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(NEW YORK) — Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil called himself a “political prisoner” in a new letter dictated from the Louisiana detention center where he remains held following his arrest on Columbia University’s campus.

“I am writing to you from a detention facility in Louisiana where I wake to cold mornings and spend long days bearing witness to the quiet injustices underway against a great many people precluded from the protections of the law,” Khalil stated in the letter, which was dictated over the phone to his family and obtained by ABC News from his legal team on Tuesday.

Khalil, a leader of the encampment protests at Columbia last spring, was detained on March 8. He was taken from his student apartment building to 26 Federal Plaza in lower Manhattan, and then to an immigration detention facility in Elizabeth, New Jersey, according to his legal team.

Officials from President Donald Trump’s administration have said Khalil was detained for his purported support of Hamas — a claim his legal team has rejected.

In his letter, Khalil recounted the night of his arrest, which occurred while he returned to his residence on Columbia’s campus with his wife, Noor Abdalla, an American citizen who is eight months pregnant.

“Before I knew what was happening, agents handcuffed and forced me into an unmarked car,” he stated. “At that moment, my only concern was for Noor’s safety. I had no idea if she would be taken too, since the agents had threatened to arrest her for not leaving my side.”

Khalil said he did not know why he was arrested or he faced “immediate deportation.” He claimed the Trump administration is “targeting me as part of a broader strategy to suppress dissent.”

“My arrest was a direct consequence of exercising my right to free speech as I advocated for a free Palestine and an end to the genocide in Gaza, which resumed in full force Monday night,” he stated.

Khalil said his detention “is a testament to the strength of the student movement in shifting public opinion toward Palestinian liberation.”

“Students have long been at the forefront of change — leading the charge against the Vietnam War, standing on the frontlines of the civil rights movement, and driving the struggle against apartheid in South Africa,” he stated. “Today, too, even if the public has yet to fully grasp it, it is students who steer us toward truth and justice.”

He called on students, as well as advocates and elected officials, to continue to “defend the right to protest” in support of Palestinians.

“At stake are not just our voices, but the fundamental civil liberties of all,” he stated.

In a recent court filing, Khalil’s attorneys ask for his return to New York from Louisiana, where he is being held pending an appearance in front of an immigration judge later this month.

His attorneys had previously asked for his immediate release in a separate filing.

Khalil said he hopes to be able to see the birth of his child, stating in his letter, “Knowing fully that this moment transcends my individual circumstances, I hope nonetheless to be free to witness the birth of my first-born child.”

Khalil’s lawyers said that during his detainment, plain-clothed Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents said his student visa had been revoked — even though Khalil is in the U.S. on a green card. He has not been charged with a crime.

A federal judge has blocked Khalil’s removal from the U.S. while weighing a petition challenging his arrest.

He is set to appear before an immigration judge on March 27.

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(CAPE CANAVERAL, FL) — The two NASA astronauts whose return to Earth was delayed for months have just splashed down to Earth.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 mission, carrying astronauts Sunita “Suni” Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore, successfully landed off the coast of Florida after undocking from the International Space Station and traveling approximately 17 hours on its return mission to Earth, according to SpaceX.

The splashdown occurred at approximately 5:57 p.m. ET off the Tallahassee, Florida, coast.

When the spacecraft entered the atmosphere, its heat shield generated temperatures that reached more than 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit, according to SpaceX.

NASA astronaut Nick Hague and cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov were also onboard the craft as it undocked at about 1:05 a.m. ET.

Williams and Wilmore had in June 2024 performed the first astronaut-crewed flight of Boeing’s Starliner capsule. What was expected to be a weeklong trip to the ISS instead turned into a nine-month stay. The Boeing Starliner that was expected to carry them home after about 10 days experienced issues, leaving the pair at the station for months.

Their return spacecraft early on Tuesday maneuvered in space, moving above and behind the station, before firing a series of departure burns that sent it back toward Earth.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

ABC News’ Matthew Glasser and Mary Kekatos contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — An Albany woman pleaded guilty on Tuesday to mailing drug-soaked documents to inmates in correctional facilities in New York, according to federal prosecutors.

Authorities said Maya McIntosh, 33, sold the illicit documents on social media — and disguised them as legal paperwork when she sent them.

McIntosh, 33, pleaded guilty to “conspiracies to manufacture, distribute and possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance and controlled substance analogue, distribution and possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance and controlled substance analogue, and unlawful possession and use of a means of identification,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York said in a press release on Tuesday.

Officials said McIntosh ordered chemicals used to create MDMB-4en-PINACA, a synthetic cannabinoid, in liquid form and then “sprayed and soaked the liquid onto copy paper and business envelopes,” the attorney’s office said.

The documents were placed in U.S. Priority Mail Express envelopes and addressed to inmates at various correctional facilities in New York, prosecutors said.

McIntosh disguised the envelopes as legal mail by “stamping the names of actual attorneys in the return address portion of the envelopes” without the lawyers’ knowledge or permission, according to prosecutors.

This method allowed for the drug-soaked documents to appear as if they were sent by lawyers and “contained legitimate legal paperwork instead of a controlled substance,” the U.S. attorney’s office said.

Officials said McIntosh used social media to sell the sheets and envelopes, with customers paying her to mail the documents to inmates at correctional facilities, the prosecutors said.

McIntosh is believed to have sent the drug-soaked papers between January 2023 through July 2024, prosecutors said.

McIntosh faces up to 20 years of imprisonment in each count, a maximum fine of $1 million on the drug counts, a fine of $250,000 on the remaining counts and a term of supervised release of at least three years and up to life, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

The United States Postal Inspection Service and Homeland Security Investigations are continuing to investigate the case.

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(WASHINGTON) — Many of the noncitizens who were deported pursuant to the Alien Enemies Act on Saturday did not have criminal records, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement official said in a sworn filing overnight.

In a sworn declaration, ICE Acting Field Office Director of Enforcement and Removal Operations Robert Cerna argued that “the lack of specific information about each individual actually highlights the risk they pose” and “demonstrates that they are terrorists with regard to whom we lack a complete profile.”

The declaration was included in the Trump administration’s recent motion to vacate Judge James Boasberg’s temporary restraining order blocking deportations pursuant to the AEA.

“While it is true that many of the [Tren de Aragua gang] members removed under the AEA do not have criminal records in the United States, that is because they have only been in the United States for a short period of time. The lack of a criminal record does not indicate they pose a limited threat,” Cerna said.

The admission that many of the men lacked criminal records – and were deported on the assumption that they might be terrorists – comes as top Trump administration officials insist that the men were violent criminals, with President Donald Trump labeling them “monsters.”

Cerna wrote that some of the men have been convicted or arrested for crimes including murder, assault, harassment, and drug offenses, writing that ICE personnel “carefully vetted each individual alien to ensure they were in fact members of TdA.”

To determine whether a noncitizen was a “member of TdA,” he said law enforcement allegedly used victim testimony, financial transactions, computer checks, and other “investigative techniques.”

“ICE did not simply rely on social media posts, photographs of the alien displaying gang-related hand gestures, or tattoos alone,” Cerna said.

According to Cerna, a review of ICE databases suggested that “numerous individuals removed” had been arrested or convicted outside of the U.S. At least five of the men were subject to INTERPOL notices for alleged crimes including rape, kidnapping, child, abduction, corruption, and possession of illegal firearms.

Cerna also noted that some of the men were arrested or encountered during federal law enforcement raids while they were in the U.S., though the declaration did not note if the men were ever charged or convicted for any crimes.

The identities and status of the deported men have not been disclosed by the Trump administration, making it unknown what portion of the over 200 noncitizens had criminal records in the U.S. or abroad.

Department of Justice lawyers said the judge’s temporary restraining orders “are an affront to the President’s broad constitutional and statutory authority to protect the United States from dangerous aliens who pose grave threats to the American people.

Judge Boasberg on Tuesday ordered the government to file under seal to the court by Wednesday at noon details regarding two aircraft that the administration did not return to the U.S. following the judge’s verbal order last week.

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(ALBUQUERQUE) — A 13-year-old boy has been arrested for murder after police said he and two other juveniles intentionally ran down a bicyclist in New Mexico last year in a fatal hit-and-run that was filmed from inside the vehicle.

Police said they are still searching for the two other children — a 15-year-old boy who also faces a murder charge and a 12-year-old boy — in connection with the incident.

The victim, 63-year-old Scott Habermehl, was riding in a bike lane the morning of May 29, 2024, while commuting to work when he was struck in a hit-and-run, police said.

Police said there were no witnesses who saw the vehicle flee, and investigators were unable to find any surveillance footage of the incident.

Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina said the case likely would have gone unsolved — until video taken from inside the vehicle of the incident was posted on social media.

The video, which police released on Tuesday, is “extremely disturbing,” Medina said.

“You hear the discussion of, they see the guy on the bike, and they make the decision that they’re going to strike him, they’re just going to bump him, and they murdered this individual,” Medina said during a press briefing on Tuesday.

“We’ve all looked at it, and it is just horrific that this could be done to another human being,” he said.

Police got a new lead on the case in February, after two juveniles reported the video, one to a parent and the other to a middle school official in Albuquerque, according to Cmdr. Kyle Hartsock with the Albuquerque Police Department’s criminal investigation division.

“The video had been posted to Instagram showing three individuals in a car purposely running over a cyclist,” Hartsock said during the press briefing.

Officers determined the video was from the May 29, 2024, hit-and-run, and were able to identify the three individuals in the car, which is believed to have been stolen, police said. They were “literally laughing about what they had just done as they fled,” Hartsock said.

In the video, someone can be heard asking, “Are you guys recording it?”

The back passenger, who police said is believed to be the 15-year-old, says to “just bump him, brah” after the car accelerates.

“Like bump him?” the driver responds.

“Yeah, just bump him. Go like 15, 20,” the back passenger says.

The video released by police ends just before the collision.

The three juveniles are believed to be friends, Medina said. Authorities believe the 13-year-old was driving the car at the time.

Police obtained murder arrest warrants for the two teenagers late last week, Hartsock said.

The 13-year-old was taken into custody on Monday and booked into a juvenile detention center, police said. He had been on juvenile probation following an arrest by Albuquerque police last year, police said. He was arrested on an open count of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, leaving the scene of an accident involving great bodily harm or death and unlawful possession of a handgun by a person, police said.

Police are asking for the public’s help in locating the two other juveniles. Hartsock urged the 15-year-old, who faces the same charges as the other teen, to turn himself in.

The 12-year-old is a missing person out of Torrance County and is listed as a runaway, police said. He is too young to be charged and booked into a correctional facility, police said.

“We hope that the rest of the system is able to deal with this individual and make sure there’s consequences for what they have done, and make sure that they’re rehabilitated if it’s possible,” Medina said.

The 12-year-old was seen holding a firearm in the video, according to police. Medina said it is unclear what happened to the weapon.

The boy was 11 at the time of the incident, Medina said, calling the young age “surprising.”

“All of us that have kids in here, think of your 11-year-old out doing this. It is just mind-boggling,” Medina said.

The chief said they believe they have tracked down the vehicle involved in the incident.

Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller called the incident “unimaginable.”

“It’s something that, on the one hand, is incredibly heartbreaking because of their age and how they’re caught up in the cycle of violence,” he said at the briefing. “On the other hand, this is absolutely terrifying.”

The juveniles are not believed to have known the victim, Medina said, noting, “It seems random.”

Habermehl worked at Sandia National Labs and is survived by his wife and two sons, according to his obituary.

“Scott took great joy in sharing his hobbies with his sons, whether it was playing baseball in the yard, biking through the Bosque, hiking in his beloved Rocky Mountains, or skiing with them in the backcountry,” the obituary stated.

Medina asked for privacy for the family at this time.

“They, in a way, suffered the first time, feeling that this individual was the victim of a motor vehicle death,” he said. “Now, with the new information that’s come out, I’m sure it ripped open new wounds.”

Keller remembered Habermehl as a “stand-up member of the Sandia Labs community” who was “well-accomplished and loved by folks in his community out in Corrales.”

The mayor commended the police department on its investigation.

“Now we know what happened, we can at least tell the truth about what happened to Scott,” Keller said. “That truth involves a truth we all have to hold ourselves accountable to, which is we each have a role to play. And in this case, there are dozens and dozens of ways, dozens of cracks that this child, these children, fell through. But that is never an excuse.”

“We have to commit to do more and all of us have an answer of what we think would improve this criminal justice system, and for us, we know that our first step is actually to catch these remaining two individuals,” he continued.

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(NEW YORK) — A man has been arrested in a woman’s 1979 cold case murder after investigators used genetic genealogy to zero in on his identity, police in Maryland announced.

On March 3, 1979, the body of 31-year-old secretary Kathryn Donohue was discovered in a parking lot in Glenarden, Maryland, the Prince George’s County Police Department said.

The Arlington, Virginia, resident was beaten, raped and killed in a “brutal murder,” Bill DelBagno, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Baltimore Field Office, said during a news conference on Tuesday.

No suspects were identified and the case went unsolved for decades, leaving Donohue’s family waiting for answers, authorities said.

But police said DNA was left on her body.

In 2024, police said they identified a relative of the suspect through genetic genealogy, an investigative tool in which the unknown DNA from the crime scene is identified by comparing it to family members who voluntarily submit DNA samples to a database.

“Additional investigation ultimately led” police to identify the suspect as Rodger Zodas Brown, who lived in Prince George’s County at the time of the murder, police said.

Brown, now 82, was arrested last week at his home in Pinehurst, North Carolina, police said. He was “solemn,” “cold” and showed “no reaction” when he was arrested, police said.

There’s no apparent connection between Donohue and Brown, police said.

Brown was charged with first-degree murder, rape and related charges. He’s in custody in North Carolina awaiting extradition to Maryland, police said. It wasn’t immediately clear if Brown had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.

In a statement released by police, Donohue’s family thanked the investigators, saying their “relentless pursuit of the truth” “has finally given us a sense of closure that we never thought possible after all this time.”

“This case serves as a reminder that we will never give up seeking the truth no matter how much time has passed,” Prince George’s County Police Chief Malik Aziz said.

The investigation remains active. Police asked anyone with information to call the department at 301-516-2512.

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