Trump asks SCOTUS to let him remove Lisa Cook from Fed Reserve

(CHARLOTTE, N.C) — North Carolina Republicans are blaming Democrats’ “woke” policies and lenient crime enforcement for the fatal stabbing of 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on a Charlotte, North Carolina, light-rail train. Meanwhile, former Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, is firing back, accusing Republicans of politicizing a tragedy.

Republican leaders in Charlotte held a joint news conference on Wednesday during which they condemned Democratic leaders’ “woke” policies and “ongoing failures” that they say contributed to Zarutska’s tragic death last month. Decarlos Brown Jr., 34, was arrested on Aug. 22 after police say he stabbed Zarutska three times while riding the Lynx Blue Line in Charlotte, according to an affidavit obtained by ABC News.

“Iryna Zaruska died because of the Democrat policies in Charlotte-Mecklenburg — woke politics that perpetuate cashless bail and refuse to prioritize public safety over appearances,” said Kyle Kirby, chairman of the Mecklenburg County Republican Party.

Chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party Jason Simmons claimed that “Democrats have chosen to side with criminals” — contributing to a “crime epidemic.” Simmons, without giving any specifics, listed Democrats’ “policies of appeasement” and their “weak on crime policies” as reasons leading to criminal activity in Charlotte and the country.

The 34-year-old suspect has a criminal record including larceny and breaking and entering charges. He also spent five years in prison for robbery with a dangerous weapon starting in 2015, according to the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction.

Democratic leaders have pushed back on the GOP’s portrayal of the killing as evidence of systemic Democratic failure.

Cooper, who is running for Senate in North Carolina in 2026, responded to Republicans’ attacks, appearing to accuse his opponent, former Republicans National Committee Chair Michael Whatley, of trying to score “political points.”

“The murder of Iryna Zarutska is a horrible tragedy and we must do everything we can to keep people safe,” he wrote in a Sept. 9 post on X.

“Only a cynical DC insider would think it’s acceptable to use her death for political points, especially one who supported cutting funding to law enforcement in NC,” Cooper said, appearing to reference Whatley.

Democratic Gov. Josh Stein said he is calling for more police enforcement to help prevent these kinds of crimes.

“We need more cops on the beat to keep people safe. That’s why my budget calls for more funding to hire more well-trained police officers,” Stein posted on X earlier this week.

“I call upon the legislature to pass my law enforcement recruitment and retention package to address vacancies in our state and local agencies so they can stop these horrific crimes and hold violent criminals accountable.”

Earlier this week, President Donald Trump weighed in on the stabbing, demanding Brown receive the death penalty.

Trump’s comments come amid his push to crack down on crime nationwide — including his federal law enforcement surge in Washington, D.C.

More than half of the overall public approves of Trump’s handling of crime, according to an AP-NORC poll conducted Aug. 21-25. However, there is a stark partisan divide between Republicans and Democrats, with 88% of Republicans approving of Trump’s handling of crime compared to 16% of Democrats.

With Brown’s impending court date set for later this month, Republicans are calling for the removal of Magistrate Judge Teresa Stokes, who lawmakers argue didn’t hold Brown accountable for his past alleged crimes.

North Carolina Rep. Tim Moore posted a letter written to Chief Judge Wiggins stating Stokes “authorized the release of Brown based solely on his ‘written promise’ to appear for a future court date.” The letter was signed by seven other North Carolina representatives.

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(NEW YORK) — The daughter of Martin Luther King Jr. said the White House should make public the files on financier-turned-sex offender Jeffrey Epstein after the Trump administration released thousands of files on her father’s 1968 assassination over objections from her and other relatives of the civil rights leader.

“Now, do the Epstein Files,” Bernice King, CEO of The King Center in Atlanta, wrote in a social media post on X on Monday night.

Bernice King’s social media post, accompanied by a black-and-white photo of her late father, came after she and her brother, Martin Luther King III, issued a statement on the government’s release on Monday of 230,000 files related to their father’s assassination.

“As the children of Dr. King and Mrs. Coretta Scott King, his tragic death has been an intensely personal grief — a devastating loss for his wife, children, and the granddaughter he never met — an absence our family has endured for over 57 years,” the children of the civil rights’ leader said in their statement. “We ask those who engage with the release of these files to do so with empathy, restraint, and respect for our family’s continuing grief.”

On Monday, Tulsi Gabbard, the White House National Intelligence director, announced the release of the King assassination files in accordance with President Donald Trump’s Jan. 23 executive order to declassify records concerning the assassinations of King, President John F. Kennedy and his brother, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy.

Gabbard said the files were being made public in coordination with the Department of Justice, the FBI, the CIA and the National Archives.

Gabbard said the King files include records that have “never been digitized and sat collecting dust in facilities across the federal government for decades.”

“The American people have waited nearly sixty years to see the full scope of the federal government’s investigation into Dr. King’s assassination,” Gabbard said in a statement. “Under President Trump’s leadership, we are ensuring that no stone is left unturned in our mission to deliver complete transparency on this pivotal and tragic event in our nation’s history. I extend my deepest appreciation to the King family for their support.”

In her statement, Gabbard included quotes from Alveda King, Martin Luther King’s niece and a former Georgia state representative.

“My uncle lived boldly in pursuit of truth and justice, and his enduring legacy of faith continues to inspire Americans to this day. While we continue to mourn his death, the declassification and release of these documents are a historic step towards the truth that the American people deserve,” said Alveda King, a supporter of President Trump.

The Rev. Al Sharpton, founder and president of the National Action Network civil rights organization, criticized the release of the King assassination records as a “desperate attempt to distract people from the firestorm engulfing Trump over the Epstein files.”

“The integrity of Dr. King’s legacy can and will not be weaponized to serve Trump’s cynical agenda,” Sharpton said. “I urge the public to see this for what it is and not fall for the bait and switch.”

Trump has come under criticism recently from his own supporters for not releasing the files on Epstein, who died from suicide in 2019 in a federal detention center in New York City where he was being held while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.

Trump, who once had a friendly relationship with Epstein, said last week that he has urged Attorney General Pam Bondi to release “whatever she thinks is credible” about the Epstein files.

The president also told reporters that he doesn’t understand why some of his supporters are so interested in the “sordid, but boring” contents of the Epstein files. He added, “I think, really, only pretty bad people, including the fake news, want to keep something like that going.”

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(WASHINGTON) — A federal appeals court has ordered the Trump administration to facilitate the return of another man who was wrongly deported to El Salvador in violation of a court order.

The order to facilitate the return of Jordin Alexander Melgar-Salmeron, a 31-year-old Salvadoran who was deported last month minutes after a federal appeals court barred his removal, is the fourth known case of a migrant ordered to be returned to the U.S. after being wrongly removed.

Two of the migrants, including Kilmar Abrego Garcia and a Guatemalan man identified in court papers as O.C.G. who was wrongly deported to Mexico, have been returned to the U.S.

On Tuesday, the three-judge panel of the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals found that Melgar-Salmeron’s deportation was “improper” because it “contradicted” the government’s assurances to the court that it would not remove him.

The court ordered the administration to facilitate the return of Melgar-Salmeron “as soon as possible” to “ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador.”

The Trump administration was also ordered to file a declaration from an individual with personal knowledge about the 31-year-old’s current physical location and what steps the government will take to facilitate Melgar-Salmeron’s return to the U.S.

According to court records, Melgar-Salmeron had been in immigration detention in the U.S. for two years following a prison sentence for possessing an “unregistered sawed-off shotgun.” In April, Immigration and Customs Enforcement scheduled his removal for May 9.

But on May 7, minutes after a federal appeals court barred Melgar-Salmeron’s deportation, he was removed to El Salvador.

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