Florida
DeSantis sending more FHP troopers, National Guard to Texas for border patrol efforts
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Governor Ron DeSantis was in Pensacola Friday, where he announced that he was sending 76 Florida Highway Patrol troopers and up to 200 members of the Florida National Guard to Texas to help with the fight against illegal immigration.
The FHP troopers will be assisting authorities in San Antonio with border patrol efforts for the next three weeks. The National Guard troops are also headed to Texas, but to a different location.
DeSantis said it’s part of his commitment to defend the country’s borders as people from around the world, including China, continue to “pour” into the United States illegally. He claimed the result is an increase in drugs across the country, such as fentanyl, and other issues that occur when people aren’t a legal part of the workforce or population.
“We think this is an American issue partially because we should have a secure country and then partially the effects of this border invasion go to all 50 states, so we’re thankful for our folks,” DeSantis said. “We’re supposed to be a great country and you can’t even maintain control of your own territory and your own border. We’re part of the solution here in Florida. We’re happy to continue to still be in this fight.”
The governor held the press conference outside the Florida Department of Law Enforcement office in Pensacola, where FHP officers and National Guard troops lined up behind him during the announcement.
Florida already has 90 officers from the Florida Highway Patrol, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement stationed at the border. DeSantis announced earlier that Florida will send up to 1,000 of its own National Guard members and State Guard volunteers to assist Texas, as the state has done with other Florida agencies over the past two years.
DeSantis revived the State Guard in 2022, and the Legislature increased funding from $10 million to $107.6 million. The force tripled from 400 to 1,500 members last year.
The Highway Patrol troopers and National Guard members left for Texas in their vehicles shortly after the press conference. Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles Executive Director Dave Kerner was there to wish the troops safe travels and encourage them in their mission.
Kerner said they’ll be assisting in a variety of ways. Some will team up with the Department of Public Safety and the Texas Highway Patrol. Others will partner with the criminal investigation division, and others have more discreet missions, said Kerner, who didn’t elaborate with details. He added what happens at the border in Texas impacts Florida, too.
“We’ve connected how it translates into the state of Florida,” said Kerner. “We see through our traffic enforcement and through our criminal investigations how, what I call the cartel industrial complex, is felt in Florida. How that fentanyl gets here. It’s been a very eye-opening experience for these troopers. Every time we send a wave of troopers out there, it is in defense of the state of Florida.”
DeSantis said increased security at the border is working, along with other policy initiatives like banning sanctuary cities in Florida, cracking down on smuggling, and people working in the state illegally. He said keeping up the pressure has discouraged people from coming here illegally.
“If you look at the people coming across the border now three years ago, Florida was one of the places that they said they wanted to go,” DeSantis said. “Now you don’t see as many that are talking about Florida, because I think they realize that if they go to sanctuary states or sanctuary cities that they’re going to have more benefits. That is the way that you do it and that is the way you get the job done.”
The FHP force headed to Texas includes troopers from departments across the state.
Florida
FBI says suspects tried to rob Offset outside a Florida casino when he was shot in the leg
The rapper Offset was ambushed by a “large group” of people who tried to rob him outside a Florida casino last week when he was shot in the leg, the FBI said Tuesday.
Federal investigators said that they are still searching for the suspects who assaulted Offset last Monday night outside of Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood, just north of Miami. Throughout the assault, a single shot was fired into Offset’s leg before an unsuccessful attempt to remove the rapper’s watch, the statement said. Offset, who rose to fame as part of the influential hip-hop trio Migos, was hospitalized for a couple of days, but swiftly returned to the stage at a performance at a music festival at the University of Arkansas on Saturday.
The suspects fled the scene in two Chevrolet SUVs that went in separate directions: A black Suburban that fled towards Hollywood, Florida, and a Tahoe that fled southbound towards Miami.
Following the shooting, officers detained two people, but law enforcement hasn’t shared evidence to directly tying either one to the shooting.
One of the people detained was rapper Lil Tjay, born Tione Jayden Merritt. He was arrested in connection with an altercation that occurred before the shooting, the Seminole Police Department in Florida said. He was charged with disorderly conduct and operating a vehicle without a valid license. His lawyer, Dawn M. Florio, told The Associated Press last week that Lil Tjay did not have a gun and was not charged with any weapons or gun-related crimes. He was swiftly released after posting bond.
Offset, born Kiari Kendrell Cephus, launched his career with Migos, one of the most popular hip-hop groups of all time. The Atlanta trio is celebrated for their rapid-fire triplet flow, an often-imitated delivery that changed the trajectory of trap.
The group had several multiplatinum selling singles, including “Bad and Boujee,” which went No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 chart, “Stir Fry,” and “Narcos.” Migos released four full-length albums across their career.
More than three years ago, Offset’s cousin Takeoff, another member of Migos, was shot and killed at a Houston bowling alley.
Florida
Florida teenager charged with sexually assaulting and killing stepsister Anna Kepner on cruise ship
A 16-year-old boy has been charged with murder and aggravated sexual abuse in Florida in the 6 November death of his 18-year-old stepsister on a Carnival cruise ship, the US justice department said Monday.
Timothy Hudson was initially charged in February and subsequently indicted on 10 March. But the breadth of the case was not known until a seal was lifted Friday, weeks after US district judge Beth Bloom in Miami said he would be prosecuted as an adult at the request of the government.
Anna Kepner, Hudson’s stepsister, had been traveling on the Carnival Horizon ship with her family. Before the ship was scheduled to return to Florida, her body was found concealed under a bed in a room she was sharing with two other teens, including the younger stepbrother.
The cause of Kepner’s death was determined to be mechanical asphyxia, which is when an object or physical force stops someone from breathing.
Email and voicemail messages seeking comment from Hudson’s attorneys about the charges were not immediately returned Monday. Hudson, whose name was disclosed through his signature on documents filed in federal court, has remained free in the care of an uncle since his arrest in February.
Kepner’s father, Christopher Kepner, released a statement, saying the family was placing “trust in the justice system to pursue the truth with care and integrity”.
“At the same time, we are deeply troubled that, despite the seriousness of the charges, he has not been taken into custody,” Kepner said. “The situation is deeply painful and complex for the entire family.”
In a written statement, US attorney Jason Reding Quiñones said, “Our hearts go out to the victim’s family during this unimaginable loss. A federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging serious offenses that allegedly occurred aboard a vessel in international waters.”
Kepner was a high school cheerleader at Temple Christian school in Titusville, Florida, about 40 miles (65 kilometres) east of Orlando. At her memorial service in November, family members encouraged people to wear bright colors instead of the traditional black “in honor of Anna’s bright and beautiful soul”.
Teens are rarely prosecuted in federal court. Hudson pleaded not guilty when he was initially charged in February, though the proceedings were not public because of his age – and neither were court documents. He was seen at the courthouse wearing a ball cap and a hoodie pulled tightly around his face.
A judge on 6 February said Hudson must wear an electronic tether while living with an uncle. The order was changed to allow him to join his father for a few days recently at a landscaping business, newly unsealed court records show.
Prosecutors objected to Hudson’s release, citing dangerousness, and asked a judge Monday to revisit that order now that he has been charged as an adult. Defense lawyers were given a week to respond.
“He committed these crimes against a victim with whom he had no apparent relational strife, and whom he was being raised to view as a sibling,” assistant US attorney Alejandra López said in a court filing.
Florida
16-year-old from Florida charged with sexually assaulting, killing stepsister on Carnival Cruise ship
MIAMI – A 16-year-old boy has been charged with murder and aggravated sexual abuse in Florida in the death of his 18-year-old stepsister on a Carnival Cruise ship, the U.S. Justice Department said Monday.
The teen, identified by the government as T.H., was initially charged as a juvenile on Feb. 2, but the case was sealed until U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom ordered that he would be prosecuted as an adult, the department said.
An email and voicemail seeking comment from T.H.’s lawyer about the indictment were not immediately returned.
Anna Kepner had been traveling on the Carnival Horizon ship in November with her family. Before the ship was scheduled to return to Florida, her body was found concealed under a bed in a room she was sharing with two other teens, including the younger stepbrother.
The cause of Kepner’s Nov. 6 death was determined to be mechanical asphyxia, which is when an object or physical force stops someone from breathing.
Kepner was a high school cheerleader at Temple Christian School in Titusville, Florida, some 40 miles (65 kilometers) east of Orlando. At her memorial service in November, family members encouraged people to wear bright colors instead of the traditional black “in honor of Anna’s bright and beautiful soul.”
Teens prosecuted in federal court are extremely rare. T.H. was seen at the Miami courthouse on Feb. 6, wearing a ball cap and a hoodie pulled tightly around his face. But his status at that time was not fully known because his age barred public disclosures by his lawyer, the government or the court.
Experts believe the case is in federal court, and not a state court where teens are commonly prosecuted, because Kepner died in international waters.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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