Northeast
NY Republican slams Biden, Harris for 'total lack of respect' after illegal charged in 5-year-old's rape
An illegal immigrant, who crossed into the country back in 2014 was arrested by Border Patrol, released and skipped his immigration hearings, has been arrested in New York in connection with the rape of a 5-year-old girl.
Wilson Castillo Diaz, 26, arrived in Texas through the Rio Grande Valley as a teen and later made his way to New York. He is originally from Honduras.
“Democrats say there’s nothing wrong with letting kids in, [but] this defendant came in as a teenager,” Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, a Republican, told Fox News Digital. “He was 16 years old when he came in, illegally, to America, and now he’s been hiding from the authorities for quite some time and commits this heinous act against a young girl. It’s out of control.”
Nassau County Police said in a statement that the girl was hospitalized after the attack, which took place on Oct. 16.
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT SUSPECTED IN MARYLAND MOM RACHEL MORIN’S MURDER FACES MAXIMUM PENALTY IF CONVICTED
Illegal immigrant rape suspect Wilson Castillo Diaz pictured in an Oct. 22 mugshot from the Nassau County Police Department in New York. He is accused of sexually assaulting a 5-year-old girl. (Nassau County Police)
“He came in in 2014, under the Obama administration, and he was released,” Blakeman said. “He never showed up for any of his hearings. He’s been loose in the United States. Who knows what else he’s done?”
Police arrested Diaz on Oct. 22 and made the announcement Thursday after confirming his immigration status and notifying Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Blakeman went on to blast sanctuary policies that have allowed people like Diaz to remain in the U.S. for so long without fear of deportation. He added the Biden-Harris administration has shown a “total lack of respect” for both the U.S. border and the law enforcement agents whose job is to secure it.
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman speaks to the crowd during his State of the County address held at the Theodore Roosevelt Executive and Legislative Building in Mineola, New York, on March 6, 2024. (Steve Pfost/Newsday RM via Getty Images)
“We’ve got to get tough in securing our borders, and we’ve got to deport the people who came in illegally and send them back home,” he said.
Diaz is being held on $200,000 bail on charges of first-degree rape, first-degree attempted rape and endangering the welfare of a child.
BIDEN-HARRIS OPEN BORDER POLICY FREED ILLEGAL 3 WEEKS BEFORE JOCELYN NUNGARAY MURDER, MOTHER SAYS
Diaz was living in Westbury, New York, about 30 miles east of New York City.
Authorities planned to hold a news briefing Friday morning to deliver additional information.
Migrant crime has become a hot button issue ahead of next week’s presidential election, with former President Donald Trump’s campaign pointing to some of the most egregious cases of violence this year alone.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., pictured with his head down and his eyes closed during congressional testimony from the mothers of murder victims Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (Cathie Groenewold)
Congressional hearings have hosted the mothers of murder victims to testify on Capitol Hill after their daughters were killed at the hands of illegal immigrants.
During one hearing, Democratic New York Rep. Jerrold Nadler was accused of dozing off after dismissing the proceedings as “one more partisan hearing designed to divide us and to score political points before an election.”
That was a month before the attack on the 5-year-old in his home state.
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Vermont
Vt. communities work to clean up after EF-1 tornadoes strike
QUECHEE, Vt. (WCAX) – Crews worked across the White River Valley on Friday to restore power and clean up debris after two EF-1 tornadoes touched down in Vermont, including one that swept through Quechee.
Joe Haynes stared over his yard in Woodstock, with chunks of his roof scattered across it, wondering about the next steps.
Reporter Connor Ullathorne: How long will this all take to clean up?
Joe Haynes: Oh, I have no idea.
He said he’s lucky he and his nearby neighbors are safe and are not blocked in.
“Some of the trees were down. They’ll be down for awhile but they can make their way out,” Haynes said.
Crews in Woodstock continued clearing trees and downed power lines along Route 4. That’s where Tiffany Miller was working inside the Mountain Creamery when the tornado passed right over the store. Nobody was injured, but their new walk-in storage ended up in the trees.
“It’s definitely a big setback for us. We were getting ready to have it wired up tomorrow. So I mean we definitely have a lot of elbow grease and hours to put in to get back up to where we were,” Miller said.
She said she was happy to see how many customers have checked in on them.
“It’s nice to see that no matter what, in some bad case– storms or indifferent– that we can still come together and be there for each other,” Miller said.
Farther east in Quechee, workers hacked away at trees and swept away debris along the golf course and roads.
“It’s crazy they want to see. Everybody cares about their community and all their assets and amenities, so it’s nice to see everybody come together,” Quechee Club General Manager Brian Kelley said.
Kelley said they were out early Friday, and many residents were shocked at the damage. He’s still hopeful the area can come together and support each other.
“We normally do about 200 rounds a day going into one of our peak weekends. We’ve got the balloon festival this weekend, so we have that population in town, so a little bit of disappointment but people have been great and supportive, and we’ll be back at it tomorrow,” Kelley said.
Kelley said it should be a few days until they are back to full force in Quechee.
Many others across the region told us they’re now focused on getting back to normal.
Click here for the latest forecast from the WCAX First Alert Weather Team.
Copyright 2026 WCAX. All rights reserved.
New York
Video: Fans Show Up to the Parade in Their Best Knicks-Themed Attire
new video loaded: Fans Show Up to the Parade in Their Best Knicks-Themed Attire
transcript
transcript
Fans Show Up to the Parade in Their Best Knicks-Themed Attire
New York Knicks fans showed up in droves to a ticker-tape parade in Manhattan in their best orange and blue outfits to honor the N.B.A champions.
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“Patrick Ewing. He didn’t get a ring. But I wear your sneakers, bro. When I was in high school, back in the ’90s, Patrick Ewing, John Starks, they were the team that I rooted for in the ’90s. They didn’t make it. So as a tribute to him because this is where I started at being a fan, Patrick Ewing. Knicks hat in denim — I’m a denim fanatic. So I love denim — Knicks hat. And yeah, that’s it.” “This is my style. I usually dress like this every day. But I did a special Knicks edition. It’s all really fun. I start with my makeup. I did really cute flames on my eyes because the Knicks are fire. I don’t really know what I’m going to do before I put it on. I just figure it out along the way. Like, this is a piece of fabric and I just layer in stuff.” “This is from my online boutique and the hat I just bought on the way to the parade because I wanted to match the jumpsuit, and that’s how I came up with the outfit.” “She was ready to go, man.” “Can you show your fingernail?” “She’s been sleeping in her Jalen Brunson jersey for the last 10 weeks. We’ve been watching all the games. You want to tell them who’s your favorite player?” “Jalen Brunson.” “I’m pretty sure this jersey was actually made for a human baby. But they’re selling them around the block. And we threw it on Chester and everyone started clapping. So — he wears it well.” “Blue and orange.” “So I did blue and orange.” “It had to be orange and blue. “Orange and blue. Orange and blue.”
By Meg Felling, Jeremy Raff, Ang Li and David Cheung
June 18, 2026
Boston, MA
MBTA, state transportation chief apologizes for ‘insensitive’ employee hair-pulling incident
Gov. Maura Healey’s Transportation Secretary and MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng said he has apologized “fully” to the subordinate T employee he’s been accused of pulling the hair of at a work dinner two years ago.
Eng has come under fire for the late 2024 incident this week and admits that it was a “mistake” that has forced him to reflect upon his actions.
“My goal is always to lead with respect and inclusivity,” Eng said in a statement. “I know that this was a mistake, and I own that. I have apologized to this employee fully and have reflected on my actions.
“I am committed to learning from this experience and upholding the highest standards of professionalism in all my interactions as secretary and general manager,” Eng added.
The MBTA said the incident, first reported by Contrarian Boston, occurred in November 2024 at a restaurant where T employees and their spouses were having a team dinner.
WCVB-TV reported that the MBTA employee has told people the interaction with Eng was not welcome and highly inappropriate.
The station described Eng as being accused of committing the hair-pulling faux pas while saying good-bye to the T employee after a work function at a brewery.
The MBTA confirmed that an “insensitive” interaction occurred between Eng and an employee, but downplayed the incident as occurring in the context of a larger conversation about hair from earlier in the evening that included multiple people.
Eng was poking fun at his own baldness when the alleged interaction occurred, according to the MBTA.
“The MBTA is committed to fostering a respectful, inclusive workplace environment,” MBTA spokesperson Joe Pesaturo said in a statement. “Leadership plays a critical role in that. Two years ago, General Manager Eng had an insensitive interaction with one of his direct reports. He subsequently apologized directly to this employee.
“Any claims of harassment, discrimination or retaliatory behavior are completely without merit,” Pesaturo added.
Sources have told WCVB-TV that the T employee is involved in negotiations to leave their job with the agency.
Eng is the state’s top transportation official. Healey appointed him as general manager of the MBTA in 2023, and interim transportation secretary in late 2025.
He was paid $509,114 last year, which includes a $30,000 retention payment he is eligible for each year he remains with the T, per his contract and state payroll records. He does not get additional pay for working dual roles in Massachusetts, but continues to take in a roughly $185,000 pension from New York.
Eng, former president of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Long Island Rail Road, came out of retirement to work for the MBTA, but remains retired with the New York State and Local Employees’ Retirement System, which is paying him a gross monthly pension of $15,357.39, according to the New York State Comptroller’s office.
Eng, who stepped down from his MTA post in February 2022, retired from New York’s ERS the following month, March 31, 2022, the comptroller’s office said. His monthly pension equates to $184,288 in annual compensation, which he can continue to collect while working at the MBTA, where he is one of the highest-paid transit leaders in the country.
Eng has been credited by state officials for helping to get the MBTA back on track following a federal probe for a number of safety lapses that culminated with a fatality, when a 39-year-old man was dragged to death by a Red Line train in April 2022.
He is under contract with the T through April 10, 2028, with an option for a one-year extension. His base pay for 2026 is $484,206, per state payroll records.
By comparison, Eng was paid $285,254 in his final year leading the Long Island Rail Road, per the New York State Comptroller’s office.
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