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EXCLUSIVE: FBI concludes Trump shooter Thomas Crooks acted alone after unprecedented global investigation
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EXCLUSIVE: The FBI came to the conclusion that Butler, Pennsylvania, would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks acted alone — after a massive team doggedly pursued interviews with thousands of foreign and domestic individuals as part of an unprecedented global investigation into the 2024 shooting of President Donald Trump, the bureau told Fox News Digital as part of a lengthy, behind-the-curtain rundown of the probe.
FBI Director Kash Patel, FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino and a senior official with direct involvement in the Butler, Pennsylvania, investigation sat down for an unprecedented interview with Fox News Digital for more than an hour Thursday afternoon at FBI headquarters.
FBI ‘STONEWALLED’ HOUSE TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT INVESTIGATION, CONGRESSMEN ALLEGE
Patel told Fox News Digital that the investigation was a «Day One priority» for the bureau.
FBI Director Kash Patel told Fox News Digital that the investigation was a «Day One priority» for the bureau. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
«Dan and I have been on this since we got here eight months ago. We not only had to maintain the chain of command to President Trump, but we had to remind the world that President Trump was the victim — one of the four victims — on that day,» Patel said. «There are victims’ rights rules that apply to him, and they don’t get erased because he is the president.»
«We fully briefed the president, as a victim of this case, at the White House, providing him with all of the details of our investigation, and the president was satisfied with the results and where we left it,» he said.
FBI Director Kash Patel, left, and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino sat down for an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital on the probe into Thomas Crooks, center. (Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Bethel Park School District ; Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
Patel, Bongino and the senior official, who has requested anonymity due to his sensitive work, shared new details of the monthslong investigation in an effort to provide maximum transparency to the American people amid recent reports that have suggested several theories, which Patel, Bongino and the official debunked.
«We have reviewed this case over and over — looked into every nugget. We have spoken to the families, the president — there is no cover-up here,» Bongino told Fox News Digital. «There is no motive for it, there is no reason for it.»
Patel referenced former FBI Director Christopher Wray’s testimony to Congress in 2024 as a potential reason for unfounded theories to surface.
«My predecessor went to Congress and said he didn’t know if it was a bullet that hit President Trump in the head. The whole world knew it was a bullet,» Patel told Fox News Digital. «For the number one law enforcement officer to say that — it causes a massive disbelief in the institution that Dan and I are now running.»
President Donald Trump is surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents at a campaign rally, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Evan Vucci/The Associated Press )
«But that is the difference between then and now,» he said.
The case currently sits in a «pending, inactive» status, but the official called the investigation «one of the largest mobilizations of FBI resources in history that, frankly, continued to this day.»
«If we get a credible lead, we’ll continue to investigate,» the official said. «The director has been very clear about leaving no stone left unturned, and that is what we are committed to.»
On July 13, 2024, Crooks, age 20, opened fire at Trump’s campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The president was shot, with the bullet piercing the upper part of his right ear.
The president ducked to the ground and was surrounded by Secret Service agents who evacuated him from the scene.
Three spectators were hit by gunfire, and one person, a firefighter and father, Corey Comperatore was killed.
The FBI took over the investigation hours after the shooting, and began investigating it as an assassination attempt.
«Four hundred and eighty-five FBI employees have been involved in some way, shape or form in this investigation,» the official told Fox News Digital.
«The FBI around the world has conducted more than 1,000 interviews connected to this case,» the official continued. «We’ve reviewed 2,000 tips that were submitted. We’ve served and executed more than 10 search warrants and 100 subpoenas. In that, we specifically analyzed 13 electronic devices that were associated with Crooks and his family members from his home in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania.»
The official said the FBI examined «35 accounts linked to Crooks, including social media, bank and other online accounts.»
President Donald Trump is whisked away by the Secret Service after shots rang out at a campaign rally at Butler Farm Show Inc. on July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. On the right, an image of the gunman, Thomas Crooks, taken earlier that day. (Jeff Swensen/Getty Images, Obtained by Fox News Digital)
«The FBI has been able to access all of the accounts,» the official said. «There has been reporting to inappropriately and incorrectly state that there was encryption that the FBI was not able to get into — that is not true. We have been able to get into every single account.»
The official said that Crooks maintained foreign-based email accounts from Germany and Belgium.
«The FBI was able to fully access those accounts within days of the attack,» the official said. «Additionally, the FBI engaged with foreign partners who also provided all of the content of those email accounts.»
«We can say with confidence that there is no communication, there are no emails that Crooks had that we have not been able to access,» the official said.
«The home was completely swept. Every device in the home was collected and accessed fully,» Patel said. «Reports say that we didn’t get into certain devices? That’s false. We got into all of the devices.»
The FBI conducted a manual review of more than 500,000 individual electronic files and «engaged with a number of nations around the world to ensure that all leads were covered.»
«When there was a lead about an overseas connection — the two instances where we became aware of the foreign accounts — the FBI reached out to foreign governments,» the official explained.
Thomas Matthew Crooks’ cellphone was taken by the FBI. (Obtained by Fox News | Getty Images)
«Very quickly, they provided the full contents of the accounts,» the official said, adding that the FBI had deployed «such an extraordinary overseas effort that even people not in Crooks’ age range were interviewed and done completely and thoroughly.»
«There is no foreign connection in this case,» the official stressed. «There is no individual that is outside U.S. borders or inside U.S. borders that had any role in directing him, inspiring him or assisting him in any way — and that includes foreign governments.»
The official added: «There is no information, no evidence anywhere in this investigation, that shows there was any foreign individual or foreign government or foreign organization tied to Thomas Crooks.»
«We would have cracked the biggest investigation in human history — a foreign-directed plot,» Bongino said. «Why would we withhold that? But we can only follow the facts, and they are just not there.»
Reports have surfaced questioning Crooks’ alleged relationship with Antifa-linked individual William Tepes.
The FBI told Fox News Digital that there was never any direct communication between Crooks and Tepes.
Undated file photo of Thomas Matthew Crooks in a yearbook photo. (Obtained by Fox News Digital)
«Crooks posted on YouTube. Tepes is a Norwegian, nordic resistance member. He simply responded to content Crooks posted,» Patel said, pointing to a comment Tepes made on a 2020-era video posted on the video-sharing platform by Crooks.
As for his online presence, Bongino said previous FBI leadership initially downplayed his digital footprint.
«The degree of his digital footprint was not messaged correctly at all by prior leadership,» Bongino said.
The official told Fox News Digital that Crooks’ online activity largely took place in 2019 and 2020, when Crooks was just 16 years-old — nearly five years before the attack.
«He called our Republicans and Democrats. He went as far as saying, ‘In my opinion, the only way to fight the government is with terrorism-style attacks.’ I won’t try to get into his brain,» the official said. «But there is a limited record of him making political statements and advocating for political violence in 2019 and 2020.»
The official detailed some of Crooks’ online behavior leading up to the attack, including on July 6, 2024, when he used his email account to register to attend the Butler, Pennsylvania, rally on the Trump campaign website. Crooks also searched «how far was Oswald from Kennedy?»
The official also said Crooks searched for what the weather would be in Butler, Pennsylvania, on the day of the attack and where the podium would be, and he looked up directions from his home to the Butler Farm Show grounds and directions from the grounds to the closest hospital.
«But Crooks left no manifesto. He had no seepage of any kind. He didn’t give any indication anywhere that he was going to do this or why he did this,» the official said. «There are many instances in notable assassinations that they do want folks to know why they did it, but we don’t know that here, because Thomas did not leave any of those artifacts.»
«The rage, the anger, I totally get it. I’m with you. [Trump] is a friend of ours, he was shot in the head on live television — we want an explanation, too,» Bongino said. «Where is the manifesto? The answer is — it doesn’t exist.»
An undated image of Thomas Matthew Crooks. (Handout via AFP)
Reports have suggested Crooks had some interest in the «furry» anthropomorphic community online.
But Patel told Fox News Digital that evidence obtained through the FBI’s investigation revealed «no evidence» of involvement in that community.
«He went on a website, called Deviant.com, and that website contains pornographic material — animated pornographic material related to the furry community — a whole host of things Americans would never look at,» Patel said, noting FBI evidence that Crooks displayed an interest in «animated female muscle-building erotica.»
«Crooks was on that website and looked at images related to women who work out … a lot. That was his interest, and so we are sharing this with you to show that just because he was on a website that has a voluminous amount of terrible information on it, there is no investigative fact to back up a connection between Thomas Crooks and a portion of the website that had the ‘furry’ on it.»
Patel said questions are also being raised as to why the FBI did not stop the assassination attempt before it happened.
Officers surround Thomas Crooks on the AGR roof after counter-snipers killed him. (Butler Twp Police Dept.)
«The FBI can only investigate based on a lawful predicate to open,» Patel said. «Does the American public really want the FBI scouring social media and content everywhere without a lawful predicate and trampling over First Amendment rights?»
Patel said that if someone had called in a lead, «immediately there would be action.»
«But no one did that,» Patel said. «No one.»
«People are asking why we didn’t act on his posts on certain sites. No one in law enforcement knew who he was. No one referred him to law enforcement, and we do not monitor every single American’s use of YouTube and Google and Twitter and Facebook,» Patel said. «Because then people come back and say to us: ‘Why are you on our First Amendment rights?’»
As for the weapon used to shoot the president, Crooks used a 223 rifle. Crooks’ father controlled access to the gun vault and the gun.
The weapon was used to fire eight rounds in the vicinity of the president and the stage. The official told Fox News Digital that there were 22 additional unfired rounds in the weapon and a number of unused magazines that were located in his vehicle on a ballistic vest.
The officials all shot down any theories of a potential second shooter, noting that the individual near the water tower around the site was a Pennsylvania State Police officer.
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino. (Reuters)
«There were no phantom rounds. Every single round was accounted for,» the official said.
Bongino stressed that «it is the FBI’s conclusion that Crooks acted alone.»
«It is our conclusion, and it is likely, given politically motivated assassination attempts in history,» Bongino said. «These are historical incidents that have already happened — Arthur Bremer; (Squeaky) Fromme; Sara Jane Moore; John Hinkley — those names should all ring a bell.»
He added, «We’re not saying Crooks didn’t deal with anyone ever — we are just saying that the people he dealt with had no role in inspiring, motivating or directing this attack.»
Meanwhile, the FBI discovered an undetonated explosive device inside Crooks’ vehicle.
An Allegheny County Police Bomb Squad car drives towards the home of Thomas Matthew Crooks, the suspected shooter of then-former President Donald Trump, as the FBI carries out an investigation, in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, on July 14, 2024. Donald Trump said that it was divine intervention that helped him survive an assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, and called on Americans to unite. Rebecca Droke/AFP via Getty Images (Rebecca Droke/AFP via Getty Images)
«The device had a receiver on it which would receive a message from a transmitter in order to detonate,» the official explained. «The receiver was positioned in the off position. Had it been positioned in the on position, and if it activated from the triggering device on the person, our assessment is that it would have activated. But the position was in the off position.»
Patel told Fox News Digital that he «recreated what it would have looked like if the explosive device was in the on position.»
«We walked members of Congress through a visual of what would have happened,» Patel said.
«Because it seems so unlikely you would build a device and forget to turn it on — but he did,» Bongino said. «That’s how it was found. Was it just stupidity?»
As for the crime scene in general, Patel, Bongino and the official explained that the FBI controlled the crime scene from July 14, 2024, at midnight until July 18, 2024.
«We do not hold the crime scene forever. We have to give it back — that is standard operating procedure,» Bongino said.
Crooks’ body was removed from the roof by the Pennsylvania state coroner. In coordination with State Police, the FBI then «cleaned the roof with water, as we were going to release the scene.»
Two FBI investigators scan the roof of AGR International Inc, the building adjacent to the Butler Fairgrounds, from which alleged shooter Matthew Thomas Crooks fired at former President Donald J. Trump, in the aftermath of the attempted assassination at a campaign rally on July 14, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)
«We had onlookers and souvenir hunters — the FBI is not going to turn over a blood-stained roof. AGR was a functioning business,» the official said. «Our standard operating procedure is to acquire services to clean the roof. The decision was made to do that, but only after all evidence on the roof was collected, including the firearm, shell casings, biological samples left behind, photos, blood.»
The official said an autopsy of Crooks was conducted the next day, and an FBI and Pennsylvania State Trooper sat in on the autopsy.
«Before the body was released to the family, which is protocol in every crime incident ever, the FBI collected DNA — fingernails, hair samples, and blood from Crooks, that remains in FBI evidence to this day,» the official said. «After those collections were made, our examination of the body was done and completed. At that point, it was turned over to the family for burial and for plans they had.»
The official added: «They chose to cremate.»
Law enforcement officers gather at the campaign rally site for Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is empty Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Evan Vucci/The Associated Press )
«The FBI did not make the decision to cremate the body,» Bongino said. «The family did. It was their son. The FBI had nothing to do with this decision at all.»
Meanwhile, Patel addressed criticisms from members of Congress who claim he has not turned over documents pertaining to the probe.
«Congress is accusing us of not turning over all of this stuff — but all of this stuff doesn’t exist. It is an empty narrative they’re firing into a vacuum,» Patel said. «The very limited information we have not turned over is respective to victims’ rights. There isn’t some trove of documents that we haven’t sent over there.»
Patel said the FBI has «fully debriefed the lawmakers.»
«We’ve even had members of Congress come to Quantico in our lab facility there and walk them through the exact investigative steps, the video and audio recordings, the repercussions of the explosion that did not occur that day and how that would have impacted the people that were attending the rally, and so they have been given a full inside view of what we did on those days,» Patel said. «We gave them all of the material we are legally able to give them.»
FBI Director Kash Patel White House speaks during a press briefing at the White House, Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025, in Washington. (Evan Vucci/The Assciated Press )
He added: «They have seen video recordings. We’ve literally shown them and delivered them the audio and video recordings — the totality of what we possess. They have that. They have our investigative information. There is nothing more for us to turn over. We don’t have anything else in our holdings.»
The FBI told Fox News Digital that the bureau has turned in more than 1,375 pages to the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate Permanent Select Committee on investigations. Those documents include FBI interviews — or 302s — with U.S. Secret Service and state and local police, state and local lab reports, including ballistics, crime scene photos, videos and more.
The total pages produced to the Senate numbered more than 2,750.
«Come put out 3,000 documents to Congress during his tenure. Wray, in his seven or eight years put out 13,000,» Patel said. «We, in eight months, have put out over 40,000 documents to Congress — to include this, Crossfire Hurricane, Arctic Frost and more.»
«But there are investigations ongoing surrounding that, so we are working with Congress, not only for constitutional oversight and reform in legislation, but we’re working on the accountability piece, and to do that, we have to run our investigations. And we’re not done.»
Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a Friday statement to Fox News Digital, «Under Director Patel and Deputy Director Bongino’s leadership, the FBI is doing tremendous work to investigate the horrific attempted assassination of President Trump that resulted in the heartbreaking murder of Corey Comperatore. We will help prevent what happened in Butler from ever happening again.»
The sit-down interview with Fox News Digital lasted for more than an hour, as Patel, Bongino and the senior official sought to provide as much information as possible on the probe and to debunk the recent public criticism they have faced.
«We don’t blame people for asking questions,» Bongino said. «The president, the candidate at the time, was shot in the head on live TV. Our position is — please — ask away.»
President Donald Trump speaks as FBI Director Kash Patel looks on during a news conference discussing the administration’s crime crackdown in the Oval Office at the White House, Wednesday. (John McDonnell/The Associated Press )
Bongino added: «We are very confident in the outcomes of this investigation. We have pulled on every threat. We are absolutely confident, and if information surfaces, please, immediately get it over to us for instant action.»
«I would ask the public: What motivation would Kash Patel and Dan Bongino possibly have to hide from their personal friend — not just their boss — the president — information about a crime where he was the victim?» Bongino asked. «I don’t understand what the motivation would be.»
But Bongino quoted a line from the movie «A Few Good Men.»
«No one is interested in guilt or innocence, they’re interested in someone to blame,» Bongino quoted. «The public is pissed off. We get it. We sympathize with you. It couldn’t have just been this guy — it couldn’t have just been this guy — it is. There is no reason I would tell you otherwise.»
«As to why people keep coming back to this on social media, the reality is, many people make a lot of money on social media pushing conspiracy theories for clicks,» Patel said. «That is a fact.»
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As for Trump, he told Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade Friday that he has «confidence in Kash, a lot of confidence, and the DOJ, and they are giving me reports, and their reports are seeming to balance out, so I have confidence in these people.»
«I wasn’t confident with Christopher Wray, but this group, it is a different group,» Trump said. «It’s Kash, as opposed to Christopher Wray, and I have confidence in Kash.»
fbi,kash patel,dan bongino,donald trump,justice department
Investigadores descubren cómo la fricción y la formación de burbujas dentro del magma determinan el tipo de erupción volcánica. Un equipo internacional de científicos presentó los resultados de una investigación clave sobre volcanes activos. El grupo estudió la relación entre las burbujas de gas, el movimiento del magma y la explosividad de las erupciones, en laboratorios y mediante simulaciones informáticas.
La investigación se centró en entender por qué algunos volcanes, aun con magma rico en gases que debería resultar altamente explosivo, presentan erupciones con lava fluida y no violentas. El estudio abordó fenómenos en volcanes conocidos como el Monte St. Helens (Estados Unidos) o el Quizapu (Chile). Los resultados permiten anticipar mejor el modo en que puede comportarse un volcán ante una acumulación de presión interna.
Según precisó ETH Zürich, los científicos observaron que la cantidad y el momento en que se forman las burbujas de gas deciden si una erupción resultará explosiva o tranquila. Hasta el momento, se suponía que estas burbujas surgían principalmente cuando el magma ascendía y la presión externa disminuía. El nuevo trabajo desafía esa idea y aporta datos experimentales concretos.
De acuerdo con ETH Zurich, la fricción y el movimiento dentro del conducto volcánico cumplen un rol decisivo en la aparición de burbujas. Estas fuerzas, conocidas como fuerzas de cizallamiento, pueden generar burbujas incluso sin la necesidad de una reducción de presión.
En zonas cercanas a las paredes del conducto, donde la fricción entre el magma y la roca es mayor, el material se mueve más lento que en el centro, creando un efecto similar al de remover miel con una cuchara. El resultado es la formación de burbujas de gas adheridas a la franja de mayor fricción.
De acuerdo con Olivier Bachmann, profesor de Vulcanología en ETH Zurich y coautor del estudio, los experimentos demostraron que el movimiento inducido en el magma basta para generar burbujas en ausencia de baja presión. Las pruebas se realizaron con líquidos viscosos saturados de dióxido de carbono que simulaban el comportamiento de la roca fundida en condiciones reales.
Cuanto mayor es el contenido inicial de gas en el magma, menor es la cantidad de fricción necesaria para crear nuevas burbujas, aclara Bachmann. El equipo observó que una vez que se forman burbujas en un sector, estas facilitan la nucleación de otras burbujas alrededor.
El equipo validó los datos experimentales mediante modelos por computadora, los cuales mostraron que la formación de burbujas ocurre especialmente allí donde el magma viscoso circula cerca de las paredes del conducto y se ve sometido a intensas fuerzas de cizallamiento.
El número y distribución de burbujas de gas en el magma no solo definen la forma en que este se eleva dentro del volcán, sino también el modo en que se libera hacia la superficie. En ciertos casos, las burbujas formadas por las fuerzas de cizallamiento se combinan y desarrollan canales por donde el gas escapa antes de tiempo. Así, el magma rico en gases puede desgasificarse antes de alcanzar la cima y salir en forma de una lava fluida y no explosiva.
Ejemplos como el Monte St. Helens confirman este patrón: durante su erupción de 1980, el evento comenzó con un flujo lento de lava dentro del cono volcánico. Solo cuando un deslizamiento de tierra aumentó bruscamente el tamaño del conducto y redujo la presión, se produjo la explosión. Los resultados del estudio señalan que la mayoría de los volcanes con magma viscoso permiten una salida eficiente de gases, una idea que modifica los modelos anteriores de predicción.
Bachmann explicó que el modelo tradicional, basado solo en la presión, no capturaba la capacidad del magma de liberar gases mediante la acción de fuerzas internas. Según el investigador, actualizar los modelos con estos mecanismos permitirá predecir mejor la peligrosidad de futuras erupciones.
El equipo utilizó líquidos análogos a la roca fundida, saturados de gas, para reproducir estas condiciones en laboratorio. Cuando aplicaron movimiento y generaron cizallamiento, notaron la nucleación abrupta de burbujas apenas se superaron ciertos umbrales. El hallazgo principal consistió en que, bajo altos niveles de saturación de gas, se necesita menos fricción para repetir el fenómeno.
De acuerdo con los datos presentados, la presencia de burbujas iniciales también acelera la formación de más burbujas en cadena, intensificando el desarrollo de canales de escape para los gases. Los volcanes anteriormente considerados impredecibles pueden, en realidad, liberar presión internamente sin detonar explosiones, si el magma logra formar vías de desgasificación a tiempo.
Este trabajo aporta una pieza clave para comprender cómo funcionan los procesos subterráneos en volcanes activos y mejora los criterios utilizados para evaluar futuros escenarios eruptivos. Según ETH Zurich, la ciencia volcánica avanza hacia modelos más precisos, lo que facilitará la prevención y la preparación ante riesgos naturales asociados a la actividad volcánica.
wn
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A surge in car-rammings and other assaults on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during targeted operations in California, Illinois and North Carolina has coincided with sharp criticism from local and state leaders against federal officers.
Earlier this week, the Department of Homeland Security reported a 1,300% increase in vehicular attacks on ICE since President Donald Trump took office, and a 58% spike against CBP officers in that same time period.
There were only two vehicular rammings of ICE agents – in particular – during former President Joe Biden’s final year in office. His administration also did not conduct fervent, targeted immigration raids at the same scale or frequency, according to reports.
DEMS URGED TO ‘STOP SIDING WITH ILLEGAL ALIENS’ AFTER ACTIVIST RAMS AGENTS IN SANCTUARY CITY
In comments to Fox News Digital on Friday, Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said:
«Since January 20, there have been 99 vehicle attacks against DHS law enforcement, a 1,000% increase in assaults against them, and an 8,000% increase in death threats to ICE officers. Make no mistake: The uptick in these kinds of attacks is being fueled by the constant demonization of ICE and CBP officers by Democrat politicians. They need to knock it off before they get one of our officers killed.»
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, whose city was targeted second after Los Angeles, has repeatedly labeled Trump a racist and characterized ICE agents as terrorists.
As recently as this week, Johnson told a podcast – in a report aired by Sky News – that «attacks» on illegal immigrants and targets of the Trump administration have the same characteristics as the priorities of antebellum freedmen.
«We know that the intentional attacks that are coming from the Trump administration and the extreme right in this country has very much been what I call an attempt to relitigate the Civil War,» Johnson said.
«They have not accepted the results that the North actually won.»
FROM WORDS TO BLOODSHED: DEMOCRATS BLASTED FOR RHETORIC AFTER DEADLY ICE SHOOTING
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents clashed with protesters in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, July 8. (United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement via X)
Johnson said that Trump is also politically targeting education, housing, transportation, jobs and health care – which he said were «literally the five demands of descendants of slaves.»
During the Civil War, however, the Confederacy was led largely by Democrats of that era, including President Jefferson Davis, Vice President Alexander Stephens and officers like Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, who later became the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.
During the heat of immigration enforcement operations in Chicago, Johnson railed against the missions, describing scenes from the streets as «what terrorism looks like.»
Johnson also set up what he called «ICE-free zones» and in one instance, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem was denied the use of a restroom at the Broadview, Ill., city hall just outside Chicago proper.
BLUE STATE ICE AGENTS DODGE BULLETS, SPEEDING CARS AS LEFT RAMPS UP TRACKING CAMPAIGNS
Noem blamed Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker for the conditions that led to the incident, saying it is an example of how the Democrat «and his cronies treat our law enforcement — Absolutely shameful.»
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass also spoke out during ICE operations in her city, saying, «These tactics sow terror in our communities.»
Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., was caught on video shouting questions at Noem during a press conference.
DHS WARNS OF ‘UNPRECEDENTED VIOLENCE’ AS DEATH THREATS AGAINST ICE OFFICERS SOAR 8,000%
Noem later claimed Padilla «lunged» at her, which resulted in various analyses of video of the confrontation.
Padilla was quickly tackled by Noem’s security detail, and later commented on the incident, saying that if his treatment is how the Trump administration deals with a «senator with a question… you can only imagine what they’re doing to farmworkers» on the immigration enforcement front.
California Attorney General Robert Bonta publicly called the actions of ICE and CBP during its Los Angeles operations «part of a cruel and familiar patter of attacks on our immigrant communities by an administration that thrives on fear and division.»
«We won’t be silent. We won’t back down. We will continue to hold the federal government accountable when it violates the Constitution and federal law,» Bonta said in a July 7 statement.
MANHUNT UNDERWAY AFTER FEDERAL AGENTS TAKE GUNFIRE AS RIOTERS RAM VEHICLES, HURL DEBRIS IN CHICAGO
On Friday, DHS announced another arrest of a car-ramming suspect, with officials alleging Mexican national Roberto Galeana-Guatemala struck and seriously injured an officer with his vehicle when ICE was attempting to arrest him in National City, California.
Galeana-Guatemala was charged Friday with the assault as well as one count of being a removed alien who again entered the U.S. illegally.
McLaughlin said the incident marked roughly the 100th vehicle attack on ICE personnel since Trump took office.
After a recent case in which critics claimed DHS «kidnapped» a teenager, McLaughlin said the boy had been part of a group throwing rocks at officers who themselves were targets of another vehicle ramming attack.
She suggested rhetoric from critics over the incident was yet another accelerant on the political fire causing such attacks:
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«A U.S. teenager was arrested for assaulting law enforcement in Chicago—any claims that CBP ‘kidnapped’ a U.S. citizen and held him in a warehouse are bizarre and categorically false,» she said.
«These are more disgusting smears peddled by the media and billboard law firms. This attack is not an isolated incident, and it reflects a growing and dangerous trend of illegal aliens violently resisting arrest, and agitators and criminals ramming cars into our law enforcement officers.»
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Gunmen abducted 303 children and 12 teachers in an attack on St. Mary’s School, a Catholic institution in Nigeria. Initial reports indicated that at least 52 had been kidnapped before the tally was increased to over 200 children and then to its final count of 303.
Most. Rev. Bulus Dauwa Yohanna said in a statement that the total number of kidnapped was determined «after a verification exercise and a final census was carried out,» according to The Associated Press. Yohanna is the chairman of the Niger state chapter of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), who visited the school on Friday. The AP noted that the students who were kidnapped were male and female and ranged in age from 10 to 18.
GUNMEN ATTACK CHURCH IN NIGERIA, KILLING TWO AND KIDNAPPING OTHERS
In this photo released by the Christian Association of Nigeria, a man walks past belongings at the St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary School after gunmen abducted children and staff in Papiri community in Nigeria on Nov. 21, 2025. (Christian Association of Nigeria via AP)
No group has come forward to claim responsibility for the attack, according to the AP. The outlet added that authorities said tactical squads and local hunters were working to rescue the kidnapped children.
After the attack, the state government said that St. Mary’s School reopened despite warnings of increased threats. However, Yohanna denied this claim, the AP reported.
«We did not receive any circular. It must be an afterthought and a way to shift blame,» he said, according to the AP.
This photo released by the Christian Association of Nigeria shows the dormitories of St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary School after gunmen abducted children and staff in Papiri community in Nigeria on Nov. 21, 2025. (Christian Association of Nigeria via AP)
RAP STAR NICKI MINAJ THANKS TRUMP FOR ADDRESSING PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS IN NIGERIA
The attack at St. Mary’s follows a similar incident earlier this week in which armed attackers kidnapped 25 girls from a boarding school in Nigeria’s Kebbi State and killed at least one staffer. The search for the abducted schoolgirls is still underway.
A woman looks on as she walks past a classroom in Shehu Kangiwa Model Primary School in Argungu, Kebbi State, in northern Nigeria on April 12, 2025. (Leslie Fauvel / AFP via Getty Images)
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Nigeria has seen a series of attacks on Christians and their institutions, prompting President Donald Trump to declare the West African nation a «country of particular concern.» However, the Nigerian government has disputed the U.S.’s claims.
On Tuesday, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz held an event highlighting the ongoing violence in Nigeria. During the event, Waltz called the killings of Christians in Nigeria «genocide wearing the mask of chaos.» He was joined by rap superstar Nicki Minaj, who called for religious freedom for all.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
world,crime,africa,christianity
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