Oregon
Naked bike riders demonstrate against federal troops in ‘quintessentially Portland’ protest
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Protesters rallying against the Trump administration in Portland put the city’s quirky and irreverent reputation on display Sunday by pedaling through the streets wearing absolutely nothing — or close to it — in an “emergency” edition of the annual World Naked Bike Ride.
Crowds that have gathered daily and nightly outside the immigration facility in Oregon’s largest city in recent days have embraced the absurd, donning inflatable frog, unicorn, axolotl and banana costumes as they face off with federal law enforcement who often deploy tear gas and pepper balls.
The bike ride is an annual tradition that usually happens in the summer, but organizers of this weekend’s hastily called event said another nude ride was necessary to speak out against President Donald Trump’s attempts to mobilize the National Guard to quell protests.
Rider Janene King called the nude ride a “quintessentially Portland way to protest.”
The 51-year-old was naked except for wool socks, a wig and a hat. She sipped hot tea and said she was unbothered by the steady rain and temperatures in the mid-50s (about 12 Celsius).
“We definitely do not want troops coming into our city,” King said.
Bike riders made their way through the streets and to the city’s U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building. Authorities there ordered people to stay out of the street and protest only on sidewalks or risk being arrested.
The city is awaiting the ruling of an appeals court panel on whether Trump can send out the federalized troops after a federal judge on Oct. 5 ordered a temporary hold on deployment.
“Joy is a form of protest. Being together with mutual respect and kindness is a form of protest,” the ride’s organizers said on Instagram. “It’s your choice how much or little you wear.”
Fewer people were fully naked than usual — likely because of the cool, wet weather — but some still bared it all and rode wearing only bike helmets.
Naked bike rides have thronged the streets of Oregon’s largest city every year since 2004, often holding up traffic as the crowd cycles through with speakers playing music. Some years have drawn roughly 10,000 riders, according to Portland World Naked Bike Ride.
South Carolina
3 men, 1 woman identified as dead, 20 wounded after bar shooting
ST. HELENA ISLAND, S.C. (AP) — Authorities on Monday identified the three men and a woman who were killed during a weekend mass shooting at a bar on a South Carolina island. At least 20 other people were wounded.
Willie’s Bar and Grill on St. Helena Island was crowded with people when the shooting started on Sunday, including many who had attended Battery Creek High School in Beaufort and were at the bar for an alumni event.
Flowers and candles were placed outside the bar on Monday as the Beaufort County coroner’s office identified the dead as Kashawn Glaze, 22, Sherrod Smalls, 33, Amos Gary, 54 and A’shan’tek Milledge, 22.
Sheriff’s Lt. Danny Allen said Monday that investigators had no new information to share.
It’s hard “to have your name on the door and not feel the weight of what’s happening,” bar owner Willie Turral told WCSC-TV.
Willie’s Bar serves Gullah-inspired cuisine and describes itself on its website as “not just a restaurant but a community pillar committed to giving back, especially to our youth.”
An estimated 5,000 or more Gullah people living on the island trace their ancestry back to enslaved West Africans who once worked rice plantations in the area before being freed by the Civil War.
Georgia
Trump ally Vernon Jones announces run for secretary of state in 2026
ATLANTA (AP) — Vernon Jones, a former Democratic state representative who switched parties in support of President Donald Trump, announced Monday he’s running to become Georgia’s top election official.
Jones, who has called himself the “Black Donald Trump,” ran for Congress in 2022 with Trump’s endorsement, bolstering the president’s false claims that Georgia’s 2020 election was stolen from him.
“Trust in our elections has been shaken,” Jones said in a video announcing his campaign for secretary of state. He added, “Our elections must be secure. Our ballots must be protected.”
Current Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, is running for governor in the 2026 election. One of Raffensperger’s former top officials, Republican Gabriel Sterling, is also running to replace him.
Both made names for themselves defending Georgia’s presidential election results in 2020 after Trump called Raffensperger and asked him to “find” votes to overturn Democratic President Joe Biden’s win in the state.
Jones dropped out of the 2022 governor’s race, then lost the Republican congressional primary that same year to U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, who is now vying for Trump’s endorsement to try and unseat Democrat U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff.
Before his loss to Collins, Jones served several terms in Georgia’s state House before he became a Republican in January 2021 as his final term came to an end. Jones became a lauded voice in Republican circles as an African American who endorsed Trump’s reelection campaign.
The secretary of state oversees state elections and corporate filings, professional licenses and other business activities.
If elected, Jones said he would push for the use of paper ballots instead of Georgia’s electronic system, limit mail-in voting and toughen voter ID laws. He would also try to “cut red tape” for small businesses.
Along with Sterling, Republicans state Rep. Tim Fleming and Kelvin King are also running. Jones and King both appeal to Trump supporters who question the security of elections. King’s wife, Janelle King, is a member of the State Elections Board that saw some key actions overturned by the state Supreme Court.
Fleming heads a committee studying Georgia’s election system and is another vocal proponent of hand-marked paper ballots, a key demand from activists skeptical of the state’s voting machines.
Little-known candidate Adrian Consonery Jr. and former Fulton County State Court Judge Penny Brown Reynolds, who had a brief reality TV stint, are running as Democrats.
Naked bike riders demonstrate against federal troops in ‘quintessentially Portland’ protest
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Protesters rallying against the Trump administration in Portland put the city’s quirky and irreverent reputation on display Sunday by pedaling through the streets wearing absolutely nothing — or close to it — in an “emergency” edition of the annual World Naked Bike Ride.
Crowds that have gathered daily and nightly outside the immigration facility in Oregon’s largest city in recent days have embraced the absurd, donning inflatable frog, unicorn, axolotl and banana costumes as they face off with federal law enforcement who often deploy tear gas and pepper balls.
The bike ride is an annual tradition that usually happens in the summer, but organizers of this weekend’s hastily called event said another nude ride was necessary to speak out against President Donald Trump’s attempts to mobilize the National Guard to quell protests.
Rider Janene King called the nude ride a “quintessentially Portland way to protest.”
The 51-year-old was naked except for wool socks, a wig and a hat. She sipped hot tea and said she was unbothered by the steady rain and temperatures in the mid-50s (about 12 Celsius).
“We definitely do not want troops coming into our city,” King said.
Bike riders made their way through the streets and to the city’s U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building. Authorities there ordered people to stay out of the street and protest only on sidewalks or risk being arrested.
The city is awaiting the ruling of an appeals court panel on whether Trump can send out the federalized troops after a federal judge on Oct. 5 ordered a temporary hold on deployment.
“Joy is a form of protest. Being together with mutual respect and kindness is a form of protest,” the ride’s organizers said on Instagram. “It’s your choice how much or little you wear.”
Fewer people were fully naked than usual — likely because of the cool, wet weather — but some still bared it all and rode wearing only bike helmets.
Naked bike rides have thronged the streets of Oregon’s largest city every year since 2004, often holding up traffic as the crowd cycles through with speakers playing music. Some years have drawn roughly 10,000 riders, according to Portland World Naked Bike Ride.
South Carolina
3 men, 1 woman identified as dead, 20 wounded after bar shooting
ST. HELENA ISLAND, S.C. (AP) — Authorities on Monday identified the three men and a woman who were killed during a weekend mass shooting at a bar on a South Carolina island. At least 20 other people were wounded.
Willie’s Bar and Grill on St. Helena Island was crowded with people when the shooting started on Sunday, including many who had attended Battery Creek High School in Beaufort and were at the bar for an alumni event.
Flowers and candles were placed outside the bar on Monday as the Beaufort County coroner’s office identified the dead as Kashawn Glaze, 22, Sherrod Smalls, 33, Amos Gary, 54 and A’shan’tek Milledge, 22.
Sheriff’s Lt. Danny Allen said Monday that investigators had no new information to share.
It’s hard “to have your name on the door and not feel the weight of what’s happening,” bar owner Willie Turral told WCSC-TV.
Willie’s Bar serves Gullah-inspired cuisine and describes itself on its website as “not just a restaurant but a community pillar committed to giving back, especially to our youth.”
An estimated 5,000 or more Gullah people living on the island trace their ancestry back to enslaved West Africans who once worked rice plantations in the area before being freed by the Civil War.
Georgia
Trump ally Vernon Jones announces run for secretary of state in 2026
ATLANTA (AP) — Vernon Jones, a former Democratic state representative who switched parties in support of President Donald Trump, announced Monday he’s running to become Georgia’s top election official.
Jones, who has called himself the “Black Donald Trump,” ran for Congress in 2022 with Trump’s endorsement, bolstering the president’s false claims that Georgia’s 2020 election was stolen from him.
“Trust in our elections has been shaken,” Jones said in a video announcing his campaign for secretary of state. He added, “Our elections must be secure. Our ballots must be protected.”
Current Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, is running for governor in the 2026 election. One of Raffensperger’s former top officials, Republican Gabriel Sterling, is also running to replace him.
Both made names for themselves defending Georgia’s presidential election results in 2020 after Trump called Raffensperger and asked him to “find” votes to overturn Democratic President Joe Biden’s win in the state.
Jones dropped out of the 2022 governor’s race, then lost the Republican congressional primary that same year to U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, who is now vying for Trump’s endorsement to try and unseat Democrat U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff.
Before his loss to Collins, Jones served several terms in Georgia’s state House before he became a Republican in January 2021 as his final term came to an end. Jones became a lauded voice in Republican circles as an African American who endorsed Trump’s reelection campaign.
The secretary of state oversees state elections and corporate filings, professional licenses and other business activities.
If elected, Jones said he would push for the use of paper ballots instead of Georgia’s electronic system, limit mail-in voting and toughen voter ID laws. He would also try to “cut red tape” for small businesses.
Along with Sterling, Republicans state Rep. Tim Fleming and Kelvin King are also running. Jones and King both appeal to Trump supporters who question the security of elections. King’s wife, Janelle King, is a member of the State Elections Board that saw some key actions overturned by the state Supreme Court.
Fleming heads a committee studying Georgia’s election system and is another vocal proponent of hand-marked paper ballots, a key demand from activists skeptical of the state’s voting machines.
Little-known candidate Adrian Consonery Jr. and former Fulton County State Court Judge Penny Brown Reynolds, who had a brief reality TV stint, are running as Democrats.
