By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department is drawing swift condemnation from gun rights groups and LGBTQ advocates alike after floating that it was considering restricting transgender people from owning guns — a move that would all but certainly face immediate constitutional challenges if ever implemented.

The discussions come in the wake of the shooting at a Minneapolis Catholic school last month that federal officials have said was carried out by a transgender shooter, according to a person familiar with the matter. The person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, cautioned that the talks were in the early stages and that no proposal has been finalized.

Even so, that high-level officials in the Trump administration were discussing such an idea sparked fury across the political spectrum. LGBTQ advocates called it misguided and dangerous as the vast majority of mass shootings in the U.S. are carried out by men and do not involve transgender people.

“Transgender people are less than 2% of the overall population, yet four times as likely to be victims of crime,” GLAAD said in an email. “Everyone deserves to be themselves, be safe, and be free from violence and discrimination. We all deserve leaders who prioritize keeping all of us safe and free.”

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Since Trump returned to office, his administration has targeted transgender people in several ways, including removing them from military service, scrubbing some federal websites of mentions of them, trying to bar changing the sex marker on passports, seeking personal information on gender-affirming care patients from doctors and clinics, and seeking to bar transgender girls and women from certain sports competitions.

The Justice Department said in a statement in response to questions about the firearms talks that the agency is “actively evaluating options to prevent the pattern of violence we have seen from individuals with specific mental health challenges and substance abuse disorders.” But, the department said: “No specific criminal justice proposals have been advanced at this time.”

Some conservative figures have coalesced around the idea of restricting guns for people diagnosed with gender dysphoria — the unease a person may have because their assigned gender and gender identity don’t match — through a federal law that bars people from possessing firearms if they are “adjudicated as a mental defective.”

“It’s incredibly worrying that that seems to be on the table for them,” Alejandra Caraballo, a transgender rights activist and Harvard Law School instructor. “This is not something that would be that incredibly difficult to do logistically or practically but it would be politically explosive in terms of the backlash of Second Amendment groups.”

Guns rights advocates — including politically powerful groups such as the National Rifle Association and Gun Owners of America — vowed to fight any proposal that imposes a blanket gun ban targeting a segment of the population.

“The Second Amendment isn’t up for debate,” the NRA said in a social media post on Friday. “NRA does not, and will not, support any policy proposals that implement sweeping guns bans that arbitrarily strip law-abiding citizens of their Second Amendment rights without due process.”

Another gun rights group, Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, called the discussions “disturbing.”

“Prohibiting whole groups of people from owning and using firearms because a sick individual misused a gun to harm and kill children is as reprehensible as restricting the rights of all law-abiding citizens because some people have committed crimes,” said Alan Gottlieb, the group’s chairman said in a statement. “That anyone in the Trump administration would consider such nonsense is alarming.”

Associated Press reporter Geoff Mulvihill in Philadelphia contributed.

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two teenagers were arrested Friday on murder charges in the killing of a congressional intern who was struck by stray bullets during a shooting in the nation’s capital — a crime that President Donald Trump cited in announcing a law-enforcement surge in Washington.

Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, 21, of Granby, Massachusetts, was fatally shot on the night of June 30 near Washington’s Mount Vernon Square. Both suspects in his killing — Kelvin Thomas Jr. and Jailen Lucas —are 17-year-old juveniles but are charged as adults with first-degree murder while armed, according to U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro.

Police were searching for a third suspect whose name and age weren’t immediately released.

Tarpinian-Jachym was an “innocent bystander” who wasn’t an intended target of the gunfire, Pirro said at a news conference where she was flanked by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and the city’s police chief.

“Eric didn’t deserve to be gunned down, and the system failed him — the system that felt that juveniles needed to be coddled,” Pirro said. “This killing underscores why we need the authority to prosecute these younger kids, because they’re not kids. They’re criminals.”

Tarpinian-Jachym was a rising senior at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He was in Washington to work as a summer intern in the office of Rep. Ron Estes, R-Kansas.

In July, the House observed a moment of silence after Estes paid tribute to Tarpinian-Jachym, calling him “a dedicated, and thoughtful and kind person who loved our country.”

“We will never forget his presence and kindness in my office,” Estes said. “Those he met in his short term in my office will not forget him, either.”

Trump mentioned Tarpinian-Jachym’s killing — but not his name — during an Aug. 11 news conference where he announced a federal intervention for a “public safety emergency” in the District of Columbia.

“Any level of gun violence in our city is unacceptable,” Bowser said.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said Friday’s arrests are “a testament to President Trump’s efforts to make Washington, D.C., safe again.”

“The Department of Justice will continue our work to prevent other young people from suffering the same fate as Eric,” Bondi said in a statement. “We hope this brings some measure of solace to his family.”

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The suspects, both district residents, exited a vehicle at an intersection and shot at two people riding bikes, including a 16-year-old male who was wounded, according to Metropolitan Police Department Commander Kevin Kentish.

Tarpinian-Jachym was struck by four shots. A woman who wasn’t a target also was shot but survived, according to Kentish. Surveillance video helped investigators identify the three suspects, he said.

Online court records didn’t immediately identify attorneys for the suspects.

MPD Chief Pamela Smith said she and Pirro spoke to Tarpinian-Jachym’s mother on Friday.

“Eric came to our city with a bright future ahead of him,” Smith said. “He deserved an opportunity to return home safely to his family, but was senselessly taken from his loved ones.”

Associated Press writer Alanna Durkin Richer contributed to this report.

Three weeks after meteorologist Wren Clair filed a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit against her former employer KSTP-TV, she has left her current job at KARE 11, where she has worked since May.

In addition, KARE 11 sports director Reggie Wilson announced Thursday via Linkedin that his position is “being eliminated” and that he will leave the station on Dec. 31.

Reggie Wilson (Courtesy of KARE 11)

KARE 11 general manager Doug Wieder, Clair and Clair’s attorney Paul Schinner did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday.

In an Instagram post Friday, Clair confirmed she not only departed the station, she is leaving television entirely. Her KARE 11 online biography was deleted around the same time her post went up on Instagram.

“KARE 11 and I have agreed to part ways,” read the post. “I thank all my colleagues for their professionalism and hard work. I thank all the viewers for watching me and supporting me. I look forward to focusing more on my personal life and pursuing scientific careers outside of television.”

In his Linkedin post, Wilson wrote that “it’s not easy navigating layoffs, especially considering my wife and I are both enduring job loss at KARE in the same year. Now with a newborn at home, the stakes are raised. So I’m open for work.”

In a statement to the Pioneer Press, Wilson said: “I’m appreciative of the opportunity to cover sports for KARE 11 these last four years and I’m looking forward to finishing out the rest of my time strong. Hopeful and excited for what the future holds.”

Wilson joined the station in August 2021. He replaced longtime sports director Eric Perkins, who left the station after 25 years. Wilson’s wife, Alexis Rogers, left KARE in January following national layoffs.

Wren Clair lawsuit

A Hopkins native, Clair was abruptly fired by St. Paul-based KSTP in February after nearly seven years at the station. She began working at KARE in May.

In her lawsuit against KSTP, which made national headlines, Clair said she was demoted in 2024 and terminated in February, “but the sex-based disparate treatment and sexual harassment occurred throughout the entirety of her employment.”

KSTP, in a legal response in Ramsey County District Court, said Clair was terminated “as a result of her poor performance, on which she was repeatedly coached.” The response also said she was not “subjected to sex-based harassment.”

At the time, Clair’s attorney Paul Schinner said the work environment at KSTP was “the kind that you would hope no longer exists in 2025 and unfortunately it is still alive and well. We feel that a fact that a woman is on television is not an excuse to subject her to offensive sexual comments and sexist double standards.”

In her lawsuit, Clair claimed former KSTP news director Kirk Varner and retired chief meteorologist Dave Dahl repeatedly made comments about her body and appearance.

In its legal response, KSTP said Varner’s discussion of Clair’s on-camera appearance was “standard for on-air talent” and that Varner “emphasized the importance of clothing fit, informed (Clair) that wearing certain pants, such as joggers, on-air was unprofessional, and addressed (Clair’s) abrupt hair color change from blonde to brunette by referencing the appearance clause in her employment agreement.”

KSTP also said after Clair reported confronting Dahl about her concerns he “apologized and agreed to work on it.”

Environmental scientist

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Clair holds a master of science degree in environmental science and policy from Johns Hopkins University, a bachelor of science in meteorology from Mississippi State University and degrees in chemistry and anthropology from the University of Minnesota, according to a now-deleted biography on KSTP’s website.

A member of the American Meteorological Society, Clair worked at stations in Rhinelander, Wis., and Boston, where she covered historic flooding in January 2018, before moving to KSTP. She also worked as a chemist for five years and was part of multiple publications, primarily related to organic synthesis.

Clair has tutored math and science off and on since high school and has taught GED-seeking students through Neighborhood House in the Wellstone Center in St. Paul. She has also spent time volunteering at Union Gospel Mission’s dental clinic, as well as previously running the children’s dental outreach program.

“On Wednesday night, a man held at Rikers Island died—the fifth death in city custody in the last two weeks, and the 12th this year alone. These are not isolated incidents; they are symptoms of a system in collapse.”

A 2023 rally demanding the closure of Rikers. (John McCarten/NYC Council Media Unit)

On Wednesday night, a man held at Rikers Island died—the fifth death in city custody in the last two weeks, and the 12th this year alone.

These are not isolated incidents; they are symptoms of a system in collapse. For decades, New York City has been trapped in a cycle of failure at Rikers. The sprawling, decaying jail complex isn’t just a humanitarian disaster—it’s a direct threat to public safety.

A commission tasked with evaluating the closure of Rikers recently made clear what so many of us have long known: the current system is broken, dangerous, and unsustainable.

Rikers doesn’t rehabilitate. It destabilizes. According to the Blueprint to Close Rikers report released by the Independent Rikers Commission earlier this year, 84 percent of people in Rikers are held pre-trial, waiting for their court date, presumed innocent under the law. This number includes over 500 people who have been held in Rikers for over two years. And yet, whether detained pre-trial or serving a sentence, people leave Rikers worse off than when they entered. That alone makes our city less safe.

Rather than preparing people to return to their communities and live successful lives, Rikers breeds trauma, violence, and despair. It’s a place where brutality is routine, committed by and against staff and detainees alike. Court delays are rampant, and many are forced to languish behind bars for months or even years without a conviction.

Rikers has also become a de facto mental health facility—one that catastrophically fails at providing care. Nearly half of those incarcerated at Rikers live with mental illness, yet the facility only exacerbates these conditions. That’s not just inhumane. It’s counterproductive. Every day spent at Rikers can worsen serious mental illness, turning an already difficult situation into a crisis.

These missed opportunities for care represent missed chances to break the cycle of incarceration—and to connect people with support in their home communities. 

And the cost? Staggering. As of 2021, it costs over $500,000 per year to jail one person at Rikers, many times more than it would cost to provide housing, health care, and treatment. We’re paying a premium to perpetuate harm.

Even corrections officers are suffering. They’re burned out, working excessive overtime in unsafe, chaotic conditions that lead to trauma and absenteeism. This system doesn’t work for anyone—not for the people jailed, not for the people working there, and not for the people of New York City.

Rikers’ remote location, an island in the East River, only deepens the dysfunction. It isolates those inside from the communities to which they will return. It limits access to attorneys, delays court appearances, and makes family visits difficult or impossible. That separation reinforces the worst tendencies of our justice system: neglect, abandonment, and indifference.

The answer isn’t to pour more money into a failed institution. It’s to build a system that actually works.

That’s why, in 2019, the City Council voted to close Rikers and replace it with four borough-based jails—smaller, safer, and more humane facilities in the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, and Manhattan. These new jails will be located near courthouses to facilitate legal access, reduce delays, and make it easier for families to stay connected—critical for rehabilitation and due process.

These new facilities must not replicate the culture of Rikers. They must represent a reset. That means training staff to address mental health needs with care and professionalism. It means building a culture rooted in dignity, not punishment.

One looming challenge is capacity. The new borough-based jails are designed to hold significantly fewer people than Rikers does today. If the number of people in pre-trial detention exceeds that limit, the Department of Correction may be forced to send detainees to facilities even farther away—undermining the very goals that the borough-based model is meant to achieve.

This is a serious concern that must be addressed with honesty and urgency. One key strategy lies in addressing the large portion of the current Rikers population made up of individuals with serious mental illness—people who should be receiving care in clinical settings, not languishing in jail. Expanding access to mental health treatment must be a cornerstone of the new system. But keeping Rikers open to solve a capacity problem is not an option. It is the problem.

The 2027 deadline to close Rikers is rapidly approaching—and we’re behind schedule. Construction delays threaten to push completion into the next decade. But the Lippman Commission’s latest report shows it doesn’t have to be this way. With urgency and leadership, we can accelerate the timeline and save lives in the process.

Every year we delay is another year of unnecessary suffering. Another year of preventable death, untreated mental illness, and wasted taxpayer dollars. Another year of injustice.

We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to break this cycle, and we must seize it.

Let’s close Rikers. Let’s build a system rooted in dignity, rehabilitation, and justice. Not only because it’s the moral thing to do—but because our safety and our humanity depend on it.

Erik Bottcher is the City Council Member representing District 3, which includes the neighborhoods of West Village, Chelsea, Hell’s Kitchen and Time Square.

The post Opinion: Closing Rikers Is the Only Way Forward appeared first on City Limits.