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Official: Clinic Suspect Made ‘No More Baby Parts’ Comment

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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — Robert Lewis Dear was reclusive, and he seldom spoke to neighbors in a quiet patch of woods in rural Colorado where he lived.

Now, it’s his words that are drawing the most attention as police try to discern his motivations for a shooting attack they say he carried out Friday at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs that killed three people, including a police officer.

After his arrest, Dear said “no more baby parts,” said a law enforcement official, who could not elaborate and spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to speak publicly about the ongoing investigation.

Planned Parenthood cited witnesses as saying the gunman was motivated by his opposition to abortion.

The attack thrust the clinic to the center of the ongoing debate over Planned Parenthood, which was re-ignited in July when anti-abortion activists released undercover video they said showed the group’s personnel negotiating the sale of fetal organs.

Planned Parenthood has denied seeking any payments beyond legally permitted reimbursement costs for donating the organs to researchers. Still, the National Abortion Federation says it has since seen a rise in threats at clinics nationwide.

Anti-abortion activists, part of a group called the Center for Medical Progress, denounced the “barbaric killing spree in Colorado Springs by a violent madman” and offered prayers for the dead and wounded and for their families.

The Planned Parenthood facility in Colorado Springs provides women’s health services and has long been the site of regular anti-abortion protests. A Roman Catholic priest who has held weekly Mass in front of the clinic for 20 years said Dear wasn’t part of his group.

“I don’t know him from Adam,” the Rev. Bill Carmody said. “I don’t recognize him at all.”

Police haven’t said what motivated Dear, 57, to carry out the attack.

Dear, who was in custody and is expected to make his first court appearance on Monday, was described by neighbors as reclusive. They said he stashed food in the woods, avoided eye contact and warned neighbors about government spying.

At a vigil Saturday at All Souls Unitarian Church, Rev. Nori Rost called the gunman a “domestic terrorist.” In the back of the room, someone held a sign that said: “Women’s bodies are not battlefields. Neither is our town.”

Vicki Cowart, the regional head of Planned Parenthood, drew a standing ovation when she walked to the pulpit. She promised to quickly reopen the clinic. “We will adapt. We will square our shoulders and we will go on,” she said.

After her remarks, a woman in the audience stood up, objected to the vigil becoming a “political statement” and left.

Cowart said the gunman “broke in” to the clinic Friday but didn’t get past a locked door leading to the main part of the facility. She said there was no armed security when the shooting began. He later surrendered to police after an hourslong standoff.

In the parking lot of the two-story building, one man said the gunman shot at him as he pulled his car out, blasting two holes in his windshield. Inside, one worker ducked under a table and called her brother to tell him to take care of her kids if she was killed.

At one point, an officer whispered reports into his radio as he crept through the building. Others relayed information from surveillance cameras and victims in hiding. “We’ve got a report of a victim texting from just east of the lobby,” someone said.

In the end, a six-year veteran University of Colorado police officer was killed. Two civilians also died, though their identities weren’t immediately released. Five other officers and four people were hospitalized.

Cowart said all 15 clinic employees survived and worked hard to make sure everyone else got into safe spaces and stayed quiet.

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper said the city is mourning and praised the bravery of first responders. He said the nation is wrestling with the causes of violence but that it’s too early to discuss that while the city is reeling.

“This is the kind of thing that hits the entire community in the gut,” he said.

Cowart said the organization would learn from the attack. When asked if the clinic should have more security, she said the clinic’s clients shouldn’t have to walk through metal detectors.

The attack marked the latest mass shooting to stun the nation. It drew the now-familiar questions about a gunman’s motives and whether anyone, from government to relatives, could have done anything to prevent an attack.

Those who knew the 6-foot-4-inch, 250-pound Dear said he seemed to have few religious or political leanings.

Neighbors who lived beside Dear’s former South Carolina home say he hid food in the woods as if he was a survivalist and said he lived off selling prints of his uncle’s paintings of Southern plantations and the Masters golf tournament.

John Hood said Saturday that when he moved to Walterboro, Dear was living in a doublewide mobile home next door. Hood said Dear seemed to be a loner and very strange but not dangerous.

He pointed to a wooden fence separating their land and said he put it up because Dear liked to skinny dip.

Hood said that Dear rarely talked to them, and when he did, he tended to offer unsolicited advice such as recommending that Hood put a metal roof on his house so the U.S. government couldn’t spy on him.

“He was really strange and out there, but I never thought he would do any harm,” he said.

Dear also lived part of the time in a cabin with no electricity or running water in Black Mountain, North Carolina. He kept mostly to himself, his neighbors said. When he did talk, it was a rambling combination of a number of topics that didn’t make sense.

He tended to avoid eye contact, said James Russell, who lived a few hundred feet down the mountain from Dear’s cabin.

“If you talked to him, nothing with him was very cognitive,” Russell said.

Other neighbors knew Dear, too, but they didn’t want to give their names because they said they were scared of him.

Russell and others said the only companion they saw with him was a mangy dog that looked to be in such bad shape they called animal control because they worried he was beating it.

In the small town of Hartsel, Colorado, about 60 miles west of Colorado Springs, about a dozen police vehicles and fire trucks were parked outside a small white trailer belonging to Dear located on a sprawling swath of land.

Property records indicate Dear purchased the land about a year ago.

Another law enforcement official said authorities searched the trailer Saturday but found no explosives. The official, who has direct knowledge of the case, said authorities also talked with a woman living in the trailer. The official, who lacked authorization to speak publicly about the investigation, spoke on condition of anonymity.

Zigmond Post, who lives near the RV where Dear lived, said he didn’t have many interactions with Dear, but he said the suspect once gave him a pamphlet opposing President Barack Obama.

“He didn’t talk about them or anything. He just said ‘Look them over when you get a chance,’ ” Post said.

Jamie Heffelman, owner of the Highline Cafe in Hartsel, said residents would occasionally see Dear at the post office to get his mail, but he never said much. “Nobody really knows him. He stays to himself,” she said.

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Politics

FORMER PRESIDENTS, CIVIL RIGHTS LEADERS GATHER FOR OPENING OF OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL CENTER

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FORMER PRESIDENTS, CIVIL RIGHTS LEADERS GATHER FOR OPENING OF OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL CENTER
Photo Credit: Angie McMonigal

CHICAGO (FNN NEWS) — The long-awaited Barack Obama Presidential Center officially opened Thursday with a star-studded dedication ceremony on Chicago’s South Side, drawing former presidents, national leaders, celebrities, and thousands of invited guests.

The ceremony began at 11 a.m. CDT with Chicago native and Grammy Award-winning singer Jennifer Hudson performing the national anthem.

Obama Center Opens

Former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama delivered remarks celebrating the opening of the center, which is designed to serve as a cultural, educational, and civic engagement hub.

The opening marks the formal debut of one of the most anticipated presidential centers in modern history. The campus opens to the public on Juneteenth and is expected to attract visitors from across the United States and around the world.

Former Presidents in Attendance

Among the dignitaries attending the ceremony were:

  • Former President Joe Biden
  • Former President George W. Bush
  • Former President Bill Clinton
  • Former First Lady Jill Biden
  • Former First Lady Laura Bush
  • Former Secretary of State and former First Lady Hillary Clinton

National Leaders and Celebrities Attend

The event also attracted prominent political leaders, civil rights advocates, entertainers, and business leaders, including:

  • California Gov. Gavin Newsom
  • Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro
  • Civil rights leaders Andrew Young and Al Sharpton
  • Media icon Oprah Winfrey
  • Comedians David Letterman, Conan O’Brien, and Stephen Colbert
  • Actor Tom Hanks
  • Tennis legend Billie Jean King
  • Chicago Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts

Several attendees, including Newsom and Shapiro, are widely viewed as potential contenders for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination.

A Landmark for Chicago’s South Side

The opening of the Obama Presidential Center represents a significant milestone for Chicago’s South Side, bringing national attention, tourism, and economic development opportunities to the community.

Thousands of invited guests attended the ceremony, while residents and supporters gathered at a free public watch party to celebrate the historic occasion.

The center is expected to serve as a lasting tribute to the legacy of the nation’s 44th president while inspiring future generations of leaders through civic engagement, education, and public service.

About the Obama Presidential Center

The Obama Presidential Center is a world-class campus dedicated to preserving and advancing the legacy of President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama. The center includes museum exhibits, public gathering spaces, educational programming, and community resources aimed at fostering leadership and civic participation.

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Politics

State Department Offers Up to $15 Million in Rewards for MS-13 Leaders Wanted on Terrorism, Drug Trafficking Charges

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WASHINGTON (FNN NEWS) — The U.S. Department of State announced Thursday that it is increasing reward offers totaling up to $15 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of two senior leaders of Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), a transnational criminal organization designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO).

Reward Offers Increased

The State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs announced a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Yulan Adonay Archaga Carías, also known as “Porky,” and up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Víctor Eduardo Morales Zelaya, also known as “Cuervo.”

The reward offers were announced by Thomas “Tommy” Pigott, spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State.

MS-13 Leadership in Honduras

According to federal court documents, Archaga Carías and Morales Zelaya are the highest-ranking members of MS-13 operating in Honduras. Authorities allege they direct the gang’s criminal operations, including:

  • Drug trafficking
  • Money laundering
  • Murder
  • Kidnappings
  • Other violent criminal activities

Federal authorities also allege the two men are responsible for coordinating the importation of significant quantities of cocaine into the United States. Both remain fugitives.

Among America’s Most Wanted

Archaga Carías is listed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list and is also among the most wanted fugitives sought by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

The case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) established under Executive Order 14159. The task force is a permanent, whole-of-government initiative focused on dismantling criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking networks operating in the United States and abroad.

How to Provide Information

The reward offers were authorized by the Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security under the Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program (TOCRP), which supports global law enforcement efforts to combat transnational criminal organizations.

Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the FBI through WhatsApp, Signal, or Telegram at +1-832-267-1688.

Individuals located outside the United States may also contact the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate. Those within the United States may contact their local FBI field office.

Confidentiality Guaranteed

U.S. officials emphasized that all identities of individuals providing information will be kept strictly confidential. Government officials and employees are not eligible for rewards based on information obtained through their official duties.

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US NATIONAL NEWS

Rubio, Jaishankar Discuss Strait of Hormuz Security During Diplomatic Call

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar discussed maritime security, commercial shipping and recent developments in the Strait of Hormuz.

WASHINGTON (FNN NEWS) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar to discuss recent developments in the Strait of Hormuz, according to a State Department readout released Friday.

According to Principal Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Pigott, the conversation focused on maritime security and commercial shipping in one of the world’s most strategically important waterways.

Focus on Maritime Security

During the call, Rubio stressed that commercial vessels operating in the Strait of Hormuz should immediately comply with instructions issued by U.S. forces as they work to maintain regional peace and security.

The secretary also emphasized U.S. concerns regarding the transportation of Iranian oil and warned that violations of U.S. enforcement measures would not be tolerated.

Critical Global Waterway

The Strait of Hormuz serves as a vital shipping route connecting the Persian Gulf to international markets and is one of the world’s most important energy transit corridors. Any disruption to commercial traffic through the region can have significant implications for global energy supplies and international trade.

The call highlights continued diplomatic coordination between the United States and India on regional security issues and freedom of navigation in key international waterways.

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