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Virginia first lady, AG team with recovering addict to launch initiatives targeting state's fentanyl crisis
Christine Wright of Roanoke, Virginia, never thought she would give birth with her wrist and an ankle handcuffed to the hospital bed, like she remembered seeing in a movie growing up showing a woman having a baby while incarcerated.
To the now 35-year-old mother, it was the “worst of the worst,” and she struggled to wrap her head around how someone could put herself in that situation.
The long journey that landed Wright in the same situation involved drug addiction, a check-writing scheme, and a revolving door in and out of jail.
The journey also involved a 120-day substance abuse treatment program for inmates called “Alpha.”
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Christine Wright of Roanoke, Va., has been in recovery from addiction for eight years, and helped start the Four Truths Recovery Housing initiative to find beds for those in recovery. (It Only Takes One campaign)
“It was just a spiral of events that all led there without me really knowing how,” Wright told Fox News Digital. “I was an empty shell of a person that was numb and filled with self-loathing, and I had my daughter while in the Alpha program. Having one wrist and one ankle handcuffed to a hospital bed is a very humbling experience, and Alpha saved my life.”
Now, after eight years of recovery, Wright and Virginia first lady Suzanne Youngkin — wife of Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin — attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Roanoke on Tuesday for the first house obtained by Wright’s co-founded organization Four Truth’s Recovery, which will provide a space for those overcoming substance abuse. But even more fitting, the ceremony was held on National Fentanyl Awareness Day.
‘It only takes one’
Four Truths Recovery is just one of the many ways Wright has given her life to helping people with addiction. She not only works at the Bradley Free Clinic as a behavioral health manager, but she is also involved in first lady Youngkin’s “It Only Takes One” campaign, which focuses solely on the opioid crisis in Roanoke.
“Our messaging is very clear: It only takes one. Now, obviously, that speaks to the fact that you can take one pill, one joint, one vape to steal a light if it’s laced with fentanyl,” Youngkin told Fox News Digital. “But simultaneously, what we’re saying is it only takes one serious conversation.”
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Virginia first lady Suzanne Youngkin speaks during the “It Only Takes One” launch event in Roanoke, Jan. 30, 2024. (It Only Takes One campaign)
In 2022, nearly 2,000 people died from overdoses of fentanyl or other synthetic opioids in Virginia. The next year, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) seized 74.5 million fentanyl pills, exceeding the 58 million pills seized in 2022.
Lab tests show that about seven-in-10 pills seized by the DEA contain a lethal dose of fentanyl.
Roanoke has the highest per capita fentanyl-related deaths and ranks among the top 10 cities in the U.S. for the highest rate of overdose deaths.
Wright’s brush with death
Wright had her own brush with death when she overdosed on fentanyl.
The Roanoke native was born into a family with extensive genetics of addiction.
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Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares speaks during the “It Only Takes One” launch event in Roanoke, Jan. 30, 2024. (It Only Takes One campaign)
“I always said that I was going to get out and be different,” she said, explaining that her mother got her into dance classes when she was 5 years old, which became her escape from many things. “As the disease of addiction would have it, I began using around the age of 13.”
It was not peer pressure that pulled Wright into the outermost rings of drug use. Instead, she wanted to have her own say about things, and the drug use began with what she described as a, “free-spirited, hippie kind of mindset.
Wright first dabbled with marijuana and alcohol before moving to cocaine, which she described as giving a feeling of living fast and rowdy. Her drug use continued to progress into hallucinogens, too.
“I wanted to expand my mind,” she said. Wright wanted to try new things and went in with the naive perspective that she was not going to do too much.
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A pipe for methamphetamine use is shown at the People’s Harm Reduction Alliance, the nation’s largest needle-exchange program in Seattle. (Reuters/David Ryder)
While in high school, she tried methamphetamine for the first time and hated it so much she swore to never touch it again. She also saw a movie on MTV called “Smack,” which was about heroin, thinking that is the worst, or “rock bottom.”
“It just seemed terrible to me,” she said. “It seemed like the dirtiest of drugs, you know, in my mind. And it was like, ‘Oh, I’ll never go that far.’”
The consequences of using drugs in high school soon crept up on her as she totaled her Ford Mustang due to driving while on hallucinogens, and later got a DUI after driving while on marijuana. Despite the two incidents during her senior year, she never received treatment or changed anything about her life.
In her early 20s, she got married and became pregnant with her daughter in 2011. She and her husband were both recreational drug users, and Wright said she did not develop dependency on the drugs and was able to put everything down during her pregnancy.
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Bottles of prescription painkiller oxycodone hydrochloride sit on a pharmacy shelf in 2017. (Reuters/George Frey)
After giving birth, the doctor prescribed Wright the powerful opiod oxycodone hydrochloride — aka oxy — for her back pain.
“The scratch there was just sort of lying dormant inside of me,” she said. “I hadn’t addressed any trauma in my life. I hadn’t gained any new coping skills. I just put down the substances but didn’t really change anything in my life. So, that really is where things started.”
The downward spiral
Within the first month of using oxy, Wright was taking more than she was prescribed to help get through the day and not feel “utterly defeated” by her new tasks of being a mom — diaper changes, nursing, meals, laundry and a litany of other new responsibilities.
She was requesting early refills of oxy and continued using drugs recreationally until, eventually, the doctor cut her off from the medication because of the abuse.
Without a prescription, Wright started purchasing oxy on the street, where dealers charge $1 per milligram for the pills, or $30 per pill. She had built her tolerance up to about 10 pills, or $300 per day, despite her being a stay-at-home mom.
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This undated photo provided by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s Phoenix Division shows a closeup of the fentanyl-laced sky blue pills known on the street as “Mexican oxy.” (DEA)
To keep up with the habit, Wright pawned items, bribed family members and manipulated people for money.
One day she went to her dealer’s house to get more oxy, and he could not find the pills. Instead, he presented her with a bag of heroin.
“I was dope sick enough and desperate enough that I tried it,” she said. “My mind told me it’s cheaper, it’s more potent, it’s going to last longer…and I did it. From that day on, I would sell my soul for the next fix, and I did it for so long. I became someone I didn’t even recognize, and it was all of this fear and desperation.”
Wright said being dope sick is difficult to explain, but for her, the symptoms were “grueling,” and involved nausea, diarrhea, sweating, cold chills, and dry mouth.
“Your skin is crawling, almost like melting off your bones. Restless legs. You can’t sleep. It’s excruciating,” she said.
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A man prepares to inject heroin. (Reuters/Bor Slana)
Her daily routine involved waking up, chasing money and chasing drugs, all while dragging her child around with her.
Pregnant again
Amid the struggle to find and use drugs, Wright found out she was pregnant again and realized she could not stop cold turkey like she did during her previous pregnancy.
She sought help and was told she was too far along in her pregnancy to stop using it because it could be fatal to her son. Instead, Wright said she was told to continue using it until her son was born, then return for help.
“That was the most soul-shattering experience to know that I didn’t have to just chase the money, to chase the dope, to not be sick, but now to keep my son alive,” she said. “It just wrecked my soul.”
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Virginia first lady Suzanne Youngkin speaks during the “It Only Takes One” launch event in Roanoke in January. (It Only Takes One campaign)
Wright continued using drugs while also robbing and stealing from people.
When her son was born, she immediately began nursing him, so he did not go through withdrawal, until eventually mixing breast milk with formula to wean him off heroin.
Depression also sat in, and she chose not to get help.
“I thought everyone would be better off without me. I wouldn’t be a burden on my family, and my kids would have a better life,” she said. “Every time I used was to not wake up, and that’s when I, for the first time, came across fentanyl.”
Powerful fentanyl
After getting her next fix of drugs from her dealer, Wright went to get high and realized the color of the heroin was off. Instead of being brownish gray, it was white. Immediately, she thought she was ripped off, and she began scheming a way to sell the drugs to get more money and get a different supply.
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The Drug Enforcement Administration’s office in Houston said it seized more than 7 million fatal fentanyl doses in 2022. (U.S. State Department )
She also did some of the “tarnished” drugs, and before getting halfway through a cigarette, overdosed.
Instead of getting ripped off, Wright was sold something much more potent.
The overdose was the most bizarre thing Wright said she had ever experienced.
“I was not fully unconscious, I couldn’t move, I couldn’t open my eyes, I couldn’t speak, but I could still hear everything that was going on around me, and I could hear my children running up and down the hallway,” she said. “I could hear people in the living room, but I couldn’t ask for help.”
One individual went into the bathroom where Wright was located and picked her up. She said she remembered thinking, “Oh God. Yes, God. They’re saving my life.”
The person carried Wright into a bedroom, dropped her on the bed, and after struggling, her respiratory system held on, and she was later able to gasp for air.
“I think that one breath literally was the brink of either you stop breathing or you breathe now and live.”
“I think that one breath literally was the brink of either you stop breathing or you breathe now and live,” she said.
Wright began to rationalize that it was good stuff and regular heroin was not enough.
She knew someone who was manufacturing drugs and got involved in the process.
Wright also got involved with check writing to help fuel her drug habit.
One night, after a drug manufacturing session, Wright was high and heading home when she got pulled over by police with drugs and her children inside the car.
The law enforcement official who pulled her over told her she had 21 federal felony warrants for her arrest because of the check-writing scheme.
In and out of jail, pregnant again
A judge offered Wright to participate in the drug court program, which involved multiple weekly group meetings, random drug screenings, working or going to school full-time, weekly check-ins, and 100 hours of community service.
She said she was unable to meet the requirements as a person who, at that point, could not eat, sleep or shower on a consistent basis.
“I found out in an intake, in a cold, dark, jail cell, that I was pregnant again.”
“I was in and out of jail for sanctions for drug court,” Wright said. “In one of them, I found out in an intake, in a cold, dark, jail cell, that I was pregnant again, and I was terrified.”
Wright knew what the drugs did to her son, and at this point, she knew what they were doing to her body, as she had sores all over her face, teeth falling out and hair thinning.
During one of her 20-day jail stints, she considered having an abortion.
After getting out of jail, she made an appointment with a doctor the next day and was scheduled to have the abortion the following Saturday.
The day before the scheduled abortion, Wright met with her probation officer for a weekly check-in. The officer was aware she was using drugs, and she was arrested.
“That day saved my, and my daughter’s life. That was May 6, 2016,” she said. “My daughter would not be here today had that not happened, and I would not be in recovery had that not happened.”
The court told Wright she was not getting out of jail until after she had the baby and received treatment.
She was sentenced to a substance abuse program in the Western Virginia Regional Jail, and oftentimes had to go back and forth to doctor appointments while wearing a jumpsuit and handcuffs, until eventually she had her daughter, all while having a wrist and ankle handcuffed to the hospital bed.
Wright was in and out of jail because of sanctions by the drug court. (iStock)
After giving birth, Wright had a mental breakdown and was rushed to the psychiatric unit of the jail where she began an antidepressant medication program for about a month.
“I can look back now and recognize that one day it just seemed like the lighting was different in the room, and I was coming out from a fog of depression,” she said.
She also became part of the Alpha program, which included a therapeutic approach to substance abuse. Wright described the program as jail meets rehab, meets boot camp, meets college, all in one program.
“It basically tore me down just to build me back up in a very healthy way,” Wright said.
After about six months, she completed the program.
While in the program, she started reading about the Hope Initiative at the Bradley Free Clinic and thought she wanted to help people like her one day to show them they do not have to go so far down the rabbit hole.
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The Bradley Free Clinic in Roanoke, Va. (Google Maps)
The Hope Initiative opened in August 2016, and Wright graduated from Alpha in October the same year. The court required her to complete 100 hours of community service, and she decided to help the Hope Initiative as a volunteer.
“My life had totally changed at this point,” she said. “I felt like I had a fighting chance at life. I felt like maybe I wasn’t a terrible person, and maybe I could be a good mom, and I wanted it. I was hungry for it. I didn’t want to go back to the life of hopelessness.”
Four days after graduating from drug court, Wright was offered the first full-time staff position at the Hope Initiative. She said she thought they lost their minds when they offered her the position after everything she had gone through.
While they understood Wright had been through a lot, the people who wanted to hire her said that made her the perfect person to run the program.
Fentanyl poisoning
In September 2020, first lady Youngkin learned about a family friend who had died.
Youngkin said the family friend was a football player whom she described as a “very wonderful young man,” who was an athlete and grew up with her children in Great Falls.
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The young man was a walk-on football player at Clemson University and suddenly died.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin addresses a crowd during an early voting rally in Petersburg, Va., in September. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
“Not only were we traumatized and terrorized by his death, but his autopsy took a long time to come back because of the COVID pandemic,” she said.
It was not until the end of the year that she and the governor learned through the football player’s family that he died from fentanyl poisoning.
At the time, Youngkin admitted, she and her husband were not well versed on fentanyl, and the two of them looked at each other in shock and did not understand what it meant.
So, they decided to find out more about the illicit drugs until Youngkin was elected to serve as governor, giving them the ability to take the lead on issues facing Virginia residents.
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“I cannot sit idly by and ignore the fact that I was hearing and learning more and more about the tragedy associated with fentanyl, than I could ever imagine,” the first lady said. “We know that on average, five Virginians die a day from poisoning. Just last year, we lost more than 2,000 to fentanyl. That does not account for all the overdose deaths.”
She also said it takes the equivalent of two grains of salt to kill a human being, and even less to kill a young child.
“Needless to say, this leading cause of unnatural death in the Commonwealth of Virginia is an area of concern, and it’s something that I’m really talking a lot about because I want to break down the barriers of shame and a lack of education and make sure that Virginians, and in particular parents and educators, are empowered with the information they need to save lives,” Youngkin said.
“I want to break down the barriers of sham and a lack of education and make sure that Virginians, and in particular parents and educators, are empowered with the information they need to save lives.”
The first lady launched the “It Only Takes One” campaign earlier this year in Roanoke, because the city had seen a high percentage of overdose deaths.
The Roanoke Valley Collective, which Wright helped co-found, encompassed health care providers and recovery centers well on their way to educating citizens about the fentanyl crisis. The mayor of Roanoke was also interested in working with Youngkin, as was the school district superintendent, faith-based communities, the local sheriff, and a bipartisan group of legislators.
Youngkin said she partnered with a communication firm, Attorney General Jason Miyares, the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth, the Department of Health and the local stakeholders to launch the “It Only Takes One” campaign in Roanoke.
The program includes training the community on how to use naloxone to save someone from an overdose.
And rather than sit back and watch the progress, she gets involved and even carries naloxone next to her lipstick in the first lady’s handbag.
“If we could get that out to the communities, and we could empower people with that, I think it’ll go a very long way to addressing these really horrifying situations, like the one we saw in Travis County.”
Youngkin was referring to Travis County, Texas, where last week the City of Austin saw an unusual string of over 60 overdoses and nine deaths due to overdoses.
Youngkin, who is originally from Travis County, said a friend of hers in Texas, texted to inform her about the string of overdoses.
“Interestingly, there were a lot of lives saved, and you know why they were saved? Because so many first responders and individuals, caring individuals, are now learning how to administer lifesaving naloxone, or Narcan,” Youngkin said.
She acknowledged the changes in the danger of experimental drug use, where it could just be someone offering a Xanax or other pills to deal with attention deficit disorder or depression, which are now resulting in the loss of life.
We’re dealing with something very, very sinister that I think is going to require all of us to sit back and say, this is not a time to judge, this is a time to love,
“We’re dealing with something very, very sinister that I think is going to require all of us to sit back and say, this is not a time to judge, this is a time to love,” Youngkin said. “If I can do anything to encourage people to come out of the shadows and really step into a place of recovery and of addressing mental health and substance abuse disorder issues, I stand at the ready to do that.”
One pill can kill
Attorney General Miyares also launched the “One Pill Can Kill” campaign alongside Youngkin’s “It Only Takes One” campaign, to help reduce opioid deaths, educate Virginians on the dangers of fentanyl-laced drugs and improve community resources.
The “One Pill Can Kill” campaign includes a website with resources for Virginians, statewide billboards, and cable, broadcast and social media efforts.
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Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares speaks during the “It Only Takes One” launch event in Roanoke in January. (It Only Takes One campaign)
It was modeled after a national campaign launched by the DEA in 2022, which aired public service announcements statewide.
“At the end of the day, the addiction deaths in America are unlike anything we’ve ever seen, and now fentanyl is crossing our southern border to kill every man, woman and child in America, three times over,” Miyares told Fox News Digital. “Roughly 55,000 Americans died in the Vietnam War over the course of 15 years. So, we’re losing basically the equivalent to the Vietnam War every 12 months in this country.”
Over 70% of the counterfeit pills being taken off the streets are laced with fentanyl, he explained, adding that children sharing counterfeit Adderall pills to focus on final exams, or taking a counterfeit Xanax or Percocet, could ultimately overdose from fentanyl.
But he also said many of the overdoses are linked to counterfeit pills being purchased illegally online.
“You think you’re taking one thing, and you’re actually taking something very, very different.”
“You think you’re taking one thing, and you’re actually taking something very, very different,” Miyares said. “It is the worst addiction epidemic and overdose epidemic the United States has ever faced, and it is an unholy alliance. It’s an unholy alliance between the People’s Republic of China that sends the precursor chemicals to Mexico with the cartels. They have joined an unholy alliance to poison our kids. That’s what they’re doing, and that’s exactly what’s happening.”
Finding her way
Four years after being offered a full-time position with the Hope Initiative, Wright was offered the behavioral health program manager position.
As she built the program, Wright also found gaps in the care system and became a founding member of the Roanoke Valley Collective Response, bringing people together from all sectors to help fill the gaps.
The group started mapping the gaps, and one of the biggest gaps was housing for recovering addicts.
In 2021, she said the collective response and Virginia Tech did a recovery housing study that identified the need for over 900 recovery housing beds in the Roanoke community.
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Christine Wright smiles during a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the first Four Truths Recovery home Tuesday in Roanoke, Va. (Credit: Taylored Images and Four Truths Recovery)
But expectations were deflated when action did not happen immediately, or even within the first two years.
Wright and one of her colleagues continued to talk about the next steps and started a recovery housing program.
The two found an opportunity for funding and established the Four Truths Recovery Housing program as a nonprofit organization. By April 1, they obtained their first house, which was celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday.
“My favorite quote is, ‘Where there is breath, there is hope,’” Wright said. “If you are still alive and breathing, there is hope for a way out.”
Today, Wright is a mother in recovery with children. She is trying to break the generation’s cycle of addiction, by educating them on all the things she experienced and all the things they may encounter.
Her philosophy is: “The more people know, the better chance they have to avoid a very tragic and often unexpected outcome.”
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Christine Wright, right, and Virginia first lady Suzanne Youngkin attend the ribbon-cutting for the first Four Truths Recovery home Tuesday in Roanoke, Va. (Credit: Taylored Images and Four Truths Recovery)
Since starting with the Hope Initiative, Wright estimates that she has helped over 2,500 people in the program, of which more than 80% had successful access to treatment and recovery resources of their choice.
But that’s just on data she has access to. The numbers do not reflect the countless number of people she has affected through conversations about her past, whether speaking at schools, churches and other places.
When asked if she could, would she ever go back and warn her 13-year-old self about the decisions she made, Wright had mixed feelings.
“As absolutely horrific as the journey has been, and the pain and suffering that it has inflicted on my child and my family and my community, I honestly can’t say that I would change a thing,” she said. “I would not be the person that I am today, had I not been through such struggles. I don’t think I would have the gratitude that I have for just the simplest of things: my kids’ laugh, the sunshine.
“I think I would take a lot of things for granted, had I not been through the struggles I went through. So, I don’t know. But I would tell her that what she needs is healing.”
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Trump, BBC agree on mediator for $10 billion lawsuit over Jan 6 documentary editing controversy
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President Donald Trump and The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) agreed on a mediator on Tuesday to help resolve the president’s $10 billion lawsuit.
The BBC has come under intense scrutiny over a 2024 Panorama documentary about Trump’s Jan. 6, 2021, speech delivered before the riot at the U.S. Capitol. Critics called the documentary misleading because it omitted Trump’s call for supporters to protest peacefully. Trump sued the BBC in December for both defamation and for a violation of Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act for $5 billion apiece, seeking $10 billion total.
While ABC and CBS have both settled lawsuits with Trump in the past year, the BBC has vowed to fight the case. The two sides agreed on John W. Thornton, Esq., to serve as a pretrial mediator, who will seek a resolution.
President Donald Trump and The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) agreed on a mediator on Tuesday to help resolve the president’s $10 billion lawsuit. (Patrick van Katwijk/Getty Images)
“The BBC defamed President Trump by intentionally and deceitfully editing its documentary in order to try and interfere in the Presidential election. President Trump will continue to hold accountable those who traffic in lies, deception, and fake news,” a spokesperson for Trump’s legal team told Fox News Digital.
The BBC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump’s suit, filed in the Southern District of Florida Federal Court, was filed in a personal capacity and named the BBC and BBC Studios Productions as defendants. The parties have proposed a mediation session the week of Oct. 26. Mediation, a standard case management step required by the court, is contingent on the outcome of a jurisdictional challenge the BBC is expected to submit later this month.
“As we have made clear previously, we will be defending this case. We are not going to make further comment on ongoing legal proceedings,” a BBC spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
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President Donald Trump has tangled in the courts with several media organizations. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)
The BBC previously issued an apology for the erroneous edit and said it had pulled the program from its platforms, but a spokesperson for the broadcaster added, “While the BBC sincerely regrets the manner in which the video clip was edited, we strongly disagree there is a basis for a defamation claim.”
The controversy began with a bombshell report from The Telegraph that featured excerpts from a whistleblower dossier compiled by Michael Prescott, a communications advisor hired by the BBC to review its editorial standards.
The whistleblower revealed that the BBC “Panorama” documentary released in 2024 had a misleading edit of comments Trump made at the rally that preceded the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
The documentary omitted Trump urging his supporters to protest “peacefully” and instead spliced two separate comments made nearly an hour apart, making it appear he was calling for violence.
“We’re going to walk down to the Capitol. And I’ll be there with you. And we fight — we fight like hell,” the documentary showed Trump saying, with no indication the statements came far apart.
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In reality, Trump said, “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol. And we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women, and we’re probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them because you’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength and you have to be strong.” It was 54 minutes later that Trump called on his supporters to “fight like hell” for election integrity.
The New York Times referred to the ordeal as “one of the worst crises in its 103-year history” of the BBC. The blunder led to the resignations of BBC News CEO Deborah Turness and BBC director-general Tim Davie.
Turness insisted in an interview last week that the BBC does not have any institutional bias against Trump.
Trump’s legal team suggested the defendants “timed the publication of the Panorama Documentary to be close in time to the 2024 Presidential Election” and the value of the president’s “personal brand alone is reasonably estimated to be worth tens of billions of dollars.”
Fox News Digital’s Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.
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Police warned prosecutors 3 times about violent illegal immigrant before he allegedly killed Virginia mother
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Newly uncovered emails show the Fairfax County Police Department warned the county’s commonwealth attorney about a criminal illegal migrant with more than 30 previous arrests at least three times before he allegedly stabbed a mother to death in the Washington, D.C., area.
Abdul Jalloh, 32, was charged with murder after allegedly stabbing 41-year-old Stephanie Minter to death at a bus stop in Fairfax County, Virginia, in late February.
Jalloh, an illegal immigrant from Sierra Leone in West Africa who had lived in Virginia since the age of 9, was arrested at a liquor store one day after the stabbing when an employee called 911 to report Jalloh was shoplifting.
Abdul Jalloh, 32, is accused of killing Stephanie Minter, 41, at a Virginia bus stop. (Fox 5 DC)
According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Jalloh entered the country in 2012 and has more than a dozen arrests in northern Virginia.
His criminal history includes more than 30 arrests for charges of rape, malicious wounding, assault, drug possession, identity theft, trespassing, larceny, firing a weapon, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and pick-pocketing, yet his charges were dropped by local prosecutors almost every time, according to DHS.
Emails obtained by WJLA showed the Fairfax County Police Department (FCPD) warned Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano’s office about Jalloh on at least three occasions, but no action was taken to remove him from the country.
In an email to Fairfax County Chief Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Jenna Sands, a Fairfax County police major said he wanted to bring Jalloh’s release to her attention because he “is one of the repeat (and violent) offenders” they had previously discussed.
Abdul Jalloh on a bus in Virginia (Fairfax County Police Department)
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“I wanted to get your background on why he is out so soon and ask if his prior suspended sentence (of I believe 5 years) was pursued by your office? Unfortunately, based on MTV Station’s numerous dealings with him, it is not a question of if, but rather when he will maliciously wound (or worse) again. My role of keeping the public safe, prompts me to follow up on his status,” the major wrote.
In another email discussing a bond alert from August 2025, a FCPD employee told Assistant Police Chief Brooke Wright that Jalloh had more than 100 incidents with FCPD resulting in multiple charges spanning from theft to violent crimes, according to the outlet.
“JALLOH’s offenses began with domestic violence incidents and escalated to assaulting other victims and threats with weapons (knives),” the employee wrote in the email. “He has been involved in multiple stabbing incidents with victims identifying him as the offender in these cases. This year JALLOH has been the offender in a malicious wounding where he stabbed a man in May 2025, in which he received a bond on July 31, 2025 — three weeks later, this incident occurred where he assaulted an older male and stomped his head into the ground.”
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The employee added a list of Jalloh’s criminal history to the email, which included:
2014: Assault on family member (nolle prossed)
2015: Assault on family member (nolle prossed)
2017: ID theft to avoid arrest (guilty)
2017: Assault (guilty)
2018: Possession of marijuana (guilty)
2018: Destruction of property (guilty) — Original charge: malicious shoot/throw occupied building
2018: Contributing to the delinquency of a minor (nolle prossed)
2018: Rape (nolle prossed)
2018: Grand larceny (nolle prossed)
2022: Trespassing (nolle prossed)
2023: Trespassing (guilty)
2023: Disorderly conduct (guilty)
2023: Possession of a schedule three substance (guilty) — Original charge: possession of a schedule one or two substance
2023: Malicious wounding (nolle prossed)
2023: Malicious wounding (guilty) — Sentenced to seven years, with five years suspended to probation
2023: Stealing property from a person (nolle prossed)
2024: Petit larceny (nolle prossed)
2024: Trespassing (nolle prossed)
2024: Petit larceny (nolle prossed)
2024: Disorderly conduct (nolle prossed)
2024: Malicious wounding (nolle prossed)
2024: Failure to appear in court (dismissed)
2025: Malicious wounding
*Nolle pressed refers to a prosecutor’s formal decision to drop criminal charges.
In response to the email, Wright said Sands “had a specific conversation regarding them prosecuting without a victim in court for the stabbing given the circumstances, and she was on board with a victimless prosecution.”
In a May 2025 email obtained by WJLA, police emailed Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano’s office — including Sands and other prosecutors — warning that Jalloh “has a history of stabbing community members and was on probation during the most recent assault.”
“For those reasons and the reasons outlined in the document, we ask that you argue he continues to be held at the ADC,” an officer wrote.
The email also explained a May 4, 2025, incident in which Jalloh allegedly stabbed a man in the leg while he was sleeping with his girlfriend.
“Without hesitation, the Victim stated that Jallow was the person who stabbed him. Jalloh has been charged with numerous Malicious woundings and been convicted of one in 2023 and [is] currently out on probation for the aforementioned crime and living in an OAR provided motel room,” the officer wrote.
OAR is a nonprofit in Fairfax County that provides “alternatives to incarceration” for criminals.
VIRGINIA MURDER SUSPECT IN BUS STOP STABBING HAD LENGTHY CRIMINAL HISTORY, MULTIPLE DROPPED CHARGES
Similar to the other email, the officer included a list of prior police involvement, including an incident from April 14, 2024, during which Jalloh allegedly stabbed a homeless man in the head and upper body while he was sleeping at a bus stop, telling him, “get up, you can’t sleep here.”
Later that same day, Jalloh allegedly stabbed a woman in the head after attacking her and stealing her money, according to the email.
Other incidents included Jalloh allegedly choking a woman, stomping on her, burning her chest and raping her in October 2018, stabbing a person inside a McDonald’s in January 2023 and stabbing an elderly man in February 2023.
The email also said police had a record of 178 incidents, citing Jalloh as a known shoplifter and noting he “is often intoxicated/high and located w/narcotics on his person.”
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger has said DHS would need to provide a signed judicial warrant from a local judge to ensure that Jalloh is deported. (Department of Homeland Security/Getty Images)
“DANGER This individual has a long history of stabbing community members and is currently on probation for doing that very thing,” the officer wrote. “He has shown a blatant disregard for human life and is a danger to the community.”
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said his department “respect[s] the criminal justice system and the distinct roles and responsibilities of each entity within it.”
“In previous cases involving this defendant, our officers and detectives conducted thorough investigations, made lawful arrests, and presented evidence for prosecution,” Davis wrote. “The court outcomes are in no way related to any shortcomings associated with the FCPD. This defendant must be held accountable for his actions. We remain committed to our role to ensure that happens.”
DEM GOVERNOR UNDER FIRE AFTER ILLEGAL ALIEN ALLEGEDLY STABS WOMAN TO DEATH AT BUS STOP: ‘HEINOUS’
Despite Jalloh’s criminal history and the recent killing of Minter, Democratic Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger said she would not honor a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer, which is a written request for law enforcement to maintain custody of a person for up to 48 hours after their scheduled release to allow for transfer to ICE custody.
A governor’s spokesperson told WJLA that DHS would need to provide a signed judicial warrant from a local judge to ensure that Jalloh is deported.
“Sanctuary [Gov. Abigail Spanberger] is fighting to protect a MURDERER over American citizens,” DHS wrote in an X post. “This monster is responsible for fatally stabbing Stephanie Minter. ICE does NOT need judicial warrants to make arrests.
“The heroes of ICE will continue to arrest and remove criminal illegal aliens across the Commonwealth while Governor Spanberger RELEASES them from jails into Virginia communities to commit more crimes and create more victims.”
In early February, Spanberger ended cooperation with state agencies and federal immigration authorities through an executive directive, claiming she had “serious concerns that chaotic federal law enforcement actions across the country are eroding years of trust,” adding immigration enforcement “contributes to a culture of fear and distrust.”
A Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office spokesperson told Fox News Digital the office “was aware of Jalloh’s criminal history and shared police concerns about potential future dangerousness. That is why our Chief Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney personally handled these cases.”
The spokesperson said prosecutors “will often explore many different pathways to successful prosecution, but, at the end of the day, our decisions are constrained by what testimony is available and what is legally permissible and practicable in Fairfax courts.”
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Spanberger’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Preston Mizell contributed to this report.
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Southeast
Family member of American killed by Cuban forces in boat shootout says he was on ‘diabolical’ mission
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The brother of an American citizen killed in a brazen boat clash with Cuban forces says his sibling was consumed by an “obsessive and diabolical” push to free the island and that “no one knew” what he was planning.
American citizen Michel Ortega Casanova, who worked as a truck driver, was one of 10 passengers on a Florida-registered boat that allegedly opened fire on Cuban soldiers in an attempt to infiltrate the island.
A Monroe County Sheriff’s Office incident report obtained by Fox News noted the boat’s owner reported it stolen Wednesday after hearing about the Cuba shootout on the news.
The owner, who did not speak English, told deputies his 24-foot vessel went missing, and he suspected an employee named Hector — who had two young daughters in Cuba — may have taken it.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio addressed an incident involving Cuban forces and a speedboat Wednesday before returning to Washington, D.C., after meetings with Caribbean Community leaders at Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport in Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis. (Jonathan Ernst/Pool/Reuters)
Ortega Casanova, who lived in the U.S. for more than two decades, was one of four killed in the attempt. He is survived by his wife, mother, brother, two sisters, daughter and unborn grandchild.
Six other passengers, all Cubans living in the U.S., were injured. It is unclear if Hector was on board.
Ortega Casanova’s brother, Misael, told The Associated Press Wednesday that his brother had an “obsessive and diabolical” pursuit for Cuba’s freedom.
“Only us Cubans who have lived over there understand [the great suffering],” Misael said.
He said “no one knew” about his brother’s plans to infiltrate the island, noting their mother is “devastated.”
“They became so obsessed that they didn’t think about the consequences nor their own lives,” Misael said.
While Ortega Casanova’s family did not recognize any of the other passengers, Misael said, “maybe [the attempt] will justify that some day Cuba will be free.”
CUBA IS APPROACHING ITS BERLIN WALL MOMENT — AMERICA MUST HELP THEM BREAK THROUGH
Cuban Coast Guard forces reported an exchange of gunfire with a U.S.-registered speedboat Wednesday. (Yamil Lage/AFP via Getty Images)
He refrained from labeling the group heroes, describing the idea as “ignorance.”
Cuban officials said many of the boat passengers, who were intercepted roughly a mile northeast of Cayo Falcones, off Cuba’s north coast, had a known history of criminal and violent activity.
Passengers Amijail Sánchez González and Leordan Enrique Cruz Gómez were wanted by Cuban authorities for their involvement in the “promotion, planning, organization, financing, support or commission of actions carried out in the national territory or in other countries, in connection with acts of terrorism,” according to the government.
Cuban politician Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla posted to X after the incident, claiming a “rigorous investigation” is being conducted to clarify the facts.
CUBA IDENTIFIES 32 MILITARY PERSONNEL KILLED IN US OPERATION AGAINST MADURO REGIME IN VENEZUELA
“Cuba has had to face numerous terrorist and aggressive infiltrations originating from #EEUU since 1959, at a high cost in lives, injuries, and material damage,” Rodriguez Parrilla wrote in a post. “The defense of Cuba’s coasts, of the national territory, and of national security is an ineludible duty.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. is working to determine whether the passengers were American citizens or permanent residents.
U.S. officials said at least two of the people on the bat were U.S. citizens, and another was on a U.S. K-1 visa — which is granted to fiancées of U.S. citizens for 90 days.
“We have various different elements of the U.S. government that are trying to identify elements of the story that may not be provided to us now,” Rubio told reporters in Basseterre, St. Kitts.
“Suffice it to say, it is highly unusual to see shootouts in open sea like that. It’s not something that happens every day. It’s something, frankly, that hasn’t happened with Cuba in a very long time.”
Cuban officials said the vessel’s passengers were intercepted off the country’s northern coast. (Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto)
RUSSIA WARNS AGAINST ‘PROVOCATIVE ACTIONS’ AROUND CUBA AFTER 4 KILLED ONBOARD US-REGISTERED SPEEDBOAT
Rubio said the U.S. will verify the facts independently, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Coast Guard are investigating.
Vice President JD Vance said he was briefed on the incident, and the White House is monitoring the situation.
“Hopefully it’s not as bad as we fear it could be,” Vance said.
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Florida’s Attorney General James Uthmeier said prosecutors will work with federal, state and law enforcement partners to start an investigation.
“The Cuban government cannot be trusted, and we will do everything in our power to hold these communists accountable,” Uthmeier wrote in a social media post.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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