pleads

Journalist Savannah Guthrie has made an emotional public appeal for information about her missing mother, Nancy Guthrie, saying her family is living through “a nightmare that will not end.” The plea comes after investigators said kidnapping notes linked to the case were fake.

Trump-endorsed Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton formally launched his general election campaign Wednesday by pitching himself to California’s abundance of anti-Trump voters.

In a speech, Hilton said Democrats had “abandoned” working-class and Latino communities and crushed small businesses. He criticized Gov. Gavin Newsom for leading the state into decline, pointing to low literacy rates and slow responses to crises such as the Boyle Heights warehouse fire.

Hilton, a British-born conservative political commentator and former Fox News host, faces an uphill battle in California, a Democratic stronghold. In June, Hilton clinched second place in California’s gubernatorial primary behind veteran Democratic politician Xavier Becerra.

In an effort to persuade voters who are dissatisfied with the status quo, Hilton bought a full-page ad in the Wednesday editions of the Los Angeles Times and San Francisco Chronicle.

The ad read, “Can you be anti-Trump and still vote for me?,” followed by a checklist readers could use to “test” if they shared common ground with Hilton.

“I can’t stand Trump, but I’m not happy with the way things have been run in California lately,” reads one line in the ad.

“I want to fight climate change, but $6.00 gas is crazy!” reads another.

At a news conference Wednesday, Hilton said the ad is aimed at voters who “know that we need change in California.”

Trump’s unpopularity in the state “doesn’t matter because we’re not talking about national policies here,” he said. “This is about what we can do in our state to make life better for Californians.”

Hilton then framed himself as a “pragmatic, problem-solving change-maker” focused on affordability, promising to lower gas prices, electricity costs and taxes and the cost of homes.

“We may not agree about national politics, but I think we can agree that we need change in California, and I’m going to bring that change,” he said.

The news conference, which marked the formal launch of Hilton’s general election campaign, took place at a Boyle Heights auto body shop across the street from the Lineage cold storage facility that was destroyed by a fire last month.

The location was chosen because it is a “symbol of Democrat failure,” Hilton said. The nauseating stench of rotting food filled the surrounding neighborhood. Swarms of flies buzzed about, occasionally landing on top of Hilton’s head.

Hilton said he’s not expecting Trump to campaign on his behalf in California. But, he added, “I’m proud to be endorsed by the president and I think it’s a very good thing to have a governor who has a good relationship with the federal administration.”

No Republican has been elected to a statewide office since 2006. A poll by the Public Policy Institute of California published earlier this month showed Becerra with support from 61% of likely voters, compared with 36% for Hilton.

Hilton insists his campaign is different from previous Republican bids.

“We’ve got to the point in California where people are looking for a positive alternative,” Hilton told The Times. “We’re going to be fighting very hard … already in the last year and a half I’ve fought a campaign like no one’s seen in California for 20 years. I’ve been to nearly every single county in our state.”

WASHINGTON — A former Olympic canoe racer pleaded not guilty on Thursday to deliberately damaging the recently renovated Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, a politically charged case that his defense attorneys and other Trump administration critics have derided as an abuse of prosecutorial power.

David Hearn, who competed in three Summer Olympics, entered the plea through one of his attorneys during his initial appearance in Washington, D.C. Superior Court. Hearn, 67, of Bethesda, Md., was indicted last Thursday on a single felony count of property destruction.

In front of a packed courtroom, D.C. Superior Court Judge Carmen McLean did not require Hearn to be supervised by the court while he is free awaiting a trial. A status hearing was scheduled for Aug. 5.

Prosecutor Kevin Reddington said the government wasn’t seeking any court supervision for Hearn, but just a “ stay-away order” without specifying in court where it wanted to keep Hearn away from.

Mary Dohrmann, one of Hearn’s attorneys, urged the judge not to impose any conditions of court supervision, calling Hearn an “upstanding citizen and member of the community.”

“The government’s evidence is weak,” she added.

Dozens of supporters, many carrying homemade signs, gathered outside the courthouse and waited for Hearn to leave after the hearing.

President Trump ordered a multimillion-dollar renovation of the Reflecting Pool ahead of the nation’s 250th anniversary this month, but the project has been plagued with problems. Workers have used chemicals to curtail an algae bloom. Trump has said the pool likely would need to be drained again for liner repairs after chunks of blue coating were seen floating at the surface.

Trump has claimed without substantiation that vandals dumped fertilizer into the pool and slashed the coating with a box cutter. U.S. Atty. Jeanine Pirro, the top federal prosecutor for the District of Columbia, said last week that six other people were arrested on misdemeanor charges related to the $16 million pool project.

Hearn’s attorneys have said the charges against him are based on a “concocted narrative” and “should be alarming to every American.”

“This indictment reflects the administration’s effort to shift blame for their own failures,” the lawyers said in a statement. “The justice system exists to determine facts, not to provide political cover.”

Hearn previously told the Associated Press that he was detained by National Guard troops and U.S. Park Police for five hours after stopping by the pool during a 64-mile bike ride on June 19. He said he reached in to examine newly peeled coating and briefly touched a chunk attached to the side of the pool, but obeyed a park worker who told him to let go of it.

Pirro accused Hearn of causing more than $1,000 in damage by ripping up recently installed sealant from the pool and acting belligerently toward an employee who told him to stop.

Kunzelman writes for the Associated Press.

JACKSON, Miss. — The former mayor of Mississippi’s capital city and the former City Council president have pleaded guilty in a bribery scheme one week before they were set to face trial.

Former Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba and former Jackson City Council President Aaron Banks pleaded guilty Monday to one count of conspiracy. Their pleas came after Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens pleaded guilty last week and resigned. All three are Democrats.

Two other people — Angelique Lee, the Democratic former vice president of the Jackson City Council, and Sherik Marve Smith, a businessman and relative of Owens — had already pleaded guilty to bribery charges.

A November 2024 indictment accused Owens of taking at least $115,000 from two FBI agents posing as real estate developers and facilitating more than $80,000 in bribe payments to Banks, Lumumba and Lee in exchange for their help greenlighting a development project.

Lumumba, Banks and Owens could be sentenced to up to five years in prison. Their sentencing hearings are set for Oct. 15.

Lumumba, who previously called the charges a political prosecution, lost his reelection bid last year. His lawyers did not immediately respond to The Associated Press’ requests for comment.

Banks’ lawyer declined to comment.

Bates writes for the Associated Press.

July 3 (UPI) — A California man has pleaded guilty to sending phony ransom requests to the family of Nancy Guthrie, the mother of Today host Savannah Guthrie, who has been missing for five months, federal prosecutors said.

Authorities have been investigating the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie as a kidnapping and ransom scheme since she was reported missing from her Arizona home on Feb. 1.

In his plea deal, announced Thursday, 42-year-old Derrick Callella of Hawthorne, Calif., admitted to calling and texting a demand for a bitcoin transfer to a member of Nancy Guthrie’s family on Feb. 4, while acknowledging that he knew there had been an earlier ransom demand.

He also admitted that he meant to harass the family by seeking information about the 84-year-old woman and the investigation into her disappearance.

Authorities have said that Callella is not connected to the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie.

After Nancy Guthrie went missing, her adult children, including Savannah Guthrie, posted a video to social media urging the kidnappers to contact them.

According to the complaint, not long after the video was published, two people identified in the document as A.C. and A.C.’s husband, T.C., who are believed to be Annie Guthrie, one of Nancy Guthrie’s daughters, and Tommaso Cioni, separately received text messages, stating: “Did you get the bitcoin were [sic] waiting on our end for the transaction.”

Authorities said the messages were sent with the use of voice-over-Internet-protocol and a smartphone application that allows users to obtain a separate phone number for the device other than the one they were assigned.

Despite the efforts to obfuscate the origin of the text messages, authorities were able to trace the messages back to Callella in California, the complaint states.

The FBI arrested Callella a day after the text messages were sent.

When sentenced, Callella faces up to a maximum penalty of two years’ imprisonment and a fine of $250,000 for each of the two counts of harassment using a telecommunications devices he pleaded guilty to.

Callella pleaded guilty amid renewed interest into the case following reports stating authorities believe notes from the purported kidnappers claiming Nancy Guthrie had died were legitimate.

On Wednesday, the FBI’s Phoenix field office appeared to be undercutting those reports, issuing a statement stating that some of the ransom notes they have received over the course of their investigation have not been legitimate.

On this date in history:

In 1829, English scientist James Smithson left a will that eventually funded the establishment of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington — in a country he never visited.

In 1844, Mormon founder Joseph Smith was slain by a mob at a jail in Carthage, Ill.

In 1847, the first telegraph wire links were established between New York City and Boston.

In 1859, Louisville, Ky., schoolteacher Mildred Hill composed a tune for her students and called it “Good Morning To You.” Her sister, Patty, who wrote the lyrics, later added a verse that began “Happy Birthday To You.”

In 1950, U.S. President Harry S. Truman ordered naval and air forces to help repel the North Korean invasion of South Korea.

UPI File Photo

In 1979, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled private employers could give special preferences to Black people to eliminate “manifest racial imbalance” in traditionally white-only jobs.

In 1991, Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall announced he was retiring from the U.S. Supreme Court. He was the first African American to sit on the high court.

In 1995, the space shuttle Atlantis was launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on a historic mission to dock with the Russian space station Mir. Docking occurred two days later.

In 2003, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission opened a long-awaited nationwide registry for people who want to block unwanted telemarketing calls.

In 2005, Dennis Rader, the so-called “BTK” (bind, torture, kill) killer, pleaded guilty to 10 slayings in the Wichita, Kan., area. He was sentenced to life in prison.

In 2007, Tony Blair officially stepped down after a decade as British prime minister, submitting his resignation to Queen Elizabeth II. Blair was succeeded by Gordon Brown and became Britain’s envoy to the Middle East.

File Photo by Hugo Philpott/UPI

In 2009, a top health official said the H1N1 virus, known as swine flu, killed 127 people of the more than 1 million infected in the United States. About 3,000 were reported hospitalized.

In 2011, a federal court jury in Chicago convicted former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich on 17 felony corruption charges that included trying to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama after the 2008 presidential election. Blagojevich was sentenced to 14 years in prison.

In 2017, the FARC rebel group officially disarmed in a ceremony with the Colombian government.

In 2019, the Supreme Court ruled the federal government can’t include a question about citizenship in the U.S. census.

In 2023, producers of Wheel of Fortune announced Ryan Seacrest would succeed Pat Sajak as the host of the long-running game show. Sajak’s final episode aired June 7, 2024.

File Photo by James Atoa/UPI

GREENBELT, Md. — Former Trump administration national security adviser John Bolton pleaded guilty on Friday to illegally retaining classified information, sealing a deal with federal prosecutors that could allow him to avoid a prison term.

Bolton, who became an outspoken critic of President Trump after serving in the Republican’s first administration, is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 28 by U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang in Greenbelt, Md.

Bolton pleaded guilty to a single count of illegally retaining classified information. His plea agreement with the Justice Department may enable him to avoid time behind bars, but the judge ultimately will decide his punishment.

The plea agreement recommends capping any prison sentence at five years but the judge isn’t bound by that part of the deal. Bolton can withdraw his guilty plea if the judge issues a longer prison sentence or a fine greater than $2.25 million.

Bolton was charged last October with 18 counts of either retaining or disseminating classified information, including diary-like notes that he shared with relatives as he wrote a memoir about his career in government.

Other Trump adversaries have been charged with federal crimes during his second term in the White House. While some of those cases have collapsed under judicial scrutiny and amid claims of political retribution, Bolton didn’t mount a vigorous defense against his charges before cutting a deal.

FBI agents searched Bolton’s Maryland home and Washington, D.C., office last August, but the investigation began before Trump returned to the White House in January 2025.

Bolton served for more than a year in Trump’s first administration before getting pushed out in 2019. He later published a book called “The Room Where it Happened” that presented an unflattering portrait of Trump’s leadership.

The Trump administration fought unsuccessfully to block the book’s release, claiming it contained classified information that could jeopardize national security. Trump derided Bolton as a “crazy” warmonger who would have led the country into “World War Six.”

Bolton’s indictment focused on notes that he shared with his wife and daughter rather than the contents of his book. After sending one document, Bolton wrote in a message to his relatives, “None of which we talk about!!!” In response, one of his relatives wrote, “Shhhhh,” prosecutors said.

Kunzelman writes for the Associated Press.

U.S. alpine skiing great Bode Miller is facing two misdemeanor drug charges following his arrest in Idaho earlier this month.

The actual drug involved and who possessed it isn’t clear, with Miller and the arresting officer providing different accounts of those details from the June 6 arrest in Fremont County.

The six-time Olympic medalist has implied he was arrested because, unbeknownst to him, his friend was carrying cannabis and a pipe while riding in a car Miller was driving. While legal in several states for recreation or medical use, cannabis remains illegal in Idaho.

“I was pulled over for accelerating while passing another vehicle on a highway in Idaho,” Miller, 48, said in a statement posted Tuesday on Instagram. “My friend, who was traveling with me, had a small amount of cannabis and a cannabis pipe in his possession which I was unaware of. We fully cooperated with the officer.”

Fremont County Sheriff’s Deputy Jacob Hurt wrote in a probable cause statement that he found Miller with a white dispensary bag containing 4.1 grams of psilocybin mushrooms (a.k.a. magic mushrooms or shrooms).

While illegal under federal law, psilocybin has been decriminalized in Colorado and Oregon for treatments, with some health advocates saying it can help ease anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

On June 12, Miller pleaded not guilty to possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of one year in jail. A pretrial hearing is scheduled for July 29.

“I am hopeful the misdemeanor charges will be dropped once the facts are reviewed,” Miller said in his Instagram statement.

A five-time Olympic participant, Miller has won more medals than any other U.S. skier, including gold in the super combined at the 2010 Vancouver Games. He was the overall World Cup champion in 2005 and 2008 and won six World Cup discipline titles (three in combined, two in super-G, one in giant slalom).

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Activist Greta Thunberg appeared in a Copenhagen court on Wednesday to face trespassing charges stemming from a 2024 pro-Palestinian demonstration at Copenhagen University. Thunberg pleaded not guilty. A verdict is expected by Thursday.

MINNEAPOLIS — The man charged in the political assassinations of the top Democrat in the Minnesota House and her husband, as well as the nonfatal shootings of a state senator and his wife, pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday after prosecutors said they would not seek the death penalty.

Vance Boelter was charged with murdering Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark Hortman, and with shooting state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette Hoffman. Boelter came to their doors in the early hours of June 14, 2025, disguised as a police officer and driving a fake squad car.

The Hortmans’ golden retriever was so gravely injured that it had to be euthanized.

Boelter, 58, was captured near his home in rural Green Isle the day after the shootings following what prosecutors have called the largest search for a suspect in Minnesota history. He also faces state charges, which have been on hold pending the resolution of his federal case.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Minneapolis notified the court Wednesday that the Justice Department would not seek the death penalty against Boelter in accordance with a proposed plea agreement, and the court set the change-of-plea hearing for Thursday.

Minnesota abolished capital punishment in 1911 and has never had a federal death penalty case. Daniel Borgertpoepping, a spokesperson for the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, said the federal plea deal would not affect Boelter’s state charges.

While the Trump administration has pushed for greater use of capital punishment, there were questions about whether Boelter’s case would qualify for the death penalty under federal law.

Prosecutors have called the shootings political. When they announced the federal indictment in July, they released a rambling handwritten letter they say Boelter wrote to FBI Director Kash Patel in which he confessed to the attacks. However, the letter didn’t make clear why he targeted the Hortmans or the Hoffmans.

In some messages to media, Boelter referenced a vague and cryptic “investigation” he had been carrying out, sometimes suggesting it was about the COVID-19 vaccine.

Friends described Boelter as an evangelical Christian and occasional preacher and missionary, who held politically conservative views and had been struggling to find work.

John Hoffman said in a lawsuit filed against Boelter in April that his left arm and hand likely would never fully recover, and that he also had permanent injuries to his digestive and urinary systems.

Yvette Hoffman was left with permanent physical weakness, the lawsuit said, while their adult daughter, Hope Hoffman, who was there and called 911 but was not shot, suffered severe psychological trauma.

Murrell admitted the offences at the High Court in Edinburgh after an investigation into the party’s finances.

The former chief executive of the ruling Scottish National Party (SNP), and ex-husband of former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, has pleaded guilty to embezzling more than 400,000 British pounds ($540,000) from the party’s funds.

Sixty-one-year-old Peter Murrell admitted the offences at the High Court in Edinburgh on Monday, following a years-long investigation into the SNP’s finances and the alleged diversion of donations intended to support the Scottish independence campaign.

Murrell, who was the SNP’s chief executive from 2001 to 2023, was remanded in custody by the judge before a sentencing hearing scheduled for June 23.

Judge James Young said Murrell was responsible for a “gross breach of trust” for embezzling offences between August 2010 and October 2022.

Murrell’s arrest came after a lengthy investigation into the diversion of 600,000 British pounds ($810,400) in SNP donations intended to support the party’s campaign for Scottish independence.

Although part of the United Kingdom, Scotland has a devolved government with powers over areas such as health and education. But the country has so far rejected calls for full independence.

Sturgeon, the former head of Scotland’s administration, quit as SNP leader and first minister in February 2023.

Murrell was arrested in April that year after officers searched the home he shared with Sturgeon near Glasgow, as part of an investigation into the SNP’s finances.

Sturgeon was herself arrested in June 2023 and questioned for seven hours before being released without charge.

Current First Minister John Swinney, who was re-elected to his post following the SNP’s victory in local elections in May, said he felt “betrayed” by Murrell’s actions.

“By embezzling from the SNP, Peter Murrell was stealing the hopes, the dreams and the aspirations of thousands of people all over Scotland,” said Swinney.

‘I am betrayed’

Sturgeon, who was cleared in the probe last year, announced in January 2025 that she and Murrell had separated.

In an Instagram post, she said she was “utterly appalled” by her former partner’s admission and that she had “no knowledge or suspicion whatsoever”.

“To be deceived and let down by a husband I loved and trusted has caused me acute pain,” she added.

Sturgeon stepped down as a lawmaker earlier this year, ending a nearly 30-year career as one of the independence movement’s main figureheads.

A man accused of nabbing unreleased music by Beyoncé in a vehicle break-in last summer has pleaded guilty to the theft and has been sentenced to serve time in prison.

Kelvin Evans, 41, on Tuesday entered guilty pleas in Fulton County Superior Court in Georgia to counts of entering an automobile and criminal trespass. Fulton County Superior Court Senior Judge Jane C. Barwick sentenced Evans, who was set to go on trial this week, to two years in prison and three years on probation. Evans was also warned to keep his distance from the victims and the scene of the theft.

Evans was sentenced less than a year after stealing the pop diva’s unreleased music from her choreographer’s van in Atlanta. According to police, Evans broke into the Jeep Wagoneer rented by choreographer Christopher Grant and dancer Diandre Blue when they stopped at a restaurant to eat. The artists were in town for the “Diva” singer’s four-night takeover of Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium for her Cowboy Carter tour.

Evans damaged the trunk window and stole a pair of suitcases that contained two computers and five jump drives of unreleased music as well as footage, plans for the tour production and past and future set lists, the police report said. He also stole clothing, Apple AirPods Max headphones and designer sunglasses, police said.

Police arrested Evans in August. He was indicted in October and initially pleaded not guilty in January and even rejected the plea deal during a hearing last month.

Despite his arrest, police have not recovered the stolen items.

The chances of Beyonce releasing new music was already pretty slim heading into Evan’s scheduled trial. Speculation swirled online that the Grammy winner would drop the third act of her planned music trilogy timed to the summer. The singer’s rep Yvette Noel-Schure put a hard stop on those rumors in late April.

“This is unequivocally false!!” Noel-Schure posted on X.

Times assistant editor Christie D’Zurilla and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON — A man accused of storming the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner while armed with guns and knives pleaded not guilty on Monday to charges that he attempted to kill President Trump and fired a shotgun at a Secret Service officer who tried to stop the attack.

Cole Tomas Allen was handcuffed and shackled and wearing an orange jail uniform when he appeared in federal court for his arraignment. Allen didn’t speak during the brief hearing. One of his attorneys entered the plea on his behalf.

Allen’s lawyers are asking U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden to disqualify at least two top Justice Department officials from direct involvement in prosecuting him because they could be considered victims or witnesses in the case, creating a potential conflict of interest.

Acting Atty. Gen. Todd Blanche and U.S. Atty. Jeanine Pirro were attending the event when Allen ran through a security checkpoint and fired a shotgun at a Secret Service officer, authorities said. In a court filing last week, Allen’s attorneys argued that it creates at least the appearance of a conflict of interest for Blanche and Pirro to be making any prosecutorial decisions in the case.

McFadden, a Trump nominee, didn’t rule from the bench on that question but asked Allen’s attorneys to elaborate on the possible scope of their recusal request. Defense attorney Eugene Ohm said the defense likely would seek to disqualify Pirro’s entire office from involvement in the case. Ohm acknowledged that a bid to disqualify the entire Justice Department would be unlikely.

“That would be quite a request,” the judge said.

McFadden gave prosecutors until May 22 to respond in writing to the defense’s request. The judge asked the government to specify whether it believes Pirro and Blanche could be considered victims in the case.

“That might add some clarity here,” McFadden said.

In their filing, Allen’s attorneys suggested that the appointment of a special prosecutor might be warranted.

Allen is scheduled to return to court on June 29.

A Secret Service officer was shot once in a bullet-resistant vest during the April 25 attack at the Washington Hilton hotel, which disrupted and ultimately prompted an early end to one of the highest-profile annual events in the nation’s capital. The officer fired five shots but didn’t hit anybody, authorities said.

Allen, 31, of Torrance, was injured but was not shot.

Besides the attempted-assassination count, Allen also is charged with assaulting a federal officer with a deadly weapon and two additional firearms counts. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted of the attempted assassination charge alone.

Allen was placed on suicide watch after his arrest, but jail officials removed him from that status after several days. Allen’s attorneys complained that he had been unnecessarily confined in a padded room with constant lighting, repeatedly strip searched and placed in restraints outside his cell.

Allen told FBI agents that he didn’t expect to survive the attack, which could help explain why he was deemed to be a possible suicide risk, a Justice Department prosecutor has said.

Allen was outfitted with an ammunition bag, a shoulder gun holster and a sheathed knife when he took a photo of himself in his room at the hotel just minutes before the attack, according to prosecutors. In a message that authorities say sheds light on his motive, Allen referred to himself as a “Friendly Federal Assassin” and alluded obliquely to grievances over a range of actions by Trump’s Republican administration.

Authorities have alleged that Allen on April 6 reserved a room for himself at the Hilton where the event would be held weeks later under its typical tight security. He traveled by train cross-country from California, checking himself into the hotel a day before the dinner with a room reserved for the weekend.

Trump was rushed off the stage by his security team at the Saturday night event and appeared at the White House two hours later, still in his tuxedo, to talk about the attack and the suspect.

“When you’re impactful, they go after you. When you’re not impactful, they leave you alone,” the president said. “They seem to think he was a lone wolf.”

Kunzelman writes for the Associated Press.

MINNEAPOLIS — A man who sprayed vinegar at Democratic U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar at a town hall meeting in Minneapolis pleaded guilty to assault Thursday in federal court after reaching a deal with prosecutors.

Anthony Kazmierczak, 55, is awaiting sentencing.

Kazmierczak, dressed in bright orange jail clothing, gave only a fragmentary explanation Thursday of the Jan. 27 assault, which came as the city was already on edge after the fatal shootings of two people by federal agents during a White House crackdown that brought thousands of immigration officers to Minnesota.

After being asked what he remembered of the assault, he told U.S. District Judge Joan N. Ericksen: “It’s fuzzy.”

Kazmierczak, who was in the audience during Omar’s January town hall, leaped up when the representative called for the ouster of then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. He sprayed liquid from a syringe as court documents say he shouted that Noem would not resign and that Omar was “splitting Minnesota apart.”

Security officers tackled Kazmierczak, who told them the liquid was vinegar.

“I didn’t want anybody to think she was in danger,” he said Thursday.

Omar, who was not injured, continued with the town hall after the arrest.

Authorities later determined he’d sprayed her with a mixture of water and apple cider vinegar. He was charged with assaulting a U.S. officer.

Court documents say Kazmierczak, a critic of Omar who has made online posts supportive of President Trump, told a close associate several years ago that “somebody should kill” her.

Omar, a refugee from Somalia, has long been a target of Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric. After she was elected seven years ago, Trump said she should “go back” to her home country. He has described her as “garbage” and said she should be investigated.

Trump has also accused Omar of staging the attack, telling ABC News, “She probably had herself sprayed, knowing her.”

On Thursday, Kazmierczak told Ericksen that he was being treated for Parkinson’s disease, and that he’d been diagnosed with ADHD, or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and a form of post-traumatic stress.

After his arrest, his then-attorney said that he did not have access to the medications he needed for Parkinson’s and other serious conditions.

Minnesota court records show that Kazmierczak, who was convicted of felony auto theft in 1989, has been arrested multiple times for driving under the influence and has had numerous traffic citations. There are also indications he has had significant financial problems, including two bankruptcy filings.

In social media posts, Kazmierczak had criticized former President Biden and referred to Democrats as “angry and liars.” Trump wants the U.S. to be “stronger and more prosperous,” he wrote.

Threats against members of Congress have increased in recent years, peaking in 2021 following the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters before dipping slightly, only to climb again, according to the most recent figures from the U.S. Capitol Police.

Sullivan writes for the Associated Press.

TV star Bradley Walsh faces one of his fears in the latest episode of ITV’s Breaking Dad

Bradley Walsh pleads “I don’t want to” as he confronts his well-known fear of heights in the latest instalment of Breaking Dad.

The ITV programme follows The Chase presenter and his son Barney as they journey to various destinations, taking on a series of daunting challenges. Now in its seventh series, the pair have ventured Down Under to discover Australia, and in the forthcoming episode Bradley tackles a zipline high above the Blue Mountains while Barney urges him on.

In a preview clip, Bradley appears visibly terrified, gripping his rope tightly and breathing heavily, reports the Express.

“I really, really tell you, guys, I really don’t want to do this,” muttered the star, who has a well documented fear of heights.

“Dad, you can do it!” exclaims Barney, but the TV star insisted: “No, I can’t. I don’t want to do it Barns. Please don’t. Please don’t do none of that for me.”

“Well, you can do it, you can,” urged Barney, who is known for hosting TV hit Gladiators alongside his famous dad.

But Bradley said: “What did I just tell him? Didn’t I just tell him?”

“I really don’t want to, though,” he went on. “I really don’t want to do it.”

Nevertheless, he pressed ahead, beginning to edge his hands along the ropes while murmuring: “Please, God.”

With Barney shouting encouragement, yelling “you got it”, Bradley gradually made his way along the rope before reaching solid ground on the opposite side.

Yet when questioned about how he felt after completing the challenge, he appeared to let slip a swear word, confessing: “Awful.”

“You smashed it, you smashed it,” Barney insisted as an exhausted-looking Bradley caught his breath.

Breaking Dad first launched in 2019 and it is now in its seventh series.

The show’s latest run kicked off earlier in May, with the opening episode following the father and son duo as they touched down in Sydney. The pair took in iconic landmarks including Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House, before braving a thrilling aerobatic flight and a nerve-shredding ride on an extreme, high-altitude cable car.

Bradley and Barney Walsh: Breaking Dad airs on Friday May 8 at 7.30pm on ITV1, ITVX, STV and STV Player.