Columbia University student detained by Homeland Security agents in dorm, school says
Columbia University. (Sergi Reboredo/VW Pics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — A Columbia University student was detained by Department of Homeland Security agents Thursday morning, after they allegedly made “misrepresentations” to enter a dorm, the school said.
Claire Shipman, the school’s acting president, sent a letter to the school community informing them that the DHS agents entered an unspecified dorm on the campus around 6:30 and detained the student.
“Our understanding at this time is that the federal agents made misrepresentations to gain entry to the building to search for a ‘missing person.’ We are working to gather more details,” she said.
DHS did not immediately return messages from ABC News for comment.
The school was “working to reach the family, and providing legal support,” the letter further said.
“It is important to reiterate that all law enforcement agents must have a judicial warrant or judicial subpoena to access non-public areas of the University, including housing, classrooms, and areas requiring CUID swipe access,” the letter said.
“If law enforcement agents seek entry to non-public areas of the University, ask the agents to wait to enter any non-public areas until contacting Public Safety,” Shipman wrote. “Public Safety will contact the Office of the General Counsel to coordinate the University’s response. Do not allow them to enter or accept service of a warrant or subpoena.”
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul released a statement condemning the federal agents’ alleged actions.
“Let’s be clear about what happened: ICE agents didn’t have the proper warrant, so they lied to gain access to a student’s private residence,” she said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
A child is seen playing a game on the Roblox platform on November 19, 2025 in Auckland, New Zealand. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — A group of 800 parents — including those who have already filed suit and those who have retained lawyers with the intent to sue –sent a letter to the board of directors of Roblox demanding the gaming company stop attempts to keep lawsuits out of the public eye.
Roblox, launched in 2006, has been at the center of recent controversy, with some parents alleging that the platform has been used to help facilitate child sexual exploitation and grooming.
The company is facing over 100 lawsuits that were recently consolidated, with one law firm telling ABC News that it is investigating thousands of child sexual exploitation and abuse claims.
Roblox had nearly 83 million average daily active users in 2024, according to its financial reports. It reported $3.6 billion in revenue that year.
Pat Huyett, one of the attorneys representing families in the lawsuits, said Roblox’s legal strategy has been to file motions to compel arbitration — a private, out-of-court process where claims are settled confidentially by a third party.
“They are confidential, they’re secretive,” Huyett said. “Anything that happens in those arbitration proceedings does not become public, so Roblox’s conduct can’t be scrutinized by the public.”
In the letter sent Sunday night, the parents asked the board to “stop the improper and shameful attempts to force these vulnerable, sexually abused and exploited children into secret arbitration proceedings.”
The letter includes signatures from parents in Washington, California, Florida and Texas who allege their children were targeted by predators.
“These children deserve their day in court,” the parents wrote.
The company has consistently responded to the lawsuits and allegations by stating that protecting children is a priority and announcing investments in safety measures, including artificial intelligence age verification.
According to Roblox, inappropriate content is against the rules and standards of the game. The company says it uses thousands of human moderators and artificial intelligence tools to police content.
“We are deeply troubled by any allegations about harms to children online and are committed to setting the industry standard for safety,” a spokesperson for Roblox previously told ABC News. “To protect our users, we have rigorous, industry-leading policies, including limiting chat for younger users and employing advanced filters designed to block the sharing of personal information. Roblox also does not allow users to share images or videos. We also collaborate closely with law enforcement.”
A separate group of 150 parents sent a similar letter to Discord, a communication platform that families allege predators use to communicate with minors after meeting them on Roblox.
Roblox and Discord did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Discord previously told ABC News the company is “committed to safety” and said it requires all users to be 13 to use their platform.
“We maintain strong systems to prevent the spread of sexual exploitation and grooming on our platform and also work with other technology companies and safety organizations to improve online safety across the internet,” the spokesperson previously said.
The letter from the parents contains accounts from parents about their children’s experience, including a Washington state teenager allegedly coerced into sending explicit images and a minor in California who was allegedly groomed on the platform and later died by suicide.
Families from Florida and Texas also described experiences involving extortion, self-harm and physical assault.
The push from parents follows a ruling from a judge in November that rejected Roblox’s attempt to force a child exploitation case into arbitration. In the order, the California judge cited the federal Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act (EFAA), which prohibits forced arbitration in cases of sexual abuse. Roblox has appealed the order.
In the letter sent on Sunday, the parents argued that while Roblox claims to prioritize “community before company,” it is simultaneously “attempting to silence abused and exploited children in secret arbitration.”
“By trying to force sexually abused and exploited children to tell their stories only in private, confidential proceedings, Roblox seeks to protect predators and itself, not its users,” the letter states.
Huyett told ABC News, “The families really just want to heal … but on the other hand, they want accountability.”
Gerhardt Konig testifies during his attempted murder trial in Honolulu, April 2, 2026. (Pool via ABC News)
(OAHU, Hawaii) — Closing arguments are underway in the trial of a Hawaii doctor accused of trying to kill his wife on a hiking trail.
Dr. Gerhardt Konig, 47, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree attempted murder. Prosecutors allege the anesthesiologist attacked his wife, Arielle Konig, near a cliff while on the Pali Puka Trail on Oahu on March 24, 2025, by pushing her near the edge and then beating her multiple times with a rock.
The defense, meanwhile, has alleged that Arielle Konig attacked her husband first, and that he hit her with the rock in self-defense.
The jury is expected to begin deliberations Tuesday afternoon local time. If they are unable to find Gerhardt Konig guilty of second-degree attempted murder, they will consider whether he is guilty of attempted manslaughter based upon extreme mental or emotional disturbance, first-degree attempted assault, second-degree assault or third-degree assault.
Both Gerhardt Konig and his wife, who have two young sons together, took the stand during the three-week trial in Honolulu, presenting widely differing accounts of what happened on the hike.
Arielle Konig testified that the two had traveled to Oahu from their home in Maui to celebrate her birthday. She said they had been working on repairing their marriage after her husband found what she characterized as “flirty” WhatsApp messages between her and a colleague in December 2024 in what she said was an “emotional affair.”
Arielle Konig testified that during the hike, her husband pushed her toward the edge of the cliff. As they wrestled on the ground with him on top, pinning her down, he produced a syringe and vial, she said.
Arielle Konig further testified that her husband proceeded to beat her with a rock as many as 10 times, and that she believed he was trying to knock her unconscious in order to drag her over the edge of the cliff.
Arielle Konig testified that she fought back by biting her husband’s forearm and pleaded with him, saying, “You can’t do it,” and that “our kids will be orphans — you’ll go to jail and I’ll be dead.”
“He’s saying, ‘You’re done. We’re done with you. We don’t need you anymore. You’re done. You’re done,'” she told the court.
Arielle Konig testified that she yelled, “He’s trying to kill me,” and screamed for help, and two female hikers happened upon them. One of the hikers told a 911 operator, “Someone’s currently being attacked on the top of Pali Puka. There’s a man trying to kill her,” according to audio of the call played in court.
Prosecutors showed photos of Arielle Konig’s bloodied face following the incident. She testified that she crawled away from her husband and was helped down the rest of the trail by the two women. She said she was treated at a hospital for “severe complex scalp lacerations” and showed the court scarring on her scalp.
Gerhardt Konig testified in his own defense over two days, maintaining that he never intended to hurt his wife and acted in self-defense when he struck her with the rock.
He told the court that his wife pushed him near the edge after they got into an argument about her affair, and that she hit him with a rock first while they struggled on the ground. He admitted to hitting her with the rock while on top of her, saying he struck her twice, though he denied having any syringes or trying to pull her toward the cliff’s edge.
Gerhardt Konig testified that he felt suicidal after the incident.
“I just felt hopeless at that point in terms of everything,” he said. “I felt horrified about what I did to her, that I had caused this to her, that I had resorted to violence against my wife, the person who I love the most in the world. And I just kind of felt hopeless in terms of our relationship, too.”
Shortly after the incident, Gerhardt Konig testified, he made a FaceTime call to his 20-year-old son from his prior marriage, Emile Konig, to say goodbye.
His son testified about the FaceTime call during the trial. Asked by the prosecutor to recount what his father said during the call, Emile Konig responded, “That he would not be making it back to Maui and to take good care of the younger kids, and that Ari, my stepmom, had been cheating on him, and that he tried to kill her.”
“During that call, the next plan that he said was to jump off the cliff,” Emile Konig testified, adding that his father said he was “at the end of his rope.”
Gerhardt Konig pushed back against his son’s testimony and denied making any confession. He told the court that what he said during the call was, “She said I tried to kill her.”
Gerhardt Konig was arrested following an hourslong manhunt, prosecutors said.
Arielle Konig filed for divorce in May 2025, seeking full custody of the couple’s two children.
Gerhardt Konig, who worked as an anesthesiologist on Maui, has been in jail since his arrest. Following his arrest, Maui Health said his medical staff privileges at Maui Memorial Medical Center have been suspended pending investigation.
Spotted lanternflies stand on a railing next to the Hudson River as the sun sets on the skyline of New York, Aug. 26, 2023. (Gary Hershorn/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Scientists are getting a better understanding of why spotted lanternflies, the invasive species wreaking havoc in the Northeast every spring, have been thriving since their invasion into the U.S.
The flying insect, identified by its distinctive spotted wings, originated in Asia and likely arrived in the U.S. around 2014 through a single introduction, after which it began to multiply exponentially, Kristen Winchell, an associate professor of biology at New York University, told ABC News.
Ever since, the lanternflies have swarmed urban regions in the Northeast, while wildlife experts have encouraged people who come across them to squish them immediately to further prevent their spread.
Researchers say they now have a better idea of how the insects have managed to adapt and spread so quickly in the U.S.
New genomic analyses of the insect indicates that the spotted lanternflies likely adapted to urban settings in Shanghai, China – including heat, pollution and pesticides – which is allowing them to thrive in the Northeast U.S. corridor, according to a paper published in The Royal Society journal. The insects showed adaptations in genes associated with stress response, according to the paper.
“They were adapting to thrive in urban environments in the native range, and that primed them then to be successful in whatever the next urban environment they landed in,” said Winchell, who co-authored the paper.
Researchers believe the lanternflies arrived in Berks County, Pennsylvania, in a shipment of stone from South Korea via their native range in urban Shanghai, Fallon Meng, a doctoral candidate at NYU’s Department of Biology, told ABC News.
Their egg masses have easily survived the harsh Northeast winters, so they would have “no problem” surviving in a climate-controlled shipping container, Winchell said.
Lanternflies have been spotted as far north as Boston, Mass., and Providence, R.I., although how much farther north they can survive is yet to be determined, Winchell said.
Spotted lanternflies were able “take over” an unfamiliar ecosystem and a new climate despite the low genetic diversity from the single introduction, Winchell said. They are genetically similar across their 125-mile range in the U.S., the research found.
“The loss of genetic diversity in this population, which should theoretically constrain any sort of adaptation or variation in traits in the invasive environment, should possibly limit their spread,” Winchell said.
The insects have also been known to hitch rides on trains and ferries, as well as humans’ backpacks, Winchell said, adding that researchers expect them to spread west next, toward Chicago.
“The females carry a lot of eggs, and so it just takes one to lay a successful clutch of eggs,” Winchell said.
Spotted lanternflies feed on tree sap using piercing mouthparts. The piercing doesn’t necessarily damage the trees, but their excrement, which is high in sugar, stains the trees and blocks photosynthesis, which eventually suffocates the trees, the researchers said.
Tree of Heaven, an invasive species in the U.S. that’s native to Asia, is their tree of choice, but they have the potential to impact apple orchards, maple trees and vineyards in the Northeast.
They can also sequester toxins from the Tree of Heaven, which makes them toxic to certain animals that may eat them, which in turn negatively impacts the food chain.
Invasive management efforts in cities may be necessary to curb further spread of the spotted lanternfly, according to the paper. In the meantime, researchers said, the the advice to stomp on them when you see then still stands.
