INTERNACIONAL
Karen Bass’s former deputy mayor of public safety admits bomb threat hoax targeting Los Angeles City Hall
A former aide to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass who served as the deputy mayor of public safety has agreed to plead guilty to threatening to bomb City Hall last year, the Justice Department said Thursday.
Brian Williams, 61, of Pasadena, agreed to plead guilty to a single-count of «information with threats regarding fire and explosives», which carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.
«In an era of heated political rhetoric that has sometimes escalated into violence, we cannot allow public officials to make bomb threats,» said U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli. «My office will continue its efforts to keep the public safe, including from those who violate their duty to uphold the law.»
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A view of Los Angeles City Hall. (Getty Images)
The threat was carried out on Oct. 3, 2024 during a virtual meeting with Williams and others related to his duties, federal prosecutors said. During the call, Williams used the Google Voice application on his personal cellphone to place a call to his city-issued cellphone.
He then left the meeting and called the chief of staff of the Los Angeles Police Department, in which he falsely stated that he had just received a call on his city-issued cellphone from an unknown man who threatened to bomb Los Angeles City Hall.
Ten minutes after the call, Williams texted Bass and several high-ranking city officials in the mayor’s office and falsely reported, «Bomb threat: I received phone call on my city cell at 10:48 am this morning. The male caller stated that ‘he was tired of the city support of Israel, and he has decided to place a bomb in City Hall. It might be in the rotunda.’ I immediately contacted the chief of staff of LAPD, they are going to send a number of officers over to do a search of the building and to determine if anyone else received a threat.»
Investigators determined that Williams never received a call and had made the bomb threat himself. Federal prosecutors noted that Williams never intended to carry out the threat.
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L.A. Mayor Karen Bass weighed in on the staffer’s resignation, claiming Friday, «I’m glad the staffer responsible has resigned.» (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
The LAPD responded to City Hall to search for any suspicious devices. None were found, prosecutors said.
Williams described the threatening call he claimed to have received to police and showed them the record of an incoming call that appeared as a blocked number on his city-issued cellphone.
That incoming call record was the call Williams had placed to himself from the Google Voice application on his personal cellphone, investigators determined.
Williams then texted Bass and other city officials.
«At this time, there is no need for us to evacuate the building, I’m meeting with the threat management officers within the next 10 minutes,» he allegedly wrote. «In light of the Jewish holidays, we are taking this thread a little more seriously. I will keep you posted.»
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, left, then-Deputy Mayor of Public Safety Brian K. Williams and LAPD Chief Michel Moore at LAPD Police Academy on Dec. 7, 2023 in Los Angeles. Williams will plead guilty to threatening to bomb the City Hall building last year, the Justice Department said. (Getty Images)
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«Mr. Williams, the former deputy mayor of Public Safety for Los Angeles, not only betrayed the residents of Los Angeles, but responding officers, and the integrity of the office itself, by fabricating a bomb threat,» said Akil Davis, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles field office. «Government officials are held to a heightened standard as we rely on them to safeguard the city. I’m relieved that Mr. Williams has taken responsibility for his inexplicable actions.»
Williams is expected to appear in court in the coming weeks, prosecutors said.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Bass’ office.
Crime,Los Angeles,US,Justice Department,Terrorism
INTERNACIONAL
Jasmine Crockett rips Trump ‘regime,’ vows ‘solidarity’ with Biden witnesses during House probe
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Progressive firebrand Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, made a second surprise appearance at the House Oversight Committee’s closed-door discussions with former Biden administration aides this week, once again criticizing President Donald Trump on the way out.
Crockett surprised reporters when she arrived roughly 15 minutes after House investigators’ transcribed interview with former White House advisor Ashley Williams began, declining to speak on the way in.
The Texas Democrat emerged just over 30 minutes later, saying little about what went on inside but telling reporters she still had «absolutely» no concerns about Biden’s mental fitness while in office.
She said it was important to «be there physically» for Biden allies being interviewed in the GOP probe – even going as far as suggesting the Trump administration created a threatening environment for members of Congress and its own political opponents.
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Rep. Jasmine Crockett made a surprise appearance at the closed-door committee interview. (Jemal Countess/Getty Images for MoveOn)
«It is important…in my mind, to be there for these witnesses. Unfortunately, we know what happens when this regime gets going. We know about the threats that come upon them, that come upon us as members of Congress,» Crockett said.
«I think it is important to stand there in solidarity and to at least be there physically so that they don’t feel like they’re alone as they are enduring egregious attacks consistently from this administration.»
Crockett was the only lawmaker seen going in or out of Williams’ meeting with investigators on Friday. The transcribed interview was expected to be staff-led, and lawmakers were not required to attend.
«Right now, the Republicans continue to act as if this is a main priority. Yet none of them are showing up,» she said.
«I do think that it is important that I show up because if they are going to make allegations about the former commander-in-chief, egregious allegations they continue to wage. I want to make sure that I’m in the room to correct the record, because a lot of times they like to mischaracterize things.»
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Former President Joe Biden’s use of autopen is being investigated. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune via Getty Images)
When asked by Fox News Digital if the interview was still ongoing as she exited, however, Crockett answered, «It’s still going. I’m leaving early. I’ve got to get to another thing.»
A source familiar with the ongoing proceeding told Fox News Digital that Crockett came in during Republican investigators’ round of questioning and so was unable to make inquiries herself. Fox News Digital reached out to Crockett for a response.
Williams was the former Director of Strategic Outreach under the Biden administration. She did not speak to reporters on the way into her transcribed interview.
Crockett initially caught reporters and potentially even staff off guard when she arrived for the closed-door deposition of Biden’s former White House physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., was there as well, as is the norm for sworn depositions.
Williams, unlike O’Connor, is not on Capitol Hill under subpoena.
The House Oversight Committee questioned President Joe Biden’s physician Kevin O’Connor during a recent hearing as part of a probe into Biden’s alleged mental decline. (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP)
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During her Wednesday appearance, Crockett declared she never had any concerns about Biden’s mental state while he was president, though she did raise similar claims about Trump.
White House spokesman Harrison Fields told Fox News Digital in response to Crockett questioning Trump’s mental acuity: «The Democrats’ rising star has done more to cement the party’s demise than the President she breathlessly supported, the decrepit and feeble Joe Biden. Jasmine continues to prove she’d be better suited as a reality TV star on VH1 than an elected official on Capitol Hill.»
Comer is investigating accusations that Biden’s former top White House aides covered up signs of his mental and physical decline while in office, and whether any executive actions were commissioned via autopen without the president’s full knowledge. Biden allies have pushed back on those claims.
INTERNACIONAL
17-year-old British teen dies after beach sand tunnel collapses during family vacation: report
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A day at the beach turned tragic when a 17-year-old boy was killed after a sand tunnel he was digging abruptly collapsed, burying him alive.
The teen, identified as Riccardo Boni by several Italian media outlets, was vacationing in Montalto di Castro, Italy, with his family when the incident occurred on Thursday, July 10.
Boni’s family was staying at a resort in Montalto di Castro, approximately 70 miles north of Rome. The collapse happened around 3:00 p.m. local time while he was on the beach with his father and siblings.
According to local outlet Corriere della Sera, Riccardo Boni and his younger siblings had moved closer to the shoreline, where they began digging a large hole that was reportedly nearly five feet deep, in a more secluded area of the beach. Meanwhile, their father was nearby, dozing off under a beach umbrella.
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An aerial view shows Lido of Ostia, Rome’s seaside, with private beaches closed for the winter season, on November 10, 2024. (Photo by Andrea BERNARDI / AFP) (Photo by ANDREA BERNARDI/AFP via Getty Images)
Suddenly, the walls of the tunnel gave way, trapping the teen beneath the sand, the outlet reported.
The boy remained buried until his father woke up and realized his oldest son was missing. One of his brothers cried out, «Riccardo is under the sand,» according to The Sun. The siblings pointed to the location of the collapsed tunnel, prompting their father and nearby beachgoers to rush over and frantically dig in search of him.
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A view of a beach in Cinque Terre, Liguria, Italy on July 27, 2024. (Photo by Gian Marco Benedetto/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Tragically, the boy was found buried in the sand, unresponsive and showing no signs of life. First responders arrived within minutes, including an air ambulance, working to revive him, but it was too late, and the boy could not be saved, the outlet reported.
«No-one realized what had happened,» Lieutenant Daniele Tramontana, the Carabiniere officer leading the police investigation, told The Sun.
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Children dig a hole on a beach as people walk by. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
«They lost a lot of time because they couldn’t see him. When they realized he was missing they began to look for him but it was too late,» he continued.
A witness on the beach told Corriere della Serra that «no one on the beach had heard the teenager screaming because he was completely buried within minutes.»
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A police investigation has since been opened «against persons unknown» in connection with the fatal accident, the outlet added, as authorities consider whether an autopsy will be required.
«I have spoken to colleagues, and we have never heard of anything like this happening before in Italy,» Tramontana said. «We deal with terrible situations all the time, but we can’t imagine how a game on the beach ended up this way.»
Stepheny Price is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. She covers topics including missing persons, homicides, national crime cases, illegal immigration, and more. Story tips and ideas can be sent to stepheny.price@fox.com
INTERNACIONAL
Rusia confirmó la participación de soldados del régimen de Corea del Norte en la invasión de Ucrania
El ministro de Asuntos Exteriores de Rusia, Sergei Lavrov, reconoció este sábado la participación de soldados del régimen de Corea del Norte en la ofensiva militar rusa en Ucrania, específicamente en la región de Kursk, y calificó este hecho como símbolo de una “hermandad inquebrantable” entre ambos países.
“Los soldados del Ejército Popular de Corea, junto con los soldados rusos, a costa de sangre e incluso de vidas, han acercado la liberación de la región de Kursk de los nazis ucranianos”, afirmó Lavrov desde la ciudad norcoreana de Wonsan, en declaraciones recogidas por la agencia estatal rusa Tass. El canciller ruso visitó Corea del Norte en el marco de la segunda ronda de diálogo estratégico bilateral a nivel ministerial.
La afirmación marca un nuevo hito en el acercamiento militar entre Moscú y Pyongyang, en medio del aislamiento internacional de ambos países y del creciente alineamiento en temas de seguridad regional y defensa.
Durante el encuentro, la ministra de Exteriores norcoreana, Choi Son Hee, expresó el respaldo de su país a la posición rusa en el conflicto ucraniano. “Apoyaremos incondicional e invariablemente la política rusa de protección de la soberanía estatal y su integridad territorial”, declaró Choi, según la agencia rusa Interfax.
La funcionaria del régimen de Kim Jong-un agregó que este apoyo forma parte de la “opción estratégica” de Corea del Norte y su “voluntad de defender la justicia internacional en oposición a las maquinaciones hegemónicas de los imperialistas”. Las autoridades de ambos países insistieron en la necesidad de reforzar su alianza frente a presiones externas, con énfasis en el rechazo a la política occidental sobre Ucrania y la península de Corea.
Choi también manifestó la intención de “profundizar el intercambio estratégico de opiniones” con Moscú y “ampliar las tradicionales relaciones de amistad y cooperación en todos los ámbitos”. Según la ministra, las relaciones entre Rusia y Corea del Norte “se han elevado ya al nivel de cooperación inquebrantable”.
El encuentro se desarrolló durante la primera jornada de la visita oficial de Lavrov a Corea del Norte, en un contexto marcado por la intensificación del diálogo militar y diplomático entre ambos gobiernos. La reunión se enmarca en la segunda ronda de consultas estratégicas de alto nivel entre los ministros de Exteriores de los dos países.
Antes de partir hacia Pyongyang desde Kuala Lumpur, donde participó en la cumbre de cancilleres del Sudeste Asiático, Lavrov dijo que Rusia protegerá a Corea del Norte de “provocaciones”.
“Nos gustaría subrayar la necesidad de evitar cualquier acción provocativa contra Corea del Norte, que desafortunadamente continúa, incluido el refuerzo de alianzas militares entre Estados Unidos, Corea del Sur y Japón”, dijo Lavrov en rueda de prensa.
“Se han realizado ejercicios militares a una escala cada vez mayor, incluso con componente nuclear. Por lo tanto, el potencial de conflicto es significativo”, remarcó el canciller ruso desde la capital malasia, donde asistió a la reunión de Exteriores de la Asociación de Naciones del Sudeste Asiático (ASEAN).
Durante el viernes, Lavrov participó en el Foro de Asia Oriental, donde coincidió con el secretario de Estado de EEUU, Marco Rubio; la alta representante de la Unión Europea para Asuntos Exteriores, Kaja Kallas; y el canciller británico, David Lammy, entre otros.
El jefe de la diplomacia de Moscú, que ayer se reunió con los ministros del bloque del Sudeste Asiático, también mantuvo una cita bilateral con Rubio.
“Haremos todo lo posible para proteger los derechos legítimos de nuestros aliados norcoreanos y evitar cualquier provocación que pueda tener consecuencias graves”, remarcó Lavrov.
(Con información de Europa Press)
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