‘Suspicious and unwarranted’ arrests of Iranians come amid lingering tensions over Iran’s nuclear programme and the fallout of Russia-Ukraine war.
Tehran, Iran – Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has summoned the United Kingdom’s charge d’affaires over what it called “suspicious and unwarranted” arrests of several Iranian nationals.
The UK earlier this month accused several Iranian nationals of offences without offering evidence, wilfully refrained from informing Iran’s embassy in time, and prevented consular access contrary to international norms, the ministry said in a statement issued late on Sunday, according to state media.
It also accused the British government of harbouring “political motivations to exert pressure on Iran” with the arrests.
The diplomatic spat comes two days after British police charged three Iranians with suspected espionage for Iran’s intelligence services under the country’s National Security Act of 2023.
Mostafa Sepahvand, 39, Farhad Javadi Manesh, 44, and Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori, 55, were accused of conduct likely to assist a foreign intelligence service between August 14, 2024 and February 16, 2025.
They appeared before a Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Saturday, where they were also charged with engaging in surveillance and reconnaissance with the intention of committing or supporting serious violence against a person in the UK.
Their cases were referred to a central criminal court, and the next hearing is scheduled for early June.
The three are among eight individuals arrested in May, including seven Iranians, as part of two separate operations which Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said were some of the biggest investigations of their kind in recent years.
The four other Iranians were arrested as part of a “counterterrorism” operation, with investigations ongoing. The eighth man was released without charge last week.
In a stated effort towards improving national security against covert foreign influences, the UK has placed Iran on its highest tier under the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS).
Strained ties
The arrests come amid strained ties between Iran and three European powers over Tehran’s nuclear programme.
The UK, France and Germany have repeatedly criticised Iran for a purported lack of cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to ensure that Iran’s nuclear programme remains peaceful.
The trio, branded the E3 in the context of the negotiations, were party to Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal, which the United States unilaterally abandoned in 2018.
However, the US has reopened talks with Tehran in a bid to secure a new deal, and amid four rounds of talks mediated by Oman, Iran has emphasised it is open to holding more talks with the E3 as well.
Senior diplomats from the two sides gathered on Friday in Turkiye’s Istanbul for their first meeting since the nuclear talks with Washington commenced last month. Both sides stressed a commitment to continued diplomacy, but there was no breakthrough.
Rather, Iran has repeatedly warned that there will be “serious ramifications” if the E3 push to invoke the “snapback” mechanism of the comatose 2015 nuclear deal, which would reinstate the United Nations Security Council sanctions that were lifted as part of the landmark accord.
Tehran and Washington have also failed to see eye to eye so far when it comes to enrichment of uranium, with Iran reiterating on Monday that it will not back down from its right to have a civilian nuclear programme.
After US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff said President Donald Trump’s administration would not allow Iran to enrich uranium even to 1 percent, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said “unrealistic” demands would only lead to a dead end.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei holds a weekly news conference in Tehran [File: Atta Kenare/AFP]
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said Tehran has yet to receive a written proposal from the US to advance to a fifth round of negotiations, which is expected soon.
He also said Iran has not proposed a joint enrichment venture with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, but backs such an effort.
“The West Asia region, and specifically countries of the Persian Gulf, may increasingly require nuclear energy and to build power plants requiring nuclear fuel, so it won’t be bad if nuclear fuel facilities or consortiums are created in our region so everyone can invest in them.”
Carol Parks, the chief of Los Angeles’ Emergency Management Department, sat before a budget committee last year and painted a dire picture.
Although tasked with responding to crises in the nation’s most disaster-prone region, her department had received just a tiny fraction of the city’s budget and was getting by with a staff of roughly 30.
There was no staffer devoted full-time to disaster recovery, which meant that if an earthquake or major wildfire struck, the city would have to scramble.
But the City Council and Mayor Karen Bass balked at devoting more money to the department.
Seven months later, flames tore through Pacific Palisades and nearby communities, destroying more than 6,000 structures and displacing tens of thousands.
Now, the Emergency Management Department is in charge of coordinating the monumental task of recovery — but with a budget smaller than what the city’s Police Department uses in roughly two days.
To supplement the bare-bones emergency management team, Bass turned to an Illinois-based disaster recovery firm, Hagerty Consulting, inking a yearlong contract for up to $10 million. She also brought a former EMD general manager, Jim Featherstone, back from retirement to serve as the de facto recovery chief.
More than four months after the fire, Palisades residents and some of their elected officials are increasingly frustrated, asking: Who is in charge? What have they been doing? How is Hagerty spending its time? And what is the plan to restore the Palisades?
L.A. brings on Hagerty
As flames chewed through the Palisades on Jan. 7, EMD assigned a mid-level staffer to take on the recovery. Soon, Featherstone — a former firefighter who once served as interim LAFD chief — arrived at the emergency operations center.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, left, and her disaster recovery czar Steve Soboroff, right, at Palisades Recreation Center in January.
(Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)
In practice, Featherstone — a self-described “operator” and “tactical person” — assumed the recovery director role, helping to choreograph a massive, multiagency response.
Zach Seidl, a spokesperson for Bass, disputed that characterization and said the two men had different roles. Featherstone’s “role is largely internal to the City,” while Soboroff, whose term ended last month, “worked externally with the community along with other engagement teams within the Mayor’s Office,” Seidl said in an email.
While the city code puts EMD in charge of coordinating disaster recovery, it operates with fewer resources than similar departments in other large California cities. A 2022 audit found that L.A. spent $1.56 per resident on emergency management — far less than Long Beach at $2.26 and San Francisco at $7.59.
With such a small team for a 469-square-mile city, EMD has struggled to staff its emergency operations center in crises, prepare for events like the 2028 Olympics and help residents recover from smaller-scale calamities like building fires, storms and mudslides.
Parks told the City Council in a 2024 memo that her department “lacks the experience and dedicated staff to oversee long-term recovery projects.” After recent emergencies, EMD handled recovery duties “on an ad hoc basis,” yielding “delays, postponements and possible denial of disaster relief funds,” she wrote.
To boost EMD, Bass in early February tapped Hagerty after hearing proposals from firms including AECOM and IEM. Her reasons for choosing Hagerty were unclear, although the firm had already signed a wildfire recovery contract with L.A. County’s emergency management office and had long worked with the state Office of Emergency Services.
It’s not unusual for a state or local government to retain a recovery consultant after a disaster, even if it has a recovery arm of its own. Hagerty has routinely been hired to help with hurricane recovery, including managing billions of dollars in funding after Superstorm Sandy in New York in 2012.
Because Bass hired Hagerty under her emergency authority, the city has also solicited bids for a longer-term recovery contract worth $30 million over three years, with Hagerty among the companies vying for it.
Initially, Hagerty spent “a significant amount” of time compensating for the lack of a city recovery team, said Featherstone, who supervises Hagerty’s work, at a budget hearing last month.
By contrast, L.A. County had a dedicated recovery operation that consultants could plug into — and the muscle memory from recent disasters like the Woolsey fire.
“The structure had to be built out,” Featherstone told council members at the budget hearing. “Folks were pulled out of their regular day-to-day functions … to start to build out a recovery capability.”
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass speaks with Pacific Palisades residents at a debris removal town hall on Jan. 26 in Santa Monica.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
That structure is a series of tactical teams focused on issues including infrastructure, economics, health and housing. Under each umbrella are multiple working groups composed of several city departments working with federal and regional agencies.
Under the infrastructure team, for example, is a debris removal group, a utilities team and a group for hazards such as mudslides, according to a recording of a recovery meeting reviewed by The Times. The housing team, meanwhile, brings together the Department of Building and Safety and the city Planning Department to streamline the permitting process.
Debris removal was one of the first orders of business — so that group was among the first to be organized and has been the “busiest,” as one EMD staffer said in a recording of an internal March meeting.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has the primary responsibility for clearing debris from lots, with most expected to be done by Memorial Day and the rest largely due to be finished this summer. The city, with Hagerty, helped explain the debris removal process to residents, including the decision to opt in to the Army Corps cleanup or do it on their own.
With Hagerty’s guidance, the Emergency Management Department also created a dashboard showing the progress of debris removal, with real-time maps tracking the status of each lot.
Tracey Phillips, a Hagerty executive, told City Council members in March that her firm was organizing these tactical teams and holding weekly meetings so that “we can develop a short-term and mid-term operational framework.”
“This is the first step to that: [determining] who the players are, getting them in the room, getting them trained up and developing that operational cadence,” Phillips explained. “It’s already happening — it’s just not being reported and it’s not kind of coalesced yet.”
As of mid-March, Hagerty had about 22 employees working on Palisades fire recovery, billing the city at hourly rates ranging from $80 to nearly $400 per employee.
City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez is among those who say that some of the money used for Hagerty would have been better spent bolstering the Emergency Management Department’s rank and file — as Parks had requested last year.
“I don’t understand their purpose. I don’t need another contractor,” Rodriguez said in an interview. “What my city staff needs is staff to do the work.”
Asked whether funding for Hagerty would be better spent on EMD, Seidl, the spokesperson for Bass, said most of the firm’s work is reimbursable by the federal government, a point that Featherstone made at a March budget hearing. Featherstone also suggested that Hagerty’s guidance could yield more funding in the long run because of the firm’s expertise with the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Hagerty and Featherstone declined interview requests from The Times. Joseph Riser, a spokesperson for EMD, provided written responses to questions.
EMD was “very pleased” with Hagerty for building out recovery teams “where they did not previously exist,” Riser said, noting that the firm has improved coordination and provided “high-level briefings” to City Hall and department general managers, among other duties.
Seidl emphasized that the mayor has taken steps to preserve EMD’s budget, “even in difficult budget times like this year.” He also touted steps the city has taken to hasten the recovery, like a one-stop permitting and rebuilding center, measures to allow for the re-issuance of permits for homes built in recent years, and restoring water and power in two months compared to the 18 months it took in Paradise after the 2018 Camp fire.
“Despite one of the worst natural disasters in recent history, L.A.’s recovery effort is on track to be the fastest in modern California history,” Seidl said.
Palisades residents strike back
Some Palisades residents say that Hagerty and EMD — and ultimately, Bass and her team — have done a poor job of communicating what their plan is going forward.
Citing the cornucopia of government agencies involved in the rebuild, City Councilmember Traci Park, whose district includes the Palisades, said, “Sometimes it feels like there are so many people in charge that no one is in charge.”
Maryam Zar, who runs the Palisades Recovery Coalition, said that at times, “we feel like we are doing this ourselves.”
Pacific Palisades residents attend a town hall on the L.A. Fire Health Study featuring leading scientists on post-fire health in the backyard of a private residence on Tuesday in Los Angeles. The study is a 10-year effort to study the exposures to dangerous substances and consequent health effects.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
Zar and her group have been among the most vocal advocates for a logistics plan governing how thousands of homes will be rebuilt in a community with narrow streets and already-snarled traffic.
The group has circulated ideas that include a concrete plant in the Palisades, short-term housing for construction crews and one-way roads to ease congestion.
Zar said that Hagerty has “shown up to community meetings, and they have been so unable to deliver any kind of information.”
In an interview, Park said that “for weeks and weeks now,” she also has been asking Hagerty and city departments for “a logistics and operations plan” for moving people, vehicles and materials in and out of the Palisades.
Park has visited Lahaina, Hawaii, which was devastated by a wildfire in 2023, and studied other communities rebuilding from fires. She said those areas had consultants who were “very, very engaged” with communities in identifying priorities and solving problems. She wants the city and Hagerty to push forward on a longer-term recovery plan that establishes criteria for fire-safe rebuilding and a timeline for restoring parks, schools, libraries and businesses.
“I know that those things can take significant time to develop. But this is Los Angeles, and this is the Pacific Palisades, and we are not waiting around,” she said, adding that she and her constituents were “moving at warp speed.”
Riser, the EMD spokesperson, said that traffic and logistics were not handled in a “single, static, formal plan,” but that problems were being addressed in coordination with city and state agencies. He also said EMD has brought in traffic experts to “structure this work more effectively.”
“Recovery is dynamic and complex and changes daily as debris is cleared, infrastructure is repaired, and reentry phases evolve,” Riser said.
Frustration with Hagerty boiled over at an April 10 meeting of the Palisades community council, where Hagerty representative Harrison Newton touted recovery as “a chance to become more resilient to the next disaster.”
Residents could barely contain their fury, criticizing Newton for an abstract presentation that seemed divorced from their real needs around rebuilding, permitting and traffic control.
“It feels extremely generic,” said Lee Ann Daly, who then turned her ire toward City Hall. “You need to know that we have a trust issue with the people who are paying you. … We have a trust issue, and it’s huge.”
Palisades resident Kimberly Bloom, whose home burned in the fire, pressed Newton to provide a “concrete example” of Hagerty’s work in a prior disaster “that is not just another layer of bureaucracy, because that’s what it feels like at the moment.”
Newton referred residents to Hagerty’s website and spoke of how his firm provides “augmentation support,” prompting residents to interrupt and criticize his use of jargon.
After some back and forth, Newton emphasized that he and his team were trying to accelerate the city’s response to the issues raised by residents. Hagerty, he said, was “bringing more people to bear so they’re less thinly stretched, and you’re achieving work faster.”
What lies ahead
So far, more than 1,500 parcels in the Palisades have received a final sign-off from L.A. County that they are cleared of debris, paving the way to begin rebuilding.
As of this week, 54 construction permits for 40 addresses have been issued in the Palisades, said Seidl, who noted that hundreds of permit applications are now under review.
The burden will increasingly shift onto city agencies like the Department of Building and Safety to serve thousands of homeowners and businesses seeking plan checks, permits, inspections and certificates of occupancy.
The logistics of whole neighborhoods undertaking simultaneous construction projects on hillside streets, with only a few major arteries in and out, will test the recovery framework that EMD and Hagerty have been working to erect.
In the coming weeks, Bass is expected to name a new chief recovery officer, and her team is “currently interviewing … qualified candidates,” Seidl said. Featherstone, who was initially hired on a 120-day appointment, is now serving as an assistant general manager at EMD, and Parks, the EMD chief, has asked for funding in the coming fiscal year’s budget to keep him.
Hagerty could be replaced by a different firm if it loses the competitive bidding process for the multi-year recovery contract. One of the many “deliverables” for that contract is developing a long-term recovery plan.
That type of overarching plan governing the rebuilding — and direct communication about the plan — is what residents and local officials say they have been pleading for.
“We have more debris clearing to do, but we are also breaking ground on new buildings,” said Councilmember Park. “If we don’t get those plans under control and in place, this is going to turn into ‘The Hunger Games’ very quickly.”
The men were charged with engaging in conduct likely to assist a foreign intelligence service, police said.
British police say they have charged three Iranians with suspected espionage for Iran’s intelligence services from August 2024 to February 2025.
The police said in a statement on Saturday that the three men were charged with offences under the National Security Act following a major counterterrorism investigation.
Mostafa Sepahvand, 39, Farhad Javadi Manesh, 44, and Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori, 55, were accused of conduct likely to assist a foreign intelligence service between August 14, 2024, and February 16, 2025, the police said, adding that the foreign state to which the charges relate is Iran.
The three men are due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court later on Saturday.
Commander Dominic Murphy, from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said the men were arrested two weeks ago. “These are extremely serious charges under the National Security Act, which have come about following what has been a very complex and fast-moving investigation,” he said.
Sepahvand was also charged with carrying out surveillance, reconnaissance and open-source research, intending to commit serious violence against someone in the United Kingdom, police and prosecutors said, while Manesh and Noori were also charged with engaging in surveillance and reconnaissance, with the intention that serious violence against someone in the UK would be carried out by others.
A fourth Iranian national, 31, who was also arrested and detained as part of the investigation, was released with no further action on Thursday.
The arrests took place on the same day that five other Iranians were detained by police as part of a separate counterterrorism probe, in what the UK’s Home Secretary Yvette Cooper called some of the biggest investigations of their kind in recent years.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had previously said he was “disturbed” to learn that Iranian citizens had been arrested by the British authorities.
The UK has placed Iran on the highest tier of its Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS), which aims to boost the UK’s national security against covert foreign influences.
The measures, due to come into place later this year, will mean that all people working inside the UK for Iran, its intelligence services or the Revolutionary Guard would have to register or face jail.
Selles had guided Reading to sixth in League One despite their off-field concerns when he left for East Yorkshire on 6 December.
Predecessor Walter had been relieved of his duties the previous week after a run of nine matches without a win.
Selles claimed his first win as Tigers boss with a 2-1 home victory over Swansea on 21 December to end a winless run of 13 matches.
Although they claimed notable results away from home under Selles, including wins at promotion-chasing Sheffield United and Sunderland, they found home wins incredibly hard to come by and ended the season with the worst home record in the division.
Defeats at the MKM Stadium by fellow strugglers Luton and Derby meant they went into the final game of the season in the Championship relegation zone.
Other fixtures meant a win would guarantee their survival and, although they were pegged back at Fratton Park after Matt Crooks had given them the lead, a point proved to be enough to keep them up on goal difference.
After the match Selles told BBC Radio Humberside: “Everyone in the club managed difficult moments and it has been a tough season for everyone and we deserved to stay in the division.
“We had a team that was rock bottom and to achieve the target this season with all the injuries and everything else is just massive.
“Now it’s over and we crossed the line, we can rest a little bit and I told the players that we will remember this day for years to come.”
MILWAUKEE — A Wisconsin judge pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges of helping a man who is in the country illegally evade U.S. immigration authorities seeking to arrest him in her courthouse.
Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan entered the plea during a brief arraignment in federal court. Magistrate Judge Stephen Dries scheduled a trial to begin July 21. Dugan’s lead attorney, Steven Biskupic, told the judge that he expects the trial to last a week.
Dugan, her lawyers and prosecutors left the hearing without speaking to reporters.
The accusations against Dugan
Dugan is charged with concealing an individual to prevent arrest and obstruction. Prosecutors say she escorted Eduardo Flores-Ruiz and his lawyer out of her courtroom through a back door on April 18 after learning that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were in the courthouse seeking to arrest him on suspicion of being in the country illegally. She could face up to six years in prison if convicted on both counts.
Her attorneys say she’s innocent. They filed a motion Wednesday to dismiss the case, saying she was acting in her official capacity as a judge and therefore is immune to prosecution. They also maintain that the federal government violated Wisconsin’s sovereignty by disrupting a state courtroom and prosecuting a state judge.
A public backlash
Dugan’s arrest has inflamed tensions between the Trump administration and Democrats over the president’s sweeping immigration crackdown.
Dozens of demonstrators gathered outside the courthouse ahead of Thursday’s hearing, with some holding signs that read, “Only Fascists Arrest Judges — Drop the Charges,” “Department of Justice Over-Reach” and “Keep Your Hands Off Our Judges!!” The crowd chanted “Due process rights,” “Hands off our freedom,” and “Sí se puede” — Spanish for “Yes, we can” — which is a rallying cry for immigrant rights advocates.
One man stood alone across the street holding a Trump flag.
Nancy Camden, from suburban Mequon north of Milwaukee, was among the protesters calling for the case to be dismissed. She said she believes ICE shouldn’t have tried to arrest Flores-Ruiz inside the courthouse and the Department of Justice “overreached” in charging Dugan.
“How they handled this and made a big show of arresting her and putting her in handcuffs, all of that was intimidation,” Camden said. “And I’m not going to be intimidated. I’m fighting back.”
Esther Cabrera, an organizer with the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, said the charges against Dugan amount to “state-funded repression.”
“If we are going to go after judges, if we’re going to go after mayors, we have to understand that they can come after anybody,” she said. “And that’s kind of why we wanted to make a presence out here today, is to say that you can’t come after everyone and it stops here.”
The case background
According to court documents, Flores-Ruiz illegally reentered the U.S. after being deported in 2013. Online court records show he was charged with three counts of misdemeanor domestic abuse in Milwaukee County in March, and he was in Dugan’s courtroom on April 18 for a hearing in that case.
According to an FBI affidavit, Dugan was alerted to the agents’ presence by her clerk, who was informed by an attorney that the agents appeared to be in the hallway. Dugan was visibly angry and called the situation “absurd” before leaving the bench and retreating to her chambers, the affidavit contends. She and another judge later approached members of the arrest team in the courthouse with what witnesses described as a “confrontational, angry demeanor.”
After a back-and-forth with the agents over the warrant for Flores-Ruiz, Dugan demanded they speak with the chief judge and led them from the courtroom, according to the affidavit.
After she returned to the courtroom, witnesses heard her say something to the effect of “wait, come with me” before ushering Flores-Ruiz and his attorney out through a door typically used only by deputies, jurors, court staff and in-custody defendants, the affidavit alleges. Flores-Ruiz was free on a signature bond in the abuse case, according to online state court records. Federal agents ultimately detained him outside the courthouse after a foot chase.
The state Supreme Court suspended Dugan last week, saying the move was necessary to preserve public confidence in the judiciary. She was freed after her arrest.
How the case might play out
John Vaudreuil, a former federal prosecutor in Wisconsin who isn’t involved in Dugan’s or Flores-Ruiz’s cases, said the Trump administration seems to want to make an example out of Dugan. U.S. Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi or Deputy Atty. Gen. Todd Blanche, rather than the U.S. attorney in Milwaukee, are likely making the decisions on how to proceed, making it less likely prosecutors will reduce the charges against Dugan in a deal, he said.
Her attorneys will likely try to push for a jury trial, Vaudreuil predicted, because they know that “people feel very strongly about the way the president and administration is conducting immigration policy.”
Dugan is represented by some of Wisconsin’s most accomplished lawyers. Biskupic was a federal prosecutor for 20 years and served seven years as U.S. attorney in Milwaukee. Paul Clement, meanwhile, is a former U.S. solicitor general who has argued more than 100 cases in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. Both were appointed to jobs by former Republican President George W. Bush.
Richmond writes for the Associated Press. AP reporters Scott Bauer in Madison, Wis., and Laura Bargfeld contributed to this report.
Derek McInnes will not be in charge of Kilmarnock for Sunday’s match against Heart of Midlothian with the manager poised to move from the Ayrshire club to their Scottish Premiership rivals.
The 53-year-old had said on Tuesday that he expected to be in the dugout for the final two games of the season despite the clubs having agreed a compensation deal for his summer switch.
But, following Wednesday’s 3-0 defeat away to Motherwell, Kilmarnock stated on their website: “It has been agreed between our board of directors, Derek McInnes and his staff that the best approach would be if they were not in charge for the final match of the season.”
McInnes had indicated before the match that talks were still ongoing to finalise his move to Tynecastle, but it was assistant Paul Sheerin who was sent out to address the media after the loss at Fir Park.
However, Kilmarnock now say Sheerin and coach Alan Archibald will also not be involved in Sunday’s game against Hearts.
“First team preparation and matchday duties will be undertaken by Chris Burke and Craig Clark,” they stated.
MADISON, Wis. — A federal grand jury indicted a Wisconsin judge Tuesday on charges she helped a man in the country illegally evade U.S. immigration authorities looking to arrest him as he appeared before her in a local domestic abuse case.
Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan’s arrest and ensuing indictment has escalated a clash between President Trump’s administration and local authorities over the Republican’s sweeping immigration crackdown. Democrats have accused the Trump administration of trying to make a national example of Dugan to chill judicial opposition to the crackdown.
Prosecutors charged Dugan in April via complaint with concealing an individual to prevent arrest and obstruction. In the federal criminal justice system, prosecutors can initiate charges against a defendant directly by filing a complaint or present evidence to a grand jury and let that body decide whether to issue charges.
A grand jury still reviews charges brought by complaint to determine whether enough probable cause exists to continue the case as a check on prosecutors’ power. If the grand jury determines there’s probable cause, it issues a written statement of the charges known as an indictment. That’s what happened in Dugan’s case.
Dugan faces up to six years in prison if she’s convicted on both counts. Her team of defense attorneys responded to the indictment with a one-sentence statement saying that she maintains her innocence and looks forward to being vindicated in court. She was scheduled to enter a plea on Thursday.
Kenneth Gales, a spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office in Milwaukee, declined to comment on the indictment Tuesday evening.
Dugan’s case is similar to one brought during the first Trump administration against a Massachusetts judge, who was accused of helping a man sneak out a courthouse back door to evade a waiting immigration enforcement agent. That case was eventually dismissed.
Prosecutors say Dugan escorted Eduardo Flores-Ruiz and his lawyer out of her courtroom through a back jury door on April 18 after learning that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were in the courthouse seeking his arrest.
According to court documents, Flores-Ruiz illegally reentered the U.S. after being deported in 2013. Online state court records show he was charged with three counts of misdemeanor domestic abuse in Milwaukee County in March. He was in Dugan’s courtroom that morning of April 18 for a hearing.
Court documents suggest Dugan was alerted to the agents’ presence by her clerk, who was informed by an attorney that the agents appeared to be in the hallway. An affidavit says Dugan was visibly angry over the agents’ arrival and called the situation “absurd” before leaving the bench and retreating to her chambers. She and another judge later approached members of the arrest team in the courthouse with what witnesses described as a “confrontational, angry demeanor.”
After a back-and-forth with the agents over the warrant for Flores-Ruiz, Dugan demanded they speak with the chief judge and led them away from the courtroom, according to the affidavit.
She then returned to the courtroom and was heard saying words to the effect of “wait, come with me” and ushered Flores-Ruiz and his attorney out through a back jury door typically used only by deputies, jurors, court staff and in-custody defendants, according to the affidavit. Flores-Ruiz was free on a signature bond in the abuse case at the time, according to online state court records.
Federal agents ultimately captured him outside the courthouse after a foot chase.
The state Supreme Court suspended Dugan from the bench in late April, saying the move was necessary to preserve public confidence in the judiciary. A reserve judge is filling in for her.
Scottish referee Hollie Davidson will become the first female to take charge of a European Professional Club Rugby final when she officiates Bath v Lyon in the Challenge Cup final at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on 23 May.
Davidson has been part of on-pitch officiating teams in the past two Six Nations championships and the 2024 Rugby Championship.
She will also be the first Scot to referee an EPCR final since Jim Fleming in 1998, which Bath won against Brive in Bordeaux.
And in July, Davidson will take charge of South Africa v Italy in Pretoria.
“European rugby is the pinnacle of the professional game, and to be named as the Challenge Cup final referee is something that I never thought was possible when I was starting out,” Davidson told Scottish Rugby.
“It has been a long time since a Scot has done a final, so I am just absolutely over the moon to be named as the referee for such a big game.”
Los Angeles County prosecutors filed criminal charges Tuesday against Jillian Lauren Shriner, a bestselling author who is married to Weezer bassist Scott Shriner, following an incident last month where she was wounded by police after allegedly shooting at them from her backyard.
The author, who publishes under the last name Lauren, appeared in a downtown Los Angeles courthouse, pleading not guilty to felony charges for willful discharge of a firearm in a gross negligent manner and assault of a person with a semiautomatic firearm. Prosecutors are also seeking a firearms sentencing enhancement. She faces up to 19 years in state prison if convicted on counts.
Lauren, 51, sported an all-white suit as she stood before the judge to enter her plea. She and her lawyers, Hilary Potashner and Kim Wilkinson, declined to comment after the hearing.
Lauren was initially booked April 9 on suspicion of attempted murder after a bewildering encounter with the LAPD. That afternoon, officers were searching for three hit-and-run suspects following a crash on the 134 Freeway. According to 911 calls from the area, the suspects were attempting to hide in neighborhood backyards around Eagle Rock.
The pursuit led officers to Lauren’s property, where a confrontation ensued as she stood in her backyard armed with a handgun.
Police body cameras and home surveillance videos appeared to show Lauren raising her gun and pointing it at a fence where officers had taken cover. Police said she refused their commands to drop the weapon and fired at them. The police said they shot back, hitting Lauren in the arm.
She fled back into her home, where she remained for about an hour before she was hospitalized and later taken into custody by the Highway Patrol.
There are some indications Lauren may have been unable to hear the officers due to a police helicopter hovering above the scene, possibly mistaking them for the hit-and-run suspects. In a video released by the LAPD, a neighbor could be heard telling a 911 dispatcher Lauren was confused about what happened: “There were three men, and one of them shot her, and the cops are looking for him right now … They have their guns out.”
The New Jersey native has been named a New York Times Bestselling Author for her books, “Everything You Ever Wanted” and “Some Girls: My Life in a Harem” where she recounts her encounters with Prince Jefri Bolkiah of Brunei. Most recently, she published “Behold the Monster: Facing America’s Most Prolific Serial Killer,” a look inside the mind of serial killer Samuel Little. She and Shriner have been married since 2005 and they have two sons together.
Lauren’s preliminary hearing to determine whether the cases against her will move forward is scheduled for June 18.
