Category: Security

Donna Morin of Hooksett told lawmakers that a proposed three-day waiting period to purchase any firearm would have stopped her 21-year-old son from buying one and then, 30 minutes later, shooting himself to death on Jan. 5, 2022 over the breakup with a girlfriend.

“He never exhibited signs of mental illness … he wasn’t a drug user,” Morin testified Tuesday to the Senate Judiciary Committee about Nate.

Just before shooting himself in the family’s backyard while he was home alone, Morin said her son called 911 to report his own suicide so that law enforcement, and not his loved ones, would find him first.

“He just wasn’t in his right mind,” said Morin, a mother of three.

Morin said Nate, a senior at Worcester Polytechnic Institute at the time, had already lined up a job as a mechanical engineer once he graduated and showed no signs of depression.

“A catalyst was a breakup; the girl he loved had just broken up with him days before,” Morin recalled. “Losing her confused him and it broke his heart.”

Gun advocates insisted, however, that despite this and other personal tragedies, there’s no research showing that states adopting these waiting periods led to lower rates of violent crime or suicide.

“There is no evidence that these serve as cooling off periods,” said Justin Davis, state director for the National Rifle Association.

“Criminals do not follow this law; it will not reduce violent crime.”

Sen. Debra Altschiller, D-Stratham, said her bill (SB 577) is a “suicide prevention” measure and carefully crafted to exempt from the waiting period law enforcement, the military, hunters who complete a hunter safety course and anyone who obtained a temporary restraining order or expressed to police that he or she feared for their lives.

“No one thing alone is going to solve all of our problems,” Altschiller said. “This is a piece of a larger prevention effort.”

In 2020, the Centers for Disease Control reported that 89% of gun deaths in New Hampshire were due to suicide, well above the 59% national average.

From 2011 to 2020, the rate of gun suicides in New Hampshire increased 61% compared to 11% in the U.S.

Gun rights advocates point out that when it comes to violent crime with guns, New Hampshire remains one of the safest states in the nation.

For two decades, gun control legislation hasn’t gotten any traction at the State House with Republican Gov. Chris Sununu vetoing such efforts in 2019-2020, and over that time GOP-led legislative branches repeatedly rejecting them.

State Rep. J.R. Hoell, R-Dunbarton and secretary of the New Hampshire Firearms Coalition, said granting a waiting period would be a slippery slope.

“Today there might be a three-day waiting period and tomorrow enlightened lawmakers could decide it should go up to 10 days,” Hoell said.

“We do not want in any way shape or form to go the way of California.”

Eight states have some mandatory wait

Eight states and the District of Columbia have some form of mandatory wait prior to the purchase of all guns according to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, a pro-gun control advocacy group. Three other states have waiting periods for specific weapons, such as handguns.

Rhode Island has a seven-day wait unless the buyer is a law enforcement officer.

Last year, Vermont adopted a three-day wait for all gun purchases from dealers that do not occur at gun shows.

Both states require the gun seller to give that weapon to a buyer if they do not receive a federal background check that contains disqualifying information.

Rep. David Meuse, D-Portsmouth, said there’s cause for celebration that bipartisan support is emerging for a specific change in gun laws (HB 1711), to require New Hampshire to share with the federal criminal background check system the name of anyone who had been involuntarily committed to a mental hospital.

State officials moved to close this loophole after a former patient came to the state’s psychiatric hospital last November and shot to death security officer Bradley Haas.

“We have the right to keep and bear arms, but not to use them to harm or threaten others. Individual rights cannot be absolute,” Meuse said. “To protect public safety, we must avoid creating a society in which anything goes.”

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sharon Carson, R-Londonderry, said the waiting period bill appeared unworkable to her.

Creating a waiting period carve-out for domestic abuse victims could give them less protection because some judges may be reluctant to issue a protection order under those circumstances, Carson said.

Rep. Robert Lynn, R-Windham, said he opposed the entire bill, and questioned why it would give a blanket exception for experienced hunters.

“Are we supposed to believe that hunters are less likely to be affected by mental illness and we don’t have to be worried about them?” Lynn asked rhetorically.

The Senate panel also took testimony on requiring a criminal background check prior to all firearm sales (SB 571), including those at gun shows and private transactions such as giving a gun as a gift.

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(c) 2024 The New Hampshire Union Leader

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Hours before an avalanche killed a 66-year-old skier and injured at least one other at Palisades Tahoe resort on Wednesday, forecasters warned that the risk of an avalanche in the area was “considerable.”

The Sierra Avalanche Center, a nonprofit avalanche forecasting organization conducted in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service, issues a daily forecast with a five-point avalanche danger scale, ranging from low (1) to extreme (5).

The center monitors the conditions of the Sierra Nevada region of California to warn the public about the chances of upcoming avalanches. During peak avalanche season, the center employs three full-time avalanche forecasters to monitor weather, snowpack and other conditions to issue the daily forecast.

Wednesday’s forecast ranked considerable (3) on the scale for a portion of the central Sierra Nevada, encompassing all of Lake Tahoe and much of the surrounding mountains. A Level 3 threat indicates “dangerous avalanche conditions” that could lead to “small avalanches in many areas; large avalanches in specific areas,” and warns that “natural avalanches [are] possible; human-triggered avalanches likely.”

The center’s forecast discussion said “weak snow” layers that were one to two feet below the surface were “the most problematic layers” in the area snowpack before Wednesday’s storm hit the region.

The storm brought 2 to 6 inches of snowfall Wednesday, with 4 to 8 inches falling at elevations above 7,000 feet, according to the National Weather Service. A winter storm warning was in place all day Wednesday due to ridge gusts measuring up to 105 mph.

The day’s avalanche forecast warned of two types of avalanches possible for the Greater Tahoe area: “persistent slab” avalanches, and “wind slab” avalanches. The former is caused by “weak snow” layers below the surface, which can be reactive to new layers being added — such as during a snowstorm — while the latter occurs when winds move snow into slabs that collapse into avalanches, especially along alpine tree lines.

“We want good cohesion of layers in the snowpack, not what we call weak layers,” said Andrew Schwartz, the lead scientist and manager of the UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab.

During cold storms, such as the one that hit the Sierra Nevada on Wednesday, “that is light and fluffy snow that doesn’t stick to itself,” Schwartz said.

The central Sierra Nevada had been facing a record low snowpack for this time of year due to the ongoing “snow drought.”

Wednesday was the first day of operation for ski lift KT-222 at the Palisades Tahoe Resort where the deadly avalanche occurred. Michael Gross, Palisades’ vice president of mountain operations, said it was “absolutely” typical to open the lift that morning, even with a snowstorm arriving.

“We’ll evaluate the conditions,” Gross added, “and, based on our expertise and experience and the history, if we deem the conditions safe, we’ll open the terrain.”

The resort will reportedly be open Thursday except for the area where the avalanche occurred, as the fatality is under investigation.

A representative from the Sierra Avalanche Center could not be reached for comment late Wednesday.

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© 2024 Los Angeles Times

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, was expected to make his first court appearance on Thursday in downtown Los Angeles on federal tax charges — one of two criminal cases filed after the collapse of a plea deal that would have averted trial during the 2024 campaign season.

Biden, a resident of Malibu, was indicted last month in California on nine tax offenses, including failing to pay his taxes on time from 2016 to 2019, filing false and fraudulent tax returns in 2018, and tax evasion. The charges span a period when Biden, 53, was addicted to alcohol and crack cocaine and, as laid out in a 56-page indictment, spending profligately on hotels, drugs and cars and adult entertainment.

Biden was to appear for his arraignment before U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi, a prominent L.A. based intellectual property attorney who was appointed by the federal bench by former President Trump.

The hearing was expected to be brief and largely uneventful. But Biden’s case drew legions of press from around the world, with TV crews set up overnight outside the First Street Courthouse in downtown.

The court appearance comes a day after Biden surprised lawmakers in Capitol Hill by arriving at a hearing where Republican Congressional leaders were pushing to hold the president’s son in contempt. Last month, rather than sit for a closed-door questioning in response to a subpoena, Biden addressed the press and vowed to only testify in an open hearing, to avoid selective leaks of his testimony.

“Republicans do not want an open process where Americans can see their tactics, expose their baseless inquiry or hear what I have to say. What are they afraid of?” Biden told reporters on Dec. 13.

Contempt charges against Biden were passed in both the House oversight and judiciary committees, with unanimous Republican support and all Democrats opposed.

The tax case in L.A. along with a separate criminal case in Delaware — on charges that Biden lied on a federal firearms form when he swore he was not addicted to drugs — were both filed after a plea deal collapsed this summer. Under that deal, he would have received two years of probation for pleading guilty to misdemeanor tax charges, and he would have avoided prosecution on the firearms case under a diversion agreement.

Biden has also pleaded not guilty to the Delaware firearms case, and his legal team — led by Abbe Lowell — has moved to dismiss those charges as unconstitutional, the result of a vindictive and politically motivated prosecution, and barred by the very diversion agreement that was part of the plea deal. Biden’s lawyers maintain that agreement is still valid and binding; prosecutors disagree.

In the tax case, prosecutors allege that Biden “willfully” failed to file and pay his taxes to the Internal Revenue Service on time, and that he instead plunked down cash for a bacchanalia across L.A. featuring “drugs, escorts and girlfriends, luxury hotels and rental properties, exotic cars, clothing, and other items of a personal nature.”

Prosecutors allege that when preparing tax returns in 2020, in the early months of his sobriety, Biden misclassified a long list of personal expenses from 2018 as business expenses to reduce his tax burden. Those expenses include tuition for his daughter and a Venmo payment to an exotic dancer, according to the indictment.

If convicted of all charges — six misdemeanors and three felonies — Biden would face a maximum penalty of 17 years in prison, although federal guidelines would call for a far shorter sentence.

But the case is still complicated for prosercutors. For one, Biden has already paid off his tax debts, largely with the help of loans from a wealthy L.A.-based entertainment attorney who is now a close friend, Kevin Morris. Second, the charges occurred during a period when Biden dealt with highly publicized addition issues.

His lawyers are expected to point to his well-publicized addiction to explain his chaotic financial affairs and that, once sober, he was able to pay off his taxes plus penalties and interest.

In his brief appearance last month, Biden acknowledged his mistakes and mishandling his affairs but scoffed at the allegations — which are unsubstantiated — that his father profited off his son’s business dealings.

“In the depths of my addiction, I was extremely irresponsible with my finances. But to suggest that is grounds for an impeachment inquiry is beyond the absurd. It’s shameless. There is no evidence to support the allegations that my father was financially involved in my business, because it did not happen,” Biden said in December.

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© 2024 Los Angeles Times

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

North Korea is looking to step up its military cooperation with Russia by sending Moscow new types of tactical guided missiles, while Pyongyang may soon conduct new tests of its own missiles designed to deliver nuclear strikes, South Korea’s defense minister said.

Kim Jong Un’s regime appears to be planning for a trial of atmospheric reentry of a warhead designed to be carried by an intercontinental ballistic missile to the U.S. mainland, Shin Wonsik said in an exclusive interview with Yonhap News published Thursday. This would mean firing a long-range rocket a distance of several thousand kilometers, he said.

The cooperation outlined by Shin would mark a new phase of Kim’s assistance for Russian President Vladimir Putin in his war on Ukraine, which could help the Kremlin continue its grinding bombardment of its neighbor.

By sending more weapons of greater sophistication, Kim is likely receiving substantial aid that keeps his sanctions-hit economy afloat as well as technology from Russia that increases the security threat North Korea poses to the U.S. and its allies in the region — South Korea and Japan, weapons experts have said.

“North Korea said it will deploy (close range ballistic missiles) with front-line troops. Given the recent arms trade, North Korea could sell them to Russia,” Shin told Yonhap.

North Korea first tested CRBMs in April 2022 with an estimated range of about 100-180 kilometers (60-110 miles), Shin said. Visits by the North Korean leader to munitions factories reported by his state media this week could be linked to the arms trade with Russia, the defense minister added.

More than a year ago, the U.S. accused North Korea of supplying munitions to Russia that are interoperable with the Soviet-era weaponry it has deployed in Ukraine. Since then, the cooperation has grown to include short-range ballistic missiles, the U.S. said last week. Moscow and Pyongyang have repeatedly denied the accusations.

Shin added the flow of munitions may have reached more than 2 million rounds. North Korea is estimated to have provided around 5,000 containers of weapons to Russia as of the end of December that could hold some 2.3 million rounds of 152 millimeter shells, Yonhap reported the minister as saying.

If North Korea sold shells at $1,000 each, the amount so far provided by Pyongyang would be equal to about 10% of North Korea’s GDP, according to Bloomberg News calculations. That’s a conservative estimate because high demand has driven up prices, with the 155 mm shells used by NATO forces priced at about $3,000 each.

Shin said North Korea has been preparing to test a new type of intermediate-range ballistic missile. It could come as early as this month after Pyongyang conducted two engine tests in November, he said.

An IRBM is designed to have a range that would be long enough to hit all of Japan and U.S. military facilities in Guam, where the Pentagon says it keeps one of America’ largest munitions depots in the world.

While Biden administration officials said this month they plan to raise the latest developments at the United Nations Security Council, there may be little that Washington can do to stop trade in illicit goods between North Korea and Russia.

Satellite imagery of North Korea’s Najin port taken from October to December shows a steady stream of ships at the facility, hundreds of shipping containers being loaded and unloaded, and rail cars ready to transport goods.

The vessels docking there appear to have turned off international maritime transponders that would reveal their location, as they ply the relatively short route between Najin and Dunay, a former Soviet submarine port about 180 km. away, according to a report by the Royal United Services Institute, a U.K. security think tank.

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© 2024 Bloomberg L.P

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

The Staten Island Fentanyl and Overdose Task Force is demanding that Gov. Kathy Hochul and legislators in Albany declare a state of emergency in response to the alarming numbers of fatal overdoses on Staten Island and throughout New York State.

The call for a state of emergency is part of more than a dozen major recommendations included in a report released on Wednesday by the task force of more than 60 people comprised of borough politicians and community leaders, members of law enforcement, providers and consumers of behavioral-health services, and family members of overdose victims. Many of these members convened Wednesday afternoon at the Richmond County District Attorney’s Office to formally announce the recommendations.

At the event, speakers reflected on the fatal effects of drugs such as Fentanyl and the path ahead, which aims to alleviate the suffering felt by many on Staten Island.

“The reality is, substance use disorder has become the scourge of our time, and I believe future generations are going to judge us based on how we handle this,” Staten Island University Hospital (SIUH) Executive Director and task force member Dr. Brahim Ardolic said. “This is something that we are not doing enough about nationally, and yet, if you compare Staten Island even to the nation, we are under resourced.”

An estimated 155 people lost their lives to drug overdoses in the borough in 2023, adding to the toll of more than 830 people who have died of overdoses since 2016 on the Island, according to the latest statistics released by the task force.

“For far too long, Staten Islanders have suffered from the effects of fentanyl. By working with District Attorney McMahon and our partners in the community, through this task force we hope to educate, provide treatment to those that are suffering, and ultimately reduce this crisis,” a statement from Borough President Vito Fossella read.

Authorities say that the opioid fentanyl — often in combination with other substances such as cocaine and alcohol — is linked to over 80% of overdoses on Staten Island and citywide, and xylazine, an animal tranquilizer, is emerging as “corrosive” killer.

“The Staten Island Fentanyl Task Force is unwilling to allow the drug epidemic to take a backseat in our public and political discourse, and is unwilling to accept that record-high drug overdoses are something that we must accept as an unavoidable American reality,” the report said in issuing its call to action.

McMahon and Fossella formed the task force in September in response to the overdose epidemic and their frustration that the governor established an Interagency Task Force on Overdose Prevention that did not include vital stakeholders such as community members, elected officials and families affected by substance abuse. McMahon reiterated the objective of the task force during Wednesday’s press conference as the following:

“To provide a comprehensive, diversified, on-the-ground perspective on strategies needed to combat this life-and-death crisis in our borough. And the goals of the Staten Island task force have been to facilitate a meaningful and comprehensive dialogue on the state of the fentanyl and opioid crisis and to produce real policy . . . and funding recommendations to city, state, and federal lawmakers for urgent implementation.”

A declaration of a public health emergency would give state leaders expanded authority to boost a variety of crucial health-and-safety measures concerning the overdose crisis. Similar mobilizations were prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic, gun violence and the migrant crisis, according to the borough task force.

At least eight other states have already declared a state of emergency over the opioid crisis, including Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Virginia. The federal government declared a national state of emergency in 2017 that is still in effect that waives insurance copays and deductibles for New Yorkers attempting to access addiction treatment.

“We need fresh approaches to the overdose crisis, they are desperately needed, and they are really, sadly, in short supply,” Staten Island Performing Provider Systems Executive Director and Task Force Member Dr. Joseph Conte said. “While we are at this very meeting, two New York state residents will die, 30 people will overdose, in two hours. We desperately need a full-scale assault on this issue, and every part of society needs to be part of that solution.”

Under a state of emergency, New York could take immediate actions that the borough task force says should include creating a procurement process and making other changes to speed up the distribution of opioid settlement funds. Policy makers could move to waive application fees for counselors who want to work in the addiction-service system and adjust staffing requirements for service providers.

The task force claims that a state of emergency would enhance New York’s ability to share data about the overdose crisis across agencies to provide up-to-date information.

“The fact is, everyone has said this, we have not made the kind of investment, investment in will, investment in resources, investment in political will, to actually make a dent in what we’ve been doing,” said Diane Arneth, executive director of Community Health Action of Staten Island (CHASI), and a task force member.

“We have a long way to go and we need to have these recommendations implemented, including, specifically, the recommendation about declaring this a state of emergency,” Arneth added. “If this isn’t a state of emergency then I don’t know what is.”

The report claims that “New York remains in the dark and constantly behind the eight ball — an example highlighted by the growing presence of Xylazine.

“Xylazine was involved in approximately 20% of opioid-related deaths in New York in 2021 and 2022, but the New York Department of Health’s first warning was not issued until December 2022, and its first report on the topic in 2023,” the report says.

NEARLY HALF OF STATEWIDE OVERDOSES IN NEW YORK CITY

Estimates indicate that nearly 112,000 people died of drug overdoses nationwide in the 12-month period ending in July 2023, according to provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta.

Preliminary data previously released by Hochul shows that more than 6,300 overdose deaths occurred in New York state in 2022, with nearly half in New York City. In 2022, 3,026 New Yorkers died of a drug overdose, a 12% increase from 2021 and the highest number since reporting began in 2000, according to the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

More than 3,200 deaths due to drug overdose are estimated to have occurred in New York City during the 12 months ending in April of 2023, according to the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor for New York City.

While residents of the Bronx had the highest rate of overdose death in 2022, about 74 people per 100,000 residents, Staten Island had the second highest rate at 38 per 100,000, according to statistics from the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

“Yes, this is a report from this task force, but this is not just a report, this is a road map to action,” McMahon said. “This is an action plan for advocacy. It is incumbent upon all of us here, and everyone in the Staten Island community, everyone who can hear my voice, to look at the points in this report, to advocate with our legislators, with our executives, with our decision makers, to see that as Diane said, if we implemented everything in this recommendation we’d be a long way down the road towards recovery for everyone who suffers from addiction illness.”

Key recommendations from the borough task force include:

—Stop the production and influx of fentanyl to the United States by urging the federal government to use every legal, diplomatic, military/law enforcement, and economic tool available to shut down the fentanyl pipeline that often flows from China and India to Mexico and over the southern border into the United States

—Heighten coordination between regional law-enforcement agencies and develop new enforcement strategies to disrupt the markets for fentanyl and other opioids

—Improve legal frameworks for criminal accountability

—Prioritize and pay for education and awareness campaigns and prevention programming in schools

—Expand access to community-based services intended to prevent overdoses and enhance harm reduction

—Invest in housing as an important tool to aid in prevention and harm reduction

—Ensure coverage parity for mental-health and substance-use disorders (SUD)

—Reform payment policies for behavioral-health providers

—Build a sustainable workforce and Infrastructure for SUD-and-Mental-Health care

—Use technology and data sharing to save lives

—Garner federal funding at the highest levels to tackle the overdose epidemic

—Obtain resources needed in the borough for those struggling with SUD

—Close medical and treatment gaps in our borough

—Provide immediate access to necessary treatment and compassionate care

—Improve transitional support

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(c) 2024 Staten Island Advance

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

A former Texas mall employee is in federal custody and has been charged with the sexual exploitation of children after a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigation discovered videos that allegedly show a total of seven individuals sexually assaulting toddlers. The incident led one Republican lawmaker to call for the death penalty.

According to USA Today, 29-year-old Arthur Hector Fernandez III has been charged with sexually exploiting children in videos that allegedly showed seven male individuals assaulting toddlers at the Galleria Mall in Houston, Texas. The videos were discovered by the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE) on the dark web and provided to the FBI.

USA Today reported that at least one of the videos of the sexual abuse is believed to have been filmed in one of the mall’s public restrooms since a changing table was spotted in the video.

“The evidence in this case is overwhelming and revolting,” a judge wrote as part of a court order obtained by USA Today. The court order will require Fernandez to remain in custody until his trial.

“I cannot allow (him) to abuse any other minors and there are no conditions or combination of conditions that can alleviate a danger to the community,” the judge added. “This is not a close call.”

READ MORE: Army doctor accused in massive sexual assault case

According to Daily Mail, Fernandez is currently the only suspect who has been charged in connection with the case; however, law enforcement officials have not indicated whether the other individuals in the videos have been identified.

Daily Mail reported that during the process of the investigation, law enforcement officials discovered that two of the toddlers involved in the sexual abuse case were the children of other mall employees who sometimes left their children in Fernandez’s care.

In response to allegations of the horrifying sexual assault of toddlers by Fernandez and other individuals in Texas, Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) posted a statement on social media, urging, “Death penalty now.”

In a statement obtained by Fox 29 Houston, Dr. Bob Sanborn, CEO of Children at Risk, warned parents about potential signs of child abuse.

“Kids, after they’ve been out with someone who you thought you trusted them, they will sort of withdraw. They’ll be more quiet. Look for those changes in your children; bedridden, not eating,” Sanborn said. “All these things are sort of signs that something’s not right with your child. In this case, we’re talking about toddlers. They really couldn’t communicate. They don’t know what’s right and wrong.”

A new report by the Pentagon’s Inspector General shows that the United States military failed to adequately track over $1 billion in weapons sent to Ukraine after Russia invaded the country in 2022.

The Pentagon’s Inspector General report, which was first released to the public on Thursday, covered the Pentagon’s “enhanced end-use monitoring” (EEUM) program. The report found that out of $1.69 billion worth of military aid under the EEUM program, over $1 billion, representing roughly 60% of the military items, was not properly tracked.

“These EEUM-designated defense articles included Javelin missiles, Javelin [launch units], Stinger missiles, Stinger gripstocks and lethal miniature aerial missile system Switchblades,” the report stated. “Although [American] and Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel conducted some required inventories, as of June 2, 2023, serial number inventories for more than $1.005 billion of the total $1.699 billion – 59[%] of the total value – of EEUM‑designated defense articles remained delinquent.”

READ MORE: Pentagon fails 6th straight audit of trillions

Responding to concerns pertaining to U.S. military weapons potentially falling into the wrong hands, Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder claimed during a Thursday press conference that there is “no credible evidence of illicit diversion of U.S.-provided advanced conventional weapons from Ukraine.”

“We observe the Ukrainians employing these capabilities on the battlefield, we’re seeing them use them effectively, for all the obvious reasons, and that Russia continues to present a significant threat to Ukraine’s sovereignty,” Ryder told reporters.

According to The New York Post, the new Inspector General Report comes amid a push by Congress to negotiate a supplemental funding bill that would provide additional aid to Ukraine. While the Biden administration and many members of Congress have emphasized the importance of continuing to provide aid to Ukraine, other conservative leaders like Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) have raised warnings about continuing to provide military aid to Ukraine without proper oversight and accountability.

“We have sent Ukraine BILLIONS in liquid cash and billions more in weapons and ammunition,” Greene wrote in a post on X on Thursday. “The kicker? We have no idea where it all went! Yet Speaker Johnson wants to tie securing America’s border to MORE aid for Ukraine. I’m a HARD NO!! #AmericaFirst.”

We have sent Ukraine BILLIONS in liquid cash and billions more in weapons and ammunition. The kicker? We have no idea where it all went!

Yet Speaker Johnson wants to tie securing America’s border to MORE aid for Ukraine.

I’m a HARD NO!! #AmericaFirsthttps://t.co/RCZp8o7RBn

— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (@RepMTG) January 11, 2024

The Texas National Guard has seized control of a public park located near the southern border between the United States and Mexico, marking a new step in the state’s ongoing fight with the Biden administration over border policies.

According to Bill Melugin, a Fox News reporter, the Texas Military Department confirmed that the National Guard took control of Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, Texas, this week and began restricting federal officials from accessing the park. The Texas Military Department claimed federal immigration authorities “perpetuate illegal crossings” at the southern border.

Melguin reported that Texas set up fences and razor wire at Shelby Park to “block the area off from the public and federal government.” The Texas National Guard’s move comes as the Biden administration has engaged in efforts to remove the state’s barbed wire in the area that was put up to reduce illegal border crossings.

NEW: The Texas Military Department confirms the TX National Guard has seized control of Shelby Park in Eagle Pass (city property where mass illegal crossings are), and is restricting Border Patrol from accessing the area, saying the Feds “perpetuate illegal crossings”. This is… pic.twitter.com/29UqFmWDsx

— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) January 12, 2024

“The Texas National Guard has maintained a presence with security points and temporary barrier in Shelby Park since 2021,” the Texas Military Department stated. “The current posture is to prepare for future illegal immigrant surges and to restrict access to organizations that perpetuate illegal immigrant crossings in the park and greater Eagle Pass area.” 

READ MORE: Video: 120 illegal immigrants flown from Texas to Chicago

Sharing Melugin’s tweet on social media, Republican Governor Greg Abbott explained that the Texas National Guard’s seizure of the border park comes as “caravans of migrants” are traveling through Mexico toward the southern border. Abbot said the state is “making clear” that Texas will be a “tough place” for illegal immigrants to enter.

“Texas is holding the line at our southern border with miles of additional razor wire and anti-climb barriers to deter and repel the record-high levels of illegal immigration invited by President Biden’s reckless open border policies,” Renea Eze, a spokesperson for the governor, said in a statement obtained by Fox News. “Instead of enforcing federal immigration laws, the Biden administration allows unfettered access for Mexican cartels to smuggle people into our country.”

In a legal filing by the Department of Homeland Security, the Biden administration noted that Texas started restricting federal officials’ access to Shelby Park on Wednesday. The Department of Homeland Security requested that the Supreme Court issue a ruling against the state and grant full authority over the border park to federal officials.

Food Network star and celebrity chef Darnell Ferguson was arrested near Louisville, Kentucky, and accused of breaking into a woman’s home and strangling her.

Ferguson, 36, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to seven different charges connected to the alleged Jan. 2 attack, the Louisville Courier Journal reported. He was released on $10,000 bond.

Ferguson’s attorney said he shares three children with the alleged victim, according to local Fox affiliate WDRB. The victim and her attorney told the judge they agreed for his bond to be lowered from $20,000 to $10,000, in part because Ferguson is needed to help care for the kids.

According to a police report, Ferguson broke into the woman’s home in the Louisville suburb of St. Matthews on Jan. 2, punched walls inside the residence, then began strangling the woman and threatening to kill her, WDRB reported. The victim told police she lost consciousness and awoke to Ferguson telling her that “she was his and no one else’s.”

The woman was taken to a local hospital for treatment of her injuries, according to police. Cops snapped photos of the woman’s injuries, including red marks and scratches.

Ferguson was arrested on Tuesday and charged with second-degree burglary, first-degree strangulation, fourth-degree domestic violence with minor injury, third-degree terroristic threatening, menacing, third-degree criminal mischief and theft, according to Lexington Fox affiliate WDKY. Cops said he also took the woman’s credit cards and identification when he left the scene.

Ferguson’s lawyer claimed Wednesday that the alleged victim wants the charges to be dismissed, WDRB reported. County prosecutor Cristin Southard said it is not uncommon for domestic violence victims to make such a request.

“They may think they want to reconcile but … these are very serious allegations, and we have concerns,” Southard told the outlet. “Recantation, minimizing, those are all parts of the cycle of domestic violence.”

Ferguson’s preliminary court hearing was scheduled for Jan. 18.

Ferguson hosts “Superchef Grudge Match” on the Food Network and has been part of several other shows on the channel. He originally gained culinary fame through multiple restaurants in Louisville.

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© 2024 New York Daily News

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A new report claims that the recent U.S. Army recruitment shortage can partially be attributed to a significant decrease in the number of white Army recruits over the past five years.

According to internal Army recruitment data obtained by Military.com, the significant decline in white Army recruits over the past five years has captured the Army’s attention since the decline comes as the Army fell roughly 10,00 recruits short of its goal in fiscal year 2023. With a goal of 65,000 new recruits, the U.S. Army reported roughly 55,000 new recruits in 2023.

Military.com reported that the Army had 44,042 new white Army recruits in 2018. However, the number of white Army recruits has decreased each year since 2018, falling to a low of 25,070 white Army recruits in 2023. The most significant decrease in white Army recruitment was a 6% drop from 2022 to 2023. Additionally, Military.com noted that while there have been other demographic shifts during that same time period, no other demographic has experienced such a sharp decline.

According to the recruitment data obtained by Military.com, 56.4% of new Army recruits were designated as white in 2018. By 2023, the number of new white Army recruits decreased to just 44%. During that same period, black Army recruits increased from 20% to 24% of the recruitment pool, and Hispanic Army recruits increased from 17% to 24% of the recruitment pool.

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Military.com explained that the total number of black and Hispanic Army recruits did not experience a significant increase between 2018 and 2023; however, the recruitment pool percentage increased for both demographics due to the decrease in white Army recruits.

“What we’re seeing is a reflection of society; what we know less of is what is driving all of these things,” an Army official said in a statement to Military.com. “There is no widely accepted cause.”

Army officials told Military.com that multiple factors have contributed to the recruitment issue, including an increase in obesity in the United States, heightened criticism of the military due to political issues, and a public education system that lacks critical resources in America.

Military.com noted that the Army’s recruitment shortage comes as the Army has attempted to increase its presence in Europe and the Pacific, requiring a smaller force to execute a broadening mission.