Off-duty corrections officer killed in ‘targeted’ attack: Police
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(PALM BEACH, Fla.) — An off-duty corrections officer in Florida was shot and killed in a “targeted attack,” according to police.
The incident occurred at 7:32 p.m. when deputies from the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office in Florida were dispatched to reports of gunfire in the 1400 block of NW Avenue D, in Belle Glade, according to a statement from the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday
“The victim is an off-duty PBSO Corrections Deputy, who was taken to St. Mary’s Hospital, but unfortunately was pronounced dead shortly after arriving,” authorities said. “Further investigation determined that this incident was targeted.”
Officials have not yet named the deputy but did confirm that the officer killed was 39-years-old and had been with the agency for three years, police said.
Authorities also did not release any information on their investigation or why they were able to conclude that the attack was targeted at the officer involved.
A ceremonial escort took place on Tuesday evening in honor of the slain offifer from St. Mary’s Hospital to the Medical Examiner’s Office.
“We are distraught to say the least,” said the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office.
Authorities said that additional information will be provided as it becomes available.
(ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.) — The New Mexico Republican Party headquarters was targeted in a suspected arson attack on Sunday, according to party officials.
At approximately 5:56 a.m. on Sunday, Albuquerque Fire Rescue was dispatched to the headquarters for a reported structure fire, officials said.
The flames were brought under control within five minutes of their arrival and there were no reported injuries, fire rescue said.
The structure suffered “damage to the front entryway and smoke damage throughout the building,” fire rescue said.
The words “ICE=KKK” were also spray-painted on the building, officials said.
The Republican Party of New Mexico said the incident was a “deliberate act of arson.”
“This horrific attack, fueled by hatred and intolerance, is a direct assault on our values, freedoms and our right to political expression,” party officials said in a statement on Sunday.
Party officials said this is not an isolated incident, claiming it is part of a “disturbing pattern of politically motivated violence that has plagued our country — fueled in part by the silence and implicit encouragement from progressive leaders who refuse to condemn these acts.”
Republican Party of New Mexico Chairwoman Amy Barela said those who “resort to violence to undermine our state and nation must be held accountable.”
“The Republican Party of New Mexico will not be silenced,” Barela said in a statement. “We will emerge from this stronger, more united and more determined to fight for the people of New Mexico and the future of our country.”
The Democratic Party of New Mexico said on X that it also “condemns the vandalism of the @NewMexicoGOP office as strongly as possible.”
“We firmly maintain that this sort of act has absolutely no place in our Democracy, & that peaceful discourse & organization are the only ways to approach political differences in our country,” the party wrote. “We hope whoever is responsible is found and held accountable.”
New Mexico Democratic Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez added, “Political violence is unacceptable, including the arson attack on New Mexico’s GOP headquarters. The perpetrators must be held accountable. Every American should be able to freely and safely participate in our democracy.”
Leticia Muñoz, the executive director of the State Republican Party of New Mexico, said she is “thankful to first responders and law enforcement who saved our office from burning to the ground.”
“My resolve is even stronger today to continue to ‘FIGHT’ for our state,” Muñoz said in a statement.
Albuquerque Fire Rescue is working with the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to investigate this incident, officials said.
(NEW YORK) — Millions in the Southwest are on alert for fire weather through the end of the week due to extreme or critical risks posed by warmer temperatures, high winds and a low relative humidity, officials said.
Red flag warnings are in place for 4.5 million people — beginning on Wednesday and continuing through the rest of the workweek — due to the combination of warmer-than-normal temperatures, a relative humidity of around 10% to 15% and winds gusts between 25 to 40 mph, officials said.
In New Mexico, portions of the state, including Albuquerque, are under an extreme threat — the highest warning by the National Weather Service — due to wind gusts that could reach 60 mph on Thursday, along with a relative humidity between 5% and 10%. The extreme warning means a “threat to life and property from existing or potential wildfires due to weather and fuel conditions.”
Portions of eastern Arizona and New Mexico are under a critical fire risk, the second-highest level, including Tucson, Catalina Foothills, Las Cruces and Roswell, officials said.
These dry, gusty conditions will increase the threat of wildfires to these areas and will continue to intensify on Thursday, with most of New Mexico, western Texas, southeastern Colorado and the Oklahoma Panhandle under a critical threat, officials said.
The conditions should ease heading into the weekend, but portions of New Mexico and the Southwest could still remain in a critical wildfire threat through Friday, officials said.
Along with the threat of wildfires, another storm system will bring more rain and severe weather across the central U.S. beginning on Thursday and continuing throughout the weekend.
Five million people, including eastern Nebraska, Iowa, southern Minnesota and northern Missouri, are under a slight risk for severe weather on Thursday, which could bring hail, damaging winds and even possible tornadoes. Isolated severe storms could impact Omaha, Nebraska; and Davenport, Des Moines and Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Thursday afternoon.
This system is expected to expand on Friday, with areas from north Texas through Michigan under a slight risk for scattered severe storms.
(WASHINGTON) — As the Department of Government Efficiency rapidly moves to reshape the federal government, several groups challenging DOGE in court are attempting to determine how Elon Musk’s budget-slashers were able to rapidly entrench themselves in at least 15 agencies.
Over the coming week, federal judges have ordered key Trump administration officials to testify about mass firings and the dismantling of key agencies, while DOGE representatives will likely have to turn over evidence in dozens of cases and participate in a sworn deposition for at least one case.
The legal challenges materializing against DOGE could present an existential challenge for the group, whose effectiveness has in part stemmed from its ability to move quickly and make massive changes without the normal oversight.
While Musk and Trump have touted DOGE’s transparency — including on DOGE’s website, where it lists recently canceled contracts — the plaintiffs challenging the group have argued that the group has relied on secrecy to hide tactics that violate federal law.
“[T]he entity has worked in the shadows — a cadre of largely unidentified actors, whose status as government employees is unclear, controlling major government functions with no oversight,” one lawsuit alleged.
That secrecy has also made it harder for nonprofits or federal unions to successfully block DOGE in court, with many plaintiffs relying on media reporting — rather than documentary evidence — to prove the harms DOGE has allegedly caused.
“The court can’t act based on the media reports. We can’t do that,” one federal judge said in a case about the constitutionality of Musk’s power. “The things that I’m hearing are concerning indeed and troubling indeed, but I have to have a record, and I have to make a finding the facts before I issue something.”
But that might begin to change as the cases against DOGE progress and plaintiffs are entitled to receive discovery — i.e., the exchange of evidence — relevant to key allegations. At least one federal judge has ordered a DOGE representative to sit for a sworn deposition about the group’s access to the federal government’s sensitive data.
A federal judge in Washington, D.C, was scheduled Friday afternoon to consider what kind of regulations will govern the transparency behind DOGE after the group argued it shouldn’t be subject to the Freedom of Information Act, and next week might provide some of the first sworn testimony about Trump’s effort to rapidly reduce the size of government since retaking office.
On Monday, a federal judge in Washington is holding a hearing at which the acting chief operating officer of the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau has been ordered to testify about the ongoing dismantling of the agency, and a separate judge in California on Thursday is requiring the acting director of the Office of Personnel Management to testify under oath about how the Trump administration allegedly ordered the mass firing of probationary employees.
“We will prove in this case that remarkably, and I do not say this lightly, your honor, Acting Director [Charles] Ezell is not telling the truth to this court,” a lawyer challenging the mass firings alleged, prompting the judge overseeing the case to order Ezell to testify in person.
“We’re going to have Ezell come out here and he’s going to be under oath right up there and these lawyers are going to quiz him,” U.S. District Judge William Alsup said.
During a court hearing on Thursday about Ezell’s testimony, lawyers with the Department of Justice said the administration is considering making Ezell unavailable for testimony despite the court’s order, citing logistical concerns and their potential appeal of the decision. Lawyers for the plaintiffs called the move a clear defiance of a court order and a delay tactic.
“No final decision had been made,” a DOJ lawyer told Judge Alsup, suggesting the final decision would be made in Washington.
The Trump administration has already begun its appeal in more than a dozen cases challenging Trump’s executive actions, and two adverse rulings have already reached the Supreme Court.
