Air traffic control room fight at Reagan National Airport leads to arrest
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(WASHINGTON) — A fight in the air traffic control tower at Reagan National Airport, or DCA, in the Washington, D.C., area led to an employee being arrested and charged with assault.
Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority said in a statement to ABC News that police arrested Damon Marsalis Gaines last week after reports of a fight breaking out in the airport’s control tower.
Gaines, 40, was ultimately charged with assault and battery, officials said.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in a statement that Gaines was put on administrative leave while the agency investigates the incident.
Further details about what led to the fight have yet to be released.
The arrest at DCA comes months after the deadly mid-air collision between a regional jet and an Army Blackhawk Helicopter that left 70 dead.
Sixty-seven people were on the American Airlines plane, which departed from Wichita, Kansas on Jan. 29 and three Army soldiers were aboard the helicopter, which was on a training flight at the time, officials said.
ABC News’ Clara McMichael contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Evidence submitted by Department of Homeland Security lawyers attempts to support the government’s accusations that Mahmoud Khalil should be deported on the grounds that he lied on his green card application.
The evidence — which included reporting by some conservative news outlets — centers on accusations that he withheld information about his employment history and his participation in pro-Palestinian groups.
ABC News has reviewed over 100 pages of evidence submitted in immigration court by both DHS lawyers and those representing Mahmoud Khalil.
On Friday, Judge Jamee Comans, an immigration judge based in Louisiana, where Khalil is being held agreed with the government’s stance that Khalil is deportable under a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act that says a person can be deemed deportable “if the Secretary of State has reasonable ground to believe that the alien’s presence or activities in the United States would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.”
But Comans did not rule on the government’s allegations that he lied on his green card application.
Accusation: Khalil failed to disclose he’s a ‘member’ of CUAD
According to a Notice to Appear submitted in federal court filings, DHS has claimed Khalil “failed to disclose that you were a member of Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD).”
CUAD has been prominently involved in protests against the war in Gaza held at Columbia University.
To support their allegations, government lawyers submitted articles that were published in April 2024, which feature Khalil as a lead negotiator between student protesters who had set up encampments on campus and university administration officials.
However, Khalil’s green card application, reviewed by ABC News and included in the government’s evidence, shows it was submitted on March 29, weeks before the articles were published.
“These articles from late April 2024 cannot possibly support an allegation that Mahmoud failed to disclose any affiliation with CUAD on that application. Furthermore, CUAD is a collection of organizations and there is no individual membership, so the allegation would be completely meritless even if all of the government’s evidence were not from a month after Mahmoud submitted his application,” Marc Van Der Hout, Khalil’s immigration attorney, told ABC News.
In response to the government’s claims, Khalil’s lawyers have submitted information they believe shows that CUAD is not standalone group, but rather a coalition of separate groups, and that Khalil was a negotiator for these and other protesters and not a member.
As evidence, his lawyers submitted letters from several people familiar with his role in the protests, including a professor at Columbia University.
“I want to emphasize that Mahmoud Khalil’s involvement was not as a member of CUAD. As I understood it — and also as is my understanding from the Columbia administrators with whom I spoke — Mr. Khalil served as a negotiator between CUAD and other student protesters, on the one hand, and the Columbia administration, on the other,” the professor wrote.
Accusation: Khalil did not disclose he was a member of UNRWA
According to court filings, DHS has also accused Khalil of failing to disclose that he was a “member” of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) from June 2023 – November 2023. The organization provides humanitarian assistance to Palestinian refugees.
As evidence, DHS lawyers included excerpts from an article titled “These are the extremist student leaders of the anti-Israel protest camp bringing Columbia to its knees” published in the New York Post.
“Khalil was a political affairs officer with UNRWA–the United Nations’ agency that supports Palestinian refugees from June to November 2023, according to LinkedIn,” the article read.
Another excerpt included in the evidence, cites an article from The Times of India published March 11, 2025, which similarly claims Khalil worked as political affairs officer at the U.N. organization.
“The agency lost significant federal funding following reports that some members participated in the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, which resulted in 1,200 fatalities,” the excerpt says.
In immigration court, Khalil’s lawyers submitted a screenshot of his LinkedIn profile which says he was an intern at UNRWA as a political affairs officer on those dates. They also submitted a letter dated April 10 and written by a Columbia University official that says Khalil concluded a 12-week internship at UNRWA for credit.
In a statement to ABC News, a spokesperson for UNRWA confirmed Khalil did a six-month, unpaid internship at the UNRWA Representative Office in New York in 2023.
“He was not a staff member of the Agency nor was he ever on the Agency’s payroll,” the spokesperson said. But the spokesperson also said, the agency “does not have in its Human Resources the job title of “Political Affairs Officer”.
ABC News has reached out to Khalil’s attorneys for comment.
Accusation: Khalil failed to disclose his he was employed at the Syria Office in the British Embassy in Beirut ‘beyond 2022’
DHS lawyers allege that on his green card application, Khalil did not disclose his “continuing employment” as a Program Manager by the Syria Office in the British Embassy in Beirut “beyond 2022.”
On his green card application, under the “employment history” section, Khalil said he was a Program Manager at the British Embassy in Beirut from June 2018 to December 2022.
DHS submitted a profile of Khalil written on a website promoting an upcoming Society for International Development United States conference.
“Mahmoud Khalil works as a Program Manager at the Syria Office in the British Embassy in Beirut,” the profile says.
However, documents that Khalil’s lawyers have submitted indicates they plan to argue that the information about him was written for a conference in 2020, and have included a schedule from that year that lists him as a speaker.
Additionally, they included an email written by a British Embassy official dated April 11, 2025, that states Khalil “ended his contract at the British Embassy Beirut in December 2022 in order to take up a scholarship at Columbia University.”
ABC News has reached out to the Department of Justice for comment
During the Friday hearing, Khalil’s attorney Johnny Sinodis condemned DHS’ evidence against his client.
“DHS did zero investigation on its own other than to file tabloids,” he said in court.
More than 110 million Americans are under alerts Sunday for flooding, mudslides and strong winds as dangerous winter weather left tens of thousands without power throughout the South and caused multiple deaths in Kentucky.
Heavy rain continued to produce serious flooding across parts of the Southern United States on Sunday morning, where rapidly rising floodwaters inundated roadways and spurred some evacuations. Meanwhile, snow and sleet made for messy weather in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic.
Throughout Saturday and into Sunday, there were numerous flash flood warnings issued across parts of Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia and North Carolina.
The impact from flooding in his state is “massive,” Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said Sunday in a statement on X, and there have been hundreds of water rescues and multiple fatalities.
“Evacuations are continuing as this event will continue through today,” Beshear said. “Please be careful if you have to travel.”
More than 300,000 customers spread across Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi and Virginia were without power Sunday morning, according to Poweroutage.us.
In advance of the heavy rainfall and widespread flooding, Beshear issued a state of emergency, saying Saturday that the entire state would be under significant threat through at least Sunday morning.
Parts of western Kentucky and northwestern Tennessee reported receiving 4 to 7 inches of rain Saturday night into Sunday. The area around Clarksville, Tennessee, northwest of Nashville, reported getting around 7.6 inches of rain.
Beshear also said he wrote to President Donald Trump “requesting an emergency disaster declaration for Kentucky due to the severe weather and impacts across our state,” which would release federal funds to aid the response.
The governor said he had also spoken to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and the acting director of FEMA.
Serious flooding around Panbowl Lake in Jackson — about 85 miles southeast of Lexington — led to the evacuation of a nursing home and a hospital as precautions.
The Louisville Metro Police Department said its river patrol and diving teams were working with local fire departments to conduct water rescues “throughout the city,” with almost 30 such rescues completed and more expected. Authorities in Simpson County, Kentucky, also reported water rescues.
Areas along the border between Kentucky and Tennessee reported the highest reported rain totals, with between 4 and 7 inches of rain.
In Tennessee, more than 50 residents of a nursing home in Macon County, about 65 miles northeast of Nashville, were evacuated to higher ground after rising water began to approach, according to the Macon County Emergency Medical Services.
Joe Pitts, the mayor of Clarksville, Tennessee, said in a statement that close to 4 inches of rain caused “alarming scenes of flash flooding” in the area. Up to 2 more inches of rain is expected through the day and into Sunday evening, Pitts said.
The National Weather Service extended a flash flood emergency for several counties in West Virginia and in southwestern Virginia until 8 a.m. Sunday, calling the flash flooding an “extremely dangerous and life-threatening situation.”
In the town of Richlands, in southwestern Virginia’s Tazewell County, residents of many areas were encouraged to evacuate, according to the local police department.
“Multiple areas of the town are currently experiencing flooding, with the river expected to rise even higher,” the police department said in a Facebook post on Saturday afternoon. “Residents in previously flooded areas are strongly advised to evacuate at once. Evacuation should not be postponed.”
Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears said National Air guardsmen and soldiers had been deployed to help the response. “Don’t try to outrun a flood or anything,” she wrote in a Facebook post. “Get the higher ground if you need to.”
In West Virginia, Gov. Patrick Morrisey declared a state of emergency in 10 counties. Evacuations were underway in southern West Virginia, with the Blue Stone River experiencing major flooding near Spanishburg.
In areas affected by heavy rain, landslides and rockslides are possible.
Storms with damaging winds and flash flooding were the main threats, but there was also the possibility of tornadoes.
Residents were urged to pay attention to severe weather warnings overnight, as the tornado risk continued into Sunday morning for parts of Georgia. Warnings could be extended east to the Atlantic coastline as the storms progress.
Snow and ice in the Northeast
Meanwhile, snow moved into portions of the Northeast and mid-Atlantic on Saturday afternoon, and conditions were expected to deteriorate.
The snow is expected to change to sleet and rain as this system moves through the Northeast into Sunday.
The switch from snow to sleet and rain will create slushy conditions and hazardous travel.
Snow totals could be topping a foot across parts of central and northern New England and northern New York state. For cities like Hartford and Boston, a slushy 3 to 6 inches is likely before rain falls and compacts the snow.
86 million under wind alerts
High wind alerts are in effect for more than 86 million people across 22 states for Sunday and Monday.
Gusts of up to 60 mph are possible in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic through Sunday night, while gusts of up to 45 mph are possible in the Southeast.
A severe thunderstorm warning was issued for Atlanta at 4:30 a.m. on Sunday. Wind gusts at the city’s Mercedes Benz Stadium were recorded up to 71 mph.
More than 215,000 customers were without power in Georgia as of the early hours of Sunday morning.
ABC News’ Victoria Arancio and Josh Richardson contributed to this report.
(FRISCO, Texas) — The 17-year-old student charged with murder in the stabbing of another student at a Texas high school track meet has been released from jail after his $1 million bond was reduced, online records show.
Karmelo Anthony, a student at Frisco Centennial High School, was detained following the deadly stabbing, which occurred at a Frisco Independent School District stadium on April 2 during a track and field championship involving multiple schools in the district.
Austin Metcalf, 17, an 11th grader at Frisco Memorial High School, died after police said another student stabbed him during an altercation in the bleachers at the meet.
Anthony was initially held on $1 million bond. During a hearing on Monday, a Collin County judge set his bond at $250,000, online court records show. He was released from the Collin County Jail that day, online jail records show.
As part of his bond conditions, he has been ordered to be on house arrest, be supervised by a parent or designated adult at all times and have no contact with Metcalf’s family, according to court records. He also needs prior court approval to leave the house and must check in with the court bailiff weekly until the case is indicted into a different court, the court records show.
Judge Angela Tucker said she considered several factors in setting the new bond amount, including Anthony’s age, lack of past criminal history and close ties to the community, Dallas ABC affiliate WFAA reported.
Members of both teens’ families attended the hearing, according to WFAA.
Anthony is newly represented by Dallas defense attorney Mike Howard, who asked for $150,000 bond, according to WFAA. The prosecution argued the Anthony family was able to pay the $1 million bond through funds raised through the platform GiveSendGo, according to WFAA. The fundraiser had more than $416,000 in donations as of Monday afternoon. Anthony’s father told the court the family doesn’t have access to those funds yet, WFAA reported.
ABC News reached out to Howard for comment but has not received a response.
The Dallas-based social justice organization Next Generation Action Network, which is advocating for Anthony, said in a statement on X that the reduced bond “gives Karmelo and his family a much-needed window of relief and a chance to prepare for the road ahead.”
The organization said it was working with the Anthony family to process the bond.
The stabbing occurred under the Memorial High School tent in the stadium bleachers at approximately 10 a.m. on April 2, according to the arrest report.
Responding officers said they spoke to multiple witnesses, including one who reported the altercation began after Metcalf told Anthony to move out from under their team’s tent, according to the arrest report.
The witness reported that Anthony allegedly reached inside his bag and said, “Touch me and see what happens,” according to the arrest report.
Metcalf grabbed Anthony to move him, according to a witness, and Anthony allegedly pulled out what the witness described as a black knife and “stabbed Austin once in the chest and then ran away,” the arrest report stated.
Anthony allegedly confessed to the killing and officers say he told them he was protecting himself, according to the arrest report.
