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Close contest between Trump and Harris in this battleground state turned red: poll

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Close contest between Trump and Harris in this battleground state turned red: poll

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A new poll suggests former President Trump holds a slim five-point advantage over Vice President Harris in the battle for Florida’s 30 electoral votes.

Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, stands at 47% support among likely voters in Florida in a USA Today/Suffolk University/WSVN-TV survey released on Tuesday, with Harris, the Democratic Party’s nominee, at 42%.

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The survey of 500 likely Sunshine State voters indicates Democrat-turned-independent Robert F. Kennedy at 5%, Libertarian Party nominee Chase Oliver at 1%, and Green Party candidate Jill Stein and independent Cornel West registering at less than 1%.

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A new poll indicates former President Trump with a five-point advantage over Vice President Harris in Florida. (Getty Images)

Florida was once the largest of the battleground states in presidential elections. Former President Obama narrowly carried the state in his 2008 and 2012 White House victories, and Trump edged out Democrat nominee Hillary Clinton to win the state in 2016.

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But four years ago, in his 2020 re-election defeat, Trump won Florida by 3.3 points over President Biden, which was the biggest winning margin in the state in a presidential contest in 16 years.

Trump campaigns in Florida

Former President Trump leaves after speaking at a campaign rally at the Trump National Doral Golf Club on July 9, 2024, in Doral, Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

And in the 2022 midterms, conservatives surged at the state level, with Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis winning re-election by 19 points and GOP Sen. Marco Rubio securing a third term in the Senate by more than 16 points.

“While not exactly a flashing red warning light for Trump, the survey is a caution sign for anyone who thinks the race is sure to be a blowout in Florida,” Suffolk University Research Center director David Paleologos said.

New voter registration numbers released Monday in Florida indicate Republicans with a 1 million person advantage over the Democrats. That marks a vast turnaround from four years ago, when Democrats held a slight edge in voter registration.

“Given those circumstances, I was surprised that Harris is within striking distance being only five points down,” Paleologos added.

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A Fox News poll conducted in June, when President Biden was still at the top of the Democrats’ 2024 ticket, indicated Trump with a four-point 50%-46% advantage in Florida.

But Trump’s polling margins over Biden expanded after the president’s disastrous debate performance against his GOP challenger in late June. 

Biden’s rambling and uneven answers at the debate fueled questions over whether the 81-year-old president had the physical and mental abilities to handle another four years in the White House and sparked a chorus of calls from within his own party to end his 2024 campaign.

Over 10,000 at a Kamala Harris rally in Atlanta, Georgia

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally, July 30, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

Democrats quickly coalesced around Harris after Biden’s blockbuster announcement three and a half weeks ago that he was ending his re-election campaign and endorsing his vice president to succeed him at the top of the party’s ticket.

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Harris has enjoyed a bump in the polls and a surge in fundraising since taking over as the party’s 2024 standard-bearer.

The new poll indicates Harris matching Trump for voter enthusiasm in Florida, with 89% of each group saying they are very or somewhat excited to vote for the candidate they’re supporting. Enthusiasm among Biden voters in Florida stood at just 60% in a USA Today/Suffolk poll from June.

The new survey was conducted Aug. 7-11 with a sampling error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

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Southeast

Florida man kills one, injures two with semi-truck after being kicked out of gentleman's club: Police

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Florida man kills one, injures two with semi-truck after being kicked out of gentleman's club: Police

A Florida man has killed one and injured two others after crashing a semi-truck into a Tampa gentleman’s club early Tuesday morning.

The truck driver is in custody and in critical condition after the incident. The unnamed driver was kicked out of the establishment around 4:00 am Tuesday for unknown reasons leading up to the deliberate crash.

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“Around 4:19 am, officers responded to a call for a truck vs pedestrian in the parking lot of the Emperors Gentleman Club located at 5718 E. Adamo Drive,” read a Tampa Police statement shared with Fox News Digital.

The cab of a semi-truck crashed into the entrance of Emperor’s Gentleman’s Club in Tampa, killing one and injuring two others. (WTVT)

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“Upon arrival, officers found the truck had crashed into the front area of the building that leads to the entrance,” the statement continued.

According to police, witnesses at the scene shared that the unnamed driver “had just been kicked out of the club” before returning to crash into the entrance of the gentleman’s club, hitting a group of people present.

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The Tampa Police described the victim and the two other injured parties present as “adult males.”

The two injured men are hospitalized currently but expected to survive the incident.

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Aerial view of Emperor's Gentleman's Club in Tampa

The Emperor’s Gentleman’s Club in Tampa was the scene of a fatal deliberate crash in the early hours of Tuesday morning. (WTVT)

“This is an unbelievably tragic and completely avoidable incident,” said Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw in a statement shared with Fox News Digital. “We will work to get justice for the victims and their families. We are thinking of all those impacted including the innocent bystanders who witnessed this horrific ordeal.”

The Tampa Police Department will release more information as it becomes available, including charges pressed against the semi-truck driver.

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North Carolina manhunt launched for convicted murderer who escaped on way to hospital: sheriff

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North Carolina manhunt launched for convicted murderer who escaped on way to hospital: sheriff

A manhunt has been launched after a convicted murderer managed to escape law enforcement’s grasp on the way to receive medical care at a nearby hospital.

According to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, Ramone Jamarr Alston, 30, escaped from the custody of officers from the North Carolina Department of Corrections while being transported from Bertie Correctional Institution to UNC Gastroenterology in Hillsborough to receive care.

Alston was last seen wearing a gray T-shirt, brown pants and white New Balance shoes. He was also wearing handcuffs connected to a belly chain with a black box over the junction.

In a 4:30 p.m. press conference, Orange County officials said they believe Alston had help in his escape efforts and offered a $25,000 reward to anyone who can provide information that would lead to his capture.

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Ramone Jamarr Alston, 30, escaped from the custody of officers from the North Carolina Department of Corrections while being transported from Bertie Correctional Institution to UNC Gastroenterology in Hillsborough to receive medical care. (Orange County Sheriff’s Office)

The 30-year-old convicted killer managed to escape by freeing himself of leg restraints on the way to the hospital at 7 a.m. Tuesday, police said.

“How he [Alston] got them off, I don’t know,” Sheriff Charles Blackwood said.

Once the vehicle door was opened, he jumped out and ran to a wooded area nearby.

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Police said two armed corrections officers were guarding him. 

“If someone has an intent to go where you don’t know, they’re going to go, and they run,” Blackwood said. “And it happens, bang, bang. The gentleman, as soon as he put his foot on the ground to get out of the vehicle, took off running.” 

Ramone Jamarr Alston

Ramone Jamarr Alston was last seen wearing a gray T-shirt, brown pants and white New Balance shoes. He was also wearing handcuffs connected to a belly chain with a black box over the junction. (Orange County Sheriff’s Office)

The two officers chased Alston but were unable to catch up with him. 

“Policy a lot of times dictates what we do when we deliver an inmate wherever, and the same with the [Department of] Adult Corrections,” Blackwood continued. “We have secure lock boxes that we put our guns in sometimes when we’re moving an inmate from one place to the other, and that protocol was followed this morning.”

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The Orange County Sheriff’s Office in North Carolina is offering $25,000 for information leading to the capture of Ramone Jamarr Alston. (Orange County Sheriff’s Office)

Police stressed the importance and scope of the ongoing manhunt to recapture Alston.

“As far as the community goes, there are two ways of looking at this,” Sheriff Blackwood said during a media briefing. “He’s either within a five-mile radius or he’s in the rest of the world. And we’re searching both.”

Sheriff Blackwood encouraged residents to lock their windows and doors and report any suspicious activity to police.

Alston, who had been serving a life sentence at Bertie Correctional Institution in Windsor, North Carolina, was responsible for the murder of 1-year-old Maleah Williams on Christmas Day 2015.

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Alston was found guilty of first-degree murder.



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Georgia city to pay $55,000, train officers on free speech after veteran arrested for 'panhandling'

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Georgia city to pay ,000, train officers on free speech after veteran arrested for 'panhandling'

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A city in Georgia will change its free speech policies and pay $55,000 to settle a lawsuit, more than two years after police arrested a veteran for allegedly panhandling.

Jeff Gray, an Army veteran and self-described First Amendment auditor, frequently travels around the southeast, stands on public property, and holds a sign saying “God bless the homeless vets.” He does this to test officials’ reactions, and frequently captures video of police who accuse him of illegal protesting or panhandling.

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Police handcuffed and detained Jeff Gray in Alpharetta, Georgia, after people complained that he was panhandling outside city hall. Gray said he wasn’t asking for money, simply holding a sign, but panhandling is protected under the First Amendment anyway. (Courtesy of Lacy Jessica Photography)

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In January 2022, Gray’s camera was rolling while he held his sign outside Alpharetta City Hall and called out, “God bless the homeless vets” to people who passed by. Soon, a police lieutenant approached him and said two people had reported Gray for panhandling.

“I’m not panhandling, I’m just saying, ‘God bless the homeless veterans’ on public property,” Gray can be heard saying in the video as Lt. Arick Furr handcuffed him. Furr also took Gray’s camera and turned it off, telling Gray it was to preserve the battery, according to audio still being recorded on Gray’s Apple Watch.

Another officer “joined in the detention” and “interrogated and berated Gray before eventually releasing him” without charges, according to the lawsuit. But when he tried to resume his sign-holding, police again asked him to leave, and Gray complied.

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With the help of the nonprofit Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), Gray sued the city of Alpharetta in 2023.

The city settled last month, agreeing to change its policies and pay $55,000. Most of that will go to Gray, while a portion will pay his lawyers.

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“Alpharetta officers tried to run [Gray] out of town because they thought holding a sign was disorderly conduct,” FIRE attorney Adam Steinbaugh said in a statement. “They’ll think twice next time.”

The city must also provide “two hours of First Amendment training” to each officer per year in 2024 and 2025. The training will mostly focus on freedom of speech and its relationship with assembly rights, the right to record police activity, the use of profanity toward officers and refusals to answer officers’ questions, according to the settlement.

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Alpharetta officials and Furr’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Even if Gray had been panhandling, the First Amendment protects people’s right to ask others for money, FIRE pointed out. Yet police in the city of about 67,000 residents stopped people on numerous occasions and threatened them with citations or arrest, according to public records obtained by FIRE.

Police are now prohibited from making blanket statements that panhandling is illegal, according to Alpharetta’s new policy, which took effect July 18.

“However, officers may explain that ordinances or state law limits panhandling in certain areas or manners, provided that explanation accurately conveys existing ordinances or state law,” the new policy adds.

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Alpharetta officers accused of violating the First Amendment will also face a higher level of internal investigation, according to FIRE.

Jeff Gray

Army veteran and retired truck driver Jeff Gray frequently tests officials’ response to activities he says are protected by the First Amendment, like holding a sign on public property. (Courtesy of Lacy Jessica Photography)

FIRE also represented Gray in lawsuits against two other Georgia cities.

In Blackshear, police cited Gray for holding his sign without a permit, and in Port Wentworth, Gray was arrested for refusing to leave the area outside city hall where he was holding his sign, according to the lawsuits.

Both lawsuits were settled last year.

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