Latest news with #NBC4LosAngeles
Newsweek
a day ago
- Politics
- Newsweek
Woman Suffers Medical Emergency While Being Detained by ICE Agents
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. An Iranian woman experienced a medical emergency while being detained by masked immigration agents outside her Los Angeles home. During the operation on June 24, the woman appeared to suffer a severe panic attack after witnessing her husband's arrest by Border Patrol agents, according to NBC4 Los Angeles. In distress, she called her pastor, Ara Torosian, for help. "In one moment, I felt that I'm in the street of Tehran, under fear, under dictatorship," said Torosian, a pastor at Cornerstone Church in West Los Angeles. In a post on X, the Department of Homeland Security said: "Agents immediately contacted EMS and escorted her to the hospital. Agent presence at the hospital was solely to guard the subject receiving medical care—a standard procedure when an individual in the country illegally requires medical attention." The woman has since been discharged from hospital and remains in custody. Newsweek has contacted DHS by email and the pastor via Instagram for comment. An Iranian woman experienced a medical emergency while being detained by masked immigration agents outside her home. An Iranian woman experienced a medical emergency while being detained by masked immigration agents outside her home. Ara Torosian Why It Matters President Donald Trump's immigration enforcers are facing intense scrutiny as the Republican-led administration carries out plans to remove millions of migrants without legal status as part of a mass deportation policy. The raids - some of which have been viewed as heavy handed - have prompted nationwide protests. What To Know Torosian told NBC4 Los Angeles that federal agents detained several members of his congregation on Tuesday, including the woman's partner. The names of those arrested have not been disclosed. The pastor said he had decided to cancel church services because many of his congregation were from the Iranian community and were now feeling afraid. "With lots of pain, I called them and said, 'Please don't come to the church,'" said Torosian. "I will miss them, and hopefully I can hug them and love them and preach for them again." Torosian said the couple are asylum seekers who left Iran, partly in fear of facing persecution due to their Christianity. However, DHS said that during a targeted enforcement operation in Los Angeles, Border Patrol agents apprehended two Iranian nationals who were unlawfully present in the U.S. and had been flagged as subjects of national security interest. Footage shared on Instagram shows the woman screaming and kicking her legs as she is being detained by federal agents. The pastor told NBC4 Los Angeles the agents said they had a warrant to detain the couple, although they did not show this to him. He said the couple had no criminal record and had been attending his church for more than a year. Torosian also told the outlet that five members of his congregation had been detained by federal agents this week, including a family with a 3-year-old daughter. Iranian nationals in the U.S. have come under increased attention following President Trump's recent strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities. A former Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) New York field office director told Newsweek that all Americans were at risk from Iranian sleeper cells. What People Are Saying Ara Torosian wrote in a social media post: "As an Iranian pastor at Cornerstone Church West LA, I watched in pain today as women—who fled Iran's dictatorship for freedom—were arrested outside their own home here in Los Angeles. They came seeking refuge, not another nightmare. This is not the justice they hoped for." Retired ICE agent Tom Decker told Newsweek: "Everyone in the United States are at risk by Iranian sleeper cells because of sanctuary cities." What Happens Next Both the woman and her husband are now in the custody of Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), pending removal.
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trumpworld Troublemaker Spotted Amid ICE Barbie's Security Drama
Corey Lewandowski, who is apparently working extremely closely with Kristi Noem at the moment, was spotted in footage from the dramatic scene at the Department of Homeland Security secretary's Los Angeles press conference on Thursday. The chaos erupted when California Senator Alex Padilla was handcuffed and forcibly removed from the news conference, a move that Democrats slammed. Padilla said he was there 'peacefully' and had raised his voice to ask a question before multiple agents pounced on him. In footage aired by NBC4 Los Angeles, Lewandowski is seen standing beside a handcuffed Padilla after the scuffle. He didn't immediately return a request for comment. Lewandowski, a former Trump campaign chief, has been working as a close advisor to Noem, the Wall Street Journal reported in April. Designated a 'special government employee,' he's taken on a top role by her side and is often the only person to accompany her to meetings, sources told the Journal. That personnel choice was sure to get tongues wagging, given the rumors that have dogged the two for years. In 2023, two conservative tabloids—the Daily Mail and New York Post—reported that the pair, suspected of being romantically linked since at least 2021, were having an affair. The two MAGAworld mainstays, who are both married, have publicly denied any affair. A DHS spokesperson told the Journal the department 'doesn't waste time with salacious, baseless gossip.' Noem still hasn't appointed a formal chief of staff, but staffers reportedly view Lewandowski as the de factor person in the role, with some even referring to him as the 'shadow secretary.' The GOP operative wanted to serve as Noem's chief of staff, but Trump and his top aides were uncomfortable with the optics given the rumors, the Journal reported. And that might not be the only work he's doing for Noem. In February, a source told The Swamp that Lewandowski was spotted in Noem's Washington apartment building taking boxes down to the trash room. Lewandowski has been one of the most polarizing figures in Trump's orbit—a bare-knuckled political operative known as much for his loyalty as the scandal that seems to follow him. When he joined Trump's campaign last year, he was said to have butted heads with top aides, including co-campaign chairs Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita.
New York Post
09-06-2025
- General
- New York Post
LA family's been visiting empty grave to mourn their mother for 4 years after headstone mishap at cemetery: lawsuit
Grave error. Loved ones who spent years grieving their beloved family matriarch at her Los Angeles burial site were horrified to learn they had been visiting an empty grave the whole time due to a misplaced headstone, according to a lawsuit and reports. The family of the late Hasmik Demirchayn – who fled oppression from the Soviet Union in the 1980s for a better life in the US – spent the past nearly four years coming to grieve, pray, celebrate birthdays and even put up a decorated Christmas tree at an empty plot that had a headstone with her name, according to local reports. 3 Hasmik Demirchayn was buried in an unmarked plot at a cemetery, while an empty plot was given her gravestone, according to a lawsuit. Demirchyan Family Photo Marine, Hasmik's middle child, has been overwhelmed with guilt and shame for visiting the wrong gravestone, she tearfully recalled to NBC4 Los Angeles. 'When she passed, I thought, 'At least, we have given her a peaceful, respectful place to rest.' But seeing her memorial tablet placed on the wrong grave, it felt like losing her all over again,' the daughter said. 'We were just talking to an empty spot.' After Hasmik Demirchayn died of a heart attack in 2021, her children buried her in one of the plots that the family had purchased in 2008 at the Hollywood Hills location of Forest Lawn Memorial Park. Since then, her children have come to visit the gravesite and commemorate a woman they described to NBC Los Angeles as the 'perfect mom.' 'For a year, I was there every weekend, taking her flowers, and sitting and talking to her,' Marine told local station. It wasn't until this April when the children had to bury their father, who had been happily married to his wife for several decades, that they realized there had been a terrible mistake. Chris, Hasmik's son, told KTLA News that during his father's funeral service, a mortician confessed to him that his mother's headstone was above an empty plot, while her body was buried in a plot with no marker. The gravestone had been placed in 'space 1,' while the beloved matriarch was buried in 'space 2,' one plot over to the right, according to KTLA. 'It was an embarrassing moment. It was a shocking moment. It's a violation of trust,' Chris said, recalling the shocking conversation. 'I feel betrayed because we have been speaking to an empty plot.' 3 The gravestone of Hasmik Demirchayn, who died of a hear attack in July 2021. Demirchyan Family Photo Despite the cemetery fixing the mistake and moving the headstone to the right burial spot, the family has filed a lawsuit in the hopes that a similar mistake can be avoided in the future. The Demirchyan family sued Forest Lawn Mortuary and the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Association for fraud, breach of contract, negligence and negligent infliction of emotional distress and is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, according to a lawsuit obtained by PEOPLE. 'While we appreciate Forest Lawn for taking appropriate action to correct their error right after they discovered it, it still is inexcusable because this would not have come to light if my client hadn't suffered another loss,' Rosie Zilifyan, the family's attorney, told local outlets. 3 The family of Hasmik Demirchayn is suing after they learned that they had been visiting an empty plot for four years, according to the suit. AP Apologizing and fixing the mistake doesn't take away the heartache, the family said. 'They think saying sorry and moving it makes up for what was four years of mourning that we did, and we're still grieving,' George Eskichyan, Hasmik's grandson, told KTLA. 'This adds an extra layer of hurt and pain.'
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Will Trump's new travel ban impact the Olympics in the U.S.?
Questions are being raised about how the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles will be impacted by a new ban on citizens from 12 countries entering the United States announced this week by President Donald Trump. The countries listed in the travel ban that is set to take effect Monday are Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. The presidential proclamation intended to protect the U.S. 'from foreign terrorists and other national security and public safety threats' also calls for heightened restrictions on visitors from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. There is an exception for 'any athlete or member of an athletic team, including coaches, persons performing a necessary support role, and immediate relatives, traveling for the World Cup, Olympics, or other major sporting event as determined by the Secretary of State.' The U.S., along with Canada and Mexico, is hosting soccer's FIFA World Cup next year, with matches scheduled across the country, including in Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, LA, Miami, Philadelphia, Seattle and Santa Clara, as well as in New York and New Jersey. But it's the world's next Summer Olympics, being held in Los Angeles in three years, that Utahns will be watching more closely, given that the state will be the site of a second Winter Games in 2034. Organizers of the LA Games, who were meeting with members of the International Olympic Committee's coordination committee in California when Trump announced the ban, didn't sound too concerned during a news conference Thursday covered by NBC 4 Los Angeles. 'It was very clear in the directive that the Olympics require special consideration and I actually want to thank the federal government for recognizing that,' LA28 chairman and president Casey Wasserman told reporters. 'It's very clear that the federal government understands that that's an environment that they will be accommodating and provide for,' he said. 'We have great confidence that that will only continue. It has been the case to date and it will certainly be the case going forward through the Games.' Nicole Hoevertsz, an IOC vice president from Aruba and the coordination commission chair, said at the news conference the anticipation is that the U.S. government will cooperate as has been done for past American Olympics. 'That is something that we will be definitely looking at and making sure that it is guaranteed as well,' she said. 'We are very confident that this is going to be accomplished. I'm sure this is going to be executed well.' The proclamation does not spell out how the travel ban affects fans and others from targeted countries. Huge international crowds are expected at the World Cup and at the Olympics, which has athletes coming from more than 200 countries. Wasserman reportedly said he does not expect ticket sales to the 2028 Games to be affected. Also up in the air is what the ban means for athletes from those countries coming to the U.S. to train, compete or even to play for professional sports teams, the BBC reported, noting the federal government has yet to clarify how a 'major sporting event' will be defined. 'I think people from around the world, and Americans going to these events, would want to see actions like this,' U.S State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said at a press briefing Thursday. 'This is part of what it means to host an event,' Pigott told reporters, adding that the administration wants people to be able to attend safely. 'We take security concerns extremely seriously.' Organizers of Utah's 2034 Winter Games say they're not worried about the ban. Fraser Bullock, president and executive chair of the Organizing Committee for the 2034 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, told the Deseret News a lot can change in coming years. 'We will see many world and country dynamics between now and 2034,' Bullock said. 'Our challenge — and opportunity — is to work through anything that may come our way. We did it before and we can do it again.'
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Trump — not trans athletes — is the real threat to women's sports
Despite what you may hear in conservative media or from the White House, it's Donald Trump — not transgender athletes — who poses a true threat to women's sports. Trump, who threatened to 'protect' women 'whether the women like it or not,' has weaponized hatred toward transgender people for political gain, borrowing a bigoted strategy used by other extremist movements (like Nazi Germany, for example). And this week, Trump threatened to withhold federal funding from the state of California because it's allowing a trans woman to participate in high school track-and-field finals. Trump has also announced a Title IX probe into the state for allowing trans participation in sports more broadly. As NBC 4 Los Angeles reported: The U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday announced an investigation into whether a California law that allows transgender athletes to compete in girls high school sports violates the landmark Title IX federal civil rights law. The DOJ said it sent letters of legal notice to California Attorney General Rob Bonta, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond and the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF), the state's high school sports governing body, and the Jurupa Unified School District, which the agency said is a target of the investigation. The investigation will determine whether California's School Success and Opportunity Act, or AB 1266, conflicts with Title IX, the federal law that bans sex discrimination in schools or educational programs that receive funding from the U.S. government. For the record, Trump and the Republican Party's insistence that trans women's participation in women's sports constitutes a threat to the sanctity of women's sports is not supported by reputable science. Back in 2022, I wrote about a Harvard University panel that featured multiple experts on women's sports, who all pointed to things like patriarchal leadership structures, poor equipment and lack of media coverage as the real source of woe for women's sports programs and athletes. None of them mentioned trans competitors as a concern. So there's a deep irony in Trump using Title IX rules, which are designed to prohibit gender-based discrimination, to crusade against trans athletes. That's because, as ESPN reported in March, Trump's attempts to close down the Department of Education threatens the existence of the very sports he's claiming to defend. Specifically, the outlet reported, the closure threatens the department's Office for Civil Rights, with a purview that includes enforcing Title IX rules that provide support for girls' and women's sports programs: The Office for Civil Rights determines how K-12 schools and colleges and universities are supposed to provide equal opportunities for female athletes, which includes equitable financial aid, promotion, coaching salaries, equipment and travel, among other factors. The Trump administration has shut down the Education Department's regional Office of Civil Rights in California and fired all of its staff. Attorneys who remain at the agency have complained about their office being used as a weapon to wage right-wing culture wars. If one were truly concerned about making sure women's sports programs survive and thrive, it simply doesn't make much sense to fire the officials whose jobs are dedicated, in part, to that goal. Nonetheless, Trump's gutting of the Department of Education undermines the federal agency most responsible for supporting women's sports programs — all while he launches bogus investigations that allow him to pay lip service to defending women. This article was originally published on
