Arizona
Federal judge dismisses former Trump supporter’s defamation lawsuit against Fox News
PHOENIX (AP) — A federal judge on Friday threw out a defamation lawsuit against Fox News, ruling for a second time against a former Donald Trump supporter who said he received death threats when the network aired false conspiracy theories about his involvement in the Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021.
Raymond Epps, a former Marine, was falsely accused by Fox of being a government agent causing trouble near the Capitol that day so that it would be blamed on Trump fans. He said he and his wife sold an Arizona ranch where they lived and moved into a recreational vehicle because of the harassment they faced after Fox’s reports.
U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Hall in Delaware granted Fox’s motion to dismiss the case, finding Epps failed to show enough evidence to prove that Fox knew its statements were false.
The judge previously dismissed the case in 2024 but gave Epps a second chance to file his case. Her Friday ruling said he still fell short.
Epps had named Tucker Carlson, who was fired from Fox in April 2023, as being the most active promoter of the conspiracy theory. At the time, Carlson hosted Fox’s most popular show. Epps was featured in more than two dozen segments on Carlson’s prime-time show, the lawsuit said.
“In the aftermath of the events of January 6th, Fox News searched for a scapegoat to blame other than Donald Trump or the Republican Party,” lawyers for Epps wrote in their lawsuit. “Eventually, they turned on one of their own.”
In a statement Friday night, Fox News said it was “pleased with the federal court’s ruling, further preserving the press freedoms of the First Amendment.”
Epps pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge related to the Jan. 6 riot and was sentenced to a year of probation. He was later pardoned by Trump alongside 1,500 others who received clemency for their roles in the insurrection.
Federal prosecutors have backed up Epps’ vehement denials that he was a government plant or FBI operative. They say Epps has never been a government employee or agent beyond serving in the U.S. Marines from 1979 to 1983.
Ohio
Former football coach sues university over his termination
Former Ohio University football coach Brian Smith is suing the school, alleging he was wrongfully terminated in breach of his contract.
Ohio fired Smith on Dec. 17, citing “serious professional misconduct.” Personnel records obtained by The Associated Press through a public records request alleged Smith’s “participation in extramarital affairs,” including with an undergraduate student, and “alcohol-related conduct.”
Smith’s attorney, Rex Elliott, said in a statement that “the University breached his employment agreement by wrongfully terminating him based on conduct and allegations that fall nowhere near the standard required under his contract.”
The lawsuit was filed Friday in the Ohio Court of Claims in Columbus because it is against a University System of Ohio institution and Smith is seeking equitable relief. Smith is seeking compensatory damages — including the value of the remaining contract — consequential damages, interest, attorneys’ fees and additional relief permitted under Ohio law.
“The University rushed to judgment, ignored its contractual obligations, and prioritized its financial interest over a fair process,” Elliott said. “This case is about accountability. OU’s actions have irreparably harmed Coach Smith’s coaching career, and he is owed the full balance of his contractually agreed-upon compensation.”
Smith signed a five-year contract in December 2024 after being promoted from offensive coordinator. It had a base salary of $615,000 per season as well as $135,000 in supplemental compensation and retention bonuses of $50,000 every six months.
There were also performance bonuses for on-field and academic benchmarks.
University spokesman Dan Pittman said in a statement: “As the University stated in December 2025, Brian Smith’s termination for cause was based on violations of the established terms within his employment agreement. This lawsuit is unfounded, and the University will strongly defend itself in court. Consistent with its longstanding practice, the University declines to comment further on pending litigation.”
University President Lori Stewart Gonzalez sent Smith and Elliott the notice of intent to terminate Smith’s contract on Dec. 12. Smith had been placed on indefinite leave on Dec. 1.
Elliott responded to Gonzalez on Dec. 16 to say that “divorce proceedings were well underway before he (Smith) began dating anyone. Coach Smith did not hide the relationship, and even his now ex-wife didn’t accuse him of engaging in an extramarital affair.” Smith and his ex-wife separated earlier last year.
The attorney said Smith didn’t know the woman was a university student at the time they met at an Athens establishment, and that they dated for nearly four months. The student also was not a staff member in the football program or athletic department, according to the attorney.
“No one at OU expressed any concern or input into who Coach Smith was permitted to date but he nonetheless ended the relationship in early November,” Elliott wrote.
Elliott argued that the school has no written policy preventing any employee from dating a student and that “this was a perfectly appropriate consensual adult relationship that did not violate any OU rule or policy.”
The school’s letter also said Smith was reprimanded for “repeated use of alcohol” in his office.
Smith’s attorney said the reprimand was related to coaches having a toast in Smith’s office after home wins. Elliott said the bourbon was provided by Gonzalez’s husband and that “taking a single drink toasting a victory with his staff comes nowhere close to justifying a ‘for cause’ termination.”
The 45-year old Smith was named head coach on Dec. 18, 2024, after Tim Albin left to become the coach at Charlotte. Smith came to Ohio as running backs coach and passing game coordinator in 2022.
The Bobcats went 9-4 under Smith. Defensive coordinator John Hauser was promoted to head coach after Ohio defeated UNLV in the Frisco Bowl.
Florida
Prosecutors seek death penalty for man accused of killing 2 USF students from Bangladesh
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — A man accused of killing two University of South Florida students from Bangladesh will face the death penalty if convicted, prosecutors indicated Friday.
The Hillsborough State Attorney’s Office filed a notice to seek the death penalty a day after a grand jury indicted Hisham Saleh Abugharbieh, 26, on two counts of first-degree murder and several other charges.
Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy, both 27-year-old doctoral students from Bangladesh, disappeared April 16. Limon was last seen at the off-campus apartment complex where he lived with Abugharbieh, and Bristy at a
campus science building.
Abugharbieh was arrested about a week later and has remained in jail. Jennifer Spradley, an attorney in the public defender’s office in Tampa, has said the office wouldn’t comment on Abugharbieh’s case.
Detectives used cellphone location and license plate reader data to track Abugharbieh’s car and Limon’s phone to the bridge where Limon’s body was found on April 24. Limon had numerous stab wounds and appeared to be bound, according to a report filed by prosecutors. A kayaker found Bristy’s body in nearby water two days later.
When detectives questioned Abugharbieh and another roommate several days after the victims went missing, investigators noticed Abugharbieh’s pinky finger was bandaged, but he denied any involvement with Limon’s disappearance, according to prosecutors.
During an interview with investigators, the suspect’s mother, Haya Abugharbieh, said her son had struggled to manage his anger and had been violent to family members in the past.
When an apartment manager gave investigators access to the apartment, and to Limon’s locked bedroom, the third roommate told detectives Abugharbieh had used a cart overnight on April 16 to move cardboard boxes from his room to the trash compactor. That’s where detectives found Limon’s wallet and campus ID badge, credit card, eyeglasses and clothes that appeared to have blood on them.
Returning with a search warrant, detectives found blood residue leading from the kitchen to Abugharbieh’s bedroom, and more blood that soaked his bedroom carpet. In Limon’s bedroom, they found Bristy’s campus ID and credit cards.
Florida
Lawsuit blames ChatGPT maker OpenAI for bot helping plan a mass shooting
The widow of a man killed in last year’s mass shooting at Florida State University is suing ChatGPT maker OpenAI, blaming the company’s artificial intelligence chatbot for giving advice on how to carry out the rampage.
The lawsuit comes after state authorities disclosed that ChatGPT gave information to the shooter about time and location to maximize victims on campus, as well as the type of gun and ammunition to use. Authorities say he was also told that an attack can get more media attention if children are involved.
“OpenAI knew this would happen. It’s happened before and it was only a matter of time before it happened again,” Vandana Joshi, whose husband Tiru Chabba was one of two people killed, said in a statement Monday.
OpenAI denied any wrongdoing in “this terrible crime.”
“In this case, ChatGPT provided factual responses to questions with information that could be found broadly across public sources on the internet, and it did not encourage or promote illegal or harmful activity,” Drew Pusateri, a spokesman for the company, said in an email to The Associated Press.
Six people were also wounded in the April 2025 shooting in Tallahassee, when the alleged gunman, Phoenix Ikner, walked in and out of campus buildings and green spaces while firing a handgun. It took place on a weekday just before lunchtime near the school’s Student Union, which has food and shops. The lawsuit says Ikner, a Florida State student, asked ChatGPT about the busiest times there.
The suit, filed Sunday in federal court, says OpenAI should have built ChatGPT with guardrails to let someone know that police may need to investigate “to prevent a specific plan for imminent harm to the public.”
Separately, in April, Florida’s attorney general said there was a rare criminal investigation into ChatGPT over whether the AI tool offered advice to Ikner, 21. He has pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder and several counts of attempted murder. Prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty.
Joshi’s husband was a 45-year-old father of two from Greenville, South Carolina, and a regional vice president of the food service vendor Aramark Collegiate Hospitality. The other man who was killed, Robert Morales, 57, was a campus dining coordinator at Florida State.
OpenAI “put their profits over our safety and it killed my husband. They need to be responsible before another family has to go through this,” Joshi said in a statement released by her lawyer.
OpenAI is currently valued at $852 billion.
Several lawsuits have sought damages from AI and tech companies over the influence of chatbots and social media on loved ones’ mental health.
In March, a jury in Los Angeles found both Meta and YouTube liable for harms to children using their services. In New Mexico, a jury determined that Meta knowingly harmed children’s mental health and concealed what it knew about child sexual exploitation on its platforms.
Federal judge dismisses former Trump supporter’s defamation lawsuit against Fox News
PHOENIX (AP) — A federal judge on Friday threw out a defamation lawsuit against Fox News, ruling for a second time against a former Donald Trump supporter who said he received death threats when the network aired false conspiracy theories about his involvement in the Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021.
Raymond Epps, a former Marine, was falsely accused by Fox of being a government agent causing trouble near the Capitol that day so that it would be blamed on Trump fans. He said he and his wife sold an Arizona ranch where they lived and moved into a recreational vehicle because of the harassment they faced after Fox’s reports.
U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Hall in Delaware granted Fox’s motion to dismiss the case, finding Epps failed to show enough evidence to prove that Fox knew its statements were false.
The judge previously dismissed the case in 2024 but gave Epps a second chance to file his case. Her Friday ruling said he still fell short.
Epps had named Tucker Carlson, who was fired from Fox in April 2023, as being the most active promoter of the conspiracy theory. At the time, Carlson hosted Fox’s most popular show. Epps was featured in more than two dozen segments on Carlson’s prime-time show, the lawsuit said.
“In the aftermath of the events of January 6th, Fox News searched for a scapegoat to blame other than Donald Trump or the Republican Party,” lawyers for Epps wrote in their lawsuit. “Eventually, they turned on one of their own.”
In a statement Friday night, Fox News said it was “pleased with the federal court’s ruling, further preserving the press freedoms of the First Amendment.”
Epps pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge related to the Jan. 6 riot and was sentenced to a year of probation. He was later pardoned by Trump alongside 1,500 others who received clemency for their roles in the insurrection.
Federal prosecutors have backed up Epps’ vehement denials that he was a government plant or FBI operative. They say Epps has never been a government employee or agent beyond serving in the U.S. Marines from 1979 to 1983.
Ohio
Former football coach sues university over his termination
Former Ohio University football coach Brian Smith is suing the school, alleging he was wrongfully terminated in breach of his contract.
Ohio fired Smith on Dec. 17, citing “serious professional misconduct.” Personnel records obtained by The Associated Press through a public records request alleged Smith’s “participation in extramarital affairs,” including with an undergraduate student, and “alcohol-related conduct.”
Smith’s attorney, Rex Elliott, said in a statement that “the University breached his employment agreement by wrongfully terminating him based on conduct and allegations that fall nowhere near the standard required under his contract.”
The lawsuit was filed Friday in the Ohio Court of Claims in Columbus because it is against a University System of Ohio institution and Smith is seeking equitable relief. Smith is seeking compensatory damages — including the value of the remaining contract — consequential damages, interest, attorneys’ fees and additional relief permitted under Ohio law.
“The University rushed to judgment, ignored its contractual obligations, and prioritized its financial interest over a fair process,” Elliott said. “This case is about accountability. OU’s actions have irreparably harmed Coach Smith’s coaching career, and he is owed the full balance of his contractually agreed-upon compensation.”
Smith signed a five-year contract in December 2024 after being promoted from offensive coordinator. It had a base salary of $615,000 per season as well as $135,000 in supplemental compensation and retention bonuses of $50,000 every six months.
There were also performance bonuses for on-field and academic benchmarks.
University spokesman Dan Pittman said in a statement: “As the University stated in December 2025, Brian Smith’s termination for cause was based on violations of the established terms within his employment agreement. This lawsuit is unfounded, and the University will strongly defend itself in court. Consistent with its longstanding practice, the University declines to comment further on pending litigation.”
University President Lori Stewart Gonzalez sent Smith and Elliott the notice of intent to terminate Smith’s contract on Dec. 12. Smith had been placed on indefinite leave on Dec. 1.
Elliott responded to Gonzalez on Dec. 16 to say that “divorce proceedings were well underway before he (Smith) began dating anyone. Coach Smith did not hide the relationship, and even his now ex-wife didn’t accuse him of engaging in an extramarital affair.” Smith and his ex-wife separated earlier last year.
The attorney said Smith didn’t know the woman was a university student at the time they met at an Athens establishment, and that they dated for nearly four months. The student also was not a staff member in the football program or athletic department, according to the attorney.
“No one at OU expressed any concern or input into who Coach Smith was permitted to date but he nonetheless ended the relationship in early November,” Elliott wrote.
Elliott argued that the school has no written policy preventing any employee from dating a student and that “this was a perfectly appropriate consensual adult relationship that did not violate any OU rule or policy.”
The school’s letter also said Smith was reprimanded for “repeated use of alcohol” in his office.
Smith’s attorney said the reprimand was related to coaches having a toast in Smith’s office after home wins. Elliott said the bourbon was provided by Gonzalez’s husband and that “taking a single drink toasting a victory with his staff comes nowhere close to justifying a ‘for cause’ termination.”
The 45-year old Smith was named head coach on Dec. 18, 2024, after Tim Albin left to become the coach at Charlotte. Smith came to Ohio as running backs coach and passing game coordinator in 2022.
The Bobcats went 9-4 under Smith. Defensive coordinator John Hauser was promoted to head coach after Ohio defeated UNLV in the Frisco Bowl.
Florida
Prosecutors seek death penalty for man accused of killing 2 USF students from Bangladesh
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — A man accused of killing two University of South Florida students from Bangladesh will face the death penalty if convicted, prosecutors indicated Friday.
The Hillsborough State Attorney’s Office filed a notice to seek the death penalty a day after a grand jury indicted Hisham Saleh Abugharbieh, 26, on two counts of first-degree murder and several other charges.
Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy, both 27-year-old doctoral students from Bangladesh, disappeared April 16. Limon was last seen at the off-campus apartment complex where he lived with Abugharbieh, and Bristy at a
campus science building.
Abugharbieh was arrested about a week later and has remained in jail. Jennifer Spradley, an attorney in the public defender’s office in Tampa, has said the office wouldn’t comment on Abugharbieh’s case.
Detectives used cellphone location and license plate reader data to track Abugharbieh’s car and Limon’s phone to the bridge where Limon’s body was found on April 24. Limon had numerous stab wounds and appeared to be bound, according to a report filed by prosecutors. A kayaker found Bristy’s body in nearby water two days later.
When detectives questioned Abugharbieh and another roommate several days after the victims went missing, investigators noticed Abugharbieh’s pinky finger was bandaged, but he denied any involvement with Limon’s disappearance, according to prosecutors.
During an interview with investigators, the suspect’s mother, Haya Abugharbieh, said her son had struggled to manage his anger and had been violent to family members in the past.
When an apartment manager gave investigators access to the apartment, and to Limon’s locked bedroom, the third roommate told detectives Abugharbieh had used a cart overnight on April 16 to move cardboard boxes from his room to the trash compactor. That’s where detectives found Limon’s wallet and campus ID badge, credit card, eyeglasses and clothes that appeared to have blood on them.
Returning with a search warrant, detectives found blood residue leading from the kitchen to Abugharbieh’s bedroom, and more blood that soaked his bedroom carpet. In Limon’s bedroom, they found Bristy’s campus ID and credit cards.
Florida
Lawsuit blames ChatGPT maker OpenAI for bot helping plan a mass shooting
The widow of a man killed in last year’s mass shooting at Florida State University is suing ChatGPT maker OpenAI, blaming the company’s artificial intelligence chatbot for giving advice on how to carry out the rampage.
The lawsuit comes after state authorities disclosed that ChatGPT gave information to the shooter about time and location to maximize victims on campus, as well as the type of gun and ammunition to use. Authorities say he was also told that an attack can get more media attention if children are involved.
“OpenAI knew this would happen. It’s happened before and it was only a matter of time before it happened again,” Vandana Joshi, whose husband Tiru Chabba was one of two people killed, said in a statement Monday.
OpenAI denied any wrongdoing in “this terrible crime.”
“In this case, ChatGPT provided factual responses to questions with information that could be found broadly across public sources on the internet, and it did not encourage or promote illegal or harmful activity,” Drew Pusateri, a spokesman for the company, said in an email to The Associated Press.
Six people were also wounded in the April 2025 shooting in Tallahassee, when the alleged gunman, Phoenix Ikner, walked in and out of campus buildings and green spaces while firing a handgun. It took place on a weekday just before lunchtime near the school’s Student Union, which has food and shops. The lawsuit says Ikner, a Florida State student, asked ChatGPT about the busiest times there.
The suit, filed Sunday in federal court, says OpenAI should have built ChatGPT with guardrails to let someone know that police may need to investigate “to prevent a specific plan for imminent harm to the public.”
Separately, in April, Florida’s attorney general said there was a rare criminal investigation into ChatGPT over whether the AI tool offered advice to Ikner, 21. He has pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder and several counts of attempted murder. Prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty.
Joshi’s husband was a 45-year-old father of two from Greenville, South Carolina, and a regional vice president of the food service vendor Aramark Collegiate Hospitality. The other man who was killed, Robert Morales, 57, was a campus dining coordinator at Florida State.
OpenAI “put their profits over our safety and it killed my husband. They need to be responsible before another family has to go through this,” Joshi said in a statement released by her lawyer.
OpenAI is currently valued at $852 billion.
Several lawsuits have sought damages from AI and tech companies over the influence of chatbots and social media on loved ones’ mental health.
In March, a jury in Los Angeles found both Meta and YouTube liable for harms to children using their services. In New Mexico, a jury determined that Meta knowingly harmed children’s mental health and concealed what it knew about child sexual exploitation on its platforms.
