Trump border czar Tom Homan says he’s willing to jail Denver mayor over mass deportation protest
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(DENVER) — Incoming border czar Tom Homan says he’s willing to throw Denver Mayor Mike Johnston in jail over his protests about mass deportation.
“But look, me and the Denver mayor, we agree on one thing — he’s willing to go to jail, I’m willing to put him in jail because there there’s a statute. It’s Title 8 United States Code 1324 (iii). And what it says is it’s a felony if you knowingly harbor and conceal an illegal alien from immigration authorities. It’s also a felony to impede a federal law enforcement officer,” Homan told Hannity during an interview on Fox News last night.
Homan’s comments come after Mayor Johnston said he was willing to go to jail to stop possible mass deportation efforts under the incoming Trump administration.
“I’m not afraid of that and I’m also not seeking that,” he said during an interview with a local NBC affiliate.
Johnston did walk back comments he made about stationing police officers at the county line to stop federal forces from coming in to deport undocumented immigrants. In an interview with local news outlet Denverite he likened those efforts to the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests in China.
Homan and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who were both interviewed by Hannity on Monday night, said they plan to make two stops along the border to feed National Guard troops and DPS troopers who have been vital to Texas’ mission to stop immigrants from coming to the border.
Mayor Eric Adams exits the Thurgood Marshall Courthouse after making the first appearance in his corruption case on October 2, 2024 in New York City. (Alex Kent/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — It is “possible” New York City Mayor Eric Adams could face additional charges and additional defendants are “likely” to be added, prosecutors said during a court hearing Wednesday, a week after a sprawling, five-count indictment was unsealed against the embattled politician.
“We’re moving quickly,” the prosecutor, Hagan Scotten, said. “We think that is quite likely.”
Adams has pleaded not guilty to charges that accused him of engaging in a long-running conspiracy to solicit and accept illegal foreign contributions.
Alex Spiro, Adams’ lawyer, criticized prosecutors, saying in a statement following the hearing: “The prosecution is desperately now saying they ‘could’ bring a new case because they are suddenly facing dismissal of their actual, flawed case and sanctions for misconduct. This is the sort of nonsense that prosecutors say when they don’t have a real case. If they had a real case, they would have brought it.”
The investigation into Adams began in the summer of 2021, “before the defendant had even become mayor,” Scotten said, revealing a timeframe not previously known.
The investigation unearthed text messages, emails and records from Turkish Airlines that Scotten said show the mayor tried to “create the illusion” he properly paid for certain flights when, in fact, he had not.
“It’s a bribe and it’s against the law,” Scotten said.
“Multiple” witnesses who participated with Adams in the charged conduct and witnesses who made illegal donations are expected to testify, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors also said they have evidence Adams sought to tamper with witnesses.
According to Scotten, after a witness was approached by the FBI during the investigation, that person was given “a clear message from the defendant they should not tell the truth to the FBI.”
The witness was not named, but Scotten called it a “significant instance of witness interference in this case.”
Adams patted the shoulder of a woman he seemed to recognize as he made his way to the defense table for his first hearing before the judge presiding over his federal bribery prosecution.
The mayor’s defense lawyer has asked the court to dismiss the bribery count and, separately, to sanction the prosecution over purported leaks. The defense urged the court to move quickly.
“We do not want this case dragging out,” Spiro said.
Spiro said Adams’ trial should start and end in March to give him time to secure a spot on the ballot for reelection. Adams, who was elected in 2021, is up for reelection in 2025.
“We want to get this to trial,” Spiro said. “They indicted the sitting mayor of New York.”
Spiro expressed confidence the bribery count would be dismissed and Adams acquitted.
“We want this case to be done with in March,” Spiro said.
Judge Dale Ho agreed the public and the mayor have a “strong interest” in a speedy trial, but he declined to immediately set a trial date. Prosecutors suggested a May trial date.
Prosecutors said they expect the trial to last about four weeks, while the defense said it would be much shorter.
Ho gave prosecutors until Oct. 18 to reply to the defense motions with oral arguments on Oct. 31.
Adams, a Democrat and former police captain, has said he plans to fight the charges, which last week he called “entirely false,” and does not plan to resign as leader of the largest city in the country.
(BRUNSWICK, Ga.) — The three Georgia men convicted in the 2020 killing of 25-year-old jogger Ahmaud Arbery are in court Thursday to ask for a new trial in the murder case.
One of the men, Travis McMichael, claimed that he and his father suspected Arbery — who had been jogging through the neighborhood — had just burglarized a nearby home under construction. He testified that Arbery resisted a citizen’s arrest and attacked him after he, his father Gregory McMichael and their neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan chased him.
Travis McMichael, who delivered the deadly shot, was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.
He was convicted on all nine charges: malice murder, four counts of felony murder, aggravated assault with a shotgun, aggravated assault with a pickup truck, false imprisonment and criminal intent to commit a felony.
Gregory McMichael was also sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. The former Georgia police officer was found not guilty of malice murder but was convicted on the remaining charges, including the felony murder counts.
Bryan was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole. He was found guilty of three of the felony murder counts as well as charges of aggravated assault with his pickup truck, false imprisonment and criminal intent to commit a felony.
The arrests came after a cellphone video Bryan took of the confrontation that captured part of the shooting and was heavily used by both prosecutors and defense attorneys during the trial was leaked to the media despite Bryan having turned it over to Glynn County police on the day of the killing.
The McMichaels and Bryan had all pleaded not guilty to a nine-count state indictment. ABC News has reached out for comment from their legal teams on the request for a new trial.
The three men also have been convicted and sentenced on federal hate crime charges. The McMichaels were sentenced to life in prison. Bryan was sentenced to 35 years.
Gregory McMichael apologized to Arbery’s family in court following the federal sentencing: “I’m sure my words mean very little to you but I want to assure you I never wanted any of this to happen,” he said. “There was no malice in my heart or my son’s heart that day.”
ABC News’ Bill Hutchinson contributed to the report.
(JARRATT, Va.) — The Boar’s Head plant in Virginia at the center of a deadly listeria outbreak is indefinitely closing, the company announced on Friday.
Boar’s Head also said it has decided to permanently discontinue the sale of liverwurst, the deli meat tied to the multistate outbreak.
“We regret and deeply apologize for the recent Listeria monocytogenes contamination in our liverwurst product,” Boar’s Head said in a press release on Friday. “We understand the gravity of this situation and the profound impact it has had on affected families. Comprehensive measures are being implemented to prevent such an incident from ever happening again.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
