1 month ago
LOCHIEL, Ariz. — For more than two months, activists sat high up in the branches of a giant cottonwood tree here on the border with Mexico in an effort to block federal contractors from knocking it down to make way for President Donald Trump’s $46.5 billion border wall expansion.
But that standoff came to an end Monday when demonstrators say more than 50 Customs and Border Protection agents raided the activist camp and an excavator knocked down what they called a “grandmother” tree, estimated to be 150 to 250 years old.
Footage taken by protesters shows the massive tree crashing down as border agents look on, and the activists who worked to protect it wail.
“We have been raided, **** aulted, battered, bruised, bleeding by the Border Patrol agents,” said Kate Scott, an activist who kicked off the group’s tree sit, in a call following Monday’s raid. As CBP cleared the area, about 10 people were arrested, the group of activists estimates, and another 10 received citations, including for “violation of a closure order” for being in the border-wall zone.
At least one activist showed images of scrapes and bandages on a Monday video call.
#border #tree
But that standoff came to an end Monday when demonstrators say more than 50 Customs and Border Protection agents raided the activist camp and an excavator knocked down what they called a “grandmother” tree, estimated to be 150 to 250 years old.
Footage taken by protesters shows the massive tree crashing down as border agents look on, and the activists who worked to protect it wail.
“We have been raided, **** aulted, battered, bruised, bleeding by the Border Patrol agents,” said Kate Scott, an activist who kicked off the group’s tree sit, in a call following Monday’s raid. As CBP cleared the area, about 10 people were arrested, the group of activists estimates, and another 10 received citations, including for “violation of a closure order” for being in the border-wall zone.
At least one activist showed images of scrapes and bandages on a Monday video call.
#border #tree
2 months ago
WASHINGTON, D.C. — FIRST ON FOX: As Washington, D.C., grapples with a persistent squatting problem, one resident in the nation's capital is speaking out about how unwelcome tenants have turned her life upside down, terrorizing her neighborhood while the city stands by and does nothing.
"I lived in several countries, including Third World countries, but it seems to me that I'm living in a Fourth World country in D.C.," Tatyana Day Velasquez, who owns a small three-unit building in Columbia Heights, told Fox News Digital.
"I've never seen something like it. There's no accountability for what goes on. Everybody just throws the ball to each other, and there's no help. So how can somebody resolve a problem like mine if you don't get help?"
For a tumultuous eight months, Velasquez said her property's basement apartment has been overrun by strangers who refuse to leave and live rent-free with no consequences in sight.
Homeowners Terrorized By Pro Squatters Turning Dreams Into Nightmares In Palm-lined Paradise, Experts Say
#World #velasquez #like #first
"I lived in several countries, including Third World countries, but it seems to me that I'm living in a Fourth World country in D.C.," Tatyana Day Velasquez, who owns a small three-unit building in Columbia Heights, told Fox News Digital.
"I've never seen something like it. There's no accountability for what goes on. Everybody just throws the ball to each other, and there's no help. So how can somebody resolve a problem like mine if you don't get help?"
For a tumultuous eight months, Velasquez said her property's basement apartment has been overrun by strangers who refuse to leave and live rent-free with no consequences in sight.
Homeowners Terrorized By Pro Squatters Turning Dreams Into Nightmares In Palm-lined Paradise, Experts Say
#World #velasquez #like #first
4 months ago
BERLIN (AP) — Volkswagen's CEO indicated in comments published Sunday that he's trying to avoid closing plants as he seeks to turn around the automaker's performance.
The Wolfsburg, Germany-based company faces pressure to cut costs at home and increasingly intense competition in the lucrative Chinese market, in particular.
Last week, Volkswagen said its "fundamental realignment" over the past three years had reached its next phase, announcing plans to streamline the model lineup by up to half.
It didn't provide specifics, and questions remain over how else it will cut costs. There has been renewed speculation about the future of several plants in Germany.
"There are more intelligent solutions than closing plants," CEO Oliver Blume told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper.
The Wolfsburg, Germany-based company faces pressure to cut costs at home and increasingly intense competition in the lucrative Chinese market, in particular.
Last week, Volkswagen said its "fundamental realignment" over the past three years had reached its next phase, announcing plans to streamline the model lineup by up to half.
It didn't provide specifics, and questions remain over how else it will cut costs. There has been renewed speculation about the future of several plants in Germany.
"There are more intelligent solutions than closing plants," CEO Oliver Blume told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper.
