Potential nor’easter poses threat to East Coast, bringing heavy rain, damaging winds to major cities
Coastal Storm Impacts – Sunday, 9AM Map. ABC News
(NEW YORK) — A potential nor’easter is beginning to develop off the coast of Florida on Friday, which could pose a threat to the East Coast this weekend into next week. Major cities and coastal areas in the Northeast could see heavy rain, gusty winds, coastal flooding and beach erosion.
The cold front that has brought chilly temperatures across the Northeast stalled out over the Florida Peninsula on Friday morning, with a low-pressure system developing in its wake along the Southeast coast later on Friday into Saturday that will track parallel to the East Coast.
By Sunday into Monday, the storm will skirt North Carolina’s Outer Banks and spin off the Jersey Shore before pulling away later in the day on Tuesday into Wednesday.
Over the next several days, this potential nor’easter will bring a plethora of impacts to the East Coast, with some threats even extending well inland.
Coastal areas from the Carolinas up to Long Island and southern coastal New England will bear the brunt of this storm, with winds reaching up to 60 mph, rain totals hitting between 2 to 5-plus inches, moderate to major tidal flooding and significant beach erosion.
Inland areas, including along the Interstate 95 corridor, could see up to 2 inches of rain and wind gusts reaching anywhere between 20 to 40 mph.
The heaviest rain totals will come from Saturday through Tuesday, bringing concerns of flash flooding, gusty winds and coastal flooding.
High wind watches have been issued for southern Delaware, coastal New Jersey and Long Island from Sunday morning through the overnight hours into Monday, with sustained winds of 20 to 30 mph and gusts of 60 mph or more.
Coastal flood watches have also already been issued from the Outer Banks of North Carolina up to coastal Massachusetts for Sunday through Monday for at least minor to moderate flooding. Areas from Delaware up to the Jersey Shore and Long Island could see moderate to potentially major impacts, with structural damage possible in coastal and bayside communities.
Additionally, significant beach erosion is also possible along the East Coast, especially from the Outer Banks up to coastal New England.
Martin County Sheriff’s Office / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — One year ago, Ryan Routh allegedly tried to kill Donald Trump during his campaign for reelection as U.S. president.
Federal prosecutors on Monday will begin the process of trying to prove that claim when they start selecting a jury for a trial they have warned could quickly devolve into a “circus.”
Routh, a 59-year-old construction worker from North Carolina and Hawaii, will be representing himself during the month-long trial despite not being a lawyer and having limited legal experience. He has pleaded not guilty to five criminal charges that risk sending him to prison for life, including attempting to kill a presidential candidate and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.
Since taking over his own defense, Routh, according to court filings, has requested a “beatdown session” with Trump, asked to compete for his life in a round of golf with the president, and proposed being part of a prisoner swap instead of going to trial.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon — a Trump appointee who oversaw and dismissed one of the president’s criminal cases — is allowing Routh to defend himself but has imposed strict rules to prevent the trial from spiraling into what she called “calculated chaos.”
“I will be representing myself moving forward; It was ridiculous from the outset to consider a random stranger that knows nothing of who I am to speak for me,” Routh wrote in a letter to Judge Cannon in July. “I am so sorry, I know this makes your life harder.”
‘I tried my best’ Prosecutors allege that Routh planned his attack for months, then hid in the bushes of Trump’s Palm Beach golf course with a rifle in the predawn hours of Sept. 15.
With Trump just one hole away from Routh’s position, a Secret Service agent spotted a rifle poking out of the tree line, according to prosecutors. Routh allegedly fled after the agent fired at him, and was later arrested after being stopped on a nearby interstate.
Routh faces five criminal charges, including attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate, using a firearm in furtherance of a crime, assaulting a federal officer, possessing a firearm as a felon, and using a gun with a defaced serial number.
To secure a conviction, prosecutors will need to prove that not only did Routh intend to kill Trump, but that he also took at least one “substantial step” to carry out his plan.
According to prosecutors, Routh set his plan into motion after the unsuccessful attempt on Trump’s life in Butler, Pennsylvania, which Routh was not involved in. Prosecutors say Routh acquired a military-grade rifle, purchased more than a dozen burner phones, and researched Trump’s movements and campaign events.
Prosecutors also allege that Routh tried to purchase anti-aircraft weapons the month before his alleged assassination attempt, coordinating with someone he believed was a Ukrainian with access to military weapons. He allegedly shared a photo of Trump’s private plane, discussed the price of the weapon, and wrote, “I need equipment so that Trump cannot get elected.”
In addition to ammunition and the weapon allegedly used by Routh, which federal agents plan to bring into the courtroom to show the jury, prosecutors plan to use Routh’s own words against him during the trial.
According to court filings, Routh, in the months leading up to the assassination attempt, dropped off a box with a friend that included a note detailing his plans..
“This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump, but I failed you. I tried my best and gave it all the gumption I could muster. It is up to you now to finish the job; and I will offer $150,000 to whomever can complete the job,” the handwritten letter said. “He [the former president] ended relations with Iran like a child and now the Middle East has unraveled.”
Routh has argued in court filings that prosecutors are misrepresenting the letter by only using a portion of it. and that the entire note is about “gentleness, peacefulness, and non-violent caring for humanity.”
Prosecutors also allege that Routh expressed similar sentiments in a 2023 self-published book, in which he encouraged readers to “assassinate Trump” in part due to his foreign policy with Iran. They also allege that Routh boasted about his alleged crimes in emails from jail.
Prosecutors have disclosed more than 40 potential witnesses and hundreds of exhibits, including forensic evidence allegedly tying Routh to the weapon found at the crime scene.
‘Character is the whole of this entire case’ After being represented by federal defense lawyers for months, Routh dismissed his lawyers earlier this year. Though his former lawyers will be present in court on standby, Routh will address the jury, question witnesses, and participate in the jury selection process.
In handwritten letters from prison while awaiting trial, Routh suggested his defense would center on his character as part of an effort to prove he lacked the intent to kill Trump.
“Character is the whole of this entire case — there is nothing else,” he wrote. “If one argues lack of intent then that totally hinges on character and character alone.”
Judge Cannon has warned Routh against representing himself and threatened to sanction him or revoke his ability to maintain his pro se status if he engages in “vexatious, obstructionist, or obstreperous behavior.”
Routh will wear business attire during the trial and be permitted to use a podium; however, he will not be allowed to roam the courtroom freely.
Prosecutors have expressed concern about Routh’s antics.
Routh’s self-representation has already created issues, according to Judge Cannon, who has sharply rebuked some of his tactics in court filings. She accused Routh of using the Federal Rules of Evidence to create “calculated chaos” and called one of his potential witnesses “a farce to bring about obviously ludicrous and absurd results in a court proceeding.”
Routh’s witness list included two dozen people, including a group of Palestinian activists and professors, his own son, a former girlfriend, and Trump himself.
In one court filing, Routh offered to drop his objections to most of the other evidence disputes if prosecutors allowed him to question Trump, whom he has described as a “mad fool.” He has also requested “female strippers,” asked for a putting green to prepare for a golf match with Trump, and proposed brawling with Trump.
“I think a beatdown session would be more fun and entertaining for everyone; give me shackles and cuffs and let the old fat man give it his worst,” he wrote. “A round of golf with the rascist pig, he wins he can execute me, I win I get his job.”
Routh family told investigators that while Routh had no diagnosed mental illness, he “fixated” on things, multiple sources briefed on the investigation told ABC News.
Judge Cannon has curtailed some of Routh’s potential arguments, including trying to justify his actions, claiming he did not plan to follow through with the alleged assassination, and encouraging the jury to exercise its nullification power. She has also clamped down on his witness list, allowing him to call experts and a few friends who could testify to his character.
‘Appearance of impartiality’ Jury selection, which begins Monday morning in the Alto Lee Adams federal courthouse in Fort Pierce, Florida, is expected to take three days. Attorneys will question three sets of 60 people to settle on twelve jurors and four alternates.
Opening statements are expected to take place as early as Wednesday afternoon, and the trial is scheduled to take 2-4 weeks.
Judge Cannon has opted to keep the jury anonymous and partially sequester them during the trial, with federal marshals picking up and dropping off the jurors from a confidential location daily.
Routh unsuccessfully tried to have Judge Cannon recuse herself from the case to prevent an “appearance of impartiality” stemming from her association with Trump, who appointed Cannon to her position.
Cannon oversaw the criminal case regarding Trump’s retention of classified documents after leaving the White House 2021, and dismissed the case on a novel legal theory that was widely criticized by legal scholars. Trump has repeatedly commended Judge Cannon’s actions overseeing his case — calling her the “absolute model of what a judge should be” — and one of Cannon’s recent law clerks is now in a senior Department of Justice position.
“Although Mr. Trump is the alleged victim here, he previously served as President of the United States. While in office, he nominated Your Honor to her current position as a U.S. District Judge on the Southern District of Florida. Your Honor thus owes her lifetime appointment to the alleged victim in this criminal case,” Routh’s former lawyers argued, adding that Trump could still nominate her to a higher court.
Judge Cannon denied the request to recuse herself, concluding that Routh could not identity a legal basis that required recusal and pushing back against some of his claims.
“I have never spoken to or met former President Trump except in connection with his required presence at an official judicial proceeding, through counsel. I have no ‘relationship to the alleged victim’ in any reasonable sense of the phrase,” she said.
(JACKSONVILLE, Fla.) — William McNeil, Jr., the 22-year-old college student whose violent arrest was captured in a viral cell phone video earlier this year, filed a federal lawsuit on Wednesday against two sheriff’s deputies involved in his arrest, the sheriff and the city of Jacksonville, Florida, after prosecutors declined to file criminal charges against the officers in the case.
McNeil was arrested during a traffic stop on Feb. 19 after police said he was pulled over for allegedly not having his headlights on while it was raining. He appeared alongside his attorney Ben Crump and Harry Daniels during a press conference in Jacksonville on Wednesday where the lawsuit was announced.
“I really just wanted my side of the story to be heard … I hope my story gets heard today,” McNeil said in brief remarks on Wednesday.
Court records say that McNeil was arrested and charged with “resisting arrest without violence to his or her person,” possessing not more than 20 grams of marijuana with intent to use drug paraphernalia, driving while driver’s license is suspended, not wearing a seatbelt and no headlights in rain/fog/or smoke.
Additionally, court records show that McNeil was sentenced to and served two days in jail for resisting arrest without violence and driving with a suspended license.
Crump said on Wednesday that the legal team filed the lawsuit “not just because of the violent, brutal attack on this young college student who wasn’t violent,” but also because prosecutors declined to file charges against the officers involved in this case.
The lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida – Jacksonville Division, accuses the officers of “excessive force” and alleges that the policies of the sheriff’s office and the city allow “officers to utilize unwarranted and excessive physical force against an individual who poses no immediate threat to the officer or to others.”
The lawsuit also claims that the policies of the sheriff’s office do not require officers to report all incidents of force.
“This policy creates a setting that promotes its officers to engage in illegal or excessive use of force without the fear of encountering any repercussions or consequences, nor the obligation to report such actions,” the complaint alleges.
According to the lawsuit, McNeil suffered a laceration to his chin and his lip, a fractured tooth and a closed head injury that led him to be “diagnosed with an ongoing traumatic brain injury.”
He is seeking a jury trial and at least $100,000 in damages for physical and emotional distress, at least $100,000 in punitive damages, as well as attorneys fees and other costs, the complaint says.
“As a result of pending litigation, we would be unable to comment further on this incident,” a spokesperson for the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office told ABC News on Wednesday.
ABC News reached out to the city of Jacksonville but a request for comment was not immediately returned.
The officers involved are named in the lawsuit as D. Bowers and D. Miller. It is unclear if they have retained attorneys. ABC News has reached out to the Jacksonville Consolidated Lodge No. 5-30 of the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), which is the union representing the officers, but a request for comment was not immediately returned.
Prosecutors announced the decision not to file any criminal charges against the officers in this case in a 16-page memo released on Aug. 13 by the state attorney for the 4th Judicial Circuit Court, which serves Clay, Duval, and Nassau counties in Florida.
“Officer Bowers conducted a lawful traffic stop and gave McNeil 12 individual lawful commands, which McNeil refused to obey. Repeatedly requesting a supervisor and arguing the merits of the traffic stop did not absolve McNeil from following lawful orders,” the memo said. “McNeil’s refusal to provide his identification, registration, and proof of insurance, followed by his refusal to exit the SUV, show his hands, and obey the officers’ orders, created a dangerous situation for all involved.”
Crump criticized that decision on Wednesday, saying, “Just because they say it’s legal, that doesn’t make it right.”
In response to the memo, the police union defended the officer’s actions in an Aug. 13 statement posted on its Facebook account.
“When you allow due process and thorough investigations to occur you get facts and evidence. Not emotions, agendas and politics being pushed by radical people in our community and some elected officials who felt like they had to hear themselves speak before all the facts were known,” the union said.
Crump and Daniels criticized prosecutors for not filing charges and called on the U.S Department of Justice to investigate this case in a Sept. 8 statement.
“It’s not just how violent and brutal these officers were. It’s that they were absolutely unapologetic because they knew no one was going to hold them accountable,” Daniels said. “It’s clear that the State Attorney’s Office refuses to do anything about it. So we’re calling on the Department of Justice.”
ABC News reached out to the DOJ but a request for comment was not returned.
Sheriff T.K. Waters announced an internal review of the incident during a July 21 press conference and said that the actions of the officers were being examined in an “administrative review,” which will determine if the deputies “violated [Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office] policy.”
“Pending the outcome of this administrative review, Officer Bowers has been stripped of his law enforcement authority,” Waters said at the time. It is unclear if other deputies involved in the arrest have been placed on administrative leave.
Asked about the status of the investigation and the employment status of officers named in the lawsuit, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(AUBURN, Ala.) — A man is in custody for allegedly killing a retired Auburn University professor, whose body was discovered in an Alabama dog park, authorities said.
Dr. Julie Gard Schnuelle, a veterinarian and longtime employee of Auburn University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, was found dead in a wooded area of Kiesel Park on Saturday, Auburn police said.
The 59-year-old died from an assault, police said.
Harold Rashad Dabney III, of Montgomery, Alabama, was arrested on Sunday and charged with two counts of capital murder, police said.
Dabney, 28, also allegedly stole the former professor’s car, which has been recovered, police said.
Dabney is being held without bond, police said. The Lee County District Attorney declined to discuss details of the case with ABC News.
Auburn University called Schnuelle a “beloved” faculty member at the Department of Clinical Sciences in the Large Animal/Food Animal section, where she worked from 2003 to 2021.
“She was a cherished educator, mentor and colleague whose dedication to students and passion for theriogenology and veterinary medicine left a lasting impact on Auburn,” an Auburn spokesperson told ABC News. “Dr. Gard Schnuelle’s legacy of compassion, scholarship and service will continue to inspire generations of veterinarians.”
Tommy Tuberville, an Alabama senator and former Auburn football coach, wrote on social media, “Suzanne and I are devastated by the news of this tragic loss in our community. We are praying for the victim’s family and loved ones and for justice to be served.”
