Category: National

(NEW YORK) — The largest nurses’ strike in New York City history began Monday morning after the nurses’ union and hospitals officials failed to reach a tentative settlement.

Nearly 15,000 nurses at Mount Sinai, Mount Sinai Morningside and West, Montefiore and NewYork-Presbyterian walked of the job, according to the New York State Nursing Association (NYSNA), the union representing the nurses.

“Unfortunately, greedy hospital executives have decided to put profits above safe patient care and force nurses out on strike when we would rather be at the bedsides of our patients,” Nancy Hagans, NYSNA’s president, said in a statement early Monday. “Hospital management refuses to address our most important issues — patient and nurse safety.”

Strike lines began at 6 a.m. ET on Monday at Mount Sinai, with 7 a.m. ET lines forming at Montefiore Bronx locations and NewYork-Presbyterian locations, according to NYSNA.

“Unfortunately, NYSNA decided to move forward with its strike while refusing to move on from its extreme economic demands, which we cannot agree to, but we are ready with 1,400 qualified and specialized nurses — and prepared to continue to provide safe patient care for as long as this strike lasts,” a Mount Sinai spokesperson said in a statement.

Mount Sinai said many of the nurses had already been integrated into units across their hospitals. The health system added that all hospitals and emergency departments will remain open, and most appointments are expected to proceed as originally scheduled.

In a letter to employees, Mount Sinai said its Clinical Command Center was helping hospitals determine which patients can be safely discharged, as well transferring patients between hospitals and rescheduling appointments, an employee with knowledge of the matter told ABC News.

The letter also stated that officials had discussed with the NYSNA the financial pressures facing health care and that Mount Sinai has a fixed budget that could be used for pay increases and benefits or to operate amidst a strike, according to the employee.

The NYSNA said it is calling for an agreement that includes pay hikes, improving safe staffing levels, full health care coverage and pensions, and workplace protections against violence. The union further said hospitals have threatened to cut health care benefits for frontline nurses and to roll back safe staffing standards that were won by nurses in a strike two years ago.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency Friday in anticipation of a possible strike and appealed to the hospitals and nurses’ union to hammer out a last-minute deal, saying that a strike “could jeopardize the lives of thousands of New Yorkers and patients.”

“I’m strongly encouraging everyone to stay at the table, both sides, management and the nurses, until this is resolved,” Hochul said.

Several New York politicians, including Mayor Zohran Mamdani, have come out in support of the striking nurses. Mamdani on Monday called their fight a battle for dignity, fairness and the future of the city’s health care system and who benefits from it.

“There is no shortage of wealth in the health care industry,” Mamdani said. “The CEO of Montefiore made more than $16 million last year. The CEO of NewYork-Presbyterian made $26 million. But too many nurses can’t make ends meet.”

Mamdani also said nurses are not asking for millions, but for “pensions to be safeguarded, to be protected in their own workplace, and to receive the pay and health benefits they deserve.”

The mayor said the city is working to protect both patients and health care workers during the strike. He urged hospital executives and union leaders to return to the bargaining table immediately.

New York State Attorney General Letitia James also released a statement in support of the nurses, saying they often have to choose between patient well-being and their own well-being.

“As our state faces a historic flu surge, our communities are counting on New York’s hospitals for high-quality, reliable frontline care,” Jame said.Meanwhile, hospital management is threatening nurses’ health benefits, rolling back hard-won staffing protections, and doing too little to address workplace violence. I am proud to stand with New York’s nurses in calling on hospitals throughout this city to put patients over profits and ensure safe workplaces for our frontline health care workers.” 

Hospital officials said they are prepared to continue offering care despite any pending work interruptions. They added that patients should not avoid or delay seeking help for any medical emergencies.

The NYSNA said during an video conference update Sunday morning that there was been no movement in the labor talks with the five hospitals.

The nurses’ contract, reached in 2023 after a three-day strike, expired on Dec. 31.

“We continue to bargain in good faith in the hopes of reaching an agreement that is fair, reasonable, and responsible,” a spokesperson for the Mount Sinai Healthcare system said in a statement on Saturday. “While we know a strike can be disruptive, we are prepared for a strike that could last an indefinite amount of time and have taken every step to best support our patients and employees in the event NYSNA forces our nurses to walk away from the bedside for the second time in three years.”

“NYSNA leadership’s reckless and irresponsible demands totaling $3.6 billion, including a nearly 40% wage increase, and taking issue with our reasonable measures like rolling out panic buttons for frontline staff in the Emergency Department, clearly put patients at risk,” Joe Solmonese, senior vice president of strategic communications for Montefiore Einstein hospital, said in a statement.

“We are preparing for what we anticipate could be a multi-week strike, and are resolute in devoting whatever resources are necessary to safe and seamless care for our community,” the statement continued.

The impasse between the NYSNA and management of the private New York City hospitals continued even as the union announced tentative settlements last week that diverted strikes at four so-called safety-net hospitals in the New York City area.

Nurses at three major Northwell Health hospitals on New York’s Long Island reached a tentative contract agreement on Thursday and called off a strike, according to the NYSNA. Nurses at Brooklyn Hospital Center and Wyckoff Heights Medical Center, and those who work for the BronxCare Health System, also rescinded strike notices when they reached a tentative contract, the NYSNA said.

“That leaves New York City’s wealthiest hospitals as the outliers who have refused to settle fair contracts that protect patients and nurses,” the NYSNA’s Hagans said in a video statement on Saturday.

“Instead of guaranteeing health care for nurses, these wealthy hospitals are pushing to cut health care benefits for nurses who put their own health on the line to care for New Yorkers during this historic flu surge, the COVID-19 pandemic and everyday injuries and hospital violence,” Hagans added.

Hagans pointed to a police-involved shooting last week at a Brooklyn hospital as the latest example of the violence hospital workers face.

On Thursday, a 62-year-old former NYPD officer, allegedly wielding a sharp object, was fatally shot by New York City police officers at New York-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital. The man, according to police, was shot after he allegedly barricaded himself in a room with an adult patient and a hospital security worker and threatened to hurt himself and others.

The NYSNA on Monday said those who need health care should still be able to get it.

“We want to be absolutely clear: If you are sick, please do not delay getting medical care, regardless of whether we are on strike,” the union said. “We invite you to come join us on the strike line after you’ve gotten the care you need. We are out here so we can provide better patient care to you!”

ABC News’ Rhiannon Ally, Ahmad Hemingway and Darren Reynolds contributed to this report.

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(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — A man is due in court on Monday for allegedly gunning down his ex-wife and her husband in their Ohio home and leaving their two young children alive, authorities said.

Dentist Spencer Tepe and his wife, Monique Tepe, were found shot to death on Dec. 30, according to Columbus police, and the mysterious case quickly garnered national intrigue.

On Saturday, police announced the arrest of Monique Tepe’s ex-husband, Michael McKee, after he was linked to a car seen on surveillance footage in the neighborhood, according to court documents.

McKee, a Chicago resident, was taken into custody in Illinois and is charged with premeditated aggravated murder, according to records.

McKee and Monique Tepe were married in 2015 and divorced in 2017, according to divorce records obtained by ABC Columbus affiliate WSYX. They did not have any children together, according to the records.

Spencer and Monique Tepe married in December 2020, according to their obituary.

The arrest came one day before the scheduled celebration of life service for the couple.

“Today’s arrest represents an important step toward justice for Monique and Spencer,” the family said in a statement. “Nothing can undo the devastating loss of two lives taken far too soon, but we are grateful to the City of Columbus Police Department, its investigators, and assisting law enforcement community. … As the case proceeds, we trust the justice system to hold the person responsible fully accountable.”

“Monique and Spencer remain at the center of our hearts, and we carry forward their love as we surround and protect the two children they leave behind,” the family said. “We will continue to honor their lives and the light they brought into this world.”

ABC News’ Matt Foster, Victoria Arancio and Nadine El-Bawab contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — A federal judge on Monday changed her mind and decided there should be a hearing to determine whether Luigi Mangione’s backpack was lawfully seized and searched during his arrest in Altoona, Pennsylvania.

Judge Margaret Garnett said she considered “both the arguments made by counsel” during a hearing on Friday and “the seriousness of the charges the Defendant is facing” in deciding to hold the evidentiary hearing after previously saying a hearing was unnecessary.

The brief hearing should include testimony from an Altoona police officer about the department’s procedures for securing, safeguarding and inventorying the personal property of a person arrested in a public place, the judge said. She noted that the witness did not need to be one of the dozen officers involved in Mangione’s arrest.

Several Altoona officers testified during a three-week hearing in state court where Mangione is seeking to exclude evidence police seized from his backpack, including the alleged murder weapon, a notebook and writings.

Defense attorneys are also trying to eliminate those items from the federal case, which could result in a possible death sentence if Mangione is convicted. He has pleaded not guilty in both courts.

Mangione is accused of stalking and killing UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson on a New York City sidewalk in 2024.

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(NEW YORK) — The largest nurses’ strike in New York City history could begin on Monday morning if a tentative settlement isn’t reached between the nurses’ union and hospitals.

Nearly 16,000 nurses are threatening to walk off their jobs on Monday morning, according to the New York State Nursing Association (NYSNA), the union representing the nurses.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency Friday in anticipation of a possible strike and appealed to the hospitals and nurses’ union to hammer out a last-minute deal, saying that a strike “could jeopardize the lives of thousands of New Yorkers and patients.”

“I’m strongly encouraging everyone to stay at the table, both sides, management and the nurses, until this is resolved,” Hochul said.

Five privately-run major hospitals in New York City would be affected by a strike. The hospitals, according to the union, are the wealthiest in the city and include Mount Sinai Hospital, Mount Sinai Morningside, Mount Sinai West, Montefiore Einstein, and New York-Presbyterian.

The hospitals are prepared to continue offering care despite any pending work interruptions, according to officials, who said patients should not avoid or delay seeking help for any medical emergencies.

The NYSNA said during an video conference update Sunday morning that there has been no movement in the labor talks with the five hospitals, affecting more than 15,000 nurses.

The NYSNA is calling for an agreement that includes pay hikes, safe staffing levels, full health care coverage and pensions, and workplace protections against violence. 

A source familiar with the labor negotiations told ABC News that the nurses are expected walk off their jobs beginning at 6 a.m. Eastern time on Monday.

The nurses’ contract, reached in 2023 after a three-day strike, expired on Dec. 31.

“We continue to bargain in good faith in the hopes of reaching an agreement that is fair, reasonable, and responsible,” a spokesperson for the Mount Sinai Healthcare system said in a statement on Saturday. “While we know a strike can be disruptive, we are prepared for a strike that could last an indefinite amount of time and have taken every step to best support our patients and employees in the event NYSNA forces our nurses to walk away from the bedside for the second time in three years.”

The impasse between the NYSNA and management of the private New York City hospitals continued even as the union announced tentative settlements last week that diverted strikes at four so-called safety-net hospitals in the New York City area.

Nurses at three major Northwell Health hospitals on New York’s Long Island reached a tentative contract agreement on Thursday and called off a strike, according to the NYSNA. Nurses at Brooklyn Hospital Center and Wyckoff Heights Medical Center, and those who work for the BronxCare Health System, also rescinded strike notices when they reached a tentative contract, the NYSNA said.

“That leaves New York City’s wealthiest hospitals as the outliers who have refused to settle fair contracts that protect patients and nurses,” NYSNA President Nancy Hagans said in a video statement on Saturday.

Hagans added, “Instead of guaranteeing health care for nurses, these wealthy hospitals are pushing to cut health care benefits for nurses who put their own health on the line to care for New Yorkers during this historic flu surge, the COVID-19 pandemic and everyday injuries and hospital violence.”

Hagan pointed to a police-involved shooting last week at a Brooklyn hospital as the latest example of the violence hospital workers face.

On Thursday, a 62-year-old former NYPD officer, allegedly wielding a sharp object, was fatally shot by New York City police officers at New York-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital. The man, according to police, was shot after he allegedly barricaded himself in a room with an adult patient and a hospital security worker and threatened to hurt himself and others.

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(LONDON)– It is one thing to make a New Year’s resolution. It is, however, a very different thing to be able to keep it.

Every year they are made with the best of intentions — with the hope and desire to become a better version of ourselves — so why is it that millions of people make New Year’s resolutions knowing the odds of them ever following through with them are minimal?

Jasper Rook Williams — fitness expert, online coach and owner of JRW Fitness — has made a successful career so far working with hundreds of clients around the world on improving their nutrition, training and lifestyle calibration. He has a good idea why.

“The goals, if sometimes a little ambitious, are rarely the problem and they are all set with best intentions,” Rook Williams tells ABC News. “The issue is there’s rarely enough thought put into the approach. People have high ambitions hinging on mostly unrealistic and unsustainable methods. Rather than just thinking ‘I’ll eat salads and join a gym’, people need to prioritize achievable routines, sustainability and lifestyle changes from a broader and more holistic perspective.”

According to research, Rook Williams isn’t wrong. The failure rate for New Year’s resolutions is said to be an estimated 80% with most people losing their resolve and motivation just weeks later in mid-February, according to U.S News and World Report.

“Changing your habits is very difficult, including finding the right moment to make a change,” Bas Verplanken, professor of social psychology at the University of Bath, said in a report released by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology in 2017. “Changing from December 31st to January 1st is not a dramatic discontinuity. Many resolutions are made on December 31st, and go down the drain on January 2nd.”

Psychologically speaking, the beginning of a new year is often viewed as a seminal moment — a time to reflect on the previous year and look ahead to the new one. But this doesn’t necessarily translate to immediate change and action just because of timing.

“Anything worthwhile is never without obstacle”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the top three New Year’s resolutions made each year are living healthier (23%), personal improvement or happiness (21%) and losing weight (20%), according to a report published by Statista in Nov. 2022.

“A great question to ask yourself when starting out is “does this feel sustainable?” Rook Williams explains to ABC News. “If you can’t keep up the routine then you definitely won’t keep the results.”

One of the things that Rook Williams has found leads to people maintaining their success is when people have — or are given — a sense of accountability.

“You have to bear in mind that creating new habits is hard and progress for anything worthwhile is never linear,” he said. “There will be times when either you want to stop or results seem to have stopped and that can be hard to deal with. That’s when having someone to guide you can keep you accountable can be invaluable in the process of change.”

Ultimately, to successfully make a change for the better, it comes down to striking the right balance, according to Rook Williams.

“In the case of fitness, it’s not just the food or training or wider lifestyle that will create the change but all three of these things working together,” he continued. “They’re not mutually exclusive. Lacking motivation is common and, in my experience, is something that comes when you don’t have a plan. Whether you hire a professional or not, just removing the guesswork and gaining a sense of direction always helps the individual on their path to success.”

“Motivation is temporary”
One of the biggest obstacles to maintaining resolutions, particularly when it comes to fitness objectives, is to choose goals that are both achievable and sustainable.

An estimated 12% of all new gym memberships per year occur in January, according to a study done by IHRSA, the fitness industry’s only global trade association that represents health clubs worldwide. Another study indicates that four out of every five people who join the gym in January will actually quit within five months.

“Motivation is temporary for everyone,” says Rook Williams. “So the best thing you can do is use that time to create the habits and routines needed to see you through once it wanes. And it will wane. It always does. The classic thing new gym starters do in the new year is go from zero to 100 mph … They want to go from not working out at all and eating what they want to training five, six, seven days a week and eating like a rabbit. This just sets them up for failure because it’s just not realistic.”

One of the biggest reasons why Rook Williams’ clients often succeed when it comes to setting goals is the focus on maintaining a healthy outlook every day and “saying no to short-termism.”

“Being new at something and hoping to be perfect straight away is a sure fire way to give up on anything very quickly,” Rook Williams explains. “Be sure to cut yourself some slack. If you planned to train three days one week but only managed two, that doesn’t make you a failure. It’s still two more than you were doing before, so just wipe the slate clean and try it again without holding on to guilt or punishing yourself.”

“Everyone falls off the horse at some point, even the pros,” Rook Williams continued. “What’s important is how quickly you dust yourself off and get back to work. Those who make it do this right away. But those who let one mistake spill over into more mistakes are the ones who are most likely to give up and start again next year.”

“Never just one solution”
No matter what resolution you may make in the New Year, for Rook Williams, success is all about perspective and making changes in incremental ways that suit your lifestyle rather than completely disrupting it.

“There is never just one solution to a problem, whatever that problem might be,” he continued. “Your goal might be set in stone, but how you achieve it shouldn’t be. Don’t get married to just one method. Finding sustainable success is all about finding the method that is easiest and most maintainable for you.”

Unrealistic expectations and the dangers of expecting to get it right the first time are one of the main things that Rook Williams warns his clients about.

“With so much conflicting information out there and each of us having our own unique goals, schedules and responsibilities, the chance of getting your nutritional approach spot on when going alone immediately is incredibly slim,” Rook Williams explains. “Even if it is working, it might not be sustainable so be prepared for a period involving a lot of trial and error.”

For Rook Williams this was a huge reason why he became a coach in the first place. “It took me ages to piece it all together and, once I had, I wanted to help others do the same and in far less time.”

Research actually backs this up. According to a 2012 study conducted by the University of Pennsylvania’s Weight and Eating Disorders Program, 65% of dieters return to their pre-diet weight within three years and only 5% of people who lose weight on a restrictive diet, such as a liquid or no-carb, manage to keep the weight off — just one out of every 20 dieters.

“Carbs are tasty, alcohol can be fun, food is for eating and going without all these things forever is, for most people, totally unrealistic. When you think about it logically like that, it’s no surprise the majority of people fail to keep off the weight they lose.”

Ultimately, making any major change in your life requires more than just the desire to do so. It requires a goal, determination and a willingness to learn all mixed with a heavy dose of reality and a well-constructed approach to change.

“If you have a day where you feel like you can’t be bothered with anything, remember you are running your own race,” Rook Williams explains. “Success isn’t made by being perfect everyday but by doing your best everyday, whatever that looks like to you. What I have learned myself — and what I have really seen leads people to success — is if you have good habits and routines in place that you have created over time, that’s what is going to get you to where you want to be.”

Said Rook Williams: “It’s not just the food or training or wider lifestyle that will create the change but all three of these things. They’re all connected.”

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(UVALDE, Texas) — Editor’s note: Some of the testimony described below is extremely graphic.

The families of some of the Robb Elementary School mass shooting victims passed around tissues before graphic photos were shown in court on Friday at the trial of former Uvalde, Texas, school police officer Adrian Gonzales.

Gonzales — who was one of nearly 400 law enforcement officers to respond to Robb — is charged with child endangerment for allegedly ignoring his training during the botched police response. Nineteen students and two teachers were killed, and investigations have faulted the police response and suggested that a 77-minute delay in police mounting a counterassault could have contributed to the carnage.

Gonzales has pleaded not guilty and his legal team says he did all he could to help students.

Judge Sid Harle issued a warning to the gallery before the jury entered on Friday. 

“I want to forewarn you, these photographs are going to be shocking and gruesome, and if anybody wants to step out, you are welcome to step out, but we cannot have any displays in front of the jury,” Harle said. “I’m forewarning you — these are not going to be pleasant to look at, and I’m sorry you’re going to have to look at them just like I had to.” 

Former Texas Ranger Juan Torrez took the stand and described in detail the crime scene photos he took inside Room 111 at Robb, where all 11 students were killed on May 24, 2022. The teacher was the sole survivor.

“There was a lot of shell casings,” said Torrez, who spent three days photographing the room. “There’s a lot of blood, a lot of blood swipes, and the weapon was in the closet.”

Using a pointer to highlight parts of the photos, Torrez testified about the location of the classroom, damage to the door and areas of the room where students didn’t attempt to hide. Defense lawyers had objected to showing the more graphic images, but Harle allowed the bulk of them into evidence due to their relevance to the prosecution’s case. 

“Does the scene change?” prosector Bill Turner asked Torrez about some of the photos. 

“As far as the presence of blood, it changes dramatically,” Torrez said. “A lot of bullet holes, a lot of shell casings covered in blood, a lot of bullet defects, perforations, penetrations, and just a lot of blood.” 

Over the next hour, the courtroom fell almost entirely silent, other than the testimony and occasional ruffling of tissues and sniffling. Some of the jurors craned their necks to see the photos, while others covered their mouths or lifted tissues to wipe their eyes. The families of the victims sat quietly and no one left the courtroom during the testimony. 

The photos did not show the bodies of students, which were removed prior to the photos being taken. But jurors did see photos showing large pools of blood and the drag marks made when the bodies were removed. Photos also showed dried bloodstains on desks, textbooks and office supplies. 

Torrez testified that investigators placed rods in the cavities left by the bullets to demonstrate the direction of the gunshots. The pink and yellow rods showed that the shooter likely fired downward — through the desks — toward the sheltering students, Torrez said.

Torrez offered his testimony with little context other than his experience as a crime-scene photographer that day. Prosecutors did not explain how the images relate to Gonzales, other than suggesting that his alleged inaction contributed to the loss of life that day. 

Defense attorneys say Gonzales is being scapegoated for a broader failure by law enforcement. In its opening statement this week, the defense alleged that prosecutors were playing on jurors’ emotions and that convicting Gonzales would be an injustice piled on top of one of the worst school shootings in U.S. history. 

ABC News’ Juan Renteria contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — Accused CEO killer Luigi Mangione could stand trial by the end of the year, the judge in his federal case said Friday at a hearing in a Manhattan courtroom that was filled with Mangione’s supporters.

Mangione was back in federal court, where the defense presented arguments seeking to dismiss the death penalty counts against him if he is convicted of stalking and killing UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson on a New York City sidewalk in 2024.

U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett did not rule on the death penalty question at the conclusion of the hearing, but suggested that if the death penalty remains on the table, jury selection would begin in early September, and the trial would commence sometime in December or January.

If the death penalty is excluded, the judge suggested the trial could start in September.

She set a date for the next hearing on Jan. 30.

Judge Garnett also ruled Friday that Mangione’s backpack was lawfully seized by police when Mangione was apprehended in a Pennsylvania McDonalds’s five days after the shooting.

Two women who flew in from Sicily and came straight from the airport were among those in the courtroom gallery, which was filled with Mangione’s supporters, mostly young women. Many of them were wearing green, the color that has come to represent advocacy for Mangione.

“We have a full house here today,” Judge Garnett said at the outset of the hearing. “It is very important that decorum be maintained.”

The appearance of Mangione, who has pleaded not guilty to federal charges, follows a three-week hearing in state court during which Mangione sought to convince the judge in his state case to exclude some of the critical evidence police said they found in his backpack, including writings and the alleged murder weapon.  The judge has yet to issue a ruling.

Judge Garnett, in issuing her ruling on the legality of the backpack’s seizure, said, “I don’t think it’s really disputed that if you’re arrested in a public place, the police are supposed to safeguard your personal property.”

Garnett said she does not need to schedule a hearing to determine whether to exclude evidence taken from the backpack, but that she reserves the right to reconsider that decision. She has yet to rule on what, if anything, should be suppressed.

“The Government searched the contents of the defendant’s notebook pursuant to a judicially authorized search warrant that expressly covered, among other things, handwritten materials, including notebook entries, contained within the defendant’s backpack,” prosecutor Sean Buckley argued in an earlier court filing.

“To the extent that the defendant now seeks to challenge the validity of the Government’s warrant — an argument the defendant similarly did not make in either his moving or reply papers — that argument would also fail on the merits because the warrant, which disclosed the initial search of the defendant’s backpack by the Altoona Police Department, was supported by ample probable cause,” wrote Buckley.

Paresh Patel, a lawyer from Maryland who recently joined Mangione’s defense team, argued stalking “fails to qualify as a crime of violence” and therefore cannot be the predicate to make Mangione eligible for the death penalty.

Mangione entered the courtroom with his ankles shackled but his hands free.  Unlike his recent appearance in state court, when he wore slacks and blazer, Mangione was dressed in a beige smock and pants and a white long-sleeve T-shirt as he took a seat at the defense table between defense attorneys Karen and Mark Agnifilo.

Earlier this week, prosecutors disputed a defense claim that Mangione should not face the death penalty because of a purported conflict of interest by Attorney General Pam Bondi.

The defense said Bondi is continuing to benefit from a 401k established while she worked at the lobbying firm Ballard Partners, which represents UnitedHealthcare.

Prosecutors said Ballard has made no contributions to her retirement plan since her Senate confirmation as attorney general, and argued that she stands to gain nothing from a “capital outcome” in the Mangione case.

“There is simply no factual basis for the assertion that outside corporate interests influenced the Attorney General’s charging decision in any fashion. The defendant’s insinuations otherwise rest on an inaccurate financial narrative,” Buckley wrote in a court filing.

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(MINNEAPOLIS) — Renee Good, a 37-year-old Minneapolis mom fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis on Wednesday in an alleged vehicle-ramming incident, “sparkled” and “was made of sunshine,” her wife said in an emotional statement to Minnesota Public Radio.

Becca Good told MPR Friday that on Jan. 7., she and her wife “stopped to support our neighbors” before the incident, which was caught on video and has sparked outrage and protests, occurred.

“We had whistles. They had guns,” she said, according to the statement.

Videos of the incident where Good is seen in her maroon Honda SUV as ICE agents confronted her have gone viral and sparked outcry from people around the country who say that Good was unnecessarily killed.

According to Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin, Good was allegedly “attempting to run over our law enforcement officers” with her car when an ICE officer fatally shot her.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz have disputed the federal government’s claims surrounding what led up to the shooting, saying video of the incident shows the agent’s actions were not self-defense.

Messages of sympathy for Renee Good have been pouring out since the shooting.

“Renee lived by an overarching belief: there is kindness in the world and we need to do everything we can to find it where it resides and nurture it where it needs to grow,” Becca Good said in her statement.

“Renee was a Christian who knew that all religions teach the same essential truth: we are here to love each other, care for each other, and keep each other safe and whole,” she added.

Renee Good was a 2020 graduate from Old Dominion University in Virginia, according to the school’s president, Brian Hemphill, who said it is “with great sadness that Old Dominion University mourns the loss of one of our own.”

She graduated from the College of Arts and Letters with a degree in English, according to Hemphill.

“May Renee’s life be a reminder of what unites us: freedom, love, and peace,” he said in a statement. “My hope is for compassion, healing, and reflection at a time that is becoming one of the darkest and most uncertain periods in our nation’s history.”

Walz said that Good is survived by a 6-year-old child. During a news conference Thursday the governor offered his “deepest sympathies” to her family “on an unimaginable tragedy.”

Renee Good was also the mother of two other children, according to her wife. The 6-year-old’s father died, according to Becca Good.

“I am now left to raise our son and to continue teaching him, as Renee believed, that there are people building a better world for him. That the people who did this had fear and anger in their hearts, and we need to show them a better way,” she told MPR.

Becca Good told MPR she and her wife moved to Minnesota “to make a better life for ourselves.”

“Our whole extended road trip here, we held hands in the car while our son drew all over the windows to pass the time and the miles,” she said.

Becca Good talked about the “vibrant and welcoming community,” the two met once they arrived.

“Here, I had finally found peace and safe harbor. That has been taken from me forever,” she said.

“We were raising our son to believe that no matter where you come from or what you look like, all of us deserve compassion and kindness. Renee lived this belief every day. She is pure love. She is pure joy. She is pure sunshine,” Becca Good added.

DHS, along with President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, has called the agent’s actions “self-defense” and said he followed ICE training.

Noem said during a press conference on Wednesday that Good was using her car as a “deadly weapon” and said it was an “act of domestic terrorism.”

Minneapolis police said preliminary information indicates that she was in her car and blocking the road.

“At some point, a federal law enforcement officer approached her on foot, and the vehicle began to drive off,” police said. “At least two shots were fired … the vehicle then crashed on the side of the roadway.”

“There is nothing to indicate that this woman was the target of any law enforcement investigation or activity,” police added.

Becca Good told MPR that on Jan. 7. she and her wife “stopped to support our neighbors.”

“We had whistles. They had guns,” she said.

Renee Good suffered gunshot wounds to the head and was transported to an area hospital, where she died, according to city officials.

Following the shooting, a large crowd gathered in the area, which is less than a mile from where George Floyd was killed in May 2020.

Gov. Walz said he has issued a “warning order” to prepare the Minnesota National Guard, saying there are soldiers in training and prepared to be deployed “if necessary,” while urging “peaceful resistance.”

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(NEW YORK) — The judge in Luigi Mangione’s federal case ruled Friday that the accused CEO killer’s backpack was lawfully seized by police when Mangione was apprehended in a Pennsylvania McDonalds’s five days after the shooting.

Mangione returned to Manhattan federal court Friday, where prosecutors have said they would seek the death penalty if he’s convicted of stalking and killing UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson on a New York City sidewalk in 2024. 

Two women who flew in from Sicily and came straight from the airport were among those in the courtroom gallery, which was filled with Mangione’s supporters, mostly young women. Many of them were wearing green, the color that has come to represent advocacy for Mangione.

“We have a full house here today,” U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett said at the outset of the hearing. “It is very important that decorum be maintained.”

The appearance of Mangione, who has pleaded not guilty to federal charges, follows a three-week hearing in state court during which Mangione sought to convince the judge in his state case to exclude some of the critical evidence police said they found in his backpack, including writings and the alleged murder weapon.  The judge has yet to issue a ruling.

Judge Garnett, in issuing her ruling on the legality of the backpack’s seizure, said, “I don’t think it’s really disputed that if you’re arrested in a public place, the police are supposed to safeguard your personal property.”

The judge she does not need to schedule a hearing to determine whether to exclude evidence taken from the backpack, but has yet to rule on what, if anything, should be suppressed.

“The Government searched the contents of the defendant’s notebook pursuant to a judicially authorized search warrant that expressly covered, among other things, handwritten materials, including notebook entries, contained within the defendant’s backpack,” prosecutor Sean Buckley argued in an earlier court filing.

“To the extent that the defendant now seeks to challenge the validity of the Government’s warrant — an argument the defendant similarly did not make in either his moving or reply papers — that argument would also fail on the merits because the warrant, which disclosed the initial search of the defendant’s backpack by the Altoona Police Department, was supported by ample probable cause,” wrote Buckley.

The remainder of Friday’s hearing was expected to focus on oral arguments over a defense motion to dismiss the charges that make Mangione eligible for the death penalty. 

Paresh Patel, a lawyer from Maryland who recently joined Mangione’s defense team, argued stalking “fails to qualify as a crime of violence” and therefore cannot be the predicate to make Mangione eligible for the death penalty.

Mangione entered the courtroom with his ankles shackled but his hands free.  Unlike his recent appearance in state court, when he wore slacks and blazer, Mangione was dressed in a beige smock and pants and a white long-sleeve T-shirt as he took a seat at the defense table between defense attorneys Karen and Mark Agnifilo. 

Earlier this week, prosecutors disputed a defense claim that Mangione should not face the death penalty because of a purported conflict of interest by Attorney General Pam Bondi.

The defense said Bondi is continuing to benefit from a 401k established while she worked at the lobbying firm Ballard Partners, which represents UnitedHealthcare.

Prosecutors said Ballard has made no contributions to her retirement plan since her Senate confirmation as attorney general, and argued that she stands to gain nothing from a “capital outcome” in the Mangione case.

“There is simply no factual basis for the assertion that outside corporate interests influenced the Attorney General’s charging decision in any fashion. The defendant’s insinuations otherwise rest on an inaccurate financial narrative,” Buckley wrote in a court filing.

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