National, Regional and Local News

[ti-amie]

U.S.-citizen family 'traumatized' after ICE raided their Oklahoma home in search of someone else
A mother and her daughters had their phones, laptops and cash life savings confiscated as part of a search warrant issued for other people.

April 30, 2025, 12:48 PM EDT
By Nicole Acevedo

Federal immigration agents searched the home of a family in Oklahoma and seized their belongings when conducting a search warrant issued for someone else.

The U.S. citizen mother of three daughters said the family has been "traumatized" since they were wrongly subjected to a search and seizure warrant that had the names of the residents who previously lived in her Oklahoma City home.

“We’re citizens. That’s what I kept saying. We’re citizens,” the woman told KFOR, an NBC-affiliated local TV news station. “They were very dismissive, very rough, very careless."

According to KFOR, which first reported the story, the immigration agents raided the home last week. They had a search warrant for the home, but the suspects listed on the warrant were not living in the house anymore.

About 20 armed agents busted through the door in the middle of the night, KFOR reported.

At first, the mother didn't know who they were. “It was dark. All the lights were off,” she said. "My initial thought was we were being robbed — that my daughters, being females, were being kidnapped."

The mother, whose identity was not revealed and who KFOR referred to by the pseudonym "Marisa" in its reporting, told the TV station the men who entered her home identified themselves as federal agents with the U.S. Marshals Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigations and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

"The U.S. Marshal Service was not involved in the incident," Brady McCarron, deputy chief of public affairs at the United States Marshals Service, told NBC News in an email Tuesday.

'We didn't do anything'
A spokesperson for the FBI referred NBC News' request for comment to Homeland Security Investigations, an agency within the Department of Homeland Security that investigates criminal cases.

A senior DHS official confirmed to NBC News on Wednesday that ICE carried out "a court-authorized search warrant for a large-scale human smuggling investigation," involving eight Guatemalan nationals indicted in a federal case in the Northern District of Oklahoma.

“The search warrants included the location of an address where U.S. citizens recently moved. The previous residents were the intended targets," the official said.

The mother and her daughters wrongly targeted had recently moved from Maryland, settling in the rented home in Oklahoma City just a couple of weeks ago — hoping for a slower, more affordable lifestyle, KFOR reported. The father was set to join the family in their new home this weekend.

Though none of the family members were the subjects of the warrant, federal agents raided their home and confiscated their belongings. They took their phones, laptops and all their cash savings as "evidence," KFOR reported.

"I said you took my phone. We have no money. I just moved here,” the mother said. “I have to feed my children. I’m going to need gas money. I need to be able to get around. Like, how do you just leave me like this? Like an abandoned dog.”

“I kept pleading. I kept telling them we weren’t criminals. They were treating us like criminals. We were here by ourselves. We didn’t do anything," the mother added.

She said the agents ordered her and her daughters to step outside, even though it was raining and they barely were given time to put on clothes.

“They wanted me to change in front of all of them, in between all of them,” she said. “My husband has not even seen my daughter in her undergarments — her own dad, because it’s respectful. You have her out there, a minor, in her underwear,” the woman told KFOR.

“One of them said, ‘I know it was a little rough this morning,’” she said. “It was so denigrating. That you do all of this to a family, to women, your fellow citizens. And it was a little rough? You literally traumatized me and my daughters for life. We’re going to have to go get help or get over this somehow.”

Before the agents left, the mother asked when could the family get their belongings back and they said it could be days or even months, KFOR reported.

DHS did not comment on how the mother described and characterized the actions of the agents.


https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/us- ... rcna203700

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RFK Jr.’s HHS Orders Lab Studying Deadly Infectious Diseases to Stop Research
NIAID’s Integrated Research Facility is one of the few federal facilities charged with studying Ebola. Tuesday afternoon, all of its work was put on indefinite pause by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s department.

Emily Mullin
Science Apr 30, 2025 5:53 PM

A research facility within the US National Institutes of Health that is tasked with studying Ebola and other deadly infectious diseases has been instructed by the Trump administration’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to stop research activities.

According to an email viewed by WIRED, the Integrated Research Facility in Frederick, Maryland was told to stop all experimental work by April 29 at 5 pm. The facility is part of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and is located at the US Army base Fort Detrick. It conducts research on the treatment and prevention of infectious diseases that are deemed “high consequence”—those that pose significant risks to public health. It has 168 employees, including federal workers and contractors.

The email, sent by Michael Holbrook, associate director for high containment at the Integrated Research Facility, says the lab is terminating studies on Lassa fever, SARS-Cov-2, and Eastern equine encephalitis, or EEE, a rare but lethal mosquito-borne disease that has been reported in several Northern US states. “We are collecting as many samples as is reasonable to ensure these studies are of value,” he says in the email. “We have not been asked to euthanize any animals so these animals will continue to be managed.” Holbrook did not respond to an inquiry from WIRED.

The email says representatives from the Department of Homeland Security were padlocking freezers in BSL-4 labs, those with the highest level of biosafety containment used for studying highly dangerous microbes. Only about a dozen BSL-4 labs exist in North America. These labs work with the viruses that cause Ebola, Lassa fever, and Marburg, types of hemorrhagic fevers. The Integrated Research Facility is one of few places in the world that is able to perform medical imaging on animals infected with BSL-4 agents.

Read the full story: https://www.wired.com/story/hhs-niaid-i ... arch-stop/

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Aaron Rupar
‪@atrupar.com‬



Trump: "China is sending its boats back. The boats are not being unloaded because they have a 145% tariff, which is a record-setting type tariff. They can't sell their product here and bc of that -- think of it, if you're losing all of that money, maybe you're better off not doing business w/ them."



https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3lo32lsifr22l
Video at this link

At least Steven A looks embarrassed

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Wait there's more!

Aaron Rupar‬
‪@atrupar.com‬
· 15m



asked by Stephen A. Smith about his Harvard shakedown, Trump starts ranting about Harlem and says "I got a very high Black vote"


Video at the link below
https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3lo33at56fu2d

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Army plans for a potential parade on Trump’s birthday call for 6,600 soldiers, AP learns
By LOLITA C. BALDOR
Updated 7:14 PM EDT, May 1, 2025

WASHINGTON (AP) — Detailed Army plans for a potential military parade on President Donald Trump’s birthday in June call for more than 6,600 soldiers, at least 150 vehicles, 50 helicopters, seven bands and possibly a couple thousand civilians, The Associated Press has learned.

The planning documents, obtained by the AP, are dated April 29 and 30 and have not been publicly released. They represent the Army’s most recent blueprint for its long-planned 250th birthday festival on the National Mall and the newly added element — a large military parade that Trump has long wanted but is still being discussed.

While the slides do not include any price estimates, it would likely cost tens of millions of dollars to put on a parade of that size. Costs would include the movement of military vehicles, equipment, aircraft and troops from across the country to Washington and the need to feed and house thousands of service members.

High costs halted Trump’s push for a parade in his first term, and the tanks and other heavy vehicles that are part of the Army’s latest plans have raised concerns from city officials about damage to roads.

Asked about plans for a parade, Army spokesman Steve Warren said Thursday that no final decisions have been made.

Col. Dave Butler, another Army spokesman, added that the Army is excited about the plans for the birthday festival..

“We want to make it into an event that the entire nation can celebrate with us,” said Butler. “We want Americans to know their Army and their soldiers. A parade might become part of that, and we think that will be an excellent addition to what we already have planned.”


Others familiar with the documents, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the plans have not been finalized, said they represent the Army’s plans as it prepares for any White House approval of the parade. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

There has been no formal approval yet. Changes to the plans have been made in recent weeks and more are likely.

What would go into the potential Army parade
Much of the equipment would have to be brought in by train or flown in.

Some equipment and troops were already going to be included in the Army’s birthday celebration, which has been in the works for more than a year. The festival was set to involve an array of activities and displays on the National Mall, including a fitness competition, climbing wall, armored vehicles, Humvees, helicopters and other equipment.

A parade, however, would increase the equipment and troops involved. According to the plans, as many as 6,300 of the service members would be marching in the parade, while the remainder would be responsible for other tasks and support.

The Army’s early festival plans did not include a parade. But its 250th birthday celebration on June 14 happens to coincide with Trump’s 79th birthday, and officials confirmed last month that the Army had started discussions about adding a parade.

The plans say the parade would showcase the Army’s 250 years of service and foresee bringing in soldiers from at least 11 corps and divisions nationwide. Those could include a Stryker battalion with two companies of Stryker vehicles, a tank battalion and two companies of tanks, an infantry battalion with Bradley vehicles, Paladin artillery vehicles, Howitzers and infantry vehicles.

There would be seven Army bands and a parachute jump by the Golden Knights. And documents suggest that civilian participants would include historical vehicles and aircraft and two bands, along with people from veterans groups, military colleges and reenactor organizations.

According to the plan, the parade would be classified as a national special security event, and that request has been submitted by the National Park Service and is under review.

And it is expected that the evening parade would be followed by a concert and fireworks.

One of the documents raises concerns about some limitations, which include where troops would be housed and “significant concerns regarding security requirements” as equipment flows into the city. It says the biggest unknown so far is which units would be participating.

Trump has long wanted a big military parade
In his first term, he proposed having a parade after seeing one in France on Bastille Day in 2017. Trump said that after watching the two-hour procession along the famed Champs-Elysees that he wanted an even grander one on Pennsylvania Avenue.

That plan was ultimately dumped due to the huge costs — with one estimate of a $92 million price tag — and other logistical issues. Among those were objections from city officials who said including tanks and other heavy armored vehicles would tear up the roads.

Trump said in a social media post in 2018 that he was canceling the event over the costs and accused local politicians of price gouging.

This year, as plans progressed for the Army to host its birthday festival in Washington, talk about a parade began anew.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser acknowledged in April that the administration reached out to the city about holding a parade on June 14 that would stretch from Arlington, Virginia, where the Pentagon and Arlington National Cemetery are located, across the Potomac River and into Washington.

Bowser at the time said she didn’t know if the event was being “characterized as a military parade” but added that tanks rolling through the city’s streets “would not be good.”

“If military tanks were used, they should be accompanied with many millions of dollars to repair the roads,” she said.

In 2018, the Pentagon appeared to agree. A memo from the defense secretary’s staff said plans for the parade — at that time — would include only wheeled vehicles and no tanks to minimize damage to local infrastructure.

https://apnews.com/article/army-parade- ... c3d1ba4b35

[ponchi101]

Dictators never do that. Never.

[dryrunguy]

666 soldiers would suffice...

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Carl Quintanilla
‪@carlquintanilla.bsky.social‬
Number of US gas stations currently selling at $1.98: zero.

www.gasbuddy.com

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‪Tristan Snell‬
‪@tristansnell.bsky.social‬
·






Watch the reporters reaction

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Elon Musk Tried Keeping Issues at His Texas Mansion Private, Emails Show
The tech billionaire’s staff were concerned that correspondence about his home in West Lake Hills would become public after neighbors complained.

By Kirsten Grind
May 6, 2025, 5:00 p.m. ET

In March, Mr. Musk’s team lobbied officials in the upscale city of West Lake Hills, Texas, to keep quiet the details of one of his mansions and security operations, according to emails to city employees obtained by The New York Times through public records requests.

In those emails, the tech billionaire’s employees asked West Lake Hills officials to make private a public meeting in April — where neighbors might speak about his $6 million house. They pointed to Mr. Musk’s work with the Trump administration as reason that his property records and communications with the city be exempted from state and federal public records laws, the emails showed.

The homeowner should be exempt because he is a “federal public official,” one of Mr. Musk’s employees wrote in an email sent to the city on March 3, adding, “We can provide federal clearance documentation if needed.”

Mr. Musk, 53, was trying to keep a disagreement with his neighbors over the construction of a 16-foot, chain-link fence and a metal gate with a camera at the mansion under wraps. He had made the changes to the property without obtaining the proper permits, violating six city ordinances, and was trying to retroactively address the issue.

His privacy push was unsuccessful. The West Lake Hills city attorney ruled against a closed meeting, the emails show. Last month, at a gathering of the Zoning and Planning Commission, Mr. Musk lost his appeal to keep the fence and gate on his property. The matter goes next to a City Council meeting, which had been scheduled for May 14 but was rescheduled for June 11 after “the applicant requested a postponement,” Trey Fletcher, the city administrator, said on Tuesday.

Mr. Fletcher declined to comment on the city documents. Mr. Musk and his team did not respond to requests for comment.


Mr. Musk, 53, was trying to keep a disagreement with his neighbors over the construction of a 16-foot, chain-link fence and a metal gate with a camera at the mansion under wraps. He had made the changes to the property without obtaining the proper permits, violating six city ordinances, and was trying to retroactively address the issue.

His privacy push was unsuccessful. The West Lake Hills city attorney ruled against a closed meeting, the emails show. Last month, at a gathering of the Zoning and Planning Commission, Mr. Musk lost his appeal to keep the fence and gate on his property. The matter goes next to a City Council meeting, which had been scheduled for May 14 but was rescheduled for June 11 after “the applicant requested a postponement,” Trey Fletcher, the city administrator, said on Tuesday.

Mr. Fletcher declined to comment on the city documents. Mr. Musk and his team did not respond to requests for comment.

(...)

After the 16-foot fence and separate gate were erected, neighbors complained about the structures and the traffic on the leafy street. That led West Lake Hills officials to investigate.

By March, Mr. Musk’s staff had become concerned that any documentation they send to the city would become public, the emails show. Tisha Ritta, a permit official working for Mr. Musk’s limited liability company, emailed the city to request that a hearing scheduled to discuss issues at the property be kept private.

(...)

At the public Zoning and Planning Commission meeting last month, city employees recommended Mr. Musk be allowed to keep the fence and gate he had built without permits, albeit with small changes required. Some of the commission’s six members questioned the city staff about the proposal, according to a recording of the meeting.

The commission ultimately voted to recommend that the City Council deny Mr. Musk the exceptions for his projects.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/06/tech ... hbors.html

[ponchi101]

He really believes he is above the law. Any law.