Latest news with #MS-13
Politico
14 hours ago
- Politics
- Politico
‘It's like a game of Whac-A-Mole': How Trump's ICE raids knocked Los Angeles to its knees
Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, contested reports that most people detained did not have a criminal record. She said the government's operations have arrested 'drug traffickers, MS-13 gang members, convicted rapists, convicted murderers — people you would not want to be your neighbors. And yet, Karen Bass, instead of thanking law enforcement, continues to demonize them and attack them.' The fear permeating Latino life has added resonance for Bass; her late ex-husband was Mexican American and many family members, including her late daughter, her step-children and grandchildren, have Latino heritage. 'So yes, it impacts me personally, because I know that all Latinos are suspect now, anybody that looks Latino,' Bass said, pointing to border czar Tom Homan's comments that 'physical appearance' was sufficient for federal authorities to detain someone. He later said appearance could not be the sole reason for suspicion. But the federal judge who blocked the roving immigration raids in Los Angeles said officials were relying on improper factors, such as race, occupation and speaking with an accent, during their operations. McLaughlin said it was a 'convenient and disgusting smear to say that law enforcement targets based on skin color. It is about it is about legal status, that everything and criminality. That's what we're focused on.' Beyond the family bonds, Bass said, leaning into immigrant rights is 'fundamentally who I am' — a culmination of years of community activism, of anti-apartheid advocacy, of collaborations between Black and Latino communities in the 1980s and 1990s. 'It's not because it's politically in. It's not because of some calculation of what happened in the first part of the year,' she said. 'This is an issue that has been fundamental to me for my entire adult life.' Loathe as Bass is to make comparisons to her handling of the fires, the contrast is notable, even to her closest allies. The mayor was hamstrung from the start of the blazes, when she was out of the country, and she failed to regain control of the narrative upon her return. This time, Bass has ramped up her media presence; during her brief stop at El Chapulín, she squeezed in two Zoom interviews with Spanish-language media, and she has been a regular staple on national cable. 'She is really trying to paint a different picture of what is going on here — not letting Breitbart and Fox tell the story,' said Courtni Pugh, a senior adviser for Bass' political operation. 'We really tried very hard to put a human face on the toll.' Onlookers watch as federal agents with US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) ride on an armored vehicle driving slowly down Wilshire Boulevard near MacArthur Park in Los Angeles, California, on July 7, 2025. | Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images When militarized federal agents, including officials on horseback, descended onto MacArthur Park in the heart of downtown in an intimidating though largely theatrical display, Bass rerouted from a ceremony marking the six-month anniversary of the fires to the scene, demanding to speak to whoever was in charge.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Jelly Roll Makes His Late-Night Hosting Debut, Jokes His Name Is Post Malone In Case He 'Really Sucks'
NEED TO KNOW Jelly Roll guest-hosted the Wednesday, July 16 episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! He jokingly told the audience his name is "Post Malone," but only if his jokes "really suck bad" "Thank you again to Jimmy Kimmel for taking a chance on my fat, white trash ass," said JellyJelly Roll can now add late-night talk show host to his resume. On Wednesday, July 16, the country star stepped in as the guest host of Jimmy Kimmel Live! and delivered a hilarious monologue to kick off the episode. He did have a plan, however, for if his jokes didn't land with the audience. "I need y'all to be patient with me tonight," said Jelly, 40, whose real name is Jason Bradley DeFord. "This is my first time doing something like this, and I'm going to try my best. I am. But if I really suck bad, y'all just remember — my name is Post Malone." Luckily, there was no need to hide behind his fellow Big Ass Stadium Tour performer's identity for the evening, as Jelly was a natural. "Do not adjust your TV — Jimmy did not join MS-13. I am your guest host, Jelly Roll. Tune in, baby," he exclaimed at the top of his monologue. "Now y'all know every guest gets on here, and they say it's great to be here. But I want to talk to y'all. Speaking as a guy who has been to prison before, it really is great to be here," said Jelly, who's been incarcerated around 40 times in his life. "Actually, it's kind of great to be anywhere. Hell, I walked into a DMV yesterday, and I was like, 'This is fucking awesome. God, this is great.'" In addition to his late-night hosting debut, the "Save Me" singer spoke about his upcoming match at WWE SummerSlam, where he'll team up with Randy Orton against Drew McIntyre and Logan Paul. The sporting event will air via Peacock in the U.S. and Netflix internationally on Aug. 2 and 3. "Don't clap for Logan Paul. You don't clap for Logan Paul," Jelly told the Jimmy Kimmel Live! crowd. "I decided to do it because truthfully, there are three things that I'm always mistaken for. I'm either mistaken for a wrestler, a tattoo artist, or a member of the Insane Clown Posse who just got sober." He added, "I know you're probably thinking, 'Jelly, how the hell are you going to fight in a pro wrestling match?' But I do have a lot of qualifications. As a fat guy, I've broken several folding chairs." The Grammy-nominated musician further detailed why SummerSlam will mark a "big moment" for him. "I faced my share of struggles in life, y'all. I faced adversity. I've overcame and I never thought, but I am going to have a moment that every American has dreamed of," he said. "And that is the moment of slapping Logan Paul in his face." "Thank you again to Jimmy Kimmel for taking a chance on my fat, white trash ass," quipped Jelly, who later gave silly nicknames (like his own) to Kimmel's staff and presented a few "Jelly Awards" to the subjects of some outrageous viral videos. Jelly and Post recently wrapped the U.S. leg of their Big Ass Stadium Tour, and they're now gearing up for the Big Ass World Tour in Europe, which kicks off next month. "Dear Austin, I say this on stage in some way every night, but man, being on this tour with you has been unreal. I have never had more fun in my life," wrote Jelly on Instagram last month. Read the original article on People
UPI
3 days ago
- UPI
Two MS-13 members sentenced for 2010 murder in Massachusetts
Two 31-year-old members of the MS-13 gang were sentenced in prison for their roles in the murder of a man under the on-ramp to Route 1 in Chelsea in December 2010. Photo by Department of Justice July 16 (UPI) -- Two 31-year-old members of the MS-13 gang were sentenced in Boston to decades in prison for their roles in a murder in 2010 that was solved 14 years later. On Tuesday, Senior District Judge William Young sentenced the La Mara Salvatrucha members: Jose Vasquez, also known as Littler Crazy, to 25 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release; and William Pineda Portillo, also known as Humlde, to 16 years to be followed by three years of supervision. Vasquez was already serving a 212-month sentence for a conviction in May 2018 for conspiracy to participate in Racketeer Influence and Corruption Organization, or RICO. In all, his prison sentence is 37 years. Portillo is a Salvadoran national unlawfully living in Everett, Mass., subject to deportation after he completes his sentence. In May 2023, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to participate in RICO conspiracy. The two men were indicted by a federal grand jury in September. Vasquez and Pineda Portillo pleaded guilty this May to one count of violent crime in aid of racketeering. "What these men allegedly did to their victims was particularly heinous -- so much so that, over a decade later, the circumstances still stand out," Special Agent in Charge Jodi Cohen of the Boston FBI field office said when announcing this and another murder-connected indictment. Amaya Paredes allegedly murdered a 27-year-old in July 2020 in Dartmouth, Mass. Vasquez and Pineda Portillo conspired with others to kill a 28-year-old man on Dec. 18, 2010, in Chelsea near Boston. That evening, law enforcement responded to a 911 call near the Route 1 on-ramp. The unnamed victim was found alive with about 10 stab wounds to the chest and back, along with head injuries. He was taken to a hospital where he died. A re-examination of evidence years later from the scene identified members of the gang, including Vasquez, as committing the murder, prosecutors said. The two believed the victim belonged to a rival gang, prosecutors said. On the day of the murder, Pineda Portillo picked up the victim, Vasquez and other MS-13 members with a vehicle registered to his father. In a secluded area, one gang member struck the victim in the head with a rock as another gang member stabbed him with a machete. During the attack, Vasquez used a knife to stab him. His palm print was identified on the handle of a silver kitchen knife found at the murder scene. Also, the victim's blood was found on the knife. In an undercover recording obtained six weeks after the murder, an MS-13 member acknowledged his role in the murder and other members disciplined him for leaving Massachusetts without their permission. Pineda Portill had fled to El Salvador. He returned to the United States in April 2015, where he arranged to sell a firearm with eight rounds of ammunition. Federal prosecutors said on or around June 1, he conspired to kill an MS-13 member he incorrectly thought had been arrested and was operating with law enforcement. "I want that son of a bitch killed, man. ... You will see, homebody," he said in a recording by law enforcement. "We are going to do a complete thing to that son of a bitch, dude." He was indicted in 2017 and then deported to El Salvador. On May 10, 2022, he was arrested as he tried to return to the United States again from Mexico to Texas. After being arrested at the border, he admitted he was a member of MS-13, according to court documents. A fingerprint analysis determined there was an arrest warrant. He was taken to Massachusetts, where he remained in custody. MS-13 members are required to commit violence, specifically against rival gang members, and kill informants, according to the Department of Justice. This operation is part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces Strike Force Initiative.
New York Post
3 days ago
- New York Post
MS-13 gangbanger lured love-struck victim to his death with fake Facebook profile: feds
A reputed MS-13 gangbanger lured a lovelorn 20-year-old Long Island man to his death by coaxing him into a rendezvous using a fake Facebook profile, federal prosecutors said Wednesday. Kevin Cuevas 'Creeper' Del Cid, 25, pleaded guilty to charges that he posed as a 'young girl' in 2016 to get a 20-year-old man to show up in a wooded area near the Merrick-Freeport border, where he was jumped and hacked to death with machetes — one of two brutal slayings Del Cid has pleaded guilty to. 'Kevin Cuevas Del Cid, an MS-13 member, slaughtered two victims based on their assumed alliance with a rival gang,' FBI Assistant Director in Charge Christopher Raia said. 'Del Cid's attacks reflect the gang's brutal rhetoric designed to intimidate and punish any perceived threat to its organization.' Kevin Cuevas Del Cid, 25, pleaded guilty to two grisly murders on Long Island in 2016. Del Cid, who also goes by the nicknames 'Malcriado,' which means spoiled or bratty, and 'Sombra,' which means shadow, admitted to two vicious slayings of suspected rival gang members, according to the US Attorney's Office in the Eastern District of New York. In the first incident, prosecutors said Del Cid, a member of the gang's 'Sailors' clique, set up the Facebook profile to trick Kerin Pineda into an ambush on May 21, 2016, because he was suspected of being a member of the rival 18th Street Gang. 'When Pineda arrived, he was surrounded and violently attacked by Del Cid and the other MS-13 members, each of whom took turns hacking and slashing him with machetes,' the US Attorney's Office said in a press release Wednesday. 'Pineda's body was then buried in a hole that had been dug in the ground the day before in anticipation of the murder.' Federal prosecutors said Kevin Cuevas Del Cid lured a victim to his death with a fake Facebook profile of a woman. New York Post In the second killing, Del Cid, who was just 16 at the time, convinced 15-year-old Javier Castillo to go to a secluded section of Cow Meadow Park to smoke marijuana on Oct. 10, 2016. Castillo, another suspected member of the 18th Street Gang, was hacked to death and buried near the crime scene — where the body remained until it was discovered one year later. On Wednesday, Del Cid pleaded guilty to racketeering charges in connection with the two slayings as well as conspiracy to distribute cocaine and marijuana, prosecutors said. MS-13, or La Mara Salvatrucha, is a migrant gang that originated in Central America but has established a foothold in parts of the US, including on Long Island. 'The defendant pleaded guilty to the brutal killings of two young people, whose murders demonstrate the MS-13's well-established obsession with committing extreme acts of violence and complete disregard for human life,' Eastern District US Attorney Joseph Nocella said.
Boston Globe
4 days ago
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Judge will consider releasing Kilmar Abrego Garcia from jail, possibly leading to his deportation
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up The Trump administration claimed Abrego Garcia was in the MS-13 gang, although he wasn't charged and has repeatedly denied the allegation. Facing mounting pressure and a US Supreme Court order, the administration returned Abrego Garcia to the US last month to face the smuggling charges, which his attorneys have called 'preposterous.' Advertisement US District Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw Jr. scheduled a hearing in Nashville to consider the matter of releasing Abrego Garcia from jail to await his trial. Crenshaw will review last month's ruling by US Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes in Nashville that Abrego Garcia is eligible for release. Holmes determined that Abrego Garcia was not a flight risk or a danger to the community and set various conditions for his release, including wearing an ankle bracelet and living with his brother in Maryland. Advertisement Crenshaw scheduled Wednesday's hearing following a motion by federal prosecutors to revoke Holmes' release order. The prosecutors argue Abrego Garcia is a flight risk and a danger to the community. Holmes has kept Abrego Garcia in jail at the request of his lawyers over concerns the Trump administration will try to deport him upon release. The attorneys asked Holmes to keep him in jail until Wednesday's hearing before Crenshaw to review her release order. The smuggling case stems from a 2022 traffic stop for speeding, during which Abrego Garcia was driving a vehicle with nine passengers. Police in Tennessee suspected human smuggling, but he was allowed to drive on. Abrego Garcia lived and worked in Maryland for more than a decade, doing construction and raising a family. Abrego Garcia's American wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, is suing the Trump administration in federal court in Maryland over his wrongful deportation in March, while trying to prevent any attempts to expel him again. Abrego Garcia's attorneys have asked US District Judge Paula Xinis in Maryland to order the government to send him to Maryland if he's released in Tennessee, a request that aims to prevent his expulsion before trial. In court on Friday, Abrego Garcia's attorneys also asked for at least a 72-hour hold that would prevent his immediate deportation. Attorney Andrew Rossman called it the 'critical bottom-line protection' needed to prevent a potentially egregious violation of due process rights. Xinis didn't rule from the bench Friday but said she'd issue an order before Crenshaw's hearing on Wednesday. If Abrego Garcia is released into ICE custody, his lawyers have vowed to fight expulsion efforts within the US immigration court system, which is part of the Justice Department. Advertisement —— Finley reported from Norfolk, Virginia.
