Southeast
Smugglers transporting vans packed with 26 Chinese migrants detained in Florida: police
Police in Florida say that two vans packed with 26 Chinese migrants were stopped on Tuesday morning while two alleged smugglers were detained, Fox News Digital has learned.
The incident took place in Coral Gables, a city near Miami, and comes more than a week after a group of more than 30 migrants in vans were also apprehended there.
In today’s incident, Coral Gables Police Department Detective Khaled Tahah said that an alert citizen contacted police at around 8 a.m. regarding possible Chinese migrants being transported in passenger vans.
Police in Florida say that two vans packed with 26 Chinese migrants were stopped on Tuesday morning while two alleged smugglers were detained. (Google Maps/Coral Gables police)
FLORIDA ABDUCTION REPORT LEADS TO DISCOVERY OF U-HAUL VAN FILLED WITH MOSTLY CHINESE MIGRANTS
“Our units responded to the area and were able to locate both vans. Traffic stops were conducted on each van and it resulted in a total of 26 people who appear to be Chinese migrants.”
Taha said that the occupants of the vans are a mix of both males and females. The two alleged smugglers are males.
One of the vans was stopped at 11600 Old Cutler Road, while the other was stopped at the 8800 block of Old Cutler Road at Kendall, he said.
Several people could be seen sitting on the side of the road as police conducted the stop, WSVN reports. They were later loaded onto county trolleys and transported to an undisclosed location, per the outlet.
Department of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and Customs and Border Patrol responded to the scene and have taken over the investigation, Tahah said.
Coral Gables Police Chief Edward James Hudak Jr. speaks with reporters about a group of migrants found in a U-Haul vehicle on Jan. 17, 2025. (WSVN-TV)
PITTSBURGH MAYOR DECLARES HE WILL NOT COOPERATE WITH ICE ON RAIDS: ‘PEOPLE FEEL SCARED’
Fox News Digital reached out to both agencies for further information but did not immediately receive a response.
Tuesday’s incident comes more than a week after a group of more than 30 migrants, most of them Chinese citizens, were found inside a Toyota and U-Haul truck also in Coral Gables after a report of an alleged abduction.
That incident took place on Jan. 17, after a security guard for a homeowners association reported seeing an abduction around 9:35 a.m., Coral Gables Police Chief Edward James Hudak Jr. told reporters.
The vehicles were stopped by officers, and the woman who was allegedly abducted was taken from the Toyota. Officers then began investigating the U-Haul truck, which had 16 Chinese females, 15 Chinese males, one male from Cuba and a female from Ecuador, according to police.
A U-Haul van where Chinese migrants were found is towed from the scene in Coral Gables, Florida on Jan. 17, 2025. (WSVN-TV)
In addition to the migrants in the Toyota were a Cuban man, a Brazilian woman and a man from Ecuador, police said.
Investigators were looking into whether the woman who was possibly being abducted was trying to escape her alleged smugglers. The Coral Gables Fire Department responded to provide medical care to the migrants, who were “tired” but in good condition, police said.
The migrants were handed over to the U.S. Border Patrol, and four others were taken into police custody related to the incident.
The number of Chinese nationals being encountered at the border has increased enormously since 2021. There were 1,970 encounters in FY 2022 and over 24,000 in FY 2023, with over 24,200 encounters recorded in the 2024 fiscal year as of April 2024.
Fox News’ Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
Read the full article from Here
Southeast
Florida teens in custody after 14-year-old girl found shot to death, burnt: sheriff
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Two teen boys in Florida are accused of fatally shooting a 14-year-old girl and setting her on fire along a wooded walking trail last week in what authorities are calling a “horrific” killing.
Santa Rosa County Sheriff Bob Johnson told reporters Thursday that the body has been identified as Danika Troy. He said Danika’s mother reported her as a runaway on Monday.
“Unbeknownst to the mother, Danika was murdered the previous night,” Johnson said.
A passerby discovered Danika’s body along a wooded area off Kimberly Road in Pace, a town about 16 miles northeast of Pensacola, and called 911, Johnson said.
MIGRANT TEENAGERS CHARGED IN FATAL STABBING OF HOMELESS MAN IN CHICAGO
Santa Rosa County Sheriff Bob Johnson told reporters that the suspects were supposedly friends with the victim from school. He said investigators were still working to determine a motive. (Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office)
Investigators quickly identified the suspects as 14-year-old Kimahri Blevins and 16-year-old Gabriel Williams and took them into custody.
“This is where it gets really horrific,” Johnson said.
Kimahri Blevins, 14, is facing premeditated first-degree murder charges. Authorities are seeking to charge him as an adult. (Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office)
Williams allegedly stole his mother’s handgun and shot Danika.
“It’s bad enough you kill a 14-year-old. You’re 14. You’re 16,” Johnson said. “Shoot her multiple times, and then they set her on fire.”
Gabriel Williams, 16, is facing premeditated first-degree murder charges. Authorities are seeking to charge him as an adult. (Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office)
Johnson said investigators are still working to determine a motive.
“They have been interviewed, but the motive that they’re giving doesn’t fit the forensics or any facts of the case, so we don’t have a legit motive,” he told reporters.
TEEN ARRESTED FOR MURDER IN SHOOTING OF 11-YEAR-OLD BOY IN NEW YORK: ‘AN UNIMAGINABLE TRAGEDY’
Blevins and Williams supposedly knew the victim from school, according to Johnson. He believed the two teens have had previous “run-ins” with law enforcement, though he could not immediately say if they had earlier arrests.
Blevins and Williams are being held at the Department of Juvenile Justice on premeditated first-degree murder charges.
“You don’t want to go out and see a burnt child with bullet holes,” Johnson said. “That’s not something you sign up for.”
Johnson said no parents have been charged at this time, though investigators are “looking into it.”
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
The sheriff’s office is working with the State Attorney to charge both teens as adults.
“If you do an adult crime, you gotta do adult time,” Johnson said.
Read the full article from Here
Southeast
Florida college student who allegedly shipped 1,500 rounds of ammo to dorm had AR-15 under bed
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
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.
FLORIDA OFFICER SHOT IN FACE DURING SERVICE CALL TIED TO MENTAL HEALTH DISPUTE; SUSPECT KILLED
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.”
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
“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.
Read the full article from Here
Southeast
Marjorie Taylor Greene spars with ’60 Minutes’ host over ‘accusatory’ questions
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
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.”
REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE TO APPEAR ON ’60 MINUTES’ AHEAD OF EXIT FROM CONGRESS
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.
TRUMP SAYS HE’D ‘LOVE TO SEE’ GREENE RETURN TO POLITICS DESPITE RECENT ATTACKS
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)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
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.
Read the full article from Here
-
Iowa4 days agoAddy Brown motivated to step up in Audi Crooks’ absence vs. UNI
-
Washington1 week agoLIVE UPDATES: Mudslide, road closures across Western Washington
-
Iowa6 days agoHow much snow did Iowa get? See Iowa’s latest snowfall totals
-
Maine3 days agoElementary-aged student killed in school bus crash in southern Maine
-
Maryland4 days agoFrigid temperatures to start the week in Maryland
-
Technology1 week agoThe Game Awards are losing their luster
-
South Dakota5 days agoNature: Snow in South Dakota
-
Nebraska1 week agoNebraska lands commitment from DL Jayden Travers adding to early Top 5 recruiting class