2,044 events on record Subscribe September 10, 2026
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Timeline

Every entry in the archive, ordered by event date. Page 2 of 41, showing August 19, 2026 to August 28, 2026. Pages contain 50 entries each; entries for a given date may continue on the next or previous page.

2026 Events (1,248)

August(181)

U.S. Southern Command destroyed Ecuadorian vessel over unproven Los Choneros ties, first strike in a five-strike capture-and-transfer pattern

On August 28, 2026, U.S. Southern Command's Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere intercepted and sank an Ecuadorian vessel in international waters of the eastern Pacific, alleging without independently disclosed evidence that it was a "floating refueling station" supporting Los Choneros, a group the U.S. has designated a foreign terrorist organization. Marines and sailors launched from USS San Antonio removed the vessel's occupants and transferred them to Ecuadorian authorities before sinking it. It was the first of five vessels SOUTHCOM destroyed under this capture-and-transfer pattern between August 28 and September 7, 2026.

NOTUS investigation revealed Interior Department pressuring National Park Service to trade Yosemite land to a private developer

NOTUS reported on August 28, 2026, that National Park Service staff, under sustained pressure from U.S. Department of the Interior political leadership, have spent more than a year quietly working to arrange a land exchange inside Yosemite National Park for a company controlled by developer Kingsbarn Realty Capital, which would let Kingsbarn build a private access road into the park from its adjacent 83-acre parcel. Sources familiar with the discussions described the political pressure on Park Service staff as "very unusual," and the Park Service had rejected the same access request from the property's prior owner repeatedly over the preceding two decades. No final decision has been made, and Interior and Kingsbarn both said any exchange would proceed only through the normal legal and environmental review process.

DOJ sued Washington, Arizona, New Mexico, and Oregon to block in-state tuition and aid for undocumented students, bringing its total to 21 states

On August 27, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice filed four separate lawsuits against Washington, Arizona, New Mexico, and Oregon, seeking to block each state's law granting in-state tuition and financial aid to undocumented students. The complaints argue the laws unlawfully grant noncitizens benefits unavailable to U.S. citizens living outside the state, in violation of federal law. DOJ said the filings bring its litigation campaign to 21 states, following earlier suits that resulted in injunctions in Texas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Illinois.

ProPublica investigation revealed Pinellas County Jail systematically rebooked immigrant detainees to evade 72-hour ICE hold limit

A ProPublica investigation published August 27, 2026 found that Pinellas County Jail in Clearwater, Florida repeatedly released and re-admitted immigrant detainees at 72-hour intervals to evade the legal limit on how long county jails may hold people on civil ICE detainers, rebooking at least 174 immigrants two or more times between July 2025 and July 2026 -- a volume unmatched by any other jail nationwide. Soumia Bensalah, a French-Moroccan woman with a pending green-card application, was shuttled to an ICE hold room and back five times in December 2025 before being deported to France, while a separate Mexican woman was rebooked ten times, spending a cumulative 26 days in the jail. DHS and the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office defended the jail's practices on the record, while legal experts called the pattern unconstitutional detention that typically occurs in secret.

ICE agents tased and kicked a restrained Danbury, Connecticut man during an arrest, then moved him before family could reach him

ICE agents arrested a construction worker in Danbury, Connecticut on the morning of August 27, 2026, pulling him from his car, pinning him face down on a driveway, and tasing him twice while he was restrained; video appears to show an agent kicking him as well. An ambulance took him to Danbury Hospital, where ICE blocked his family and attorney from seeing him before transporting him to Hartford; Mayor Roberto Alves intervened by phone with the hospital but the man had already been moved. The arrest was part of a week-long ICE enforcement surge in Danbury that advocates say detained nearly 60 people.

Lawsuit alleged Rikers Island staff shackled a pregnant detainee during medical and court transport for months

A federal lawsuit filed August 27, 2026 in Brooklyn alleges the New York City Department of Correction routinely shackled a pregnant woman in full-body restraints — including leg shackles and waist chains — every time she was transported for medical appointments, psychiatric exams, and court appearances during roughly two months of her 2023-2024 detention at Rikers Island. The suit alleges DOC continued using handcuffs for a further month after stopping full-body restraints, and separately kept her in a mental health observation unit — because the jail's specialized unit for pregnant detainees was closed — where she was exposed to pepper spray directed at other detainees. New York state law and DOC policy bar restraining pregnant detainees absent extraordinary, written-justified circumstances, and the city has twice previously settled nearly identical shackling suits for close to $1 million each.

Former Covington, Ga. officer arrested for Flock camera misuse, oath-of-office violation

On August 27, 2026, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation arrested former Covington Police Department officer Michael Canty, 29, on charges of misuse of a license plate reader system and violation of oath of office. The Covington Police Department had asked the GBI on August 6, 2026 to investigate allegations that Canty misused his Flock Safety system access; the GBI said its preliminary investigation found Canty accessed the Flock system for non-law-enforcement purposes.

DOJ's Chicago immigration court ordered removal of six unaccompanied minors with pending SIJS applications

On August 26, 2026, an immigration judge presiding over Chicago's downtown immigration court ordered the removal of six unaccompanied immigrant children, ages 12 to 17, despite each having a pending Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) application -- a status Congress created to protect immigrant children who were abused, abandoned, or neglected. Advocates said the court has, since June 2026, been requiring these children to appear every two weeks instead of the periodic check-ins historically used while SIJS applications are pending, and a DOJ spokesperson defended the accelerated pace as needed to reduce the immigration court's case backlog.

MS NOW investigation reveals troops were ordered to carry out Iran and boat strikes they say violate international law

In an investigation published August 26, 2026, MS NOW reported that multiple U.S. service members described being ordered to carry out military strikes they believe violate international law, including strikes on Iranian infrastructure they said were not military targets and strikes on suspected drug-trafficking boats without confirming who was aboard. The service members, who spoke anonymously to protect pending conscientious-objector applications, said the Center on Conscience and War has seen conscientious-objector applications rise sixfold since the U.S. war with Iran began in February 2026 -- the sharpest increase the group has recorded in 25 years.

CBP border-wall contractors drilled unauthorized wells in New Mexico groundwater basins, allegedly tampered with meters to hide water diverted

On August 26, 2026, New Mexico's Office of the State Engineer sued the United States and three border-wall contractors — Barnard Construction Company Inc., Wyatt Drilling Arizona LLC, and Cascade Drilling LP — alleging they drilled water wells without required state authorization in the Mimbres, Hachita, and Lower Rio Grande groundwater basins to supply border-wall construction, and tampered with a totalizing meter to conceal how much water was diverted. State Engineer Elizabeth K. Anderson said the state would seek double repayment for all illegally diverted groundwater. The suit follows earlier August 2026 reporting that the state had already threatened to revoke the contractors' drilling licenses over the same unauthorized wells.

HHS published a report tying gender-affirming care to left-wing authoritarianism and political violence, using an unvalidated survey scale

On August 26, 2026, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services published a report, commissioned through its Office of Population Affairs, claiming that support for gender-affirming care correlates with left-wing authoritarian psychology and a greater willingness to justify political violence. The report, co-authored by Network Contagion Research Institute head Joel Finkelstein, Manhattan Institute fellow Colin Wright, Rutgers professor Lee Jussim, and Rutgers students Ohad Fedida and Danit Finkelstein, relied on a newly created survey scale that independent researchers said had never been validated and was designed to produce the correlation it found. Civil-liberties and LGBTQ-rights organizations, along with outside academics, called the report's methodology invalid and its framing "nakedly political."

U.S. Treasury designated Palestine Action a terrorist group, criminalizing U.S. support for the UK protest group

On August 26, 2026, the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control designated Palestine Action -- a United Kingdom-based direct-action group that has damaged property at defense-contractor sites -- a Specially Designated Global Terrorist under Executive Order 13224, alongside two other groups. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the action from Washington, D.C., framing it as combating "far-left terrorism"; the designation freezes Palestine Action's U.S. assets and makes it a federal crime for any U.S. person to provide funds, goods, or services to the group, reaching American donors and supporters even though the conduct Treasury cited occurred in the UK.

DOJ, Education Department threatened enforcement action against two Kansas school districts over gender-identity privacy policies

The U.S. Department of Education's Student Privacy Policy Office announced on August 25, 2026 that it would partner with the DOJ Civil Rights Division to pursue enforcement measures — including potential legal action and loss of federal funding — against Kansas's Olathe and Shawnee Mission school districts after both refused to sign voluntary resolution agreements addressing an April 2026 finding that their gender-identity privacy policies violate FERPA. Topeka Public Schools, found to have the same violation, separately entered a resolution agreement the same day requiring it to end "gender support plans" and revise its guidance; Olathe and Shawnee Mission continue to dispute that their policies violate federal law.

Reporting revealed State Department had paused immigrant-visa interviews worldwide since early August

On August 25, 2026, reporting revealed that the State Department had paused immigrant-visa interview appointments at U.S. embassies and consulates worldwide, notifying applicants by email that their appointments were being rescheduled. A State Department official said the pause began in early August 2026 as part of a global training initiative for consular officers evaluating whether applicants are "likely to become a public charge" reliant on U.S. assistance. The pause came days after a federal judge struck down the department's earlier suspension of immigrant-visa processing for 75 countries under the same public-charge rationale, ruling it exceeded the Secretary of State's statutory authority.

CBP's Border Patrol SWAT team blockaded Tohono O'odham police to shield border-wall contractors from trespass citations

Before dawn on August 25, 2026, roughly 20 masked, armed U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents -- including the Border Patrol's BORTAC tactical unit -- entered Tohono O'odham Nation land, escorted border-wall contractors to construction sites, and set up a vehicle blockade to keep Tohono O'odham Police Department officers from citing or removing them. CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott said "a federal court has affirmed" the project; multiple outlets reported the August 14 ruling he cited only denied a preliminary injunction and neither affirmed the project nor dismissed the Nation's pending lawsuit.

DOJ sued Franklin County Municipal Court to strike down its ban on warrantless ICE arrests at the courthouse

On August 25, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice sued the Franklin County Municipal Court in Columbus, Ohio, naming Administrative and Presiding Judge Jessica D'Varga and the court's director of security, Enoch White, seeking to strike down the court's Rule 2.10 barring civil ICE arrests of people present for court proceedings or other lawful court business. The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, argues the March 2026 rule violates the Constitution's Supremacy Clause and asks the court to permanently enjoin its enforcement. It is the latest in a Justice Department litigation campaign against local and state measures restricting ICE courthouse and field operations.

JTF Western Hemisphere killed 4 aboard suspected narcotics vessel in Caribbean Sea; 68th strike, ~227 campaign deaths

On August 25, 2026, Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere — the U.S. Southern Command unit that replaced Joint Task Force Southern Spear earlier that month — carried out its 68th lethal strike on a suspected drug-trafficking vessel in the Caribbean Sea, killing four people without charge, trial, or any attempt at interdiction. The strike, ordered under SOUTHCOM Commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, brought the campaign's confirmed death toll to at least 227 people across 68 strikes since September 2025.

DHS requested a contractor to collect voter registration and history files from all 50 states annually for ICE fraud detection

On August 25, 2026, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security published a request for information — the first step in a federal contracting process — seeking a third-party contractor to collect voter registration files and, where available, public voter history files from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories on an annual basis. DHS said the data would support "fraud detection and data segmentation" operations run by Homeland Security Investigations, ICE's investigative arm, that the effort would start with a limited number of jurisdictions but could expand, and that no contract has yet been awarded. The RFI follows a July 2026 White House speech in which President Trump alleged foreign interference in state voter data and comes amid a broader administration campaign to compel and cross-reference state voter rolls.

Injustice Watch investigation found Illinois police and sheriffs circumvented TRUST Act to help ICE detain, deport immigrants

Injustice Watch, in partnership with The Intercept, reported on 2026-08-25 that despite Illinois' 2017 TRUST Act barring local law enforcement from assisting federal immigration enforcement, officials at more than 75 agencies across over a third of the state's counties collaborated with the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, ICE, and the U.S. Marshals Service during Trump's first 15 months back in office. The investigation, drawing on body-worn camera footage, nearly 400 records requests, and court filings, found the collaboration -- direct data-sharing, jail-to-ICE handovers, and at least one FBI-coached arrest workaround -- helped flag, detain, or deport at least 150 people.

Injustice Watch/WIRED investigation found Illinois state's attorneys shared residents' personal data with ICE despite TRUST Act

An Injustice Watch investigation published August 25, 2026, in partnership with WIRED, found that state's attorneys' offices in roughly 1 in 6 Illinois counties shared residents' dates of birth, home addresses, court dates, and jail-release schedules with federal immigration agents despite the state's 2017 TRUST Act. In one documented case, a Marion County assistant state's attorney emailed a Homeland Security Investigations agent a defendant's birthdate, upcoming court date, and home address; federal agents arrested the man and detained his 17-year-old son outside their home three weeks later. State's attorneys disputed among themselves whether the TRUST Act binds their offices, and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul declined to resolve the question.

Mamdani administration continued to miss NYC's charter-mandated racial equity plan deadline, judge found

On August 25, 2026, New York Supreme Court Justice Phaedra F. Perry-Bond ruled that the City of New York, under Mayor Zohran Mamdani, independently violated the city's 2022 voter-approved Charter mandate for a final citywide racial equity plan by continuing to miss the deadline his predecessor, Eric Adams, had also missed. The ruling came in a lawsuit brought by the Commission on Racial Equity, the charter-mandated oversight body, after the Adams administration's law department had denied CORE's request to retain outside counsel; Perry-Bond granted CORE that authority and preserved its ability to sue over any future delay. Mamdani's administration released a draft plan in April 2026 but had not issued a final plan as of the ruling.

Nevada Independent investigation revealed Clark County School District police tapped into Flock license-plate-reader network

A Nevada Independent investigation revealed on August 25, 2026 that the Clark County School District (CCSD) Police Department in Nevada has an agreement, confirmed on the record by the district, with license-plate-reader company Flock Safety granting access to "all shared cameras within Clark County and the Las Vegas area." A procedural memo restricting that access to CCSD's Investigations Bureau, requiring an assigned case number and bureau-commander authorization, took effect the same day the district received the outlet's public-records request; the underlying agreement's start date and duration are not established in public records, though CCSD had been negotiating with Flock since at least February 2025 and logged roughly 70 searches that year. No other Nevada school district has been reported to have a comparable arrangement.

Hall County, Georgia sheriff's investigators misused Flock license-plate cameras for personal searches; two fired after audit

The Hall County, Georgia Sheriff's Office confirmed on August 25, 2026 that it had fired two investigators, Justin Brown and Michael Atkins, after an internal audit of its Flock automated license-plate-reader system found both had used it for personal reasons unrelated to law enforcement. Termination records show Brown accessed the system approximately 250 times between January 2 and July 30, 2026 and was terminated August 19; Atkins was found to have accessed it on at least four occasions and was terminated August 24, with Brown's case referred to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation for a criminal investigation.

CENTCOM official confirmed secret blacklist of journalists who call the command too often

On August 24, 2026, The Intercept reported that a U.S. Central Command public affairs official, Richard Allee, confirmed on the record that the command maintains a secret internal list of journalists to "disregard," and told an Intercept reporter he could be added to it for calling too often. CENTCOM's press office separately denied in writing that any "blacklist" exists, directly contradicting Allee's own on-record confirmation.

West Point ordered professor to stop teaching human-caused climate change, then declined to renew his contract after he objected, lawsuit says

Adam Kalkstein, a tenured geography professor who taught climatology at the United States Military Academy for 17 years, sued West Point and three administrators in federal court on August 24, 2026, alleging he was pushed out for refusing to comply with a directive -- issued on White House orders -- to stop teaching cadets that human activity is a primary driver of climate change. According to the lawsuit, West Point stripped Kalkstein of tenure in 2025, ordered the geography department in September 2025 to stop teaching anthropogenic climate change under threat of dissolving the department, and declined to renew his contract in 2026 after he protested the directive to the academy dean. West Point said in a statement it was aware of the allegations but declined further comment.

U.S. Air Force charged Maj. Jason Watson with Article 88 contemptuous-words violations over his public criticism of Trump

U.S. Air Force prosecutors charged Maj. Jason Watson on August 24, 2026 with three violations of UCMJ Article 88 for contemptuous remarks about President Trump, five violations of Article 92 for disobeying orders, and two violations of Article 133 for conduct unbecoming an officer, according to a charging document his attorney shared with CNN; an Air Force spokesperson confirmed the charges the following day. The charges stem from a June newsletter interview, a July 1 protest in uniform at the U.S. Capitol calling for Trump's impeachment, and an August 17 CNN interview in which Watson said Trump was "flagrantly violating the Constitution" and "killing Americans." Watson's attorney said he is believed to be among the first officers of his rank charged under Article 88 in modern military history, and Watson remains in pre-trial confinement.

AP investigation revealed State Department preparing to revoke B1/B2 visas of up to 200,000 asylum seekers

The Associated Press reported on August 24, 2026 that the State Department, coordinating with the Department of Homeland Security, is preparing to revoke B1/B2 business and tourism visas from as many as 200,000 people who have applied for or are currently seeking asylum in the United States. State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott confirmed on the record that the department is working with DHS to identify and revoke visas from people who entered as short-term visitors and later filed for asylum. Officials said the action, targeting visas issued between 2016 and 2026 on a rolling basis, would be the largest mass visa revocation in U.S. history.

Florida's Juvenile Justice department left a public-records request unfulfilled for nearly two years, Florida Phoenix found

Florida Phoenix reported that the state's Department of Juvenile Justice has left the outlet's October 2024 public-records request for detention-center behavior reports unfulfilled for nearly two years, despite fulfilling a nearly identical request within three months earlier that same year. A second request from February 2025 and a March 2026 request for a statutorily mandated annual financial report also remain unanswered, and the department has given no explanation for any of the delays. First Amendment Foundation executive director Bobby Block said the pattern of non-response is increasingly common under the current administration and treats public records as a privilege rather than a right.

Idaho Education News investigation reveals Idaho Tax Commission withheld tax-credit recipient data despite months of records requests

An Idaho Education News investigation published August 24, 2026 found that the Idaho State Tax Commission had denied nearly all of at least seven public records requests filed between February and July 2026 for data on who benefits from Idaho's $50 million-a-year Parental Choice Tax Credit private-school subsidy program. Requesters included two journalists, a college faculty member, a data analyst, a homeschool advocate, a former public school superintendent, and Democratic state legislative leaders, several of whom sought data on how many recipients previously attended public school. Tax Commission officials confirmed the denials on the record, citing tax-return privacy laws and incomplete data processing.

Second Habersham County deputy misused Flock license-plate database for personal, non-law-enforcement searches; fired and arrested

Habersham County Sheriff's Office Deputy Jonathan Thomas was terminated and arrested on August 24, 2026, after an internal audit found he had accessed the department's Flock automated license-plate-reader system for a personal, non-law-enforcement purpose connected to a personal relationship. Thomas was booked into the Habersham County Detention Center on one felony count of violation of oath of office and two misdemeanor counts of misuse of license plate data, making him the second Habersham deputy in less than a month found to have misused the system after Deputy Christian Brewer's July 31 arrest. Sheriff Robin Krockum announced a strengthened two-person approval policy for Flock searches in response.

Missouri Department of Mental Health left man found incompetent to stand trial in county jail for years awaiting treatment bed

A Marshall Project investigation, published August 24, 2026 and republished by the Missouri Independent, found that the Missouri Department of Mental Health left Carl Henry Louis -- a man found incompetent to stand trial -- confined in the Clay County jail in Liberty, Missouri for roughly two and a half years, from his 2021 arrest until January 2024, awaiting a state psychiatric bed for court-ordered competency-restoration treatment. The wait included months after a judge suspended Louis's criminal case in August 2023 and ordered him committed for treatment, during which the jail continued to hold him because no bed was available. Missouri's own figures show the statewide waitlist for competency evaluation or restoration grew from 27 people in 2016 to 549 by July 2026, with at least two deaths in jails on the waitlist since May 2025.

JTF Western Hemisphere killed 2 aboard suspected narcotics vessel in eastern Pacific; 67th strike, ~223 campaign deaths

On August 23, 2026, Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere — the U.S. Southern Command unit that replaced Joint Task Force Southern Spear earlier that month — carried out its 67th lethal strike on a suspected drug-trafficking vessel in the eastern Pacific, killing two people without charge, trial, or any attempt at interdiction. It was the first publicly announced strike under the new task force name and ended a 63-day pause in the campaign, the longest interruption since strikes began in September 2025. The strike brought the campaign's reported death toll to approximately 223 people across 67 strikes.

CoreCivic staff pepper-sprayed and dispersed protesting detainees at Natchez ICE facility after halting hot food and water, detainee said

On Saturday evening, August 22, 2026, an estimated 80-100 detainees held in two housing pods at CoreCivic's Adams County Correctional Center, an ICE detention facility in Natchez, Mississippi, protested outside the cafeteria after the facility halted hot meals and hot water and served a lunch of two flour tortillas and sliced bologna. CoreCivic's special response team, in riot gear, dispersed the protest soon after; detainee Melvin Funez said the team sprayed some detainees and threw others to the ground before locking the dormitory doors. The facility, which CoreCivic operates under contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was holding roughly 2,500 people in a space designed for 2,300.

Border Patrol arrested Key West father of deployed USS Lincoln sailor; DHS held him for deportation despite no criminal record

On August 22, 2026, U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested Luis Manuel Aviles Roa, a 48-year-old Key West, Florida handyman, during a traffic stop while his son Joshua was nine months into a deployment aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. Aviles, a Nicaragua native who has lived in the U.S. for about 19 years, was placed in ICE custody pending deportation; his wife said he holds a work permit and the family says he has no criminal record, while DHS confirmed the arrest, said he entered the country illegally, and did not dispute the absence of a criminal record. DHS said in a statement that "having a family member in the military is not a free pass to violate our nation's laws."

DOJ attached immigration-enforcement conditions to FY2026 law-enforcement and juvenile-justice grants, lawsuit alleges

A coalition of 22 states and the District of Columbia sued the U.S. Department of Justice in Rhode Island federal court on August 21, 2026, alleging that DOJ had attached four new civil-immigration-enforcement conditions to fiscal year 2026 Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance (Byrne JAG), juvenile-justice, and crisis-intervention grants, most of which were awarded in July 2026. The conditions require states to notify federal immigration agents of a detainee's release date on request and bar restricting the sharing of a person's immigration status with federal agents, among other terms. The states said DOJ used the same tactic on Victims of Crime Act grants in 2025 before an earlier multistate lawsuit forced it to remove those conditions.

Polk County deputies and ICE detained injured Ecuadorian mother and daughter at Florida hospital, refusing to show a warrant

On August 21, 2026, Polk County Sheriff's deputies and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents handcuffed and removed Grace Stephanie Calero Cabanilla, 39, and her daughter Giulianna Mía Carriel Calero, 19, from HCA Florida Poinciana Hospital in Kissimmee, one day after a car crash left both women hospitalized. A deputy questioned Calero Cabanilla about her immigration status while she was still being treated, then contacted ICE, which lodged detainers describing both women as having overstayed their visas; family members say Calero Cabanilla held a pending asylum case and work permit and that her daughter's visa was valid until 2030, claims neither ICE nor the sheriff's office has addressed.

Trump administration redirected $500 million clean-steel grant to fund coal-fired furnace at Ohio steel mill

On August 21, 2026, the U.S. Department of Energy announced it had redirected a $500 million grant, originally awarded to Cleveland-Cliffs in March 2024 to decarbonize its Middletown, Ohio, steel mill, to instead fund continued operation of the plant's coal-fired blast furnace. The grant was restructured after Cleveland-Cliffs said the "green premium" business case for the original hydrogen-ready project no longer held; DOE Secretary Chris Wright and Vice President JD Vance, a Middletown native, appeared at the plant to promote the change. A former DOE official said the revised scope conflicts with the Inflation Reduction Act's statutory definition of eligible "advanced industrial technology," which requires funded projects to accelerate progress toward net-zero emissions.

Pentagon fired Stars and Stripes publisher, editor-in-chief, reporter for insubordination Slavin says was CBS News interview on Pentagon interference

The Pentagon on August 21, 2026, issued separation notices to Stars and Stripes publisher Max D. Lederer Jr., editor-in-chief Erik Slavin, and Middle East correspondent Lara Korte, citing insubordination. The stated cause traced to a CBS News interview in which Slavin and Korte discussed Pentagon pressure on the outlet's editorial independence and said they would not accept censorship of coverage for service members. All three were given five days to appeal the terminations.

Newsday reporting revealed HUD withdrew its own finding that Hempstead, NY housing authority discriminated against disabled, Black residents

Newsday reported on August 20, 2026, that HUD's director of compliance and disability rights, Andrew Hill, had notified the Town of Hempstead (NY) Housing Authority that HUD was withdrawing its own 2024 finding that the authority used an illegal point system to discriminate against disabled applicants and to "systematically" further racial segregation on its public-housing waitlist. The reversal came days after a Newsday investigation made the previously undisclosed finding public, without the housing authority requesting reversal and without HUD referring the matter to the Justice Department or withholding funding as it could have done instead.

Deportees say ICE agents assaulted, restrained, and denied them medical care and bathroom access on Liberia deportation flight

On August 20, 2026, deportees said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents beat, restrained, and denied them medical care and bathroom access during a roughly 14-hour deportation flight from Louisiana to Monrovia, Liberia, the first of an expected 1,200 people to be sent to Liberia under a third-country deportation arrangement. Deportees said agents beat those who resisted, denied a Cuban national with a surgically repaired abdominal wound access to a toilet and later knelt on his abdomen on the tarmac, and held others for days without beds in an unheated room. The Department of Homeland Security denied several of these specific claims on the record but did not address most of the deportees' other allegations.

Highland Heights, Ohio police dispatcher misused Flock license-plate cameras in 20,292 unauthorized searches, resigned

A part-time Highland Heights, Ohio police dispatcher resigned on August 20, 2026, after Police Chief Dennis Matejcic found she had repeatedly misused the department's Flock automated license-plate-reader system for searches unconnected to any Highland Heights case. Records obtained by the public-records tracker HaveIBeenFlocked showed the dispatcher's account carried out 20,292 Flock searches between October 24, 2024 and November 22, 2025, including more than 5,000 searches on a single license plate, and the chief said she continued the unauthorized searches in the 30 days before he discovered them. Highland Heights had never audited its Flock system, in use since 2021, before this incident, and the department has since made monthly audits mandatory for every employee with Flock access.

Colleton County, S.C. lieutenant made 2,700+ unauthorized Flock license-plate searches on 14 people over a year, fired

Colleton County, South Carolina Sheriff's Office Lieutenant Ruben Carter was fired on August 20, 2026 after an internal audit found he had made more than 2,700 unauthorized searches of the department's Flock license-plate-reader system over roughly a year, targeting 14 people -- including himself, fellow deputies, friends, and former associates. Sheriff Guerry "Buddy" Hill Jr. asked the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division to investigate possible criminal conduct and overhauled the department's Flock access policy in response.

Lufkin, Texas officer misused Flock license-plate database to track 11 people over a year, indicted on 100 felony counts

Lufkin, Texas police officer Zachary Anthony Klein was arrested by Texas Rangers on August 20, 2026, following an internal audit and an outside investigation into his use of the department's Flock automated license-plate-reader system. He was indicted the next day on 100 felony counts of misuse of official information, accused of tracking the vehicles of 11 people -- most connected to an ex-girlfriend -- for nongovernmental purposes between June 2024 and December 2025. The Lufkin Police Department suspended its use of Flock cameras department-wide as a result.

North Carolina elections board voted along party lines to reject most Sunday early-voting hours across 20 counties

The North Carolina State Board of Elections, whose Republican majority was installed under a 2024 law shifting appointment power from the governor to the state auditor, voted largely along party lines on August 20, 2026, to reject most proposed Sunday early-voting hours among roughly 20 counties whose local boards had deadlocked. Board member Matthew Longworth, a Republican member of the Anson County elections board presenting his county's plan, said "we are requiring people to work on the Lord's day" by having Sunday voting. The board granted a handful of exceptions, including a unanimous vote for Sunday hours in Lee County.

U.S. Education Department opened Title VI investigation into Milwaukee schools over race-conscious discipline

On August 19, 2026, the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights notified Milwaukee Public Schools that it is investigating whether the district's student-discipline practices improperly use race, one of two Title VI investigations the department opened that day. The department's statement, issued alongside new Title VI guidance barring race-conscious discipline, said Milwaukee education leaders had "derided facially neutral school policies as reflecting systemic 'whiteness,'" without specifying what triggered the probe.

ICE arrested two people en route to medical appointments in Santa Fe clinic parking lot

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested Edgar Chacon-Miranda and Adriana Ruiz in Santa Fe, New Mexico on August 19, 2026, as both were on their way to medical appointments. Chacon-Miranda was detained in the parking lot of La Familia Health's Alto Street clinic in front of his 11-year-old daughter; DHS cited a prior criminal charge that Chacon-Miranda's attorney says was dismissed and that does not preclude the lawful permanent resident status he qualifies for. Ruiz was separately taken into custody after agents allegedly gave a false vehicle description to identify her; her family could not confirm her whereabouts or whether she received medical care afterward.

Cherokee County, Ga. Deputy Jerry Shellhouse fired, arrested on felony charge for misusing Flock database; fourth employee charged

On August 19, 2026, the Cherokee County, Georgia Sheriff's Office fired and arrested Deputy Jerry Shellhouse, 57, of Waleska, after an internal audit found he had used the agency's Automated License Plate Reader (Flock) system for non-law-enforcement purposes between October 2023 and December 2025. He was charged with one felony count of violation of oath of office and one misdemeanor count of unlawfully retaining license-plate-reader data, and was held on a $3,812 bond. Shellhouse is the fourth Cherokee County Sheriff's Office employee arrested in 2026 in the same self-initiated audit, following Deputy Cynthia Jodesty, Lt. Chris Bryant, and Sgt. Mike Creeden.

Sarasota, Fla. officer misused Flock and DAVID databases 335 times to track ex-partner's vehicle; fired, arrested

On August 19, 2026, the Sarasota Police Department fired and arrested Officer Cory Waiters, 38, after an internal and criminal investigation found he had misused the department's Flock license-plate-reader network and Florida's DAVID driver database to repeatedly search his ex-partner's vehicle. A USA Today reporter's independent analysis of Flock audit logs first flagged the pattern -- 335 searches of the same plate over roughly two months, including 121 in a single day -- and the reporter's August 6 email to the department triggered the internal affairs and criminal investigations. Waiters was charged with felony offenses against computer users/systems, felony official misconduct, and misdemeanor violation of public records law.

Kenosha County deputy charged with felony misconduct for using Flock and Polaris databases to track a coworker

On August 19, 2026, the Kenosha County District Attorney's Office charged former Kenosha County Sheriff's Deputy Frank McGrath with two felony counts of misconduct in public office for using the FLOCK license-plate-reader network and the Polaris squad-tracking system to monitor a fellow deputy with whom he had a personal relationship. A county internal investigation had already substantiated the conduct, but McGrath was permitted to resign under a negotiated separation agreement in December 2025 without the matter being referred for criminal review; a prosecutor took it up only after Kenosha County Eye publisher Kevin Mathewson filed a John Doe petition in March 2026 asking a judge to compel the review.

Oregon Journalism Project revealed sworn staff statements alleging Oregon Youth Authority covered up physician abuse of youths

Thirteen former Oregon Youth Authority staff filed sworn statements in federal litigation alleging agency leaders knew for years that a MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility physician was sexually abusing incarcerated youths and failed to investigate, discipline, or remove him, Oregon Journalism Project (via Lookout Eugene-Springfield) reported August 19, 2026. Dr. Edward Gary Edwards, the facility's longtime chief medical officer, is accused of abusing youths in his care from approximately 2000 to 2017. One official who led the agency for part of that period, Fariborz Pakseresht, was appointed interim director of the Oregon Health Authority by Gov. Tina Kotek last month despite being a named defendant in the litigation.