California
Daily Briefing: Active-duty troops deployed to California
Good morning!šš¼āāļø I’m Nicole Fallert. Can you guess Chipotle’s new dip?
Quick look at Tuesday’s news:
- Anti-ICE protests continued in Los Angeles for a fourth night.
- Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ousted all 17 members of a panel that advises the CDC on the safety, efficacy and clinical needs of vaccines.
- The man at the center of the Supreme Court case that changed gay marriage is worried about equality.
700 Marines are heading to Los Angeles
Anti-immigration raid protests continued last night as the Pentagon is set to send hundreds of Marines to support the National Guard in California as state officials say they will sue the Trump administration’s decision to “trample over” Gov. Gavin Newsom’s authority.
The addition of active-duty troops marks a significant escalation. It comes as California officials say they will sue the Trump administration after the president ordered National Guardsmen to Los Angeles without the governorās consent and after the president even suggested NewsomĀ should be arrested.
Get more coverage on the situation in Los Angeles with USA TODAY:
New Jersey governor’s race will signal Democrats next move
New Jersey’s gubernatorial primary Tuesday is considered one of the best litmus tests for the type of candidate Democrats have an appetite for going forward. There are six Democrats seeking to succeed Gov. Phil Murphy (a fellow Democrat who is term limited). Electability remains an issue in the primary that could hobble progressives with a more aggressive approach, and give more centrist-minded contenders an opening. And many New Jersey Democrats have openly expressed concern in recent reports that their state, which tends to lean blue in presidential elections, might be turning red. Experts have warned how close ā and unpredictable ā this race will be.
More news to know now
What’s the weather today?Ā Check your local forecast here.
RFK Jr. fires entire CDC vaccine advisory panel
Health SecretaryĀ Robert F. Kennedy Jr.Ā has fired all 17 members of a committee that advises the federal government onĀ vaccine safetyĀ and will replace them with new members, a move that the Trump administration’s critics warned would create public distrust around the government’s role in promoting public health. Kennedy Jr.’s decision marks a reversal from what a key Republican senator said the Trump Cabinet member had promised during hisĀ confirmation hearingsĀ earlier this year. One medical expertĀ told USA TODAY that Kennedy was “fixing a problem that doesn’t exist.”
Travelers caught off guard as travel ban rules come into effect
‘Itās scary. It makes me worried. It affects my decisions to go home to visit my family.’
~ Randy Wicaksana, 33, an Indonesian national who has lived in the U.S. for about three years. Wicaksana said he is preparing to return home later this month to renew his visa but is increasingly uncertain about what might await him when he comes to the U.S. again.
Today’s talkers
He was at the center of a Supreme Court case that changed gay marriage. Now, he’s worried.
WhenĀ Jim ObergefellĀ was sitting in the gallery at theĀ Supreme CourtĀ onĀ June 26, 2015, he was waiting to hear his name. The justices were preparing to rule on Obergefell v. Hodges, a case that became a landmark in the progress towardĀ LGBTQ+ rights in the U.S.Ā The case, which considered the rights of same-sex couples to marry, ultimately won favor with a majority of the justices, but for Obergefell, the moment wasnāt, and could never be, totally complete.Ā His husband, John Arthur, died years before the ruling was announced.Ā Now, 10 years on, ObergefellĀ sat down with USA TODAY to reflect on how their love for each other helped shape the fight for marriage equality in the U.S., and what progress there is to still be made in theĀ fight for equality.Ā
Photo of the day:Ā Ed soars
If you’ve missed Ed the zebra’s escapades this past week, the rogue zoo animal was finally caught and given an aerial trip home. He just wanted to see the world from a different point of view!
Nicole Fallert is a newsletter writer at USA TODAY, sign up for the email here. Want to send Nicole a note?Ā ShootĀ her an email atĀ NFallert@usatoday.com.
California
FBI agent posing as 12-year-old girl ensnares alleged pedophile in California
A 41-year-old Ventura man is facing the possibility of life in prison after he sent a federal agent posing as both a dad and a daughter sexually explicit photos, authorities announced earlier this week. Ā
Trevor Lyons began speaking to the undercover agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in August 2024 on the Kik messaging app. At the time, the agent was posing as the father of a 12-year-old girl who used the name āUC Dad,ā the L.A. Times reported. Ā
According to the indictment, Lyons responded, āOooof. A tad young but do you have pics?ā when the undercover officer gave him the age of his fictitious daughter.Ā
Federal officials also said Lyons told UC Dad that he wanted to talk to the young girl, saying, āIād love to see how much of a freak she is.ā Ā
The 41-year-old then offered photos of his own 17-year-old daughterĀ from when she was 15 years old and continued to have sexually explicit conversations with UC Dad that month on Telegram.
In September 2024, Lyons added what he thought was UC Dadās 12-year-old girl as a friend on Discord, telling her that he was 40 and asking if she had ever seen a penis before, the indictment details. As the conversations continued to escalate, investigators say he asked UC Dadās daughter if she had ever performed oral sex and offered to teach her how before sending an explicit photo and video with a request that she perform it on him. Ā
Law enforcement seized various electronics from Lyons in December 2024, including an iPhone 16, an iPad and a Samsung Galaxy flip phone. Ā
In the indictment, filed in August this year, investigators allege Lyons had a yearslong history of distributing child pornography along with accusations that in May 2020, he coerced a minor to engage in sexually explicit acts for photographs that would be distributed as child sexual abuse materials. Ā
The 41-year-old, according to federal investigators, went by several usernames online, including Defi Samurai, Carly and Herbdoc. Ā
He was arrested Oct. 20 after a federal grand jury charged him in a nine-count felony indictment with sexual exploitation, attempted sexual exploitation of a child for the purpose of producing sexually explicit visual depiction, attempted enticement of a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity and distribution of child pornography, according to the FBI. Ā
āIf convicted on all charges, Lyons faces a statutory maximum sentence of life in prison,ā federal officials said. Ā
California
Pedestrian killed by big rig in hit-and-run on I-5 in Yolo County, CHP says
A man died Tuesday night after being struck by a big rig while running along southbound Interstate 5 northwest of Woodland in California’s Yolo County, officials said.
The California Highway Patrol’s Woodland division said it happened around 8 p.m. near the Interstate 505 interchange, between Dunnigan and Zamora. Crews were already responding to a nearby medical call and were able to arrive quickly, but the man was pronounced dead at the scene.
Witnesses told officers that an all-white big rig initially slowed down after the crash but then continued driving south on I-5 toward Sacramento. The CHP says the truck likely has damage to its front left corner.
The CHP Woodland is asking anyone who may have seen the crash or has information about the truck or its driver to contact their office.
Traffic in the area was not affected.
California
Motorcycle rider sent over guardrail in fatal Southern California crash
California Highway Patrol (CHP) investigators are trying to determine what led up to a fatal motorcycle crash in Corona over the weekend.
The collision occurred as the vehicles were traveling in opposite directions near a sharp turn on Cajalco Road just east of Eagle Canyon Road around 8:45 p.m. Sunday.
Arriving officers found the motorcycle down in the roadway near a car with front-end damage and a smashed windshield.
The unidentified motorcycle rider was sent over the railing as a result of the crash and was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics, news video service OnScene.TV reported.
The occupants of the car involved in the crash were treated at the scene by paramedics but were not transported to a hospital, the news service stated.
It was unclear if drugs or alcohol were factors in the crash.
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