Trump administration fires Boston immigration judge who issued ruling in Öztürk case

WBUR | By Anna Rubenstein, Simón Rios

Published April 13, 2026 at 4:34 PM EDT

The Trump administration has fired a Bostonimmigration judge who ruled the government had no grounds to deport Rümeysa Öztürk, the Tufts University doctoral student arrested in Somerville by masked immigration agents last year.

Roopal Patel was terminated Friday, according to the New York Times. Her dismissal is one of thelatest judge firings among dozens of others as the federal government moves to transform the nation’s immigration courts.

WBUR has not yet independently confirmed her removal from the bench with the federal government. A U.S. Department of Justice spokesperson with the Executive Office for Immigration Reviewdid not immediately respond to requests for comment.

However, Patel’s name no longer appears on the Department of Justice’s website detailing judges assigned to Boston’s immigration court.The National Association of Immigration Judges also confirmed she was removed Friday.

In January, Patel ruled that Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s revocation of Özturk’s visa did not require her removal. Özturk, aTurkish national, was targeted by the administration for co-authoring an op-ed that criticized her university’s response to Israel’s war in Gaza. The Department of Homeland Security is appealing the judge’s decision.

Patel was originally appointed to the bench under President Joe Biden.

The Times reportedshe was fired alongside five other immigration judges, including Judge Nina Froes of the immigration court in Chelmsford.

In February,Froes blocked the deportation of Palestinian activist Mohsen Mahdawi, a Columbia University student detained in the wake of campus protests against the war in Gaza.

Patel and Froes were serving within a two-year probationary period. As immigration judges under the Department of Justice, they were fired by the attorney general.

Their dismissals come on the heelsof more than 100 similar terminations by the federal government since President Trump returned to office last year.

According to the National Association of Immigration Judges,at least 113 judges of about 750 total in the U.S. were firedby the Trump administrationsince last January, withroughly another 100 quitting or retiring in that period. The association said the Department of Justice hired new judges, bringing the total number of judges handling the flood of immigration cases to around 600.

In Chelmsford alone,the 19 judges listed in January of 2025 have dwindled to just eight, including five immigration judges, two temporary judges and an assistant chief judge.

In Boston’s immigration court, the number of judges dropped from seven to five in that same period.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

(https://www.vermontpublic.org/local-news/2026-04-13/trump-administration-fires-boston-immigration-judge-who-issued-ruling-in-ozturk-case

Why to hell is the U.S. hiring foreigners to be judges here! Intentional foreign invasion.

Mrgunsngear

@Mrgunsngear

Reportedly two suicide bombers detonated themselves in the Algerian capital during Pope Leo XIV's visit to the nation.

It's wild to see suicide bombers in the age of FPV drones but here we are

Plan accordingly…

11:09 AM · Apr 13, 2026

·

20.3K

Views

#CityLife #Algiers #pope #islam #algeria #FailedState #africa #culture #PopeLeo #urbanp

https://x.com/Mrgunsngear/status/2043708191318450292?s=20

PeterSweden

@PeterSweden7

This should be headline news EVERYWHERE.

A Pfizer insider who was former head of toxicology in Europe has just come out and said something that many "conspiracy theorists" suspected.

He estimates that 20 000 to 60 000 people in Germany have died from the c*vid vaccine.

This was said at a parliamentary enquiry commission in Germany.

So why isn't this massive news being reported everywhere?

Is the mainstream media that has recieved millions in funding from Bill Gates deliberately covering this up… 🤔

6:26 AM · Apr 12, 2026

56.1M

Views

https://x.com/PeterSweden7/status/2043274502914597000?s=20

I’m sure there were a lot more dead!

Eric 𝕏 @WorldStrategist

Singapore’s Foreign Minister on why he cannot accept negotiating with Iran for safe passage of ships. Definitely worth listening to:

https://x.com/WorldStrategist/status/2042969293554327853?s=20

That’s common sense it’s too bad Europe doesn’t have it!

2h ago / 4:03 PM EDT

U.N. secretary general calls for resumption of talks between U.S. and Iran(he waits for 6 weeks??? Will Iran listen to him? No!)

Mirna Alsharif

United Nations Secretary General António Guterres called for the resumption of talks between the U.S. and Iran.(Iran intimidates the UN through their aggressive lies. UN is useless)

"After weeks of destruction & distress, it is clear that there is no military solution to the current conflict in the Middle East," Guterres said in a statement posted to X.

Guterres also called on the ceasefire to be "preserved" and urged all parties to "respect the freedom of navigation" in the Strait of Hormuz. (He just thought of this today!!)

https://www.nbcnews.com/world/iran/live-blog/live-updates-us-blockade-iran-ports-trump-hormuz-peace-talks-ceasefire-rcna331473#rcrd107865

(Excuse me, isn’t the UN there to make sure countries work together. They actually has an Councilar to check and make sure countries don’t have nuclear bombs, and Iran lied to them and wouldn’t let him in. And isn’t it the job of the leader of the UN be the mediator? Simply sad org.)

Judge dismisses Trump $10B defamation lawsuit against Murdoch, WSJ about Epstein letter. 1/2

PUBLISHED MON, APR 13 20269:27

KEY POINTS

• A Florida federal court judge tossed out a $10 billion defamation lawsuit by President Donald Trump against media baron Rupert Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal.

• Trump claimed he was defamed in a Journal article that said he sent a birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein, his then-friend.

•Trump will be allowed to file an amended lawsuit in the case, Judge Darrin Gayles said in his ruling in U.S. District Court in Miami.

A federal judge in Florida on Monday dismissed President Donald Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against media baron Rupert Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal, which claimed the newspaper defamed Trump with a story saying the president had sent a “bawdy” 50th birthday letter to notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

But Trump will be given the chance to file a new amended lawsuit by April 27 in the case about the letter that the Journal published in July 2024, Judge Darrin Gayles said in his ruling in U.S. District Court in Miami.

Gayles said he had to dismiss the civil complaint because Trump, who has adamantly denied sending the letter to his then-friend Epstein in 2003,had “not plausibly alleged that the Defendants published the Article with actual malice.”

Plaintiffs who are public figures likeTrump must show that a defendant had actual malice when they made allegedly defamatory statements, according to legal precedent.

Gayles said Trump’s complaint “falls short of pleading actual malice,” and also said the president “comes nowhere close to” the standard for showing that the newspaper deliberately avoided investigating the truth of the statements it published about the letter.

“The Article explains that, before running the story, Defendants contacted President Trump, Justice Department officials, and the FBI for comment,” the judge wrote.

“President Trump responded with his denial, the Justice Department did not respond at all, and the FBI declined to comment. In short, the Complaint and Article confirm that Defendants attempted to investigate.”

And Gayles noted that the article included the fact that Trump denied writing the letter, which makes an allegation of actual malice less plausible.

But the judge, in giving Trump a second chance in the case,pointed to another precedent that says a plaintiff “should have the opportunity to amend his complaint” if a lawsuit was tossed out for failing to plead facts in a suit “giving rise to an inference of actual malice.

The judge’s ruling did not address the question of whether the statements that the Journal made in the article are true, and whether they are defamatory.

Murdoch’s company, News Corp

., owns the Journal. Trump plans to refile amended suit on Epstein letter

A spokesman for the Journal’s publisher, Dow Jones & Co., in a statement said, “We are pleased with the judge’s decision to dismiss this complaint.”

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/13/trump-epstein-murdoch-wsj-lawsuit-dismissed.html

>>24496375

2/2

“We stand behind the reliability, rigor and accuracy of The Wall Street Journal’s reporting,” the spokesman said.

A spokesman for Trump’s legal team, in a statement, said, “President Trump will follow Judge Gayles’s ruling and guidance to refile this powerhouse lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and all of the other Defendants.”

“The President will continue to hold accountable those who traffic in Fake News to mislead the American People,” the spokesman said.

The White House declined to comment, referring questions to Trump’s legal team.

Lawyers for the defendants had in legal filings said Trump’s case should be dismissed because the article about the letter is true, the article is not defamatory, and because Trump had not shown that the newspaper acted with actual malice.

“A pair of small arcs denotes the woman’s breasts, and the future president’s signature is a squiggly ‘Donald’ below her waist, mimicking pubic hair,” Journal reporters Khadeeja Safdar and Joe Palazzolo said in the article.

“The letter concludes: ‘Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret,’” they wrote.

Trump angrily denied writing the letter, saying, “This is not me. This is a fake thing.”

“I never wrote a picture in my life. I don’t draw pictures of women,” the president said at the time.

A day after the Journal published the article,Trump filed a lawsuit against the newspaper, the two reporters, Murdoch, News Corp., the company’s CEO, Robert Thompson, and Dow Jones and Co.

On Sept. 8, Democrats in the House of Representatives released an image of what appeared to be a letter to Epstein signed by Trump, which matched the description of the letter detailed in the Journal’s article. The letter was obtained by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee after that panel issued a subpoena to Epstein’s estate.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, at the time of the release, said it proved that Trump did not draw the picture or sign it.

Epstein killed himself in August 2019 while being held without bail in a Manhattan federal jail. He had been arrested weeks earlier on child sex trafficking charges.

Letter to Epstein showed outline of woman’s body

The Wall Street Journal published an article on July 17 that said a letter bearing Trump’s signature was included in an album of letters that Epstein was giving for his 50th birthday. The article said Trump sent the letter at the request of Epstein’s close friend, Ghislaine Maxwell, who two decades later was convicted of procuring underage girls to be sexually abused by Epstein.

The Journal noted that the letter “contains several lines of typewritten text framed by the outline of a naked woman, which appears to be hand-drawn with a heavy marker.”

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/13/trump-epstein-murdoch-wsj-lawsuit-dismissed.html

Man charged after allegedly throwing Molotov cocktail at OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's home

No one was injured in the incident outside Altman's San Francisco residence.

ByLuke Barr

April 13, 2026, 3:23 PM ET

A Texas man has been charged with traveling to California to allegedly throw a Molotov cocktail at OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's house, according to court records unsealed on Monday.

The suspect, Daniel Moreno-Gama, was allegedly caught on video surveillance outside the CEO's home in San Francisco, according to court records.

Around 4 a.m. Friday, the suspect allegedly "threw an incendiary destructive device" at Altman's house, which sparked a fire on an exterior gate, San Francisco police said. No one was injured, police said.

The suspect was arrested about an hour later outside OpenAI's headquarters, where he was allegedly threatening to burn down the building, according to police.

Moreno-Gama, who allegedly had kerosene in his backpack, was seen trying to hit the building's glass with a chair, according to court documents.

Federal prosecutors said they also found a document in which Moreno-Gama allegedly expressed anti-AI-executive sentiments.

He allegedly had a list of names and addresses of apparent board members and chief executive officers of AI companies and investors.

"MORENO-GAMA stated he “killed /attempted to kill” Victim-1,” court documents said. “MORENO-GAMA also wrote, 'Also if I am going to advocate for others to kill and commit crimes, then I must lead by example and show that I am fully sincere in my message.'"

Moreno-Gama is charged with attempted damage and destruction of property by means of explosives and possession of an unregistered firearm, according to court documents.

In a separate incident, two people have been arrested for allegedly firing shots at Altman's house on Sunday morning, police said.

(Remember Altman killed one of most gifted programmers, remember his Asian mother was trying to prove Altman did it. The programmers was saying he was doing evil things with AI)

https://abcnews.com/amp/US/man-charged-after-allegedly-throwing-molotov-cocktail-openai/story?id=131999461

Video | Pavlov’s dog is hilarious.

De Sevilla al cielo…..

@Nefertitibarni2

Oioioioioioi 😂 😂 😂

9:05 AM · Mar 23, 2026

902.1K Views

https://x.com/Nefertitibarni2/status/2036066827751588158?s=20

>>24496429. You had to be here 7-8 years ago or longer

New York Post

@nypost

This is the heartwarming moment astronaut Christina Koch was welcomed home by her dog, Sadie, following her trip on Artemis II around the moon. ❤️

11:46 AM · Apr 13, 2026

210K

https://x.com/nypost/status/2043717430086688948?s=20

Fidel Castro says he is 'not a communist': Meet the Press ArchiveNBC News

APRIL 19, 1959— Fidel Castro appeared on Meet the Press for his first visit to the United States since the Cuban revolution, nearly three months earlier.

29:37

https://youtu.be/I6y-vrRkjnM

Trump and his lawyers quickly seized on that loophole to argue that the decision was essentially meaningless.

CNN 4/13/2026 By Devan Cole

Appeals court says Trump White House ballroom construction can proceed for now.1/2

A federal appeals court said Saturday that President Donald Trumpcan move ahead for another week with construction of a massive new White Houseballroom while judges consider the project.

The 2-1 order from the DC Circuit Court of Appeals is a temporary win for Trump in a protracted legal fightover whether he has the authority to build the ballroom on the site of the former East Wing without express approval from Congress. (At least the Federal Government has to pay for the lawsuit, but the haters spend government money and should be sued for being the suit in the first place.)

The appeals court said work on the project can continue until at least April 17.The court sent the case back down to a federal judge who initially ruled against it,sayinghe needed to look closer at the White House’s argument that construction must continue for national security and safety reasons, and adding that the appeals court couldn’t scrutinize the notion on a “hurried record.”

“It remains unclear whether and to what extent the development of certain aspects of theproposed ballroom is necessary to ensure the safety and security of those below-ground national security upgradesor otherwise to ensure the safety of the White House and its occupants while the appeal proceeds,” the judges in the majority wrote.

Thetwo judgeswho decided to send the case back down wereappointed by former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden. The dissenting judge was appointed by Trump during his first term.

Saturday’s decision is the latest flashpoint in a monthslong fight over Trump’s desire topush ahead with the ballroom project with little to no outside oversight.

After Trump demolished the East Wing last year to begin construction, the nation’s top historic preservation group went to court to challenge the legality of the project. It argued, among other things, that Congress needed to bless the project. (Which is a lie.)

Senior US District Judge Richard Leon agreed with the group late last month, writing in a stinging ruling that Trump was moving ahead with construction unlawfully since he had not asked lawmakers for permission to build the bold new addition to the White House.

Leon, an appointee of former President George W. Bush,said much of the work needed to stop pending congressional approval but that crews could continue “construction necessaryto ensure the safety and security of the White House.”

“The President of the United States is the steward of the White House for future generations of First Families. He is not, however, the owner!” Leon wrote in the 35-page ruling.

Trump and his lawyers quickly seized on that loophole to argue that the decision was essentially meaningless.

“That’s called: ‘I’m allowed to continue building as necessary,’” Trump said shortly after Leon issued his ruling. “So on that, we’re OK.”KEK

https://lite.cnn.com/2026/04/11/politics/trump-ballroom-construction-judge-continue

>>24496589

2/2

After appealing Leon’s decision to the DC Circuit,Trump’s lawyers told the court in a sharply worded filing that the judge overstepped when he issued a “shocking, unprecedented and improper injunction” that they said “would imperil the president and others who live and work in the White House.”

Arguing that theentire project “advances critical national-security objectives,” Justice Department lawyers asked the court to shelve Leon’s ruling while the case moved forward.

“The upgrades to the East Wing are not cosmetic;instead, they involve the use of missile-resistant steel columns, beams, drone-proof roofing materials, and bullet, ballistic, and blast proof glass windows,” they wrote in court papers. “They also include the installation of bomb shelters, hospital and medical facilities, protective partitioning, and top-secret military installations, air conditioning, heating, venting, and more.”

But the National Trust forHistoric Preservation told the appeals court that Trump was erroneously conflating the bunkerbeing built under the ballroom with the above-ground addition that is replacing the East Wing,which for decades had housed the first lady’s office.

“As is obvious, the absence of a massive ballroom on White House grounds has not stopped this (or any other) President from residing at the White House or hosting events there,” the group’s lawyers said in a filing submitted this week. “Temporarily halting the ballroom project until it complies with the law will not irreparably harm defendants or the nation.”

The ballroom project has been a top priority for Trump, who has long envisioned a large, permanent event space at the White House to replace the temporary structures that are erected on the South Lawn for some key presidential events.

The project has an estimated size ofapproximately 89,000 square feet, according to lead architect Shalom Baranes.By contrast, the primary White House structure, the Executive Mansion, is just 55,000 square feet.

Earlier this month, a board stacked with Trump loyalists that oversees planning for federal buildings and land provided its stamp of approval for the project. But that vote appeared to do little to advance the project given Leon’s ruling days earlier.

At the last National Capital Planning Commission meeting, the board heard from dozens of experts, including architects, historians, preservationists and former White House staffers; representatives from key groups like the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the DC Preservation League and the American Institute of Architects; and concerned citizens who voiced opposition to the project. Just one person, the owner of a local historic event venue, spoke in support of it.

NCPC Chair Will Scharf, a top Trump aide, heralded the project during the meeting, saying the ballroom “will be considered every bit as much of a national treasure as the other key components of the White House.”

Trump has promised it will be complete in the summer of 2028,months before he is set to leave office.(I get a strange premonition he will not be leaving in 2028)

https://lite.cnn.com/2026/04/11/politics/trump-ballroom-construction-judge-continue

(They would have never opposed it for other presidents, so they don’t want him to be in history to build a historic building of such great beauty. And history will record them of starting unnecessary wars and killed 1,000s o American for NO reason at all. This must really piss off Obama now.)

Samuel Reineberg - They Eliminated an Active Shooter in 4 Minutes | SRS #295

He was the hero at Old Dominion University. Shawn Ryan interview.

Prior-enlisted in the U.S. Army, he began his military career as an 88K (Watercraft Operator) at Fort Eustis, Virginia, where he served aboard the Logistics Support Vessel (LSV-5) andlater became the first Leading Seaman of the Maneuver Support Vessel Light (MSVL).

In 2023, he was selected for a Division Commander’s Green to Gold scholarship, transitioning to become an Army Officer candidate. He is currently a Leadership Science major at Old Dominion University and a senior in the Army ROTC program, with plans to commission as an Active Duty Second Lieutenant this May.

Most recently, he was recognized by the Secretary of the Army and the Sergeant Major of the Army for the actions he and his peers took in response to the attack at Old Dominion University.

1:50:20

https://youtu.be/vypsVdwa8wk