National News
California found in violation of Title IX for males in female sports, spaces
The U.S. Department of Education said Wednesday that both the California Department of Education and the California Interscholastic Federation are in violation of Title IX for allowing males into female spaces and sports.
“Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 requires schools to ensure equal opportunities for girls, including in athletic activities, but California has actively prevented this equality of opportunity by allowing males in girls’ sports and intimate spaces,” a U.S. Department of Education news release said.
The U.S. Department of Education’s findings follow investigations into both CDE and CIF, according to the department’s release.
“As a result of the noncompliance finding, [the Office of Civil Rights] has issued a proposed Resolution Agreement to CDE and CIF to resolve their Title IX violations,” the release said.
The Resolution Agreement requires a number of actions, including that “the CDE will issue a Notice to all recipients of federal funding (Recipients) that operate interscholastic athletic programs in California requiring them to comply with Title IX.”
Such federal funding recipients “must adopt biology-based definitions of the words ‘male’ and ‘female,’” the release said.
Additionally, the resolution states that, “the CDE and CIF will rescind any guidance that advised local school districts or CIF members to permit male athletes to participate in women’s and girls’ sports to reflect that Title IX preempts state law when state law conflicts with Title IX.”
“Individual records, titles, and awards misappropriated by male athletes competing in female competitions” must be restored to the female athletes who are the rightful winners. CDE must also send an apology letter to each of these girls whose recognition is restored, the release said.
The California Department of Education told The Center Square in a statement that all students should have an opportunity.
“The California Department of Education believes all students should have the opportunity to learn and play at school, and we have consistently applied existing law in support of students’ rights to do so,” the department said.
When contacted, the California Interscholastic Federation told The Center Square, “The CIF does not comment on legal matters.”
If CDE and CIF do not change their unlawful practices in regards to Title IX as outlined in the Resolution within 10 days, they will both “risk imminent enforcement action, including referral to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for proceedings,” the release said.
U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in the release: “Although Governor Gavin Newsom admitted months ago it was ‘deeply unfair’ to allow men to compete in women’s sports, both the California Department of Education and the California Interscholastic Federation continued as recently as a few weeks ago to allow men to steal female athletes’ well-deserved accolades and to subject them to the indignity of unfair and unsafe competitions.”
“The Trump Administration will relentlessly enforce Title IX protections for women and girls, and our findings today make clear that California has failed to adhere to its obligations under federal law,” McMahon said.
“The state must swiftly come into compliance with Title IX or face the consequences that follow,” McMahon said.
The Department of Education has not yet responded to The Center Square’s request for comment.
The finding of this Title IX violation also falls into line with the department announcement that June is “Title IX Month,” as reported by The Center Square.
Congress clashes over approach to quelling antisemitism in America
Republicans and Democrats on the U.S. House Judiciary Committee condemned the recent surge in antisemitism across the U.S. but were divided when it came to assigning blame.
While Republicans pointed fingers at complacent attitudes by U.S. universities, Democrats called out some of President Donald Trump’s political appointees as being anti-semitic.
A rise in violent hate crimes against Jewish-Americans in recent months has caused antisemitism to become a growing topic of conversation among D.C. lawmakers. Last month, two employees of the Israeli embassy in Washington were murdered after leaving an event at a Jewish museum blocks from the U.S. Capitol.
Although Jewish-Americans make up just 2.4% of the U.S. population, they are the target of nearly 70% of religious hate crimes, Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Jefferson Van Drew, R-N.J., said Tuesday.
“Antisemitism at its core is incompatible with American values. It is un-American,” Van Drew said.
Van Drew criticized schools like Columbia University for turning a blind eye to protests “sympathetic to Hamas” on their campuses and argued that this complacency has caused antisemitism to continue to fester across American college campuses.
“When expressions cross the line into threats, intimidation or glorification of violence, that is not protest,” Van Drew said. “It is something far more dangerous.”
Van Drew also challenged the American immigration system for allowing international students to “abuse” the visa system and promote “hateful, extremist activity” within our country.
At the center of this argument is Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil, who was arrested by ICE in March after organizing pro-Palestine protests on Columbia’s campus while on an international student visa. Khalil was released this week after spending three months in an immigration detention center in Louisiana.
Democrats countered these arguments, directing blame at the Trump administration’s decision to appoint what they called “Nazi supporters and sympathizers” to high-level government positions.
House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., specifically criticized former DOGE chief Elon Musk’s use of a hand gesture that some compared to a Nazi salute while speaking on stage at an inauguration event in January.
Musk and Republicans have heavily criticized Democrats for invoking the “Nazi” term and calling Musk’s hand gesture a “Nazi salute,” pointing to numerous Democrats who made similar gestures in the past. Trump is an ardent supporter of Israel, ordering the U.S. military to strike three Iranian nuclear sites last weekend after Israel launched a days-long campaign of missile strikes against the Islamic regime.
CA lost 80K jobs in 2024, ‘no job creation’ in fourth quarter
The state-funded Legislative Analyst’s Office found California had “no job creation” in the fourth quarter of 2024, citing federal data that shows the state lost approximately 80,300 jobs between January and December of 2024.
The LAO’s report also noted that jobs estimates have overestimated job growth by 25,000 jobs per month.
“Since mid-2022 … five out of six quarterly early benchmark revisions have shown weaker employment trends than first reported by the monthly survey,” wrote the LAO. “For context, the monthly survey has overestimated net job growth by 25,000 jobs per month on average over this period.”
The quarterly seasonally-adjusted benchmark revisions by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia cited by the LAO incorporate the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, which includes 95% of U.S. jobs, to “augment” the monthly Current Employment Statistics.
The latest dataset found that California jobs declined from 18,010,000 in January 2024 to 17,929,700 in December 2024 resulting in a net loss of 80,300 jobs over the course of the year.
The early benchmark for the first quarter of 2025 suggests California has continued to lose more jobs than expected, though by April, jobs had nearly recovered to January levels. California had 17,909,000 jobs in January 2025, declining to 17,881,000 in March 2025.
Jobs sharply rebounded in April, rising to 17,898,600. It’s likely ongoing jobs cuts at California’s state and local governments, exacerbated by risks to federal funding, could result in losses in taxpayer-funded jobs. Because California has lost nearly 200,000 private sector jobs since 2023 — losses that were only offset by growth in taxpayer-funded jobs — layoffs or even reduced hiring in the taxpayer-funded sector, could have a significant impact on California employment.
New grant enables children to learn U.S. history, study founding documents
In honor of the nation’s 250th birthday, the U.S. Department of Education will enable students to learn American history through a new grant program.
“This new program will fund seminars that equip educators and students with the knowledge and civic values needed to uphold the freedoms we enjoy,” Acting Assistant Secretary for the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education Hayley Sanon said in a Department of Education news release.
“As our nation’s 250th birthday approaches, the Department of Education is providing grantees with an opportunity to celebrate the roots of our constitutional republic and teach students about America’s Founding principles and the responsibilities of citizenship,” Sanon said.
The purpose of this discretionary grant program – the American History and Civics Seminars grant – “is to promote new and existing evidence-based strategies to encourage innovative American history, civics and government, and geography instruction,” according to a Federal Register notice on the subject.
The Department of Education’s release said that seminars receiving the grant “must study the American political tradition (ideas, traditions, institutions, and texts essential to American constitutional government and American history) with a focus on the first principles of the Founding, their inclusion in the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.”
“Applicants must design and implement evidence-based approaches to seminars for educators or students specifically focused on American history and civics that directly commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Founding of the United States,” the release said.
According to the release, “the Department’s Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE) intends to conduct informational webinars to provide technical assistance to interested applicants for grants under the AHC-Seminars program.”
“Priority will be given to applicants from institutions of higher education that have established independent academic units dedicated to civic thought, constitutional studies, American history, political leadership, and free market economics,” the release explained.
When asked for comment, the Department of Education referred The Center Square to its press release as well as a Federal Register notice.
Other 250th celebrations that have taken place in the nation include an army parade and firework show, as The Center Square reported.
In honor of the 250th anniversary of the United States Army, thousands gathered in Washington D.C. for a day “dedicated to honoring the service and sacrifices of the brave men and women whose calling is to defend the nation,” The Center Square reported.
Future plans to celebrate the nation’s 250th birthday include remarks by President Donald Trump at Iowa’s State Fair, a creative contest for those in third through twelfth grade, and more – with not all events yet announced.
Policy group offers Trump another path forward on tariffs
A nonprofit group wants an appeals court to consider another trade statute as it evaluates legal challenges to President Donald Trump’s sweeping “Liberation Day” tariffs.
The America First Policy Institute wrote in a friend-of-the-court brief on Tuesday that a key law wasn’t considered in a previous court decision that found Trump didn’t have unilateral authority to impose tariffs.
“The stakes of this case are enormous,” attorneys for the group wrote. “If allowed to stand, the ruling below threatens to eviscerate the foreign policy of the President of the United States and to deprive America of hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue. Before the judiciary renders a decision so consequential, it is surely essential that all relevant law be fully considered. That did not happen here.”
Attorney Jed Rubenfeld, on behalf of America First, said “the single most relevant federal statute was not considered at all.” He said the Tariff Act of 1930 expressly authorizes Trump’s tariffs.
Rubenfeld wrote that Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 gives the president the power to impose tariffs on any country in any amount up to 50%, when “the president shall find as a fact that any foreign country places any burden or disadvantage” on United States commerce. The attorney said no prior investigation or action by any agency is required.
Trump announced reciprocal tariffs on nearly all U.S. trading partners on April 2, which he dubbed “Liberation Day,” for American trade. Seven days later, Trump suspended those higher rates for 90 days to give his trade team time to cut deals.
States and small businesses have challenged those tariffs in court. The three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of International Trade unanimously ruled that Congress did not give the president tariff authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977. The ruling voided Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs and struck down other tariffs Trump issued under the IEEPA.
An appeals court ruled earlier this month that the “Liberation Day” tariffs can remain in place while the legal challenge over his authority to impose import taxes continues. The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals set oral arguments for 10 a.m. on July 31.
The businesses, represented by the Liberty Justice Center, said their livelihood is on the line. The businesses included VOS Selections, a New York-based wine and spirit importer.
“An eventual refund is of little comfort to the VOS Plaintiffs, who face imminent irreparable harm, including existential threats of bankruptcy and permanent damage to their business, whether by reputational damage, loss of goodwill, or harm to relationships with suppliers and customers,” Liberty Justice Center attorneys wrote. “What good is a refund of the tariffs paid to a business that is bankrupt and no longer exists?”
The Liberty Justice Center attorneys said, “Small businesses are particularly vulnerable, as they are less equipped to absorb these extra costs. Close to two-thirds of small businesses have reported that tariffs and other trade issues would hurt their businesses.”
Economists, businesses and some publicly traded companies have warned that tariffs could raise prices on a wide range of consumer products.
Trump has said he wants to use tariffs to restore manufacturing jobs lost to lower-wage countries in decades past, shift the tax burden away from American families, and pay down the national debt.
A tariff is a tax on imported goods paid by the person or company that imports them. The importer can absorb the cost of the tariffs or try to pass the cost on to consumers through higher prices.
Trump’s tariffs give U.S.-produced goods a price advantage over imported goods, and they generate revenue for the federal government.
House Democrats, Republicans spar over implementing DOGE cuts
House Republicans and Democrats sparred on Tuesday over codifying cuts proposed by the Department of Government Efficiency.
U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., said Congress needs to “lock in” DOGE’s $180 billion in cuts across the federal government at a House Oversight and Government Reform’s DOGE subcommittee.
“We need to make sure we lock in those savings, it should be the first installment we pay on our nation’s $37 trillion debt,” Greene said.
Greene also pointed to a $9 billion recessions package passed in the House that would make cuts to several international organizations, nongovernmental organizations as well as public media including NPR and PBS.
“Nine billion is just the tip of the iceberg of the waste DOGE has identified and of the spending that the administration has paused or shut off,” Greene added.
Witnesses before the panel highlighted some of DOGE’s cuts and said Congress needs to take control in order to make the DOGE cuts permanent.
Matthew Dickerson, a witness before the committee and director of budget policy at the Economic Policy Innovation Center, called for Congress to enact a 10% reduction across the federal workforce. He said this reduction would reduce discretionary spending on salaries by as much as $608 billion.
“The most straightforward way to control waste, fraud and abuse is by controlling agency budgets in the annual appropriations process,” Dickerson said.
David Burton, a senior fellow in economic policy at the Heritage Foundation, affirmed the importance of the appropriations process.
“Most of the personnel reductions, grant reductions and other reforms initiated by DOGE will not result in actual savings unless Congress takes action through appropriations bills,” Burton said.
Democrats on the committee disagreed with the sentiment of cementing DOGE cuts and pointed to several errors the agency has made in the past few months.
“While we came to the table at the beginning of the whole process in good faith, with real ideas, bipartisan ideas that folks have actually been working on for years and desire to actually fix and modernize the federal government, what we’ve seen from DOGE is the exact opposite,” Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M., said.
Democrats cited proposed cuts to healthcare services for veterans within the Department of Veterans Affairs. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, called for a subpoena of Elon Musk to investigate DOGE’s actions, which failed to pass.
Greene reaffirmed a commitment to implementing cuts proposed by DOGE and compared the government to “an overgrown, out of control animal.”
“We as lawmakers should pass new DOGE cuts every single day and make cutting waste, fraud and abuse our top priority,” Greene said.
“Instead of growing the government, we should be slashing the government. The government is far too big, it’s like an overgrown, out of control animal, and the American people are beginning to hate it,” she added.
Trump: Ceasefire reached between Israel, Iran
Hours after Iran launched retaliatory strikes against the U.S. for striking its three key nuclear facilities, President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire deal has been reached between Israel and Iran.
The president is touting the deal as a “complete and total ceasefire” in a Truth Social post Monday afternoon.
Trump spent the afternoon with his national security team; it is unclear if the meeting was used to iron out the ceasefire details.
“CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYONE! It has been fully agreed by and between Israel and Iran that there will be a Complete and Total CEASEFIRE (in approximately 6 hours from now, when Israel and Iran have wound down and completed their in progress, final missions!), for 12 hours, at which point the War will be considered, ENDED! Officially, Iran will start the CEASEFIRE and, upon the 12th Hour, Israel will start the CEASEFIRE and, upon the 24th Hour, an Official END to THE 12 DAY WAR will be saluted by the World,” Trump explained.
“During each CEASEFIRE, the other side will remain PEACEFUL and RESPECTFUL. On the assumption that everything works as it should, which it will, I would like to congratulate both Countries, Israel and Iran, on having the Stamina, Courage, and Intelligence to end, what should be called, ‘THE 12 DAY WAR.’ This is a War that could have gone on for years, and destroyed the entire Middle East, but it didn’t, and never will! God bless Israel! God bless Iran, God bless the Middle East, God bless the United States of America, and GOD BLESS THE WORLD!” Trump concluded.
As the president mentioned in his post, the conflict, or war, began June 12 after Iran rejected negotiations to cease its enrichment of weapons-grade nuclear material. Israel launched targeted attacks on the Islamic Republic.
Israel and the U.S. maintained that Iran was merely weeks from building nuclear weapons, thus endangering Israel and the Middle East.
The two countries exchanged a barrage of missiles, with Israel eventually gaining air superiority over Iran.
A turning point in the conflict came Saturday night when the U.S. launched strikes, called Operation Midnight Hammer. The strikes “obliterated” — in Trump’s words — Iran’s top three nuclear facilities, including Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan.
B-2 stealth bombers out of Whiteman Airforce Base in Missouri were used to drop several 30,000 bunker busters to destroy Fordow and Natanz. At the same time, dozens of Tomahawk missiles fired from a submarine were used to destroy Isfahan.
On Monday, Iran launched over a dozen missiles targeting the U.S. Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar. The attack was thwarted, and no injuries were reported. In a social media post following the strike, the president brushed off the attack, claiming Iran needed to blow off steam. He indicated the U.S. received prior notice of the attack, allowing them to prepare.
The ceasefire comes less than a week after the president claimed he wasn’t negotiating a ceasefire between the two countries.
What to watch for from NATO 2025 summit
President Donald Trump will head to the 2025 North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit at The Hague on Tuesday. Here’s what to expect from this year’s summit.
Defense spending targets
Formed by the United States, the United Kingdom, and 10 other western nations in 1949 to counter the expansion of Soviet influence throughout Europe, NATO today has 32 member nations.
In 2014, NATO member countries agreed on a minimum defense spending target of 2% of their national GDPs. Members were to aim to reach that target by 2024. Not all of the members had reached the 2% benchmark as of last year.
Trump has repeatedly complained about member countries not meeting defense spending targets, while the U.S. has never devoted less than 3% of its GDP to defense spending. During his first term, Trump threatened to withdraw the U.S. from the organization because of this imbalance, often implying that NATO members benefit much more from America’s membership than the other way around.
While withdrawal never happened, that appeal has become even more relevant because of the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. In 2025, Trump has repeatedly urged member countries to raise their defense spending to 5% of their national GDP, insinuating that the U.S. is footing the bill for their security by contributing more to Ukraine’s defense.
Higher spending targets likely
Former Netherlands Prime Minister and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Monday made it sound like the group is going to commit to the 5% spending target Trump has stressed.
“As the world becomes more dangerous, Allied leaders will take bold decisions to strengthen our collective defense, making NATO a stronger, a fairer and a more lethal Alliance,” Rutte said.
“This will include a major new defense investment plan, ranging the benchmark for defense investment to 5% of GDP, a concerted effort to ramp up defense industry across the Alliance, bringing not only greater security, but also more jobs and a continued focus on support for Ukraine, alongside the pursuit of a just and lasting end to Russia’s war of aggression. All of this is essential to keeping our 1 billion citizens safe.”
Negotiables
One of the details that may emerge from the summit is a deadline for reaching the 5% target. There has been discussion of a 2035 or even a 2032 deadline.
Rutte has also suggested that the 5% target be broken down into two categories: 3.5% for “core defense capabilities” and 1.5% as more discretionary defense spending. An as yet unanswered question is whether members will agree that aid to Ukraine can count toward that 1.5% target.
The Russia Ukraine war
Trump has made it clear that he simply wants to see an end to the Russia Ukraine war and that American aid to Ukraine’s efforts is going to flow less freely than it did under the Biden administration. Some European leaders have stood firmly with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in emphasizing that any type of agreed to ceasefire must include strong commitments from Russia to a lasting peace. Trump has shown less interest in those kinds of preconditions and it’s not expected that the U.S. will budge during the summit.
U.S. Iranian strikes draw support, criticism from Congress
The U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear sites is drawing cheers and jeers from Congressional Democrats and Republicans.
President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. military had “successfully” carried out strikes on three of Iran’s major nuclear sites, including Fordow. The strikes mark the first time the U.S. have carried out an attack inside Iran.
Multiple reports indicated six B-2 stealth bombers based out of Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri were used to carry out attacks on Fordow, while 30 Tomahawk missiles were fired from nuclear submarines.
Senate Majority Leader Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., led support for the military strikes, underscoring Iran’s threat on the West.
“The regime in Tehran, which has committed itself to bringing ‘death to America’ and wiping Israel off the map, has rejected all diplomatic pathways to peace. The mullahs’ misguided pursuit of nuclear weapons must be stopped. As we take action tonight to ensure a nuclear weapon remains out of reach for Iran, I stand with President Trump and pray for the American troops and personnel in harm’s way,” Thune posted to X.
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., who introduced legislation to reign in the president’s power in carrying out such attack, sounded off on the strikes.
“The American public is overwhelmingly opposed to the U.S. waging war on Iran. And the Israeli Foreign Minister admitted [Friday] that Israeli bombing had set the Irania nuclear program back ‘at least 2 or 3 years.’ So what made Trump recklessly decide to rush and bomb today? Horrible judgment. I will push for all Senators to vote on whether they are for this third idiotic Middle East war,” Kaine posted on X.
House Speaker Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., posted a lengthy statement in support of the president.
“The military operations in Iran should serve as a clear reminder to our adversaries and allies that President Trump means what he says. The President gave Iran’s leader every opportunity to make a deal, but Iran refused to commit to a nuclear disarmament agreement.
“President Trump has been consistent and clear that a nuclear-armed Iran will not be tolerated. That posture has now been enforced with strength, precision, and clarity. The President’s decisive action prevents the world’s state sponsor of terrorism, which chants ‘Death to America,’ from obtaining the most lethal weapon on the planet. This is America First policy in action. God bless our brave men and women in uniform — the most lethal fighting force on the planet — as we pray for their safe return home. May God bless America,” Johnson posted to X.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., was one of the few Republicans to call out the president, declaring the strikes are “not Constitutional.”
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., has bucked his party by showing staunch support for Israel and the president.
“As I’ve long maintained, this was the correct move by POTUS. Iran is the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism and cannot have nuclear capabilities. I’m grateful for and salute the finest military in the world,” Fetterman posted on X.
Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., released a statement on the strikes, criticizing the president for failing to get congressional approval prior to the strikes.
“Donald Trump promised to bring peace to the Middle East. He has failed to deliver on that promise. The risk of war has now dramatically increased, and I pray for the safety of our troops in the region who have been put in harm’s way.
“President Trump misled the country about his intentions, failed to seek congressional authorization for the use of military force and risks American entanglement in a potentially disastrous war in the Middle East.
“First, the Trump administration bears the heavy burden of explaining to the American people why this military action was undertaken. Second, Congress must be fully and immediately briefed in a classified setting. Third, Donald Trump shoulders complete and total responsibility for any adverse consequences that flow from his unilateral military action,” Jeffries said in a statement.
SPD investigating attack on journalist during Antifa protests
Seattle Police are investigating an attack on an independent conservative journalist last weekend during anti-Trump and anti-ICE rallies in Seattle.
Cam Higby says he was assaulted by Antifa members as he attended the sometimes violent “No Kings Day” protests in Seattle at a Department of Homeland Security Building on June 14.
Separately, independent journalist Brandi Kruse says she also was assaulted by Antifa members in Tukwila, just south of Seattle. Both attacks were captured on video posted to social media.
“It was out of nowhere, completely out of nowhere that they got violent,” said Higby, whose attack was captured on vide and posted to X. The attack left him bloodied, bruised and with a concussion that is still causing headaches, vision impairment and memory issues nearly a week later, he said.
Lawson allegedly brutally assaulted independent journalist Cam Higby as he was reporting on an Antifa anti-ICE direct action near the federal building in Seattle on June 14, video evidence shows. pic.twitter.com/rorgkpacF5— Katie Daviscourt 📸 (@KatieDaviscourt) June 16, 2025
In a Friday interview, Higby told The Center Square he had been covering the protests in Seattle all day and took a seat on the ground near the federal building by himself when the assailants came out of nowhere.
“They took over the streets, they lit fires to cars, they shot fireworks at cars. Then it’s out of nowhere where this guy yells, ‘Hey Cam, it’s time for you to leave,’ and they charged me and I knew one of them and I’d identified him earlier in the night because he threatened to kill me three weeks earlier,” Higby told The Center Square
The attacker he was referring threatened to kill Higby in an Instagram post, he said, which was reported to police.
“They crossed the street to get to me and charged me and before I could stand up, I was pinned up against the wall,” said Higby. “They were grabbing at my gas mask and my helmet and just keeping me in place and one of them picked me up and choked me out from the rear. And then he released me, punched me twice in the head with SAP gloves which were filled with steal or lead shot. I turned around and somebody pulled him back and he kicked me in the face. I pulled out pepper spray and I nailed him in the face, and then I retreated and called 911 and then the police never showed up.”
Higby said he waited for police for about 45 minutes but they never came.
Video journalist Jonathan Cho, who was also covering protests, picked him up and took him back to his car across town, according to Higby.
Higby said he went to urgent care the next morning and then to the emergency room when his symptoms related to the concussion were getting worse.
“They said if I had a brain bleed, I’d already be dead. I think it’s very likely that if I wasn’t wearing a helmet, that I would have been either killed or critical,” Higby said.
Kruse, host of the unDivided video podcast, told The Center Square she had only been at the Tukwila protest scene for 30 seconds when she was attacked.
“I didn’t even get a chance to cover it. Within 30 seconds of walking up, I heard a couple of people shout, ‘that’s Brandi Kruse.’ And then they started to form around me, and initially it was they were blocking my camera with their umbrellas because they don’t want you to document their criminal conduct. And then they started spraying water at me, and then they got a little more aggressive,” Kruse said. “They were dumping full bottles of water and hurling bottles of water and it hit me a couple of times from behind.”
Kruse said she tried to walk away but was followed with protesters pushing signs into her face and continuing to hurl things at her.
“But the thing is they won’t let you walk away, and they don’t want you to walk away. I’m just sort of looking over my shoulder and then I see this individual coming from behind me to the right who had something that they were starting to spray. And you know, your mind goes in a million different places, and you don’t know what it could be, but as soon as it hit my eyes and I got the smell, I knew it was some sort of bug spray because it had that distinctive smell. We found out later it was this hornet and wasp killer that can spray like up to 20 feet,” said Kruse, who posted to social media video of the attack and security escort pouring water into her eyes to flush out the spray which she shared burned painfully for days.
In the assault on Higby, police say they know who the assailant is but have yet to make an arrest. Higby said he’s “10 thousand percent sure” it’s the same person who threatened him weeks before.
Higby told The Center Square he’s been informed that despite the seriousness of the assault, prosecutors may not be inclined to pursue charges.
Seattle Police responded to an email from The Center Square on Friday requesting details on the case and received the following response: “This case is an open and active investigation assigned to SPD’s homicide & Assault Unit. SPD policy prevents me from releasing suspect details or ‘leads,’” wrote Eric Munoz, detective in SPD media and public affairs.
Seattle Police Guild President Mike Solan told The Center Square in a Friday interview that he was skeptical as to whether prosecutors would pursue charges, despite the serious nature of the attack on Higby. He also condemned the lack of coverage in the mainstream media of the assaults on journalists.
“I think the bigger conversation here is why isn’t corporate media drawing attention to this political violence as they’re watching journalists get assaulted and it doesn’t appear to be covered by corporate media at all. My question is why, and the fact that that’s not happening is a major problem with what’s unfolding in our nation,” said Solan.
Kruse said she was also disappointed that members of the mainstream media have ignored the attack.
“I was getting text messages from former colleagues in television news in Seattle asking if I was OK, saying they saw the video, but then never reporting on it. So it’s not as if they’re oblivious … if these were the proud boys, or if these were right-wing extremists and they assaulted journalists, there’s no way that it wouldn’t be covered,” said Kruse.
Kruse said she’s been in contact with officials in the Trump administration who are paying attention to the case, but has also filed a police report with the Tukwila Police Department.