News of the World

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Government Shutdown Special Edition

THE SHUTDOWN

Dems cynically keep government shut down past Election Day as SNAP benefits could lapse for millions of poor Americans

WASHINGTON — Millions of Americans were set to go hungry this weekend after Senate Democrats blocked a government funding bill 13 times in six weeks — keeping vital food programs offline ahead of the New York City mayoral election and gubernatorial votes in New Jersey and Virginia.

“They’re setting everything up for next week. They know they’ve got to get out,” Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) predicted to Politico Friday of the Democratic strategy. “If they do it before Tuesday, then their base may not show up because it looks like they caved … That’s why they’re setting everything up to open next week. We’ll be open next Wednesday, or Wednesday night, or Thursday.”

The real-world pain coming to nearly 42 million poor Americans enrolled in the federally funded Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the result of Democrats refusing to drop their demands to extend ObamaCare subsidies due to expire at the end of this year.

“Democrats have instigated a disgusting dereliction of duty unlike anything I have seen in all my years doing this work,” Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said at a Capitol Hill press conference alongside House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.).

Rollins added that she was “embarrassed” for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who has been the shutdown’s driving force.

“He is going out of his way to please the likes of [NYC mayoral candidate] Zohran Mamdani, a man who is polarizing America with his socialist rhetoric and anti-American principles,” she said.

“The very essence of government responsibility is to the citizens who live and work here, to protect their interests first — unless you are a Democrat in the United States Senate.”

The standoff was deepened Friday by a pair of court rulings from federal judges appointed by Democratic former President Barack Obama.

In Rhode Island, US District Judge John McConnell ordered the Trump administration to redirect $6 billion in unallocated emergency funds toward SNAP, despite the White House insisting those funds can only be touched in the event of catastrophes such as hurricanes.

In Boston, US District Judge Indira Talwani similarly ruled that the administration could not let SNAP benefits run out once the calendar flip to November.

The Justice Department was expected to appeal, but had not done so by close of business Friday.

Democrats breathed a sigh of relief in response to the rulings, with one congressional source telling The Post: “The court order puts more heat on the GOP to negotiate.”

Moments later, President Trump said he had “instructed our lawyers to ask the Court to clarify how we can legally fund SNAP as soon as possible.

“It is already delayed enough due to the Democrats keeping the Government closed through the monthly payment date and, even if we get immediate guidance, it will unfortunately be delayed while States get the money out,” Trump added on Truth Social.

“If we are given the appropriate legal direction by the Court, it will BE MY HONOR to provide the funding, just like I did with Military and Law Enforcement Pay. The Democrats should quit this charade where they hurt people for their own political reasons, and immediately REOPEN THE GOVERNMENT.”

Fetterman apologizes for Dems not having their ‘s–t together’ as government shutdown continues

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., apologized Thursday on behalf of Senate Democrats who have not voted to end the government shutdown.

In an interview with CNN’s Manu Raju, Fetterman lamented that federal workers still are not getting paid and that many Americans may not be able to feed their children because Supplenental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits are set to expire due to the shutdown. He apologized for the situation on behalf of his party.

“And like I said, to all of the viewers, I’m apologizing that we can’t even get our s— together and just open up our government,” Fetterman said.

The shutdown is now in its fourth week, with Republicans and Democrats in the Senate still unable to agree on spending legislation to begin the new fiscal year.

The ongoing impasse is now threatening the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps. If the shutdown continues, about 42 million Americans could lose access to the benefits, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Speaking to Raju, Fetterman said that he will see the impact of the SNAP loss firsthand back home in Pennsylvania.

“I’m saying that I’ll witness it firsthand,” he said. “My wife, Giselle, she develops the Free Store in our community. It distributes food three times a week and her lines have already got longer. And now, I will encounter people that have no SNAP benefits starting on Saturday, and I don’t have an explanation for them.”

Fetterman offered an apology on behalf of his colleagues.

“All I could say is I’m sorry. It’s an absolute failure — what occurred here for the last month — and now things are really going to land. And imagine being a parent with a couple kids and how you’re going to fill the refrigerator and pack their lunches and get on with their lives when the things that they’ve depended on now is gone because we can’t even agree to just open things up.”

Fetterman also criticized his own party for failing to reach a deal with Republicans.

“If a Democrat — you know, we’re not allowed to just open this up, I mean, then our party has bigger problems than I thought we might have already. It’s like, that’s not controversial. Pay everybody,” he said, “And you have our workers here borrowed over a third of a billion dollars to pay their own bills.”

“Like, it’s a failure,” Fetterman added.

Trump demands Senate Republicans invoke ‘nuclear option’ to end ‘country destroying’ government shutdown

President Trump called on Republicans Thursday to invoke the so-called “nuclear option” and change Senate rules to allow legislation to end the 30-day-long government shutdown to pass with a simple majority vote.

“It is now time for the Republicans to play their ‘TRUMP CARD,’ and go for what is called the Nuclear Option — Get rid of the Filibuster, and get rid of it, NOW!” the president wrote in a lengthy Truth Social post.

Trump explained that during his whirlwind Asia trip “the one question that kept coming up, however, was how did the Democrats SHUT DOWN the United States of America, and why did the powerful Republicans allow them to do it?”

The president said he pondered the question on his long flight back from South Korea.

“The fact is, in flying back, I thought a great deal about that question, WHY?” Trump wrote.

“Majority Leader John Thune, and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, are doing a GREAT job, but the Democrats are Crazed Lunatics that have lost all sense of WISDOM and REALITY,” he argued. “It is a sick form of the now ‘legendary’ Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) that only comes from losing too much.”

Trump insisted that Democrat demands to reopen the government “will hurt American citizens, and Republicans will not let it happen.”

The 60-vote threshold needed for legislation to clear the upper chamber has prevented Republicans from advancing a short-term continuing resolution to fund the federal government at pre-shutdown levels.

All but three Senate Democrats have voted down the Trump-backed proposal more than a dozen times since federal funding lapsed on Oct. 1.

Republicans need five more votes to push the bill forward.

“Just a short while ago, the Democrats, while in power, fought for three years to do this, but were unable to pull it off because of Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona,” Trump wrote, referring to a previous effort to undo the legislative filibuster. “Never have the Democrats fought so hard to do something because they knew the tremendous strength that terminating the Filibuster would give them.”

Judges order Trump admin to use emergency funds to pay for SNAP benefits with cutoff Saturday

A pair of federal judges ruled Friday that the Trump administration must use emergency funding to restore at least some SNAP food benefits — one day before the US Department of Agriculture had warned money for the program would run out due to the ongoing government shutdown.

The judges in Boston and Providence, RI, both said that the USDA could decide whether to fund the entitlement commonly known as food stamps in full or in part for the month of November — but a full cutoff was unlawful.

The SNAP program serves approximately 42 million Americans and costs about $8 billion per month nationally.

Leaders of 25 Democratic-run states and the District of Columbia sued the USDA in Boston federal court Tuesday after the executive agency warned that the “well has run dry” for SNAP benefits.

Senate Democrats, led by House Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), have voted to reject the funding bill 13 times in hopes of forcing concessions from Republicans that would extend pandemic-era Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire Dec. 31.

The Trump administration argued that a contingency fund with about $5 billion in it set aside for emergencies could not be used even if it wanted to. The states — along with a coalition of cities and nonprofits who brought the Rhode Island case — argued not only that the money could be used, but that it had to be used under the Food and Nutrition Act, which requires that “assistance under this program shall be furnished to all eligible households.”

“There is a contingency fund at USDA, but that contingency fund, by the way, doesn’t even cover, I think half of the $9.2 billion that would be required for November SNAP,” Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins told reporters on Capitol Hill alongside House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.).

“It is only allowed to flow if the underlying program is funded. If Hurricane Melissa or one of the hurricanes hits, that’s the contingency fund that we would use to send more money into the vulnerable communities that are harmed by a specific event, like a hurricane — but it is a contingency fund that can only flow if the underlying appropriation is approved.”

However, a since-deleted Lapse in Funding Plan from the USDA made public Sept. 30 highlighted how “multi-year contingency funds” would be used to deal with the shortfall in federal monies to state SNAP agencies.

The administration argued in subsequent letters to the agencies that the $6 billion pot of funding wouldn’t be able to be used for regular monthly benefits — and that the contingency spending was designated for emergencies.

“At core, Defendants’ conclusion that USDA is statutorily prohibited from funding SNAP because Congress has not enacted new appropriations for the current fiscal year is erroneous,” Boston US District Judge Indira Talwani wrote in her 15-page order.

“To the contrary, Defendants are statutorily mandated to use the previously appropriated SNAP contingency reserve when necessary and also have discretion to use other previously appropriated funds as detailed below,” added the judge, who gave the USDA until Monday to report whether it could “authorize only reduced SNAP benefits” using money set aside to respond to natural disasters “or to authorize full SNAP benefits” using the emergency money and “additional available funds.”

Regardless of what the administration decided, Talwani wrote that there shouldn’t be “an outright suspension of the program while some funds are available.”

In Rhode Island, US District Judge John J. McConnell ruled from the bench that the SNAP program must be funded with the emergency monies and asked for a progress report from the feds by Monday.

Terrified moms speak out, say their kids face starvation as SNAP benefits expire: ‘We have nothing’

The countdown to this weekend looks dismal to Kelli Austin.

Rather than looking forward to spending quality time with her children, the single mom of three is staring down the barrel of starvation.

“I don’t know how I’m going to feed my kids tomorrow,” Austin, 38, an addiction recovery coach from Augusta, Maine, told The Post through tears.

She’s just one of the 42 million Americans being stripped of their grocery budget benefits — financial support provided by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — on Saturday, Nov. 1.

The loss of her $300 monthly stipend means Austin, who has three teens aged between 13 and 17 — who are often teased for receiving free breakfast and lunch at school — won’t be able to put food on the table during weekends and school vacations.

And she has even greater fears for what will become of the holiday season for her family.

While the other parents will be busy piling their shopping carts with turkeys and treats, Austin worries that this will be the first time in nearly two decades that her family will go hungry.

“I’ll have to look them in the eyes and say, ‘Sorry, I couldn’t do better,’” she said.

Austin comes from “generational poverty.”

It’s a family curse she’s fought to break since working in drug rehabilitation centers over the past few years, hoping to pave a smoother path for her kids.

However, the gig doesn’t pay much, and what she earns from her job just barely covers the cost of rent for her subsidized housing, as well as other household bills.

“I’ve been a SNAP recipient for many years; those benefits feed my family,” explained Austin, who is also taking college classes in addition to working her job. “Without them, we have nothing.”

Hers is the troubling fate of low-income families, as well as the disabled and the elderly, nationwide. 

Bodega owners rep pleads with needy New Yorkers not to loot after SNAP benefits expire: ‘They could be shot’

A rep for Big Apple bodega owners is pleading with needy New Yorkers to keep their cool and avoid looting neighborhood stores after SNAP benefits possibly expire due to the federal shutdown.

Fernando Mateo, who said this week he’s starting his own new bodega group, said storeowners will have to defend themselves if their stores are looted — and hungry locals could be in harm’s way.

“Let’s face it, when people go hungry and they don’t have money and they have to feed their kids, they’re going to do whatever they have to do to achieve that,” Mateo said Thursday.

“We are just afraid that if they come in and loot, and one of the bodega owners or workers intervene, they could be shot, they could get stabbed, they could get killed,” he said. “And that’s what we want to prevent.”

Mateo’s plea came as he announced he was founding a new “Bodega Alliance” — after resigning from the United Bodegas of America in a huff due to a rift over its endorsement of Zohran Mamdani on Wednesday.

Mateo said he felt “betrayed” when United Bodegas of America President Radhames Rodriguez publicly backed the lefty mayoral front-runner, who has vowed to launch a city-owned grocery store in each of the five boroughs, if elected.

He said his new group will work closely with the NYPD to keep the peace if SNAP food stamps dry up on Saturday.

Mateo instead urged needy residents to simply ask for handouts, and not to resort to theft.

“If you live in a community and you know your local bodega, aske them for food, ask them for supplies, and I’m sure the bodega owner will oblige,” he said. “He will come through and he will help.”

Major US airport near closure amid government shutdown — and it’s worrying news for Disney fans

As the fifth week of the government shutdown comes to a close, a shortage of air traffic controllers has led one major airport to cancel all landings.

Thousands of flights have been delayed due to staffing shortages amid the government shutdown — and Orlando International Airport came close to canceling all landings.

The Federal Aviation Administration announced on Thursday evening that there would be “no certified controllers for a period of time,” which would “prevent landings” at the popular travel hub, the closest major airport to Walt Disney World and Universal Studios.

The order was later reversed when enough staff were found, but flights in and out of MCO continue to face major delays — with average delays of about 2 hours and 40 minutes, with some flights delayed for nearly 12 hours and several canceled, according to the New York Times.

Other major airports, including Dallas/Fort Worth and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, have experienced major delays as well.

Sky News reported that flight tracking website FlightAware said nearly 6,000 flights were delayed and 1,100 canceled nationwide on Thursday. This impacted 20% of flights at United Airlines, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines.

Since the shutdown began on Oct. 1, more than 13,000 air traffic controllers have been working without pay — and the amount calling in sick has increased. Some are even working second jobs to make enough to live.

During a government shutdown, federal workers such as military personnel, secret service agents, NASA, air traffic controllers and National Parks staff are required to work without pay.

Many air traffic controllers have been working mandatory overtime and six-day weeks even before the shutdown began — and the FAA is about 3,500 air traffic controllers short of targeted levels.

Two controllers who spoke to The Post earlier this month said the situation that is becoming more dangerous by the day.

“The financial anxiety doesn’t just hurt morale; it directly affects safety,” one controller in South Carolina declared. “When someone responsible for thousands of lives a day is worrying about whether they can pay rent or feed their kids, focus suffers. Sometimes that small moment where your mind is elsewhere can have serious impacts.”

A second controller, working in California, warned: “The shutdown is affecting every single person traveling in the United States at this time. More stress equals more risk; that’s just basic common sense.”

JFK forced to ground all planes due to wild winds, shutdown — as all of NYC’s major airports in crisis

John F. Kennedy Airport was forced to ground all planes Friday as the metro area’s two other major airports were also snarled by high winds, as the ongoing government shutdown has reduced air traffic control center staffing.

LaGuardia and Newark airports were also ordered to ground all planes due to the gusty weather, according to the FAA.

“Travelers should expect widespread ripple delays and check with their airline for the latest flight status,” the city’s Emergency Management Office said.

Flights to JFK are being held at their departure airports, with a ground stop in effect until 7:30 p.m. due to the combination of wind and staffing issues, resulting in 36 planes being held per hour.

Ground delays at the Queens airport are averaging one hour due to the winds.

Ground delays are running at an average of two hours at LaGuardia, though some planes are delayed as much as five hours.

Newark is suffering delays of up to an hour and 40 minutes.

All three airports were registering gusts of 45 miles per hour, according to Fox Weather.

The National Weather Service issued a wind advisory through midnight.

Officials warned that the inclement weather could cause further delays and that passengers should check with their airlines to see how they are affected.

The intense winds are compounding the staffing shortages that have been plaguing airports and their traffic control stations amid the 31-day-long government shutdown.

USA

Trump sits for first ‘60 Minutes’ interview since suing CBS — and Bari Weiss’ network takeover

President Trump will sit down with CBS News anchor Norah O’Donnell Sunday for his first interview with the network since suing and later settling with its parent company over a 2024 “60 Minutes” segment featuring then–Vice President Kamala Harris.

The interview, which airs Sunday on “60 Minutes,” was filmed Friday at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, according to the news site Semafor — and comes just weeks after Bari Weiss took the helm of the network.

Earlier this month, Semafor was first to report that Trump was in talks on a possible interview with “60 Minutes,” the long-running television newsmagazine.

According to CBS, O’Donnell’s conversation with the president spanned a wide range of topics, including his recent meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, US relations with Venezuela and Israel, the ongoing government shutdown and the administration’s new immigration and National Guard policies.

The network posted a preview story on its websites showing O’Donnell sitting across from Trump at his estate on Friday.

The high-profile sitdown comes just months after Paramount paid Trump $16 million to settle his lawsuit alleging the Harris interview was deceptively edited to benefit his opponent during the 2024 campaign.

Though the settlement included no apology or admission of wrongdoing, it paved the way for a truce between the White House and CBS News.

Earlier this year, CBS News pledged to publish the full transcripts of future presidential interviews and air unedited versions of major political sitdowns on programs like “Face the Nation” and “60 Minutes.”

For Trump, the interview offers an opportunity to re-engage with a major broadcast network he has long derided as part of the “fake news media.”

His relationship with CBS appears to be warming under the network’s new ownership.

During a recent conversation aboard Air Force One, Trump praised Paramount CEO David Ellison and his father, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, calling them “great people” who “understand fairness.”

The interview will air during a period of turbulence and upheaval at the Tiffany Network’s news division.

The decision to feature Trump on “60 Minutes” is just the latest indication that CBS News is eager to turn the page under the leadership of Weiss, who became editor-in-chief in October following Paramount’s acquisition by Skydance Media.

Trump unveils Lincoln Bathroom renovation — complete with gold accents: ‘Very appropriate’

President Trump on Friday unveiled the latest in his series of White House makeovers — a gleaming, all-marble renovation of the historic Lincoln Bathroom — and, in true Trump fashion, he did it with fanfare and plenty of polish.

Posting photos on his Truth Social platform, Trump bragged that he had replaced what he called the “inappropriate” 1940s-era art deco green tile design with “black and white polished Statuary marble,” accented with gold fixtures.

“I renovated the Lincoln Bathroom in the White House,” the president wrote, sharing before-and-after images of the small but storied space near the Lincoln Bedroom.

“It was renovated in the 1940s in an art deco green tile style, which was totally inappropriate for the Lincoln Era.”

He wrote in another post that he used “highly polished, statuary marble.

“I did it in black and white polished Statuary marble,” Trump wrote.

“This was very appropriate for the time of Abraham Lincoln and, in fact, could be the marble that was originally there!” Trump quipped in a follow-up post on Truth Social.

The glossy makeover — complete with gilded mirrors and ornate trim — fits neatly into Trump’s long-standing taste for glitz, grandeur and marble.
It also comes amid controversy over his larger move demolishing the East Wing of the White House to build a sprawling 90,000-square-foot, $300 million ballroom.

The project, which Trump says will be paid for entirely by private donors, has drawn widespread criticism.

A new ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll found that 56% of Americans oppose the project tearing down the East Wing, including 45% who “strongly” oppose it.

Just 28% support the construction of the ballroom, which Trump has described as “the most beautiful, most luxurious event space in Washington.”

Critics have blasted the ballroom construction as a vanity project that disrespects White House history, while supporters say Trump is restoring elegance to a building that has seen decades of wear and modernization.

Earlier this month, Trump slammed President Harry Truman’s postwar redesign of the Lincoln Bedroom and adjoining bathroom, calling the mid-century makeover “a style that is not good.

US prepared to strike Venezuelan military bases as Trump ramps up pressure on dictator Maduro

The US is prepared to launch strikes on Venezuelan military bases as President Trump ramps up the pressure on the country’s narcoterrorist dictator, Nicolas Maduro, and the administration works to cut off the regime’s drug and criminal operations, The Post has learned.

The operation would aim to dismantle Maduro’s Cartel de los Soles command structure and target military installations that protect the Maduro regime’s drug trafficking activities, a source familiar with plans told The Post.

However, Trump on Friday told reporters on Air Force One that he had yet to make a decision on whether to pull the trigger.

US officials have accused Cartel de los Soles of trafficking roughly 500 tons of cocaine to the US and Europe annually, working alongside gangs like Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua, Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel and other criminal syndicates.

Trump first deployed warships to the waters around Venezuela in August, starting with seven warships carrying 4,500 troops. That number has since grown to roughly 10,000 — and the addition of an aircraft carrier currently in route to the region.

“The president is prepared to use every element of American power to stop drugs from flooding into our country and to bring those responsible to justice,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters when the deployments were first announced.

Those troops have since killed more than 60 accused narcoterrorists in a series of 14 strikes on at least 14 drug boats, as of Friday.

While prior strikes in the region targeted the drug traffickers themselves, the potential attacks on land would be intended to take out the cartel’s hierarchy, according to the Miami Herald, which first reported the story.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has long criticized the Maduro regime, denied the Florida newspaper’s report that Trump had already made a decision on the strikes.

“Your ‘sources’ claiming to have ‘knowledge of the situation’ tricked you into writing a fake story,” he wrote in a post on X, referencing the Miami Herald.

It comes after the Pentagon has at least twice deployed B-52 bombers to fly near the coast of Venezuela over the past two weeks on “show of force” missions.

While such strikes could come at any time — and Trump has previously said land strikes are authorized — it would be unlikely for the US to carry out such an operation while few key officials are in Washington.

LA firefighters were ordered to ditch smoldering blaze that turned into Palisades inferno: report

Los Angeles firefighters were ordered to stop putting out a small brush fire that would eventually turn into the horrific Palisades blaze that killed a dozen people and destroyed thousands of homes, according to a report.

A battalion chief told the crew to roll up their hoses and ditch the smoldering area Jan. 2, even as the firefighters complained that the rocks and ground were still hot to the touch, shocking text messages viewed by the Los Angeles Times showed.

“And the rest is history,” wrote a firefighter, who initially warned the boss that leaving the smoldering site would be a “bad idea,” in a text exchange with colleagues.

Earlier this month, interim LAFD Chief Ronnie Villanueva said in a statement that the Palisades fire was “not a rekindle or due to failed suppression but the reactivation of an undetectable holdover fire under extraordinary wind conditions.”

But the texts between three firefighters and an unnamed third party indicate that the job may have wrapped up prematurely.

The Palisades inferno, which raged for 24 days, grew out of the much smaller Lachman fire, which was deliberately set on New Year’s Day.

In their text messages, the firefighters complained that their superiors had failed to make sure that the mop-up was finished Jan. 2, the LA Times reported.

One firefighter said crews were upset at the directions to pack up and leave but that the group knew they could not defy the battalion chief’s orders.

That firefighter also wrote that he and his colleagues knew immediately that the Jan. 7 fire was a rekindling of the Jan. 1 blaze.

Federal authorities say strong winds stoked the still-burning embers on that morning until they grew into the Palisades inferno, which burned an estimated 23,448 acres.

The LAFD did not respond to The Post’s request for comment on the report, but Villanueva previously told the LA Times that firefighters remained in the Lachman burn area for more than 36 hours and “cold-trailed” it, meaning they used their hands to feel for heat, dug out hot spots and chopped a line around the perimeter of the fire to ensure it was contained.

“As far as we were concerned, the fire was extinguished,” Villanueva said. “Unbeknownst to us, it was still in the rooting system.”

Investigators with the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives ruled that the Palisades fire smoldered for several days underground “within the root structure of dense vegetation” until heavy winds caused it to surface.

This month, former Pacific Palisades resident Jonathan Rinderknecht was charged with setting the Palisades fire. Officials say he lit the initial Lachman blaze.

The LAFD’s response, or lack thereof, is the subject of a Senate probe led by Republican committee members.

ISIS-inspired Michigan gang busted in foiled terror plot debated ‘pumpkin day’ attack: sources

Federal investigators prevented a real-life Halloween horror by busting at least five terror plotters inspired by ISIS in Michigan early Friday, sources familiar with the operation told The Post.

“This morning the FBI thwarted a potential terrorist attack and arrested multiple subjects in Michigan who were allegedly plotting a violent attack over Halloween weekend,” FBI Director Kash Patel posted on X.

“Thanks to the men and women of FBI and law enforcement everywhere standing guard 24/7 and crushing our mission to defend the homeland.”

Authorities raided three homes in the Detroit suburbs of Dearborn and Inkster and recovered weapons including legally owned guns, the sources said.

Those arrested were described as home-grown radicals, but authorities were investigating possible foreign contacts of the suspects.

FBI and Michigan State Police vehicles were spotted in a neighborhood near Fordson High School in Dearborn. Investigators walked in and out of a house, with one official collecting paper bags and other items from an evidence truck.

The alleged plotters spoke of launching a “pumpkin day” assault while they were under round-the-clock FBI surveillance and trained at a local shooting range, the sources said.

A juvenile was among those arrested, two people familiar with the investigation told The Post, with one source specifying that suspect is 16 years old.

There was internal dissent within the group about whether they should go ahead with an attack on Halloween, with some believing they needed more time to prepare, the sources said.

It’s unclear how well-developed any attack plans were, with one source saying targets did not appear to have been picked out.

Those arrested were described as home-grown radicals, but authorities were investigating possible foreign contacts of the suspects.

Members of the group also were overheard speaking about visiting New York City’s Rockefeller Center and watching the sunrise at the Statue of Liberty — but sources said that trip was planned as a tourist excursion and there is no known threat to the Big Apple.

Law enforcement sources specified to The Post there is no threat to Friday night’s Village Halloween Parade and added that the NYPD assisted in surveilling the suspects, without providing specifics.

USC PhD student confesses to drugging and raping women, taking horrifying photos: cops

A Chinese national earning his Ph.D at a prestigious California University allegedly confessed to the sickening crimes of drugging, tying up and sexually assaulting three women before taking horrifying photos of them in “sexually explicit” positions, prosecutors said.

Sizhe Wang, 30, was a doctoral student studying electrical engineering at the University of Southern California when he drugged his victims by slipping powder in their food and drinks between 2021 and 2024, according to a prosecutor’s motion cited by the L.A. Times.

Wang tied the unconscious women up with leather straps and continued to drug them with syringes and tubing in their anuses before raping or sexually assaulting them, the motion states.

During the nightmarish attacks, he posed his nude victims in sexual positions and took Polaroids and digital images of them, according to the motion.

Weng allegedly described the three assaults “at length and in detail” to Los Angeles Police Department detectives after his arrest on Aug. 28,  according to the Sept. 2 motion by L.A. County Deputy District Attorney Catherine Mariano.

Weng’s first victim was a childhood friend, known as Jane Doe 1, who took a trip to San Diego with him in December 2021, according to the motion.

When his friend wasn’t looking, he put crushed benzodiazepine pills in her drink at a bar, the motion states.

He then he used a syringe and tubing to inject her anally with the sedative midazolam,  tied her up with leather straps and vaginally and anally raped her, the motion said.

In photos he took, she  “appeared unconscious with a plastic dental device in her mouth exposing her gums and teeth,” the motion states.

Other photos showed her “placed in different positions highlighting her vaginal and anal areas while her legs remained bound with leather straps.”

His next victim, known  as Jane Doe 2, was a friend who flew from China to study in the U.S, who he also drugged, raped and posed, according to the motion.

His third, known as Jane Doe 3, was a classmate in Weng’s doctoral program whom he considered a close friend, according to the motion.

United Airlines planes collide at LaGuardia: ‘We all felt a bump’

Two planes collided on the tarmac at LaGuardia Friday as the airport grappled with intense delays brought on by weather and staffing shortages, The Post has learned.

A United Airlines plane returning from Orlando was turning into its arrival gate when it clipped the tail of another United jet on the taxiway, a spokesperson for the airline said.

The clipped plane, which was waiting to be taxied for its journey to Houston, was stationary at the time.

“We all felt a bump during taxi to the runway but didn’t know it was another plane until the captain said it was,” a passenger, who declined to share their name, said.

A video obtained by The Post showed numerous emergency vehicles at the scene.

Both planes returned to the gate, and all passengers were deplaned.

There were no injuries reported among the two planes’ 328 passengers and 15 crew members.

Maintenance crews are evaluating the clipped plane for any malfunctions following the collision.

At the time of the collision, the Houston-bound plane was already running on a 90-minute delay, a delay that continued to grow through the night.

LaGuardia had grounded planes several hours earlier over intense winds, which had reached 45 mph.

Ground delays were running at an average of two hours and 15 minutes at LaGuardia, though some planes were delayed as much as five hours.

The National Weather Service issued a wind advisory through midnight.

Port Authority referred all queries about the incident to United Airlines.

Nancy Mace allegedly berated cops in profanity-laced ‘tirade’ at SC airport: ‘No way to treat a f–king US representative’

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) threw a temper tantrum at the Charleston International Airport Thursday, loudly cursing and berating police officers simply trying to escort her to the gate, according to an incident report.

The two Charleston County Aviation Authority Police Department officers who bore the brunt of Mace’s fury had been waiting for the congresswoman’s “white BMW” to arrive at the airport curb so they could whisk her to her gate, but never saw the vehicle arrive, the report obtained by The Post explains.

The officers were notified that the 47-year-old Republican had arrived just 15 minutes after they were expecting the congresswoman and Republican candidate for governor of South Carolina at the curb.

Less than a minute later, the officers encountered a “very irate” Mace waiting for them at the airport’s TSA Known Crewmember entrance, the report notes.

“It appeared she was either dictating a message into her phone or talking to someone about the situation.”

The two officers tasked with making sure Mace safely got to her gate went into more detail in separate statements.

“She immediately began loudly cursing and making derogatory comments to us and about the department,” one officer wrote. “She repeatedly stated we were ‘f–king incompetent’ and ‘this is no way to treat a f–king US representative.’”

“The entire walk to gate B-8 she was cursing and complaining.”

Mace continued “her tirade” at the gate as the officers waited for her to board her flight.

The officer noted: “Any other person in the airport acting and talking the way she did, our department would have been dispatched and we would have addressed the behavior.”

Mace’s behavior apparently left an American Airlines gate agent “in disbelief,” and a TSA supervisor told the officers that Mace “talked to several TSA Agents the same way.”

After reviewing security footage from the curb, the officer determined that Mace was dropped off at the airport in a different color BMW.

Justice Department investigating fraud allegations in Black Lives Matter movement, AP sources say

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department is investigating whether leaders in the Black Lives Matter movement defrauded donors who contributed tens of millions of dollars during racial justice protests in 2020, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.

In recent weeks, federal law enforcement officials have issued subpoenas and served at least one search warrant as part of an investigation into the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, Inc. and other Black-led organizations that helped spark a national reckoning on systemic racism, said the people, who were not authorized to discuss an ongoing criminal probe by name and spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press.

It was not clear if the investigation would result in criminal charges, but its mere existence invites fresh scrutiny to a movement that in recent years has faced criticism about its public accounting of donations it has received. The recent burst of investigative activity is also unfolding at a time when civil rights organizations have raised concerns about the potential for the Trump administration to target a variety of progressive and left-leaning groups that have been critical of him, including those affiliated with BLM, the transgender rights movement and anti-ICE protesters.
Spokespeople for the Justice Department declined to comment on Thursday.

One of the people said the investigation had been initiated during the Biden administration but is getting renewed attention during the Trump administration. A second person confirmed that allegations were examined in the Biden administration.


The foundation said it took in over $90 million in donations following the 2020 murder of George Floyd, a Black man whose last breaths under the knee of a white Minneapolis police officer sparked protests across the U.S. and around the world.

Critics of the nonprofit foundation, and of the BLM movement broadly, accused organizers of not being transparent about how it was spending the donations. That criticism grew louder after BLM foundation leaders in 2022 confirmed they used donations to purchase a $6 million Los Angeles-area property that includes a home with six bedrooms and bathrooms.

The leaders previously denied wrongdoing and publicly released tax documents. No prior investigations into the nonprofit’s finances have yielded proof of impropriety.

Leaders of the foundation have received subpoenas. In a statement emailed to the AP on Thursday, the foundation said it “is not a target of any federal criminal investigation.”

“We remain committed to full transparency, accountability, and the responsible stewardship of resources dedicated to building a better future for Black communities,” the foundation said in the statement.

Several localized BLM chapters, which are not affiliates of the foundation, have previously been at odds with the nonprofit over its plans for donations. Those chapters operate and fundraise independently of the foundation.

The Black Lives Matter movement first emerged in 2013 after the acquittal of George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer who killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Florida. But it was the 2014 death of Michael Brown at the hands of police in Ferguson, Missouri, that made the slogan “Black lives matter” a rallying cry for progressives and a favorite target of derision for conservatives.

Eric Adams puts heat on Mamdani with plan to boost NYPD head count to highest level in 20 years

Outgoing Mayor Eric Adams launched a “pre-emptive strike” against Zohran Mamdani Friday as he unveiled plans to boost the NYPD’s staffing to its highest level in 20 years – putting pressure on the anti-cop socialist in the mayoral race’s last days.

Adams seemed to be pushing the front-runner for City Hall into a corner with his splashy budget proposal – first reported by The Post – that would swell the police department to 40,000 uniformed officers by 2029.

But Mamdani wouldn’t budge, doubling down on his intention to keep the NYPD’s headcount at its current depleted level of 34,000.

“It’s not a question of headcount. It’s a question of safety,” he insisted when asked about Adams’ plan, which would need the approval of future administrations.

“Eric Adams cannot actually hire enough officers that he actually has the money to do so,” he said during a campaign event practicing tai chi with seniors on the Lower East Side.

Hizzoner’s announcement came just days ahead of the closely watched Nov. 4 election in which Mamdani, the socialist Democratic nominee, is widely expected to defeat the ex-governor, running as an independent, and GOP candidate Curtis Sliwa.

The NYPD’s future has been a major issue in the contest, with Cuomo and Sliwa both arguing that Mamdani’s policies would handcuff the nation’s largest police force, rolling back its recent successes in bringing down crime.

The Queens assemblyman ran on a “defund the police” platform in 2020, calling for cuts to the NYPD and firing off posts on social media using the hashtag.

All three candidates agree, however, that the NYPD is having a crisis in recruiting and retaining cops.

The NYPD’s ranks have been stuck below 34,000 cops for the entirety of Adams’ first and only term, despite the department being budgeted for 35,000 officers.

Adams’ lame duck proposal, cribbing Cuomo’s own campaign promise to add 5,000 more officers, would essentially throw more money into the NYPD in hopes the recruits will follow.

He called to funnel $17.8 million into the department in the upcoming fiscal year, before increasing the investment to $315.8 million by 2029.

The funding would support the phased-in hiring of 5,000 more officers by July 2028, City Hall officials said.

“Now, New York City will be on a path to reach 40,000 police officers in the next three years — the highest number of police officers in 20 years,” Adams said in a statement.

The NYPD hasn’t had that high a headcount since 2000.

“Eric Adams invested in his legacy as a law-and-order mayor and launched a pre-emptive strike against a Mayor Mamdani defunding the police,” said Ken Frydman, a Democratic political operative and longtime police union advisor.

But the plan still would require approval next summer by a progressive Democrat-led City Council that’s unlikely to give Adams a parting gift, or antagonize likely incoming mayor Mamdani.

“You think the City Council will support more police?” said former NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton, who has advised NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch not to accept staying on under a Mamdani mayoralty.

Congressional intern murder suspect allegedly killed 17-year-old girl days after first shooting: police

One of the men accused of killing a congressional intern in Washington, DC, allegedly killed a teen girl just days later, according to police.

Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, 21, was interning for Rep. Ron Estes, R-Kan. in Washington, DC, when he was shot on June 30, officials said.

He died in a hospital the next day.

The Metropolitan Police Department said the shooting happened on the 1200 block of 7th Street NW. On July 4, authorities said 17-year-old Zoey Kelley was killed in a fatal shooting.

After being named as a suspect in the murder of Tarpinian-Jachym, the Metropolitan Police Department announced on Friday that Naqwan Lucas was also charged in the murder of Kelley.

He was indicted on charges of premeditated first degree murder while armed.

Police responded to a “call for trouble” inside a Washington, DC, home and found Kelley unconscious after suffering a gunshot wound. She was pronounced dead at the scene of the shooting.

Lucas has not yet been arrested and is still on the run.

Jailen Lucas and Kelvin Thomas Jr. were both arrested in connection with the killing of Tarpinian-Jachym, US Attorney Jeanine Pirro announced in early September.

Lucas and Thomas have violent records in family court, Pirro said, noting that they are juveniles.

During a news conference in September, Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith said she’s confident Lucas will be arrested.

“These two arrests, and a third one pending – I’m confident we’ll get the third one – give Eric’s loved ones some sense of peace as they continue to grieve a tremendous loss. Eric came to our city with a bright future ahead of him interning in a role where he served the public on Capitol Hill. He deserved an opportunity to return home safely to his family but was senselessly taken from his loved ones,” Smith said.

Police said a woman and 16-year-old boy were shot but survived the July 1 shooting that left Tarpinian-Jachym dead.

In an earlier interview with Fox News Digital, Tamara Jachym, Tarpinian-Jachym’s mother, said that police need to arrest the individuals responsible because “they will do it again.”

“I think Eric felt safe. It was early at night. He was in a decent area and this happened. And it’s a shame. And you know, Eric was the 85th victim and now we have an 86,” she added, referring to the number of homicides in Washington, DC, at the time.

EUROPE

Disgraced Prince Andrew to be stripped of ‘prince’ title — and forced to leave Royal Lodge after Jeffrey Epstein scandal

Disgraced royal and Jeffrey Epstein pal Prince Andrew will no longer be a prince and will have to move out of his Royal Lodge home, Buckingham Palace announced Thursday.

The late Queen’s son will have his title stripped and now be known as “Andrew Mountbatten Windsor,” the Palace said in a statement provided to BBC News.

Andrew will also be forced to vacate his taxpayer-subsidized royal home of more than 20 years.

The decision was made by King Charles and was supported by heir Prince William, the Prince of Wales, according to sources.

It comes amid renewed pressure on the royals in recent months, following fresh allegations that Andrew maintained ties with convicted pedophile Epstein years after he claimed to have severed communication.

While the statement doesn’t name Epstein or go into the allegations against Andrew, it did allude to his sex scandals.

“Their majesties wish to make clear that their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been, and will remain with, the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse,” the Palace statement reads.

A previous statement issued by Andrew several weeks ago, where he announced he was giving up his Duke of York title and honors, made no mention of victims or survivors.

Andrew will move into a property on the Sandringham Estate, privately funded by King Charles, according to the Palace.

“Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. His lease on Royal Lodge has, to date, provided him with legal protection to continue in residence. Formal notice has now been served to surrender the lease and he will move to alternative private accommodation,” the statement reads.

“These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him,” it continues.

Sarah Ferguson, Andrew’s ex-wife and the mother of his two children, will also move out of Royal Lodge, where she had been living despite the couple being divorced since 1996.

Ferguson had also come under scrutiny for her alleged close ties to Epstein, and was forced to step down from a children’s charity of which she was the patron earlier this year.

Andrew did not object to the King’s decision, and the British government also supports the move, BBC News reported.

Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice will retain their titles, the outlet added.

Another article mentioned that his new home will be a property on the Sandringham Estate, privately funded by King Charles himself.

Disgraced ex-Prince Andrew had 40 prostitutes brought to Thailand hotel on taxpayer-funded trip, biographer says

Disgraced Prince Andrew allegedly once had 40 prostitutes brought to his five-star hotel during a taxpayer-funded trip to Thailand, his biographer has claimed.

Andrew, who was officially stripped of his titles on Thursday and evicted from his royal residence in a humiliating fall from grace, engaged with the bevy of women over a four-day stretch, royal historian and author Andrew Lownie alleged.

“There was a famous trip to Thailand — for the birthday celebrations of the King. Andrew is representing his country and insists on staying in a five-star hotel rather than the embassy, which he always did,” Lownie told the Daily Mail’s “Deep Dive: The Fall of the House of York” podcast.

“Andrew had 40 prostitutes brought in the space of four days. This was all enabled by diplomats and others.”

Lownie said multiple sources, including a member of the Thai royal family, had backed up the allegation.

“Andrew had 40 prostitutes brought in the space of four days. This was all enabled by diplomats and others.”

Lownie said multiple sources, including a member of the Thai royal family, had backed up the allegation.

The jaunt was allegedly one of many trips Andrew exploited on the taxpayer’s dime when he was serving as a Trade Envoy for the UK in the early 2000s.

“In 2001, Andrew is 41, he’s having his midlife crisis, and he basically starts chasing lots and lots of women,” Lownie said.

“He uses the excuse of his role as Trade Envoy, paid for by the taxpayer, to go off on these trips,” he continued.

“He always puts in two weeks of ‘private time.’ So, we pay for his holiday and then he goes off and does things.”

Lownie went on to argue there was a “conspiracy of silence” engulfing the since-shunned royal – as he called on the British government’s National Archives to release its files on Andrew’s time as the Trade Envoy.

“Andrew was sending a list of people he wanted to meet for his own personal business interests,” he alleged.

“All the files from his time as Trade Envoy between 2001 and 2011 remain closed. They should be in the National Archive,” the historian continued. “They remain closed, and that is part of the conspiracy of silence around Andrew that we need to break.”

Lownie’s remarks were recorded just before Buckingham Palace announced its bombshell move to formally shun Andrew by removing his titles and evicting him from his residence of two decades amid the fallout over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.

The royals have faced increasing pressure in recent months after it was revealed Andrew had maintained ties with the sex offender years after he claimed to have severed communication with the late pedophile.

Sarah Ferguson’s living situation revealed after Prince Andrew’s Royal Lodge exile, stripped titles

She’s hitting the road.

Prince Andrew’s ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, is set to move into her own place after the disgraced royal was stripped of his titles and ordered to leave his longtime Royal Lodge residence earlier this week.

“She is going to be moving out and into a separate home,” an insider close to the former Duchess of York told People Friday.

“Contrary to reports, she has never asked for a property or any provision for herself,” the source shared. “She will continue to forge an independent life.”

Another insider told the outlet that Andrew’s ex is “going to move forward independently,” and a palace source added that Ferguson will not be relocating to Sandringham alongside the former Duke of York.

The Post has reached out to Ferguson’s rep for comment.

Andrew, 65, and Ferguson, 66, tied the knot in 1986, although they separated just six years later.

The two remained close after their 1996 divorce, and Ferguson joined the former prince at Royal Lodge five years after he moved into the 30-room mansion in 2003.

But the pair found themselves forced to find new living arrangements on Thursday when Buckingham Palace announced that King Charles, 76, had started the process to remove all of Andrew’s royal titles and ordered him to vacate Royal Lodge.

The decision was reportedly made due to Andrew’s close association with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and the ongoing controversy surrounding his ties to the scandal.

Andrew himself announced that he would no longer use the Duke of York title shortly before the release of accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s posthumous memoir this month.

Giuffre, who died by suicide at the age of 41 in April, had long alleged that Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell trafficked her to Andrew when she was only 17.

5 more arrests made in investigation into Louvre jewel heist

Five more people have been arrested in the investigation into the theft of crown jewels from the Louvre Museum, but the treasures remain missing, the Paris prosecutor announced Thursday.

The five were detained late Wednesday night in Paris and the Paris region, Prosecutor Laure Beccuau told RTL radio.

She did not release their identities or other details.

One is suspected of being part of the four-person team that robbed the Louvre’s Apollo Gallery in broad daylight Oct. 19, the prosecutor said.

Two other members of the team were arrested Sunday and given preliminary charges Wednesday of criminal conspiracy and theft committed by an organized gang.

Both partially admitted their involvement, according to the prosecutor.

“Searches last night and overnight did not allow us to find the goods,” Beccuau said.

It took thieves less than eight minutes to steal the jewels valued at $102 million on Oct. 19, shocking the world.

The robbers forced open a window, cut into cases with power tools and fled with eight pieces of the French crown jewels.

Hidden remains of medieval halls discovered beneath world-famous university

Scientists recently unearthed the remains of multiple academic halls at Oxford University — revealing new insights into the lives of students in the Middle Ages.

Archaeologists have been excavating the grounds of Hertford College, a constituent college of Oxford University, since 2024, as part of construction work for a new library.

The finds were showcased during an open day at the college in September.

During the excavation, archaeologists uncovered the remains of the back parts of three medieval halls: Hart Hall, Black Hall, and Catte Hall.

The halls all predated the 1874 refounding of Hertford College. Since Hart Hall was created in the 1280s, the excavation yielded medieval finds. Officials said the discoveries spanned the time of the Norman Conquest in 1066 up to the 19th century.

Ancient book clasps — used to keep manuscript tomes shut — were uncovered at the site, along with styli, the medieval equivalents of pens and pencils.

Rubbish pits also contained various food waste, including animal bones and oyster shells.

Interestingly, researchers determined that the fish remains were imported from London’s River Thames, some 50 miles away.

Excavators also found remnants of medieval trade, including coins, trade tokens, and even personal effects like combs and clothing buckles.
Clay pipes and drinking vessels were also found, along with unusual wooden bowling balls, used for early forms of lawn games.

But the star find was a perfectly preserved reading stone.

The artifact, believed to be made of either rock crystal or glass, was used to help scholars magnify the words of medieval manuscripts.

Ben Ford, senior project manager at Oxford Archaeology, called the reading stone “an exceptional find.”

He said it’s “not only because it is so intact but because, unlike many archaeological finds, you can still use it for the purpose for which it was made.”

“It seems very fitting that the construction of the new library has revealed such interesting evidence of historic book-making activities.”
As a country rich with history, the United Kingdom has yielded many significant historical finds in 2025.

In Scotland, archaeologists found evidence of a prehistoric village at a future golf course earlier this year.

In the Cotswolds — just west of Oxford – archaeologists recently uncovered an “extensive” Roman settlement, thanks to a metal detectorist who found cavalry swords in the same location.

ASIA

Pakistan threatens to ‘obliterate’ Taliban after peace talks fall apart

Pakistan’s defense minister on Wednesday threatened to “obliterate” the Taliban, which controls neighboring Afghanistan, after negotiations toward lasting peace between the two sides failed.

Peace talks wrapped up in Istanbul, Turkey, without a “workable solution,” according to Pakistan Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, which comes after deadly clashes this month.

Dozens were killed along the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan in the worst violence in the area since the Taliban took control of Kabul in 2021.

Negotiations ended with a disagreement over terror groups allegedly using Afghanistan as a base to attack security forces along Pakistan’s border.

“Pakistan does not require to employ even a fraction of its full arsenal to completely obliterate the Taliban regime and push them back to the caves for hiding,” Pakistan Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said on X.

The two countries agreed to a cease-fire brokered in Doha, Qatar, on October 19, but they could not find common ground in a second round of talks mediated by Turkey and Qatar in Istanbul, according to Reuters.

Both countries blamed the other for the talks falling apart.

“The Afghan side kept deviating from the core issue … on which the dialogue process was initiated,” Pakistan’s information minister said on Wednesday, accusing the Taliban of engaging in deflection, ruses and playing a “blame game.”

“The dialogue thus failed to bring about any workable solution,” he said.

A Pakistani security source told Reuters that the Taliban had been unwilling to agree to reining in the Pakistani Taliban, a separate terror group that Pakistan says operates without consequences from inside Afghanistan.

An Afghan source familiar with the talks told the outlet that negotiations ended after “tense exchanges” on the matter, noting that Afghanistan claimed it had no control over the Pakistani Taliban.

The Pakistani Taliban launched attacks against the Pakistani military in recent weeks.

The clashes began earlier this month after Pakistani air strikes targeted the head of the Pakistani Taliban in Kabul and other locations.

LATIN AMERICA

Cops decapitate teen gangster, display head like ‘trophy’ in Brazil’s deadliest drug raid

Police allegedly decapitated a teen gangster and hung his head from a tree as a warning after a bloody gang crackdown in Brazil ahead of next month’s flagship COP30 Climate Summit in Rio de Janeiro.

More than 100 alleged gangbangers were hunted and killed in Brazil’s deadliest-ever police operation, which began Tuesday in two of Rio’s favelas and targeted drug traffickers.

Police said it followed a yearlong investigation into the dangerous Red Command gang, which originated in Rio’s prison system and has expanded its power in recent years.

The violent raids have sparked intense gun battles, with gangs deploying drones against cops in retaliation. At least four cops have also been killed in the unprecedented violence.

The body of a 19-year-old alleged gangbanger was found missing a head on Tuesday after the police stormed the Penha district of Rio, according to Brazilian media.

The teen’s mom said they hung her son’s head “from a tree like a trophy.”

“They slit my son’s throat, cut his neck, and hung the head from a tree like a trophy,” Raquel Tomas told local media.

“They executed my son without giving him a chance to defend himself. He was murdered.

“Everyone deserves a second chance. During an operation, police should do their job, arrest suspects, but not execute them,” the grieving mom added.

Some of the bodies allegedly bore signs of possible torture, such as “burn marks,” and many of the dead had been tied up, lawyer Albino Pereira Neto, who is representing three of the grieving families, told Brazilian media.

Several bodies of alleged gang members were also displayed in the streets, wearing just their underwear.

Hundreds of police with helicopters, armored vehicles and drones entered the two sprawling favelas that house the Red Command, Rio’s oldest drug trafficking group, exchanging heavy gunfire.

Gangbangers allegedly responded to the violence by dropping bombs and launching drones on the police after blocking the exits from the slum using buses as barricades.