Southwest
Texas press conference in Austin Metcalf killing devolves into chaos over track meet stabbing
Chaos unfolded during a press conference in Dallas Thursday afternoon as the spokesman for Karmelo Anthony’s family took jabs at Austin Metcalf’s father, who was escorted from the site of the event before it began.
Anthony is accused of fatally stabbing fellow 17-year-old Austin Metcalf at an April 2 high school track meet in Frisco, Texas.
Jeff Metcalf, Austin’s father, attempted to attend the news conference Thursday led by Dominique Alexander, the head of the Next Generation Action Network, an activist group speaking on Anthony’s behalf.
Jeff Metcalf with his son, Austin Metcalf, a junior at Memorial High School in Frisco, who was allegedly stabbed in the chest by 17-year-old Karmelo Anthony, a student-athlete from Frisco Centennial High School. (Courtesy Jeff Metcalf)
TEEN SUSPECT FREE ON BOND AFTER ALLEGEDLY STABBING TEXAS TRACK STAR AUSTIN METCALF TO DEATH
Metcalf confirmed to Fox News Digital he was escorted from the event under the threat of criminal trespass charges.
“The preliminary investigation determined that one person was asked to leave the location and did so without incident,” the Dallas Police Department told Fox News Digital. “No offense was reported.”
Anthony is facing first-degree murder charges for allegedly stabbing Metcalf to death during a dispute under a tent at a track meet.
He was released from the Collin County Jail after his bond was reduced from $1 million to $250,000.
The news conference addressed more than $450,000 in GiveSendGo funds that have been donated to the Anthony family after his arrest and rumors the money was being spent improperly. The second focus was supposed to be Anthony’s mother, Kayla Hayes, who read a statement on behalf of the family that was prepared by attorneys.
Dominique Alexander of the Next Generation Action Network hosted a news conference on behalf of Karmelo Anthony’s family Thursday, April 17. (Next Generation Action Network via Facebook)
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But the event devolved into accusations of racism and bigotry, along with Alexander’s admonishment of Jeff Metcalf before either topic was even discussed.
“What we’ve seen at the beginning of this press conference, of the father being at this press conference, these are my words — don’t quote anybody — is a disrespect to the dignity of his son,” Alexander said.
“Next Generation Action Network from the beginning has respected the loss of life, no matter our opinion of it. We have kept our opinion close,” he said. “We have not attacked. We have not shared the information that was shared with us about Austin Metcalf because we respect the dignity of life and loss.
Austin Metcalf’s father, Jeff Metcalf, previously told Fox News his “life was destroyed” by his son’s killing. (Jeff Metcalf)
GRIEVING TEXAS FATHER SPEAKS OUT AFTER SON WAS STABBED TO DEATH AT HIGH SCHOOL TRACK MEET
“That was disrespectful and just shows you all the character,” Alexander said. “He was not invited. He knows that it’s inappropriate to be near this family, but he did it. So, I say to people, actions speak louder than words.”
Alexander said Jeff Metcalf wanted to focus on politics and bigotry.
“What he has felled [sic] into is the political operatives that want to make this thing a political thing of hate and yet bigotry and yet racism,” he said. “We have conservative operatives that have been posting nonstop about this case.”
Accused killer Karmelo Anthony, center, walks out of jail after posting bond. (KDFW)
He then moved onto the issue of the online fundraiser.
Alexander said none of the money from the GiveSendGo has been spent, and any suggestion otherwise is “intentional disinformation.”
“Let’s be clear,” he said. “The family has not received one dime.”
Alexander then ranted about the Frisco Independent School District’s plans to expel Anthony a month before graduation. He noted that Anthony has a 3.7 GPA, and that even if he didn’t go to class for the rest of the year, he would still be able to graduate.
THE STABBING DEATH OF AUSTIN METCALF DEVASTATED OUR ENTIRE COMMUNITY, SAYS GREG WILLIS
He also appeared to subtly shift blame for Metcalf’s death from Anthony to the school district, intimating that the school should have canceled the April 2 track meet in the first place because of inclement weather.
“Because as a person who is the administrator of yet children, you are responsible for the safety of the children,” he said. “And so it seems as if Frisco ISD is trying to push this off by making [the decision to expel Anthony] that they do not have to make.”
Mugshot of Karmelo Anthony, left, and Austin Metcalf in football pads, right. (Fox DFW/Jeff Metcalf)
“While Frisco ISD cannot comment on an individual student’s disciplinary record due to student privacy law, we can provide general information about district protocol and relevant law,” a spokesperson for the district told Fox News Digital.
“If the school recommends expulsion, which means the student is removed from school, the student is not allowed to go on any Frisco ISD property while the decision is being made,” the spokesperson said. “A meeting will be held where the student can share their side of the story and show any evidence. After the meeting, the district will decide whether to go through with the expulsion and will let the student and parents know.”
Before finally turning the conference over to Hayes, Alexander commented on Judge Angela Tucker, a Black Republican presiding over the case.
“But the ugly attacks on her just shows Black America that no matter what you pick in the ballot box — and that is your constitutional right — it’s people out here reminding us of the Black struggle in America.”
Austin Metcalf, 17, was stabbed to death at a Texas track meet. (Jeff Metcalf)
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An emotional Hayes spoke only briefly.
“Our family has been under attack,” she said. “Whatever you think, what happened between Karmelo and the Metcalf boy, my three younger children, my husband and I didn’t do anything to deserve to be threatened, harassed and lied about.”
She said such lies have put her family in danger, along with the community and those involved in the investigation.
“Our address and my husband’s previous employer’s address has been put on all social media platforms,” she said. “My husband had to take a leave of absence because he’s afraid of what may happen to our family.”
She said her husband’s mental health is deteriorating, and her daughter is afraid to sleep in her own bed.
Hayes echoed Alexander’s sentiment that the GiveSendGo funds have not been used by the family at all.
Karmelo Anthony’s mother, Kayla Hayes, speaks at a press conference Thursday, April 17, 2025. (Next Generation Action Network via Facebook)
After Hayes spoke, Alexander returned to the issue of race.
“Because these racist bigots try to prevent us from standing up for our baby, our boy, he should be afforded the same rights that Kyle Rittenhouse had, Daniel Penny and all the people who have claimed whatever their defense was – he should be afforded the same right,” Alexander said.
“Nobody in the public media has one video, but we got the video of Kyle Rittenhouse with an AK-47 shooting three people in the back,” he said. “We got that, and he raised more than $2 million publicly, and nobody said anything about that.”
Jeff Metcalf previously told Fox News, “I want to clarify something right off to start because I’ve already heard some rumors and gossip. This was not a race thing. This is not a political thing.
“Do not politicize this. It’s not … this is a human being thing. This person made a bad choice and affected both his family and my family forever.”
Metcalf added that “Austin was the light of my life.”
He said on “America Reports” that Austin died in the arms of his twin brother, Hunter, who desperately tried to stop the bleeding.
“They were so tight. They had the best bond. They were best friends,” Metcalf said of the pair. “And now I have to focus on taking care of Hunter.”
Metcalf also mentioned forgiveness.
“People ask me, how can you forgive this other person? I said I forgive the other person because the forgiveness is not for him. The forgiveness is for me so I can have peace,” he said. “His life is destroyed. My life is destroyed.”
Austin Metcalf, 16, died at a track meet after getting stabbed. (FOX DFW Chopper)
Metcalf was killed after an altercation under a Memorial High School tent at the track meet. The arrest report from the incident said Anthony “grabbed his bag, opened it and reached inside it” and told Metcalf, “Touch me and see what happens.”
In the next moment, a witness told police, Anthony “reached into his bag and the male took a knife out of the bag and stabbed Austin.”
The witness told the officer Anthony fled after the stabbing. Metcalf died in his twin brother’s arms.
Anthony told the responding school resource officer, who cuffed him upon arrival, he was protecting himself. The officer also noted blood on Anthony’s left middle finger.
One responding officer referred to Anthony as the alleged suspect. Anthony made a “spontaneous statement,” according to the report, saying, “I’m not alleged, I did it.”
Anthony also asked the officers if Metcalf was “going to be OK” and asked if what happened could be considered “self-defense,” the report said.
Fox News Digital’s Madison Colombo contributed to this report.
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Southwest
Arizona governor vetoes Charlie Kirk memorial license plate, sparking GOP outrage: ‘This bill falls short’
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Democratic Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs is facing fierce backlash after vetoing a bill that would have created a specialty license plate honoring slain Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, a move Republicans are blasting as a stunning act of partisanship after his assassination.
Kirk, who was assassinated while speaking at a Sept. 10 Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University, lived in Arizona with his wife, Erika, and two children.
The proposed specialty plate, referred to as the “Charlie Kirk memorial” plate or the “Conservative grassroots network special plate,” featured a photo of the late Kirk and the TPUSA logo in front of an American flag background.
Below the license plate number were the words “FOR CHARLIE.”
A custom Arizona license plate, featuring a Turning Point USA and Charlie Kirk design, shared by state Sen. Jake Hoffman. (Senator Jake Hoffman via X)
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Of the $25 fee required for the plate, $17 would be an annual donation deposited into the Conservative Grassroots Network Special Plate Fund, according to the legislation.
While the recipient of the Grassroots Network Special Plate Fund was not explicitly designated as TPUSA in the bill, it noted the director of the fund would allocate revenue annually to a nonprofit organization, founded in 2012, that focuses on restoring traditional values, maintaining a grassroots activist network on high school and college campuses in Arizona, and assisting college students with voter registration and absentee ballots.
People gather at a memorial to mourn Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk outside Turning Point USA headquarters Sept. 12, 2025, in Phoenix. (Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images)
TPUSA, founded by Kirk in 2012, is well known for its grassroots activist networks on high school and college campuses. It is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona.
The $25 fee and annual $17 donation are consistent with the fees for the other 109 nonprofit license plates offered by the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT).
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The state Senate passed the bill, 16-2, with the House of Representatives voting 31-23 in favor prior to Hobbs’ veto.
Specialty plates in Arizona are authorized by the legislature and sent to the governor to be signed into law. They have been offered since 1989.
In a letter explaining the veto, Hobbs cited concerns with the bill “bring[ing] people together,” claiming it would “insert politics into a function of government that should remain nonpartisan.”
Democratic Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs is facing fierce backlash after vetoing a bill that would have created a specialty license plate honoring slain Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk. (Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)
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“Charlie Kirk’s assassination is tragic and a horrifying act of violence,” Hobbs wrote. “In America, we resolve our political differences at the ballot box. No matter who it targets, political violence puts us all in harm’s way and damages our sacred democratic institutions.
“I will continue working toward solutions that bring people together, but this bill falls short of that standard.”
Specialty license plates with political interests already approved by the state include the “Choose Life” Plate, which benefits the Arizona Life Coalition and its mission to promote anti-abortion advocacy and education; the “In God We Trust” Plate, which benefits conservative Christian legal advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom; and the Arizona Realtors’ “Homes for All” Plate, which funds affordable housing projects.
Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, speaks during the Turning Point Action conference in 2023 in West Palm Beach, Fla. (Lynne Sladky/AP Photo)
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Another approved plate, “Alice Cooper’s Solid Rock Plate,” which benefits Solid Rock Teen Centers, features a portrait of the legendary musician, who has made political comments about social issues including gender identity.
Republican state Sen. Jake Hoffman, who sponsored the bill, posted a fiery statement on social media after the governor’s action, claiming her “grotesque partisanship knows no bounds.”
“Even in the wake of a global civil rights leader — an Arizona resident and her own constituent — being assassinated in broad daylight for his defense of the First Amendment, Hobbs couldn’t find the human decency to put her far-Left extremism aside simply to allow those how wish to honor him to do so,” Hoffman wrote. “Katie Hobbs will forever be known as a stain on the pages of Arizona’s story.”
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On Saturday, TPUSA COO Tyler Bowyer shared an X post that said, “Deport Katie Hobbs.”
TPUSA, Bowyer and Hobbs’ office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.
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Air Force veteran warns ‘cartels don’t collapse — they fracture’ after notorious drug lord killed
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Nearly two weeks after Mexican forces killed notorious cartel boss Ruben “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes, questions remain about how the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) will respond and whether the blow will meaningfully disrupt the flow of fentanyl into the United States.
Carlos De La Cruz, a 20-year U.S. Air Force veteran who deployed after 9/11 and later served along the southern border, told Fox News the cartel leader’s death marked a major victory, but warned Americans should not mistake it for the end of the fight.
“When I say that this is a significant win, I mean it,” De La Cruz said. “El Mencho ran one of the most violent cartels on the planet.”
Oseguera, who rose to prominence in the post–El Chapo era, oversaw CJNG’s aggressive expansion across Mexico and into key trafficking corridors feeding U.S. drug markets. Under his leadership, the cartel became a central architect of fentanyl and methamphetamine trafficking and drew a $15 million U.S. reward for information leading to his capture.
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Smoke rises from burning vehicles after a military operation that a government source said killed Mexican drug lord Nemesio Oseguera, known as “El Mencho,” in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, on Feb. 22, 2026. (Screen grab obtained from a social media video. @morelifediares via Instagram/YouTube via Reuters)
But De La Cruz cautioned that removing a cartel kingpin does not dismantle the organization.
“Cartels don’t collapse when you just cut the head off — they fracture,” he said. “And part of that fracture is going to see a lot of short-term violence while all these factions fight over territory.”
Following Oseguera’s killing on Feb. 22, the U.S. State Department issued travel alerts in multiple Mexican states, citing road blockages and criminal activity tied to security operations, underscoring concerns about instability in the aftermath.
Drawing on his military background studying enemy command structures, De La Cruz described the cartel fight as a long-term campaign requiring sustained pressure.
A mughsot of Ruben “Nemesio” Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho,” beside graffiti depicting the letters of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, covering the facade of an abandoned home in El Limoncito, in the Michoacan state of Mexico. (Eduardo Verdugo/AP Images; Drug Enforcement Administration)
“You don’t win a war with just one airstrike,” he said. “The goal is dismantling the networks and going after their financing.”
De La Cruz, who is running for Congress and is the brother of Texas Republican Rep. Monica De La Cruz, argued that CJNG’s Foreign Terrorist Organization designation gives U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies expanded tools to target cartel infrastructure and financial pipelines.
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A soldier stands guard by a charred vehicle after it was set on fire in Cointzio, Mexico, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, after the cartel leader’s death. (Armando Solis/AP Photo)
But he stressed that the fentanyl crisis should be viewed as a domestic security emergency, not a distant foreign problem.
“For decades, they were using their territories as launching pads to pump chemical weapons into America — because that’s exactly what fentanyl is,” he said.
De La Cruz, who said he worked side by side with Customs agents while deployed to the border, warned that cartel networks are highly adaptive and that any gains could be temporary without sustained follow-through.
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Smoke rises after violence hit Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. (Courtesy of Scott Posilkin)
“These networks, they’re going to adjust. They’re going to adapt and they’re going to adapt quickly,” he said. “We have to continue to go after the money launderers, especially on our side of the border, because that’s the full fight.”
While Oseguera’s death removes one of the most dominant figures in Mexico’s criminal underworld, De La Cruz said the mission is personal.
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“I took an oath to defend this country,” he said. “And I intend to stand by that oath.”
Fox News Digital’s Greg Wehner contributed to this report.
Stepheny Price covers crime, including missing persons, homicides and migrant crime. Send story tips to stepheny.price@fox.com.
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TUCSON, Ariz. — More than five weeks after the suspected abduction of Nancy Guthrie — the 84-year-old mother of “Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie — Arizona authorities say cadaver dogs used earlier in the investigation are not currently being deployed as the search continues.
The elder Guthrie is believed to have been kidnapped from her home in the Catalina Foothills in northern Tucson around 2:30 a.m. on Feb. 1.
While no suspects have been publicly identified, and she has not been found, cadaver dogs had been deployed earlier in the case, according to Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos. They have not been visible in weeks.
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A member of the Pima County Sheriff’s Office remains outside of Nancy Guthrie’s home, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026 in Tucson, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil; Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images)
“They are available if needed in the future,” he told Fox News Digital.
There are a number of reasons not to be using cadaver dogs at this stage in the investigation, according to Betsy Brantner Smith, a retired police sergeant and spokeswoman for the National Police Association.
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Savannah Guthrie visits the Today show at Rockefeller Plaza in New York on Thursday, March 5, 2026. (Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)
One would be if there’s credible information that Guthrie is still alive.
“Anything is possible,” Nanos told Fox News Digital last week, adding that he would not discuss specific leads or evidence in the case.
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Brantner Smith, who is not involved in the case, said departments may hold back K-9 resources for several reasons. Those could be that authorities don’t have a good idea of where to search, they think she might be concealed in a place where dogs would have a hard time detecting her, or they believe she’s been taken to Mexico, according to Brantner Smith.
Law enforcement agents walk around the neighborhood where Annie Guthrie, whose mother Nancy Guthrie has been missing for more than a week, lives just outside Tucson, Ariz. (Ty ONeil/AP Photo)
“I do believe that the sheriff’s department has much more information that they are not releasing to the public,” she told Fox News Digital. “And I’m not sure at this point why that would be, unless they have a solid suspect and don’t want to tip them off.”
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Most departments, including the Pima County Sheriff’s, don’t have their own cadaver dogs and borrow them from state and federal authorities or neighboring jurisdictions.
An investigator looks inside a culvert in the neighborhood where Annie Guthrie, whose mother Nancy Guthrie has been missing for more than a week, lives just outside Tucson, Ariz., on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (Ty ONeil/AP Photo)
In Guthrie’s case, the sheriff’s department sought K-9 assistance from the local Border Patrol office earlier in the investigation.
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PCSD deferred further comment on the K-9s to Customs and Border Protection, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A member of the Pima County Sheriff’s Office walks around Nancy Guthrie’s home on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026 in Tucson, Ariz. (Ty ONeil/AP Photo)
The biggest lead so far has been Nest camera video showing a masked intruder on Guthrie’s doorstep the morning of her abduction.
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He is described as about 5 feet, 9 inches to 5 feet, 10 inches tall and of medium build.
Nancy Guthrie, 84, has been missing from her Arizona home since Jan. 31, 2026. (Don Arnold/WireImage/Getty Images)
He was wearing a black Ozark Trail backpack.
Authorities have said they won’t consider the case cold until they run out of viable leads to follow up on — and tens of thousands have come in so far.
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Savannah Guthrie has asked anyone with information to dial 1-800-CALL-FBI.
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There’s a combined reward of more than $1.2 million for information that leads to her mother’s recovery.
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