A prominent civil rights activist has taken up the cause of ensuring a “fair trial” for a Black teenager who has confessed to the killing of a high school football star during a track meet in Texas.

Karmelo Anthony faces murder charges in connection with the tragic stabbing of Austin Metcalf. The incident occurred in April 2025 at a high school track meet in Frisco, an affluent suburb located north of Dallas.

The trial for Anthony, who is charged with first-degree murder, is set to commence on June 1 and is anticipated to run for two weeks. If found guilty, the 19-year-old could face a life sentence.

Minister Dominique Alexander, a civil rights advocate, held a press conference on Thursday, calling on the public to honor the judicial process and ensure that the trial proceeds fairly.

According to The Dallas Morning News, Alexander has expressed concerns over the spread of misinformation on social media, which he claims is exacerbating racial tensions surrounding the case.

‘As an advocacy organization, our role is to ensure that Karmelo Anthony is afforded a fair trial, free from prejudice, bias, misinformation, racial hostility, or any outside influence that could impact the outcome of this case,’ the activist told reporters.

The Anthony family reportedly received multiple death threats in the weeks that followed the stabbing.

Supporters of the Metcalf family held a Protect White Americans rally in the days after his death. The teen’s father condemned the demonstrators for making the case about race.

Civil rights activist Dominique Alexander (right) has stepped in to advocate for a ‘fair trial’ for Karmelo Anthony (left), the teen who killed high school track star Austin Metcalf last year

Austin Metcalf was fatally stabbed on April 2 last year at a school stadium in Frisco, Texas

Despite the teenage boys not knowing each other, their deadly encounter has stoked racial tensions and generated enormous interest across the country. 

The case has become a lightning rod for political debate, with supporters rallying behind Anthony saying he has been treated unfairly due to his race. 

Meanwhile, the Metcalf family have been victims of swatting multiple times since the stabbing, the newspaper reported.

Swatting is a crime in which a perpetrator makes a false report to 911 to draw a significant police response at an unsuspecting victim’s residence.

Similarly, the judge who lowered Anthony’s bond was doxxed by internet users who posted his home address online. 

Metcalf’s image has also been used by far-right figures including Jake Lang, despite condemnation from Metcalf’s father who said he was creating ‘more race divide than bridging the gap’.

Anthony’s lawyer Mike Howard said last year: ‘The factual and legal issues involved in this case are not about race. The case involves two kids, one white, one black, so it’s understandable that some people would make it about race or discuss it in terms of race.’

With all the public scrutiny, the judge in the murder case has issued an order tightly regulating public conduct during the criminal proceedings. 

The altercation between Metcalf and Anthony stemmed from Anthony, who did not attend Memorial High school, sitting under the team tent for Memorial High School students, police have stated

Metcalf was stabbed in the chest following a verbal altercation with Anthony

Anthony has been under house arrest since he was released from jail a year ago

‘This Court finds that this case has generated substantial public and media attention and that unrestricted access or activity may compromise courtroom security, juror privacy, and the Defendant’s right to a fair trial,’ District Judge John Roach Jr., who is presiding over the trial, wrote in a court order last month.

The judge ordered that no recording, broadcasting or photography be allowed in the courtroom during the trial. Additionally, only nine members of credentialed media will be allowed in the court room per day, and the court will decide who is credentialed. 

He also set strict rules about decorum of those who attend the proceedings.

Metcalf was fatally stabbed on April 2 last year at a school stadium in Frisco.

Students from several high schools in the Frisco Independent School District were competing in a track race when the stabbing occurred. 

According to an arrest report, a witness said that when Anthony sat under the tent belonging to Metcalf’s team, Metcalf told Anthony to move, and Anthony replied: ‘Touch me and see what happens.’

Metcalf then touched Anthony, and Anthony said to punch him and see what happens, the arrest report said. A short time later, Metcalf grabbed Anthony and Anthony stabbed him with a knife, the report said.

Afterward, Anthony told an officer that he was protecting himself and that Metcalf had ‘put his hands on me,’ according to the report.

Anthony’s first-degree murder trial is scheduled to begin on June 1 and is expected to last two weeks. If convicted, the 19-year-old could be sentenced to up to life prison 

Anthony was arrested shortly after the attack, telling arresting officers who called him the alleged killer, ‘I’m not alleged. I did it.’ 

The killer was 17 at the time of the incident. He maintains he acted in self-defense during the altercation at the high school meet in the affluent Dallas suburb.

However, he has yet to explain why he brought a weapon to a school-sanctioned event.

Anthony was released from jail and placed on house arrest after his bond was reduced. 

His family has asked for $1.3 million to cover legal costs and other expenses ahead of his high-profile murder trial. 

More than $601,000 has been donated towards the goal since the GiveSendGo fundraiser was set up by Anthony’s mother last April, with hundreds of dollars still pouring in every week. 

The longstanding obstacles preventing Pot Inc. from accessing banking services may soon be dismantled, potentially paving the way for significant growth in the $50 billion cannabis industry, according to insights from On The Money.

Currently, the major hurdle is opposition from the GOP, particularly within the US Senate, to passing the SAFER Banking Act. This legislation aims to establish a “safe harbor” for marijuana-related businesses, thereby allowing major financial institutions to provide loans to these enterprises.

But hold on, isn’t marijuana — whether in the form of joints, edibles, or topical applications — already legal in nearly every state and, following a December executive order by President Trump, also somewhat acceptable at the federal level?

The situation is indeed complex. While most states have decriminalized cannabis, and some have legalized it entirely, Trump’s recent executive order did not fully legalize marijuana on the federal front. Instead, it made marijuana less illegal. It remains a Schedule 3 controlled substance, meaning it is no longer grouped with drugs like heroin, but it still isn’t equated with over-the-counter medications like aspirin.

This classification means that Pot Inc. cannot open a bank account with institutions like JPMorgan, nor can it access credit card services or consider lending and listing opportunities on US stock exchanges. Banks operate under federal regulations, so until cannabis is completely legalized and reclassified to a Schedule 4 or 5 drug, major banks are likely to avoid involvement.

As long as that is the case, any company that touches the so-called plant must be financed more expensively by smaller lenders and, if it wants to go public, list its shares overseas, thus stunting the growth of Pot Inc.

A workaround is the Safer Banking Act, which would shield banks from any legal liability from lending to Pot companies or underwriting weed stocks. It has faced intense opposition particularly in the GOP Senate — until maybe now. Last week, I interviewed Tim Scott, the GOP senator from South Carolina and chairman of the Senate Banking Committee who suggested the opposition — including his own — may be waning.

“There’s something called the Safer Banking Act, which is to allow for the banking question to be solved,” Scott told me during an interview at the Milken Global Conference. “The answer to the access to the banking system is that Congress is going to have to make it legal.”

Scott’s main concern is that you don’t want to create a nation of stoners. Weed, he says, is today “300% stronger than it was” back when Cheech and Chong began making pot acceptable for recreational use back in the 1970s.

But pot isn’t just for stoners. Weed is used increasingly for its medical benefits and for pain relief, the reasons president Trump classified it down to a schedule that allows for prescriptions.

Full disclosure: I won’t smoke the stuff because I hate being high, but I used weed-infused gel on my sore shoulder and it worked. Plus, it’s now a $50 billion business and growing despite the banking hurdles, meaning the money that can be regulated and taxed is being funneled to god knows where.

Or in Scott’s words: “The other part of the quandary is that what you don’t want is to have a situation where you have these cash rooms, where you have hundreds of thousands of dollars of cash sitting in a location because everyone knows you can’t bank it.” Such a situation, he said, foments “criminal activity … So there is a quandary that we have to solve. I think we’ll get to a solution.”

The Safer bill resides in the House of Representatives. It hasn’t been introduced to the full Senate probably because majority Leader John Thune is still an opponent (His office didn’t respond to a request for comment).

Marc Cohodes, a former hedge-fund manager and investor in Glass House Brands, a major California-based cannabis-cultivation business, makes a good point: “The Mob used to run sports gambling until it was legalized. Having money laying around in dispensaries in an industry that employs lots of people is bad policy, dangerous and wrong-headed.”

When Kash Patel journeyed to Hawaii last summer, the FBI was quick to clarify that his visit wasn’t a holiday. Instead, they focused on his official activities, such as the walking tour of the bureau’s Honolulu field office and meetings with local law enforcement agencies.

However, what the FBI’s press releases didn’t mention was a special excursion Patel took part in just days later. Government officials revealed this outing as a “VIP snorkel” around the USS Arizona, organized by the military. This sunken battleship, a solemn site at Pearl Harbor, serves as the final resting place for over 900 sailors and Marines.

Details of this snorkeling venture were uncovered through government emails accessed by The Associated Press. The revelation has sparked criticism concerning Patel’s use of the FBI plane and how his global travels often mix official duties with leisure. Notably, the FBI omitted any mention of the snorkeling activity or Patel’s brief return to Hawaii following his initial visit.

“It reflects a troubling pattern of distractions for Director Patel, who seems to stray from his duty of ensuring public safety,” commented Stacey Young, the founder of Justice Connection, a group of former federal prosecutors and agents advocating for the Department of Justice’s independence.

Snorkeling and diving around the USS Arizona are generally prohibited, with few exceptions. The battleship is not only a military cemetery accessible solely by boat but also a revered historical site since the 1941 attack by Japan. Marine archaeologists and National Park Service teams occasionally dive at the memorial to assess the wreck’s condition. Additional dives have been conducted to lay to rest the remains of Arizona survivors who wished to be reunited with their fallen comrades.

Still, since at least the Obama administration, the Navy and the park service have quietly allowed a handful of dignitaries, including military and government officials responsible for management of the memorial, to swim at the site. The Navy and park service declined to provide details of those permitted to take such excursions.

Former FBI directors have visited Pearl Harbor on official business, but none going back to at least 1993 has gone snorkeling at the memorial, according to those familiar with their activities and a former government diver who spoke to AP on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution. The diver said it was unusual for a director or anyone not connected to the memorial to be granted such access because the swims come with physical risks and present security, safety and logistical challenges.

Patel has faced scrutiny over his leadership for the past year, with his use of government resources emerging as a recurring storyline of his tenure. The issue flared in February when video surfaced of Patel partying in the locker room with members of the U.S. men’s hockey team after their gold medal win at the Winter Olympics in Milan. Patel defended the trip as recently as this week as “purposely planned” in connection with a cybercrime investigation involving the Italian authorities.

Unanswered questions about exclusive outing

Patel’s excursion was in August as he spent two days in Hawaii on his return to the United States from official visits to Australia and New Zealand. On his way to those countries, he stopped in Hawaii to visit the Honolulu field office. An FBI spokesman did not answer questions about the snorkeling session.

The FBI said in a statement that top regional commanders hosted Patel at Joint Base Harbor-Hickam “as they commonly do with US government officials on official travel.” The Pearl Harbor visit, the spokesman said, “was part of the Director’s public national security engagements last August with counterparts in New Zealand, Australia, our Honolulu Field Office, and the Department of War.”

It was not clear how Patel’s snorkeling session was arranged. A Navy spokesperson, Capt. Jodie Cornell, confirmed the outing but said the service was not able to track down who initiated it.

Participants in Patel’s swim were told “not to touch/come into contact with” the sunken ship in any way, Cornell said. She added that the snorkelers were also briefed about “the historic significance of the Memorial as the final resting place/tomb for hundreds of service members.”

A ‘VIP Snorkel’

Government emails obtained by the AP through a public records request show military officials coordinated logistics and personnel for the “VIP Snorkel.”

The National Park Service, which administers the site in coordination with the Navy, told AP it was not involved in Patel’s swim and declined to comment on the excursion. It also declined to answer questions about any other such outings.

Among those afforded invitations to snorkel have been Navy admirals, secretaries of defense and interior, according to the former government diver. The diver added that the swims were intended to provide officials insights into the memorial and its operations.

The Navy declined to provide examples or numbers showing how frequently it organizes such excursions. It described Patel’s outing as “not an anomaly.”

Hack Albertson, a Marine veteran, is part of a select group from the Paralyzed Veterans of America trained to dive on the Arizona annually to check on the condition of the wreck. He said it was inappropriate for Patel and other political figures to snorkel or dive at the memorial.

“It’s like having a bachelor party at a church. It’s hallowed ground,” he said. “It needs to be treated with the solemnity it deserves.”

Some family members don’t object to snorkeling

Some family members of Pearl Harbor survivors said they were not bothered by such official excursions, though some expressed a desire to also be permitted to snorkel at the site. They said they have not been permitted to do so.

“I have not heard of anyone who would object to these visits as they are very rare and there aren’t any survivors of the Arizona left alive,” Deidre Kelley, national president of the Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors, wrote in an email. “Their children might have some objections but I haven’t heard any.”

Patel visited Pearl Harbor several years ago during a trip he made to Hawaii while serving as chief of staff to Christopher Miller, then the acting secretary of defense, according to the former government diver.

Miller said he snorkeled over the Arizona during an official visit to the base, but Patel was not present for that excursion. Miller said he was invited to snorkel by regional military officials and was told such a tour was for “special occasions and for special visitors, of which you’re one.” He called it a “meaningful” experience.

“It was a very somber and meaningful event,” Miller said in an interview. “It was a historical tour. It wasn’t a recreational thing.”

FBI will not discuss Patel’s return to Hawaii

Beyond the snorkeling excursion, it is not clear what else Patel did during his second stop in Hawaii.

Flight tracking data for the Gulfstream G550 typically used by the FBI director show the jet remained on the island two nights during that stay before flying on to Las Vegas, Patel’s adopted hometown. The jet has a published range of about 7,700 miles (12,391 kilometers), meaning the plane would have needed to refuel somewhere between New Zealand and Washington.

The snorkeling session happened one day after Patel stopped in Wellington to open the FBI’s first standalone office in New Zealand. The visit sparked controversy after the AP revealed that Patel had gifted that country’s police and spy bosses inoperable 3D-printed replica pistols that were illegal to possess under local gun laws.

__ Mustian reported from New York. Associated Press writers Audrey McAvoy in Honolulu, Hawaii, and Konstantin Toropin contributed to this report.

A tragic diving expedition in the Maldives has taken a devastating turn, with the revelation that a sixth diver, who was part of the group, opted to remain on the yacht, thus escaping a fatal fate.

The diver, a student from the University of Genoa, decided not to join her five companions as they embarked on their underwater exploration from the Duke of York yacht in the Vaavu atoll on Thursday. As reported by the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, her decision ultimately saved her life.

While the reasons behind her choice not to dive remain unknown, she is now making her way back to Italy to reunite with her family.

Tragically, her five companions, all Italian citizens, did not return to the surface and have been presumed dead. The only body recovered so far is believed to be that of Monica Montefalcone, a 51-year-old marine biologist, discovered in underwater caves approximately 200 feet below sea level.

Among the victims were Montefalcone’s 22-year-old daughter, Giorgia Sommacal, along with Muriel Oddenino from Turin, Gianluca Benedetti from Padua, and Federico Gualtieri from Omegna.

Another 20 Italians were also aboard the yacht. It is not clear what their role in the expedition was, but they have been offered assistance by the Italian Embassy in Sri Lanka.

The group had boarded the ‘luxury’ Duke of York yacht, a foreign-operated live-aboard diving vessel, and they disappeared near Alimatha, one of the atoll’s most popular diving spots.

Aircraft and speedboats were deployed for a major search after the group of five was reported missing on Thursday afternoon, the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) said in a statement.

One of the victims has been named as Monica Montefalcone, a professor and researcher at the University of Genoa (pictured)

Giorgia Sommacal, 22, Monica Montefalcone’s daughter, also died

Muriel Oddenino was also a researcher at the University of Genoa

‘One body has been found among five divers who went diving in Vaavu Atoll,’ the statement said.

‘The body was found inside a cave. It is believed that the remaining four divers are also inside the same cave, which extends to a depth of about 60 metres (200 feet).’

Montefalcone was a respected marine biologist, TV personality, and professor of Tropical Marine Ecology and Underwater Science at the University of Genoa. 

Today her devastated husband, Carlo Sommacal, said his wife was an ‘expert’ diver and ‘never reckless’.

‘Monica would never have put the lives of her daughter and the other children at risk through recklessness. Something happened down there.’

Rescue teams on Friday continued their search for the remaining bodies, but local authorities have said the recovery operation is ‘high risk’ due to adverse weather conditions in the area. 

Meanwhile, police have launched an investigation into the tragedy, but the cause of death remains unknown at this time.

Authorities have not ruled out several scenarios, with police probing whether bad weather may have affected the divers’ visibility.

Weather conditions at the dive site on Thursday were unfavourable, with winds blowing between 25 and 30 miles per hour.

The meteorological service had issued a yellow alert for the area yesterday morning.

Gianluca Benedetti of Padua was named as one of the people who died on the dive

According to Italian news outlet La Repubblica, the fact that none of the five divers managed to resurface suggests the group may have become lost within an underwater cave.

With little light and poor visibility due to bad weather, they may have lost their bearings, panicked, and perhaps run out of air while trying to find their way out.

Police also haven’t ruled out the possibility that one of the five may have gotten stuck while the others ran out of air or panicked while trying to free their colleague.

Diving experts have also been speculating on various hypotheses.

According to local media, one of the most widely accepted hypotheses by the coast guard and experts is oxygen toxicity. This phenomenon occurs if the tank’s mixture is inadequate, making oxygen toxic at certain depths.

‘At 50 meters of depth in the sea, there are several risks; it’s a real tragedy,’ says Alfonso Bolognini, president of the Italian Society of Underwater and Hyperbaric Medicine.

‘There are several hypotheses we can make right now: an inadequate breathing mix can create a hyperoxic crisis when there’s an increase in the partial pressure of oxygen in the tissues and blood plasma, which can cause neurological problems.

‘Inside a cave at 50 meters of depth, all it takes is a problem for a diver or a panic attack for a diver,’ he adds, saying that ‘the agitation causes the water to become cloudy and can impair visibility.

‘In these cases, the panic component could lead to even fatal errors.’

The yacht company for the Duke of York, as stated on its official website, provides nitrox – the breathing mixture for scuba diving, composed of nitrogen and oxygen.

It is also unclear whether the Italians’ dive, being at a depth of over 160ft, was regulated, according to the MNDF.

Pictured: Federico Gualtieri who died in the Maldives

Meanwhile, it has been revealed that there was no local guide to accompany the group into the cave, as required by Maldivian law.

Investigators are also trying to determine whether the group used an ‘Ariadne’s thread’ – a rope used by divers while exploring caves to help them stay close together and find the entrance and exit to the cavities.

The use of the rope is mandatory in certain caves. 

In Italy, the tragedy has sent shockwaves through the academic world. 

Milan-born Montefalcone worked at Distav, the Department of Earth Sciences. In the Maldives, she was the scientific director of the island monitoring campaign.

Her department has described her as ‘the most experienced, the best, the most competent.’

Montefalcone survived the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami when it struck the Maldives. 

Her daughter Giorgia had inherited her mother’s passion for sea life and diving, having completed a degree in biomedical engineering at the University of Genoa. 

Oddenino, a 31-year-old marine biologist and ecologist, was Montefalcone’s colleague at the University of Genoa. 

She was an experienced diver and authored scientific publications. She was described by a loved one as ‘sweet and sensitive’.

Benedetti, 44, was an operations manager, a diving instructor and a boat captain.

According to initial reports, the five tourists who died had boarded the Duke of York (pictured), a foreign-operated live-aboard diving vessel, and they disappeared near Alimatha

The Maldives, a nation of 1,192 tiny coral islands scattered some 500 miles across the equator in the Indian Ocean, is a luxury holiday destination popular with divers. The divers went missing close to Alimatha (pictured)

After working in banking and finance for several years, he turned his passion for diving into a full-time career and moved to the Maldives in 2017.

He was the operations manager and skipper aboard the Duke of York, the diving yacht that the group used for their expedition.

He was described by Albatros Top Boat, the Duke of York’s operator, as ‘energetic, extremely sporty, and a lover of reading, classic cinema, and chess.’

Speaking about her son’s tragic death, Benedetti’s mother told Italian news outlet Gazzettino: ‘I heard the news from the embassy. I can’t say anything, and you can only imagine the pain.’

Gualtieri, 31, was a scuba diving instructor and had recently graduated from the University of Genoa with a degree in marine biology and ecology.

He had previously praised his professor, Montefalcone, saying: ‘Ever since I met her, she has always been my guide, encouraging me to follow my dreams and passions.’

His girlfriend, Noemi De Luca, paid a tribute to him on social media, saying: ‘Three years together, but always and forever in each other’s hearts. You’ll always be in my heart.’

She added: ‘Just know that I was, am and always will be proud of you.’ 

Pictured: Marine biologist Muriel Oddenino. She was described by a loved one as ‘sweet and sensitive’

Pictured: Giorgia Sommacal. She had inherited her mother Monica Montefalcone’s passion for diving

Local officials said it was the worst single diving accident in the nation.

Maldives Minister of Tourism Mohamed Ameen said coast guard officers and security forces were scouring remote seas around where the divers were reported missing on Thursday afternoon.

‘I am deeply saddened by the tragic deep diving accident in Vaavu Atoll today,’ Ameen said in a statement.

‘The coastguard and all relevant authorities are actively engaged in the search and recovery operation.’

The Duke of York’s operator declined to comment when approached for comment.  

Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has confirmed the incident.

‘Following an accident during a scuba dive, five Italians died in the Vaavu atoll, in the Maldives,’ a statement read.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Italian Embassy in Colombo, Sri Lanka, have said they have been ‘contacting the victims’ families to provide any necessary consular assistance’.

Rome’s prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation into the death of the five Italians. 

The Maldives, a nation of 1,192 tiny coral islands scattered some 500 miles across the equator in the Indian Ocean, is a luxury holiday destination popular with divers, who often stay at secluded resorts or on dive boats.

Local regulations allow dives to a maximum depth of 98 feet, but experienced professionals are known to go deeper.

Diving and water-sport-related accidents are relatively rare in the South Asian nation, although several fatal incidents have been reported in recent years.

A British woman tourist died while diving in December, and her distraught 71-year-old husband died a few days later after falling ill.

A 26-year-old Japanese tourist went missing after a diving expedition near the capital in June.

Local media reported last year that at least 112 tourists had died in marine-related incidents in the archipelago over the previous five years, including 42 in diving or snorkelling accidents.

Akron Fire Department response