BIDDEFORD, Maine (AP) — On Monday, a federal immigration officer in Maine fatally shot a motorist. This marks the second instance within a week where agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have resorted to lethal force, making it the ninth such occurrence since President Donald Trump intensified immigration measures.

Advocacy groups for immigrant rights have identified the deceased individual as a 26-year-old originally from Colombia.

According to a statement on X from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, ICE officers were conducting surveillance at a location associated with an individual who had a final deportation order. When officers attempted to intercept a vehicle leaving the said address, the vehicle allegedly tried to escape. An officer, fearing for public safety, fired his weapon, explained the department.

U.S. Senator Angus King mentioned that Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin informed him about the incident. Mullin narrated that in Biddeford, a city located about 15 miles southwest of Portland, the officer opened fire after the motorist reportedly used the vehicle aggressively against the ICE agents. Unfortunately, the officers involved were not equipped with body cameras.

Questioned about these differing reports, Senator King conveyed to CNN that clarifying these discrepancies is precisely the purpose of the ongoing investigation.

“Did this young man actually try to run over an ICE agent or was he in danger of running over other people in the street?” he said. “Was there a reasonable expectation of bodily harm or deadly force to justify this shooting?”

DHS did not immediately respond to an email seeking clarity on what led up to the shooting.

King, a Maine independent, said Mullin also told him the officers were in Biddeford to serve an arrest warrant but that it was not for the person who was shot. King said Mullin told him that earlier information that the man was the target of an enforcement action was incorrect.

Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, said Mullin told her the Homeland Security Department’s Office of Inspector General is investigating in cooperation with the FBI.

Messages seeking comment were left for the inspector general’s office and the Maine Department of Public Safety.

The Maine attorney general’s office, which is also investigating, said initial statements suggest the motorist was trying to flee in the direction of the agent. The office said the agent who killed him has been placed on leave.

Witness says he heard driver say, ‘I tried to stop’

Daniel Boucher said he looked out his third-floor window after hearing a “pop, pop, pop” sound and saw a small car “turned 90 degrees to the curb” with an SUV behind it. The driver was wounded and the car started moving down the street until the SUV hit it again, Boucher said.

“His face was bloody. His head was bloody,” Boucher said, getting choked up. “I clearly heard the victim say, ‘I tried to stop.’”

Boucher said he saw an ICE officer bring a medical bag to where the man was lying before an ambulance and fire truck arrived. At one point, Boucher said, the agent who shot the man walked close to him.

“I was emotional and I just let him have it, and he looked at me and said, ‘He tried to run me over,’ or something to that effect,” Boucher said. “I don’t remember his exact words.”

Video from a security camera at a nearby business, obtained by the AP, shows a white vehicle approaching an intersection at a moderate pace before making several slow circles. A law enforcement SUV blocks its path and two officers open the driver’s door and drag out a limp body.

It was not clear from the video at what points shots were fired.

The man was authorized to work in the US, advocates say

Two advocacy groups — the Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition and Presente! — said the man who was killed was authorized to work in the U.S.

After the shooting, his family contacted the Immigrants’ Rights Coalition, but they aren’t ready to speak publicly about the shooting, said the group’s executive director, Mufalo Chitam.

Mary Hayes, who lives close to where the shooting happened, said the man lived nearby with his wife and daughter.

“I watched a wife fall to her knees looking at her husband’s dead body on the ground,” Hayes told the AP as she held a piece of cardboard with “No ICE Stop ICE” written on it. “I watched a little girl crying with a little pink backpack on because she’s never going to see her father again.”

The Colombian Embassy said it is in contact with U.S. authorities and “working to formally confirm the individual’s identity and nationality.”

Sadie Dilboy said the man killed in the shooting regularly came to her laundromat and would bring his daughter, who he’d give quarters to buy candy from the vending machine.

“He was such a good person,” she said. “He was always cleaning up.”

Anti-ICE protesters gather near the scene

Several hundred demonstrators gathered in Biddeford on Monday night to wave anti-ICE signs and call for the agency to be abolished.

“We will always be a city of immigrants,” said Maine Speaker of the House Ryan Fecteau, a Democrat from Biddeford.

A handful of pro-ICE and pro-Trump protesters demonstrated across the street.

Some demonstrators had gathered in the city within hours of the shooting.

Amy Goodman arrived with a sign that said “Stop Killing Us” and directed it toward police working at the scene.

“Sadly, it’s something we’re seeing a whole lot more often lately, and I’m mad about it,” she said.

A recent uptick in Trump’s immigration crackdown

On July 7, an ICE officer fatally shot 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, of Houston, after federal agents driving unmarked vehicles pursued him while he was taking his construction crew to a job site.

The shootings come amid a Trump administration push to carry out its mass deportations agenda. During the five-day period at the end of June, ICE arrested more than 10,000 people.

The figures indicate that while the administration is no longer cracking down on individual cities, the arrests are surging. The administration’s enforcement efforts were widely condemned last winter after the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minnesota.

Hundreds of Maine ICE arrests since Trump’s return

ICE had a significant presence in Maine earlier this year, which prompted several protests. Immigration officials later said in late January that they had ceased “enhanced operations” in Maine after hundreds of arrests.

A Homeland Security spokesperson said at the time that some Maine arrests were of people “convicted of horrific crimes” including aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of a child.

Court records show that while some had felony convictions, others had unresolved immigration proceedings or had been arrested but never convicted of a crime.

ICE arrested 546 people in Maine between the start of Trump’s second term and March 11, 2026, the most recent data available, according to ICE arrest data provided to the University of California, Berkeley Deportation Data Project and analyzed by the AP.

About 45% of arrested people had criminal backgrounds. During the equivalent 416-day period before Trump took office, roughly 69% of those arrested had criminal backgrounds, the data shows.

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Next week, the husband of a Massachusetts mother on trial for the alleged murder of her children is set to testify in her defense.

Lindsay Clancy, 35, is charged with three counts of murder and three counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. Prosecutors have incorporated the charges of strangling her children into the murder accusations, as reported by WCVB.

Her legal team acknowledges that Clancy used exercise bands to strangle her three children—five-year-old Cora, three-year-old Dawson, and eight-month-old Callan—on January 24, 2023.

However, they contend that her actions were influenced by severe postpartum psychosis and excessive medication, arguing she should be acquitted of the murder charges on grounds of insanity.

Patrick Clancy, Lindsay’s husband and the father of the three children, will be testifying in support of her defense, according to a report by PEOPLE.

He had argued in a wrongful death suit against some of his wife’s medical providers that he believes Lindsay killed the children because she ‘started hearing a compelling and unrecognizable singular male voice that told her “this is your last chance” and that she had to “take them” with [her].’

That same voice ‘indicated to [Lindsay] that she should die… and that her children would suffer if she was gone.’

Her lawyers, however, will not be able to call others who have suffered from postpartum psychosis as witnesses when the trial starts.

In a filing seeking to get the women to testify, defense attorney Kevin Reddington said he had been contacted by 15 different people who claimed to have their own experiences with postpartum psychosis, hallucinations or drug use and were willing to testify on Clancy’s behalf. 

The lawyer acknowledged the women have no personal connection to Clancy’s case, but have ‘been victimized by the medical system that fails to recognize the severe, debilitating and devastating impact of postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis,’ the filing says, according to CBS News.

It then notes that the women have suffered from ‘suicidal ideation, infanticide ideation [and] homicidal ideation with auditory and visual hallucinations.’

In court on Monday, Reddington also argued that hearing from the other women could help jurors better understand what Clancy was allegedly going through.

‘For us to believe that somebody is hearing voices, the natural reaction from any one of us, I think in this courtroom would be “Come on. You’re not hearing voices. What are you talking about? You’re making this up. You’re trying to avoid responsibility,’ he said, according to Boston.com.

‘But it is true and it happens, and it is an affliction that people have put up with.’ 

Reddington then argued that ‘a woman who has suffered and has put up with this affliction should be able to testify and say probably in an emotionally-charged fashion, very credibly, “I too have heard these command voices. I too acted on the command voices.”‘ 

But prosecutor Jennifer Sprague argued that the women the defense sought to call as witnesses were ‘women who suffered from postpartum depression and psychosis who did not kill their children, who locked themselves in a room, to keep themselves from harming their children, who got in a car and drove away so they didn’t harm their children.’

‘And so then it becomes a trial within a trial.’

Judge William F Sullivan ultimately agreed that calling the women as witnesses would force prosecutors to call even more witnesses in rebuttal as he denied the defense’s request.

He also noted that expert witnesses can give jurors the relevant information about postpartum mental illness. 

Jurors will also hear the harrowing 911 call Lindsay’s husband Patrick made to police when he found his three children killed at their home.

In the call, Patrick explains that he found the exercise bands still wrapped around the children’s necks but that they were easy to take off.

‘The spontaneous and excited nature of the 911 call, made prior to any reflective thought, further established that the bands were wrapped around each child’s neck in a fashion that negates any theory that they were tied or knotted,’ prosecutors argued.

‘He further states he believed the bands were looped like you would tie a shoelace, but came off quickly.’

By the time first responders then arrived on the scene, ‘each band [was] lying next to each child,’ the filing alleges, according to the New York Post. 

‘The brief time between finding each child and the fact that Mr Clancy was able to remove each band so quickly’ negates the theory Lindsay may have tied the bands in a knot and walked away.

Instead, prosecutors say, the evidence suggests she ‘manually pulled the bands around each child’s neck until they died,’ showing ‘the deliberateness of her acts and the extreme atrocity and cruelty of her acts.’ 

Jury selection in the case is now scheduled to begin on July 20, when prospective panelists are expected to be asked about their own mental health history.

The trial is then expected to last four to six weeks. 

The Houthi movement, labeled a terrorist organization by the U.S., has lashed out at Saudi Arabia, accusing it of launching airstrikes on Sanaa airport in northern Yemen. This accusation has the potential to open a volatile new chapter in the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict, further entangling Iran’s proxy forces.

Despite a 2022 truce with the Saudi-led coalition, tensions have periodically erupted, particularly after the Houthis expressed solidarity with Hamas following its incursion into Israel on October 7, 2023. Their actions have included disrupting commercial shipping in the Red Sea, and these recent hostilities could propel Saudi Arabia and the Houthis back into full-blown conflict.

Yahya Saree, the spokesperson for Houthi military forces, denounced the strikes as “blatant aggression,” claiming they shattered the calm achieved after recent attempts at de-escalation. He warned that Saudi Arabia would face serious repercussions, with the Houthis threatening retaliatory attacks, including a specific warning about targeting King Khalid Airport in Riyadh. Iran has echoed the sentiment, with Press TV declaring the strikes a violation against Yemen’s sovereignty.

At the heart of the Houthi ideology is their bold slogan: “God is great, Death to America, Death to Israel, Curse upon the Jews, Victory to Islam,” reflecting the group’s staunch opposition to Western and Israeli influences in the region.

Earlier on Monday, the government’s defense ministry said the runway ⁠at Sanaa International Airport had been targeted to prevent an Iranian plane from landing. An armed forces spokesman later said the aircraft had landed at Houthi-controlled ​Hodeidah airport.

Salman Al-Ansari, a prominent Saudi geopolitical analyst, told News Media, “The Iranian-backed Houthi militia is now in a desperate position, attempting to demonstrate its usefulness to its Iranian masters amid the ongoing U.S.-Iran war.”

He said, “This is an action taken by Yemen’s legitimate government in response to the violation of its airspace and sovereignty. It was not carried out by Saudi Arabia or the coalition. Yemeni forces struck the runway at Sana’a International Airport after the terrorist Houthi militia defied international law by allowing unauthorized Iranian flights into Yemen, despite measures intended to prevent the smuggling of weapons and explosives.”

According to Al-Ansari, “The Houthis know that these flights can land normally if they follow the agreed-upon route through a Jordanian airport, for inspection purposes. The Houthis are currently at one of their weakest points, particularly after Yemen’s legitimate government consolidated effective authority over 80% of the country’s territory. This is a marked departure from the past, when the legitimate government was fragmented between two rival camps.”

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Israel, Lebanon and other Sunni Gulf countries have expressed concerns about the Iranian regime’s plan to establish a so-called “Shiite crescent” that stretches from Iran to Lebanon and includes such terrorist proxies as the Houthis and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Al-Ansari noted that “By confronting the Houthis, Yemen’s legitimate government is not only defending its own sovereignty; it is helping safeguard the region and the wider world from Iran’s network of terrorist proxies.”

Nadwa Al-Dawsari, an expert on Yemen and an associate fellow at the Middle East Institute, told News Media that, “The Houthis’ warning that the strike on Sana’a airport ‘will not go unanswered’ should be taken seriously. But the significance of the incident extends well beyond the prospect of retaliation.”

She said, “The dispute was never really about civilian aviation or simply returning a Houthi delegation from Tehran. The Yemeni government had agreed to facilitate the delegation’s return aboard a Yemenia aircraft. The issue was the Iranian aircraft itself.”

She added that “By proceeding with the Mahan Air flight despite Yemeni objections and ensuring that it reached Houthi-controlled Yemen anyway, Iran and the Houthis were sending a political message: Tehran intends to normalize direct and public ties with Houthi-controlled Yemen and is willing to challenge the restrictions that have governed access to the country since 2015.”

The U.S. government sanctioned Mahan Air for its role in supplying weapons and technology to terrorist groups such as Hezbollah. 

Al-Dawsari said, “What we are increasingly seeing is a pattern in which Iran and its proxies create facts on the ground, betting that regional and international actors have little appetite for escalation and will eventually adjust to them. We have seen the same approach in the Strait of Hormuz.”

She said, “The episode also highlights the Houthis’ growing importance within Iran’s regional network. While other members of the Axis of Resistance have been weakened in recent years, the Houthis have emerged as Tehran’s most capable and strategically important partners, particularly in the Red Sea and the Horn of Africa.”

According to Reuters, the Saudi ​government’s communication office did not immediately respond to the accusations.

Muhammad Al-Farah, a member of the Houthi Political Bureau, wrote on Telegram, according to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), that the alleged Saudi attack will lead to the Bab al-Mandab Strait joining the Strait of Hormuz with respect to disruption and possible closure. As a result, the price of a barrel of oil will rise to $200 and the attacks give the Houthis a reason to “strike back and liberate Yemen from occupation.”

A State Department spokesperson told News Media that, “We are aware of these reports and monitoring closely. The United States and Saudi Arabia share a strategic partnership that has only grown stronger under President Trump. The United States stands firmly with Saudi Arabia against Iranian aggression, including Iranian-supported Houthi attacks, and remains committed to the Kingdom’s security and regional stability.”

The spokesperson added, “We continue to actively enforce the Trump Administration’s designation of the Houthis as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and condemn Iran’s flagrant violation of Yemen’s sovereignty in support of their Houthi proxies.

“The Administration’s National Security Strategy states that our core interests in the region include ensuring freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and preventing the export of terrorism.  It is critical to continue efforts to counter the Iran-backed Houthis and other terrorist groups in Yemen who threaten these U.S. interests.”

After announcing her plans for a hike in a final Facebook post, an Australian tourist has mysteriously gone missing. This 26-year-old woman has not been seen for over three weeks.

On June 20, Sally Grace Contarino last communicated with a male friend on Facebook, mentioning her intention to hike Lone Mountain, as detailed in a report from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police obtained by 8 News Now.

Investigators reveal uncertainty about whether Contarino had company during her excursion. Authorities have previously issued warnings that she may be experiencing severe emotional distress and could require medical care.

The last known location for her was around 1 p.m. on June 20, near 9700 West Skye Canyon Drive, according to officials.

This northwest Las Vegas location is situated near a bustling intersection that includes fast-food outlets, a gas station, and various other businesses.

Contarino was due to fly home to Melbourne on June 21 but never boarded her scheduled return flight, police said.

The report said she traveled from Melbourne to Nevada on June 13 and later confirmed to her sister that she had arrived at the Bungalows Hostel on Las Vegas Boulevard in downtown Las Vegas on June 18.

Investigators also noted she was using the WISE money transfer app and owned an Apple cell phone.

An influencer’s creepy video, taken with Meta glasses, hauntingly shows the missing woman in her last known moments.

The footage captures him approaching the 26-year-old — just days before she failed to board her flight home to Melbourne and has not been heard from since June 20.

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Contarino appeared in the mysterious video outside a 7-Eleven on Boulder Highway near Flamingo Road, where a man known as “@epicdamianpov” approached her while she smoked a cigarette.

In the clip, he says, “Hello. Sorry, I saw you. I just saw that you were very beautiful. I was wondering if I could get your number, by chance.”

Contarino smiles before replying, “I have a boyfriend.”

“Oh, okay, yeah, sorry. Are you waiting for him or…?” he asks.

“No,” she responds. “I’m just gonna have a cigarette…”

“Oh, okay, yeah, of course,” the man says before walking away.

The video, later shared by “Real Vegas Locals,” had been viewed more than 814,000 times on Instagram as of July 13.

Police said Contarino was last seen wearing a gray-blue sweatshirt, jean shorts, black-and-white shoes and carrying a purse.

She is described as having brown hair and brown eyes, standing about 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighing around 130 pounds.

The search has also drawn in Australian authorities after the missing persons report was first made to Victoria Police, which then notified Interpol US. The Deputy Consul-General from the Australian Consulate in Los Angeles also contacted Las Vegas Metro Police, according to the report.

Contarino’s family, including her sister, has since traveled to Las Vegas to find her and learn what happened.

The atmosphere buzzed with vibrant music and warm lights as Sam Neill gracefully mingled with the crowd during the ARIA Hall of Fame ceremony in Sydney this past June. It turned out to be the beloved actor’s last public appearance before his unexpected passing at the age of 78.

Having recently received the all-clear from cancer, the Jurassic Park star exuded joy, posing for photos and engaging in lively conversations with friends. His demeanor was that of a man savoring a hard-fought victory over health challenges.

Taking to Instagram, Neill described the event as a ‘great night,’ sharing that he spent it celebrating the artists he had admired for many years.

A few weeks afterward, Neill’s family announced the heartbreaking news of his ‘sudden’ passing at a Sydney hospital. They said he ‘passed with the dignity that has characterized his whole life,’ leaving a legacy of grace and poise.

For fans, the jubilant images from the ARIA ceremony now symbolize Neill’s last chapter, yet the announcement of his death left many stunned, as he had seemed in such high spirits in the days leading up to his departure.

‘Sam had been feeling great and looked healthier than he had in months after his battle with cancer,’ a source told the Daily Mail. ‘He was in a genuinely happy place, embracing life, staying busy with work, and reading scripts for future projects… Because of that, nobody saw this coming.’

According to the insider, ‘his family is absolutely devastated by the loss.’

In medical terms, too, Neill had every reason to feel hopeful. 

The actor was diagnosed with blood cancer – stage 3 angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma – in 2022. But after years of chemotherapy, when it briefly looked like he was ‘on the way out,’ he was thrown a lifeline in the form of CAR T‑cell therapy – a cutting‑edge treatment that genetically re‑engineers a patient’s own immune cells to hunt down cancer.

Tests in April confirmed there was no cancer left in his body, and Neill spoke about the news with genuine delight, calling it ‘an extraordinary thing’ and admitting he was ‘very, very excited that this can happen.’

From there, he began talking not in terms of endings, but of what came next.

‘It’s time I did another movie,’ he said in April, signaling that he wasn’t done with film sets and scripts just yet.

And friends say that wasn’t idle talk. 

‘He felt as though he had been given a new lease on life and was determined to make the most of every opportunity, enjoying every moment that came his way,’ our source said. 

For his doctor, that renewed energy was more than personal; it was a beacon. 

Dr Orly Lavee, the hematologist who treated Neill and became his friend, recalled how his response to treatment extended far beyond hospital corridors.

‘Sam overcoming an aggressive lymphoma provided so much hope for people far and wide,’ she told the Daily Mail.

‘He was a true believer and advocate for the science and research that continues to improve outcomes for our patients. It’s just one of his many legacies.’

Long before he was declared cancer-free, Neill spoke candidly about the possibility that his life might be shorter than he’d planned.

In a 2023 interview, he said he wasn’t afraid of dying; what bothered him was the idea of leaving while there was still so much he wanted to do.

‘I’m not afraid to die,’ he admitted, ‘but it would annoy me. Because I’d really like another decade or two, you know?’

He talked about the terraces and olive trees on his beloved Central Otago property in New Zealand, and the grandchildren he longed to watch grow up. 

Even in his memoir Did I Ever Tell You This? he joked about ‘possibly dying’ in the first chapter – more irritated than afraid. 

‘He often said he wasn’t afraid of dying – he simply didn’t want to because he loved his life,’ our source said. ‘He cherished every minute of it, valued the people around him, and wanted nothing more than to keep living, working, and creating for as long as he could.

‘And that is exactly what he was doing.’ 

Away from the cameras, that love of life showed up in the simplest ways. 

In recent years, Neill had stepped back from Hollywood’s bustle to focus on Two Paddocks, his vineyard in Central Otago. He also ran Redbank Farm, a menagerie of animals he clearly enjoyed as much as any glitzy movie premiere.

But beyond the vineyard and farm, family remained at the heart of Neill’s world. 

He had a son, Tim, with New Zealand actress Lisa Harrow, to whom he was married in the 1980s; a daughter, Elena, with Japanese makeup artist Noriko Watanabe, whom he married in 1989; and a stepdaughter, Maiko, whom he adopted from Watanabe’s previous marriage. 

Years later, he reunited with another son, Andrew, who had been placed up for adoption when Neill was in his twenties. They found each other again in 1994, and Andrew became part of the family circle. 

When Neill talked about wanting ‘another decade or two,’ it was for all of them – the terraces and trees, yes, but especially the eight grandchildren he wanted to watch become adults.

Professionally, he had already carved out the kind of résumé that would outlive any one lifetime. 

Born Nigel John Dermot Neill in Northern Ireland before his family moved to New Zealand in 1954, he eased himself into the name the world would eventually know. 

‘I found I moved more easily in the world as a Sam,’ he once joked. ‘Nigel is an awkward fit in most circumstances. Imagine being a movie actor called Nigel Neill.’

By the time he was playing Dr Alan Grant in Jurassic Park in 1993 – opposite Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, sprinting away from CGI dinosaurs in the Steven Spielberg blockbuster – the transformation was complete. 

He would reprise the role in Jurassic Park III and Jurassic World Dominion, and those three films alone were enough to make him a permanent part of pop‑culture history.

It’s no accident, then, that some of the most emotional tributes in the days after his death came from his Jurassic family. 

‘Sam was my beloved lifetime friend… He showed me the depths of loyalty, protectiveness and love always with the driest of wit,’ Dern said, describing him as ‘a true and noble gentleman, wrapped up in my dream leading man’ and signing off with, ‘I will love you forever, Dr. Alan Grant.’

Spielberg, meanwhile, remembered him as ‘exceptionally collaborative’ and recalled how playing a character impatient with children was a stretch for an actor who was, in real life, a devoted father. 

‘I adored making all the Jurassic movies with him,’ the director said. ‘Along with Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, we will always have our Jurassic family and Sam will never be forgotten by us or his many millions of fans around the world.’

Governor Gavin Newsom is confronting criticism from an unexpected adversary within his own political sphere.

In the final stretch as California lawmakers rush to finalize legislation for the governor’s approval, Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper has publicly rebuked state leaders. He accuses them of prioritizing criminals over victims, faltering on implementing voter-endorsed crime reforms, and supporting policies that undermine accountability.

During a recent interview on KCRA 3’s California Politics 360, Cooper voiced his frustrations regarding the state’s crime policies. He emphasized that despite voter demands for stricter measures against repeat offenders, the efforts from California’s leadership remain insufficient.

When asked to evaluate Newsom and the Legislature’s handling of crime, Cooper did not hold back in his critique.

“Not enough. Not enough,” Cooper said. “It’s just frustrating that people are hesitant to do anything.”

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Although California recently announced its lowest homicide rate in nearly six decades, Cooper argued the numbers don’t tell the whole story, saying victims continue to pay the price for policies that emphasize diversion and early release over accountability.

A major focus of Cooper’s criticism was Proposition 36, the voter-approved initiative that passed in 2024 with nearly 70% support statewide and in all 58 counties.

The measure increased penalties for repeat retail theft and certain drug crimes while allowing eligible offenders to have felony charges dismissed after completing court-ordered treatment.

“Not one statewide official supported it. And that’s troubling,” Cooper said during the interview.

While Cooper said the law is already showing results, pointing to retailers reporting declines in theft, he argued Sacramento has failed to provide the funding needed to make the initiative successful.

“The issue is no funding, no funding came with it,” he said. “It is working. But without funding, it doesn’t go anywhere.”

State leaders have said this year’s budget includes $375 million to help implement Proposition 36, though KCRA reported budget documents show $50 million is specifically directed toward Proposition 36-related court and pretrial services.

Cooper also blasted California’s expanding mental health diversion system, warning proposals to make more theft offenses eligible for diversion would undermine the very initiative voters overwhelmingly approved.

“It would water it down,” Cooper said, adding that some lawmakers “don’t want anybody held accountable.”

Gov. Newsom’s office pushed back on Cooper’s criticism, arguing California’s crime trends tell a different story.

“We will stick to real results, not headlines,” a spokesperson for the governor’s office told News Media. “Why don’t you ask Jim Cooper why we’ve made so much progress lowering crime rates in California.”

The spokesperson also pointed to Assembly Bill 46, legislation Newsom recently signed that tightens oversight of California’s mental health diversion program. According to the governor’s office, the measure was supported by Cooper, despite his broader criticism of the state’s diversion policies.

Cooper acknowledged during his interview with KCRA 3 that lawmakers and the governor recently approved changes adding new guardrails to mental health diversion. However, he argued the reforms still fall short.

“Some crimes are so shocking … you shouldn’t be eligible for mental health diversion,” he said, pointing to offenses including felony child abuse and crimes involving sexually violent predators.

The sheriff also renewed his criticism of California’s domestic violence laws, arguing the state still refuses to classify many felony domestic violence offenses as violent felonies despite the devastating injuries suffered by victims.

“Domestic violence goes on every day. Doesn’t matter if you’re rich or poor. Happens in every neighborhood. We have to treat it seriously,” he said.

When asked why lawmakers continue opposing legislation to classify domestic violence as a violent felony, Cooper replied bluntly.

“They have no argument. They just vote against it,” he said.

The criticism is consistent with Cooper’s recent public campaign against California’s criminal justice policies.

In recent months, the sheriff has argued that “domestic violence is one of the most personal and devastating forms of violence, but California law can still classify felony domestic violence as ‘non-violent.’ That needs to change.”

He has also repeatedly criticized lawmakers over Proposition 36, accusing them of ignoring nearly 70% of California voters by advancing diversion programs for retail theft offenders instead of fully funding and implementing the initiative.

“Californians were fed up with retail theft and passed Prop. 36 in all 58 counties,” Cooper wrote in a recent statement, arguing lawmakers instead responded by proposing new diversion programs that allow some offenders to avoid convictions.

Cooper has also emerged as one of the state’s most vocal critics of California’s youth offender and elderly parole policies, arguing they have systematically reduced accountability for violent offenders.

After five young suspects were charged in the fatal shooting of an 18-year-old Sacramento State student who was struck while riding in the back of an Uber, Cooper warned that California law often places greater emphasis on the offender’s age than the severity of the crime.

He argued that changes stemming from Proposition 57, youth offender parole laws and elderly parole policies have created a system where serious offenders can receive earlier release based on age rather than the harm inflicted on victims.

“The law places limits on how long offenders can be held but takes zero ownership of the damage done to victims and their families,” Cooper wrote. “This is not a system failing. It is a system operating exactly as designed.”

Cooper has also criticized California’s compassionate release program after a convicted attempted cop killer, who had been released early after shooting at Stockton police officers, was later arrested on new weapons charges.

Following that arrest, Cooper accused lawmakers of ignoring warnings from prosecutors and law enforcement about expanding release standards.

“The experts in the room saw the risks and they were ignored,” he wrote. “This is what happens when ideology outweighs public safety.”

Cooper closed his latest interview with a message he says Sacramento has lost sight of.

“We’ve got to get back to the victims.”

News Media has reached out to the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office for comment.

Resistance from left-leaning circles is mounting against the proposed merger of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery, with California, perhaps predictably, taking a leading role in opposing the deal.

Last year, Americans observed Netflix as it circled around the struggling Warner Bros. Discovery, watching with curiosity rather than concern. Meanwhile, Hollywood speculated whether the streaming giant would transform the iconic studio into a mere content factory.

This speculation didn’t prompt political intervention at the time, but as the merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery nears conclusion, the political stakes have been raised.

And politics, particularly of a partisan nature, is at the heart of this confrontation.

In an unfolding drama earlier this year, Democratic Senators Cory Booker and Amy Klobuchar urged Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison to preserve documents related to the merger, as well as any connections to the Trump administration.

More recently, Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren, Richard Blumenthal, and Adam Schiff brought up “national security risks” tied to the deal’s fiscal connections with Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi.

Now, 12 Democratic attorneys general are rolling up their sleeves, filing suit to stop the $110 billion merger between the Hollywood parties, with California’s Attorney General Rob Bonta as the tip of the legal spear.

Bonta warned of dystopian results that would impact “audiences on every sofa and movie theater seat in the U.S.”

But the main threat is that Paramount Skydance’s CEO, David Ellison, is viewed as a FOT – friend of Trump. Larry Ellison, the CEO’s father, has contribued to President Donald Trump’s political campaigns, starting in 2016.

Paramount Skydance also helped bring the pro-American “Top Gun: Maverick” to theaters in 2022. That, in turn, suggests the newly formed merger might tweak Hollywood programming to placate Red State USA.

Imagine one major movie studio reaching out to the half of the country that fellow studios either ignore, disdain, or mock.

The cultural fear spreads beyond the cineplex. 

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Paramount already flexed its editorial might over at CBS, courtesy of the new news sheriff, Bari Weiss. Under her rule, CBS covered fraud abuses the other, left-leaning programs downplayed. She also rattled the cages at “60 Minutes,” leading to veteran reporter Scott Pelley’s noisy dismissal.

Weiss could also take control of CNN. Picture a Weiss-ified CNN where Scott Jennings isn’t the only conservative on any given panel. Or a “Reliable Sources” segment tackling PBS’s extreme liberal bias, not the latest Fox News diatribe.

Losing CNN as a progressive mouthpiece, despite its ratings droop, would hurt the left.

Does that explain the zeal behind the new antitrust suit, not to mention the partisan nature of the merger attacks? Is this Trump Derangement Syndrome of the highest order?

Hollywood’s liberal elite have the Democrats’ back on the matter. In April, Ben Stiller, Rose Byrne, Javier Bardem and Emma Thompson, among others, signed an open letter skewering the deal.

“This transaction would further consolidate an already concentrated media landscape, reducing competition at a moment when our industries — and the audiences we serve — can least afford it,” they claimed.

Much of the fuss appears to be an effort to use the deal as an election year cudgel. It’s also a way to stop a more politcally-balanced movie studio and news apparatus from entering the chat.

Any time the left’s cultural dominance is threatened, the reaction is swift and punitive. Right-leaning movies get pummeled by movie critics, who lean aggressively to the left.

The 2024 movie “Reagan” earned a withering 17 percent “rotten” rating at RottenTomatoes.com, while general audiences gave it a 98 percent “fresh” score.

Bonta’s lawsuit says competition would be crushed by the merger. That might have once been the case, but the digital landscape is vastly different today. Newer platforms like YouTube now dominate the culture, while film and TV production are fleeing L.A. for redder states.

It’s more likely that Bonta and Co. fear a mega-studio that doesn’t genuflect to the left’s messaging machine.

That’s why this fight could get even uglier.

Christian Toto is the founder of Hollywood in Toto and host of The Hollywood in Toto podcast.