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Meet the American who created NASCAR: Bill France Sr., Daytona speed demon, racetrack pioneer

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Meet the American who created NASCAR: Bill France Sr., Daytona speed demon, racetrack pioneer

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Bill France Sr. was born with a mind for business, a gift for people and a need for speed. 

He turned those passions into a nationwide obsession with stock car racing. 

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France founded the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing — NASCAR — on Feb. 21, 1948, in Daytona Beach, Florida. 

NASCAR has grown into the world’s premier stock car racing circuit. “Big Bill,” as he was known, is the unquestioned godfather of the autosport.

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“His story is a great American success story,” NASCAR historian Ken Martin told Fox News Digital. 

“And NASCAR is the great American sport.”

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Bill France Sr. in the pre-NASCAR days. France, a native of Washington, D.C., moved to Daytona Beach, Florida, in his 20s, ran an auto shop and raced cars before founding NASCAR in 1948.  (ISC Archives/CQ-Roll Call Group via Getty Images)

Stock cars, at least in the sport’s earliest years, were essentially production-model cars turned into racing vehicles. 

“Bill’s vision was to basically take cars from the assembly line and put them on the racetrack to see who built the better car, the faster car, the more durable car,” said Martin.

“His story is a great American success story.” — NASCAR historian Ken Martin 

“He knew Americans could relate to the vehicles on the racetrack. He also knew he could generate support from Detroit by pitting Chevys against Fords.”

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Much as football is a largely American sports phenomenon — other countries dabble in it — stock car racing remains a largely American form of auto competition.

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Bill France Sr. was enamored with auto racing as a child and became a master of auto mechanics. He also had a passion for putting his mechanical skills to the test behind the wheels of race cars.

Bill France Sr. looks on from the track he created circa 1959 at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida.   (ISC Archives/CQ-Roll Call Group via Getty Images)

“He was a gearhead,” said Martin. “But also a competitor.”

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France boasted mechanical knowledge, fearlessness behind the wheel, a towering physical stature (6 foot 5 inches) and a charismatic personal presence. 

He commanded respect from the toughest drivers in the nation — the proverbial backwoods moonshine runners who fueled the early pool of race-car drivers. 

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“Well, let’s just say he ‘ran the show,’” NASCAR legend Richard Petty wrote in the foreword to “Big Bill: The Life and Times of NASCAR Founder Bill France Sr.,” a 2015 biography by H.A. Branham. 

“Let’s just say he ‘ran the show.’ — NASCAR legend Richard Petty of Bill France Sr. 

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“It was ‘his show’ and I think that everybody that raced in NASCAR for him knew it was ‘his show.’”

“The big man had big dreams,” writes the International Motor Sports Hall of Fame, “and he made them come true.” 

Birthplace of NASCAR

Bill France Sr. was born on Sept. 26, 1909 in Washington, D.C., to William Henry France and Emma (Graham) France, his mother an immigrant from Ireland.

Bill France Sr., was an early open-wheel race driver long before he embraced the future with full-bodied stock cars. Here he shows off this Model T-based sprinter at a track in Maryland in 1931.  (ISC Archives/CQ-Roll Call Group via Getty Images)

He fueled his passion for speed as a teenager by racing his Model T at a wooden track in Laurel, Maryland.

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He moved to Daytona Beach, Florida, in 1934 with his wife, Anne (Bledsoe) — a nurse and North Carolina native — plus their year-old son Bill Jr. with only “a set of tools and $25 cash,” according to one origin legend. 

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All three Frances became transformational figures in NASCAR. 

Anne served as a longtime NASCAR executive. Bill Jr. took over NASCAR from his father, running the circuit from 1972 until 2000. 

Despite arriving in Daytona during the depths of the Great Depression, Bill Sr. landed a job working for local mechanic Saxton Lloyd. It was an opportunity for which France would show his gratitude years later. 

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He opened his own service station and became a prominent local mechanic while racing cars on Daytona Beach. 

The city’s legendary beach-street course raced two miles up the sand, turned on a ramp, then sped two miles back down State Route A1A on pavement before repeating the circuit.

Daytona Beach hosted its first beach-street race in 1936. France finished fifth as a driver, while serving as the pre-race mechanic for winning driver Milt Marion, behind the wheel of a Ford. 

“By 1938 the city realized they were not the best at promoting racing,” said Martin. “They asked France to help promote it.” 

Sports entertainment exploded across America in the years after the war.

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World War II interrupted Daytona’s effort to become the hub of stock car racing. 

France put his mechanical abilities toward the war effort.

Before he became “Mr. NASCAR,” Bill France Sr. was a prosperous Daytona Beach garage owner and gasoline retailer. France’s gas station at 316 Main Street was also a haven for area racers anxious to have work performed on their race cars. This 1940s business card shows “Big Bill’s” inventiveness.  (ISC Archives/CQ-Roll Call Group via Getty Images)

“Bill Sr., at age 32, was not eligible for the draft and went to work building ‘subchasers’ at the Daytona Boat Works — a major employer of Volusia County residents,” writes biographer Branham. 

Sports entertainment exploded across America in the years after the war. The NBA was founded in 1946. Pro football expanded to the West Coast the same year when the NFL Rams moved from Cleveland to Los Angeles. 

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France added stock car racing to the national menu of sports options.

The rival new All-America Football Conference was also founded in 1946, with familiar franchises such as the 49ers, Browns and Colts soon absorbed by the NFL. 

France added stock car racing to the national menu of sports options.

He led a meeting with other drivers, mechanics and auto enthusiasts in December 1947 at Streamline Hotel in Daytona Beach to make plans for a new professional stock car racing circuit with uniform rules, regulations and standards. 

A series of three meetings convened at the Streamline Hotel in Daytona Beach to establish criteria for professional stock car racing, leading to NASCAR’s formation. On Dec. 14, 1947: Front row, kneeling (L-R), Chick DiNatale, Jimmy Quisenberry, Ed Bruce, Jack Peters, Alvin Hawkins. Back row, standing (L-R), Freddie Horton, Sam Packard, Ed Samples (hidden), Joe Ross, Marshall Teague, Bill Tuthill, Joe Littlejohn, Bob Osiecki, Buddy Shuman, Lucky Sauer (hidden), Tom Galan, Eddie Bland, Bill France Sr., Bob Richards, Harvey Tattersall Jr., Fred Dagavar, Bill Streeter, Jimmy Cox.  (ISC Archives/CQ-Roll Call Group via Getty Images)

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NASCAR was formed two months later, with France its chief executive. 

The site of the Streamline Hotel “stands to this day as a racing landmark,” says the NASCAR Hall of Fame. 

‘World Center of Racing’

Daytona was a magnet for speed enthusiasts in the earliest days of the automobile — long before France arrived and even before France was born. 

One of the gas stations Bill France Sr. operated in Daytona Beach, Florida, around the time NASCAR was formed in 1947 is shown here. (ISC Images & Archives via Getty Images)

“On the hard-packed sands of Florida’s east coast, the idea of racing automobiles became a reality in 1903,” writes Michael Hembree in “NASCAR: The Definitive History of America’s Sport.” 

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“At Ormond Beach, north of Daytona, wealthy winter visitors to the resort area eyed the long flat beach stretches as an ideal landscape for tinkering with their toys.” 

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The region’s hard, flat beaches made it the perfect proving ground for daredevils of the day, who topped 200 miles per hour in the straight-shot speed efforts.

English racer Sir Malcolm Campbell astounded onlookers by reaching a record speed of 278.6 MPH on Daytona Beach in 1935, propelled over the land by an aircraft engine.

Fans react in 1940 as a driver rolls his car during a stock car race on the Daytona Beach-Road Course. Three races were held on the beach that year and were won by Roy Hall, Bill France (later the founder of NASCAR) and Buck Mathis. A special “ladies only” race was also held; it attracted 13 contestants, including France’s wife Anne. Evelyn Reed won the event.  (ISC Images & Archives via Getty Images)

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Auto enthusiasts soon found an even better proving ground out west: the Bonneville Salt Flats of Utah. 

The salt flats were harder, straighter and faster, without the inconvenience or even danger of rising tides.

Daytona lost one of its cash cows. It turned to racing as a way to replace the business lost to Bonneville, said Martin.

“Daytona was looking to plug a hole in its economy,” said Ken Martin, when it tapped France to help promote its beach-street races in the 1930s. 

“France put his plans for the future of racing in Daytona Beach, Florida, in motion on April 4, 1953, with a proposal to construct a permanent speedway facility,” reports the speedway in an online account of its history.

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Before the asphalt was laid, Bill France Sr., and members of his NASCAR staff parked these cars on a turn of the under-construction Daytona International Speedway in December 1958. France gambled nearly everything he owned in building the facility that is known as “The World Center of Racing.”  (ISC Archives/CQ-Roll Call Group via Getty Images)

He envisioned, planned and funded the racetrack of the future: Daytona International Speedway.

“France put his plans for the future of racing in Daytona Beach, Florida, in motion on April 4, 1953, with a proposal to construct a permanent speedway facility,” reports the speedway in an online account of its history.

English racer Sir Malcolm Campbell astounded onlookers by reaching a record speed of 278.6 MPH on Daytona Beach in 1935.

“On August 16, 1954, France signed a contract with City of Daytona Beach and Volusia County officials to build what would become Daytona International Speedway, the ‘World Center of Racing.” 

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The 2.5-mile speedway opened in 1959. Among its ground-breaking features: 31-degree banking turns that allowed race cars to maintain dramatic speeds in the turns.

The Daytona infield boasted a 29-acre lake — Lake Lloyd, named in honor of the mechanic who gave France his first job in Daytona. 

NASCAR driver Michael McDowell poses with his team as he competes at the annual Hot Rods & Reels Celebrity Fishing Tournament to benefit The Darrell Gwynn Chapter of The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis at Daytona International Speedway’s Lake Lloyd, Feb. 18, 2022. Lake Lloyd is named for Saxton Lloyd, a mechanic who gave Bill France Sr. his first job in Daytona. (James Gilbert/Getty Images for The Buoniconti Fund To Cure Paralysis)

France built an even larger track in Alabama, the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway, in 1969.

“He had a vision for building these huge race tracks, because he knew they’d handle high speeds and attract huge crowds,” said Martin. 

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Daytona International Speedway, France’s speedway, remains NASCAR’s premier track. 

The circuit kicks off the new racing season each February with the Daytona 500. It’s also been the site of the sport’s most important events. 

Racing legend Dale Earnhardt won his first Daytona 500 after 20 attempts in February 1998 — “a major event” in NASCAR history by the beloved driver, said Martin.

“Dale Earnhardt’s death was a pivotal moment in (NASCAR) history.” — Ken Martin

It’s also where Earnhardt was tragically killed in February 2001, on the last lap of the Daytona 500. 

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“NASCAR has lost its greatest driver ever, and I personally have lost a great friend,” Bill France Jr., then NASCAR’s chairman, said in the aftermath.

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Earnhardt’s death was one of the first events that “blew up the internet,” to use a more recent term. The nationwide outpouring displayed over the internet proved Earnhardt’s popularity — and that NASCAR had become far more than just a regional phenomenon.

Dale Earnhardt checks out the view from the newly completed Earnhardt Grandstand during winter testing, two weeks before the Daytona 500, at Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, in this file photo from Feb. 2001. He was killed on the last lap of the Daytona 500 on Feb. 18, 2001.  (Brian Cleary/Getty Images)

The tragedy at Daytona, said Martin, ultimately made NASCAR better and safer.

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NASCAR moved the driver’s seat closer to the center of the vehicle, built a “cocoon” around the drivers, mandated head restraints and built soft-barrier walls to absorb some of the impact of a crash. 

“Earnhardt’s death was a pivotal moment in our history,” said Martin. “It made everyone refocus on safety.”

‘Something to do with all of this’

Bill France Sr. died on June 7, 1992, after battling Alzheimer’s disease. He was 82. 

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NASCAR today is recognized as the world’s premier stock car racing circuit with a devoted fan base around the nation. 

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Races have expanded far beyond NASCAR’s early southeastern base. NASCAR races are held from California to New England, and from Austin to Milwaukee. 

NASCAR founder and former CEO Bill France Sr., left, talks with a U.S. Secret Service agent regarding security for Vice President George H.W. Bush prior to the start of the 1983 Daytona 500 stock car race at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach. Bush served as the race’s honorary starter. (Robert Alexander/Getty Images)

About 2.5 million people attend NASCAR races each year, generating about $200 million in revenue, according to industry data. Millions more watch each race on television.

NASCAR inked an $8.2 billion, 10-year deal with Fox Sports and NBC Sports in 2015. 

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NASCAR was briefly publicly traded, but is once again run by the France family. 

“Big Bill” has enjoyed countless honors in the sports world. 

NASCAR founder and president Bill France Sr. walking down the raceway at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona, Florida, on Feb. 16, 1968.  (Eric Schweikardt /Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)

He’s a member of the International Motorsports Hall of Fame, the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America, the Automotive Hall of Fame, the Daytona Beach Stock Car Racing Hall of Fame and — of course — the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

“I think Bill Sr. would be proud of NASCAR today, proud of the fact that his son took it one step further than he did and proud that his grandson has taken it another step further,” Richard Petty wrote in “Big Bill: The Life and Times of NASCAR Founder Bill France Sr.”Bill Sr. would be proud of NASCAR today, proud of the fact that his son took it one step further than he did and proud that his grandson has taken it another step further

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“Bill Sr. would be proud of NASCAR today, proud of the fact that his son took it one step further than he did and proud that his grandson has taken it another step further.” (Fox Nation)

“Now, he wouldn’t have done it the same way, but he would have sat back and told you: ‘Yeah, I had something to do with all of this.’”

To read more stories in this unique “Meet the American Who…” series from Fox News Digital, click here

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Trump, BBC agree on mediator for $10 billion lawsuit over Jan 6 documentary editing controversy

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Trump, BBC agree on mediator for  billion lawsuit over Jan 6 documentary editing controversy

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President Donald Trump and The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) agreed on a mediator on Tuesday to help resolve the president’s $10 billion lawsuit. 

The BBC has come under intense scrutiny over a 2024 Panorama documentary about Trump’s Jan. 6, 2021, speech delivered before the riot at the U.S. Capitol. Critics called the documentary misleading because it omitted Trump’s call for supporters to protest peacefully. Trump sued the BBC in December for both defamation and for a violation of Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act for $5 billion apiece, seeking $10 billion total. 

While ABC and CBS have both settled lawsuits with Trump in the past year, the BBC has vowed to fight the case. The two sides agreed on John W. Thornton, Esq., to serve as a pretrial mediator, who will seek a resolution. 

President Donald Trump and The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) agreed on a mediator on Tuesday to help resolve the president’s $10 billion lawsuit.  (Patrick van Katwijk/Getty Images)

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“The BBC defamed President Trump by intentionally and deceitfully editing its documentary in order to try and interfere in the Presidential election. President Trump will continue to hold accountable those who traffic in lies, deception, and fake news,” a spokesperson for Trump’s legal team told Fox News Digital. 

The BBC did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Trump’s suit, filed in the Southern District of Florida Federal Court, was filed in a personal capacity and named the BBC and BBC Studios Productions as defendants. The parties have proposed a mediation session the week of Oct. 26. Mediation, a standard case management step required by the court, is contingent on the outcome of a jurisdictional challenge the BBC is expected to submit later this month. 

“As we have made clear previously, we will be defending this case. We are not going to make further comment on ongoing legal proceedings,” a BBC spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

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President Donald Trump has tangled in the courts with several media organizations. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

The BBC previously issued an apology for the erroneous edit and said it had pulled the program from its platforms, but a spokesperson for the broadcaster added, “While the BBC sincerely regrets the manner in which the video clip was edited, we strongly disagree there is a basis for a defamation claim.”

The controversy began with a bombshell report from The Telegraph that featured excerpts from a whistleblower dossier compiled by Michael Prescott, a communications advisor hired by the BBC to review its editorial standards.

The whistleblower revealed that the BBC “Panorama” documentary released in 2024 had a misleading edit of comments Trump made at the rally that preceded the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

The documentary omitted Trump urging his supporters to protest “peacefully” and instead spliced two separate comments made nearly an hour apart, making it appear he was calling for violence.

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“We’re going to walk down to the Capitol. And I’ll be there with you. And we fight — we fight like hell,” the documentary showed Trump saying, with no indication the statements came far apart.

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In reality, Trump said, “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol. And we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women, and we’re probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them because you’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength and you have to be strong.”  It was 54 minutes later that Trump called on his supporters to “fight like hell” for election integrity.

The New York Times referred to the ordeal as “one of the worst crises in its 103-year history” of the BBC. The blunder led to the resignations of BBC News CEO Deborah Turness and BBC director-general Tim Davie.

Turness insisted in an interview last week that the BBC does not have any institutional bias against Trump. 

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Trump’s legal team suggested the defendants “timed the publication of the Panorama Documentary to be close in time to the 2024 Presidential Election” and the value of the president’s “personal brand alone is reasonably estimated to be worth tens of billions of dollars.”

Fox News Digital’s Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report. 

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Police warned prosecutors 3 times about violent illegal immigrant before he allegedly killed Virginia mother

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Police warned prosecutors 3 times about violent illegal immigrant before he allegedly killed Virginia mother

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Newly uncovered emails show the Fairfax County Police Department warned the county’s commonwealth attorney about a criminal illegal migrant with more than 30 previous arrests at least three times before he allegedly stabbed a mother to death in the Washington, D.C., area.

Abdul Jalloh, 32, was charged with murder after allegedly stabbing 41-year-old Stephanie Minter to death at a bus stop in Fairfax County, Virginia, in late February. 

Jalloh, an illegal immigrant from Sierra Leone in West Africa who had lived in Virginia since the age of 9, was arrested at a liquor store one day after the stabbing when an employee called 911 to report Jalloh was shoplifting.

Abdul Jalloh, 32, is accused of killing Stephanie Minter, 41, at a Virginia bus stop.  (Fox 5 DC)

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According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Jalloh entered the country in 2012 and has more than a dozen arrests in northern Virginia. 

His criminal history includes more than 30 arrests for charges of rape, malicious wounding, assault, drug possession, identity theft, trespassing, larceny, firing a weapon, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and pick-pocketing, yet his charges were dropped by local prosecutors almost every time, according to DHS.

Emails obtained by WJLA showed the Fairfax County Police Department (FCPD) warned Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano’s office about Jalloh on at least three occasions, but no action was taken to remove him from the country.

In an email to Fairfax County Chief Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Jenna Sands, a Fairfax County police major said he wanted to bring Jalloh’s release to her attention because he “is one of the repeat (and violent) offenders” they had previously discussed.

Abdul Jalloh on a bus in Virginia (Fairfax County Police Department)

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“I wanted to get your background on why he is out so soon and ask if his prior suspended sentence (of I believe 5 years) was pursued by your office? Unfortunately, based on MTV Station’s numerous dealings with him, it is not a question of if, but rather when he will maliciously wound (or worse) again. My role of keeping the public safe, prompts me to follow up on his status,” the major wrote.

In another email discussing a bond alert from August 2025, a FCPD employee told Assistant Police Chief Brooke Wright that Jalloh had more than 100 incidents with FCPD resulting in multiple charges spanning from theft to violent crimes, according to the outlet.

“JALLOH’s offenses began with domestic violence incidents and escalated to assaulting other victims and threats with weapons (knives),” the employee wrote in the email. “He has been involved in multiple stabbing incidents with victims identifying him as the offender in these cases. This year JALLOH has been the offender in a malicious wounding where he stabbed a man in May 2025, in which he received a bond on July 31, 2025 — three weeks later, this incident occurred where he assaulted an older male and stomped his head into the ground.”

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The employee added a list of Jalloh’s criminal history to the email, which included:

2014: Assault on family member (nolle prossed)

2015: Assault on family member (nolle prossed)

2017: ID theft to avoid arrest (guilty)

2017: Assault (guilty)

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2018: Possession of marijuana (guilty)

2018: Destruction of property (guilty) — Original charge: malicious shoot/throw occupied building

2018: Contributing to the delinquency of a minor (nolle prossed)

2018: Rape (nolle prossed)

2018: Grand larceny (nolle prossed)

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2022: Trespassing (nolle prossed)

2023: Trespassing (guilty)

2023: Disorderly conduct (guilty)

2023: Possession of a schedule three substance (guilty) — Original charge: possession of a schedule one or two substance

2023: Malicious wounding (nolle prossed)

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2023: Malicious wounding (guilty) — Sentenced to seven years, with five years suspended to probation

2023: Stealing property from a person (nolle prossed)

2024: Petit larceny (nolle prossed)

2024: Trespassing (nolle prossed)

2024: Petit larceny (nolle prossed)

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2024: Disorderly conduct (nolle prossed)

2024: Malicious wounding (nolle prossed)

2024: Failure to appear in court (dismissed)

2025: Malicious wounding

*Nolle pressed refers to a prosecutor’s formal decision to drop criminal charges.

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In response to the email, Wright said Sands “had a specific conversation regarding them prosecuting without a victim in court for the stabbing given the circumstances, and she was on board with a victimless prosecution.”

In a May 2025 email obtained by WJLA, police emailed Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano’s office — including Sands and other prosecutors — warning that Jalloh “has a history of stabbing community members and was on probation during the most recent assault.”

“For those reasons and the reasons outlined in the document, we ask that you argue he continues to be held at the ADC,” an officer wrote.

The email also explained a May 4, 2025, incident in which Jalloh allegedly stabbed a man in the leg while he was sleeping with his girlfriend.

“Without hesitation, the Victim stated that Jallow was the person who stabbed him. Jalloh has been charged with numerous Malicious woundings and been convicted of one in 2023 and [is] currently out on probation for the aforementioned crime and living in an OAR provided motel room,” the officer wrote.

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OAR is a nonprofit in Fairfax County that provides “alternatives to incarceration” for criminals.

VIRGINIA MURDER SUSPECT IN BUS STOP STABBING HAD LENGTHY CRIMINAL HISTORY, MULTIPLE DROPPED CHARGES

Similar to the other email, the officer included a list of prior police involvement, including an incident from April 14, 2024, during which Jalloh allegedly stabbed a homeless man in the head and upper body while he was sleeping at a bus stop, telling him, “get up, you can’t sleep here.”

Later that same day, Jalloh allegedly stabbed a woman in the head after attacking her and stealing her money, according to the email.

Other incidents included Jalloh allegedly choking a woman, stomping on her, burning her chest and raping her in October 2018, stabbing a person inside a McDonald’s in January 2023 and stabbing an elderly man in February 2023.

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The email also said police had a record of 178 incidents, citing Jalloh as a known shoplifter and noting he “is often intoxicated/high and located w/narcotics on his person.”

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger has said DHS would need to provide a signed judicial warrant from a local judge to ensure that Jalloh is deported. (Department of Homeland Security/Getty Images)

DANGER This individual has a long history of stabbing community members and is currently on probation for doing that very thing,” the officer wrote. “He has shown a blatant disregard for human life and is a danger to the community.”

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said his department “respect[s] the criminal justice system and the distinct roles and responsibilities of each entity within it.”

“In previous cases involving this defendant, our officers and detectives conducted thorough investigations, made lawful arrests, and presented evidence for prosecution,” Davis wrote. “The court outcomes are in no way related to any shortcomings associated with the FCPD. This defendant must be held accountable for his actions. We remain committed to our role to ensure that happens.”

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DEM GOVERNOR UNDER FIRE AFTER ILLEGAL ALIEN ALLEGEDLY STABS WOMAN TO DEATH AT BUS STOP: ‘HEINOUS’

Despite Jalloh’s criminal history and the recent killing of Minter, Democratic Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger said she would not honor a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer, which is a written request for law enforcement to maintain custody of a person for up to 48 hours after their scheduled release to allow for transfer to ICE custody.

A governor’s spokesperson told WJLA that DHS would need to provide a signed judicial warrant from a local judge to ensure that Jalloh is deported.

“Sanctuary [Gov. Abigail Spanberger] is fighting to protect a MURDERER over American citizens,” DHS wrote in an X post. “This monster is responsible for fatally stabbing Stephanie Minter. ICE does NOT need judicial warrants to make arrests. 

“The heroes of ICE will continue to arrest and remove criminal illegal aliens across the Commonwealth while Governor Spanberger RELEASES them from jails into Virginia communities to commit more crimes and create more victims.”

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In early February, Spanberger ended cooperation with state agencies and federal immigration authorities through an executive directive, claiming she had “serious concerns that chaotic federal law enforcement actions across the country are eroding years of trust,” adding immigration enforcement “contributes to a culture of fear and distrust.”

A Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office spokesperson told Fox News Digital the office “was aware of Jalloh’s criminal history and shared police concerns about potential future dangerousness. That is why our Chief Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney personally handled these cases.”

The spokesperson said prosecutors “will often explore many different pathways to successful prosecution, but, at the end of the day, our decisions are constrained by what testimony is available and what is legally permissible and practicable in Fairfax courts.”

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Spanberger’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

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Fox News Digital’s Preston Mizell contributed to this report.

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Family member of American killed by Cuban forces in boat shootout says he was on ‘diabolical’ mission

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Family member of American killed by Cuban forces in boat shootout says he was on ‘diabolical’ mission

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The brother of an American citizen killed in a brazen boat clash with Cuban forces says his sibling was consumed by an “obsessive and diabolical” push to free the island and that “no one knew” what he was planning.

American citizen Michel Ortega Casanova, who worked as a truck driver, was one of 10 passengers on a Florida-registered boat that allegedly opened fire on Cuban soldiers in an attempt to infiltrate the island.

A Monroe County Sheriff’s Office incident report obtained by Fox News noted the boat’s owner reported it stolen Wednesday after hearing about the Cuba shootout on the news.

The owner, who did not speak English, told deputies his 24-foot vessel went missing, and he suspected an employee named Hector — who had two young daughters in Cuba — may have taken it.

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U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio addressed an incident involving Cuban forces and a speedboat Wednesday before returning to Washington, D.C., after meetings with Caribbean Community leaders at Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport in Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis.  (Jonathan Ernst/Pool/Reuters)

Ortega Casanova, who lived in the U.S. for more than two decades, was one of four killed in the attempt. He is survived by his wife, mother, brother, two sisters, daughter and unborn grandchild.

Six other passengers, all Cubans living in the U.S., were injured. It is unclear if Hector was on board.

Ortega Casanova’s brother, Misael, told The Associated Press Wednesday that his brother had an “obsessive and diabolical” pursuit for Cuba’s freedom.

“Only us Cubans who have lived over there understand [the great suffering],” Misael said.

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He said “no one knew” about his brother’s plans to infiltrate the island, noting their mother is “devastated.”

“They became so obsessed that they didn’t think about the consequences nor their own lives,” Misael said.

While Ortega Casanova’s family did not recognize any of the other passengers, Misael said, “maybe [the attempt] will justify that some day Cuba will be free.”

CUBA IS APPROACHING ITS BERLIN WALL MOMENT — AMERICA MUST HELP THEM BREAK THROUGH

Cuban Coast Guard forces reported an exchange of gunfire with a U.S.-registered speedboat Wednesday. (Yamil Lage/AFP via Getty Images)

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He refrained from labeling the group heroes, describing the idea as “ignorance.”

Cuban officials said many of the boat passengers, who were intercepted roughly a mile northeast of Cayo Falcones, off Cuba’s north coast, had a known history of criminal and violent activity.

Passengers Amijail Sánchez González and Leordan Enrique Cruz Gómez were wanted by Cuban authorities for their involvement in the “promotion, planning, organization, financing, support or commission of actions carried out in the national territory or in other countries, in connection with acts of terrorism,” according to the government.

Cuban politician Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla posted to X after the incident, claiming a “rigorous investigation” is being conducted to clarify the facts.

CUBA IDENTIFIES 32 MILITARY PERSONNEL KILLED IN US OPERATION AGAINST MADURO REGIME IN VENEZUELA

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“Cuba has had to face numerous terrorist and aggressive infiltrations originating from #EEUU since 1959, at a high cost in lives, injuries, and material damage,” Rodriguez Parrilla wrote in a post. “The defense of Cuba’s coasts, of the national territory, and of national security is an ineludible duty.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. is working to determine whether the passengers were American citizens or permanent residents.

U.S. officials said at least two of the people on the bat were U.S. citizens, and another was on a U.S. K-1 visa — which is granted to fiancées of U.S. citizens for 90 days.

“We have various different elements of the U.S. government that are trying to identify elements of the story that may not be provided to us now,” Rubio told reporters in Basseterre, St. Kitts.

“Suffice it to say, it is highly unusual to see shootouts in open sea like that. It’s not something that happens every day. It’s something, frankly, that hasn’t happened with Cuba in a very long time.”

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Cuban officials said the vessel’s passengers were intercepted off the country’s northern coast. (Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto)

RUSSIA WARNS AGAINST ‘PROVOCATIVE ACTIONS’ AROUND CUBA AFTER 4 KILLED ONBOARD US-REGISTERED SPEEDBOAT

Rubio said the U.S. will verify the facts independently, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Coast Guard are investigating.

Vice President JD Vance said he was briefed on the incident, and the White House is monitoring the situation.

“Hopefully it’s not as bad as we fear it could be,” Vance said.

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Florida’s Attorney General James Uthmeier said prosecutors will work with federal, state and law enforcement partners to start an investigation.

“The Cuban government cannot be trusted, and we will do everything in our power to hold these communists accountable,” Uthmeier wrote in a social media post.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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