Blue state folds to ICE after convicted illegal immigrant’s early release plans exposed
The state of California plans to comply with Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s detainer after an illegal immigrant convicted of vehicular manslaughter was set to be released on July 19 – over six years before his full sentence is up.
Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press office announced he would be brought into federal custody ahead of the July release date. Fox News reported earlier that the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation tends to follow ICE detainer orders, but there were concerns that the state’s sanctuary policies could have played a role in letting him be released back into the community.
“After being deported in 2013, this individual unlawfully re-entered the US & committed heinous crimes. A GOP DA then gave him a plea deal instead of pursuing 2nd-degree murder. CDCR will again coordinate with ICE—as they have w/ 10,000+ inmates—to transfer him before release,” the governor’s press account tweeted on Wednesday afternoon.
EXCLUSIVE: FOX TOURS ICE DETENTION FACILITY; MANAGER HOPES TO ‘DISPEL’ ‘FALSE NARRATIVES’
Oscar Eduardo Ortega-Anguiano was driving drunk, high, and speeding at nearly 100mph on the 405 freeway in Orange County in November 2021, when he crashed into a car being driven by a young couple, 19-year-old Anya Varfolomeev and Nicholay Osokin, which killed them both as they burned alive. In spring 2022, he was convicted of two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.
Fox News reported on Wednesday morning that Ortega-Anguiano will be released by the California state government on July 19 after serving just 3.5 years, and the victim’s families were notified on Easter Sunday.
After the report came out, the Department of Justice said they would be prosecuting Ortega-Anguiano on federal charges in order to keep him behind bars longer.
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CONVICTED OF KILLING TEENS IN HIGH-SPEED CRASH TO BE RELEASED EARLY: ‘IT’S DISGUSTING’
“My office has filed a felony immigration charge against this defendant. He faces up to 20 years in federal prison if convicted for 8 USC 1326. If the State of California will not seek the full measure of justice against this individual, the [DOJ] will,” Bill Essayli, United States Attorney for the Central District of California, tweeted.
Border czar Tom Homan said ICE planned on quickly arresting and deporting him if he was released by the Golden State.
“I will work with [Homeland Security] Secretary Noem on this case, and I guarantee you, if they don’t honor the detainer, we’ll have ICE agents outside that facility to take custody of this individual and deport him,” Homan said Wednesday on “America’s Newsroom.”
TOP TRUMP OFFICIALS FILE CHARGES AGAINST ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT AFTER FOX NEWS EXPOSES EARLY RELEASE PLANS
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ICE told Fox News that he had entered the country illegally twice before and had a prior criminal background before the two teens were killed in the fatal crash.
“His previous criminal convictions include burglary in 2005; vehicle theft in 2007; and battery on spouse with kidnapping in 2014,” ICE stated.
“An immigration judge ordered Ortega removed Nov. 3, 2014; he filed several unsuccessful appeals and was taken into ICE custody Dec. 2, 2016, and removed to Mexico the same day. Ortega attempted to reenter the United States Feb. 2, 2018, near Otay Mesa, California by presenting a counterfeit document; he was paroled into the U.S. pending criminal prosecution for illegal reentry after removal. An immigration official issued Ortega an expedited removal order and removed him June 1, 2018, to Mexico; after his latest removal, he again illegally reentered the U.S. on an unknown date and location. ICE issued a detainer with the Orange County Jail, California, Nov. 27, 2021, where he was being held on vehicular manslaughter charges at the time,” the statement continued.
Tren de Aragua’s explosion in US ‘likely’ facilitated by Venezuelan officials, FBI says
EXCLUSIVE: The FBI assesses that some Venezuelan government officials “likely facilitate” the migration of members of the violent gang Tren de Aragua from Venezuela to the United States to advance the Maduro regime’s objective of undermining public safety in the U.S., Fox News Digital has learned.
A senior administration official exclusively shared with Fox News Digital Wednesday unclassified portions of the FBI’s classified intelligence assessment of the Venezuelan government’s relationship with Tren de Aragua.
TRUMP ISSUES WARNING TO MADURO AS VENEZUELAN LEADER ENTERS THIRD TERM, US EXPANDS SANCTIONS
President Donald Trump, upon taking office, designated Tren de Aragua, as well as several other migrant gangs present throughout the U.S., as a foreign terrorist organization.
Fox News Digital has learned that the FBI assesses that some Venezuelan government officials are likely using Tren de Aragua members as proxies for the Maduro regime in an effort to destabilize Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Colombia and the United States. The official said the FBI assesses that this demonstrates Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s willingness to violate the territorial sovereignty of Venezuela’s neighbors to advance his regime’s policies.
The FBI assesses that in the next six to 18 months, Venezuelan government officials likely will attempt to leverage Tren de Aragua members in the United States as proxy actors to threaten, abduct and kill members of the Venezuelan diaspora in the United States who are vocal critics of Maduro and his regime.
The FBI expects an expansion of similar activities throughout South America.
TRUMP ADMIN FILES FIRST RACKETEERING CHARGES AGAINST MASSIVE MIGRANT TERRORIST GROUP PRESENT IN US
“These findings should shock Americans but not the law enforcement community,” a senior administration official told Fox News Digital. “They reflect the sentiments of numerous other intelligence assessments across multiple agencies.”
Any further details or specific examples remain classified.
“Nicholas Maduro is a Marxist dictator who hijacked a once-prosperous Venezuela and brought in nothing but total economic collapse and gang takeover,” the official said. “He crumbled Caracas, now overrun with drugs and violence, and wants to do the same across the United States by sending his most violent and dangerous criminals into our communities.”
The Venezuelan leader, deemed a “dictator” by American lawmakers, is set to hold office until 2031.
“The Trump administration will continue to use every authority in our power to make sure these TdA terrorists, who are some of the worst in the world, are kept out of our country,” the U.S. official said. “The American people voted overwhelmingly to make America safe again, and that is exactly what we will do.”
Fox News Digital also spoke to an official from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence Wednesday, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The ODNI official told Fox News Digital that the FBI’s assessment is based on its domestic law enforcement operations against Tren de Aragua in America.
“This information and intelligence are the most robust and accurate given their focus on domestic security and crimes, versus limited intelligence assessments from other intelligence elements who by law focus solely on foreign intelligence collection and who, until President Trump took office, had very limited resources focused on TdA,” the official said.
Meanwhile, the ODNI official briefed Fox News Digital on unclassified information from its assessment on Tren de Aragua’s relationship with the Venezuelan government.
The official said ODNI assesses that Tren de Aragua leaders historically have been “located and broadly benefited from conditions in Venezuela created by the Venezuelan government.”
“The Venezuelan government gives sanctuary to TdA, aiding and abetting their crimes and terrorist activities against the United States by enabling them to thrive,” the ODNI told Fox News Digital.
The official said that unlike most countries, the Maduro regime has “been eager to welcome violent TdA criminals back to Venezuela, providing further proof they see them as allies. Again, this mirrors the behavior of the Taliban in Afghanistan and other Middle Eastern failed states like Syria and Libya that have welcomed terrorists with open arms.”
The Associated Press recently reported on a classified assessment from the National Intelligence Council, citing anonymous sources, that its assessment found no coordination between Tren de Aragua and the Venezuelan government.
But Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard blasted the report, saying the officials who illegally shared the classified information weaponized the intelligence to undermine Trump.
“The weaponization of intelligence to undermine the President’s agenda is an assault on democracy,” Gabbard said. “Those behind this illegal leak of classified intelligence, twisted and manipulated to convey the exact opposite finding, will be accountable under the full force of the law.”
The ODNI official said the unclassified assessment information shared with Fox News Digital Wednesday “are facts based on intelligence that the illegal leakers and propaganda media conveniently did not include because it gets in the way of their biased narrative and attempt to deceive the American people.”
The release of the unclassified information to Fox News Digital comes after the Trump administration filed its first racketeering charges — also known as RICO charges, which include conspiring to commit murder, sex-trafficking, assault, dealing drugs and more — against Tren de Aragua members and its associates in New York Tuesday.
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That case was part of “Operation Take Back America,” which it said is a “nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Justice Department to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.”
The charges filed against 27 alleged current and former Tren de Aragua members include human smuggling, sex trafficking and murder.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York said that 21 of the 27 alleged gang members and associates are currently in federal custody. The statement said that 16 were already in federal criminal, immigration or state custody, and five were arrested in the past couple of days.
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U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi commented on the RICO charges, saying: “Today’s indictments and arrests span three states and will devastate TdA’s infrastructure as we work to completely dismantle and purge this organization from our country.”
“Tren de Aragua is not just a street gang,” said Bondi. “It is a highly structured terrorist organization that has destroyed American families with brutal violence, engaged in human trafficking, and spread deadly drugs through our communities.”
Michelle Obama discloses another reason why she didn’t attend Trump’s inauguration
Former first lady Michelle Obama revealed another reason why she skipped President Donald Trump’s second inauguration, and this time it had to do with her wardrobe.
“It started with not having anything to wear,” Obama said in a Monday episode of her podcast, “IMO with Michelle Obama & Craig Robinson.”
“I mean, I had affirmatively, cause I’m always prepared for any funeral, anything,” Obama added. “I walk around with the right dress, I travel with clothes just in case something pops off. So I was like, if I’m not going to do this thing, I got to tell my team, I don’t even want to have a dress ready, right? Because it’s so easy to just say, let me do the right thing.”
MICHELLE OBAMA’S ‘IMO’ PODCAST RANKS 34TH ON SPOTIFY PODCASTS CHART
Before the inauguration, former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama shared a statement with the Associated Press confirming the former first lady would not attend the January 20 event.
“Former President Barack Obama is confirmed to attend the 60th Inaugural Ceremonies,” the statement read. “Former first lady Michelle Obama will not attend the upcoming inauguration.”
Michelle Obama also did not attend former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral on January 9.
During the conversation with Robinson, her brother, and actor Taraji P. Henson, Obama recognized the speculation about her marriage being in trouble as the reason why she skipped the inauguration.
“My decision to skip the inauguration, what people don’t realize, or my decision to make choices at the beginning of this year that suited me were met with such ridicule and criticism,” she said. “People couldn’t believe that I was saying no for any other reason, that they had to assume that my marriage was falling apart, you know?”
OBAMAS APPEAR TO LOSE INFLUENCE AMONG DEMOCRATS: ‘COULDN’T MOVE THE NEEDLE’
Henson praised Obama’s decision not to attend, saying that women are “shock absorbers.”
“You’ve had to be shock absorbers for your husband, for your children, for your mom, for family, your loved ones, because of where you were sitting in the public eye,” Henson said. “That’s not fair to you. When do you ever get to live for you? I applaud you. I’m happy that you are taking care of yourself in the way that you need to.”
Obama said that now she is trying to teach her daughters Sasha and Malia, “the art of saying no.”
“I want them to start practicing now the art of saying no, because I see it in them — pleasing, excelling, not wanting to take anything for granted, always showing gratitude,” Obama said. “Feeling like they’re enough right now. It’s a practice. It’s a muscle that you have to build. Because if you don’t constantly build it, you don’t develop it.”
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She also swatted down the divorce rumors during an April 9 podcast conversation on Sophia Bush’s “Work in Progress” podcast, saying that skipping the inauguration had nothing to do with her marriage.
The former first lady said the decision not to attend was a simple one.
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“I’m here really trying to own my life and intentionally practice making the choice that was right for me,” Obama said. “And it took everything in my power to not do the thing that was perceived as right, but do the things that was right for me — that was a hard thing for me to do.”
American lawmakers fire back at China’s ‘absurd’ claim on the world stage
UNITED NATIONS — China accused the U.S. of using tariffs to bully other nations as it led a United Nations Security Council Arria-formula meeting on “The Impact of Unilateralism and Bullying Practices on International Relations.”
“Under the guise of reciprocity and fairness, the U.S. is playing a zero-sum game, which is essentially about subverting the existing international economic and trade order by means of tariffs, putting U.S. interests above the common good of the international community and advancing hegemonic ambitions of the U.S. at the cost of the legitimate interest of all countries,” Chinese U.N. Ambassador Fu Cong said in his opening remarks.
Fu also praised China for its “decisive countermeasures” after facing what he described as “U.S. abuse of tariffs.”
A State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the meeting was “a waste of U.N. Security Council members’ time.” The spokesperson also slammed the meeting as an example of China’s manipulation of “the multilateral system to support its economic, political, and security interests.”
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TRUMP HINTS AT CUTTING CHINA TARIFFS ‘SUBSTANTIALLY’ FROM 145%
“China continues to contradict itself; while claiming to support open markets, it dumps artificially low-priced goods into the global economy with exports, steals intellectual property, and implements unfair trade practices,” the spokesperson said. “China claims to be a developing country, while it simultaneously weaponizes its donor status and development projects to bully developing Member States.”
The spokesperson added that the U.S. would continue to safeguard its interests and combat China’s efforts.
American lawmakers, including Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., have rejected China’s claims that the U.S. is engaging in global bullying.
Scott said China’s assertion was “absurd” and called for the defunding of “the anti-American U.N. IMMEDIATELY” in a post on X.
TREASURY SECRETARY BESSENT SAYS THERE’S AN OPPORTUNITY FOR A ‘BIG DEAL’ WITH CHINA
“As of today, all countries targeted by the U.S. for trade fairness recalibration have dealt or are dealing quickly and constructively with D.C. — except Canada and China,” Hugh Dugan, a former Senior Director in the NSC in the first Trump Administration, told FOX Business. “Meanwhile the Communist Party of China continues to bully and [use] its own people to subsidize output by substandard wages.”
Dugan also dismissed the idea that China could “survive in a global economy without exploiting its workers’ human rights through slave wages and without stealing intellectual property from abroad.”
A guest speaker invited by the Chinese to address the council meeting, Wang Huiyao, founder and president of the Center for China and Globalization (CCG), claimed that the U.S. had launched a trade war “against the entire world” with President Donald Trump’s tariff policies.
According to the watchdog organization U.N. Watch, CCG has “close ties to the Chinese Communist Party.”
“It’s Orwellian to watch China, one of the world’s leading abusers of economic coercion and human rights, convene a U.N. meeting to accuse others of bullying,” U.N. Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer told FOX Business in a statement.
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“This is the same regime that threatens sanctions on democracies recognizing Taiwan, punishes countries for standing with Uyghurs, and bullies its neighbors in the South China Sea. Beijing’s attempt to hijack the U.N. to attack the United States is not about peace or development — it’s about shielding authoritarian power from accountability.”
While the Trump administration imposed tariffs on a host of nations, it took the toughest approach to China and implemented a 145% tariff on Chinese goods. However, The Wall Street Journal reported that a senior White House official told the outlet that tariffs on China could be cut to 50%-65%.
Police launch investigation into death of 24-year-old former child actress
Sophie Nyweide, a child actress known for her roles in “Law & Order,” “Noah,” and “Mammoth,” has died. She was 24.
According to the Bennington Police Department in Vermont, law enforcement was dispatched to a wooded area along the banks of the Roaring Branch River on April 14 after receiving a report of an unresponsive female. First responders arrived at the scene and attempted life-saving measures. However, Nyweide was pronounced dead around 5 a.m.
Bennington Police told Fox News Digital that an investigation has been opened due to the “untimely death.”
An individual was present with Nyweide at the time of her death, police said, and they are cooperating with investigators. Investigators suspect a possible unintentional overdose, but “as with any untimely death, Bennington Police Bureau of Criminal Investigations (BCI) will conduct a thorough and compressive investigation leading up to, as well as the cause of, Nyweide’s death.”
Authorities noted that the “investigation remains open.”
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According to her death certificate, Nyweide was pregnant at the time of her death, People magazine reported. It is unclear how far along she was.
Nyweide mom, Shelly Gibson — a former actress who starred in various television shows, including “All My Children” and “St. Elsewhere” — paid tribute to her late daughter on social media.
“RIP, my Sophie,” she wrote on Instagram. “She graced us for far too short a time. My daughter was a light for all who met her. For those us of who were truly close with Sophie, we are gutted and will need a long time to get over her passing. I know I never will. God I love my daughter. I want her back. Fly high sweetheart – you always could.”
According to Nyweide’s obituary, the former actress “was a beloved daughter, granddaughter, sister, friend and new aunt,” the family wrote. “Creative, athletic and wise beyond her years, Sophie accomplished so much in the time she danced upon earth (literally – she danced as she moved!).”
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The family wrote that Nyweide “seemed happiest on a movie set, becoming someone else.”
“It was a safe place for her and she relished from the casts and crews who nourished her talent and her well being,” the family wrote. “She was an eager adventurer and picked up the customs and even languages of any place she visited.”
“She wrote and drew voraciously and much of this art depicts the depth she had and it also represents the pain she suffered. Many of her writings and artwork are roadmaps of her struggles and traumas,” the obit continued. “Even with those roadmaps, diagnoses, and her own revelations, those closest to her, plus therapists, law enforcement officers and others who tried to help her are heartbroken their efforts couldn’t save her from her fate.”
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“She dreamed (more like demanded!) to be an actor, without ever knowing her mother was an actor, so she did that too with an ease we all marveled about,” the family added, per the obit.
Whoopi Goldberg rages over Trump floating $5,000 bonus to mothers
“The View” co-hosts unloaded on President Donald Trump for saying that giving mothers a $5,000 bonus was a “good idea” during the show on Wednesday, claiming the notion was insulting and racially motivated.
Goldberg sarcastically introduced the segment, saying she was “incredibly insulted” by the idea and the administration didn’t understand how women’s bodies work.
“I will say this, I paid in my money. I want my money back from Social Security. I’m sorry,” Goldberg began. “It is not anybody else’s responsibility but mine to make sure I keep my payments up. That’s the first thing, but let me talk about some of the things that the administration has slashed which is why I’m so not only insulted by that amount of money. Because $5,000, yes, it sounds like a lot of money, but if you can’t pay your rent, if you can’t pay for your after-school programs for your kids…”
Trump responded to a question on Tuesday about whether the administration was considering a bonus for mothers who have babies, to which he responded, “Sounds like a good idea to me.”
ABC NEWS’ ‘THE VIEW’ HAD 63 LIBERAL GUESTS IN 2025 WITHOUT A SINGLE CONSERVATIVE: STUDY
Co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin pushed back and asked if something was better than nothing before noting, “I feel like if [Joe] Biden proposed this, we would all be saying it’s groundbreaking.
“I don’t like the idea that somebody is saying, I’m going to pay you to have more kids. I know we’re not allowed to bring up the other times people suggested that. But I will tell you this is not the first time in the country, but let me just tell you this, 1 billion in funding for schools and food banks to buy food was cut,” Goldberg said, before listing off more examples.
“My point is, it seems to me that this – everything this administration seems to be doing is telling people not to have children. Why not make sure that kids that we already have a shot at good schooling? Why not?” she added.
Co-host Sunny Hostin suggested during the conversation that the Trump administration was only worried about decreased births with White mothers.
“I want to reframe the issue a little bit because when I look at something like this, these proposals, I want to know why, and I want to know who is making them. And so when I looked into that, they’re saying that the U.S. birth rate is declining. However, in 2024 there was a 1% increase in U.S. births, but that increase was with Hispanic mothers and Asian mothers. Aha! So, they don’t seem to be concerned about that increase. They seem to be more concerned about a decrease in other populations,” she said.
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WHOOPI GOLDBERG SIGNS OFF ‘THE VIEW’ WITH RALLYING CALL TO ANTI-TRUMP ‘RESISTANCE’
Fellow liberal co-host Joy Behar encouraged Hostin to just “say it” before eventually just saying it herself, adding, “White children!”
Griffin pushed Hostin on whether the administration had actually said they were worried about White families, to which Hostin responded that she was just giving “facts.”
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“I’m just giving facts. And so also when I think about who’s advocating, Project 2025, remember that? Which was tied to the Heritage Foundation, the think tank that led Project 2025. They open up the Project 2025 before anything else talking about family issues.
“The first chapter promises to restore the family as the centerpiece of American life and the Heritage Foundation, in particular, has been researching this issue for over two years and is preparing to release a report in the coming weeks on how it believes the administration should counter declining birth rates. So, I just leave that with all of you, because I think when we’re talking about the United States, we need to think about who’s proposing it and why,” Hostin concluded.
Music power couple admits having ‘third party’ involved is key to happy marriage
When it comes to marriage, Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton have a few secrets that keep their love strong.
The couple has a faithful “third party” join their happy marriage — one that’s always watching over them from above.
During an appearance on “The Drew Barrymore Show,” Stefani, 55, dished on the best advice she’s ever received about love, saying, “Best advice would probably be, make sure you have a third party.” The singer referred to God, as she looked up and pointed one finger to the sky.
GWEN STEFANI TRIED TO SHUT DOWN ‘INSANE’ RELATIONSHIP WITH BLAKE SHELTON
While Stefani is known for her popular songs, including hits with No Doubt like “Don’t Speak” and solo singles including “Hollaback Girl,” she revealed her favorite love song is one by another artist.
“Shania Twain, ‘Still the One’ … that’s a perfect song,” she answered in a rapid-fire questions game.
Barrymore then asked the pop star if she’d rather have a “date night out or a date night in.”
“For sure in,” Stefani laughed. “I’m literally like — couch, blanket, cookies, chips.”
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Stefani continued to paint a cozy picture for the host, as she imagined herself in her home.
“I have the dogs right here; we have two couches … Blake’s on that couch and we’re like ‘Hi!’” Stefani explained how the couple would typically greet each other during their date night in.
“I would sit next to him,” she added, “but he’s gigantic and we don’t fit anywhere.”
Stefani and Shelton first met in 2014 when she signed on to be a coach on season seven of “The Voice.” At the time, Stefani was married to rocker Gavin Rossdale and Shelton was married to country singer-songwriter Miranda Lambert. But by July 2015, both had finalized divorces from their spouses.
GWEN STEFANI AIMING TO ‘PROTECT’ HER KIDS DESPITE RELEASING SCATHING SONG ABOUT THEIR DAD
After the “God’s Country” singer won her over with a song, Shelton and Stefani officially began dating in 2015, and later getting married in July 2021, in an intimate ceremony on Shelton’s property in his home state of Oklahoma.
Despite the fact that the two come from different musical backgrounds, they have released many duets together, including “Nobody But You,” “You Make It Feel Like Christmas,” “Happy Anywhere” and, most recently, “Purple Irises,” which is on Stefani’s latest album, “Bouquet.”
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Stefani shares three children with her ex-husband Rossdale — sons Kingston, Zuma and Apollo.
In 2022, Shelton announced that after the 23rd season of NBC’s “The Voice,” he was stepping away from his coaching duties to focus on parenting with Stefani.
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Although the country music star doesn’t have any biological children of his own, he places a lot of importance on being a stepfather.
“Even though I’m a stepparent, I take that job very seriously,” Shelton told People magazine at the time. “The kids see me as a very important person in their life.”
“If I walked away from my career at this time, the only thing that I run the risk of is having regrets that I’m missing out on some more important things in life. For now, that’s our kids. This isn’t about me anymore and never will be again,” he said as he pivoted to a less work-based life.
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‘Squad’ Dem makes explosive Trump claim after visiting ICE-detained students
A Democrat in the House of Representatives’ progressive “Squad” is arguing that the Trump administration could soon jail people in the U.S. for a variety of non-criminal reasons, seemingly regardless of their legal status.
Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., made the comments after visiting college students Rumeysa Ozturk and Mahmoud Khalil. Both are being held at an Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility after being accused of espousing pro-Hamas beliefs. Neither are U.S. citizens, though both are in the country legally; Khalil is a legal permanent resident, and Ozturk is on a student visa.
“If people are tempted to marginalize and ‘other’ who this could happen to, again, in Donald Trump’s America, this could be you. This could be you, for some, for a miscarriage. This could be you for practicing diversity, equity and inclusion. This could be you for reading a banned book,” Pressley said in a press conference after the event. “It is acutely about Mahmood and Rumeysa, because those are some of the most high-profile cases, but it has implications for every single person who calls this country home.”
Pressley traveled to a Louisiana ICE facility alongside fellow Massachusetts Democrats, Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass.
VIDEO SHOWS ARREST OF TUFTS UNIVERSITY STUDENT FOR ALLEGEDLY SUPPORTING HAMAS
She alleged that Khalil and Ozturk are being put through significant strain at the hands of the authorities there.
“This is torture. They are sleep-deprived. They are being denied the basic essentials. Their humanity completely erased,” Pressley said. “And every person of conscience — this is not about Democrat or Republican right now. This is about right and wrong, good and evil. And people of Congress need to join us, apply pressure, continue to say their names to demand their freedom, due process, justice, and to demand that Rumeysa’s visa is reinstated.”
Pressley also claimed that Ozturk “had her hijab removed” by “one of the nurses” at the facility.
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY STUDENT PROTESTER SUES TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TO PREVENT DEPORTATION
“So religious accommodation not being honored. Basic human needs not being met. She talked about a culture of intimidation where they often chide her for being an educated woman and a troublemaker. And yet, even in the face, in the midst of all of that, she is still doing her research. She is still advocating for the women alongside her,” Pressley said.
Meanwhile, like Pressley, McGovern told reporters, “If the government can imprison people, like them, who dissent, without due process — in this instance, there is nothing to stop the government from going after you, too.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) called the allegations about Ozturk’s detention “unequivocally false.”
Both Ozturk and Khalil have been accused by the Trump administration of making pro-Hamas statements while enrolled at Tufts University and Columbia University respectively.
The Massachusetts progressives’ trip comes after several Democrats traveled to El Salvador in a bid to secure the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a deported illegal immigrant married to a U.S. citizen who the Trump administration accused of having ties to MS-13.
The Supreme Court found Abrego Garcia to have been wrongfully deported and ordered the U.S. government to facilitate his release, though El Salvador has no plans to return him.
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A DHS spokesperson told Fox News Digital when reached for comment, “Ms. Ozturk was in communication with legal counsel within hours of her arrival at the facility in Basile. On the day of her arrival, one of her attorneys contacted the facility and was informed that she was already engaged in a meeting with her other attorney. Since then, she has had four attorney visits. Her dormitory has not exceeded capacity.”
“Daily inspections are conducted by the facility administrator, and there have been no reports or documented complaints of rodent activity. In accordance with the Performance-Based National Detention Standards (PBNDS), the facility maintains regular pest control services. ICE has also provided Ms. Ozturk with prompt medical care and services, and she has not filed any grievances regarding delayed medical care. Being granted a visa to live and study in the United States is a privilege, not a right. The State Department makes specific determinations about visa revocations when an individual poses a threat to national security,” the spokesperson said.
When reached for comment on Pressley’s remarks on Trump, White House spokesperson Kush Desai responded, “”Wow, Democrats being hysterical about President Trump. What else is new?”
Paramedic describes Karen Read’s demeanor in ambulance after finding O’Keefe’s body
The prosecution’s fifth witness, paramedic Daniel Whitley, provided testimony regarding his experience upon arriving on scene shortly after John O’Keefe’s body was found.
Whitley described Karen Read as “pretty upset [and] crying,” when he approached her shortly after O’Keefe was found. Whitley was ordered to execute an involuntary Section 12 order requiring Read be taken to the hospital for a psychiatric evaluation.
As Read was being transported to the hospital, Whitley testified she repeatedly asked if O’Keefe’s life could be saved while crying and telling Whitley she would be unable to take care of O’Keefe’s niece and nephew.
Whitley described an interaction with Read on the way to the hospital where Read asked if he knew Kerry Roberts. When Whitley told Read that Roberts had helped her look for O’Keefe in a blizzard, she allegedly rolled her eyes and put her head in her hands.
Whitley and his colleagues arrived at the hospital with Read, where Whitley testified through several objections from the defense that Read did not want to provide a urine sample to nurses.
During the defense team’s cross-examination, attorney David Yannetti focused on Whitley’s previous description of Read acting “snarky” while in the ambulance, noting Whitley did not recount it to investigators in the days after O’Keefe’s death and pointing out Whitley and Roberts knew each other prior to the events of Jan. 29.
Following a brief break, the judge dismissed the jury for the day.
Wednesday afternoon, the state called Trooper Nicholas Guarino, who has worked in gathering forensic data for the Massachusetts State Police since November 2019.
Guarino extracted data from various cell phones involved in the investigation into John O’Keefe’s death and prepared the data for authorities.
On the day O’Keefe’s body was found, Guarino received O’Keefe and Read’s phones to conduct an analysis. Guarino testified a colleague extracted data from Kerry Roberts and Jennifer McCabe’s phones.
Guarino testified the department utilized Cellebrite software, which allows investigators to search for specific data within cell phones. Guarino used this tool to isolate calls and text messages between Read and O’Keefe, along with other individuals involved in the investigation.
Guarino was dismissed from the stand, with both the prosecution and defense agreeing he can be called as a witness in the future.
During a brief hearing without the jury in the courtroom, the prosecution showed two clips from Karen Read’s previous television interviews discussing her interaction with John O’Keefe’s mother, Peggy, immediately after the family learned of his death.
The defense is asking the judge not to allow the jury to see a clip from Read’s 2024 interview with Investigation Discovery, in which she imitates Peggy while recounting an alleged conversation between the pair about what happened to John.
“His mother leans over the kitchen island and says to me, ‘I think he looks like he got hit by a car, he looks like he got hit by a car,’” Read said.
During Peggy’s witness testimony on Wednesday, she denied ever confronting Read inside John’s house the day his body was found, telling prosecutors she does not remember speaking with Read at all.
Following a lunch break, the prosecution called the team’s third witness and John O’Keefe’s mother, Peggy.
Peggy immediately teared up upon being asked about her immediate family, telling the court how her daughter passed away in November 2019 from a cancerous tumor. Months later, her daughter’s husband also passed away, leaving the couple’s two young children in John’s care.
Peggy testified about the moment she learned her son had been killed, with Kerry Roberts driving Peggy and her husband to the hospital to see John. Upon arriving at the hospital, Peggy saw Karen Read, with Read yelling, “Is he dead? Is he dead?” as Peggy walked away.
Shortly after, Peggy testified Read arrived at John’s home with her father and brother, going upstairs to gather a few things from a bedroom.
After a brief and emotional line of questioning, Alan Jackson declined to cross-examine Peggy, instead offering his condolences.
Following yesterday’s opening statements, the Boston Herald slammed prosecutor Hank Brennan in a scathing op-ed.
As Brennan spoke for the prosecution in Karen Read’s retrial, he “immediately put a worldwide audience not just to sleep, but into a deep coma,” Howie Carr wrote.
The newspaper focused on Brennan’s choice to call emergency responder Timothy Nuttall as the state’s first witness, zeroing in on Nuttall’s testimony surrounding Read’s alleged crime scene confession.
Nuttall testified Read said, “I hit him, I hit him, I hit him,” as first responders arrived on scene and attempted to resuscitate John O’Keefe – a claim that has been denied by Read’s defense team.
“Karen Read’s lawyers have had nine months to pick apart the piss-poor prosecution in the first trial, and the pathetic arguments of the Commonwealth haven’t improved with age,” Carr wrote.
The op-ed goes on to pick apart Brennan’s prosecution, citing Nuttall’s concession of having an unreliable memory on the stand and previous inconsistencies in his testimony.
Carr ends the piece with a forecast for Read’s retrial, writing, “this is going to be a slaughter. Let’s hope so.”
During cross-examination, Kerry Roberts confirmed she was with Jennifer McCabe working on a timeline of events when investigators arrived at McCabe’s house to conduct interviews regarding John O’Keefe’s death.
Attorney Alan Jackson questioned Roberts on previous testimony she provided, telling investigators she overheard Karen Read asking McCabe to google “hypothermia” while they were sitting in the back of a police cruiser as O’Keefe’s body was being loaded into an ambulance.
Upon further questioning, Roberts revealed she never actually heard Read ask McCabe to perform the Google search, despite providing testimony to a grand jury claiming she had, and had learned about the alleged request while she was working on a timeline with McCabe.
“What you told the grand jurors was not true,” Jackson said. “You never heard her, my client, ask anyone to Google anything, did you?”
“I did not,” Roberts said.
“And yet that’s what you testified to, under oath, under penalty of perjury, in front of the grand jury, didn’t you?” Jackson said.
“I did,” Roberts said.
The timing of the Google search, “hos (sic) long to die in cold” has been a key dispute between prosecutors, who say it came after O’Keefe’s body was discovered, and the defense, which argues that it was made hours beforehand, before the witnesses should have known he was missing or dead under the commonwealth’s timeline.
Defense attorney Alan Jackson questioned Kerry Roberts on her conversations with investigators following her discovery of John O’Keefe’s body outside Brian Albert’s home.
Roberts testified Karen Read and Jennifer McCabe were helping her perform CPR on O’Keefe as they waited for first responders to arrive. Jackson played dash cam footage from when officers arrived on scene, focusing on the audio captured by the video, before questioning Roberts on O’Keefe’s injuries.
Roberts told Jackson she noticed O’Keefe had two black eyes, a cut on his face and “scratches” on his arm upon arriving at the hospital.
Jackson confirmed with Roberts that she previously testified upon arriving at O’Keefe’s house, Read noticed her vehicle’s broken taillight and asked if Roberts thought she could have hit O’Keefe.
Jackson then turned to home surveillance footage showing the three women arriving at O’Keefe’s home and not speaking about the broken taillight. Jackson pointed to statements Roberts made to investigators in the days after where she did not include Read’s alleged statement regarding the damaged vehicle, and later described the tail light as “broken in the middle,” and not shattered.
Prosecutor Hank Brennan zeroed in on the morning John O’Keefe’s body was found while questioning witness Kerry Roberts. Roberts testified she was with Jennifer McCabe and Karen Read when the women discovered O’Keefe’s body in Brian Albert’s front lawn.
Dash cam footage shared by the prosecution shows McCabe present at the crime scene as investigators attempted to resuscitate O’Keefe.
Read’s defense team previously pointed to cell phone data revealing McCabe allegedly looked up on Google how long it takes to die in the cold prior to O’Keefe’s body being found.
Brennan replayed dash cam video showing first responders arriving at the house while asking Roberts to walk through what was happening between Read, McCabe and emergency personnel.
Karen Read’s trial resumed on Wednesday with testimony from Kerry Roberts, a childhood friend of John O’Keefe who was with Read when O’Keefe’s body was discovered the morning after his death.
Prosecutor Hank Brennan showed Roberts photos of Read’s missing tail light on her Lexus SUV, with Roberts testifying Read asked if it was possible she hit O’Keefe with her car.
Roberts went on to describe the harrowing moments the women discovered O’Keefe’s lifeless body outside another officer’s home, telling Brennan how both she and Read performed chest compressions on O’Keefe as they waited for first responders to arrive.
Roberts testified a frantic Read was asking first responders, “Did I hit him?” while they attempted to resuscitate O’Keefe, telling her “If anything happens to John, I’m going to kill myself, you’re going to have to take care of the kids.”
Roberts then became emotional upon being shown a photo of O’Keefe in a hospital bed, confirming the police officer’s identity to the court.
The Massachusetts police chief who reportedly worked to implement changes within the Canton Police Department in the wake of John O’Keefe’s death announced her retirement as Karen Read’s retrial kicked off this week, according to 7 News WHDH.
Chief Helena Rafferty took the position in June 2022, roughly five months after O’Keefe, a Boston police officer, was found dead outside a fellow Boston officer’s home in Canton.
An audit was conducted into the Canton Police Department’s handling of the investigation into O’Keefe’s death. The audit found the police department mishandled the initial investigation, but did not uncover any corruption as alleged by Read’s defense team.
Rafferty’s last day with the department will reportedly be June 30, which is when her current contract is set to end.
The Canton Police Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
During opening statements
, both sides painted entirely different versions of events to the jury.
Defense attorney Alan Jackson opened with a challenge to the heart of the prosecution’s case: that O’Keefe died from injuries sustained when Read’s Lexus SUV allegedly struck him during a nor’easter.
“The evidence in this case will establish, above everything else, three points,” he said. “There was no collision with John O’Keefe. There was no collision. There was no collision.”
Special prosecutor Hank Brennan told a different story in his own opening statement, minutes earlier, saying to jurors that Read, allegedly drunk and angry, intentionally hit the gas and rammed O’Keefe with the back bumper, then left him on the ground, where he was later found with severe head injuries and hypothermia.
Read the full story here.
The second day of Karen Read’s retrial is set to kick off after both sides presented opening statements yesterday. Read is facing second-degree murder charges for allegedly ramming John O’Keefe, a Boston police officer, with her Lexus SUV after a drunken argument in January 2022.
Prosecutors allege Read struck O’Keefe with her vehicle before leaving him to die in a blizzard, but Read’s defense team insists she was framed in an elaborate scheme that involved a “corrupted” investigation led by now-fired investigator Michael Proctor.
Yesterday, the jury heard testimony from first responder Timothy Nuttall and O’Keefe’s childhood friend, Kerry Roberts, who was with Read when she found O’Keefe’s body the morning after his death.