Southeast
University doctor resigns after unearthed audio exposes him boasting about skirting anti-DEI laws
FIRST ON FOX: A university doctor has resigned from his position after Fox News Digital reported on unearthed audio where he touted how he has been avoiding anti-diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) laws in Florida while attacking state and federal officials, including top White House official Stephen Miller.
“Shortly after learning of Dr. Brown’s comments, the university decided to place him on administrative leave to allow for a thorough review of the matter,” a University of South Florida spokesperson told Fox News Digital on Tuesday. “In response, he has chosen to resign effective immediately.”
Dr. Haywood Brown, associate vice president of Academic Affairs at the University of South Florida, explained how he continues to implement DEI policies and how he has avoided state and federal discrimination laws, as well as a recent Supreme Court ruling that colleges cannot consider race in admissions decisions, during a recent presentation last month at Virginia Commonwealth University.
“I really want to discuss the threat of the anti-woke movement to medical education and training and health equity,” he said in a video obtained and reviewed by Fox News Digital.
FLORIDA EDUCATORS FILE FEDERAL LAWSUIT CHALLENGING STATE LAW UPENDING DEI POLICIES
USF faculty member, Dr. Haywood Brown. (Getty/USF)
Haywood explained how his job title changed but revealed that his actual activities did not.
“Even though I eliminated my title, I didn’t eliminate my job,” Haywood, who was previously vice president for Institutional Equity at USF, said. “That didn’t change anything that I was doing already.”
He explained how at USF a DEI office was rebranded to focus on “cultural enrichment.”
“As long as it works, that’s what we do,” he said.
“So we changed our name to healthcare access,” Brown said in a presentation. “Who could argue against that? How do you get healthcare excellence? You only get healthcare equity. If you have a workforce that can meet those needs. So my office changed its name, and we’re able to do that to culture and enrichment. And we had it codified by our Faculty Council and a task force. And so the fact that it comes to codify this. And as a result, this is now how we address our issues. And who can argue against culture and environment. You know. But we no longer have a person who’s dedicated to it. We have a council that’s dedicated to it.”
Brown added, “Isn’t that slippery? As long as it works. That’s what we do.”
Brown said in the presentation that people in the health community know best, and sometimes have to ignore the directives from “the big house,” while also explaining that he has “learned how slippery you need to be when you’re talking to legislators.”
In his address, Brown also attacked White House official Stephen Miller, who has been critical of DEI initiatives.
“Well, Stephen Miller has already tried to attack the University of South Florida,” he said of Miller. “He’s a Dookie [Duke University alum]. We don’t claim him. He’s also, and he also claims to be Jewish, but we’ll see.”
He also said that the Supreme Court decision would not affect Florida as “race conscious” admissions have been banned in Florida since 1999.
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Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law in 2023 that barred colleges and universities from using government funds to promote, support or maintain DEI programs or campus activities. (DeSantis 2024)
He also described his experiences on Capitol Hill and how “I’ve learned how slippery you need to be when you’re talking to legislators.”
DEI is defined as “any program, campus activity, or policy that classifies individuals on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, gender identity, or sexual orientation and promotes differential or preferential treatment of individuals on the basis of such classification,” according to the State University System of Florida.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law in 2023 that barred colleges and universities from using government funds to promote, support or maintain DEI programs or campus activities.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, DeSantis’ office says it took swift action on the matter.
“With the details of Mr. Brown’s actions and public commitments to violating state law and academic standards surfacing to our attention, our office has immediately ensured his relationship with our university system has ended,” DeSantis Communications Director Bryan Griffin said.
“This individual’s employment at the University of South Florida is over today, and he is no longer welcome to work in Florida education.”
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Slide from Haywood Brown’s presentation (Fox News Digital)
The university previously told Fox News Digital, before Brown resigned, that it was “disappointed” and “troubled” by Brown’s remarks and that the university “follows all state and federal guidance, policies and laws, and any suggestion otherwise by Dr. Brown is untrue.”
Multiple critics of DEI policies reacted to the audio in statements to Fox News Digital.
“Woke DEI ideology is invasive at our university medical schools. The speech by former USF vice president for Institutional Equity Dr. Haywood Brown at Virginia Commonwealth University Health should raise alarm bells for state legislators, governors, attorneys general and anyone concerned about the state of medicine,” Kristina Rasmussen, executive director of Do No Harm, said. “Do No Harm will continue to work to expose administrators harming our healthcare system and we will not stop until this woke DEI ideology is fully eradicated.”
Universities increasingly moved towards implementing DEI at every level at the institution during the Biden administration. (Fox News Digital )
“This is just another example of how health systems across the country are intentionally prioritizing a woke agenda over patient care,” Will Hild, executive director of Consumers’ Research, told Fox News Digital.
“The Trump Administration has made it crystal clear that woke ideology such as DEI is illegal and must be removed from our institutions. Organizations like VCU think they can pull the wool over Americans’ eyes by inviting speakers like Dr. Haywood Brown, who has been caught openly strategizing on how to break the law and continue DEI practices covertly. Dr. Haywood may be proud of his plan to rename DEI positions and offices, but someone should tell institutions like VCU who continue to allow illegal DEI practices that they are effectively begging the Trump Administration to investigate their discriminatory practices.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Brown for comment but did not receive a response.
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Southeast
Charlotte residents say they feel less safe as city faces second transit stabbing
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Two in three Charlotte, North Carolina, residents say they feel less safe today than they did a year ago, according to a recent survey, as the city reels from two train stabbings.
More than 930 people responded to a survey that the Queen City recently completed before hiring its new police chief, Stella Patterson. Residents overwhelmingly said they want a proactive police force, not a reactive one, with 66% saying they feel less safe.
The results come as Charlotte contends with another stabbing on its light rail system, months after the stabbing of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska.
On 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.
Oscar Solorzano, 33, was arrested in connection to a stabbing on a Charlotte, North Carolina light rail. (Mecklenburg County Jail)
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Oscar Gerardo Solorzano-Garcia, 33, of Honduras, was arrested after the stabbing and 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 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) sources and arrest warrants obtained by Fox News Digital.
On Monday morning, Solorzano appeared in court, where he was denied bond. The 33-year-old appeared via Zoom in an orange jumpsuit where he was charged. Authorities revealed that Solorzano, prior to the Dec. 5 attack, was banned by Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS).
CMPD noted Dobie was in critical but stable condition when he was taken to a hospital.
The victim told WRAL News that he saw Solorzano yelling at an older woman before Solorzano handed his bike to another passenger and said: “I’m about to show you who I really am.”
“I wasn’t trying to be a macho man,” Dobie said in a TikTok post from his hospital room. “But what I won’t allow is you to attack random people for no reason, especially the elderly.”
Dobie said he jumped up and told Solorzano to leave everyone alone. He said Solarzano then grabbed his hands and stabbed him as he tried to grab him back.
Police in North Carolina have charged a 33-year-old man from Honduras with critically injuring another person in a stabbing on a Charlotte commuter train, just a few months after a Ukrainian refugee was murdered. (WJZY)
According to court documents, reviewed by Fox News Digital, Solorzano 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.
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.
WATCH: Migrant who was deported twice accused of Charlotte light rail stabbing
CHARLOTTE MAN CHARGED WITH IRYNA ZARUTSKA’S KILLING COULD FACE DEATH PENALTY
Solorzano was deported a second time by the Biden administration and reentered illegally as a got-away at an unknown time and location.
Solorzano 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 Solorzano-Garcia, Oscar Herardo and Kevin Garcia.
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks alongside a photo of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, who was allegedly killed by Decarlos Brown Jr., on a light rail train in Charlotte, North Carolina, at the White House, Sept. 9, 2025. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
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The stabbing attack comes months after Zarutska, 23, was fatally stabbed on a LYNX Blue Line light rail while on her way home from work from a local pizzeria shop.
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.
Brown had a history of violent crime, including assaults and robberies, and had also been diagnosed with schizophrenia. Yet he was still free and walking the streets.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the city of Charlotte and the CMPD for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Alexander Koch and Fox News’ Bill Melugin and Chelsea Torres contributed to this report.
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Southeast
Murdaugh trial court clerk pleads guilty to showing sealed crime scene photos to photographer
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A former South Carolina court clerk pleaded guilty Monday in connection with showing sealed court exhibits related to the murder trial of disgraced attorney Alex Murdaugh to a photographer and lying about it in court.
Mary Rebecca “Becky” Hill, who served as the court clerk in Colleton County, pleaded guilty to four charges — obstruction of justice and perjury for showing a reporter photographs that were sealed court exhibits and then lying about it, plus two counts of misconduct in office for taking bonuses and promoting a book she wrote on the trial through her public office.
“There is no excuse for the mistakes I made. I’m ashamed of them and will carry that shame the rest of my life,” Hill said in a statement read to the court.
She was sentenced to three years of probation.
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Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill is sworn in before taking the stand to testify during the Alex Murdaugh jury-tampering hearing at the Richland County Judicial Center, Monday, Jan. 29, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. (AP)
Her sentence would have been much harsher had evidence surfaced that she tampered with the murder trial, Judge Heath Taylor told Hill.
During Murdaugjh’s murder trial, Hill was responsible for taking care of the jury, overseeing exhibits and assisting the judge. Murdaugh was eventually convicted of murdering his wife and son after a six-week trial, which drew nationwide attention.
Murdaugh’s lawyers said Hill tried to influence jurors to vote guilty and that she was biased against Murdaugh because of her book.
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Former Colleton County Clerk of Court Mary Rebecca “Becky” Hill smiles after pleading guilty on Monday, Dec. 8, 2025, in St. Matthews, S.C. Hill pleaded guilty Monday to showing sealed exhibits from Alex Murdaugh’s murder trial and other charges. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)
Solicitor Rick Hubbard told the judge that a journalist informed investigators that Hill showed graphic crime scene photos to several media members.
He did not name the journalist.
The photos were posted online, and the metadata from the images matched a time when Hill’s courthouse key card indicated she was inside the locked room where the photos were kept, Hubbard said.
Former Colleton County Clerk of Court Mary Rebecca “Becky” Hill is sworn in during a court hearing on Monday in St. Matthews, S.C. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)
Hill resigned in March 2024. One of the charges against her stemmed from money prosecutors said she took for herself. She brought a check to court on Monday to repay nearly $10,000.
Journalist Neil Gordon who worked with Hill on “Behind the Doors of Justice: The Murdaugh Murders” and previously accused her of plagiarism, commented on Hill’s plea to Fox News Digital.
Former Colleton County Clerk of Court Mary Rebecca “Becky” Hill pleaded guilty Monday to showing sealed exhibits from disgraced attorney Alex Murdaugh’s murder trial and other charges. (Fox Nation/ Tracy Glantz/The State via AP, Pool)
“I appreciate seeing Becky step up and take responsibility for her actions, including the charge of misconduct in office, as it was directly related to the book I co-authored with her,” he said in a statement. “The specific instance was her decision to arrange a “Facebook Live” from her clerk’s office with the Colleton County Chamber of Commerce solely to promote our book.”
“The fact that it occurred during the workday showed boldness, poor judgement, and frankly ignorance of the oath she took as an elected official.,” he added. “Sadly, poor judgement around our book had been a pattern for Becky, as we later learned she plagiarized its preface.”
Meanwhile, Murdaugh is also serving a prison sentence for stealing money from his family’s law firm and client settlements.
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Fox News Digital has reached out to Murdaugh’s attorney.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Southeast
Florida designates Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR as foreign terrorist organizations, DeSantis says
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Florida is designating the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as foreign terrorist organizations, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Monday.
The move mirrors a similar action taken by Texas in which Gov. Greg Abbott designated the CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood as foreign terrorist and transnational criminal organizations.
“Florida agencies are hereby directed to undertake all lawful measures to prevent unlawful activities by these organizations, including denying privileges or resources to anyone providing material support,” DeSantis wrote on X.
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantissaid CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood will be designated as foreign terrorist organizations. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)
The governor’s order said the Muslim Brotherhood has long engaged in and supported violence, political assassinations and terror attacks on civilians with the intent of establishing a worldwide Islamic caliphate.
It also said the group, as well as Hamas have active fundraising arms in the United States.
SCATHING REPORT CALLS ON US TO LABEL ISLAMIST GROUP INFILTRATING ALL ASPECTS OF AMERICAN LIFE AS TERRORIST ORG
The order said CAIR, which was created to challenge stereotypes against Islam and Muslims, has had individuals associated with it that have been convicted of providing and aspiring to provide material support to foreign terrorist organizations.
In a post on X, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said: “Great news! Thanks for this important Executive Order, Governor. We are ready to support!”
A joint statement by CAIR and its Florida chapter said the DeSantis administration has prioritized serving their interest of the Israeli government over the people of the state.
“He diverted millions in Florida taxpayer dollars to the Israeli government’s bonds. He threatened to shut down every Florida college’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter, only to back off when CAIR sued him in federal court,” the statement said. “Like Greg Abbott in Texas, Ron DeSantis is an Israel First politician who wants to smear and silence Americans, especially American Muslims, critical of U.S. support for Israel’s war crimes. Governor DeSantis knows full well that CAIR-Florida is an American civil rights organization that has spent decades advancing free speech, religious freedom, and justice for all, including for the Palestinian people. That’s precisely why Governor DeSantis is targeting our civil rights group with this unconstitutional and defamatory proclamation.
“We look forward to defeating Governor DeSantis’ latest Israel First stunt in a court of law, where facts matter and conspiracy theories have no weight,” the groups added. “In the meantime, we encourage all Floridians and all Americans to speak up against this latest attempt to shred the Constitution for the benefit of a foreign government.”
Florida’s designation is at the state level. It doesn’t carry the legal force of a federal Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) listing, which only the U.S. State Department can issue.
In Texas, Muslim and interfaith leaders have demanded that Abott reverse his proclamation regarding CAIR. In a lawsuit against Texas over the governor’s declaration, CAIR argued that it violates both the U.S. Constitution and state law.
Texas Gov. Greg Abott designated CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, as a foreign terrorist organization. (Getty Images)
The order violates its First Amendment rights and due-process protections, CAIR said, arguing that the state overstepped its authority because terrorism designations fall under federal, not state, jurisdiction.
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