Fox News Latest Headlines
Antisemitic violence escalates as deadly weapon attacks surge in 2025: report
Antisemitic violence escalated in 2025, with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) noting in its annual audit that attacks with deadly weapons surged, even as overall incidents declined.
The organization recorded 6,274 antisemitic incidents in 2025, an average of about 17 every day, including 203 assaults, 32 of which involved a deadly weapon, a 39% increase from 2024. Additionally, the ADL recorded 4,003 instances of antisemitic harassment and 2,068 acts of vandalism. While the attacks occurred across the country, the states that saw the most incidents were New York (1,160), California (817) and New Jersey (687), according to the ADL.
The number of incidents in 2025 represented a 33% decrease from 2024, when the ADL recorded 9,354 incidents across the U.S. However, the ADL said that the number of incidents remains "considerably higher" than it was in the years before Hamas' Oct. 7 attacks. The organization said that 2025 was ranked as the third-highest year for antisemitic incidents after 2023 and 2024.
BROOKLYN ATTACK LEAVES 3 INJURED, SUSPECT WEARING IRANIAN FLAG SHIRT ARRESTED BY NYPD
College and university campuses saw the sharpest decline in antisemitic incidents as activity tied to anti-Israel protests declined, according to the ADL. In 2025, the ADL recorded 583 antisemitic incidents on college campuses, a 66% decrease from 2024, when 1,694 incidents were recorded. The ADL has also pushed colleges and universities to address antisemitism and released new report cards evaluating campus responses.
Less than half of antisemitic incidents in 2025, about 45%, were related to Israel or Zionism, according to the ADL. That marked a notable drop from 2024, when roughly 58% of incidents were tied to Israel. Additionally, antisemitic incidents occurring at or near anti-Israel protests dropped by 67% in 2025, but still totaled 856 cases.
ELISE STEFANIK REVEALS HER VIRAL GENOCIDE QUESTION WASN’T EVEN THE ONE SHE PREPARED
Despite this decrease in the number of incidents, the ADL reported a "historic high" in antisemitic assaults and attacks with deadly weapons in 2025, noting a 39% increase. This included the deadly shooting outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., on May 21, 2025, in which Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky were killed. Days later, on June 1, 2025, a firebombing attack left 82-year-old Karen Diamond severely injured. Diamond later died as a result of the attack.
"Our 2025 audit, which shows it was one of the most violent years for American Jews on record, is a reminder of how dramatically the threat landscape has shifted. Numbers that would have shocked us five years ago are now our floor," ADL CEO and National Director Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement. "People are being murdered because of antisemitism on American soil, and thousands more are threatened."
"Even as overall incidents declined, the surge in physical assaults is a stark reminder that a historically high level of antisemitism puts Jewish lives at risk," ADL Senior Vice President for Counter-Extremism and Intelligence Oren Segal said in a statement.
The ADL's findings reveal a troubling trend: even as antisemitic incidents decline, they are becoming increasingly dangerous.
Former MLB star Noah Syndergaard calls out Trump critics: 'Don't quite understand'
Former MLB pitcher Noah Syndergaard, best known for his stint as a young star with the New York Mets, spoke out in support of President Donald Trump while criticizing the president's critics on Tuesday.
Syndergaard said he's always been a fan of Trump and met him for the first time at the White House on Tuesday for an event celebrating the Presidential Fitness Test.
"It's a dream come true, I'm riding this bliss in this moment," Syndergaard said of meeting Trump during an interview on Fox News Channel's "The Ingraham Angle."
ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON'T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW!
"I really just don't quite understand the negativity or the pessimism he gets from the media and some of the population of this nation because he's just such a patriotic guy and he cares so much everybody and the health of this nation and the health of this world."
Syndergaard went on to say he was "envious" of Trump's mental energy at age 79.
"I'm envious of the mental energy that this guy has, the sharpness he has, the comedic nature of everything he says. He's just a joy to be around," Syndergaard said.
WORLD SERIES CHAMP JOHNNY DAMON UNCONCERNED WITH FAN FLAK OVER TRUMP SUPPORT: 'I KNOW WHAT'S RIGHT'
Syndergaard was one of Trump's athlete guests at the White House Tuesday for the event celebrating Trump's plan to bring annual fitness tests back to school in the United States.
"Professional baseball pitcher, Noah Syndergaard, sometimes known as Thor, and he looks like Thor to me," Trump said to Syndergaard during the ceremony. "That is a man that I wouldn’t want to get in a fight with."
Syndergaard said he is a staunch supporter of the fitness testing, recounting his own experience with the tests as a child.
"It just kind of hits home to me because I just remember doing all these tests throughout elementary school, intermediate school. And from a kid that, if you would have told me, I'd be sitting here talking to you, talking about the Presidential Fitness Council when I was, I don't know, 10 years old, I would have called you, you're crazy. And as a kid, I kind of, I grew up as a, what we'd call a late bloomer or a husky kid," Syndergaard said.
"It's important to be healthy and to be active and get out and compete and just expose yourself to as many sports and activities as you possibly can. I mean just the interaction I had with all the kids today, getting able to throw a couple of grounds balls, do some pull ups, just get out in the sunshine and the White long was just an amazing experience."
Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Obama, Colbert gush over Zohran Mamdani as they discuss Democratic Party's future
Former President Barack Obama and outgoing "Late Show" host Stephen Colbert took turns singing the praises of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani during their interview Tuesday night.
During a prerecorded interview that aired Tuesday from the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, Colbert spoke with Obama about the direction of the Democratic Party, specifically regarding the ongoing rift between the liberal and the progressive wings of the party.
"So you have great leaders. You have people like (Virginia Governor) Abigail Spanberger and (New Jersey Governor) Mikie Sherrill, very centrist. But then you have further left, like AOC and Zohran Mamdani," Colbert said, sparking cheers from his audience after name-dropping the self-described democratic socialists.
"What direction do you think would be best for this party, to actually achieve change?" Colbert asked.
MAMDANI ALLOCATES $500K FOR REPARATIONS TALKS AS NYC FACES $5.4B DEFICIT
Obama shrugged off concerns that there was a true divide between both wings of the Democratic Party.
"I'm not so worried about this so-called rift between the left and liberals, as you described it," Obama told Colbert. "Because I think that within the Democratic Party and I would argue a bunch of independents and even some Republicans as well, there's an overarching belief in equality, fairness, if you work then you should be able to make a living wage and support a family and retire with dignity... There are a bunch of things that we agree on. And it's really more of a question of, what are the specific things that we have to do."
MAMDANI SAYS COLBERT SHOW SHOCKED HIM WHEN PRODUCER PITCHED ‘GAME’ TO DISCUSS ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
"You look at somebody like Mamdani, who I think is an extraordinary talent," he continued. "He wants people to be able to afford housing in New York. Well, you know, I would assume liberals in New York want the same thing. And so I don't worry as much about some of these issues within the Democratic Party. I'm more interested in for Democrats is — do you know to just talk to regular people like we're not in a college seminar, right? You know, can you talk plain English to folks about-"
"I think that's one of the powers that Mamdani has," Colbert interjected.
"That's correct," Obama said.
"Not only does he talk like a normal person, but he lives a normal life, but also, he names what is obviously wrong," Colbert continued.
"Yes!" Obama exclaimed. "And not have a bunch of gobbledygook around it... Just talk like normal people talk."
Stefon Diggs' attorneys warn athletes face 'opportunistic targeting' after not guilty verdict in court
After Stefon Diggs emerged from a criminal court in Dedham, Massachusetts, late Tuesday afternoon, not guilty of onerous felony strangulation and assault and battery charges, it should have expunged a six-month saga in which he looked quite bad in the court of public opinion.
But, of course, it's not that simple.
Because some people who saw the initial allegations in blaring headlines, or charges filed, and a trial looming, might have missed the most important thing: The not guilty verdict.
So the former may stick in minds while the latter is marginalized.
STEFON DIGGS FELONY STRANGULATION TRIAL BEGINS WITH NFL RECEIVER DENYING EVERYTHING
Diggs knows this. His representation knows this. And they are left victorious at trial but still stinging from the episode.
"We have taken these allegations seriously from Day One and that’s exactly why we were eager for the facts to come to light through the legal process," Mitch Schuster of Meister, Seelig & Schuster, the firm that represented Diggs throughout his ordeal said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital.
"Fame and financial success shouldn't strip someone of their presumption of innocence, but too often, it does exactly that. And unfortunately, as is the case with unfounded claims -- the damage starts the moment an accusation is filed, long before any facts are examined.
"Professional athletes have a target on their back. When someone sees a uniform and a contract, they see leverage; they see a settlement. And they’re counting on that pressure in the court of public opinion to drive a default decision to settle regardless of the facts of the matter.
"The evidence has shown what we've maintained from day one: Mr. Diggs was wrongly accused, and this case represents exactly the kind of opportunistic targeting that players can face the moment they step off the field."
This feels like Diggs, through his attorneys, speaking out.
And he is echoing the feelings of multiple athletes who have faced civil or even criminal allegations for which they feel convicted by the public or the media before the facts are heard in court.
We've seen this happen countless times.
We all remember the Duke Lacrosse team, several members of which were charged with rape, virtually buried under an avalanche of judgment in 2006 only to have the accuser admit in 2024 that she fabricated the story.
DONALD TRUMP SPEAKS OUT AFTER DUKE LACROSSE ACCUSER ADMITS TO MAKING FALSE ALLEGATIONS, YEARS LATER
We remember Brian Banks serving five years for a 2002 rape and kidnapping conviction only to be exonerated in 2012 when his accuser was secretly recorded admitting she fabricated the story.
And we definitely recall that Matt Araiza, a former San Diego State University punter who was so prolific in college he was nicknamed the "Punt God." He faced allegations of participating in the gang rape of a 17-year-old girl at an off-campus party in October 2021.
He was never criminally charged, but a civil lawsuit naming him led to his immediate release from the Buffalo Bills in August 2022.
It was only after the district attorney determined there was no path to a prosecution, San Diego State determined in its internal investigation there was no wrongdoing, and the accuser dropped the civil suit in December 2023, that Araiza was finally able to sign with the Kansas City Chiefs in February 2024.
There are other instances where athletes are falsely accused, deemed criminally not guilty, or win at civil trial, but perhaps like Diggs still feel stigmatized.
There are also, by the way, plenty of examples where athletes did exactly what they were accused of doing in running the gamut of criminal and civil wrongdoing. And those accusers deserve their day in court and justice just as much as the accused.
But the point here is the court of public opinion is neither equipped nor deserving of rendering just decisions.
The court of where-there's-smoke-there's-fire is historically unreliable.
There was a period earlier this decade that fed the public the idea that accusers were to always be believed at whatever cost. Out of deference. Out of fair play.
Except, of course, that was never fair to the accused. In nurturing the alleged victim, we convicted the defendants before a trial began.
It's hard to tell if that period has passed. But decisions such as the one that allowed Stefon Diggs to walk out of that court a free man should serve as a warning that maybe judgment should indeed be reserved for a court of law -- and not the court of public opinion.
Weight-loss drugs are changing dining as customers eat half their meals, take rest home, celebrity chef says
FIRST ON FOX: The restaurant industry is under constant pressure to evolve as tastes and trends change — including how much people are eating.
In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, celebrity chef Rocco DiSpirito, restaurateur and owner of New York City's new Bar Rocco, discussed how shifting consumer habits — including delivery, pricing and weight-loss trends — are reshaping the industry.
"There's no question the restaurant industry is changing," he said. "Mostly dining habits are changing."
SOLO DINING SURGES 52% AS AMERICANS EMBRACE 'ME-ME-ME ECONOMY' OVER SHARED MEALS
"A lot of people are getting food delivered to their homes," he said, noting one example.
"Now you can get everything delivered to your home. There was a time [when] fine-dining restaurants didn't do delivery, but now they all do."
At-home delivery is pulling some diners away from traditional restaurant experiences, DiSpirito said — while also contributing to a growing demand for faster, more efficient service when people do choose to dine out.
"They generally are looking for great value, but still looking for really indulgent foods, really special occasion experiences and vibes, and I think they want to feel like they experience something very special when they go out," he said.
A powerful impact on the industry has been the GLP-1 movement. As more Americans take weight-loss medications such as Ozempic, appetites are shrinking.
Yet while people are eating less, DiSpirito revealed that this hasn't led to restaurants reducing portions. Instead, he said, diners are taking their meals to go more often than before.
"Due to GLP-1 medications, people are eating less. There's no question about it. They're drinking less as well," he said — adding that they "still want big portions."
CLICK HERE FOR MORE LIFESTYLE STORIES
"What I'm seeing is people are eating half of their food and taking the other half home," he continued.
"So now, even in fine dining, it's not uncommon to see someone order food and ask for a box to take it home on almost every occasion, even on a date, which was unheard of at one time."
DiSpirito reflected on how swanky restaurants used to give out tinfoil swans, which he said was devised by restaurateurs to "discourage take-home."
"Now, we give them a nice pretty little package with a sticker on the bag," he said.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER
The take-home trend is also a more economical move, as it makes for a "free" lunch the next day. DiSpirito said he understands why people are thinking about value.
"Prices are generally higher. Costs are much, much higher," he said.
"Restaurateurs are often blamed, but really we're just reacting to the cost of our inputs."
TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ
DiSpirito said he doesn't fault customers "for wanting to take a little bit home and trying to get two meals out of [it]. Who can blame them?"
Who is Judge Zia Faruqui? What we know about the federal magistrate who apologized to Cole Allen
The magistrate judge who apologized to suspected would-be Trump assassin Cole Allen for his treatment inside a Washington, D.C. jail during a Monday emergency motion hearing has been criticized for his standoffishness with the Trump administration over the city's crime crackdown, and praised for his career-long commitment to DEI.
"To me, it’s extremely disturbing that he was put in five-point restraints, a person with no criminal history," Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui, who devoted much of his career to diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, said during the hearing, adding that Allen is presumed innocent.
He then compared Allen, who is accused of trying to kill President Donald Trump, with suspected Capitol rioters from Jan. 6, 2021.
"It’s troubling. I never heard of one Jan. 6 defendant who was put in five-point restraints or in a safe cell," he said. "If the only way to keep him safe is the most punitive thing, that’s a problem."
NEW VIDEO SHOWS WHCD SUSPECT INSIDE HOTEL BEFORE RUSHING SECURITY CHECKPOINT WITH WEAPON
"Pardons may erase convictions, but they don’t erase history," he said. "They were hanging gallows outside."
"What am I to say to Allen that this is going to be a fair process if we’re putting him in a safe cell when he’s not supposed to be in there?" Faruqui said. "At a minimum I should be apologizing to him. We are obligated to make sure he’s taken care of. Mr. Allen, I’m sorry that things have not been the way they are supposed to."
WATCH: DOJ releases video of alleged WHCA dinner shooter
Allen's defense on Sunday filed a motion for an emergency hearing on his jail treatment, which was scheduled for Monday. Later on Sunday, they withdrew the motion when they learned that Allen was no longer in the jail's suicide protocol, which dictated his placement in the safe cell.
Despite the withdrawal, Faruqui hauled the defense, prosecution and a Department of Corrections (DOC) attorney into court for the emergency hearing where he decried Allen's treatment.
Faruqui has been involved in multiple spats with the Trump administration, and has a long history of spewing left-wing talking points from the bench and beyond. Here's what we know:
The Washington Council of Lawyers wrote a letter in support of Faruqui for a potential 2023 appointment to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
"Judge Faruqui’s record demonstrates a deep commitment to pro bono representation, public interest law, fairness, and diversity—as well as keen analytical skills and sound judicial decision-making," the letter says.
It later adds that he has "devoted much of his career to diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts," and twice cites his commitment to "criminal justice reform."
WHCD SHOOTING SUSPECT PLANNED TO TARGET TRUMP OFFICIALS, MANIFESTO REVEALS
After a Venezuelan illegal alien was arrested by masked federal agents in D.C., Faruqui slammed the Trump administration.
"I’d say we live in a surreal world right now," Faruqui said at a court hearing for Christian Enrique Carías Torres last year, according to The Washington Post.
"This is not consistent with what I understand the United States of America to be," he continued. "You should be treated with basic human dignity. We don’t have a secret police."
Carías Torres crossed into the country illegally under the Biden administration in 2023 and was subject to a final order of removal, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
Last August, Trump sent federal law enforcement to D.C. to assist local authorities in combatting crime. That move was met with opposition from federal grand juries, some of whom declined to prosecute cases brought before them.
The DOJ then brought the same cases in front of local grand juries. Faruqui refused to accept the local indictments in at least seven cases, and trashed the Trump administration in the process, WOUB Public Media reported.
He called Trump's crackdown a "constitutional crisis" and said, "the rule of law is being flushed down the toilet," according to The Washington Post.
"I am afraid right now, and that’s not what this country is founded on," he said at the time. "What makes America great is the rule of law. … It will not, on any of the judges in this courthouse, be broken down."
In relation to another one of the cases, Faruqui said, "it feels like some sort of bizarre nightmare," according to Newsweek.
Trump appointee and U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro has often responded in kind to Faruqui's claims.
"This judge has a long history of bending over backwards to release dangerous felons in possession of firearms and on frequent occasions he has downplayed the seriousness of felons who possess illegal firearms and the danger they pose to our community," she said last August in reference to Faruqui.
Shortly after, she said he "has allowed his politics to consistently cloud his judgment."
In a news conference from last September, Pirro slammed Faruqui again, after he said her office has no credibility.
"It’s not fair to say they’re losing credibility. We’re past that now," Faruqui said, later adding "There’s no credibility left."
UNABOMBER INVESTIGATOR REVEALS LIKELY BREAKING POINT OF ALLEGED WOULD-BE TRUMP ASSASSIN
"Judge Faruqui has never really met someone with an illegal gun that he hasn't found some compassion for," Pirro said in a response to a reporter who asked about Faruqui's assertion that her office has lost all credibility.
"I'm not into going back and forth with judges," she said. "I was a judge. That's not what I did as a judge. So, we need to leave politics out of it. I'll do my job. He should do his job as a judge and leave politics out of it.
In 2022, Faruqui joined the D.C. Rotary Club via Zoom where he told the audience about himself and his background, and participated in a brief question-and-answer session.
His personal biography was replete with references to his minority status and growing up in Baltimore as the son of Pakistani immigrants.
During the question-and-answer session, he was asked whether cash bond should be eliminated, a pet cause of the political left.
"We try not — we should not — incarcerate poverty, right?" he said. "We incarcerate based on the presumption, in certain cases of detention when there is a crime for which someone is presumed to be detained, but they still have an opportunity to show not."
He described the fact that there is no cash bond in the federal system as "frustrating."
"For better or for worse, we do not have cash bond [in the federal system]," he said. "I think the idea again, is that someone who's presumed innocent, we do not want to bring into that — we've already appointed them counsel if they can't afford it — we don't want to make a barrier to their release when the law directs release based on income issues and concerns about income equity."
He continued, saying that in D.C. and most other federal courts they focus on conditioned releases.
"So, removing internet access is something that we do. Having a third-party custodian there 24/7, you know, using Ring cameras to see who's coming into the house, you know, removing bedroom doors so someone doesn't have any privacy in the house. Finding ways to incarcerate people at home and home incarceration instead of having direct financial burdens and other ways to make sure they are still keeping the community safe but allowing them to be outside of incarceration while presumed innocent."
Faruqui also supports community justice.
He explained that often, he'll bring family members and neighbors of a suspect to ask how they'll support the suspect if the suspect is released on bail.
"It's not as simple as a sort of mathematical equation, two plus two is four," he said. "We're not getting that. We're getting art, right, and we're trying to see that and everyone views art differently, and I bring my life experiences to bear when I am trying to make predictive decisions," he said.
"I've been constantly amazed by the sacrifices people are willing to make for not just their immediate family, but for friends and neighbors as well," he said.
Faruqui was appointed to be a federal magistrate judge on Sept. 14, 2020, after 12 years as a federal prosecutor in St. Louis and D.C. Before that, he was a litigation associate at a private law firm. He graduated from Georgetown University Law.
Typically, magistrate judges do not try felony cases, but will handle pre-trial matters brought before the court.
Faruqui's office did not return a request for comment.
Kash Patel accuses FBI of lying to obtain warrants used to illegally spy on Trump's 2016 presidential campaign
FBI Director Kash Patel accused the FBI of lying to obtain surveillance warrants to illegally spy on President Donald Trump during his 2016 presidential campaign and subsequent first term.
Trump has long accused his 2016 opponent, Hillary Clinton, and former President Obama of being ringleaders in an alleged spying conspiracy against his campaign, an allegation both have denied. Patel detailed the years-long federal investigation into the alleged surveillance on the latest episode of "Hang Out with Sean Hannity."
"It took me two years of my life to prove the following: that a political party in the United States of America in the 21st century would go overseas and hire some bogus intelligence asset to manufacture fraudulent, fake, unverified information, funnel that to not just the intelligence community, but the Federal Bureau of Investigation," he said.
"And then take those packaged lies that they had paid for with campaign finance funds and go into a secret surveillance court and illegally spy on your opponent to be the President of the United States."
KASH PATEL SAYS RUSSIAGATE-LINKED FBI ‘BURN BAG’ ROOM WAS MISSING FROM BUREAU BLUEPRINTS
Patel's comments come as scrutiny intensifies over the federal government’s use of spying power and following Congress’ renewal of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) for 45 days.
Section 702 of FISA permits authorized U.S. officials to collect phone calls and text messages of foreign targets, but in doing so can also capture Americans’ communications – a piece of legislation Trump strongly opposes.
Patel told Fox News that FISA warrants – some signed by former FBI Director James Comey – were used to illegally spy on Trump and top officials, including himself, during the 2016 campaign and in years that followed.
FBI SUBPOENAED KASH PATEL AND SUSIE WILES PHONE RECORDS IN FEDERAL TRUMP INVESTIGATION
"I was illegally spied on by the likes of Rod Rosenstein (former U.S. deputy attorney general) and Chris Wray (former FBI director) and 10 other staffers on the Hill and people who were elected to serve this country in the halls of Congress."
"They were actually continuing the weaponization that Donald Trump and I had exposed during Trump One [President Trump's first term]."
Patel was a member of the National Security Council (NSC) in 2019, becoming deputy assistant to the president and senior director for counterterrorism during Trump's first term. He was a chief investigator and primary author of the 2018 "Nunes Memo" alleging FBI bias in Trump-Russia interference investigation.
The FBI-approved warrants, Patel shared, were later rescinded by the FISA court in 2018 after a federal investigation into the alleged spying was completed.
PATEL SAYS COMEY CASE IS 'FAR FROM OVER,' VOWS TO RESTORE 'ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY' TO FBI
"The FISA court themselves came back and said these warrants were illegal," the FBI director explained. "The FBI did not provide evidence of exculpatory evidence and innocence and that the FBI essentially lied in those applications and all the information was unverified."
"I don't think that's ever happened before... Hollywood couldn't come up with this," he added.
Patel argued that the alleged weaponization of federal law enforcement did not end when Trump first left office in 2021 but was reignited under the Biden administration.
He also vowed to uncover additional evidence.
"I knew in the four years that we were out of office, that they continued to regenerate that institution of weaponization," Patel said. "So when I walked in the door, I said, ‘We only got a bit of it. We only got maybe half of it.’"
Youths accused of breaking into NYC Church of Scientology building in latest viral 'speedrunning' trend
A Church of Scientology building in New York City on Saturday became the latest target in a string of nationwide "speedrunning" incidents that have gone viral on social media in recent weeks.
A group of youths allegedly broke through a locked door to enter the church on West 36th Street in Manhattan at 4:30 p.m., according to the New York Police Department (NYPD).
Once inside, they allegedly threw objects, damaged property and injured a staff member.
The incident reflects a broader trend fueled by TikTok, where participants film themselves rushing through the Church of Scientology buildings to see how far they can get before being stopped.
VIRAL TIKTOK TREND OF TEENS RUNNING THROUGH SCIENTOLOGY BUILDINGS SPARKS HATE CRIME ALLEGATIONS
Videos tied to the trend have racked up millions of views, including clips from Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles showing teens running through a Scientology information center.
"I saw this man who was dressed in this neon green inflatable costume, and him and a couple of his friends went inside the building from the front door when it was open," one witness told The Associated Press. "They passed the security guard. They passed multiple workers."
Videos from these alleged "speedruns" captured throngs of mostly adolescents rushing through the church building.
Authorities have responded to multiple complaints tied to the trend, while the Church of Scientology has accused participants of crossing legal lines and putting staff at risk.
"Some online have referred to these incidents as ‘speed running.’ In reality, they involve organized trespasses into religious and public information facilities for social media attention," the church said in its statement.
TEENS' VIRAL PRANK TARGETING HOMEOWNERS COULD HAVE DEADLY CONSEQUENCES, POLICE WARN
"Church facilities are peaceful spaces designed to welcome parishioners, visitors and members of the public. Turning them into targets for viral stunts is not journalism, protest or civic activity. It is trespass, harassment, and disruption of religious spaces.
"The Church welcomes lawful visitors. It does not welcome individuals forcing entry, damaging property, threatening or injuring people, or targeting religious facilities for online attention," it added.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Church of Scientology for additional information.
No arrests have been made in connection to Saturday’s incident, and the NYPD said that they are continuing to investigate.
Following a similar "large-scale incident" in Los Angeles on April 25, church officials said they were "reviewing all available remedies" and had made reports to law enforcement.
"There’s a certain mystique about it," another witness told the Associated Press. "I do get entertainment out of the speed runs. I think it’s pretty funny to see them break in. I know that technically it’s not allowed, but it kind of adds to the lore of this place."
‘MINECRAFT’ MOVIE MAYHEM RAISES ALARMS FOR AMERICA'S YOUTH, ‘BAD FOR SOCIETY’: EXPERT
The trend appears to have been started by an 18-year-old content creator.
In March he posted a video on Instagram, which has since been removed, showing himself breaching the property. @swhileyy, who has not been publicly identified, has since distanced himself from the trend.
"I do not condone what I did, even though I didn’t break any laws," he told the Hollywood Reporter last week. "I never once in any video or any comment section or anywhere promoted the idea of running through there or beating my record."
Founded by the sci-fi writer L. Ron Hubbard in the 1950s, Scientology has long been the subject of public scrutiny. Many celebrities, including Tom Cruise, Danny Masterson and Leah Remini, are among the individuals who have been involved with the Church of Scientology.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Howard Lutnick forced to face Jeffrey Epstein ties during House Oversight hearing
The House Oversight Committee’s probe into late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is turning focus to another high-profile Trump administration figure this week.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is voluntarily appearing before the congressional panel on Wednesday for a transcribed interview regarding his prior relationship with Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 after being indicted on federal sex trafficking charges.
Lutnick’s agreement to speak to the committee came after Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., pledged to force a vote to subpoena his testimony.
It is unclear how many lawmakers will attend, as the House of Representatives is in a district work period, also known as recess, this week. Still, Lutnick could face a grilling from House Oversight Committee Ranking Member Robert Garcia, D-Calif., and other Democrats who have accused him of hiding the full scope of his past ties to Epstein.
HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE DEMANDS DEPOSITIONS FROM BONDI AND LUTNICK IN EPSTEIN PROBE
"The Secretary looks forward to addressing any questions on the record when he testifies voluntarily before the Oversight Committee," a Department of Commerce spokesperson told Fox News Digital. "He looks forward to putting to rest the inaccurate and baseless claims in the media designed to distract from his historic work underway at the Commerce Department."
Lutnick, a billionaire businessman and former CEO of Wall Street firm Cantor Fitzgerald, said during an interview with the New York Post last year that he broke off ties with Epstein in 2005. The two were formerly next-door neighbors in Manhattan’s Upper East Side neighborhood — their townhomes shared a wall.
However, the Commerce secretary conceded in a Senate hearing in February that he and his family had a brief lunch with Epstein in 2012 at his private Caribbean island after files dropped showing their contact continued beyond 2005.
"We left with all of my children, with my nannies and my wife. All together. We were on a family vacation," Lutnick told lawmakers. "I don’t recall why we did it, but we did."
That visit to the island came four years after Epstein was found guilty in Florida state court of soliciting a minor for prostitution. The disgraced financier served just 13 months in prison while being given immunity from federal prosecution, which critics have called a sweetheart deal.
Congressional Democrats seized on the discrepancies in Lutnick's accounts during his testimony before the House Budget Committee in April.
"Why did you lie about your relationship with Jeffrey Epstein?" Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa., asked Lutnick during the tense hearing.
Lutnick did not answer the question directly, instead arguing that Dean’s inquiry was not relevant to the hearing topic: the Commerce Department’s budget request for the upcoming fiscal year.
The commerce secretary has maintained that his connection to Epstein was limited, and he has not been accused of any wrongdoing.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., praised Lutnick’s decision to appear for a transcribed interview.
"I commend his demonstrated commitment to transparency and appreciate his willingness to engage with the Committee," Comer said in a March statement to Fox News Digital. "I look forward to his testimony."
Lutnick is not the only Trump administration official to face questions this month as part of the committee’s Epstein probe.
Former Attorney General Pam Bondi is scheduled to sit for a transcribed interview on May 29 after being subpoenaed by Comer’s committee. Democrats and a handful of Republicans had vowed to pursue contempt charges against Bondi over her handling of Epstein files if she did not agree to testify before the committee.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House but did not hear back before publication.
GOP senator in brutal primary praised Islamic charity after feds cut terror-scrutinized parent, review finds
Texas Sen. John Cornyn has repeatedly praised the American arm of Islamic Relief Worldwide — a charity the State Department cut ties with in 2021 amid concerns including praise of terrorists and antisemitism.
After the State Department aired its concerns regarding Islamic Relief Worldwide, Cornyn had kind words for its American branch. A Fox News Digital review uncovered two video messages and two letters where Cornyn commended Islamic Relief USA or endorsed the organization’s operations.
"Thanks to my friends at Islamic Relief USA for all their humanitarian work," Cornyn said in a May 2021 video address to the organization. A year later, the senator wrote a letter to Islamic Relief USA to "recognize and thank" the organization for its "humanitarian efforts across Texas and our nation." In a 2023 letter, Cornyn again referred to IRUSA as "friends" and commended the group for its "dedication to serving our most vulnerable neighbors."
Cornyn is locked in a heated Senate primary runoff election against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Paxton has repeatedly questioned Cornyn's conservative bona fides, while Cornyn has responded by highlighting the attorney general's corruption scandals. Both candidates have made opposition to what they perceive as radical Islam focal points of their campaigns.
CORNYN WARNS PAXTON WOULD BE 'KISS OF DEATH' FOR GOP AS BLOODY PRIMARY RACE RAMPS UP
In late 2025, Islamic Relief USA moved to sever ties with Islamic Relief Worldwide, arguing that the conduct of its parent organization has significantly damaged Islamic Relief USA's reputation.
Leaders at both Islamic Relief USA and Islamic Relief Worldwide historically have maintained ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, a multinational Islamist political movement, and expressed hostility toward Jewish people, according to social media posts and photographs unearthed by the Middle East Forum. Some branches of the Muslim Brotherhood have been designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the United States.
"As we witness a rise in anti-Semitism in every corner of the globe, it is incumbent on all people of good conscience to stand strong and exhibit zero tolerance for the blatant and horrifying anti-Semitism and glorification of violence exhibited at the most senior levels of IRW," the State Department wrote in December 2020 of IRW. "We encourage all government bodies currently examining IRW activities and their relationship with IRW."
Multiple governments and banking entities have cut ties with IRW over terror financing concerns.
Khaled Lamada, the one-time chairman of Islamic Relief USA whose tax documents show he served on the organization’s board until October 2022, circulated text praising the "Mujahidin of Egypt" for "causing the Jews many defeats" through "jihad" in 2014, according to a Facebook post found by the Middle East Forum. The same year, he reportedly reposted messages on social media praising Hamas for inflicting a "huge defeat" against the "Zionist entity."
Egyptian media and the George Washington University Program on Extremism have identified Lamada as an affiliate of the Muslim Brotherhood.
CAIR'S TAX-EXEMPT STATUS TARGETED AS CORNYN MOVES TO STRIP GROUP AFTER TERROR DESIGNATIONS
Several other Republican lawmakers interacted with Islamic Relief USA after the State Department denounced the organization.
Sens. Ted Cruz and Chuck Grassley, for instance, sent holiday greetings to the group in 2022. Staff working for then-Sen. Marco Rubio and Sen. Rick Scott met with members of the group to discuss pending public health legislation in March of that same year, according to a social media post. Representatives for Islamic Relief USA were even reportedly invited to a 2025 meeting with Trump administration officials to discuss the future of foreign aid, according to the National Catholic Reporter.
"More than four years ago, members of our healthcare team took a Zoom meeting with constituents who said they had questions about domestic healthcare policy," a spokesman for Scott told Fox News Digital. "Neither those staffers nor Senator Scott knew that representatives from IRUSA would be joining the conference call. The Senator’s record on combating antisemitism and Islamist threats to American society more than speaks for itself."
Fox News Digital reached representatives for Cruz, Grassley and Rubio for comment on Friday.
TRUMP INTRODUCES CORNYN, PAXTON BUT STAYS MUM ON ENDORSEMENT IN HEATED GOP PRIMARY
Islamic Relief Worldwide has consistently denied having any links to terror organizations.
"Islamic Relief [Worldwide] operates to the highest standards of governance, compliance and oversight across all our work," a spokesperson for the organization told Fox News Digital. "We are a purely humanitarian organization, and we stand firmly against all forms of extremism, including antisemitism. Our staff deliver aid in some of the world's most dangerous places and some of our own colleagues have lost their lives to acts of terror. We have been victims of terrorism, not supporters of it. The leading financial institutions that work with us demand our work to be rigorously audited by governments, institutions and leading accounting firms, which have all confirmed that our funds are used for entirely humanitarian purposes."
Islamic Relief Worldwide claimed in a 2017 report that, in its various legal battles, "to date there has been no tangible evidence to substantiate any of the allegations made."
HSBC Bank ended its relationship with Islamic Relief Worldwide in 2016 amid terror financing concerns. Swiss banking giant UBS had done the same four years earlier. Israel, the United Arab Emirates, the Netherlands and Germany have all taken actions against Islamic Relief Worldwide for its alleged ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas.
With Lamada as a leader, Islamic Relief USA was Islamic Relief Worldwide's largest source of funding, providing its parent organization with tens of millions of dollars per year in cash in 2021 and 2022, according to an Islamic Relief Worldwide financial disclosure.
The entire Islamic Relief Worldwide board resigned in August 2020 following reporting of widespread antisemitism among its senior leadership by The Times of London. One director, for instance, reportedly described Jews as the "grandchildren of monkeys and pigs" in a social media post, while others heaped praise on Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.
A few months earlier, in June 2020, Cornyn filmed a video wishing Islamic Relief USA a happy Ramadan, the name for the Islamic holy month marked by fasting and prayer.
TOP GOP SENATOR SAYS CROCKETT ANNOUNCEMENT EXPOSES HOW 'RADICAL' DEMS ARE NATIONWIDE
In October 2025, Islamic Relief USA moved to sever its relationship with Islamic Relief Worldwide, stating "certain allegations regarding the conduct of IRW" would "affect negatively IRUSA’s well-deserved good reputation," according to a legal complaint filed in March.
"IRW has not only refused to cooperate in taking steps to avoid such existential risks but took further steps to increase those risks to IRUSA, which in turn threatened its ability to provide relief to its beneficiaries worldwide," reads the complaint, filed by Islamic Relief USA.
Tax records show that Islamic Relief USA has provided funding to the East Plano Islamic Center in Texas, the mosque behind EPIC City, a planned Islamic community that has become a flash point in Texas politics. Both Cornyn and Paxton have taken actions to obstruct construction of the community.
Cornyn’s office and Islamic Relief USA did not respond to requests for comment after being reached by Fox News Digital on Friday.