Texas
Another witness ordered released after a fatal shooting by a federal immigration agent
A second witness to a fatal shooting in Houston by a federal immigration agent has been ordered released from custody after more than a month in detention.
Daniel Tirado Pantoja was one of three passengers riding in a work van when the driver, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican national who ran a homebuilding business, was shot July 7. The Department of Homeland Security has said Salgado Araujo, who had lived without legal status in the U.S. for 35 years, had “weaponized his vehicle” and that the officer fired on him in self-defense.
U.S. District Judge Alfred Bennett in Houston ordered Tirado Pantoja released after finding that he had no criminal record and was neither a flight risk nor a danger to the community, according to court records.
“We’re very glad that Mr. Tirado is going to be reunited with his family,” said Ross Miller, an attorney for Tirado Pantoja.
Tirado Pantoja and another passenger, Jose Trinidad Rojas Pliego, have disputed accounts given by DHS about the confrontation with agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
They said the agents were never in front of the ICE vehicle and that Salgado Araujo had put vehicle in park as the agents were shooting. Tirado Pantoja also has said the agents’ vehicle hit them from behind and then again on the driver’s side.
Rojas Pliego was already released from detention last month. DHS did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Tuesday about the judge’s ruling.
Victor Salgado, the brother of the man killed, was also in the van and remains in custody. He also has asked a judge to order his release.
Ronaldo Salgado, Salgado Araujo’s son, had said in social media post after the shooting that his father was on his way to work, picking up his workers, when the shooting occurred. He said his father was a hardworking man and was in the process of getting a work permit.
Ohio
Judge blocks enforcement of proof-of-citizenship requirement for voter registration
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked enforcement of an Ohio requirement that voters show proof of citizenship when registering to vote at a motor vehicle bureau, a rule that took effect for the first time this year.
Secretary of State Frank LaRose, a Republican, said he would immediately appeal.
In a lawsuit brought on behalf of the Ohio Alliance of Retired Americans and the progressive group Red Wine & Blue by the Democrat-aligned Elias Law Group, U.S. District Court Judge Solomon Oliver Jr. in Cleveland ruled that the requirement appears to conflict with the National Voter Registration Act, which he said takes precedence.
His injunction suspends the practice of requiring such documentation ahead of the Oct. 5 registration deadline for this fall’s midterm elections.
It comes as President Donald Trump pushes Congress to pass a bill that would, among other election changes, require documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote.
Ohio is among a handful of states with proof-of-citizenship laws in place for the first time this year. South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming also put similar requirements on the books for this year’s midterms. Arizona had one already in force for state and local elections.
In South Dakota on Tuesday, the League of Women Voters and a Sioux Falls voter filed a lawsuit over that state’s new proof-of-citizenship requirement for voter registration. Among their requests is that a judge force the state to accept photocopies of eligible ID forms and also to rescind guidance requiring people using certain ID types to register in person.
Ohio’s requirement was added last year to its motor voter law. In his ruling, Solomon wrote that the requirement “is more than the signed attestation to U.S. citizenship that Ohio’s other voter registration methods accept. Therefore, (the challenged provision) likely conflicts with the NVRA, because it is more than ‘the minimum amount of information necessary.’”
He further found that Ohio’s overall “motor voter” registration process has illegally been limiting the option to sign up to vote to those who successfully obtain a driver’s license, rather than offering it to everyone who submits an application for one, as federal law requires.
Ben Stafford, a partner at Elias Law, said in a statement that Ohio voters would now be able to register at the BMV without the requirement to show citizenship paperwork. He described the regulation as “exactly the type of government-imposed barrier that the NVRA exists to prevent.”
The judge’s order prevents Ohio from requiring any driver’s license applicant to produce proof-of-citizenship documents before being offered the chance to register to vote, even those applicants turned away for lack of the proper paperwork. It doesn’t cover applicants who indicate they are not U.S. citizens.
LaRose criticized the ruling and pointed to a case in Franklin County, which includes Columbus, that he said proves the process Solomon has required doesn’t work. The case involved a lawful permanent resident of the U.S. who was ineligible to vote but did so in 2018 after she said a clerk at the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles mistakenly led her to believe she was allowed to do so. The woman was found not guilty by reason of entrapment.
“Under this order, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles would be required to offer a voter registration form to a person who is applying for a driver’s license, even if that person can’t verify that they’re a citizen,” LaRose said in a statement. “We strongly disagree with that decision, and I’ve asked our legal team to file an immediate appeal.”
Solomon’s decision aligned with court decisions elsewhere.
In May, in the first major legal test of Trump’s citizenship-related election demands, a federal judge in New Hampshire ruled that the state must make voter registration easier by letting applicants attest to their U.S. citizenship if they don’t have the documents to prove it.
When New Hampshire’s law took effect for the first time, for local elections in 2025, some election clerks said they knew of would-be voters who couldn’t produce the necessary documents and were turned away — for example, women who had changed their last names when they married.
In June, a federal judge permanently barred the Trump administration from implementing most of the president’s first executive order on elections, including a requirement that people show documentary proof of citizenship when they register to vote. The ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Denise Casper in Boston effectively converted what was a preliminary injunction blocking much of the attempted overhaul into a permanent one.
A 2025 University of Maryland study estimates that 21.3 million Americans eligible to vote do not have documents or have easy access to the documents required to prove citizenship.
Washington
Police arrest a California man after finding a guillotine near the U.S. Capitol
WASHINGTON (AP) — United States Capitol Police on Tuesday arrested a California man with what they said was a guillotine in the bed of a pickup truck parked near the U.S. Capitol complex.
Police detained 35-year-old Philan-Tam-Duy Le of Julian, California, shortly after 3 p.m., when the truck he was driving containing the device was illegally parked east of the Capitol grounds, Capitol police said.
Officers said they were investigating why the suspect, who drove from California, had made the trip and why he was transporting it.
A guillotine is an instrument for administering capital punishment by beheading and consists of a heavy blade mounted on a tall wooden frame. It was invented in late-18th Century France and became a symbol of the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution.
New York
Judge grants actress Blake Lively $400,000 of $8M she sought in legal fees
NEW YORK (AP) — Blake Lively will get just over $400,000 of the $8 million she sought in legal costs from actor and director Justin Baldoni after they settled their fight over the production of their 2024 film “It Ends With Us,” a federal judge ruled Wednesday.
Judge Lewis J. Liman explained in a written decision in Manhattan why Lively was not entitled to the full amount that her lawyers claim was spent after Baldoni and his production company, Wayfarer Studios LLC, filed their own claims in response to her December 2024 lawsuit.
Acknowledging Lively and Baldoni had “waged fierce battle against each other in court,” the judge denied Lively the bulk of legal fees she sought, citing the limits of a California law designed to protect survivors of sexual harassment and discrimination from retaliatory lawsuits.
The law meant to protect sex abuse survivors from legal actions designed to intimidate and silence victims could only be construed to let her be reimbursed for what she paid lawyers to defend against defamation claims rather than all claims Baldoni made against her, Liman wrote.
Thus, the judge ruled, Lively is entitled to $363,245 in attorneys’ fees and $44,206 in costs.
Requests for comment were sent to Baldoni and Lively’s representatives.
In her lawsuit, Lively asserted that she had been subjected to sexual harassment, retaliation, breach of contract, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress and invasion of privacy.
Baldoni, who directed the dark romantic drama and starred in it with Lively, denied harassing her or orchestrating a smear campaign. He claimed the complaints about his behavior were made up by Lively as part of an effort to seize creative control of the movie.
Weeks after Lively sued, Baldoni and Wayfarer asserted claims in a countersuit against Lively and her husband, “Deadpool” actor Ryan Reynolds, of civil extortion, defamation, invasion of privacy, breach of good faith and fair dealing and economic interference.
In June 2025, Liman tossed out the countersuit Baldoni and Wayfarer had filed and nearly a year later rejected Lively’s sexual harassment claims on the grounds that she was an independent contractor rather than an employee when she worked on the film.
In early May, two weeks before a scheduled trial, Lively and Baldoni reached a settlement, saying in a joint statement that Lively’s concerns “deserved to be heard” and that they “remain firmly committed to workplaces free of improprieties and unproductive environments.”
“It Ends With Us,” an adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling 2016 novel about a relationship devolving into domestic violence, was released in August 2024 and exceeded box office expectations despite criticism that it glorified abuse. Lively and Baldoni’s fractious falling out took attention away from the film, overshadowing its message and success.
Lively said in her lawsuit that during filming, Baldoni made inappropriate comments about her appearance, violated physical boundaries while filming a love scene, and pushed for nudity — against Lively’s wishes — during a scene in which her character was giving birth.
Baldoni denied doing anything outside the realm of the normal creative process of making a movie.
Lively appeared in the 2005 film “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” and the TV series “Gossip Girl” from 2007 to 2012 before starring in films including “The Town” and “The Shallows.”
Baldoni starred in the TV comedy “Jane the Virgin,” directed the 2019 film “Five Feet Apart” and wrote “Man Enough,” a book challenging traditional notions of masculinity.
Another witness ordered released after a fatal shooting by a federal immigration agent
A second witness to a fatal shooting in Houston by a federal immigration agent has been ordered released from custody after more than a month in detention.
Daniel Tirado Pantoja was one of three passengers riding in a work van when the driver, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican national who ran a homebuilding business, was shot July 7. The Department of Homeland Security has said Salgado Araujo, who had lived without legal status in the U.S. for 35 years, had “weaponized his vehicle” and that the officer fired on him in self-defense.
U.S. District Judge Alfred Bennett in Houston ordered Tirado Pantoja released after finding that he had no criminal record and was neither a flight risk nor a danger to the community, according to court records.
“We’re very glad that Mr. Tirado is going to be reunited with his family,” said Ross Miller, an attorney for Tirado Pantoja.
Tirado Pantoja and another passenger, Jose Trinidad Rojas Pliego, have disputed accounts given by DHS about the confrontation with agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
They said the agents were never in front of the ICE vehicle and that Salgado Araujo had put vehicle in park as the agents were shooting. Tirado Pantoja also has said the agents’ vehicle hit them from behind and then again on the driver’s side.
Rojas Pliego was already released from detention last month. DHS did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Tuesday about the judge’s ruling.
Victor Salgado, the brother of the man killed, was also in the van and remains in custody. He also has asked a judge to order his release.
Ronaldo Salgado, Salgado Araujo’s son, had said in social media post after the shooting that his father was on his way to work, picking up his workers, when the shooting occurred. He said his father was a hardworking man and was in the process of getting a work permit.
Ohio
Judge blocks enforcement of proof-of-citizenship requirement for voter registration
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked enforcement of an Ohio requirement that voters show proof of citizenship when registering to vote at a motor vehicle bureau, a rule that took effect for the first time this year.
Secretary of State Frank LaRose, a Republican, said he would immediately appeal.
In a lawsuit brought on behalf of the Ohio Alliance of Retired Americans and the progressive group Red Wine & Blue by the Democrat-aligned Elias Law Group, U.S. District Court Judge Solomon Oliver Jr. in Cleveland ruled that the requirement appears to conflict with the National Voter Registration Act, which he said takes precedence.
His injunction suspends the practice of requiring such documentation ahead of the Oct. 5 registration deadline for this fall’s midterm elections.
It comes as President Donald Trump pushes Congress to pass a bill that would, among other election changes, require documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote.
Ohio is among a handful of states with proof-of-citizenship laws in place for the first time this year. South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming also put similar requirements on the books for this year’s midterms. Arizona had one already in force for state and local elections.
In South Dakota on Tuesday, the League of Women Voters and a Sioux Falls voter filed a lawsuit over that state’s new proof-of-citizenship requirement for voter registration. Among their requests is that a judge force the state to accept photocopies of eligible ID forms and also to rescind guidance requiring people using certain ID types to register in person.
Ohio’s requirement was added last year to its motor voter law. In his ruling, Solomon wrote that the requirement “is more than the signed attestation to U.S. citizenship that Ohio’s other voter registration methods accept. Therefore, (the challenged provision) likely conflicts with the NVRA, because it is more than ‘the minimum amount of information necessary.’”
He further found that Ohio’s overall “motor voter” registration process has illegally been limiting the option to sign up to vote to those who successfully obtain a driver’s license, rather than offering it to everyone who submits an application for one, as federal law requires.
Ben Stafford, a partner at Elias Law, said in a statement that Ohio voters would now be able to register at the BMV without the requirement to show citizenship paperwork. He described the regulation as “exactly the type of government-imposed barrier that the NVRA exists to prevent.”
The judge’s order prevents Ohio from requiring any driver’s license applicant to produce proof-of-citizenship documents before being offered the chance to register to vote, even those applicants turned away for lack of the proper paperwork. It doesn’t cover applicants who indicate they are not U.S. citizens.
LaRose criticized the ruling and pointed to a case in Franklin County, which includes Columbus, that he said proves the process Solomon has required doesn’t work. The case involved a lawful permanent resident of the U.S. who was ineligible to vote but did so in 2018 after she said a clerk at the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles mistakenly led her to believe she was allowed to do so. The woman was found not guilty by reason of entrapment.
“Under this order, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles would be required to offer a voter registration form to a person who is applying for a driver’s license, even if that person can’t verify that they’re a citizen,” LaRose said in a statement. “We strongly disagree with that decision, and I’ve asked our legal team to file an immediate appeal.”
Solomon’s decision aligned with court decisions elsewhere.
In May, in the first major legal test of Trump’s citizenship-related election demands, a federal judge in New Hampshire ruled that the state must make voter registration easier by letting applicants attest to their U.S. citizenship if they don’t have the documents to prove it.
When New Hampshire’s law took effect for the first time, for local elections in 2025, some election clerks said they knew of would-be voters who couldn’t produce the necessary documents and were turned away — for example, women who had changed their last names when they married.
In June, a federal judge permanently barred the Trump administration from implementing most of the president’s first executive order on elections, including a requirement that people show documentary proof of citizenship when they register to vote. The ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Denise Casper in Boston effectively converted what was a preliminary injunction blocking much of the attempted overhaul into a permanent one.
A 2025 University of Maryland study estimates that 21.3 million Americans eligible to vote do not have documents or have easy access to the documents required to prove citizenship.
Washington
Police arrest a California man after finding a guillotine near the U.S. Capitol
WASHINGTON (AP) — United States Capitol Police on Tuesday arrested a California man with what they said was a guillotine in the bed of a pickup truck parked near the U.S. Capitol complex.
Police detained 35-year-old Philan-Tam-Duy Le of Julian, California, shortly after 3 p.m., when the truck he was driving containing the device was illegally parked east of the Capitol grounds, Capitol police said.
Officers said they were investigating why the suspect, who drove from California, had made the trip and why he was transporting it.
A guillotine is an instrument for administering capital punishment by beheading and consists of a heavy blade mounted on a tall wooden frame. It was invented in late-18th Century France and became a symbol of the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution.
New York
Judge grants actress Blake Lively $400,000 of $8M she sought in legal fees
NEW YORK (AP) — Blake Lively will get just over $400,000 of the $8 million she sought in legal costs from actor and director Justin Baldoni after they settled their fight over the production of their 2024 film “It Ends With Us,” a federal judge ruled Wednesday.
Judge Lewis J. Liman explained in a written decision in Manhattan why Lively was not entitled to the full amount that her lawyers claim was spent after Baldoni and his production company, Wayfarer Studios LLC, filed their own claims in response to her December 2024 lawsuit.
Acknowledging Lively and Baldoni had “waged fierce battle against each other in court,” the judge denied Lively the bulk of legal fees she sought, citing the limits of a California law designed to protect survivors of sexual harassment and discrimination from retaliatory lawsuits.
The law meant to protect sex abuse survivors from legal actions designed to intimidate and silence victims could only be construed to let her be reimbursed for what she paid lawyers to defend against defamation claims rather than all claims Baldoni made against her, Liman wrote.
Thus, the judge ruled, Lively is entitled to $363,245 in attorneys’ fees and $44,206 in costs.
Requests for comment were sent to Baldoni and Lively’s representatives.
In her lawsuit, Lively asserted that she had been subjected to sexual harassment, retaliation, breach of contract, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress and invasion of privacy.
Baldoni, who directed the dark romantic drama and starred in it with Lively, denied harassing her or orchestrating a smear campaign. He claimed the complaints about his behavior were made up by Lively as part of an effort to seize creative control of the movie.
Weeks after Lively sued, Baldoni and Wayfarer asserted claims in a countersuit against Lively and her husband, “Deadpool” actor Ryan Reynolds, of civil extortion, defamation, invasion of privacy, breach of good faith and fair dealing and economic interference.
In June 2025, Liman tossed out the countersuit Baldoni and Wayfarer had filed and nearly a year later rejected Lively’s sexual harassment claims on the grounds that she was an independent contractor rather than an employee when she worked on the film.
In early May, two weeks before a scheduled trial, Lively and Baldoni reached a settlement, saying in a joint statement that Lively’s concerns “deserved to be heard” and that they “remain firmly committed to workplaces free of improprieties and unproductive environments.”
“It Ends With Us,” an adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling 2016 novel about a relationship devolving into domestic violence, was released in August 2024 and exceeded box office expectations despite criticism that it glorified abuse. Lively and Baldoni’s fractious falling out took attention away from the film, overshadowing its message and success.
Lively said in her lawsuit that during filming, Baldoni made inappropriate comments about her appearance, violated physical boundaries while filming a love scene, and pushed for nudity — against Lively’s wishes — during a scene in which her character was giving birth.
Baldoni denied doing anything outside the realm of the normal creative process of making a movie.
Lively appeared in the 2005 film “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” and the TV series “Gossip Girl” from 2007 to 2012 before starring in films including “The Town” and “The Shallows.”
Baldoni starred in the TV comedy “Jane the Virgin,” directed the 2019 film “Five Feet Apart” and wrote “Man Enough,” a book challenging traditional notions of masculinity.
