Police investigating vehicle explosion at Trump hotel in Las Vegas
KTNV
(LAS VEGAS) — Authorities are investigating a vehicle explosion and fire on Wednesday outside the Trump Las Vegas hotel in Nevada.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said it was investigating a fire at the entrance to the tower. The public was told to avoid the area.
The driver pulled into the valet area of the hotel and the vehicle exploded, according to an official. The driver is apparently dead and, so far, the only casualty from the incident.
Investigators do not know what caused the blast, such as whether something was wrong with the vehicle or whether something external prompted it. Determining what was behind the explosion is the key focus of the probe.
The property is the subject of frequent threats and heightened security given its connection to President-elect Donald Trump.
Eric Trump, his son, posted on social media about the incident.
“Earlier today, a reported electric vehicle fire occurred in the porte cochère of Trump Las Vegas,” he wrote. “The safety and well-being of our guests and staff remain our top priority. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the Las Vegas Fire Department and local law enforcement for their swift response and professionalism.”
The hotel also issued a statement on X suggesting the car involved was electric.
“Earlier today a reported electric vehicle fire occurred in the porte cochère of Trump Las Vegas,” the hotel wrote. “The safety & well-being of our guests and staff remain our top priority. We extend our gratitude to the Las Vegas Fire Department and local law enforcement for their swift response.”
(NEW YORK) — The Department of Justice and lawyers representing a group of FBI agents involved in investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack were in active negotiations Thursday to reach an agreement that would prevent the DOJ from publicly releasing the identities of any bureau employees currently under review for potential disciplinary action or firings.
The anonymous group of FBI agents is seeking a temporary restraining order to keep the FBI from releasing the names on a list the bureau collected as part of what the plaintiffs’ lawsuit says is the agency’s plan to engage in “potential vigilante action” to retaliate against government employees who worked on Jan. 6 cases or Donald Trump’s classified documents case.
U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb, in a hearing Thursday, said she was “sympathetic” to the argument that the public release of any names on the last would do serious damage — but the lawyers representing the agents struggled to provide evidence that the DOJ intends to publicly release the information, rather than use the material for an internal review as they have vowed in court filings.
“Our argument is that the threat to national security is so extreme that we cannot risk letting it happen first, and then trying to put it back together,” said attorney for the agents Margaret Donovan in arguing for the temporary restraining order.
“I appreciate that, and I’m sympathetic to that argument,” Judge Cobb said. “A fear of something happening is not sufficient, even if — you know — the fear is a serious one.”
Lawyers representing the plaintiffs warned that the Trump Administration and DOGE head Elon Musk have demonstrated a willingness to publicly name officials they’ve accused of wrongdoing, such as the 51 former intelligence officials who wrote a letter about the Hunter Biden laptop and were later stripped of their security clearances in a Day-1 executive order by President Donald Trump.
“We have seen Elon Musk, working for the so-called DOGE agency, release names of individuals in public service. We have seen Jan. 6 pardonees very active on social media around the time of the survey, anticipating that the names would be released,” Donovan said. “We have a good faith reason to believe that those names may get out.”
With the Department of Justice publicly vowing to keep the names of agents private, and the plaintiffs lacking clear evidence showing an intent to release the names, both sides reached an impasse after the morning hearing, with plans to negotiate in private before the hearing resumes.
“We’re in between somewhat of a rock and a hard place on all of that,” plaintiffs’ attorney Mark Zaid said.
In a court filing submitted Thursday morning, the Justice Department urged the judge hearing the case to reject the plaintiffs’ request to impose a restraining order blocking any public release of the list.
DOJ attorneys argued in the filing that the motion for the restraining order is based largely on speculation and that the FBI agents have failed to show they face any imminent threats in connection with the list.
Trump pleaded not guilty in 2023 to 40 criminal counts related to his handling of classified materials after leaving the White House, and, separately, to charges of undertaking a “criminal scheme” to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The classified documents case was dismissed last year by a federal judge, and both cases were subsequently dropped following Trump’s reelection in November due to a longstanding DOJ policy prohibiting the prosecution of a sitting president.
(NEW YORK) — A man accused of killing a woman by setting her on fire as she slept on a New York City subway train last month pleaded not guilty Tuesday to first-degree murder and other charges.
The suspect, Sebastian Zapeta-Calil, who police said is an undocumented migrant from Guatemala, appeared in Brooklyn Criminal Court and pleaded not guilty to one count of first-degree murder and three counts of second-degree murder and first-degree arson stemming from the horrific killing of Debrina Kawam, who police said was homeless and sleeping on a subway car when she was attacked.
Kawam, 57, was originally from Toms River, New Jersey, the New York Police Department said.
Kawam was asleep on a stationary F train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue station in Brooklyn at about 7:25 a.m. on Dec. 22 when she was set ablaze allegedly by the 33-year-old Zapeta-Calil, who stuck around to watch her burn, even fanning the flames, according to Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez.
“It is difficult to fathom what could lead someone to commit the atrocious and horrific murder with which this defendant is charged,” Gonzalez said in a statement following Zapeta-Calil’s arrangement. “My office swiftly obtained an indictment, and we are determined to exact the most severe punishment for this heinous and inhumane act. Ms. Kawam and her loved ones deserve a measure of justice and New Yorkers deserve to feel safe in the subways.”
If convicted of the charges, Kawam faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Video surveillance captured Zapeta-Calil, who rode in the same subway car as the victim from Queens, using what appeared to be a lighter to set fire to fabric that covered the sleeping woman.
The evidence collected by investigators showed Zapeta-Calil at first allegedly watched the woman burn from inside the subway car as the fire grew, Gonzalez said. The suspect then allegedly appeared to use a shirt to fan the flames, which completely engulfed the victim, the district attorney said.
Gonzalez alleged Zapeta-Calil then walked out of the subway car, sat on a bench on the station platform and watched as the woman burned.
Kawam was declared dead at the scene and the medical examiner determined the cause of death to be a combination of heat burns and smoke inhalation, Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez said Kawam was burned beyond recognition and it took the medical examiner nine days to identify her.
Using the video footage, police officers quickly identified the suspect and distributed his image to local media outlets, prompting a tip that he was aboard an F train near the Herald Square-34th Steet Station in Manhattan, Gonzalez said. Officers rushed to the station and took Zapeta-Calil into custody around 4 p.m. on the same day as the subway attack.
The victim’s brother appeared in court Tuesday and met with local clergy to discuss plans for an upcoming memorial service.
Kawam, known to her classmates as “Debbie,” grew up in Little Falls, New Jersey. She went to Montclair State University to study business and marketing and worked for a time at Merck. She filed for bankruptcy in 2008.
Family and friends are expected to gather to remember Kawam on Jan. 12 for a memorial service at First Baptist Church in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, according to clergy members who attended Zspres-Calil’s arraignment.
Petty Officer 1st Class Brandon Giles/ U.S. Coast Guard via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — Hundreds of families are in mourning after an American Airlines regional jet collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday night, with both aircraft plunging into the Potomac River near Washington, D.C.’s Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
No one survived.
Sixty-four people were on board the plane, which departed from Wichita, Kansas. Three soldiers were on the helicopter.
