Obama judge DISMISSES Trump lawsuit against New York city's sanctuary policies — White House responds



A Trump administration lawsuit against the city of Rochester, New York, for its sanctuary city policies hit a brick wall in the form of an Obama-appointed federal judge.

The lawsuit originated from an incident in March 2025 when local Rochester police assisted Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in the arrest of a Guatemalan man during a traffic stop.

'They simply recognize the different functions of each governmental body. ... They do not dictate how the federal government must act and therefore do not violate the intergovernmental immunity doctrine.'

City leaders criticized the police and said their actions violated their sanctuary city policies. The officers were taken off the street to receive additional training.

The Department of Justice sued the city, the mayor, and the city council president and accused them of violating the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution.

Judge Frank Geraci of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York rejected the argument from the federal government.

"Rochester’s Sanctuary City laws and policies are not a prohibition on or interference with the federal government’s role in enforcing immigration policy," he wrote in the ruling dated Tuesday. "Instead, they simply recognize the different functions of each governmental body."

He argued that the sanctuary city laws "only dictate" that the police officers cannot participate in immigration enforcement.

"As such, they do not dictate how the federal government must act and therefore do not violate the intergovernmental immunity doctrine," Geraci added.

White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis responded to the ruling in a statement to Blaze News.

"These sanctuary policies make Americans less safe," she said.

"Extreme Democrats’ sanctuary policies result in criminal illegal aliens being directly released from jail back into American communities to perpetrate more crimes and create more innocent American victims," she added.

Bis cited the murder of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley in 2024 by an illegal alien who had been previously released over a "lack of detention space."

Rochester Mayor Malik Evans, a Democrat, responded in a statement about the ruling.

"Once again, grandstanding of the Trump administration has been found to be without any legal legitimacy," Evans wrote. "The City of Rochester remains committed to guaranteeing public safety for all, not being coerced into doing the federal government’s work of immigration enforcement."

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Seven out of the 10 safest cities in the U.S. cooperate with ICE, according to Homeland Security.

The case was dismissed with prejudice, meaning the Justice Dept. is unable to refile the complaint against Rochester.

Geraci was appointed to the court by former President Barack Obama in 2012.

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Homeowner opens fire on burglar who was on parole for previous burglary conviction, cops say. There won't be future offenses.



A homeowner in Rochester, New York, early Monday opened fire on a burglar who was on parole for a previous burglary conviction, police told WHAM-TV.

Officers responded to Avery Street on the city's west side around 4:30 a.m. following a 911 call about gunshots coming from a nearby home, the station said.

'The homeowner did what he needed to do, to protect his home and himself. End of story.'

Police told WHAM a second call came from a homeowner who said he shot an individual who broke into his home.

Officers found the burglar in the home's kitchen, the station said, adding that he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police told WHAM the homeowner has a valid New York state pistol permit and used a legally owned and registered handgun in the incident; the station added that the homeowner is cooperating with the investigation.

The homeowner did not know the burglar, who was on parole for a previous burglary conviction, police told the station, adding that the suspect's identity has not been released.

Police added to WHAM that the home in question had been burglarized at least twice since June.

Monday's incident remains under investigation, the station said.

Police Captain Frank Umbrino told WHEC-TV that the shooting "appears to be justified" and that "my message is don't break into houses."

Neighbors told Umbrino that they've also been victims of recent break-ins, WHEC added.

RELATED: Thug allegedly threatens to kill homeowner, enters victim's residence. But homeowner fights back with baseball bat — and gun.

A number of commenters sounded off underneath WHAM's story:

  • "Well, [the suspect] is no longer a problem for law-abiding citizens of Rochester," one commenter said.
  • "Ah — another feel good story!" another user declared. "I hope the innocent homeowner has not been traumatized by this incident."
  • "The homeowner did what he needed to do, to protect his home and himself. End of story," another commenter wrote. "I just hope he gets some help. Taking a life, even if it's justified, can't be an easy thing."
  • "When it comes to someone breaking into my house, you get one warning — that's it," another user stated. "If you are still in my house when I get down the stairs, you are going to get shot. I don't care who you are or what race you are, they will be calling the meat wagon to take you out of my home. I legally own my gun and I shoot 3 or 4 times a week. Oh, and I would grab my shotgun with deer slugs to [ensure] your visit to the great beyond."
  • "Isn't it scary in NY, where the homeowner is still worried he might be charged?" another commenter asked. "NY is awful for victim rights. If I were him, I'd get a lawyer."

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Man in mental health crisis grabs cop's gun, pulls trigger as he's being restrained; another officer opens fire: Officials



The Minnesota Department of Public Safety’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said Rochester police officers and a Crisis Response Team social worker were called to an apartment in the 1900 block of Ashland Drive Northwest around 9:30 p.m. March 11 on a report that a man was experiencing a mental health crisis.

Officers and social workers arrived and spoke to the man in his apartment, the bureau said, adding that an adult female and multiple children also were present.

The bureau said White 'grabbed an officer’s firearm during the struggle and pulled the trigger, causing the gun to fire.'

Officers and the social worker noted that the man was acting erratically and paranoid, and they concluded that he possibly was a threat to himself and others, the bureau said.

Authorities decided to place the man — later identified as 47-year-old Cleavon White — on a 72-hour mental health hold and told him he would be transported to a hospital, the bureau said.

RELATED: Police release bodycam video of cop fatally shooting 6'5" woman who slashed his face, kept advancing despite warnings to stop

Image source: Rochester (Minn.) Police Department bodycam video screenshot

After White refused to go, officers then attempted to take him into custody, the bureau said.

But White resisted and a struggle ensued, the bureau said.

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Image source: Rochester (Minn.) Police Department bodycam video screenshot

The bureau said White "grabbed an officer’s firearm during the struggle and pulled the trigger, causing the gun to fire."

Police bodycam video of the incident — which can be viewed here — recorded the moment when the officer shouted, "He's grabbing my gun!"

Seconds later, another officer fired five shots, according to the bodycam video.

The bureau said the shots struck White, after which officers immediately rendered medical aid until an ambulance arrived and transported him to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

In the aftermath of the shooting, someone is heard on the bodycam video asking where the gun is, and someone else — presumably the officer who shouted, "He's grabbing my gun!" — is heard saying, "It's still in my holster."

No officers were injured, the bureau said.

Officer Josiah Duit — who has three years of law enforcement experience — fired his department-issued firearm, the bureau said, adding that the Rochester Police Department placed Duit on critical incident leave.

A March 12 news release from Rochester Police said the then-unidentified man grabbed one officer’s firearm during the struggle, but it did not indicate he pulled the trigger. The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension issued it's report March 17. The police bodycam video was released Wednesday.

The bureau said the Rochester Police Department requested that it investigate the use of force, and the bureau will present its findings without recommendation on charges to the Olmsted County Attorney’s Office for review.

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Former Big Lots manager says he was fired after following shoplifter outside store in an attempt to help cops locate suspect



A former manager at a Big Lots store in the Rochester, New York, area said he was fired after following a shoplifter — who took a swing at an employee — outside the store and into the parking lot to help police locate the suspect.

Pat Guider told WHEC-TV during an interview at his Irondequoit home that he saw the shoplifter take a swing at his assistant manager during the May 10 incident: “What I saw is that he took a swing, like a punch at [the assistant manager],” Guider said while making an uppercut motion with a clenched fist.

'The good thing is we have a huge faith in God, a huge faith in God, and everything will work out. It’s just going to be difficult.'

Guider also told WHEC that’s the only reason he followed the shoplifter out of the store: “I let people who shoplift leave the store every day. Every day. We just put it in the system like they ask us to do. This was an assault. This wasn’t shoplifting. This was an assault.”

Guider told the station he followed the male at a distance through the parking lot of the store while relaying his location to 911 so police might catch the suspect.

The suspect got away — and Guider told WHEC he was fired over the incident.

“I thought I was doing the right thing,” he told the station.

— (@)

Guider told WHEC that on May 29 he was called to his district manager’s office and fired over the incident — despite 20 years with the company and a positive review in March.

The station in its interview with Guider asked him, “Do you think you did the right thing?”

Guider replied to WHEC, “I think I did the right and just thing. The right and just thing.”

The station said its reporter found no phone number for Big Lots' CEO or communication chief, so the reporter emailed the company on Tuesday — and then Wednesday and then on Friday — but Big Lots had not responded as of the story's publication.

WHEC said a poster in the Big Lots lunchroom warns employees to “never leave the store to pursue, detain, or identify a customer.”

The station's reporter asked labor lawyer Paul Keneally at Underberg & Kessler how Guider could have been fired for trying "to help police track down a shoplifter ... how does that happen?”

Keneally told WHEC "the company is probably considering the liability of any sort of interaction between the perpetrator and store employee.”

The attorney added to the station that likely explains why Big Lots has "a rule in place that the employees are not to do anything, and it’s unfortunate because it sounds like this person was trying to do the right thing."

Guider told WHEC, "I did not put myself in jeopardy. I did not put any shoppers in jeopardy."

Now without a job — and with two sons in college — Guider noted to the station that he and his wife are trying to figure out how to get health insurance. What's more, at age 62, Guider added to WHEC he's not sure how easy it will be to find another job.

“The good thing is we have a huge faith in God, a huge faith in God, and everything will work out," he noted to the station. "It’s just going to be difficult. It’s going to be difficult."

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BREAKING: Lee Zeldin attack suspect David Jakubonis arrested on federal charge



The suspect in the attack on Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) was arrested on Saturday. According to multiple reports, David Jakubonis was arrested on a federal assault charge.

Jakubonis – the 43-year-old man accused of attacking Zeldin on stage during a campaign event on Thursday night at a VFW outside of Rochester, New York – was reportedly arrested on Saturday, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Western District of New York.

The Daily Mail and Fox News are reporting that Jakubonis was arrested and will make his first court appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Marion W. Payson on Saturday at the Keating Federal Building in Rochester.

Jakubonis is accused of attempting to use $10 cat "self-defense knuckles" with two sharp pointed ends while allegedly threatening Zeldin – a Republican gubernatorial candidate for New York. The incident was captured on video and showed the suspect being taken down before real damage could have been done.

Jakubonis , an Army veteran of Fairmont, New York, was previously charged with attempted assault in the second degree. However, he was arraigned and then released on his own recognizance hours later.

Before Jakubonis was released, Zeldin predicted that the suspect would be set free.

Zeldin issued a statement after the incident:

Thank you to everyone who reached out following tonight’s attack in Fairport. Someone tried to stab me on stage during this evening’s rally, but fortunately, I was able to grab his wrist and stop him for a few moments until others tackled him. I’m ok, and Alison Esposito, and all other attendees are safe. The attacker is in custody. Grateful for the attendees who stepped up quickly to assist and the law enforcement officers who quickly responded. I’m as resolute as ever to do my part to make New York safe again. This suspect will likely be right back out on the street immediately.

Embattled Democratic mayor of Rochester indicted on weapons, child endangerment charges



Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren and her husband, Timothy Granison, have been indicted on new charges related to firearms and child endangerment. The new charges stem from a police raid at their home in May, when Granison was arrested on three charges related to drugs and firearms.

The Monroe County District Attorney's Office announced that Warren and Granison were each hit with charges of criminal possession of a firearm, a Class E felony; two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor; and two counts of failure to secure firearms, a misdemeanor.

The home was searched by New York state police on May 19 in relation to Granison's suspected criminal activity. Police found a rifle and pistol inside the home, where the couple's 10-year-old daughter was left alone, according to District Attorney Sandra Doorley.

Warren's husband was charged with being part of a cocaine distribution ring in Rochester. Granison is accused in a federal complaint of receiving bulk quantities of cocaine from a co-defendant and then distributing it to other alleged traffickers, according to the Associated Press. Warren is not implicated in the alleged drug trafficking ring.

Granison, 42, pleaded not guilty to drug and weapons charges last month. Regarding the new charges, Granison's attorney, John DeMarco, said, "We will enter a plea of not guilty."

"The district attorney's office, hopefully, will provide us all of the investigatory reports, search warrants, photographs, everything that the police put together for their office to present the case and will evaluate what our strategy at that time," DeMarco said.

Warren previously denied knowledge about her husband's alleged criminal activities, and said she and Granison had been separated and estranged for years despite living in the same home in Woodman Park.

Warren and her husband are to be arraigned before a Cayuga County judge in Monroe County.

Coincidentally, Warren announced a gun buy-back program for the city of Rochester in May.

"Getting guns off our streets must be our priority," Warren said in a statement. "We must continue working together with our citizens to take these guns off our streets so our residents can feel safe in their neighborhoods and live the lives they deserve."

Warren, who is a Democrat, faces her own legal issues after she was indicted on two felony campaign finance charges in October. The grand jury indictment relates to Warren's 2017 mayoral re-election campaign. One felony charge is for first-degree scheme to defraud. The other felony charge is an election law offense for illegally coordinating activities and expenditures. Warren admits to errors in reporting campaign contributions, but claims they were honest mistakes.

Warren was defeated last month by Malik Evans in the Democratic primary for Rochester mayor. Warren's second mayoral term is set to expire at the end of this year.