Category: Security

The Department of Homeland Security confirmed that a California youth soccer coach charged with murdering a 13-year-old soccer player has been identified as an illegal immigrant from El Salvador.

In a Monday press release, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced that 43-year-old Mario Edgardo Garcia-Aquino had been charged with “one count of murder with the special circumstance allegation of murder during the commission or attempted commission of lewd acts with a child, making him eligible for the death penalty.”

According to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, Garcia-Aquino allegedly killed 13-year-old Oscar “Omar” Hernandez in Lancaster, California, on March 28.

“On March 28, the teen was reported missing by his family after he boarded a train to Lancaster to visit Garcia-Aquino and wasn’t heard from again,” Monday’s press release stated. “Garcia-Aquino is accused of killing Oscar and then dumping his body in Oxnard.”

According to Fox News, multiple law enforcement sources told the outlet on Tuesday that the 43-year-old suspect is an illegal immigrant from El Salvador. Additionally, the Department of Homeland Security described Garcia-Aquino in a post on X, formerly Twitter, as a “depraved illegal alien who should have never been in this country.”

Fox News reported that Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna confirmed that Garcia-Aquino “was a youth travel soccer coach with the Hurricane Valley Boys Soccer Club in the Sylmar area working with different age divisions” and that he “had no reported criminal history.” 

READ MORE: Illegal immigrants kill good Samaritan in Los Angeles

In a statement obtained by Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin, U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Bilal Essayli said, “This was an avoidable crime and the result of failed border policies. We cannot and will not tolerate illegal aliens who flout our nation’s immigration laws then prey on children.”

In an interview on Fox News, Tricia McLaughlin, a Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman, said that the 13-year-old victim was an “innocent child star soccer player” who “should still be alive today.” McLaughlin told Fox News that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have lodged a detainer against the illegal immigrant suspect; however, she said it was not yet clear whether the detainer would be “honored” due to Los Angeles’ status as a “sanctuary city.”

McLaughlin added, “These sanctuary city politicians are playing Russian roulette with the lives of American children and American citizens.”

In addition to the murder charge against Garcia-Aquino, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office also announced that the 43-year-old suspect was being charged with one felony count of assault with the intent to commit a sexual offense against a 16-year-old boy in February of 2024 and for one felony count of assault with the intent to commit a sexual offense and lewd act against a 14 or 15-year-old child in December of 2022.

The United States military announced on Monday that it is “repositioning” its personnel and equipment from Jasionka, Poland, which is a key hub that has been used to transport weapons and military aid to Ukraine.

In a Monday press release, U.S. Army Europe and Africa announced “the planned repositioning of U.S. military equipment and personnel” currently staged in Jasionka to other locations in Poland. The Hill reported that roughly 10,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Poland.

U.S. Army Europe and Africa stated, “This transition is part of a broader strategy to optimize U.S. military operations, improving the level of support to Allies and partners while also enhancing efficiencies.”

Monday’s press release noted that the U.S. military’s decision to “reposition troops and equipment” followed extensive planning and assessment and was coordinated with Poland and NATO allies.

“The important work of facilitating military aid to Ukraine via Jasionka will continue under Polish and NATO leadership, supported by a streamlined U.S. military footprint,” U.S. Army Europe and Africa said. “Poland and its allies will maintain the robust protective infrastructure around this critical site.”

READ MORE: Putin drafts 160,000 men for Russian military as Ukraine war continues

According to the press release, U.S. forces established a “temporary presence” in Jasionka following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. U.S. Army Europe and Africa noted that the location has been used by NATO, the U.S., and other partners over the past three years. The Hill reported that Poland’s defense minister previously claimed that as much as 95% of the military assistance provided to Ukraine is transported through Jasionka.

In a Tuesday post on X, formerly Twitter, Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said, “U.S. troops remain in Poland, but are stationed at different locations. The mission in Jasionka is now primarily carried out by Norwegian, German, British, and Polish forces, along with other allied troops.”

Since establishing a temporary presence at Jasionka, U.S. Army Europe and Africa explained that the Army has established U.S. Army Garrison Poland and “more robust facilities” in Poland.

“Poland is a great host. In the past few years we have moved to more permanent facilities in the country,” Gen. Christopher Donahue, commanding general of U.S. Army Europe and Africa, said. “After three years at Jasionka this is an opportunity to right-size our footprint and save American taxpayers tens of millions of dollars per year.”

In Monday’s press release, U.S. Embassy Poland Chargé d’Affaires Daniel Lawton expressed gratitude for Jasionka’s warm welcome of U.S. personnel and “high-level visitors” over the past few years.

“Your support has exemplified the close ties between our nations and enhanced the strength of our U.S.-Poland partnership,” Lawton said. “As we adapt to evolving needs, this transition allows us to sustain our close cooperation while using resources more efficiently.”

Al Barile, who played guitar in the influential Boston hardcore band SS Decontrol — a linchpin of the drink-and-drug-shunning straight-edge scene of the early 1980s that also encompassed Washington’s Minor Threat — died Sunday at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He was 63.

His death was announced on Instagram by his wife, Nancy Barile, who didn’t specify a cause but said that her husband had been diagnosed with colon cancer in 2022 and “passed away peacefully” with her at his side.

With songs that averaged about a minute in length, SS Decontrol — Society System Decontrol for long, SSD for short — railed furiously against what the members saw as the hypocrisy and the oppressive tendencies of government, the police and organized religion on albums such as 1982’s “The Kids Will Have Their Say,” which bore a cover photo depicting a group of young people storming the steps of the Massachusetts State House. The music was loud and fast, with pummeling guitar riffs that made the idea of a fourth chord seem like an immoral extravagance.

“‘The Kids Will Have Their Say’ is so unsettling, so ugly, that SS Decontrol’s fans needn’t worry about their champs’ succumbing to creeping commercialism — not even accidentally,” Joyce Millman wrote admiringly in the Boston Phoenix in 1982. In the Trouser Press, Ian McCaleb and Ira Robbins called the band’s follow-up, 1983’s “Get It Away,” “a definitive hardcore classic.”

Alan Scott Barile was born Oct. 4, 1961, in Lynn, Massachusetts, where he grew up playing hockey and “making Dracula movies,” as his wife said in a statement. Hearing the Ramones inspired him to start playing guitar, after which he formed SSD (while a mechanical-engineering student at Northeastern University) with bassist Jaime Sciarappa, drummer Chris Foley and singer David Spring, who was known as Springa.

“Al comes out and makes the big speech — and I remember this as clear as I remember my f— 8th birthday,” Springa said in a 2024 documentary about SSD. “‘OK, what this band is gonna be about — it’s not gonna be a groovy type of band where people go out on the dance floor and shake their ass. We’re making a statement here: It’s about anti-government, anti-society, anti-conformity and breaking down the barriers between the band and the audience.’”

In the documentary, Barile said he started SSD as a kind of response to famous Boston bands such as Aerosmith and the Cars. “It didn’t seem like it was real sincere, that kind of music — it didn’t seem like it had the kind of honesty and sincerity that I was after,” he said. The notion of spurning booze and drugs came from Minor Threat, which released its first EP in 1981 with a song called “Straight Edge,” in which singer Ian MacKaye sang, “I’m a person just like you / But I’ve got better things to do / Than sit around and f— my head / Hang out with the living dead.”

In her statement, Nancy Barile said the straight-edge philosophy “provided kids with a choice from the typical ’70s suburban party lifestyle.”

SSD put out “The Kids Will Have Their Say” as a joint release between the band’s Xclaim! Records and MacKaye’s Dischord label; for “Get It Away,” the band added guitarist Francois Levesque. The band put out two more heavy-metal-leaning LPs before breaking up in 1985. Barile later formed a group called Gage and worked as an engineer for General Electric. This year, SSD was inducted into the New England Music Hall of Fame.

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© 2025 Los Angeles Times.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

President Donald Trump said his administration had approved a defense budget in the “vicinity” of $1 trillion.

“We are very cost conscious but the military is something that we have to build and we have to be strong because you have a lot of bad forces out there now,” Trump said at the White House on Monday during a meeting with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Trump added his administration will approve a budget that will be “the biggest one we’ve ever done for the military.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth followed up with a post on social media platform X: “COMING SOON: the first TRILLION dollar @DeptofDefense budget. President @realDonaldTrump is rebuilding our military — and FAST.”

The Trump administration has yet to release the budget request for fiscal year 2026 as the government is operating under a stopgap funding measure for this year. The budget blueprint is not expected until later this spring.

Former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin recommended the U.S. government boost defense spending by about $50 billion more than projected in fiscal year 2026 with increases that would push the Pentagon budget past $1 trillion in the years to come.

Hegseth has also been among the most vocal supporters of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency cost-cutting efforts, and the Pentagon, with a budget totaling $850 billion a year and some 2 million employees, is the government’s biggest.

The secretary in February directed reducing some unspecified Pentagon and military services spending categories by 8% and shifting those dollars to higher priority programs such as missile defense.

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© 2025 Bloomberg L.P.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Volcanic glass has been discovered at more than 500 archaeological sites in western Canada. Geologically-speaking, it shouldn’t be there.

Now, researchers may have answered how these artifacts made of obsidian ended up so far away from their point of origin, according to a March 14 study published by the Archaeological Survey of Alberta.

“Finding obsidian at an archaeological site is a bona fide indicator” of long-distance trade among prehistoric populations, study author and archaeologist Tim Allan said.

Obsidian was likely traded as part of the “complex and dynamic relationships connecting millions of Indigenous North Americans,” Allan said.

One of the sites where obsidian was found — GbQn-13 — is about 7,000 years old.

Using x-ray fluorescence technology, Allan traced 383 obsidian artifacts from 96 sites across Alberta to their geological source and revealed they came primarily from four sources: Bear Gulch in Idaho, Obsidian Cliff in Wyoming, and Anahim Peak and Mount Edziza in British Columbia.

Some of the obsidian artifacts, including arrowheads and spear tips, traveled nearly 750 miles from their source, according to Allan.

“A single piece of obsidian likely exchanged hands many times,” he said.

According to the study, a large portion of the obsidian deposits were uncovered at bison jumps — areas where indigenous hunters lured bison off cliffs to fall to their deaths.

Allan suggests the distribution of obsidian at these sites may be related to communal bison hunting practices, but additional research is needed.

River networks likely also played a role in prehistoric trade and obsidian distribution, according to the study.

“Indigenous communities were extremely interconnected prior to European contact and colonization,” Allan said.

“These trade networks spanned thousands of kilometers, we are only scratching the surface of how complex relationships between different groups were,” Allan told McClatchy News.

Allan’s research is part of the Alberta Obsidian Project.

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© 2025 The Bradenton Herald

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

A Tuesday attack at a Tesla charging station in Lacey, Washington, is currently under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Seattle Field Office and local law enforcement officials after reports surfaced of the charging station being damaged in a possible explosion or “bombing.”

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, the Lacey Police Department announced, “This morning at 1:34, officers were dispatched to a malicious mischief after receiving multiple calls reporting a loud noise in the area. Officers arrived at Target at 665 Sleater Kinney RD SE, and discovered that the electric vehicle charging station had been damaged.”

The Lacey Police Department added, “LPD detectives are investigating in coordination with our federal partners.”

In a statement to The Post Millennial, Steve Bernd, an FBI Seattle spokesperson, confirmed that the FBI is “working with our partners to determine exactly what happened” at the Tesla charging station in Lacey.

READ MORE: Suspect in ‘targeted attack’ against Tesla arrested, charged

While Electrek initially reported that the Tesla charging station was damaged by an explosion and that a small bomb was used in the attack against the charging station, FBI Seattle told Fox News that it could not confirm whether the damage was caused by an explosion.

Pictures of the Tesla charging station in Lacey show major damage and debris. The Post Millennial reported that the pictures seem to indicate that the Tesla charging station’s main control box was burned and blown out.

Michigan U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett saw his first piece of legislation pass through the House on Monday, which aims to make the claims correspondence that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs sends to veterans around the country more “user friendly.”

The bill passed the House on Monday night by a vote of 412 to 0.

“Our veterans serve the United States military, with honor,” Barrett said in remarks on the House floor. “They shouldn’t need a lawyer or specially trained advocate to explain a claims letter to them.”

The bipartisan legislation directs the department to contract with a federally funded research organization to recommend ways to make the claim notices the agency sends “clearer to claimants, better organized and more concise” and to find ways to alter the letters to reduce paper consumption and costs to the U.S. government.

Barrett, an Army veteran, has had first-hand experience receiving confusing VA correspondence.

“When a veteran files a claim, it means they need help. Yet too often, they receive long, confusing letters full of legal jargon that leaves them with more questions than answers, ultimately leading them to call into a claim center or a helpline, which … slows down the overall claims process,” said Barrett, R-Charlotte.

“This is unacceptable. Claims letters should be the catalyst to care and benefits and not the obstacle.”

The freshman congressman has said he hopes the legislation will take some of the stress and confusion out of the claims process, no matter if a veteran is seeking health care, housing or education benefits from the VA.

Barrett’s bill was co-sponsored by a top Democrat on the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, Nikki Budzinski of Illinois, and also has the support of Committee Chairman Mike Bost, also of Illinois.

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© 2025 The Detroit News.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

The parent of Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram on Friday said it’s following Ford Motor Co.’s lead in offering employee discount pricing to its customers in the wake of tariffs being instituted on imported vehicles.

Stellantis NV’s offering will run through the end of the month, the automaker confirmed in a statement. The promotion comes a day after President Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on imported vehicles began being collected, and the transatlantic automaker said it would idle a plant each in Canada and Mexico for weeks.

“This week we launched aggressive and consistent incentive and marketing support for April,” Stellantis spokesperson Jodi Tinson said in a statement, “including an exciting and competitive enhancement that will allow our customers ‘America’s Freedom of Choice’ between Employee Price or current cash incentives.”

The company directed customers to their local dealership to determine their best deal.

Stellantis has faced a year of sales declines from too-high pricing and the incorrect mix of vehicles on the ground, deteriorating market share. With concerns that higher costs from tariffs could results in higher prices for consumers, the promotion could offer a needed boost to sales.

Stellantis in the first quarter of 2025 recorded a 12% year-over-year decline in U.S. sales from weakness in commercial fleet sales to rental companies, governments and businesses. Because of the trade environment, starting Monday the company is idling its Windsor Assembly Plant in Ontario that builds the Chrysler Pacifica minivan and Dodge Charger Daytona electric muscle car for two weeks and the Toluca Assembly Plant in Mexico that builds the Jeep Compass crossover and Jeep Wagoneer S SUV for a month.

Ford — which reported a decrease in U.S. sales of 1.3% in the first quarter — on Thursday introduced a “From America, For America” campaign offering employee discounts that range roughly between $2,000 and $10,000 off the manufacturer’s suggested retail price on most of its Ford and Lincoln models. The Dearborn automaker, which has some of the highest dealer inventory in the industry, said it’s looking to inject certainty for consumers in an environment that lacks it.

The Blue Oval’s campaign also highlights the automaker as the company that manufactures more vehicles in this country than any other, and builds 80% of what it sells here in the United States.

With Ford and Stellantis offering employee discount pricing, will General Motors Co., which posted a 17% increase in U.S. vehicle sales in the first three months of the year, do the same?

“We are not making any changes to our April incentives,” GM spokesperson Kevin Kelly said in an email.

Analysts have said GM is one of the most vulnerable automakers to the tariffs. Models accounting for 58% of its U.S. sales are built outside the United States, and the Detroit automaker is one of the largest importers of foreign-built vehicles from places like Canada, China, Mexico and South Korea. GM this week said it’s increasing production of cash-cow full-size pickup trucks at its assembly plant near Fort Wayne, Indiana.

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© 2025 www.detroitnews.com.

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Archaeologists recently discovered a huge Roman grave under a soccer field in Vienna, Austria, that is believed to be from the first century A.D.

According to The Associated Press, the Roman gravesite was discovered last October when construction crews were renovating a soccer field in Vienna. The outlet noted that 129 bodies have been confirmed by archaeologists at the Roman gravesite, which is located in the Simmering neighborhood of Vienna.

The Associated Press reported that the historic discovery was announced last Wednesday at the Vienna Museum. The experts noted that the Roman gravesite is connected to “a catastrophic event in a military context” and provides evidence of the first known fighting in the region.

According to The Associated Press, archaeologists said that in addition to the 129 confirmed bodies found underneath the Vienna soccer field, many other bones were discovered at the Roman gravesite. As a result, archaeologists believe that the excavation site could hold the remains of roughly 150 victims.

Fox News reported that the discovery of the Roman gravesite is believed to date back to sometime between 80 and 130 A.D. and is the first mass grave of Roman soldiers and Germanic tribes to be discovered in Vienna.

According to Fox News, archaeologists noted that the discovery in Vienna is unusual since Roman soldiers were usually cremated until the third century, making the discovery of Roman soldiers’ bodies from that time period very rare.

READ MORE: 3 dead bodies found mysteriously in South Carolina home

“Within the context of Roman acts of war, there are no comparable finds of fighters,” Michaela Binder, the leader of the archaeological excavation, said. “There are huge battlefields in Germany where weapons were found. But finding the dead — that is unique for the entire Roman history.”

The Associated Press reported that archaeologists said each of the skeletons that have been examined point to various injuries to the victims, including injuries to the head, pelvis, and torso.

“They have various different battle wounds, which rules out execution. It is truly a battlefield,” Kristina Adler-Wölfl, the head of Vienna’s city archaeological department, said. “There are wounds from swords, lances; wounds from blunt trauma.”

According to The Associated Press, archaeologists used carbon-14 dating to determine the age of the Roman remains and cross-checked the carbon-14 dating with the historical relics found underneath the soccer field. The relics included a dagger, helmet cheek protecters, armor, and nails used in Roman military shoes.

“The most likely theory at the moment is that this is connected to the Danube campaigns of Emperor Domitian — that’s 86 to 96 A.D.,” Adler-Wölfl added.

Pictures of the historic discovery have been shared on X, formerly Twitter.

 This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission.

Hundreds of Lithuanians gathered in Vilnius on April 3 to honor four American soldiers who died during a training exercise in Lithuania, as a procession carrying their coffins passed through the city’s Cathedral Square.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausada, who attended the ceremony, expressed his condolences to the families of the soldiers and said the recovery operations, supported by international cooperation, were “the best proof of NATO’s invincibility.”

“Their readiness to be with us, as they say, in a difficult neighborhood, is the best proof of who our friends are today,” Nauseda told reporters.

Defense Minister Davile Sakaliene and the archbishop of Vilnius were among those present at the ceremony.

Sakaliene emphasized that the joint rescue efforts by soldiers from Lithuania, the United States, Germany, Poland, and Estonia demonstrated “unity” in times of crisis.

“We consider US soldiers in Lithuania as our own. The farewell ceremony once again demonstrated our society’s solidarity, respect, and gratitude to the Americans,” the Lithuanian Defense Ministry said in a post on Facebook.

The last US soldier missing in Lithuania was found dead on April 1, ending a massive weeklong search for the four service members whose armored vehicle was pulled from a swampy training area, the US military said.

The bodies of the first three soldiers from the US Army’s 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, and their M88A2 Hercules armored recovery vehicle had been retrieved on March 31.

The soldiers were on a tactical training exercise when they went missing.

US Major General Curtis Taylor, commanding general of the 1st Armored Division, earlier expressed thanks to everyone who contributed to the recovery operation.

“We cannot thank our allies and fellow service members enough, especially Lithuanians, who spared no resource in support of this mission,” he said.

Lithuania, a NATO and EU member, hosts more than 1,000 US troops stationed in the Baltic nation on a rotational basis.