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UFO task force eyed as lawmaker warns of strange objects in skies and waters defying known technology
A Vermont lawmaker is setting his sights on the skies with a new bill poised to create a UFO panel within the state.
Rep. Troy Headrick, I-Burlington, has introduced legislation looking to set up the Vermont Airspace Safety and Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Task Force, according to the Vermont Digger.
The bill reportedly proposes the creation of a state task force to investigate reports of both unidentified aerospace and underwater objects, assess safety risks regarding airspace, and work alongside federal partners and researchers to discover improved policies.
The task force would be composed of officials from Vermont’s departments of transportation and public safety, while also opening up seats for lawmakers and experts on the topic.
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"I am not a subject matter expert at all," Headrick said, the Vermont Digger reported. "As policymakers, I think we have an obligation to remain attentive to emerging trends [in public safety]."
According to H.654, the panel would investigate reports of any unknown objects that exhibit "performance characteristics not consistent with currently understood technologies," such as, "instantaneous acceleration absent observable inertia or hypersonic velocity without a corresponding thermal signature or sonic boom."
Headrick initially introduced the legislation at the request of a constituent, lobbyist Maggie Lenz, according to Seven Days Vermont.
Lenz, owner of Atlas Government Affairs, reportedly became interested in the issue after a string of UAPs, or unidentified anomalous phenomena, made headlines throughout New Jersey in 2024, sparking nationwide panic regarding countless mysterious flying objects.
"I’m certainly not saying that it’s aliens," Lenz said, according to Seven Days Vermont. "But I do think just having the conversation here in Vermont will begin to allow for it to be taken a little bit more seriously."
The proposed legislation replicates the federal government’s response to UAPs in recent years, following Congress passing the Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Disclosure Act in 2023 and the U.S. Department of War’s creation of the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office.
The draft bill indicates that Vermonters have reported UAP sightings to police in various instances, signaling a need for a coordinated response between state and federal officials.
While speaking before Vermont’s House Government Operations Committee last week, Headrick offered a more down-to-earth reason behind the proposed bill – pointing to the surge of drones throughout the state.
"The proliferation of drone use — this is where I see the need for data," Headrick told the committee, the Vermont Digger reported.
Headrick did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
While the proposed bill has yet to be voted on by the committee, Headrick reportedly tried to sweeten the deal by promising to look into Vermont’s famed sea monster if the legislation is passed.
"For the cryptids fans in the room, there’s an underwater provision to this as well," Headrick said, according to the Vermont Digger. "So if we want to investigate Champ, we can do that."
Bills defensive lineman calls Sean McDermott's firing 'sickening'
Buffalo Bills defensive lineman Jordan Phillips appeared to be upset with the organization’s decision to fire head coach Sean McDermott on Monday following a tough playoff exit.
The Bills made the decision nearly two days after Buffalo lost to the Denver Broncos in overtime. It marked another season where the Bills have bowed out of the postseason amid Super Bowl expectations.
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Phillips made his feelings known on Instagram.
"This s--- here is so stupid honestly sickening," Phillips wrote in a post on his Instagram Stories. "The best coach I’ve ever been around."
Phillips joined the Bills for his third stint in the middle of the 2024 season. He played for the Dallas Cowboys for two games before he was released and re-signed with the Bills. Phillips played in 11 games this season but his year was cut short due to an ankle injury.
McDermott was the head coach in each of Phillips’ stints with the Bills.
BILLS FIRE HEAD COACH SEAN MCDERMOTT
Buffalo will embark on its first head-coaching search since the 2017 offseason.
"Sean has done an admirable job of leading our football team for the past 9 seasons," team owner Terry Pegula said in a statement. "But I feel we are in need of a new structure within our leadership to give this organization the best opportunity to take our team to the next level. We owe that to our players and to Bills Mafia.
"Sean helped change the mindset of this organization and was instrumental in the Bills becoming a perennial playoff team. I respect all the work, loyalty and attention to detail he showed for this team and the community. I wish Sean, Jamie and his family all the best."
McDermott had one losing season at the helm. However, he was never able to guide Buffalo to a Super Bowl appearance.
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Don Lemon put 'on notice' by DOJ for role in covering protest that stormed church
Former CNN host Don Lemon has been put "on notice" by the Justice Department after he joined anti-ICE agitators who stormed a church in Minneapolis during a service on Sunday.
Lemon, who has been posting independent journalism online since being fired by CNN, has been documenting the Minnesota chaos following the fatal ICE shooting of Renee Nicole Good. He entered the church along with anti-ICE agitators and began filming, telling viewers that "the freedom to protest" is what the First Amendment is all about.
But Harmeet Dhillon, the Justice Department’s assistant attorney general for civil rights, disagrees with Lemon.
CNN FIRES DON LEMON, LEAVING LONGTIME ANCHOR 'STUNNED'
DOJ LAUNCHES CIVIL RIGHTS INVESTIGATION AFTER MINNESOTA AGITATORS STORM CHURCH
"A house of worship is not a public forum for your protest! It is a space protected from exactly such acts by federal criminal and civil laws! Nor does the First Amendment protect your pseudo journalism of disrupting a prayer service. You are on notice," Dhillon wrote on X.
Dhillon also said she is in touch with Attorney General Pamela Bondi on the issue.
"We are all over it. We are investigating potential criminal violations of federal law," Dhillon wrote.
In an interview with Benny Johnson on Monday, Dhillon said Lemon's role as a journalist wasn't necessarily a "shield" for him being a potential party to a crime.
Lemon was fired by CNN in 2023 after 17 years at the network and now hosts an independent show.
"The Don Lemon Show" did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This is a developing story, more to come…
Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.
White House says Walz, Frey incited chaos after anti-ICE mob storms Minneapolis church
The White House slammed a mob of anti-ICE agitators who reportedly stormed into a Twin Cities church Sunday, accusing local left-wing leaders — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey — of inciting the chaos.
"There is no low these radical leftists won’t stoop to," White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital Monday morning. "Jacob Frey and Tim Walz have whipped these rioters into a frenzy and turned them loose to wreak havoc on Minneapolis."
"Frey and Walz should be ashamed for inciting such chaos, but the Trump Administration will continue enforcing the law," she added.
Jackson was reacting to a mob comprised of dozens of agitators allegedly storming into the Cities Church sanctuary in St. Paul on Sunday midway through church services, throwing worship into chaos, Fox Digital previously reported. Protesters claimed the pastor was a local ICE official.
Department of Justice officials vowed Sunday to open an investigation into the disruption, specifically probing for federal civil rights violations "by these people desecrating a house of worship and interfering with Christian worshipers," Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said.
Attorney General Pam Bondi added in a statement Sunday that "attacks against law enforcement and the intimidation of Christians are being met with the full force of federal law."
Video footage of the church protests spreading on social media does not show local police on the scene deterring the chaos.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Minneapolis Police Department Monday for comment on the matter, and was redirected to the St. Paul Police Department as the church is located within that department's jurisdiction. Fox Digital reached out to the St. Paul police department Monday morning and has yet to receive a reply.
ICE SAYS 2 DEMONSTRATORS WERE ARRESTED IN MINNESOTA FOR ALLEGEDLY ASSAULTING OFFICERS
Chaos has broken out in Minneapolis in recent weeks as agitators take to the streets to protest federal law enforcement officials. Federal officers converged on the state in early January as a sweeping fraud case came to light, which has led to dozens of arrests, mostly including members of Minneapolis' large Somali population.
Protests and criticisms against ICE heightened Jan. 7, when a federal officer fatally shot protester Renee Good. Federal officials say Good used her car as a weapon against the agent, arguing he acted in self-defense when he fired his weapon.
Democrats and administration officials have called the shooting a "murder" as they speak out against the administration's deportation efforts of illegal immigrants.
Frey rejected the Trump administration’s characterization of the immigration crackdown in Minnesota during a Sunday appearance on CBS’ "Face the Nation," claiming the surge of federal agents has made residents feel targeted rather than protected.
"This is not about safety. What this is about is coming into our city by the thousands and terrorizing people simply because they're Latino or Somali," Frey said. "People in Minneapolis are speaking up. They're speaking up peacefully. They're standing up for their neighbors. And this is not just about resisting Trump. This is about loving and caring for the people that call this city home. And it's been inspiring."
Fox News Digital reached out to the mayor's office and governor's office for comment Monday morning regarding the White House's statement regarding the church disruption but did not immediately receive replies.
MINNEAPOLIS POSTS ANTI-ICE VIDEO PROMOTING 'PEACEFUL PROTEST' AND UNITY
The mob converging on a church comes as the Department of Homeland Security has warned that violence targeting ICE personnel has spiked in recent months. In a late November Homeland Security release, the agency said it logged 238 assaults on ICE law enforcement officers from Jan. 21, 2025, through Nov. 21, 2025, compared with 19 assaults during the same span in 2024 — a 1,153% increase.
Fallout from Minnesota’s sprawling fraud scandal bled into the state’s political turmoil earlier in January, when Walz announced he would not seek re-election — a decision that came amid intensifying scrutiny of oversight failures during his tenure. Walz, who has served as governor since 2019, acknowledged the wrongdoing occurred on his watch and said state systems failed to catch it sooner, while arguing Republicans were inflating and "sensationalizing"
Frey, when asked about the scandal earlier in January, said "everybody could have done more" to stop the fraud, but cautioned against blaming broader communities for the alleged crimes of individuals — a point he made while pushing back on rhetoric that has focused on the Somali American community.
MINNESOTA NATIONAL GUARD PLACED ON STANDBY TO SUPPORT LAW ENFORCEMENT AS PROTESTS TURN VIOLENT
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt pinned blame on Democrats and their rhetoric for heightened threats against federal immigration law enforcement officers.
"The Democrat Party has demeaned these individuals," Leavitt said Thursday of federal immigration officers. "They've even referred to them as ‘Nazis’ and as ‘the Gestapo.’ And that is absolutely leading to the violence we're seeing in the streets.
"If you look at some of the images out of Minneapolis last night, look at this vehicle, look at what it says," Leavitt added. "It says, ‘F ICE.’ You have these individuals who are putting their middle finger, proudly so, at the camera, another ICE individual, a vehicle that was vandalized last night by these left-wing agitators."
Fox News Digital's Anders Hagstrom contributed to this article.
Elon Musk pours a staggering $10M into Kentucky Senate race, backing pro-Trump business outsider
EXCLUSIVE — Nate Morris says that a staggering contribution by Elon Musk in support of his Republican bid for the Senate in Kentucky "certainly gives us the firepower and the ammo to go the distance, to be able to get out our message."
Morris, a businessman and political outsider who's showcasing his support for President Donald Trump and the MAGA movement as he runs for the Senate, spoke first with Fox News Digital after Musk cut a $10 million check to the pro-Morris Fight for Kentucky super PAC.
The contribution by Musk, the world's wealthiest person, was his largest ever in a U.S. Senate race.
Morris is one of the top three contenders, along with Rep. Andy Barr and former Kentucky Attorney General and 2023 gubernatorial nominee Daniel Cameron, among a dozen Republican candidates, running to succeed retiring Sen. Mitch McConnell, the former longtime Senate GOP leader.
PRO-TRUMP POLITICAL OUTSIDER JUMPS INTO 2026 RACE TO SUCCEED SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL
"Elon picks winners. Elon has been the greatest entrepreneur in the history of our world, and people are going to be talking about him for 1,000 years. And he knows success. He knows leadership, and I think this is another example of him putting his money where his mouth is."
Morris noted that to date, he's "financed most of the campaign myself, and also with help from small dollars from all over the country that want to stop the McConnell machine and want to send a pro-Trump outside business person to the U.S. Senate."
But he emphasized that "this investment from Elon Musk is going to give our message, our campaign, the opportunity to continue to amplify why we should be the U.S. senator here in Kentucky, and the kind of senator we're going to be."
Asked why he thought Musk decided to support him, Morris, who had a recent conversation with the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, said, "I think he saw an outside business guy and someone that was willing to take on the Mitch McConnell machine, and someone that's going to tell it like it is, and has experience creating jobs, and I think also, a really tough, hard-line immigration policy."
Musk is also close with Vice President JD Vance, who counts Morris as a personal friend.
The donation, which was first reported by Axios earlier on Monday, came last week, according to sources. It's Musk's largest single donation he has spent supporting a candidate for federal office, except for Trump.
Musk went all in for Trump in the 2024 election, dishing out nearly $300 million in support of Trump's bid through America PAC, a Trump-aligned super PAC. Much of the money was used for get-out-the-vote efforts and ads in the crucial battleground states as Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris faced off for the presidency.
But Trump and Musk had a major falling out last year, with Musk threatening to form a third party, before patching up their relationship the past couple of months.
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Following a November dinner with the president at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, Musk gave major contributions to the leading GOP-aligned super PACs supporting House and Senate Republicans.
Morris, who launched his Senate bid in June during an interview on Donald Trump Jr.'s podcast, held a rally kicking off his campaign with conservative leader and Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk. Morris was the final Senate candidate endorsed by Kirk prior to his assassination a couple of months later.
Morris has also been endorsed by a number of other leading MAGA figures, including Sens. Bernie Moreno of Ohio and Jim Banks of Indiana, and Steve Bannon, a one-time leading Trump political strategist and host of the popular "War Room" podcast.
Barr campaign manager Blake Gober, responding to the news of the Musk donation, said in a statement, "The more money Nate Morris spends, the more Kentuckians get to see him and the worse he does."
"Nate Morris spending money made this a two-man race between Andy Barr and Daniel Cameron. Nate Morris spending more money will cement it that way," Gober argued.
Eight Democrats, including 2020 Senate nominee Amy McGrath, are running for their party's nomination in the Senate race in Kentucky.
The primary is scheduled for May 19, and the eventual GOP nominee will likely be considered the clear favorite in November's general election.
Fox News' Paige Dukeman contributed to this report.
St Paul pastor denounces anti-ICE agitators who disrupted church service, says 'we're here to worship Jesus'
Ex-CNN host Don Lemon followed a crowd of agitators into Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, as they interrupted a service to protest Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in a video the former anchor posted on Sunday, and spoke to a pastor at the church who called the actions "shameful."
Lemon spoke to members of the anti-ICE crowd, as well as members of the church. The former CNN host asked the pastor what he thought of the interruption. Lemon appeared to be speaking to Cities Church lead pastor Jonathan Parnell, as per an image on the church's website.
"This is unacceptable, it's shameful. It's shameful to interrupt a public gathering of Christians in worship," the pastor responded. "I have to take care of my flock."
Lemon replied that there is a constitutional right to freedom of speech and freedom to assemble and protest.
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"We're here to worship, we're here to worship Jesus, because that's the hope of these cities, that's the hope of the world, is Jesus Christ," the pastor responded. "We're here to worship Jesus. That's why we're here, that's what we're about."
Lemon asked the pastor if he tried to talk to the anti-ICE agitators, and the pastor said no one had been willing to speak to him.
The pastor then asked Lemon to leave the church.
Cities Church did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
MINNESOTA ANTI-ICE AGITATORS SWARM, CONFRONT FEDERAL AGENTS DURING ENFORCEMENT OPERATIONS
Harmeet Dhillon, the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the Department of Justice, posted on X that the DOJ was "investigating the potential violations of the federal FACE Act by these people desecrating a house of worship and interfering with Christian worshippers."
The FACE Act makes it a federal crime, with potentially steep fines and jail time, to use or threaten to use force to "injure, intimidate, or interfere" with a person seeking reproductive health services, or with a person lawfully trying to exercise the First Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of religious worship. It also prohibits intentional property damage to a facility providing reproductive health services or a place of religious worship.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said she spoke to the pastor at Cities Church.
"I just spoke to the pastor in Minnesota whose church was targeted. Attacks against law enforcement and the intimidation of Christians are being met with the full force of federal law," Bondi said in a statement.
Lemon responded to Dhillon’s post on Instagram, saying he had no affiliation with the protest and was "just practicing journalism."
"So, I have no affiliation to that organization. I didn't even know they were going to this church until we followed them there. We were there chronicling protests. Once the protest started in the church, we did an act of journalism, which was report on it and talk to the people who were involved, which included a pastor and members of the church and members of the organization. That's it. It’s called journalism. First Amendment, all that stuff, for all of you people who believe in the First Amendment, absolutists, there you go," he said.
"So why don't you talk to the actual person who is in charge of the organization and whose idea was to have the protests at the church before you start blaming me for stuff for which you have no idea? Thank you for your attention to this matter," he continued.
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Lemon also spoke to Nekima Levy Armstrong, an activist and attorney present at the demonstration, who described the protest, dubbed "Operation Pull Up," as a "clandestine" operation to disrupt business as usual at key locations.
Armstrong claimed during the interview that one of the church pastors, David Easterwood, was an acting field director for ICE in St. Paul. ABC News reported a person by that name is listed on court filings as the field director at the St. Paul office and Cities Church does list a David Easterwood as one of its pastors.
ICE referred Fox News Digital to a statement it posted to X on Sunday: "Agitators aren’t just targeting our officers. Now they’re targeting churches, too. They're going from hotel to hotel, church to church, hunting for federal law enforcement who are risking their lives to protect Americans. Tim Walz and Jacob Frey are responsible for whipping these mobs into a frenzy and then allowing them to run rampant. We won’t be deterred. ICE isn’t going anywhere."
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Ex-MLB star Wilbur Wood dead at 84
Wilbur Wood, a three-time All-Star pitcher who made opposing batters swing and miss with a nasty knuckleball, has died, the Chicago White Sox announced. He was 84.
Wood spent 17 seasons in the majors from 1961 to 1978, spending 12 seasons with the White Sox. He also played for the Boston Red Sox and Pittsburgh Pirates.
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"The White Sox send our condolences to the family, friends and fans of 3x All-Star Wilbur Wood, who has passed away at the age of 84," the team said on social media.
Wilbur made his debut with the Red Sox in 1961 as a 19-year-old pitcher and then found himself with the Pirates in his early 20s. But he made his biggest impact with the White Sox.
He started as a reliever for the White Sox. He led the majors in 1968 when he appeared in 88 games and then led the American League the next two years when he appeared in 76 games in 1969 and 77 games in 1970.
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Wood was thrust into the starting role in 1971 and did his best to perfect the knuckleball to put less stress on his throwing arm. He turned into an incredible workhorse pitcher, leading the majors in games started from 1972 to 1975. He won at least 20 games from 1971 through 1974.
He suffered a fractured kneecap on a line drive early in the 1976 season. When he returned to the mound, Wood began to struggle. His ERA ballooned to 5.20 in 28 games in 1978, which would be the final season of his career.
He finished his career with a 3.24 ERA and 1,411 strikeouts. The 376.2 innings he pitched during the 1972 season were the most by a starter in a single season in the Live Ball Era (since 1920), according to MLB.com.
Wood finished top three in AL Cy Young Award voting in 1971 and 1972.
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Top GOP senator says Syria ceasefire welcome but actions must match words
The Syrian army’s rapid-fire conquest of important areas and towns previously controlled by the U.S.-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), culminated on Sunday in a fragile ceasefire agreement with a stern warning from a powerful U.S. Senator and experts about the reported crimes of forces controlled by President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Jim Risch, R-Idaho., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told Fox News Digital, "The Syrian government’s decree to respect Kurdish rights is a good sign, but the conduct of its forces on the ground must match. Division and violence in Syria between U.S. partners only benefit bad actors like ISIS and Iran who exploit Syria to use as a breeding ground for international terrorism, including against the U.S. I welcome the announcement of a ceasefire and will be watching its implementation closely."
Al-Sharaa, a former U.S.-designated terrorist who was a member of the Islamic State and al-Qaeda, greenlighted an incursion into territory ruled peacefully by the SDF for over a decade.
Amid Risch's warning, reports coming out of Syria claim skirmishes between the Syrian army and SDF are continuing.
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The news organization, Kurdistan 24, showed alleged footage of al-Sharaa’s forces releasing Islamic State prisoners. According to the report, "The Syrian Arab Army releases ISIS prisoners in al-Tabqah city."
The footage has been widely posted on social media. Fox News Digital could not independently verify the video.
The State Department referred Fox News Digital to an X post from the U.S. Ambassador to Turkey, Tom Barrack, who also serves as the Special Envoy for Syria. Barrack wrote on X about the deal between SDF General Mazloum Abdi and al-Sharra.
"Two great Syrian leaders, driven by the shared vision of liberating their country and people from tyranny, have now come together to forge a brighter future for all Syrians. This agreement and ceasefire represent a pivotal inflection point, where former adversaries embrace partnership over division."
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Barrack added, "President al-Sharaa has affirmed that the Kurds are an integral part of Syria, and the United States looks forward to the seamless integration of our historic partner in the fight against ISIS with the Global Coalition’s newest member, as we press forward in the enduring battle against terrorism."
However, the People's Protection Units (YPG) commander Sipan Hamo — a Syrian organization that is part of the SDF — said on the Saturday meeting between U.S. envoy Tom Barrack and Kurdish officials produced no roadmap to a ceasefire. He denied Syria's Kurds wanted to secede or create an independent state and said their future was in Syria.
"Our greatest hope is that there will be a tangible outcome, especially from the coalition and the United States, meaning that they will intervene more forcefully in the existing problems than what they are currently doing," Hamo said.
The head of the main Kurdish forces told Reuters that the U.S. should intervene more forcefully to end a Syrian offensive that has gained key territory from Kurdish fighters in recent days.
DEADLY STRIKE ON US TROOPS TESTS TRUMP’S COUNTER-ISIS PLAN — AND HIS TRUST IN SYRIA’S NEW LEADER
Government troops launched an offensive on Saturday into territory run for the last decade by semi-autonomous Kurdish authorities in the northeast of Syria, capturing towns on both sides of the Euphrates River and the country's largest oil and gas field, officials and security sources said.
But given Kurdish "concerns about the changes taking place," the U.S. should offer assurances of protection to them.
Hamo said that, "In the current situation and the chaos we are living in, the only ones who can offer guarantees are the United States or the coalition," he added in a rare interview from Hasakeh province, which is still under Kurdish control.
"We believe that the responsibility for everything currently happening inside Syria lies with the Western countries, and especially the United States of America," he said.
"Of course, we consider Israel a powerful state in the region with its own agenda. We hope that the same stance taken by other countries in the region towards certain minorities in Syria will be extended to the Kurds as well," Hamo said.
Asked if he was referring to Israel's stance towards the Druze minority last summer — when Israel carried out air strikes on the defense ministry, near the presidential palace in Damascus and on Syrian troops advancing on Druze cities, Hamo said, "of course."
ISRAEL AND SYRIA RESUME DIPLOMATIC DIALOGUE AFTER MONTHS OF SILENCE UNDER US MEDIATION
Mutlu Civiroglu, a Kurdish affairs analyst, told Fox News Digital that, "President Trump has spoken about giving Syria and all its peoples a fresh opportunity to turn a new page. Yet, Ahmed al Sharaa’s actions appear to move against that intention, and many Kurds believe he is abusing the political space that was meant to support stability rather than deepen tensions. "
Civiroglu added that "I don’t think the U.S. is abandoning the Kurds, but President Trump’s good intention is being abused by Sharaa. Lawmakers in Washington have also expressed unease about the interim Syrian government’s treatment of minorities, which reflects broader questions about its commitment to inclusive governance."
Civiroglu posted footage on his popular X account of al-Sharaa supporters toppling "a statue of a female Kurdish fighter after interim Syrian government forces seized Tabqa from the SDF. Kurdish fighters backed by the United States had liberated the town from ISIS in May 2017."
Civiroglu said, "al-Sharaa’s confrontations with Kurdish forces, following earlier pressure on Alawite and Druze areas, reinforce doubts about the interim government’s legitimacy and its ability to represent Syria’s diverse population.
"The International community must remember that the Kurdish people have long fought alongside the United States, France and the West in the campaign against ISIS, and many are watching closely to see how these partners interpret the latest escalation," he said.
Max Abrahms, a leading expert on counter-terrorism and a professor of political science at Northeastern University, told Fox News Digital, "The YPG and then SDF were America’s primary counterterrorism forces against Islamic State in Syria during the war. Unlike the so-called "rebels," our Kurdish warrior friends exhibited both capability and moderation. It’s not surprising that the jihadists, upon taking power in Damascus, would turn their guns on the Kurdish forces. Of course, we need to stand with them."
Shannen Doherty's ex-husband challenges divorce judgment validity after less than two years after her death
Shannen Doherty’s ex-husband Kurt Iswarienko is asking a Los Angeles judge to throw out her divorce judgment, arguing the court had no legal authority to act after the famed actress' death in 2024.
Iswarienko’s attorney — who filed documents, obtained by Fox News Digital, in Los Angeles Superior Court on Jan. 14 — contended that Doherty's death on July 13, 2024, automatically ended the divorce case, despite the final judgment being entered two days after her death, on July 15, 2024.
The dispute comes months after Christopher Cortazzo, trustee of the Shannen Doherty Family Trust, filed a motion in November claiming Iswarienko still owes money as part of the divorce settlement.
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Cortazzo claimed that under the original settlement, Iswarienko was obligated to sell Doherty's $1.5 million Texas home and "equally divide the net proceeds with [her] estate." However, according to the filing, he has failed to do so.
Additionally, according to the original divorce settlement, Iswarienko was responsible for buying out Doherty's interest in their shared Mooney 20 Airplane "for the sum of $100,000" in a one-time payment, which was to be made within five business days of the sale of their Camarillo hangar.
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Cortazzo and Doherty's attorneys claimed that Iswarienko, who made the sale in August 2024, allegedly "unilaterally withheld $50,274" from Doherty's estate and has yet to pay the amount.
Doherty's attorneys also claimed that Iswarienko has "refused to return [Doherty's] items of personal property."
"Nowhere in the Substitution Motion does the trustee submit competent evidence to this Court that the subject trust has provisions authorizing it to engage in this litigation," the Jan. 14 filing states.
Doherty and Iswarienko signed off on a dissolution of marriage, and spousal support was terminated for both parties on July 12, according to the documents obtained by Fox News Digital.
The former couple was married for 11 years before Doherty filed for divorce in April 2023, with the actress's rep telling Fox News Digital at the time that the split was "the last thing Shannen wanted," but she "was left with no other option."
Doherty died July 13, 2024, following a long battle with cancer, her representative confirmed to Fox News Digital at the time.
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"It is the mutual wish and desire of the parties to effect a full, complete, and final settlement of all their respective property interests, future and present, by this Judgment, and, except as otherwise set forth herein, to irrevocably adjust and determine forever all legal obligations of any nature which may exist with respect to one another and by reason of their marriage, and to fully and completely resolve any and all issues relating to division of property, reimbursement claims and/or credits, spousal support, and attorneys’ fees and costs," documents stated.
Doherty was awarded full ownership, title and interest in her property in western Malibu, in addition to three vehicles and four bank accounts.
Doherty was originally diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015. Two years later, she announced her cancer was in remission, but the disease returned in 2020. In November 2023, Doherty shared that her cancer had metastasized and spread to her brain and bones.
Fox News Digital's Tracy Wright contributed to this report.