arrest

In 2012, Agnes Wanjiru was discovered in a septic tank at the Lion’s Court Hotel in central Nanyuki after she was last seen at the hotel with a group of British soldiers. 

A Kenyan court has issued an arrest warrant and requested the extradition of a British citizen over the murder of a 21-year-old woman near a UK army training camp in Kenya over a decade ago.

Nairobi High Court Justice Alexander Muteti announced on Tuesday that there was “probable cause to order the arrest of the accused” and issued a warrant for “one citizen and resident of the United Kingdom.”

The case has strained relations between the two countries, which have argued over the jurisdiction to prosecute British soldiers in Kenya.

In 2012, Agnes Wanjiru was discovered in a septic tank at the Lion’s Court Hotel in central Nanyuki after she was last seen at the hotel with a group of British soldiers.

Wanjiru, the single mother of a then four-month-old baby, was beaten, stabbed and most likely still alive when she was thrown into the septic tank, a Kenyan magistrate said in a 2019 inquest.

After Muteti’s decision, the Office for the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) wrote on X that “extradition proceedings would now be initiated to ensure the suspect is brought before a Kenyan court”.

“The matter will return to court on 21st October 2025, for further directions,” the ODPP said.

DPP secures arrest warrant for Briton linked to Agnes Wanjiru murder

The pursuit of justice for Agnes Wanjiru, a young mother brutally killed in Nanyuki more than a decade ago, has gained fresh momentum after the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) successfully obtained a… pic.twitter.com/3Q5dPCwpLE

— Office of The Director Of Public Prosecutions (@ODPP_KE) September 16, 2025

Wanjiru’s sister, Rose Wanyua Wanjiku, 52, welcomed the ruling and said, “Let justice prevail.”

“As a family, we are very happy because it has been many years, but now we can see a step has been made,” she told the AFP news agency.

Wanjiru’s niece, Esther Njoki, also told the Reuters news agency that while she welcomed the news, it took too long.

“We are grateful to see the Kenyan government has acted, although it has taken too long and kept the family in darkness,” Njoki said.

A spokesperson for the British government acknowledged that the ODPP had “determined that a British National should face trial in relation to the murder of Ms Wanjiru in 2012”.

The spokesperson added that the government remains “absolutely committed” to helping Kenya “secure justice”.

Grammy winner Lil Nas X is seeking treatment out of state after his naked run-in with law enforcement last month, according to multiple reports.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Shellie Samuels said during a hearing on Monday that the 26-year-old “Dreamboy” and “Industry Baby” artist “is allowed to remain out of state as long as he remains in treatment,” Rolling Stone reported. The outlet said Samuels modified the terms of the singer’s release to account for the ongoing treatment.

A legal representative for Lil Nas X (born Montero Lamar Hill) did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for confirmation on Monday.

The judge also did not disclose additional details about the singer’s treatment, adding that “it’s private, nobody needs to know where he is, but he is in treatment,” Billboard reported.

Hill, who broke out with his hit “Old Town Road,” was arrested last month in Studio City on suspicion of charging at a police officer. He was also hospitalized for a possible overdose. At the time, officers responded to reports of a “nude man walking in the street.”

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office charged Lil Nas X with four felony counts stemming from the incident: three counts of battery with injury on a police officer and one count of resisting an executive officer. Hill allegedly assaulted officers who were trying to take him into custody. At least three were injured, the L.A. County district attorney’s office said.

The musician pleaded not guilty on all counts and was released from a Van Nuys jail after posting $75,000 bail. He faces up to five years in state prison if convicted on all charges.

Shortly after his arraignment, Lil Nas X reassured fans that he’s “gonna be all right” and said the ordeal with law enforcement made for a “terrifying four days.”

Hill’s attorney Drew Findling spoke to Rolling Stone after Monday’s hearing about the judge’s mention of “treatment.” “We’re doing what is best for Montero in a personal standpoint and a professional standpoint, but most importantly for his well-being,” Findling says in video shared on X by reporter Nancy Dillon.

“He is surrounded by an amazing family and amazing team of people that care about him and love him and we’re just addressing those issues,” Findling added. “It’s really as simple as that. He’s had a great life, he’ll continue to have a great life and this is a bump he’s gonna get over.”

Israeli forces arrested a Palestinian student, Baraa Jamal Karama, during a raid on her home in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron. In the footage, a soldier shushes her as she calls out, while another points his gun at the person filming.

Israeli forces have rounded up and arrested Palestinians en masse in the occupied West Bank’s Tulkarem. The operation is being described as “collective punishment” after several Israeli soldiers were injured in an attack.

Israeli action in Tulkarem city comes as Palestinians have been subjected to ‘collective punishment’ in the occupied West Bank.

Israeli forces have detained more than 100 Palestinians in raids on the occupied West Bank city of Tulkarem and have imposed a curfew, Al Jazeera Arabic reports, as the Israeli offensive in Gaza City has forced more than 200,000 Palestinians to flee the largest urban center in the enclave.

As reported earlier, Israel’s military has been conducting raids in Tulkarem after it said two Israeli soldiers were wounded when their vehicle was “hit by an explosive device“.

Soldiers stormed shops and cafes, detaining patrons, as well as residents in their vehicles, forcing them to march in line towards an Israeli military checkpoint, a WAFA correspondent reported.

Israeli forces launched a campaign of violence in the occupied West Bank after six people were killed in a shooting attack in occupied East Jerusalem earlier this week. Hamas’s armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, claimed responsibility for the shooting, in which both suspects were killed.

In response, Israel ordered the demolition of the homes of the two suspects, as well as sanctions on their family members and residents of their towns, Qatanna and al-Qubeiba, northwest of Jerusalem in the West Bank.

“There has been a complete siege and lockdown of these areas,” Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut said on Tuesday following the shooting. “Collective punishment is in full swing in the occupied West Bank.”

Israel’s growing crackdown in the West Bank

Israel has launched a crackdown on the occupied West Bank since it launched its devastating war on Gaza, killing more than 1,000 Palestinians, arresting thousands, and demolishing hundreds of homes and civic infrastructure. Even before the October 7, 2023, attack inside Israel by the Hamas-led Palestinian groups, Israeli military and settler violence was at its highest in years.

Israel’s military operation has fuelled the forced displacement of more than 40,000 Palestinians.

“Israel’s deadly military operation in the occupied West Bank, unfolding in the horrific shadow of its ongoing genocide in the occupied Gaza Strip, has had catastrophic consequences for tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians who are facing a rapidly escalating crisis with no foreseeable prospects of return. Unlawful transfer of protected persons is a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention and a war crime,” Erika Guevara Rosas, Amnesty International’s senior director for Research, Advocacy, Policy and Campaigns, said in a statement on June 5.

As well as the Israeli military actions against Palestinians, violence by Israeli settlers spiked during the war on Gaza. At least 1,860 incidents of settler violence in the occupied West Bank were recorded between October 7, 2023, and December 31, 2024, according to data from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The rise of far-right leaders to power has pushed Israel further towards right, with politicians at the highest levels, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, openly indulging in anti-Palestinian rhetoric.

“We are going to fulfil our promise that there will be no Palestinian state. This place belongs to us,” Netanyahu reiterated at an event in Maale Adumim, an illegal Israeli settlement just east of Jerusalem, on Thursday.

“We are going to double the city’s population.”

All the settlements are considered illegal under international law and are considered the biggest hurdle in the resolution of the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

Last September, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) overwhelmingly adopted a resolution calling on Israel to end its illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories within a year. Still, Israel has since expanded its settlements in complete disregard of international laws and norms.

A CYCLIST has tragically died after being mowed down by a car as cops arrest the driver.

The man was struck down on the Shepherds Hill Roundabout in Woodley, Berkshire, at about 4.45pm on August 29.

Cops confirmed the cyclist tragically died in hospital on Tuesday.

A 24-year-old man from Slough was arrested on suspicion of causing serious injury by careless driving.

He has since been released on jail.

Investigating officer Police Sergeant Matthew Cadmore, of the Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said: “Firstly, I would like to share my sincere condolences to the family of the man who has sadly died in hospital as a result of his injuries.

“I am re-appealing to anyone who witnessed this collision to please get in touch.

“I am also appealing to anyone who was driving in the area in the moments leading up to the collision to please check their dash-cam for any footage.

“Footage can be uploaded to our dedicated online portal and anyone with information can call 101 or make an online report via our website, quoting reference number 43250442717.

“If you don’t want to speak directly with police, you can also call the independent charity Crimestoppers 100% anonymously on 0800 555 111.”

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SACRAMENTO — A Riverside County lawmaker accused of driving drunk after a car crash, but cleared by a blood test, took the first step Monday toward suing the Sacramento Police Department, saying officers had tarnished her reputation.

After Sen. Sabrina Cervantes (D-Riverside) was broadsided by an SUV near the Capitol in May, Sacramento police interviewed the 37-year-old lawmaker for hours at a Kaiser Permanente hospital before citing her on suspicion of driving under the influence. Prosecutors declined to file charges after the toxicology results of a blood test revealed no “measurable amount of alcohol or drugs.”

In an 11-page filing Monday, Cervantes alleged that officers had retaliated against her over a bill that would sharply curtail how police can store data gathered by automated license plate readers, a proposal opposed by more than a dozen law enforcement agencies.

The filing also alleges that the police treated Cervantes, who is gay and Latina, differently than the white woman driver who ran a stop sign and broadsided her car.

“This is not only about what happened to me — it’s about accountability,” Cervantes said in a prepared statement. “No Californian should be falsely arrested, defamed, or retaliated against because of who they are or what they stand for.”

Cervantes, a first-year state senator, has said since the crash that she did nothing wrong. She represents the 31st Senate District, which covers portions of Riverside and San Bernardino counties, and chairs the Senate elections committee.

Cervantes’ lawyer, James Quadra, said the Sacramento police had tried to “destroy the reputation of an exemplary member of the state Senate,” and that the department’s “egregious misconduct” includes false arrest, intentional infliction of emotional distress and defamation.

A representative for the Sacramento Police Department declined to comment, citing pending litigation.

After news broke of the crash, the Sacramento Police Department told reporters that they had “observed objective signs of intoxication” after speaking to Cervantes at the hospital. She said in her filing that the police had asked her to conduct a test gauging her eyes’ reaction to stimulus, a “less accurate and subjective test” than the blood test she requested.

The toxicology screen had “completely exonerated” Cervantes, the filing said, but the police department had already “released false information to the press claiming that Senator Cervantes had driven while under the influence of drugs.”

The filing alleges that one police officer turned off his body camera for about five minutes while answering a call on his cell phone. The filing also said that the department failed to produce body camera footage from a sergeant who also came to the hospital.

Police arrested about 425 people at a demonstration in support of Palestine Action in the United Kingdom, in the latest round of detentions of its supporters since the pro-Palestinian group was banned by the government as a “terrorist” organisation.

Defend Our Juries, the organising campaign, estimated 1,500 people joined the London demonstration on Saturday, assembling with placards stating “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action”.

Police immediately began detentions while crowds chanted “Shame on you” and “Met Police, pick a side, justice or genocide”. Confrontations intensified as officers removed nonresistant protesters who became passive during arrest.

Following the eight-hour protest, authorities confirmed more than 425 arrests, with at least 25 people facing charges of assaulting officers or public order violations, while the remainder were held under the Terrorism Act.

The UK-based PA Media reported that police drew their batons during the clashes, and one protester was seen with blood streaming down his face behind a barrier after being arrested.

The agency also reported that police had screaming arguments with demonstrators and had water and plastic bottles thrown at them while several protesters fell over in a crush at one point.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Claire Smart said, “In carrying out their duties today, our officers have been punched, kicked, spat on, and had objects thrown at them by protesters.” She described the treatment as “intolerable”.

Defend Our Juries disputed the narrative, asserting that police initiated the aggression and calling claims of protester violence “frankly laughable”.

Earlier, related demonstrations had resulted in more than 700 arrests, of which 138 individuals were charged under the Terrorism Act.

Mike Higgins, a 62-year-old blind wheelchair user previously arrested at a protest, returned to demonstrate on Saturday.

“And I’m a terrorist? That’s the joke of it,” he said. “I’ve already been arrested under the Terrorism Act, and I suspect I will be today.

“Of course I’ll keep coming back. What choice do I have?”

The United Nations human rights chief has criticised the British government’s approach, stating the new law “misuses the gravity and impact of terrorism”.

The classification of Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation “raises serious concerns that counterterrorism laws are being applied to conduct that is not terrorist in nature, and risks hindering the legitimate exercise of fundamental freedoms across the UK”, Volker Turk warned.

He further noted that by international standards, “terrorist” acts should be limited to crimes such as those intended to cause death or serious injury or the taking of hostages.

Huda Ammori, Palestine Action’s cofounder, denounced the government’s ban as “catastrophic” for civil liberties, creating a “much wider chilling effect on freedom of speech”.

The organisation has received support from notable cultural figures, including bestselling Irish author Sally Rooney, who stated she planned to use the proceeds of her work “to keep backing Palestine Action and direct action against genocide”.

Israel strongly rejects accusations of committing genocide, though numerous countries, rights groups and scholars have confirmed it is carrying out a clear and systematic genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.

The government emphasised that designating Palestine Action as a “terrorist” group does not impact other lawful organisations — including pro-Palestinian or pro-Israel voices — campaigning or peacefully protesting.

A separate pro-Palestinian march in London on Saturday attracted approximately 20,000 participants, according to police estimates.

UK police were recorded arresting a Palestine Action supporter for allegedly taking part in a Zoom meeting to plan a protest against the government’s designation of the group as a “terrorist” organisation.

A French court issues the warrants in connection with the bombing of a press centre in Homs in 2012 that killed two journalists.

A French court has issued arrest warrants for seven former top Syrian officials, including ex-President Bashar al-Assad, for the bombing of a press centre in Homs, a judicial source and a human rights organisation said.

A rocket hit the “informal press centre” on February 22, 2012, killing renowned US journalist Marie Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik and injuring two other journalists and an interpreter.

Besides al-Assad, who fled to Russia in December 2024 when opposition fighters seized control of Syria, warrants have also been issued against his brother Maher al-Assad, who was the de facto head of the 4th Syrian armoured division at the time, intelligence chief Ali Mamlouk, and then-army chief of staff Ali Ayoub, among others.

France allows the filing of crimes against humanity cases in its courts.

The Syrian Centre for Media and Free Expression said that the French judicial investigation had found that the attack had deliberately targeted foreign journalists.

“The judicial investigation clearly established that the attack on the informal press centre in Bab Amr was part of the Syrian regime’s explicit intention to target foreign journalists in order to limit media coverage of its crimes and force them to leave the city and the country,” said Mazen Darwish, a lawyer and the general director of the Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression, in a statement.

Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) also noted that the journalists had clandestinely entered the besieged city to “document the crimes committed by Bashar al-Assad’s regime” and were victims of a “targeted bombing”.

Clemence Bectarte, lawyer FIDH and Ochlik’s parents, welcomed Tuesday’s warrants and called it “a decisive step that paves the way for a trial in France for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Bashar al-Assad’s regime.”

British photographer Paul Conroy, French reporter Edith Bouvier and Syrian translator Wael Omar were also wounded in the attack on the informal press centre where they had been working.

Colvin was known for her fearless reporting and signature black eye patch, which she wore after losing sight in one eye in an explosion during Sri Lanka’s civil war. Her career was celebrated in a Golden Globe-nominated film, A Private War.

Homs, in western Syria, was a major rebel stronghold during the Syrian war and was besieged by al-Assad government forces from 2011 to 2014. The siege ended with rebel forces withdrawing from the city.

Sept. 2 (UPI) — Australian police said Tuesday that a 41-year-old man has been arrested for stealing more than $160,000 worth of Lego, the largest single seizure of stolen goods by the Oceanic country’s retail theft task force.

The suspect, who was not identified, was arrested following a search of an address in Royal Park, a western suburb of Adelaide, that uncovered around 2,500 stolen items, including 1,700 unopened Lego sets.

“The size of the haul is significant and indicates the depth of the alleged offending,” Acting Assistant Commissioner John De Candia of the Metropolitan Operations Service with South Australia Police said in a statement.

“This type of theft is not victimless. Those who purchase cheap goods from online sites are unwittingly facilitating this crime and we would urge them to consider this.”

The arrest was conducted as part of Operation Measure, which was launched in March 2022 to address shop theft and recidivist offenders.

According to South Australia Police, the task force has linked nearly 6,000 retail thefts to persons of interest, including 2,425 arrests.

The state has experienced eight successive declines in reported shoplifting, which the police department attributes to the operation.

“Operation Measure will continue to target recidivist offenders we believe are responsible for the majority of the offending of this nature,” De Candia said.

Sheridan Smith stars in ITV’s new four-part series, I Fought The Law, as Ann Ming, whose daughter, Julie Hogg, was tragically strangled to death by Billy Dunlop

Ann Ming’s relentless fight for justice for daughter is nothing short of remarkable. On 16 November 1989, Billy Dunlop, 25, strangled 22-year-old mum-of-one, Julie Hogg, to death – and hid her corpse behind a bath panel in her home in County Durham.

Julie was tragically found decomposing by her mother, Ann, 80 days later and, despite evidence against Dunlop, juries twice failed to find him guilty of the crime.

However, while serving a prison sentence for unrelated violent offences, Dunlop confessed to Julie’s death. But there was a twist: under the centuries-old double jeopardy rule, he couldn’t be tried again for the same crime.

READ MORE: I Fought The Law’s Sheridan Smith left ‘shaking mess’ over murdered woman hidden under bathREAD MORE: ‘I discovered my daughter’s body after she was murdered and her killer didn’t get jailed for years’

However, for Ann, played by Sheridan Smith in ITV’s new adaptation of the tragedy, I Fought the Law, giving up wasn’t an option. She petitioned politicians for more than a decade, lobbied the media and refused to let Julie’s case go unheard, with unwavering support from her husband Charlie, played by Daniel York Loh, in the crime drama.

So, as we wait to watch the four-part series, which starts on ITV at 9pm tonight, here’s the chilling discoveries that lead to Dunlop’s arrest and eventual life imprisonment…

Ann Ming finds her daughter’s body

When Julie disappeared from her home in November 1989, leaving behind her toddler son Kevin. Her mother, Ann, immediately sensed something awful had happened.

Three months later, her maternal instincts were tragically vindicated. She discovered Julie’s body, hidden under the bath at her home.

Ann agreed that her daughter’s husband, who Julie had been in the process of separating from when she was killed, could move back into her daughter’s house with their three-year-old son, Kevin.

However, when her son-in-law went inside the home, he complained a strange smell was coming from the bathroom. Ann noticed the bath panel was loose and pulled it away, uncovering her daughter’s body, wrapped in a blanket: “That was the start of a living nightmare,” she said.

Chilling evidence heard at trial

Dunlop, who knew Julie from their local area and visited her at home after a day’s drinking before killing the mum-of-one, went on trial at Newcastle Crown Court on 7 May 1991, where a jury heard that there was finger print evidence on Julie’s keys.

Dunlop’s sperm was also on the blanket he’d wrapped her in, and there were fibres from the jumper he’d been wearing.

The prosecution team felt it was strong enough evidence to satisfy a jury – but, sadly, they were mistaken. The jury failed to reach a verdict and the judge ordered a retrial for 3 October 1991.

Dunlop’s defence team tried to then convince the jury that Julie had died of natural causes following a consensual act between her and Dunlop. However, they failed to reach a verdict for a second time and Dunlop was acquitted and could never be trialled again due to the double jeopardy law and walked away a free man.

Dunlop confesses

While serving a prison sentence for unrelated violent offences after the trial, Dunlop confessed to Julie’s killing. But there was a twist: under the centuries-old double jeopardy rule, he couldn’t be tried again for the same crime.

The police wanted to arrest him for perjury, but needed more evidence than just an admission.

As a result, a female prison officer wore a wire and obtained 90 hours of material about what happened on the night of Hogg’s death. He was arrested, pleaded guilty to the murder, and jailed for six years to be served consecutively to his existing sentence.

Ann’s battle for justice – ‘For once in my life, I’m speechless’

Driven by grief and determination, Ann launched a 15-year campaign to overturn the centuries-old double jeopardy law – which once prevented a person from being tried twice for the same crime.

Of course, Ann wasn’t satisfied with Dunlop’s perjury sentence and asked her MP, Frank Cook, to help her meet Home Secretary Jack Straw to scrap the double jeopardy law. He recommended she speak to the Law Commission and, in 2002, her 13 years of campaigning finally came to fruition.

A white paper advising changes be made to the legislation, to affect both future and retrospective cases, was presented in parliament by David Blunkett, and in April 2005, the 800-year-old law was binned for good. Ann told reporters at the time: “I just can’t believe it. For once in my life I’m speechless.”

In September 2006, Dunlop went on trial at the Old Bailey and was found guilty and sentenced to life behind bars. All his requests for parole and to be moved to an open prison have been denied.

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Aug. 30 (UPI) — Two firefighters helping to fight a wildfire in Washington state were arrested this week by federal immigration officials, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed.

The two Mexican nationals were arrested and detained by federal agents around a mile from the frontline of the Bear Gulch wildfire in Olympic National Forest.

The blaze was first reported on July 6, has burned more than 9,200 acres and was 13% contained, according to the latest update from the Washington state fire officials.

The fire is currently the largest actively burning in Washington state.

Federal officials pulled aside 44 people to verify their identity this week, ultimately arresting the two men.

The fire’s Incident Management Team later said the arrests did not hinder firefighting capabilities.

The Department of Homeland Security confirmed the arrests in a post on X, but said the two men were not frontline firefighters.

“The two contracted work crews questioned on the day of their arrests were not even assigned to actively fight the fire; they were there in a support role, cutting logs into firewood. The firefighting response remained uninterrupted the entire time,” the department said in the post.

“No active firefighters were even questioned, and U.S. Border Patrol’s actions did not prevent or interfere with any personnel actively engaged in firefighting efforts.”

The arrests come as President Donald Trump‘s administration continues its crackdown against illegal immigration.

“Deeply concerned about this situation with two individuals helping to fight fires in Washington state. I’ve directed my team to get more information about what happened,” Gov. Bob Ferguson, D-Wash., said in a post on X.

“Donald Trump ran his campaign on sending out the worst of the worst. I’m not sure who’s more the best of the best than our firefighters, actively fighting the largest fire in Washington,” Ferguson said in a separate post.

SEATTLE — Lawyers are demanding the release of a longtime Oregon resident arrested by the U.S. Border Patrol while fighting a Washington state wildfire, saying that the firefighter was on track for legal status after helping federal investigators solve a crime against his family.

His arrest was illegal, the lawyers said Friday, and violated Department of Homeland Security policies that say immigration enforcement must not be conducted at locations where emergency responses are happening.

He is one of two firefighters arrested last week while working the Bear Gulch fire in the Olympic National Forest, which as of Friday had burned about 14 square miles and was only 13% contained, forcing evacuations.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement Thursday that it had been helping the Bureau of Land Management with a criminal investigation of two contractors working at the fire when it discovered two firefighters who it said were in the country without permanent legal status.

The firefighter, whose name and country of origin have not been made public, has lived in the U.S. for 19 years after arriving with his family at age 4. He received a U visa certification from the U.S. attorney’s office in Oregon in 2017 and submitted his U visa application with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services the following year.

The U visa program was established by Congress to protect victims of serious crimes who assist federal investigators, and the man has been waiting since 2018 for the immigration agency to decide on his application, according to Stephen Manning, a lawyer with Innovation Law Lab, a Portland-based nonprofit that’s representing the firefighter.

Another Homeland Security policy says agents can’t detain people who are receiving or have applied for victim-based immigration benefits, his lawyer said. Charging the man with an immigration violation was “an illegal after-the-fact justification” given his U visa status, the attorney said.

His lawyers said Friday that they located him in the immigration detention system and were able to make contact. They were still processing information and are demanding his immediate release, they told the Associated Press in an email.

A senior Homeland Security official said in a statement to the AP on Friday that the two men apprehended were not firefighters and were not actively fighting the fire. Officials said they were providing a supporting role by cutting logs into firewood.

“The firefighting response remained uninterrupted the entire time,” the statement said. “No active firefighters were even questioned, and U.S. Border Patrol’s actions did not prevent or interfere with any personnel actively engaged in firefighting efforts.”

When the U.S. Bureau of Land Management was asked to provide information about why its contracts with two companies were terminated and 42 firefighters were escorted away from the state’s largest wildfire, it declined to answer. It would only say it cooperates with other federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security.

“These law enforcement professionals contribute to broader federal enforcement efforts by maintaining public safety, protecting natural resources, and collaborating with the agencies, such as the Border Patrol,” Interior Department spokesperson Alyse Sharpe told the AP in an email.

Manning said in a letter to Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) that the arrest violated Homeland Security policy.

Wyden was critical of the Border Patrol’s operation, saying the Trump administration was more concerned about conducting raids on fire crews than protecting communities from catastrophic fires. Firefighters put their lives on the line, Wyden emphasized, including the Oregon firefighter who died Sunday while battling a wildfire in southwestern Montana.

“The last thing that wildland firefighter crews need is to be worried about masked individuals trampling their due process rights,” Wyden said in an email to the AP.

Meanwhile, wildfire officials were still trying to get control of the Bear Gulch fire. The number of personnel working on the blaze was listed at 303 on Friday, down from 349 a day earlier.

Bellisle writes for the Associated Press.

NEW ORLEANS — A federal appeals court has vacated a ruling that a Texas law giving police broad powers to arrest migrants suspected of illegally entering the U.S. was unconstitutional.

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday vacated a ruling by a three-judge panel, and now the full court will consider whether the law can take effect.

The Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 4 in 2023, but a federal judge in Texas ruled the law unconstitutional. Texas appealed that ruling.

Under the proposed law, state law enforcement officers could arrest people suspected of entering the country illegally. Once in custody, detainees could agree to a Texas judge’s order to leave the country or face a misdemeanor charge of entering the U.S. illegally. Migrants who don’t leave after being ordered to do so could be arrested again and charged with a more serious felony.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a social media post Friday that the court’s decision was a “hopeful sign.”

WASHINGTON — The street, normally quiet, was abuzz. The block lit up with flashing police cruisers and officers in tactical vests. Some had covered their faces. Neighbors came out of homes. Some hurled insults at the police, telling them to leave — or worse. Dozens joined in a chant: “Shame on you.”

Aaron Goldstein approached two officers. “Can you tell me why you couldn’t do this at 10:30 or 9:30, and why you had to terrorize the children in our neighborhood?” the man asked the officers as they turned their gazes away from him. Both wore dark sunglasses against the morning sun.

They said nothing.

The arrest shattered the routine of the neighborhood around Bancroft Elementary School, a public school where more than 60% of students are Latino. It came on the third day of a new school year, and immigration fears had already left the neighborhood on edge. Groups of residents had started escorting students to school from two nearby apartment complexes.

It was just another morning in Washington, D.C., in Summer 2025 — the summer of President Trump’s federal law-enforcement intervention in the nation’s capital.

A confrontation that was one among many

Some interludes unfold calmly. During others, nothing happens at all. But the boil-over Wednesday morning was one among many that have erupted across the city since Trump’s police takeover, offering a glimpse into daily life in a city where emotions have been pulled taut. Sightings of police activity spread quickly, attracting residents who say the federal infusion is unwelcome.

Families and children had been making their way toward a bilingual elementary school in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood when federal and local police officers descended on an apartment building just blocks from the school. Neighbors had been on high alert amid fears of increased immigration enforcement.

Now officers were flooding the street, some in plainclothes and face coverings. Some carried rifles or riot shields. Neighbors gathered outside and began yelling at the police to leave. Blocks away, as word spread, an assistant principal waiting to greet students sprinted to the scene.

In an interview, Goldstein, the Mount Pleasant resident, said it felt like a violation of the neighborhood, which he described as a “peaceful mix of white professionals and migrant neighbors, with a lot of love in it.”

“People are on Signal chats and they’re absolutely terrified, and everyone is following this,” said Goldstein, 55, who had just dropped off his third-grade daughter at Bancroft. “It’s distressful. We feel invaded, and it’s really terrible.”

The standoff continued after police arrested a man who they said is accused of drug and firearm crimes. Dozens of residents trailed officers down a side street and continued the jeers. “Quit your jobs.” “Nobody wants you here.” “You’re ruining the country.”

Asked about the episode later at a news conference, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said it attracted “a significant number of protesters” but “we were able to maintain calm.” Said Bowser: “I know there’s a lot of anxiety in the District.”

One officer, in the middle of it all, tries to talk

The conflict was punctuated by a remarkably candid conversation led by a Metropolitan Police Department sergeant who took questions from neighbors in what he described as “not an official press conference.”

“This is just me talking to community members,” Sgt. Michael Millsaps said, leaning back against the rear bumper of a cruiser.

Millsaps said the city’s police department was carrying out a planned arrest of a “suspected drug dealer” with support from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The suspect was taken into custody and a search of his apartment uncovered narcotics and an illegal firearm, Millsaps said.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers joined only as a distraction to prevent protesters from disrupting the operation, he said.

“The immigration folks were parked over there to get y’all to leave us alone,” he said. ICE officials did not immediately comment.

Residents told Millsaps that their trust of the city’s police had been broken. They said they felt less safe amid Trump’s crackdown. Millsaps said he was sorry to hear it. “I hear your frustrations. My job is to take it.”

Still, he described a different response from residents east of the Anacostia River, in some of the city’s highest crime areas. “I go on the other side of the river now, it’s the opposite. People come outside and thank us,” he said.

Mount Pleasant resident Nancy Petrovic was among those yelling at city and ATF officers after the arrest. Petrovic, a lifelong resident of the area, rushed out of her home when she heard yelling shortly after 8 a.m. She counted at least 10 police cars lined up across the block.

“Kids are going to school, they’re walking to school, and it’s frightening to them and their parents,” said Petrovic, who said the street is usually quiet and has no need for more police. “We want them to go away.”

Asked about the timing of the arrest, Millsaps said it was a planned operation similar to countless others.

“I’ve been doing this for 14 years, serving these warrants at the same time of day,” he said. “The only difference is you’ve got a big crowd here, which added even more police presence. But this was just a normal police operation.”

Binkley writes for the Associated Press.

A court in Bolivia has transferred a high-profile opposition leader, Luis Fernando Camacho, to house arrest amid outcry over the length of his pretrial detention.

On Wednesday, a court ruled that Camacho, the right-wing governor of the eastern department of Santa Cruz, could be returned to his home and released from preventative detention on bail, provided he submits to house arrest.

He is expected to travel on Friday back to Santa Cruz, home to Bolivia’s most populous city, also called Santa Cruz.

“The judicial authority has ordered the end of preventive detention against Governor Luis Fernando Camacho and has replaced it with precautionary measures, including house arrest,” his lawyer, Martin Camacho, confirmed on Wednesday.

The lawyer said Governor Camacho would be able to resume his political duties under the work-release terms of his bail.

A political shift in Bolivia

Camacho has been held in pretrial detention since December 2022, when he was arrested amid weeks of deadly protests led by right-wing forces frustrated with the left-wing political leadership in La Paz.

Normally, pretrial detention in Bolivia should not last longer than six months. Last week, the Supreme Court of Justice called for a review of Camacho’s incarceration, and on Tuesday, a judge considering one of the two cases against him approved his release.

After Wednesday’s hearing, a second judge echoed the first’s decision to place Camacho under house arrest instead.

“This is the first step towards freedom,” Camacho said after Tuesday’s decision. “The elected representatives of justice today begin to restore the rule of law.”

Camacho’s release comes as the political sphere in Bolivia braces for a dramatic shift. The left-wing Movement for Socialism (MAS) party has led the country for much of the last 20 years.

But in the August 17 general election, all the left-wing presidential candidates were knocked out of contention.

Two right-wing politicians have instead progressed to the run-off race: centrist Senator Rodrigo Paz and former President Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga, who has promised more radical change.

Camacho, meanwhile, has gained fame as a leader in Bolivia’s far-right Christian coalition, Creemos, which translates to “We Believe”. The Argentinian newspaper La Nacion even nicknamed him the “Bolivian Bolsonaro”, a reference to Jair Bolsonaro, a former Brazilian president currently on trial for allegedly conspiring to overturn an election.

For his part, Camacho has been held in La Paz’s Chonchocoro prison while facing “terrorism”-related charges.

Wednesday’s release to house arrest does not mean those charges have gone away.

The case against Camacho

Camacho still faces legal jeopardy, including the two high-profile cases that landed him behind bars.

The first concerns his actions during the 2019 political crisis that saw then-President Evo Morales flee the country.

Morales is considered to be the first president of Indigenous heritage in Bolivia’s modern history, but he had controversially sought a fourth term as president in the 2018 general election.

In the months afterwards, Camacho emerged as a prominent opposition figure, calling Morales’s victory a “fraud”.

He and other conservative leaders pressured the then-president to resign, in a campaign Morales compared to a “coup”.

Upon Morales’s departure from the country, Camacho delivered a symbolic resignation letter to the presidential palace, carrying a Bible in hand. For his role in the political crisis, Camacho faces charges of sedition and “terrorism”.

The second major case against Camacho concerns his actions during the 2022 unrest in Santa Cruz. He has been charged with criminal association and illegal use of public property.

By 2022, Morales’s former finance minister, Luis Arce, had been elected president of Bolivia, continuing the streak of MAS-led governments in La Paz.

Santa Cruz, considered Bolivia’s most prosperous economic hub and the largest by land area, had expected to see gains in the upcoming census, which would potentially translate into greater representation in the country’s legislature.

But because of disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Arce government announced the census would be delayed.

Anger over the decision spilled into Santa Cruz’s streets. The Pro Santa Cruz Civic Committee, a powerful right-wing group that Camacho had once led, carried out a strike that stretched on for nearly 36 days.

Protesters blocked roads, set fires and clashed with law enforcement. Dozens of cases of human rights abuses were reported to the government ombudsman, including sexual assault and murder. Prosecutors have accused Camacho of complicity in the turmoil.

Split opinions over Camacho’s release

But the Supreme Court of Justice has called for a review of the cases concerning Camacho and other prominent opposition leaders, including former President Jeanine Anez and Marco Antonio Pumari.

As Quiroga campaigns for the presidency ahead of the October 17 run-off, he has championed efforts to release the imprisoned opposition figures.

On his Facebook page on Tuesday, Quiroga celebrated the news of Camacho’s impending release.

“Justice cannot be an instrument of revenge. It must be the pillar of a free and democratic Bolivia,” Quiroga wrote.

“I salute the release of Luis Fernando Camacho and Marco Pumari, so they can pursue their defence in freedom. Let’s move forward, and remember that when there’s justice, there’s hope for all.”

Supporters in Santa Cruz also gathered in the street to celebrate Camacho’s anticipated return.

But outside the court in La Paz, some protesters called for his continued incarceration. They blamed Camacho for stirring the unrest that caused at least 37 people to be killed in the 2019 political crisis.

“Without justice,” they chanted, “there is no democracy.”

Looks like whoever called the cops on Lil Nas X last week wasn’t exaggerating when they reported the Grammy winner as a “nude man walking in the street.”

Initial video posted last week by TMZ showed the performer wearing only tighty-whities and white cowboy boots, strolling and posing on an L.A. street just before sunrise — and just before his arrest on suspicion of charging at a police officer. But it turns out that’s not the exact condition he was in when law enforcement took him in.

In new video TMZ posted over the weekend, the “Old Town Road” singer can be seen walking down the middle of a street fully naked, having shed the boots and underpants that had barely covered his modesty. (That he disrobed explains how a concerned citizen-slash-amateur videographer was able to snatch his boots up from off the street and list them for sale on EBay, seeking $10,000 — or best offer.)

In the new footage, Lil Nas X recites some Nicki Minaj lyrics from the Kanye West tune “Monster” as he struts runway-style toward the person shooting the video, who appears to be in the driver’s seat of a car.

“And if I’m fake, I ain’t notice ‘cause my money ain’t / So let me get this straight, wait, I’m the rookie? / But my features and my shows 10 times your pay? / 50K for a verse, no album out,” Lil Nas X says in the video.

An LAPD spokesperson told The Times last week that the 26-year-old, who was arrested around 6 a.m. Thursday, initially was taken to a hospital for a possible overdose. Lil Nas X was booked a little over five hours later and ultimately spent the weekend in a Van Nuys jail pending a court date Monday to set bail.

Both the LAPD and Los Angeles Fire Department responded to the scene on Thursday. LAFD did not give The Times additional information about the singer’s condition.

The performer, whose real name is Montero Lamar Hill, was arrested on suspicion of battery on a police officer after he allegedly charged at officers who responded to the call. Although TMZ reported that he was being held on a misdemeanor, online arrest records list him as being held on a felony count.

Representatives for Lil Nas X did not respond immediately to The Times’ request for comment Monday.

His arrest came soon after he apparently wiped his Instagram grid of old photos and posted a couple dozen new ones, including a selfie posted Tuesday of himself wearing a fur coat, bright red lipstick and both a cowboy hat and crown. “OH NO sHES GONE MAD! CRAZY I TELL U!,” he captioned the post.

In another photo, Lil Nas X posed in front of a backlit mirror in a gold gown, white cowboy boots and a tiara.

“And just like that she’s back,” he wrote in that caption. “We’ve all waited so long. When dreamworld needed her the most.”

Times staff writers Alexandra Del Rosario, Christopher Buchanan and Richard Winton contributed to this report.

A former Walmart employee who tried to intervene as Border Patrol agents arrested an undocumented custodial worker in Pico Rivera in June was indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday.

Adrian Martinez, 20, was indicted by a Santa Ana jury on the charge of conspiracy to impede a federal officer tied to the events of June 17, which unfolded at the height of the Trump administration’s immigration raids in the Los Angeles area. Martinez’s violent arrest was caught on video and quickly went viral.

According to the three-page indictment, Martinez confronted Border Patrol agents as they tried to arrest the custodial worker in the parking lot of a shopping center and blocked the agents’ vehicle with his own. Prosecutors allege that he positioned himself with a growing crowd to surround the agents’ vehicle and prevent it from leaving the area.

Martinez then allegedly grabbed a large trash can and moved it in front of the agents’ vehicle, blocking them from being able to pass.

According to the U.S. attorney’s office in L.A., Martinez faces up to six years in prison if convicted. He is set to be arraigned in downtown L.A. on Thursday.

“Make no mistake: There are serious, life-altering consequences for impeding law enforcement,” acting U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli said in a news release Wednesday.

Martinez’s lawyers released a statement noting that “just as in other cases arising out of recent illegal and inhumane ICE raids, the U.S. Attorney’s Office had to travel out of Los Angeles county to secure this indictment.”

The Times previously reported on Essayli’s struggles to secure indictments in protest cases.

“Although we are disappointed that Adrian’s case has not been dismissed, we always anticipated being required to litigate this case post-indictment,” the Miller Law Group, which represents Martinez, said in its statement.

The lawyers also criticized Essayli for posting on X, “before we had even officially been notified of the outcome of the indictment” and using it “to maliciously spread falsehoods and fearmonger at our client’s expense.”

In a June interview with the Times, Martinez said he was on break when he spotted the custodial worker, “getting grabbed very aggressively, getting manhandled,” by the agents. Martinez said he drove over, told the agents that their actions weren’t right and they should leave the worker alone.

Surveillance and spectator video captured at the scene and looped in social media feeds show an agent rushing Martinez and shoving him to the ground. Martinez gets back up, there is more shoving, and he exchanges angry words with a masked officer carrying a rifle. Then other agents swarmed him, pushed him back down and dragged him to their truck.

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Agents ultimately arrested both the custodial worker and Martinez.

In the June interview with the Times, Martinez said after his arrest he was taken to a parking structure, where he was told he’d been arrested for assaulting a federal officer by striking an agent in the face and breaking his glasses. Martinez, who weighs around 150 pounds, said the agents arresting him pointed to the colleague he was being accused of attacking, who looked “like a grizzly bear.”

“I don’t even remember you,” Martinez recalled saying. “It just seemed like they were trying to get me to say like, ‘yes, you assaulted him,’ but I knew I didn’t.”

The next day, Essayli posted a photo on X of Martinez, still in his blue Walmart vest. Martinez, he wrote, had been arrested “for an allegation of punching a border patrol agent in the face.”

Martinez was charged in a June 19 criminal complaint with conspiracy to impede a federal officer. The complaint makes no reference to a punch and neither does Wednesday’s indictment.

Bloomberg Law previously reported that Essayli had rejected office supervisors’ advice not to charge Martinez for assaulting a federal officer and that an an FBI agent felt there was insufficient evidence and declined to sign a complaint attesting probable cause to a judge.

Within a day, the outlet reported, another agent signed off on the charge of conspiracy to impede.

In an interview a week after his arrest, Martinez wore a brace on his right leg, where he’d suffered a contusion, and said he’d been bruised and scratched all over his body.

Walmart later terminated Martinez, citing “gross misconduct,” according to a separation notice reviewed by the Times.

“I was just speaking up for a man,” Martinez said. “How can I go from that to this?”

“People have the right to speak up for themselves and for someone else,” he added. “You don’t have to get treated like this, thrown on the floor and manhandled because of that.”