INTERNACIONAL
Inside the teen takeovers threatening to explode this summer as cities remain on edge: ‘Very worried’
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A wave of social media-fueled teen takeovers in cities from Chicago to Washington, D.C., is putting officials on alert for a potentially volatile summer as experts warn the large youth gatherings could strain police, fuel violence and threaten recent public-safety gains.
«It usually increases during the summer,» Zack Smith, a senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C., told Fox News Digital of crime trends. «I think anyone who has looked at crime data and some kind of criminological studies recognized that that will increase and I think that is something that the city should be very worried about.»
The warning comes after a wave of spring incidents across the country, where large teen crowds organized or amplified online have led to arrests, fights, weapons charges and emergency curfew debates.
«So many of these incidents are fueled by two things: social media and boredom. That’s it,» Amy Swearer, a senior legal fellow at Advancing American Freedom, told Fox News Digital.
GOP SENATOR TARGETS DC ‘YOUTH OFFENDER’ LAW AS TRUMP DEMANDS TOUGHER SENTENCES FOR VIOLENT TEENS
«There is potential for this to escalate, and to really damage some really good progress that we’ve made in cutting back on that post-COVID violent crime spike,» Swearer added. Violent crime surged nationally during the pandemic, with homicides rising sharply in 2020 as cities were also rocked by protests and riots following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Social media has contributed to «under-the-radar» meetups, Swearer said, explaining that many teens are working to boost their «clout» online with outrageous videos.
«There are massive accounts that are just dedicated to showing the chaos and the carnage and the street takeover events, where it’s almost like a social media clout thing,» she said.
Teen takeovers continue to spread nationwide
A Chicago teen takeover erupted Wednesday night when a car rammed a police cruiser as teen mobs cheered and filmed. In a similar incident last week, 22 people were arrested, ages 12 to 21, in Tampa, Florida, after a «teen takeover» at Curtis Hixon Park erupted into fights and disruptions, resulting in charges of affray, drug possession, resisting arrest and unlawful weapon possession.
In March, about 200 teens swarmed D.C.’s Navy Yard, where fights broke out and a 15-year-old was arrested after allegedly firing a gun, days after a temporary curfew was imposed. Nearly a dozen more juveniles were arrested a month later after street brawls in Southwest D.C., prompting a push to extend emergency powers. A large crowd returned to Navy Yard a week later, where police reported no major incidents or arrests.
The D.C. Council approved a long-term youth curfew earlier in May in an 8-5 vote after weeks of debate. The legislation still needs the mayor’s signature and congressional review before taking effect.
PROGRESSIVE PROSECUTORS LIT THE FUSE, AND TEEN MOBS ARE THE EXPLOSION
Police officers responded to a teen takeover in Tampa, Florida, on May 8, 2026, deploying air patrols and making arrests to control the situation. (Tampa Police Department)
Chicago was also hit with more chaos in March and April. Hundreds of teens flooded streets, filled intersections and broke out into fights, resulting in multiple arrests and curfew violations.
Mayor Brandon Johnson warned parents about the «teen trends» following the incidents, saying they «are dangerous and can often turn violent.» Johnson avoided using the term «takeover.»
Struggles among teens, like poverty and mental health, could be fueling the «chaos,» Swearer said.
«There’s a huge overlap between juvenile delinquency and poverty and mental health issues, and even delinquencies from school, truancy,» she said.
Despite those broader challenges, she said the takeovers are not justified.
«None of that is an excuse for allowing this type of large-scale chaotic disruption in this planned way,» she said.
Authorities have made multiple arrests nationwide this year tied to the meetups, with several in the nation’s capital. President Trump, who campaigned on lowering crime and has warned criminals will face prosecution, has carried that message into efforts such as the Make D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force.
Takeovers in Trump’s backyard
The incidents have also created a political and public-safety test in Trump’s backyard, where the president has made D.C. crime a signature issue and deployed federal muscle to back it up.
Trump’s Make D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force has made more than 10,000 arrests and recovered more than 1,000 illegal firearms since its launch, but the continued teen takeovers show how juvenile disorder remains a stubborn challenge even amid the broader crackdown.
WHITE HOUSE LAUNCHES FEDERAL SECURITY BLITZ AS PRESIDENT VOWS TO END DC ‘CRIME PLAGUE’
President Donald Trump listens in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on April 18, 2026. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP)
However, the concern over an escalation in teen takeovers persists.
The White House told Fox News Digital that the administration is ready to tackle potential rising crime «head on» when asked about concerns the teen takeover trends could spike in the warm summer months.
«President Trump’s Safe and Beautiful Task Force has yielded tremendous results in a very short period of time – driving down crime rates in all categories and making the city safer for residents and visitors alike,» White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital. «As new law enforcement challenges arise, the Task Force remains committed to addressing them head on.»
CHICAGO TEEN TAKEOVER MOB RAMS POLICE CRUISER BACKWARD, SWARMS CAR AS ONLOOKERS CHEER: VIDEO
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. marshal personnel perform a traffic stop on a individual allegedly with expired tags and no driver’s license on August 12, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Getty Images)
Pressure mounts over juvenile crime response
The D.C. incidents have revived a broader fight over juvenile accountability in the capital.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro announced Friday that parents who let kids take part in violent D.C. teen takeovers could now face fines and up to six months in jail under the city’s curfew law.
«As we grapple with this problem, there is one area that hasn’t been discussed,» Pirro said. «Parent involvement has been a noted gap in any discussion, and I am here to say, as the United States attorney in the District of Columbia, that ends today.»
«If the evidence shows the parent knew or should have known, permitted or failed to prevent participation, we’re gonna charge them,» she added.
She criticized the city’s response to teen takeovers in April, saying the disorder falls largely outside her office’s jurisdiction because most juvenile cases in D.C. are handled by the local attorney general.
«These alleged social gatherings turn into criminal chaos,» Pirro told Fox & Friends. «Families are affected by it, businesses end up being shuttered, there’s violence that occurs.»
The U.S. Attorney’s Office generally handles adult felonies and only a narrower set of serious juvenile cases charged as adult matters, including certain violent crimes involving 16- and 17-year-olds.
«Since I have been here, my mission has been to change the law to make some of the young punks criminally responsible for what they’re doing,» Pirro told Navy Yard residents at an Advisory Neighborhood Commission meeting in March.
Smith said the D.C. attorney general’s office, led by Brian Schwalb, has repeatedly mishandled juvenile prosecutions.
«This narrow slice of crime that’s committed by juvenile offenders, primary responsibility lies to prosecute those offenders with the D.C. attorney general’s office, and frankly, he’s just not doing his job right now,» he said.
DC CURFEW ENDS AS TEEN TAKEOVER FEARS CLOCK IN – CITY BRACES FOR CHAOS AMID SPRING BREAK MAYHEM
Members of the Mississippi National Guard patrol near the cherry blossom trees along the tidal basin on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on Fri., March 27, 2026. (Tom Brenner/AP Photo)
The Department of Justice, Pirro’s office, and D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
«You can put more officers on the street, you can put more National Guard members on the streets, and they can arrest individuals who break the law, but if those juvenile offenders are not being held accountable at the end of the day, they recognize that there are no real consequences,» Smith said.
He said teens who don’t fear punishment are more likely to commit crimes.
«Too many juveniles, particularly juvenile offenders in the District, recognize that there is a lack of consequences for their violent actions,» he said.
A small group of repeat offenders may actually be driving the crime, and authorities already know who many of them are, Swearer said.
«Juvenile crime tracks the same way as adult crime,» she said. «It’s driven predominantly by a small number of repeat, almost incorrigible offenders who are well known to the criminal justice system.»
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She said leaders can address these problems, but whether they’re willing to act is unclear.
«In many respects, we saw that this was a willpower issue,» she said. «Did we have the power to actually do something about this?»
blue city crime, crime, washington dc, politics, donald trump, justice department
INTERNACIONAL
Ucrania atacó arsenales y depósitos de petróleo en las regiones rusas de San Petersburgo y Krasnodar
Zelensky reportó exitosos ataques ucranianos contra arsenales y depósitos rusos
El presidente ucraniano, Volodimir Zelensky, reportó este sábado exitosos ataques ucranianos en las regiones rusas de San Petersburgo y Krasnodar que habrían afectado arsenales de la marina enemiga y un depósito de petróleo; y advirtió que todo acto de injusticia contra Ucrania tendrá respuesta.
“Esta guerra tiene que terminar pero el líder ruso quiere seguir peleando. Por eso las acciones ucranianas responden a la agresión”, dijo Zelensky en su cuenta de X.
“En la noche anterior nuestros drones superaron una distancia de cerca de 1.000 kilómetros hasta la región de San Petesburgo, hasta los arsenales de la marina enemiga y de la base de Kronstadt. También superaron 500 kilómetros hasta la región de Krasnodar y golpearon un depósito de petróleo”, agregó
Zelensky calificó esas acciones como resultados importantes de las fuerzas ucranianas y agradeció a sus soldados por su precisión.
“Rusia tiene que terminar su guerra y todo ataque a la vida. Cada forma de injusticia tendrá una respuesta justa. Agradezco a nuestros guerreros por su precisión”, escribió.
Residentes de San Petersburgo, la segunda ciudad más grande de Rusia, recibieron la orden de no salir de sus casas tras un ataque “a gran escala” con drones ucranianos contra la ciudad la mañana del sábado. El incidente resalta la creciente capacidad de Kiev para atacar en el interior profundo de Rusia, un día después de que el presidente ruso rechazara la propuesta de reunirse con su homólogo ucraniano.
El gobernador de San Petersburgo, Alexander Beglov, aconsejó a los residentes no salir y advirtió sobre posibles interrupciones en el servicio de internet móvil, mientras que el gobernador regional, Alexander Drozdenko, informó que 141 drones fueron derribados en la región de Leningrado.
El Ministerio de Defensa ruso informó que sus sistemas de defensa antiaérea derribaron 376 drones ucranianos.
A pesar de que no se reportaron víctimas de inmediato, el nuevo ataque contra San Petersburgo representa otro golpe para los esfuerzos del presidente ruso, Vladimir Putin, por presentar el conflicto como un evento lejano que no afecta la vida diaria de los rusos.
Un ataque ucraniano con drones incendió una terminal petrolera en la ciudad y alcanzó una base naval cercana el miércoles, horas antes del inicio del Foro Económico Internacional de San Petersburgo, el evento anual de Putin para promover inversiones.
Al hablar en el foro, Putin dijo que Rusia fortalecerá sus defensas antiaéreas para contrarrestar los recientes ataques ucranianos con drones, que han llegado al interior del país y afectado el evento en su ciudad natal.
El viernes, Putin rechazó una propuesta de Zelensky para una reunión cara a cara sobre el conflicto que lleva cuatro años, afirmando que no le ve “sentido”. La carta del jueves, primer mensaje público que Zelensky dirige a Putin desde que Rusia envió tropas a Ucrania en 2022, fue una crítica al liderazgo del mandatario ruso durante 26 años, así como burlas sobre su edad.
Con la línea del frente casi sin cambios debido al uso masivo de drones que dificulta los avances, ambas partes buscan obtener ventaja mediante ataques de largo alcance.
En Ucrania, una persona murió y tres resultaron heridas durante la noche en la región de Dnipropetrovsk, donde las fuerzas rusas atacaron tres distritos casi 30 veces con drones y artillería, según el jefe regional Oleksandr Hanzha.
En Zaporizhzhia, siete personas requirieron atención médica tras un ataque ruso con drones que provocó un incendio en un estacionamiento, informó el jefe regional Ivan Fedorov.
Rusia atacó Ucrania durante la noche con 272 drones kamikaze, y las defensas aéreas derribaron 249 de ellos, según la fuerza aérea ucraniana.
INTERNACIONAL
Raúl Castro makes first public appearance since Trump administration charged him with murder
Raúl Castro indicted for 1996 shoot-down of American pilots
Sen. Ashley Moody, R-Fla., discusses the indictment of former Cuban President Raúl Castro on murder and conspiracy charges tied to the 1996 shoot-down of two civilian aircraft that killed four American pilots on ‘Sunday Night in America.’
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Former Cuban leader Raúl Castro made his first public appearance Friday since the Trump administration charged him with murder over the 1996 shoot-down of planes operated by a Cuban exile group.
Castro appeared on state television during an Interior Ministry celebration in Havana, according to Reuters.
The appearance came weeks after the Department of Justice unsealed an indictment accusing Castro of playing a role in the downing of two aircraft operated by the Miami-based exile organization Brothers to the Rescue nearly 30 years ago.
Castro was charged with conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, destruction of aircraft and four counts of murder.
DOJ, TREASURY INVESTIGATE NONPROFITS AND LEADERS ALLEGEDLY COORDINATING WITH CUBA IN INFLUENCE CAMPAIGN
Raul Castro waves a Cuban national flag during a May Day parade at Revolution Square in Havana, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Castro, who turned 95 on Wednesday, was last seen publicly during May Day celebrations in Havana, days before the indictment was unsealed.
Prior to his May Day appearance, Castro had remained out of public view for months, appearing only at a public ceremony in Cuba’s capital in January honoring 32 Cuban soldiers killed during the U.S. military operation that led to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
The indictment centers on a February 1996 incident in which Cuban military aircraft allegedly shot down two unarmed civilian planes operated by Brothers to the Rescue, killing four men: Carlos Costa, Armando Alejandre Jr., Mario de la Peña and Pablo Morales.
OBAMA’S BASEBALL OUTING WITH CASTRO REIGNITES FURY AFTER TRUMP DOJ DROPS HAMMER ON CUBAN LEADER
Fidel Castro and his brother Raul Castro attend a parade in Havana, Cuba, on Dec. 2, 1996. (Sven Creutzmann/Mambo Photography/Getty Images)
Prosecutors allege the aircraft were flying outside Cuban territory when they were destroyed.
The indictment came amid rising tensions in the Caribbean and a series of comments from Trump and his surrogates hinting at possible regime change in the island nation.
President Donald Trump previously praised the indictment, saying Cuban Americans whose families suffered under the communist regime had waited decades for accountability.
TRUMP DECLARES NATIONAL EMERGENCY OVER CUBA, THREATENS TARIFFS ON NATIONS THAT SUPPLY OIL TO COMMUNIST REGIME
Former Cuban Vice President Jose Machado and dictator Raul Castro are seen in Cuba. (Yamil Lage/Getty Images)
«We have big news on Cuba, as you know, with the indictment of Castro,» Trump said. «A lot of people have suffered very big, very, very, at levels that few people would understand.»
Trump also suggested tensions with Cuba would not escalate following the indictment.
«There won’t be escalation,» he said. «We won’t have to.»
MADURO’S CAPTURE IS ‘BEGINNING OF THE END’ FOR CUBA’S REGIME, HOUSE INTELLIGENCE CHAIR SAYS
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and former Cuban leader Raul Castro stand together at an event. (Ismael Francisco/Cubadebate/AP:Juan Barreto/AFP via Getty Images)
Still, the decision to indict Castro fueled comparisons to the pressure campaign Trump previously used against Maduro.
«At the very least, it means symbolically that he is now set up just as Nicolás Maduro was,» Christine Balling, a Cuba expert at the Institute of World Politics and former advisor to U.S. Special Operations Command South, previously told Fox News Digital.
The U.S. indicted Maduro on narco-terrorism charges while tightening sanctions on Venezuela’s oil sector, backing opposition efforts to remove him from power and increasing military operations in the Caribbean.
«I don’t think that we are necessarily going to conduct the same operation,» Balling said. «Raúl Castro is 94 years old. It might not be worth the trouble.»
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Still, Balling argued that the indictment sent «a very straightforward message that we are 100% behind the fall of the Castro regime.»
Fox News Digital’s Robert McGreevy, Greg Wehner and Morgan Phillips, along with Fox News’ David Spunt, Bill Mears and Jake Gibson contributed to this report. Reuters also contributed to this report.
cuba, caribbean, donald trump, nicolas maduro, assassinations murders
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Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., criticized four fellow Republicans who joined Democrats to block an effort to add the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act to the Senate’s reconciliation package, saying «you can’t explain it to me why you wouldn’t vote for voter ID.»
During Thursday’s vote-a-rama, Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., voted with Democrats to defeat an amendment that would have attached the election-integrity measure to the GOP’s budget package.
«I guess it’s frustration,» Hawley told Fox News Digital. «Listen, we’ve been doing this in Missouri for years. I mean voters in my state put it in our constitution.»
FOUR SENATE REPUBLICANS AGAIN UNITE WITH DEMS TO BLOCK TRUMP’S SAVE AMERICA ACT
Sens. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., joined Senate Democrats again to kill an effort attach the SAVE America Act to the GOP’s immigration enforcement funding plan. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images; Photo by Li Ying/Xinhua via Getty Images; Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images; Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
«Voter ID is the most popular thing out there,» he continued. «There’s a reason for that. People want their elections to be safe, they want them to be fair. And to me, you can’t explain it to me, why you wouldn’t vote for voter ID. I just don’t understand it.»
Republicans, yet again, failed to pass the legislation Thursday night through the Senate, despite months debating the importance of attaching it to the roughly $70 billion budget reconciliation package to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol.
REPUBLICANS FAIL TO ATTACH SAVE AMERICA ACT TO PARTY-LINE FUNDING PACKAGE
Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Senate GOP leaders are pushing forward with budget reconciliation to fund the final piece of government that had been shut down by Senate Democrats’ opposition to President Donald Trump’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu)
Many senators who voted to block the SAVE act argued that a bill dedicated to voter ID laws and protecting election integrity should be determined at state-level, and should not have federal jurisdiction.
Hawley rejected arguments that election rules should be left solely to the states, arguing Congress has long played a role in regulating federal elections.
«We make federal rules all the time for elections, you know,» Hawley said. «I mean all the time we do. And there’s nothing more basic than protecting the integrity of the ballot and that’s what this is about.»
PENCE URGES SENATE TO ‘RESTORE PUBLIC CONFIDENCE’ WITH NATIONWIDE VOTER ID LAW
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., questions acting U.S. Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe Jr. and Deputy FBI Director Paul Abbate during a joint Senate Judiciary and Homeland Security and Government Affairs committees hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on July 30, 2024. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Congress has enacted numerous election-related laws over the years, including the bipartisan Electoral Count Reform Act of 2022, which revised procedures for certifying presidential election results.
The SAVE Act would require applicants to provide documentary proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections and would require voters to present photo identification when casting a ballot in federal elections.
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«37 states have voter ID already including several blue states,» Hawley said in response to the idea that election rules should be left to the state. «So I think this idea that this is like ‘this is weird, this is exotic, this is out there,’ no it’s not. Like most of our states do it.»
«Sooner or later this is going to happen because I think the American people are going to demand it.»
politics, senate elections, states rights, republicans elections, campaigning, voter fraud concerns
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