Southeast
New Orleans jail escape shines spotlight on infamous prison breakouts
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A former FBI agent who spent 10 years hunting fugitives says employees of the Orleans Parish Jail almost certainly knew about and assisted the massive 10-person escape last Friday.
Scott Duffey spent 22 years in the FBI, including a decade hunting fugitives, before retiring as a supervisory special agent. He is now the director of the Wilmington University Criminal Justice Institute in Delaware.
He said it would be nearly impossible for 10 people to escape from a jail without help from the inside, or at least without people on the inside knowing about a planned escape.
Scott Duffey spent 22 years in the FBI, including a decade hunting fugitives, before retiring as a supervisory special agent. (Fox News Digital)
“If 10 people did it, that means at least double that number knew about it,” he told Fox News Digital. “So that’s a big intel breach. And how can that happen without somebody on the inside not assisting?”
Authorities said they are investigating whether the inmates, many of whom have been charged with heinous violent crimes, had help from jail staff. Three employees have been suspended pending the ongoing investigation.
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“How could there not be somebody on the inside?” Duffey said. “That would be such a major intel [and] physical security breach that I would say everybody needs to be looked at there, because that’s a huge number [of escapees].”
As for why a corrections officer might help a prisoner escape, Duffey said there are a number of reasons, but he specifically mentioned that a romantic relationship with an inmate could be plausible.
From an investigatory standpoint, Duffey said it is likely that the fugitives are still in the New Orleans area and likely couch-surfing with friends and family to avoid detection.
He said he would be applying maximum pressure to those family and friends to get them to turn the inmates in.
“So everybody in the family is immediately being interviewed and probably given the riot act with regards to, OK, we determined he’s definitely not here. Now we want to know when’s the last time you had contact?” Duffey said. “Did you get contacted by the fugitive since he escaped? And here’s what can happen if you aid a fugitive.”
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In many ways, the New Orleans breakout is reminiscent of several of the nation’s highest-profile breakouts, ranging from prison escapes in Alabama to Alcatraz.
Below is a list:
1. Casey White escapes from Alabama jail, 2022:
A romantic relationship was at the center of one of America’s more recent high-profile escape cases.
Casey White, an inmate at the Lauderdale County, Alabama, jail, was awaiting a capital murder trial while already serving a 75-year sentence for attempted murder and kidnapping when he broke out of jail with the help of a guard.
Casey White in his latest mugshot photo and Vicky White (Alabama Department of Correction | Lauderdale County)
His accomplice was Vicky White, a high-ranking corrections officer at the jail, who allowed him to walk out and then fled alongside him.
The pair, who were lovers, led authorities on an 11-day manhunt across Tennessee and Indiana, which eventually culminated in a confrontation outside an Evansville, Indiana, motel room.
The pair jumped into a black Cadillac and attempted to flee but were rammed off the road by police, causing a crash. Vicky White died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, and Casey White was captured and extradited back to Alabama.
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2. Richard Matt and David Sweat escape from Dannemora, 2015:
In 2015, another alleged sexual relationship led to a high-profile prison escape.
Two inmates at the Clinton Correctional Facility, Richard Matt and David Sweat, escaped from the maximum security facility that bordered the tiny upstate New York town of Dannemora.
Richard Matt, right, and David Sweat (New York State Police)
Both were serving life sentences for murder, but with the help of prison worker Joyce “Tilly” Mitchell, the pair escaped.
Matt and Sweat allegedly had sexual relationships with Mitchell, who provided the inmates with tools to hack away at the walls in their cell for three months straight during time normally reserved for eating and recreation. An inspector general’s report later noted the institution’s culpability in failing to supervise the duo.
After a 20-day manhunt, Matt was shot and killed by police about 30 miles from the prison. Days later, Sweat was found by authorities jogging on a road just south of the Canadian border. He was also shot, but he survived his injuries and was returned to prison.
Mitchell was sentenced to seven years in prison for her role in the escape.
Joyce Mitchell appears at Plattsburgh City Court for a hearing in Plattsburgh, N.Y., on June 15, 2015. (G.N. Miller/NY Post via AP/Pool)
3. El Chapo escapes from Mexican custody, 2015:
In the same year, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, the Mexican drug lord and leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, escaped from a maximum-security Mexican jail via a mile-long tunnel that led from his cell to a construction yard. It was later determined that his cartel associates dug the tunnel.
Fourteen years earlier, he had escaped from a Mexican prison after bribing guards and being wheeled out in a laundry basket.
NEW ORLEANS JAIL INMATES CHARGED WITH MURDER AND OTHER CRIMES ESCAPE
Guzman was recaptured by Mexican authorities in 2016, extradited to the U.S. the following year and found guilty in 2019 of numerous criminal charges related to his cartel activities. He was sentenced to life in prison in Colorado’s ADX Florence, a supermax facility in Colorado.
Authorities escort Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman from a plane in Ronkonkoma, N.Y. (U.S. law enforcement via AP)
4. The Texas 7 escape from maximum-security unit, 2000:
On Dec. 13, 2000, seven men, later dubbed the “Texas 7”, escaped from the John B. Connally Unit, a maximum-security prison near Kenedy, Texas, by overpowering the guards. They stole a cache of weapons on their way out of the facility and went on a vicious crime spree.
Two of the men were serving life sentences for murder at the time of the escape.
On Christmas Eve of that year, the men held up a sporting goods store and shot and killed responding Irving Police Officer Aubry Wright Hawkins.
Between Jan. 22–24, 2001, after the airing of an episode of “America’s Most Wanted” that featured the men, six of them were captured. The seventh committed suicide before he could be taken into custody.
This photo provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice shows death-row inmate Joseph Garcia, who died by lethal injection in 2018.
They were all tried and convicted of Hawkins’ murder and sentenced to death.
Michael Anthony Rodriguez, one of the seven, waived his appeals after his conviction and was executed in 2008.
In 2012, the ringleader of the escaped prison gang, George Rivas, was put to death for the murder. Another escapee, Donald Newbury, was executed in 2015. A fourth, Joseph Garcia, was executed in 2018.
In 2019, the executions of the last two escapees were stayed.
5. The escape from Alcatraz, 1962:
Perhaps the most storied prison escape in American history occurred on June 11, 1962, from the infamous Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco.
On that day, Frank Morris and brothers Clarence and John Anglin, all convicted bank robbers, escaped from the prison through air ducts and an unguarded hallway after they placed papier-mâché model heads bearing their likenesses inside their own beds, tricking the guards.
Low fog swirls around Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge, Sept. 16, 2020, in Berkeley, Calif. (Lea Suzuki/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
They boarded a makeshift raft and paddled away from the island, never to be seen again. It is believed they drowned in San Francisco Bay.
A fourth potential escapee, Allen West, did not make it off the island.
Alcatraz has recently been in the news as President Donald Trump floated the idea of reopening the island prison.
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Southeast
Florida college student who allegedly shipped 1,500 rounds of ammo to dorm had AR-15 under bed
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A Florida college student who allegedly ordered 1,500 rounds of ammunition to his dorm room also had a semi-automatic rifle under his bed, according to authorities.
Constantine Demetriades, a 21-year-old senior at Rollins College, was arrested by Winter Park police on Wednesday and charged with possession of a weapon on school property after the ammunition order was reported to police by the school’s assistant campus safety director, according to an arrest affidavit, WKMG reported.
After the purchase was flagged, the assistant safety director searched Demetriades’ dorm and allegedly discovered an unloaded AR-15 under his bed inside an unsecured black carrying case with one loaded magazine and five empty magazines, as well as a tactical vest, knives, a black security vest and ear protection.
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Constantine Demetriades, 21, was charged with possession of a weapon on school property. (Winter Park Police Department)
Demetriades, who said he likes to shoot as a hobby, told police he had the rifle on school property because he had recently returned from a Thanksgiving trip to New Jersey, where he said the guns were purchased and registered legally, according to the affidavit.
He said he did not have ill intentions and that he usually stores the firearm at a friend’s home off school property, the affidavit stated. He also said he only brought the gun to campus on one other occasion.
Constantine Demetriades said he did not have ill intentions. (Getty Images)
While Florida allows open carry, Rollins College bans all weapons on campus. Demetriades allegedly said he is aware that weapons are not allowed on campus and that his New Jersey concealed carry permit does not apply in Florida.
The college said in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital that he is banned from campus until the situation is resolved, adding that an internal investigation has been opened.
FLORIDA MAN ARRESTED IN WEALTHY BEACH TOWN OVER ALLEGED TIKTOK SCHOOL-SHOOTING THREAT
While Florida allows open carry, Rollins College bans all weapons on campus. (Getty Images)
“On Wednesday, the College received a report indicating a violation of our weapons policy,” Rollins College said in a statement. “After receiving this information, we immediately initiated an investigation.”
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“We quickly identified and contacted the student, who cooperated fully with College officials and local law enforcement as we investigated the matter further,” the statement continued. “The student was arrested and is not permitted to be on campus while the College proceeds with the student conduct process.”
The school said Demetriades was additionally charged with a violation of the college’s weapons policy, and will go through the on-campus conduct process.
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Southeast
Marjorie Taylor Greene spars with ’60 Minutes’ host over ‘accusatory’ questions
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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., briefly sparred with “60 Minutes” host Lesley Stahl over what she claimed was “accusatory” behavior from the journalist.
Greene gave her first sit-down interview with Stahl since announcing her resignation from Congress last month. During the segment, Stahl and Greene spoke about the Georgia lawmaker’s apology for taking part in “toxic politics.”
“I would like to say humbly, I‘m sorry for taking part in the toxic politics,” Greene told CNN in November. “It’s very bad for our country, and it’s been something I’ve thought about a lot, especially since Charlie Kirk was assassinated, is that we, I’m only responsible for myself and my own words and actions, and I am committed, and I’ve been working on this a lot lately to put down the knives in politics.”
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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., gave her first sit-down interview with “60 Minutes” since announcing her resignation. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
“But you contributed to that,” Stahl asked Greene Sunday. “You. You, you were out there pounding, insulting people.”
Greene pushed back, claiming that Stahl had contributed to toxic politics herself.
“You’re accusatory, just like you did just then,” Greene said.
“I know you’re accusing me, but I’m smiling,” Stahl responded.
“You’re accusing me,” Greene said. “But we don’t have to accuse one another.”
The two continued to go back and forth, with Greene repeatedly insisting that Stahl should also acknowledge her own contribution to toxic politics.
“I don’t insult people,” Stahl said.
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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., previously apologized for her role in “toxic” politics. (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)
“You just, you do in the way you question,” Greene said. “And you are, you’re accusing me right now.”
Fox News Digital reached out to CBS News for comment.
Greene previously sat down with Stahl in April 2023, when the two had a fiery exchange over the congresswoman’s claim that Democrats are the “party of pedophiles.”
MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE SAYS SHE HOPES TO ‘MAKE UP’ WITH TRUMP AMID ONGOING FEUD
“They are not pedophiles. Why would you say that?” Stahl exclaimed.
“Democrats support — even Joe Biden, the president himself — supports children being sexualized and having transgender surgeries. Sexualizing children is what pedophiles do to children,” Greene said.
“Wow,” Stahl reacted.
“60 Minutes” correspondent Lesley Stahl had a tense exchange with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., over her claim that Democrats were the “party of pedophiles” during an April 2023 interview. (Screenshots/CBS News)
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Greene shocked the political landscape last month when she revealed she would leave Congress Jan. 5. Many believe her abrupt exit was the result of her soured relationship with President Donald Trump.
Fox News’ Joseph Wulfsohn contributed to this report.
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Southeast
FBI’s renewed push in DC pipe bomb case shows how fresh eyes can change a stalled investigation
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Federal agents searching the Virginia home of Brian Cole Jr., accused of planting pipe bombs in Washington on Jan. 5, 2021, carried out a step-by-step operation this week that indicated investigators have re-energized a case that had seen little movement for years.
Cole was arrested in Woodbridge, Virginia, last week after federal investigators identified him as the suspect accused of planting the pipe bombs on Jan. 5, 2021, near the Capitol complex, the Republican National Committee (RNC) and the Democratic National Committee (DNC). His arrest marked the first major break in a case that had been largely dormant for years.
Retired FBI Special Agent Jason Pack, who previously helped lead Evidence Response Teams, told Fox News Digital the search followed the standard sequence used in explosive investigations, beginning with hazard clearing before evidence work. He said the careful pace shows investigators treating the case as if it had just happened.
The operation began with the standard safety sweep used in federal explosives investigations.
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Brian J. Cole was arrested by the FBI for alleged involvement in the D.C. pipe bomb incident. (Department of Justice)
“Federal agents are following a deliberate and familiar sequence as the search of the Woodbridge residence continues,” Pack said. “The presence of explosive ordnance disposal technicians, bomb techs and specialized K-9 teams indicates that the first priority is safety.”
He explained that investigators must first clear the property of possible explosive hazards to protect personnel and preserve the scene before they can begin collecting evidence.
One of the clearest indications of the work underway came from the metal paint cans agents carried out of the home.
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The FBI is carrying out “court enforced activity” at a home in Woodbridge, Va., after authorities arrested a suspect who allegedly planted pipe bombs blocks from the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 5, 2021, sources told Fox News on Dec. 4, 2025. (WTTG)
Pack said metal paint cans are a preferred method for collecting and transporting suspected explosive material because they limit contamination and protect volatile samples. The cans also allow forensic laboratories to analyze residues, components and chemical signatures that might connect a device to a specific individual or technique.
Once the scene is declared safe, evidence teams can move inside the home.
FBI Evidence Response Team members, guided by a federal search warrant and its attachments, typically handle the next phase of the search and use those documents to determine what they are authorized to seize.
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The FBI swarmed the home following the suspect’s arrest. (WTTG)
Those categories include explosive components or precursor chemicals; tools or materials used to construct destructive devices; electronic devices such as phones, hard drives and laptops; records, notes or digital communications that could show planning, motive or knowledge; and items that confirm identity, occupancy or control of the residence.
In this investigation, agents are looking for evidence that establishes intent, capability and any links to the explosive devices planted on Jan. 5, 2021.
Once the evidence is collected, it moves into the long analytical phase of the investigation.
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Sketch of Brian Cole Jr.’s first federal court appearance in Washington, D.C. Friday, December 5, 2025. Cole is the lead suspect in the D.C. pipe incident. (Dana Verkouteren)
Any electronics seized will undergo digital forensics to recover communications, searches or location data that may reveal planning or coordination. Laboratories will also examine residues or components to determine whether they match the devices used at the Capitol complex, the RNC or the DNC.
Pack said the search in Woodbridge shows the FBI is treating the investigation as if it had just begun, which he said can “change the entire trajectory” of the case.
“I have been the fresh set of eyes on cold cases, and I worked them as if the crime happened that morning,” he said. “The initial investigators often do excellent work. A new perspective simply asks different questions and sometimes spots the detail that finally brings the guilty to justice.”
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The suspect is seen walking outside the Democratic National Committee headquarters moments before placing one of two pipe bombs discovered near party offices in Washington, D.C. (FBI)
Pack said the U.S. Attorney’s Office is responsible for obtaining the warrants and court orders that move an investigation from suspicion to proof.
“When the immediate danger has passed, older cases often end up folded into the stack of files handled by overworked Assistant United States Attorneys who are already juggling emergencies of their own,” he said. “That can slow down warrants and subpoenas, not because anyone is dragging their feet, but because they are drowning in urgent matters.”
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The same pressures hit FBI agents, Pack said, as new threats emerge each day and older cases get pushed back while “investigators run to the sound of guns.”
“There are only 12,000 FBI agents in the world, and that small group is responsible for handling every threat that comes our way,” Pack said. “When leadership pours fresh resources back into a case, the whole machine turns forward again. Sunlight finds what shadows hide, and a second look often makes all the difference.”
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Cole had his first court appearance Friday after being arrested the day before and charged with transporting an explosive device in interstate commerce and with maliciously attempting to destroy property using explosive materials.
He has been speaking with investigators and reportedly admitted to planting the devices and expressing doubts about the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, a source close to the investigation told Fox News.
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