Death of Vietnamese immigrant in Indiana facility is latest ICE detainee fatality
(MIAMI COUNTY, Ind.) — A Vietnamese immigrant died in government custody last week, according to a notification sent to lawmakers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, marking the latest detainee death during the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
Tuan Van Bui, a 55-year-old immigrant, died at the Miami Correctional Center in Indiana.
He is the 46th person to die in federal custody during the current Trump administration.
In its notification, ICE said that “onsite staff discovered Bui unresponsive and immediately initiated life-saving measures, including CPR. Staff immediately contacted emergency services personnel, who swiftly responded to the scene and initiated advanced life support interventions.”
The cause of death is under investigation.
ICE officials said that Bui was ordered removed by an immigration judge in 2005 and that he had been arrested “over a dozen times on charges including robbery, theft, assault, criminal conspiracy, reckless endangerment, possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute/manufacture, carrying firearms, resisting arrest, and DUI.”
Court records show Bui filed a habeas petition challenging his detention in February. A district judge responded to the petition the day after Bui died, ordering the government to detail its plans for his removal by April 6. The government filed a status report on Monday, after Bui died, but the contents of that report are not public because the habeas petition is sealed.
According to an ABC News analysis of ICE data and the number of detainee deaths provided to Congress, the first 14 months of the second Trump administration represent the deadliest period for the federal detention system in recent years, with the exception of 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to a spike in deaths.
Tippecanoe Superior Court 2 Judge Steve Meyer. (Tippecanoe County Government)
(LAFAYETTE, Ind.) — An Indiana judge and his wife were injured in a shooting at their home over the weekend, with a search underway for the suspected gunman, officials said.
Tippecanoe County Judge Steven Meyer and his wife, Kimberly Meyer, were shot in their home on Sunday, according to Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Loretta Rush.
Both are in stable condition, police said Monday.
Officers responded to the home in Lafayette around 2:17 p.m. Sunday and found both injured from the shooting, according to the Lafayette Police Department. Judge Meyer had an injury to one of his arms and his wife sustained an injury to her hip, police said.
Shell casings were recovered at the scene, according to police.
The investigation remains ongoing with multiple agencies, including the FBI, involved, police said. No arrests have been announced.
“I want to ensure the community that every available resource is being used to apprehend the individual(s) responsible for this senseless unacceptable act of violence,” Lafayette Mayor Tony Roswarski said in a statement. “I have tremendous confidence in the Lafayette Police Department and I want to thank all of the local, state, and federal agencies who are assisting in this investigation.”
In a statement issued on her and her husband’s behalf, Kimberly Meyer said, “I have great confidence in the Lafayette Police Department’s investigation and want to thank all the agencies involved for their work.”
“We are also incredibly grateful for the outpouring of support from the community; everyone has been so kind and compassionate,” she said. “We would also like to thank the medical personnel who provided care and assistance to us following the incident.”
Meyer is a judge in the Tippecanoe County Superior Court. He was first elected to the position in 2014. He has previously served as a public defender for Tippecanoe County and on the Lafayette City Council.
Tippecanoe County Judges said in a statement on Monday that cases in Meyer’s court “will continue to be heard in a timely manner.”
“There has been an overwhelming outpouring of support from judges throughout the state offering to assist in any way,” the statement said.
Chief Justice Rush urged other judges in Indiana to “remain vigilant in your own security” and to contact their local sheriff, noting in a statement on Sunday that “the shooter is purportedly still at large.”
“I worry about the safety of all our judges,” she said in the statement. “As you work to peacefully resolve more than 1 million cases a year, you must not only feel safe, you must also be safe. Any violence against a judge or a judge’s family is completely unacceptable. As public servants, you are dedicated to the rule of law.”
Nurses hold signs during a strike over contract negotiations on January 11, 2022. (Fatih Aktas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
(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.
Nick Reiner attends AOL Build Speaker Series at AOL Studios In New York on May 4, 2016 in New York City. (Laura Cavanaugh/FilmMagic)
(LOS ANGELES) — Nick Reiner is expected to appear at an arraignment on Wednesday to enter a plea in the murders of his parents, renowned director Rob Reiner and his wife Michele Reiner.
The 32-year-old faces two counts of first-degree murder with the special circumstance of multiple murders.
Nick Reiner made a brief first court appearance on Dec. 17 and waived the right to a speedy arraignment.
Since his last appearance, sources told ABC News that law enforcement and defense attorneys have been working to piece together Nick Reiner’s psychiatric and substance abuse history. Legal experts say California law allows defense attorneys to signal as early as Wednesday’s hearing whether they will seek to use mental health in their defense.
Nick Reiner has a documented history of addiction and substance abuse treatment, and friends have told investigators that his mental health had been deteriorating prior to the murders.
He could enter a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity Wednesday, though that could also come later.
Under California law, a jury can find a defendant not guilty by reason of insanity, which would result in confinement to a state psychiatric hospital rather than prison. That process can begin at arraignment but is not required to.
To pursue this defense, attorneys must demonstrate that the accused suffered from a mental illness prior to developing an addiction. A mental illness caused solely by addiction does not meet the legal standard.
Nick Reiner’s defense attorney Alan Jackson issued a statement last month, reading: “We ask that during this process, you allow the system to move forward in the way that it was designed … not with jumping to conclusions, but with restraint and with dignity and with the respect that this system and this process deserves and that the family deserves.”
Rob Reiner and Michele Reiner were found stabbed to death in their Brentwood home on Dec. 14.
The night before the murders, Nick Reiner — who had been open about battling drug addiction since he was a teenager, and had been living on his parents’ property — got into an argument with Rob Reiner at a holiday party, and was seen acting strangely, sources told ABC News.
Nick Reiner was taken into custody in downtown Los Angeles hours after the bodies were discovered.
Rob and Michele Reiners’ other children, Jake and Romy Reiner, said in a statement last month, “Words cannot even begin to describe the unimaginable pain we are experiencing.”
“The horrific and devastating loss of our parents, Rob and Michele Reiner, is something that no one should ever experience. They weren’t just our parents; they were our best friends,” they said.
“We are grateful for the outpouring of condolences, kindness, and support we have received not only from family and friends but people from all walks of life,” Jake and Romy Reiner said. “We now ask for respect and privacy, for speculation to be tempered with compassion and humanity, and for our parents to be remembered for the incredible lives they lived and the love they gave.”
