Miami man arrested after shooting 2 men he mistakenly believed were Palestinian
Miami Dade County Corrections and Rehabilitation
(MIAMI) — A Florida man has been arrested and charged for shooting 17 times at two men who he mistakenly thought were Palestinian. The victims were actually tourists from Israel, according to police.
Mordechai Brafman, 27, has been charged with two counts of second degree attempted murder, according to state records. The Miami State Attorney’s Office Hate Crimes unit is reviewing the case to see if it meets that statutory requirements for a penalty enhancement.
Florida does not have a hate crime offense, but charges can be enhanced which increases the seriousness of the penalty for a crime if a defendant is convicted, according to the attorney’s office.
Brafman is accused of stopping his truck in a parallel lane, directly in front of the victim’s vehicle before exiting his vehicle on Saturday. As the victims drove past him, Brafman allegedly shot at the vehicle 17 times, “unprovoked,” striking both victims, according to an arrest affidavit.
While in custody, Brafman allegedly said that he saw two Palestinians while driving his truck and he shot and killed both, according to a police report.
One victim sustained a gunshot wound to the left shoulder while the second victim sustained a graze wound to the left forearm, according to the affidavit.
The victims and the defendant do not know each other, according to the affidavit.
Brafman is being held in jail without bond. He is scheduled to be arraigned on March 10.
An ABC News graphic shows the fire forecast in Southern California on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. Via ABC News.
(LOS ANGELES) — The winds fueling fires in Southern California are beginning to relax, but the forecast calls for their return next week.
Offshore Santa Ana winds will continue to diminish for the majority of Southern California on Thursday.
However, a red flag warning continues for the San Gabriel and Santa Susana mountains until 3 p.m. local time today.
This morning and early afternoon, winds of 15 to 25 mph with gusts up to 40 mph will continue for the Western San Gabriel Mountains, Santa Susana Mountains, and the I-5 corridor.
By late afternoon, offshore winds are expected to increase humidity dramatically for coastal Southern California, with up to 60% in Pacific Palisades to nearly 70% in San Diego.
A marine layer and even some clouds could bring a chance for a sprinkle to Southern California late Thursday and into Friday.
The next Santa Ana wind event is forecast to begin Monday into Tuesday, but it is too early to say how strong the winds will be.
But it could be even drier next week, with relative humidity dropping well into single digits. The low humidity and strong winds have fueled the dangerous wildfires burning around Los Angeles.
More offshore Santa Ana wind are possible Wednesday through Saturday of next week.
Deb Cohn-Orbach/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — The U.S. Department of Transportation said the Federal Highway Administration has “terminated approval” of New York City’s congestion pricing plan, the first of its kind in the nation, which went into effect earlier this year.
The DOT shared a letter from Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, in which he said a review found that the “scope of this pilot project as approved exceeds the authority authorized by Congress” under the Federal Highway Administration’s Value Pricing Pilot Program.
“New York State’s congestion pricing plan is a slap in the face to working class Americans and small business owners,” Duffy said in a statement on Wednesday. “Commuters using the highway system to enter New York City have already financed the construction and improvement of these highways through the payment of gas taxes and other taxes. But now the toll program leaves drivers without any free highway alternative, and instead, takes more money from working people to pay for a transit system and not highways. It’s backwards and unfair.”
In response to the letter, a New York state official said that whatever the Trump administration intends, the state will fight in court to preserve congestion pricing.
The congestion pricing plan, which launched on Jan. 5, newly charged passenger vehicles $9 to access Manhattan below 60th Street during peak hours as part of an effort to ease congestion and raise funds for the city’s public transit system. During peak hours, small trucks and charter buses were charged $14.40 and large trucks and tour buses $21.60.
On Donald Trump’s first day in office, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy asked the president and his administration to “reexamine” the highly debated congestion pricing plan and its impact on the Garden State.
In a letter to Trump, Murphy requested that “New York’s congestion pricing scheme receive the close look it deserved but did not receive from the federal government last year.”
In his letter to Hochul, Duffy noted that Trump asked him to review the Federal Highway Administration’s approval of the congestion pricing program upon assuming his position as secretary last month.
“In particular, the President expressed his concerns about the extent of the tolling that was approved by the Department of Transportation on highways that have been constructed with funds under the Federal-aid Highway Program and the significant burdens on the New York City residents, businesses, and area commuters (including those from New Jersey and Connecticut) who regularly use the highway network in the CBD tolling area,” Duffy said.
Duffy also mentioned Murphy’s letter to Trump, in which the governor “expressed significant concerns about the impacts that the imposition of tolls” on New Jersey commuters and residents.
The secretary also said there are pending legal challenges over the plan “which question whether the scope of the project exceeds the authority of VPPP.”
Duffy said the Federal Highway Administration will contact the New York State Department of Transportation “to discuss the orderly cessation of toll operations under this terminated pilot project.”
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which manages the city’s subways as well as bridges and commuter rails, has said the toll would enable it to issue $15 billion in bonds to help fund capital projects.
In response to Murphy’s letter to Trump, Hochul told reporters that if the congestion pricing plan is ultimately killed, “that comes with $15 billion more” the federal government will need to give to New York.
Transgender flag/Nathan Morris/NurPhoto via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — After months of targeting transgender youth medical care, legislators in some states are now setting their sights on restricting funding for care for transgender adults.
Lawmakers in at least eight states are seeking to restrict state or public funds from being used for gender-affirming care, limiting a patient’s ability to use Medicaid to help pay: Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Texas, and Virginia.
For Mason Kalinsky, that would mean he may no longer be able to access the hormone therapy that he has been taking for roughly three years. Kalinsky, a 27-year-old transgender activist in Kentucky, told ABC News in an interview that hormone therapy changed his life.
Before accessing hormone therapy, Kalinsky said he and his doctors tried a slew of medications including antidepressants to address his mental health challenges, including his struggles with addiction.
Hormone therapy and gender-affirming care made him feel “more awake and alive in my body in a way that no other medication had,” Kalinsky said.
“It’s a necessary medication for me,” he said. “And this bill, if it passes, would mean that I would no longer be able to get this care, as would a lot of other people who also have insurance that is in some way paid for by the public.”
Kentucky state Rep. Josh Calloway, a Republican, is one of the legislators behind the Kentucky bill. He told ABC News in an interview that he believes state funds should not go toward gender-affirming health care.
His bill would bar state funds from going toward services related to gender transitioning, including mental health counseling or therapy, hormone therapy or any surgical procedures.
Calloway could not provide details about how much in state funding currently goes to gender-affirming care for transgender patients. Instead, Calloway stated that the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services informed him that if his bill were implemented, it could cost the state between $12 to $21 million in the need for psychiatric care, counseling and hospital stays from impacted patients who may need increased mental health services.
“What they are saying by that statement is that we have a mental health crisis,” Calloway told ABC News, adding “they’re saying that these people will be in psychiatric care and treatment if we remove the ability to use these medications.”
ABC News has reached out to the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services to confirm the estimate.
“The truth is there’s only male and female, and there is no way that either can transition to the other,” said Calloway.
The bill has exceptions for intersex people – such as those with differences in sexual development – and does not restrict such care for non-transgender people.
“This is what is best: men, women, having a family, having babies, procreating,” said Calloway. “Those aspects of our society are under attack through many different avenues. This is just one of those avenues — promote confusion. Cause kids to be confused. They become unstable. They become adults, and before you know it, our society is totally disrupted.”
Transgender Americans — who are estimated to make up less than 1% of the U.S. population over the age of 13 — have been the target of hundreds of Republican-backed bills in recent years.
These bills target bathroom usage and sports participation by transgender residents and restrict certain content in schools or libraries that refer to transgender identities.
However, many anti-LGBTQ bills fail to move forward each year. In 2024, 533 anti-LGBTQ bills were considered by state legislatures and only 49 passed, according to the ACLU.
Kentucky, like other states behind the new wave of restrictive bills, previously passed a gender-affirming care ban for people under the age of 18.
In 2023, the gender youth care ban was vetoed by Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, which was quickly overridden by the state legislature and passed into law.
Beshear argued that the bill allowed too much government interference in personal health care decisions.
Many of the laws that have been signed or passed into law have led to ongoing legal battles. The Supreme Court is currently considering a case, U.S. v. Skrmetti, which would decide the constitutionality of gender-affirming care bans for transgender minors.
For Carma Marshall Bell, a 34-year-old trans Kentucky resident who has been on hormone therapy for five years, she said she is “terrified” about what could happen if she’s unable to afford her treatment, which could include hormone withdrawal symptoms, which may lead to physical changes and a potential negative impact on mental health.
“I feel like I’m in a good place. I used to be in a really dark place at the beginning. I didn’t see myself in who I used to be versus who I see myself now,” said Marshall. Losing her hormones “would exacerbate depression and just those dark feelings that so many Americans right now are battling and fighting against.”
She continued, “Hormones, to a degree, have saved my life. If I hadn’t got on them, I don’t know where I would be right now.”
Marshall plans on attending a rally with other LGBTQ advocates and allies to call on lawmakers to vote against the bills impacting the transgender community in the state.
“We are people that are deserving of love, respect, humanity. We deserve our little piece of the American dream,” said Marshall. “We actually take a lot of steps to ensure that there’s nothing wrong with us, by ensuring that we see our mental health professionals, by ensuring that we’re in those doctor’s offices taking care of our health and well being, because health is wealth, and we want to prosper in this country known as America.”
