(EXCELSIOR SPRINGS, Mo.) — In a stunning repeat of a February incident, a vehicle crashed into the Clay-Ray Veterans Memorial Hall in Excelsior Springs, Missouri, on Wednesday morning, damaging the same section of roof that had only recently been repaired.
Emergency crews responded to 208 Veterans Memorial Drive just before 7:30 a.m., where they found a vehicle that had driven off Sycamore Street and crashed into the building’s roof.
“Though it might seem like a recurring issue, these are very unique situations,” said Lt. Ryan Dowdy of the Excelsior Springs Police Department, who has served on the force for 13 years. “One was during a police chase from a driver trying to evade capture; the other was possibly due to a medical condition.”
Unlike the previous incident, the vehicle didn’t completely penetrate the roof, but the crash’s impact was severe enough that the car’s engine was ejected, landing near the building’s flagpole.
According to Dowdy, while the incident is dramatic, it is being investigated as a traffic crash.
“If during that investigation we determine that a crime has occurred and believe there is probable cause to support charging an individual, we will not hesitate to file those charges if applicable,” he said.
The February crash resulted in arrests and charges after a 22-year-old man crashed while fleeing police during a traffic stop. That incident left two teenage passengers with serious injuries, while the driver sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
“The representative of the VFW stated that they have had that property for over 80 years, and this is only the second time this has happened,” Lt. Dowdy noted, addressing concerns about the location’s safety.
The Clay-Ray Vets Club, which manages the building, had been in the process of rebuilding and restoration following the February incident, according to their Facebook post.
Authorities have not yet released the identity of the driver or additional details about the most recent crash. The investigation is ongoing.
(NEW ORLEANS, La) — The reward for the arrest of the two remaining inmates who broke out of a New Orleans jail this month has more than doubled to $50,000, authorities announced on Thursday, as police said they believe they are closing in on the “dangerous” fugitives.
Antoine Massey and Derrick Groves are among 10 inmates who escaped from the Orleans Justice Center on May 16, according to Louisiana State Police.
In the nearly two weeks since, eight of the inmates have been captured, but Massey and Groves remain on the run, police said.
There are now rewards totalling $50,000 per inmate for tips leading to their arrest, according to Louisiana State Police Superintendent Col Robert Hodges. That includes rewards being offered from the Crimestoppers of Greater New Orleans, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, he said.
Hodges said police have “some strong leads” about where the remaining two fugitives are, though they still need tips because of the men’s movement.
“We’re confident that we are closing in on the remaining two escapees, and that we should have them in custody soon,” he said during a press briefing on Thursday. “We’re resilient, and although they’re going to get tired and frustrated as they try to move around Louisiana or move around the metropolitan area, they know the walls are closing in.”
Authorities urged anyone with information on the whereabouts of the two fugitives to reach out while acknowledging that may be difficult.
“We understand, along with our law enforcement partners, that some of you might be reporting a friend, a loved one, a relative, and albeit not easy, it is critical to your safety and the safety of the public that you report that,” Walter Martin, chief deputy U.S. marshal for the Eastern District of Louisiana, said during the briefing.
Martin vowed to recapture the “dangerous inmates.” One of them, Groves, was recently convicted of two counts of second-degree murder in a 2018 Mardi Gras Day shooting and faces a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole, prosecutors said. Unrelated to that case, he also subsequently pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter, online court records show.
Hodges warned that anyone who helps the remaining fugitives will be arrested and prosecuted.
“Now is the time to make the right choice,” he said.
Crimestoppers of Greater New Orleans President and CEO Darlene Cusanza said Thursday the organization has received nearly 700 tips related to the inmates’ escape, resulting in the arrest of three of them. One inmate was arrested within 30 minutes of receiving the tip, she said. Three tipsters will be paid $10,000, she said.
The 10 inmates escaped from the Orleans Justice Center in the early morning hours of May 16 after climbing through a hole behind a toilet. Their disappearance was not noticed for several hours and touched off a massive manhunt.
Over a dozen people have been arrested on suspicion of helping the escapees, including another inmate in the jail and a jail maintenance worker who is accused of shutting off water to the toilet allowing escapees to remove it.
Three of the 10 inmates who escaped were apprehended in New Orleans within the first 24 hours of the jailbreak. The others were captured in the following days, including in Baton Rouge and two in Texas.
The eight captured inmates have been transported to a secure state facility in Louisiana, Hodges said.
(BOSTON) — A Harvard graduate student has described a “devastating” atmosphere of uncertainty on campus as the Trump administration appears to intensify its efforts to restrict international students at the prestigious university.
“It’s definitely been a roller-coaster ride,” said Fangzhou Jiang, who has one semester remaining in his master’s program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. “Over the last week, everybody was really panicking about whether they should stay in the United States or depart immediately.”
A federal judge in Boston announced Thursday she would issue a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration’s attempts to prevent Harvard from enrolling international students.
The ruling marks a temporary victory for the university in its ongoing confrontation with the White House, which has launched multiple actions against the institution.
The acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued a letter Thursday giving the school 30 days to challenge the administration’s revocation of the certification to enroll international students.
The Trump administration has already frozen more than $3 billion in federal funding to Harvard and plans to cancel remaining federal contracts worth an estimated $100 million. President Donald Trump has also expressed interest in revoking the university’s tax-exempt status.
Tensions escalated further Wednesday when Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced officials would begin to “aggressively revoke” the visas of some Chinese students, sparking fresh concerns among the international student community.
“Everybody is wondering about the plan for next year—whether we should take a leave of absence, whether we should go back home and finish our semester online, or wait for more guidance,” Jiang said, who serves as vice president of student government on family affairs.
For Harvard, where international students comprise more than a quarter of the student body, according to the university, the impact could be significant. Jiang emphasized that international students play crucial roles on campus, from conducting academic research to facilitating cultural exchanges.
“Removing international students from Harvard will really not make Harvard the Harvard it has been for the last 400 years,” Jiang said. “It’s going to impact the amount of perspectives Harvard has. It will definitely weaken Harvard’s international influence and reputation. It is definitely not in the best interest of American higher education or the United States as a nation.”
Jiang said that while the university has committed to protecting international students through legal actions and other means, specific guidance for the upcoming academic year is unclear. Based on experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, Jiang remains optimistic that online learning options could provide a solution if necessary.
“The school has committed to protecting international students in whatever capacity,” Jiang said. “I remain confident that the university will be able to provide measures to help us finish our education at Harvard.”
Harvard University did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
(WALKER, Iowa) — More than 40 years after a 24-year-old man was killed in rural Iowa, a suspect has now been arrested in connection to his murder through DNA research, according to the Linn County Sheriff’s Department.
Michael Schappert, 64, was arrested on Wednesday for the 1983 murder of Ronald Lee Novak, who was brutally killed on Dec. 23, 1983, in rural Walker, Iowa, officials announced on Wednesday.
At the time of the incident, a friend of Novak found him “deceased in an unheated room in his home” after “what appeared to be an apparent robbery and/or burglary,” officials said in a press release.
Novak had been beaten, shot in the chest and was found with his hands bound behind his back, officials said. At the time, the medical examiner ruled that Novak “died from a combination of those injuries, shock and hypothermia,” officials said.
Over the course of the last 10 to 12 years, investigators have tested DNA on Novak’s clothing and a hammer believed to have been used in the attack. The testing eventually led to the identification of Schappert as the suspect, Linn County Attorney Nick Maybanks said during a press conference on Wednesday.
Officials said genetic genealogy — the process of taking unknown DNA and identifying it by comparing it to family members who voluntarily submitted their DNA samples to a database — “assisted in Schappert’s identification.” Through testing, investigators were able to narrow the DNA down to three brothers, and did further testing to allow them to determine it was Schappert.
The investigation revealed that Schappert, who now lives in Fairview, Oregon, and others “likely went to Novak’s home with the intent to rob him of money and marijuana,” officials said. The investigation still remains open as officials said they believe at least one more suspect was involved in Novak’s murder.
“By naming a suspect, it may cause other people to now come forward that maybe weren’t willing to do so previously, or maybe this has jogged their memory some 41 years later,” Linn County Sheriff Brian Gardner said during the press conference.
Patti Wilson, Novak’s sister, told reporters on Wednesday that the investigation has been “a long ride” for the family and she “didn’t know if I would ever see this day come.”
“You start to give up hope that there will be an answer. I wanted it so bad. We look forward to the trial,” Wilson said.
Wilson said her brother was “a little elusive” and they are not sure who he was spending time with when he died, but she said the family did not recognize Schappert.
“We recognize the pain and trauma that Mr. Novak’s loved ones have endured for more than 40 years while his murder went unsolved. It takes strength to endure such hardship and to remain hopeful that someday the person or persons responsible would be caught and brought to justice,” Gardner said in a statement.
Schappert has been charged with first-degree murder and is currently being held in the Multnomah County Detention Center in Portland, Oregon, “pending an extradition hearing to be returned to Linn County, Iowa,” officials said.
It was not immediately clear whether Schappert has retained an attorney to speak on his behalf.
Officials said anyone with more information related to the investigation or additional potential suspects related to this case should contact the Linn County Sheriff’s Office.
(HOMER, Alaska) — A family that went missing on a boat trip in Alaska has finally been found after nine months of searching, according to the Alaska Department of Public Safety.
The Maynard family, including a mother and father and their two children, went missing in August 2024 on a boat excursion in Kachemak Bay near Homer, Alaska Wildlife Troopers said. The family was on a 28-foot aluminum boat with four other people when a distress call was made for the boat taking on water. Four people were rescued from a life raft by good Samaritans, according to the Anchorage Daily News.
At the time, the U.S. Coast Guard conducted an active search and rescue mission for David Maynard, 42; Mary Maynard, 37; Colton Maynard, 11; and Brantley Maynard, 8, but it was ultimately unsuccessful, officials said. The family, from Waco, Texas, was ultimately designated as missing persons.
In April, the search began anew with Support Vessels of Alaska, Vision Subsea and Benthic Geoscience offering the use of their professional tools to search Kachemak Bay for the missing boat and the Maynards, according to officials.
They found success in early May, when the vessel was found in 180 feet of water, according to Alaska Wildlife Troopers, a division of the Alaska DPS. Using a remotely operated vehicle, searchers were able to confirm the vessel they located was the missing boat with potential human remains on board, troopers said.
Volunteers, with assistance from Alaska Wildlife Troopers, conducted dive operations into the vessel on Tuesday and Wednesday and recovered three sets of remains from the vessel, according to troopers.
The remains were transported to the Alaska State Medical Examiner’s Office for positive identification and autopsy, troopers said.
Volunteer search teams continue to look for a fourth set of human remains.
“The Alaska Wildlife Troopers would like to thank Support Vessels of Alaska, Vision Subsea, Benthic Geoscience Inc, and Alaska Dive Search, Rescue, and Recovery Team for their continued assistance with this search and recovery operation,” Alaska Wildlife Troopers said in statement.
Alaska Dive Search, Rescue and Recovery Team is a nonprofit funded by donations that responds to incidents throughout the state, according to the organization.
“All team members leave their paid jobs and families to do mission around the state to being closure to families and communities around the state,” the team Thursday said in a statement on Facebook.
Next of kin have been notified of the remains found, troopers said.
“We have been very busy and are still searching the vessel for additional remains. Identification of the remains will be released by DPS once the medical examiner completes their work,” Alaska Dive Search, Rescue and Recovery Team said in a statement Wednesday.
(CAMBRIDGE, Mass.) — Ahead of a federal hearing over Harvard University’s ability to enroll international students, the acting director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued a letter Thursday giving the school 30 days to challenge the administration’s revocation of that certification.
The letter formally notifies the school that its Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification would be withdrawn — but backtracks from the administration’s earlier stance by giving Harvard 30 days to achieve compliance.
“Your school has 30 calendar days from the date of service of this Notice to submit written representations under oath and supported by documentary evidence, setting forth the reasons why SEVP should not withdraw your school’s certification,” the notice said. “If SEVP certification is withdrawn, your school will then no longer be approved to enroll or continue to educate nonimmigrant students.”
The notice comes one week after Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem announced she had ordered the termination of the school’s SEVP certification.
“As a result of your refusal to comply with multiple requests to provide the Department of Homeland Security pertinent information while perpetuating an unsafe campus environment that is hostile to Jewish students, promotes pro-Hamas sympathies, and employs racist ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ policies, you have lost this privilege,” Noem wrote last week in a letter to the university.
At a hearing Thursday shortly after the Trump administration issued its 30-day notice, U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs said she plans to issue a preliminary injunction that prohibits the Trump administration from revoking Harvard’s SEVP certification without first going through the legally required procedure.
“I do think an order is necessary. It doesn’t need to be draconian, but I want to make sure nothing changes. I want to maintain the status quo,” the judge said at the hearing, which took place as thousands of Harvard students and their families gathered for the school’s commencement.
For now, Judge Burroughs said a temporary restraining order she issued last week will remain in place until a preliminary injunction is ironed out.
Burroughs said that, despite the Trump administration’s backtracking, she felt an order was necessary to protect Harvard’s international students.
“I would feel more comfortable given what has preceded this,” she said during 20-minute hearing. “It gives some protection to international students who are anxious about coming here.”
Department of Justice attorney Tiberius Davis pushed back on the restraining order, saying the issue had effectively become “moot” since the Trump administration changed course.
“The Department has decided it would be better, simpler going forward, to go through the procedure,” Davis said.
Despite the change, Harvard attorney Ian Gershengorn said that a restraining order was still necessary, arguing that the Trump administration was unlawfully violating the school’s First Amendment rights by retaliating against the school for its decision not to budge to other demands from the government. He called the recent notice “the next step” in the Trump administration’s campaign to retaliate against the school.
“There seems to be a different set of rules, procedures for Harvard,” he said. “The First Amendment harms we are suffering are real and continuing.”
Judge Burroughs suggested that the parties might end up coming back to court in a few months, once the legal process has played out, to determine if the potential revocation is retaliatory.
“By that point, we think the case would be quite different,” Davis said.
Arguing that the Trump administration actions are part of a “campaign to coerce Harvard into surrendering its First Amendment rights,” Harvard has alleged that the SEVP revocation is unlawful because it violates the school’s free speech rights; that the policy is arbitrary and therefore violates the Administrative Procedure Act; and that the policy runs roughshod over the school’s due process protections because it was not given the opportunity to respond to the revocation.
“The surrounding events, and Defendants’ express statements, make clear that the Department of Homeland Security took these actions not for any valid reason, but purely as punishment for Harvard’s speech, its perceived viewpoint, and its refusal to surrender its academic independence or relinquish its constitutional rights,” the school said in its lawsuit against the Trump administration.
“It is the latest act by the government in clear retaliation for Harvard exercising its First Amendment rights to reject the government’s demands to control Harvard’s governance, curriculum, and the ‘ideology’ of its faculty and students,” said the suit.
DHS officials have said that the revocation was necessary because Harvard failed to turn over information about international students — including disciplinary records — as requested by the Trump administration.
“It is a privilege, not a right, for universities to enroll foreign students and benefit from their higher tuition payments to help pad their multibillion-dollar endowments. Harvard had plenty of opportunity to do the right thing. It refused.’ DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement last week.
Harvard is also fighting the Trump administration’s attempt to freeze more $2.2 billion in grants and $60 million in contracts to the school. Harvard filed a separate lawsuit to challenge the funding freeze in April, and the next hearing in that case is set for July.
Trump has continued to ratchet up the pressure on the school over the last two months, threatening to revoke the school’s tax-exempt status, directing his administration to cancel contracts with the school, and continuing to demand information on international students. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Trump suggested that Harvard should cap the number of international students to 15% of the school’s total student body.
“We have people who want to go to Harvard and other schools, they can’t get in because we have foreign students there. But I want to make sure that the foreign students are people that can love our country,” Trump said.
(CAMBRIDGE, Mass.) — As thousands of Harvard University students and their families gather this morning for commencement, a legal battle that could affect the school’s future is playing out a few miles away in a Boston federal courthouse.
A federal judge set a hearing Thursday morning to decide whether to extend an order blocking the Trump administration from stripping Harvard of its ability to enroll international students.
In an escalation of Trump’s recent attacks on Harvard, the Department of Homeland Security last week revoked the school’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification, throwing the status of the school’s nearly 7,000 international students into immediate uncertainty.
Harvard quickly sued to block the policy, arguing the students have become “pawns in the government’s escalating campaign of retaliation” — and a federal judge on Friday granted a temporary order that barred the Trump administration from revoking the school’s SEVP certification.
U.S. District Allison Burroughs, an Obama appointee, granted the temporary order within hours of Harvard filing its lawsuit, writing that the school was likely to suffer “immediate and irreparable injury” if the policy was enacted. Harvard’s lawyers have argued that nearly every one of its international students would have to transfer or drop out if the Trump administration carries out the revocation.
“With the stroke of a pen, the government has sought to erase a quarter of Harvard’s student body, international students who contribute significantly to the University and its mission,” their lawsuit said.
Arguing that the Trump administration actions are part of a “campaign to coerce Harvard into surrendering its First Amendment rights,” Harvard has alleged that the SEVP revocation is unlawful because it violates the school’s free speech rights; that the policy is arbitrary and therefore violates the Administrative Procedure Act; and that the policy runs roughshod over the school’s due process protections because it was not given the opportunity to respond to the revocation.
“The surrounding events, and Defendants’ express statements, make clear that the Department of Homeland Security took these actions not for any valid reason, but purely as punishment for Harvard’s speech, its perceived viewpoint, and its refusal to surrender its academic independence or relinquish its constitutional rights,” the lawsuit argued.
“It is the latest act by the government in clear retaliation for Harvard exercising its First Amendment rights to reject the government’s demands to control Harvard’s governance, curriculum, and the ‘ideology’ of its faculty and students,” said the suit.
DHS officials have said that the revocation was necessary because Harvard failed to turn over information about international students — including disciplinary records — as requested by the Trump administration.
“It is a privilege, not a right, for universities to enroll foreign students and benefit from their higher tuition payments to help pad their multibillion-dollar endowments. Harvard had plenty of opportunity to do the right thing. It refused.’ DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement last week.
Harvard is also fighting the Trump administration’s attempt to freeze more $2.2 billion in grants and $60 million in contracts to the school. Harvard filed a separate lawsuit to challenge the funding freeze in April, and the next hearing in that case is set for July.
Trump has continued to ratchet up the pressure on the school over the last two months, threatening to revoke the school’s tax-exempt status, directing his administration to cancel contracts with the school, and continuing to demand information on international students. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Trump suggested that Harvard should cap the number of international students to 15% of the school’s total student body.
“We have people who want to go to Harvard and other schools, they can’t get in because we have foreign students there. But I want to make sure that the foreign students are people that can love our country,” Trump said.
(NEW YORK) — Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is leading a U.S. delegation to Singapore this week to attend the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia’s premier security summit, another signal of the Trump administration’s intensified focus on the Indo-Pacific region.
The summit will convene more than 550 delegates from 40 nations, including military, intelligence, business and security leaders, from across the Asia-Pacific, Europe and North America, a source familiar with plans told ABC News.
Gabbard will be joined by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the 22nd annual summit, hosted by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, which runs from May 30 to June 2 in Singapore.
Gabbard is expected to “discuss major security challenges” with leaders, a source familiar with Gabbard’s plans told ABC News. This year’s U.S. delegation includes higher-level representation than in previous years, the source added.
The Shangri-La Dialogue is considered Asia’s top defense summit, comparable to the Raisina Dialogue and the Munich Security Conference, both of which Gabbard attended earlier this year.
This trip marks Gabbard’s second trip to Asia in recent weeks, seemingly reinforcing the Trump administration’s renewed focus on the region.
Shortly after her confirmation, Gabbard traveled to India and met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of President Donald Trump’s bilateral meeting with Modi in February.
Her relationship with Modi spans more than a decade, dating back to 2013 when she became the first Hindu member of Congress. They met again during her 2014 visit to India at Modi’s invitation.
Earlier this year, Gabbard accepted an invitation from Modi to speak at the Raisina Dialogue in New Delhi, a multilateral conference on geopolitics and geoeconomics, but, before returning to Washington, D.C., Gabbard made stops in Japan, Thailand and France. Her diplomatic tour began in Honolulu, Hawaii — her hometown — where she represented the state in Congress for eight years.
While in Hawaii, Gabbard met with intelligence community partners and visited United States Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) headquarters in Honolulu.
In Singapore this week, she will hold bilateral meetings with regional leaders to “explore opportunities to chart a path that advances mutual interests of security, peace, and prosperity in the region,” according to a source familiar with the agenda.
Long before taking the helm of the intelligence community, Gabbard was already on the ground in Southeast Asia and, in 2019 while she was running for president, she paused her campaign for two weeks to serve on active duty with the U.S. Army National Guard in Jakarta, Indonesia, becoming the first candidate in modern history to do so.
Now, as director of national intelligence, her return to the region marks a shift from military service to high-stakes diplomacy, an evolution that underscores not only her long-standing personal and strategic ties to the Indo-Pacific, but also hints the administration’s broader efforts to elevate U.S. engagement in the region.
Tourists at a beach property in South Carolina who initially thought they found fossils have accidentally discovered they found human remains at a forgotten burial site dating back 200 years, authorities said.
The incident occurred last Friday when the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office in South Carolina received a call regarding human remains being discovered on Edisto Island, according to a statement from Colleton County Sheriff’s Office.
“Deputies were dispatched to the Jeremy Cay community near Legare Road, a beachfront property, after tourists exploring the area uncovered what they initially believed to be fossils,” police said. “Upon closer examination, they realized the remains appeared to be human and promptly contacted the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office and the Edisto Beach Police Department.”
Police responded to the call and secured the scene before conducting an initial investigation.
“The location of the discovery is historically significant, once home to the 19th-century settlement known as Edingsville Beach,” authorities confirmed. “Early indications suggest the remains may originate from a long forgotten burial site.”
The Colleton County Coroner’s Office responded to assist in the recovery of the human remains, which have since been taken to the Medical University of South Carolina for forensic analysis and identification.
The identity of the individual and circumstances surrounding their death remain unknown, police said.
The investigation is currently active, and Colleton County authorities are working with the coroner’s office and other partner agencies to determine more about the remains and their origins.
Further updates will be provided as more information becomes available, police said.
(KANE COUNTY, Ill.) — Two males, including one juvenile, are facing hate crime charges after allegedly physically attacking a 19-year-old woman and calling her “derogatory” names at a McDonald’s in Illinois, according to the Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office.
The incident occurred on May 13, when police responded to a report of a fight at a McDonald’s in Carpentersville, Illinois, which is about an hour outside of Chicago.
Once on the scene, officials determined the incident “involved an aggravated battery against a female victim,” Carpentersville Police Department said.
The female victim, 19-year-old Kady Grass, told ABC News the attack, which led to her suffering a broken nose and bruises on her shoulders, was based on her sexual orientation.
“Even if they don’t agree with the LGBTQ community, they have no right to make it physical or bully you into something. There was no right to do this to me just because they didn’t like that I date women instead of men,” Grass told ABC News last week.
One of the suspects involved in the attack, 19-year-old John Kammrad, was arrested on May 17, and the juvenile — whose “identify is being withheld in accordance with state laws protecting minors’ privacy” — turned himself in to police on May 16, officials said.
On Tuesday, the state’s attorney’s office announced that Kammrad was charged with three counts of aggravated battery, mob action and a hate crime. The juvenile was also charged with a hate crime, in addition to mob action and aggravated battery charges, prosecutors said.
“Everyone deserves to feel safe in public spaces, and no one should be attacked because of their gender identity or sexual orientation, as is alleged in this case. We must make it clear that Kane County is a community that welcomes all,” the county State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser said in a statement.
Grass said the attack began when she and her 13-year-old cousin were grabbing food at the McDonald’s and Grass decided to use the bathroom. Both the restroom stalls were full, so she walked out right away, when one boy out of a group of three began calling her a derogatory name, she told ABC News.
She said she “mumbled” under her breath but walked away and told her cousin to “not give them another reason to talk to us.”
One of the boys, the juvenile who was later charged, approached Grass again, saying they “wanted to fight” her and they should “take it outside,” she said. Grass said she then proceeded to go outside the McDonald’s, but “no one came out.”
When she returned inside to her cousin, she told Grass she overheard the males and said “they have a gun and they are going to kill you.” Grass later found out that it was an “empty threat” as police did not find a gun in the suspects’ possession.
Kammrad then approached Grass and said, “You’re a woman, you’re not tough,” to which Grass replied: “I know I’m a woman, I’m a lesbian,” she told ABC News.
She said she then looked at the juvenile, who “had this look in his eyes” and began to smile at her.
“I had a bad feeling about what was going to happen,” Grass said.
Kammrad proceeded to get close to Grass, so she placed her hand on his chest to signal he should “keep his distance,” she said.
The confrontation then escalated into a physical fight, with one male punching her in the front and the other hitting her in the back, she said. A manager at the McDonald’s attempted to break up the fight, but he also “got hit in the process,” Grass said.
In an attempt to protect herself, Grass closed her eyes and fell to the ground, which led to the two males stomping on her head, causing her to become unconscious, she said.
“They were trying to kill me,” Grass said last week.
She sustained severe injuries and was transported to a local hospital, where “she was treated and subsequently released,” police said.
Grass told ABC News Chicago station WLS on Tuesday that she was “fighting really hard for these hate crime charges.”
Kammrad’s plea setting is scheduled for June 27 at 9 a.m., according to court records. He is currently being held in the DuPage County Jail for “separate, unrelated charges,” officials said.
It was not immediately clear whether Kammrad has appointed an attorney who can speak on his behalf.
