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Olympic Sprinter Charged in Confrontation With Miami Beach Police
Fred Kerley, a two-time Olympic medalist sprinter for the United States and one of the fastest runners in the world, was arrested late Thursday night in Miami Beach, Fla., after an altercation with the police in South Beach, a gathering place for tourists that is known for its nightlife.
Mr. Kerley, who won a silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Games in the men’s 100-meter dash and a bronze in the same event at the 2024 Paris Games, was charged with battery of a police officer, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct after arguing and then scuffling with officers just off the area’s main thoroughfare, Ocean Drive. The battery charge, a felony, carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
Mr. Kerley, who is 29 and from Taylor, Texas, also faces two other felony charges, for robbery and domestic violence in an unrelated case from last May. The police said they had been looking for him in connection with that matter. Those charges include allegations that he choked his wife and stole her phone.
Yale M. Sanford, a lawyer representing Mr. Kerley in this week’s arrest, said the police were in the wrong because a simple conversation with Mr. Kerley could have de-escalated the situation.
“It’s an overstep and, you can even say, an unreasonable use of force that could have been avoided,” Mr. Sanford said.
Richard L. Cooper, a lawyer representing Mr. Kerley in the domestic violence case, said those charges were “completely unsubstantiated,” and that it was his understanding that the case was not being pursued. The charges had been presented unexpectedly by the authorities after the altercation with the police in South Beach, he said. Mr. Kerley and his wife are separated and are seeking a divorce, the lawyer said.
The police defended their actions, saying that Mr. Kerley had interfered with an active crime scene at a tense time in the country, when police in Miami Beach were on high alert in the days after a van rammed a crowd in New Orleans, killing 14 people, and a Cybertruck exploded outside a Trump Hotel in Las Vegas, killing one.
On Thursday night, officers were investigating a man who had parked a car in a spot reserved for emergency vehicles near Ocean Drive, said Officer Christopher Bess, a spokesman for the Miami Beach Police Department. Mr. Kerley diverted their attention, Officer Bess said.
“We just saw an aggressive male impeding the crime scene,” Officer Bess said of Mr. Kerley.
While the police were dealing with the man who parked in the emergency area, Mr. Kerley approached the police, saying he was concerned about his own car, which was parked nearby, according to Officer Bess and an arrest affidavit. The police described Mr. Kerley as having “an aggressive demeanor,” the affidavit said.
One officer’s body camera video shows shaky glimpses of a chaotic altercation, which appeared to escalate when an officer used his arm to block Mr. Kerley from approaching, and Mr. Kerley batted it away. Several officers then wrestled Mr. Kerley to the ground and tried to handcuff him while he repeatedly attempted to climb to his feet, according to the video and police documents.
One officer “delivered multiple hammer fists toward the defendant’s upper head area and several elbows toward his upper back area,” according to the arrest affidavit, and the police body camera shows officers striking Mr. Kerley as they try to subdue him.
A girlfriend of Mr. Kerley appears in the background of the police video, holding up her phone to videotape while repeatedly calling out, “Stop! Stop!” At one point, she says, “He’s an athlete, please do not mess with him.” Later, she refers to him as a “U.S.A. athlete” and says, “Stop, he didn’t doing anything.”
Just over a minute into the struggle, several police officers step away from Mr. Kerley, letting him rise to his feet before using a stun gun on him, the video shows. He then collapses onto the street.
On the body camera video, Mr. Kerley can be heard saying, “I’m not resisting, get off me,” and “Get off my legs. I need my legs.”
Several times he called the officers weak and cursed at them. He also said they were going to jail for putting their hands on him.
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Federal judge bars Trump from implementing proof of citizenship requirement to vote
A federal judge on Wednesday permanently barred President Donald Trump’s administration from implementing most of his first executive order on elections, part of which sought to require people to show documentary proof of citizenship when they register to vote.
The ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Denise Casper in Boston effectively converts a preliminary injunction she issued a year ago, in which she temporarily blocked many of Trump’s efforts to overhaul elections, into a permanent ban.
Casper rejected the Republican administration’s argument that the lawsuit to block the changes brought by Democratic state attorneys general was premature because the rules had yet to be put in place. Instead, she agreed that the Constitution gives states and Congress the authority to regulate elections, and that Trump’s requirements violated the separation of powers.
The Constitution “does not grant the President any specific powers over elections,” wrote Casper.
Among other proposed changes, Trump’s order would have required people to provide documentary proof of citizenship when registering to vote, prevented mail ballots from being counted if they arrive after Election Day, even if they were postmarked by then, and punished states that failed to comply by withholding certain federal money.
In a statement, New York Attorney General Letitia James said she was grateful the court had blocked Trump’s “unconstitutional attempt to seize control of our elections” and would continue to defend voting rights in this year’s midterm elections.
“Generations of Americans fought tirelessly for the right to vote, and we honor their legacy by protecting that right against anyone who tries to undermine it,” said James, a Democrat.
A voter casts a ballot during New York’s primary election on Tuesday, June 23, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
California Attorney General Rob Bonta, whose state was the lead plaintiff in the case, said the ruling reaffirmed the constitutional principle that it s up to the states and Congress to set election rules.
“While we are proud of this result, we are clear-eyed that President Trump’s attacks on voting rights and our elections show no signs of slowing down,” Bonta, a Democrat, said in a statement. “So let me be clear: we will keep fighting back every step of the way.”
Requests for comment sent to the White House and he U.S. Department of Justice were not immediately returned.
The ruling was the latest in a series against the elections executive order Trump signed just months after taking office for his second term. The Republican president has since signed another executive order on elections that seeks to create a national voter list and limit mail balloting. That directive also faces multiple legal challenges.
Last fall, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., overseeing a separate challenge to the first election executive order by civil rights and Democratic Party-aligned groups blocked the government from taking steps to include the proof-of-citizenship requirement on the federal voter registration form. That judge later barred Trump’s defense secretary from requiring documentary proof of citizenship when military personnel register to vote or request ballots.
In an apparent nod to the difficulty of implementing a proof-of-citizen requirement by executive order, Trump is pushing legislation in the Republican-controlled Congress to create such a mandate. The SAVE America Act has passed the House but has stalled in the Senate, leading Trump to advocate for eliminating the filibuster that is blocking the legislation.
On Wednesday, he abruptly canceled the expected signing of a bipartisan housing bill, saying he would not sign legislation until Congress passes his proof of citizenship requirement for voting.
The president and many of his Republican allies have been promoting the narrative that voting by noncitizens is a major problem, when in fact it’s quite rare. The federal voter registration form already requires people to attest that they are U.S. citizens. Violating that is punishable as a felony that can lead to prison or deportation.
In another major voting case, the U.S. Supreme Court is due to issue an opinion soon on whether mail ballots must arrive by Election Day. That could immediately change the rules in 14 states that allow grace periods ranging from days to weeks if the ballots are postmarked by Election Day.
Casper, who was nominated by Democratic President Barack Obama, is the chief judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
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Video: Mamdani Allies Sweep New York Primaries
new video loaded: Mamdani Allies Sweep New York Primaries
transcript
transcript
Mamdani Allies Sweep New York Primaries
Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s progressive coalition had a big night on Tuesday. Brad Lander, Darializa Avila Chevalier and Claire Valdez won their Democratic House primaries.
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“I see a New York that we can all afford. I see a New York that truly invests in its babies, not bombs.” Reporter: “What’s the first thing you’re looking forward to doing in Congress?” “Well, tomorrow — thank you — I mean, tomorrow morning, you know, I’m going to be back at 26 Federal Plaza doing court watching, and we want to carry that into Congress as well.”
By Julie Yoon
June 24, 2026
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Appeals court allows Trump administration expanded use of speedy deportations
A massive 826,780-square-foot warehouse sits illuminated Feb. 12, 2026, in the El Paso suburb of Socorro, Texas, that was recently purchased by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for $122.8 million.
Morgan Lee/AP
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Morgan Lee/AP
A federal appeals court on Tuesday allowed the Trump administration to resume carrying out speedy deportations of undocumented migrants throughout the United States, not just near the border.

A divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit threw out a lower court decision that temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s expanded use of expedited removal. The ruling was a big victory for the Republican administration, which views the expansion of so-called expedited removal as a key tool for carrying out its mass deportation policy.
Expedited removal — quick deportation without a chance to appear before a judge — has previously been applied to migrants arriving by sea or caught at or near the border shortly after crossing.
In January, Trump expanded its use to undocumented migrants all over the United States. Immigration agents began whisking migrants away from courthouses where they had gone for immigration proceedings and then removing them from the country within days.
“The Trump administration’s push for fast-track deportations will subject people to an unfair and error-prone system,” Anand Balakrishnan, senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, said in a statement.
Balakrishnan represented plaintiffs in arguments before the appellate panel and said its ruling “undermines the fundamental principle that people receive due process when the government seeks to deport them.”

DC Circuit Judge Justin R. Walker, one of the judges on the panel, said the plaintiffs had not shown the expanded use of expedited removal violated due process rights. Immigrants received notice of removal proceedings and were given a chance to respond, he wrote in his opinion.
Walker and the second judge in the majority, Neomi Rao, were appointed by Trump. The third judge on the panel was appointed by President Barack Obama, a Democrat.
Walker said there was no requirement that the administration inform immigrants that they can avoid expedited removal if they can show they have been in the United States for more than two years.
“The constitutional requirement is notice of the action the government is taking and the grounds for it, plus an opportunity to respond,” he wrote, adding that the plaintiffs’ “contrary reasoning would require immigration officers to provide what amounts to legal advice.”
Walker and Rao vacated an order by U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb that put the expanded use of expedited removal on hold. Cobb, who was appointed by President Joe Biden, a Democrat, ruled in August that the administration had not developed procedures to ensure migrants were not wrongly deported under the expedited process.

The plaintiffs had put forward “substantial evidence” that the expedited removal process, on the contrary, carried a high risk of error when applied more broadly, Cobb said. The ruling cited examples of people who had lived in the U.S. for far longer than two years but were still ordered to be removed in expedited proceedings.
In his opinion, Walker acknowledged evidence of such errors, but said they resulted from “individual officers’ failure to follow the law — not defects in the written directives under review or the procedures they incorporate.”
The Trump administration has argued that its expansion of expedited removal includes protections to prevent arbitrary removal. In a court filing in October, Justice Department attorneys said Cobb’s ruling was an “egregious error” that was depriving the administration of an “essential tool to combat the unprecedented surge of illegal immigration over the past few years” and efficiently deport potentially millions of people.
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