Month: May 2024

Actor Johnny Wactor, best know for his role on the long-running ABC soap opera ‘General Hospital,’ was shot and killed on Saturday after he interrupted three male suspects who were allegedly attempting to remove a catalytic converter from his parked vehicle.

Per ABC NEWS, the Los Angeles Police Department said that the incident happened around 3:25 am PT on Saturday. The actor’s mother, Scarlett Wactor, said her son saw someone at his car after he finished work at a rooftop bar, and initially thought his car was being towed. As he approached his car, one of the suspects, who was wearing a mask, later opened fire at him, adding that the police told her Wactor did not do anything wrong. While the suspects fled to an unknown location following the shooting, Wactor was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. No arrests have yet to be made, and the case remains under investigation by the LAPD Central Division Homicide.

The 37-year-old Wactor has nearly 50 film and television credits to his name on IMDB, appearing on shows including “Criminal Minds,” “Siberia” and “Westworld,” among others. He is best known for his performance as Brando Corbin on General Hospital from 2020-2022. The show said in a statement on X: “The entire General Hospital family is heartbroken to hear of Johnny Wactor’s untimely passing. He was truly one of a kind and a pleasure to work with each and every day. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his loved ones during this difficult time.”

Scarlett Wactor said in a statement about her son: “There are not enough words to tell what a beautiful soul he was. He was a kind loving son and brother, he lived life to the fullest. He set goals and went after them. There is a very large hole on our hearts and lives.”

Editorial credit: Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock.com

The Republican National Committee is accusing the US Secret Service of ignoring its security concerns surrounding the party’s July convention in Milwaukee, warning that the agency was putting the event at risk. The convention, slated for July 15-18 in Milwaukee, includes a perimeter that encompasses a nearby park, Pere Marquette.

The Trump campaign sent a letter on Thursday to U.S. Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle, demanding she fix a “critical flaw” in the security perimeter of this summer’s Republican National Convention, claiming that attendees’ safety is at risk as protesters plan to descend on the area. Per CNN, the RNC has raised concerns over the proximity of planned protest zones to the pathway that convention attendees must walk to access the venue. The party has proposed an alternative location for the First Amendment Zone that would ensure attendees would not have to walk past protesters.

Todd Steggerda, counsel to the Republican National Committee, wrote in the letter that the Secret Service is ignoring their concerns and multiple attempts of outreach about adjusting the security perimeter, adding that the security environment around the convention was “rapidly deteriorating” and demanding action:  “To date, the local USSS team has been unresponsive to the RNC’s reasonable proposal, as set out in my April 26 letter, to alleviate these safety risks through a very modest alteration of the Perimeter — namely, to expand a small portion of the Security Perimeter approximately one block to the East to encapsulate the Park … Rather than dissipating, the overall security climate has worsened significantly over the past month of the USSS’s inaction,” Steggerdas said, adding that Cheatle’s “failure to act now to prevent these unnecessary and certain risks will imperil tens of thousands of convention attendees.”

Steggerda cited statements made by organizers for the Coalition to March on the RNC 2024 suggesting protesters may ignore law enforcement orders related to where they can demonstrate. In addition, many top Republican lawmakers, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, have reached out to the Secret Service to discuss their concerns. Said Steggerda: “With less than two months before the convention and even less time before the USSS finalizes the plan, it is imperative you take personal and immediate steps to fix this unacceptable flaw in the design of the security perimeter.’

Editorial credit: The Bold Bureau / Shutterstock.com

A bipartisan border security bill failed to advance on the Senate floor on Thursday for a second time. Republicans first blocked earlier this year after former President Donald Trump came out publicly against it; the measure fell short in a 43 to 50 vote, which need the 60 votes needed to advance in the upper chamber.

The bill, negotiated by a bipartisan group of senators, was already rejected by most Republicans in February when it was linked to a foreign aid package for Ukraine, Israel and other US allies. Republicans have argued that the president already has the power to stop the flow of migrants across the U.S.-Mexico border, claiming that the bipartisan deal to expand his authority would do little. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said Thursday in a floor speech that “unfortunately, it doesn’t matter what law is on the books if the administration is not going to enforce the ones that already exist.”

Democrats, on the other hand, have attempted to use Republicans’ opposition to the bill in order to shift public opinion in their favor, as voters have been critical of President Biden’s handling of immigration. Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Thursday afternoon that “the contrast between Democrats and Republicans is clear today and will be even clearer in November. Democrats want to fix the border and get something done. Republicans want to give speeches, let the border fester and do absolutely nothing to fix the problem.”

In a statement after Thursday’s vote, President Biden said Republicans “put partisan politics ahead of our country’s national security .. Congressional Republicans do not care about securing the border or fixing America’s broken immigration system. If they did, they would have voted for the toughest border enforcement in history,” Biden said, adding that he is “committed to taking action to address our broken immigration system.”

Editorial credit: David Peinado Romero / Shutterstock.com