Federal prosecutors charge Ryan Routh with attempted assassination of Donald Trump
Witthaya Prasongsin/Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — Federal prosecutors have officially charged Ryan Routh with attempting to assassinate former President Donald Trump, a source familiar with the matter confirms to ABC News.
The move was expected and previewed both by prosecutors in a court hearing yesterday and by Attorney General Merrick Garland in a news conference this afternoon.
The charging documents have not yet been officially updated on Routh’s court docket. He is expected to be arraigned on the charges in a court hearing Monday.
(DALLAS) — Bishop T.D. Jakes is stable after suffering a medical emergency during a sermon on Sunday, according to the megachurch Potter’s House of Dallas, where he serves as pastor.
Video of the incident shows the renowned Christian pastor lowering his microphone and shaking in his seat before people around him rushed to his aid.
In a statement, the church said Jakes “experienced a slight health incident and received immediate medical attention following his powerful hour long message.”
“Bishop Jakes is stable and under the care of medical professionals,” the church said. “The entire Potter’s House family is grateful for the outpouring of love, prayers, and support from the community.”
Jakes founded the 30,000-member megachurch in southern Dallas, Texas, in 1996.
Students are seen on campus at the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles, April 16, 2024. (Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — California has become the fourth state to ban legacy admissions in the college application process, a practice that has long been criticized as favoring white or wealthy students based on their familial alumni connections.
“In California, everyone should be able to get ahead through merit, skill, and hard work,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a Monday statement. “The California Dream shouldn’t be accessible to just a lucky few, which is why we’re opening the door to higher education wide enough for everyone, fairly.”
The decision affects private and nonprofit universities. The University of California system eliminated legacy admission preferences in 1998, according to Newsom’s office.
Legacy admissions have come under heightened scrutiny following the Supreme Court’s decision to limit race-based affirmative action programs for colleges and universities in June 2023. California law had banned affirmative action in 1996.
“In light of this shift, proponents of AB 1780 advocated for admissions criteria that additionally ensure that factors like wealth or personal relationships do not unduly influence admissions decisions,” the governor’s office said in a statement.
The majority of Americans — 75% of those surveyed in a April 2022 Pew Research study — believe a student’s relationship to an alumni should not be a factor in admissions.
“AB 1780 aims to ensure that admissions decisions are based on merit rather than personal connections — reducing biases in the admissions process at private colleges in California,” the governor’s office said.
All private colleges and universities in California must now submit an annual report to ensure compliance.
Research has shown that legacy applicants are admitted at higher rates, but are not more qualified or academically superior applicants. They are also a less racially diverse population.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and University of Colorado-Boulder analyzed 16 years of data from an unnamed elite university in a September 2022 study released in the journal American Sociological Review.
It found that 34.2% of legacy applicants were admitted, compared to 13.9% of non-legacy applicants — most of them white, and most of them wealthier than their counterparts. These students are from ZIP codes with higher mean incomes and are less likely to apply for financial aid with their application, the study said. They are also flagged by the school as having high donor potential.
An analysis from the Institute for Higher Education Policy in 2021 found that 53% of selective four-year colleges consider legacy status in their admissions decisions.
California joins Colorado, Maryland and Virginia in banning these practices, reinforcing bans that hundreds of colleges have already implemented.
(REDINGTON BEACH, Fla.) — As Hurricane Milton churns closer, Floridians are still picking up the pieces from Hurricane Helene’s devastation late last month.
Debris left from Helene, still in the process of being removed, is likely to pose significant dangers as the next one prepares to make landfall, officials say.
On Tuesday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said 1,200 truckloads of debris had already been removed, but flood-ruined furniture and downed trees remain littered throughout Florida’s west coast.
In addition, officials with the Florida Department of Transportation said Wednesday morning that over 55,000 cubic yards of debris were cleared from barrier islands.
“Debris + high winds = dangerous combination,” the state’s Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles said Monday in a post on X.
One man who evacuated his home Tuesday in Redington Beach — a barrier island west of Tampa — told ABC News the idyllic coastal neighborhood is nearly unrecognizable amid the detritus leftover from Helene.
“I’m looking out my window right now — I see five mattresses, bed frames, cabinets, refrigerators, anything you think of,” Brian Nguyen said as he and his family packed up their home of 30 years.
Nguyen said he was “very concerned” about the damage the strewn-about objects, including his now-totaled car, might cause to his and his neighbors’ homes.
“Our car has actually been totaled and it’s currently in our driveway. We weren’t able to get that towed out before we evacuate, so we’re concerned if it gets carried by the floodwater, it could run into our garage and damage the house — just additional damage,” he said.
Despite the threat, Nguyen said he’s grateful for the removal efforts so far.
“The county has honestly been doing as much as they can to expedite the debris removal, and they’re going to be working around the clock,” he said. “But, you know, it’s not just my neighborhood, but literally the entire coastline.”
Stephen Sommer, who lives in St. Petersburg, told Tampa ABC affiliate WFTS his family had lost many of their possessions in Helene, and are now preparing for more damage from Milton.
“About $30,000 in appliances, we lost all of our beds, we had to rip about four feet of drywall off in our house. We lost all of our family pictures,” Sommer said.
With high winds and storm surge expected, the lost and destroyed belongings that litter the streets are likely to cause even more destruction.
“With all of this around, it’s going to become projectiles,” said Sommer.
