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Trump meets with Rachel Morin family at border, Maryland mom of 5 murdered by illegal immigrant suspect

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Trump meets with Rachel Morin family at border, Maryland mom of 5 murdered by illegal immigrant suspect

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Former President Trump on Friday met with the family of Rachel Morin, the Maryland mother of five who was brutally attacked and murdered, allegedly by an illegal immigrant suspect from El Salvador in August 2023.

Trump’s visit to the southern border and meeting with the Morin family came during his campaign stop in Cochise County, Arizona.

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“The reason I came here today and I accepted the invitation is because I really want our words to be heard, and I really want you to take to heart what we’re saying,” Patty Morin said. “We’re not here for a political stand, although we are. We’re here because we’re losing our moms, our daughters, our children, to criminals, and that shouldn’t happen. We should be taking care of our country, our people, and the only way I think that’s going to happen is if President Trump is reelected as president.”

Patty went on to share the story of how she came to learn that her daughter had been murdered.

“We should be taking care of our country, our people, and the only way I think that’s going to happen is if President Trump is reelected as president.”

RACHEL MORIN MURDER: MARYLAND LAWMAKER CONFRONTS MAYORKAS OVER ‘FAILURE’ INVOLVING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT SUSPECT

“Rachel was 37 years old. She had five children. She worked. She owned a small business. She worked very hard to support her family, and the trail that Rachel ran daily was a trail that we as a family would walk over the last 25 that we’ve lived in Maryland,” she began, referring to the Ma & Pa Trail in Bel-Air, Maryland, that Rachel ran on regularly, as she was on the evening she was killed.

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“It’s a very safe, small trail. Very public, very open. Moms with baby carriages go down the trial. It’s very safe,” Patty said.

WATCH: BODY CAMERA FOOTAGE OF MIGRANT ACCUSED IN RAPE, MURDER OF MARYLAND MOM RACHEL MORIN

U.S. Republican Presidential Candidate and former President Donald Trump comforts Patty Morin, mother of the Rachel Morin who was murdered by an undocumented migrant, at the U.S.-Mexico border on August 22, 2024 south of Sierra Vista, Arizona. Trump will hold a rally in Glendale, Arizona tomorrow. (Rebecca Noble)

She was in Kentucky at the time of Rachel’s death, visiting family because her grandchild had just passed away, when she got a call from a Maryland detective saying they found Rachel’s body.

“They found my daughter’s body, and when they found it…it just recently came out that she was brutally beaten, raped and then stuffed into a drain pipe,” Patty recalled.

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ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT INDICTED FOR RACHEL MORIN’S MURDER IN ‘CRUCIAL STEP’: FAMILY LAWYER

Rachel Morin was dragged off a hiking trail Aug. 5, 2023, and brutally murdered.  (Family handout)

“We are 1,008 miles from the border, and because of this open border, we’ve had not just my daughter, but we’ve had two in the same county … where illegal immigrants have come in and have caused rape and murder of our citizens,” she said.

In June of this year, Harford County Sheriff Jeffery Gahler announced the arrest of Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez, a 23-year-old illegal immigrant from El Salvador, in Morin’s murder.

RACHEL MORIN MURDER: MARYLAND LAWMAKER CONFRONT MAYORKAS OVER ‘FAILURE’ INVOLVING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT SUSPECT

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Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez, 23, arrives in Maryland. He is charged with first-degree murder and first-degree rape in Rachel Morin’s death on the Ma & Pa Heritage Trail in Bel Air, Maryland. (Jerry Jackson/The Baltimore Sun/Getty Images)

Martinez-Hernandez was apprehended in Tusla, Oklahoma, and faces charges of first-degree murder, rape and kidnapping, in connection with Morin’s death. 

Authorities have labeled him a potential serial killer after his alleged involvement in a slew of crimes against women in Central America and the United States, and prosecutors are seeking a life sentence without the possibility of parole for the suspect.

RACHEL MORIN MURDER: MARYLAND POLICE TIE CRIME SCENE DNA TO LOS ANGELES ASSAULT, HOME INVASION

The Harford County Sheriff’s Office in Maryland posted signs at Ma & Pa Trail heads on June 17, 2024 announcing the arrest in the August 2023 murder of Rachel Morin. (Harford County Sheriff’s Office/Facebook)

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Investigators also tied DNA found at the scene of Morin’s murder to DNA found inside a Los Angeles residence after a home invasion in March of last year.

“Once in our country, and likely emboldened by his anonymity, he attacked a 9-year-old girl and her mother during a home invasion in March of 2023 in Los Angeles,” Gahler said at the time of the suspect’s arrest. “And as everyone I believe is aware, that was our first DNA match linking Rachel’s case to the one in Los Angeles.”

MARYLAND SHERIFF’S ‘GUT’ SAYS RACHEL MORIN WAS ‘STALKED’ BY SUSPECT BEFORE HER MURDER

A policeman holds fliers requesting information on the murder of Rachel Morin at the Ma and Pa Trail in Bel Air, Maryland, on Tuesday, August 8, 2023. The trail is where 37-year-old Rachel Morin was found dead on Sunday. (Mega for Fox News Digital)

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Despite the DNA match linking the two cases, however, authorities were unable to find an identity match for the DNA samples collected from either crime scene because it was not previously logged in the national Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) system, where authorities log DNA samples of offenders arrested in the United States.

“We are 1800 miles from the southern border,” Gahler said in June. “And American citizens are not safe because of their failed immigration policies.”

Fox News’ Sarah Rumpf and Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.

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Los Angeles, Ca

Long Beach man arrested for murder in deadly hit-and-run crash

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Long Beach man arrested for murder in deadly hit-and-run crash

A 23-year-old man from Long Beach is in custody following a deadly hit-and-run crash in Riverside County Saturday.

The crash happened around 8:09 a.m. near the intersection of Dinah Shore Drive and George Montgomery Way in the city of Rancho Mirage, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

Deputies responded and found one of the involved drivers, 57-year-old Teresa Bowlin of Cathedral City, dead at the scene. The other driver, Tyler Conant of Long Beach, ran from the scene of the crash, according to the sheriff’s department.

23-year-old Tyler Conant of Long Beach was arrested for murder following a deadly hit-and-run in Riverside County on May 16, 2025. (Riverside County Sheriff’s Department)

“During the investigation, it was determined that Conant was under the influence of alcohol [at the time of the crash],” the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said.

Conant was arrested and booked into the John Benoit Detention Center for murder and felony hit-and-run.

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The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information about the crash is asked to contact Deputy Bret Meservey at (760) 836-1600.

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Los Angeles, Ca

Long Beach to hold new pride festival after previous one canceled

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Long Beach to hold new pride festival after previous one canceled

Long Beach will hold a pride festival this weekend after the one they originally had scheduled was canceled.

Long Beach city officials said the celebration was nixed after the nonprofit that organizes it, Long Beach Pride, failed to submit the required information for an event permit. 

It was supposed to start on Friday and last through Sunday.

“Despite continued collaboration and multiple deadline notices, the City did not receive the required documentation needed to complete safety reviews, inspect critical event infrastructure, such as the stage, electrical systems and tent, and emergency exiting plans to ensure compliance with public safety standards,” the city of Long Beach said in a statement. “With event programming scheduled to begin on May 15 at 5 p.m. with Teen Pride and essential information still outstanding, there is no longer sufficient time to safely permit the festival this year.” 

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Officials noted that they were working to see if a “shortened event” could be held this weekend, and indeed, an agreement was reached to stage a one-day gathering on Sunday. 

Billed as “Canceled? Never Heard of Her!” and emceed by comedian and drag queen Jewels, it will still bring the city’s LGBTQ community together after Sunday morning’s Long Beach Pride Parade, which was not canceled.

“Long Beach Pride weekend is a culmination of celebrations put on by our community, including our many vibrant restaurants, bars and businesses, and that will never change,” Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson said in a press release issued late Saturday night. “Along with the Pride Parade, we are proud to join the party with this new event that reaffirms what this City has always stood for: that every person belongs here.”

“The festival may have been canceled, but Long Beach drag artists don’t cancel joy,” added Jewels Long Beach.

The one-day “Canceled? Never Heard of Her!” festival will take place at Bixby Park from noon to 7 p.m. Sunday. A free event, it will include music by several performers and a drag show. 

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More information can be found here.  

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Los Angeles, Ca

L.A. Jewish institution among targets of foiled terrorist attack, U.S. officials say

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L.A. Jewish institution among targets of foiled terrorist attack, U.S. officials say

A Jewish institution in Los Angeles was among the locations targeted in a recently foiled terrorism plot, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton announced this week.

The thwarted terrorist attacks were the result of the recent arrest of Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, an Iraqi national and senior member of Kata’ib Hizballah, U.S. officials said.

“Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, a commander for the terrorist organization, Kata’ib Hizballah, faces serious charges for his role in numerous attacks against U.S. interests across the globe, including his efforts to kill on U.S. soil,” Clayton said. “As alleged, for years, Al-Saadi committed himself to furthering the terrorist goals of Kata’ib Hizballah and the IRGC, two terrorist organizations dedicated to harming the United States and its allies.”

Al-Saadi recently attempted to carry out attacks in the U.S., officials said, including attacks at Jewish cultural places of interest in New York, Los Angeles and Scottsdale, Ariz.

“Al-Saadi attempted to disrupt American society through intimidation and violence,” a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office reads. “… Those who engage in or support terrorism against Americans and on U.S. soil should take note:  the whole of the federal government is committed to dismantling terrorist organizations and bringing their members to justice.”

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In a three-month period, Al-Saadi allegedly directed 18 terrorist attacks throughout Europe, including bombings, arson, and assaults targeting American citizens and points of interest. Prior to his arrest, national security officials say he was planning similar attacks on U.S. soil. Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said that  Al-Saadi “presented a serious threat to our national security.”

The European attacks included the bombing of the Bank of New York Mellon, an American bank, in Amsterdam on March 15. On April 29, two Jewish men, one of whom was a dual U.S.-British citizen, were stabbed and seriously injured in London.

In 2020, Al-Saadi took to social media, calling for others to attack and kill Americans in retribution for the deaths of Iranian military officer Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi military commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, U.S. officials said. In more recent months, Al-Saadi allegedly used social media to encourage the killing of Americans and Jews to further the terrorist goals of Kata’ib Hizballah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

“In or about February 2026, for example, AL-SAADI posted on one of his social media accounts a message in Arabic, which read in part, ‘Do not abandon the blood of your Imam of the time, oh Shiites of Iraq. Kill everyone who supports America and Israel. Do not leave any of them remaining. Civil and military targets, as well as voices of discord, kill them everywhere.’” U.S. officials said.

NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch confirmed that one of the U.S. targets was a Manhattan synagogue. On April 3, Al-Saadi allegedly spoke to an undercover law enforcement officer whom Al-Saadi believed could carry out attacks in the U.S. That same day, Al-Saadi allegedly texted the undercover officers photographs and maps showing the exact location of a prominent Jewish synagogue in New York City. 

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Officials have not said what specific locations in L.A. and Arizona were targeted by the terrorist group.

Al-Saadi now faces numerous charges for these crimes in U.S. court. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison.

The case is under investigation by the FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, which is comprised of investigators and analysts from the FBI, the NYPD, the FBI Washington Field Office, Counterterrorism Division, and more than 50 other federal, state, and local agencies. Investigators also received help from the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, Counterterrorism Section, the Office of International Affairs of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

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