Southeast
North Carolina elections board faces another lawsuit, as RNC sues swing state over noncitizen voting concerns
The North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE) is facing another lawsuit, as the Republican National Committee (RNC) is suing the battleground state for allegedly opening the door for non-citizens to vote.
The lawsuit brought by the RNC and the North Carolina Republican Party in Wake County last week accuses the NCSBE and members, Alan Hirsch, Jeff Carmon, Siobhan Millen, Stacy Eggers IV and Kevin Lewis of failing to require identification to prove citizenship.
The lawsuit alleges that by violating the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) and not checking the identification of approximately 225,000 voters, the agency “is opening the door for non-citizens to vote.”
North Carolina is the first state in the nation to start voting. The battleground state starts mailing out ballots for eligible voters on Sept. 6.
“The NCSBE has once again failed in its mandate to keep non-citizens off the voter rolls, fueling distrust and jeopardizing our elections,” RNC Chairman Michael Whatley said in a statement. “We are committed to the basic principle – and commonsense law – that only Americans decide American elections. Deliberately failing to follow the law, right before our country’s most important election, is inexcusable. We will fight every day to ensure that NCSBE follows the law, cleans the voter rolls, and protects the vote for North Carolinians.”
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“I Voted” stickers at a polling station at the Wayne County Public Library in Goldsboro, North Carolina, on Tuesday, March 5, 2024. (Allison Joyce/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“This State Board continually has problems ensuring voter rolls only have verified citizens,” NCGOP Chairman Jason Simmons added. “This lawsuit will remedy their ongoing refusal to collect the required information from those who want to take part in North Carolina elections. Accountability and fidelity to following the rule of law is long overdue for the most partisan Elections Board in state history.”
The state board formerly used a voter registration form that failed to require HAVA-required identification information, such as a driver’s license number or the last four digits of a Social Security number. Election officials admitted the form was non-compliant with HAVA and eventually fixed it, but in the meantime, approximately 225,000 people registered without supplying the HAVA-required information, the complaint says.
Election officials allegedly refused to take remedial action and did not reach out to these voters to collect the required information. Instead, what the defendants “offer as a solution is a half-hearted promise that those who were ineligible to register but were allowed to anyway will naturally filter themselves out from the state’s voter rolls when they conduct other election-related activities,” the complaint says.
“This inaction misses the mark,” the lawsuit says. “Not only does this ‘solution’ fail to remedy the ongoing violations of state and federal law or account for Defendants’ responsibilities under the same, but it leaves North Carolinians to wonder how they can trust in the security of their elections, especially when those tasked with protecting their rights cannot be bothered to do what is required by law.”
Donald Trump during a campaign rally at the North Carolina Aviation Museum & Hall of Fame in Asheboro, North Carolina, on Aug. 21, 2024. (PETER ZAY/AFP via Getty Images)
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“Even worse, this ‘solution’ sends the message to the millions of duly qualified and registered voters in North Carolina that their chief elections officials will shirk their responsibilities and refuse to verify whether those who vote in the state’s elections are entitled to do so in the first place,” it adds.
Reached for comment, a spokesperson for the NCSBE told Fox News Digital, “This lawsuit asks for an impossible solution.”
“Despite being aware of their alleged claims months ago, the plaintiffs have waited until two weeks before the start of voting to seek a court-ordered program to remove thousands of existing registered voters. Federal law itself prevents such removal programs if they take place after the 90th day before a federal election, which was August 7. So, the lawsuit is asking for a rapid-fire voter removal program that violates federal law,” the spokesperson said. “The lawsuit also misunderstands the data and vastly overstates any alleged problems with voter registrations. If a voter does not have a driver’s license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number populated in the voter registration database, that does not necessarily mean that they were allowed to register improperly.”
The statement went on to say that federal law “allows voters who lack one of these numbers to nonetheless be registered” and “state law also allows a registrant whose information fails to exactly match with the DMV or Social Security databases to be verified by showing another type of ID before voting.”
“And in any event, all these voters will be asked to show photo ID again when they vote this year,” the NCSBE spokesperson said.
This is the second lawsuit filed by the RNC and the NCGOP against the North Carolina Board of Elections in a matter of weeks.
Last month, Republicans sued the board for allegedly failing to check jury questionnaire responses to identify and remove non-citizens from the voter rolls, as required by law.
Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris campaigns at the Hendrick Center For Automotive Excellence on Aug. 16, 2024, in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Grant Baldwin/Getty Images)
Last year, the state legislature passed SB747, a major election integrity law that requires state elections officials to cross-check when an individual claims to be a non-citizen on a jury questionnaire, to make sure that same person is not on the voter rolls. The RNC and the NCGOP allege that despite the law going into effect July 1, election officials have not begun to enforce it.
In February, North Carolina’s Office of State Budget and Management reported that approximately 325,000 “unauthorized” immigrants were residing in the state.
That was out of the total of 501,000 foreign-born non-citizens in North Carolina, according to the complaint in that case.
In a statement reacting to that suit, the NCSBE spokesperson asked that the NCGOP and RNC “immediately rescind their press releases on this topic, as they will undermine voter confidence on an entirely false premise.”
“State Board staff have worked diligently with the clerks of superior court across North Carolina since that provision became law in July. In August, the superior court clerks provided the State Board with lists of voters excused from jury duty because they claimed they were not U.S. citizens,” the spokesperson said in part. “The State Board compared those lists with the North Carolina voter rolls, and nine individuals matched, across the state. If a check of state and federal databases shows any of those nine individuals have not obtained citizenship, the State Board will send them letters informing the registrants of the agency’s findings and invite them, if not U.S. citizens, to cancel their registrations to comply with the law.”
Last week, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. also sued the North Carolina State Board for denying his request to be removed from the state’s ballot before the November election. Despite the candidate dropping out of the race and endorsing former President Trump, the board decided in a 3-2 vote to keep Kennedy’s name because nearly 2 million ballots had already been printed.
Kennedy also was unable to remove himself from the ballot in the fellow battlegrounds of Michigan and Wisconsin.
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Southeast
Suspect in second Charlotte light rail stabbing ID’d as twice deported illegal immigrant with criminal history
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Court records obtained by Fox News Digital revealed a man charged in a violent stabbing on a Charlotte, North Carolina, light rail on Friday is a criminal illegal immigrant previously deported multiple times.
Oscar Solarzano, 33, of Honduras, was arrested in the stabbing and is charged with attempted first-degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon with serious injury, breaking/entering a motor vehicle, carrying a concealed weapon and intoxicated/disruptive behavior, according to multiple Departement of Homeland Security (DHS) sources and arrest warrants obtained by Fox News Digital.
Bond was not set due to Solarzano’s immigration status, according to a release order filed in Mecklenburg County.
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He was booted from the country by the Trump administration in March 2018 on a deportation order and reentered illegally during the Biden administration at the Texas border in March 2021, DHS sources said.
Solarzano was deported a second time by the Biden administration and reentered illegally as a got-away at an unknown time and location.
Oscar Solarzano, 33, was arrested in a stabbing on a Charlotte, N.C., light rail. (Mecklenburg County Jail)
At about 4:49 p.m. Friday, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) officers responded to a call regarding assault with a deadly weapon.
When they arrived, they found the victim, identified as Kenyon Kareem-Shemar Dobie, with a stab wound, according to warrants.
CMPD noted Dobie was in critical but stable condition when he was taken to a hospital.
A suspect has been arrested in a stabbing in Charlotte, N.C. (WJZY)
Prior to the attack, warrants allege, Solarzano broke into a railroad car “with the intent to commit a felony,” while carrying a large fixed-blade knife.
While intoxicated, he challenged Dobie to a fight, cursing and shouting at others using “unintelligible and slurred words,” according to court documents.
Solarzano has a prior conviction for robbery in the U.S. and prior arrests for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, resisting arrest and false ID, DHS sources said.
Court records indicate he had known aliases, including Solarzano-Garcia, Oscar Herardo and Kevin Garcia.
Solarzano has a scheduled court appearance Dec. 8 and will later be released into Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody, according to a release order.
He is being provided with a Spanish interpreter, according to arrest records.
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Iryna Zarutska curls up in fear as a man looms over her during a disturbing attack Aug. 22, on a Charlotte, N.C., light rail train. (NewsNation via Charlotte Area Transit System)
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The stabbing attack comes months after Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, 23, was fatally stabbed on a LYNX Blue Line light rail while on her way home from work. Decarlos Brown Jr., 34, who is accused of killing Zarutska, was charged with violence against a railroad carrier and mass transportation system resulting in death, a capital offense under federal law.
President Donald Trump reacted to the news on Truth Social Saturday, saying, “Another stabbing by an Illegal Migrant in Charlotte, North Carolina. What’s going on in Charlotte? Democrats are destroying it, like everything else, piece by piece!!!”
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy also chimed in, calling out Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles in an X post.
“Apparently, the death of Iryna Zarutska wasn’t enough. What is it going to take for @CLTMayor to remove violent criminals off the streets and protect her constituents?” Duffy wrote. “The time to act is NOW.”
The Department of Homeland Security, ICE and CMPD did not immediately respond to additional inquiries from Fox News Digital.
Fox News Digital’s Emma Bussey contributed to this report.
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Southeast
Louisiana manhunt continues as dangerous inmate charged with attempted murder remains on the run
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Louisiana authorities are continuing to search for the last of three inmates who broke through a deteriorating wall on Wednesday and escaped a jail about 130 miles northwest of New Orleans.
The three inmates, identified as Keith Eli, 24, of Opelousas; Johnathan Jevon Joseph, 24, of Opelousas; and Joseph Allen Harrington, 26, of Melville, allegedly used sheets and other items to scale an outer wall, drop onto the roof of the first floor and lower themselves to the ground, according to a statement from the St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office.
Harrington killed himself with a hunting rifle Thursday after a standoff with police at a home in Port Barre, The Associated Press reported.
Prior to his escape, St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office records show, he was charged with nine felonies, including home invasion and aggravated assault with a firearm.
Keith Eli, left; Johnathan Jevon Joseph, center; and Joseph Allen Harrington, inmates who escaped from a Louisiana prison. (St. Landry Parish Sheriff via Facebook)
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Police nabbed the second escapee, Joseph, the next day after a foot chase.
Sheriff’s officials said a tip led deputies to a home where he was hiding out, according to the report. He surrendered after fleeing to a nearby storage shed.
Joseph, also a convicted felon, was previously charged with principal first-degree rape, along with drug and gun offenses.
The inmates escaped St. Landry Parish Jail Wednesday in Louisiana. (Google Maps)
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The third missing inmate, Eli, remains missing and was charged with attempted second-degree murder.
“We would prefer that he surrender himself peaceably, but we will not rest until he is captured,” St. Landry Parish Sheriff Bobby J. Guidroz wrote in a statement obtained by the AP.
In May, 10 prisoners escaped a minimum-custody New Orleans jail after removing a toilet from a wall inside a cell and crawling through it.
Video cameras in the prison captured the brazen escape, with footage showing the group scaling a fence, using blankets to protect themselves from barbed wire and running across an interstate to a nearby neighborhood where they changed clothes.
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Inmates wrote messages, including, “To Easy LOL” and “WE INNOCENT,” among others, near the hole they used to flee the jail.
The last remaining fugitive, a four-time convicted killer, was arrested five months after the escape after a standoff with authorities in Atlanta.
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Three jail employees have been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation, Fox News Digital previously reported.
An internal investigation has been initiated, and the jail supervisory staff will be providing a comprehensive report, according to Guidroz.
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Southeast
Disgraced teacher accused of using Google Docs to groom underage student before alleged sex crimes
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A Palm Beach County, Florida, science teacher is behind bars after investigators say he used a shared Google Doc to secretly communicate with a student before engaging in sexual acts with her at school and inside his apartment, according to an arrest affidavit.
Elias Gordon Farley, 26, a former teacher at Donna Klein Jewish Academy in Boca Raton, was arrested after the student reported the alleged abuse on Nov. 18.
The teen told detectives the interactions began as casual conversations during the previous school year, but over the summer, Farley allegedly created a shared Google Doc in which the two wrote messages back and forth.
Investigators said the file later contained explicit entries describing sexual activity and planning when they would meet privately.
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Elias Gordon Farley, a former teacher at the Donna Klein Jewish Academy in Boca Raton, is facing felony charges after police say he engaged in a months-long sexual relationship with a student. (Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office)
According to the affidavit, the student said the relationship became physical in mid-September inside Farley’s office, where he touched her beneath her clothing. She told detectives the encounters continued for weeks in both his office and a classroom.
By late September and into October, she said the pair were engaging in sexual acts, including oral sex and, at one point, intercourse inside a classroom on campus.
The student also described visiting Farley’s apartment twice in early November after recognizing details he had mentioned about its location and layout. She told deputies that several sexual encounters occurred during those visits.
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A teacher was accused of using Google Docs to talk to an underage student before sexual encounters. (Google Maps)
Detectives later executed a search warrant and said they found bedding, condom wrappers and furniture matching her description. Farley’s roommate confirmed he had not been home on the dates the teen said she visited.
School surveillance video reviewed by deputies also appeared to support her account, showing Farley and the student entering his office together on Nov. 7 and later entering a classroom for about an hour.
The situation came to light after the student confided in an art teacher on Nov. 14 and showed her bruises and bite marks she said came from Farley. Administrators were informed the next day, suspended Farley immediately and reported the matter to child welfare authorities.
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A former science teacher at Donna Klein Jewish Academy in Palm Beach County was arrested after allegations of an inappropriate sexual relationship with a student, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. (iStock)
Farley refused to speak with detectives after being read his Miranda rights, according to the affidavit.
Farley was booked into the Palm Beach County Main Detention Center Dec. 4 and is being held on $500,000 bond, jail records show. He faces charges of unlawful sexual activity with a minor and offense against a student by an authority figure.
In a statement provided to Fox News Digital, Donna Klein Jewish Academy said it is cooperating fully with the investigation and called the situation “a difficult time for all of us at Donna Klein.”
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“We are approaching this serious situation with the utmost care, keeping the well-being of our students, faculty and families at the forefront,” a spokesperson said.
The school said it is working closely with families, teachers and staff to ensure they have the support they need, adding that its priority is maintaining “a safe, compassionate and educational environment for all.”
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The spokesperson said no additional details would be released “out of respect for the privacy of our community” but that Farley is no longer employed at the school.
The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is urged to contact the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office at 561-688-3000.
Stepheny Price covers crime, including missing persons, homicides and migrant crime. Send story tips to stepheny.price@fox.com.
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