(BUFFALO, N.Y.) -- More than four years after he gunned down 10 Black people in a racially motivated mass shooting at a Buffalo, New York, supermarket, Payton Gendron's federal trial reaches a crucial point on Monday in selecting a jury that will decide whether he lives or dies.

Gendron, who will turn 23 next week, has already pleaded guilty to state charges stemming from the May 14, 2022, attack at a Tops supermarket, including domestic terrorism motivated by hate. He is serving a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Gendron, according to his attorneys, has proposed pleading guilty to the 27-count federal indictment, including 10 counts of hate crimes resulting in death, but the Department of Justice has rejected his offer.

"The United States believes the circumstances in Counts 11-20 of the Indictment are such that, in the event of a conviction, a sentence of death is justified," federal prosecutors said in January 2024, when they announced the decision to pursue the death penalty against Gendron.

On Monday, about 1,200 potential jurors who filled out an initial questionnaire were summoned to appear at the U.S. District Court in Buffalo to complete a more extensive inquiry to determine whether they can serve as fair and impartial jurors.

Based on their responses, Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo, who is overseeing the case, and the attorneys involved hope to whittle the potential jury pool down to several hundred.

Those who make the cut will be brought back in August to be questioned by the lawyers and judge, who are hoping to seat 12 jurors and at least six alternates for the trial scheduled to begin in October.

Gendron has pleaded not guilty to the federal charges.

Garnell Whitfield, the former Buffalo fire commissioner, whose 86-year-old mother, Ruth Whitfield, was killed in the supermarket attack, said he plans to attend Monday's court proceedings.

Whitfield told ABC News that he's hoping that the upcoming trial will expose those whom he says helped radicalize Gendron, including the social media companies that allegedly provided the addictive algorithms that fed Gendron's hate of Black people.

"I'm more concerned with that than I am with him. He's a dead man walking as far as I'm concerned," Whitfield said.

Social media companies are not defendants in the trial, have not accused of any wrongdoing by prosecutors.

Whitfield and other relatives of those killed and wounded in the attack filed a lawsuit in May 2023 against several social media companies alleging they facilitated the teenage killer's white supremacist radicalization by allowing racist propaganda to fester on their platforms. The outcome of the case is still pending in the state Supreme Court. The social media companies have denied all wrong doing.

During his sentencing in the state case in May 2023, Gendron apologized to the relatives of the victims, saying he was "very sorry for all the pain" he caused and "for stealing the lives of your loved ones."

"I did a terrible thing that day," Gendron said in court. "I shot and killed people because they were Black. Looking back now, I can’t believe I actually did it. I believed what I read online and acted out of hate. I know I can’t take it back, but I wish I could, and I don’t want anyone to be inspired by me and what I did."

Gendron planned the massacre for months -- including previously traveling twice to the Tops store he targeted, a more than three-hour drive from his home in Conklin, New York -- to scout the layout and count the number of Black people present, according to state prosecutors. Wearing tactical gear, body armor and wielding an AR-15-style rifle he legally purchased and illegally modified, Gendron committed the rampage on a Saturday afternoon when prosecutors said he knew the store would be full of Black shoppers.

The attack was caught on a Tops supermarket surveillance camera and a helmet camera worn by Gendron that he used to livestream on Twitch. Before the attack, he also posted a racist screed online containing the names of past mass shooters he admired.

Brian Buckmire, an ABC News legal analyst, said Gendron's attorneys are aiming at seating jurors who can set aside the defendant's guilty plea and decide the case based on the facts presented at trial.

"This is not a case of guilt or innocence; this is a case ... of attempting to save his life," he said.

Buckmire said that in the current phase of jury selection, potential members of the panel will likely be asked about their personal beliefs about the death penalty.

He noted that the judge in the case has already denied a request from the defense to move the trial from Buffalo in Erie County to Rochester in Monroe County.

"So, it's deep in the heart of where all of this harm happened," Buckmire said.

Buckmire said the defense is facing an uphill battle and will likely focus on trying to persuade the jury that Gendron should not be put to death.

"From a fact-based standpoint, it’s hard to say he’s not guilty," Buckmire said. "I think the only argument here and the only strength of anything they can make out here is he doesn’t deserve the death penalty because of his age [and] the influences he had."

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(SENATOBIA, Miss.) -- A child was killed after an officer fired upon a vehicle following a reported shoplifting at a Walmart in Mississippi, authorities said.

An adult was also critically injured in the shooting, which occurred Sunday afternoon outside a Walmart in Senatobia, according to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation.

Law enforcement officers who responded to a shoplifting call at the Walmart encountered two adults allegedly fleeing from the store with a child and going into a vehicle, the bureau said.

"Officers attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver drove in the direction of the officers, almost striking one," the bureau said in a statement, noting that the information is preliminary. "An officer then discharged their weapon and the vehicle fled the scene."

The individuals in the vehicle went to a local hospital, where the child was pronounced dead, according to the bureau. One of the adults also had critical injuries, it said.

Authorities did not provide further details on the shooting victims, including the age of the child killed.

The Senatobia Police Department and Tate County Sheriff's Office were involved in the shooting incident, according to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, which did not provide details on the officer who discharged the weapon or how many times the gun was fired.

No officers were seriously injured, the bureau said.

The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is investigating the shooting and will ultimately share its findings with the state's attorney general's office.

"This is an open and ongoing investigation. No further comment will be made at this time," a spokesperson with the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation told ABC News on Monday in response to multiple questions on the incident.

Senatobia is located in northwestern Mississippi, about 40 miles south of Memphis, Tennessee.

The Senatobia Police Department said the officer-involved shooting occurred just after 2 p.m. Sunday.

"We are committed to full transparency," the Senatobia Police Department said in a statement. "As the investigation progresses and facts are verified, we will share as much information as possible."

A Walmart spokesperson said they are working with law enforcement amid the investigation.

"We're saddened by what took place at our Senatobia, MS, store," the spokesperson said. "The safety of our associates and customers is a top priority."

Senatobia Alderman Chris McConnell urged residents to "rely on official information and allow the investigative process to proceed."

"Please join me in praying for everyone involved, their families, our law enforcement officers, first responders, and the entire Senatobia community," he said in a statement.

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(WASHINGTON) -- Vice President JD Vance on Monday spoke about the settlement that would extend the U.S.-Iran ceasefire and pave the way for 60 days of technical negotiations to end the war, saying it has been signed "digitally."

Vance said the agreement marked a moment in which Iran has a "two-path" option.

"On the one hand, if they continue to try to rebuild their nuclear program, this deal ensures they will never have the resources to do that," Vance told ABC News' "Good Morning America" in an interview on Monday. "On the other hand, if the Iranians are willing to give a long-term commitment -- along with proper verification -- to giving up that nuclear weapon, we’re willing to welcome them into the world economy, to lift some sanctions and to turn over a new leaf in that relationship."

Iranian officials have long publicly maintained that the country's nuclear program operates only for civilian purposes, although Western officials have said their uranium enrichment has gone beyond what would be needed for civilian use. Iran has also said it does not have ambitions to create nuclear weapons, a claim that American officials have disputed.

Vance's interview followed a Sunday social media post from President Donald Trump, who said the United States and Iran reached an agreement for a 60-day ceasefire in the conflict that began with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran on Feb. 28.

Vance said that the deal had already been digitally signed by parties, but also maintained that there would be a signing ceremony on Friday -- though it's unclear exactly what the Friday signing will mean if the deal has already been signed digitally. The vice president did say that the full text of the agreement would be released at some point this week and that negotiations were expected to continue.

The exact contents of the agreement is still unclear, and he remained vague about what specifics were in the the text of the already-signed agreement.

When pressed by "Good Morning America" Anchor George Stephanopoulos about whether this deal was the president going back on promises that Iran would need to provide "unconditional surrender," Vance responded that "what this deal fundamentally does is it reopens the Straits of Hormuz."

"You see, oil prices have already come down substantially just in the last 24 hours," Vance added.

Vance also said that the deal includes provisions that Iran will stop funding terror groups, though he did not expand on what exactly that means.

As a potential deal was reportedly coming together on Friday, Vance took to social media to push back on what he described as "fake information" about the potential terms, which he said were expected to include financial incentives for Iran. Vance said funds would not be released to Iran "for simply signing a deal or attending a meeting."

Vance also said that since the deal was digitally signed on Sunday, no money for Iran has been released, "and that won't change, George," Vance said.

Vance on Monday said forward momentum for the deal would hinge on Iranian officials "doing the right thing," including allowing for some form of verification to show that Iran is not working toward building a nuclear weapon.

"This is fundamentally a win-win for the American people," Vance said. "What the president has said is he wants it to be a win for the Iranian people as well. But that requires some real trust building and some real positive conduct from the Iranian political system."

"We're going to see if that happens," he added. "If it does, they're absolutely going to find the president of United States and the entire team a willing partner, to make their country more prosperous."

Stephanopoulos pressed Vance about whether Israel's comments that they are not party to the agreement amid their continued hostilities in Lebanon, asking Vance whether that might complicate the peace settlement.

"Well, George, everything's going to complicate the deal, as you know, in this region of the world, even a ceasefire, sometimes they're a little bit dirty," Vance said. "It goes from shooting a lot to shooting a little to shooting not at all. But what we fundamentally believe is that this is going to be a good deal for the people of Israel, for the people of the Gulf, the people of America, and again, potentially for the people of Iran as well."

A landmark nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, followed two years of negotiations. It imposed restrictions on Iran’s civilian nuclear enrichment program in exchange for sanctions relief. Iran, in that 2015 deal, agreed to international monitoring and to keeping its nuclear program "solely for peaceful purposes," according to the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation.

Trump withdrew the U.S. that deal in 2018, during his first term.

"There are all of these ways I could explain the ways this deal is fundamentally better for the American people than the JCPOA," Vance said on Monday. "But the fundamental difference is that the Gulf Coast coalition, our Arab partners in the region, they hated the JCPOA, because they felt that it emboldened Iran to be a bad actor. They love this deal because they feel that it's going to create a totally new dynamic in the Middle East."

ABC News' Meredith Deliso contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) -- Areas in Texas are seeing from 3" to more than 5" of rainfall within hours, leading to flash flooding in places like Waco and Austin, with a flood watch in effect for much of central and southern Texas.

Flash flooding on I-35 in Waco led to water rescues and stranded vehicles. The Texas Game Wardens said on social media that their rescue teams and local partners were responding to "numerous" calls involving people trapped by floodwater.

Videos from the area show the flooding as well as first responders helping some of those who were stranded.

"I am sincerely lucky to be alive. When I got there, there were no first responders," Rick Smith, who filmed a video showing people wading through waist-high water, wrote on social media. "I am so thankful that retaining wall held up otherwise this situation could've been a horrible tragedy. There were many of us literally trapped on I 35."

A stationary frontal boundary is draped across the South, bringing daily flash flood risks to the region through the week ahead.

A flood watch continues for central and southern Texas through much of Louisiana and Southwest Mississippi through Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning, depending on location. Torrential rainfall rates of 2" to 4" per hour are possible.

Houston is under a level 3/4 moderate risk for excessive rainfall and flash flooding for four days in a row -- Monday through Thursday. Significant flood events are possible each day.

A low pressure system from the Gulf could bring more rain to South Texas mid to late week, hence the high rain and flooding potential there.

A widespread 4" to 6" is expected across southeast Texas, much of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama through Thursday.

The Houston area and other pockets of the South could see more than half-a foot of rain, and in a worst-case scenario depending on what happens later in the week, a 5-day total of 10" plus is possible for the Houston region.

Dangerous heat in the Pacific Northwest

Record high temperatures started in western Washington and Oregon on Sunday -- with new high temp record for Seattle (89) and Portland (94).

Record highs will be possible again on Monday, with highs near 100 for Portland and near 90 in Seattle.

An extreme heat warning continues on Monday for Portland, along with a heat advisory for Seattle. Temperatures will be cooler on Tuesday and Wednesday with highs in the 70s for Seattle and 80s for Portland.

Severe threat mid-week

Wednesday, a level 3/5 enhanced threat is in place from Missouri through central Illinois and Indiana. Destructive wind, large hail, and strong tornadoes are possible.

Indianapolis, St. Louis, Springfield and Peoria, Illinois, and Columbia, Missouri, are included in the threat.

A level 2/5 is in place for Chicago, Columbus, Kansas City, Wichita and Toledo.

ABC News' Jessica Gorman and Camilla Alcini contributed to this report. 

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(NEW YORK) --- Millions of Americans are under severe weather threats as storms and summer heat continue on both coasts.

This severe weather threat will impact parts of the central United States, from Texas to Illinois.

A flood watch is also in effect for parts of eastern Kansas, western Missouri, northeast Oklahoma, and northwest Arkansas until Sunday morning.

A level 3 of 5 "enhanced risk" is in effect for parts of Nebraska, Oklahoma, eastern Kansas and much of western and central Missouri -- including Wichita, Kansas; Kansas City, Missouri; and Springfield, Missouri.

The main threats are damaging winds, large hail and a few tornadoes.

The severe weather threat shifts back to parts of the East Coast with more than 50 million on alert for severe storms on Sunday.

A level 2 of 5 "slight risk" is up from northern North Carolina to upstate New York and includes Raleigh, North Carolina; Washington, D.C.; Philadelphia; New York City; Pittsburgh; and Albany, New York.

The main threats are damaging winds, large hail and lightning.

Heading into next week, the severe weather looks to stall for a couple of days before ramping back up by the middle of the week.

The summer heat and humidity continues in the South, with heat advisories in effect for millions from the Carolinas and Florida out to Arkansas and Oklahoma.

The Northeast will see lower humidity this weekend so the heat will not be as dangerous despite temperatures in the 80s and 90s.

An extreme heat warning is already in place for the Portland, Oregon, area where a life-threatening heat wave is expected Sunday through Tuesday with temps reaching 95 to 100 degrees.

For the West coast, a heat advisory is in place in California's central valley from Redding to Bakersfield with high temps from 100 to 105 possible. Closer to the Bay Area, high temps around 100 are possible for San Jose and Santa Clara. 

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(MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md.) -- Two women wanted in Maryland for allegedly killing the mother of one of the suspects were captured in Ohio after an individual who offered to help them realized from media coverage that they were wanted for murder, authorities said.

The arrests came nearly three weeks after the victim, 67-year-old Hilde Henderson, is believed to have been killed at her apartment at a senior living community in Silver Spring, Maryland, authorities said.

Officers conducting a welfare check on May 26 found Henderson dead from blunt force trauma, according to the Montgomery County Police Department. She is believed to have been dead for four days, police said.

The victim's daughter, 29-year-old Vanessa Tjongarero-Henderson of Clarksburg, and the daughter's girlfriend, 36-year-old Samantha Raebel of Phoenix, were subsequently identified as suspects in the homicide, police said. Police obtained an arrest warrant charging them both with first-degree murder and released their photos amid the search for the suspects.

Following a nationwide search, the two were ultimately arrested Wednesday in Genoa, Ohio, thanks to a local tip, police said.

A woman in Genoa unwittingly offered to help the couple, until she and her friend grew suspicious and learned of the ongoing manhunt by searching one of their names online, according to ABC Toledo affiliate WTVG.

Adrienne Behrman told WTVG that the suspects came into her workplace and told her they were homeless, so she offered to help and invited them to stay at her apartment.

"I've been down and out myself -- homeless, without money, you know, just not wanting to be a charity case or anything like that, and I just felt like I was led to help them," Behrman told the station.

Behrman recounted, though, that the more questions she asked them about where they were from and where they wanted to go, "things were not adding up."

She told her concerns to a friend, Nikki Peters, who said she noticed that the last name of one of the suspects from a Cash App payment request for cigarettes didn't match the name she had been told, WTVG reported.

"That didn't make sense to me, because it was still Vanessa, but a different last name," Peters told WTVG.

While searching Tjongarero-Henderson's name online, Peters said she found wanted posts for the two women, WTVG reported.

"I almost passed out," Peters told the station. "[Behrman] was cool, calm and collected, but I almost passed out."

"That didn't make sense to me, because it was still Vanessa, but a different last name," Peters told WTVG.

While searching Tjongarero-Henderson's name online, Peters said she found wanted posts for the two women, WTVG reported.

"I almost passed out," Peters told the station. "[Behrman] was cool, calm and collected, but I almost passed out."

Behrman said she called 911, WTVG reported.

"That orchestrated the whole thing the way that it needed to be done in order for them to be apprehended and no one else to be hurt," Behrman told the station.

Tjongarero-Henderson and Raebel are being held at the Ottawa County Detention Center awaiting extradition to Maryland, authorities said.

Police have not released details on what evidence led them to identify the couple as suspects in the case.

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(MINNESOTA) -- A missing woman was found in a Minnesota puddle of mud where she told her rescuers she had been stuck for days. 

Kathryn Woessner, 68, was last seen on June 3 before her rescuers found her on June 6, according to the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office. 

Woessner did not have any personal belongings with her, according to the sheriff’s office. 

Woessner told the men who rescued her that her car was stuck and she was trying to get out when she went around to the other side, slipping and falling into a puddle that was probably 2 feet deep, according to Mike Gravalin and Adam Sandbeck, the two men who saved her. 

Woessner told the men the mud was like quicksand, they told KSTP. 

Woessner told the men she had been stuck on her back for days and she was seriously sunburned on her face, Gravalin and Sandbeck told KSTP.

Due to her medical conditions, she was taken to Essentia Health- St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Brained, according to the sheriff’s office. 

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(MIDLAND, Texas) -- One victim was killed and 10 others were injured in a mass shooting in Midland, Texas, on Friday morning, and the suspected gunman is dead following a standoff with police, authorities said.

When police responded to an active shooter report around 8 a.m. local time Friday, the suspect, Victor Mata Villarreal, allegedly fired at bystanders and officers, the Texas Department of Public Safety said.

Villarreal, 45, then barricaded himself in an abandoned veterinary clinic, DPS said. After an hourslong standoff, the Odessa, Texas, resident was found dead in the building around 12:30 p.m. local time, authorities said.

Nine victims were taken to Midland Memorial Hospital, where four were rushed into surgery and five were admitted in stable condition, hospital officials said. The five in stable condition have since been discharged, officials said.

The victims have not been identified. DPS said no law enforcement officers were hurt.

Villarreal had been wanted for attempted capital murder of an officer after he allegedly fired multiple shots at police during a car chase on Wednesday, DPS said.

He fled from that scene on Wednesday and went into hiding, according to law enforcement. On Friday, when officers tried to apprehend him, he began opening fire, according to law enforcement.

Midland Mayor Lori Blong said at a news conference, "I would really ask Midlanders to pray for the families of those who have been impacted, for the victims themselves, for the family of the one who is confirmed deceased."

ABC News' Alex Stone and Josh Margolin contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) -- The White House can host an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on the South Lawn this weekend, a federal judge ruled on Friday.

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta rejected a request to block the high-profile event brought by two Virginia residents who alleged the Trump administration's authorization for the event was unlawful.

In his order, Judge Mehta determined that the plaintiffs failed "to establish both a substantial likelihood of standing and irreparable harm" in their lawsuit against the event.

The lawsuit alleged the event -- which includes a press conference at the Lincoln Memorial on Friday, ceremonial weigh-in and concert at the Ellipse on Saturday, and the South Lawn fight on Sunday -- violated National Park Service regulations, was improperly permitted, and lacked a necessary environmental review.

In his order, Judge Mehta found neither plaintiff was able to show they are "directly affected" by the event, despite their contentions that the temporary arena known as the "Claw" is "hideous" and "grotesque," and that it diminishes their ability to enjoy the beauty of the nation's capital in the coming days.

Mehta repeatedly picked apart the plaintiffs' efforts to establish standing to bring the suit, in which they cited reasons including planned attendance at weekend protests and road closures near the White House that they had argued would cause them personal injury.

Even if they had been able to establish standing, Mehta said, their lawsuit failed to show the event would cause irreparable harm, and noted the "unreasonable delay" in filing the lawsuit -- rejecting their explanation that the decision to sue was based on newly gathered information.

Mehta further agreed with the government that cancelling the event at the last minute would cause "substantial harm" given the amount of planning, costs and labor put into the project over the past several months.

In a court filing on Wednesday, lawyers with the Public Integrity Project had called the event a "corrupt spectacle."

"Such a volcano of corruption, if allowed to go forward, will mark an inflection point in American history," they argued.

Lawyers with the Department of Justice said the authorization for the event was lawful, comparing it to other events on the South Lawn like Easter Egg Roll, National Christmas Tree Lighting, state dinners, the Congressional Picnic, and a 2022 Elton John Concert.

They also argued that the plaintiffs lack standing and would not be harmed by the event.

"No one is holding Plaintiffs in a jiu jitsu lock, forcing them to watch UFC Freedom 250 against their will," DOJ lawyers wrote on Tuesday. "The public interest does not favor allowing them to exercise a heckler's veto, particularly at this late date."

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(NEW YORK) -- A 17-year-old boy was beaten into a coma near Madison Square Garden following Game 4 of the NBA Finals, New York City police said Friday while releasing a photo of a suspect sought in connection with the assault.

The incident occurred Wednesday night around 11:45 p.m., according to the New York City Police Department, amid rowdy celebrations following the New York Knicks' win.

A group of unknown individuals approached the teen in front of 237 W. 35th St. in Midtown Manhattan, where a "verbal dispute ensued about the New York Knicks," police said.

Detectives reviewed video that shows someone apparently telling the crowd celebrating by saying, "Spurs in 7," ABC New York station WABC reported.

"The dispute escalated, and the individuals proceeded to punch and kick the victim about the head and body, causing the victim to suffer a seizure and subsequently go into a coma," police said in a statement.

Emergency medical service personnel responded to the scene and transported the victim to an area hospital in critical but stable condition, police said.

The individuals fled on foot, and their whereabouts are unknown, police said. The NYPD released an image of one suspect sought in connection with the incident on social media on Friday while asking anyone with information to contact them.

Separately, dozens of people were arrested following the Knicks' historic comeback against the San Antonio Spurs in Wednesday's Game 4.

Rowdy fans got into fistfights, climbed scaffolding and poles, blocked Midtown Manhattan traffic, set off fireworks, ripped down street signs, jumped atop taxis and other moving vehicles and damaged police vehicles, according to authorities and videos posted on social media.

At multiple locations blocks from the Garden, crowds refused numerous verbal commands to disperse, police said. Ten police officers were injured in the post-game revelry, including one who was struck in the face with a glass bottle, the NYPD said.

In total, 56 people were taken into custody, including 15 who were arrested and 41 who were released with criminal court summonses, according to the NYPD.

Fans were arrested on charges such as suspicion of assault on a police officer, criminal possession of a weapon (a knife), reckless endangerment, criminal mischief, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, obstruction of governmental administration, and trademark counterfeiting, the NYPD said.

Following Game 3 of the NBA Finals at the Garden on Monday, at least 21 people were arrested, according to the NYPD.

A 39-year-old San Antonio fan was jumped on a Midtown Manhattan street following the Knicks loss, according to the NYPD, which released surveillance photos of five individuals wanted on charges of robbery stemming from the incident.

ABC News' Bill Hutchinson contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) -- A federal judge on Friday issued an injunction blocking the Trump administration from establishing its $1.8 billion "Anti-Weaponization Fund" after expressing concerns that senior officials have not put in their commitment to not move forward with the fund in writing.

U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema repeatedly cited acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's refusal to commit to not moving forward with the fund under penalty of perjury, as well as President Donald Trump's own words suggesting he was disappointed that the government might not establish the fund so that those charged in connection with the Jan. 6 Capitol attack could be compensated.

"If it was up to me, I'd pay them the kind of money that they deserve. People have been destroyed. Lives have been destroyed," Trump said during an interview with NBC's Meet the Press that aired over the weekend.

The fund, which was announced last month by the DOJ to compensate those who allege they were wrongly targeted under the Biden administration, was proposed in exchange for Trump agreeing to drop his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS as well as two civil claims for $230 million related to the Russia collusion investigation he faced during his first term in office and the 2022 search of his Mar-a-Lago estate -- sparking accusations of self-dealing and a bipartisan uproar over the possible use of taxpayer money to pay rioters who attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Lawyers with the Department of Justice have argued that the case is now moot, writing in a court filing last week that they would not move forward with the fund. During Friday's hearing, Judge Brinkema repeatedly pressed DOJ attorney Andrew Block on whether he knew why Blanche hasn't simply rescinded his previous order establishing the fund. 

"Your honor, I don't," Block responded, saying he doesn't have the ability to speak for Blanche. 

Brinkema said she "couldn't believe," given the significance of the case, that Block wouldn't have even attempted to get an answer, and said the government's unwillingness on that score created a "huge gap in the record" of the case. 

Brinkema said she didn't believe there was any injury to the government if there was an injunction in place, and gave them one week to respond with a formal declaration, under penalty of perjury, stating no "Anti-Weaponization Fund" would be established -- which she said would potentially clear the way to dismissing the case. 

Judge Brinkema pointed repeatedly to President Trump's own shifting statements in recent weeks about the fund, including his pointed attack on Brinkema herself after she had temporarily paused the fund earlier this month, in which he referred to her as a "radical left judge."

"When the president of the United States says he's disappointed that something is not going forward," Brinkema said, that would only add to the evidence that the fund might "rear its head" in the future. 

Brinkema said at one point during the proceedings that just this week an unidentified individual had send an application for money from the fund directly to the court. 

"We had to send it back," Brinkema said. 

Later in the hearing, Brinkema expressed doubt about the legality of Trump's settlement that established the fund, noting a judge's order in Florida that recently asked Trump's lawyers to respond to claims they may have committed a fraud on her court. 

"You think this is lawful business?" Brinkema asked Block. 

At one point, Brinkema read into the record an amicus brief submitted in the lawsuit by Sen. Cory Booker and Sen. Bill Cassidy that urged her to permanently block the fund over the potential it could compensate individuals who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. 

Brinkema said the brief showed that public interest in preventing the establishment of such a fund "is very strong," and questioned the concept of nearly $1.8 billion being directed to such a small subset of individuals that a significant number of Americans would strongly object to. 

Friday's injunction came two days after another federal judge denied a governmental watchdog group's request for a temporary restraining order to block the establishment of the fund.

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon denied the request from the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, ruling that the watchdog group failed to demonstrate a likelihood of success. 

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(BOSTON) -- Boston police are searching for two suspects wanted for committing an armed robbery at a lemonade stand.

Two kids were running a lemonade stand in South Boston when, at about 4:45 p.m. Wednesday, the "unknown suspects made several passes by the stand," Boston police said.

The suspects -- described as boys about 14 and 11 years old -- then went up to the kids and asked if Apple Pay was accepted, police said.

Before the children could answer, the suspects grabbed a box of cash, and the older suspect showed a gun in his waistband, police said.

The suspects fled the scene, police said.

The cash box had about $50 inside, police said.

Police ask anyone with information to call the detectives 617-343-4742 or submit a tip anonymously at 1-800-494-TIPS.

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(NEW YORK) -- A federal appeals court on Friday upheld the cryptocurrency fraud conviction of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried.

The opinion came the same week Bankman-Fried submitted his application for a presidential pardon.

Bankman-Fried was convicted of masterminding one of the largest financial frauds in history stemming from the collapse of the crypto-exchange FTX. He is serving a 25-year prison sentence.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
 

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(UVALDE, Texas) -- Former Uvalde school police chief Pete Arredondo is set to return to a Texas courtroom on Friday, as the judge overseeing his criminal trial weighs moving the case out of Uvalde and whether the whole thing might have to wait because US Customs and Border Protection has refused to cooperate.

Arredondo in 2024 was charged with 10 counts of endangering students by failing to quickly respond to the 2022 mass shooting. The criminal case has stalled due to two ongoing civil lawsuits that seek to force agents with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Border Patrol Tactical Unit -- involved in taking down the gunman -- to testify in the case.

Nineteen students and two of their teachers were killed when Robb Elementary School was attacked by a former student on the last day of school, May 24, 2022.

Arredondo led the response to the 2022 shooting rampage, and prosecutors allege that he ignored his training by waiting some 77 minutes before agents stormed a classroom and killed the gunman. Earlier this year, a jury acquitted former school police officer Adrian Gonzales on similar charges after a three-week trial.

Families of the victims responded to that verdict with outrage and some are looking to Arredondo’s trial as another opportunity for justice.

"We had a little hope, but it wasn't enough," Jacinto Cazares, whose 9-year-old daughter Jackie died in the shooting, said after Gonzales’ acquittal in January. "Again, we are failed. I don't even know what to say."

Arredondo has pleaded not guilty, arguing he followed his training and saying he did not consider himself as the incident commander that day, though investigators said he was just that. Arredondo's attorney Paul Looney told ABC News that he believes the case against Arredondo is weaker than the failed prosecution of Gonzales.

“They tried the one they thought that they had the best shot at, but now they're going to put everything they've got into doing this one, because they do want to win at least something,” Looney said.

Friday’s status conference comes as Judge Sid Harle weighs the future of the case. The judge has said he wants to determine how the trial against Arredondo can proceed amid the ongoing litigation with CBP and whether -- as in the case of Gonzales -- the trial ought to be moved out of Uvalde.

Both Uvalde District Attorney Christina Mitchell and Arredondo filed federal lawsuits to compel the federal agents to cooperate with investigators and potentially testify at trial.

“The three border patrol agents whose cooperation is now being sought by District Attorney Mitchell -- two of whom participated in the actual killing of the gunman and the third who was present in the hallway during most of the incident -- are essential to the pending Texas criminal prosecution,” Mitchell wrote in her lawsuit.

CBP attorneys have argued that the request for testimony is unreasonable, unnecessary and “negatively impacts CBP operations and national security” by taking up resources and potentially disclosing sensitive information.

Attorneys have argued that CBP revealed enough information through the investigative summaries prepared by the Texas Rangers and a report released by CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility.

“It is unclear from your request how testimony from the identified CBP employees is genuinely necessary to the proceedings,” an attorney for CBP said in a court filing.

Earlier this year, a new judge was assigned to the lawsuit filed by Mitchell, and this week she filed a motion to schedule a status conference in that case. Looney, who filed a separate lawsuit largely mirroring the District Attorney’s, said he anticipates the litigation will take another eight months to a year.

Friday’s hearing will be held in Uvalde, though the trial of Gonzales was held in Corpus Christi to find an impartial jury, due to the widespread impact of the shooting on the Uvalde community.

Arredondo’s lawyer said he expects Harle to grant his motion for a venue change, though he claimed there is “no sense of urgency” to resolve the venue issue while the case remains stalled by the ongoing civil litigation.

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(NEW YORK) -- The amount of solar power generated in the U.S. is continuing to grow despite efforts from the Trump administration to slow down the renewable energy sector, according to two reports released this week.

The U.S. has generated more power from solar compared to coal for the first time, according to a report by Ember, a think tank focused on the clean energy transition. In May 2026, solar supplied 12.8% of U.S. electricity, while coal supplied 12.2%, according to an analysis of official monthly and preliminary hourly generation data.

A record 45.5 terawatt-hours (TWh) of solar energy was generated in May 2026, exceeding the output from May 2025 by 17%, the think tank found. The record could be broken again in the upcoming summer months, as solar output typically peaks in June and July.

The amount of energy from coal generated in the U.S. has been nearly cut in half in the last five years, falling from 19.7% of total power generated in May 2021 to 12.2% last month. Production of coal power rose slightly in May 2026, to 43.4 Twh, but it remained 11% below May 2025 levels.

"Overtaking coal for the first month on record shows just how far solar has come, from a niche contributor to the third-largest and fastest-growing source of power in the U.S. electricity system," Nicolas Fulghum, an Ember senior data analyst, said in a statement.

Another report, also released this week, further points to the growing solar sector in the U.S. In the first quarter of 2026, the U.S. has added 7.8 gigawatts (GW) of new solar capacity with more than 6 million solar installations nationwide, according to a report by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and analytics firm Wood Mackenzie.

Electricity demand continues to surge, especially from tech companies seeking to secure power sources to meet the growing demands of AI and the data centers that run them, according to the report.

Solar power is the fastest-growing source of electricity in the U.S., according to Climate Central, an environmental nonprofit.

There is currently enough solar installed in the U.S. to power about 50 million households, according to SEIA. By 2034, there will be enough solar capacity to power 100 million households.

The growth is continuing "despite headwinds in Washington," according to a press release by SEIA.

In August 2025, the Environmental Protection Agency canceled Solar for All, a $7 billion Biden-era solar grant program intended to help pay for resident solar projects and lower energy bills for middle to low-income households.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin wrote on X at the time that the EPA no longer has the statutory authority to administer the program or the appropriated funds to "keep the program alive," touting the move as a savings to U.S. taxpayers.

States won by President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election accounted for 74% of all solar capacity installed in the first quarter, according to the SEIA report. Texas, Florida, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Arizona and Mississippi ranked among the top 10 states for new solar additions.

"In a world of fluctuating fuel prices, energy buyers have made it clear that they want the security, low cost, and speed of solar and storage, which commanded a massive 91% of all new capacity built in Q1," Darren Van’t Hof, interim president and CEO of the SEIA, said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration is attempting to bolster the coal industry in the U.S. with the allocation of more than $700 million in federal funds to upgrade coal power plants and U.S. exports.

The administration is using wartime authorities under the 1950 Defense Production Act to allot $425 million to 13 existing coal plants and $75 million for an export terminal in California, as well as another $185 million in grant funding from the Energy Department to build two new coal plants in Alaska and West Virginia and restart a plant in Maryland, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

Coal construction has significantly declined since the 1970s and 1980s, according to the EPA. No utility-scale coal construction has occurred in the past decade.

Trump has touted coal as clean in the past, but experts say coal emits carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, and several other pollutants. Scientists says it is a direct contributor to global warming and human-amplified climate change.

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(NEW YORK) -- Only 3% of individuals detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement during the first 14 months of the second Trump administration had a violent felony conviction, according to an ABC News analysis of government data.

The findings, based on data tracking the current Trump administration's immigration crackdown, come after President Donald Trump had pledged to target the "worst of the worst" criminal offenders among the nation's migrants.

Based on government data analyzed by ABC News as provided by ICE in response to a FOIA requests to the Deportation Data Project and the University of Washington Center for Human Rights, the findings show that immigration enforcement has affected more than 400,000 individuals with no violent criminal history, including parents and spouses of U.S. citizens.

While the 3% figure is consistent with rates seen under the Biden administration, the data shows the Trump administration is not detaining a higher proportion of violent offenders despite a significant overall increase in total detentions.

'President Trump's promise'

Under Trump, there has been record high detention population, currently at around 60,000 in federal immigration custody. The most detainees under the previous administration was 39,748 in November 2023, according to a nonprofit data gathering group.

According to the government data, of the 438,537 people detained between Jan. 20, 2025, and March 11, 2026, 13,018 had a violent felony conviction in the United States. The analysis defined "violent felony" as homicide, sexual assault, robbery, or assault.

The data also showed that in the first eight months of 2025, ICE apprehended the parents of approximately 14,450 U.S.-born children. This eight-month figure nearly surpassed the total for all of 2024 and surpassed the yearly totals for both 2022 and 2023.

Of those apprehended during the administration's first seven months, more than 9,700 children saw at least one parent placed into immigration detention -- more than in previous years. Of those detained, parents of more than 7,000 children were eventually deported. Of the more than 4,700 deported parents, 265 had a violent felony conviction. And of the more than 6,400 detained parents, 322 had a violent felony conviction.

In a statement to ABC News, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said, "Since Day One, DHS law enforcement has been delivering on President Trump's promise to the American people to arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens including murderers, rapists, pedophiles, gang members, and terrorists. This data is being cherry picked by the Deportation Data Project to peddle a false narrative."

The Deportation Data Project provides minimally processed and unprocessed data supplied to them directly by ICE via FOIA.

"Nearly 70% of ICE arrests are criminal illegal aliens," the statement went on to say. "We are continuing to go after the worst of the worst -- including gang members, pedophiles, and rapists. Many of the individuals that are counted as 'non-criminals' are actually terrorists, human rights abusers, gangsters and more; they just don't have a rap sheet in the U.S."

"Further, every single one of these individuals committed a crime when they came into this country illegally," the statement said regarding charges of unlawful entry, which is generally a civil violation, not a criminal offense.

'Economic consequences'

Andrea Flores, the founder of Securing America's Promise and a former Department of Homeland Security official, said the policy of mass deportation could lead to a child welfare crisis.

"So many children are losing primary caretakers or going to guardians," Flores said in a Zoom interview. "We are going to have a class of children who lose their parents under this administration that is bigger than we probably have seen in modern history."

DHS said in a statement that ICE does not separate families and that "parents are asked if they want to be removed with their children or ICE will place the children with a safe person the parent designates."

In the first eight months of 2025, ICE also apprehended 4,843 spouses of U.S. citizens. During the first seven months of the term, more than 2,000 of these spouses were deported. Of the more than 2,000 spouses of U.S. citizens deported during the first seven months of the term, 165 had a violent felony conviction.

"We cannot underplay what it means to have even just a spouse go to detention, because what if they are the primary earner in that household?" Flores said. "We're talking about economic consequences. We're talking about the emotional costs of not having access to that family member."

Trump administration officials have said that its crackdown on illegal immigration is primarily targeting dangerous and violent criminals living in the U.S. illegally, but they have also maintained that anyone residing in the country without legal status is subject to removal.

Methodology

ABC News analyzed enforcement trends by merging two primary sources: data provided by ICE via FOIA requests to the Deportation Data Project and ICE data provided to the University of Washington Center for Human Rights. The data provided to the Deportation Data Project includes data from the Department of Homeland Security's PERSIST database, which shows the full lifecycle of immigration cases from January 2022 through early March 2026.

The data provided to the University of Washington Center for Human Rights includes I-213 records, which are the documents created when immigration officers arrest a noncitizen. These records span from January 2022 through late August 2025.

Publicly available data from ICE and DHS show detention populations and numbers on removals.

Statistics regarding the total number of parents and spouses apprehended were calculated using the University of Washington dataset alone. To determine how many of those individuals were specifically detained or deported, ABC News matched records across both databases using unique identifiers such as the date of arrest, gender, country of citizenship, and birth year.

The analysis focused on a subset of the data where a definitive match could be made between the two sources. The merged dataset allowed ABC News to track the progression of individual cases from the initial arrest through federal custody to identify parents and spouses who were ultimately held in facilities or removed from the country.

ABC News' estimates for the number of U.S. citizens who had a parent or spouse arrested, detained and deported are likely an undercount. ProPublica, a nonprofit news organization, first reported similar data in March.

ABC News' analysis of U.S. citizens who had a parent or spouse detained is limited to only individuals for whom arresting agents wrote an I-213 report, which represents the vast majority of individuals arrested by ICE, but is not everyone who has been detained. To perform the analysis, any possible duplicates in the data were not counted.

Flores said these numbers will likely grow.

"We have seen some recent reporting as well that the numbers are going into the tens of thousands in terms of children who have been impacted by a detained parent," Flores said. "There are 4 million U.S. citizen children in current estimates who have a parent that isn't documented."

ABC News' Ryann Jones and Armando Garcia contributed to this report.

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(LAGUNA BEACH, Calif.) -- A 5-year-old girl who went missing when she was swept away in the ocean in Laguna Beach, California, has been found dead, city officials said.

Her body was found Thursday morning about one-quarter mile north of where she went into the water, Laguna Beach officials said.

The girl went missing at about 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday near Treasure Island Beach, officials said. She was with her mother and a sibling near the shoreline when the three of them were swept into the ocean by powerful water conditions, the city officials said.

Bystanders ran into the ocean and were able to rescue the mother and one of her children, but the 5-year-old remained missing, officials said.

The search and recovery effort continued on Wednesday, with rescuers working "under challenging and hazardous ocean conditions, including large surf, powerful currents, and limited underwater visibility," city officials said.

The search ended Wednesday evening after rescuers worked more than 30 hours and covered more than 90 square miles, the Coast Guard announced.

"Our deepest condolences go out to the child's family and loved ones during this incredibly difficult time," Capt. Stacey Crecy, commander of Coast Guard Sector Los Angeles-Long Beach, said in a statement. "Suspending a search is an extremely difficult decision."

"This is one of the most heartbreaking incidents I have witnessed during my time serving this community," Laguna Beach Mayor Mark Orgill said in a statement. "Our hearts go out to the young victim's family, friends, and all those affected by this tragic loss."

"I am incredibly proud of the dedication and professionalism demonstrated by our Marine Safety, Fire, and Police personnel, as well as every agency that assisted in this effort," the mayor added. "These men and women put themselves in harm's way, entering the same dangerous ocean conditions in an attempt to bring this young girl home to her family."

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(MINNEAPOLIS) -- Vance Boelter, the man charged in the attacks against Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota, changed his plea to guilty in his federal case on Thursday, according to the Department of Justice.

When Boelter admitted that he shot Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman several times and then put a gun to her head and killed her, sobs broke out in the courtroom, ABC Minneapolis affiliate KSTP reported.

Boelter pleaded guilty to all six counts: two stalking counts, two murder counts and two federal firearm-shooting offenses, the DOJ said.

"The terms of our offer to Mr. Boelter were: if you plead guilty and take consecutive life sentences, we will take the death penalty off the table," U.S. Attorney for Minnesota Daniel Rosen said at a news conference Thursday.

This week, a Justice Department spokesperson said federal prosecutors would not seek the death penalty because a federal judge ruled earlier this year in an unrelated murder case that interstate stalking charges do not rise to the level to support a capital crime.

"Political violence is a scourge in our nation," Rosen said in a statement. "We now expect Vance Boelter will spend the rest of his natural life in prison without parole."

"Today's guilty plea cannot return what was taken from these families, but it makes clear that anyone who chooses to bring this kind of violence to our communities will answer for that choice," ATF St. Paul Field Division Special Agent in Charge Joe Persails said in a statement.

The crimes unfolded on June 14, 2025, when Boelter disguised himself as a police officer and fatally shot Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, at their home, according to prosecutors.

That same day he drove to the home of Minnesota state Sen. John Hoffman and shot the lawmaker and his wife, Yvette, and attempted to shoot their daughter, according to prosecutors.

John and Yvette Hoffman sat in the front row of the courtroom as Boelter admitted to firing multiple shots at them, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune.

The Hoffman family said in a statement on Thursday, "There is not justice when our family and our state will never truly heal. While the legal process may provide accountability, true healing requires something more from all of us."

"The choice we've made is to go forward with public service and being present for our community," the family said. "The opportunity to justice is for Minnesotans and Americans to serve is to treat people with respect, to stop de-humanizing each other, and to stop dividing our country with hate and rhetoric.”

Following the attacks, police said they found a notebook in Boelter's abandoned, fake police car containing a list of elected officials who investigators suspect were targeted in a plot that the Minnesota U.S. attorney described at the time as the "stuff of nightmares."

Prosecutors said Boelter traveled to the homes of two other state lawmakers only to find no one at those locations.

Boelter has also pleaded not guilty to state charges. The Hennepin County Attorney's Office said Thursday that it will move forward with the state case. He faces charges of: two counts of first-degree premeditated murder, four counts of attempted first-degree murder, felony cruelty to an animal and impersonating a police officer, officials said.

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(WASHINGTON) -- A partial lockdown at the Pentagon implemented in response to a potential air quality issue has been lifted after no hazards were found, according to the Pentagon's chief spokesman.

Portions of the Pentagon had gone into a shelter-in-place earlier Thursday, after officials locked down multiple floors and hallways in response to a potential air hazard situation, according to three officials.

Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement earlier that building monitoring systems detected an air-quality issue, prompting precautionary measures while officials work to determine the source and extent of the problem.

In an update Thursday, Parnell said subsequent testing "confirmed no hazard exists, and normal operations have resumed."

Sources told ABC News earlier that authorities were investigating what caused a sensor to alert for a potential hazardous air quality issue at the Pentagon. Additional testing occurred to verify whether there was any hazard or if the sensor was faulty, multiple sources said.

In a message sent to Pentagon employees earlier Thursday, employees in certain corridors on select floors were urged to remain in place while awaiting testing results, which it noted could take one to two hours.

The Arlington County Fire Department said its hazardous materials team had responded to the Pentagon in support of the Pentagon Force Protection Agency's Hazmat Team "during a hazardous materials incident."

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(NEW YORK) -- The New York Knicks' historic comeback against the San Antonio Spurs in Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday ignited celebration as well as chaos outside Madison Square Garden as some fans went berserk, prompting dozens of arrests.

Rowdy fans got into fistfights, climbed scaffolding, blocked Midtown Manhattan traffic, set off fireworks and smoke bombs, ripped down street signs, climbed poles, jumped atop taxis and other moving vehicles, and damaged police vehicles, according to authorities and videos of the mayhem posted on social media.

And the Knicks haven't even won the championship -- yet. The team leads the best-of-seven series 3 games to 1, and can close it out in San Antonio on Saturday night.

But one fan hoisted themselves up in a bucket lift in Midtown Manhattan on Wednesday night to encourage the fans to party like it's 1973, the last time the Knicks won an NBA championship.

Another fan climbed on top of a big-rig truck stuck in a traffic jam, while a group of fans was caught on video stomping on a Citi Bike.

Ten police officers were injured in the post-game revelry, including one who was struck in the face with a glass bottle, the New York Police Department said.

Some Knicks fans even showed up at the hotel where the Spurs were staying and threw eggs at San Antonio's 7-foot-4 star Victor Wembanyama, according to online videos.

The wild scenes played out after the Knicks overcame a 29-point deficit to win the game. The biggest comeback in NBA Finals history was capped by a high-flying tip-in shot by Knicks' forward OG Anunoby with 1.2 seconds left in the game.

A fan watch party initially planned for Wednesday outside Madison Square Garden was canceled at the last minute by Garden officials in a dispute over the crowd being limited to 1,000 people and the strict rules enacted by police and city officials on spectator behavior.

"The NYPD wants New Yorkers to be able to enjoy these celebrations, but our primary responsibility is to ensure that everyone can do so safely," the NYPD said in a statement on Thursday morning. "Once again, there were large crowds of people who engaged in incredibly reckless and dangerous behavior last night both during and after the game. This demonstrates exactly why the NYPD has increased our presence in and around Madison Square Garden."

At multiple locations blocks from the Garden, crowds refused numerous verbal commands to disperse, police said. In total, there were 56 people taken into custody, including 15 who were arrested and 41 who were released with criminal court summonses, according to the NYPD.

Fans were arrested on suspicion of assault on a police officer, criminal possession of a weapon (a knife), reckless endangerment, criminal mischief, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, obstruction of governmental administration, and trademark counterfeiting, the NYPD said.

But the lockdown of streets adjacent to the Garden didn't stop Knicks fans from trying to get as close as they could to the arena.

During the Wednesday's game, thousands of unruly fans began gathering at various places north of Madison Square Garden. As the game progressed, the crowds became increasingly destructive, some jumping atop moving vehicles in the area.

At one point, about a dozen people, most wearing Knicks jerseys, jumped on top of a cab stuck in traffic and stomped on and busted the front windshield, while several revelers took turns using belts to whip the hood of the taxi, according to bystander video.

"We haven't seen a miracle like this since the birth of Jesus," a fan yelled into a camera.

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