Mahmoud Khalil’s wife gives birth after ICE denied his request to attend delivery
Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — The wife of pro-Palestinian demonstrator Mahmoud Khalil gave birth to their first child while he remains in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention.
Khalil, who is being held at a detention center in Jena, Louisiana, was denied a request for temporary release to meet their son, according to emails reviewed by ABC News.
Khalil’s lawyers requested a two-week furlough, noting that his wife, Dr. Abdalla, had gone into labor “eight days earlier than expected,” an email addressed to New Orleans ICE ERO Field Office Director Mellissa B. Harper shows.
In the email, the lawyers also recommended that Khalil could be placed in ankle monitor and could do check-ins with ICE.
Harper denied the request, writing in an email, “After consideration of the submitted information and a review of your client’s case, your request for furlough is denied.”
Dr. Noor Abdalla released a statement after the birth, saying, “My son and I should not be navigating his first days on earth without Mahmoud. ICE and the Trump administration have stolen these precious moments from our family in an attempt to silence Mahmoud’s support for Palestinian freedom.”
On April 11, an immigration judge ruled that Khalil is removable after Secretary of State Marco Rubio invoked a section of the law that deemed him deportable because, the government claimed, his continued presence in the US would have an adverse consequence on foreign policy.
The Louisiana judge has given Khalil’s lawyers a deadline of April 23 to file applications for relief to stop his deportation. The judge said if they failed to make the deadline, she would file an order of removal to either Syria or Algeria.
While a student at Columbia University, Khalil was part of a leadership group protesting the war in Gaza. Khalil took part in negotiations with school administrators demanding the institution cut ties with Israel and divest from Israeli companies. Khalil finished his graduate studies at Columbia in December and is set to graduate in the spring.
He was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement at his Columbia housing in March.
(OKLAHOMA CITY) — A search is underway for an inmate at an Oklahoma correctional facility who “unlawfully” walked away from prison, according to the Oklahoma Department of Corrections.
At approximately 8:25 p.m. on Monday, William D. Brainard, 44, was “determined to have unlawfully walked away” from the Clara Waters Correctional Center in Oklahoma City, the department of corrections said in a statement on Monday.
Brainard is serving a five-year sentence for burglary of the third degree and larceny of an auto, aircraft or other motor vehicle, according to the department of corrections website.
He is described as 5 feet, 9 inches tall, weighs 215 pounds and has several tattoos — including one on his abdomen that reads “smile now cry later” and one on his arm that reads “love mom, corn fed, devil,” according to the wanted poster released by officials.
Brainard could also be found under the aliases of Dewayne W. Brainard, William Brainard, William D. Brainard or Corn F. Hillbilly, officials said.
The escaped inmate has also previously been sentenced for second-degree robbery, assault or battery with a dangerous weapon and distribution or possession with intent of a controlled dangerous substance, according to the corrections’ department website.
If anyone sees Brainard or knows his whereabouts, police said to not approach him and call 911 or the department of corrections at 405-425-2570.
(DEDHAM, Mass.) — With closing arguments now underway, the second sensational trial of Karen Read — accused of killing her Boston police officer boyfriend in 2022 — is nearing a close.
Prosecutors allege Read hit her boyfriend, John O’Keefe, with her car outside the home of fellow police officer Brian Albert in January 2022 and then left him to die there during a major blizzard.
The defense has argued Read’s vehicle did not hit O’Keefe and instead said O’Keefe was attacked by a dog and beaten by other people who were in the house before he was thrown out in the snow to die.
Read’s first trial ended in a mistrial last July after the jury could not reach a verdict.
At least four jurors who served on her first trial last year have confirmed that she was found not guilty of second-degree murder and leaving a scene of personal injury and death, according to Read’s attorneys. However, the jury could not come to an agreement on a third charge of manslaughter while operating a motor vehicle under the influence, the attorneys said.
Her lawyers filed multiple appeals, all the way to the Supreme Court, claiming Read should not be retried on the counts the jury apparently agreed on, saying it would amount to double jeopardy. Each appeal was denied.
Read has pleaded not guilty to all three charges and maintains her innocence.
Here are top takeaways from the trial as the jury is about to receive the case:
Former state police officer not called to testify in 2nd trial
The lead investigator in the case, former Massachusetts State Police officer Michael Proctor — who was a key witness in Read’s first trial — was not called to the stand in her retrial.
Damning testimony in her first trial led to the suspension and later firing of Proctor last July. Two other state troopers were also subject to internal affairs investigations after her first trial.
It was revealed that Proctor was communicating with Canton police officer Kevin Albert — the brother of the man who hosted the gathering where O’Keefe was found dead — during the investigation ahead of Read’s first trial.
Proctor also sent text messages that described Read in lewd and defamatory manner, as revealed during the first trial.
At one point during the first trial, attorneys for Read questioned Proctor about searching for nude photos on Read’s phone.
Judge denied 1st motion for mistrial
Read’s attorneys made motions for a mistrial twice during her second criminal trial, both of which were denied by the judge.
The first motion came after prosecutors questioned a defense expert witness about whether there was evidence of dog DNA on O’Keefe’s sweater from the night of the murder. The defense’s witness had argued marks on O’Keefe’s arm were evidence of a dog attack.
The sweatshirt had — up to this point in trial — not been presented to this jury. The jury was removed from the room as attorneys made arguments to the judge.
Defense attorneys for Read argued that prosecutors could not mention DNA in this trial since it had not been mentioned so far. Prosecutors said they had always planned to introduce DNA evidence on rebuttal.
The defense also questioned the credibility of the report that determined there was no dog DNA and questioned why there was no swabbing of the wounds on O’Keefe’s arm for DNA. They also had a series of concerns about the chain of custody of the sweater.
Prosecutors admit to making a mistake over O’Keefe sweater, mistrial motion denied
In an explosive moment during the trial, defense attorney Robert Alessi claimed prosecutor Hank Brennan pulled a “stunt” in his cross-examination of Dr. Daniel Wolfe. Brennan had shown Wolfe the back of O’Keefe’s sweatshirt, and asked him if the holes in the back of the sweatshirt could be related to the alleged killing.
Alessi said the holes had been made by the prosecutor’s witness, criminologist Maureen Hartnett.
Alessi said the defense had “no idea” that Brennan was going to do this, claiming it was an intentional “stunt” to mislead the jury into believing the holes were caused by Read allegedly hitting O’Keefe with her car.
Brennan addressed the court and admitted he had made a mistake by presenting the hoodie as he did.
However, Judge Beverly Cannone denied the motion for mistrial. but did instruct the jury to disregard Brennan’s line of questioning, and will allow the exhibits presented by Alessi into evidence.
Karen Read does not take the stand
Like her first trial, Read did not take the stand in her own defense.
Read’s defense rested after its last witness on Wednesday and prosecutors did not call any rebuttal witnesses.
“I am not testifying. The case is — it’s our last witness. [The jury] has heard my interview clips. They’ve heard my voice,” Read said to reporters outside the courthouse last week, according to Boson ABC affiliate WCVB. “They’ve heard a lot of me.”
(PERRYSBURG, OHIO) — A 24-year-old Venezuelan man who was arrested for pretending to be a 16-year-old high school student in Ohio is now facing a detainer from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
Anthony Emmanuel Labrador Sierra was arrested on Monday after he posed as a teenager in January 2024, according to the City of Perrysburg Police.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement lodged a detainer for Labrador on Tuesday, the DHS said.
“ICE lodged a retainer to ensure that this criminal illegal alien is removed from this community and is no longer able to prey on the students of Perrysburg High School,” Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for the Department of Homeland Security, announced in a press release on Wednesday.
According to a police report, Labrador had contacted Perrysburg Schools in November 2023, wanting to enroll as a student, claiming that “he had been homeless and was an immigrant from Venezuela.”
He also told the school that he was a victim of human trafficking, police said.
When he met with the school to begin the enrollment process, Labrador presented a birth certificate from the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela with a birthdate of Dec. 2, 2007, police said. At the time, he told the school he was staying at an address in Toledo, and he started as a student on Jan. 19, 2024.
Kathy and Brad Melfred, who had housed exchange students in the past and had adoptive children, were contacted about Labrador. The Melfreds agreed to assist Labrador and he began residing with them on March 21, 2024, police said.
The couple was granted permanent guardianship over Labrador through the Wood County Common Pleas Court Juvenile Division and they also assisted him in getting a social security number and an Ohio driver’s license, police said.
Then on May 14, the Melfreds were contacted by a woman, Evelyn Camacho, who stated that Labrador was “actually a 24-year-old and he was the father of her child,” police said. Camacho sent the Melfreds a picture of Labrador’s driver’s license with a birthdate of March 27, 2001, along with Facebook pictures of her with Labrador and a small child, police said.
Police said they reached out to the United States Border Patrol for assistance in the investigation, who advised that Labrador had an actual birthdate of March 27, 2001, an expired work visa and was considered “an overstay in this country.”
Officials said his work visa expired the same year he reached out to Perrysburg Schools to enroll.
On Monday at 4:15 p.m., Labrador was arrested after he was located riding in a vehicle on Interstate 75 and was booked on forgery charges, police said in a statement.
Labrador was also a member of the junior varsity soccer and swim teams at the high school, and the district has reported the situation to the Ohio High School Athletic Association.
The suspect remains in custody at the Wood County Jail and his next court date is scheduled for May 29, according to jail records. It is unclear if Labrador has an attorney who can speak on his behalf.
