July 20, 2020 • No Comments • National News

NiseriN/iStockBy JACK DATE and LUKE BARR, ABC News

(NEW YORK) — The murder of a New Jersey federal judge’s son has put the spotlight on an alarming trend that officials say continues to rise: threats against federal judges and their families.

The son of Judge Esther Salas, a freshman at Catholic University in Washington, D.C., was killed in the family’s home in North Brunswick, New Jersey, on Sunday night and her husband was also shot multiple times and is in critical but stable condition, sources told ABC News. Salas was not injured and the suspect remains at large, a law enforcement official said.

Judge Salas, who is now under 24-hour protection, had received threats in the past and authorities are investigating whether there is any connection between those prior threats and the shooting, sources said.

According to the U.S. Marshals Service, who are tasked with protecting federal judges, there were 4,449 threats and inappropriate communications against protected persons in 2019.

In 2015, that number was 926.

The U.S. Marshals Service says the increase is due to “improved effectiveness in data collection and reporting of potential threats.”

Over that same time period, the number of threats investigated rose from 305 in 2015 to 373 in 2019, peaking at 531 in 2018.

A day after federal Judge James Robart issued a temporary restraining order on President Donald Trump’s first travel ban on Feb. 3, 2017, threats against the judge came flooding in.

According to the American Bar Association, before Robart left the Seattle, Washington, courthouse, his personal information was put out on the internet, along with his wife’s information .

Because the ban was lifted by a judge, many very bad and dangerous people may be pouring into our country. A terrible decision

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 4, 2017

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

After the president’s tweets about Robart, the U.S. Marshals estimated that there were 1,100 serious threats against the judge, the ABA said.

According to the U.S. Marshals, inappropriate communications or threats to protected court family members have also been on the rise.

There were 4,542 reports of threats or inappropriate communications to family members in 2018.

In 2014, that number was 768.

Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

July 20, 2020 • No Comments • National News

ABC NewsBy MAX GOLEMBO, ABC News

(NEW YORK) — A heat wave continues to affect the Northeast with more than a dozen record highs tied or broken Sunday from New Hampshire down to Virginia.

Some of the records from Sunday include Richmond, Virginia, which reached 101 degrees; Washington, D.C.’s Dulles Airport, which tied its record at 98; Norfolk, Virginia which hit 102 and Manchester, New Hampshire, which peaked at 98 degrees.

More records are possible Monday with 15 states from South Carolina to Maine under Heat Advisory and Warnings.

Temperatures are expected to reach the 90s with near 100 possible from Hartford, Connecticut to Washington, D.C.

Record highs will also be possible in Hartford which is forecast to be 97 and has a record of 100 along with Baltimore which is forecast to be near 100 and the record there is 102.

But as they always say, it’s not the heat, it’s the humidity. So Monday will feel like its 100 to 110 degrees from New York City to Washington, D.C. and all the way down to the Carolinas.

Additionally, because of the ongoing heat wave in the Northeast, where in some parts of southern and central New Jersey it will feel like its near 114 degrees, the Philadelphia Department of Public Health has declared a Heat Health Emergency beginning Monday morning.

The big question is how long will this sauna type of weather last? Will we see any relief?

There is a weak cold front that is expected to move through the Northeast on Tuesday and some drop in humidity should occur for New England down to New York City and Philadelphia, but down in D.C. and the Carolinas, the scorcher is expected to continue.
 
More substantial cooling and drier air is expected in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic by the end of the week, however. Summer is now half way over and the meteorological fall begins Sept. 1, just a little more than a month away.

Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

July 20, 2020 • No Comments • National News

Lancaster County District Attorney’s OfficeBy MEREDITH DELISO, ABC News

(NEW YORK) — Two fugitives who allegedly escaped a Virginia juvenile correctional center with the help of two of the facility’s employees nearly a week ago have most recently been spotted in Pennsylvania, officials said.

The Lancaster County District’s Attorney’s Office said Saturday that Rashad E. Williams, 18, and Jabar Ali Taylor, 20, stayed at an area Homewood Suites by Hilton hotel earlier in the week. They also were seen on surveillance footage at a nearby Turkey Hill market, authorities said.

The district attorney’s office warned the public that they are “dangerous fugitives” who should not be confronted.

According to the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice, the pair escaped the 284-capacity Bon Air Juvenile Correctional Center in Chesterfield County in the early morning hours of July 13. The duo allegedly used a cord to choke a security staff member until he lost consciousness, then allegedly used the employee’s keys to exit the unit. They then escaped through a hole cut in the facility’s perimeter security fence and left in a getaway car, officials said.

Taylor, of Spotsylvania County, Virginia, was convicted of two counts of second-degree murder and aggravated malicious assault stemming from the 2015 stabbing deaths of two men. He was sentenced to 50 years in prison in 2016. In May, a judge denied an attempt by his legal team to reduce his sentence.

Williams, of Washington, D.C., was convicted of malicious wounding and robbery and sentenced to 18 years in 2019.

Both were due to be transferred to an adult Department of Corrections facility when they turned 21, officials said. Taylor turns 21 on Aug. 25.

U.S. Marshals had initially believed the two would travel north, where they “both have significant ties.”

Three people have been arrested so far in connection with the escape, police said, including two Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice employees who worked at Bon Air. Destiny L. Harris, 23, of Chesterfield County, was charged with two counts of aiding with the escape of a juvenile on Tuesday. The next day, Darren Briggs, 42, of Lawrenceville, Virginia, was charged with one felony count of providing a cellphone to a prisoner. Both are no longer employed by the agency, Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice Director Valerie Boykin said.

A relative of Williams’ — Gerald Thornton, 33, of Philadelphia — was charged with two counts of aiding with the escape of a juvenile, according to ABC Richmond affiliate WRIC-TV.

U.S. Marshals are offering a reward of $5,000 for information that leads to the escaped convicts’ capture.

“The danger posed by these fugitives and their escape should not be taken lightly by anyone,” Nick E. Proffitt, U.S. Marshal for the Eastern District of Virginia, said in a statement. “The fugitives went to great lengths to affect the escape, and they pose a significant threat to any law enforcement officer or member of the public who may encounter them.”

This was the first escape at Bon Air in over 20 years, according to Boykin. On Friday, the director said she was launching a “full security analysis” of the “old campus.”

“DJJ had been working for years to replace it with a more modern facility with state-of-the-art security and treatment design components,” she said in a statement. “While those efforts are ongoing, we are committed to determine if security enhancements are needed.”

Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.