US President Donald Trump during a military Mother’s Day event in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — A federal court on Thursday concluded that President Donald Trump’s global 10% tariffs are unlawful, a decision that the Department of Justice quickly appealed.
In a 2-1 decision, a panel of judges on the Court of International Trade concluded that the Trump administration misread the law used to justify the sweeping tariffs.
The ruling marks the second time the president’s tariff regime has been found to be illegal, with the Supreme Court earlier this year affirming a decision from the Court of International Trade blocking Trump’s first round of tariffs.
Lawyers for the Department of Justice filed a notice of appeal at the Court of International Trade on Friday, signaling plans to challenge yesterday’s ruling.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C., handles appeals from the Court of International Trade. The tariffs in question are set to expire in late July and it is unclear if the court will hear the case in time to meaningfully rule on the issue.
The immediate impact of Thursday’s ruling is also unclear. The court granted an injunction for two small businesses and the state of Washington; however, the judges dismissed the claims brought by the larger group of states because they lacked standing.
The dispute boiled down to the definition of the phrase “balance-of-payments deficits.” The Court of International Trade rejected the Trump administration’s argument that the term “balance-of-payments deficits” in Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 is the same as a “trade deficit.”
“It is clear that Congress was aware of the differences in the words it chose,” the majority wrote.
The judges acknowledged that the term “causes some confusion,” but concluded that the Trump administration’s interpretation was incorrect.
“The Government argues that in today’s world, the current account is the proper component for identifying a balance-of-payments deficit,” the majority wrote. “Problematically for the Government, and as discussed herein, Congress in 1974 identified the settlement, liquidity, and basic balance deficits as ‘balance-of-payments deficits.'”
The global 10% tariff took effect in February and by statute is set to expire in late July.
James Comey speaks onstage at 92NY on May 30, 2023 in New York City. (Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Former FBI Director James Comey is tentatively set to stand trial on July 15 on charges that he allegedly threatened to kill President Donald Trump by posting a photo of seashells spelling out “86 47” on a beach.
In a written order issued Friday, U.S. District Judge Louise Flanagan scheduled the trial to begin on July 15.
After his court appearance in North Carolina that was originally set for Monday was canceled, Comey will be arraigned on June 30.
Comey’s lawyers have previewed that they plan to move to dismiss the case. His pretrial conference is scheduled to take place on or before May 29.
Renewing efforts to prosecute one of Trump’s longtime adversaries, Department of Justice prosecutors brought the case after a judge last year threw out an indictment against Comey on unrelated charges.
The new indictment centers on a controversy that erupted nearly a year ago when Comey, in a since-deleted Instagram post, shared a picture showing the numbers “86 47” written in seashells with the caption “Cool shell formation on my beach walk.”
Citing the slang meaning of “86” as to “nix” or “get rid” of something, allies of the president allege that the post was a veiled threat against Trump, who is the 47th president.
Following backlash over the post, Comey removed the photo from Instagram and said he was unaware that the post could be associated with violence.
“I posted earlier a picture of some shells I saw today on a beach walk, which I assumed were a political message. I didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence. It never occurred to me but I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down,” Comey posted.
TikTok logo is displayed on a mobile phone screen for illustration photo. Krakow, Poland. On April, 20th, 2026. (Photo by Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — The Trump administration is nearing an agreement with TikTok to resolve an ongoing lawsuit over alleged child privacy violations in exchange for the social media company paying $400 million that the administration plans to use to fund President Donald Trump’s Washington, D.C., “beautification” projects, sources familiar with the discussions told ABC News.
The proposed settlement would end a 2024 lawsuit brought during the Biden administration that alleged that the then-Chinese-owned social media company engaged in “massive-scale invasions of children’s privacy” by collecting extensive data from children without notifying or obtaining consent from parents.
While sources say the administration and TikTok are finalizing the terms of the settlement, it must still be approved by a vote of the TikTok board, which is expected to take place as soon as Friday.
As part of the proposed settlement terms, which are not expected to include an admission of wrongdoing, TikTok would agree to pay the U.S. government $400 million, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News — money the administration intends to use for some of the ongoing “beautification” projects in the nation’s capital, the sources said.
While the proposed settlement is not expected to detail specific projects the money would support, the funds are expected to be directed to either the Department of Interior, the Department of Commerce, or both, sources familiar with the discussions said. Officials in the White House have had weekslong discussions about whether they could legally use the money to pay for Trump’s proposed massive 250-foot triumphal arch near Arlington National Cemetery, the sources said.
On Thursday evening, President Trump personally traveled down to the National Mall to tout his administration’s “beautification” projects around the nation’s capital, telling reporters his administration is “working on some other jobs” and saying he was most excited about the triumphal arch, which he said would break ground “very soon.”
While the Department of Justice regularly reaches settlements with private companies accused of wrongdoing, the proposed TikTok settlement marks a departure from the practice of using the settlement funds to resolve the alleged wrongdoing or compensate victims.
The Department of Justice alleged that millions of children under the age of 13 were subjected to extensive data collection and excessive content meant for adults, but the proposed settlement funds are set to directly support Trump’s efforts to improve the appearance of the nation’s capital.
The White House referred questions on the matter to the Justice Department, which declined to comment. TikTok did not respond to a request for comment from ABC News.
The $400 million agreement would come as the Trump administration attempts to cut funding from the National Park Service while surging more than $10 billion in their proposed 2027 budget to form a “Presidential Capital Stewardship Program.” According to the Trump administration’s proposed budget, the president hopes to “coordinate, plan, and execute targeted, priority construction and beautification projects” throughout the capital to make “Washington, D.C. — a once-great city –safe, clean, and beautiful again.”
Further complicating the matter is President Trump’s direct role in helping to create the business venture that will pay out hundreds of millions for his D.C. projects, raising possible ethical concerns about his personal interest in the use of the settlement funds.
‘I am so happy to have helped in saving TikTok!’
Since taking office last year, Trump has fashioned an unprecedented relationship with TikTok after the company was banned from operating unless it was sold to a U.S. owner. When the social media app briefly went dark in January 2025, Trump, on his first day in office, signed an executive order that allowed the company to continue operating in the United States, essentially vowing not to enforce the ban while negotiations over a potential sale continued.
Following months of negotiations, TikTok earlier this year finalized a $14 billion deal creating an American venture — partially owned by Trump ally Larry Ellison’s database software company Oracle, private equity firm Silver Lake, Emirati investment firm MGX, and others — to address national security concerns stemming from TikTok’s ties to Beijing. TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, still retains a minority stake in the American version of TikTok, which licenses its algorithm from ByteDance.
“I am so happy to have helped in saving TikTok! It will now be owned by a group of Great American Patriots and Investors, the Biggest in the World, and will be an important Voice,” Trump said in a social media post in January before thanking Chinese President Xi Jinping “for working with us and, ultimately, approving the Deal.”
‘Massive-scale invasions of children’s privacy’
The 2024 lawsuit that the Biden administration’s Department of Justice brought against TikTok and ByteDance, which followed a referral from the Federal Trade Commission, alleged that the social media company violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act by allowing children under the age of 13 to create and use TikTok accounts without their parents’ consent, and collected “extensive data from those children.”
“By adhering to these deficient policies, Defendants actively avoid deleting the accounts of users they know to be children,” the complaint alleged. “Instead, Defendants continue collecting these children’s personal information, showing them videos not intended for children, serving them ads and generating revenue from such ads, and allowing adults to directly communicate with them through TikTok.”
TikTok pushed back against the claims, arguing they were “going above and beyond” federal law requirements, while pointing the finger at children for figuring out how to “sign up for TikTok in contravention of the company’s policies.” The complaint appears to have been stalled in pre-trial litigation — with TikTok yet to file a motion to dismiss the case — and the judge overseeing the matter recently set a trial for May 2027.
In the past, the Trump administration has been critical of settlements that do not directly compensate victims of wrongdoing. During Trump’s first term, former Attorney General Jeff Sessions banned settlements that resulted in payments to non-governmental, third parties that were not directly harmed by the conduct. Former Attorney General Pam Bondi reinstated a similar policy in 2025 banning improper third party settlements.
“Settlements, including civil settlement agreements, deferred prosecution agreements, non-prosecution agreements, and plea agreements, are a useful tool for Department attorneys, and should be used, first and foremost, to compensate victims, redress harm, or punish and deter unlawful conduct,” Bondi wrote in a Justice Department memo.
Making Washington ‘safe, clean, and beautiful again’
Over the last year, the Trump administration has prioritized carrying out “beautification” projects such as the extensive renovation of the White House East Wing, the planned arch near Arlington, the resurfacing of the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool, and other projects to upgrade local infrastructure and parks.
Beyond the $400 million from the TikTok settlement, the Trump administration’s proposed 2027 budget includes $10 billion for a “Presidential Capital Stewardship Program” to create a fund within the National Park Service to improve buildings and parks in and around D.C.
“As the capital of the greatest Nation in the history of the world, Washington, D.C. should showcase beautiful, clean, and safe public spaces. However, many historic park features and public-facing infrastructure throughout the city show signs of decay, years of heavy public use, and inadequate maintenance,” the administration said in its proposed 2027 budget.
While details about the massive $10 billion fund are sparse, the Department of the Interior’s 2027 budget says the money would be used to “rehabilitate historic buildings and landscapes, and enhance architectural grandeur so that Americans can once again be proud of their capital.”
The size of Trump’s D.C. fund would dwarf the operating budget of the National Park Service, which the Trump administration seeks to cut by more than a billion dollars to a total to $2.2 billion. The Trump administration’s 2027 budget also would reduce staffing in the National Park Service — which manages more than 400 sites including 63 national parks — by approximately 3,000 employees.
When pressed about the $10 billion beautification fund, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told lawmakers in April that the money would be used for “deferred maintenance” on existing facilities.
“D.C. is like a state. I mean it’s not like [the fund is only for] the National Mall — it’s for the greater capital region,” Burgum said. “I believe that if we got together, we could come back and go. ‘That number is not high enough.'”
Glacier National Park, Montana. (Marli Miller/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
(GLACIER NATIONAL PARK, Mont.) — A man who went missing while hiking in Glacier National Park in Montana has been found dead from a suspected bear attack, according to the National Park Service.
Search and rescue crews located the body of the missing hiker around noon Wednesday, approximately 50 feet off the Mt. Brown Trail in a densely wooded area, according to park officials.
“His injuries are consistent with those sustained by a bear encounter,” the National Park Service said in a press release Thursday.
The victim’s name and age have not been released. Park officials said they are withholding his identity until 72 hours after next-of-kin notification.
A 33-year-old hiker from Florida had been reported missing in Glacier National Park earlier this week, with rangers focusing the search effort in the Mt. Brown and Snyder areas, according to park officials. The man was last heard from Sunday night and was reported missing the following day, park officials said.
The investigation into the suspected bear attack remains ongoing. Sections of the trail where the incident occurred have been temporarily closed.
“Wildlife and law enforcement personnel are currently assessing the area for bear activity and any ongoing public safety concerns,” the National Park Service said.
The last bear attack in Glacier National Park was in August 2025, when a 34-year-old woman was injured by a brown-colored bear at Lake Janet.
The last fatal incident was nearly 30 years ago, when a man was killed by a grizzly bear in the Two Medicine Valley in 1998.
Earlier this week, two hikers were injured in a bear attack at Yellowstone National Park, near the Old Faithful area in Wyoming.
Park officials believe a female grizzly bear with two or three young cubs were involved in Monday’s encounter, the National Park Service said in an update Thursday. The injured male hikers, ages 15 and 28, were airlifted out of the park.
Temporary trail, backcountry campsite, and fishing closures remain in effect following the incident.
he Department of Justice (DOJ) seal on the J. Edgar Hoover Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) building in Washington, DC, US, on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The Justice Department is seeking to denaturalize a former diplomat who was caught spying for the Cuban government.
For nearly 40 years, Manuel Rocha acted as a spy for the Cuban government under the guise of being a U.S. diplomat, according to the Justice Department.
Rocha is a native of Colombia, but became a “great friend” of the Cuban government. The lawsuit filed by the Justice Department in the Southern District of Florida alleges that he lied on his naturalization paperwork when he filed it in the late 1970’s.
“Under no circumstances should an agent of a foreign adversary be permitted to hold the title of American citizen,” Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate said in a statement. “Our mission is clear: to root out these fraudsters and preserve the sanctity of the naturalization process for those who adhere to our laws. Any individual who lied during the naturalization process to gain a foothold in this country will be met with the full weight of the Department of Justice.”
He had worked at the State Department and held various leadership posts since the early 1980’s, according to the Justice Department. All of that unraveled when he was caught on video outlining all of his crimes to an undercover agent in 2022.
“Rocha celebrated his activities on behalf of the DGI and against the United States’ interests, and explained why and how he continued to preserve the secrecy of those activities,” according to court records unsealed in 2023.
He was sentenced to 15 years behind bars.
The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Jason A. Reding Quiñones said that Rocha was not a “low level operative” but rather “a senior government official who admitted he secretly served the Cuban regime for decades.”
Poul Thorsen was extradited Thursday from Germany with U.S. Air Marshals, according to the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General. (Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General)
(NEW YORK) — A former influential scientist who did work at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is back in the grasp of U.S. law enforcement, facing financial fraud charges — after more than a decade out of federal authorities’ reach, according to officials.
Poul Thorsen was extradited Thursday from Germany with U.S. Air Marshals, according to the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General. It comes 15 years after he was indicted by a federal grand jury in the Northern District of Georgia.
His work, and the fraud allegations against him, have long lingered in the lexicon of conspiracy theorists seeking to question the safety of vaccines.
Thorsen helped lead research for the CDC studying infant disabilities, according to prosecutors. Thorsen’s work included co-authoring papers that found no link between autism and childhood vaccination — science which, according to medical experts, still stands today.
Separate from Thorsen’s pursuit of peer-reviewed medicine, prosecutors say he schemed to divert research grant money to his own coffers.
Thorsen was indicted in 2011 after he allegedly “absconded” with over $1 million in CDC grant money for autism research and was charged with 13 counts of wire fraud and 9 counts of money laundering. He was arrested in Germany in June 2025.
Thursday, Thorsen was flown in handcuffs from Germany to Atlanta, also the home of CDC headquarters.
In a statement to ABC News, an HHS-OIG spokesperson lauded the work that brought Thorsen’s extradition to bear.
“Mr. Thorsen is alleged to have stolen more than a million dollars in federal research funds – money intended to advance critical scientific work and improve public health outcomes. His betrayal harms taxpayers, researchers, and the communities who depend on this research,” said HHS-OIG spokesperson Yvonne Gamble.
“HHS-OIG remains committed to protecting the integrity of federal health care programs and ensuring that individuals who misuse public funds are held accountable. We are grateful for our federal and international law enforcement counterparts, whose coordinated efforts made this extradition possible,” Gamble said.
In the 1990s and early aughts, Thorsen worked as a visiting scientist from Denmark at the CDC’s Division of Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities — just as new public health initiatives in the area were flourishing and flush with fresh funding. Thorsen, at the time, vigorously advocated for grants for Danish research on infant disabilities. His push was successful: from 2000 through 2009, the CDC awarded over $11 million to two Danish government agencies for the research, according to prosecutors.
Thorsen quickly assumed responsibility for the research money he had pushed for. In 2002, he moved back to Denmark and “became principal investigator responsible for administering the research money awarded by the CDC,” the indictment said.
Thorsen began funneling the funds elsewhere, prosecutors said. He forged signatures and documents with official CDC letterhead and submitted fake invoices he claimed were for research, according to the indictment. Meanwhile, Thorsen was actually moving the funds into personal accounts within CDC’s credit union, the indictment said. He would then withdraw the money for his own personal use, including the purchase of a Harley Davidson motorcycle, cars and a home in Atlanta.
From February 2004 through June 2008, Thorsen submitted for reimbursement more than a dozen fraudulent invoices purportedly signed by a CDC lab boss. He claimed it was for expenses incurred in connection with the CDC grant. They were not, prosecutors said.
“In truth, the CDC Federal Credit Union accounts were personal accounts held by defendant Thorsen. He used the accounts to steal money under the CDC grant,” the indictment said.
Thorsen’s alleged crimes have, since his indictment, also become attractive fodder for conspiracy theorists, attempting to conflate his financial fraud with his medical research. Among his published works are findings of “strong evidence against the hypothesis” that the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine causes autism. Some anti-vaccine groups have used Thorsen to paint a picture of corruption at the highest echelons of medical exploration.
Among those groups: the Children’s Health Defense (CHD), a group that pursues anti-vaccine causes. CHD was also once led by now-Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has long shared vaccine-skeptic views.
There is a page dedicated to Thorsen’s “criminal conduct” on CHD’s site, linking to a lengthy 2017 paper in which a group chaired by RFK Jr. levied accusations of “questionable ethics and scientific fraud” that “have resulted in untrustworthy vaccine safety science.” The paper called Thorsen a “key figure” in “shaky research” on vaccines and autism.
Decades of research has found no link between autism and vaccines or any vaccine preservative. Thorsen was indicted on wire fraud and money laundering, not for falsifying medical research.
Thorsen is expected to be arraigned Friday in federal court in Atlanta, according to an HHS-OIG official.
A smartphone screen displays a folder containing AI applications Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Grok, Copilot, and DeepSeek. . (Photo by Samuel Boivin/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Visual investigation: Scores of online resellers are using AI to fool customers by pretending to be mom-and-pop stores
Scores of online companies are increasingly turning to generative AI technology to deceive consumers, falsely portraying themselves as struggling small businesses to charge a premium for lower quality products, an ABC News visual investigation found.
ABC News has identified dozens of similar online retailers — selling everything from clothing to jewelry to lamps — that used AI images and videos to portray themselves as down-on-their-luck craftsmen or small business owners in need of support.
These kinds of sites have proliferated online and take advantage of consumer trends. Experts warn that by the time others leave reviews or complain about the misleading claims, the sites often go offline or move on to selling another product.
“You can use AI to create very realistic media, right? So you can take and create photos of people who look like someone who might be making handmade goods,” said Marshini Chetty, an associate professor of computer science at the University of Chicago. “You can create reviews at scale. You can create testimonials. And then even when you generate these sites, they already use these kind of manipulative tactics.”
According to Denny Svehla, a musician from Rockford, Illinois, the ad he saw for a retiring craftsman selling flat caps appeared completely normal at first.
“I’ve been making flat caps and newsboy caps by hand since 1973. Closing the workshop next Wednesday and I’ll be honest, I’ve still got way more inventory than I know what to do with — just needs to go,” one slickly produced ad said. “Every cap on that shelf has hours of my work in it — real materials, hand finished, built to outlast the man wearing them. 53 years and not one shortcut.”
For Svehla — a Neil Diamond tribute artist who runs a small business with his wife — the story felt personal, and he wanted to help.
“I get the pressure, so I thought, ‘Man, I am going to buy a cap,'” Svehla told ABC News. “I even gave him a tip.”
According to Svehla, he first became suspicious about the purchase when he got an update showing that the “handmade” hats he bought were being shipped from mainland China. When the hats eventually arrived, he said he was disappointed at their quality and even more annoyed at the deception.
“I’m sitting there thinking I’m trying to help someone,” Svehla said. “He’s going to end up going out of business after 52 years. I’ve been in business for 50 years myself, and I’m looking at, you know, what am I going to do if I can’t go anymore?”
Unbeknownst to Svehla, the website that sold him the hats is one example of a growing trend of sites that use generative AI technology to portray themselves as struggling small businesses. At least three similar sites — George’s Caps, Henry’s Caps, and Walter’s Caps — offered similar pitches to consumers, claiming they are retiring after decades in business and need to offload their inventory.
A representative of George’s Caps, when reached by ABC News, did not address questions regarding whether George is a real person or if claims regarding his retirement are fabricated. They touted the quality of the products they sell, saying, “We are actually well aware that there are some genuinely poor operators in this space. We hear about them directly from our own happy customers who have tried competitors and been disappointed before finding us.” The representative said, “I would also challenge the assumption that foreign made goods are automatically inferior. What matters is the quality standard being maintained and the commitment to the customer.”
Other sites use AI to make emotional appeals. One purportedly New York-based clothing retailer shared an AI-generated image of their damaged storefront — with shattered glass and police tape — to announce their “big sale.”
“Our store has been completely destroyed and after years of love and dedication to our business, we see no other way out. As if we hadn’t fought enough against the big giants with their huge budgets, this has dealt us the final blow,” the ad claimed.
But that store didn’t list an address in New York, and online detection tools suggested the image was made entirely with artificial intelligence.
Another site claimed to be a New York-based lamp company that was closing after two decades in business and now offering customers a massive discount on their remaining inventory.
“It’s not easy to close the doors of something that’s been part of your soul. But the time has come. Aluné, our beloved lamp boutique in New York, is packing up for the very last time,” their post said, showing an image of a middle-aged man and woman laying out their lamps on a sidewalk.
But after weeks online, the site has since been removed, and multiple experts said that the site’s advertising was generated with AI. When ABC News visited their address on one of New York’s priciest streets — between retailers for Chanel and Versace — there was no trace of the company or evidence that it ever existed.
None of these businesses responded to a request for comment from ABC News.
According to Chetty, massive advances in AI technology has made it easier to quickly create convincing sites that can fool even the savviest online shoppers.
“People can do this at scale, create these images, create these websites, put them up quickly, take them down quickly,” she said.
And Chetty noted that those kinds of sites can thrive on social media, where consumers are often distracted and more likely to make a quick purchase. ABC News has identified dozens of videos on platforms like YouTube and TikTok where retailers used AI to generate videos showing fake craftspeople making their products. Expert analysis — paired with online detection tools — confirmed they were created with AI technology, and their websites were linked to generic holding companies or companies oversees.
None of the other retailers who were contacted by ABC News responded to a request for comment.
Many of the videos prey on customers’ emotions by showing interactions that try to create sympathy by showing creators being picked on in public.
“This comment says, ‘You’re a 32-year-old man making Mario lamps for kids in your bedroom, let that sink in,'” one video said, mimicking a video format where creators respond to negative comments.
ABC News identified four nearly identical videos, where different middle-aged men — seemingly in the same garage — spoke the same script.
While Chetty said that AI videos like these might have been easier to spot a few years ago, even experts sometimes struggle to identify what’s real from what’s fake.
“Maybe you’re walking down the street in New York, you’re not thinking too deeply and you’re just clicking away. That’s kind of how they get you, right?” she said. “Because they know that they want you to make a quick decision. They know you’re not paying careful attention. And it’s very easy to kind of take advantage of you at that point.”
In this July 31, 2021, file photo, a Black Lives Matter activist holds a picture of Casey Goodson Jr. during a march and rally, in Columbus, Ohio. (Sopa Images via LightRocket via Getty Images, FILE)
(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — A jury in Columbus, Ohio, reached a partial verdict on Thursday in the retrial of a former Ohio deputy Jason Meade, who was charged in the 2020 shooting death of 23-year-old Casey Goodson, Jr.
The jury found Meade guilty of reckless homicide, but failed to reach a verdict on the murder charge.
“We the jury, upon our oaths and law and evidence in its case find the defendant guilty of reckless homicide,” the judge read after a partial verdict was reached.
The judge said that the jury was hung on the murder charge and he declared a mistrial on that count. He also revoked Meade’s bond after the partial verdict was reached. The decision came after the 12-member jury communicated to the judge earlier on Thursday that they were deadlocked and believed it was “impossible” for the group to reach a “unanimous decision” on a verdict. The judge asked them to resume deliberations.
Meade’s first trial in Feb. 2024 ended in a mistrial after the jury failed to reach an agreement.
Goodson’s mother, Tamala Payne, welcomed the jury’s decision and said that Meade now “has to stand accountable for what he did to Casey.” “It gives us closure. It gives us peace. And now I’m sure I speak for my family when I say this, I know now, Casey can rest,” she added.
ABC News reached out to Meade’s defense attorneys, but requests for comment were not immediately returned.
Brian Steel, the president of the police union that represented Meade, spoke out during a post-verdict press conference, saying that he is “disappointed” in the jury’s decision.
Special prosecutor Tim Merkle said that the state is “pleased with the partial verdict.”
“We appreciate the hard work the jury did. They have spoken, and we’re pleased with that,” he added.
Merkle said that while the murder charge remains “unresolved,” prosecutors have not made a decision on whether they will pursue a third trial on that charge.
The jury, which is made up of nine women and three men, began deliberations on Wednesday afternoon and resumed on Thursday morning. Meade, who did not take the witness stand during the trial, pleaded not guilty.
On the day of the fatal shooting, Goodson had gone to a dentist appointment, prosecutors said, and was returning to his home while listening to music on his AirPods and carrying a bag of sandwiches when he was fatally shot.
Meade was working with the U.S. Marshals on that day in search of a potential violent fugitive when he fatally shot Goodson. Goodson was not the target of the search.
Meade’s defense team argued during the trial that the former sheriff’s deputy followed Goodson and pursued him after Goodson allegedly pointed a gun at other cars while driving.
At the center of the case was the defense team’s claim that Meade was acting in self-defense when he fatally shot Goodson, claiming that Goodson had pointed a gun at Meade before he was killed. Goodson was entering his home at the time.
Prosecutors disputed this claim and argued that Goodson’s fatal shooting was unjustified and said that the 23-year-old did not pose an “imminent threat” and was killed with his keys in the door as he tried to get inside.
A gun was found in Goodson’s possession with the safety on, according to police. Goodson was a legal gun owner and had a concealed carry permit, which was found in his wallet, police said. No body camera video of the incident exists because at the time, Franklin County Sheriff’s deputies were not issued body-worn camera equipment.
During the trial, which began with opening statements last week, the state called detectives, law enforcement officers, Goodson’s family, a medical examiner, forensic firearms and use of force experts to the stand. Meanwhile, the defense called one witness — a use-of-force expert — before resting their case. The jury was shown body camera footage of the aftermath of the shooting, a reenactment video that was produced by the FBI and before the trial began, the jurors visited the scene of the incident.
During the trial, special prosecutor Tim Merkle argued on behalf of the state that this case is about the “six shots in the back” that killed Goodson.
“Six shots in the back,” Merkle said. “The evidence will show that on Dec. 4, 2020, the defendant shot Casey Goodson Jr. six times in the back, killing him. At the time Casey had entered his house, he was carrying a bag of Subways and was listening to YouTube music on his AirPods.”
Kaitlyn Stephens, a defense attorney for Meade, argued that Meade’s fatal shooting of Goodson was a “justified tragedy” that occurred because Meade perceived a “threat” after Goodson “pointed a gun” at the sheriff’s deputy — a claim that prosecutors dispute.
“The evidence will show that Jason Meade was justified — a justified tragedy as such,” Stephens said.
“He’s going into the house with a gun. That is not an imminent threat, that is not an immediate threat, that is not a threat,” Merkle said. Stephens told jurors that the law requires them to consider the incident from Meade’s perspective “as a reasonable” law enforcement officer.
“Our defense will require you to answer two questions. Question one, did Jason believe he was about to be shot when he saw Mr. Goodson point the gun at him?” Stephens said. “And question two was Jason’s decision to use deadly force reasonable through the eyes of a reasonable police officer standing in Jason’s shoes without 2020 hindsight.”
Goodson’s family attended the trial, and his grandmother, Sharon Payne, his sister, Janae Jones and his uncle, Ernest Payne, Jr., testified on behalf of the state.
Three individuals were arrested in New York on May 7, 2026, for their roles in a January 2026 armed hijacking of a truck making a delivery at the Apple store in the Americana shopping center in Manhasset. (Department of Justice, Eastern District of New York)
(NEW YORK) — Three people were arrested Thursday in the January armed hijacking of a truck making a delivery at the Apple store in the Americana shopping center in Manhasset, New York City.
The delivery truck was filled with Apple merchandise valued at more than $1 million. The stolen goods included hundreds of devices and other accessories, including MacBooks, iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches, federal prosecutors said.
Alan Christhofer Cedeno-Ferrer, Michael Mejia-Nunez and Ennait Alexis Sirett-Padilla are accused of hijacking the truck and forcing the delivery workers to drive to a secluded location where they made off with more than $1.2 million worth of Apple products.
Victims were preparing to unload the merchandise when a black Honda Accord pulled up to the delivery truck. Three masked men, armed with handguns, got out of the car and approached the victims, according to court records.
They forced victim-1 into the back of the truck and zip-tied his hands. Victim-2 was ordered at gunpoint, into the driver’s seat to drive the truck. He was directed to a secluded parking area behind an office building less than a half mile away and then ordered into the back of the delivery truck with Victim-1, where his hands were also zip-tied, according to prosecutors.
The Accord and the delivery truck were followed to the location by a Home Depot box truck, authorities said. As captured by surveillance cameras, the Home Depot truck backed up to the rear of the delivery truck, so the cargo sections were aligned, according to prosecutors.
The Apple merchandise was then moved from the delivery truck to the Home Depot truck. Once they finished, they closed the cargo door to the delivery truck with the victims inside and left the location. One of the victims was able to free himself and call 911, according to prosecutors.
The defendants are expected to appear in federal court later Thursday, when federal prosecutors will seek their detention.
(NEW YORK) — At least three tornadoes hit Mississippi overnight with at least 17 injuries reported, officials said.
Some of the hardest-hit population centers in Mississippi are Purvis and Brookhaven, as well as a mobile home park in Bogue Chitto, authorities said. Baseball-sized hail was also reported in parts of the state as well as Alabama.
Flooding was also reported in parts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, especially in and around Montgomery, where the State Capitol Building was evacuated during a special session debate on redistricting.
A tornado watch is in effect until 10 a.m. ET on Thursday for the Florida Panhandle and southwest Georgia.
Mississippi has seen 62 tornadoes so far this year before Wednesday, all of them EF0 or EF1 strength.
As a cold front slowly sinks into the region, there is a chance that some storms could produce more damaging wind and tornadoes.
Over the next few days, widespread rounds of rain are expected to bring 1 to 4 inches throughout the South, which is dealing with a serious drought.
The National Weather Service Office in Jackson, Mississippi, will be conducting surveys on Thursday to confirm tornadoes along a major tornado path in Franklin, Lincoln and Lawrence counties as well as from Purvis to south of Hattiesburg, where there are several damage reports.
