Today is
Tuesday July 21, 2026
KERVILLE (AP) — Two more cases of the New World screwworm have been confirmed in Texas, demonstrating the difficulty of stopping the spread of a pest that could potentially devastate the nation’s cattle industry, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Monday.
The screwworm is actually a fly, which produces a larvae that eats live flesh instead of dead material. Females lay their eggs in open wounds of any warm-blooded animal such as cattle, but wildlife, pets and occasionally even humans can be infested.
The USDA said the new cases were found in a calf and a dog, hundreds of miles apart in La Salle and Andrews counties. That brings the total number of confirmed cases to four. The screwworm was first discovered in a 3-week-old calf last week, and a second case was found only miles away in a young calf.
“While we address these instances that require immediate attention, and continue to sample suspected cases, we are simultaneously working to eradicate the pest entirely,” Dudley Hoskins, the USDA’s marketing and regulatory undersecretary, said in a statement.
Before it was eliminated in the U.S. in the 1960s, the fly was an annual warm-weather scourge of cattle ranchers.
The USDA and the U.S. cattle industry have been racing to prevent an infestation since the pest was detected in Mexico late in 2024 after decades of being contained at the southern end of Panama.
The government fights the fly by breeding sterile male flies, which then mate with wild females that only mate once in their monthslong life. By mating with sterile flies, the females don’t produce more flies and outbreaks can eventually be halted.
The USDA has announced plans to increase sterile fly production in plants outside the U.S. while it builds a fly factory in Texas.
USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins will be briefed on the infestation Monday afternoon at the U.S. Livestock Insects Research Laboratory in Kerville, Texas.
BROADDUS, Texas (KETK) – Broaddus ISD has announced that one of their former teachers has been referred to law enforcement over allegations that they had an inappropriate relationship with a student.
According to the district, administrators received information on Thursday that alleged a teacher was having an inappropriate relationship with a student involving “grooming behavior” and possible physical contact.
Broaddus ISD immediately notified the proper law enforcement authorities so they could investigate the allegations. The teacher is no longer employed by Broaddus ISD.
The district said there was no indication that there was any threat to any students.
“Broaddus ISD remains committed to providing a safe and supportive learning environment and will continue to cooperate fully with law enforcement and all appropriate authorities throughout the investigative process,” Broaddus ISD said. “The safety and well-being of our students remain our highest priority. We appreciate your understanding and support as this matter proceeds. Due to the ongoing investigation and privacy laws, the district will not be providing additional details at this time.”
NACOGDOCHES, Texas (KETK) – One person was injured in a shooting that happened near Carpenter Elementary School in Nacogdoches on Sunday.
According to Nacogdoches Police Department, officers responded to 1005 Leroy Street near Carpenter Elementary School at around 12:52 a.m. because of reported gunshots near there.
Officers arrived at the scene and were told that a person was shot and then taken to a local hospital for treatment. The officers went over to the hospital and were told that an unknown person had shot the victim with a firearm.
One person the officers talked to during their investigation was arrested after they were found to be in possession of a controlled substance. Anyone with information about the shooting can contact Nacogdoches PD at 936-559-2607.
APPLEBY, Texas (KETK) – Nacogdoches County officials said one man has died after his ATV ran into a fallen tree on Saturday near Lake Naconiche.
According to Nacogdoches County Precinct 3 Constable Roger Dudley, a man was driving his ATV on County Road 134, north of Appleby and to the south of Lake Naconiche, just before 11 p.m. on Saturday when the ATV struck a tree that fell across the county road.
Hitting the tree caused the ATV to flip into the air, ejecting the driver before the ATV landed upside down, according to Dudley. The Central Heights/Appleby Fire Department, the Nacogdoches Fire Department and the Nacogdoches Ambulance Service responded to the crash scene and attempted life saving measures but the victim’s injuries were too serious.
Dudley said the victim’s wife informed his office that her husband did not survive his injuries from the crash. Dudley asked the public for many prayers for her family following this loss.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott expressed concern Friday that a new factory isn’t expected to start breeding sterile New World screwworm flies for more than a year as a big part of the effort to stop its flesh-eating larvae from threatening the $113 U.S. billion cattle industry.
Abbott pledged Texas will help the U.S. Department of Agriculture accelerate construction of the $750 million breeding facility outside Edinburg, Texas, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of the U.S.-Mexico border. He said Texas is willing to spend its own funds to see that construction is “24 hours a day, seven days a week.”
Without greater sterile fly production, Abbott said during a news conference in the state capital of Austin, “We cannot make it through a second summer.”
The USDA confirmed an infestation of New World screwworm fly larvae this week in a 3-week-old calf in La Pryor, Texas, about 100 miles (161 kilometers) southwest of San Antonio and 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the Mexico border. It was the first case confirmed in Texas since 1966.
The department on Friday announced a second confirmed case found in a one-month-old calf in Zavala County, Texas, about 5.6 miles (9 kilometers) from the first case.
The new factory in Texas is the larger of two fly-breeding facilities funded by the USDA.
Separately, the USDA invested $21 million in converting a site in southern Mexico from breeding fruit flies to breeding screwworm flies. That factory is expected to start producing flies next month, eventually 100 million a week.
The other factory in Texas will be the size of two Costco stores, said Rear Admiral Michael Schmoyer, a member of the USDA’s screwworm response team. It is expected to produce up to 300 million flies a week.
Officials believe both factories are needed to eradicate the fly from the U.S., Mexico and Central America.
Schmoyer said the federal government has already shortened the planning and construction timeline considerably — drafting plans in a few months rather than taking a year, for example. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the USDA hopes it will be running sooner than its planned November 2027 opening date.
But Abbott said Texas is determined to have construction go even faster.
“This is going to spread over the course of the summer,” he said of the fly.
Infestation hits among record beef prices
An untreated infestation of New World screwworm fly larvae can kill an animal, but there are now a dozen government-approved medications to treat livestock. Federal and state officials have been quick to stress that fly’s larvae — which feed on living material — do not infest meat or fruit.
“There’s a food production issue, but not a food safety issue,” Abbott said.
Derrell Peel, a professor of agribusiness at Oklahoma State University, said the beef supply isn’t likely to be affected unless officials restrict cattle movement more than locally or unless infestations appear in feedlots or other places where cattle are concentrated. He does not expect that to happen.
“It’s probably not a major market issue,” he said.
Consumers are paying record beef prices because of a tight cattle supply, and Peel expects prices to rise even further when ranchers take heifers out of the supply chain to rebuild their herds. But he said the arrival of the screwworm in Texas “doesn’t change the supply fundamentals.”
Screwworm outbreaks in Mexico starting in 2024 prompted U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to close U.S. ports of entry to its cattle in May 2025. Mexican imports were once about 1.2 million animals a year and dropped about 80% last year, according to industry statistics.
But Peel said Mexican imports were only about 3% of the U.S. cattle supply.
“It’s been just one more thing on top of others,” he said, not a major driver of prices.
Breeding sterile flies has eradicated pest before
The New World screwworm fly was an annual, warm-weather scourge of U.S. cattle ranchers from at least the 1930s through the 1960s.
But breeding sterile flies and dropping swarms of them from planes eradicated it from the U.S. by the early 1970s, except for a brief outbreak among deer in the Florida Keys in 2016 and a case confirmed in a Maryland man who traveled to El Salvador last year. Until an outbreak in Panama in 2023, the fly had been considered eradicated outside its remote, southernmost region bordering Colombia.
Females mate once in their monthslong lives, and if they breed with sterile male flies, their eggs won’t hatch after being laid in open wounds and mucous membranes of warm-blooded animals, including cattle, wild mammals, household pets and humans.
Once the U.S. and other nations eradicated the fly years ago, they shut down fly-breeding facilities until there was only one left in the Western Hemisphere, in Panama. It can produce about 117 million flies a week.
However, past eradication efforts needed about 500 million flies a week, said Schmoyer, a member of the USDA’s screwworm response team, during Abbott’s news conference.
With fly drops, officials try to predict future
Schmoyer estimated that the USDA already has dispersed 130 million flies in Texas since January, most of them from planes, and those drops are now about 4 million a week. It also is releasing another 4 million a week in the ground as pupae, which are flies in the stage between larvae and adult.
But, even with those millions of flies, the USDA must be strategic about where to disperse them, Schmoyer told reporters. Federal and state officials are using scientific models to predict how the fly will move.
“In essence, it’s not where the flies are today, but where they could be weeks from now,” he said.
Part of the science involves traps, and Texas State Veterinarian Bud Dinges said they’ve been deployed up to 120 miles (193 kilometers) away from La Pryor to monitor the fly’s movement.
UPDATE: Charles Seth Alexander, 38 of Timpson, was captured by the US Marshals Joint East Texas Fugitive Taskforce in Nacogdoches County on Friday. Alexander was a wanted fugitive out of Panola County and was the subject of a manhunt on Wednesday before he left the area.
PANOLA COUNTY (KETK) — Law enforcement agencies are urging residents to avoid the area south of Lake Murvaul as a fugitive search intensifies on Wednesday afternoon.
According to the Panola County Sheriff’s Office, multiple agencies are actively searching in the vicinity of County Road 198 and County Road 176. Deputies are being assisted by tracking dogs, horses and drones as they work through heavily wooded terrain.
Officials are asking the public to stay clear of the search zone, lock their homes and vehicles and secure outdoor pets until the situation is resolved. Authorities have not yet released additional details about the fugitive or what led to the search.
MCKINNEY (AP) — Prosecutors told jurors Thursday that a Texas teenager competing at a high school track meet provoked a 17-year-old athlete from a rival team before fatally stabbing him in the stadium’s bleachers as other students looked on.
An attorney for Karmelo Anthony said his client did not instigate the fight with Austin Metcalf, telling the jury at the start of a packed murder trial near Dallas that it was instead an act of self-defense.
Anthony pleaded not guilty over last year’s stabbing, which stunned an affluent suburb where the pair attended school. The death last year quickly drew wide attention, in part because of social media posts that amplified the case in racial terms. Anthony, now 19, is Black, while the Metcalf was white.
According to an arrest report, Anthony told police he was protecting himself when the two got into a confrontation during the meet in Frisco, a fast-growing city is dotted by dozens of modern-looking school campuses and gleaming athletic facilities.
But prosecutor Bill Wirskye told jurors it was a “senseless murder” and not a case of self-defense. He called it a “sneak, surprise attack” and said Anthony “knows he goaded the murder.”
“He didn’t want a fight,” Wirskye said of Metcalf.
The jury was seated this week under increased courthouse security and a Collin County judge set strict rules over the proceedings, including prohibiting attorneys from discussing the case publicly. Dozens of people lined up to get a seat in the courtroom Thursday.
The stabbing happened on a rainy morning in April 2025. Witnesses told police the confrontation began when Anthony sat under a tent belonging to Metcalf’s team, according to an arrest report. The teens went to different schools in Frisco.
When Metcalf told Anthony that he needed to move, Anthony reached inside his bag and allegedly replied: “Touch me and see what happens,” the report said.
A short time later, Metcalf allegedly grabbed Anthony, who then pulled out a knife and stabbed him in the chest, the report said.
Robert Starr, a track coach at Memorial High School, where Metcalf was a student and athlete, explained to jurors that a tent at a track competition “marks your spot” and is similar to a team bench in other sports.
“You just don’t go into someone else’s tent uninvited,” Starr testified.
In his opening remarks, defense attorney Mike Howard said it was Metcalf who made the first contact.
“In that split second, Melo has a decision to make: how and when to act,” Howard said.
“Self-defense is useless if you wait too late to defend yourself. … He reacts in a split second of fear, chaos,” Howard said.
Starr told the jury that he rushed to the tent when he saw commotion.
“I see Austin on the ground and his face is purple, and he has a big hole in his chest,” the coach said, choking up in the witness chair.
Another area track coach, Vincent Hooper, testified that he put his arm around Anthony and asked what had happened.
Anthony replied that he stabbed someone who had “put his hands on me,” Hooper recalled.
Anthony faces up to life in prison if convicted of murder.
The parents of both teens have said they were good students who planned to go to college. Metcalf’s father has condemned those who seized on the race of the teenagers after the killing.
“This was not a race thing. This is not a political thing. Please do not comment if you do not know what happened,” Jeff Metcalf said on Fox News’ “America Reports.”
“This is a human being thing,” he said. “This person made a bad choice and it affected both his family and my family forever.”
Authorities have also issued warnings about online discussions surrounding the killing. Frisco Police Chief David Shilson urged people last year to beware of posts spreading “misinformation, hate, fear, and division.”
Soccer fans will soon crisscross continents to see their beloved national teams compete on the sport’s grandest stage, the World Cup. They’ll pack bars and fan zones, singing chants and debating who is going to win it all.
This time, however, it’s different for some superfans, who say organizers have made this summer’s World Cup the least welcoming one they have experienced. Ticket prices, expensive cross-country travel and concerns about entering the U.S. have prompted some of them to stay home.
London-based IT worker Mike Wilson has been to four World Cups over the past 20 years. This summer, he’ll be staying in Europe and watching part of the tournament from a Portuguese beach.
Argentine doctor Emiliano Becerra likes to follow his team through every step of the elimination round. This time he’ll attend two early matches and then fly home.
Dutch-born finance manager Peter Bergakker flew to South Africa to watch the Netherlands play in the 2010 World Cup final. But no matter how far the “Oranje” advance this summer, he said he won’t travel to the U.S.
Exactly how many fans are staying away is unclear, but the warning signs are there.
Hotel bookings have been lighter than expected in many U.S. host cities. Meanwhile, the president of the travel agency association in soccer-mad Uruguay said they have arranged tour packages for about 3,000 fans, significantly fewer than attended recent World Cups.
A financially inaccessible tournament
The number of fans able to travel and take weeks off of work to cheer on their team during the World Cup understandably skews to the wealthy. But previous tournaments have remained accessible for fans who, in some cases, would save for years for their flights and match tickets.
Four years ago, lower-tier Category 3 tickets to group stage matches were $69. This year, FIFA has been selling them for as much as $265.
The last two tournaments in Russia and Qatar offered match-going fans free transportation between host cities, though many matches were much closer than the vast area covered by the 16 stadiums hosting matches across the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
And while fans there were not permitted by FIFA to sell their tickets on the official resale site for above face value, the sports governing body has taken a different approach this time — encouraging fans to resell tickets for as high as they want, with FIFA pocketing 30% in fees along the way. FIFA did not respond to a request for comment Thursday but has previously defended ticket prices as a reflection of “record-breaking” demand.
Tomonori Akutsu, who lives outside Tokyo, said if he had realized how expensive this tournament would be when he started making plans, he might have reconsidered attending his sixth straight World Cup.
Without question, he believes, the U.S. has been the worst host, and tournament organizers have demonstrated a “complete lack of hospitality in every aspect,” citing things like ticket prices, an inflated resale market, expensive hotel prices and fan festivals that cost money to attend.
“Simply, my impression is ‘this is America,’ the ultimate capitalism,” Akutsu said.
Becerra, of Argentina, spent $1,100 to see Argentina defeat France in the 2022 final in Qatar. For the past three World Cups, he followed Argentina through the knockout stages.
Not this time.
This year, he paid even more — $1,200 — for a resale ticket to see Argentina’s match against low-ranked Jordan in Dallas.
“It’s absolutely crazy – it’s just a group stage match,” said Becerra, a 64-year-old ophthalmologist who lives in Neuquén, in northern Patagonia.
Becerra will head home before the knockout stage begins. The prices, he said, are “just not possible for me.”
Will ticket prices cost the World Cup some of its culture?
Wilson, the IT specialist from England, said he and his friends opted to skip this summer’s tournament because they couldn’t justify spending the prices they were seeing.
Wilson had never spent more than $200 for any World Cup match, a price that, on the resale market, barely buys a nosebleed seat at a group stage match between two obscure teams. Instead, he and his friends have booked a Portugal getaway.
For Wilson, the World Cup is more about the atmosphere than the matches.
“That’s the great thing about these tournaments: You’re sitting at a hostel, chatting with U.S. fans, and then you go to a bar up the road and there are loads of Chileans who have just taken over the place,” Wilson said, recalling a memorable night in Johannesburg in 2010. “It’s stuff like that which makes the World Cup. But now they’ve just priced everyone out.”
Mark Doidge, a sociologist at England’s Loughborough University, said World Cups have long been defined by their traveling supporters, pointing to Colombia’s famous “Birdman” and the sea of St. George’s crosses at every England match. Rising costs, he said, risk losing exactly those fans.
“Most of those buying expensive tickets are not those passionate fans, but wealthy people paying for an experience,” he said.
Expensive World Cup won’t deter some ardent fans
There is at least one group of supporters that appears determined to come regardless of the cost: the Scots, who are eager to see their team compete in their first World Cup in 28 years.
Campbell Lewis and his friends began booking refundable accommodations across the U.S. as soon as Scotland qualified last year before prices rose.
With tens of thousands of Scottish fans expected to attend, tickets for their team’s matches have proven harder to obtain.
But after prices began to drop in recent weeks, Lewis bought two tickets for Scotland’s second match for him and his 10-year-old son. He and his friends are still waiting until the final days to get tickets to the team’s opener against Haiti, though. As of Thursday, the cheapest resale ticket for that match outside Boston exceeded $600.
“For a lot of Scottish people of my generation, this is a once-in-a-lifetime thing,” he said. “We were all kids the last time we qualified. And even though the prices have gotten out of hand, there’s just this determination that we want to go.”
Fans have concerns about traveling to the U.S.
U.S. entry requirements may also be limiting international visitors.
Unlike Russia in 2018, which waived visa requirements for ticketholders, and Qatar in 2022, which streamlined entry for fans, many traveling to the U.S. still face strict visa requirements. Until the U.S. reversed course last month, ticket-holding fans from Algeria, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Tunisia were even going to have to pay as much as $15,000 in bonds to enter the country.
Carlos Pera, president of Uruguay’s travel agency association, recently told Uruguay’s Subrayado that U.S. visa requirements were among the reasons fewer Uruguayans are making the trip this year.
U.S. officials have pushed back on concerns about visitors encountering an unwelcome environment, and the White House’s World Cup task force has highlighted efforts to prioritize visa interviews for fans with tickets. Andrew Giuliani, who leads the task force, dismissed concerns Thursday that traditional traveling supporters may be staying away.
“We want superfans and first-time visitors alike to know: America welcomes you to what will be the greatest World Cup yet,” he said in a statement.
For some fans, however, the concern goes beyond visas and cost.
Bergakker, a 48-year-old Dutch financial controller who lives near Heidelberg, Germany, said President Donald Trump’s “hostile” approach toward European allies has changed his view of traveling to the U.S.
Bergakker has attended two World Cups and four European Championships and said he is extremely susceptible to “Oranjekoorts” — the orange fever that grips Dutch fans as a tournament progresses.
A deep Netherlands run usually would be all it takes to get him on a plane, no matter the price of tickets. But Bergakker said he worries his criticism of Trump on social media could lead to problems at the border, a concern the White House rejected. A spokesperson said Thursday that a Customs and Border Protection proposal to scrutinize World Cup visitors’ social media accounts was never enacted.
Still, Bergakker said that as long as Trump is president, “this Oranje fan won’t be visiting.”
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Rico reported from Atlanta. Associated Press reporters Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo; and Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands; and Gisela Salomon in Miami contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator John Cornyn released the following statement after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officially opened the Cornyn-created State Border Security Reinforcement Fund for applications from eligible states. The fund was authorized through a provision led by Sen. Cornyn as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, according to the senator’s office. The law, also known as the Working Families Tax Act, included $13.5 billion in funding to reimburse states like Texas for “stepping up during the Biden administration to try and secure the border.
“For four years, President Biden’s disastrous open-border policies wreaked havoc on our nation, and no state did more to fill in the gaps to protect and defend the southern border than Texas,” said Sen. Cornyn. “I’m glad the Department of Homeland Security has followed through on my reimbursement provision by opening the application process for the State Border Security Reinforcement Fund to reimburse states like Texas for the billions of dollars spent to try and secure the border after Joe Biden’s dereliction of this federal responsibility.
Background:
Senator Cornyn has led the fight in Washington to secure federal reimbursement for Texas by:
• Swiftly backing Governor Abbott’s request for Texas to be reimbursed for the taxpayer dollars spent on Operation Lone Star
• Calling attention to the ongoing reimbursement effort on the Senate floor
• Meeting with Governor Abbott and members of the Texas congressional delegation to discuss the legislative strategy for the reimbursement push
• Holding ongoing meetings and phone calls with Governor Abbott, Senate and House leadership, and congressional colleagues regarding the effort
• Leading legislation in the Senate to reimburse the State of Texas for the more than $11 billion dollars Texas taxpayers spent on Operation Lone Star
• Led a letter with members of the Texas congressional delegation to the Departments of Justice (DOJ) and Homeland Security (DHS) urging them to prioritize the release of funds set aside in the One Big Beautiful Bill to reimburse the State of Texas for the more than $11 billion spent on border security efforts.
AUSTIN – Attorney General Ken Paxton launched an investigation into Celsius Holdings, Inc. (“Celsius”) based on the company’s representations and practices regarding its energy drinks marketed to teens and children. Celsius owns Alani Nutrition, LLC (“Alani”), which sells the popular energy drink commonly known as Alani Nu.
Alani Nu is a popular, low calorie, caffeine energy drink marketed toward young adults. Each 12-oz can contains 200 mg of caffeine. This is a level medical professionals consider dangerous for children and adolescents. Despite this, the brand employs colorful packaging, playful design elements, and youth-oriented branding strategies that appeal directly to younger consumers, raising serious questions about whether the company is deliberately marketing a potentially harmful product to an at-risk population.
The National Institutes of Health strongly advises against energy drink consumption by children and teens, citing documented risks including elevated heart rate, heart palpitations, high blood pressure, anxiety, and dehydration. Despite these concerns, Alani Nu’s packaging typically only lists the caffeine amount and does not provide any additional warnings related to age or potential heart-health risks. These are not hypothetical risks. Multiple children and young adults across the country have reported adverse health effects following consumption of high-caffeine energy drinks. For example, the family of a 17-year-old from Weslaco, Texas, is suing the distributor of the energy drink Alani Nu after the teen died from an enlarged heart allegedly caused by excessive caffeine consumption. The lawsuit claims the product failed to provide adequate warnings about its caffeine content—a failure that may have cost a young Texan her life.
“Texas families deserve to know that the products marketed to their children are safe and not filled with dangerous levels of certain ingredients,” said Attorney General Paxton. “The tragic death of a 17-year-old Texas girl allegedly caused by consuming a highly caffeinated energy drink is a sobering reminder of what is at stake when companies prioritize profit over the safety and wellbeing of our children. I am looking into Celsius and Alani Nu to prevent more cases like this one and to ensure Texans are made aware of the any risks that come with consuming certain energy drink products.”
The Office of the Attorney General will investigate whether Celsius and Alani mislead Consumers regarding the safety of its product for teens and children in violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (“DTPA”).
SAN ANTONIO (AP) – The New World screwworm fly is threatening the $113 billion U.S. cattle industry for the first time in more than a half century, with an infestation from its flesh-eating larvae confirmed in south Texas.
The infestation was discovered in a single 3-week-old calf in La Pryor, Texas, about 100 miles (161 kilometers) southwest of San Antonio and 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the U.S.-Mexico border. Federal and state officials had been working to keep the parasite from reaching Texas, home to $17 billion worth of the nation’s cattle, making it the industry’s No. 1 state.
The deadly flies were detected in Mexico in late 2024 after years of being contained in Panama.
The fly was an annual warm-weather scourge of cattle ranchers from at least the 1930s through the 1960s, until the U.S. eradicated the pest by breeding sterile male flies and dropping swarms of them from planes to mate with wild females. The USDA said the most recent case was the first in Texas since 1966.
Here is what to know about the fly, the threat it poses and the response:
Being unusual makes the flies a threat
The New World screwworm fly in the Western Hemisphere and its Old World cousin in Africa and Asia are unusual among flies because their larvae, or maggots, eat live flesh and fluids instead of dead material. Females lay their eggs in open wounds and mucous membranes after mating only once in their monthslong lives.
Any warm-blooded animal, including wildlife, pets and occasionally even humans, can be infested.
Livestock are vulnerable because of how they’re handled, Lee Haines, an associate research professor of biological sciences at the University of Notre Dame, said in an email Thursday. Standard practices with cattle can break the skin, including shearing and de-horning, or even moving them in and out of corrals can cause scrapes and cuts. Birth would also make a mother and calf vulnerable, she said.
Stephen Diebel, a Texas rancher and president of the Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, added that even wounds “as small as a tick bite,” can put cattle at risk.
“These flies can lay eggs in very, very small places,” he said.
Scientists and cattle groups say that infested wounds become foul-smelling and cause animals great pain or death if an infestation is not treated. In decades past, ranchers had tens of millions of dollars in losses — potentially billions in today’s dollars.
But agriculture officials were quick to note that the fly does not infest food.
Officials sounded alarms for nearly 2 years
Federal and state officials and cattle industry leaders have been sounding public alarms about the fly’s movement through Mexico and toward the U.S. since a case was confirmed in southern Mexico in November 2024.
The spread has hit Mexico’s beef industry hard, particularly after U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins closed ports of entry along the border to livestock imports in July 2025 to prevent the fly from reaching Texas.
Mexico has confirmed thousands of infestations, and Rollins has argued that the government there has not done enough to control animals moving within the country, a suggestion Mexican authorities have rejected. Rollins also has blamed former Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration, arguing that weak border security has been a factor in the flies’ migration.
But Haines said climate change is a key element in the spread of a tropical species that thrives in warm weather and disappeared after cold snaps in the U.S.
“The cold snaps that once suppressed stray populations in marginal northern regions are becoming rarer and less severe, thus removing a natural biological check on the flies’ migration north,” she said. “ Warmer temperatures are also expanding the geographical band of suitable habitat northward.”
Officials quarantine a swath of Texas
Texas State Veterinarian Bud Dinges imposed a 12-mile (20-kilometer) quarantine zone covering much of Zavala County, home to La Pryor, and a small part of neighboring Uvalde County. Animals cannot leave that zone without being inspected. Dinges has urged people to check their animals — including pets — and to “stay put.”
Rollins said the fly doesn’t travel hundreds or even tens of miles on its own. “The only way this spreads is through animal movement,” she said.
Local ranchers are concerned that the fly will spread among wildlife, particularly deer. The last U.S. outbreak was largely among deer in the the Florida Keys in 2016, though one case was confirmed last year in a Maryland man who had traveled to El Salvador and recovered. In the 2016 Florida instance, the fly was eradicated within six months by releasing sterile male flies to mate with the females.
In Texas, Haines predicted, “Their numbers will continue to expand in wildlife populations.”
In Texas, shots and fly drops
Rollins said that the USDA has been dropping millions of sterile male flies in south Texas since February in hopes of blocking the insects’ spread. The plan is to continue doing so.
The USDA opened a center in south Texas in February to disperse flies bred in Panama, and it invested $21 million in a new fly-breeding facility in southern Mexico that is expect to start operations next month.
Diebel, whose family ranch is about 200 miles (322 kilometers) east of the quarantine zone, said ranchers are proactively giving injections that prevent screwworm infestation. They’re also taking extra care to treat wounds from ear tagging and other practices and keeping a close eye for signs of illness.
“Surveillance is one of the biggest things — just constantly monitoring those cattle,” Diebel said.
He said he wouldn’t be surprised to see other isolated cases confirmed, but added, “I’m very confident we can keep this at bay.”
Officials rely on time-tested science
Government and industry officials are confident that they contain the fly in the U.S. because the best method for eradicating the pest is both time-tested and highly effective: releasing sterile male flies into the wild. While males are “promiscuous,” in the scientific sense, females are not, and if their one mating hookup is with a sterile male, no eggs from that female will hatch.
Once sterile males are prevalent enough — and millions a week can be released — the fly’s population declines and then dies out.
The U.S. shut down its own fly factories after the pest was eradicated decades ago, leaving only an international breeding facility in Panama in the Western Hemisphere until the new one in Mexico opens. However, the USDA also is spending $750 million to build a fly factory in southern Texas that can produce up to 300 million sterile flies a week.
“The sterile insect is not only the most effective tool we have, but it is also considered one of the most environmental friendly insect pest control methods ever developed,” Rollins said.
POLK COUNTY (KETK) — Authorities are actively searching for a man wanted on a deadly conduct charge in the Onalaska area, police announced Thursday morning.
The Onalaska Police Department is looking for 35?year?old Bryant Todd Arnold, who is accused of firing shots near occupied homes in the Canyon Park area. Officers launched an investigation on April 18 after receiving reports that two suspects were driving through the neighborhood and shooting near residences.
“The safety of our citizens remains our highest priority. Reckless and dangerous behavior that threatens our neighborhoods will not be tolerated,” the police department said. “We are grateful for the continued support and partnership of our residents, whose vigilance and cooperation play a vital role in keeping Onalaska safe.”
Anyone with information about Arnold’s location is urged to contact the Onalaska Police Department at 936-646-5676. Anonymous tips can be submitted through P3 Tips, the P3 App or by calling Polk County Crime Stoppers at 936?327?STOP.
DALLAS (AP) — Opening statements were set for Thursday in the murder trial of a former Texas high school athlete accused of taking out a knife during a track meet and fatally stabbing a 17-year-old competitor from a rival team in the stadium’s bleachers.
The killing last year stunned an affluent Dallas suburb where the teenagers attended school and quickly drew wider attention, in part over social media posts that amplified the case in racial terms.
Karmelo Anthony, now 19, faces up to life in prison if convicted in the killing of Austin Metcalf. According to an arrest report, Anthony told police he was protecting himself when the teenagers got into a confrontation during a high school track meet in Frisco, a booming city in Dallas’ sprawling north suburbs.
A jury was seated this week under increased security at a Collin County courthouse and a judge has set strict rules over the proceedings, including prohibiting attorneys from discussing the case publicly.
“We know this case has struck a deep nerve — here in Collin County and beyond,” Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis said while announcing the indictment against Anthony last year.
The stabbing happened on a rainy morning in April 2025. Witnesses told police the confrontation began when Anthony sat under a tent belonging to Metcalf’s team, according to an arrest report. The teens went to different high schools in Frisco.
When Metcalf told Anthony that he needed to move, Anthony reached inside his bag and allegedly replied: “Touch me and see what happens,” the report said.
A short time later, Metcalf allegedly grabbed Anthony, who then pulled out a knife and stabbed the other teenager in the chest, the report said.
A police officer said in the report that Anthony told him that Metcalf had put his hands on him, and that he was protecting himself.
Mike Howard, Anthony’s attorney, said following the indictment last summer that he expects prosecutors would “not be able to rule out the reasonable doubt” that his client may have acted in self-defense once the full details of the confrontation come out.
The parents of both teens have said they were good students who planned to go to college.
Metcalf’s father has condemned those who have seized on the race of the teenagers after the killing. Anthony is Black; Austin Metcalf was white.
“This was not a race thing. This is not a political thing. Please do not comment if you do not know what happened,” Metcalf’s father, Jeff Metcalf, said on Fox News’ “America Reports.”
“This is a human being thing,” he said. “This person made a bad choice and it affected both his family and my family forever.”
Authorities have also issued warnings about online discussions surrounding the killing. Frisco Police Chief David Shilson has urged people to beware of posts spreading “misinformation, hate, fear, and division.”’
UPDATE: Additional child-sex charges have been filed against Doyle Hodge II, a church volunteer of Polk County who was arrested after allegations of ongoing sexual abuse surfaced last week.
Hodge has now been charged with criminal solicitation of a minor and continuous sexual abuse of a child, according to the sheriff’s office. A warrant is being issued for indecency with a child by sexual conduct and his bond has totaled $325,000.
POLK COUNTY, Texas (KETK) — After receiving multiple allegations of ongoing sexual abuse, Polk County officials have arrested a volunteer of several local churches last week.
Mugshot of Doyle Hodge II, courtesy of Polk County Sheriff’s Office
According to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, they received reports on May 27 from adults and minors that 40-year-old Doyle Hodge II was sexually abusing them. After opening an investigation, deputies identified five possible victims, with additional individuals continuing to come forward.
Detectives obtained an arrest warrant for Hodge to ensure the safety and well-being of the children involved. On Friday, he was taken into the Polk County Jail for sexual assault of a child and is being held on a $100,000 bond.
The investigation remains active, and additional charges are expected to be filed.
According to the sheriff’s office, Hodge was a volunteer at several of the local churches. Anyone with any additional information regarding the case or who believes they may be a victim is encouraged to contact investigator Kayla Hemperly at 936-327-6810.
EAST TEXAS (KETK)– Gov. Greg Abbott announced an energy grant on Wednesday that will strengthen electric reliability in Northeast Texas.
The funds from the grant will go toward a project to upgrade 700 miles of power equipment and are expected to impact more than 192,000 Texas consumers. Upgrades will include replacing aging copper wire with stronger aluminum and replacing existing utility poles.
“Reliable electricity powers every part of Texans’ daily lives,” Abbott said. “As our state grows, we will ensure families, businesses and communities have the reliable, affordable power they need. Through these investments to upgrade power line infrastructure, Texas will remain the energy capital of the world.”
The project is expected to be completed by early 2031.
Governor Greg Abbott announced Wednesday the second agreement under the Texas Energy Fund (TxEF) Outside-ERCOT Grant Program (OEGP) with Southwestern Electric Power Company (SWEPCO). The grant, administered by the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT), funds a project that will upgrade approximately 700 miles of power equipment in Northeast Texas, ensuring electric reliability for more than 192,000 Texas consumers.
“Reliable electricity powers every part of Texans’ daily lives,” said Governor Abbott. “As our state grows, we will ensure families, businesses and communities have the reliable, affordable power they need. Through these investments to upgrade power line infrastructure, Texas will remain the energy capital of the world.”
“The TxEF is producing tangible results for Texans,” said PUCT Chairman Thomas Gleeson. “This project will modernize critical electric equipment, strengthen reliability for more than 192,000 consumers, and ensure Northeast Texas communities have the dependable power they deserve. This is exactly the kind of lasting improvement the TxEF was created to support.”
“This TxEF grant allows us to accelerate critical infrastructure improvements while minimizing the financial impact on our customers,” said SWEPCO president and chief operating officer Brett Mattison. “It’s a win for reliability, affordability and the communities we serve. Across SWEPCO, our teams are united in our shared mission to serve customers, and we work diligently to pursue state and federal grants that help improve service while minimizing customer costs.”
The project will upgrade approximately 700 miles of powerline infrastructure and improve nearly 200 circuits in Northeast Texas. Upgrades include replacing aging copper wire with stronger aluminum alloy conductors and replacing existing utility poles. The project will improve the reliability and resilience of the electric distribution system and improve storm resilience in SWEPCO’s territory.
The PUCT approved a grant award of approximately $200 million for the project through the OEGP, which provides funding for electric infrastructure projects that improve reliability and resiliency for Texans served by electric utilities outside the ERCOT region.
SWEPCO’s project is expected to be completed by early 2031.
The OEGP is one of four TxEF programs. More information about these programs is available on the PUCT’s website.
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — A museum in Georgia’s oldest city on Wednesday welcomed a truckload of treasures from the earliest period of U.S. history — 17 cannons that experts believe sank to the bottom of the Savannah River during the American Revolution and remained undiscovered for nearly 240 years.
Workers carefully hoisted the big guns one-by-one from the back of a truck and wheeled them inside their new home at the Savannah History Museum, which will put them on display just in time for the Fourth of July celebration of America’s 250th birthday.
“They look brand new,” said Andrea Farmer, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers archaeologist who was part of the team that researched and preserved the cannons. “They could pretty much be fired if someone wanted to.”
The artifacts were discovered in 2021 when a dredge scooping sediment from the riverbed as part of an Army Corps project to deepen Savannah’s shipping channel pulled up a cannon in its metal jaws. The crew soon dug up two more.
In the course of just over a year, a total of 19 cannons were hoisted from the location just downstream from Savannah, which is where Georgia was founded in 1733 as the last of Britain’s 13 American colonies.
After being pulled from the river, most of the cannons left Georgia for several years to undergo cleaning and preservation work at a Texas lab.
Archaeologists initially assumed the cannons likely dated to the Civil War. But further research indicated they’re likely almost a century older and sank during the buildup to the American Revolution’s bloody siege of Savannah.
Savannah was under British occupation in the fall of 1779, when colonists planned an attack to retake the city with help from French allies.
When French ships carrying troops were spotted off the Georgia coast, British forces scuttled at least six ships in the Savannah River downstream from the city to block the French vessels.
The land battle that followed was one of the bloodiest of the war. British forces killed nearly 300 colonial fighters and their allies, and wounded hundreds more.
The Savannah History Museum sits right next to the battlefield. Its staff on Wednesday hoisted the cannons, weighing up to 1500 pounds (680 kilograms) apiece, onto custom display mounts that staffers likened to giant wine racks.
The cannons will be part of a new exhibit on Savannah’s role in the American Revolution, which is scheduled to open Fourth of July weekend, said Samantha Moss, the museum’s curator.
“Our great team has been prepping for months — building mounts and planning how we can safely display these very large, very special artifacts,” she said.
Cleaning the crusty cannons took years
Each of the iron cannons emerged from the river covered by a thick crust of mud and minerals.
Two were left in that raw state and put on display at the museum. The other 17 were sent to Texas A&M University, which has a lab that specializes in preserving underwater artifacts. Its staff spent years painstakingly cleaning the big guns and coating them in paint and wax to prevent rusting and corrosion.
“A lot of them have scour marks on the side from anchors or dredging, so there’s some scarring on the cannons,” said Chris Dostal, a professor of nautical archaeology who leads Texas A&M’s Conservation Research Lab. “But most of them look pretty exceptional.”
Most of the cannons arrived with wooden plugs still sealing their bores, which remained packed with cannonballs and gunpowder charges.
Dostal said radiocarbon dating of the wooden stoppers placed them roughly in the late 1700s. His team shared the cannons’ measurements and other details with experts in London, who concluded three of them were very likely forged by the British military.
The rest appeared to be of French design but bore no telltale markings. Dostal said he suspects those guns may have been cast in America around the time of the war.
Other artifacts found with the cannons included pieces of anchors and a portion of a ship’s bronze bell. Like the cannons, none of them bore engravings indicating which ship they came from.
That means many details of the cannons’ origins remain a mystery.
“You don’t have all of the information,” Farmer said. “You’re trying to piece it together as best as you can.”
AUSTIN (AP) – The two biggest conferences in college sports released a statement Tuesday saying they do not support the current version of a bipartisan bill designed to regulate an industry struggling for answers in a quickly changing era in which some players make millions.
The Southeastern and Big Ten conferences said the “bill leaves critical issues unresolved,” including not “meaningfully” preempting state laws with a federal one, which has long been considered a key element for a measure to get support from the NCAA and the conferences.
In an interview last week, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who drafted the bill with Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., told The Associated Press “the bill is drafted to preempt state laws that conflict with the provisions in this bill.”
The SEC-Big Ten statement came out less than 24 hours before a scheduled hearing about the bill in front of the Senate Commerce Committee. Cruz chairs the panel and Cantwell is the ranking Democrat.
The legislation has received support from the Big 12 and Atlantic Coast Conferences, but the Big Ten and SEC, as the two richest leagues that also have decision-making power over the future of the College Football Playoff, hold the biggest cards.
One of the bill’s key provisions would give conferences an option to pool their media rights — an idea the Big Ten and SEC have long claimed would not result in a financial windfall that proponents suggest. The leagues’ statement did not speak to that issue.
A spokesperson for the Commerce Committee that Cruz chairs acknowledged the Big Ten-SEC position.
LUFKIN, Texas (KETK) – The Lufkin City Council voted on Tuesday in favor of advancing a proposed ordinance that will work to keep children protected from registered sex offenders.
The ordinance, which was discussed at Tuesday’s city council meeting, is designed to restrict certain registered sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of locations where children frequently gather.
If the ordinance is passed, registered sex offenders whose victims were under 17 would be prohibited from living near schools, parks, childcare facilities, and churches.
According to the Texas Public Sex Offender Website, there are roughly 138 registered sex offenders within the City of Lufkin.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Controversial U.S. Senate hopefuls Ken Paxton, a Republican from Texas, and Graham Platner, a Democrat from Maine, are in the nation’s capital Tuesday to shore up support within their respective parties, with Paxton’s itinerary including a White House huddle with President Donald Trump.
The campaign pilgrimage by the two candidates, one from each end of the political spectrum, comes with both men facing concerns they could cost their parties winnable races in the November midterms, with control of the Senate at stake for the final two years of Trump’s second presidency.
Paxton’s planned meeting with Trump comes after he won the president’s coveted endorsement ahead of trouncing Sen. John Cornyn in the Texas runoff last month. The scheduled meeting was confirmed by a person with knowledge of the president’s plans but who was not authorized to discuss them publicly.
Senate Republicans feared that Paxton, the Texas attorney general, would be a weaker candidate against James Talarico, the Democratic nominee, in the fall. Paxton has endured an indictment, an impeachment and public disclosure of martial infidelity.
He also is expected to meet with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who backed Cornyn. Senate Republicans’ campaign arm excoriated Paxton during the primary campaign, accusing him of “repulsive and disgusting” behavior and quoting his estranged wife saying she filed for divorce “on biblical grounds.”
Platner will meet with several Democratic senators days after disclosure that he and his wife have had marital difficulties and sought counseling after he reportedly sent sexually explicit text messages to other women.
Both candidates are scheduled to attend fundraisers as well.
Sen. Martin Heinrich, who is set to meet with Platner, said he doesn’t believe Maine voters are focused on Platner’s marriage. Asked if Platner still has a shot in the race, Heinrich said “we’ll have to see” and “I suspect so.”
Platner and Paxton are pressing ahead with few apologies
Platner and his wife have criticized media coverage of their marriage, framing it as a private matter that should not shape the campaign. Still, the latest personal issues added fuel to some Democrats’ skittishness about Platner, who already faced scrutiny over online posts that were dismissive of sexual assault and a tattoo that is recognized as a Nazi symbol. Platner has apologized for the posts and covered up the tattoo.
Paxton has offered no apologies for his baggage. He framed his win over Cornyn as a “Texas-sized message to Washington,” and thanked Trump — who himself has endured repeated personal and political scandal to win two national elections — for his support.
Like Paxton, Platner was not the choice of his party’s Senate brass, with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer backing Maine Gov. Janet Mills. But Platner effectively became the presumptive nominee after Mills suspended her campaign weeks ago because of fundraising difficulties.
Maine’s primary is June 9, and Platner would face Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican who is running for a sixth term, in November. Defeating Collins is crucial to Democrats’ attempts to regain control of the Senate. Democrats have repeatedly tried to unseat Collins, but she has always survived. In 2020, Collins won reelection even though Democrat Joe Biden carried the state over Trump by nine percentage points.
In Texas, some Republicans fear they will need to divert critical resources to boost Paxton over Talarico, who has become a national fundraising phenomenon.
Although Republicans have dominated Texas for decades, prominent party leaders have said the race could be genuinely competitive this time. Eight years ago, during the midterm election of Trump’s first presidency, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz won reelection over another Democratic fundraising juggernaut, Beto O’Rourke, by less than 3 points.
Republicans hold a 53-47 Senate advantage and earlier in the campaign cycle were heavily favored to maintain their majority. But as Trump’s popularity fades and primary fights yield nominees, Democrats have become more confident in their prospects.
Most Democrats and Republicans are taking their usual sides
With control of the Senate on the line, most partisans have generally lined up behind Platner and Paxton, even if begrudgingly because of their political baggage. Tuesday’s fundraising events were the latest evidence. The event for Paxton, with a $1,000 minimum donation required, according to the invitation, is being co-hosted by seven senators, including Cruz. The fundraiser for Platner is being co-hosted by former Biden White House chief of staff Ron Klain.
“My priority is to make sure that Republicans control the majority so we can continue the agenda that we’re on,” said Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kansas, on Tuesday. “Ken Paxton is absolutely necessary as far as keeping that majority. I have faith that the people of Texas will support him, and he’ll get across the finish line.”
Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a progressive, said her top concern is Platner’s prospective constituents.
“I want to hear from him about the economy,” she said ahead of their meeting. “And more about what he talks to the people of Maine about.”
That echoes another leading progressive who, like Warren, has endorsed Platner. Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent who caucuses with Democrats, said he still supports Platner as part of the left’s economic populism.
“Of course,” Sanders told reporters Monday. “Why would I not?”
But not all Democrats are on board, including one who first came to the Senate with an outsider persona. Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, a Democrat who has earned a reputation for speaking and voting against his party, even appeared to relish Platner’s newest controversy, calling him “phustle,” a reference to Platner’s apparent profile uncovered on Kik, a popular, private messaging app.
“So much bizarre and tacky and gross stuff that you lose count. It’s like you need to have a bingo card,” Fetterman said.
The senator stopped stopped short of calling on Platner to drop out, but he echoed some Democrats’ private concerns.
“I mean, what’s next?” he said.
He later said, “I’m not going to carry water for that guy.”
ATLANTA (AP) — Hurricanes, wildfires, floods and other extreme weather can also kick up storms of anxiety.
Thankfully, there are several ways to reduce that stress, according to mental health experts who have helped people who have experienced disasters. One of the most important things to do is have a plan, they say.
“Preparation is always one of the most powerful tools that I can imagine — not just for safety, but also for mental health,” said Ruben Juarez, a health economist at University of Hawaii professor who directed the Maui Wildfires Exposure Study, which looked at health and social impacts of the deadly 2023 fires.
And when the disaster is over, they say, try to restore a sense of normalcy by seeking out support, returning to routines and helping others.
Kevin Westmoreland, who co-owns The Corner Kitchen in Asheville, North Carolina, learned meditation techniques and breathing exercises to deal with the stresses that the restaurant industry can present. When the remnants of Hurricane Helene unleashed torrents of rain on the state two years ago, water and mud poured into the restaurant and “everything was tossed around inside the building as if it was in a blender,” he recalled.
“All you could do to get through it is try to take a breath and move forward, step by step,” he said.
Plan ahead for unpredictable weather
One way to ease anxiety is to prepare as best you can ahead of time, including hashing out a plan for what to do during a disaster.
Making an evacuation plan and putting together an emergency kit can provide a sense of control, said Melissa Brymer, a psychologist and director of terrorism and disaster programs at the UCLA-Duke National Center for Child Traumatic Stress.
She recommends a step-by-step guide for families at ready.gov/plan. The American Red Cross also has extensive guides for hurricane preparedness. Make sure to consider special preparations for anyone with disabilities, special needs, new mothers and expectant mothers, Brymer advises. Also make sure that pets are included in disaster plans.
Weather is unpredictable, so it helps to accept that there are things you won’t be able to control.
AUSTIN (AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN) – In the litigation from false claims that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a government hoax, attorneys for Alex Jones and Free Speech Systems LLC, the Austin-based parent business of his Infowars media platform, returned to state court to contest collection efforts. In order to postpone efforts to sell or license Infowars assets to pay the Sandy Hook families, his counsel argued that the judge should impose a nominal bond. According to decisions in Connecticut and Texas, Jones owes the families around $1.5 billion.
Judge Maya Guerra Gamble of the State District Court in Austin stated that in order to continue delaying an order to start paying them, he must post a $4.3 million bond. The Onion, a satirical media site, may be able to purchase or license Infowars if he is unable to make the bond. However, the Texas 3rd Court of Appeals will make that determination. Last month, it ordered stays on collections in both the Connecticut and Texas rulings.
The judge rejected the testimony of Jones’s and the company’s attorneys last week that he has a negative net worth of $1.35 billion. In her decision on Friday, she stated that she “had no faith in the integrity of evidence given by (Free Speech Systems) as to its own net worth.”
WASHINGTON (AP) — Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin is slated to appear Tuesday in the Senate to answer questions about the agency’s budget, at a time of intense scrutiny about how the Trump administration is carrying out immigration enforcement and preparing for the World Cup.
Mullin’s appearance at the appropriations subcommittee on homeland security comes as the Senate is weighing legislation that would fund immigration enforcement agencies through the end of President Donald Trump’s term in a maneuver that would bypass the need for support from Democrats, who have demanded restraints before agreeing to fund the agencies.
But, the attempt to fund those two agencies for the long term has been stalled over separate Republican opposition to a $1.776 billion settlement fund to compensate Trump allies who believe they have been politically prosecuted.
Mullin, who was tapped by Trump to lead Homeland Security after his predecessor Kristi Noem was fired, is appearing in the Senate Tuesday for the first time since his confirmation hearing in March.
The hearing also comes at a time when Mullin, who projected himself as a steadying hand at a department wracked by instability during Noem’s tenure, has set the travel industry on edge with threats to withdraw U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers from airports in so-called “sanctuary cities.”
Such a move could upend international travel at a time when millions of visitors are gearing up to come to the U.S. for the World Cup.
Mullin said during a news conference Monday that if needed, he has a plan to pull CBP officers from airports to help with security at the Delaney Hall ICE facility in Newark, New Jersey, where demonstrators have been protesting conditions inside. But he said the state is working to provide security there so it’s not needed right now.
New Jersey state police on Friday relieved federal immigration enforcement agents who had been facing off against protesters at the facility for days. The mayor of Newark Sunday also imposed a curfew around the center.
“As long as we continue to have this partnership with local and state law enforcement then there will be no need to do so,” Mullin told reporters during a news conference in Dallas Monday, in response to questions about whether he would be pulling CBP officers from airports.
Mullin can also expect to face questions over a recent announcement from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services that demands that most green card seekers apply for permanent residency from their home country, changing longstanding policy that allowed them to do so from the U.S. and prompting widespread confusion among immigration lawyers and their clients.
EL PASO (AP) – An investigation by KFF Health News and The Associated Press has found that hundreds of detainees across at least 33 states allege immigration detention facilities are failing to provide adequate medical care.
Detainees allege they didn’t receive medications on time — or at all — for conditions including high blood pressure, diabetes, depression, epilepsy, Parkinson’s and HIV. Requests for help went unanswered for weeks. Blood sugars rose. Infections festered. Cancers remained untreated. Detainees collapsed and had seizures.
U.S. jails and immigration detention centers have long struggled to meet the medical needs of the people in their charge. But the system is sagging under an influx of detentions since President Donald Trump returned to office: More than 75,000 immigrants were being detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as of mid-January, up from around 40,000 a year earlier.
KFF Health News and AP asked the Department of Homeland Security to respond to the findings six days before publication but it did not provide comment. DHS acting chief medical officer, Sean Conley, previously said “it is both policy and longstanding practice for aliens to receive timely and appropriate medical care from the moment they enter ICE custody” and that the department recruits healthcare professionals to maintain high standards. “This is better, more responsive healthcare than many aliens have ever received in their entire lives,” he has said.
Individual facilities and private prison companies contracting with DHS that responded to requests for comment on this story said they follow ICE standards and detainees receive adequate medical care when it is required. Some said they were unfamiliar with the allegations outlined in court documents; others blamed the detainees themselves for lapses in their medical care.
KFF Health News and AP analyzed thousands of court cases filed since Trump’s second inauguration that use a legal route known as habeas corpus to argue people are being held illegally by ICE. The records offer a rare window into how those detained say — often under penalty of perjury — ICE is handling their medical needs. Reporters also interviewed more than 50 detainees, family members and lawyers.
The investigation revealed that medical neglect is alleged across the sprawling detention system, including in offices not designed to house people, county jails and quickly staged sites with nicknames such as “Alligator Alcatraz.”
The full story can be read here. Here are the takeaways:
Previously, detainees with serious medical needs would likely have been released on humanitarian parole, in part to avoid the cost of their care, Vermont attorney Andrew Pelcher said.
Now, under “mandatory detention,” people are staying locked up with serious — and expensive — conditions.
A Romanian citizen underwent several heart surgeries, including an emergency triple bypass in April 2025, before he was arrested in July. As part of his recovery, the 52-year-old was required to take 16 daily medications. While detained by ICE in Baltimore, his court filings allege, he went two days without any medication before officials moved him to a facility in New Jersey.
The AP and KFF Health News are not naming anyone identified in court documents without their consent.
He was hospitalized three times with chest pains, in part because the detention center did not provide all his medications despite “countless requests,” medical records and court documents say. Hospital discharge papers cited by his lawyer show he received only eight of the 16 medications after his second release from the hospital.
Several weeks later in August, he had a stroke while on a video call with his daughter, according to court filings. “He was struggling to breathe, and was pointing at his chest where he was again experiencing pain, and suddenly stopped speaking.” His daughter screamed for help through the video monitor, according to his petition. “Eventually an officer came in to assist him and cut the feed.”
The man lost his ability to speak for four days, the document says. He was returned to detention, where he remained until a federal judge ordered his release in November.
Detainees receiving inadequate healthcare have little recourse. The Department of Homeland Security last year gutted the Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman. In early May, they shut the office entirely arguing that Congress didn’t fund it.
Ombudsman staffers used to help facilitate medical care or investigate complaints of neglect, according to Matt Boles, an immigration attorney in Georgia. Now, he said, there’s no one to call.
Meanwhile, detainees’ families said they feel helpless, making desperate calls to facilities, the government and their legislators while watching their loved ones deteriorate.
Riya Khan saw her mother get sicker at the California City Detention Facility, which is owned by CoreCivic, a private prison company. When she visited a week after her mother arrived at the facility in the Mojave Desert, Riya said, the 64-year-old woman was shaking as she stumbled into her seat. Her breathing was labored.
Masuma Khan came to the U.S. from Bangladesh in 1997. Like 70% of those in detention, Khan has no criminal history. She was detained in October when she showed up for her regular ICE check-in.
For the month she was detained, according to her daughter, she only intermittently received her medications for conditions including high blood pressure, hypothyroidism and prediabetes.
CoreCivic treats chronic conditions in line with applicable medical standards, spokesperson Brian Todd said.
“Nothing matters more to CoreCivic than the health, safety and well-being of the people in our care,” Todd said.
Khan said she got her asthma medication for the first time two days before she was released and her eye drops for glaucoma never arrived. Staffers told Khan she needed to buy some of her medications from the commissary but it didn’t stock them, her daughter said.
Dora Schriro, who worked for ICE and now serves as a special adviser to the American Bar Association, said case law requires the government to treat people in immigration detention with the same care it affords those in traditional jails awaiting trial. But administrators are granted discretion and medical care standards vary.
Detainees are frequently moved across the country, often without warning, interrupting treatment. A woman from El Salvador said she missed a week of HIV medication when she was transferred from Colorado to a county jail in Wyoming.
A Russian man wrote that, while detained in Texas, he saw a gastroenterologist about his painful gallstones and scheduled an appointment with a surgeon. “Unfortunately, I never got to see him, due to my being moved around various detention centers.”
Advocates say that even obvious disabilities, like legal blindness, are ignored.
A detainee who lost one eye and had severe glaucoma in the other required twice-daily drops to maintain what vision remained. But, he said, some days the drops never came.
He wrote that his vision was quickly deteriorating, and he was scared he’d lose it entirely and never be able to see his infant son again.
POLK COUNTY (KETK) — After receiving multiple allegations of ongoing sexual abuse, Polk County officials have arrested a volunteer of several local churches last week. According to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, they received reports on May 27 from adults and minors that 40-year-old Doyle Hodge II was sexually abusing them. After opening an investigation, deputies identified five possible victims, with additional individuals continuing to come forward.
Detectives obtained an arrest warrant for Hodge to ensure the safety and well-being of the children involved. On Friday, he was taken into the Polk County Jail for sexual assault of a child and is being held on a $100,000 bond.
The investigation remains active, and additional charges are expected to be filed.
According to the sheriff’s office, Hodge was a volunteer at several of the local churches. Anyone with any additional information regarding the case or who believes they may be a victim is encouraged to contact investigator Kayla Hemperly at 936-327-6810.
CORPUS CHRISTI (THE TEXAS TRIBUNE) – Corpus Christi City Council is set to discuss Tuesday whether to revive a controversial and ambitious endeavor to build a desalination plant to convert seawater into drinkable water — a project the council rejected nine months ago over high costs and environmental concerns.
A stubborn drought and rising demand has left the city strapped for water, but the coastal community is still divided on whether an expensive plant is worth the cost to taxpayers and the local ecosystem.
Desalination removes salt and other minerals from seawater or salty groundwater, but plants are expensive to build and require lots of energy to run.
The city’s water department, the mayor and some City Council members view the proposed plant, the Inner Harbor Desalination Project, as the key to a long-term, steady water supply. City Manager Peter Zanoni often calls it a “drought-proof” solution capable of producing up to 30 million gallons of drinking water a day.
If approved Tuesday, the earliest the facility would deliver water is late 2029, too far away to help the city dodge its immediate emergency needs. According to projections, the city is expecting to impose emergency water restrictions in December, when demand is expected to exceed supplies in six months, though recent rain may push restrictions back into early 2027.
Mayor Paulette Guajardo, a strong supporter of the project, said the city needs to think long-term. “At the blink of an eye, three years will be here,” she said.
The facility is estimated to cost $978.8 million, which the water department said is a “guaranteed maximum price.” That’s about 25% cheaper than previous cost estimates.
The water department has already corralled a number of contractors to jump on the plant, which would be built along the bay in Hillcrest, a historically Black neighborhood. It’s fully permitted and about 60% designed. The soonest it would deliver water, if approved Tuesday, would be late 2029.
Climbing costs played a big role in the City Council’s September decision to abandon the original plan, but critics are also concerned about where the plant’s salty leftovers would be released. Under the proposal under consideration Tuesday, millions of gallons of the brine byproduct — which can be twice as salty as seawater — would be discharged into Corpus Christi Bay, home to a variety of fish, crabs and seagrass.
The city hired a consultant, Spheros Environmental Group, to review the Inner Harbor project’s ecological impact on the bay. The report, finalized last week, concluded that the plant would not disrupt the bay’s ecosystem, Zanoni said.
That report follows a 2020 study evaluating the city’s original desalination project by Freese and Nichols, an engineering consulting firm based in Houston, which found that sea creatures living in the bay can tolerate high salt conditions, and that the proposed plant’s discharge would not surpass that threshold.
But Isabel Araiza, co-founder of the citizens group For the Greater Good, is not convinced.
“It just makes sense in a practically closed-based system, you don’t dump 54 million gallons of brine and sludge into the bay every single day and not expect that to destroy the bay,” Araiza said.
She’s asking city leaders to instead focus on forcing the region’s largest water users — oil refineries and petrochemical plants — to conserve water. Over the past decade, Corpus Christi aggressively courted large industrial facilities that require large amounts of water, promising a sufficient supply.
Now, the city’s main reservoirs have shriveled up, threatening 25% water cuts for all city customers that could begin in December or early 2027. City leaders on Tuesday also will discuss how those restrictions would be implemented, and how high surcharge rates would be, if a Level 1 emergency is triggered — the point when the city is six months away from supply falling short of demand.
Araiza said the proposed desalination plant is “not a sustainable solution economically or environmentally, it’s an industrial want,” and that “the right moral and ethical choice” is to reject it again.
But some community members view the desalination plant as the city’s last lifeline.
Nelda Martinez, who lives along the bay, pleaded with City Council members to move forward with the Inner Harbor project.
“People that you serve are worried if they’re going to have their job tomorrow,” she said during a March meeting. “There have been businesses that have shut down. There have been businesses that now are planning their exit plans. There are people and entities that have decided that they’re not going to move here.”
Ginny Cross, vice president of advocacy for United Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce, said she hopes city leaders move forward with a desalination plant because an evergreen water source could save businesses from threats of future surcharges. Mandatory restrictions would be especially hard on car washes and landscaping companies, she said.
“We obviously want our public officials to be good stewards of our tax dollars, but I fear that the days of plentiful, inexpensive water are gone,” Cross said. “I hate that reality for everybody, but I think we’re either going to have expensive plentiful water, or expensive scarce water. I think if we’re going to pay for it, we’d rather have lots of it.”
The city is also considering two desalination plant proposals from private companies. In March, the City Council agreed to hear a plan from Aquatech, a desalination company offering to finish building a water plant for plastics manufacturer Corpus Christi Polymers if the city agrees to purchase water from it.
City representatives also are in talks with AXE H2O, a 2-month-old Houston company that is offering to fully fund and build a desalination facility in the Coastal Bend area. Before work could begin, the city would have to commit to buying at least 50 million gallons a day for at least 30 years.
Kenneth Dees, a water resources engineer based in Fort Worth, said Corpus Christi and the rest of the state should start preparing to shell out more for water, including desalination plants, as the drought deepens and infrastructure ages.
“We’re not running out of water, we’re running out of cheap water,” Dees said.
The original article for this story appears here.
LONE STAR (KETK) – The Federal Bureau of Investigation announced the results of a months long investigation into child exploitation on Friday, including the arrest of one East Texas man for possession of child pornography.
Operation Soteria Shield was conducted in the months of March and April with the goal of finding “offenders who exploit children through online platforms, social media, messaging applications, and other digital environments.”
In that time, the FBI’s Dallas field office cooperated with over 90 Texas law enforcement agencies to arrest 276 people, reportedly rescuing 89 children in the process. Operation Soteria Shield arrived in East Texas when the Lone Star Police Department was assigned a cybertip.
The cybertip was from the social media platform X, formerly called Twitter. The tip claimed a person living near Lone Star in Morris County was using the X artificial intelligence platform “Grok” to generate “life like images of child sexual abuse material (CSAM).”
On March 27, Lone Star Police Department officers, Morris County Sheriff’s Office deputies , Ore City Police Department officers, Mt. Pleasant Police Department officers, Hawk Cove Police Department officers and FBI agents took Jesus Aleman Jr. into custody in connection to the cybertip.
According to Lonestar PD, Aleman admitted to having CSAM on his phone at his Morris County residence. After Aleman was arrested on a warrant for possession of child pornography, officers got a search warrant for his phone, which was found to contain over a thousand CSAM images.
“The men and women of East Texas Law Enforcement want all abusers and exploiters of children to know that the internet that was once your playground is now our hunting ground and you can no longer hide on the net,” Lone Star PD said on Friday.
Aleman was a registered sex offender from a previous conviction, meaning his case is being forwarded to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for federal prosecution, according to Lone Star PD.
“Operation Soteria Shield brought together over 90 agencies from across the state of Texas,” FBI Dallas special agent in charge R. Joseph Rothrock said. “Together, we were able to make a significant impact in the ongoing battle against predators who exploit children in our communities. This would not have been successful without the resolve of each participating agency. The FBI and our law enforcement partners will continue to prioritize the safety of the most vulnerable members of our communities.”
The operation’s namesake, Soteria, was an ancient Greek pagan goddess who personified safety, salvation and protection from harm.
WASHINGTON (AP) — David Johnston was a licensed attorney when he illegally entered the Capitol with a mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters on Jan. 6, 2021. More than five years later, the South Carolina man is offering to help fellow “J6ers” apply for payouts from the Trump administration’s nearly $1.8 billion new fund for people claiming to be victims of a weaponized government.
He’ll do it for a 10% cut of any award, capped at $5,000 apiece.
“I think the narrative is changing” about how the history of that day is being told, Johnston said in a video he posted to social media. “I think good things are happening for us.”
Hundreds of Trump loyalists pleaded guilty to storming the Capitol, admitting under oath that they broke the law. Now pardoned by Trump, many hope to capitalize on their crimes by tapping into the $1.776 billion settlement fund designed to compensate the Republican president’s allies who believe they were politically prosecuted.
A bipartisan backlash to the fund and a legal roadblock have not dimmed the celebratory response from Jan. 6 rioters clamoring for a share of the taxpayer money. Some are staking claims even though the government has not established an application process and a judge has frozen the fund’s formation, at least temporarily.
The fund’s critics see it as another vehicle for Trump and his allies to whitewash the events of Jan. 6, retroactively justify the mob’s assault on a pillar of American democracy and reward some of Trump’s most loyal followers.
Jason Riddle, a military veteran from New Hampshire who was sentenced to 90 days behind bars after pleading guilty to riot charges, publicly rejected a pardon from Trump. Likewise, he said it would be “ridiculous” for him or any other Jan. 6 rioter to get government compensation.
“I’d love money, but I can’t accept that. That would bother me for the rest of my life,” he said. “We weren’t innocently persecuted just because of who we are or who we vote for. We were persecuted for committing criminal behavior in the Capitol of the United States.”
Plenty of other “J6ers” do not share Riddle’s reluctance.
A Florida man who posed for photos with then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s podium argued on social media that he deserves to be compensated for the cost of his infamy. A rioter from New Jersey described by prosecutors as a Nazi sympathizer hailed the fund as “good news not just for J6ers but all victims of weaponization.” A Texas man who received a seven-year prison sentence for storming the Capitol with a metal tomahawk celebrated the fund as “payback” for “victims of Biden’s tyranny,” referring to Democratic President Joe Biden.
Oregon resident Pamela Hemphill, sentenced to 60 days in jail for her conviction, rejected a pardon from Trump but has drafted a written claim for compensation from the fund. Unlike scores of rioters who claim to be victims of a government weaponized by Democrats, Hemphill blames Trump for her legal troubles. Her claims letter says she is seeking $5 million in compensation.
“I wouldn’t have been through all of this if Trump hadn’t lied about the election being stolen,” she said during a telephone interview. “It’s a direct result of his lies that I was even there that day.”
It is an open question whether anyone convicted of a Capitol riot-related crime could be eligible for payments from a fund created to resolve Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS over the leak of his tax returns.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has not ruled out that possibility. Blanche said there are no limits on who can apply, but he noted that the fund’s five commissioners — all yet to be named — will decide who deserves to be compensated and why, based on factors such as “what the person did, his sentence, how much time he was in jail.”
“That’s up to the commissioners,” Blanche told The Associated Press on Thursday when asked about his position on whether violent Jan. 6 defendants should be eligible for payments.
“You have to define something and then stick to it. That’s something I’ve been hesitant to try to do, because it’s very fact-intensive,” Blanche said. ”Me sitting here and talking in hypotheticals is something that I don’t think is fair to the process.”
It is unclear whether Congress would block payments to Jan. 6 defendants. Senate Republicans who are angry about the settlement have said they want to place parameters on the fund as part of a Department of Homeland Security spending bill. They abruptly left town earlier this month after a tense meeting with Blanche and will return on Monday with the situation unresolved.
A federal judge in Virginia has frozen the fund’s establishment and temporarily blocked any processing or paying of claims. The judge issued that ruling Friday in one of at least three lawsuits challenging the fund.
Brendan Ballou, a former prosecutor who tried several Jan. 6 cases before leaving the Department of Justice last year, sued on behalf of two police officers who helped defend the Capitol from the mob. Ballou views the fund’s creation as part of a broader Trump campaign to undermine democratic institutions and rewrite the history of Jan. 6.
“And if the president is successful in that effort, if he’s able to get people to either forget or condone that day, he knows that he can get people to accept any attack on democracy,” Ballou said.
Nearly 1,600 people were charged with Capitol riot-related federal crimes. More than 1,200 were convicted and sentenced before Trump issued mass pardons and ordered the dismissal of all pending Jan. 6 cases. Trump also freed far-right extremist group members who were imprisoned for plotting to attack the Capitol to keep Trump in office after he lost the 2020 presidential election to Biden.
The self-described “J6 community” isn’t the only pro-Trump constituency angling for cuts of the money.
Meshawn Maddock, who was charged as being a fake elector for Trump in Michigan before a judge dismissed the case last year, said she and her husband, state Rep. Matt Maddock, “absolutely” plan on making a claim. She believes the fund’s use of taxpayer money is justified because it “paid for the prosecution and investigation of the years that I was being hunted down.”
“I want vengeance and I want retribution,” Maddock said.
Trump’s campaign to recast Jan. 6 as a peaceful protest seems to have emboldened many convicted rioters.
Johnston’s eagerness to help other Capitol rioters with claims contrasts with his remorse at sentencing in 2022. He apologized for his “terrible lapse in judgment” before a judge sentenced him to three weeks in jail and three months of home detention. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor trespassing charge.
“It was a dumb, dumb thing to do,” Johnston told the judge. “I am 100% responsible for what I did that day.”
DALLAS (AP) — Firefighters responding to reports of a gas leak at a Dallas apartment complex had already arrived and were preparing to evacuate residents when the building exploded in a massive fireball, killing three people and injuring several more, the city’s fire chief said Friday.
Dallas Fire-Rescue Chief Justin Ball said the first group of four firefighters arrived within two minutes of the call reporting the gas leak on Thursday.
“Right before they were going to enter and evacuate, it exploded,” Ball said.
Firefighters had been on scene for about 10 minutes, conducting necessary safety protocols that include blocking off the street, finding the leak, donning protective gear and setting up a water supply, he said, describing their actions as “heroics.”
Officials stand near rubble following an apartment complex fire, Friday, May 29, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Officials stand near rubble following an apartment complex fire, Friday, May 29, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
“No time was wasted,” Ball insisted. “That takes time to put all the safety protocols in place. I would be criticizing them if they had not done that.”
The explosion shook nearby homes and the resulting inferno razed the two-story complex. A child and two other people were killed and at least five people were injured and sent to hospitals. No firefighters were injured, Ball said.
The building’s 22 units were occupied by 19 families. Ball said authorities searched the charred wreckage late into Thursday night and early Friday morning with drones, cadaver dogs and specialized urban rescue teams, and did not expect to find any more victims.
“There is nobody unaccounted for or we’d still be searching,” Ball said. “We’ve had no one come to us and say, ‘Our family member is missing.’”
Several blocks of streets around the explosion site were still closed off by police cars and police tape Friday. The smell of smoke lingered over the area as law enforcement officials and workers in bright yellow vests circled the rubble of what was once the apartment building.
The cause of the gas leak before the explosion is still unknown.
The National Transportation Safety Board said a team of eight investigators arrived Friday. The agency investigates gas pipeline accidents, and said initial reports indicated a contractor had damaged an underground gas pipeline.
An attorney for the apartment owner said the building was being sold to a buyer who planned to build a new housing unit. He said an engineering firm hired by that company struck the gas line while doing soil testing.
“The owner is shocked by this outcome and likewise mourns this outcome,” attorney Geoff Henley said.
Phone and email messages left with an engineering company that the complex’s owner said was doing soil testing were not immediately returned.
Sherry Woods, who lives in an apartment across an alleyway from the fire site, said Friday she was sitting outside her front door when she and her boyfriend smelled what they believed to be gas.
Moments later, the explosion nearly knocked her down.
Trish Thompson surveyed the site from across a grassy field Friday morning and could see the gap on the block where the apartment complex stood just 24-hours earlier.
Thompson, who lives nearby, described hearing a “loud rumble, something more like a train to me” and seeing smoke and fire.
“Pray for them,” Thompson said.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A federal immigration officer wanted for shooting a Venezuelan man during the Trump administration’s Minnesota crackdown was arrested Friday in Texas, authorities said.
Christian Castro, of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, was taken into custody 11 days after Minneapolis prosecutors charged him with assault and falsely reporting a crime in the Jan. 14 nonfatal shooting of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis.
Hennepin County, Minnesota prosecutors said the state’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension located Castro, 52, in Texas and worked with agents from the Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General’s Office and the Texas Rangers to arrest him.
“Today’s arrest is a critical step forward in our prosecution of Mr. Castro,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said.
Online court records do not list an attorney for Castro and it wasn’t immediately clear if he has one. Messages seeking comment were left with ICE, the Homeland Security Inspector General’s Office and the Texas Rangers.
Castro is the second federal agent to be charged over their conduct during the Minnesota crackdown, which was known as Operation Metro Surge. He is one of two agents that ICE Director Todd Lyons said lied about the circumstances of the incident.
According to prosecutors, Castro fired through a home’s front door and shot Sosa-Celis in the thigh after Castro and another officer chased a different man, Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna, to the Minneapolis apartment duplex where he and Sosa-Celis lived. Sosa-Celis and Aljorna were legally in the U.S., Moriarty said.
Federal authorities initially accused Sosa-Celis and Aljorna of beating an officer with a broom handle and a snow shovel. A federal judge later dismissed the charges, and ICE and the Justice Department opened an investigation into whether officers lied about what happened.
In a statement after the charges were announced, ICE said the U.S. attorney’s office was investigating statements made by officers, who could face disciplinary action including being fired and prosecuted. ICE called the Hennepin County attorney’s action “unlawful and nothing more than a political stunt.” DHS’s Inspector General’s Office, which Moriarty credited with assisting in the arrest, is separate from ICE and is meant to serve as a watchdog for DHS agencies, including ICE.
Minneapolis last month released video showing the moments before Sosa-Celis’s shooting, captured from a distance by a city-owned security camera.
The video appears to show a person standing with a snow shovel outside the house, near the street, then retreating toward the house and tossing the shovel into the yard. This happens as a person being chased by another person runs up from the street, falls on the sidewalk, gets up, and keeps heading toward the house.
The three appear to scuffle near the front steps for about 10 seconds. The exact moment when Sosa-Celis is shot isn’t clear. A car with flashing lights pulls up, and another person walks up.
The Trump administration sent thousands of officers to the Minneapolis and St. Paul area as part of President Donald Trump’s national deportation campaign and considered Operation Metro Surge a success.
But tensions mounted during the weekslong campaign, and the shooting deaths of U.S. citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal officers sparked mass unrest and raised questions about officers’ conduct.
Minnesota leaders and the Trump administration have clashed over who has the authority to investigate and prosecute federal officers for on-duty conduct.
Moriarty’s office last month charged immigration agent Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr. with assault for allegedly pointing his gun at people in a car on a highway. He turned himself in last week and his lawyer disputes the charges.
The county is also investigating Good’s and Pretti’s killings and sued the Trump administration in March to gain access to evidence in those cases and the Sosa-Celis shooting.