(NEWCASTLE, MAINE) — President Joe Biden will sign a proclamation on Monday to establish the Frances Perkins National Monument in Newcastle, Maine.
The location will “honor the historic contributions of America’s first woman Cabinet Secretary, the longest-serving Secretary of Labor, and the driving force behind the New Deal,” according to the White House.
Perkins served as labor secretary for 12 years under President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
During that time, she “helped create Social Security; helped millions of Americans get back to work during the Great Depression; fought for the right of workers to organize and bargain collectively; and established the minimum wage, overtime pay, prohibitions on child labor, and unemployment insurance,” according to the fact sheet.
Perkins also created the Civilian Conservation Corps, a New Deal program that provided conservation and development jobs for manual laborers on government-owned rural land, according to Roosevelt presidential library.
Biden has dubbed himself the most pro-union president in American history. In 2023, he made the historic move of joining auto workers on the picket line.
The Perkins Family Home, built in 1837 and known as the “Brick House,” will be the centerpiece of the new monument, according to the White House.
“Designated a National Historic Landmark in 2014, the Perkins Homestead is a 57-acre property along the Damariscotta River that supported the family for generations,” the White House said. “Visitors experience the same landscape, garden paths and wooded walking trails that were a lifelong source of inspiration and rejuvenation for Perkins.”
In addition to this monument, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland will also announce five other monuments across the nation that will “increase the representation of women’s history in historic sites across America,” according to the White House.
(TACOMA, WA) — Two individuals drove a flatbed truck through the front doors of a store in Washington state in what appears to be a failed ATM robbery, according to surveillance footage recently released by the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department.
Police are now seeking the two would-be robbers who quickly fled the scene after failing to remove the automated teller machine from the Walgreens where it was installed.
The attempted robbery took place just before 5 a.m. on Dec. 9, according to ABC News’ Washington affiliate KOMO.
It involved a flatbed truck backing into and shattering the front windows of the entryway to a Walgreens in Pierce County.
Once the truck has successfully smashed its way into the store, two individuals can be seen getting out and running toward the ATM.
The two individuals, who are wearing reflective garments and balaclava-style masks during what the police have labeled a “commercial burglary,” then attempt to loop a cable around the machine. However, they appear to be unsuccessful in their attempts to dislodge it.
Realizing that they have not been successful, the individuals then decide to give up and instead flee the glass-spackled scene, according to the store’s security video.
The Pierce County Sheriff’s Department is now seeking information from the public about the crime.
(LOS ANGELES) — An apparent tornado touched down in a small Northern California city Saturday, flipping cars, causing significant damage and sending several people to the hospital.
The National Weather Service said the apparent tornado touched down at about 1:40 p.m. local time in Scotts Valley, about 30 miles south of San Jose.
Several people were taken to the hospital with injuries, but there are no reported deaths, according to a press release from the Scotts Valley Police Department.
“Emergency medical teams are prioritizing those most in need of care, and we continue to monitor the situation closely,” police said in the news release.
The tornado caused “significant damage” in several areas, police said.
Photos shared by police on social media showed multiple cars turned on their sides along the roadway and in a shopping center parking lot.
The weather service confirmed the tornado based on videos, photos, witness accounts and radar and said a survey team would further investigate damage on the ground to determine how strong it was.
California averages about 11 tornadoes a year, typically in the fall and spring, according to the weather service.
Earlier Saturday morning, the weather service issued the first tornado warning for San Francisco, amid a strong storm that knocked out power for thousands, according to ABC station KGO.
The tornado warning in San Francisco was lifted about 20 minutes later.
(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — Three women were found dead inside a Columbus, Ohio, home on Saturday, according to police.
Shortly before 4 p.m., officers received a report from a person who found their friends in medical distress inside a home, officials said.
“We are working through the manner of death to determine what actually happened before we release any of that information,” said Sgt. James Fuqua, public information officer for Columbus Police.
Once at the home, responders found three female victims inside and all were pronounced dead at the scene, Fuqua said.
“It’s unfortunate when someone loses their life, but particularly this time of year during the holidays,” Fuqua said. “It’s going to be very difficult for all of these victim’s families to come to the grips that, unfortunately, these family members will no longer be in their lives.”
No drugs were found at the scene and officials are considering it an active homicide investigation and are working to confirm the manner of death, officials said.
No one is in custody at this time, and the person who called in the incident is not a suspect.
Fuqua called it a “very complex scene.”
“It’s going to take a little bit longer to make sure that we’re very careful and going through the scene meticulously, so we do not miss any key piece of evidence because unfortunately, it’s very unusual to have so many victims in one incident,” he added.
(NEW YORK) –Luigi Mangione’s mother filed a missing persons report about her son in San Francisco on Nov. 18 — 16 days before he allegedly shot dead UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City — law enforcement sources told ABC News.
Mangione appeared in court in Pennsylvania on Monday, shortly after his arrest at a McDonald’s restaurant in Altoona, Pennsylvania, following a five-day manhunt across multiple states. Mangione told a judge he was in touch with his family “until recently.”
Law enforcement sources told ABC News that Mangione’s mother spoke with a task force of FBI agents and New York Police Department detectives one day before her son’s arrest on Dec. 9.
That conversation followed a tip the FBI received from the police in San Francisco, where Mangione’s mother filed the missing persons report.
The tip from SFPD was based on physical appearance and Mangione’s mother, in her conversation with the Joint Violent Crimes Task Force last Sunday, indicated the person in the surveillance photos circulated by the NYPD could be her son, the sources said.
The task force was still working on the information the mother and San Francisco Police Department provided when Mangione, 26, was arrested in Altoona.
The Mangione family released a statement saying they were “shocked and devastated by Luigi’s arrest” and offered “our prayers to the family of Brian Thompson and we ask people to pray for all involved.”
Mangione is currently in custody at a Pennsylvania state prison after a judge denied bail on Tuesday. Mangione faces charges in Pennsylvania including allegedly possessing an untraceable ghost gun. In New York, he faces charges including second-degree murder.
Mangione’s new attorney
Mangione has now hired veteran former New York City prosecutor Karen Friedman Agnifilo to defend him, according to a statement from her law firm Agnifilo Intrater LLP.
Friedman Agnifilo served as the second-in-command in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office from 2014 to 2021 under former District Attorney Cyrus Vance. A biography on her law firm website says she played a lead role in prosecuting “high-profile violent crime cases,” including those involving mental health and cold case homicides.
“Karen Friedman Agnifilo has a three-decade background in criminal justice, litigation and trials. Her practice focuses on criminal defense in state and federal courts, leveraging her extensive experience prosecuting serious violent crimes, including complex homicide cases, from accusation to investigation to arrest and trial,” the biography said.
“While serving in the Manhattan DA’s office, Ms. Friedman Agnifilo was also integral to creating the office’s Human Trafficking Unit, Hate Crimes Unit, Antiquities Trafficking Unit, Terrorism Unit, its Cybercrimes and Identity Theft Bureau, as well as working on the creation of Manhattan’s first Mental Health Court,” the biography continued.
Friedman Agnifilo is also a frequent television news guest and commentator and is a former legal analyst for CNN.
She is the co-host of a weekly podcast on the Meidas Touch Network where she discusses emerging legal issues and litigation strategy, and serves as a legal adviser for the television show “Law and Order.”
Writings analyzed
Law enforcement sources told ABC News that writings seized from the suspect indicate he developed a fixation and increasing malice toward UnitedHealthcare and allegedly talked about harming its leader for months.
Some entries in the notebook seized from Mangione upon his arrest were dated as far back as mid-2024, the sources said.
That fixation eventually evolved into the alleged plan to shoot executive Thompson, the sources said.
Some of the writings were diary-style, documenting how he felt and what he did that day. They also documented a desire to focus on his health and find his purpose, the sources said.
But as time went on — and as Mangione allegedly fell out of contact with friends and family and grew increasingly isolated — some writings indicated a deterioration in his state of mind, illustrating a gradual build towards the alleged plan to kill Thompson at what the writings described as UnitedHealthcare’s “annual parasitic bean-counter convention,” sources said.
Mangione’s writings, obtained by ABC News, claimed that the U.S. has the most expensive health care system in the world but ranks around 42nd in life expectancy.
He said UnitedHealthcare “has grown and grown, but as our life expectancy? No the reality is, these [indecipherable] have simply gotten too powerful, and they continue to abuse our country for immense profit.”
“I do apologize for any strife of traumas but it had to be done,” he allegedly wrote. “Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming.”
Neither Mangione nor his parents received insurance through UnitedHealthcare, according to UnitedHealth Group.
(LANDOVER, Md.) — Daniel Penny, the former Marine who was charged but acquitted in killing Jordan Neely, a Black homeless man, in a New York City subway, shared the spotlight with President-elect Donald Trump and his entourage on Saturday at the Army-Navy game in Landover, Maryland.
Penny, who has received praise in conservative circles and jeers from others for his actions in May 2023, was seen chatting with Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance, who invited the 25-year-old to the game.
He did not speak to the press.
Trump, who attended the same game in 2016 after winning the election, did not make any speeches but saluted during the national anthem and gave a fist pump and wave to a crowd.
In addition to the president and vice-president elect, Penny joined Pete Hegseth, Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Defense; former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s selection to be director of national intelligence; House Speaker Mike Johnson; incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Pennsylvania Sen.-elect David McCormick at the game.
Penny’s invitation came days after a Manhattan jury acquitted him of criminal charges for the incident on the F train on May 1, 2023. Neely, who was homeless at the time, boarded a subway car at the Second Avenue stop and was described by witnesses as yelling and moving erratically when Penny put Neely in a chokehold, which prosecutors alleged lasted for six minutes, according to officials.
Some of the incident was captured on video.
The city’s medical examiner concluded Penny’s chokehold killed Neely and ruled he died due to compression of the neck.
Neely, a 30-year-old former street performer who would impersonate Michael Jackson, had a history of homelessness and schizophrenia.
He had been convicted of assaulting people at subway stations, according to police. However, passengers on the train the day Neely died said he did not touch anyone during the incident.
However, Neely had expressed a willingness to die or even kill while on the train, according to investigators.
Penny was charged with manslaughter and negligent homicide but received praise from some conservative leaders, right-wing media pundits and others for what they claimed was an act of self-defense.
“Daniel’s a good guy, and New York’s mob district attorney tried to ruin his life for having a backbone,” Vance posted on X this week.
Others, however, criticized the former Marine for taking the life of a homeless Black man in need of mental health services.
The Manhattan jury deliberated for 24 hours over five days and was deadlocked on the manslaughter charge, which carried a 15-year prison sentence, forcing the judge to dismiss it. The jury delivered a verdict of not guilty on the negligent homicide charge on Monday.
In an interview with Fox Nation, Penny described himself as being in a “vulnerable” position.
“He was just threatening to kill people,” Penny told host Jeanine Pirro about Neely. “He was threatening to go to jail forever, to go to jail for the rest of his life.”
Penny has been named in a lawsuit by Neely’s father, Andre Zachery, for negligent contact, assault and battery that led to Neely’s death.
“I promised this family justice — we are still going to do that,” Donte Mills, the attorney representing Zachery, said following Penny’s conviction. “The district attorney did a good job, but the jury in this case let us down.”
(AUGUSTA, Ga.) — One person was shot and killed in an “isolated” shooting in on-post housing at Fort Eisenhower on Saturday, according to the base. The shooter has been apprehended and the base reopened after it had gone into lockdown.
“Fort Eisenhower is actively supporting the victim’s family and assistance will be available to anyone impacted by this tragedy. The safety of our residents and personnel remains our primary concern,” Fort Eisenhower said in a statement Saturday.
No information regarding the victim will be released until next-of-kin has been notified.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — A frustrated Gov. Kathy Hochul has called for federal assistance after the latest drone sighting temporarily shut down an airport Friday night, the latest in a series of mysterious occurrences taking part across the country.
Officials at Stewart International Airport, located roughly 60 miles north of New York City, said they shut down their runways for an hour after the Federal Aviation Administration alerted them that a drone was spotted in the area around 9:30 p.m.
“There were no impacts to flight operations during the closure,” the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said in a statement.
Hochul said in a statement Saturday that the incident is the latest drone sighting in the state since mid-November and expressed her frustration.
“This has gone too far,” she said.
Hochul said she has called on the New York State Intelligence Center to probe the drone sighting incidents but called on the federal government to do more.
Specifically, she called on Congress to pass the Counter-UAS Authority Security, Safety, and Reauthorization Act, which would strengthen the FAA’s oversight of drones and give more authority to state and local law enforcement agencies to investigate the activity.
“Extending these powers to New York State and our peers is essential. Until those powers are granted to state and local officials, the Biden Administration must step in by directing additional federal law enforcement to New York and the surrounding region to ensure the safety of our critical infrastructure and our people.”
Residents and officials have been looking for answers after drones have been seen hovering in the sky in several locations, especially in central New Jersey, since mid-November. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan and several members of Congress have also called for the federal government to investigate the sightings.
The White House downplayed some of the concerns of residents in a press briefing Thursday with national security communications adviser John Kirby saying “many” of the reported drone sightings appear to be lawfully operated manned aircraft.
He said they have been unable to “corroborate some of the reported sightings” using their detection techniques, but are still investigating.
In the meantime, the FAA and federal officials are taking precautions because of the drones.
The agency issued a temporary no-drone zone during Saturday afternoon’s Army-Navy Game taking place at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland. President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance are scheduled to attend the game.
The FAA has also imposed temporary drone flight restrictions in New Jersey over the Picatinny Arsenal military base in Morris County and Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in Somerset County in response to the reported drone activity.
ABC News’ Pierre Thomas contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Luigi Mangione has hired veteran former New York City prosecutor Karen Friedman Agnifilo to defend him against murder charges on Friday, according to a statement Friday night from her law firm Agnifilo Intrater LLP.
Friedman Agnifilo served as the second-in-command in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office from 2014 to 2021 under former DA Cyrus Vance. A biography on her law firm website says she played a lead role in prosecuting “high-profile violent crime cases,” including those involving mental health and cold case homicides.
“Karen Friedman Agnifilo has a three-decade background in criminal justice, litigation, and trials. Her practice focuses on criminal defense in state and federal courts, leveraging her extensive experience prosecuting serious violent crimes, including complex homicide cases, from accusation to investigation to arrest and trial,” her biography says.
“While serving in the Manhattan DA’s office, Ms. Friedman Agnifilo was also integral to creating the office’s Human Trafficking Unit, Hate Crimes Unit, Antiquities Trafficking Unit, Terrorism Unit, its Cybercrimes and Identity Theft Bureau, as well as working on the creation of Manhattan’s first Mental Health Court,” the biography continued.
Friedman Agnifilo is also a frequent television news guest and commentator and is a former legal analyst for CNN.
She is also the co-host of a weekly podcast on the Meidas Touch Network where she discusses emerging legal issues and litigation strategy that routinely has half a million listeners per episode, according to her biography. She is also the legal advisor for the television show Law and Order.
Meanwhile, law enforcement sources have told ABC News that writings seized from Luigi Mangione indicate he had been developing a fixation and increasing malice toward UnitedHealthcare and allegedly talking about harming its leader for months.
Some of the entries in the notebook seized from Mangione upon his arrest in Pennsylvania earlier this week had dates on them going back to mid-2024, the sources said.
That fixation would eventually evolve into an alleged plan to shoot that CEO, the sources said.
Some of the writings were diary-style, documenting how he felt, what he did that day, and also documented a desire to focus on his health and himself, and find his purpose, the sources said.
Then, as time went on — as Mangione allegedly fell out of contact with friends and family and grew increasingly isolated — some of his writings indicated a deterioration in his thinking and state of mind, illustrating a gradual build towards the alleged plan to kill UnitedHealthCare’s CEO at their “annual parasitic bean-counter convention,” sources said.
Mangione’s writings, obtained by ABC News, claimed that the U.S. has the most expensive health care system in the world, but ranks about No. 42 in life expectancy. He said UnitedHealthcare “has grown and grown, but as our life expectancy? No the reality is, these [indecipherable] have simply gotten too powerful, and they continue to abuse our country for immense profit.”
“I do apologize for any strife of traumas but it had to be done,” he allegedly wrote. “Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming.”
Neither Mangione nor his parents received insurance through UnitedHealthcare, according to UnitedHealth Group.
Mangione, 26, is currently in custody at a Pennsylvania state prison after a judge denied bail on Tuesday.
(OCHOPEE, Fla.) — At least 16 people were hospitalized Friday afternoon after two airboats collided in Florida, investigators said.
Officers responded to the 911 call around 3:15 p.m. and found several people injured at the site of the collision near Ochopee, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said in a statement.
One boat was carrying 13 passengers while the other was carrying 20, the commission said.
The conditions of the injured passengers were not immediately released.
Investigators were working to determine the cause of the collision and the probe was ongoing.
