Department of Education dismisses book ban investigations, ends guidance
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(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has announced that it is rescinding all past guidance issued against the removal of books and will no longer employ a coordinator to investigate instances of unlawful book removals.
The department also announced that it has dismissed 11 book ban complaints and six pending complaints. According to the DOE, the complaints alleged that the removal of these books “created a hostile environment for students.”
The nation has seen a wave of attempts to ban or remove books from library and classroom shelves in recent years, with the vast majority of complaints targeting books that are written by or about people of color and the LGBTQ community, according to free speech organizations that track book banning efforts.
PEN America, a free expression advocacy group, has tracked nearly 16,000 book ban attempts in public schools nationwide since 2021. In 2023 alone, the American Library Association (ALA) documented 4,240 different book titles and argued that book banning efforts are a form of censorship.
The ALA’s data found that pressure groups and individuals behind the book-banning efforts targeted multiple titles, “often dozens or hundreds at a time.” Allegations of “obscene,” “divisive,” or “inappropriate” content have largely been used to challenge books that touch on the LGBTQ+ community, sex education, race and politics, the ALA said.
The Trump administration’s Department of Education states that the books were targeted because school districts and parents “have established commonsense processes by which to evaluate and remove age-inappropriate materials.”
The statement continued, “Because this is a question of parental and community judgment, not civil rights, OCR has no role in these matters.”
“The department is beginning the process of restoring the fundamental rights of parents to direct their children’s education,” said Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor in a statement on the move. “The department adheres to the deeply rooted American principle that local control over public education best allows parents and teachers alike to assess the educational needs of their children and communities. Parents and school boards have broad discretion to fulfill that important responsibility.”
The move from the DOE follows the lead of state-led and local-led efforts to expand book restrictions of certain topics in schools, some of which have been legally challenged by residents.
“We will continue to raise awareness and resistance to ongoing book bans in defense of students’ freedom to read,” said Kasey Meehan, director of PEN America’s Freedom to Read effort, in a statement. “All students deserve to see themselves and the world around them reflected in the books shelved within their public schools.”
(NEW YORK) — East Coast residents and lawmakers are again demanding answers after another slew of drone sightings in the region, with the origins of the alleged craft still unclear.
Matthew Murello, the mayor of Washington Township in New Jersey, told “Good Morning America” on Monday that he believes “something’s going on,” expressing concern and frustration at the lack of answers from federal authorities.
“I’m not trying to stir anything up, but we all know — if you just turn on the television — that drones can be used in an aggressive fashion,” Murello said. “They can carry payloads. They can be used for all kinds of really aggressive-type things.”
White House national security communications adviser John Kirby said Thursday that “many” of the reported drone sightings appear to be lawfully operated manned aircraft, adding there was “no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or a public safety threat, or have a foreign nexus.”
But Murello said those living under the drones are not reassured.
“That’s a wonderful thing to tell your residents,” he said when asked about Kirby’s assurances. “That’s fantastic, until it’s not.”
“Nobody knows what these things are doing,” Murello added. “Best case scenario, they’re just getting video of us. Again, I don’t know why out here. We’re nothing but farm country. If you want videos of cows, I’ll be happy to send you some.”
Murello cast doubt on the official statements suggesting “no perceived threat.”
“We’ve heard that before from our federal government — ‘We’re not looking, we’re not watching you, we’re not watching your calls, we’re not doing everything and don’t worry — we’re here and we’re here to help you’,” he said.
Murello was among a group of New Jersey mayors who wrote to Gov. Phil Murphy asking for more information. The mayors were subsequently invited to a meeting, but Murello said the governor did not attend.
Instead, state police told the mayors they had little information on the drones. Authorities, Murello said, could not explain why some drones are being flown without emitting radio frequencies or using transponders — both of which are required by law when a drone is used at night.
Murello said he had personally seen “a couple” of drones “around my town.” He disputed Kirby’s statement that many of the reported sightings were of misidentified manned aircraft.
“I have no way of telling you how big it was, but I can sure as heck can tell what they sound like,” the mayor said. “And I know that they are not. What Adm. Kirby said — which is a manned aircraft — that just isn’t right.”
“I’ve seen multiple rotor, helicopter-type aircraft hovering above the tree line,” Murello said, recalling one police official who said the drones can be up to 6 feet in diameter. The fact that most are spotted at night makes it “very difficult to kind of get an idea on them,” Murello added.
Reports of drone activity forced the temporary closure of runways at New York’s Stewart International Airport on Friday. The potential danger to aircraft is causing concern on the East Coast, Murello said.
“If pilots don’t see these things and they’re 6 foot in diameter and they hit an airplane — that is not going to end well,” he said.
Senators are also pushing federal agencies for more information. Last week, New York Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand and New Jersey Sens. Cory Booker and Andy Kim wrote to the heads of the FBI, Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Homeland Security requesting meetings.
“We write with urgent concern regarding the unmanned aerial system activity that has affected communities across New York and New Jersey in recent days,” the letter said, requesting a briefing “as soon as possible on how your agencies are working with federal and local law enforcement to identify and address the source of these incursions.”
The mystery has caught the public’s attention, with photos and videos of alleged sightings proliferating across social media. One FBI official told reporters Saturday that out of the nearly 5,000 tips the agency had received, less than 100 generated credible leads for further investigation.
As the search for answers continues, Murello said he sees “only two logical conclusions.”
“One is somebody knows something and they’re just not willing to tell us,” the mayor said, suggesting potential national security sensitivities around the Morristown Airport and President-elect Donald Trump’s Bedminster golf course.
“If this is an area that needs to be surveilled in the eventuality that the incoming president is going to spend a lot of time here, you know what? I’m fine with that. Just simply say it’s an issue of national security,” he said.
An “even scarier” explanation is that “we’re the greatest nation in the world with the most technologically advanced military on the planet earth, and we don’t know what the hell these things are,” Murello added. “That’s scary.”
The DHS and FAA have both warned against attempting to shoot down a suspected drone, citing the danger of falling debris and ammunition.
It is illegal to shoot down a drone. Anyone who does so could be fined up to $250,000 and sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.
Murello said he would “definitely” not advise anyone to try to down a drone. “You also don’t know if you do hit it, where it’s going to come down and where are the rounds of ammunition going to land,” he said.
“But I will say that, speaking with friends of mine that are current and former state troopers, we have the technology to be able to bring a drone down,” Murello added, suggesting it was “absolutely silly” that law enforcement authorities are not authorized to down drones unless they are deemed a threat by the federal government.
“We don’t need to bring all of them down, we need to bring one of them down,” Murello continued. “We bring one down, we figure out what’s going on.”
(LOS ANGELES) — Weather officials have issued a “Particularly Dangerous Situation” red flag warning for western Los Angeles County and most of Ventura County beginning on Tuesday at 4 a.m. into Wednesday at noon, warning of a heightened fire risk even as crews rush to extinguish blazes tearing through the region.
A new Santa Ana wind event is forecast today through Wednesday with the strongest winds Tuesday into Wednesday. Peak winds for this next event will be weaker than those last week.
Nevertheless, winds will be strong enough to potentially cause explosive fire growth.
On Monday morning and the rest of the day, winds will begin to pick up in the mountains and higher elevations, gusting 20 to 30 mph, locally as high as 50 mph.
Those winds are likely continue to fuel the historic wildfires raging in Southern California. The largest, the Palisades Fire, has spread by late Sunday to 23,713 acres with only 13% containment, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Thousands of firefighters are battling the blazes across 45 square miles of densely populated Los Angeles County. About 105,000 people remain under mandatory evacuation orders and another 87,000 are under evacuation warnings.
By Tuesday morning at 4 a.m., when the “PDS” conditions begin, gusts in the mountains are expected to near 70 mph possibly and humidity could be as low as 8% for some of the area
This Santa Ana wind event will be slightly in different areas than last week, more into western L.A. County, most of Ventura County and even part of Santa Barbara County.
“Emergency responders are ready tonight. Pre-positioned firefighters and engines are spread around Southern California,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said on social media late on Sunday. “Stay safe. Be ready to evacuate if you get the order.”
The strongest winds will begin to subside by noon on Wednesday. But forecast models show still very gusty winds in the mountains at noon Wednesday.
Higher humidity and lighter winds are forecast late in the week and into the weekend.
(NEW ORLEANS, LA) — The suspect in a deadly attack on New Year’s revelers in New Orleans has been identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old U.S.-born citizen and U.S. Army veteran from Texas, according to the FBI.
At least 15 people were killed and over two dozen injured after a man drove a Ford pickup truck through a crowd on Bourbon Street at a high rate of speed early Wednesday, multiple law enforcement sources and Louisiana Rep. Troy Carter told ABC News.
Authorities are working to determine whether the deceased suspect had any affiliation with terrorist organizations after an ISIS flag was found tied to the truck’s trailer hitch, the FBI said.
After barreling through the crowd over a three-block stretch, the suspect allegedly got out of the truck wielding an assault rifle and opened fire on police officers, law enforcement officials briefed on the incident told ABC News. Officers returned fire, killing the suspect, police said. At least two police officers were shot and wounded, authorities said.
“This man was trying to run over as many people as he possibly could,” New Orleans Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick said at a press briefing on Wednesday afternoon. “It was not a DUI situation. This is more complex and more serious.”
She said the driver was “hell-bent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did.”
Weapons and potential IEDs were located in the suspect’s vehicle and other potential IEDs were located in the French Quarter, according to the FBI, which is leading the investigation. As of now, two IEDs have been found and rendered safe, the FBI said. Investigators found homemade pipe bombs at the scene of the Bourbon Street attack, law enforcement sources told ABC News. The crude devices contained coils and nails, the sources said. Authorities also found a grenade, which is among the items tested for viability, sources said.
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell described the horrific incident as a “terrorist attack” and the FBI said it was being investigated as an act of terror.
The suspect is not believed to be “solely responsible” for the attack, according to the FBI, which said it is pursuing leads to identify any of his associates.
New Orleans police have reviewed surveillance video that appears to show several people planting potential explosive devices in advance of the vehicle ramming, leading the FBI to conclude the driver of the pickup truck did not act alone in the attack, law enforcement sources told ABC News.
Investigators are urgently working to identify the individuals who were seen on camera and take them into custody, the sources said.
Jabbar is believed to have been discharged honorably from the Army, though investigators are still looking into his military record, the FBI said.
Carter told ABC News that the suspect appears to have “lived or spent some time” in the New Orleans area.
“My understanding is there may have been some identification that indicated that the suspect had a local residence and so that information is being tested,” he said.
The vehicle had a Texas license plate, according to Carter.
The truck used in the attack appeared to be a Ford F-150 Lightning, an electric vehicle. It appears the truck was rented through the Turo app — a carsharing company, according to Rodrigo Diaz, the owner of the truck.
Diaz told ABC News he rented the truck to an individual through the app and is currently talking to the FBI. He declined further comment.
Diaz’s wife, Dora Diaz, told ABC News that she and her husband are devastated by the incident.
“My husband rents cars through the Turo app. I can’t tell you anything else. I’m here with my kids, and this is devastating,” Dora Diaz said.
