Justice Department fires Maurene Comey, prosecutor on Epstein case and daughter of ex-FBI director

<p>-

  • Justice Department fires Maurene Comey, prosecutor on Epstein case and daughter of ex-FBI director</p>

<p>ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and ERIC TUCKER July 16, 2025 at 6:16 PM</p>

<p>FILE - Assistant U.S. Attorney Maurene Comey is outside court during the Sean "Diddy" Combs' sex trafficking trial, June 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)</p>

<p>WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department has fired Maurene Comey, the daughter of former FBI director James Comey and a federal prosecutor in Manhattan who worked on the cases against Sean "Diddy" Combs and Jeffrey Epstein, three people familiar with the matter told The on Wednesday.</p>

<p>There was no specific reason given for her firing, according to one of the people. They spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters.</p>

<p>Maurene Comey was a veteran lawyer in the Southern District of New York, long considered the most elite of the Justice Department's prosecution offices. Her cases included the sex trafficking prosecution of Epstein, who killed himself behind bars in 2019 as he was awaiting trial, and the recent case against Combs, which ended earlier this month with a mixed verdict.</p>

<p>She didn't immediately respond to messages seeking comment Wednesday.</p>

<p>It's the latest move by the Justice Department to fire lawyers without explanation, which has raised alarm over a disregard for civil service protections designed to prevent terminations for political reasons. The Justice Department has also fired a number of prosecutors who worked on cases that have provoked President Donald Trump's ire, including some who handled U.S. Capitol riot cases and lawyers and support staff who worked on special counsel Jack Smith's prosecutions of Trump.</p>

<p>Maurene Comey was long seen as a potential target given her father's fraught relationship over the last decade with the Republican president. The Justice Department recently appeared to acknowledge the existence of an investigation into James Comey, though the basis for that inquiry is unclear.</p>

<p>Most recently, she was the lead prosecutor among six female prosecutors in the sex trafficking and racketeering case against Combs. The failure to convict the hip-hop mogul of the main charges, while gaining a conviction on prostitution-related charges that will likely result in a prison sentence of just a few years, was viewed by some fellow lawyers as a rare defeat by prosecutors.</p>

<p>But she was successful in numerous other prosecutions, most notably the conviction of Ghislaine Maxwell on sex trafficking charges for helping financier Epstein sexually abuse underage girls. In that case, she delivered a rebuttal argument during closings, as she did in the Combs case.</p>

<p>Her firing comes as Attorney General Pam Bondi faces intense criticism from some members of Trump's base for the Justice Department's decision not to release any more evidence in the government's possession from Epstein's sex trafficking investigation. Some right-wing internet personalities, like Laura Loomer, who have been critical of Bondi's handling of the Epstein files had been calling for Maurene Comey's firing.</p>

<p>James Comey was the FBI director when Trump took office in 2017, having been appointed by then-President Barack Obama and serving before that as a senior Justice Department official in President George W. Bush's administration. But his relationship with Trump was strained from the start, and the FBI director resisted a request by Trump at a private dinner to pledge personal loyalty to the president — an overture that so unnerved the FBI director that he documented it in a contemporaneous memorandum.</p>

<p>Trump soon after fired Comey amid an investigation into potential ties between Russia and Trump's presidential campaign. That inquiry, later taken over by special counsel Robert Mueller, would ultimately find that while Russia interfered with the 2016 election and the Trump team welcomed the help, there was insufficient evidence to prove a criminal collaboration.</p>

<p>Trump's fury at the older Comey continued long after firing him from the bureau, blaming him for a "hoax" and "witch hunt" that shadowed much of his first term.</p>

<p>Comey disclosed contemporaneous memos of his conversations with Trump to a friend so that their content could be revealed to the media, and the following year he published a book calling Trump "ego driven" and likening him to a mafia don. Trump, for his part, has accused Comey and other officials of treason.</p>

<p>_____</p>

<p>reporter Larry Neumeister in New York contributed.</p>

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Justice Department fires Maurene Comey, prosecutor on Epstein case and daughter of ex-FBI director

<p>- Justice Department fires Maurene Comey, prosecutor on Epstein case and daughter of ex-FBI director</p> ...
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Mexican President Sheinbaum sues El Chapo's American lawyer

<p>-

  • Mexican President Sheinbaum sues El Chapo's American lawyer</p>

<p>Michael Loria, USA TODAY July 16, 2025 at 9:57 PM</p>

<p>CHICAGO — The government of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is suing El Chapo's American defense lawyer after the attorney cast doubts on her efforts to fight corruption and cartels.</p>

<p>Sheinbaum told reporters in Mexico on July 15 that the country is suing Jeffrey Lichtman, a New York-based litigator best known for defending Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán and his sons, Ovidio Guzmán López and Joaquín Guzmán López. The defamation lawsuit comes in response to comments by Lichtman indicating that his Sinaloa Cartel clients could shed light on public corruption in Mexico connected to Sheinbaum's Morena political party.</p>

<p>"Moral and political authority is required to govern Mexico, and to be worthy of our people. So, the certainty of that authority — my history speaks for me," Sheinbaum said. The agency that filed the suit is the Legal Counsel of the Federal Executive, or Consejero Jurídico del Ejecutivo Federal in Spanish, she said.</p>

<p>Lichtman's remarks on Sheinbaum and other Mexican administrations came outside federal court in Chicago, where he was representing El Chapo's son Ovidio Guzmán López. In exchange for pleading guilty on charges involving international drug trafficking and murder, Guzmán López is expected to cooperate with American authorities fighting cartels, including by sharing information on corrupt public officials.</p>

<p>The longtime litigator mocked the Mexican president's response.</p>

<p>"If this was anything more than political grandstanding to her base, Sheinbaum would sue me, a private American citizen, in an American courtroom instead of in Mexico where the lawsuit has no teeth," Lichtman told USA TODAY. "Why she felt the need to spend days denouncing me in part for representing clients charged with crimes, instead of addressing the many difficult issues her country faces is frightening — and very telling."</p>

<p>Officials at the Mexican embassy in Washington, D.C., did not provide a copy of the lawsuit.</p>

<p>Jeffrey Lichtman, lawyer for El Chapo's son, Joaquin Guzman Lopez, speaks to members of the press at the Dirksen U.S. courthouse as his client is set to make his initial U.S. court appearance in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., July 30, 2024. REUTERS/Vincent AlbanWhat impact will the lawsuit have?</p>

<p>Mexico's efforts to sue a private citizen in another country mark a rare if not unprecedented move, according to experts following the case. One Mexican scholar called it a "spectacle" that might wind up hurting Mexico more than the American attorney it's aimed at discrediting.</p>

<p>"This all seems to be a show," Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera, a George Mason University professor, told USA TODAY. "I do not think she is serious about this. It is just a spectacle … But the Trump administration wins overall and reinforces its false narrative of Mexico being a 'narcostate.'"</p>

<p>President Donald Trump said as recently as July 16 that cartels have tremendous control over Mexico and its politicians. The president's comments came when he signed a bill extending tougher prison sentences for fentanyl trafficking.</p>

<p>Correa-Cabrera, author of Los Zetas Inc.: Criminal Corporations, Energy, and Civil War in Mexico, also called Lichtman's comments a "spectacle."</p>

<p>What did Lichtman say?</p>

<p>The comments at the heart of the lawsuit came outside of a federal courtroom in Chicago, where Lichtman was representing El Chapo's son at a guilty plea hearing. Guzmán López is one of the Chapitos, or sons of the drug kingpin who took over the cartel after his arrest and extradition in 2017.</p>

<p>Lichtman was answering questions from reporters in the Dirksen federal courthouse when he criticized Mexican President Sheinbaum for saying that the U.S. was negotiating with terrorists for making a deal with Guzmán López.</p>

<p>"Far be it from me to defend the American government… they're not exactly my friends in these cases," said the lawyer who represented El Chapo in 2018. "That being said, the idea that the American government would include the Mexican government in any kind of American legal decision negotiation is absurd."</p>

<p>In Washington, D.C., Rep. Lou Correa, (D-CA) shows in 2023 a photograph of Ovidio Guzman Lopez, a son of former Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmán, who was extradited to the U.S from Mexico.</p>

<p>Lichtman referenced public corruption cases in Mexico and cartel leaders where he says Mexican authorities "did nothing."</p>

<p>Mexican authorities are essentially at war with cartels in parts of the country and attempts to arrest bosses have led to full-scale battles, including in capturing Guzmán López in 2023.</p>

<p>Lichtman also responded in a post on social media to Sheinbaum's criticisms: "Some free advice: don't discuss my clients in a cheap effort to score political points unless you are prepared for my unfiltered response."</p>

<p>Why is Mexico's Sheinbaum suing?</p>

<p>President Sheinbaum's lawsuit against El Chapo's lawyer might not get anywhere in court but having Lichtman pay a fine might not actually be the goal, according to experts.</p>

<p>"The Mexican government's president speaks to the Mexican citizenry and sends a message of authority, dismissing what the lawyer says," said Jesús Pérez Caballero, a researcher at El Colegio de la Frontera Norte, a college in Tijuana. "It's a way to preemptively quash any future news about the confessions made by detainees like Ovidio Guzmán."</p>

<p>The lawsuit, Pérez Caballero said, is about undermining the credibility Lichtman is building for Guzmán López before his words become considered "common sense."</p>

<p>From left to right: Archivaldo Ivan Guzman Salazar; Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar; Joaquin Guzman Lopez; Ovidio Guzman Lopez.</p>

<p>Ultimately, Mexican authorities fear Guzmán López's account could become the default narrative for U.S. authorities, Pérez Caballero said.</p>

<p>Guzmán López's brother and fellow Chapito Joaquin Guzmán López is also in U.S. custody. American authorities arrested him in El Paso, Texas in July 2024. He has pleaded not guilty in the Northern District of Illinois and is awaiting trial, according to federal officials.</p>

<p>This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Mexican President Sheinbaum sues El Chapo's American lawyer</p>

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Mexican President Sheinbaum sues El Chapo's American lawyer

<p>- Mexican President Sheinbaum sues El Chapo's American lawyer</p> <p>Michael Loria, USA TODAY...
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On This Date: Another Deadly Guadalupe River Texas Flash Flood

<p>-

  • On This Date: Another Deadly Guadalupe River Texas Flash Flood</p>

<p>Jonathan ErdmanJuly 17, 2025 at 5:00 AM</p>

<p>Earlier this month, the Guadalupe River, Texas, flash flood was the nation's deadliest rainfall flood in almost 50 years. Unfortunately, this same river has a notorious history.</p>

<p>On July 17, 1987, 38 years ago today, a wall of water roared down the Guadalupe River after 10 to 12 inches of rain fell west of Hunt in Kerr County.</p>

<p>That day, over 300 kids were wrapping up a church camp along the river near the town of Comfort, about 30 miles downstream from where the torrential rain occurred the previous night. The National Weather Service issued its first flash flood warning at 1:01 a.m. for both nearby Kerr and Real counties.</p>

<p>At both 2 a.m. and 6 a.m., local law enforcement warned the camp of the flood wave, and the camp was then evacuated by buses and a van.</p>

<p>Finding one low water crossing already flooded, the buses tried another route, according to the National Weather Service. But the final bus stalled in flood water and the van behind it then became stranded.</p>

<p>Tragically, as those stranded were trying to scurry to dry ground, the wall of water well over 6 feet high hit them, scattering 43 people into the raging torrent.</p>

<p>While a series of helicopter rescues saved 33 lives, some of whom were clinging to trees, 10 children drowned in the flood.</p>

<p>Jonathan Erdman is a senior meteorologist at weather.com and has been covering national and international weather since 1996. Extreme and bizarre weather are his favorite topics. Reach out to him on Bluesky, X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook.</p>

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On This Date: Another Deadly Guadalupe River Texas Flash Flood

<p>- On This Date: Another Deadly Guadalupe River Texas Flash Flood</p> <p>Jonathan ErdmanJuly 17, 2...
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Analysis-Rise in Al Qaeda attacks revives spectre of West African caliphate

<p>-

  • Analysis-Rise in Al Qaeda attacks revives spectre of West African caliphate</p>

<p>Anait MiridzhanianJuly 17, 2025 at 4:14 AM</p>

<p>By Anait Miridzhanian</p>

<p>DAKAR (Reuters) -At dawn on June 1, gunfire shattered the stillness of Mali's military base in Boulkessi. Waves of jihadist insurgents from an al-Qaeda-linked group stormed the camp, catching newly deployed soldiers off guard.</p>

<p>Some troops, unfamiliar with the base, which lies near Mali's southern border with Burkina Faso, scrambled to find cover while others fled into the arid brush, according to one soldier, who spoke to survivors of the attack.</p>

<p>The soldier, who had completed a tour at the camp a week before, requested anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to journalists.</p>

<p>Hours after the attack, videos circulated online showing jubilant fighters from Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), stepping over the bodies of fallen soldiers.</p>

<p>JNIM claimed it had killed more than 100 troops and showed around 20 soldiers who said they were captured at the base. Reuters was unable to verify the claims independently.</p>

<p>The Boulkessi assault was one of more than a dozen deadly attacks by JNIM on military outposts and towns across Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger in May and June. The insurgents claimed to have killed more than 400 soldiers in those attacks. Mali's military government has not commented on the toll.</p>

<p>Reuters spoke to five analysts, a security expert and a community leader in the region who said the surge in violence reflects a strategic shift by JNIM - a group founded by a veteran Islamist who rose to prominence by briefly seizing northern Mali in 2012.</p>

<p>JNIM is moving from rural guerrilla tactics to a campaign aimed at controlling territory around urban centres and asserting political dominance in the Sahel, they said.</p>

<p>"The recent attacks point a concrete effort to encircle Sahelian capitals, aiming for a parallel state stretching from western Mali to southern Niger and northern Benin," said Mucahid Durmaz, senior Africa analyst at risk intelligence group Verisk Maplecroft.</p>

<p>Attacks by JNIM left more 850 people dead across Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger in May, a rise from the average rate of killings of around 600 in previous months, according to data from U.S. crisis-monitoring group Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED).</p>

<p>The surge in attacks in May and June marks one of the deadliest periods in the Sahel's recent history and underscores the threat posed by jihadist groups at a time when regional governments are estranged from former Western military allies, analysts say.</p>

<p>More than a decade of insurgencies in the Sahel has caused mass displacement and economic collapse. The violence has steadily spread towards coastal West Africa, straining regional stability and fuelling migration toward Europe.</p>

<p>On July 1, JNIM carried out simultaneous attacks on army camps and positions in seven towns in central and western Mali, according to an army statement and claims by the insurgents.</p>

<p>The army said 80 militants were killed. Reuters was unable to reach JNIM for comment. The group releases its statements and videos on social media, and has no media spokesperson.</p>

<p>Mali's army did not respond to Reuters requests for comments about the wave of JNIM attacks. It said in a statement after the Boulkessi assault that troops responded "vigorously" before retreating.</p>

<p>"Many soldiers fought, some to their last breath," the statement said.</p>

<p>JNIM's leader, Iyad Ag Ghaly, has been instrumental in its transformation.</p>

<p>A former rebel leader in Mali's Tuareg uprisings in the 1990s, Ag Ghaly led the fundamentalist group Ansar Dine that was part of a coalition of groups that briefly occupied northern Mali in 2012.</p>

<p>The militants imposed a harsh version of sharia law - banning music, imposing mutilations as punishment for crimes, and holding public executions and floggings.</p>

<p>Thousands fled, and cultural sites were destroyed, leaving lasting trauma in the region before the rebels were driven out by a French military intervention the following year. Ag Ghaly is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity.</p>

<p>The military leaders in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, who seized power between 2020 and 2023 on the back of the prolonged insurgencies, promise to restore security before returning their countries to democratic rule.</p>

<p>They've cut ties with Western nations and expelled their forces, blaming them for failing to end the insurgencies and turning instead to Russia for military support.</p>

<p>After deploying mercenaries, the Russians have also suffered setbacks and been unable to contain the uprisings.</p>

<p>In Burkina Faso — a country about half the size of France — militants exert influence or control over an estimated 60% of the territory, according to ACLED.</p>

<p>Ag Ghaly, who has pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda, has positioned himself as the leader of a jihadist coalition that includes al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), Al-Mourabitoun, and Katiba Macina after they merged into JNIM in 2017.</p>

<p>A Western security source, who requested anonymity because he is not authorised to speak publicly, told Reuters that JNIM has emerged as the region's strongest militant group, with an estimated 6,000 to 7,000 fighters.</p>

<p>Ag Ghaly's goal, the analysts said, is to impose Islamic rule across the Sahel and extend its influence to coastal West Africa, a region twice the size of Western Europe, with a population of around 430 million people, many of them Christian.</p>

<p>In a rare video released in December 2023, he denounced the military governments in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso and called on Muslims to mobilize against them and their Russian allies.</p>

<p>Ag Ghaly could not be reached for comment. The governments of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger did not respond to requests for comment.</p>

<p>SOPHISTICATED TACTICS, LOCAL OUTREACH</p>

<p>JNIM's battlefield tactics have grown increasingly sophisticated, including the use of anti-aircraft weapons and drones for surveillance and precision strikes, Durmaz said.</p>

<p>It has amassed substantial resources, meanwhile, through raids, cattle rustling, hijacking of goods, kidnappings and taxes on local communities, the five analysts said.</p>

<p>While it has not appointed local administrators in areas under its control, JNIM has imposed a tax known as 'Zakat' for protection, according to two residents and a former militia fighter.</p>

<p>They have quelled some inter-communal conflicts and imposed a form of Sharia law, requiring women to wear veils and men to grow beards. But they have refrained from severe punishments, such as amputating the hands of thieves.</p>

<p>Heni Nsaibia, Senior West Africa analyst at ACLED, described its recent activity as a "step change".</p>

<p>He said JNIM seizing Burkina Faso's northern provincial capital Djibo, a town of over 60,000 people, on May 11 and Diapaga, an eastern provincial capital of around 15,000, two days later was unprecedented.</p>

<p>"In Djibo they stayed for 11 hours or plus. In Diapaga they remained for two-three days even. And that is very much something that we haven't seen before," Nsaibia said.</p>

<p>According to Nsaibia, the group has captured an estimated $3 million worth of munitions in Djibo alone.</p>

<p>The repeated attacks have left the capitals of Mali and Burkina Faso unsettled, and idea of JNIM taking over Bamako or Ouagadougou, once considered far-fetched, is a plausible threat, according to Nsaibia.</p>

<p>JNIM's outreach to marginalized communities, particularly the Fulani, a widely dispersed pastoralist group, has been central to recruitment, the analysts said.</p>

<p>"JNIM is advancing its narrative as a defender of marginalised communities," Durmaz said. "They are not just fighting for territory — they're fighting for legitimacy."</p>

<p>Fulani have increasingly found themselves targeted by authorities across Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso under the banner of counter-terrorism, a Fulani community leader told Reuters, requesting anonymity for safety reasons.</p>

<p>While not all Fulani are involved in armed groups, their presence is significant among insurgents in rural areas, driven more by frustration and lack of opportunity than ideology, the leader said.</p>

<p>JNIM's ambitions now stretch beyond the Sahel. The group has expanded its operations into northern Benin and Togo, and are threatening Gulf of Guinea states which they use as a rear base, according to analysts.</p>

<p>Both countries have deployed more security forces in the northern regions as insurgents ramp up attacks.</p>

<p>"Togo and Benin are the most vulnerable due to their limited counterterrorism capabilities, existing local grievances in their northern regions, and porous borders with Burkina Faso," Durmaz said.</p>

<p>($1 = 554.9000 CFA francs)</p>

<p>(Additional reporting Robbie Corey-Boulet and Bate Felix Writing by Bate Felix)</p>

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Analysis-Rise in Al Qaeda attacks revives spectre of West African caliphate

<p>- Analysis-Rise in Al Qaeda attacks revives spectre of West African caliphate</p> <p>Anait Miridz...
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Ukraine aims to expand domestic arms production to 50% of needs within 6 months

<p>-

  • Ukraine aims to expand domestic arms production to 50% of needs within 6 months</p>

<p>VOLODYMYR YURCHUK and EMMA BURROWS July 17, 2025 at 4:25 AM</p>

<p>Ukrainian 3rd Assault Brigade recruits train at the polygon in Kyiv region, Ukraine, on Wednesday, July 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)</p>

<p>A new Ukrainian government, expected to be approved Thursday, will race to expand domestic arms production to meet half the country's weapons needs within six months as it tries to push back Russia's invasion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says.</p>

<p>Domestic defense manufacturing already accounts for almost 40% of weapons used by the Ukrainian military, according to Zelenskyy. As uncertainty grows about how many more weapons shipments Western countries can provide — and how quickly — Ukraine is keen to increase its output and widen its strikes on Russian soil.</p>

<p>"What we need is greater capacity to push the war back onto Russia's territory — back to where the war was brought from," Zelenskyy said late Wednesday in his nightly video address.</p>

<p>"We must reach the level of 50% Ukrainian-made weapons within the first six months of the new government's work by expanding our domestic production."</p>

<p>The need to adequately arm Ukraine's military is pressing as Russia looks to drive forward its summer offensive and pounds Ukrainian cities with hundreds of drones and ballistic and cruise missiles.</p>

<p>Meanwhile, it remained unclear when promises of U.S.-made weapons, especially Patriot missile systems crucial for stretched Ukrainian air defenses, might reach Ukraine. U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to send the weaponry, but it will be paid for by European countries.</p>

<p>NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, told the Thursday that "preparations are underway" for weapons transfers to Ukraine and that NATO is working "very closely" with Germany to transfer Patriot systems.</p>

<p>Grynkewich said at a military event in Wiesbaden, Germany, that he had been ordered to "move (the weapons) out as quickly as possible." He said the number of weapons being transferred is classified.</p>

<p>"We're already in preparation phase for the first tranche of capability to start moving with respect to Patriots," he said.</p>

<p>An expert working group under Grynkewich is to discuss concrete planning "very quickly but also with corresponding caution," German Defense Ministry spokesperson Mitko Müller said Wednesday.</p>

<p>He said that the "exact modalities" are still being worked out, as are the "modalities of what systems will be supplied."</p>

<p>He added: "Regarding the systems that we are talking about, I can't confirm that anything is currently on the way. I'm not aware of that."</p>

<p>NATO chief Mark Rutte said in Washington on Monday that the alliance is coordinating the military support with funding from allies in Europe and Canada. He said there were commitments from Germany, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Canada "with more expected to follow."</p>

<p>Ukraine has also developed its own long-range drones, which it uses to strike deep inside Russia .</p>

<p>Russian air defenses shot down 122 Ukrainian drones overnight, the country's defense ministry said Thursday. The wave of drones caused flights to be grounded at airports in Moscow and St Petersburg, although most of the drones were reportedly destroyed over the border regions of Bryansk and Kursk.</p>

<p>___</p>

<p>Burrows reported from Wiesbaden, Germany. Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.</p>

<p>___</p>

<p>Follow AP's coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://ift.tt/YLirFsz>

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Ukraine aims to expand domestic arms production to 50% of needs within 6 months

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Army veteran and US citizen arrested in California immigration raid warns it could happen to anyone

<p>-

  • Army veteran and US citizen arrested in California immigration raid warns it could happen to anyone</p>

<p>OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ July 16, 2025 at 7:15 PM</p>

<p>Federal immigration agents talk to Rebecca Torres, second left, after she tried to block a military vehicle during a raid in the agriculture area of Camarillo, Calif., Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Owen Baker)</p>

<p>A U.S. Army veteran who was arrested during an immigration raid at a Southern California marijuana farm last week said Wednesday he was sprayed with tear gas and pepper spray before being dragged from his vehicle and pinned down by federal agents who arrested him.</p>

<p>George Retes, 25, who works as a security guard at Glass House Farms in Camarillo, said he was arriving at work on July 10 when several federal agents surrounded his car and — despite him identifying himself as a U.S. citizen — broke his window, peppered sprayed him and dragged him out.</p>

<p>"It took two officers to nail my back and then one on my neck to arrest me even though my hands were already behind my back," Retes said.</p>

<p>Massive farm raids led to hundreds being detained</p>

<p>The Ventura City native was detained during chaotic raids at two Southern California farms where federal authorities arrested more than 360 people, one of the largest operations since President Donald Trump took office in January. Protesters faced off against federal agents in military-style gear, and one farmworker died after falling from a greenhouse roof.</p>

<p>The raids came more than a month into an extended immigration crackdown by the Trump administration across Southern California that was originally centered in Los Angeles, where local officials say the federal actions are spreading fear in immigrant communities.</p>

<p>California Gov. Gavin Newsom spoke on the raids at a news conference Wednesday, calling Trump a "chaos agent" who has incited violence and spread fear in communities.</p>

<p>"You got someone who dropped 30 feet because they were scared to death and lost their life," he said, referring to the farmworker who died in the raids. "People are quite literally disappearing with no due process, no rights."</p>

<p>Retes was taken to the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles, where he said he was put in a special cell on suicide watch and checked on each day after he became emotionally distraught over his ordeal and missing his 3-year-old daughter's birthday party Saturday.</p>

<p>He said federal agents never told him why he was arrested or allowed him to contact a lawyer or his family during his three-day detention. Authorities never let him shower or change clothes despite being covered in tear gas and pepper spray, Retes said, adding that his hands burned throughout the first night he spent in custody.</p>

<p>On Sunday, an officer had him sign a paper and walked him out of the detention center. He said he was told he faced no charges.</p>

<p>Retes met with silence when seeking explanation</p>

<p>"They gave me nothing I could wrap my head around," Retes said, explaining that he was met with silence on his way out when he asked about being "locked up for three days with no reason and no charges."</p>

<p>Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, confirmed Retes' arrest but didn't say on what charges.</p>

<p>"George Retes was arrested and has been released," she said. "He has not been charged. The U.S. Attorney's Office is reviewing his case, along with dozens of others, for potential federal charges related to the execution of the federal search warrant in Camarillo."</p>

<p>A federal judge on Friday ordered the Trump administration to halt indiscriminate immigration stops and arrests without warrants in seven California counties, including Los Angeles. Immigrant advocates accused federal agents of detaining people because they looked Latino. The Justice Department appealed on Monday and asked for the order to be stayed.</p>

<p>The Pentagon also said Tuesday it was ending the deployment of 2,000 National Guard troops in Los Angeles. That's roughly half the number the administration sent to the city following protests over the immigration actions. Some of those troops have been accompanying federal agents during their immigration enforcement operations.</p>

<p>Retes said he joined the Army at 18 and served four years, including deploying to Iraq in 2019.</p>

<p>"I joined the service to help better myself," he said. "I did it because I love this (expletive) country. We are one nation and no matter what, we should be together. All this separation and stuff between everyone is just the way it shouldn't be."</p>

<p>Veteran pledges to sue federal authorities for his ordeal</p>

<p>Retes said he plans to sue for wrongful detention.</p>

<p>"The way they're going about this entire deportation process is completely wrong, chasing people who are just working, especially trying to feed everyone here in the U.S.," he said. "No one deserves to be treated the way they treat people."</p>

<p>Retes was detained along with California State University Channel Islands professor Jonathan Caravello, also a U.S. citizen, who was arrested for throwing a tear gas canister at law enforcement, U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli posted on X.</p>

<p>The California Faculty Association said Caravello was taken away by agents who did not identify themselves nor inform him of why he was being taken into custody. Like Retes, the association said the professor was then held without being allowed to contact his family or an attorney.</p>

<p>Caravello was attempting to dislodge a tear gas canister that was stuck underneath someone's wheelchair, witnesses told KABC-TV, the ABC affiliate in Los Angeles.</p>

<p>A federal judge on Monday ordered Caravello to be released on $15,000 bond. He's scheduled to be arraigned Aug. 1.</p>

<p>"I want everyone to know what happened. This doesn't just affect one person," Retes said. "It doesn't matter if your skin is brown. It doesn't matter if you're white. It doesn't matter if you're a veteran or you serve this country. They don't care. They're just there to fill a quota." ___ writer Jamie Ding contributed from Los Angeles.</p>

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Source: "AOL General News"

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July 17, 2025

Army veteran and US citizen arrested in California immigration raid warns it could happen to anyone

<p>- Army veteran and US citizen arrested in California immigration raid warns it could happen to anyone</p> ...
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