New Jersey mayors pen letter demanding action on mysterious drone sightings
Obtained by ABC News
(MORRIS COUNTY, N.J.) — The mayors of 21 towns in New Jersey are demanding action in a letter sent to Gov. Phil Murphy over the mysterious drones that have been spotted flying overhead in recent weeks.
Since mid-November, large drones of uncertain origin have been repeatedly spotted in the sky at night over central and northern New Jersey.
The drones, which are larger than the type typically used by hobbyists, have raised concerns due to their proximity to both a military installation and President-elect Donald Trump’s Bedminster golf course.
In the letter, the mayors in Morris County called for a full investigation into the drones “to determine the origin, purpose and compliance with applicable regulations.”
They also demanded the “implementation of measures to prevent unauthorized or unsafe drone operations” in Morris County going forward, and “clear communication to local officials, law enforcement and residents regarding the findings of this investigation.”
“While the benefits of drone technology are widely recognized when used responsibly and transparently, the lack of information and clarity regarding these operations has caused fear and frustration among our constituents,” the mayors wrote. “Despite inquiries made to relevant authorities, we have yet to receive satisfactory answers about the purpose, operators, or safety protocols governing these flights.”
The Federal Aviation Administration has imposed drone flight restrictions while authorities investigate.
Local police previously said there is no known threat to public safety.
“Morris County Sheriff James M. Gannon would like to inform everyone that the recent drone activity observed by many in our communities is being actively investigated. There is no advisable immediate danger to the public at this time,” the Morris County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
Last week, multiple Morris and Somerset county officials said in a joint statement they would continue to monitor the drone activity.
“County and local law enforcement agencies are aware of the recurring reports of drone activity around Morris and Somerset counties, and acknowledge the public’s concern about these repeated sightings,” they said.
(STARR COUNTY, Texas) — A Texas official, who this week offered the incoming Trump administration a 1,402-acre plot of land to build “deportation facilities,” says other parts of Texas near the border could be offered up in a similar fashion.
“Absolutely — I have 13 million acres, if any of them can be of help in this process, we’re happy to have that discussion,” Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham told ABC’s Mireya Villarreal in an interview.
The Texas General Land Office purchased the plot of land from a farmer in October originally to facilitate Texas’ efforts to build a border wall. Together with this land, the state office owns about 4,000 acres in Starr County, about 35 miles from McAllen, Texas.
“My office is fully prepared to enter into an agreement with the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or the United States Border Patrol to allow a facility to be built for the processing, detention, and coordination of the largest deportation of violent criminals in the nation’s history,” Buckingham wrote in a letter addressed to President-elect DonaldTrump, earlier this week.
In an interview via Zoom, Buckingham claimed authorities were frequently “getting reports from the community” that crimes were happening on the property.
“There was a significant mass of humanity and terrible things happening on this property. We heard it again and again and again,” she said.
Buckingham placed the blame squarely on what she called the Biden administration’s “open border policies” and said the county voted Republican for the first time in a century because residents there felt those policies are “directly harming their communities” and jeopardizing their safety.
During the interview, Villarreal noted she had been speaking with residents and community leaders in the region who paint a different picture of the area, one of a safe community that does not have the violent crime that Buckingham has described.
When asked by Villareal to provide details of where those crimes are occurring, Buckingham said most of the migrants are passing through and, using some of the same rhetoric about migrants and crime used by President-elect Donald Trump on the campaign trail, said they “unleash some of their violent criminal habits” in other states across the country.
“Well, a lot of it is migrant-migrant crime, but you’re right, the communities along the border are lovely,” she said. “The people who live there are lovely. Obviously, most of the migrants who come across aren’t interested in sticking around too long. They go to other parts of the country, as we have seen in faraway states — people who came across the Texas border — and then tend to unleash some of their violent criminal habits in other states.”
She added, “But the bottom line is, until we have complete operational control of the border, until we have these violent criminals off of our soil that continue to hurt our sons and daughters, we need to keep working on it and get it done.”
In 2023, in the same county where the Texas commission recently bought the 1,402-acre plot of land, the Biden administration announced it had authorized building about 20 miles of southern border wall using money that was already appropriated under the first Trump administration.
President Joe Biden at the time claimed he had no choice to build the wall, which directly contradicted a promise he made during his 2020 presidential run.
“I tried to get them to reappropriate — to redirect the money,” Biden told reporters at the time. “They didn’t, they wouldn’t. And in the meantime, there’s nothing under the law other than they have to use the money for what is appropriated. I can’t stop that.”
After that announcement, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said there was an “immediate need to construct physical barriers” in the area.
Buckingham said she’s confident she’ll hear back from the incoming Trump administration about her offer of land.
“We have heard through back channels that they’re aware of our letter and they are definitely looking at it,” she said.
Incoming “border czar” Tom Homan, in an interview with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham, indicated the incoming administration would be open to using the land Texas is offering.
“Absolutely we will,” he said, adding that when they arrest a migrant, they’ll need a place to detain them.
Democratic governors of border states — such as Arizona and California — have said they will not aid the Trump administration’s mass deportation plans.
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs told ABC News Live earlier this week that she would not use state police or the National Guard to help with mass deportation.
ABC News’ Mireya Villareal contributed to this report.
(LAS VEGAS) — Matthew Livelsberger used ChatGPT to help plot the Tesla Cybertruck explosion outside the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas on New Year’s Day, authorities revealed on Tuesday.
Police have “clear evidence” that Livelsberger used the generative artificial intelligence tool to “help plan his attack,” Sheriff Kevin McMahill of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department told reporters during a press briefing on Tuesday.
Livelsberger, an active-duty Army soldier who authorities said died by suicide in the incident, asked questions about explosives and what would set off certain types of explosives, police said.
McMahill said he believes this is the first case on U.S. soil in which ChatGPT/AI helped a suspect build a device, calling it a “concerning moment” and a “game changer.” He added it is also “instructive” for other law enforcement agencies and is releasing information where they can in the case.
ABC News has reached out to OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, for comment.
Through ChatGPT, the suspect looked at “trying to figure out the amount of explosives needed in order to conduct the explosion he was looking to cause,” Las Vegas Assistant Sheriff Dori Koren said during the press briefing.
He also used it to try to figure out where to buy fireworks, how much and how they compare to other explosive materials, Koren said. An “important component” of his inquiries involved the velocity of the bullet fired from the firearm and “determining whether that would ignite the explosives,” Koren said.
Livelsberger, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound just prior to the blast, according to the Clark County coroner. Two firearms — one handgun and one rifle — were found in the vehicle, police said.
The Cybertruck had over 60 pounds of pyrotechnics, and 20 gallons of fuel were poured over the fireworks and explosive material in the back of the truck, according to Kenny Cooper, assistant special agent in charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ San Francisco field division.
Investigators believe the muzzle flash alone could have been an ignition source for the fuel-air explosion, though several other possible sources have not been ruled out, he said.
Police said Tuesday they have also recovered a six-page document on a phone found in the Cybertruck that showed a “variance of grievances and a constant evolution of his plans or intents of what he wanted to do,” Koren said.
In the document, the suspect was critical of the Biden administration and talked about having graphic memories of his time in battle and losing his teammates, according to Koren. He also mentioned being “super high on weed and drinking,” which investigators are still working to confirm, Koren said. The document also showed his mental health struggles, which “builds upon that potential PTSD that we’re referring to,” Koren said.
“He does transition at some point, and talks about being concerned of the media labeling them as a terrorist and that he had no intent on killing anyone else besides from himself,” Koren said.
Livelsberger’s writings indicate he had considered planning to set off the explosion at the glass walkway at the Grand Canyon but changed his mind, for whatever reason, to the Trump Hotel, police said.
“He does talk about his intent to make this as public as possible,” Koren said.
Police believe parts of the document may be classified and are working with the Department of Defense to understand if it can all be released.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department last week released two additional letters found on a cellphone retrieved from the Cybertruck. In the letters, Livelsberger said the country was being led by the “weak” and those out to “enrich themselves,” while also claiming the incident was not meant as a terrorist attack but a “wake-up call.”
In one of the letters police say were found on his phone, Livelsberger expressed support for Donald Trump and the president-elect’s allies, Elon Musk and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. He also expressed disdain for diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and income inequality and expressed a concern about homelessness, according to the letters.
Livelsberger also sent an email shared by the military-themed “Shawn Ryan Show” podcast on Friday, authorities confirmed on Tuesday. That information was sent to the FBI following the attack, federal officials said.
The evidence shows Livelsberger “thoughtfully prepared” and acted alone in the incident, federal authorities said. He was not on the FBI’s radar prior to the attack, authorities said.
No one else was seriously hurt, though seven bystanders sustained minor injuries, officials said.
Livelsberger served as a Green Beret in the Army and was on approved leave from serving in Germany at the time of his death, a U.S. Army spokesperson said Thursday.
He received extensive decorations in combat, including the Bronze Star with a “V” device for valor, indicating heroism under fire. Livelsberger received four more standard Bronze Star medals, according to Army records. He also earned the Afghanistan Campaign Medal with three stars. Each star represents service in a separate campaign in Afghanistan.
Livelsberger had been receiving mental health assistance over the last year, a U.S. official confirmed Friday.
Another U.S. official confirmed that officials thought Livelsberger was stable enough to go home for Christmas and his leave was approved.
His wife, who investigators spoke to in Colorado Springs, said he had been out of the house since around Christmas after a dispute over allegations of infidelity, the official said.
His wife told officials she did not believe Livelsberger would want to hurt anyone, the official told ABC News.
If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide or worried about a friend or loved one, call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 for free, confidential emotional support 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
(LOS ANGELES) — Even as four wildfires continued to burn in Los Angeles County on Thursday, the blazes were already rewriting the record books.
Over the last nine days, seven fires have broken out across the nation’s second-largest metropolitan region, ravaging a combined area bigger than the 40 square miles that comprise the city of San Francisco and nearly twice the size of Manhattan, New York. An eighth fire ignited Monday night near Oxnard in neighboring Ventura County, but fire crews held it to 61 acres.
The two biggest infernos, the Palisades and the Eaton fires, are now among the most destructive blazes in California history, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).
Tune into “Good Morning America” on Friday, Jan. 17, as ABC News and ABC owned stations kick off “SoCal Strong” (#SoCalStrong) coverage in support of Los Angeles-area communities amid the devastating wildfires. Coverage continues across ABC News programs and platforms.
As of Thursday morning, the Eaton Fire, which has burned 14,117 acres and destroyed more than 7,000 structures, was the second most destructive fire in state history behind the 2018 Camp Fire in Northern California’s Butte County, which consumed 153,336 acres and leveled 18,804 structures, according to Cal Fire.
The Palisades Fire has surged to fourth on Cal Fire’s list of most destructive wildfires in the Golden State after destroying more than 5,000 structures and burning 23,713 acres of drought-parched land.
The 62 square miles comprising the fire zones are just a part of the 4,083 square miles that make up all of LA County.
Regarding the death toll from the fires, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner is investigating 16 deaths in connection with the Eaton Fire. That makes it the fifth deadliest wildfire in state history, leaping over three fires that each caused 15 deaths — the Rattlesnake Fire of 1953 in Northern California, the 2003 Cedar Fire in San Diego, and the 2020 North Complex Fire in Northern California’s Butte, Plumas and Yuba counties.
The medical examiner is investigating nine deaths in connection with the Palisades Fire in the oceanfront community of Pacific Palisades, which ranks 14 on the list of deadliest California wildfires.
The Eaton and Palisades fires combined have burned an area the equivalent of 2,324 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseums, one of the biggest football stadiums in the country.
The Palisades Fire was 22% contained on Thursday, according to Cal Fire. The Eaton Fire was 55% contained.
The fires are expected to cost insurers as much as $30 billion, Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs estimated in a report released this week. After accounting for non-insured damages, the total costs will balloon to $40 billion, the report said.
While Wednesday marked the third straight day the National Weather Service (NWS) had issued a rare “particularly dangerous situation” red flag alert for Los Angeles County, the winds were not as strong as expected overnight allowing residents and firefighters to breathe a sigh of relief that no new fires were reported.
Offshore Santa Ana winds will continue to diminish for the majority of Southern California on Thursday, according to the NWS. However, a red flag warning continues for the San Gabriel and Santa Susana mountains until 3 p.m. local time Thursday.
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.
However, a red flag warning continues for the San Gabriel Mountains, 50 miles east of downtown Los Angeles, and the Santa Susana Mountains, about 30 miles north of downtown LA, until 3 p.m. local time Thursday.
A marine layer and even some clouds could bring a chance for a sprinkle to Southern California late Thursday and into Friday.
Up to more than 15,000 firefighters, including crews from outside the state and nation, are taking advantage of the calmer weather to increase fire containment lines, pre-position equipment in crews in vulnerable areas and use air tankers to coat hillsides in front of the burn areas with fire retardant in advance of the next Santa Ana wind event, officials said.
The NWS is forecasting a return of strong Santa Ana winds to the region next Monday and Tuesday.
Los Angeles County Fire Capt. Sheila Kelliher told ABC News a big concern continues to be protecting communities where no fires have yet to emerge, saying, “The start that hasn’t happened I think is what kind of keeps us up.”
The causes of the fires remain under investigation by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Meanwhile, FEMA is reporting that it has received more than 53,000 applications for emergency disaster aid.
About 80,000 people remain under mandatory evacuation.
Fire victims like Zaire Calvin of Altadena, whose sister Evelyn McClendon perished in a blaze that burned down their family home, shuddered to think of another blaze like the Eaton Fire igniting.
“It looked like a volcano,” Calvin told ABC News. “When you’re mourning your sister’s death, there’s no real understanding. There’s no understanding. There’s no way to even take it in.”
Calvin said residents like him, whose lives have been upturned by the fires, face an uncertain future as they decide whether to rebuild.
“Everyone is fighting,” Calvin said. “Everyone is literally just asking, leaning on each other to say, ‘What’s next? What’s the best thing to do?'”
