Category: Security

U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika dismissed a gun charge last week that was originally part of the Hunter Biden plea deal that collapsed in July.

According to The Associated Press, Noreika’s official removal of the gun-possession charge against Biden comes as the charge has been replaced with a three-count indictment against the president’s son.

Biden, age 53, has been charged for purchasing and possessing a revolver for roughly 11 days in 2018, when he was struggling with drug addiction. The three-count indictment against Biden stems from his violation of regulations against drug users possessing guns.

Biden pleaded “not guilty” to his federal gun charges at Wilmington federal courthouse earlier this month when he was arraigned for his three-count indictment. Biden’s lawyers have repeatedly claimed that the president’s son is not guilty of breaking the law and have pushed back against what they describe as a “partisan attack on our system of justice by right-wing Republicans.”

READ MORE: Hunter Biden received $250K payments from China listing Joe Biden’s home

Initially, Biden agreed to a plea deal that would have required him to plead guilty to two tax misdemeanors in order to prevent him from potentially facing a prison sentence for a felony gun charge, according to court filings by the Department of Justice.

However, Biden’s plea deal with prosecutors collapsed in July after Noreika questioned a provision Biden and his lawyer demanded be included in the plea deal. According to Bloomberg, Biden refused to follow through with the plea deal unless the federal government agreed to end any further prosecution of the president’s son.

In the aftermath of the plea deal collapse, Noreika dismissed Biden’s misdemeanor tax charges in anticipation of Biden’s federal gun charge. The Associated Press reported that Special Counsel David Weiss has not filed any additional tax counts against Biden.

Royal Caribbean has partnered with the U.S. Department of State to send a cruise ship to Israel to rescue Americans who have not been able to leave the country.

In a letter to employees, Royal Caribbean Group CEO Jason Liberty announced that Rhapsody of the Seas would be used to safely evacuate American citizens. The ship had its sailings in the region canceled after the Hamas attack from Gaza Strip on Israel last week and the Israeli response that has left thousands of Israelis and Palestinians dead.

The State Department said Sunday the number of Americans killed in the conflict since it began has risen to 30, and that it believed several Americans were among the nearly 200 people Hamas kidnapped after the surprise attack on Oct. 7.

“Now, with enhanced safety precautions in place, our ship is providing free passage, including accommodation and food, for Americans in the region wishing to leave and find safer ground,” Liberty wrote.

The ship has a guest capacity of 2,416. Several foreigners in the country were stranded as airlines canceled service to the beleaguered country.

“This has truly been an incredible effort as our teams worked tirelessly over the past week to make this mission possible,” Liberty wrote. “My heartfelt gratitude goes out to all involved and especially to the ship’s officers and crew for their unwavering support of this call to serve others in the midst of unimaginable tragedy.”

The cruise line did not say to were the ship would head after departing Israel.

“It is in challenging times like these that the phenomenal spirit and values of our collective Royal Caribbean Group team shines,” he wrote.

Also this weekend, the first of what Gov. Ron DeSantis said would be several rescue charter flight arrived in Tampa, bringing with it 270 passengers from Israel, most of whom were Americans.

The flight was organized by an international rescue nonprofit group called Project Dynamo.

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© 2023 Orlando Sentinel

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

The United States military has chosen about 2,000 American troops to potentially deploy to support Israel, U.S. defense officials said, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The selected troops are currently stationed in the Middle East and other locations, including Europe, officials said, adding the troops are not expected to serve in combat roles. Instead, they will provide advising and medical support.

It is unclear what could trigger the deployment.

The deployment preparations come after the U.S. State Department announced Sunday that the number of Americans killed in the recent Hamas terrorist attacks against Israel has increased to 30.

According to a statement attributed to a State Department official, the government has been able to “confirm the deaths of 30 U.S. citizens” in Israel. In addition to the American citizens who have been killed in Israel, the State Department official confirmed that multiple U.S. citizens are currently missing in Israel.

READ MORE: Video: FBI director warns of rising terror threats against Americans in US after Hamas attacks

“At this time, we can confirm the deaths of 30 U.S. citizens,” the statement said. “We extend our deepest condolences to the victims and to the families of all those affected. At this time, we are also aware of 13 American nationals who are unaccounted-for.”

During an interview on CBS’ “60 Minutes” that aired Sunday, President Joe Biden cautioned Israel against occupying Gaza in the wake of the attacks.

“I think it’d be a big mistake. What happened in Gaza, in my view, is Hamas and the extreme elements of Hamas don’t represent all the Palestinian people,” Biden said. “I think that it would be a mistake for Israel to occupy Gaza again. But going in and taking out the extremists…is a necessary requirement.”

This was a breaking news story. The details were periodically updated as more information became available.

In a surprising move, Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy expressed his admiration for Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley after her recent remarks regarding Israel’s retaliation against Hamas.

Portnoy, who is not known for his political involvement, shared a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Friday to applaud Haley’s unwavering support for Israel.

“Every time @NikkiHaley speaks I become more and more impressed with her,” Portnoy tweeted. “I am a huge fan of hers, and she is 100% dead on here.”

Haley’s comments came during an appearance on Fox News, where she discussed the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. She emphasized the importance of standing with Israel as they take action against Hamas, despite potential international pressure to show restraint.

“We’ve seen the images, and as horrific as they are, and as heartbreaking as all of this is, we are saying right now ‘eliminate Hamas,’” Haley declared on Fox News’ “Hannity” show. “I can tell you because it happened all the time at the U.N. When they start that ground game, when Israel starts to move in to eliminate Hamas further, you’re gonna have all these other countries, and you’re gonna have Americans say ‘You need to show restraint. You need to be able to pull back.’ No. They need to eliminate Hamas.”

READ MORE: Haley takes big lead over DeSantis in crucial state

Haley’s unwavering support for Israel resonated with Portnoy and others who share his sentiments. Haley further emphasized the need to support Israel not only when they are under attack but also when they respond to protect their citizens.

“We are supporting Israel now because they’ve been hit,” Haley explained. “But the more important part is we have to support them when they hit back as well. Don’t tell them to stop. They saw too much death. They saw too much destruction, and Hamas will do it again.”

Mark my words: When Israel moves into Gaza, people will call for Israel to exercise “restraint.”

Hamas showed NO restraint when it slaughtered innocent Israelis.

Hamas is evil & must be eradicated. We must stand with Israel—not just when it is hit, but also when it hits back. pic.twitter.com/T9t6dC57PN

— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) October 13, 2023

Although Portnoy claims that he is not very political, his recent op-ed clearly criticized those who attempt to justify the attacks on Israel.

“One thing I will say is that I’ve been shocked by the amount of people I’ve seen seemingly trying to do mental jumping jacks to justify these attacks,” Portnoy wrote in his op-ed. “Almost insinuating that these innocent people deserved to be slaughtered because of what the State of Israel has done to Palestine over the years.”

Portnoy added that those who cannot condemn the “barbaric and unprecedented” violence against Israel are “part of the problem.”

This news article was partially created with the assistance of artificial intelligence and edited and fact-checked by a human editor.

Mark Goddard, the actor known for playing Maj. Don West, in the campy, popular 1960s science fiction series “Lost in Space,” died of pulmonary fibrosis on Tuesday, at a hospice center in Hingham, Massachusetts, his wife, Evelyn Pezzluich, announced on Facebook. He was 87.

Goddard was hospitalized with pneumonia days after celebrating his birthday, said Pezzluich. He was transferred to a rehabilitation center where doctors discovered that he was in the final stages of pulmonary fibrosis.

For three seasons from 1965-68, Goddard, as West, starred in the CBS series that chronicled the adventures of the Robinson family, a talking robot and a dastardly stowaway, Dr. Smith. The group became stranded on a distant planet after their ship, the Jupiter 2, went off course en route to colonize a planet in the Alpha Centauri system.

The show, created by Irwin Allen, a producer who was known as the “Master of Disaster” for such films as “The Towering Inferno,” helped popularize the phrase, “danger, Will Robinson.”

Although the series eventually became a cult classic, Goddard initially did not want to be part it. “I didn’t want to do it,” he said in 1990. “Now, the reason I didn’t want do the series at first is because I had never done science fiction, and had no idea what it was going to be like.”

Throughout the 1960s, Goddard also appeared in several films, including “The Monkey’s Uncle” and “A Rage to Live.” After “Lost in Space” went off the air, he became a frequent guest star on popular TV shows “Mod Squad” and “The Streets of San Francisco.” He also worked on soap operas, appearing on “One Life to Live” and “General Hospital.” In 1977 he starred in the horror film “Blue Sunshine.”

“R.I.P. to Mark Goddard. A truly beloved friend and brother to me for 59 years. I knew this was coming for the past few months. Shortly after a great phone chat he and I had on his 87th birthday in late July, I became aware that I would most likely never see or speak with him again. The last words we exchanged were ‘I love you,” wrote his “Lost in Space” co-star Bill Mumy on Facebook.

The actor was born as Charles Harvey Goddard in Lowell, Massachusetts, on July 24, 1936. He was the youngest of five children who grew up in Scituate, Massachusetts, where his parents owned the local five-and-dime store. Goddard attended Holy Cross College in Worcester and dreamed of a career as a professional basketball player. But after acting in a play in 1957, he headed to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York.

In 1959, Goddard landed in Los Angeles where he soon won parts on TV shows such as “Perry Mason,” “The Rifleman” and “The Beverly Hillbillies.”

Although his acting career waned, Goddard still appeared in TV shows and films over the years. In 1998, he made a cameo in the movie version of “Lost in Space.” In 2009, he published his memoir, “To Space and Back.”

By 1991, at age 55, Goddard decided to switch course. He earned a master’s degree in education from Bridgewater State College in Massachusetts, and he became a special education teacher.

Goddard was married three times; his second wife was the actress Susan Anspach.

“I’ll never know how I deserved to spend 33 years with such a loving, gentle, handsome man who made me laugh so often,” wrote Pezzluich on her Facebook post.

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© 2023 Los Angeles Times

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

The Coast Guard is expanding its engagement in the Pacific and beyond to tackle illegal fishing and respond to environmental disasters.

The Coast Guard is expanding its engagement in the Pacific and beyond to tackle illegal fishing and respond to environmental disasters.

Its new Indo-Pacific Marine Environmental Response Regional Activity Center and the Illegal Unreported and Unregulated Fishing Center of Expertise will be key in the battle as the Coast Guard plays an increasingly prominent role in American geopolitical strategy. In the White House’s 2022 Indo-Pacific Strategy, it is the only military service specifically named, calling for bolstering its presence and working more with other countries.

At the ribbon-cutting on Wednesday for the new centers on Ford Island, Vice Adm. Andrew Tiongson, the California-based commander for Coast Guard Pacific Area, told Coast Guardsmen that his task is nothing new to their service, “but today there is greater demand for your Coast Guard than ever before … (these new units ) strategically positioned here in Hawaii will fulfill exactly what the Indo-Pacific strategy directs.”

Tiongson told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that opening the new offices made him think about the recent sinking of the oil tanker MT Princess Empress in February that spilled 260, 000 gallons of industrial fuel in the Philippines.

The disaster response brought in ships from American, Japanese and South Korean coast guards along with experts from all three countries to help Philippine authorities clean up the toxic mess. He said that in situations like that, gathering the right team of experts is critical.

“We do that now, but we do that on an ad-hoc basis, ” said Tiongson. “Now we’re talking about having a dedicated force that talks about that, can do that, or can direct to the right people to have that done … you have a venue to do those kinds of things and the people and the expertise that are here.”

He said placing them in the middle of the Pacific in Hawaii was no afterthought. The Coast Guard envisions bringing together experts from across the U.S. as well as countries around the world to the new centers on Ford Island, which operate out of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Daniel K. Inouye Regional Center.

“A lot of our partners have some great methods on how they do things, (so let’s ) see and learn from each other so that we can be better together at maritime governance, ” said Tiongson.

The ocean plays a central role in the modern global economy ; the majority of international trade travels on merchant vessels hauling everything from food and fertilizer to oil and gas.

But the ocean is also an infamously lawless place. Transnational criminal groups regularly take to the sea to move black market goods and evade the law. And in both coastal and international waters, many ostensibly legitimate enterprises regularly flout safety, labor and environmental regulations—often at catastrophic risk to both human and ocean life.

Today environmental concerns are increasingly becoming national security concerns. Threats from climate change have many Pacific Island nations worried about their survival. Tiongson said that “small low-lying islands, they’re worried about sea level rise, they’re worried about droughts, they’re getting pummeled by increasing typhoons.”

Indo-Pacific Marine Environmental Response Regional Activity Center, or “the RAC, ” as coasties have begun calling it, is aimed at tackling both natural and man-made disasters.

Rear Adm. Jo-Ann Burdian, the Coast Guard’s Assistant Commandant for Response Policy in Washington, D.C., who played a key role in getting the two new units established in Hawaii, said that the RAC can help “understand the needs of partners and help build capacity to respond to oil spills as we increase human activity on water.”

As for the Illegal Unreported and Unregulated Fishing Center of Expertise, Tiongson said he hopes it “will act as the international engagement center for combating IUU fishing throughout the world.”

In 2020 the Coast Guard declared that IUU fishing had surpassed piracy as the greatest global security threat on the high seas. The service warned that rampant overfishing has already caused environmental and economic devastation to some coastal communities that depend on fishing for food and employment.

An estimated 80 % of the world’s fish stocks are nearly depleted. Competition over dwindling fish stocks around the world has led to violence at sea between fishermen that has at times escalated to diplomatic spats.

Disputes over fishing rights in the South China Sea, once one of the world’s most plentiful fisheries, has become especially fierce. China, which has the world’s largest fishing fleet, has been accused of using a mix of its naval forces and “maritime militias ” to stake out disputed fishing grounds and force out fishermen from the Philippines and Vietnam—sometimes violently.

As East Asian countries grow in population, seafood is often a critical source of protein, especially in coastal communities. But as fishermen find it harder to fish at home, many are traveling farther and joining “distance fishing fleets ” around the globe.

This hasn’t gone unnoticed off Hawaii’s shores, where in recent years some Hawaii fishermen have reported an increase in sightings of foreign industrial vessels around the islands and occasional aggressive interactions.

In March 2020 the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council in Hono ­lulu sent a letter to the U.S. State Department after a violent encounter between a Taiwanese vessel and a Honolulu longliner, demanding officials “follow up on complaints of assault by foreign fishing vessels on the Hawaii-based U.S. longline fishery and take appropriate diplomatic actions.”

But while the sea can be a lawless and sometimes dangerous place, it’s also not without its own code.

In March, when Honolulu-based fishing longliner Sea Smile sank 545 miles southwest of Hawaii at night, Taiwanese fishing vessel Ying Rong No. 638 heeded a request for help from the Coast Guard to aid the crew. By midnight the Taiwanese vessel had successfully found and rescued all six of the Honolulu crew.

“All of us rely upon the ocean for our prosperity, for our security, ” said Burdian. “What we owe in return is this work to build the resilience of our oceans, to defend this domain that gives us so, so much.”

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(c) 2023 The Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will make an unscheduled return to Israel on Monday following talks with Arab officials, as increasing attacks from Iran-backed Hezbollah open up a second front on Israel’s northern border.

Separately, the U.S. said it has held back-channel talks with Iran, with which it has no formal diplomatic relations, to warn Tehran against escalating the conflict in Israel.

In the most intense crossfire between Israel and Hezbollah in days, the latter said it attacked Israeli military posts near the border with Lebanon on three different occasions on Sunday.

The Middle East’s most powerful militia said it fired guided missiles and used shells and live ammunition in its attacks, which included an army base. Israel Defense Forces said nine rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israel including five that were intercepted.

The increased attacks came as Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian warned that “no one can guarantee control over the situation and prevent the conflict from spreading” if Israel continues its offensive on the Gaza Strip.

Amirabdollahian met with Qatar’s ruler in Doha after holding talks with Hezbollah’s leader Hasan Nasrallah in Beirut last week.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi delivered a similar message to French President Emmanuel Macron in a call on Sunday, warning that if the siege of Gaza doesn’t stop, “the scene will expand.”

Israel has said it’s preparing for a ground invasion in Gaza to “wipe out” Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that rules the Gaza Strip and was behind the Oct. 7 attack on the Jewish state. Hamas militants infiltrated Israel via land, sea and air in an unprecedented operation that killed over 1,200 people.

Israel has since pounded Gaza, killing more than 2,300 people and injuring thousands more, according to local officials. It has asked 1.1 million residents in the northern sector of Gaza to move south for their own safety, an evacuation deemed by the U.N. as “impossible.”

Blinken, who held meetings in Tel Aviv on Thursday as part of a hectic trip across the region, will touch down again for several hours on Monday before returning to Washington, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.

It will cap a frantic diplomatic sprint as Blinken crisscrossed the Middle East with stops in Jordan, Bahrain, Qatar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Blinken met in Riyadh on Sunday with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The U.S. is urging its Arab partners to put pressure on Hamas and prevent Iran-backed militant groups such as Lebanon-based Hezbollah from getting involved in the conflict.

Iran supplies Hamas with funds and training but has denied involvement in the Oct. 7 operation. It’s also Hezbollah’s main backer.

Cross-Border Attacks

Hezbollah’s initial attack on an army post in Shtula in Upper Galilee on Sunday killed one Israeli and wounded three others Sunday, according to Israel’s rescue service. The skirmishes are continuing.

The group said the attacks were in retaliation for the killing of two Lebanese nationals in Shebaa Farms and a Reuters reporter near the southern village of Alma Al-Shaab last week. Shebaa Farms is land claimed by both Lebanon and Syria that Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war.

Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television channel showed footage of a hilltop it described as the Al-Raheb post, saying fighters had raised the group’s flag. There was no confirmation from the Israeli side that the post had been taken by Hezbollah members.

Other footage showed a funeral for one of three Hezbollah fighters killed last week by Israeli fire; hundreds flocked to the western part of the Bekaa region, with some wearing military fatigues and others raising the Palestinian and Hezbollah flags.

Hezbollah fought a month-long war with Israel in 2006 and its fighters have since seen extensive ground combat in Syria, where they fought on the side of President Bashar al-Assad. It is known to have an arsenal of missiles that can reach deep into Israel.

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© 2023 Bloomberg L.P

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

The Biden Administration has ordered a second carrier group into the Eastern Mediterranean as Israel’s war with the terrorist group Hamas moves into its second week.

According to a statement by U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group will join the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group off the coast of Israel in an effort to prevent further escalation of the conflict by third parties.

“The increases to U.S. force posture signal the United States’ ironclad commitment to Israel’s security and our resolve to deter any state or non-state actor seeking to escalate this war,” the retired four-star general said.

Announcements of U.S. military movements toward the Middle East came after more than 1,000 Israeli civilians and military personnel were killed when Hamas launched a surprise attack from Gaza last Saturday. Israel’s Security Cabinet declared war with the group, which the United States, Canada, and the European Union have officially designated a terrorist organization, in the following hours.

The death toll of U.S. citizens rose to 30, Sunday, with 13 still missing.  The militants also kidnapped at least 155 people — a number that includes babies and the elderly — and are holding them hostage in Gaza. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, speaking with CNN on Sunday, said the U.S. is not currently in talks with Hamas to negotiate the release of the hostages.

The nuclear-powered Nimitz-class Eisenhower carrier group includes the Ticonderoga-class USS Philippine Sea, a guided-missile cruiser, the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Gravely and USS Mason, and the nine aircraft squadrons of Carrier Air Wing 3.

Along with the Ford, the U.S. Navy’s largest and newest carrier, they join the Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser USS Normandy and the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers USS Thomas Hudner, USS Ramage, USS Carney, and USS Roosevelt.

To put the level of naval power contained in the modern-day armada currently on station or steaming toward the region into perspective: there are now more nuclear-powered U.S. Navy carriers assigned to the Mediterranean than there are active among the rest of the world’s navies, combined.

The U.S. Air Force has sent F-35, F-15, F-16, and A-10 fighter aircraft squadrons in the region, according to Austin.

The deployments, according to the Secretary of Defense, are “part of our effort to deter hostile actions against Israel or any efforts toward widening this war following Hamas’s attack on Israel.”

As a show of support for the only democratic ally in the region, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer was in Tel Aviv on Sunday along with Republican Sens. Mitt Romney of Utah and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Democratic Sens. Jacky Rosen of Nevada and Mark Kelly of Arizona.

“They must be stopped,” Schumer said of Hamas during a press conference. “We cannot let this evil continue to prowl the earth. So, in the face of this horrific attack, we’re here to share a message of resolute solidarity. We say to Israel, America will stand with its ally Israel.”

According to the New York Democrat, the bipartisan visit was briefly interrupted by terrorist rocket fired out of Gaza.

“While in Tel Aviv today, our delegation was rushed to a shelter to wait out rockets sent by Hamas. It shows you what Israelis have to go through. We must provide Israel with the support required to defend itself,” Schumer shared via the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to visit Tel Aviv on Monday, his second trip to Israel during a now week-long whirlwind tour of the the region.

“Israel has the right, indeed it has the obligation, to defend itself from these attacks,” Blinken told reporters in Cairo. “The way that Israel does this matters.”

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the wartime government he’s formed with opposition leader Benny Gantz have called up more than 360,000 Israeli Defense Force reservists in preparation for a ground, air and sea invasion of the Gaza Strip.

Residents of northern Gaza have been warned to flee to the south ahead of the impending assault, where they are finding it impossible to leave the territory at a closed Egyptian border. The U.N. has said that Israel’s demand is unworkable.

“The United Nations considers it impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences. The United Nations strongly appeals for any such order, if confirmed, to be rescinded avoiding what could transform what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation,” Stéphane Dujarric, a spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said in a statement.

President Joe Biden took to social media Sunday morning to remind observers that the people of Palestine are not synonymous with the terrorists that have ruled the Gaza Strip for more than a decade.

“We must not lose sight of the fact that the overwhelming majority of Palestinians had nothing to do with Hamas’s appalling attacks, and are suffering as a result of them,” the 46th President wrote.

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The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says it killed Hamas’ head of intelligence on Monday in Khan Younis, a city in southern Gaza.

According to the Times of Israel, the IDF did not provide additional details on the strike that killed the terrorist leader, including its exact location or the top Hamas member’s name.

The IDF shared multiple videos of strikes in the Gaza Strip, including the attack targeting the head of intelligence.

The strike comes just over one week after Hamas terrorists attacked Israel, killing 1,300 people – primarily civilians – and wounding thousands more. The terrorists also took elderly, women and children hostages, but it is unclear how many people were taken.

According to the Times of Israel, Israeli officials have notified the families of nearly 200 people that their loved ones were taken hostage, the IDF said.

Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, and IDF spokesman, said the military is working to determine the hostages exact locations in Gaza.

“We are making valiant efforts to try to understand where the hostages are in Gaza, and we have such information,” Hagari said. “We will not carry out an attack that would endanger our people.”

Among the known hostages are infants, special needs children and elderly people with chronic illnesses.

As Israeli officials work to find the hostages, the United States military is preparing about 2,000 American troops to potentially deploy to support Israel, U.S. defense officials said, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The selected troops are currently stationed in the Middle East and other locations, including Europe, officials said, adding the troops are not expected to serve in combat roles. Instead, they will provide advising and medical support.

It is unclear what could trigger the deployment.

This was a breaking news story. The details were periodically updated as more information became available.

Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed legislation creating an “Ebony Alert” that makes California the first state in the United States to implement an alert system specifically aimed at aiding in the swift recovery of missing black children and young black women ages 12 to 25.

California’s “Ebony Alert” is similar to the widely recognized “Amber Alert” but with a more narrow focus determined by race.

The decision to increase the age range to 25 marks an increase from previous laws that restricted alerts to individuals aged 17 or younger. On January 1, California’s progressive law took full effect, having already gained unanimous approval from both chambers of California’s legislature.

“California is taking bold and needed action to locate missing black children and black women in California,” Democratic state Sen. Steven Bradford, the principal force behind the legislation, said. “Our black children and young women are disproportionately represented on the lists of missing persons. This is heartbreaking and painful for so many families and a public crisis for our entire state.”

Citing data from the Black and Missing Foundation, Bradford claimed that 38% of children reported missing in the U.S. are black, and 40% of sex trafficking victims were black women.

READ MORE: West Point sued for alleged racist quotas, race-based admissions

Bradford pointed to what he believes is a pattern of labeling missing black children as “runaways” rather than “missing,” rendering them ineligible for Amber Alerts or the spotlight of media attention.

The “Ebony Alert” reportedly seeks to bridge this gap, facilitating communication between law enforcement and the State Highway Patrol to flash notifications on highway signs. Bradford also emphasized the new alert system’s function in spurring media outlets to more widely circulate details of the missing individual.

According to The Washington Examiner, the law creating the “Ebony Alert” was championed by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People California Hawaii State Conference.

Applauding this initiative, CA/HI NAACP President Rick L. Callender explained that the new law is a “historic breakthrough” that will ensure “black children and young black women will receive the attention and protection they need when they are reported missing.”

Callender added, “This is a great first step to mitigating the racial inequities when it comes to black women and children when they go missing.”

According to The Washington Examiner, the state of California has multiple other alert systems, including the “Amber Alert” for missing children, the “Silver Alert” for missing seniors and individuals with disabilities, the “Feather Alert,” for missing Native Americans, and the “Blue Alert” for individuals who attack members of law enforcement.

This news article was partially created with the assistance of artificial intelligence and edited and fact-checked by a human editor.