Wife of Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse victim remembers father of three as always 'fighting for us'



The heartbreaking story of the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Maryland gets more tragic as the grieving wife of a victim reveals how wonderful a father he was.

A 985-foot cargo ship crashed into Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge around 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday. The collision caused most of the bridge to collapse into the frigid waters of the Patapsco River below.

The tragic accident likely took the lives of six construction workers who are still missing days later despite rescue attempts. One of the victims is Jose Lopez – a father of three.

Lopez was operating a concrete mixer truck early Tuesday morning when the cargo ship slammed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

Isabel Franco, the wife of Lopez, expressed her sadness about losing her husband.

Franco told WJZ-TV, "I feel bad. Only God knows how hard my heart aches. Maybe he was desperate, trying to escape."

Knowing that her 35-year-old husband is likely gone forever, Franco still hopes to recover the body of her husband.

"I feel bad a little bit still because I want the body," she said with tears rolling down her face. "His family is desperate to see him too."

The couple had one child together, but he was a loving father to all three of her children.

"They are sad," she said in Spanish. "They loved Jose."

"He had a good heart," Franco recalled. "He was a hard worker. He was always worried about his family too. He died but he was fighting for us always."

Franco said her husband moved to the United States 19 years ago from Guatemala.

Officials have categorized the collision as accidental.

Eight people were working at the time when the container ship Dali crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

Two were rescued.

Two bodies were recovered from the crash site in a red pickup truck on Wednesday.

Six construction workers are still missing, and the search has transitioned to a recovery mission at this time as they are presumed dead.

The other crash victims are Miguel Luna originally from El Salvador, 26-year-old Dorlian Cabrera from Guatemala, 35-year-old Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes from Mexico, 34-year-old Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval from Honduras, and a man from Mexico whose identity has not been released as of yet.

Maynor is survived by his wife and two children ages 17 and 5.

His brother, Martín Suazo Sandoval, said Maynor had a strong work ethic.

"He always told us that you had to triple your effort to get ahead," the brother explained. "He said it didn’t matter what time or where the job was, you had to be where the work was."

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Brandon Scott: Those who call me Baltimore's 'DEI mayor' lack the 'courage to say the N-word' and 'should be afraid'



Brandon Scott told MSBNC's Joy Reid that those who call him Baltimore's "DEI mayor" lack the "courage to say the N-word" and "should be afraid" because it's his "purpose in life" to topple "their way of thinking, their way of life of being comfortable while everyone else suffers."

What are the details?

In the wake of Tuesday's collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Reid on Wednesday interviewed Scott and focused on a social media post that called Scott the city's "DEI mayor.'

But before that, Reid gave a long monologue during which she blasted white people, Christians, and Republicans and noted the "grab bag of right-wing grievances, barely coded racism, and flat-out lies" following the bridge collapse.

Specifically Reid called out "the most idiotic and racist" conspiracy theory and "boogeyman: diversity, equity, and inclusion — DEI." She noted a post on X from Florida GOP congressional candidate Anthony Sabatini that showed an image of the bridge collapse and the caption, "DEI did this."

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"And a right-wing blue-check account that's been boosted by Elon Musk in the past just blew straight past the dog whistling, tweeting to its 276,000 followers, 'Baltimore's DEI mayor' [and] commenting on the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge, 'It's going to get so, so much worse. Prepare accordingly.' The post included a clip of Baltimore's black mayor, Brandon Scott," Reid said.

— (@)

Reid continued:

I cannot believe I have to say this: Brandon Scott was elected with 70% of the vote in 2020 in a city that is 61% black, so by right-wing logic, a diversity hire would have been a white man, which of course is what they want. "Only the white Christian men may have the things," and at this point, it's evident what they mean by DEI, right? OK? It means black people. It's the reason the right complained about critical race theory. It's not fashionable to be openly racist any more in America, unlike what they call the good ol' days. So, referring to a black mayor as a DEI mayor gets the point across, right? So fellas, why not just say what you mean? You can't stand black people. We get it. You've been heard.

Soon Reid brought in Scott and asked him to respond to the "tomfoolery and attacks on you for having the nerve to be black and also a mayor."

What did Scott have to say?

“I know, and we all know, and you know very well that black men, and young black men in particular, have been the boogeyman for those who are racist and think that only straight, wealthy white men should have a say in anything," Scott began.

He then added:

We’ve been the bogeyman for them since the first day they brought us to this country, and what they mean by DEI in my opinion is duly elected incumbent. We know what they want to say, but they don’t have the courage to say the N-word, and the fact that I don’t believe in their untruthful and wrong ideology — and I am very proud of my heritage and who I am and where I come from — scares them, because me being at my position means that their way of thinking, their way of life of being comfortable while everyone else suffers, is going to be at risk, and they should be afraid because that’s my purpose in life.

Scott also said, “Everybody is working here together. We’re ignoring all the conspiracy theorists, everyone who’s playing bridge engineer at home who’s never even [taken] a class on engineering, and understanding that what this is about is showing the world once and again that Baltimore can’t be broken, that our spirit is strong, and we will rebuild together and honor those who we lost.”

Reid ended the segment with what she intended as a compliment but that arguably was an ethnic stereotype: "Personally, and I think from this show, and I'm sure I speak for you as well, we are grateful in this country to the Latino workers who do the hard work. They are on these construction sites all over this country, doing the work you cannot compel a lot of Americans to do. The back-breaking work that we don't even have enough gratitude to give to them."

She then doubled down on the Scott critics: "And to anybody who has anything negative to say about this mayor or those people, we know who you are. We see you. We see what you mean when you say DEI. We get it."

'They should be afraid': Baltimore leader called 'DEI mayor' stands up to right-wing, racist attacks youtu.be

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What the Empire State Building can teach us about the Baltimore bridge collapse



Rumor has it that Americans across the country will feel the effects of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridges’s collapse for quite some time. Officials claim that it will take years for the bridge to be rebuilt, which will have dire effects not only on importation and exportation but also jobs, as “the Port of Baltimore creates over 15,300 jobs,” and “over 140,000 jobs [are] linked to the activity at the port.”

For those who don’t know, the Port of Baltimore is the nation’s “leading import/export site for cars and trucks,” so Americans waiting for a car to come in from overseas are in for a rude awakening, as the time of delivery is expected to increase exponentially.

But it’s not just the automobile industry that will be impacted. Last year alone, “A record 52.3 million tons of foreign cargo” was transported through the Port of Baltimore, but now the port has been entirely shut down due the bridge’s collapse that has left the only shipping lane blocked.

“An expert on property damage cases in the shipping industry told the New York Post that ‘the collapse will have a major impact on shipping and traffic routes on the East coast for the foreseeable future.’”

While many will hear these reports and fear what this means for the country, all Glenn Beck hears is a bunch of unnecessary doomsday-ing.

“Have we forgotten who we are? Have we forgotten what we’ve done?” he asks, calling attention to the spirit of America, which is “so potent and so vibrant that it has scaled towering mountains.”

America has “constructed marvels of engineering” and “buildings that scraped the sky,” he encourages.

In 1930, “The Great Depression had its icy grip on us. It was a time when everybody felt the flickering candle in the vast darkness ... yet it was in this crucible of adversity that Americans did great things. The Empire State Building rose. It wasn’t just a structure of steel and stone; it was a beacon of hope and American resilience and ingenuity,” says Glenn.

“In a record-shattering one year and 45 days, an army of workers ... transformed this audacious vision into a towering reality.”

So, what does the Empire State Building — a marvel that was constructed at a “feverish pace” and “defied the laws of time physics” — have to do with Baltimore’s bridge?

According to Glenn, everything.

The Empire State Building and other man-made marvels “are not merely historical footnotes. They are blazing torches illuminating our path forward. They remind us ... that when we are faced with adversity, we don’t just endure it. We overcome it. We don’t wait for history to chart our course. We write it with the sweat of our brow and the strength of our backs,” he says.

“That’s who we are.”

To hear more of Glenn's encouraging message, watch the clip below.


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The craziest Baltimore bridge theory yet



In the wake of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge’s collapse, skepticism continues to mount. A number of conspiracy theories regarding the events of the mysterious collision have since emerged.

Many have pointed to the possibility of a cyberattack, granted the cargo ship lost power. Others have honed in on the company that manages the ship — a DEI-captive firm called Synergy Marine Group. Then, there are those who call attention to the fact that the Baltimore bridge was not the Dali’s first unfortunate collision.

However, Glenn Beck, Pat Gray, and Stu Burguiere have another theory — one you probably haven’t heard of before.

And it centers around Pete Buttigieg, the United States’ secretary of Transportation.

There seems to be an unprecedented number of accidents related to transportation taking place under his watch, and yet nobody has heard from him.

“We never hear him talk about anything transportation” related, says Glenn. “He never shows up at the scene of the crime.”

“There are a lot of reasons to believe that Buttigieg isn't responsible for each” transportation mishap, but “how else do we explain this?” asks Stu, adding that “this guy has overseen disaster movie sequel after disaster movie sequel since he got this job.”

“Have we seen close-up pictures of the United Airlines flight when it was taking off losing the tire? ... Was [Buttigieg] up in the wheel hub?” laughs Glenn.

“Was he driving a tankard truck last June 11 and left it on I95 in Philadelphia?” asks Pat jokingly.

While the theory isn’t meant to be taken seriously, it is uncanny that America has seen an immense rise in the number of transportation “accidents” since Buttigieg took office.

To hear more, watch the clip below.


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Baltimore's mayor makes bizarre demand of CNN, media over bridge collapse: 'Stop showing the video'



Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott (D) is demanding the media stop airing footage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse.

Speaking with CNN via phone on Tuesday morning, Scott sensationalized the horrific video footage of the bridge collapse as "something out of an action movie."

"It's something you never think you would see. And being here, right now, looking at it is even more surreal," he said.

Then he made an odd demand of the media.

"I'm going to be the first to ask that CNN and everyone else stop showing the video," Scott said. "No one needs to see a possibility of their family member being severely injured or otherwise over and over and over again because it's just traumatizing our community."

"Fair enough, mayor," CNN anchor Sara Sidner responded.

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The request is downright bizarre.

The media's job is to cover the news, including when a massive cargo ship collides with a major piece of infrastructure to cause its sudden collapse. The video is key to the story because it demonstrates the magnitude of what happened.

Without the video, Americans miss critical context of the shocking incident, like the fact that the ship appeared to lose power twice before colliding with the bridge.

We don't demand the media stop showing pictures or videos of tragic incidents because such multimedia exists to document history. Every year, videos of the 9/11 terrorist attacks are replayed on social media and on TV. That was one of the most traumatizing days in American life, yet no one is demanding the videos should stop being aired, because Americans universally understand their significance.

Rescue efforts, meanwhile, remain ongoing to find at least six people, officials said Tuesday afternoon.

Gov. Wes Moore (D) said earlier in the day that bridge officials are "heroes" because they acted quickly to stop traffic on the bridge once they heard the cargo ship's "mayday" call and realized the ship was going to collide with the bridge.

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Horrific accident or nefarious attack? What we currently know about the Baltimore bridge collapse



Last night around 1:30 a.m., a cargo ship departing the Port of Baltimore struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge after reportedly losing power. Upon impact, the structure immediately collapsed into the murky waters below. Thankfully, the majority of traffic was stopped prior to the accident, but a few automobiles and several contractors who were working on bridge repairs weren’t so lucky. While some have been rescued, others remain missing.

As with any unforeseen tragedy, people want to know: Was this a genuine accident? Or is there something more sinister at play?

Glenn Beck invites former Assistant Treasury Secretary Monica Crowley to discuss the incident.

“There is a very active search and rescue going on,” Monica tells Glenn. “The Coast Guard is out there; the National Transportation Safety Board is on site; the Navy is there.”

As of now, “it looks like an accident,” but it’s important to “wait for the investigation” before coming to any certain conclusions, she explains.

Considering the catastrophe is the result of alleged power loss, many people – including Glenn – can’t help but ponder the possibility of “an attack on electronics.”

“I think that, too, Glenn,” says Monica. “There is one report this morning that indicates that the crew alerted the Maryland Department of Transportation when they were leaving the port that they had lost control of the vessel.”

Those reports have since been confirmed. The crew was able to notify authorities of the power issues, and as a result, traffic was halted seconds before the collision, which likely saved numerous lives.

Regardless, “most of these vessels are under electronic control – not unlike some of our voting systems – and might very well be open to hacking by nefarious players,” Monica explains, while also acknowledging that the event could simply be nothing more than a horrific accident.

“Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar,” she says hopefully.

“I hope that's the case,” says Glenn, “but with all the cyber terror that is predicted … we're all on high alert.”

To see the footage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge’s collapse and hear more of Glenn’s commentary, watch the clip below.


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To enjoy more of Glenn’s masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis, and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.