Southeast
'MAGA' dress designer forced to remove Trump signs from business, residence when 'Karen' called the police
A dress designer and shop owner in Occoquan, Virginia, is at a loss following a bizarre encounter with a local woman who called the police on his boutique for demonstrating his First Amendment rights by hanging Trump signs out front.
Andre Soriano, an atelier dress designer who is well-known for curating the “Make America Great Again” gown singer-songwriter Joy Villa wore to the 2017 Grammy Awards, received legal notice that he must remove signs in support of former President Trump from his business.
“I actually started a flag war here in Occoquan, Virginia,” Soriano told Fox News Digital during a video interview.
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Andre Soriano designed the dress singer-songwriter Joy Villa wore to the 2017 Grammy Awards. (Fox News Digital; Getty Images)
Soriano said though the first few moments of the encounter were pleasant, almost immediately, he was met with irrationality and backlash about the patriotic decor perched at the front of the store.
“The reason I put my Trump dress outside is, so I don’t have to encounter [this],” Soriano said.
Audra Johnson, a political activist and friend of Soriano, recorded the run in and posted it to social media after he texted her for help with the scene.
“I have a video of her hiding in a bush,” Johnson told Fox News Digital. “I don’t know what she was doing.”
“This wokeism is real,” Soriano is heard telling the police officer in one of the videos. “The ‘Karens’ are real. They’re crying for nothing. Because of a sign. Come on.”
“Karen” is a slang term referring to an entitled White person.
“We always have them,” Johnson said. “We have a love of ‘Karens’.”
Soriano and Johnson said that previously, women have thrown stink bombs in the store and popped their heads in to scream derogatory phrases.
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The duo said the woman was hysterically crying in the street and that she did call the police. A lone officer removed the woman from the store’s entrance and Johnson said she was taken to a local restaurant to “calm her down”.
“As an American citizen, as a First Amendment in our great nation, you can express yourself by putting your signs in your home and expressing who you are as an individual, whether it’s religion, whether it’s politics or anything that you feel, without harming anyone,” Soriano said. “That’s just the freedom of artistic expression and being free in America, and nowadays, you can’t even express that.”
Soriano and Johnson live in the residences above the store. After being cited by the city to remove the Trump-supporting signs from the business, they suspended them from their homes, despite having been hung for years prior to the incident.
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Joy Villa has been known to sport dresses that Hollywood finds controversial to red carpet events. The first she wore was the “Make America Great Again” dress that Andre Soriano designed for her in 2017 after Donald Trump won the presidency. (Getty Images)
However, they were cited a second time to remove some, but not all, the signs.
“We’re just trying our hardest to not get fines we can’t pay,” Johnson said.
“We follow rules,” Soriano said. “We don’t disrespect anyone.”
The business owner is appalled by the ordinance as he believes America is the “land of the free, not the land of what people think.”
“I’m an American designer,” Soriano said. “I am free to express and create whatever I want.”
Soriano, originally from the Philippines, said his mother immigrated the family to America when he was a teenager to live the American Dream.
JOY VILLA: WHY I CHOOSE LIFE OVER ABORTION – THE INCREDIBLE JOURNEY THAT BEGAN FOR ME AT 20
Political activist and friend of Andre Soriano caught a woman on camera throwing a fit and calling the police on Soriano’s gown shop for having signs in support of Trump hanging out front. (Andre Soriano)
“I love America,” Soriano said.
The fashion designer said he was once employed by stars, including Rihanna, Pharrell Williams, Miley Cyrus and Courtney Love, but was blacklisted when he designed the infamous “MAGA” dress from 2017.
“That’s when our lives changed,” he said. “We had death threats.”
“There are a lot of celebrities in Hollywood that are very divisive, and they didn’t really like President Trump,” Soriano said.
The creative director added that he lost his friends, clients and potential business opportunities in California.
Johnson was also blacklisted as a stage and film actress when she was photographed marching at Rosa Parks Circle in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with a sign that read “Trump is your president.”
“We’re in an industry where we can’t just say what we want or how we feel,” Johnson said.
“We don’t fit the mold.”
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Southeast
NASCAR star Denny Hamlin gives health update on mom after she was injured in deadly house fire
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NASCAR star Denny Hamlin shared an update on his mother’s condition after she was moved to a burn unit following a house fire in North Carolina that left his father dead earlier this week.
Hamlin thanked those who reached out to him and shared their condolences. Dennis Hamlin died from injuries suffered in the blaze that occurred in Stanley.
Denny Hamlin looks on prior to a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025, in Concord, North Carolina. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley, File)
“Thank you to everyone who has reached out with condolences on my father’s passing,” he wrote on X. “My mother continues to improve, and our family truly appreciates the outpouring of support and the respect for our privacy during this time.”
Officials said Mary Lou Hamlin was transferred to a burn specialist in Winston-Salem to treat her injuries.
Officials said the cause of the fire was still under investigation.
The fire broke out at a home in Stanley around 6 p.m. ET on Sunday, which drew emergency responses from Gaston and Lincoln Counties, according to Queen City News.
NASCAR Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin during practice for the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 12, 2025. (Mark J. Rebilas/Imagn Images)
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Both Dennis and Mary Lou Hamlin were out of the house as emergency personnel rushed to the scene.
“We are thankful for the multiple agency response and ask that the public be in prayer for the affected family and our first responders in fire, GEMs and police,” the Lucia-Bend Fire Department said in a statement to the outlet.
Dennis Hamlin’s death was announced later Monday.
NASCAR released a statement on Tuesday to honor the NASCAR driver’s father.
“NASCAR extends its deepest condolences to Denny Hamlin and the entire Hamlin family,” the organization said.
Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 Progressive Toyota, exits his car after the NASCAR Cup Series Championship at Phoenix Raceway on Nov. 2, 2025, in Avondale, Arizona. (James Gilbert/Getty Images)
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“Dennis Hamlin instilled a love of racing in his son, and sacrificed greatly to develop Denny into a world-class talent in the sport. We also continue to offer our thoughts and prayers to Denny’s mother, Mary Lou, and hope for her full recovery.”
Fox News’ Paulina Dedaj contributed to this report.
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Southeast
Repeat offender truck driver charged with bank robbery after claiming C-4 explosives, firing on officers: feds
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A North Carolina truck driver, who is a repeat offender, has been federally charged following a bank robbery and a shootout with law enforcement, authorities said.
Willie Edward McGee Jr. is charged with bank robbery and discharging a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, according to a complaint.
Authorities said that McGee entered a First Citizens Bank in Zebulon, North Carolina, on Dec. 26, and demanded money from a teller while claiming to have C-4 explosives. The teller gave him $3,234, and McGee fled in a semi-truck, they said.
Law enforcement officers from multiple agencies responded to an armed bank robbery investigation that led to the arrest of Willie Edward McGee Jr. in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. (U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of North Carolina)
Deputies with the Rocky Mount Police Department said that McGee’s truck was found in a Hobby Lobby parking lot following the initial robbery.
According to surveillance and officers at the scene, McGee allegedly exited the vehicle armed with a Ruger AR-style 5.56 rifle and fired at officers.
Police returned fire and struck McGee. No law enforcement officers or civilians were injured. While taking McGee into custody, officers recovered the AR rifle he allegedly used to shoot at officers and a handgun from his waistband.
No officers or members of the public were injured as law enforcement safely took the suspect into custody after a coordinated response in Rocky Mount. (U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of North Carolina)
McGee, according to records reviewed by WRAL-News, has a lengthy criminal history. The local outlet said that the suspect has dozens of charges dating back more than 20 years.
WRAL reported that he has offenses spanning from Duplin, Wake and Durham counties.
Federal and local law enforcement recovered guns and evidence following the arrest of a suspect charged with armed bank robbery and discharging a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. (U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of North Carolina)
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche called the incident “domestic terror.”
“As alleged, this defendant didn’t just rob a bank — he threatened innocent civilians with explosives and then opened fire on police officers,” Blanche said. “That is not desperation, it is domestic terror. Thanks to the extraordinary courage and professionalism of our law enforcement partners, he is alive, in custody, and facing decades in federal prison.”
“Let this serve as a warning: if you bring violence into our communities or target the men and women who protect them, this Department of Justice will meet you with the full weight of the federal government and ensure you are removed from the streets for a very long time.”
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The investigation remains active. Anyone with further information about the alleged crimes is asked to please call the FBI at (704) 672-6100. Fox News Digital has reached out to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of North Carolina, for comment.
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Southeast
Homeless drifter accused of killing Barnes & Noble Christmas shopper blamed ‘fight or flight’ outburst: report
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The man accused of fatally stabbing a woman inside a Palm Beach Gardens Barnes & Noble days before Christmas had traveled through several states before entering Florida, authorities said Tuesday.
Palm Beach Gardens police identified the suspect as Antonio R. Moore, 40, and said he is accused of killing 65-year-old Rita B. Loncharich inside the popular bookstore on the evening of Dec. 22.
Investigators said Moore is not a Florida resident and had moved through multiple states, including through Georgia and North Carolina, before coming to Florida. Police said Moore boarded a bus on Dec. 15 from Orlando to Titusville and then traveled onward into Palm Beach County.
Antonio Moore, 40, is facing a murder charge following the alleged stabbing at a Barnes & Noble bookstore in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., on Monday, Dec. 22, 2025. (Google Maps/Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office)
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According to the arrest affidavit obtained by WFLX Fox 29, Moore entered the bookstore around 7:29 p.m. and Loncharich arrived shortly afterward. Investigators said Moore approached Loncharich in a store aisle and stabbed her in the back with a pocketknife.
According to the Palm Beach Post, Moore allegedly told police a “fight or flight” response overtook him, and he took a fixed-blade knife from his jacket pocket. He reportedly told police that he stabbed Loncharich because she was the closest person to him at the time and said he did not have any prior interaction with her.
A Barnes & Noble location in San Diego, Calif. (Kevin Carter/Getty Images)
Bystanders helped the victim until first responders arrived, the local outlet reported. Loncharich was transported to St. Mary’s Medical Center, where she died during surgery.
MAN WITH VIOLENT CRIMINAL HISTORY ON PAROLE ALLEGEDLY STABS TEEN TO DEATH: OFFICIALS
Police received a 911 call at 7:52 p.m. and located Moore several blocks from the scene minutes later. He was taken into custody without incident.
Moore, who police say is homeless, told investigators he had no prior relationship with the victim and offered no motive for the attack. According to authorities, he admitted to sitting in the store charging his phone just before the stabbing.
Jail records from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office show that Moore was booked on a charge of first-degree premeditated murder. He is being held without bond.
The Palm Beach Gardens Police Department said it is searching for a motive in the Barnes & Noble stabbing. (Palm Beach Gardens Police Department)
Local family members and community members described Loncharich as a “kind, gentle” person whose life was cut short during what should have been a routine holiday outing.
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Fox News Digital has reached out to the Palm Beach Gardens Police Department for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman contributed to this report.
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