
Climate activist vandalizes presidential insignia inside Trump Tower: 'Ruining the planet for profit'
A climate protester was seen spray-painting "USA" over a presidential plaque inside Trump Tower in New York City on Wednesday afternoon.
Nathaniel Smith, 36, a Brooklyn resident, was arrested over the act of vandalism, the New York Police Department told Fox News Digital.
The vandal was filmed spray-painting over the plaque in the Manhattan building before kneeling on the floor and holding a small banner that read: "Game Over," according to video footage of the incident.
He was escorted away from the scene by authorities.
"This is your country. This is our country. This is our planet. … You cannot ruin it without comment. They are ruining the planet for profit," he was heard yelling while being led out of the building.
Bystanders then began taking photos of themselves with the defaced insignia.
Smith is charged with third-degree criminal tampering and possession of a graffiti instrument.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.
The incident came a day after an environmental activist group spray-painted the famous Wall Street Charging Bull.
The group was reportedly also behind the vandalism at a Tesla showroom in Lower Manhattan. Video shows two maskless men scrawling "F—k DOGE" and "We do not consent" on the store's windows with fluorescent red and green spray paint.
The group behind the incident appeared to belong to the climate activist group Extinction Rebellion, which is known to overtake public spaces, cause disruptions and deface public buildings.

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New York Post
19 minutes ago
- New York Post
Kohberger lawyer asks to postpone trial amid intense media coverage, new crime projects
Bryan Kohberger's lead defense attorney Anne Taylor may be avoiding news cameras, but she has shown she is able to use widespread attention to the case to her advantage in her courtroom maneuvering. Even before Magistrate Judge Megan Marshall issued the first gag order in the case, Taylor declined to comment when contacted by Fox News Digital. Advertisement Since then, she has declined to respond to additional requests for comment. 'It is unusual for defense counsel to avoid trying to grab the spotlight and possibly influence public opinion via press conferences, but there's more than one way to skin a cat,' said Royal Oakes, a Los Angeles-based litigator and media analyst. In Kohberger's case, convincing evidence has already been made public — including the allegation that police found his DNA on a Ka-Bar knife sheath under 21-year-old Madison Mogen, one of the four victims, and surveillance video of a suspected vehicle coming and going at the crime scene. 'You've got the car circling the victim's house,' Oakes told Fox News Digital. 'You've got the DNA. You've got the cell phone records. The strategy instead is to go kind of a technical route and question the science of the DNA and also to argue autism by the criminal defendant. That's a key factor, and that's not the kind of thing you necessarily go public with.' Advertisement 7 Bryan Kohberger, (center) who is accused of killing four University of Idaho students in November 2022. AP Taylor used unflattering depictions of her client to have news cameras thrown out of the courtroom and to secure a change of venue, which moved Kohberger's upcoming trial out of Latah County, where the students were killed, to Boise. Defense filings have highlighted widespread news coverage, as well as social media discussions involving thousands of web sleuths and true crime followers. More recently, Taylor is arguing that two major media projects — a 'Dateline' episode and a forthcoming book from bestselling crime author James Patterson and crime reporter Vicky Ward — should justify another postponement of her client's trial in the deaths of four University of Idaho students. Advertisement In particular, she claims the May 9 'Dateline' episode contains damning material that could put Kohberger's right to a fair trial at risk. 7 Bryan Kohberger, who is accused of killing four University of Idaho students in November 2022, appears at a hearing in Latah County District Court, on Jan. 5, 2023, in Moscow, Idaho. AP 'The program includes details and materials, including video footage, cellphone records, and photographs of documents, that are not publicly available through official channels,' she wrote in a motion to continue filed on May 20. 'The show repeatedly emphasizes the non-public nature of this information, stating it was obtained from unnamed sources who are close to the investigation, and that the materials were obtained exclusively by 'Dateline.'' Some of it will be inadmissible at trial, she added. Advertisement Furthermore, she asserted that 'the leaked materials appear carefully curated to promote a narrative of guilt.' 7 Anne Taylor, an attorney representing Bryan Kohberger. AP 'The defense strategy of delay and moving the trial is working beautifully,' Oakes said. 'She was able to change the venue. She gets some postponements, and now she wants further postponement.' If she gets it, there are two key factors that would benefit the defense, he added. 'No. 1, give her time to come up with something to overcome this amazingly strong physical evidence against him, and also maybe diminish the public anger,' he said. 'As the months and the years go by, people will forget how horrific the crime was, and maybe give her a better chance to get a good result at trial.' 7 Personal items of four University of Idaho students who were stabbed to death in an off-campus house are removed on Wednesday, December 7, 2022. James Keivom 'They are trying to keep it out of the court of public opinion,' said David Gelman, a Philadelphia-area defense attorney and former prosecutor who is following the case. 'How do you do that? Stay away from media.' However, that is tough in a case where many updates receive international attention. Advertisement 7 Blood oozes out of the side of an off-campus home where four University of Idaho students were murdered. James Keivom 7 Investigator at the scene of the University of Idaho quadruple homicide. James Keivom Kohberger is accused of killing Mogen, two roommates and another friend in a 4 a.m. home-invasion stabbing spree. There is no publicly known motive, but a concerning detail is that he was studying for a Ph.D. in criminology at the time of the murders. 7 Kohberger is accused of killing four University of Idaho students. Advertisement The other victims were Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20. Jack Lu, a retired Massachusetts judge and an adjunct faculty member at the University of Massachusetts Lowell School of Criminology and Justice studies, said Taylor could consider trying to 'humanize' her client — but anything else could be dangerous for the defense. 'That case sends a chill down the spine of every professor in a school of criminology in the United States,' he told Fox News Digital.


The Hill
2 hours ago
- The Hill
Country singer Conner Smith hits, kills woman walking dog in crosswalk, police say
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Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Bishop's village attacked, 20 slain after recent testimony to Congress on Christian persecution
FIRST ON FOX: A Nigerian bishop has been threatened and his home village murderously attacked after he appealed to lawmakers at a March congressional hearing for the killing of Christians to stop. Bishop Wilfred Anagbe told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview this week that after he went to Washington to testify, four fatal attacks in 10 days by "terrorist Jihadists" had happened in his diocese, the area he is responsible for. Nigeria is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a Christian, according to NGO Open Doors International's 2025 World Watch List (WWL). Of the 4,476 Christians killed worldwide in WWL's latest reporting period, 3,100 of those who died – 69% – were in Nigeria. Fears Remain This Easter That Christians In Nigeria Are Being 'Wiped Out' By Muslim Extremists Open Doors U.K., added in a statement, "Jihadist violence continues to escalate in Nigeria, and Christians are at particular risk from targeted attacks by Islamic militant groups, including Fulani militants, Boko Haram and ISWAP (Islamic State West Africa Province)." One leader of one of the biggest churches in Africa's most populous nation, using the pseudonym "Pastor Winyadebi" because he's worried about his safety, told Fox News Digital. "It has been attacks upon attacks, religious violence. And we say this because the communities that are attacked are Christian communities." Read On The Fox News App "What they (Islamist militants) want is to be sure that Islam [takes] over every part of these places. … And so they're doing everything to make sure that Christianity is brought down and Islam is [the] established No. 1. They want to make sure that Sharia law (strict Islamic law) has taken over Nigeria," he said. Anagbe's Makurdi Diocese in north-central Nigeria is almost exclusively Christian. But the constant and escalating attacks by Islamist Fulani militants led him to testify at a congressional hearing in March. In April, several foreign embassies in Abuja, Nigeria, warned the bishop of credible high-level official threats: that he would be detained upon arrival in Nigeria from the U.S. and that "something might happen to him." This led to Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., Anagbe's congressional host and chair of the House Africa Subcommittee, to write in a statement: "I am appalled by reports that Bishop Wilfred Anagbe and Father Remigius Ihyula (who testified alongside Bishop Anagbe) are facing threats—allegedly from Nigerian government sources and affiliated organizations—because of the Bishop's testimony before Congress detailing violence in Nigeria's Benue State. They reflect a troubling pattern of retaliation linked to testimony before Congress on religious freedom abuses in Nigeria." Christians Increasingly Persecuted Worldwide As 'Modern And Historical Factors Converge' The U.S. Mission in Nigeria on April 10 posted on X calling for the bishop's "right to speak freely without fear of retribution or retaliation," declaring that intimidation and threats had been made "because of their March 12 testimony." Then the attacks, larger and more frequent than before, started, with four attacks between May 23 and June 1. Anagbe told Fox News Digital that "what has been happening in my village and diocese is nothing short of terror attacks on innocent villagers in order to seize their lands and occupy." "On the 23rd [of] May, one of my priests, Father Solomon Atongo, was shot in the leg by these terrorists and almost lost his life. On the 25th of May, my village, Aondona, was attacked for hours, leaving over 20 people dead, scores injured and thousands now displaced and living in makeshift camps," he said. "On the 1st of June, terror was unleashed on Naka town, with many killed and displaced," Anagbe continued. "This attack was so intense that even those earlier displaced and taking refuge in a nearby school were not spared. All over Nigeria, these terrorists are going about on a jihad and conquering territories and renaming them accordingly." "I have been speaking about this genocide for some years now, but whereas in the past some others saw my advocacy with the political lens, today almost everyone in Nigeria has seen the truth for what it is, especially after my testimony in the U.S. Congress." The bishop ended the interview with a plea: "The world has a lot to do. First of all, the world must learn from past mistakes, the Holocaust and most recently the Rwandan genocide. In both cases, the world hid its face in the sand like an ostrich. If the world does not rise up now to put a stop to the atrocities orchestrated in the name of being politically correct, it may wake up one day to casualties that make the Rwandan genocide a child's play. Keeping quiet would be to promote the genocide or ethnic cleansing in Nigeria." While the Nigerian government did not respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment, the Catholic Herald reported that the Nigerian Foreign Ministry had contacted the U.S. regarding the bishop's testimony, noting that "any reports of threats or intimidation against religious leaders would be investigated and appropriate actions would be taken."Original article source: Bishop's village attacked, 20 slain after recent testimony to Congress on Christian persecution