A dramatic courtroom decision unfurled as a former U.S. Navy SEAL faced conviction for a thwarted scheme targeting law enforcement with explosives. This plot was intended to unfold during a “No Kings” rally in California but was dismantled thanks to a vigilant store clerk whose alertness alerted federal agents and changed the course of events.

Gregory Vandenberg, aged 49, saw the verdict handed down after a five-day legal examination. He was found guilty by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico on charges that included the transportation of explosives with lethal intent and the attempted importation of outlawed fireworks into California.

In a swift deliberation lasting approximately three hours, the jury delivered their unanimous verdict of guilt.

According to prosecutors, Vandenberg embarked on a journey from El Paso, Texas, to San Diego in advance of the June 14, 2025 protests. During his travels, he stopped at a roadside travel center near Lordsburg, New Mexico, where he acquired six mortar-style fireworks along with 72 M-150 explosive firecrackers.

While making the purchase, Vandenberg told a store clerk he intended to throw the explosives at law enforcement officers during the protests, federal authorities said.

He repeatedly asked about the amount of gunpowder in the fireworks, whether taping multiple mortars together would increase their explosive force and said he was interested only in their ability to injure officers, prosecutors said.

Vandenberg also encouraged the clerk to attend the protests and hand out fireworks to others, telling the employee he would not get hurt because of his military experience, according to trial testimony.

The conversation alarmed employees enough that they wrote down Vandenberg’s license plate and contacted law enforcement before he reached California.

Federal agents tracked Vandenberg to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona, where he was arrested the following morning while sleeping inside his vehicle.

Prosecutors said he falsely claimed he was traveling for work despite being unemployed and later told investigators he was visiting friends in Phoenix.

A search of Vandenberg’s vehicle uncovered the fireworks along with clothing displaying antisemitic, anti-Israel and extremist imagery, according to prosecutors.

Among the items recovered were shirts bearing an Al-Qaeda flag, a shirt calling for the destruction of Judea, a hat featuring the Al-Qaeda flag and apparel displaying a variation of the Black Sun, a symbol associated with neo-Nazi ideology.

Jurors were also shown photographs of Vandenberg wearing a custom-made T-shirt bearing the word “AMALEK” while inside the travel center. Prosecutors said Vandenberg told investigators the word meant “destroyer of Jews.”

Investigators also discovered Vandenberg’s cellphone home screen displayed a Taliban flag. A forensic review of the phone uncovered what prosecutors described as violent extremist content, including antisemitic, anti-Israel and anti-U.S. material, as well as messages discussing the upcoming protests.

According to prosecutors, those messages suggested Vandenberg believed the U.S. government, including President Donald Trump, was controlled by Israel and Jewish people, evidence they argued helped establish his motive for targeting law enforcement officers.

“People in this country are free to hold their own beliefs and to express them peacefully,” Acting U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison said in a statement. “What they are not free to do is use explosives to threaten or terrorize others.”

Ellison added that Vandenberg “intended to turn explosives into a tool of intimidation,” and said the verdict “sends the message that attempts to substitute violence for expressing one’s opinion has no place in our communities and will be met with federal consequences.”

Vandenberg was later sentenced to 16 months in federal prison, where he remains in custody. Upon his release, he will serve one year of supervised release.

A petition bearing nearly 17,000 signatures is urging Mayor Zohran Mamdani to refrain from attending the upcoming 25th-anniversary events of the 9/11 attacks. Despite this significant opposition from the families of the victims, the mayor seemed to dismiss these concerns on Monday.

Mayor Mamdani faced questions about his intentions to participate in the commemorations for the nearly 3,000 lives lost during the September 11, 2001 attacks. The pressure to reconsider his attendance has been fueled by a growing petition on Change.org.

In response, Mamdani stated, “I will proudly honor the families, the survivors, the first responders forever impacted by that horrific terror attack, by standing alongside them at this year’s 9/11 commemoration — reaffirming that we will never forget the solemn day felt by all of us who call this city home, and frankly, by all of us who call this country home.”

The petition was initiated by Giovianni Galante, who tragically lost his wife, Grace Catherine Galante, in the al-Qaeda attacks on the World Trade Center. According to reports, since its creation last week, this online appeal has gathered at least 16,889 signatures.

Galante expressed his concerns by highlighting several issues, including Mayor Mamdani’s hesitance to denounce the term “globalize the intifada” and his connections with individuals like Ramzi Kassem, the mayor’s chief counsel, who previously defended Ahmed al-Darbi, an al-Qaeda operative linked to a tanker bombing plot.

“This anniversary is one of remembrance grounded in shared American values: respect for the victims, recognition of the gravity of the attacks, and a clear rejection of the ideologies that contributed to such violence,” the petition reads.

First responder John Feal, who spent 11 weeks in the hospital as a result of the attacks, told The Post it was important that the families could peacefully grieve on the solemn 25th anniversary of losing their loved ones.

“If they’re gonna be upset by his presence, and that they’re not gonna get that day or a few hours to heal and to hear the loved one’s name without seeing his face, then I support that 100 %,” he said. “When you piss off and upset the 9/11 community, it’s a problem.”

Petitioners cited that many people feel Mamdani’s public positions and associations were “hostile” to their cause.

“Stay home, please. And ensure your wife does the same. That in itself would be a service to this city,” wrote one first responder by the name Debra with her sign-on to the appeal.

Another signee named Mark claimed he lost twelve friends in the attacks. 

“The current NYC mayor has not earned the privilege of being in the company of such magnificent Americans. Stay away, Mamdani,” he wrote. 

As the primary election day looms closer, the Democratic race for the U.S. Senate seat in Minnesota is heating up with unexpected intensity.

Peggy Flanagan, currently serving as Minnesota’s lieutenant governor, is gaining significant momentum bolstered by high-profile endorsements from progressive figures such as Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, alongside Representatives Ilhan Omar and Ro Khanna.

Nonetheless, Angie Craig, one of Flanagan’s primary adversaries, is determined to maintain her ground. During a debate hosted by Minnesota Public Radio on Monday, Craig candidly expressed her frustration over Flanagan’s perceived lack of responsibility regarding the state’s fraud crisis.

“The lieutenant governor, even as we sit here today, continues to take absolutely no accountability for any of the fraud issues, and she continues to blame the governor,” Craig stated emphatically on MPR, further confessing, “I’m going to be honest, it’s p***ing me off.”

Craig asserted her position by adding, “It p***es me off that you completely put all of the responsibility on the governor of Minnesota when you were the number two elected leader in Minnesota during that period of time,” intensifying her critique of Flanagan.

Flanagan claimed that Craig was using ‘Republican talking points’ in her attack. 

Craig also shared that ‘Republicans are dying to run against [Flanagan] because they believe that [she has] a unique vulnerability on fraud.’

While Governor Tim Walz has still not weighed in on the race, his wife Gwen Walz backed Craig on Monday.

‘In an era when everything we hold dear is at stake, we need a nominee who can win statewide—in red counties and blue. And that’s Angie … She has the savvy, the focus, and the work ethic necessary to get the job done and keep this seat blue,’ Gwen Walz shared in her endorsement.

Walz has been mired in a deepening scandal over scams involving state welfare, including payments to daycares and COVID-era loans. The majority of the defendants indicted so far come from the Somali community.

Prosecutors have said that at least 78 people connected with the Feeding Our Future program defrauded the federal government of up to $300 million, falsely claiming reimbursement for meals served to children during the COVID-19 pandemic, making it the largest pandemic relief fraud scheme in American history.

Instead, the defendants allegedly blew the stolen money on Lamborghinis, Porsche SUVs, beachfront property in Kenya, and private villas in the Maldives. The vast majority of those convicted are Somali.

US Attorney Joe Thompson announced in December of last year that investigators had uncovered around $9 billion in federal Medicaid funds stolen from 14 Minnesota programs since 2018. Eighty-two of the 92 defendants – charged across child nutrition, housing services and autism program scams – are Somali.

Minnesota’s US Senate seat is rated ‘likely Democratic’ by the Cook Political Report. 

A SurveyUSA poll from last week showed Craig and Flanagan in a tied race with 40 percent of likely primary voters backing each candidate.

Meanwhile, Manhattan prosecutors are poised to oppose any federal plea deal for Mangione if it risks disrupting his forthcoming New York murder trial, where he’s accused of killing Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare.

A freshly unveiled letter, examined by News Media, revealed that the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office is closely monitoring rumors about Mangione’s potential guilty plea in a separate federal case. They express concern that this plea might be completed before the state trial unfolds.

Prosecutors have signaled they might request that the presiding federal judge considers the implications of such a deal on New York’s judicial process before moving forward with it.

This development follows a federal court session in June, where U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett deferred Mangione’s federal trial until January 2027, thereby paving the way for his New York murder trial to take precedence.

Mangione, 28, has pleaded not guilty in both the state and federal cases stemming from the December 2024 killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, who was shot outside a Manhattan hotel as he headed to a conference.

“If a proposed federal guilty plea would operate to defeat a just outcome in the state prosecution, the People could advise the federal district court of that consequence, and the court should consider that fact in deciding whether to accept the plea,” Assistant District Attorney Joel Seidemann wrote in the July 2 letter.

Prosecutors added that the court should also consider any opposition from Thompson’s family before accepting such a plea.

The letter marks the clearest sign yet that Manhattan prosecutors are prepared to push back against any deal they believe could keep the state’s high-profile murder case from ever reaching a jury.

The DA’s office said it has already shared its position with federal prosecutors and Mangione’s defense team.

Prosecutors argued that any resolution should reflect “the seriousness of defendant’s offenses,” “the loss of an innocent life,” the impact on Thompson’s family and New York’s interest in prosecuting the homicide.

The dispute comes after reports surfaced in June that Mangione’s legal team and federal prosecutors had discussed a possible plea deal but failed to reach an agreement.

Mangione attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo blasted information attributed to anonymous sources at the time as “a troubling, deliberate pattern by prosecutors and law enforcement to prejudice Luigi.”

A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York previously declined to comment on the reported negotiations.

At a June 29 hearing, Garnett delayed Mangione’s federal trial after concluding there was no practical way for his attorneys to prepare for two high-profile trials at the same time.

During that hearing, Agnifilo confirmed Mangione’s New York murder trial remained on track to begin Sept. 8 and said the defense had been told there would be no delays.

“We’ve been told that no requests for adjournments will be granted and to be ready on that date,” Agnifilo told the court.

The judge said there was simply no realistic way to move both cases forward at once.

“It’s simply impossible for us to be moving through the jury selection process in this case while the defendant and his counsel are fully occupied actually conducting the state trial,” the judge said. She rescheduled federal jury selection for Jan. 5, 2027, with opening statements set for Jan. 25.

Under the revised schedule, about 800 prospective jurors will complete written questionnaires in early December before in-person jury selection begins.

Manhattan prosecutors also argued New York should get the first opportunity to try Mangione because he was extradited there on the state case before he was later transferred into federal custody. Prosecutors argued that the transfer did not change New York’s priority to prosecute him first.

Prosecutors allege Mangione fled the city and was arrested five days later at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania. 

CHICAGO (WLS) — On Monday afternoon, the Chicago area was rattled by severe weather systems, with tornado warnings sweeping through multiple regions.

Residents of Kankakee County are currently under a Tornado Warning, which will remain in place until 5 p.m.

Additionally, a Severe Thunderstorm Warning has been issued affecting the counties of Grundy, Kankakee, and Will. This alert is expected to last until 4:45 p.m.

In LaPorte County, residents should brace for severe thunderstorms, with warnings extending until 5:15 p.m.

Cook and DuPage counties are not spared from these weather conditions either, as a Severe Thunderstorm Warning is in effect until 5:30 p.m.

A Severe Thunderstorm Warning is in effect for Lake and Porter counties in Indiana until 5:30 p.m.

A Severe Thunderstorm Watch is in effect for Cook, DuPage, Kankakee, Lake and Will counties in Illinois and Benton, Jasper, Lake, Newton and Porter counties in Indiana until 7 p.m.

There is a Flash Flood Warning for Cook County until 5 p.m.

There is a Flash Flood Warning for Kendall and Will counties until 6:45 p.m.

Two contractors are trapped in a storm sewer in Downers Grove, village officials said.

Police were flagged down about 12:50 p.m. in the 800-block of Curtiss Street.

Downers Grove fire crews are working to rescue them, officials said.

Ground Stops are in effect at O’Hare and Midway.

There were about 440 flights canceled at O’Hare as of 4 p.m. About 50 flights were canceled at Midway.

Delays at both airports were about 90 minutes.

ComEd said nearly 300,000 customers were without power at around 3 p.m.

Nearly 30,000 NIPSCO customers are affected.

The CTA Purple Line train is suspended due to debris near Central, the CTA said just before 2 p.m.

The No. 201 Central/Ridge bus is still running.

Shuttle buses are available from Howard to Linden to provide connecting service through the affected area.

The Yellow Line is also suspended due to debris on the tracks near Dodge.

The No. 97 Skokie bus is still running.

Shuttle buses are available from Howard to Skokie.

The village of Burr Ridge offices are closed Monday due to a power outage.

Storms began moving in late Monday morning, with quarter-size hail reported in some suburbs such as Clarendon Hills and potentially baseball-size hail in Bolingbrook.

Radar was indicating rotation near the Darien area around 12:15 p.m. At about 12:38 p.m., the storm was moving near Orland Park.

Orland Park police asked residents to stay inside amid traffic lights out, trees and wires down and flooding.

Track power outages in your area with the ABC7 Chicago Power Outage Tracker

Wheaton officials also said crews were responding to localized flooding and fallen trees.

Wilmette officials said storms have downed trees there as well.

In Wisconsin, the National Weather Service confirmed a tornado in Winnebago County, about 90 miles northwest of Milwaukee.

The twister was moving over Lake Winnebago and moving southward toward Fond du Lac County around 12:25 p.m., the National Weather Service said.

Images posted to social media showed extensive damage in Appleton, including homes stripped of roofs and siding, cars flipped over and streets littered with tree limbs.

In Menasha, the electric utility said the entire city of about 18,000 people is believed to be without power because of a downed transmission line.

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There is a Flood Warning for the Little Calumet River at Munster until 1 p.m. Tuesday.

There is a Flood Warning for Cook County and Lake County, Indiana until 1 p.m. Tuesday.

In Little Village, cars were getting stuck in flooded streets Monday.

At one point a suburban man said the water was up to the window of his black Lexus sedan near California Avenue and 31st Street. He said he thought he could make it. His brother spoke for him.

“He just couldn’t move his car like off now; I think the engine is broken because of water. The water was tough on his window,” Ousame Sidi said.

Melissa Mosqueda was getting a ride to work from her boyfriend, and even in their Jeep their engine was steaming after getting through the viaduct.

“It’s really bad right now; the weather is crazy. The traffic, all the bridges are full of water,” Melissa Mosqueda said.

Heat index values in western parts of the Chicago area could exceed 110, while the rest of the area could see heat index values more than 100, ABC7 AccuWeather meteorologist Tracy Butler said.

An Extreme Heat Warning is in effect for DeKalb, Grundy, La Salle and Livingston counties until 9 p.m. Monday.

A Heat Advisory is in effect for Boone, Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will counties in Illinois and Lake, Newton, Jasper and Benton counties in Indiana until 9 p.m.

How to stay cool in Chicago area amid rising temperatures this summer: LIST

A Beach Hazards statement is in effect until 10 a.m. Wednesday at Lake Michigan beaches.

A reminder during this heat: Community cooling centers are open.

You can also cool off at Chicago Park District facilities, public libraries and police stations.

Seniors are welcome at any city senior center.

To request a well-being check, call 3-1-1.

Cooling centers are also open across the suburbs.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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