UAW files federal labor charges against Donald Trump and Elon Musk
(NEW YORK) — The United Auto Workers Union has filed federal labor charges against former President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, the union said Tuesday.
In a thread on X, the union said Trump and Musk had illegally attempted to “threaten and intimidate workers who stand up for themselves by engaging in protected concerted activity, such as strikes.”
Musk — who has endorsed Trump for president — interviewed him for two hours Monday night on X Spaces in a conversation that reached over 1 million users.
During the interview, Trump praised Musk as the “greatest cutter,” seemingly referring to the mass layoffs he conducted when he took over X, then known as Twitter.
“I mean, I look at what you do. You walk in, you say, ‘You want to quit?” Trump said. “I won’t mention the name of the company, but they go on strike, and you go, ‘You’re all gone.'”
Going on strike is considered protected activity under the National Labor Relations Act, and workers cannot legally be fired for doing so.
“When we say Donald Trump is a scab, this is what we mean,” UAW President Shawn Fain said in a statement. “When we say Trump stands against everything our union stands for, this is what we mean.”
“Donald Trump will always side against workers standing up for themselves, and he will always side with billionaires like Elon Musk, who is contributing $45 million a month to a Super PAC to get him elected,” Fain continued. “Both Trump and Musk want working-class people to sit down and shut up, and they laugh about it openly. It’s disgusting, illegal, and totally predictable from these two clowns.”
Musk has denied reports he is contributing $45 million a month to get Trump elected. He has long been outspoken against workers forming unions, however.
On Tuesday, Musk replied to a post on X about the labor charges, criticizing Fain, responding, “The last two UAW presidents went to prison for bribery & corruption and, based on recent news, it looks like this guy will join them!”
ABC News has contacted the Trump campaign and X for comment.
Musk told BBC’s James Clayton in April 2023 during a Spaces interview that the cuts at Twitter were “one of the hardest things he’s had to do.”
(SPRINGFIELD, Ill.) — The legal team of Sean Grayson, the former deputy charged with fatally shooting Illinois mother Sonya Massey in her home, notified the court Monday during his first pretrial hearing that they filed a request for an appeal with the Illinois Appellate Court last week following a lower court’s decision to deny Grayson’s pretrial release, according to Grayson’s lawyer.
Grayson has been charged with first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct in Massey’s death after she called 911 to report a prowler. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges and remains in custody.
A review by Illinois State Police found Grayson was not justified in his use of deadly force. He was fired from his position with the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office on July 17, the same day the charges were filed against him.
Grayson’s defense team requested his pretrial release from jail twice. In their latest request, the team argues in a motion filed earlier this month that he is currently under cancer treatment and will not receive adequate care in the Menyard County Jail, where Grayson is currently being held. They also stated that he does not pose a threat to Massey’s family.
Judge Ryan Cadagin denied the requests on July 18 and Aug. 9, according to the circuit court.
“Mr. Grayson is not being treated any differently than any other defendant that walks into the courthouse this morning, or is in custody, as well for a felony and they’re detained,” Mark Wykoff, Grayson’s attorney, told reporters at the circuit court after the hearing.
Wykoff said it could take up to three to four months for a decision to come out of the appellate court. If the appellate court approves the appeal, the defense can then petition the Illinois Supreme Court to review the appellate court’s decision, according to the Illinois Courts website.
In Monday’s hearing, the defense requested more time for discovery — the exchange of information between the prosecution and defense about witnesses and evidence they’ll present at trial, according to the court. Cadagin granted their request and ordered a status hearing for Oct. 21.
Grayson’s job with Sangamon County was one of six different police jobs he held over the past four years.
Prior to his employment with Sangamon, Grayson worked at the Logan County Sheriff’s Office for just under a year. According to audio files obtained by ABC News, Grayson’s then-boss, Logan County Chief Deputy Nathan Miller, expressed concerns over Grayson violating department policy and submitting inaccurate reports while discussing his mishandling of a traffic case.
Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell, who announced he will retire at the end of August in connection to hiring Grayson, previously told ABC News that Sangamon County was not aware of this incident when Grayson was hired. Without knowledge of his disciplinary issues at Logan County, Campbell said that Grayson presented no red flags.
“Some individuals would rather see our community divided and in turmoil, than allow me to continue serving as Sheriff,” he said. “The health of me and my family, the Sheriff’s Office, and our community has to be my priority.”
Prior to Grayson’s time in public law enforcement, he was discharged from the U.S. Army for unspecified “misconduct (serious offense),” according to documents obtained by ABC News.
ABC News also learned that Grayson was charged with two DUI offenses in Macoupin County, Illinois, in August 2015 and July 2016, according to court documents.
Grayson, 30, and a second, unnamed deputy responded to Massey’s 911 call on July 6 reporting a possible intruder at her Springfield home.
Body camera footage shows Massey, who was unarmed, telling the two responding deputies, “Please, don’t hurt me,” once she answered their knocks on her door. Grayson responded, “I don’t want to hurt you, you called us.”
Later in the video, while inside Massey’s home as she searches for her ID, Grayson points to a pot of boiling water on her stove and says, “We don’t need a fire while we’re in here.”
Massey then pours the water into the sink and tells the deputy, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.”
Grayson then shouts at Massey and threatens to shoot her, the video shows, and Massey apologizes and ducks down behind a counter, covering her face with what appears to be a red oven mitt. She briefly rises, at which time Grayson shoots her three times in the face, the footage shows.
Grayson said he feared for his life during his encounter with Massey, according to documents released by the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office in August.
“While on scene, I was in fear Dep. (redacted) and I were going to receive great bodily harm or death. Due to being in fear of our safety and life, I fired my duty weapon,” Grayson wrote in his field case report.
The Menard County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that Grayson “is not receiving any preferential treatment, nor being afforded any privileges or benefits not afforded to other inmates of the Menard County Jail.”
ABC News’ Meredith Deliso contributed to this report.
(SPRINGFIELD, Ill.) — Sonya Massey, the Illinois woman fatally shot by a deputy while responding to her 911 call, died by homicide due to a gunshot wound to her head, according to an autopsy report released Friday by the Sangamon County coroner.
Though the autopsy report did not state the manner of death, Sangamon County Coroner Jim Allmon confirmed it was homicide.
“The cause of death; gunshot wound of the head. The manner of death; Homicide,” Allmon told ABC News in a statement.
The bullet that killed Massey, 36, entered at the lower eyelid of her left eye and exited through the posterior left surface of her upper neck, according to the autopsy report.
Sean Grayson, the former Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy who shot Massey, was fired and charged with three counts of first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct in Massey’s death. He pleaded not guilty.
Massey and a second, unnamed deputy responded to Massey’s 911 call reporting a possible intruder at her Springfield home on July 6.
Body camera footage released Monday shows Grayson, 30, yelling at Massey to put down a pot of boiling water.
The footage, reviewed by ABC News, shows Massey telling the two responding deputies, “Please, don’t hurt me,” once she answered their knocks on her door.
Grayson responded, “I don’t want to hurt you, you called us.”
Later in the video, while inside Massey’s home as she searches for her ID, Grayson points out a pot of boiling water on her stove and says, “We don’t need a fire while we’re in here.”
Massey then pours the water into the sink and tells the deputy, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.”
Grayson threatens to shoot her, according to the video, and Massey apologizes and ducks down behind a counter, covering her face with what appears to be a red oven mitt. She briefly rises, and Grayson shoots her three times in the face, the footage shows.
The footage is from the point of view of Grayson’s partner, because Grayson did not turn on his own body camera until after the shooting, according to court documents.
A review by Illinois State Police found Grayson was not justified in his use of deadly force.
Grayson was discharged from the U.S. Army for “misconduct (serious offense),” according to documents obtained by ABC News.
ABC News has also learned that Grayson was charged with two DUI offenses in Macoupin County, Illinois, in August 2015 and July 2016, according to court documents.
Grayson’s attorney, Dan Fultz, declined to comment.
The news of his discharge and DUI offenses come days after it was revealed through Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board records obtained by ABC News that Grayson worked for six law enforcement agencies over the last four years.
(NEW YORK) — Utah placed a blanket ban on at least 13 books in schools, including works by Sarah J. Maas, Judy Blume, Rupi Kaur, Margaret Atwood and other authors, in what free speech advocates say is the first state book ban.
The Utah State Board of Education put together a list of titles that have met the statewide threshold for removal based on a newly enforced law.
H.B. 29, signed by Gov. Spencer Cox in March, requires all schools to remove a book if school officials from at least three school districts or at least two school districts and five charter schools have determined that a book constitutes “objective sensitive material.”
“Objective sensitive material” is defined under the law as an instructional material that constitutes pornographic or indecent material, which is further defined in Utah law as depicting or describing sex or nudity while also lacking “serious value” for minors.
This first set of removed material — that state officials say will be updated in accordance with further book restrictions — includes Forever by Judy Blume, a coming-of-age book that touches on sexuality; Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood, a post-apocalyptic novel, and Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur, a poetry book about “violence, abuse, love, loss, and femininity.”
“The Board is committed to following the law and the list will be updated if and when needed,” a spokesperson for the state Board of Education said in a statement to ABC News.
Several groups have spoken out against the banning of these books, including PEN America, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting free speech, and Let Utah Read, a coalition of Utah residents, educators, librarians and others.
“Allowing just a handful of districts to make decisions for the whole state is antidemocratic, and we are concerned that implementation of the law will result in less diverse library shelves for all Utahns,” said Kasey Meehan, a program director for PEN America’s Freedom to Read initiative.
Advocacy groups say they fear this is just the start of “statewide book purges.”
“Unlike some legislators who are out to make political hay and use national culture war issues to divide us, Utahns understand that great American authors like Judy Blume, Sherman Alexie, and Toni Morrison are not pornographers, and no one should be criminally charged for selling, giving, or lending a book to a high school student,” Let Utah Read said in a statement, referencing other authors who have faced bans in schools across the country.