WOODBRIDGE, NJ (WABC) — The investigation continues into a Megabus crash on the New Jersey Turnpike in Woodbridge that left two people dead and several others injured.
Authorities say the crash, involving a Van Hool double-decker coach bus, happened just before 7 pm Tuesday on the New Jersey Turnpike at the Thomas Edison service area entrance ramp from the outer roadway.
Police say there were 22 passengers and a driver on the bus that was heading southbound from New York to Philadelphia.
Police say the bus struck a Ford F-150 pickup truck, causing the bus to overturn on the entrance ramp to the service area.
Two people were killed and three others were seriously injured, including the driver. They were all taken to nearby hospitals.
Fourteen passengers suffered non-life-threatening injuries and four passengers were not hurt.
The victims were identified as 59-year-old Cheryl Johnson, from the Bronx, and Cecilia Kiyanitza, 66, of Woodbury, New Jersey.
The driver of the bus, a 56-year-old man from Westville, New Jersey, was seriously injured.
No injuries were reported to the driver of the Ford.
Based on the preliminary investigation, police say the bus driver lost directional control of the bus and struck the Ford. After the impact, the bus went off the road to the right, struck the guardrail, and overturned onto the entrance ramp.
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President Biden tried to claim Wednesday that the US had “zero inflation” in July hours after federal Consumer Price Index data showed annual inflation dipping only slightly to 8.5%, which outraged Republicans and other critics who pointed out it’s still near a four-decade high .
The latest figures reflected a demand-driven decline in fuel prices — including gasoline, which hit a record national average of $5 per gallon in mid-June before sliding to a still-high $4 average today — that offset increases in the cost of food, rent and other goods and services.
“I just want to say a number: zero,” Biden said in the White House East Room before signing legislation granting greater medical and disability benefits to veterans suffering illnesses linked to inhaling toxic smoke.
“Today, we received news that our economy had 0% inflation in the month of July — 0%,” Biden said. “Here’s what that means: while the price of some things went up — went up last month, the price of other things went down by the same amount. The result? Zero inflation last month.
President Joe Biden insists the US is undergoing “zero inflation” in spite of federal data showing its more than eight percent.REUTERS/Kevin Lamarques
“But people are still hurting,” the president went on, before repeating: “But 0% inflation last month.”
Biden then proceeded to accidentally step on his own message by urging Congress to pass the Senate-approved Inflation Reduction Act, which he said would keep inflation “from getting better,” a view advanced by Republicans, before correcting himself to say “from getting worse.” .”
Biden’s rosy spin on the latest inflation report was quickly called out as misleading by critics, especially after White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre tweeted: “We just received news that our economy had 0% inflation in July. While the price of some things went up, the price of others, like gas, clothing, and more, dropped.”
“The Biden Administration has a tortured relationship with math,” joked Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) on Twitter.
The Labor Department’s Consumer Price Index shows inflation remains at a four-decade high at 8.5 percent.New York Post Illustration
“Ridiculous BS from the White House,” tweeted Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). “There’s 8.5% inflation and basically everything anyone ever buys went up in price. This is just cruel gaslighting from the Biden admin.”
“Either the White House doesn’t understand what inflation is or they just don’t care,” said Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.). “That doesn’t change the pain and hardship that Americans are enduring because of their failed policies.”
“It’s a bogus math trick. This is the overall one-month index change. Overall that means that the big drop in fuel oil and gas (following previous massive monthly increases) swamped the huge increases everywhere else,” tweeted Jeffrey Tucker, president of the Brownstone Institute think tank.
“Using the same tactic, you could also observe a one-month 19.2% increase in electricity! But of course we would not do that because that’s dumb,” Tucker added. “The actual increase is 15.2% which we get from calculating year over year.”
John Cooper, director of media and public relations at the conservative Heritage Foundation, tweeted, “Joe Biden claims, multiple times, that there was ‘zero inflation’ in July. Absolutely false. Year-over-year inflation was 8.5% in July.”
The Bureau of Labor statistics laid the data out in black and white — reporting the highest annual jump in food prices since the 1970s, with a 1.3% bump in at-home food costs from June to July and a 10.9% food-cost jump in the past year.
“The all items less food and energy index rose 5.9 percent over the last 12 months,” the official report said, referring to so-called “core inflation.” “The energy index increased 32.9 percent for the 12 months ending July, a smaller increase than the 41.6-percent increase for the period ending June. The food index increased 10.9 percent over the last year, the largest 12-month increase since the period ending May 1979.”
National gas prices still remain at $4 a gallon or more.AP Photo/Marta Lavandier, File
Overall annual inflation was 9.1% in June, the highest rate since 1981. Critics blame Biden’s policies, including large spending bills, while the White House has blamed an array of other factors — including COVID-19, supply chain bottlenecks and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The Federal Reserve has a target of about 2% annual inflation and has been increasing interest rates this year in an attempt to tamp down price increases.
The pending Inflation Reduction Act, which the House is expected to pass as early as Friday, provides nearly $400 billion for environmental programs, including tax credits of up to $7,000 to buy electric vehicles, and roughly $64 billion to extend more generous COVID-19- it was Obamacare subsidies.
Sen. Ted Cruz accused the White House of “cruel gaslighting” on Americans.Lev Radin/Pacific Press/Shutterstock
The new spending is offset by new taxes on corporations, including a new 15% corporate minimum tax, increased IRS enforcement and by allowing Medicare to directly negotiate drug prices.
Republicans argue new taxes may result in higher consumer costs and point to independent analysis that says the bill won’t reduce inflation.
“The Orwellian named ‘Inflation Reduction Act’ will do no such thing, as a number of prominent experts and economic policy groups have indicated,” Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said after the bill passed the Senate. “The Penn Wharton Budget Model, the Tax Foundation, and the Congressional Budget Office all found the bill won’t lower inflation and may make it worse. The IRS would more than double in size, unleashing 87,000 new enforcement agents on American families… [and the] nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation says that 78% to 90% of the revenue raised from misreported income would likely come from those making under $200,000.”
Beijing has announced an end to its military drills surrounding Taiwan but said further “training and war preparation” would continue.
It made the announcement shortly after reaffirming its commitment, in a major policy paper, to use force against Taiwan if it could not take control “by peaceful means”.
A spokesperson for the PLA Eastern Theater Command said on Wednesday afternoon the exercises had been successfully completed, and “effectively tested the integrated joint combat capabilities of the troops”, according to state media.
The statement pledged to continue monitoring the Taiwan strait, regularly patrol the area and remain ready for combat.
After the US House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, visited Taiwan last week, Beijing’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) launched live-fire military exercises in seven large zones closely surrounding Taiwan’s main island.
Taiwan’s foreign minister, Joseph Wu, accused China on Tuesday of using the military drills to prepare for invasion. On Wednesday, Pelosi defended her visit from her, saying it was “absolutely” worth it.
“We cannot allow the Chinese government to isolate Taiwan,” Pelosi said in an interview with NBC. “They’re not going to say who can go to Taiwan.”
The Chinese Communist party government (CCP) claims Taiwan as a breakaway province of China. In a white paper released through state media on Wednesday morning, it reiterated its resolve to annex Taiwan by force if peaceful means were unsuccessful.
“We will work with the greatest sincerity and exert our utmost efforts to achieve peaceful reunification,” the official English-language version of the document said. “But we will not renounce the use of force, and we reserve the option of taking all necessary measures.”
Titled The Taiwan Question and China’s Reunification in the New Era, the official document did not give a timeline but did say: “We should not allow this problem to be passed down from one generation to the next.”
It said the use of force would be a “last resort taken under compelling circumstances”, and did not target “fellow Chinese in Taiwan”.
“This is to guard against external interference and all separatist activities,” the document said. It also claimed unification was the only way to avoid Taiwan being invaded by another country.
It was the third paper on Taiwan released by the state council, after one in 1993 and another in 2000. According to Reuters, it removed a promise stated in the previous two papers “to not send troops or administrative personnel to be based in Taiwan” after “unification”.
Wednesday’s paper reiterated Beijing’s intention of initially ruling Taiwan under the “one country, two systems” framework, and proffered Hong Kong as an example of the policy’s “resounding success” after “appropriate improvements” were made in the crackdown after the 2019 protest movement.
The recent crackdown on Hong Kong and imposition of Beijing’s national security law has been a major driver in the Taiwan population’s overwhelming rejection of the prospect of CCP rule. Hong Kong’s treatment featured heavily in the presidential campaign of Tsai Ing-wen, who was elected in a landslide.
Wednesday’s white paper also included erroneous interpretations of foreign governments’ “One China” policies, and blamed Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive party and the US for fomenting “separatist” forces. It said unification was the only way to stop Taiwan from being invaded by another country.
“Separatism will plunge Taiwan into the abyss and bring nothing but disaster to the island,” it said.
Dr Lin Ying-yu, of Tamkang University’s Graduate Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies, said the document was likely to have been timed to coincide with the military drills. “After the saber-rattling, they verbally intimidate,” Lin said. “They hope to make Taiwanese people respond in different ways and [to divide] opinions.”
Dr Mark Harrison, a senior lecturer in Chinese studies at the University of Tasmania, said the paper demanded Taiwanese people abandon the decades-long aspirations for democracy and sovereignty they have strived for since Japanese colonization in the early 20th century, before the People’s Republic of China existed.
“The concluding references to Beijing’s willingness to use ‘all necessary measures’ and its identification of ‘separatist elements or external forces’ is a disquieting sign of the arguments it is preparing to justify military action against Taiwan,” said Harrison.
China’s ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian, appeared to be the first Chinese official to be questioned by media on the white paper, at a national press club event on Wednesday afternoon. Xiao would not be drawn on what constituted a “compelling circumstance” justifying the use of force, and he said people should “use your imagination” for the definition of “all necessary means”.
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Xiao was also asked about comments by his fellow ambassador in France, that Taiwan’s people would be “reeducated” after annexation. The comment sparked alarm, appearing to align with Beijing’s efforts to “re-educate” Uyghurs in Xinjiang.
Xiao said he was not aware of any official policy regarding reeducation in Taiwan but his personal understanding was that “once Taiwan is reunited … there might be a process for the people in Taiwan to have a correct understanding of China, about the motherland”.
Eight Minnesota corrections officers, all people of color who said they were barred from interacting with Derek Chauvin while he was awaiting trial in the death of George Floyd, were awarded a nearly $1.5 million settlement Tuesday.
Chauvin was arrested for Floyd’s murder on May 29, 2020, and brought to the Ramsey County Adult Detention Center. The officers – who identify as African American, Hispanic, Pacific Islander American and multiracial – alleged former jail superintendent Steve Lydon prohibited all officers of color from guarding Chauvin or entering the floor where he was being held just before he arrived. The order was rescinded about an hour later, according to a resolution to a lawsuit filed by the officers.
Lydon reportedly told his superiors that he made the decision “to protect and support” minority employees by keeping them away from the former Minneapolis police officer, the Star Tribune reported.
“Out of care and concern, and without the comfort of time, I made a decision to limit exposure to employees of color to a murder suspect who could potentially aggravate those feelings,” Lydon said in a statement given during an internal investigation that the sheriff’s office provided the Star Tribune shortly after the incident.
Lydon was later demoted but still works for the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office, which runs the jail.
The officers filed a racial complaint in June 2020 with the state’s Department of Human Rights but closed it to pursue discrimination litigation. The group filed a lawsuit in February 2021 alleging race and color discrimination and hostile environment.
COMPLAINT:Officers allege minorities weren’t allowed to guard Chauvin
LATEST:Derek Chauvin gets 21-year federal sentence for violating Floyd’s civil rights
The Ramsey County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to settle the lawsuit. The settlement required the county to issue a written apology and acknowledge that the order was discriminatory and wrong.
Board Chairwoman Trista MatasCastillo apologized in a statement “for the trauma you experienced and the ongoing harm this racist incident caused.”
“The actions taken by Sheriff’s Office leadership that day were more than just wrong – they were racist, heinous, highly disrespectful and completely out of line with Ramsey County’s vision and values,” she said. “No one should ever have questioned your ability to perform your job based on the color of your skin.”
The Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to USA TODAY’s request for comment Wednesday. Lydon was not immediately able to be reached.
One of the plaintiffs, Devin Sullivan, urged the sheriff’s office to create a safe and welcoming work environment.
“Trust and accountability are critical to our safety as correctional officers, and Superintendent Lydon’s segregation order broke this trust,” Sullivan said in a statement released by his attorneys to the media. “Each of us is on our own journey toward healing from this damaging discrimination and the aftermath, and these settlements will help us open a next chapter.”
FLOYD FEDERAL CASE:Former Minneapolis officers sentenced for violating George Floyd’s rights
DOWNEY, Calif. (KABC) — After days of following several active leads, police have made arrests in the shooting death of an off-duty Monterey Park police officer who was killed in Downey, Eyewitness News has learned.
Details surrounding the arrests weren’t immediately released, but authorities are expected to share the latest developments at a 2 pm news conference on Wednesday.
Gardiel Solorio, 26, was identified as the officer killed in the lot at 12070 Lakewood Boulevard earlier this week.
Responding officers found Solorio suffering from gunshot wounds, and paramedics declared him dead at the scene.
“He really wanted to make an impact on the community,” said Monterey Park Police Chief Kelly Gordon during a news conference on Tuesday. “His classmates of him shared that Officer Solorio had all the characteristics of a great officer. He was humble, dedicated, selfless and hardworking, but even a better person.”
Solorio grew up in Bell Gardens, according to Gordon.
He attended California State University, Los Angeles where he received a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice.
The 26-year-old had just graduated from the police academy in July. Solorio is survived by his parents, brothers, sisters and fiancée.
“His family and friends described him as tough as nails but a kid at heart,” said Gordon.
WATCH | Police give updates on fatal shooting of off-duty officer in Downey
This is a developing story. This article will continue to be updated as more information becomes available.
Authorities investigating the crash in Windsor Hills that left five people dead are trying to sort out the actions and mind-set of the nurse who prosecutors say plowed her Mercedes into the intersection.
Investigators are still trying to get a full account of what brought Nicole Lorraine Linton, 37, to the corner of Slauson and La Brea avenues on Thursday afternoon.
Linton, who has been charged with multiple counts of murder and vehicular homicide, was speeding more than 90 mph when she approached the busy intersection, authorities said.
The Mercedes does not appear to slow before running a red light shortly after 1:30 pm The light had been red for nine seconds before the car barreled through the intersection, slamming into multiple cars, prosecutors said.
Linton, whose permanent address is in Texas, had been working as a traveling nurse at a Kaiser hospital in West Los Angeles and lived near the healthcare facility off La Cienega Boulevard. Authorities believe she drove into Windsor Hills from the hospital but are not sure why she was driving so recklessly, sources told The Times.
It’s about four miles between the hospital and the site of the deadly crash, and investigators are trying to determine whether Linton was working a shift around the time of Thursday’s collision.
LA County Dist. Atty. George Gascón said there is no evidence of any alcohol use by Linton at this point.
On Monday in court, Linton’s attorney, Halim Dhanidina, asked to continue her arraignment to October because he is reviewing her out-of-state history of “documented profound mental health issues.” Dhanidina did not elaborate on those issues but said the Windsor Hills crash could be linked to them.
Authorities are trying to determine whether Linton was supposed to be taking medications and if she was using them at the time of the crash, according to law enforcement sources who spoke anonymously because the investigation is ongoing.
At least six vehicles were involved in the crash, according to California Highway Patrol investigators. In addition to the fatalities, eight people were injured.
The impact of the fiery crash killed 23-year-old Asherey Ryan; her 11-month-old son of Ella, Alonzo Quintero; her boyfriend of hers, Reynold Lester; and their unborn child. Ryan was 8½ months pregnant when she was killed. The boy she was carrying had been named Armani Lester, according to the Los Angeles County coroner’s office.
Two additional women killed in the crash have yet to be identified.
Linton was hospitalized with moderate injuries for several days before being taken into police custody.
Law enforcement sources say Linton was involved in 13 previous wrecks before Thursday’s deadly crash.
A surveillance image captured the day Kiely Rodni disappeared in Tahoe has been released by the Placer County Sheriff’s Office.
Kiely was last seen between 12:30 am and 1 am on August 6 near the Prosser Family Campground about 10 minutes north of Truckee. According to the Placer County Sheriff’s Office, she was attending a party “of more than 100 juveniles and young adults.” Her vehicle, a silver 2013 Honda CRV, is also missing, and her phone has been out of service since she disappeared. The sheriff’s office and FBI are treating the case as a possible abduction because Kiely’s vehicle is still missing.
On Tuesday evening, the sheriff’s office released a still caught by surveillance cameras at an unnamed local Truckee business. Detectives found the footage after contacting businesses in the area. Kiely is seen wearing a black bodysuit and dark green Dickies pants. The image was captured at 6:08 pm on August 5, a few hours before she headed to the campground party.
Kiely Rodni was caught on surveillance footage at a Truckee business on Aug. 5, 2022, shortly before she attended the party from which she went missing.
Placer County Sheriff’s Office/Handout
There are conflicting accounts of Kiely’s plans for the evening. According to one friend who attended the Prosser party, Kiely intended to spend the night at the campground, along with many other attendees. But Kiely’s mother Lindsey Rodni-Nieman said she received a text from Kiely saying she would be “straight home” in about 45 minutes.
“I told her to be safe and that I loved her. And she said, ‘OK, mom, I love you, too,'” Rodni-Nieman told ABC News. “She never came home.”
Search-and-rescue teams fanned out across the region looking for any sign of Kiely, with volunteers meeting each morning at the Truckee community rec center to coordinate efforts. A helicopter has been deployed for aerial sweeps along the I-80 corridor between Donner Summit and the Nevada border, and on Tuesday, marine units from three local sheriff’s offices conducted water searches.
“The only lead they have is Kiely’s last known location before she went missing,” the Placer County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement Wednesday morning.
Kiely Rodni, 16, was last seen in Truckee on Aug. 6, 2022.
Placer County Sheriff’s Office/Handout
Kiely is 5-foot-7 and 115 pounds and has blonde hair, hazel eyes and a nose ring. She has multiple piercings and a tattoo of the number 17 on her ribs. Her de ella silver Honda CRV de ella has the California license plate 8YUR127. Kiely’s family runs the Lost Trail Lodge in Truckee, about a 12-mile drive from the Prosser campground.
Anyone with information regarding Kiely’s disappearance is asked to immediately contact the Placer County Sheriff’s Office tip line at 530-581-6320, option 7. Callers may remain anonymous. Tips can also be sent to [email protected]. The sheriff’s office says it’s received about 300 tips so far.
Norfolk police began investigating Celeste Burgess and her mother, Jessica Burgess, in late April following concerns Celeste had prematurely delivered a stillborn fetus, according to court documents. After the two were initially charged, law enforcement continued to investigate and obtained Facebook messages between Celeste and Jessica that appear to make reference to abortion pills and burning “the evidence,” according to a copy of the conversation — which is now being used in the case — contained in court filings. Police claim that after the body of the fetus was exhumed, it appeared to have “thermal injuries” indicating that it may have been burned after the pregnancy was terminated, court documents show.
The case began before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June. But it highlights an issue digital privacy experts and some lawmakers have been raising alarms about in recent months: That law enforcement in some states could use people’s personal data to enforce laws prohibiting abortion, a practice which experts worry could increase following the Supreme Court’s ruling. Experts have warned that prosecutors could, for example, serve search warrants to tech companies requesting location data, search history or call logs to help corroborate whether someone had or aided in an abortion. The Burgess case shows how that has, in some cases, already been happening to enforce existing laws.
Celeste, who was 17 at the time of the alleged incident, initially told investigators that she had unexpectedly miscarried a stillborn fetus, and that she and her mother later buried the fetus, according to an affidavit in support of a search warrant. When interviewed by a police detective she “scrolled through her messages on her Facebook Messenger account” in an attempt to surface the date of her miscarriage, which police said led them to believe that there might be more messages with specifics about the case and to seek a search warrant, according to court documents.
The public defender’s office representing Celeste Burgess, who is being tried as an adult, declined to comment. CNN Business has also reached out to the attorney representing Jessica Burgess.
Investigators served Goal(fb), Facebook’s parent company, with a search warrant on June 7 for information pertaining to the accounts of Celeste and her mother. Facebook turned over the results of the search warrants within two days. The data provided by the company included over 250 MB of data related to Celeste’s Facebook account and more than 50 MB of data about Jessica’s account, such as account information, images, audio and visual recordings, messages and other data, court documents show. The data included direct message exchanges between Celeste and Jessica two days prior to the “miscarriage/stillbirth” that suggested they’d received pills, and made plans for how to use them and what to do with “the evidence,” according to a signed affidavit in support of an additional search warrant by Detective Ben McBride of the Norfolk Police Investigations Unit.
In a Tuesday night statement on Twitter responding to a story about the Burgesses’ case, Meta spokesperson Andy Stone said “nothing in the valid warrants we received from local law enforcement in early June, prior to the Supreme Court decision, mentioned abortion.” In a post Tuesday on its website titled, “Correcting the Record on Meta’s Involvement in Nebraska Case,” Meta said “court documents indicate that police were at that time investigating the alleged illegal burning and burial of a stillborn infant. The warrants were accompanied by non-disclosure orders, which prevented us from sharing information about them.
The affidavit filed by McBride, the detective investigating the Burgesses, requesting approval of the search warrant to Facebook noted that he would be seeking evidence related to “prohibited acts with skeletal remains,” according to court documents obtained by CNN Business.
After the initial request to Facebook, prosecutors filed an additional search warrant on June 16 that requested evidence of internet searches or purchase of medications used for miscarriage, among other things. Thirteen technology devices belonging to the Burgesses were also seized in response to that warrant, according to the court documents
In June, Celeste and Jessica were each charged with one felony count of prohibited acts with human skeletal remains, one misdemeanor count of concealing the death of another person and one misdemeanor count of false information. Both have pleaded not guilty to all three, and trials have been set for later this year. After the police obtained data from the two search warrants Jessica was later also charged with two additional felonies, inducing an illegal abortion and performing an abortion as someone other than a licensed physician, to which she also pleaded not guilty. A 22-year-old man was issued a citation in relation to the case for allegedly concealing the death of another person, according to a May police press release. He pleaded no reply to a misdemeanor, according to a report from the Lincoln Journal Star.
The case was earlier reported by the Lincoln Journal Star, Forbes and Vice.
Nebraska currently prohibits abortions after 20 weeks, a law that has been in place since before Roe v Wade was overturned. Celeste Burgess was around 28 weeks pregnant when her pregnancy ended, court documents allege.
Although the Burgesses were charged before Roe v. Wade was rolled back — and the protection would not have applied to the women’s actions following the end of the pregnancy — the case demonstrates how private information such as direct messages on social media could be used to enforce laws prohibiting abortion. In 2018, a Mississippi woman was also indicted by a grand jury for second degree murder after an at-home pregnancy loss, after law enforcement pointed to her de ella internet search results such as “buy abortion pills,” although the charges were ultimately dropped .
Captain Michael Bauer of the Norfolk Police Division said in an email to CNN Business that officers and detectives may not comment on cases outside of court.
Following the Supreme Court’s June ruling, tech giants largely avoided saying how they would respond to law enforcement requests for data that could lead to the prosecution of abortion seekers or providers — even as some of those same companies pledged to help cover travel costs for their own employees who need to travel to obtain legal abortion services. Asked in June, companies including Amazon, Apple, Google, Lyft, Facebook-parent Meta, Microsoft, Uber, Snap, TikTok and Twitter either didn’t respond, declined to comment or didn’t directly answer questions about how they would handle data requests targeting abortion-seekers.
In many cases, tech platforms may have little choice but to respond to legal requests for information. Tech companies have broadly said they comply with government data requests so long as they are consistent with existing laws. Now, the rollback of federal abortion protections, combined with the passage of new legislation in numerous states restricting abortion, could make it difficult for platforms to fight certain data demands related to abortion investigations.
In June, Meta responded to questions about law enforcement requests for data by directing CNN Business to its transparency center and said the company requires government requests to be consistent with the law and with the company’s own data policies. “If we determine that a government request is not consistent with applicable law or our policies, we push back and engage the governmental agency to address any apparent deficiencies. If the request is unlawful (for example, overly broad, or legally deficient in any way ), we will challenge or reject the request,” the company states.
Robin Vos, the Republican speaker of the Wisconsin Assembly, narrowly survived a primary challenge on Tuesday after becoming the target of former President Donald Trump’s ire, the Associated Press projected.
As of 10:45 am ET on Wednesday, Vos’ lead over Trump-backed challenger Adam Steen was less than 3 points. Trump has repeatedly lashed out at Vos in recent weeks after the Wisconsin Republican refused to overturn the 2020 election in his state.
Vos, the longest-serving speaker in Wisconsin history, told The Associated Press after his victory that the win proved lawmakers “don’t have to be a lapdog to whatever Donald Trump says.”
That Steen could even make the race as close as it was, only having been endorsed by Trump one week before primary day, showed Trump’s influence — and that of election denialism — remains strong in the critical presidential swing state.
For months, Vos was under pressure from Trump and faced criticism broadly from his right flank over not pursuing the decertification of the 2020 election in his state, which President Joe Biden won by more than 20,000 votes.
Vos said last month that Trump called him after the Wisconsin Supreme Court issued a decision earlier in the month restricting the use of absentee ballot drop boxes in future elections.
That ruling said a decision in 2020 by the Wisconsin Elections Commission expanding the use of drop boxes because of the pandemic was “unlawful,” and Trump — who has repeatedly advanced evidence-free claims that the boxes contributed to widespread fraud — pressed Vos to decertify the results.
You told Milwaukee’s WISN that he declined, telling Trump it would be unconstitutional. Trump responded by railing against Vos on his Truth Social platform, saying election integrity “seems to mean nothing” to the Wisconsin lawmaker. In endorsing Steen, Trump accused Vos of “constantly fighting America First efforts and policies.”
“It was a RIGGED Election,” Trump wrote. “A lot of people will be voting against Vos on Tuesday, and for very good reason. A do nothing RINO!!!” (Republican in Name Only).
You have long resisted Trump’s efforts to upend the election. In June 2021, Vos hired former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman to oversee a review of the election. Though Gableman said in a later report that lawmakers should consider decertifying the 2020 vote, Vos said there was no Constitutional power to do so. A Wisconsin judge said last month that Gableman found “absolutely no evidence of election fraud” in his report on him.
Gableman also backed Steen, who campaigned on decertifying the election, and both men appeared at Trump’s Wisconsin rally last week.
Speaking with The Associated Press, Vos said “this election was only about one topic.”
“It was only about whether or not we could decertify the last election and overturn it,” he said. “This was only a referendum on overturning the election, which is unconstitutional.”
First elected in 2004, Vos became speaker of the Assembly in 2013. He will not face a Democratic challenger this fall.
Vos’ victory comes after a Trump-backed challenger defeated Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers this month in a state Senate primary. Bowers, who testified before the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, also refused pressure from Trump and allies to overturn the 2020 vote.
Hours before the announcement of the arrest, CNN had been allowed into Syed’s home and had spoken to his daughter as the family was still cleaning up after investigators, she said, executed a search warrant the prior night. Living room rugs were tossed around, and the contents of drawers had been strewn about. The flag of Afghanistan – from where Syed and his family moved several years ago – hung prominently in the living room.
In the home, authorities found firearms, along with information showing Syed may have known the victims “to some extent” and interpersonal conflict may have led to the killings, police said Tuesday.
One of the firearms recovered in his home has been linked to bullet casings found at the scenes of two of the killings, while casings for a handgun found in his car when he was stopped were linked to one of the scenes, according to the arrest affidavit .
Police haven’t yet determined a motive for the killings, they have said.
Syed denied any involvement in the killings during an interview with police on Tuesday, according to the arrest affidavit.
The daughter’s husband was friends with two of the men who were killed, Aftab Hussein and Naeem Hussain, she told CNN, which has chosen not to name her out of concern for her safety. Her father de ella was not happy when she got married in February 2018 but he had come to accept the union more recently, she said.
The woman, one of Syed’s six children, said her father was home during the shootings but could not offer proof.
“My father is not a person who can kill somebody. My father has always talked about peace. That’s why we are here in the United States. We came from Afghanistan, from fighting, from shooting,” she told CNN.
The daughter said her father, who works as a truck driver, also drives a gray Volkswagen Jetta. albuquerque police previously released images of a gray Volkswagen sedan, appearing to be a Jetta, that they called a “vehicle of interest” in the killings.
Syed left his home in his vehicle Monday night, telling his family he was going to Texas to find a place for them, fearful of the recent shootings that had taken place in the Muslim community, his daughter said.
Authorities, acting on a tip from the public, had been preparing to execute a search warrant on Syed’s home Monday night when they saw him get into his car and followed him, deputy commander of the Albuquerque Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division Kyle Hartsock said in a Tuesday news conference.
Syed was pulled over and detained near Santa Rosa, New Mexico, about 120 miles east of Albuquerque and roughly halfway to the Texas border.
Meanwhile, police executed the search warrant in Syed’s home and found multiple firearms, Hartsock said.
Officials plan to charge Syed with two homicides — the killings of Aftab Hussein and Muhammad Afzaal Hussain — they said, and are working with the district attorney on potential charges for the August 5 killing of Naeem Hussain and the November killing of Mohammad Zaher Ahmadi , Hartsock said.
There is evidence “strong enough that” authorities are continuing to view Syed as the “most likely person of interest or suspect” in those killings as well, Hartsock said.
The family has been in the US for roughly six years, the daughter said.
Hartsock confirmed Syed is from Afghanistan, saying he had “a few minor misdemeanor arrests (from the Albuquerque Police Department) from domestic violence” in the last several years and some other incidents, adding, “That’s our only known history with him locally.”
All three previous domestic violence charges Syed faced were dismissed, Hartsock said.
The four Muslim men were killed in Albuquerque between November and this month — the latest three within a span of two weeks. All victims were of South Asian descent, and an arrest affidavit obtained Tuesday by CNN affiliate KOAT provided more details on two of the killings.
Aftab Hussein was found July 26 with multiple gunshot wounds, lying next to a car, according to police. Detectives learned the gunman had waited behind a bush near the driveway where the victim usually parked his vehicle, then fired through the bush multiple times when Hussein got out of his vehicle, according to the complaint.
On August 1, police got a call about a drive-by shooting and found Muhammud Afzaal Hussain with multiple gunshot wounds, the complaint states.
Ashley Killough and Ed Lavandera reported from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Christina Maxouris wrote from Atlanta.
