed multiple times in the back as he rode the subway above Roosevelt Avenue, while two weeks ago a maniacal driver fatally mowed down a 16-year-old girl on the strip.
Raia, meanwhile, warned the gangs to brace for raids, which will come when the bureau is ready to pounce.
“There is a ton of work going on behind the scenes,” he said. “You won’t see us overtly until we’re getting ready to do a take-down of multiple members of the gang.”
One of the biggest frustrations for locals has been the sense that brothels linger for months and that suspects are arrested only to return to the streets. A massive 90-day police crackdown on crime in the area late last year put a dent in criminal activity, but that was short-lived, residents said.
Raia drew a sharp contrast with the FBI’s enforcement, noting that while NYPD cases often lead to quick arrests and lighter penalties, federal prosecutions allow the FBI to bring much tougher charges. Statutes covering racketeering, human trafficking, narcotics and weapons trafficking carry stiffer sentences and keep offenders behind bars longer.
For instance, the NYPD told Fox News Digital recently that its officers arrested 350 people so far this year for prostitution-related offenses in and around the beleaguered strip.
‘BODEGA BROTHEL’ NEAR SCHOOLS IN AOC’S RED-LIGHT DISTRICT SHUT DOWN WITHOUT HER HELP, LOCAL LEADERS SAY
“When the FBI gets involved in a case, we tend to attack what I would call the head of the snake. Our investigations are more complex; they take a little bit longer,” Raia said.
“But I think we can bring more resources and typically in the federal system as well, those penalties for those violent crimes tend to be much stiffer, much longer… A lot of these folks don’t get out pending trial…the penalties are just much more severe when you bring that federal hammer.”
Former Democratic state Sen. Hiram Monserrate, who has been organizing the weekly rallies against the brothels with his Restore Roosevelt Avenue Coalition and wrote to Patel, welcomed news of increased FBI enforcement.
PHOTOS: Swipe to see images of residents protesting, led by Former state Sen. Hiram Monserrate
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“Because of organized crime, we’ve become the Walmart of the illegal sex trade in New York City and a haven for criminal operations,” said Monserrate, a former police officer. He recalled the strip as a criminal hub in the 1990s before the NYPD cracked down, but said today’s wave of crime is unprecedented.
“We welcome the full and expansive participation of the FBI in investigating and ridding our community of the cartels and street gangs that have wreaked havoc here…It’s the only real option for a lasting solution that will bring safety and stability.”
WATCH: ‘Bodega brothel’ near school in AOC’s ‘red light’ district shut down
Meng also welcomed the news and said she has pressed for more federal resources.
“These include measures to prosecute human trafficking, combat violent crime and gangs and boost funding for state and local law enforcement,” Meng told Fox News Digital.
“I am also seeking federal money to support local initiatives, such as a request for a mobile command center. As I’ve said and continue to say, public safety and quality of life must be a top priority.”
Ocasio-Cortez’s office did not respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.
Steelers QB suffers injuries after being attacked in Ireland ahead of NFL game
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Skylar Thompson was reportedly robbed in Dublin, Ireland, and sustained minor injuries as the team prepared to play the Minnesota Vikings.
The incident occurred on Friday night, the NFL Network reported on Sunday. He’s reportedly doing OK.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM
“We are aware of a situation involving Skylar Thompson on Friday night in Dublin,” a Steelers spokesperson told the NFL Network. “We will have no further comment at this time as we are working with NFL security to gather more information regarding the incident.”
Thompson, 28, signed with the Steelers in January after spending some time with the Miami Dolphins. He was activated to the roster in March and earned the backup job to quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
JETS DC STEVE WILKS RESPONDS TO BAKER MAYFIELD’S ‘PERSONAL’ REMARKS
He was placed on injured reserve on Sept. 10 due to a hamstring injury. Thompson, Rodgers and Mason Rudolph are the quarterbacks on the roster.
Thompson has some experience as a starting quarterback in the league. He was thrust into the starting role in place of Tua Tagovailoa. He started two of the seven games he appeared in during the 2022 season and one of the three games he played last season. He’s also 0-1 in one playoff start.
He has 721 passing yards, one touchdown pass and three interceptions in 10 games.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The Steelers and Vikings are playing the first regular-season game in Dublin.
Harris claims 13 Marines died in Afghanistan while taking swipe at Biden in new book
Former Vice President Kamala Harris revealed in her new political memoir, “107 Days,” that she was stunned by then-President Joe Biden’s debate response about his administration’s botched withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, which left 13 service members dead.
Biden’s debate performance against Donald Trump in 2024 was viewed as an abject failure, with the Democratic president tripping over his words, losing his train of thought and displaying a raspy voice attributed to a cold during the event.
Harris argued that Biden whiffed an easy question on the military and omitted any acknowledgment of the 13 U.S. service members who died during the Afghanistan withdrawal. She also pointed to his claims that he was “the only president this century” and “this decade” who did not have any troops “dying anywhere in the world.”
KAMALA HARRIS REJECTS IDEA THAT BUNGLED ‘VIEW’ INTERVIEW WAS TIPPING POINT IN CAMPAIGN
Harris in her book, however, identified those who were killed as “13 marines,” — except it was not all Marines who died during the withdrawal. Eleven Marines, one soldier and one Navy corpsman were killed in a suicide bombing at the Kabul Airport’s Abbey Gate.
Harris explained in her book that Biden first faced a question on the economy during his debate in June 2024, which she said was rushed, with Biden showing “no light in his eyes, no expression in his voice.”
The next question was on the military, and included Biden omitting an acknowledgment of the horrific attack that plagued his administration as one of its greatest failures.
“He’s got so much material on this—Trump calling our fallen soldiers ‘suckers and losers,'” Harris wrote of what ran through her head when Biden was asked about his role as commander-in-chief.
KAMALA HARRIS BREAKS SILENCE ON BIDEN DROPOUT, ADMITS SHE HAS REGRETS ABOUT HER HANDLING OF SITUATION
“He managed to get off that line but had stepped on it earlier by saying no one had died in wars overseas on his watch, seeming to forget the thirteen marines who died in the bomb blast at the airport during the evacuation of Afghanistan. I’d been on Air Force Two when it happened, and we had to change our flight plan to get back to DC in the face of that tragedy. How could he overlook that day?” she wrote, expressing her surprise over the response, but misidentifying those who were all killed as members of the Marines Corps.
“I know his deep feelings for those men and women. It’s personal to him,” she added.
KAMALA HARRIS REVEALS WHAT BIDEN TOLD HER JUST BEFORE CRUCIAL DEBATE WITH TRUMP THAT LEFT HER ‘ANGRY’
The Biden administration repeatedly came under fire for its handling of the Afghan withdrawal. It was viewed as paving the road for adversaries such as Russia to invade Ukraine, as the U.S. looked weak on the international stage, critics such as Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said at the time. The Taliban regained control of Afghanistan upon the U.S.’ withdrawal.
The families who lost loved ones during the botched withdrawal previously slammed Biden and Harris for their deaths, including launching a scathing defense attack against Harris when she was running for president. Parents and other loved ones claimed that the “administration killed my son” and that they “have not seen any support from you or your administration.”
KAMALA HARRIS COMPLAINS ABOUT ‘IMPOSSIBLE’ LACK OF SUPPORT FROM BIDEN’S COMMS TEAM, INNER CIRCLE
Biden added fuel to the fire of the botched withdrawal criticisms when he appeared on a tarmac during a dignified transfer ceremony of those killed in 2021 and was seen looking at his watch.
Fox News Digital reached out to Harris’ office for comment on the section of the book, including a response as to why Harris stated the 13 service members were all identified as “marines,” but did not immediately receive responses. Biden’s office declined to comment.
Harris’ book, “107 Days,” hit store shelves Tuesday and reflects on the former vice president’s truncated presidential campaign cycle after Biden dropped out of the race amid mounting concern over his mental acuity.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Harris is set to go on tour promoting her book in cities such as New York, San Francisco and London.
Baltimore residents speak out about what needs to change amid rampant crime, poverty
BALTIMORE – While politicians debate how to combat crime in Baltimore, Maryland, local residents who spoke to Fox News Digital advocated for more affordable housing, recreational centers and accessible community resources.
Earlier this month, Gov. Wes Moore and Mayor Brandon Scott deployed the Maryland State Police and the Transportation Authority Police to partner with the Baltimore Police Department after President Donald Trump floated deploying the U.S. National Guard to crackdown on crime.
“We got so many kids getting into stuff and killing and on drugs, especially down here in this neighborhood on the Penn North,” Tasha, a young mother who spoke to Fox News Digital earlier this month while pushing her baby’s stroller through Baltimore’s Penn-North neighborhood, said.
Tasha said more kids need access to rec centers because “so many of them are getting hooked on drugs and caught up in things that they don’t got no business getting caught up in, all because they don’t have nothing else out here to do.”
BALTIMORE RESIDENTS REJECT NARRATIVE FROM CITY LEADERS ABOUT VIOLENT CRIME DROPPING: ‘NOT GOING LOW’
Fox News Digital spoke to more than a dozen Baltimore residents about how crime is impacting their community. While locals were split on whether Trump deploying the National Guard would curb crime, residents said safety concerns were top of mind.
‘BALTIMORE IS ON FIRE’: RESIDENTS REVEAL WHETHER TRUMP SHOULD SEND NATIONAL GUARD TO COMBAT VIOLENT CRIME
More than two dozen people were hospitalized in a mass drug overdose event in Penn-North in July. Meanwhile, three out of the seven homicides in Baltimore during August were in the nearby Park Heights, according to local reporting.
Between people selling and using drugs on the corner as one police car was parked just down the street, Tasha said that in Penn-North, “everything is back out here running like it didn’t even happen a month ago.”
Joseph, a Penn-North resident who spoke to Fox News Digital while a homeless woman slept on his front stoop, said there are abandoned houses and buildings on his street and “all over the place.”
But Trayvon, another Baltimore local, asked, “How can you fix a place and not fix the people?”
“If you fix that, all you’re going to do is make a prettier place to sell drugs,” he said.
Scott Graham, a Republican who campaigned in 2022 for Maryland’s House of Delegates to represent the Baltimore suburbs, said high property taxes “discourage people from coming in and buying” property.
“We have vacant housing all over the place, and people are reluctant to come in. That vacant housing is in areas where there’s high crime,” Graham said.
Moore and Scott have touted “historic reductions in violent crime” in Baltimore, pointing to 91 homicides and 218 nonfatal shootings in 2025, which Scott said are 29.5% and 21% drops.
But statistics compiled by the nonprofit research institute Just Facts show that Baltimore’s 2024 murder rate is still 6.8 times the average for all metropolitan areas in the nation and that if the murder rate stays the same as it was in 2024, roughly 1 in every 38 people in the city will have their lives cut short by murder at some point during the course of their lives.
The 17 Baltimore locals who spoke to Fox News Digital earlier this month were divided over whether deploying the National Guard is the solution to their crime concerns. While many worried it would raise tensions and inspire riots, others said the troops could serve as a crime deterrent.
“We just need to get back to where we used to be when we were coming up as kids, where everybody got together and everybody worked together, and they moved people off the blocks, and they made the clean blocks, and they did all of those things,” Ronette, a Baltimore resident, said. “Our city just got to a point where we just, it’s everybody for their self. Nobody works together.”
Trump signed a memorandum this month establishing a task force to address crime in Memphis, Tennessee, similar to his ongoing crime crackdown in Washington, D.C.
He said the effort includes deployment of the National Guard, the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Last month, Trump mobilized 800 D.C. National Guard troops to reduce crime in the nation’s capital. More National Guard troops from Ohio, West Virginia, South Carolina, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee were dispatched to support the crime crackdown.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
In addition to Baltimore, Trump has also floated deploying troops to Chicago and Oakland, but the plans have been met with resistance by Democrats.
FBI boss Patel clarifies Jan 6 roles of 274 agents, says Wray hid truth from Congress
EXCLUSIVE: The FBI responded on Saturday to a report that 274 plainclothes agents were at the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, clarifying the role of bureau personnel while still blasting former Director Christopher Wray.
While the agents were on hand, they were sent in after the riot had begun to try to control the unruly crowd, officials told Fox News Digital. That is not the proper role of FBI agents, and Wray was not forthcoming about what happened when he testified numerous times on Capitol Hill, Director Kash Patel said.
“Agents were sent into a crowd control mission after the riot was declared by Metro Police – something that goes against FBI standards,” Patel told Fox News Digital. “This was the failure of a corrupt leadership that lied to Congress and to the American people about what really happened.”
He added, “Thanks to agents coming forward, we are now uncovering the truth. We are fully committed to transparency, and justice and accountability continues with this FBI.”
There’s no indication any FBI agents were involved in any events related to Trump’s speech on the morning of Jan. 6 at the Ellipse, an FBI official told Fox News Digital, adding that Wray should have disclosed that agents were there when he was asked by congressional leaders.
FBI’S KASH PATEL VOWS ‘DEFINITIVE ANSWER’ ON TOP JAN 6 QUESTION IS ‘COMING’
President Donald Trump, citing a report that the agents were in the crowd which did not make clear their mission, said earlier that Wray, “has some major explaining to do.”
“It was just revealed that the FBI had secretly placed, against all Rules, Regulations, Protocols, and Standards, 274 FBI Agents into the Crowd just prior to, and during, the January 6th Hoax,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Saturday afternoon following a report from The Blaze, revealing the number of agents that were there.
Trump added, “This is different from what Director Christopher Wray stated, over and over again! That’s right, as it now turns out, FBI Agents were at, and in, the January 6th Protest, probably acting as Agitators and Insurrectionists, but certainly not as ‘Law Enforcement Officials.’”
The president said he wanted to know each officer’s identity and what they were doing at the U.S. Capitol.
“Many Great American Patriots were made to pay a very big price only for the love of their Country,” he said, referring to Trump supporters who faced charges for their involvement on Jan. 6.
Trump pardoned or commuted the sentences of every person charged for involvement on Jan. 6 after he took office this year.
DOJ INSPECTOR GENERAL DOES NOT DENY FBI INFORMANTS WERE AMONG JAN. 6 CROWD
He concluded, “I owe this investigation of ‘Dirty Cops and Crooked Politicians’ to them! Christopher Wray, the then Director of the FBI, has some major explaining to do. That’s two in a row, Comey and Wray, who got caught LYING, with our Great Country at stake. WE CAN NEVER LET THIS HAPPEN TO AMERICA AGAIN!”
Citing a senior congressional source, the Blaze report said that the number of agents wasn’t “necessarily a surprise” because the FBI often “embeds countersurveillance personnel at large events.”
Wray told a House Committee on Nov. 15, 2023, “If you are asking if the violence at the Capitol was part of some operation orchestrated by FBI sources or agents, the answer is no,” but he wouldn’t disclose if any agents or sources were embedded within the crowd.
The 274 agents also includes those who were responding to the pipe bombs placed near the Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee headquarters the night before Jan. 6, according to Politico.
Trump nominated Wray as FBI director in 2017 after he fired former FBI director James Comey, who was just indicted by a grand jury this week for allegedly making false statements to Congress.
FBI AGENTS ACROSS THE COUNTRY ARE TOLD TO RESIGN, RETIRE OR BE FIRED
A report released last December by Justice Department Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz said: “We found no evidence in the materials we reviewed or the testimony we received showing or suggesting that the FBI had undercover employees in the various protest crowds, or at the Capitol, on January 6,” although he acknowledged there were 26 paid informants, but only three of them were assigned by the FBI to be there.
The report also said that FBI personnel were sent to the Capitol at the request of overwhelmed Capitol Police to help with crowd control.
Horowitz said that none of the informants were allowed to incite the crowd, break the law or enter the U.S. Capitol.
In its reporting, Blaze noted that there may have been confusion regarding “plainclothes” and “undercover,” meaning both the inspector general and the FBI could be telling the truth.
Many of the agents weren’t happy to have been sent to the Capitol to do crowd control, another official told Fox News Digital. It was a chaotic scene with no pre-planning that contradicted the agency’s original plan to not get involved in the event. The official said that agents are not trained to do crowd control.
The first agents arrived at the Capitol around 2:30 p.m. — there’s no evidence there were any there before a riot was declared — and agents continued to arrive after that, the official added.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Wray had testified before Congress prior to the inspector general’s report being released in December, but Patel called out Wray for deflecting and giving a “D.C. answer” when pressed by lawmakers.
“Why it took a ton of time and questioning in Congress for the director to get that point is what I’m trying to eliminate from the FBI,” Patel said. “If Congress asks you a question under oath, whether or not there were sources in [or] around Jan. 6th at the Capitol, you as the director of the FBI need to know that and not deflect and give a D.C. answer. You have to be prepared for that.”
Man arrested after on-camera TV confession: ‘I did my duty to my parents’
An upstate New York man confessed in a TV interview on Thursday that he killed his parents and buried their bodies in their backyard nearly a decade ago, authorities said.
Lorenz Kraus, 53, made the shocking on-camera confession to CBS6 in Albany a day after police say they recovered two bodies from the home in the city. Police were initially investigating why Kraus’ parents, Franz and Theresia Kraus, were still receiving Social Security payments despite not having been seen or heard from in years.
Kraus sat for a 30-minute interview with news anchor Greg Floyd and was initially reluctant to directly say he had killed his parents in 2017. Several minutes into the interview, Kraus made the stunning admission.
“They knew that this was it for them, that they were perishing at your hand?” news anchor Greg Floyd asked Kraus.
JOSEPH NASO, ‘ALPHABET KILLER,’ PAID TWISTED HOMAGE TO EXECUTED ‘RED LIGHT BANDIT’: INVESTIGATOR
“Yes,” said Kraus. “And it was so quick.”
Kraus described deaths as mercy killings for aging parents because their health was declining. Kraus said his parents did not ask to be killed but “they knew they were going downhill.”
“I did my duty to my parents,” Kraus said. “My concern for their misery was paramount.”
Kraus did not say that his parents had terminal illnesses, telling Floyd that his mother had been injured after a fall while crossing a road, and that cataract surgery left his father unable to drive.
DNA EVIDENCE CRACKS COLD CASE, CONNECTS DEAD SUSPECT TO MURDERS OF 4 TEENS AT AUSTIN YOGURT SHOP
Floyd asked Kraus about the details regarding his parents’ deaths.
“You suffocated your parents?” Floyd asked Kraus.
“Yeah,” Kraus replied.
Kraus said he killed his father first, “and after he died, my mother put her head on his chest, and she was there for a few hours, and then I finished her.”
Kraus was arrested moments after he left the television studio and was charged with two counts of murder and two counts of concealment of a human corpse.
Kraus appeared at a brief court hearing on Friday. A public defender entered a not guilty plea on behalf of Kraus, who did not speak during the hearing.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The initial financial crimes investigation that led to the discovery of the bodies found that Kraus had been collecting his parents’ social security benefits and using the funds for his own personal use, according to police.
Country star couple credits ‘value system’ as key to lasting 12-year marriage
Jessie James Decker and her husband, Eric Decker, credit their lasting marriage to a shared “value system.”
During a recent interview with Fox News Digital, the couple spoke about their experience filming the new season of “Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test,” and how participating in the show made their marriage stronger.
“I think that experience, when it was all said and done, we had one of the best dates and nights of our entire marriage,” Jessie explained. “We had a layover in London, and we went to dinner, and we, like, got to lay in a bed and I just feel like we laid there looking at each other, and it was just such a beautiful night.”
She continued, “We went through something really hard together, and it really does bring you closer together. We were just so grateful to be laying in that bed together.”
HARRISON FORD, ON THIRD MARRIAGE, SAYS ‘OLD PEOPLE CAN LOVE TOO’ AS HE SHARES WHAT HE’S LEARNED
The couple has been together for about 15 years, married for just over 12, and share four children: Vivianne, 11; Eric “Bubby,” 10; Forrest, 7; and Denver, 1.
When it comes to the key to their successful marriage, both Eric and Jessie joked living in Nashville is their secret, before Eric credited their shared “value system” as the real secret.
WATCH: JESSIE JAMES DECKER AND HER HUSBAND SHARE THE SECRET BEHIND THEIR LONG-LASTING MARRIAGE
“I think, obviously, we’re rooted in our value system where we have four kids,” he said. “We do love the community we raise our kids in. We take time to just be home and, in a sense, be with our family, that grounds us.”
Jessie agreed, adding, “I think we just view the world the same way.”
“I think, you know, we had a strong foundation to begin with, and we’re aligned on all of our views of just life in general. I think that you need to have that in your marriage. You need that foundation of being on the same page, you know?” she said. “The way you raise your children, the way, like, you want to handle money, everything.”
The couple are currently appear together on season three of the FOX series, which they agreed was “the toughest task,” but also “fulfilling” and full of lessons.
WATCH: JESSIE JAMES DECKER AND HER HUSBAND SUPPORTED EACH OTHER WHILE COMPETING ON FOX’S ‘SPECIAL FORCES’ TOGETHER
Being able to do the show together provided a great source of support, with Jessie explaining that even though they were separated during a lot of the challenges, they shared an unspoken language in which they were “able to look at each other from wherever” and send “some sort of support signal.”
LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
“Well, I think I saw a lot of grit and tenacity come out of her. And this is an environment we have not put ourselves in,” Eric said about experiencing the show together. “So just to be able to kind of see her thrive in that was really special. And then to be in, again, the barracks with the cots and heavy bags and the crappy food, that was unusual that we haven’t done that. And so we kind of were going through it together. I think just naturally that’s a bond.”
He continued, “But as we go through these team activities. Like she said, it’s just like a look. It’s like, okay, maybe it’s a quick tap in the back or it’s a quick hug if we can sneak one in. It’s all you need to kind of regroup, rebalance yourself to know that, listen, my person’s here, this sucks, but I got you, and you got me, so let’s go.”
Jessie explained she was “grateful” to be separated from Eric during the challenges as she “never wanted him to feel like he had to look out for me or worry about me,” but was always happy to reconnect with him each night in their bunks and be able to check in.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER
Following their time on the show, both Jessie and Eric say they walked away with a stronger appreciation for the military. While she’s always been “super grateful” for the military, Jessie explained her appreciation has gone up a level, saying, “seeing what these men and women have done for our country, no one should ever complain ever again.”
WATCH: JESSIE JAMES DECKER’S ‘GRATITUDE FOR THE MILITARY’ LEVELED UP AFTER COMPETING ON FOX’S ‘SPECIAL FORCES’
“Yeah, I think just obviously the sacrifice they make, living in harsh conditions like that, maybe you just appreciate what you have on a daily basis,” Eric added. “You know, when the little things seem stressful, it’s like, it really is. It feels silly. It’s a small thing, yeah. It’s insignificant to what they go through and give us our freedom. And just also, you know how proud it’s just to be an American and have access to everything.”
This season of the show also features “Sister Wives” star Kody Brown, “Real Housewives of New Jersey” stars Teresa and Gia Giudice and Jussie Smollett.
“Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test” premiered Sept. 25 on FOX.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Royal butler reveals why palace staff were ‘nervous’ around Prince Philip
Prince Philip was known for firing off swear-filled remarks — and palace staff quickly learned to keep up.
Grant Harrold, King Charles III’s former butler, has written a memoir, “The Royal Butler: My Remarkable Life in Royal Service.” In it, the etiquette expert described how he overheard “a few choice words” from the late Duke of Edinburgh at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding in 2018.
“Once all the formalities were over, we watched as the happy couple, and then the other members of the royal family, filed out of the chapel,” Harrold wrote. “When Prince Philip came out, he turned to the queen and said, ‘Thank f— that’s over.’”
PRINCE HARRY AND MEGHAN MARKLE’S WEDDING DAY SPARKED PROFANE REACTION FROM PRINCE PHILIP: BOOK
Archewell, which handles the office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, told Fox News Digital they had no comment.
Harrold told Fox News Digital it wasn’t the first time Queen Elizabeth II’s husband was blunt.
“One thing I became very aware of was that he said it as it was,” Harrold said. “He didn’t hold back. He was well known for using his alternative words, let’s put it that way. As I mentioned regarding his comment, when he came out of the chapel, that was what I had witnessed over the years. That’s how he was.”
WATCH: PRINCE PHILIP WAS AN OUTSPOKEN ROYAL WHO NEVER HELD BACK: BUTLER
Harrold worked for King Charles III from 2004 to 2011. During that time, he served dinners for Philip.
“He would come out with these classic lines and then follow up with … a swear word or something,” Harrold said. “I always remember this one time … I think I was cleaning up after breakfast in the dining room. I looked outside and saw this gentleman walking around. Immediately, I recognized it was Prince Philip. … I went to one of the other butlers and said, ‘Should we go out and see if he needs anything?’ They all looked at me and said, ‘No!’ And I said, ‘Why?’ They all continued, ‘No, no, no!’”
“I think they were a bit nervous of him,” Harrold said with a chuckle. “He was blunt … he wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea, if I can say that. … But I adored Prince Philip. That’s what I liked about him. I liked the fact that he didn’t suffer fools, and he did speak his mind.”
“The household’s a big organization. There are a lot of people telling you what to do, where to go, your schedules, who you’re meeting, who you’re speaking to, this car’s going to get you there, this helicopter’s going to do this. Normally, the royals just go with it. But Philip would be like, ‘Why?’”
“He didn’t mince his words,” Harrold said. “If he swore at you, he swore at you. But people liked it when he swore at you. … If he swore at you, that was you getting to see the real Prince Philip, which many people liked.”
British broadcaster and photographer Helena Chard shared a similar sentiment.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER
“There was never a dull moment when Prince Philip took center stage,” Chard told Fox News Digital.
“Perpetually in hot water over his inappropriate comments, Prince Philip was a hoot to be around. With a permanent glint in his eye, Philip was the rock that kept Queen Elizabeth smiling. Although on one occasion she was horrified when a family member remarked on her flawless complexion and Philip piped up, ‘Yes, and she’s like that all over.’”
“As a photographer, I suffered the wrath of Prince Philip’s tongue,” Chard recalled. “An impatient Philip peered at me and quipped, ‘Oh no, not you again.’ I didn’t take it personally. It actually broke the ice, and I clinched that winning shot.”
Famously, in 2015, Philip attended an event in London to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain between the Royal Air Force and the German Luftwaffe. On video, a frustrated Philip was heard telling a photographer, “Just take the f—–g picture!”
British royals expert Hilary Fordwich told Fox News Digital the U.K. press loved capturing the one-liners Philip was bound to make at royal engagements.
“Regarding his daughter Princess Anne’s love for horses, he said in the 1970s, ‘If it doesn’t fart or eat hay, she isn’t interested,’” Fordwich said. “In the 1980s, he remarked about the Duke and Duchess of York’s house that ‘it looks like a tart’s bedroom.’”
LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
During the recession in 1981, Philip was reported to have said, ‘Everybody was saying we must have more leisure. Now they are complaining they are unemployed.’”
Philip developed a reputation for being impatient, demanding and blunt to the point of rudeness, The Associated Press reported. The outlet said many criticized his behavior, labeling it racist, sexist, or out of touch.
In 1995, for example, he asked a Scottish driving instructor, “How do you keep the natives off the booze long enough to pass the test?” Seven years later in Australia, while visiting Aboriginal people with the queen, he asked, “Do you still throw spears at each other?” On a visit to a military barracks, he asked a sea cadet instructor if she worked in a strip club.
Fordwich noted that in 1986, during a state visit to China, Philip reportedly told a British student, “If you stay here much longer, you will go home with slitty eyes.”
In 1994, while visiting the Cayman Islands, he also reportedly said, “Aren’t most of you descended from pirates?”
Royal expert Ian Pelham Turner previously told Fox News Digital he was familiar with Philip’s blistering words.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“There are many expletives that could describe Philip, who was known for his outspoken views on anyone who would care to listen,” Turner said. “I used to be a royal photographer. Whenever I was given that task, I would check my life insurance, as he could be dangerous at times, especially when he was on his horse and carriage.”
“More than once, he would … full charge towards me,” he recalled. “Once I had to dive into a thorn bush to get out of his way, and he muttered a similar oath to me, even though I was doing his carriage championships a massive favor. In reality, he was my least popular royal to work with. He led his own life. … So, swearing after [Meghan and Harry’s] wedding is just par for a man who thought he could get away with his behavior.”
Philip spent more than seven decades supporting his wife, England’s longest-reigning monarch. In his lifetime, he fulfilled more than 20,000 royal engagements to promote British interests at home and abroad. He died in 2021 at age 99.
Americans could pay even more for coffee as global issues impact prices
Americans are paying more for their coffee as prices for the caffeinated commodity are near record levels due to global production headwinds and higher costs from imported coffee exposed to tariffs.
The most recent edition of the consumer price index (CPI) released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that coffee prices were up 20.9% from a year ago in August and rose 3.6% on a monthly basis. That’s the highest annual price gain reported in the data series since a 21.2% reading in July 2011, and topped the 20.3% reading in July 2022 amid the COVID inflation surge.
Prices for subgroups of coffee rose to a similar degree, with the BLS reporting that roasted coffee prices were up 21.7% year-over-year and 4.1% on a monthly basis in August, while the cost of instant coffee was up 20.1% from a year ago and 4.9% from the prior month.
The U.S. is heavily reliant on imported coffee and lacks capacity for large-scale domestic production, with less than 1% of Americans’ coffee produced in the United States. That leaves little opportunity to increase the domestic supply at a time when prices have risen over the past year due to global production challenges that are now being compounded by tariffs hitting imported coffee.
STARBUCKS CEO SAYS COFFEE CHAIN IS ‘AHEAD OF SCHEDULE’ IN MAJOR TURNAROUND EFFORT AFTER ONE YEAR
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations noted that global coffee prices rose 38.8% in 2024 from the prior year due to supply disruptions, including inclement weather in Vietnam, Indonesia and Brazil causing prices to rise. Brazil and Vietnam account for about half of global coffee production, per the FAO.
Brazil is continuing to experience dry weather that could impact this year’s coffee production, and it comes as the Trump administration has raised tariffs on coffee imports. The White House imposed a flat 10% tariff on imports in April, which coffee was exposed to, and then moved forward with a 50% tariff on imports from Brazil at the end of July.
Scott Lincicome, Cato Institute VP of general economics and trade, told FOX Business the two main factors driving the rise in the price of coffee are those global production factors and tariffs.
TRUMP TARIFFS HAUL OVER $200B IN REVENUES AS SUPREME COURT WEIGHS CHALLENGE TO LEGALITY
He said, “If you look at what coffee prices have done over the last few months, they’ve definitely done a bit of a stair step – they spiked, and then they flattened a bit, and then they’ve gone up again. And it’s that second one where you’re really talking about a tariff effect.”
“That’s inevitable when you raise taxes on a product that simply can’t be made in the United States and for which there is what we call inelastic demand, meaning: I’m a coffee addict, there are a lot of coffee addicts, we are not going to reduce our consumption much if prices go up,” Lincicome explained.
“When you have that situation, there is no need for global coffee growers to worry about whether they’re charging too much or whatever, they can just pass that on to the consumer and I think that appears to be what’s going on,” he added.
TRUMP GOES ALL-IN: TARIFFS UP TO 100% ON FOREIGN DRUGS, HEAVY TRUCKS AND HOME GOODS
Lincicome noted the Trump administration recently issued an executive order indicating that the U.S. would be willing to zero out tariffs on products that the president determines aren’t available in the U.S. in sufficient quantities as part of trade agreements.
“The problem that you get into with blanket tariffs is that if you just apply tariffs indiscriminately, you end up catching a lot of products that it doesn’t make any sense to apply tariffs to those things. But there’s a problem you get into the minute you recognize that, then you have to start making exceptions and carveouts, and then people come to Washington and they claim more,” he explained.
GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE