Southeast
Virginia man returns home after detainment in Turks and Caicos for ammo in his luggage
A Virginia man arrived at the Richmond airport on Thursday after he was released from custody on the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI), where he had been detained for having ammunition in his luggage.
Tyler Wenrich – a 31-year-old husband and father – is one of five Americans arrested and detained on the islands since February for having stray ammunition in their luggage, a crime punishable for up to 12 years on the islands.
The other detained Americans are Ryan Watson, 40, of Oklahoma; Sharitta Grier, 45, of Florida; Bryan Hagerich, 39, of Pennsylvania; and Michael Lee Evans, 72, of Texas.
PENNSYLVANIA MAN RETURNS HOME AFTER DETAINMENT IN TURKS AND CAICOS FOR AMMO IN HIS LUGGAGE
Tyler Wenrich and his wife, Jeriann, return to Richmond Virginia, Thursday, May 30, 2024. Wenrich was ordered to pay a $9,000 fine for unknowingly possessing ammunition in his luggage while visiting the islands. (The Image Direct for Fox News Digital)
Tyler Wenrich and his family pose with Representative Bob Good as he returns to Richmond Virginia, Thursday, May 30, 2024. Wenrich was ordered to pay a $9,000 fine for unknowingly possessing ammunition in his luggage while visiting the islands. (The Image Direct for Fox News Digital)
Wenrich was greeted by applause as he touched down at Richmond International Airport after spending three weeks in jail and paying $9,000 in fines for unknowingly possessing ammunition in his luggage while visiting the island nation.
“It feels good to be back with my wife and my kid,” Wenrich told reporters after embracing gleeful friends and family. “I’m just exhausted and honestly happy to be back.”
Tyler Wenrich embraces Representative Bob Good as he returns to Richmond Virginia, Thursday, May 30, 2024. Wenrich was ordered to pay a $9,000 fine for unknowingly possessing ammunition in his luggage while visiting the islands. (The Image Direct for Fox News Digital)
Wenrich said that his imprisonment and eventual release back to the U.S. was a “roller coaster,” thanking his friends, family and elected officials.
PENNSYLVANIA DAD DETAINED IN TURKS AND CAICOS TO RETURN HOME AFTER PAYING FINE FOR HAVING AMMO IN LUGGAGE
“It’s been a roller coaster, and I’m thankful for friends, family and representatives involved in trying to get us back,” he said. “Rep. Bob Good and Chris Snyder have been fantastic, as well as a lot of the other representatives in trying to get us back home. We appreciate it.”
Tyler Wenrich speaks to the media as he returns to Richmond Virginia, Thursday, May 30, 2024. Wenrich was ordered to pay a $9,000 fine for unknowingly possessing ammunition in his luggage while visiting the islands. (The Image Direct for Fox News Digital)
The 31-year-old said that it was “going to be amazing” to get to hold his toddler son again.
“It’s going to be amazing, just to hold him in my arms again,” Wenrich said. “I didn’t know if it was going to happen again.”
He said that the past three weeks, since his imprisonment in the TCI, have been filled with “anxiety” and “excitement.”
“It’s been a lot of anxiety and a lot of excitement to see family again,” he told reporters.
Tyler Wenrich poses next to a firearms warning sign with his friend as he returns to Richmond Virginia, Thursday, May 30, 2024. Wenrich was ordered to pay a $9,000 fine for unknowingly possessing ammunition in his luggage while visiting the islands. (The Image Direct for Fox News Digital)
Wenrich was initially arrested on April 20 following a wedding party in Turks and Caicos and pleaded guilty in court on Monday, when both prosecutors and his defense team presented oral arguments, he told Fox News Digital.
Wenrich had traveled from Virginia to Florida, where he boarded a Royal Caribbean cruise ship and then docked in Turks and Caicos. Cruise ship security found two stray bullets in his bag when he was about to board the ship to go back home.
VIRGINIA MAN DETAINED IN TURKS AND CAICOS RECALLS MOMENT HE KNEW ‘THINGS WERE GOING SIDEWAYS‘
“It’s a backpack… that I hadn’t used in a while, but I had used it previously for carrying supplies in my car and going to the shooting range. So I pulled it out for this trip, checked it, went through TSA security, went through port security in Miami. It was about a day and a half sail to Grand Turk, and then we spent a day here,” Wenrich previously told Fox News Digital. “So it was about 8 to 9 hours that we spent on the island. And then when I was boarding the ship, the Royal Caribbean cruise ship, they scanned the bag, found one bullet, scanned the bag again, found the second bullet.”
Tyler Wenrich is also facing a minimum 12-year prison sentence after two stray bullets were found in his bag while traveling home from Turks and Caicos. (Michael Wenrich)
Cruise ship authorities then sent Wenrich to local police, which is the moment he “knew things were going sideways.”
The other Americans arrested in Turks for having stray ammo, including Sharitta Grier of Florida, Ryan Watson of Oklahoma and Michael Lee Evans of Texas, were arrested at airports on the islands.
“Everybody else has been at the airport, so that’s a lot different than their cases,” Wenrich said of his own case. “But as far as the charge goes, it’s very similar. We were actually able to meet with them in person last week and go to lunch and kind of talk about those things, as well. But we keep in daily communication with each other.”
AMERICANS ARRESTED IN TURKS AND CAICOS FACE 12 YEARS IN PRISON OVER ‘INNOCENT MISTAKE’: ‘NEVER DAWNED ON US’
A bipartisan U.S. congressional delegation visited TCI officials on Monday to discuss the arrests of five Americans over an ammunition possession law. (TCI Governor’s Office)
Wenrich said the support he and his family have received from both friends and locals back home, as well as from the other Americans in Turks and Caicos, has been “phenomenal.”
Govs. Youngkin, Sitt and Shapiro sent a letter to Turks and Caicos Gov. Dileeni Daniel-Selvaratnam to urge the release of Watson, Hagerich and Wenrich.
TURKS AND CAICOS COURT HEARING FOR AMERICAN ARRESTED WITH AMMO IN BAG COULD SET NEW PRECEDENT
“Like thousands of Americans each year, these individuals traveled to your beautiful territory recently for leisure,” the governors wrote in a joint letter shared with Fox News Digital. “They have all maintained that they did not intend to bring ammunition into Turks and Caicos, and any ammunition unknowingly left in their luggage was the result of lawful conduct in the United States. We understand that none of them were carrying firearms.”
Five Americans have been arrested in Turks and Caicos since February for carrying ammo in airports on the island. From left to right: Michael Lee Evans (no photo), Bryan Hagerich, Tyler Wenrich, Ryan Watson and Sharitta Grier (Turks and Caicos Police/ Dimitrios Kambouris )
Various members of Congress have spoken publicly about the issue of Americans being detained in Turks and Caicos over ammunition possession. A congressional delegation met with TCI government leaders earlier this month to discuss the potential release of Americans detained over the ammunition ordinance, to no avail.
“The U.S. delegation raised five cases of US nationals currently before the courts, concern for their well-being and clarification on the legal process,” the TCI Governor’s Office said in a May 13 statement. “In order to maintain the integrity of the legal process, the Governor confirmed it would not be appropriate to facilitate the delegation’s request to meet with the Chief Justice.”
The governor and the premier also said “they cannot intervene nor comment on ongoing legal cases before the courts,” the statement continued. “They explained that the Turks and Caicos Islands have clear laws prohibiting the possession of firearms and/or ammunition and strict penalties are in place to serve and protect all who reside and visit the Turks and Caicos Islands.”
Fox News Digital’s Audrey Conklin contributed to this report.
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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)
NORTH CAROLINA DEMOCRATS FALL SILENT AFTER ICE ARRESTS DOZENS WITH VIOLENT RECORDS
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.
ALEX MURDAUGH’S MONEY MAN PAYS THE PRICE AFTER ADMITTING ROLE IN MILLION-DOLLAR CRIME SCHEME
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.
ALEX MURDAUGH SLAMS NEW TRUE CRIME SERIES DEPICTING FAMILY’S DOUBLE-MURDER: ‘MISLEADING PORTRAYALS’
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.
TRUMP MOVES AGAINST MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD AS ISLAMIST GROUP SPREADS IN WEST
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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