(NEW YORK) — Two people have been charged in the death of Dartmouth College student Won Jang, 20, who was found dead by the Connecticut River on the school’s New Hampshire campus in July, according to police.
The Hanover Police Department announced misdemeanor charges for providing alcohol to persons under 21 years of age at an event Jang attended before his death.
A sorority was also charged as a corporation for facilitating an underage alcohol party, which was organized by its members, according to the Hanover Police.
Jang was found dead off the shore of the Connecticut River on the school’s campus on July 7 after drinking at a fraternity party the night before, according to police.
At the time of his death he had a blood alcohol level of 0.167.
Dartmouth College previously suspended a sorority and fraternity on campus in relation to Jang’s death.
The college said its Greek organizations have a responsibility to ensure the school remains a safe, respectful, equitable and inclusive community.
“Following the tragic loss of Won Jang during the summer, Dartmouth immediately suspended both Alpha Phi and Beta Alpha Omega, and an internal investigation was initiated. These suspensions remain in effect pending the results of Dartmouth’s internal investigation and conduct process, which is still ongoing,” Dartmouth said in a statement to ABC News Friday.
(NEW YORK) — Since being tapped as President-elect Donald Trump’s controversial pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been criticized by medical and public health experts for his anti-vaccine history, his current vaccine skepticism, his take on the COVID-19 pandemic — and by some for his descriptions of fluorinated water. But some of the environmental attorney’s views are also receiving support from some unexpected sources.
On Wednesday, renowned food author Michael Pollan echoed those criticisms — but offered some praise for Kennedy’s criticism of the American food industry, which Kennedy has accused of propagating obesity and chronic disease.
“He’s voicing a critique of the food system that is important,” Pollan told ABC News, while making clear he was drawing a “strong distinction” between Kennedy’s food stances and his medical advice — and that he thinks Kennedy is a “horrible” choice for the job.
Pollan’s comments join a stance taken in recent days by some prominent Democrats who have praised Kennedy for his vows to “Make America Healthy Again,” in part by tackling the food industry — while condemning him for his years working against vaccine health policies.
The comments from Pollan to ABC News came after he shared a seemingly positive article on social media about Kennedy titled, “They’re lying about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.” — a move that prompted Kennedy himself to reply and suggest they work together.
“Thanks @michaelpollan!” Kennedy wrote Thursday on X. “I’d love to work with you to restore our public health agencies to their rich tradition of gold-standard, evidence-based science and Make America Healthy Again.”
Asked if he would take Kennedy up on the offer, Pollan was clear: “No.”
“I’ve got my role to play, and that’s not the role,” he told ABC News.
Kennedy has faced fierce criticism over his claims that vaccines are behind an “epidemic” of diseases in America, and that cavity-fighting mineral fluoride, added in small amounts to some drinking water, is “industrial waste.” Pollan said Kennedy’s stances on vaccines and fluoride “seem nutty” and that he was overall a “horrible” pick to lead HHS.
But Pollan — who has authored multiple books, including several on the effects of food on the human body — offered some praise for Kennedy for his views on ultra-processed food and the overuse of corn and soy.
“He’s injected these issues into the national conversation, and I think that’s a big deal,” Pollan said.
He also praised Kennedy for linking the epidemic of obesity and chronic disease to agricultural policies — a move he said is “really important.”
“I’m looking for glimmers in an otherwise bleak landscape,” Pollan said.
Pollan’s approval of Kennedy’s food stances follows similar praise from some Democrat officials.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said he was “excited by the news” that Kennedy had been appointed to lead HHS, writing on X that he was “most optimistic” about Kennedy “taking on big pharma and the corporate ag oligopoly to improve our health.”
He wrote in a subsequent post that “Science must remain THE cornerstone of our nation’s health policy” and said “the science-backed decision to get vaccinated improves public health and safety,” but noted that he is “for a major shake-up in institutions like the FDA that have been barriers to lowering drug costs and promoting healthy food choices.”
Earlier this week, Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey posted a video on social media about how he has been “raising the alarm of the dangers of our current food system.”
“Food in America is making us sick,” Booker said in the video. Though he did not mention Kennedy by name, Kennedy reposted the video, thanking Booker for his “long history of leadership on this issue.”
Asked by ABC News, Booker said he had not yet made up his mind on Kennedy’s nomination, saying that Kennedy would need to go through the confirmation process and that Kennedy’s stances on vaccines were “very troubling.” He added he was “super skeptical of the Trump administration’s efforts in any way to say that they are going to be doing things to make us more healthy.”
Still, Booker added he was “happy to hear” Kennedy on some of the issues around health, saying, “There’s a growing coalition in America from both sides of the aisle really demanding change. I hope, if the Trump administration is willing to do something right and positive on these issues, I’ll be right there.”
“When it comes to RFK, we’re going to look at the totality of his record, we’re going to evaluate and make a decision, but my focus is trying to block Trump from doing more damage to Americans health, like he did last time,” Booker said.
Pollan, for his part, questioned just how much Trump would let Kennedy make true reforms to the food industry, should Kennedy be confirmed.
“I have my doubts about whether Trump is going to give him authority to do what he wants to do around food,” Pollan said of Kennedy, who over the weekend was in a viral photo eating McDonald’s with Trump and others on Trump’s plane. “Whether he’ll get anywhere, I have my doubts — but I am pleased to see these issues getting talked about.”
(NEW YORK) — The defense in the Daniel Penny manslaughter and negligent homicide case rested without their client taking the stand.
Penny is charged with manslaughter and negligent homicide in the May 2023 New York City subway chokehold death of Jordan Neely, a homeless man. Neely was acting erratically in a subway car when Penny put him in the deadly chokehold.
Penny, a former Marine, has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The judge will hold a charging conference with the attorneys Monday to discuss his instructions to the jury.
The jury is off until after Thanksgiving, when the trial will resume with closing arguments, the judge’s instructions and deliberations.
Photo by Shareif Ziyadat/Getty Images for Sean “Diddy” Combs
(NEW YORK) — Sean “Diddy” Combs appeared again in a New York City courtroom on Friday as he continues to fight for his release on bail in his racketeering and sex trafficking case.
Combs’ lawyers argued he should be released on bail and placed on home confinement in a three-bedroom apartment on the Upper East Side under 24/7 monitoring by three full-time security professionals, while prosecutors said the hip-hop impresario “cannot be trusted” to follow the rules of pretrial release.
The judge did not immediately rule but said he would have a decision next week.
The defense said it was proposing conditions “far more restrictive” than Combs faces in jail, including limiting phone calls to lawyers, restricting visitors other than lawyers and specific family members, keeping a visitor log and avoiding contact with witnesses or potential witnesses.
“If what the government is afraid of is that Mr. Combs is going to be violent toward someone, there’s just zero chance of that happening,” defense attorney Marc Agnifilo said.
Combs blew kisses to his family and tapped his heart as he entered federal court Friday in a beige jail smock over a white long-sleeve T-shirt. He hugged his attorneys and, once seated, turned in his chair to smile at his mother and children, who were seated in the second row.
Prosecutors reminded the judge “this is a case about violence” and argued the conditions proposed in the defense bail package fell short.
“At bottom, in order for conditions to be sufficient there has to be some level of trust that the defendant will follow them,” prosecutor Christy Slavik said. “Simply put, the defendant cannot be trusted.”
She also questioned the efficacy of a team of private security guards paid for by Combs.
“There is really just no separation for the defendant. You work for him. There’s just no way to trust that any private security firm could do what the court requires and ensure compliance,” Slavik said.
Combs has pleaded not guilty to racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and prostitution charges.
His attorneys conceded hotel security camera video obtained by CNN depicted “physical conduct” between Combs and his ex-girlfriend Cassie but argued the video should not be used to keep Combs behind bars.
The defense argued in a filing on Thursday that prosecutors “invented” the narrative using a “manipulated version” of the video. The defense insisted the video did not depict a “freak off,” the name for the sex-fueled parties allegedly held by Combs, but rather showed a domestic dispute in which Combs ran down the hall of the hotel to recover his clothes and cellphone.
“It’s our defense to these charges that this was a toxic end of a loving relationship,” Agnifilo said Friday.
Federal prosecutors said “it was a bit puzzling” the defense brought up the video because Combs does not dispute what it shows.
“The defendant admitted it and apologized for it in a public Instagram post. Shoving, kicking and dragging a female victim,” Slavik said.
(NEW YORK) — Jussie Smollett’s attorney said the actor was “harmed substantially” after he was found guilty of lying about a 2019 hate crime in an interview with “GMA3” following the overturning of his conviction.
The Illinois Supreme Court threw out the former “Empire” actor’s conviction in a decision on Thursday after concluding that the state’s prosecution was unfair due to an agreement that initially dropped the charges.
Smollett was first indicted on 16 felony counts of disorderly conduct for filing a false police report, though Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx agreed to drop the charges if he paid $10,000 and did community service. A special prosecutor later charged him again, leading to his trial and conviction.
In its decision on Thursday, the court found that the state could not bring a second prosecution against Smollett after the initial charges were dismissed, and that reneging on the agreement “would be arbitrary, unreasonable, fundamentally unfair, and a violation of the defendant’s due process rights.”
Tina Glandian, Smollett’s attorney, told “GMA3” on Friday that they have been fighting the second prosecution from the start as “completely illegal.”
“It violates numerous constitutional provisions,” she said. “We’ve raised this numerous, numerous times before, various courts. And finally yesterday, the Supreme Court of Illinois agreed with us and said the second prosecution was barred because there was an agreement in place and the state is bound to honor its word.”
The case began after the openly gay actor told police he was attacked by two men while walking on a street near his Chicago apartment early on Jan. 29, 2019. The attackers allegedly shouted racist and homophobic slurs before hitting him, pouring “an unknown chemical substance” on him and wrapping a rope around his neck.
Chicago police said Smollett’s story of being the victim of an attack began to unravel when investigators tracked down two men, brothers Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo, who they said were seen in a security video near where Smollett claimed he was assaulted and around the same time it supposedly occurred. The Osundairo brothers told police the actor paid them $3,500 to help him orchestrate and stage the crime.
A jury convicted Smollett in December 2021 on five of six felony counts of disorderly conduct stemming from filing a false police report and lying to police, who spent more than $130,000 investigating his allegations.
Dan Webb, who was appointed by a Cook County judge to continue looking into the case after the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office initially dropped all charges against the actor, said he was “disappointed” in the court’s decision and noted that the ruling “has nothing to do with Mr. Smollett’s innocence.”
“The Illinois Supreme Court did not find any error with the overwhelming evidence presented at trial that Mr. Smollett orchestrated a fake hate crime and reported it to the Chicago Police Department as a real hate crime, or the jury’s unanimous verdict that Mr. Smollett was guilty of five counts of felony disorderly conduct,” he said in a statement.
Glandian said Smollett continues to maintain his innocence and has “vehemently denied” any participation in a hoax.
“We do believe he didn’t get a fair trial, that the jury didn’t hear all the evidence that should have [been] heard, that things were improperly excluded, that the jury panel was not properly put together,” she said. “The Supreme Court yesterday didn’t get to that issue. They said legally this was invalid. It violated his due process and they, based on that, threw out the conviction. But we still maintain that he didn’t receive a fair trial.”
In the wake of the case, she said Smollett has been releasing music and “continued to do what he does best.”
“I think hopefully, obviously this can only help matters because he was harmed substantially after everything that happened, and of course, the convictions and the sentence that was imposed,” she said.
Webb said that despite the Illinois Supreme Court’s decision, the city of Chicago is still able to pursue its pending civil lawsuit against Smollett in order to recoup the investigation costs.
Glandian said she hopes the city “does the right thing” and dismisses that case.
“He’s incurred substantial legal fees. He spent six days in jail, all of which now has been said by the highest court in Illinois was completely unconstitutional,” Glandian said. “So for the city now to further proceed, we’ll see what they do. But hopefully they dismiss that case immediately.”
(NEW YORK) — New York Judge Juan Merchan has delayed President-elect Donald Trump’s Nov. 26 sentencing date in his criminal hush money case, according to a brief order issued Friday.
The judge is allowing the defense to file a motion to dismiss the case, which he said is due by Dec. 2.
The judge provided no new sentencing date after adjourning the original Nov. 26 date.
Trump was scheduled to be sentenced next week after he was found guilty in May on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to a hush money payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in order to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election.
Judge Merchan’s order also puts off any decision about whether the Supreme Court’s recent presidential immunity decision applies to the case.
While the $130,000 payment to Daniels preceded Trump’s ascension to the presidency, Trump has claimed that prosecutors filled “glaring holes in their case” with evidence that related to official acts he subsequently performed in office — which the Supreme Court ruled are off limits in its July ruling on presidential immunity.
Prosecutors have argued that the case centers on “entirely personal” conduct with “no relationship whatsoever to any official duty of the presidency.”
Trump has asked that the verdict be overturned or the case be thrown out entirely. If Judge Merchan tosses the conviction, he could order a new trial — which would be delayed for at least four years until Trump leaves office — or dismiss the indictment altogether.
Trump’s conviction carries a penalty of up to four years in prison, though first-time offenders normally receive lesser sentences.
(NEW YORK) — The Texas Board of Education will vote Friday on whether to implement its new K-12 curriculum that calls for expanding Bible teachings in classrooms, after signaling its passage in a preliminary vote.
The curriculum includes Biblical and Christian lessons about Moses, the story of the Good Samaritan, the Golden Rule, readings from The Book of Genesis, and more. The accuracy of the materials has come under scrutiny. For example, the curriculum claims “Abraham Lincoln and other leading abolitionists relied on a deep Christian faith,” though Lincoln’s religion has historically been debated.
The instructional materials, called Bluebonnet Learning, are developed by the state, according to the Texas Education Agency. The lessons would be optional, but districts can receive at least $40 per student for using state-approved materials, according to local legislation.
Some supporters of instituting religion in the curriculum say that these religious texts are important for the historical context of U.S. history and can instill moral values in the classroom. While some critics said, this violates the First Amendment right to freedom of religion for students and teachers, forcing classrooms to engage in Christian instruction.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has spoken out in support of the Texas Education Agency’s curriculum after singing legislation directing the Texas Education Agency to purchase and develop instructional materials.
“The materials will also allow our students to better understand the connection of history, art, community, literature, and religion on pivotal events like the signing of the U.S. Constitution, the Civil Rights Movement, and the American Revolution,” Abbott said in a May statement. “I thank the TEA for their work to ensure our students receive a robust educational foundation to succeed so that we can build a brighter Texas for generations to come.”
The Freedom From Religion Foundation, an advocacy organization centering on the separation of state and church, has criticized the curriculum, claiming leaders are determined to “turn the state’s public schools into Christian training grounds.”
“The curriculum targets the youngest, most impressionable elementary students, starting by introducing kindergartners to Jesus,” FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor said in an online statement ahead of the vote. “Religious instruction is the purview of parents, not proselytizing school boards. This is a shameful ruse by Christian nationalists in Texas who see the schools as a mission field.”
States like Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and others have been behind the push to enforce Christian-based school requirements, including the implementation of Bibles, the Ten Commandments and other religious doctrines in schools.
(NEW YORK) — Actor Jonathan Majors and his ex-girlfriend Grace Jabbari have agreed to resolve her civil claims that followed his misdemeanor assault conviction in New York, according to a court filing.
Majors and Jabbari stipulated to a dismissal of her lawsuit for defamation and assault that she brought against him in March, the filing said. A reason was not given.
Jabbari sued Majors about the same time he was sentenced to domestic violence intervention classes in April. She alleged he physically abused her and then defamed her by denying the assault in an interview with ABC News.
Majors was found guilty of one count of misdemeanor third-degree assault and one count of second-degree harassment, but acquitted of two other counts of assault and aggravated harassment in a split verdict.
Since the verdict, Majors has been dropped from his management and PR firms. In addition, he was cut from future Marvel films and his role as Kang in “Avengers: Kang Dynasty.”
As part of his sentencing, Majors was ordered to complete 52-week in-person batterers intervention program in Los Angeles, continue mental health counseling and stay away from Jabbari.
(NEW YORK) — Authorities investigating the rash of recent burglaries at the homes of professional athletes have recovered a watch belonging to Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce in Providence, Rhode Island, sources familiar with the case told ABC News.
Kelce’s Leawood, Kansas, home was burglarized as the Chiefs were about to kick off Monday Night Football against the New Orleans Saints hours apart from a burglary at the home of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
Police had not previously disclosed a watch was taken from Kelce but did confirm that $20,000 cash was stolen.
Police believe the athletes are being targeted based on their game schedules and are working to determine whether a crime ring is targeting them along with other luxury homeowners.
So far all of these thefts have occurred while nobody is home. There is a concern about what happens if the athlete or his/her family members are present, a security source told ABC News.
The burglars conduct extensive surveillance, sometimes posing as delivery men, maintenance workers or joggers to learn about residences, neighborhoods and security systems, according to an NFL memo obtained by ABC News.
One security source told ABC News the burglars appear to know what they’re looking for, where it is in the home and are in and out within 15 minutes.
(STARR COUNTY, Texas) — Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham is offering the incoming Trump administration 1,402 acres the state purchased along the Texas-Mexico border to be used in a mass deportation operation.
In a letter to President-elect Donald Trump, Buckingham said she’s offering the land “to be used to construct deportation facilities.”
The Texas General Land Office purchased the plot of land from a farmer in October to facilitate Texas’ efforts to build a wall.
“My office is fully prepared to enter into an agreement with the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or the United States Border Patrol to allow a facility to be built for the processing, detention, and coordination of the largest deportation of violent criminals in the nation’s history,” Buckingham wrote in the letter, dated Tuesday.
The move shows that despite the Democratic governors of California and Arizona, two other southern border states, pledging not to aid the Trump administration’s mass deportation plans, the incoming administration will have allies in Republican-led states.
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs told ABC News Live on Monday that she would not use state police or the National Guard to help with mass deportation.
“We will not be participating in misguided efforts that harm our communities,” she said.
Trump on Monday confirmed he would declare a national emergency to carry out his campaign promise of mass deportations of migrants living in the U.S. without legal permission, and pledged to get started on the mass deportations as soon as he enters office.
A spokeswoman for the Trump transition team said the president-elect will “marshal every lever of power” to launch his mass deportation plans.
“Local and state officials on the frontlines of the Harris-Biden border invasion have been suffering for four years and are eager for President Trump to return to the Oval Office. On day one, President Trump will marshal every lever of power to secure the border, protect their communities, and launch the largest mass deportation operation of illegal immigrant criminals in history,” Karoline Leavitt said.
In an interview with Fox News, which first reported the news of the Texas General Land Office’s offer, Buckingham reiterated she is “100% on board” with the incoming administration’s promise to deport criminals.
The plot of land is in Starr County, about 35 miles west of McAllen, Texas.
“Now it’s essentially farmland, so it’s flat, it’s easy to build on. We can very easily put a detention center on there — a holding place as we get these criminals out of our country,” she told Fox News.
