Washington, D.C
Victims of plane crash in DC: Ryan O'Hara, Kiah Duggins, Ian Epstein, among victims of American airlines crash – BBC News Pidgin
Wia dis foto come from, Howard University
Recovery operations still dey go on for Washington DC. Dis na afta one American Airlines plane from Kansas wey get 64 pipo onboard collide wit one military helicopter on Wednesday night.
Di victims include top figure skaters from US and Russia, one young pilot, flight attendants, and one lawyer wey dey travel go house on her birthday.
Here na some of di pipo believed to dey on board di helicopter and di plane.
Passengers
26-year-old Indiana woman, Asra Hussain Raza, just move go Washington DC area afta she receive her master’s degree in hospital management.
“She bin dey return from one work trip wia she dey help improve one hospital wey really need help,” her husband Hamaad Raza, wey show di last text message e receive from im wife to news crews outside di airport, tok.
“And, you know, she bin dey do wetin she love. She bin even dey work on di flight.”
E add say: “She give a lot, but she get so much more to give. If anybody dey wey take advantage of dia 26 years of life, na her.”
Di president of Howard University don confam say Professor Kiah Duggins die for di collision.
Di civil rights lawyer dey set to begin lecture for di university School of Law for autumn.
“She dedicate her career to fighting against unconstitutional policing and unjust money bail practices for Tennessee, Texas and Washington DC,” di university tok for one statement wey US media report.
Two DC lawyers also dey on board di flight, dia loved ones confam.
Sarah Lee Best, 33, dey kind and hardworking, her husband Daniel Solomon tell di Washington Post.
Mrs Best and Mr Solomon bin plan to travel go Hawaii, wia dem born her for dia 10th wedding anniversary for May.
33-year-old Lawyer Elizabeth Keys, “always, always manage to have fun… no mata wetin she dey do,” her partner David Seidman tell di paper.
She die on her birthday, Oga Seidman tok.
Di firm wia two of dem dey work, Wilkinson Stekloff, pay tribute to di “cherished members” of dia team.
Dem be “wonderful attorneys, colleagues, and friends,” firm founder Beth Wilkinson tok for statement.
Dem don pay to “dedicated papa” Casey Crafton of Salem, Connecticut.
“Salem just lost a dedicated father, husband, and community member,” Govnor Ned Lamont bin write on social media.
Salem Little League, wia Oga Crafton be coach, tok say di town dey “heartbroken” by di loss of di “beloved” club member.
“Di Crafton family, dey deeply involved in all things Salem, di community don suffer an unimaginable loss,” di statement read.
Michael Stovall mama tok say her son na “di happiest pesin” wey dey see good in evri body.
Oga Stovall, wey pipo sabi well-well as Mikey, bin dey travel go house from one annual hunting trip wit friends, Christina Stovall tell Wink News.
“Mikey no get one enemy. If you see fotos of am… e be di life of di party. E love evri body.”
Oga Stovall cousin tell di New York Times say e bin dey fly wit at least six of im friends from di trip, some of dem don sabi each oda since childhood.
Jesse Pitcher bin dey travel wit Oga Stovall, im papa confam.
Di 30-year-old from Maryland just marry last year and e recently just start im own business, Jameson Pitcher tell di New York Times.
“E just dey start life,” e tok.
“E say im go see me wen e come back.”
Philippine National Police confam say di director of dia Supply Management Division, Colonel Pergentino N. Malabed, bin dey on board di flight.
One police tok-tok pesin say dem recover one body wey carry Col Malabed passport from di Potomac.
E travel go US wit two oda officers to test personnel vests wey di police dey plan to buy, and e bin dey on im way to di Philippine embassy for Washington.
Passenger plane crew
Di plane captain Jonathan J. Campos dream since wen e be 3-year-old na to be pilot, im aunt tell di New York Times.
“I think e wan dey free, and dey able to fly and soar like a bird,” Beverly Lane tok.
34-year-old Oga Campos, 34, bin grow up for Brooklyn, New York, and e work for PSA Airlines (part of di American Airlines group) for eight years, she add.
Di papa of 28-year-old pilot Sam Lilley tok say e don dey engaged to be married and e “just dey for di prime of im life”.
Tim Lilley tell NewsNation say im son get im piloting license in only a few years becos e “pursue am wit vigour”.
“Sam dey right wit Jesus, and I know where e dey go,” e tok.
Im sister Tiffany Gibson dey call am “an amazing person”.
“E love pipo. E love adventure. E love to travel,” she tell ABC News.
“E dey so young, and e dey excited about life and im future and getting a dog and a house and kids. And it’s just, dis just dey tragic.”
Wia dis foto come from, Facebook/Debi Epstein
Virginia resident Ian Epstein na flight attendant on di plane, im family tok.
E dey known for im ability to make pipo smile and e dey “full of life”.
“He love being a flight attendant becos e truly enjoy to dey travel and meet new pipo. But im true love na im family,” di statement continue.
Epstein, 53, na father, stepfather, husband, and brother, di family tok, and as say dem go “truly miss am”.
Danasia Elder also dey work as a flight attendant, her family tell US media for Charlotte, North Carolina.
Her brother-in-law Brandon Payne wey pay tribute to her, tok say she dey “full of life”.
“She be great wife, great parent, great friend,” Payne tok. “She dey very bright, very smart… Dis flight attendant thing na kind of like one of her dreams, something wey she wan do.”
E say im dey proud of im sister-in-law for pursuing her dreams, and she “go want make all of una do di same thing she do”.
“Chase your dreams, no mata what. No let anytin fear you, push you away. Just believe in yourself, believe in God, and follow di path.”
Helicopter crew
29-year-old Ryan O’Hara, na di crew chief of di Black Hawk helicopter wey jam di passenger plane, according to CBS News.
E leave behind a wife and one-year-old son, im local Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program tok for one social media post wey confam im death.
O’Hara dey “fondly remembered as dat guy wey go fix things around di ROTC gym, e also be ogbonge member of di rifle team,” di post tok.
Wia dis foto come from, Facebook/Carrie Eaves
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves confam say Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Eaves also die for di collision.
Paying tribute to her husband, Carrie Eaves confam say e be one of di pilots of di Blackhawk helicopter.
“We ask say make you pray for our family and friends and for all di oda families wey dey suffer today. We ask for peace while we grieve,” she write on social media.
Ice skaters
Spencer Lane and Christine Lane
16-year-old Ice skater Spencer Lane, die alongside her mother Christine Lane, 49. Dem dey among di at least 14 athletes and coaches wey die as dem dey return from one skate camp for Wichita.
Im father tell local media say im son na “a force of nature” wey show “drive and tenacity” to di sport.
“E train for di Skating Club of Boston five days a week and attend high school online and just commit himself to it,” Douglas Lane tokj.
E add say im wife na “creative powerhouse” wey go do anything for her children.
Jinna Han, 13, bin also travel go di skate camp wit her mother, Jin.
For one 2022 interview, Jinna bin tell one news network for her Massachusetts hometown say she dey excited to watch di Olympics.
“E dey just so exciting,” Jinna Han tok. “E dey like, who go win, wetin go happun, becos anything fit happun for di Olympics.”
Doug Zeghibe of di Skating Club of Boston call Jin “wonderful, pleasant, polite” pesin.
“Never a discouraging word,” e tok. “Always appreciative, always supportive of not just Jinna, her daughter, but every athlete. Just role model parents in your sport, and you no dey always get dat.”
Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov
Di Kremlin confam di deaths of beloved ice skating coaches Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, wey be Russian.
Famous skating coach and friend Rafael Arutyunyan tell CNN say e bin make im athletes train in silence afta di crash as mark of respect.
“I know all these coaches,” e tok. “All of our community dey respectful to dem and like dem, so I feel dem go stay wit us forever.”
Twelve-year-old Olivia Ter from Maryland dey among di US figure skaters aboard di flight, local officials confam.
“Olivia no only excelled in figure skating programs but inspire odas through her talent, determination and sportsmanship,” Prince George County Parks and Recreation tok for one statement wey CBS News report.
“Di impact of Olivia life go continue to resonate for our youth sports community, and we go miss her well-well,” Bill Tyler, di director of di Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, tok.
Wia dis foto come from, Facebook/Matthew Alan LaRaviere
Cory Haynos, Roger Haynos and Stephanie Branton Haynos
Cory Haynos bin dey travel go house from di US Ice Skating Championships wit im parents, Roger Haynos and Stephanie Branton Haynos, one family member write on social media.
“Roger don always inspire me by im absolute love for im family and dedication to providing only di best for im wife and kids,” Matthew Alan LaRavier, Roger cousin, write.
“Cory na amazing skater wit a very bright future,” e tok.
“All of us bin dey expect Cory to represent our kontri for US Olympics for di future.”
Former coach Sasha Kirsanov bin dey on board di plane, di University of Delaware tok.
Im wife tell ABC News say she don “lost everything” for di crash.
Washington, D.C
Federal court says troops can stay in D.C., and hints at prolonged deployment
Members of the National Guard patrol along Constitution Ave. on December 01, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Heather Diehl/Getty Images North America
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Heather Diehl/Getty Images North America
National Guard troops can remain in Washington, D.C. while a panel of judges examines whether the deployment ordered by President Trump is legal, according to a Federal Appeals Court for Washington, D.C. ruling.
More than 2,000 troops have been deployed in the city since August, both from the District and at least 11 Republican-led states. Hundreds more were added after a targeted attack on National Guard troops killed one and wounded another last month, both of whom were from West Virginia.
The decision Wednesday upends a lower court order that troops be removed from the city.
President Trump’s deployment in Washington is the most robust long-running operation so far, in what has become a pattern of military deployments to help with policing in Democratic-led cities around the country.
Several other smaller deployments are tied up in legal battles — including Trump’s deployment to Chicago which is at the Supreme Court awaiting an emergency decision.
In today’s ruling the judges wrote that Washington, D.C.’s unique federal status allows President Trump to largely control the deployment of troops in the city. They also said the Trump administration is likely to win the overall case, which would see the deployment remain until at least the end of February 2026.
But the judges also raised serious doubts about the lawfulness of deployments of other cities. In particular, the deployment of out-of-state Guard to another state without the consent of that state’s governor — as the administration has tried to do in both Oregon and Illinois.
The opinion called such a move “constitutionally troubling to our federal system of government.”
Troops have left Los Angeles
Today’s decision comes days after a different federal appeals court ruled that troops had to leave Los Angeles on Monday.
The Ninth Circuit ruled late Friday night to uphold a ruling by a federal judge in California to end Trump’s deployment. Trump seized control of the California National Guard in June amid protests in the city and sent more than 4,000 troops there, against Gov. Gavin Newsom’s wishes.
That number had since dropped to around 100, but the administration had sought to extend the federalization of the state’s Guard several times, most recently until February, saying it was still necessary.
The decision from the Ninth Circuit effectively blocked the administration from using those remaining National Guard troops in Los Angeles — but it did not force control of the troops to return to the state, leaving them under federal control for now.
All troops have left their stations in the city, according to two sources familiar with the matter who are not authorized to talk publicly. A military official who was not authorized to discuss details of a deployment publicly told NPR that the troops have been moved to a military facility in the area and are conducting training exercises.
NPR’s Tom Bowman contributed to this report from Washington.
Washington, D.C
DC leaders considering transit options for new RFK Stadium
The Commanders are set to build a new stadium in D.C., and the debate over how fans will get to and from games is happening right now. On Wednesday, city leaders will join Metro and the Washington Commanders to talk stadium transit.
Washington, D.C
D.C. Police Chief manipulated crime data; new House Oversight report
TNND — A new report from the House Oversight Committee alleges former D.C. Police Chief Pamela Smith pressured officers to manipulate crime data. The committee released the report on Sunday, less than a week after Smith announced she was stepping down.
You’re lulling people into this false sense of security. They might go places they wouldn’t ordinarily go. They might do things they wouldn’t ordinarily do,” said Betsy Brantner Smith, spokesperson for the National Police Association.
Included in the report were transcribed interviews with the commanders of all seven D.C. patrol districts and the former commander currently on suspended leave. One was asked, “Over the last few years, has there been any internal pressure to simply bring down crime statistics?” Their response, “Yes, I mean extremethere’s always been pressure to keep crime down, but the focus on statistics… has come in with this current administration.”
Every single person who lives, works, or visits the District of Columbia deserves a safe city, yet it’s now clear the American people were deliberately kept in the dark about the true crime rates in our nation’s capital,” House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer (R-KY) said in a statement.
“They are going to have to regain the public trust. Again, this is a huge integrity issue,” Brantner Smith said.
Among the reports findings, Smith’s alleged pressured campaign against staff led to inaccurate crime data. Smith punished or removed officers for reporting accurate crime numbers. Smith fostered a toxic culture and President Trump’s federal law enforcement surge in D.C. is working.
While Smith has not yet publicly responded to the report, she’s previously denied allegations of manipulating crime data, saying the investigation did not play a factor into her decision to step down at the end of the year.
My decision was not factored into anything with respect to, other than the fact that it’s time. I’ve had 28 years in law enforcement. I’ve had some time to think with my family,” Smith said earlier this month.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser also released a statement Monday, writing in part that “the interim report betrays its bias from the outset, admitting that it was rushed to release.”
According to crime stats from the Metropolitan Police Department, since the federal law enforcement surge started in August, total violent crime is down 26%. Homicides are down 12% and carjackings 37%.
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