Washington
Trump administration says San Jose State broke the law by allowing a transgender volleyball player
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has concluded that San Jose State University discriminated against women by letting a transgender athlete play on the women’s volleyball team, the U.S. Education Department said Wednesday.
The department offered San Jose State a deal that would resolve the case. The university, located in California, would have to accept the administration’s definition of “male” and “female,” restore titles and records that Trump officials say were “misappropriated by male athletes,” and issue an apology to female athletes.
A statement from the university said officials are reviewing the proposal and “remain committed to providing a safe, respectful, and inclusive educational environment for all students while complying with applicable laws and regulations.”
The Education Department has taken action against a series of states, schools and colleges that allow transgender athletes, something President Donald Trump has promised to end. If San Jose State rejects the proposed deal, it could face a Justice Department lawsuit and risk losing federal funding.
The investigation into San Jose State was opened in February alongside a similar one at the University of Pennsylvania. Penn later agreed to a deal similar to the one being offered to San Jose State, modifying school records set by transgender swimmer Lia Thomas and apologizing to other athletes on the swim team.
Department officials said San Jose State violated Title IX, a 1972 gender equity law, by allowing a transgender athlete on the team and for allegedly retaliating against players who condemned the decision.
“We will not relent until SJSU is held to account for these abuses and commits to upholding Title IX to protect future athletes from the same indignities,” Kimberly Richey, assistant secretary for civil rights at the Education Department, said in a statement.
San Jose State’s volleyball team attracted national attention after nine student athletes in the Mountain West Conference athletic conference filed a lawsuit challenging the league’s policies allowing transgender athletes to compete. The players argued that it’s unfair and poses a safety risk.
Several teams refused to play against San Jose State, earning losses.
San Jose State has not confirmed that its volleyball team had a transgender player.
As part of the deal proposed by the administration, San Jose State would have to send a personalized apology to every woman who played on the women’s indoor volleyball team from 2022 through 2024 and on the 2023 beach volleyball team, and to any woman who forfeited rather than play San Jose State.
Illinois
Former deputy is sentenced to 20 years in prison for killing woman
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — A former Illinois sheriff’s deputy was sentenced Thursday to 20 years in prison for fatally shooting Sonya Massey, who had dialed 911 to report a possible prowler outside her Springfield home.
Sean Grayson, 31, was convicted in October. Grayson, who is white, received the maximum possible sentence. He has been incarcerated since he was charged in the killing.
He apologized during the sentencing, saying he wished he could bring Massey back and spare her family the pain he caused.
“I made a lot of mistakes that night. There were points when I should’ve acted, and I didn’t. I froze,” he said. “I made terrible decisions that night. I’m sorry.”
But Massey’s parents and two children — who lobbied for the maximum sentence — said their lives had changed dramatically since the killing. Her two children said they had to grow up without a mother, while Massey’s mother said she lived in fear. They asked the judge to carry out justice in her name.
“Today, I’m afraid to call the police in fear that I might end up like Sonya,” her mother Donna Massey said.
When the judge read the sentence, the family reacted with a loud cheer: “Yes!” The judge admonished them.
After the hearing, Massey’s relatives thanked the public for the support and listening to their stories about Massey.
“Twenty years is not enough,” her daughter Summer told reporters.
In the early morning hours of July 6, 2024, Massey — who struggled with mental health issues — summoned emergency responders because she feared there was a prowler outside her Springfield home.
According to body camera footage, Grayson and sheriff’s Deputy Dawson Farley, who was not charged, searched Massey’s yard before meeting her at her door. Massey appeared confused and repeatedly said, “Please, God.”
The deputies entered her house, Grayson noticed the pot on the stove and ordered Farley to move it. Instead, Massey went to the stove, retrieved the pot and teased Grayson for moving away from “the hot, steaming water.”
From this moment, the exchange quickly escalated.
Massey said: “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.”
Grayson drew his sidearm and yelled at her to drop the pan. She set the pot down and ducked behind a counter. But she appeared to pick it up again.
That’s when Grayson opened fire on the 36-year-old single mother, shooting her in the face. He testified that he feared Massey would scald him.
Grayson was charged with three counts of first-degree murder, which could have led to a life sentence, but a jury convicted him of the lesser charge. Illinois allows for a second-degree murder conviction if evidence shows the defendant honestly thought he was in danger, even if that fear was unreasonable.
Massey’s family was outraged by the jury’s decision.
“The justice system did exactly what it’s designed to do today. It’s not meant for us,” her cousin Sontae Massey said after the verdict.
Massey’s killing raised new questions about U.S. law enforcement shootings of Black people in their homes. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump negotiated a $10 million settlement with Sangamon County for Massey’s relatives.
The case also generated a U.S. Justice Department inquiry that was settled when the county agreed to implement more de-escalation training; collect more use-of-force data; and forced the sheriff who hired Grayson to retire. The case also prompted a change in Illinois law requiring fuller transparency on the backgrounds of candidates for law enforcement jobs.
Grayson’s attorneys had filed a motion for a new trial, which Judge Ryan Cadigan dismissed at the start of the sentencing.
New York
Man sentenced to 15 years for assassination plot against Iranian American journalist
NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge gave a man would-be assassin the maximum 15 years in prison Wednesday for plotting to kill an Iranian American writer on behalf of Tehran after hearing the woman who was targeted describe multiple attempts on her life as threats against all Americans.
Judge Lewis J. Liman said Carlisle Rivera’s written conversations as he plotted to kill journalist and human rights advocate Masih Alinejad in Brooklyn in 2024 were “chilling” and he inflicted “great harm” on her and her husband.
Addressing the court, the couple described how assassination plots forced them to limit interactions with their children as they frequently changed residences and dodged threats from an unrelenting Iran.
“I’m just a woman,” Alinejad said. “My weapon is my voice. My weapon is my social media.”
She urged the judge to give Rivera the maximum sentence to send a message to anyone “targeting U.S. citizens on U.S. soil” and to “protect unarmed people like me now facing massacre in my country.”
People in Iran, Alinejad said, are “facing guns and bullets ... to protect the global security,” including for Americans.
Before the sentence was announced, Rivera, 51, told the judge: “I’m deeply sorry for my actions.”
Outside the Manhattan federal courthouse, Alinejad said the United States must be careful to not let indiscriminate killings happening in Iran spread to the U.S. As she spoke she held up a computer tablet and showed reporters video clips of body bags of some of the thousands of Iranians killed during recent protests.
Alinejad said she hoped President Donald Trump would go after Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei like he did Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who was seized in a January U.S. military raid and brought to face drug trafficking charges in New York. He has pleaded not guilty.
“I am calling on President Trump. Take action. Removing terrorists is not tragedy. It’s a sign of justice,” Alinejad said. She added, however, that she does not want Iran bombed — just the removal of its leaders.
She noted that U.S. authorities have said Iran’s Revolutionary Guard was responsible for not only multiple plots against her life but also a plot against Trump.
Alinejad left Iran in 2009 following the country’s disputed presidential election and moved to the United States, where she launched online campaigns to encourage Iranian women to pose for pictures and videos showing their hair in defiance of a religious rule requiring headscarves.
An author and contributor to the Voice of America and CBS News, Alinejad became a citizen in 2019. She has traveled the world speaking to women and encouraging others to join her movement for women’s freedom of expression, particularly those in Iran.
Last year she testified at the trial of two men charged with plotting to kidnap her from her Brooklyn home and kill her in 2022. A prosecutor said Iran put a $500,000 bounty on her head. The defendants, both natives of Azerbaijan, were convicted and sentenced to 25 years.
In November 2024 the Justice Department accused Tehran of authorizing a murder-for-hire plot against Trump days before he won reelection. An Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson reportedly denied the allegation. The person who tried to hire killers to go after Trump also organized the plot against Alinejad, authorities said.
Intelligence officials have said Iran opposed Trump’s reelection. Trump’s first administration ended a nuclear deal with Iran, reimposed sanctions and ordered the killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, an act that prompted Iran’s leaders to vow revenge.
In court Wednesday, a prosecutor said Rivera was supposed to surveil Alinejad’s planned February 2024 appearance at Fairfield University in Connecticut, an event that was canceled. Afterward, according to court papers, Rivera tried for months to surveil Alinejad at a Brooklyn home where she no longer lived.
During a break in the proceeding, Alinejad approached Rivera’s fiancee, who sobbed as she hugged Alinejad, telling her: “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”
Outside the courthouse afterward, Alinejad said she told the woman: “I said, ‘I’m fighting for you, I’m fighting for all Americans ... when I asked President Trump to try to get the killers.’”
Trump administration says San Jose State broke the law by allowing a transgender volleyball player
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has concluded that San Jose State University discriminated against women by letting a transgender athlete play on the women’s volleyball team, the U.S. Education Department said Wednesday.
The department offered San Jose State a deal that would resolve the case. The university, located in California, would have to accept the administration’s definition of “male” and “female,” restore titles and records that Trump officials say were “misappropriated by male athletes,” and issue an apology to female athletes.
A statement from the university said officials are reviewing the proposal and “remain committed to providing a safe, respectful, and inclusive educational environment for all students while complying with applicable laws and regulations.”
The Education Department has taken action against a series of states, schools and colleges that allow transgender athletes, something President Donald Trump has promised to end. If San Jose State rejects the proposed deal, it could face a Justice Department lawsuit and risk losing federal funding.
The investigation into San Jose State was opened in February alongside a similar one at the University of Pennsylvania. Penn later agreed to a deal similar to the one being offered to San Jose State, modifying school records set by transgender swimmer Lia Thomas and apologizing to other athletes on the swim team.
Department officials said San Jose State violated Title IX, a 1972 gender equity law, by allowing a transgender athlete on the team and for allegedly retaliating against players who condemned the decision.
“We will not relent until SJSU is held to account for these abuses and commits to upholding Title IX to protect future athletes from the same indignities,” Kimberly Richey, assistant secretary for civil rights at the Education Department, said in a statement.
San Jose State’s volleyball team attracted national attention after nine student athletes in the Mountain West Conference athletic conference filed a lawsuit challenging the league’s policies allowing transgender athletes to compete. The players argued that it’s unfair and poses a safety risk.
Several teams refused to play against San Jose State, earning losses.
San Jose State has not confirmed that its volleyball team had a transgender player.
As part of the deal proposed by the administration, San Jose State would have to send a personalized apology to every woman who played on the women’s indoor volleyball team from 2022 through 2024 and on the 2023 beach volleyball team, and to any woman who forfeited rather than play San Jose State.
Illinois
Former deputy is sentenced to 20 years in prison for killing woman
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — A former Illinois sheriff’s deputy was sentenced Thursday to 20 years in prison for fatally shooting Sonya Massey, who had dialed 911 to report a possible prowler outside her Springfield home.
Sean Grayson, 31, was convicted in October. Grayson, who is white, received the maximum possible sentence. He has been incarcerated since he was charged in the killing.
He apologized during the sentencing, saying he wished he could bring Massey back and spare her family the pain he caused.
“I made a lot of mistakes that night. There were points when I should’ve acted, and I didn’t. I froze,” he said. “I made terrible decisions that night. I’m sorry.”
But Massey’s parents and two children — who lobbied for the maximum sentence — said their lives had changed dramatically since the killing. Her two children said they had to grow up without a mother, while Massey’s mother said she lived in fear. They asked the judge to carry out justice in her name.
“Today, I’m afraid to call the police in fear that I might end up like Sonya,” her mother Donna Massey said.
When the judge read the sentence, the family reacted with a loud cheer: “Yes!” The judge admonished them.
After the hearing, Massey’s relatives thanked the public for the support and listening to their stories about Massey.
“Twenty years is not enough,” her daughter Summer told reporters.
In the early morning hours of July 6, 2024, Massey — who struggled with mental health issues — summoned emergency responders because she feared there was a prowler outside her Springfield home.
According to body camera footage, Grayson and sheriff’s Deputy Dawson Farley, who was not charged, searched Massey’s yard before meeting her at her door. Massey appeared confused and repeatedly said, “Please, God.”
The deputies entered her house, Grayson noticed the pot on the stove and ordered Farley to move it. Instead, Massey went to the stove, retrieved the pot and teased Grayson for moving away from “the hot, steaming water.”
From this moment, the exchange quickly escalated.
Massey said: “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.”
Grayson drew his sidearm and yelled at her to drop the pan. She set the pot down and ducked behind a counter. But she appeared to pick it up again.
That’s when Grayson opened fire on the 36-year-old single mother, shooting her in the face. He testified that he feared Massey would scald him.
Grayson was charged with three counts of first-degree murder, which could have led to a life sentence, but a jury convicted him of the lesser charge. Illinois allows for a second-degree murder conviction if evidence shows the defendant honestly thought he was in danger, even if that fear was unreasonable.
Massey’s family was outraged by the jury’s decision.
“The justice system did exactly what it’s designed to do today. It’s not meant for us,” her cousin Sontae Massey said after the verdict.
Massey’s killing raised new questions about U.S. law enforcement shootings of Black people in their homes. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump negotiated a $10 million settlement with Sangamon County for Massey’s relatives.
The case also generated a U.S. Justice Department inquiry that was settled when the county agreed to implement more de-escalation training; collect more use-of-force data; and forced the sheriff who hired Grayson to retire. The case also prompted a change in Illinois law requiring fuller transparency on the backgrounds of candidates for law enforcement jobs.
Grayson’s attorneys had filed a motion for a new trial, which Judge Ryan Cadigan dismissed at the start of the sentencing.
New York
Man sentenced to 15 years for assassination plot against Iranian American journalist
NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge gave a man would-be assassin the maximum 15 years in prison Wednesday for plotting to kill an Iranian American writer on behalf of Tehran after hearing the woman who was targeted describe multiple attempts on her life as threats against all Americans.
Judge Lewis J. Liman said Carlisle Rivera’s written conversations as he plotted to kill journalist and human rights advocate Masih Alinejad in Brooklyn in 2024 were “chilling” and he inflicted “great harm” on her and her husband.
Addressing the court, the couple described how assassination plots forced them to limit interactions with their children as they frequently changed residences and dodged threats from an unrelenting Iran.
“I’m just a woman,” Alinejad said. “My weapon is my voice. My weapon is my social media.”
She urged the judge to give Rivera the maximum sentence to send a message to anyone “targeting U.S. citizens on U.S. soil” and to “protect unarmed people like me now facing massacre in my country.”
People in Iran, Alinejad said, are “facing guns and bullets ... to protect the global security,” including for Americans.
Before the sentence was announced, Rivera, 51, told the judge: “I’m deeply sorry for my actions.”
Outside the Manhattan federal courthouse, Alinejad said the United States must be careful to not let indiscriminate killings happening in Iran spread to the U.S. As she spoke she held up a computer tablet and showed reporters video clips of body bags of some of the thousands of Iranians killed during recent protests.
Alinejad said she hoped President Donald Trump would go after Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei like he did Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who was seized in a January U.S. military raid and brought to face drug trafficking charges in New York. He has pleaded not guilty.
“I am calling on President Trump. Take action. Removing terrorists is not tragedy. It’s a sign of justice,” Alinejad said. She added, however, that she does not want Iran bombed — just the removal of its leaders.
She noted that U.S. authorities have said Iran’s Revolutionary Guard was responsible for not only multiple plots against her life but also a plot against Trump.
Alinejad left Iran in 2009 following the country’s disputed presidential election and moved to the United States, where she launched online campaigns to encourage Iranian women to pose for pictures and videos showing their hair in defiance of a religious rule requiring headscarves.
An author and contributor to the Voice of America and CBS News, Alinejad became a citizen in 2019. She has traveled the world speaking to women and encouraging others to join her movement for women’s freedom of expression, particularly those in Iran.
Last year she testified at the trial of two men charged with plotting to kidnap her from her Brooklyn home and kill her in 2022. A prosecutor said Iran put a $500,000 bounty on her head. The defendants, both natives of Azerbaijan, were convicted and sentenced to 25 years.
In November 2024 the Justice Department accused Tehran of authorizing a murder-for-hire plot against Trump days before he won reelection. An Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson reportedly denied the allegation. The person who tried to hire killers to go after Trump also organized the plot against Alinejad, authorities said.
Intelligence officials have said Iran opposed Trump’s reelection. Trump’s first administration ended a nuclear deal with Iran, reimposed sanctions and ordered the killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, an act that prompted Iran’s leaders to vow revenge.
In court Wednesday, a prosecutor said Rivera was supposed to surveil Alinejad’s planned February 2024 appearance at Fairfield University in Connecticut, an event that was canceled. Afterward, according to court papers, Rivera tried for months to surveil Alinejad at a Brooklyn home where she no longer lived.
During a break in the proceeding, Alinejad approached Rivera’s fiancee, who sobbed as she hugged Alinejad, telling her: “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”
Outside the courthouse afterward, Alinejad said she told the woman: “I said, ‘I’m fighting for you, I’m fighting for all Americans ... when I asked President Trump to try to get the killers.’”
