Firefighters ambushed by gunman in Idaho while responding to brush fire
Lt Jeff Howard of the Kootenai county sheriff's office told the broadcaster firefighters were responding to a small but growing blaze on Canfield Mountain when they started getting shot at by an unknown person in the woods.
Kootenai Country Emergency Management issued a shelter-in-place alert, initially for Canfield Mountain Trailhead and the surrounding area, that was later expanded to everyone south of Hayden Lake Road, and east of 15th Street in Coeur d'Alene.
A large number of law enforcement vehicles flooded the area, including US marshals, according to a photograph posted on social media by the news director of the local broadcaster KXLY.
The same outlet reported that hundreds of law enforcement and fire personnel had established a command post in Cherry Hill dog park.
Officers are investigating whether the fire might have been intentionally set in order to lure first responders to the scene, Howard told ABC News.
This is a developing story that will be updated as more information becomes available.
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Daily Mail
32 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Florida mayor urges calm after dramatic arrest of driver whose window was smashed by police
A Florida mayor has urged calm after video emerged of a black driver having his window smashed by police during an arrest. Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan said she understands the public 'angst' over the dramatic clip of William McNeil Jr's detention on February 19. But she has called for civility as an investigation into the incident continues. Plea for civility: Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan has weighed in on the controversy surrounding William McNeil Jr's violent arrest Glass flies: Dashboard footage from the February 19 arrest showed Jacksonville Sheriff's Office officers breaking McNeil's window - even as he seemed to comply with their orders The driver was pulled over because he did not have his headlights on. In the dashboard footage, Jacksonville Sheriff's Office officers were seen breaking McNeil's window, punching him in the face, pulling him out of his car, then striking him again as they threw him to the ground to arrest him. 'I understand the angst. I understand the upset, I get all of that,' Deegan told News4Jax. 'But at the end of the day, let's wait and see where it all goes. Hopefully there's a good resolution. 'I am a very pragmatic thinker when it comes to how these things go, and it's not to diminish whatever happened there. 'I'm simply saying there has to be an investigative process,' the mayor continued, adding she has 'faith that that process will be carried out.' 'But I can't really say much beyond that because there is a lawsuit that may happen,' as McNeil has now retained famed civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump and Harry Daniels to represent him after they said the now-viral video sparked 'outrage across the country.' A police report obtained by News4Jax stated that McNeil, 22, was pulled over after an officer allegedly saw his headlights and taillights were off in inclement weather. But when the video begins, McNeil expresses confusion about why he was pulled over with another officer, who is on the passenger side of his car. 'When he pulled me over, he walked up and I opened my door because my window doesn't work, and I said, "What did I do wrong?"' McNeil said. 'He said, "Well, for one, your headlights are off under this weather." I'm like there's multiple people with their headlights off first of all, and then there's no rain.' The officer whom McNeil was talking to replied: 'It doesn't matter. You're still required to have headlights on.' McNeil asked the officer to show him the law that requires that, and the officer told him he would once he stepped out of the vehicle. At that point, the college student asked the officer to call his supervisor - when Officer D Bowen smashed his window and punched him in the face while shouting at him to exit the vehicle. In the police report, Bowen alleged that he believed McNeil was reaching for a knife under his seat and was 'continuing to pull away from officers' during his arrest. Yet McNeil's video showed that when Bowen broke the window and punched McNeil asked him to show his hands, McNeil complied. It also seemingly refuted Bowen's claim that McNeil was not wearing his seatbelt - as the North Carolina college student could be seen with his buckle across his chest, and Bowen having to unbuckle it himself. Ugly scenes: Cops from the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office broke McNeil's window, punched him in the face, pulled him out of his car, then hit him again as they threw him to the ground Once McNeil was free, he was pulled out of the car and was punched by a second officer, while a group of cops forced him to the ground. An officer then shouted, 'What is wrong with you?' but when McNeil tried to reply that he was putting his hands behind his back, the cops told him to stop talking. At a news conference on Wednesday, McNeil claimed he suffered from a concussion and a tooth fracture that required nine stitches in the aftermath. 'That day I just really wanted to know why I was getting pulled over and why I needed to step out of the car,' he said. 'I didn't do anything wrong. I was really just scared,' McNeil insisted, though he ultimately pleaded guilty to resisting arrest without violence and driving with a suspended license, according to Fox 13. His attorneys are now arguing the violent arrest was the result of racism - noting that McNeil is a black man and the arresting officers were white. 'What happened to William McNeil Jr is a disturbing reminder that even the most basic rights - like asking why you've been pulled over - can be met with violence for black Americans,' they said in a statement. Struggle: McNeil was punched again and after was pulled out of the car and told to stop talking while he tried to explain to cops that he was putting his hands behind his back 'William was calm and compliant. Yet instead of answers, he got his window smashed and was punched in the face, all over a questionable claim about headlights in broad daylight. 'This wasn't law enforcement, it was brutality,' the lawyers continued, urging the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office to release all video from the incident. 'We demand full accountability from the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office and justice for William McNeil Jr' Jacksonville Sheriff TK Waters has since announced that he has instructed his department to begin both a criminal and administrative review of his officers' actions. 'These administrative reviews are ongoing, but the state attorney's office has determined that none of the involved officers violated criminal law,' he said as he released body camera footage from the incident. It showed McNeil had been repeatedly told to exit his vehicle when officers first pulled him over. He had his car door open at the time - but he later closed it and appeared to keep it locked for about three minutes before the cops forcibly removed him. 'Yes, there was force that was absolutely used by the arresting officers and yes, that force is ugly,' the sheriff acknowledged. 'The reality is that all force, all violence is ugly. Just because force is ugly does not mean it's unlawful or contrary to policy.' Florida Gov Ron DeSantis also defended the officers' actions, as he implied McNeil's video was posted online to advance a 'narrative' and generate attention on social media. 'That's what happens in so many of these things. There's a rush to judgment,' he told The Hill. 'There's... a desire to try to get views and clicks by creating division.' In the meantime, Mayor Deegan said she is asking the public 'to be a little patient' while the investigation continues.
Daily Mail
32 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Epstein files spark 'full-bore panic' within White House
By President Trump is reportedly furious over the botched handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files as The White House launches into 'full-bore panic mode' in a desperate attempt to change the subject. The Justice Department and FBI have come under fire as they scramble to end the ongoing fallout after Attorney General Pam Bondi's so-called 'communications failure' snowballed into a crisis. Trump is now fuming about the inconsistent Epstein narratives emerging from Washington D.C. as the saga continues to dominate headlines. 'This is a pretty substantial distraction,' a White House source told The Washington Post, citing 'nearly a dozen people close to the situation. While many are trying to keep the unity, in many ways, the DOJ and the FBI are breaking at the seams. Many are wondering how sustainable this is going to be for all the parties involved - be it the FBI director or attorney general.' Any attempts by Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel (pictured) to tamp down the rampant speculation about Epstein have only fueled more conspiracy theories and negative attention. 'They completely miscalculated the fever pitch to which they built this up,' Stephen A. Saltzburg, a former Justice Department official told the Post. 'Now, they seem to be in full-bore panic mode, trying to change the subject and flailing in an effort to make sense of what makes no sense.' But Trump is refusing to make the one move that could silence his critics and reset the narrative. 'He does not want to create a bigger spectacle by firing anyone,' the source told the Post. So Bondi, Patel and FBI deputy director Dan Bongino (pictured) continue their fruitless campaign to end the speculation around the death of one of the most infamous billionaire of the 21st century. The release of security footage from outside Epstein's jail cell from the night he took his own life - an attempt to stop conspiracy theories that he was murdered - was Patel and Bongino's idea, multiple sources revealed. However, the video missing three minutes of footage from that night made things worse. Both are now privately upset that they haven't been able to release more of the Epstein files with Bongino on the verge of quitting as all three play the blame game with one another. Bongino's frustration came to a head in a stunning post to X over the weekend, revealing he has discovered matters that have 'shocked me down to my core' during his time in office. He shared a cryptic message to his social media in which he vowed to uncover 'the truth' amid mounting criticism of his handling of the Epstein files. Bongino added: 'We cannot run a Republic like this. I'll never be the same after learning what I've learned.' A source inside the DOJ told Daily Mail that Bongino was ready to stand down if Attorney General Pam Bondi didn't. Todd Blanche, the president's former attorney and now Bondi's second in command at the DOJ, denied any beef between his department and the FBI in a statement. 'The suggestion by anyone that there was any daylight between the FBI and DOJ leadership on this memo's composition and release is patently false,' he said. The fallout of that memo continues, with the Wall Street Journal reporting that Bondi told Trump in May that his name appeared in the Epstein files . Trump on Friday denied ever being briefed by Attorney General Pam Bondi that his name was in the files. 'No, I was never briefed. No,' he told reporters after he landed in Scotland to visit his golf courses. But Bondi briefed Trump during a May 2025 meeting that his name was found in the Epstein documents 'multiple times,' according to reports. Other high-profile individuals are also named in the investigation about Epstein's sexual crimes. Just because the president is named in the files does not implicate him in any wrongdoing or connect him to Epstein's child trafficking crimes. The Wall Street Journal originally broke the news of Bondi's briefing to Trump. The Justice Department told the news outlet that Trump was made aware of the findings of the Epstein files as part of the 'routine briefing.' Bondi also allegedly acknowledged that the administration should withhold the files due to them containing images of child sexual abuse Blanche reportedly said that nothing was found in the files that would mandate an additional investigation - or even prosecution. 'As part of our routine briefing, we made the president aware of the findings,' they told the Journal. White House communications director Steven Cheung slammed the report as 'fake news' in a statement to the Daily Mail. 'The fact is that the president kicked him out of his club for being a creep. This is nothing more than a continuation of the fake news stories concocted by the Democrats and the liberal media, just like the Obama Russiagate scandal, which President Trump was right about,' he said when the report came out earlier this week. But, try as he might, Trump cannot move on from questions about Epstein, who died in a New York prison in 2019 while awaiting charges related to sexual crimes. His death, ruled to be a [self-murder], sparked endless conspiracy theories that questioned how he may have really died and who among the rich and powerful would have benefitted from it. The president associated with Epstein and British socialite Maxwell in the 1980s and 1990s. Epstein's right-hand woman and former lover Ghislaine Maxwell was questioned this week by Deputy Attorney General Blanche. She is serving 20 years behind bars for his involvement in Epstein's crimes. The 63-year-old made it clear earlier this month that she was willing to speak in front of Congress about the case. Maxwell appears to be angling for a pardon from the president after she 'didn't hold back' during secret questioning session. Her attorney David Oscar Markus claimed that she spoke with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche about '100 different people' related to Epstein's child trafficking ring. 'They asked about every possible thing you could imagine – everything,' Markus told reporters. He also said Maxwell is being used as the 'scapegoat' in the entire Epstein case and has been 'treated unfairly for the last five years.' Her attorney said that they had not put in a formal request with the White House for a pardon for Maxwell following the conclusion of Day 2 of questioning. But Markus didn't rule out taking that action in the future, saying 'things are happening so quickly.' 'The president said earlier he has the power to do so, we hope he exercises that power in the right way,' he said of a potential commutation. Trump refused to rule out invoking his presidential pardon powers for Maxwell when asked on Friday morning. 'I'm allowed to do it, but it's something I haven't thought about,' he said. But, asked again about the matter later Friday, Trump, meanwhile, declined to talk about Maxwell and said 'this is no time to be talking about pardons.' 'I really have nothing to say about it. She is being talked to by a very smart man, a very good man, Todd Blanche. And I don't know anything about the conversation. I haven't really been following it,' he said. 'A lot of people are asking me about pardons. This is no time to be talking about pardons,' he added. Meanwhile, over the course of two days, Maxwell and her attorney have spent more than nine hours answering Blanche's questions. It's not clear when or if the DOJ will release what was learned in the meetings. Markus said Maxwell is grateful to have had the chance to sit-down with Blanche. 'This was the first opportunity she's ever been given to answer questions about what happened,' Markus said. 'The truth will come out about what happened with Mr. Epstein and she's the person whose answering those questions.' A growing fringe effort to get Trump to pardon Maxwell has unfolded after the Justice Department rejected her effort to have her conviction on child trafficking charges thrown out. Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence for her role in conspiring with Epstein to sexually abuse minors. She was convicted in 2021 on five counts related to trafficking and conspiracy. It's unclear what she can reveal that isn't already public and the closed-door meeting is fueling skepticism over the handling of the Epstein files review. Maxwell is also on the books to testify before Congress from prison on August 11. Trump has not been implicated in any crimes and just because a name appears in the files does not mean imply they were involved in Epstein's child trafficking.
Sky News
41 minutes ago
- Sky News
What you need to know about Trump, Epstein and the MAGA controversy
Donald Trump's attempts to move on from the Jeffrey Epstein case is seemingly proving difficult. The US leader is not only facing backlash from his own party over the complete U-turn on his administration's promises to release more information publicly, but also from the US House of Representatives. The paedophile financier was found dead in his Manhattan cell in August 2019, shortly after he was arrested on sex trafficking charges. Rumours have long circulated over who he may have supplied underage girls to, and who visited his private island. Some of those rumours quickly spiralled into conspiracy theories, which Mr Trump fanned the flames of during his campaign for a second term. His Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement accused the Biden administration of suppressing the extent of Epstein's paedophilia, predatory behaviour and his so-called "client list" - thought to contain names of the rich and famous who conspired with him in a child sex trafficking operation. 1:47 Here's what you need to know about every aspect of the Trump-Epstein saga from their past relations, to the president's dramatic shift on the case against him. What was Trump and Epstein's relationship? Mr Trump was pictured with Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell on several occasions in the 1990s and early 2000s, but has played down his relationship with them in recent years, suggesting they simply moved in the same circles in Florida and New York. In 2019, after Epstein was arrested for a second time, Mr Trump told reporters he "knew him like everybody in Palm Beach knew him", but added: "I had a falling out with him. I haven't spoken to him in 15 years. I was not a fan of his, that I can tell you." Asked why the pair fell out, Mr Trump said: "The reason doesn't make any difference, frankly," and added that he had "no idea" Epstein had molested women. His comments about their relationship were in contrast to a 2002 interview with New York magazine, when Mr Trump was quoted saying: "I've known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy. "He's a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it - Jeffrey enjoys his social life." 15:13 👉 Follow Trump100 on your podcast app 👈 Trump named in Epstein files Mr Trump has been named in previously released documents relating to Epstein and Maxwell. Flight logs released in the trial of Maxwell show Mr Trump flew on Epstein's private plane multiple times between 1993 and 1997. One Epstein accuser in 2016 also said she spent several hours with the disgraced financier at a Trump casino, but she did not say if she met Mr Trump. Being mentioned in the records is not a sign of wrongdoing, and Mr Trump has not been accused of anything. In a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article on 24 July, the newspaper claimed Mr Trump was told in May that his name was included in the files, along with many other high-profile figures. The report claimed officials told the president the files contained what they felt was unverified hearsay about many people, including himself. The White House initially described the report as "fake news", but Reuters news agency said an official told them the administration isn't denying Mr Trump's name is there. The $10bn lawsuit In a separate article, the WSJ claimed it has seen a letter written by Mr Trump as part of a collection of letters addressed to Epstein that his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell planned to give him as a 50th birthday present in 2003. According to documents seen by the WSJ, Mr Trump's letter featured several lines of typewritten text framed by what appeared to be a hand-drawn outline of a naked woman. The paper said the letter concludes "Happy Birthday - and may every day be another wonderful secret", and featured the signature "Donald", allegedly drawn across the woman's waist, meant to mimic the appearance of pubic hair. The president initially called the letter "fake" and said he would sue the "ass off" Rupert Murdoch, who owns the WSJ. A day later he filed a lawsuit in which he accuses Mr Murdoch, two Wall Street Journal reporters and the publication's owner, News Corp of defamation, claiming they acted with malicious intent and caused him overwhelming financial and reputational harm. The lawsuit seeks at least $10bn (£7.5bn) in damages. Trump says he would declassify Epstein files if elected Some 60 of 250 previously sealed documents relating to Ghislaine Maxwell, her relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and alleged victims of sexual were released by a US court in January last year. They named the likes of Mr Trump, Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew and Stephen Hawking as associates, but none have been found of any wrongdoing. 2:45 Much of the MAGA movement demanded more files be released, including Epstein's alleged client list, as they believed the extent of his crimes and those he conspired with were being supressed by the Biden administration. In June 2024, Mr Trump was asked during a Fox interview whether he would declassify the files if elected in November. He replied: "Yeah, yeah, I would. I guess I would. I think that less so, because you don't know - You don't want to effect people's lives if there's phony stuff in there, because there's a lot of phony stuff in that whole world." Asked again during a podcast with Lex Fridman in September 2024, Trump said he would "have no problem with it." The following month, JD Vance said on a podcast with Theo Von: "Seriously, we need to release the Epstein list." Trump's allies take promises even further The president's controversial picks to lead the FBI - director Kash Patel and deputy director Dan Bongino - were commentators in his MAGA movement before joining federal law enforcement. During that time, they aggressively promoted theories that Epstein was killed to keep him quiet and that global elites were preventing the list of clients from being released. 3:19 Conspiracies on the right were further stoked after Mr Trump was elected, when his Attorney General Pam Bondi told Fox News that the alleged Epstein client list was "sitting on my desk right now to review" in February. She then released what she called the "first phase" of files relating to Epstein, which mainly contained flight logs that had already been leaked to the public but had not been officially released by the government. The justice department said it had around 200 documents relating to Epstein and that the FBI had thousands more. Ms Bondi later claimed the Biden administration "sat on these documents" and didn't do "anything with them" as they "don't believe in transparency". Even as late as June, Mr Patel promised in an interview that more evidence would be released to the public. Outrage among Conservatives as evidence kept sealed Many in the MAGA movement were enraged when the Justice Department released a memo on 8 July saying that there was no Epstein client list, and that no "further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted". It claimed much of the material was placed under seal by a court to protect victims and "only a fraction" of it "would have been aired publicly had Epstein gone to trial". It said it contained images of Epstein, "images and videos of victims who are either minors or appear to be minors," and more than 10,000 "downloaded videos and images of illegal child sex abuse material and other pornography". Trump turns on those calling for Epstein files to be released Mr Trump lashed out at supporters who were continuing to call for the files to be released. Shortly after the Justice Department's memo, he shut down a reporter's question about Epstein, saying: "Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein? This guy's been talked about for years. "Are people still talking about this guy, this creep?" 1:09 In a post on Truth Social earlier this month, the president wrote: "Their new SCAM is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax, and my PAST supporters have bought into this bull****, hook, line, and sinker. "They haven't learned their lesson, and probably never will, even after being conned by the Lunatic Left for 8 long years. "Let these weaklings continue forward and do the Democrats work," he said, adding he didn't want their support anymore. In an interview later, he said he couldn't understand "what the interest or what the fascination is" with Epstein and called the case "boring". He doubled down on his criticism later in the Oval Office, telling reporters it was a "big hoax" and that he had "lost a lot of faith in certain people". He said Ms Bondi had already released all "credible information".
