3 potential storm deaths in North Carolina after Chantal, officials say

3 potential storm deaths in North Carolina after Chantal, officials say

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — There were three potential storm-related deaths in North Carolina amid flooding from the remnants of Tropical Storm Chantal, a state official said Tuesday.

The state’s Department of Health and Human Services was working on confirmation of the deaths in Chatham, Orange and Alamance counties, North Carolina Emergency Management spokesperson Justin Graney said in an email.

In Chatham County, an 83-year-old Pittsboro woman was killed when her car was swept off a rural road by floodwaters Sunday night, according to the North Carolina State Highway Patrol. On Monday, crews found the body of a Person County woman who went missing while on her way to work in Orange County on Sunday night, according to a social media post by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office. In Alamance County, a missing man was found dead Sunday night inside a submerged vehicle found off a road in Mebane, sheriff’s office spokesperson Byron Tucker told WTVD-TV.

The storm destroyed homes and impaired businesses and lives were lost, Gov. Josh Stein said during a visit to Mebane in Alamance County on Tuesday. Officials were still assessing the scale of the damage and working on a final number of deaths, he said.

“Storms like this show us what is best about North Carolina,” Stein said. He praised emergency workers for their efforts knocking on doors to get people out of their homes or diverting traffic to keep people out of harm’s way.

Before his visit to Mebane, Stein told reporters in Raleigh on Tuesday morning that there will be enough money to address damage from both and Chantal and Hurricane Helene, which caused catastrophic flooding in western North Carolina last year, killing more than 100 people.

Crews were working Tuesday to restore power, utilities and road access, officials said. The state’s Department of Transportation reopened several major roads, including Interstate 40/85 in Alamance County on Monday, but 65 roads remained closed because of the storm, officials said.

“This historic weather event caused flooding like we haven’t seen in several decades in the central part of the state,” Transportation Secretary Joey Hopkins said in a statement, noting that crews were working to assess and reopen roads as soon as floodwaters recede and it is safe to do so.

Tropical Storm Chantal was downgraded to a tropical depression Sunday after making landfall in South Carolina. While the winds dropped, a 15- to 30-mile-wide swath of heavy rain followed the storm’s core across North Carolina and areas within that swath saw impressive rain amounts, the weather service’s Eastern Region headquarters said in a social media post.

Rainfall totals exceeded 8 inches (20.32 centimeters) in some spots in central North Carolina and some isolated areas saw totals of nearly 1 foot (30.48 centimeters), such as in Moncure and Pittsboro in Chatham County, where 11.92 inches (30.28 centimeters) and 11.53 inches (29.29 centimeters) of rain fell respectively.

Intense rainstorms are becoming more frequent in most of the U.S. — though experts say where they occur and whether they cause catastrophic flooding is largely a matter of chance.

The National Weather Service’s office in Raleigh confirmed that four tornadoes, all EF-1s with peak winds ranging from 95 to 105 mph (153 to 169 km/h), touched down Sunday in Orange, Alamance, Chatham and Lee counties. No injuries or deaths were reported.

Family of 4, including 2 children, killed in North Carolina plane crash

Family of 4, including 2 children, killed in North Carolina plane crash

SANFORD, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina family of four, including two school-age children, died when their small plane crashed as they flew back from Florida.

The National Transportation Safety Board said an agency investigator was expected Tuesday at the site of the wreckage of Monday’s crash, located in a field near some trees northeast of Sanford, North Carolina.

The state Highway Patrol identified those killed as Travis and Candace Buchanan, who were both 35; Aubrey Buchanan, 10; and Walker Buchanan, 9. Three of the four died at the scene, while the fourth was pronounced dead at a hospital, the patrol said in a news release.

There were no survivors in the crash involving the Cirrus SR22T airplane, which an NTSB official said happened shortly after 1:30 p.m. under currently unknown circumstances. The aircraft ultimately will be recovered and taken to a facility for further evaluation, the agency said.

The Raleigh Executive Jetport, located a few miles north of the crash site, said in a social media post that the aircraft was based at the small airport.

Federal Aviation Administration records list Travis Buchanan of Sanford as the plane’s owner. The plane departed Merritt Island, Florida, about 11 a.m. Monday and was last seen about 1:30 p.m. near Sanford, according to according to the flight-tracking website FlightAware. Sanford is about 40 miles (64 kilometers) southwest of Raleigh.

WRAL-TV reported that the family owned Buchanan Farms in Sanford. Abraham Garcia said he had worked for Travis Buchanan at the farms for more than eight years and “he helped me all the time.” The Buchanan family was heading back from the beach, he said.

Grace Christian School in Sanford said on its Facebook page that Travis and Candace Buchanan were the parents of Aubrey, a fifth-grader this fall at the school, and Walker, an upcoming fourth-grader.

“It is with heavy hearts that we share the news of the passing of one of our Crusader Families,” the post said, referencing the school’s nickname. “During this incredibly difficult time, we stand together in support of their family and one another.”

Swain County sheriff steps down after sexual misconduct charges

Swain County sheriff steps down after sexual misconduct charges

BRYSON CITY, N.C. (AP) — The longtime sheriff of a western North Carolina county whom some women accused of sexual misconduct has quit before he could be permanently removed.

Curtis Cochran, who was first elected Swain County sheriff in 2006, retired from the post effective July 1, according to a statement from the county Board of Commissioners. The chief deputy is performing the sheriff’s duties while the commissioners decide who will serve out the remainder of Cochran’s four-year term through late 2026, the statement said.

Cochran, 72, was charged in state courts with felonious restraint and misdemeanor sexual battery, soliciting prostitution and assault on a female, according to June 27 arrest warrants. The same day, Ashley Hornsby Welch, the district attorney for Swain and six other far western counties, filed a petition seeking to remove Cochran from office for “willful misconduct and maladministration in office.”

A Superior Court judge immediately suspended Cochran from office pending a final court ruling. But the removal petition becomes moot with Cochran’s retirement. A petition-related hearing set for Monday in adjoining Graham County was canceled, online court data said.

Welch’s removal petition included signed affidavits by two women who allege Cochran made separate unwanted sexual advances on them while he drove on land held by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. The Eastern Band’s reservation, known as Qualla Boundary, is in portions of Swain County.

The county of 14,000 people is about 300 miles (483 kilometers) west of Raleigh and includes much of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park that straddles the Tennessee border.

Cochran was released on bond on the state criminal charges and faces an Aug. 5 court hearing. He is also charged under Eastern Band tribal law with two counts of oppression in office and one count of abusive sexual contact, Cherokee Indian Police Department Chief Carla Neadeau said in a news release.

Cochran’s attorney didn’t respond Monday or Tuesday to a phone message and emails seeking comment and additional details.

The Associated Press generally does not name people who say they have been sexually assaulted.

The petition alleges that on June 22 one woman — an Eastern Band member — flagged down what she believed to be a law enforcement vehicle. She was upset and crying because she and her boyfriend had been fighting verbally, and she accepted an invitation into the SUV from the driver — whom authorities identified as Cochran — because she believed it would diffuse the situation, the petition says.

The petition alleges that when Cochran started driving he began touching the woman despite her objections and asked her to perform a sexual act, but she refused. He later pulled the SUV off the road, got out and positioned himself so the woman couldn’t get out of vehicle and asked again, according to the petition. Cochran told the woman if “there was a time that I got in trouble, all I would have to do is say his name and he would help me,” the woman’s affidavit read. She again declined, ultimately was dropped off at her house and contacted tribal police.

The affidavit signed by the other woman said that on June 23 — soon after being released from the tribal jail — she accepted a ride from what looked like a government vehicle that she said turned out to be driven by Cochran. She said Cochran starting touching her — doing so even as she pulled away — and she ultimately got out of the vehicle.

The FBI and State Bureau of Investigation also participated in the criminal investigation, which included video footage, according to the petition.

Cochran, a Republican, had no law enforcement experience before his first sheriff’s election victory, having previously been Swain County’s maintenance director.

Hope of finding Texas flood survivors dims as search efforts go on

Hope of finding Texas flood survivors dims as search efforts go on

By JIM VERTUNO, NADIA LATHAN and JOHN SEEWER Associated Press

KERRVILLE, Texas (AP) — Hope of finding survivors of the catastrophic flooding in Texas dimmed Tuesday, a day after the death toll surpassed 100, and crews kept up the search for people missing in the aftermath.

The search efforts benefited from improving weather. The storms that battered the Hill Country for the past four days began to lighten up, although isolated pockets of heavy rain were still possible.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott planned to make another visit Tuesday to Camp Mystic, the century-old all-girls Christian summer camp where at least 27 campers and counselors died during the flash floods. Officials said Monday that 10 campers and one counselor have still not been found.

A wall of water slammed into camps and homes along the edge of the Guadalupe River before daybreak Friday, pulling people out of their cabins, tents and trailers and dragging them for miles past floating tree trunks and cars. Some survivors were found clinging to trees.

Questions are mounting about what, if any, actions local officials took to warn campers and residents who were spending the July Fourth holiday weekend in the scenic area long known to locals as “flash flood alley.”

At public briefings, officials in hard-hit Kerr County have deflected questions about what preparations and warnings were made as forecasters warned of life-threatening conditions.

“We definitely want to dive in and look at all those things,” Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice said Monday. “We’re looking forward to doing that once we can get the search and rescue complete.”

Some camps were aware of the dangers and monitoring the weather. At least one moved several hundred campers to higher ground before the floods. But many were caught by surprise.

Searchers have found the bodies of 84 people, including 28 children, in Kerr County, home to Camp Mystic and several other summer camps near the river, officials said.

Nineteen deaths were reported in Travis, Burnet, Kendall, Tom Green and Williamson counties, local officials said.

Among those confirmed dead were 8-year-old sisters from Dallas who were at Camp Mystic and a former soccer coach and his wife who were staying at a riverfront home. Their daughters were still missing.

Elizabeth Lester, a mother of children who were at Camp Mystic and nearby Camp La Junta during the flood, said her young son had to swim out a cabin window to escape. Her daughter fled up the hillside as floodwaters whipped against her legs. Both survived.

Search-and-rescue teams used heavy equipment to untangle trees and move large rocks as part of the massive search for missing people. Hundreds of volunteers have shown up to help with one of the largest rescue operations in Texas history.

Piles of twisted trees sprinkled with mattresses, refrigerators and coolers littered the riverbanks.

___

Vertuno reported from Austin, and Seewer reported from Toledo, Ohio. Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Safiyah Riddle in Montgomery, Alabama; Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City and Sophia Tareen in Chicago.

Travelers may no longer be required to remove shoes before boarding a plane

Travelers may no longer be required to remove shoes before boarding a plane

By MICHELLE CHAPMAN AP Business Writer

For the first time in almost 20 years, travelers may no longer be required to take off their shoes during security screenings at certain U.S. airports.

The Transportation Security Administration is looking to abandon the additional security step that has for years bedeviled anyone passing through U.S airports, according to media reports.

If implemented, it would put an end to a security screening mandate put in place almost 20 years ago, several years after “shoe bomber” Richard Reid’s failed attempt to take down a flight from Paris to Miami in late 2001.

The travel newsletter Gate Access was first to report that the security screening change is coming. ABC News reported on an internal memo sent to TSA officers last week that states the new policy lets travelers keep their shoes on during screenings at many U.S. airports beginning this Sunday.

The plan is for the change to occur at all U.S. airports soon, the memo said.

Travelers were able to skirt extra security requirement if they were part of the TSA PreCheck program, which costs around $80 for five years. The program allows airline passengers to get through the screening process without removing shoes, belts or light jackets.

The TSA has not officially confirmed the reported security screening change yet.

“TSA and DHS are always exploring new and innovative ways to enhance passenger experience and our strong security posture,” a TSA spokesperson said in a statement on Tuesday. “Any potential updates to our security process will be issued through official channels.”

The TSA began in 2001 when President George W. Bush signed legislation for its creation two months after the 9/11 attacks. The agency included federal airport screeners that replaced the private companies airlines had used to handle security.

Over the years the TSA has continued to look for ways to enhance its security measures, including testing facial recognition technology and implementing Real ID requirements.

Travelers may no longer be required to remove shoes before boarding a plane

Travelers may no longer be required to remove shoes before boarding a plane

By MICHELLE CHAPMAN AP Business Writer

For the first time in almost 20 years, travelers may no longer be required to take off their shoes during security screenings at certain U.S. airports.

The Transportation Security Administration is looking to abandon the additional security step that has for years bedeviled anyone passing through U.S airports, according to media reports.

If implemented, it would put an end to a security screening mandate put in place almost 20 years ago, several years after “shoe bomber” Richard Reid’s failed attempt to take down a flight from Paris to Miami in late 2001.

The travel newsletter Gate Access was first to report that the security screening change is coming. ABC News reported on an internal memo sent to TSA officers last week that states the new policy lets travelers keep their shoes on during screenings at many U.S. airports beginning this Sunday.

The plan is for the change to occur at all U.S. airports soon, the memo said.

Travelers were able to skirt extra security requirement if they were part of the TSA PreCheck program, which costs around $80 for five years. The program allows airline passengers to get through the screening process without removing shoes, belts or light jackets.

The TSA has not officially confirmed the reported security screening change yet.

“TSA and DHS are always exploring new and innovative ways to enhance passenger experience and our strong security posture,” a TSA spokesperson said in a statement on Tuesday. “Any potential updates to our security process will be issued through official channels.”

The TSA began in 2001 when President George W. Bush signed legislation for its creation two months after the 9/11 attacks. The agency included federal airport screeners that replaced the private companies airlines had used to handle security.

Over the years the TSA has continued to look for ways to enhance its security measures, including testing facial recognition technology and implementing Real ID requirements.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels attack a ship in the Red Sea, killing 3, after claiming they sank another

Yemen’s Houthi rebels attack a ship in the Red Sea, killing 3, after claiming they sank another

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on a Liberian-flagged cargo ship in the Red Sea killed three mariners and wounded two others, a European Union naval force said Tuesday.

The attack on the Greek-owned Eternity C follows the Houthis claiming they attacked another vessel on Sunday in the Red Sea, a vital maritime trade route. The twin assaults are the first Houthi attacks on shipping since November 2024 and potentially signal the start of a new campaign threatening the waterway, which had begun to see more ships pass through it in recent weeks.

The bulk carrier had been heading north toward the Suez Canal when it came under fire by men in small boats and by bomb-carrying drones Monday night. The security guards on board also fired their weapons. The European Union Operation Aspides and the private security firm Ambrey both reported those details.

While the Houthis haven’t claimed the attack, Yemen’s exiled government and the EU force blamed the rebels for the attack, as did the U.S. Embassy in Yemen.

“The Houthis are once again showing blatant disregard for human life, undermining freedom of navigation in the Red Sea,” said the embassy, which has operated out of Saudi Arabia for nearly a decade due to Yemen’s wider war.

“The intentional murder of innocent mariners shows us all the Houthis’ true colors and will only further the Houthis’ isolation.”

The EU force offered the casualty information, saying one of the wounded crew lost his leg in the attack. The crew remains stuck on board the vessel, which is now drifting in the Red Sea.

The Houthis separately attacked the Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned bulk carrier Magic Seas on Sunday with drones, missiles, rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire, forcing its crew of 22 to abandon the vessel. The rebels later said it sank in the Red Sea with its cargo of fertilizer and steel billets for Turkey.

“It is the first such attack against a commercial vessel in 2025, a serious escalation endangering maritime security in a vital waterway for the region and the world,” the EU warned. “These attacks directly threaten regional peace and stability, global commerce and freedom of navigation as a global public good. They can negatively impact the already dire humanitarian situation in Yemen. These attacks must stop.”

The two attacks and a round of Israeli airstrikes early Monday targeting the rebels raised fears of a renewed Houthi campaign against shipping that could again draw in U.S. and Western forces, particularly after U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration targeted the rebels in a major airstrike campaign.

The attacks come at a sensitive moment in the Middle East, as a possible ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war hangs in the balance, and as Iran weighs whether to restart negotiations over its nuclear program following American airstrikes targeting its most sensitive atomic sites during the Israel-Iran war in June.

The Houthis have been launching missile and drone attacks against commercial and military ships in the region in what the group’s leadership has described as an effort to end Israel’s offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Between November 2023 and January 2025, the Houthis targeted more than 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two of them and killing four sailors. Their campaign has greatly reduced the flow of trade through the Red Sea corridor, which typically sees $1 trillion of goods move through it annually. Shipping through the Red Sea, while still lower than normal, has increased in recent weeks.

The Houthis paused attacks until the U.S. launched a broad assault against the rebels in mid-March. That ended weeks later and the Houthis hadn’t attacked a vessel until this past weekend, though they did continue occasional missile attacks targeting Israel.

Homestyle New England Fish Pie

Homestyle New England Fish Pie

This pie brings together tender fish, leeks, parsnips, peas, and creamy sauce underneath a cheddar-horseradish mashed potato topping. It’s cozy comfort food with New England roots, perfect for chilly evenings or Sunday supper.

Ingredients

  • 1 lb white fish like cod, halibut, or salmon, cut into chunks
  • 2 leeks, sliced (white and light green parts)
  • 2 parsnips, peeled and chopped
  • 2/3 cup frozen peas
  • 3 large russet potatoes
  • 6 tbsp butter
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk
  • 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
  • 2 tsp prepared horseradish
  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
  • 1 bay leaf
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Cook root vegetables
In a pot of salted boiling water, cook chopped potatoes and parsnips until tender. Drain and mash them with butter, buttermilk, cheddar, horseradish, salt, and pepper. Set aside.

2. Make creamy fish filling
In a saucepan over medium heat, melt remaining butter. Whisk in flour and slowly add milk. Cook until slightly thickened. Add bay leaf, leeks, and parsnips; simmer until soft. Stir in peas and fish chunks, season to taste with salt and pepper.

3. Assemble the pie
Spoon fish mixture into a baking dish. Top with mashed potato mixture, spreading evenly or piping for a decorative top.

4. Bake and serve
Bake in a preheated oven at 375°F (190°C) until the topping is golden and filling is bubbling, about 25–30 minutes. Remove and let rest for a few minutes before serving.

Death toll from catastrophic flooding in Texas over the July Fourth weekend surpasses 100

Death toll from catastrophic flooding in Texas over the July Fourth weekend surpasses 100

By JIM VERTUNO, NADIA LATHAN and JOHN SEEWER Associated Press

KERRVILLE, Texas (AP) — The death toll from catastrophic flooding in Texas over the July Fourth weekend surpassed 100 on Monday as search-and-rescue teams continued to wade into swollen rivers and use heavy equipment to untangle trees as part of the massive search for missing people.

Authorities overseeing the search for flood victims said they will wait to address questions about weather warnings and why some summer camps did not evacuate ahead of the flooding that killed at least 104.

Flash floods swamped a road crossing the Llano River in Kingsland, Texas in a matter of minutes on Friday, blocking access to pedestrians and vehicles alike. (AP Video)

The officials spoke only hours after the operators of Camp Mystic, a century-old all-girls Christian summer camp in the Texas Hill Country, announced that they lost 27 campers and counselors to the floodwaters. Kerr County officials said Monday 10 campers and one counselor have still not been found.

Searchers have found the bodies of 84 people, including 28 children, in the county home to Camp Mystic and several other summer camps, officials said.

With additional rain on the way, more flooding still threatened saturated parts of central Texas. Authorities said the death toll was sure to rise.

The raging flash floods — among the nation’s worst in decades — slammed into camps and homes along the edge of the Guadalupe River before daybreak Friday, pulling sleeping people out of their cabins, tents and trailers and dragging them for miles past floating tree trunks and cars. Some survivors were found clinging to trees.

Piles of twisted trees sprinkled with mattresses, refrigerators and coolers littered the riverbanks Monday. The debris included reminders of what drew so many to the campgrounds and cabins in the Hill Country — a volleyball, canoes and a family portrait.

Nineteen deaths were reported in Travis, Burnet, Kendall, Tom Green and Williamson counties, local officials said.

Among those confirmed dead were 8-year-old sisters from Dallas who were at Camp Mystic and a former soccer coach and his wife who were staying at a riverfront home. Their daughters were still missing.

Calls for finding why warnings weren’t heard

Authorities vowed that one of the next steps would be investigating whether enough warnings were issued and why some camps did not evacuate or move to higher ground in a place long vulnerable to flooding that some local residents refer to as “flash flood alley.”

That will include a review of how weather warnings were sent out and received. One of the challenges is that many camps and cabins are in places with poor cellphone service, Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice said.

“We definitely want to dive in and look at all those things,” he said. “We’re looking forward to doing that once we can get the search and rescue complete.”

Some camps were aware of the dangers and monitoring the weather. At least one moved several hundred campers to higher ground before the floods.

Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, said recent government spending cuts to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Weather Service did not delay any warnings.

“There’s a time to have political fights, there’s a time to disagree. This is not that time,” Cruz said. “There will be a time to find out what could been done differently. My hope is in time we learn some lessons to implement the next time there is a flood.”

The weather service first advised of potential flooding on Thursday and then sent out a series of flash flood warnings in the early hours of Friday before issuing flash flood emergencies — a rare step that alerts the public to imminent danger.

Authorities and elected officials have said they did not expect such an intense downpour, the equivalent of months of rain. Some residents said they never received any warnings.

President Donald Trump, who signed a major disaster declaration for Kerr County, said he plans to visit the state on Friday. He had said Sunday that he does not plan to rehire any of the federal meteorologists who were fired this year.

“This was a thing that happened in seconds. Nobody expected it,” the president said.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said local and federal weather services provided sufficient warnings.

Crews search for dozens of people

More than three dozen people were unaccounted for across the state and more could be missing, Gov. Greg Abbott said Sunday.

Search-and-rescue crews at one staging area said Monday that more than 1,000 volunteers had been directed to Kerr County.

Kerrville city officials urged people to stop flying drones over the area after they said a private drone operating illegally Monday afternoon collided with a helicopter involved in emergency operations. The helicopter was forced to make an emergency landing and is out of service until further notice.

Little time to escape floods

Reagan Brown said his parents, in their 80s, managed to escape uphill as water inundated their home in the town of Hunt. When the couple learned that their 92-year-old neighbor was trapped in her attic, they went back and rescued her.

“Then they were able to reach their tool shed up higher ground, and neighbors throughout the early morning began to show up at their tool shed, and they all rode it out together,” Brown said.

Elizabeth Lester, a mother of children who were at Camp Mystic and nearby Camp La Junta during the flood, said her young son had to swim out his cabin window to escape. Her daughter fled up the hillside as floodwaters whipped against her legs.

___

Seewer reported from Toledo, Ohio. Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Michael Biesecker and Brian Slodysko in Washington; Safiyah Riddle in Montgomery, Alabama; Andrew DeMillo in Little Rock, Arkansas; Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire; Christopher Weber in Los Angeles; Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City and Sophia Tareen in Chicago.

Troops and federal agents briefly descend on LA’s MacArthur Park in largely immigrant neighborhood

Troops and federal agents briefly descend on LA’s MacArthur Park in largely immigrant neighborhood

By TARA COPP and CHRISTOPHER WEBER Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Dozens of federal officers in tactical gear and about 90 members of the California National Guard were deployed for about an hour Monday to a mostly empty park in a Los Angeles neighborhood with a large immigrant population. It wasn’t immediately known if any arrests were made.

Defense officials had said the troops and over a dozen military vehicles would help protect immigration officers as they carried out a raid in MacArthur Park.

“What I saw in the park today looked like a city under siege, under armed occupation,” said Mayor Karen Bass, who called it a “political stunt.”

She said there were children attending a day camp in the park who were quickly ushered inside to avoid seeing the troops. Still, Bass said an 8-year-old boy told her that “he was fearful of ICE.”

Bass showed video of officers on horseback sweeping across an empty soccer field.

Federal officers descend on MacArthur Park

The operation occurred at a park in a neighborhood with large Mexican, Central American and other immigrant populations and is lined by businesses with signs in Spanish and other languages that has been dubbed by local officials as the “Ellis Island of the West Coast.”

Among those who spoke with Bass were health care outreach workers who were working with homeless residents Monday when troops pointed guns at them and told them to get out of the park.

Sprawling MacArthur Park has a murky lake ringed by palm trees, an amphitheater that hosts summer concerts and sports fields where immigrant families line up to play soccer in the evenings and on weekends. A thoroughfare on the east side is often crammed with unlicensed food stands selling tacos and other delicacies, along with vendors speaking multiple languages and hawking cheap T-shirts, toys, knickknacks and household items.

“The world needs to see the troop formation on horses walking through the park, in search of what? In search of what? They’re walking through the area where the children play,” Bass said.

Eunisses Hernandez, a council member whose district includes MacArthur Park said “it was chosen as this administration’s latest target precisely because of who lives there and what it represents.”

Operation escalates Trump’s immigration crackdown

The operation in the large park about 2 miles (3.2 km) west of downtown LA included 17 Humvees, four tactical vehicles, two ambulances and the armed soldiers, defense officials said. It came after President Donald Trump deployed thousands of Guard members and active duty Marines to the city last month following protests over previous immigration raids.

Trump has stepped up efforts to realize his campaign pledge of deporting millions of immigrants in the United States illegally and shown a willingness to use the nation’s military might in ways other U.S. presidents have typically avoided.

In response to questions about the operation in MacArthur Park, the Department of Homeland Security said in an email that the agency would not comment on “ongoing enforcement operations.”

More than 4,000 California National Guard and hundreds of U.S. Marines have been deployed in Los Angeles since June — against the wishes of California Gov. Gavin Newsom. Last week, the military announced about 200 of those troops would be returned to their units to fight wildfires.

Gov. Gavin Newsom called the events at the park “a spectacle.”

“This is not about going after dangerous criminals,” Newsom said of Trump’s mass deportation agenda. “This is about destroying the fabric of this state.”

LA raid ends abruptly

The defense officials told reporters that it was not a military operation but acknowledged that the size and scope of the Guard’s participation could make it look like one to the public. That is why the officials spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details about the raid that were not announced publicly.

“It’s just going to be more overt and larger than we usually participate in,” one of the officials said before the raid ended abruptly with no explanation.

The primary role of the service members would be to protect the immigration enforcement officers in case a hostile crowd gathered, that official said. They are not participating in any law enforcement activities such as arrests, but service members can temporarily detain citizens if necessary before handing them over to law enforcement, the official said.

Local officials say feds are sowing fear

“This morning looked like a staging for a TikTok video,” said Marqueece Harris-Dawson, president of the Los Angeles City Council, adding if Border Patrol wants to film in LA, “you should apply for a film permit like everybody else. And stop trying to scare the bejesus out of everybody who lives in this great city and disrupt our economy every day.”

Chris Newman, legal director for the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, said he received a credible tip about the operation Monday.

“It was a demonstration of escalation,” Newman said. “This was a reality TV spectacle much more so than an actual enforcement operation.”

Since federal agents have been making arrests at Home Depot parking lots and elsewhere in Los Angeles, Newman said fewer people have been going to the park and immigrant neighborhoods near the city’s downtown.

“The ghost town-ification of LA is haunting, to say the very least,” he said.

Betsy Bolte, who lives nearby, came to the park after seeing a military-style helicopter circling overhead.

She said it was “gut-wrenching” to witness what appeared to be a federal show of force on the streets of a U.S. city. “It’s terror and, you know, it’s ripping the heart and soul out of Los Angeles,” she said. “I am still in shock, disbelief, and so angry and terrified and heartbroken.”

___

Copp reported from Washington. Associated Press journalists Damian Dovarganes and Eugene Garcia in Los Angeles; Julie Watson in San Diego; Sophie Austin in Sacramento, California; and Amy Taxin in Orange County, California, contributed to this report.

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