Border Patrol chief ordered to meet with judge daily on Chicago immigration crackdown
Jamie Kelter Davis/Getty Images
(CHICAGO) — In a face-off on Tuesday with a federal judge, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol commander-at-large Greg Bovino came under questioning about the crowd-control tactics he and his agents are using in their Chicago immigration crackdown.
With Bovino appearing before her dressed in uniform, Judge Sara Ellis of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois ordered him to meet with her in person each weekday at 6 p.m. local time, to report to her on the immigration activities in Chicago that he is spearheading.
Bovino was on the witness stand for slightly more than an hour Tuesday morning, as Ellis considered allegations from the plaintiffs of multiple violations of a temporary restraining order (TRO) she issued this month, placing restrictions on the use of force and riot control weapons against demonstrators.
Ellis did the vast majority of the talking during the hearing, including an oral recitation of each provision of her temporary restraining order that she first issued on Oct. 9, requiring federal agents to issue advanced warnings when deploying tear gas.
The judge expanded the order on Oct. 16 to include a requirement for federal agents equipped with body-worn cameras to wear them and keep them on during “law enforcement activities” in Chicago.
“My role is simply to see that in the enforcement of those laws that you and the agents operating under you are acting in a manner that is consistent with your obligations under the law, meaning that it is consistent with the Constitution, that it is consistent with the law … and the TRO that I entered,” she said.
“That is my job and that is all that I am doing,” Ellis told Bovino as the hearing got underway.
Ellis ordered Bovino to appear before her following allegations that he had personally deployed tear gas on a crowd of demonstrators “without justification” last week, according to court filings in a lawsuit against the federal government.
Ellis indicated in a hearing earlier this month that she was “profoundly concerned” over the tactics used by federal agents in a series of clashes with protesters.
She issued a temporary restraining order on Oct. 9, restricting federal agents from using aggressive tactics to quell protests, including the deployment of tear gas without advanced warning.
On Oct. 17, Ellis expanded her order to include a requirement for federal agents equipped with body-worn cameras to wear them and keep them on during “law enforcement activities” in Chicago.
Ellis is presiding over a lawsuit brought by journalists and citizens against the federal government over the immigration enforcement tactics in Chicago.
The plaintiffs argue that the government is “engineering their own pretext for their presence and behavior in Chicago” by “regularly inflicting harm on civilians who are simply protesting” the immigration enforcement operation.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(KITTITAS COUNTY, Wash.) — Rescuers in Washington trekked through 5 miles of snow to save two stranded hikers who had “no shelter but a blue plastic tarp,” with officials urging those who go on outdoor adventures to prepare accordingly.
The two hikers had lost their way in “unexpected snow” in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness area in the Cascade Mountains shortly before 11 a.m. on Sunday when they called the Kittitas County Sheriff’s Department for help.
The hikers used text-to-911 to say they were “lost, wet and cold, with no shelter but a blue plastic tarp” and that they were “unable to make their way off the snowy mountainside where they were perched,” the sheriff’s department said.
After hiking 5 miles through the snowy conditions, rescuers found the hikers, who were “wet and cold but uninjured,” officials said. The hikers were assisted off the slope they were perched on and out of the wilderness, officials said.
The sheriff’s department emphasized that as the seasons change, mountain conditions can change fast.
Officials said any outdoor enthusiast should pack “10 essentials” for any hiking or camping excursion: navigation, sun protection, insulation, illumination, first-aid supplies, fire starters, nutrition, hydration, emergency shelter and a repair kit and tools.
In the wake of several costly rescues over the summer, one official in Washington is proposing an ordinance that would fine an individual “if they are found to be reckless or negligent in their actions where search and rescue is requested to respond.”
“I need to find a creative way to deter the current behavior we are witnessing while attempting to recoup the financial burden placed on our county for an unfunded state mandate,” Skamania County Sheriff Summer Scheyer announced in June after the county experienced a 400% increase in search and rescue missions.
In June, Scheyer said the ordinance was “still in the planning phase,” but believed it would serve as an “added deterrent for those who take exceptional risks and expect the services we are required to provide as a result of their own actions.”
It is unclear whether the ordinance has passed in Skamania County. The Skamania County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
Cris Hazzard, a professional hiking guide and author, known as “The Hiking Guy,” previously told ABC News that several minutes of “homework” before embarking on an outdoor excursion — including checking the website of the trail or park or downloading an app like AllTrails — can help hikers avoid challenging conditions or become aware of specific closures.
(NEW YORK) — The fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk has put Utah Valley University (UVU) under scrutiny as security experts said the location of the stage for the outdoor event where the conservative commentator was targeted was particularly vulnerable, and questioned why no metal detectors were in place and bags seemingly were not checked.
More than 3,000 people were on hand Wednesday as the 31-year-old Kirk, CEO and co-founder of the conservative grassroots organization Turning Point USA, spoke in an open-air courtyard on the Orem, Utah, campus, which is at the bottom of a bowl-shaped area surrounded by buildings, law enforcement officials said.
A gunman fired the deadly shot at Kirk with a high-powered bolt-action rifle from the rooftop of a campus building a substantial distance from where Kirk was speaking, hitting him in the throat, officials said.
The suspect in the shooting, identified as 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, was arrested on Friday night after his father recognized him from surveillance images and video released by investigators, authorities said.
“This is a police chief’s nightmare,” Chief Jeff Long of the Utah Valley University campus police department said at a news conference on Wednesday.
Witnesses told ABC News that the event was not just open to the students on campus, but to the general public as well.
Long said he worked with Kirk’s private security team to establish security protocols for the event, which was the first stop on a nationwide tour of college campuses Kirk launched, called The American Comeback Tour.
“We worked together. He has his team and they do this all over the country. We all know that. It’s not uncommon for them. They’re very comfortable on campuses. And I was coordinating with his lead security guy,” Long said.
Turning Point USA did not respond to an ABC News request for comment.
Long said six campus police officers were working the event, including some in plainclothes who were monitoring the crowd.
“We train for these things, and you think you have things covered, and these things, unfortunately, they happen,” Long said. “You try to get your bases covered and, unfortunately, today [Wednesday] we didn’t. Because of that, we have this tragic incident.”
But multiple witnesses who attended the event told ABC News there seemed to be little to no security at all.
“We walked in, we were kind of surprised because there was like no security check. They didn’t check us for IDs. They didn’t pat us down. You just walked in,” Jasmine Martinez, a mother of five, told ABC News on Thursday.
Justin Hicken, who also attended the event, said he, too, was surprised by the seeming lack of security.
“I just followed the crowd into some of the campus buildings and … once you made your way through the campus buildings, it opens up into a courtyard where the stage or the amphitheater drops down like a pit,” Hicken told ABC News, adding that he also was not scrutinized by any security when he arrived at the free event.
He said that while the crowd was mostly comprised of college-aged people, “There were people of all ages there.”
“There were elderly people with walkers, there were children, there were families. It was a big group,” Hicken said. “I would say it was probably about 97% or 98% pro-Charlie. There were a few people you could tell were in opposition to him being there but for the most part, it was a very pro-Charlie crowd.”
Before the event, an online petition was circulated asking school officials to prevent Kirk from speaking on the UVU campus. The petition stated in part that “Charlie Kirk is known for his divisive rhetoric that often supports policies and laws which aren’t inclusive and can marginalize various communities.” The petition gathered more than 900 signatures.
“We affirm our commitment to free speech, intellectual inquiry, and constructive dialogue,” the university said in a Sept. 3 statement in response to the petition. “The university respects the rights of student clubs and organizations to invite various speakers to campus. As a public institution, UVU upholds First Amendment rights and fosters an environment where ideas – popular or controversial – can be exchanged freely, energetically, and civilly.”
However, Don Mihalek, a retired senior special agent for the U.S. Secret Service and an ABC News contributor, questioned the location of the stage with roofs of buildings surrounding the area where Kirk was shot, given that President Donald Trump was shot at a July 13, 2024, campaign rally at an outdoor venue in Butler, Pennsylvania, by a man who fired from rooftop 400 feet from where Trump was speaking.
Investigators said the gunman who shot Kirk fired an older model imported Mauser .30-06 caliber bolt-action rifle from the roof of a building and appeared to have a clear line of sight to where Kirk was seated under a shade canopy more than 100 yards away.
“The location of the event was in the middle of a college quad, it sounds like, which was surrounded by tall buildings, which present line-of-sight issues,” Mihalek said.
Mihalek added, “In my view, in this day and age, you can’t not do proper advanced planning for an event, especially an outdoor event, and take into account all the standard security measures for an event.”
Mihalek said pre-planning for possible security issues, including access control to the event, line-of-sight issues and monitoring of the crowd, “all has to be baked into the event planning process.”
Robert Boyce, the retired chief of detectives for the New York Police Department and an ABC News contributor, said that from a security standpoint, the outdoor venue should have never been chosen for an event featuring such a controversial speaker.
Boyce further said that the venue for the event shouldn’t have been outdoors.
“For a controversial person speaking in any way, with any kind of petition, any outside threats we don’t know right now, you really can’t have it outside,” Boyce said. “You have to have a door to control and that’s important, especially in these times. We’re really at a different point in our history that’s really hard to believe. But you want to control that door. This way, you know who’s inside and you can walk around and see and identify anybody who’s acting out of sorts.”
Boyce also questioned why the event was opened to the general public.
“It’s inexplicable to me why a university would let outside people come in and watch this on their campus, and that has to be answered,” Boyce said.
In response to the questions raised about the security plan for the event, a university spokesperson told ABC News, “I’m not able to answer those specifics at this time.”
The university spokesperson directed ABC News to a page on the school’s website answering some frequently asked questions about the Charlie Kirk event. Under the question “What security measures were taken?” the website states “Kirk’s lead security staff coordinated with UVU Police Chief Jeff Long regarding the security measures,” echoing Chief Long’s statement during the Sept. 10 news conference.
The website page also said that Kirk had previously visited the school with Turning Point USA in 2019.
The Utah Board of Higher Education – the governing body for the Utah System of Higher Education, which is comprised of 16 public colleges and universities, including UVU – issued a statement last week, saying it will “continue working with state leaders to identify ways to keep our campuses safe and welcoming for everyone.”
The statement added, “We believe strongly that Utah’s campuses must remain places where individuals can share and debate differing viewpoints openly and respectfully. Attempts to diminish that freedom have no place here and we will continue working to ensure our students, faculty and visitors feel safe to express themselves.”
Debris is piled up at the entrance to Camp Mystic on July 07, 2025 in Hunt, Texas. Brandon Bell/Getty Images
(KERR COUNTY, Texas) — The parents of children who were among the 27 killed at Camp Mystic on Texas’ Guadalupe River during the historic Fourth of July flash flooding that devastated the Hill Country region are scheduled to testify on Wednesday before a state legislative committee probing the disaster.
A coalition of Camp Mystic parents are slated to testify before the Texas Senate Disaster Preparedness and Flooding Select Committee which is considering reforms to increase safety at youth camps across the state.
“Our children’s lives were cut short because the safeguards in place were not enough,” the Campaign for Camp Safety, a group that includes the Camp Mystic parents, said in a statement released this week ahead of Wednesday’s hearing. “We are asking lawmakers to make sure no other family ever has to endure the pain we have lived with every day since July 4th.”
The parents testifying on Wednesday are expected to make suggestions on how to improve camp safety along the Guadalupe River. In its statement, the group said they want lawmakers to require campgrounds in a 100-year floodplain like Camp Mystic to equip cabins with emergency rooftop ladders and develop flash flood evacuation plans.
“The families emphasized that while they continue to grieve, they are committed to turning their pain into meaningful and urgent change for all kids, on behalf of their angels they now refer to as ‘Heaven’s 27,'” the Campaign for Camp Safety said in its statement.
Camp Mystic, one of 19 youth summer camps on the Guadalupe River near Hunt, Texas, was devastated on July 4 when torrential rains fell over a short amount of time, causing the river to overflow in the early morning hours of July 4, trapping many campers in their cabins. Officials in hard-hit Kerr County, where Camp Mystic is located, said that more than 12 inches of rain fell in under 6 hours, and that the Guadalupe River rose more than 20 feet per hour during the storm.
At least 130 people were killed in flash flooding across the Hill Country region, including 117 in Kerr County, officials said.
During an Aug. 1 hearing of the Texas House and Senate Select Committees on Disaster Preparedness and Flooding, the Kerr County emergency management director conceded that he was sick and asleep as the water rose to historic levels on the Guadalupe River.
Other Kerr County officials testified that an inadequate flash-flood warning system upstream contributed to the disaster.
Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly testified that in the aftermath of the flooding, the county commissioned an independent hydrology study that confirmed the July weather event was a 1,000-year flood.
“By the time flooding became visible downstream, upstream communities, including multiple youth camps, were already under water,” Kelly said.
When committee members asked Kelly why an evacuation order was not issued, he said, “It was too late.”
