Washington
Judge asked to compel Trump administration to disclose emails and texts about plans for Kennedy Center closing
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s administration is withholding records documenting the scope of his influence over management of the Kennedy Center, according to attorneys for a Democratic lawmaker challenging the Republican president’s plan to close the performing arts center for renovations.
A list of records in the Kennedy Center’s possession suggests that Trump has been in “near-constant contact” with the center’s management, either directly or through intermediaries, plaintiffs’ lawyers said in a court filing on Sunday.
Attorneys for Rep. Joyce Beatty, an Ohio Democrat and ex officio member of the Kennedy Center board, are seeking a court order for the administration to turn over documents, emails and text messages that it has withheld based on its claims that they contain privileged presidential communications.
“These communications directly bear on the issues before the Court, and the claim of privilege cannot stand,” Beatty’s lawyers wrote.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper didn’t immediately rule on their request to compel disclosure of the records.
The list of withheld documents includes 19 text messages between Kennedy Center executive director and CEO Matt Floca and Trump executive assistant Natalie Harp regarding Kennedy Center-related matters. They exchanged 11 of those messages on Sept. 15, when the center’s board voted for a third time to close the facility, according to Beatty’s lawyers.
The list also includes approximately 180 center-related texts between Floca and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who was acting as Trump’s “go-between,” Beatty’s lawyers say. The plaintiffs’ attorneys suspect the administration is engaging in impermissible “gamesmanship.”
“Without access to these materials, (Beatty) will lack a complete picture of Defendants’ actions,” they wrote.
The White House didn’t immediately comment on the court filing.
Cooper, who was nominated to the bench by Democratic President Barack Obama, ruled in May that the Kennedy Center illegally added Trump’s name to the building and ordered it removed.
Trump, who was named the Kennedy Center’s chairman last year by loyalists on its board, has said the building is in dangerous condition that will require it to be “ripped down.” The board voted to close the center after Cooper blocked the institution from returning Trump’s name to the building.
On Sept. 16, Floca ordered a temporary closure of the center’s main building. A day later, Cooper ordered the Kennedy Center to provide 30 days’ notice before making any major physical changes to the building.
Georgia
Man charged with throwing Molotov cocktail at Atlanta ICE building
ATLANTA (AP) — A 31-year-old Georgia man was charged Friday after he allegedly threw a Molotov cocktail at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in downtown Atlanta.
Inique Hinton, of Douglasville, Georgia, was charged with attempted arson of a federal building and depredation of government property, according to U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg.
Security cameras allegedly caught Hinton igniting an item and then throwing it toward the multistory brick building Tuesday night, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia. It hit the fence and caused flames to spread, the statement said.
Investigators later found burned cloth, lighter fluid, a glass bottle and a lighter at the scene, the office said.
Court records don’t list an attorney for Hinton. The U.S. Attorney’s Office and a public defender’s office did not immediately respond to emails asking if he had an attorney.
Hertzberg described law enforcement’s quick work to find the suspect as “exemplary.”
“We are going to respond with extreme severity when it comes to prosecuting this conduct because we need to send a message that this is not OK,” he said during a news conference.
Hinton was arrested at a home in a suburb of Atlanta and was taken into custody peacefully, according to officials.
Hertzberg said he was not aware of Hinton having a history of criminal convictions.
If convicted, Hinton faces up to 20 years in federal prison for the arson charge and up to 10 years for the depredation charge, according to Hertzberg.
The building is surrounded by a metal fence and contains offices for ICE as well as an immigration court.
London
Chris Brown avoids prison time for brawling at a nightclub in 2009
LONDON (AP) — Grammy-winning singer Chris Brown avoided prison time Monday for beating a music producer with a tequila bottle at a London nightclub three years ago.
The 37-year-old was given an eight-month sentence, suspended for a year.
He had faced up to three years in prison after pleading guilty to a count of affray in July for the attack on the dance floor of Tape, a private club in the swanky Mayfair neighborhood in February 2023.
Video footage played in court showed Brown having to be pulled away from the victim, his former friend Abraham Diaw, after striking him twice in the head with a bottle.
“The repeated use of a glass bottle in that way, especially aimed at the head, was plainly dangerous, it carried the risk of delivering a more serious injury than was ultimately sustained,” Judge Tony Baumgartner said in Southwark Crown Court.
Despite the seriousness of the attack, Baumgartner said Brown did not qualify for a custodial sentence because he pleaded guilty and there were several mitigating circumstances, including stable employment and charity work. The judge acknowledged Brown’s previous convictions but said he had maintained a clean record in recent years.
Brown has faced repeated legal trouble since his felony conviction in the 2009 assault of his then-girlfriend, Rihanna, hours before the pair were due to perform at the Grammys.
He has been arrested in several U.S. states over altercations but was either not charged or prosecutors later dropped the charges. In 2019 he was arrested in Paris and questioned on suspicion of rape, but was released without charge.
In return for his guilty plea, prosecutors dropped charges of assault, attempting to cause grievous bodily harm and having an offensive weapon, a bottle.
Brown’s friend and vocal coach Omololu Akinlolu also pleaded guilty to affray and was given a four-month suspended sentence.
Affray is the use or threat of unlawful violence that leads someone to fear for their safety.
Prosecutor Heidi Stonecliffe said Brown played a leading role in the attack.
“By any circumstances, when one watches that footage, it is Mr. Brown that moves first,” Stonecliffe said.
Defense lawyer Sallie Bennett-Jenkins said Brown apologized to all those at the club that night, though she emphasized the attack lasted no more than 20 seconds.
“This is an ugly and unattractive incident,” Bennett-Jenkins said. “It is something which undoubtedly would have caused distress to those who are present and for which Mr. Brown … offers a profound apology to all those present.”
Diaw was discharged from the hospital with head and knee injuries, Stonecliffe said.
Brown was cheered outside the courthouse by fans who came from as far as Italy and the Netherlands.
His face was covered behind in a black mask and dark glasses and his bleached hair was mostly hidden from view under a black ball cap. He wore a black leather jacket and light-colored turtleneck.
He blew a kiss to one fan and appeared to sign an autograph for another as he moved through a pack of photographers and onlookers.
Not everyone was cheering for him. When he arrived at court in the morning, a lone voice could be heard shouting at him to ask when he was going to learn that violence is not OK.
Brown left the United Kingdom after the brawl but was arrested in May 2025 at a Manchester hotel after flying to the city for a concert. He had been free on bail of 5 million pounds ($6.7 million), which allowed him to tour Europe and North America the past two summers.
Brown rose to stardom as a teen in 2005 and won his first Grammy for best R&B album in 2011 for “F.A.M.E.” He earned his second in the same category for “11:11 (Deluxe)” in 2025.
New York
State archdiocese and survivors of clergy abuse agree to $800 million legal settlement
The Archdiocese of New York and attorneys for about 1,300 parishioners who said they were sexually abused by clergy have agreed to an $800 million settlement of their legal claims, the second-largest involving a Catholic archdiocese in the U.S.
Archbishop Ronald Hicks sent an email Saturday to clergy confirming the settlement after attorneys for the survivors of alleged abuse announced it. Hicks said the agreement will not be final until the parties sign it, an action scheduled for the week of Nov. 6.
The only larger settlement over sexual abuse claims in the U.S. was by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, which agreed in 2024 to pay $880 million to 1,000 abuse victims, in addition to $740 million in claims it had paid previously. In June, the Archdiocese of San Francisco agreed to a $395 million settlement over about 500 lawsuits filed over clergy abuse, and in December 2025, a federal judge approved a settlement in which the Archdiocese of New Orleans agreed to pay at least $230 million to abuse victims.
The agreement with the New York archdiocese would end more than seven years of lawsuits. The parties agreed to a framework for an agreement in May that required everyone who filed a claim to sign off.
“The unanimous agreement of survivors who filed claims against the Archdiocese of New York marks a powerful moment in the pursuit of justice,” Jeff Anderson, an attorney representing people who filed more than 1,000 of claims against the Catholic Church in New York state, said in a statement. “Through their courage, sacrifice, and determination, survivors have helped bring about a reckoning and a meaningful step toward accountability.”
The Archdiocese of New York covers the city’s boroughs of the Bronx, Manhattan and Staten Island as well as seven counties to the north of New York City and is home to about 300 churches, more than 150 parochial schools and 2.5 million Catholics.
In his email to clergy, Hicks said that if church members ask about the settlement, “please let them know that much progress has been made.”
“We are on the verge of being able to, please God, bring some measure of healing and reconciliation to all victim-survivors,” he wrote. “This agreement will also allow the archdiocese to turn its full attention once again to its mission of preaching the Gospel, healing the sick, caring for the poor and needy, welcoming the stranger, and educating our children.”
A New York law enacted in 2019 allows survivors of child sexual abuse to file lawsuits against their abusers and institutions that shielded them until they turn 55. People who had already had turned 55 when the law was enacted also were given until August 2021 to file lawsuits, no matter when the alleged abuse occurred.
“This is an extraordinary achievement for the survivors,” said Trusha Goffe, an attorney in Anderson’s firm. “The survivors remained resolute through years of litigation to reach this monumental settlement.”
Judge asked to compel Trump administration to disclose emails and texts about plans for Kennedy Center closing
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s administration is withholding records documenting the scope of his influence over management of the Kennedy Center, according to attorneys for a Democratic lawmaker challenging the Republican president’s plan to close the performing arts center for renovations.
A list of records in the Kennedy Center’s possession suggests that Trump has been in “near-constant contact” with the center’s management, either directly or through intermediaries, plaintiffs’ lawyers said in a court filing on Sunday.
Attorneys for Rep. Joyce Beatty, an Ohio Democrat and ex officio member of the Kennedy Center board, are seeking a court order for the administration to turn over documents, emails and text messages that it has withheld based on its claims that they contain privileged presidential communications.
“These communications directly bear on the issues before the Court, and the claim of privilege cannot stand,” Beatty’s lawyers wrote.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper didn’t immediately rule on their request to compel disclosure of the records.
The list of withheld documents includes 19 text messages between Kennedy Center executive director and CEO Matt Floca and Trump executive assistant Natalie Harp regarding Kennedy Center-related matters. They exchanged 11 of those messages on Sept. 15, when the center’s board voted for a third time to close the facility, according to Beatty’s lawyers.
The list also includes approximately 180 center-related texts between Floca and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who was acting as Trump’s “go-between,” Beatty’s lawyers say. The plaintiffs’ attorneys suspect the administration is engaging in impermissible “gamesmanship.”
“Without access to these materials, (Beatty) will lack a complete picture of Defendants’ actions,” they wrote.
The White House didn’t immediately comment on the court filing.
Cooper, who was nominated to the bench by Democratic President Barack Obama, ruled in May that the Kennedy Center illegally added Trump’s name to the building and ordered it removed.
Trump, who was named the Kennedy Center’s chairman last year by loyalists on its board, has said the building is in dangerous condition that will require it to be “ripped down.” The board voted to close the center after Cooper blocked the institution from returning Trump’s name to the building.
On Sept. 16, Floca ordered a temporary closure of the center’s main building. A day later, Cooper ordered the Kennedy Center to provide 30 days’ notice before making any major physical changes to the building.
Georgia
Man charged with throwing Molotov cocktail at Atlanta ICE building
ATLANTA (AP) — A 31-year-old Georgia man was charged Friday after he allegedly threw a Molotov cocktail at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in downtown Atlanta.
Inique Hinton, of Douglasville, Georgia, was charged with attempted arson of a federal building and depredation of government property, according to U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg.
Security cameras allegedly caught Hinton igniting an item and then throwing it toward the multistory brick building Tuesday night, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia. It hit the fence and caused flames to spread, the statement said.
Investigators later found burned cloth, lighter fluid, a glass bottle and a lighter at the scene, the office said.
Court records don’t list an attorney for Hinton. The U.S. Attorney’s Office and a public defender’s office did not immediately respond to emails asking if he had an attorney.
Hertzberg described law enforcement’s quick work to find the suspect as “exemplary.”
“We are going to respond with extreme severity when it comes to prosecuting this conduct because we need to send a message that this is not OK,” he said during a news conference.
Hinton was arrested at a home in a suburb of Atlanta and was taken into custody peacefully, according to officials.
Hertzberg said he was not aware of Hinton having a history of criminal convictions.
If convicted, Hinton faces up to 20 years in federal prison for the arson charge and up to 10 years for the depredation charge, according to Hertzberg.
The building is surrounded by a metal fence and contains offices for ICE as well as an immigration court.
London
Chris Brown avoids prison time for brawling at a nightclub in 2009
LONDON (AP) — Grammy-winning singer Chris Brown avoided prison time Monday for beating a music producer with a tequila bottle at a London nightclub three years ago.
The 37-year-old was given an eight-month sentence, suspended for a year.
He had faced up to three years in prison after pleading guilty to a count of affray in July for the attack on the dance floor of Tape, a private club in the swanky Mayfair neighborhood in February 2023.
Video footage played in court showed Brown having to be pulled away from the victim, his former friend Abraham Diaw, after striking him twice in the head with a bottle.
“The repeated use of a glass bottle in that way, especially aimed at the head, was plainly dangerous, it carried the risk of delivering a more serious injury than was ultimately sustained,” Judge Tony Baumgartner said in Southwark Crown Court.
Despite the seriousness of the attack, Baumgartner said Brown did not qualify for a custodial sentence because he pleaded guilty and there were several mitigating circumstances, including stable employment and charity work. The judge acknowledged Brown’s previous convictions but said he had maintained a clean record in recent years.
Brown has faced repeated legal trouble since his felony conviction in the 2009 assault of his then-girlfriend, Rihanna, hours before the pair were due to perform at the Grammys.
He has been arrested in several U.S. states over altercations but was either not charged or prosecutors later dropped the charges. In 2019 he was arrested in Paris and questioned on suspicion of rape, but was released without charge.
In return for his guilty plea, prosecutors dropped charges of assault, attempting to cause grievous bodily harm and having an offensive weapon, a bottle.
Brown’s friend and vocal coach Omololu Akinlolu also pleaded guilty to affray and was given a four-month suspended sentence.
Affray is the use or threat of unlawful violence that leads someone to fear for their safety.
Prosecutor Heidi Stonecliffe said Brown played a leading role in the attack.
“By any circumstances, when one watches that footage, it is Mr. Brown that moves first,” Stonecliffe said.
Defense lawyer Sallie Bennett-Jenkins said Brown apologized to all those at the club that night, though she emphasized the attack lasted no more than 20 seconds.
“This is an ugly and unattractive incident,” Bennett-Jenkins said. “It is something which undoubtedly would have caused distress to those who are present and for which Mr. Brown … offers a profound apology to all those present.”
Diaw was discharged from the hospital with head and knee injuries, Stonecliffe said.
Brown was cheered outside the courthouse by fans who came from as far as Italy and the Netherlands.
His face was covered behind in a black mask and dark glasses and his bleached hair was mostly hidden from view under a black ball cap. He wore a black leather jacket and light-colored turtleneck.
He blew a kiss to one fan and appeared to sign an autograph for another as he moved through a pack of photographers and onlookers.
Not everyone was cheering for him. When he arrived at court in the morning, a lone voice could be heard shouting at him to ask when he was going to learn that violence is not OK.
Brown left the United Kingdom after the brawl but was arrested in May 2025 at a Manchester hotel after flying to the city for a concert. He had been free on bail of 5 million pounds ($6.7 million), which allowed him to tour Europe and North America the past two summers.
Brown rose to stardom as a teen in 2005 and won his first Grammy for best R&B album in 2011 for “F.A.M.E.” He earned his second in the same category for “11:11 (Deluxe)” in 2025.
New York
State archdiocese and survivors of clergy abuse agree to $800 million legal settlement
The Archdiocese of New York and attorneys for about 1,300 parishioners who said they were sexually abused by clergy have agreed to an $800 million settlement of their legal claims, the second-largest involving a Catholic archdiocese in the U.S.
Archbishop Ronald Hicks sent an email Saturday to clergy confirming the settlement after attorneys for the survivors of alleged abuse announced it. Hicks said the agreement will not be final until the parties sign it, an action scheduled for the week of Nov. 6.
The only larger settlement over sexual abuse claims in the U.S. was by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, which agreed in 2024 to pay $880 million to 1,000 abuse victims, in addition to $740 million in claims it had paid previously. In June, the Archdiocese of San Francisco agreed to a $395 million settlement over about 500 lawsuits filed over clergy abuse, and in December 2025, a federal judge approved a settlement in which the Archdiocese of New Orleans agreed to pay at least $230 million to abuse victims.
The agreement with the New York archdiocese would end more than seven years of lawsuits. The parties agreed to a framework for an agreement in May that required everyone who filed a claim to sign off.
“The unanimous agreement of survivors who filed claims against the Archdiocese of New York marks a powerful moment in the pursuit of justice,” Jeff Anderson, an attorney representing people who filed more than 1,000 of claims against the Catholic Church in New York state, said in a statement. “Through their courage, sacrifice, and determination, survivors have helped bring about a reckoning and a meaningful step toward accountability.”
The Archdiocese of New York covers the city’s boroughs of the Bronx, Manhattan and Staten Island as well as seven counties to the north of New York City and is home to about 300 churches, more than 150 parochial schools and 2.5 million Catholics.
In his email to clergy, Hicks said that if church members ask about the settlement, “please let them know that much progress has been made.”
“We are on the verge of being able to, please God, bring some measure of healing and reconciliation to all victim-survivors,” he wrote. “This agreement will also allow the archdiocese to turn its full attention once again to its mission of preaching the Gospel, healing the sick, caring for the poor and needy, welcoming the stranger, and educating our children.”
A New York law enacted in 2019 allows survivors of child sexual abuse to file lawsuits against their abusers and institutions that shielded them until they turn 55. People who had already had turned 55 when the law was enacted also were given until August 2021 to file lawsuits, no matter when the alleged abuse occurred.
“This is an extraordinary achievement for the survivors,” said Trusha Goffe, an attorney in Anderson’s firm. “The survivors remained resolute through years of litigation to reach this monumental settlement.”
