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Brittney Griner: After meager rations in a Russian penal colony, the basketball star is welcomed back to the US with a Christmas tree and barbecue

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CNN
 — 

Freed from a Russian penal colony and back on American soil, WNBA star Brittney Griner got her first taste of a return to normal life over the weekend at a Texas military facility.

The Olympic gold medalist arrived Friday at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio and is now staying with her wife, Cherelle Griner, in a residential environment on the base – one her agent, Lindsay Kagawa Colas, decorated with a Christmas tree.

Griner, 32, is “upbeat, thankful and hopeful,” Colas told CNN, after returning to the states from what US officials deemed wrongful detention in Russia.

For Griner – who spent nearly 10 months in Russian custody – “normal” has meant indulging in her favorites, including a Dr Pepper soda, the first drink she had in the airplane hangar after landing.

Griner’s relatives also have visited her off and on for hours, bringing San Antonio barbecue for her to enjoy.

The athlete has been eating far more nutritious food and supplements compared with her time in detention, Colas said. “Her energy level was really high,” she added.

Griner also got a haircut to clean up her “Russian fade,” as her friends and family jokingly call it, Colas said. Griner’s long, signature dreadlocks were cut while in captivity as she continuously battled the flu because her wet hair kept freezing, Colas said.

At the Texas military base, Griner hit the basketball court for the first time since she was imprisoned: Her first move was a dunk. Months ago, in pre-trial detention in Russia, Griner was offered a basketball and a hoop, but she declined to play, Colas said.

“I think it’s fair to say that her picking up a ball voluntarily and the first thing being a dunk … it was really encouraging,” Colas said. “She was really excited.”

Griner seems to be in good physical health, but whether she returns to the WNBA in the spring season will be up to her, according to Colas.

“Is she going to be ready? We’ll see,” Colas said.

Griner arrived at the San Antonio medical facility for a routine evaluation after her release Thursday as part of a prisoner exchange between the US and Russia for notorious convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout.

Concerns had grown that Griner was being used as a political pawn amid Russia’s war on Ukraine after she was arrested on drug charges in February at an airport in Russia, where she plays basketball in the WNBA off-season, then later sentenced to nine years in prison.

Now, Griner’s focus will be on recuperating, including getting physical and psychological support from the government to help with her reintegration.

“She’s had a lot of psychological support,” Colas said. “The resources are very robust. It’s very supportive and very BG-centered. It’s about her developing agency.”

That care is heavily focused on helping formerly captive people regain a sense of control over their lives after lengthy detentions. Griner opted into the Department of Defense’s post-isolation program, which other wrongfully detained Americans, including Trevor Reed, have participated in, Colas said; Reed is former Marine released in April after three years of wrongful detention in Russia.

It’s not clear how long Griner and her wife will stay in San Antonio, but the decision is hers, Colas said.

But what’s become clear is that “normal” will always look different after the ordeal Griner went through. For security reasons, for instance, the Griners have already begun the process of finding a new home, Colas said.

Though it remains unknown if fans will see Griner back on the basketball court in May, one thing is certain, Colas said: Griner is eager to use her power and influence to help others – especially Paul Whelan, another American still imprisoned in Russia.

“It was one of the first things she asked me about,” Colas said. “She’s very, very concerned about that. And will be sending a message to Paul.”

Whelan already sent a message through US representatives who spoke with him in recent days: “Please tell Brittney that Paul said he’s happy she’s home,” he told her, according to Colas.

“She is absolutely thinking about the future,” Colas said. “She’s already talking about the position that she’s now in to help other people come home.”

Whelan – a US, Irish, British and Canadian citizen – is imprisoned in a Russian penal colony after he was arrested in December 2018 on espionage charges, which he has denied. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison. He, like Griner, has been declared wrongfully detained by US officials.

The US tried to persuade Russia to swap both Griner and Whelan for arms dealer Bout, but Russian officials would not budge on the matter, with Russia saying both of the Americans’ cases were handled differently based on the charges each of them faced.

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Jurors hear ex-Border Patrol agent’s confession in killings

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SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Jurors in the capital murder trial of a former U.S. Border Patrol agent have heard a taped interview in which he confesses to the 2018 killings of four sex workers in South Texas.

If convicted of capital murder, Juan David Ortiz, 39, faces life in prison without parole because prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty. The trial started on Nov. 28 and is set to continue on Monday.

Ortiz, a Navy veteran, was a Border Patrol intelligence supervisor at the time of his arrest in September 2018. Ortiz, who officials have said wasn’t on duty during the killings and wore civilian clothes, is accused of killing Melissa Ramirez, 29; Claudine Anne Luera, 42; Guiselda Alicia Cantu, 35; and Janelle Ortiz, 28.

Each woman was shot in the head and left along roads on the outskirts of Laredo in September. One died of blunt force trauma after being shot.

Juan David Ortiz told detectives in the video played in court last week that as he drove along a stretch of road that the women frequented, “the monster would come out,” the San Antonio Express-News reported. He told investigators he wanted to “clean up the streets,” and referred to the women as “trash” and “so dirty.”

Ortiz’s attorney, Joel Perez, argued in opening statements that investigators had jumped to conclusions, and that his client’s confession was “coerced.” He said his client was “broken” and “suicidal” when he made the confession and told investigators he’d had blackouts. Perez said that Ortiz told the investigators that he was a war veteran who’d been experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder and was unable to sleep and was having nightmares. Perez said Ortiz had been put on “a bunch of psychotic pills.”

The ex-agent’s arrest was set in motion when a woman, Erika Pena, escaped from him when he pointed a gun at her while they were in his truck at a gas station on Sept. 14, 2018. Pena, now 31, testified that Ortiz would give her money for drugs, drive her to buy them and then they would have sex.

Normally, she said, he was “nice, smart, funny, a normal guy,” but on Sept. 14, 2018, she got a bad feeling after he told her he was the “next to last person” to have sex with Ramirez, who was found slain the week earlier. She testified that he was worried investigators would find his DNA.

“It made me think that he was the one who might have been murdering,” Pena told the jury.

Luera had been fatally shot on Sept. 13, 2018.

After Pena escaped, Ortiz fled from the gas station but was later arrested when authorities tracked him to a hotel parking garage.

In the interview with investigators, Ortiz said that after Ramirez had injected the drugs he’s bought for her, she’d passed out and that “angered” him. He said that when she regained consciousness, she became belligerent. Ortiz said that when he stopped so that she could use the restroom, he shot her in the back of the head.

Ortiz told investigators that after picking up Luera and taking her to get “a fix,” he told her they should check out where Ramirez’s body was found. He said she “started freaking out.” She died at a hospital after being shot in the head.

Capt. Federico Calderon of the Webb County Sheriff’s Department testified that officers who arrested Ortiz knew about the slayings of Ramirez and Luera, and while chasing him after Pena’s escape learned that a third body — later identified as that of Cantu — had been found.

Calderon said it wasn’t until Ortiz’s confession that they learned about a fourth slain woman — later identified as Janelle Ortiz.

Calderon told jurors that the information about a fourth victim was “volunteered” by Ortiz and “surprised us completely.”

Both Janelle Ortiz and Cantu were killed in the hours before Juan David Ortiz’s arrest.

Ortiz said on the tape that he’d planned to kill himself that night and that Cantu told him: “Don’t do it. God loves you.” Then, he said, he shot her in the neck.

The trial is being held in San Antonio, in Bexar County, following a defense request to move the trial from Webb County due to extensive media coverage.

The Border Patrol placed Ortiz on indefinite, unpaid suspension after his arrest. When asked last week for an update on his current employment status, a Border Patrol official said the agency doesn’t comment on “pending litigation.”

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San Antonio police chief says officer shooting of 17-year-old at McDonald’s not justified and charges are coming

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CNN
 — 

[Breaking news update, published at 8:57 p.m. ET]

The San Antonio police officer who shot an unarmed 17-year-old eating in his car at a McDonald’s parking lot last week was charged Tuesday with two counts of aggravated assault by a public servant, the police department said.

The officer, identified as James Brennand, was fired following the October 2 shooting. He has been described by the department as a probationary officer with seven months’ experience.

[Original story, published at 10:13 a.m. ET]

The police shooting of an unarmed 17-year-old eating in his car at a McDonald’s parking lot last week was “not justified” and authorities expect to file criminal charges against the officer by the end of the week, San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said Tuesday.

“The video was horrific,” the chief told CNN’s Brianna Keilar. “There is no question in anybody’s mind looking at that video that the shooting is not justified.”

McManus said he recognized an issue immediately upon arriving to the scene of the October 2 shooting, based on the location of the bullet holes.

“We have a policy that prohibits officers from shooting at vehicles, moving vehicles, except if their life is in immediate – their life or someone else’s life – is in immediate danger,” he said.

“When I saw it, the location of the bullet holes, I had an issue with it right away. You can tell by looking at the vehicles, which way the vehicle is moving when the shots are fired, and this vehicle, it was very telling to me, that this vehicle was moving away from the officer, and moving parallel with the officer, so it was pretty clear to me at that point that we were going to have an issue.”

He said he expects the officer to be charged with two counts of aggravated assault by the end of the week, charges that could rise to homicide if the 17-year-old does not survive.

Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales said late last week there was the possibility of charging Brennand with a crime.

Attempts to reach Brennand have not been successful.

The police chief’s comments come a week after James Brennand, a probationary officer with seven months of experience, shot 17-year-old Erik Cantu as the teenager sat in his car eating fast food.

According to police, Brennand was handling an unrelated disturbance call at the McDonald’s on October 2 when he saw a car he believed had evaded police the previous day and called for backup.

Before backup officers arrived, body camera video released by police shows the officer walk up to the driver’s side of the car, open the door, and order the driver out. The visibly startled teen, who was in the driver’s seat eating, put the car in reverse and started backing up.

The police officer then opened fire five times on the car, according to the video. As the driver shifted the vehicle to move forward, body camera video showed the officer opening fire an additional five times as the car drove away.

Cantu was shot multiple times and is in critical condition and on a life support system, his family said Monday. A passenger in the vehicle was unhurt.

Brennand was fired in the wake of the shooting for violating the agency’s tactics, training and procedures, police said.

“It took us a couple of days to terminate Brennand, but he was gone pretty quickly,” McManus told CNN.

SAPD’s deadly force policy is explicit: “An officer in the path of an approaching vehicle shall attempt to move to a position of safety rather than discharging a firearm at the vehicle or any of the occupants of the vehicle.”

The policy further states that “officers should not shoot at any part of a vehicle in an attempt to disable the vehicle.”

While in the hospital, Cantu was initially charged with evading detention in a vehicle and assaulting the officer, who had claimed he was struck by the door of the car as the teen backed up.

However, his defense attorney Brian Powers said the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office notified him prosecutors would not be moving forward with charges. A spokesperson for the District Attorney’s office referred CNN to the county’s online court record system, which indicates both charges have been dismissed and the case closed.

“While Sunday’s shooting of an unarmed teenager by a then-San Antonio Police officer remains under investigation, the facts and evidence we have received so far led us to reject the charges against Erik Cantu for further investigation,” Gonzales’ office said in a statement.

“Once SAPD completes its investigation into the actions of former Officer James Brennand and submits the case to our office, our Civil Rights Division will fully review the filing. As we do with all officer-involved shootings that result in death or serious injury, we will submit the case to a Grand Jury for their consideration. Until that happens, we can make no further comment on this matter.”

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DeSantis’ migrant flights to Martha’s Vineyard appear outside the scope of Florida transport program guidelines, state documents show

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CNN
 — 

A pair of flights carrying migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard last month, orchestrated by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, may have exceeded the original scope of the state’s plan to transport undocumented individuals, according to records obtained by CNN.

The records show that in the months leading up to those flights, Florida had planned a narrower mission for a controversial new state program to transport migrants to other states. The goal, according to a callout to contractors and guidelines for the program, was to, “relocate out of the state of Florida foreign nationals who are not lawfully present in the United States.”

But that’s not what transpired. On September 14, two planes picked up 48 migrants in San Antonio – not Florida – and dropped them off in Martha’s Vineyard.

The documents, provided to CNN through a records request and released Friday evening by the Florida Department of Transportation and the governor’s office, offer new details about the stunt that thrust DeSantis even deeper into the middle of a national debate on immigration. From the White House to Florida, Massachusetts and beyond, the condemnation from Democrats was swift. So was the praise from Republicans for DeSantis, who only further bolstered his standing in his party as he considers running for President in 2024.

A Democratic state lawmaker is already suing the state and asking a judge to stop future flights, arguing the DeSantis administration was illegally spending taxpayer dollars. The budget act that created the $12 million program specified the money was set aside to relocate “unauthorized aliens from this state.”

The governor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The records for the first time also directly tie a $615,000 state payment made to Vertol Systems Company for the September flights that sent migrants from San Antonio to Martha’s Vineyard. Previously, the payment to Vertol was disclosed by the state, but the governor’s office for weeks declined to confirm that the check was linked to the flights that landed in Massachusetts.

The Florida Department of Transportation, the agency tasked with executing the new migrant relocation program, received a price quote from Vertol CEO James Montgomerie on September 6 for “the first Project,” one document showed. Montgomerie identified that project as “the facilitation of the relocation of up to fifty individuals to the State of Massachusetts or other, proximate northeastern state.” The price, he said, was $615,000.

The next day, FDOT officials sent a letter asking for authorization for the $615,000 and the state made the payment within the next 24 hours, according to financial statements maintained on the Florida Chief Financial Officer’s website previously reported by CNN.

In communications with FDOT earlier during the summer, Montgomerie offered the state services that suggested a considerably less ambitious mission for the migrant relocation program.

On July 26, after a discussion with FDOT’s general counsel, Montgomerie gave the agency estimates for his company to charter flights that could carry four to 12 people from Crestview, Florida, to the Boston or Los Angeles areas, according to an email from the Vertol executive to FDOT.

“We are certainly willing to provide you with pricing information on specific ad-hoc requirements on a case by case basis,” Montgomerie wrote in the email.

The prices quoted for flights originating from Florida more closely aligned with FDOT’s guidelines for the program that it sent to prospective contractors and the agency’s request for quotes. In the three-page guidelines, FDOT stipulated the chosen company needed to ensure “that the Unauthorized Alien has voluntarily agreed to be relocated out of Florida.” The quotes also showed Montgomerie early on anticipated Vertol would be moving less people. Later, in September, his quotes evolved to include many more people on board.

Ultimately, the planes that left San Antonio briefly touched down in Crestview before eventually landing in Massachusetts.

At the time of the state’s request for contractors, DeSantis was publicly claiming that President Joe Biden could send buses of migrants from the US-Mexico border to Florida. But DeSantis acknowledged last month those buses never arrived, and his focus began to shift hundreds of miles away to Texas.

DeSantis has said the intention of executing the flights from Texas was to stop the flow of migrants at the source before they came to Florida.

“If you can do it at the source and divert to sanctuary jurisdictions, the chance they end up in Florida is much less,” DeSantis told reporters in September.

DeSantis has vowed to use “every penny” of the $12 million allocated to his administration for migrant transports. However, the state has not publicly taken credit for any transports since the two planes landed in Martha’s Vineyard.

State Sen. Jason Pizzo, the lawmaker now suing DeSantis, said the governor cannot choose to ignore the law when spending state money.

“You can’t even play by your own rules,” Pizzo told CNN last month when speaking of DeSantis. “This isn’t something that we passed 12 years ago. It was done four months ago at your request.”

DeSantis’ office previously said the lawsuit by Pizzo was an attempt at “15 minutes of fame.”

The state has paid Vertol $1.6 million so far through its migrant program, which is funded by interest earned on federal coronavirus relief money, according to the state budget documents. The initial payment of $615,000 was made by the FDOT on September 8, six days before the Martha’s Vineyard flight. Another payment for $950,000 followed on September 16, though it’s not clear what that payment went for.

A few days after that second payment, reports of a similar flight plan from San Antonio to Delaware, Biden’s home state, sent officials there scrambling to prepare for migrant arrivals. The flights, though, never arrived.

The state did not provide a contract with Vertol in the records released Friday night. Nor do the documents offer further insight into why Vertol was chosen over two other companies that appeared to submit quotes to the state, according to records.

CNN has reached out to Montgomerie for further comment.

Vertol had an existing link to a DeSantis administration official prior to its work with the state. Lawrence Keefe, Florida’s “public safety czar” appointed by DeSantis to lead the state’s crackdown on illegal immigration, represented the aviation company from 2010 to 2017.

In its quoted price to the state, Vertol said it was providing “Project management, aircraft, crew, maintenance logistics, fuel, coordination and planning, route preparation, route services, landing fees, ground handling and logistics and other Project-related expenses,” according to the documents.

The request for quotes from the state also asked that potential contractors have “multilingual capability for Spanish.” The chosen contractor would also have to develop procedures for “confirming with Partner Agencies that the person to be transported is an Unauthorized Alien.” Pizzo and others have questioned whether the migrants are considered “unauthorized” by the federal government if they are legally seeking asylum.

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US

Legal group files class action lawsuit on behalf of advocacy group and migrants flown to Martha’s Vineyard

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CNN
 — 

Lawyers for Civil Rights, a non-profit immigrant advocacy group that represents more than 30 of the nearly 50 migrants flown to Martha’s Vineyard, filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of Alianza Americas and other migrants, according to a news release from the organization.

Two planes carrying nearly 50 migrants – mostly from Venezuela – arrived at Martha’s Vineyard from Texas last Wednesday night under arrangements made by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. The move was part of a series of initiatives by Republican governors to transport migrants to liberal cities to protest what they have described as the failure of the federal government to secure the southern border.

The lawsuit was filed against DeSantis, Florida Department of Transportation Secretary Jared Perdue, the state of Florida and the state Department of Transportation, according to the release and the suit itself. The suit, in part, said the defendants defrauded vulnerable immigrants to advance a political motive for chartering two flights carrying migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard.

“No human being should be used as a political pawn in the nation’s highly polarized debate over immigration,” said Ivan Espinoza-Madrigal, Lawyers for Civil Rights executive director.

The lawsuit alleges several dozen migrants were gathered by a woman to “sign a document in order to receive a $10 McDonald’s gift card” and that she “did not explain what the document stated, and it was not completely translated to Spanish: an entire paragraph about liability and transport was not translated at all, and language specifying that the journey would take place from Texas to Massachusetts was not translated at all either.”

One of the plaintiffs in the case, according to court documents, was told by unidentified individuals that “when they first met that by leaving Texas, he would be provided with permanent housing, stable employment, and help with his immigration process.”

Oscar Chacòn, executive director of Alianza Americas, called DeSantis’ flights to Martha’s Vineyard “morally despicable.” Alianza Americas is a network of migrant-led organizations supporting immigrants across the US.

“That is why we have taken the steps to legally challenge what we view as not only a morally reprehensible action, but what we believe is also illegal,” Chacòn said in a statement. “We want to do everything we can to prevent more abuses against newly arrived immigrants, especially asylum seekers who deserve support, protection and to be recognized for the incredible contributions they make to the U.S., as well as their loved ones in their home countries.”

In response to the lawsuit, DeSantis’ office repeated what was previously said: The transportation of migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard “was done on a voluntary basis.”

“The immigrants were homeless, hungry, and abandoned – and these activists didn’t care about them then. Florida’s program gave them a fresh start in a sanctuary state and these individuals opted to take advantage of chartered flights to Massachusetts,” the statement read.

DeSantis’ office also released a copy of what they refer to as an “official consent to transport” form which includes a redacted signature of someone they purport is a migrant who consented to their flight to Martha’s Vineyard.

Bexar County, Texas, Sheriff Javier Salazar told reporters Monday evening his agency will open an investigation into the transportation of 48 Venezuelan migrants from the state to Martha’s Vineyard.

Salazar, a Democrat, said Monday it was his understanding that a Venezuelan migrant was paid last Wednesdauy to recruit 50 migrants from a resource center in San Antonio, the seat of Bexar County. As such, Salazar said he believes laws were broken not only in the county but also on the federal side.

The migrants were flown to Florida and then to Martha’s Vineyard under “false pretenses,” he said.

The sheriff said they were flown to Martha’s Vineyard for “a photo-op and stranded.” He believes the migrants were “exploited and hoodwinked” into making the trip for political posturing. The sheriff has been speaking with an attorney who represents some of the migrants for first-hand accounts of what took place, Salazar told reporters.

The allegations that he has heard thus far are “disgusting and a violation of human rights,” he said. Salazar said he believes there needs to be accountability for what happened.

DeSantis, who claimed credit for arranging the migrants’ flight, told Fox News Monday night the migrants were not misled.

“They all signed consent forms to go and then the vendor that is doing this for Florida provided them with a packet that had a map of Martha’s Vineyard, it has the number for different services that are on Martha’s Vineyard,” DeSantis said.

“Why wouldn’t they want to go, given where they were? They were in really, really bad shape and they got to be cleaned up, everything, treated well,” he said.

The Florida Department of Transportation paid $1.565 million to Vertol Systems, an aviation company based in Destin as part of the state program to relocate migrants, according to state budget records.

A payment of $615,000 was made on September 8 and a $950,000 payment was requested by the state on September 16, budget records show.

The budget records do not detail what kind of “contracted services” Vertol provided the department, nor is it clear whether the two payments were for two flights to Martha’s Vineyard that were flown and operated by Ultimate Jet Charters, a separate private jet company based in Ohio.

Reports and flight plans suggested a plane chartered to take migrants to Martha’s Vineyard was about to bring a group of migrants to Delaware, prompting state officials and volunteers to make preparations Tuesday.

The preparations came after flight tracking sites overnight displayed a flight plan filed with a commercial scheduler and the Federal Aviation Administration involving one of the Ultimate Jet charter planes that was used in the Martha’s Vineyard flights and resembled that flight. The sites listed a route from Kelly Field in San Antonio to a brief stop in Crestview, Florida, and on to Georgetown, Delaware.

Salazar, the sheriff in Texas, said Wednesday he was told to expect another flight Tuesday, but plans were changed.

“We had word this morning that there was going to be a flight arriving to San Antonio and leaving with a planeload of migrants toward Delaware,” he told CNN’s Alisyn Camerota Tuesday. “My understanding is that at the last minute, we received word that flight was postponed.”

Salazar said they were not given a reason for the flight to be postponed.

Jill Fredel, spokesperson for the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services, said in a news conference Tuesday they have no reports of any migrants arriving at this time. She said the governor’s office has not received any outreach from Florida or Texas, but noted the state is putting preparations in place just in case.

Gov. John Carney’s office also heard of the reports and officials were working to prepare in case migrants arrived unannounced, according to governor spokesperson Emily David Hershman.

“We are coordinating with Federal officials and are prepared to welcome these families in an orderly manner as they pursue their asylum claims,” she said.

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Business

SAWS to issue citations with fines to customers not following Stage 2 rules

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SAN ANTONIO – With no foreseeable outdoor watering changes in sight, San Antonio Water System is reminding customers that Stage 2 watering rules still apply.

The rules were first implemented in April of this year.

Customers who don’t comply with the rules can receive a citation with municipal fines, costing around $150 for first-time offenses, SAWS said in a news release Saturday.

“We have been patrolling neighborhoods, including gated communities, in an effort to enforce compliance with Stage 2,” said Karen Guz, SAWS director of conservation. “We’re past the point of issuing warnings; anyone caught wasting water or breaking Stage 2 watering rules will receive a citation.”

Watering days stay the same in Stage 2 as in Stage 1, but the hours when watering is allowed have been reduced, according to SAWS.

If you’re watering your property with a sprinkler, irrigation system or soaker hose, you’re only allowed to do so between 7-11 a.m. and 7-11 p.m. on your designated day.

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SAWS customers are still able to water with a handheld hose any time on any day.

Your designated day is based on the last digit of your address (0-9). Below are the designated watering days for each number. You can also learn more here. 

  • 0 or 1 – Monday

  • 2 or 3 – Tuesday

  • 4 or 5 – Wednesday

  • 6 or 7 – Thursday

  • 8 or 9 – Friday

“Our community is better equipped to handle widespread drought and avoid a water crisis because of strategies that we’ve initiated over the past 15 years,” said Robert R. Puente, SAWS president and CEO. “We’ve created a culture of water stewardship and conservation that is making the community water secure while demonstrating what could be a model for other cities.”

“We have been through this before and have not needed to go into Stage 3,” he added. “We can manage this again together if everyone complies to the watering rules.”

According to SAWS, the “coming out of drought” stages can be considered 1 day after the aquifer rises above the trigger level.

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To learn more, or to take advantage of SAWS’ WaterSaver coupons and rebates, click here.

Also on KSAT:

Copyright 2022 by KSAT – All rights reserved.

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US

Jill Biden rebuked after saying Latinos as unique as ‘breakfast tacos’

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A Hispanic journalist group rebuked First Lady Jill Biden after she said Latinos were as unique as “breakfast tacos” during a speech in San Antonio on Monday.

Jill Biden was praising civil rights icon Raul Yzaguirre during the annual conference of UnidosUS when she made the bizarre compliment.

Yzaguirre led the advocacy organization, which used to be known as the National Council of La Raza, for three decades.

“Raul helped build this organization with the understanding that the diversity of this community — as distinct as the bodegas of the Bronx, as beautiful as the blossoms of Miami, and as unique as the breakfast tacos here in San Antonio — is your strength,” Biden said.

When addressing the Bronx bodegas though, she mispronounced the convenience stores and said “bogedas.”

The National Association of Hispanic Journalists panned the remarks, stating, “We are not tacos.”

“Using breakfast tacos to try to demonstrate the uniqueness of Latinos in San Antonio demonstrates a lack of cultural knowledge and sensitivity to the diversity of Latinos in the region,” the association wrote.

Raul Yzaguirre is presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom during a ceremony on July 7, 2022.
AFP via Getty Images

“NAHJ encourages Dr. Biden and her speech writing team to take the time in the future to better understand the complexities of our people and communities. We are not tacos.

“Our heritage as Latinos is shaped by a variety of diasporas, cultures and food traditions, and should not be reduced to a stereotype.”

San Antonio has a population of about 1.5 million people that is 65% Hispanic or Latino, according to US Census data.

Conservatives also criticized Biden and wondered what liberal outrage would ensue if a Republican made those comments.

“No wonder Hispanics are fleeing the Democratic Party!” House Rep. Andy Biggs, an Arizona Republican tweeted.

With Post wires



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4 dead in Texas crash involving alleged smuggling operation

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Suspected human smugglers reportedly led authorities on a high-speed chase that ended with a fatal crash Thursday in the same Texas city where the infamous migrant death truck passed through an immigration checkpoint earlier in the week.

A vehicle believed to be carrying migrants was being chased by Border Patrol agents when it veered out of control and slammed into the back of a tractor-trailer in Encinal, TV station KHOU 11 reported.

Four people were killed and three were injured in the collision near the Love’s truck stop on Route 44, Encinal police said.

Encinal cops who responded to a Border Patrol request for assistance saw the “suspect vehicle” race off I-35 and smash into the tractor-trailer, which wasn’t moving, Police Chief Pablo Balboa III said in a prepared statement.

A photo posted online by KHOU appeared to show a mangled white Jeep amid the wreckage.

The speeding driver was among those killed and the injured were flown by helicopter to local hospitals, police said.

The vehicle crashed into a parked tractor-trailer near a gas station.
Twitter/@TxDPSSouth
Border Patrol agents were chasing a vehicle allegedly carrying migrants until it crashed into a tractor-trailer in Encinal, Texas.
KHOU

On Monday, a truck carrying 64 migrants in its sweltering trailer passed through the Border Patrol checkpoint in Encinal, with a surveillance camera allegedly catching Homero Zamorano, 45, grinning as he leaned out of the driver’s window.

That truck was later abandoned in a remote area of San Antonio, with authorities finding “stacks of bodies” inside and a total of 48 dead.

The death toll now stands at 53 of the 64 migrants who were packed into the trailer, and Zamorano — who was reportedly “very high on meth” when nabbed nearby — faces a federal human smuggling charge that could result in the death penalty.

Police have confirmed the driver of the car was killed in the crash.
KHOU
It is not known whether the crash victims were migrants.
KHOU

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has repeatedly blamed the horrific incident on President Biden, saying Wednesday that the trailer wasn’t inspected in Encinal “because the Border Patrol does not have the resources to inspect all the trucks and as a result, the Border Patrol did not have the capability of saving those lives.”

Abbott also said he would “immediately” set up new, state-run checkpoints to inspect trucks for migrant-smuggling operations and deploy two “strike teams” to scour the highways for trucks carrying migrants and search out smugglers’ “stash houses.”

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Texas migrant truck driver Homero Zamorano was ‘high on meth’: report

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The driver of the sweltering tractor-trailer truck where at least 51 migrants were found dead in Texas was allegedly “very high on meth” when he was nabbed, authorities said.

Homero Zamorano, 45, was taken into custody in a nearby field after he allegedly abandoned the 18-wheeler with dozens of migrants stashed in the back in a desolate area in San Antonio on Monday.

“He was very high on meth when he was arrested nearby and had to be taken to the hospital,” a law enforcement official told the San Antonio Express News.

Following the grim discovery of the bodies inside the truck Monday evening, investigators were able to trace the vehicle’s registration to a San Antonio address that they placed under surveillance, authorities said.

They later arrested two other men, Juan Claudio D’Luna-Mendez and Juan Francisco D’Luna-Bilbao, when they each left the residence.

At least 51 migrants have died after being trapped inside a sweltering tractor-trailer truck found abandoned in San Antonio, Texas, Monday.
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The driver, Homero Zamorano, 45, was taken into custody in a nearby field after he allegedly abandoned the 18-wheeler with dozens of migrants stashed in the back.
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D’Luna-Bilbao and D’Luna-Mendez were both charged with possessing firearms while residing in the US illegally, according to the criminal complaints.

It wasn’t immediately clear what alleged involvement those two men had in the smuggling tragedy or if they will face additional charges.

The driver is also expected to be charged, but remained in the hospital as of Tuesday night, a Mexican official said.

The death toll had risen to at least 51 — including 39 men and 12 women — by Tuesday, authorities said. Two young sisters originally from Guatemala — Carla and Griselda Carac Tambriz — were also among the victims.

Authorities have identified at least 27 Mexicans, seven Guatemalans and two Hondurans thus far, according to Mexico’s Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard and Consul of Mexico Ruben Minutti-Zanatta.

The nationalities of the other victims have yet to be identified.

A vigil was held for the dead migrants in San Antonio Tuesday night.
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Sisters Carla and Griselda Carac Tambriz — originally from the Colcajá canton, Nahualá, Sololá in Guatemala — were identified as victims.
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Local authorities said they were alerted to the tragedy after a city worker heard a cry for help from the back of the truck.

Law enforcement arrived to find the rear door to the trailer open with “stacks of bodies” inside, while others were strewn nearby.

Temperatures in San Antonio reached a high of 103 degrees on Monday.

First responders found 16 survivors suffering heat stroke and exhaustion. The hospitalized survivors — including four children — were hot to the touch and dehydrated, according to first responders.

With Allie Griffin, MaryAnn Martinez and Post wires

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Mass shooting at San Antonio BBQ leaves 2 dead, 5 injured

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At least two people were killed and five others injured during a “drive-by” mass shooting late Saturday in San Antonio, a local police head said.

The seven people were shot about 10 p.m. as a family was barbecuing outside a house, while multiple children were inside, San Antonio Police Department Chief William McManus told reporters during a press conference.

McManus said that an unspecified number of people drove by the home and “unloaded” between 20 and 30 rounds. Two of the victims are women and the other five are men; their ages range between 20 and mid-forties, he told reporters.

He also revealed that six children were inside the house as shots were fired, but that they were uninjured.

“Fortunately, they weren’t out front,” he said.

McManus said police did not have a description of the suspects, and that they have “a couple theories” about the motive of the shooting, while cautioning that the investigation is in its early stages.

“For now, seven people shot out in front of the house barbecuing, a drive-by, multiple rounds fired, two dead, five injured. Two females, five males,” he summed it up. “Two males deceased.”

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