RILEY COUNTY—Law enforcement are investigating an alleged violent attack in Manhattan.

Just before 3:30a.m. Tuesday, police&nbsp;filed a report for a stabbing at in Manhattan, according to the Riley County Police Department activity report.

 A 23-year-old man was listed as the victim when it was reported a 20-year-old female suspect known to him stabbed him during an argument.

 Elysia Bowles, 20, of Randolph, was arrested at approximately 4:29 a.m. in Manhattan on requested charges of aggravated assault. Bowles met the condition of a $5,000 and is no longer in custody, according to the RCPD.

<p>RILEY COUNTY—Law enforcement are investigating an alleged violent attack in Manhattan.</p><p>Just before 3:30a.m. Tuesday, police&nbsp;filed a report for a stabbing at in Manhattan, according to the Riley County Police Department activity report.</p><p> A 23-year-old man was listed as the victim when it was reported a 20-year-old female suspect known to him stabbed him during an argument.</p><p> Elysia Bowles, 20, of Randolph, was arrested at approximately 4:29 a.m. in Manhattan on requested charges of aggravated assault. Bowles met the condition of a $5,000 and is no longer in custody, according to the RCPD.</p>

 RCPD: Woman accused of stabbing man during argument

By&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/author/meg-kinnard">MEG KINNARD</a>

In detailing the U.S. military action that led to the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-maduro-trump-military-operation-85041a1ec03bafe839b785a95169d694">arrest of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro</a>, President Donald Trump referenced the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/monroe-doctrine" target="_blank">Monroe Doctrine</a>, a maxim that has shaped American foreign policy for two centuries.

The doctrine formulated by President James Monroe was originally aimed at opposing European meddling in the Western Hemisphere. It has since been invoked repeatedly by subsequent presidents angling to justify U.S. intervention in the region.

On Saturday, the consequential doctrine of America’s fifth president was cited by the 47th president as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/legal-questions-maduro-trump-venezuela-capture-congress-7c686106ae7ffc759e5a1726e1b85576">partial justification</a>&nbsp;for the capture of a foreign leader to face criminal charges in the United States. Trump even quipped that some now called it “the Don-roe Doctrine.”

Political scientists are now looking back on the use of the Monroe Doctrine through history and drawing connections to how the Trump administration is seeking to apply it to current foreign policy, including the Republican president’s assertion that Washington would “run” Venezuela until a suitable replacement for Maduro was in place,

Here’s a look at the Monroe Doctrine, how it has been invoked over time and how it has informed Trump’s decision making:

Articulated in Monroe’s 1823 address to Congress, it was intended to ward off European colonization or other interference in independent nations of the Western Hemisphere. In return, the U.S. also agreed to stay out of European wars and internal affairs.

At the time, many Latin American countries had just gained independence from European empires. Monroe wanted both to prevent Europe from reclaiming control and to assert U.S. influence in the hemisphere.

Through the centuries, much of that has included Venezuela, according to Jay Sexton, a history professor at the University of Missouri.

“Historically, Venezuela has been the pretext or the trigger for a lot of corollaries to the Monroe Doctrine,” said Sexton, author of “The Monroe Doctrine: Empire and Nation in Nineteenth-Century America,” citing instances from the late 1800s, all the way through Trump’s first administration.

“And going back to the 19th century, this has been a divided, fractious country that’s had difficult relations with foreign powers and is also courted, relationships with rivals of the United States.”

The Roosevelt Corollary and ‘Big Stick’ diplomacy

European leaders initially paid little attention to the proclamation, but the Monroe Doctrine has been invoked in the two centuries since to justify U.S. military interventions in Latin America.

The first direct challenge came after France installed Emperor Maximilian in Mexico in the 1860s. After the end of the Civil War, France relented under U.S. pressure and withdrew.

In 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt’s argument that the U.S. should be allowed to intervene in unstable Latin American countries became known as the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/roosevelt-corollary" target="_blank">Roosevelt Corollary</a>, a justification invoked in a number of places, including supporting Panama’s secession from Colombia, which helped secure the Panama Canal Zone for the U.S.

The Cold War era saw the Monroe Doctrine invoked as a defense against communism, such as the U.S. demand in 1962 that Soviet missiles be withdrawn from Cuba, as well as the Reagan administration’s opposition of the leftist Sandinista government in Nicaragua.

Gretchen Murphy, a professor at the University of Texas, described Trump’s reference to the doctrine as in line with how it had been used by his predecessors, including Roosevelt, who she said “claimed that the Monroe Doctrine could be extended to justify interventions that instead of defending Latin American nations from European intervention, policed them to make sure their governments acted in U.S. commercial and strategic interests.”

“I think Trump is jumping on this familiar pattern -– citing the Monroe Doctrine to legitimate interventions that undermine real democracy, and ones where various kinds of interests are served, including commercial interests,” said Murphy, author of “Hemispheric Imaginings: The Monroe Doctrine and Narratives of U.S. Empire.”

What has Trump said about the Monroe Doctrine?

Trump said that Venezuela, under Maduro’s rule, had been “increasingly hosting foreign adversaries in our region and acquiring menacing offensive weapons that could threaten U.S. interests.” Trump called those actions “in gross violation of the core principles of American foreign policy dating back more than two centuries.”

But, Trump added, “under our new national security strategy, American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again.”

“We want to surround ourselves with good neighbors, we want to surround ourselves with stability, and we want to surround ourselves with energy,” Trump said. “We have tremendous energy in that country. It’s very important that we protect it. We need that for ourselves. We need that for the world.”

Asked Saturday how the U.S. running a country represented his “America First” mentality, Trump defended the move as one that, similarly to the Monroe Doctrine’s origin story, was aimed at strengthening America itself.

The administration’s&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-security-strategy-europe-russia-america-first-068488ca7e6d1c92ccaddd1649958218">national security strategy</a>&nbsp;references “a ‘&nbsp;<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26341039-national-security-strategy/?q=corollary&amp;mode=search" target="_blank">Trump Corollary</a>&nbsp;’ to the Monroe Doctrine,” intended to “restore American preeminence in the Western Hemisphere.”

“Under our new national security strategy, American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again, won’t happen,” Trump said. “For decades, other administrations have neglected or even contributed to these growing security threats in the Western Hemisphere. Under the Trump administration, we are reasserting American power in a very powerful way in our home region.”

“What presidents used to do is they would cloak whatever their agenda was in the Monroe Doctrine by issuing corollaries,” Sexton said.

After World War II, Sexton said, rather than devising corollaries to the Monroe Doctrine, presidents started issuing their own, citing Harry S. Truman and Richard Nixon. He Sexton said he assumed Trump might take similar action.

“When you’re talking about a Trump Corollary, I just knew Trump wouldn’t want to be a corollary to another president’s doctrine, that somehow this would evolve into a Trump doctrine,” he said.

The national security strategy released by the White House in December portrayed European allies as weak and aimed to reassert America’s dominance in the Western Hemisphere.

Laying out a series of military strikes on alleged drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean as “a ‘Trump Corollary’ to the Monroe Doctrine” to “restore American preeminence in the Western Hemisphere,” the document said it aimed to combat the flow of narcotics and control migration. The strategy marked a reimagining of the U.S. military footprint in the region even after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/aircraft-carrier-venezuela-trump-ford-strikes-drugs-241ea9e039d717b9f80f793922cb7cc9">building up the largest military presence</a>&nbsp;there in generations.

Sexton said the military operation to capture Maduro — and a possible protracted U.S. involvement in Venezuela — could cause another split among supporters of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement, similar to the one after the administration’s strikes last year on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

“This is not just the sort of hit-and-run kind of job where, like in Iran a couple months ago, we dropped the missiles, and then you can then you can go on and carry on as normal,” Sexton said. “This is going to be potentially quite a mess and contradict the administration’s policies on withdrawing from forever wars — and there’s a lot of isolationists, within the MAGA coalition.”

Meg Kinnard can be reached at&nbsp;<a href="http://x.com/MegKinnardAP" target="_blank">http://x.com/MegKinnardAP</a>

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2026/1/1767660943758.png" alt="President James Monroe image U.S. Department of State" />
                        <figcaption>President James Monroe image U.S. Department of State</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>By&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/author/meg-kinnard">MEG KINNARD</a></p><p>In detailing the U.S. military action that led to the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-maduro-trump-military-operation-85041a1ec03bafe839b785a95169d694">arrest of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro</a>, President Donald Trump referenced the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/monroe-doctrine" target="_blank">Monroe Doctrine</a>, a maxim that has shaped American foreign policy for two centuries.</p><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>: &quot;It&#39;s about PEACE on Earth. We gotta have peace. It&#39;s our hemisphere. The Monroe Doctrine was very important when it was done, and other Presidents — a lot of them — they lost sight of it. I didn&#39;t. I didn&#39;t lose sight.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/CzDyUdqvzO">pic.twitter.com/CzDyUdqvzO</a></p>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/2008034410759602559?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 5, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><p>The doctrine formulated by President James Monroe was originally aimed at opposing European meddling in the Western Hemisphere. It has since been invoked repeatedly by subsequent presidents angling to justify U.S. intervention in the region.</p><p>On Saturday, the consequential doctrine of America’s fifth president was cited by the 47th president as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/legal-questions-maduro-trump-venezuela-capture-congress-7c686106ae7ffc759e5a1726e1b85576">partial justification</a>&nbsp;for the capture of a foreign leader to face criminal charges in the United States. Trump even quipped that some now called it “the Don-roe Doctrine.”</p><p>Political scientists are now looking back on the use of the Monroe Doctrine through history and drawing connections to how the Trump administration is seeking to apply it to current foreign policy, including the Republican president’s assertion that Washington would “run” Venezuela until a suitable replacement for Maduro was in place,</p><p>Here’s a look at the Monroe Doctrine, how it has been invoked over time and how it has informed Trump’s decision making:</p><h2>What is the Monroe Doctrine?</h2><p>Articulated in Monroe’s 1823 address to Congress, it was intended to ward off European colonization or other interference in independent nations of the Western Hemisphere. In return, the U.S. also agreed to stay out of European wars and internal affairs.</p><p>At the time, many Latin American countries had just gained independence from European empires. Monroe wanted both to prevent Europe from reclaiming control and to assert U.S. influence in the hemisphere.</p><p>Through the centuries, much of that has included Venezuela, according to Jay Sexton, a history professor at the University of Missouri.</p><p>“Historically, Venezuela has been the pretext or the trigger for a lot of corollaries to the Monroe Doctrine,” said Sexton, author of “The Monroe Doctrine: Empire and Nation in Nineteenth-Century America,” citing instances from the late 1800s, all the way through Trump’s first administration.</p><p>“And going back to the 19th century, this has been a divided, fractious country that’s had difficult relations with foreign powers and is also courted, relationships with rivals of the United States.”</p><h2>The Roosevelt Corollary and ‘Big Stick’ diplomacy</h2><p>European leaders initially paid little attention to the proclamation, but the Monroe Doctrine has been invoked in the two centuries since to justify U.S. military interventions in Latin America.</p><p>The first direct challenge came after France installed Emperor Maximilian in Mexico in the 1860s. After the end of the Civil War, France relented under U.S. pressure and withdrew.</p><p>In 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt’s argument that the U.S. should be allowed to intervene in unstable Latin American countries became known as the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/roosevelt-corollary" target="_blank">Roosevelt Corollary</a>, a justification invoked in a number of places, including supporting Panama’s secession from Colombia, which helped secure the Panama Canal Zone for the U.S.</p><p>The Cold War era saw the Monroe Doctrine invoked as a defense against communism, such as the U.S. demand in 1962 that Soviet missiles be withdrawn from Cuba, as well as the Reagan administration’s opposition of the leftist Sandinista government in Nicaragua.</p><p>Gretchen Murphy, a professor at the University of Texas, described Trump’s reference to the doctrine as in line with how it had been used by his predecessors, including Roosevelt, who she said “claimed that the Monroe Doctrine could be extended to justify interventions that instead of defending Latin American nations from European intervention, policed them to make sure their governments acted in U.S. commercial and strategic interests.”</p><p>“I think Trump is jumping on this familiar pattern -– citing the Monroe Doctrine to legitimate interventions that undermine real democracy, and ones where various kinds of interests are served, including commercial interests,” said Murphy, author of “Hemispheric Imaginings: The Monroe Doctrine and Narratives of U.S. Empire.”</p><h2>What has Trump said about the Monroe Doctrine?</h2><p>Trump said that Venezuela, under Maduro’s rule, had been “increasingly hosting foreign adversaries in our region and acquiring menacing offensive weapons that could threaten U.S. interests.” Trump called those actions “in gross violation of the core principles of American foreign policy dating back more than two centuries.”</p><p>But, Trump added, “under our new national security strategy, American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again.”</p><p>“We want to surround ourselves with good neighbors, we want to surround ourselves with stability, and we want to surround ourselves with energy,” Trump said. “We have tremendous energy in that country. It’s very important that we protect it. We need that for ourselves. We need that for the world.”</p><h2>The Trump Corollary?</h2><p>Asked Saturday how the U.S. running a country represented his “America First” mentality, Trump defended the move as one that, similarly to the Monroe Doctrine’s origin story, was aimed at strengthening America itself.</p><p>The administration’s&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-security-strategy-europe-russia-america-first-068488ca7e6d1c92ccaddd1649958218">national security strategy</a>&nbsp;references “a ‘&nbsp;<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26341039-national-security-strategy/?q=corollary&amp;mode=search" target="_blank">Trump Corollary</a>&nbsp;’ to the Monroe Doctrine,” intended to “restore American preeminence in the Western Hemisphere.”</p><p>“Under our new national security strategy, American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again, won’t happen,” Trump said. “For decades, other administrations have neglected or even contributed to these growing security threats in the Western Hemisphere. Under the Trump administration, we are reasserting American power in a very powerful way in our home region.”</p><p>“What presidents used to do is they would cloak whatever their agenda was in the Monroe Doctrine by issuing corollaries,” Sexton said.</p><p>After World War II, Sexton said, rather than devising corollaries to the Monroe Doctrine, presidents started issuing their own, citing Harry S. Truman and Richard Nixon. He Sexton said he assumed Trump might take similar action.</p><p>“When you’re talking about a Trump Corollary, I just knew Trump wouldn’t want to be a corollary to another president’s doctrine, that somehow this would evolve into a Trump doctrine,” he said.</p><p>The national security strategy released by the White House in December portrayed European allies as weak and aimed to reassert America’s dominance in the Western Hemisphere.</p><p>Laying out a series of military strikes on alleged drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean as “a ‘Trump Corollary’ to the Monroe Doctrine” to “restore American preeminence in the Western Hemisphere,” the document said it aimed to combat the flow of narcotics and control migration. The strategy marked a reimagining of the U.S. military footprint in the region even after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/aircraft-carrier-venezuela-trump-ford-strikes-drugs-241ea9e039d717b9f80f793922cb7cc9">building up the largest military presence</a>&nbsp;there in generations.</p><p>Sexton said the military operation to capture Maduro — and a possible protracted U.S. involvement in Venezuela — could cause another split among supporters of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement, similar to the one after the administration’s strikes last year on Iran’s nuclear facilities.</p><p>“This is not just the sort of hit-and-run kind of job where, like in Iran a couple months ago, we dropped the missiles, and then you can then you can go on and carry on as normal,” Sexton said. “This is going to be potentially quite a mess and contradict the administration’s policies on withdrawing from forever wars — and there’s a lot of isolationists, within the MAGA coalition.”</p><p>___</p><p>Meg Kinnard can be reached at&nbsp;<a href="http://x.com/MegKinnardAP" target="_blank">http://x.com/MegKinnardAP</a></p>

How the Monroe Doctrine factors into US arrest of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro

RENO COUNTY —Law enforcement investigating an alleged school threat have made an arrest.

On September 30th, the Hutchinson Police Department received a call from an unknown individual regarding a threat directed at Hutchinson High School.

 Given the seriousness of the situation, immediate action was taken to ensure the safety of students and staff. Hutchinson High School, Graber Elementary, located at 1600 North Cleveland Street, and Transitional Learning Center, 700 East 13th Ave, were placed under lockdown.

During the investigation, a suspect was identified and interviewed. On Monday, police reported 17-year-old Kayleb Lozoya of Hutchinson, was taken into custody and transported to Reno County Juvenile Detention Center on requested charges that included three counts of aggravated criminal threat, interference with law enforcement (making a false report), interference with law enforcement (concealing / destroying evidence), unlawful request for emergency services, and criminal false communication.

This was an extensive investigation that took time due to the complexity of gathering and analyzing evidence from multiple sources. This included applying for and executing search warrants on digital media.

If you have information regarding this incident, please contact the Hutchinson Police Department at 620-694-2816, your local law enforcement agency, or Crime Stoppers of Reno County at 800-222-TIPS. You can also use the P3Tips App on your smartphone, or text RENOKS to 738477 to receive a link to an anonymous tip form. (Msg frequency varies. Msg &amp; data rates may apply. Text HELP for help and STOP to cancel. P3 Terms and Privacy Policy.)

<p>RENO COUNTY —Law enforcement investigating an alleged school threat have made an arrest.</p><p>On September 30th, the Hutchinson Police Department received a call from an unknown individual regarding a threat directed at Hutchinson High School.</p><p> Given the seriousness of the situation, immediate action was taken to ensure the safety of students and staff. Hutchinson High School, Graber Elementary, located at 1600 North Cleveland Street, and Transitional Learning Center, 700 East 13th Ave, were placed under lockdown.</p><p>During the investigation, a suspect was identified and interviewed. On Monday, police reported 17-year-old Kayleb Lozoya of Hutchinson, was taken into custody and transported to Reno County Juvenile Detention Center on requested charges that included three counts of aggravated criminal threat, interference with law enforcement (making a false report), interference with law enforcement (concealing / destroying evidence), unlawful request for emergency services, and criminal false communication.</p><p>This was an extensive investigation that took time due to the complexity of gathering and analyzing evidence from multiple sources. This included applying for and executing search warrants on digital media.</p><p>If you have information regarding this incident, please contact the Hutchinson Police Department at 620-694-2816, your local law enforcement agency, or Crime Stoppers of Reno County at 800-222-TIPS. You can also use the P3Tips App on your smartphone, or text RENOKS to 738477 to receive a link to an anonymous tip form. (Msg frequency varies. Msg &amp; data rates may apply. Text HELP for help and STOP to cancel. P3 Terms and Privacy Policy.)</p>

17-year-old arrested for alleged threat against Kan. high school

Recent Booking Activity for the Geary County Detention Center. All persons included in this post are innocent of crimes until proven guilty in a court of law.

Bonds have been posted. Photos are unavailable.

Candi Blay, Failure to appear, arrested 01/02

Danny Schwarz, Criminal trespass, arrested 01/02

Jack Murphy, Driving under the influence of drugs/alcohol, arrested 01/03

Alexxander Wilson, Violation of a protective order, arrested 01/03

<p>Recent Booking Activity for the Geary County Detention Center. All persons included in this post are innocent of crimes until proven guilty in a court of law.</p><figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2026/1/1767656336664.jpeg" alt="Brian Rios-Corbett, Unlawful damage to property; Assault, arrested 01/04" />
                        <figcaption>Brian Rios-Corbett, Unlawful damage to property; Assault, arrested 01/04</figcaption>
                    </figure><figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2026/1/1767656347295.jpeg" alt="Corey Williams, Unlawful acts; Use/possess with intent to use drug paraphernalia into human body; Possession of opiate, opium, narcotic or certain stimulant, arrested 01/05" />
                        <figcaption>Corey Williams, Unlawful acts; Use/possess with intent to use drug paraphernalia into human body; Possession of opiate, opium, narcotic or certain stimulant, arrested 01/05</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>Bonds have been posted. Photos are unavailable.</p><p>Candi Blay, Failure to appear, arrested 01/02</p><p>Danny Schwarz, Criminal trespass, arrested 01/02</p><p>Jack Murphy, Driving under the influence of drugs/alcohol, arrested 01/03</p><p>Alexxander Wilson, Violation of a protective order, arrested 01/03</p><p>Recent Booking Activity for the Geary County Detention Center. All persons included in this post are innocent of crimes until proven guilty in a court of law.</p>

Geary County Booking Photos Jan. 3-5, 2026

NEW YORK (AP) — A defiant&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-maduro-trump-military-operation-85041a1ec03bafe839b785a95169d694">Nicolás Maduro</a>&nbsp;declared himself "the president of my country” as he protested his capture and pleaded not guilty Monday to federal drug trafficking charges that the Trump administration used to justify removing him from power in Venezuela.

“I was captured,” Maduro said in Spanish as translated by a courtroom reporter before being cut off by the judge. Asked later for his plea to the charges, he stated: "I’m innocent. I am not guilty. I am a decent man, the president of my country.”

<a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1422326/dl">Click here to read the new indictment</a>&nbsp;against Maduro and his wife

The courtroom appearance, Maduro's first since he and his wife were&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-maduro-venezuela-presidential-palace-blowtorches-7969152ae48510003fe9cbde92f3c102">seized from their home</a>&nbsp;in a stunning middle-of-the-night military operation, kicked off the U.S. government’s most consequential prosecution in decades of a foreign head of state. The criminal case in Manhattan is unfolding against a broader diplomatic backdrop of an audacious U.S.-engineered regime change that President Donald Trump has said will enable his administration&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-maduro-trump-military-operation-85041a1ec03bafe839b785a95169d694">to “run” the South American country.</a>Pro

Maduro was led into court along with his co-defendant wife just before noon for the brief legal proceeding. Both put on headsets to hear the English-language proceeding as it was translated into Spanish.

The couple was transported to the Manhattan courthouse under armed guard early Monday from the Brooklyn jail where they've been detained since arriving in the U.S. on Saturday.

As a criminal defendant in the U.S. legal system, Maduro will have the same rights as any other person accused of a crime — including the right to a trial by a jury of regular New Yorkers. But he’ll also be nearly — but not quite — unique.

The stakes were made clear from the outset as Maduro, who took copious notes throughout the proceedings and wished a Happy New Year to reporters in court, repeatedly pressed his case that he had been unlawfully abducted.

“I am here kidnapped," Maduro said. “I was captured at my home in Caracas.”

U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, a 92-year-old jurist who was appointed to the federal bench in 1998 by Bill Clinton, interrupted him, saying: “There will be time and place to go through all of this." Hellerstein added that Maduro’s attorney could do so later.

“At this time, I just want to know if you are Nicolás Maduro Moros,” which Maduro confirmed that he was.

Maduro’s lawyers are expected to contest the legality of his arrest, arguing that he is immune from prosecution as head of state. Barry Pollack, a prominent Washington lawyer whose clients have&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/julian-assange">included WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange</a>, said Maduro is "head of a sovereign state and entitled to the privilege” that the status ensures. He also said the defense would raise “questions about the legality of his military abduction.”

Panamanian strongman&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/3fe8263a03504924b32f09b7fb0db0e6">Manuel Noriega</a>&nbsp;unsuccessfully&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/maduro-noriega-prosecution-legal-immunity-venezuela-panama-c0df9b1ecda36e9e1912729fa7ebf9e4">tried the same immunity defense</a>&nbsp;after the U.S. captured him in a similar military invasion in 1990. But the U.S. doesn’t recognize Maduro as Venezuela’s legitimate head of state — particularly after a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-presidential-election-maduro-machado-edmundo-5ce255ae90614162590bfe1207d2e1d0">much-disputed 2024 reelection</a>.

Maduro's wife, Cilia Flores, also pleaded not guilty on Monday. She had bandages on her forehead and right temple, and her lawyer said had she suffered “significant injuries” during her capture.

<a href="https://apnews.com/interactive/us-indicts-venezuela-maduro/">A 25-page indictment</a>&nbsp;accuses Maduro and others of working with drug cartels to facilitate the shipment of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/maduro-indictment-justice-department-trump-bondi-25a6fbd922472296c744eb5111cd914c">thousands of tons of cocaine</a>&nbsp;into the U.S. They could face life in prison if convicted.

Among other things, the indictment accuses Maduro and his wife of ordering kidnappings, beatings and murders of those who owed them drug money or undermined their drug trafficking operation. That included a local drug boss’ killing in Caracas, the indictment said.

Outside the courthouse, police separated protesters of the U.S. military action from pro-intervention demonstrators. Inside the courtroom, as Maduro stood to leave with federal officers, a man in the audience stood and began speaking forcefully at him in Spanish, calling him an “illegitimate” president.

The man, 33-year-old Pedro Rojas, said later that he had been imprisoned by the Venezuelan regime. As deputy U.S. marshals led Maduro from the courtroom, the deposed leader looked directly at the man and shot back in Spanish: “I am a kidnapped president. I am a prisoner of war.”

The U.S. seized Maduro and his wife in a military operation early Saturday, capturing them in their home on a military base. Trump said Saturday the U.S. would “run” Venezuela temporarily and reiterated Sunday night that “we're in charge,” telling reporters aboard Air Force One that “we're going to run it, fix it.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio had tried to strike a more cautious tone on Sunday morning talk shows, saying the U.S. would not govern the country day-to-day other than enforcing an existing ”&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-venezuela-maduro-oil-tankers-625a7c9a3106e316c97ceb68a42a1cb5">oil quarantine</a>.”

Before his capture, Maduro and his allies claimed U.S. hostility was motivated by lust for Venezuela’s rich oil and mineral resources.

Trump has suggested that removing Maduro would enable more oil to flow out of Venezuela, but&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/stocks-markets-oil-venezuela-trump-gas-67c87db7e47d15e3bf01df7fe4d560b2">oil prices</a>&nbsp;rose a bit more than 1% in Monday morning trading to roughly $58 a barrel. There are uncertainties about how fast oil production can be ramped up in Venezuela after years of neglect, as well as questions about governance and oversight of the sector.

Venezuela’s new interim leader,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-interim-president-rodriguez-maduro-chavez-b352b5af17deb0ab78684b8398045179">Delcy Rodríguez</a>, has demanded that the U.S. return Maduro, who long denied any involvement in drug trafficking — although late Sunday she also struck a more conciliatory tone in a social media post, inviting collaboration with Trump and “respectful relations” with the U.S.

Rodríguez was sworn in on Monday by her brother, National Assembly leader Jorge Rodríguez.

“I come with sorrow for the suffering inflicted upon the Venezuelan people following an illegitimate military aggression against our homeland,” she said with her right hand up. “I come with sorrow for the kidnapping of two heroes."

Maduro’s son and Venezuelan congressman Nicolás Maduro Guerra warned on Monday that his father's capture could set a dangerous precedent globally and demanded that his parents be returned.

“If we normalize the kidnapping of a head of state, no country is safe. Today it’s Venezuela. Tomorrow it could be any nation that refuses to submit. This is not a regional problem. It is a direct threat to global political stability,” Maduro Guerra said

Also Monday, the United Nations Security Council&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-united-nations-maduro-trump-waltz-1433e10bbb800fb41b21a70c7501ad88">held an emergency meeting</a>, with the top U.N. official warning that America may have violated international law with its unilateral action. The world body also spotlighted the profound humanitarian needs in Venezuela. Its people have&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-black-friday-maduro-trump-drug-strikes-dcca2242e7326865419d45eb48a0ca1b">endured a yearslong, complex economic crisis</a>.

Tucker reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Regina Garcia Cano in Caracas, John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas, Megan Janetsky in Mexico City, Farnoush Amiri and Jennifer Peltz at the United Nations, Josh Boak in Baltimore, Maryland, Darlene Superville aboard Air Force One and Joshua Goodman in Miami contributed to this report.

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2026/1/1767635791159.png" alt="Nicolas Maduro escorted into court -image courtesy CSPAN via WABC TV" />
                        <figcaption>Nicolas Maduro escorted into court -image courtesy CSPAN via WABC TV</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>NEW YORK (AP) — A defiant&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-maduro-trump-military-operation-85041a1ec03bafe839b785a95169d694">Nicolás Maduro</a>&nbsp;declared himself "the president of my country” as he protested his capture and pleaded not guilty Monday to federal drug trafficking charges that the Trump administration used to justify removing him from power in Venezuela.</p><p>“I was captured,” Maduro said in Spanish as translated by a courtroom reporter before being cut off by the judge. Asked later for his plea to the charges, he stated: "I’m innocent. I am not guilty. I am a decent man, the president of my country.”</p><p><a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1422326/dl">Click here to read the new indictment</a>&nbsp;against Maduro and his wife</p><p>The courtroom appearance, Maduro's first since he and his wife were&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-maduro-venezuela-presidential-palace-blowtorches-7969152ae48510003fe9cbde92f3c102">seized from their home</a>&nbsp;in a stunning middle-of-the-night military operation, kicked off the U.S. government’s most consequential prosecution in decades of a foreign head of state. The criminal case in Manhattan is unfolding against a broader diplomatic backdrop of an audacious U.S.-engineered regime change that President Donald Trump has said will enable his administration&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-maduro-trump-military-operation-85041a1ec03bafe839b785a95169d694">to “run” the South American country.</a>Pro</p><figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2026/1/1767635764793.png" alt="Protestors outside the courtroom in New York -photo courtesy CSPAN" />
                        <figcaption>Protestors outside the courtroom in New York -photo courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>Maduro was led into court along with his co-defendant wife just before noon for the brief legal proceeding. Both put on headsets to hear the English-language proceeding as it was translated into Spanish.</p><p>The couple was transported to the Manhattan courthouse under armed guard early Monday from the Brooklyn jail where they've been detained since arriving in the U.S. on Saturday.</p><h2>A legal fight begins</h2><p>As a criminal defendant in the U.S. legal system, Maduro will have the same rights as any other person accused of a crime — including the right to a trial by a jury of regular New Yorkers. But he’ll also be nearly — but not quite — unique.</p><p>The stakes were made clear from the outset as Maduro, who took copious notes throughout the proceedings and wished a Happy New Year to reporters in court, repeatedly pressed his case that he had been unlawfully abducted.</p><p>“I am here kidnapped," Maduro said. “I was captured at my home in Caracas.”</p><p>U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, a 92-year-old jurist who was appointed to the federal bench in 1998 by Bill Clinton, interrupted him, saying: “There will be time and place to go through all of this." Hellerstein added that Maduro’s attorney could do so later.</p><p>“At this time, I just want to know if you are Nicolás Maduro Moros,” which Maduro confirmed that he was.</p><p>Maduro’s lawyers are expected to contest the legality of his arrest, arguing that he is immune from prosecution as head of state. Barry Pollack, a prominent Washington lawyer whose clients have&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/julian-assange">included WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange</a>, said Maduro is "head of a sovereign state and entitled to the privilege” that the status ensures. He also said the defense would raise “questions about the legality of his military abduction.”</p><p>Panamanian strongman&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/3fe8263a03504924b32f09b7fb0db0e6">Manuel Noriega</a>&nbsp;unsuccessfully&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/maduro-noriega-prosecution-legal-immunity-venezuela-panama-c0df9b1ecda36e9e1912729fa7ebf9e4">tried the same immunity defense</a>&nbsp;after the U.S. captured him in a similar military invasion in 1990. But the U.S. doesn’t recognize Maduro as Venezuela’s legitimate head of state — particularly after a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-presidential-election-maduro-machado-edmundo-5ce255ae90614162590bfe1207d2e1d0">much-disputed 2024 reelection</a>.</p><p>Maduro's wife, Cilia Flores, also pleaded not guilty on Monday. She had bandages on her forehead and right temple, and her lawyer said had she suffered “significant injuries” during her capture.</p><p><a href="https://apnews.com/interactive/us-indicts-venezuela-maduro/">A 25-page indictment</a>&nbsp;accuses Maduro and others of working with drug cartels to facilitate the shipment of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/maduro-indictment-justice-department-trump-bondi-25a6fbd922472296c744eb5111cd914c">thousands of tons of cocaine</a>&nbsp;into the U.S. They could face life in prison if convicted.</p><p>Among other things, the indictment accuses Maduro and his wife of ordering kidnappings, beatings and murders of those who owed them drug money or undermined their drug trafficking operation. That included a local drug boss’ killing in Caracas, the indictment said.</p><p>Outside the courthouse, police separated protesters of the U.S. military action from pro-intervention demonstrators. Inside the courtroom, as Maduro stood to leave with federal officers, a man in the audience stood and began speaking forcefully at him in Spanish, calling him an “illegitimate” president.</p><p>The man, 33-year-old Pedro Rojas, said later that he had been imprisoned by the Venezuelan regime. As deputy U.S. marshals led Maduro from the courtroom, the deposed leader looked directly at the man and shot back in Spanish: “I am a kidnapped president. I am a prisoner of war.”</p><h2>Demands for Maduro's return</h2><p>The U.S. seized Maduro and his wife in a military operation early Saturday, capturing them in their home on a military base. Trump said Saturday the U.S. would “run” Venezuela temporarily and reiterated Sunday night that “we're in charge,” telling reporters aboard Air Force One that “we're going to run it, fix it.”</p><p>Secretary of State Marco Rubio had tried to strike a more cautious tone on Sunday morning talk shows, saying the U.S. would not govern the country day-to-day other than enforcing an existing ”&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-venezuela-maduro-oil-tankers-625a7c9a3106e316c97ceb68a42a1cb5">oil quarantine</a>.”</p><p>Before his capture, Maduro and his allies claimed U.S. hostility was motivated by lust for Venezuela’s rich oil and mineral resources.</p><p>Trump has suggested that removing Maduro would enable more oil to flow out of Venezuela, but&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/stocks-markets-oil-venezuela-trump-gas-67c87db7e47d15e3bf01df7fe4d560b2">oil prices</a>&nbsp;rose a bit more than 1% in Monday morning trading to roughly $58 a barrel. There are uncertainties about how fast oil production can be ramped up in Venezuela after years of neglect, as well as questions about governance and oversight of the sector.</p><p>Venezuela’s new interim leader,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-interim-president-rodriguez-maduro-chavez-b352b5af17deb0ab78684b8398045179">Delcy Rodríguez</a>, has demanded that the U.S. return Maduro, who long denied any involvement in drug trafficking — although late Sunday she also struck a more conciliatory tone in a social media post, inviting collaboration with Trump and “respectful relations” with the U.S.</p><p>Rodríguez was sworn in on Monday by her brother, National Assembly leader Jorge Rodríguez.</p><p>“I come with sorrow for the suffering inflicted upon the Venezuelan people following an illegitimate military aggression against our homeland,” she said with her right hand up. “I come with sorrow for the kidnapping of two heroes."</p><p>Maduro’s son and Venezuelan congressman Nicolás Maduro Guerra warned on Monday that his father's capture could set a dangerous precedent globally and demanded that his parents be returned.</p><p>“If we normalize the kidnapping of a head of state, no country is safe. Today it’s Venezuela. Tomorrow it could be any nation that refuses to submit. This is not a regional problem. It is a direct threat to global political stability,” Maduro Guerra said</p><p>Also Monday, the United Nations Security Council&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-united-nations-maduro-trump-waltz-1433e10bbb800fb41b21a70c7501ad88">held an emergency meeting</a>, with the top U.N. official warning that America may have violated international law with its unilateral action. The world body also spotlighted the profound humanitarian needs in Venezuela. Its people have&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-black-friday-maduro-trump-drug-strikes-dcca2242e7326865419d45eb48a0ca1b">endured a yearslong, complex economic crisis</a>.</p><p>___</p><p>Tucker reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Regina Garcia Cano in Caracas, John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas, Megan Janetsky in Mexico City, Farnoush Amiri and Jennifer Peltz at the United Nations, Josh Boak in Baltimore, Maryland, Darlene Superville aboard Air Force One and Joshua Goodman in Miami contributed to this report.</p>

What Maduro and wife told the judge during court appearance

SEDGWICK COUNTY — Wichita Police arrested a 15-year-old boy in connection with a shooting that left a teen wounded.&nbsp;

Just after 9:30p.m. Saturday, police responded to a local hospital regarding a walk-in shooting involving a 17-year-old boy.

Preliminary investigations indicate the victim was visiting friends in the 2900 block of North Vassar Avenue when the suspect fired a single round, striking the victim in the cheek and upper torso.

Officers responded to the residence where they recovered a firearm and arrested a 15-year-old boy. He was booked into the Juvenile Intake Assessment Center on requested charges of aggravated battery with a firearm and criminal use of a weapon.

<p>SEDGWICK COUNTY — Wichita Police arrested a 15-year-old boy in connection with a shooting that left a teen wounded.&nbsp;</p><p>Just after 9:30p.m. Saturday, police responded to a local hospital regarding a walk-in shooting involving a 17-year-old boy.</p><p>Preliminary investigations indicate the victim was visiting friends in the 2900 block of North Vassar Avenue when the suspect fired a single round, striking the victim in the cheek and upper torso.</p><p>Officers responded to the residence where they recovered a firearm and arrested a 15-year-old boy. He was booked into the Juvenile Intake Assessment Center on requested charges of aggravated battery with a firearm and criminal use of a weapon.</p>

15-year-old Kan. boy accused of shooting teen in the face

LONDON (AP) — Auschwitz survivor Eva Schloss, the stepsister of teenage diarist&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/anne-frank">Anne Frank</a>&nbsp;and a tireless educator about the horrors of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ap.org/news-highlights/spotlights/2025/70-of-jewish-holocaust-survivors-will-be-gone-in-the-next-10-years-a-report-shows/">the Holocaust</a>, has died. She was 96.

The Anne Frank Trust UK, of which Schloss was honorary president, said she died Saturday in London, where she lived.

Britain’s King Charles III said he was “privileged and proud” to have known Schloss, who co-founded the charitable trust to help young people challenge prejudice.

“The horrors that she endured as a young woman are impossible to comprehend and yet she devoted the rest of her life to overcoming hatred and prejudice, promoting kindness, courage, understanding and resilience through her tireless work for the Anne Frank Trust UK and for Holocaust education across the world,” the king said.

Born Eva Geiringer in Vienna in 1929, Schloss fled with her family to Amsterdam after Nazi Germany annexed Austria. She became friends with another Jewish girl of the same age, Anne Frank, whose diary would become one of the most famous chronicles of the Holocaust.

Like the Franks, Eva's family spent two years in hiding to avoid capture after the Nazis occupied the Netherlands. They were eventually betrayed, arrested and sent to the Auschwitz death camp.

Schloss and her mother Fritzi survived until the camp was liberated by Soviet troops in 1945. Her father Erich and brother Heinz died in Auschwitz.

After the war, Eva moved to Britain, married German Jewish refugee Zvi Schloss and settled in London.

In 1953, her mother married Frank’s father, Otto, the only member of his immediate family to survive. Anne Frank died of typhus in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp at the age of 15, months before the end of the war.

Schloss did not speak publicly about her experiences for decades, later saying that wartime trauma had made her withdrawn and unable to connect with others.

“I was silent for years, first because I wasn’t allowed to speak. Then I repressed it. I was angry with the world,” she told The Associated Press in 2004.

But after she addressed the opening of an Anne Frank exhibition in London in 1986, Schloss made it her mission to educate younger generations about the Nazi genocide. Over the following decades she spoke in schools and prisons, at international conferences and told her story in books including “Eva’s Story: A Survivor’s Tale by the Stepsister of Anne Frank.”

She kept campaigning into her 90s. In 2019, she traveled to Newport Beach, California to meet teenagers who were photographed making Nazi salutes at a high school party. The following year she was part of a campaign urging Facebook to remove Holocaust-denying material from the social networking site.

“We must never forget the terrible consequences of treating people as ‘other,’” Schloss said in 2024. “We need to respect everybody’s races and religions. We need to live together with our differences. The only way to achieve this is through education, and the younger we start the better.”

Schloss’ family remembered her as “a remarkable woman: an Auschwitz survivor, a devoted Holocaust educator, tireless in her work for remembrance, understanding and peace.”

“We hope her legacy will continue to inspire through the books, films and resources she leaves behind,” the family said in a statement.

Zvi Schloss died in 2016. Eva Schloss is survived by their three daughters, as well as grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2026/1/1767630117018.png" alt="<br>" />
                        <figcaption><br></figcaption>
                    </figure><p>LONDON (AP) — Auschwitz survivor Eva Schloss, the stepsister of teenage diarist&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/anne-frank">Anne Frank</a>&nbsp;and a tireless educator about the horrors of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ap.org/news-highlights/spotlights/2025/70-of-jewish-holocaust-survivors-will-be-gone-in-the-next-10-years-a-report-shows/">the Holocaust</a>, has died. She was 96.</p><p>The Anne Frank Trust UK, of which Schloss was honorary president, said she died Saturday in London, where she lived.</p><p>Britain’s King Charles III said he was “privileged and proud” to have known Schloss, who co-founded the charitable trust to help young people challenge prejudice.</p><p>“The horrors that she endured as a young woman are impossible to comprehend and yet she devoted the rest of her life to overcoming hatred and prejudice, promoting kindness, courage, understanding and resilience through her tireless work for the Anne Frank Trust UK and for Holocaust education across the world,” the king said.</p><p>Born Eva Geiringer in Vienna in 1929, Schloss fled with her family to Amsterdam after Nazi Germany annexed Austria. She became friends with another Jewish girl of the same age, Anne Frank, whose diary would become one of the most famous chronicles of the Holocaust.</p><p>Like the Franks, Eva's family spent two years in hiding to avoid capture after the Nazis occupied the Netherlands. They were eventually betrayed, arrested and sent to the Auschwitz death camp.</p><p>Schloss and her mother Fritzi survived until the camp was liberated by Soviet troops in 1945. Her father Erich and brother Heinz died in Auschwitz.</p><p>After the war, Eva moved to Britain, married German Jewish refugee Zvi Schloss and settled in London.</p><p>In 1953, her mother married Frank’s father, Otto, the only member of his immediate family to survive. Anne Frank died of typhus in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp at the age of 15, months before the end of the war.</p><p>Schloss did not speak publicly about her experiences for decades, later saying that wartime trauma had made her withdrawn and unable to connect with others.</p><p>“I was silent for years, first because I wasn’t allowed to speak. Then I repressed it. I was angry with the world,” she told The Associated Press in 2004.</p><p>But after she addressed the opening of an Anne Frank exhibition in London in 1986, Schloss made it her mission to educate younger generations about the Nazi genocide. Over the following decades she spoke in schools and prisons, at international conferences and told her story in books including “Eva’s Story: A Survivor’s Tale by the Stepsister of Anne Frank.”</p><p>She kept campaigning into her 90s. In 2019, she traveled to Newport Beach, California to meet teenagers who were photographed making Nazi salutes at a high school party. The following year she was part of a campaign urging Facebook to remove Holocaust-denying material from the social networking site.</p><p>“We must never forget the terrible consequences of treating people as ‘other,’” Schloss said in 2024. “We need to respect everybody’s races and religions. We need to live together with our differences. The only way to achieve this is through education, and the younger we start the better.”</p><p>Schloss’ family remembered her as “a remarkable woman: an Auschwitz survivor, a devoted Holocaust educator, tireless in her work for remembrance, understanding and peace.”</p><p>“We hope her legacy will continue to inspire through the books, films and resources she leaves behind,” the family said in a statement.</p><p>Zvi Schloss died in 2016. Eva Schloss is survived by their three daughters, as well as grandchildren and great-grandchildren.</p>

Holocaust survivor, stepsister of Anne Frank, dies at 96

By:<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/jennifer-shutt/">Jennifer Shutt</a>

WASHINGTON — The Defense Department will attempt to downgrade Arizona Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly’s retirement rank and pay, seeking to punish him for making a video along with other Democrats in Congress, who told members of the military they didn’t need to follow illegal orders.&nbsp;

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth originally threatened to recall Kelly from military retirement and court-martial him for his participation in the video, but announced Monday that the department would instead try to downgrade his rank of captain as well as his retirement pay.&nbsp;

“Captain Kelly has been provided notice of the basis for this action and has thirty days to submit a response,” Hegseth wrote in&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/SecWar/status/2008189258528665898" target="_blank">a social media post</a>. “The retirement grade determination process directed by Secretary Hegseth will be completed within forty five days.”

Hegseth added that Kelly’s “status as a sitting United States Senator does not exempt him from accountability, and further violations could result in further action.”

Kelly&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/SenMarkKelly/status/2008215189275963870" target="_blank">wrote in a social media post</a>&nbsp;that he planned to challenge Hegseth’s attempt to alter his retirement rank and pay, arguing it’s an attempt to punish him for challenging the Trump administration.&nbsp;

“My rank and retirement are things that I earned through my service and sacrifice for this country. I got shot at. I missed holidays and birthdays. I commanded a space shuttle mission while my wife Gabby recovered from a gunshot wound to the head– all while proudly wearing the American flag on my shoulder,” Kelly wrote. “Generations of servicemembers have made these same patriotic sacrifices for this country, earning the respect, appreciation, and rank they deserve.”

Kelly added that Hegseth’s goal with the process is to “send the message to every single retired servicemember that if they say something he or Donald Trump doesn’t like, they will come after them the same way. It’s outrageous and it is wrong. There is nothing more un-American than that.”

Members of Congress are generally protected under&nbsp;<a href="https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/artI-S6-C1-3-1/ALDE_00013300/" target="_blank">the speech and debate clause</a>&nbsp;of the U.S. Constitution, which states that unless a lawmaker is involved in treason, felony and breach of the peace, they are “privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.”

The Defense Department&nbsp;<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26456656-secwar-letter-05jan26/#document/p1" target="_blank">letter of censure</a>&nbsp;to Kelly alleged that his participation in the video undermined the military chain of command, counseled disobedience, created confusion about duty, brought discredit upon the Armed Forces and included conduct unbecoming of an officer.&nbsp;

Hegseth wrote in that letter that if Kelly continues “to engage in conduct prejudicial to good order and discipline, you may subject yourself to criminal prosecution or further administrative action.”

The Department of Defense posted in late November that officials were&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/pentagon-investigates-arizona-sen-mark-kelly-after-he-appears-video-blasted-trump" target="_blank">looking into</a>&nbsp;“serious allegations of misconduct” against Kelly for appearing in the video.&nbsp;

It didn’t detail how Kelly might have violated the Uniform Code of Military Justice but stated that “a thorough review of these allegations has been initiated to determine further actions, which may include recall to active duty for court-martial proceedings or administrative measures.”&nbsp;

Hegseth&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/DeptofWar/status/1993436056008507865/photo/1" target="_blank">referred</a>&nbsp;the issue to Navy Secretary John Phelan for any “review, consideration, and disposition” he deemed appropriate. Hegseth then asked for a briefing on the outcome of the review “by no later than December 10.”

Kelly said&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/arizonas-kelly-vows-stay-outspoken-despite-threats-over-illegal-order-video" target="_blank">during a press conference</a>&nbsp;in early December the military’s investigation and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/democrats-threatened-trump-over-video-say-theyre-now-being-probed-fbi" target="_blank">a separate one</a>&nbsp;by the FBI were designed to intimidate the six lawmakers in the video from speaking out against Trump.&nbsp;

The lawmakers in the&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/SenatorSlotkin/status/1990774492356902948" target="_blank">video</a>, who have backgrounds in the military or intelligence agencies, told members of those communities they “can” and “must refuse illegal orders.”

“No one has to carry out orders that violate the law or our Constitution. We know this is hard and that it’s a difficult time to be a public servant,” they said. “But whether you’re serving in the CIA, in the Army, or Navy, or the Air Force, your vigilance is critical.”

The other Democrats in the video — Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin, Colorado Rep. Jason Crow, Pennsylvania Reps. Chris Deluzio and Chrissy Houlahan, and New Hampshire Rep. Maggie Goodlander — are not subject to the military justice system.&nbsp;

Trump&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/trump-accuses-6-democratic-lawmakers-seditious-behavior-punishable-death" target="_blank">railed against the video</a>&nbsp;a couple of days after it posted, saying the statements represented “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!”

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/11/1764097679232.png" alt="Image from the controversial video" />
                        <figcaption>Image from the controversial video</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>By:<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/jennifer-shutt/">Jennifer Shutt</a></p><p>WASHINGTON — The Defense Department will attempt to downgrade Arizona Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly’s retirement rank and pay, seeking to punish him for making a video along with other Democrats in Congress, who told members of the military they didn’t need to follow illegal orders.&nbsp;</p><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Six weeks ago, Senator Mark Kelly — and five other members of Congress — released a reckless and seditious video that was clearly intended to undermine good order and military discipline. As a retired Navy Captain who is still receiving a military pension, Captain Kelly knows he…</p>&mdash; Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) <a href="https://twitter.com/SecWar/status/2008189258528665898?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 5, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><p>Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth originally threatened to recall Kelly from military retirement and court-martial him for his participation in the video, but announced Monday that the department would instead try to downgrade his rank of captain as well as his retirement pay.&nbsp;</p><p>“Captain Kelly has been provided notice of the basis for this action and has thirty days to submit a response,” Hegseth wrote in&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/SecWar/status/2008189258528665898" target="_blank">a social media post</a>. “The retirement grade determination process directed by Secretary Hegseth will be completed within forty five days.”</p><p>Hegseth added that Kelly’s “status as a sitting United States Senator does not exempt him from accountability, and further violations could result in further action.”</p><p>Kelly&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/SenMarkKelly/status/2008215189275963870" target="_blank">wrote in a social media post</a>&nbsp;that he planned to challenge Hegseth’s attempt to alter his retirement rank and pay, arguing it’s an attempt to punish him for challenging the Trump administration.&nbsp;</p><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Over twenty-five years in the U.S. Navy, thirty-nine combat missions, and four missions to space, I risked my life for this country and to defend our Constitution – including the First Amendment rights of every American to speak out. I never expected that the President of the…</p>&mdash; Senator Mark Kelly (@SenMarkKelly) <a href="https://twitter.com/SenMarkKelly/status/2008215189275963870?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 5, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><p>“My rank and retirement are things that I earned through my service and sacrifice for this country. I got shot at. I missed holidays and birthdays. I commanded a space shuttle mission while my wife Gabby recovered from a gunshot wound to the head– all while proudly wearing the American flag on my shoulder,” Kelly wrote. “Generations of servicemembers have made these same patriotic sacrifices for this country, earning the respect, appreciation, and rank they deserve.”</p><p>Kelly added that Hegseth’s goal with the process is to “send the message to every single retired servicemember that if they say something he or Donald Trump doesn’t like, they will come after them the same way. It’s outrageous and it is wrong. There is nothing more un-American than that.”</p><h2>Constitutional protection</h2><p>Members of Congress are generally protected under&nbsp;<a href="https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/artI-S6-C1-3-1/ALDE_00013300/" target="_blank">the speech and debate clause</a>&nbsp;of the U.S. Constitution, which states that unless a lawmaker is involved in treason, felony and breach of the peace, they are “privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.”</p><p>The Defense Department&nbsp;<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26456656-secwar-letter-05jan26/#document/p1" target="_blank">letter of censure</a>&nbsp;to Kelly alleged that his participation in the video undermined the military chain of command, counseled disobedience, created confusion about duty, brought discredit upon the Armed Forces and included conduct unbecoming of an officer.&nbsp;</p><p>Hegseth wrote in that letter that if Kelly continues “to engage in conduct prejudicial to good order and discipline, you may subject yourself to criminal prosecution or further administrative action.”</p><h2>Allegations of misconduct</h2><p>The Department of Defense posted in late November that officials were&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/pentagon-investigates-arizona-sen-mark-kelly-after-he-appears-video-blasted-trump" target="_blank">looking into</a>&nbsp;“serious allegations of misconduct” against Kelly for appearing in the video.&nbsp;</p><p>It didn’t detail how Kelly might have violated the Uniform Code of Military Justice but stated that “a thorough review of these allegations has been initiated to determine further actions, which may include recall to active duty for court-martial proceedings or administrative measures.”&nbsp;</p><p>Hegseth&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/DeptofWar/status/1993436056008507865/photo/1" target="_blank">referred</a>&nbsp;the issue to Navy Secretary John Phelan for any “review, consideration, and disposition” he deemed appropriate. Hegseth then asked for a briefing on the outcome of the review “by no later than December 10.”</p><p>Kelly said&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/arizonas-kelly-vows-stay-outspoken-despite-threats-over-illegal-order-video" target="_blank">during a press conference</a>&nbsp;in early December the military’s investigation and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/democrats-threatened-trump-over-video-say-theyre-now-being-probed-fbi" target="_blank">a separate one</a>&nbsp;by the FBI were designed to intimidate the six lawmakers in the video from speaking out against Trump.&nbsp;</p><p>The lawmakers in the&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/SenatorSlotkin/status/1990774492356902948" target="_blank">video</a>, who have backgrounds in the military or intelligence agencies, told members of those communities they “can” and “must refuse illegal orders.”</p><p>“No one has to carry out orders that violate the law or our Constitution. We know this is hard and that it’s a difficult time to be a public servant,” they said. “But whether you’re serving in the CIA, in the Army, or Navy, or the Air Force, your vigilance is critical.”</p><p>The other Democrats in the video — Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin, Colorado Rep. Jason Crow, Pennsylvania Reps. Chris Deluzio and Chrissy Houlahan, and New Hampshire Rep. Maggie Goodlander — are not subject to the military justice system.&nbsp;</p><p>Trump&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/trump-accuses-6-democratic-lawmakers-seditious-behavior-punishable-death" target="_blank">railed against the video</a>&nbsp;a couple of days after it posted, saying the statements represented “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!”</p>

Pentagon tries to penalize Sen. Mark Kelly for illegal orders video

CLOUD COUNTY—A Kansas woman is accused of a violent attack on employees at a fast food restaurant in north central Kansas.

Just after 3p.m. Sunday, On January 4, 2026, at 3:00 PM, the Concordia Police Department was dispatched to McDonald’s, 1420 Lincoln Street in Concordia for a report of a battery in progress, according to a media release.

Police determined that a customer identified as 44-year-old Christina Messerschmidt of Wichita, was throwing hot fry grease on employees and punching employees. 

Police arrested Messerschmidt and transported her to the Cloud County Corrections. She was booked on requested charges of aggravated battery, criminal damage to property, disorderly conduct and criminal trespass.

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2026/1/1767569654029.png" alt="Photo Concordia Police" />
                        <figcaption>Photo Concordia Police</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>CLOUD COUNTY—A Kansas woman is accused of a violent attack on employees at a fast food restaurant in north central Kansas.</p><p>Just after 3p.m. Sunday, On January 4, 2026, at 3:00 PM, the Concordia Police Department was dispatched to McDonald’s, 1420 Lincoln Street in Concordia for a report of a battery in progress, according to a media release.</p><p>Police determined that a customer identified as 44-year-old Christina Messerschmidt of Wichita, was throwing hot fry grease on employees and punching employees. </p><p>Police arrested Messerschmidt and transported her to the Cloud County Corrections. She was booked on requested charges of aggravated battery, criminal damage to property, disorderly conduct and criminal trespass.</p>

Police: Kansas woman attacked fast food restaurant employees

SHAWNEE COUNTY —Law enforcement are investigating a shooting in Topeka.

Just after 2p.m. Saturday, police responded to the 800 block of SW Tyler for a possible shooting. EMS transported one victim to an area hospital for treatment of potentially life-threatening injuries.&nbsp; 

Police have not reported an arrest of any additional details.

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2026/1/1767483631260.png" alt="Photo courtesy WIBW" />
                        <figcaption>Photo courtesy WIBW</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>SHAWNEE COUNTY —Law enforcement are investigating a shooting in Topeka.</p><p>Just after 2p.m. Saturday, police responded to the 800 block of SW Tyler for a possible shooting. EMS transported one victim to an area hospital for treatment of potentially life-threatening injuries.&nbsp; </p><p>Police have not reported an arrest of any additional details.</p>

Police: One hospitalized after Kansas shooting

SALINE COUNTY —A boy injured in a shooting in Salina has died.&nbsp;Just before 9:30p.m. Saturday, the boy was pronounced deceased at Wesley Medical Center in Wichita, according to&nbsp;Salina Police Lt. Andrew Ziegler.

On Friday evening, Salina Police Communications received a report of a shooting at a home in 100 block of Raleigh Street in Salina, according to a media release.

Officers responded and located a boy with a single gunshot wound. EMS transported the boy to the Salina Regional Health Center where he was listed in critical condition. The boy was later transported to a Wichita hospital.&nbsp; 

&nbsp;A 15 year-old male acquaintance of the victim was arrested and booked into the Juvenile Detention Center in Geary County on requested charges of Aggravated Battery and Criminal use of a Weapon, according to a statement from Salina Police.

 As the investigation into the incident continues the Salina Police Department will be working with the Saline County Attorney’s Office on additional charges.

In the interest of clarification and accuracy the Salina Police Department corrected earlier information provided regarding the location of the shooting incident. The incident occurred at a private single family residence located within the 100 block of Raleigh Street and was not associated with the Southwind Apartments complex in any way. The Police Department apologizes for any confusion or concern which arose from the previous information.

<p>SALINE COUNTY —A boy injured in a shooting in Salina has died.&nbsp;Just before 9:30p.m. Saturday, the boy was pronounced deceased at Wesley Medical Center in Wichita, according to&nbsp;Salina Police Lt. Andrew Ziegler.</p><p>On Friday evening, Salina Police Communications received a report of a shooting at a home in 100 block of Raleigh Street in Salina, according to a media release.</p><p>Officers responded and located a boy with a single gunshot wound. EMS transported the boy to the Salina Regional Health Center where he was listed in critical condition. The boy was later transported to a Wichita hospital.&nbsp; </p><p>&nbsp;A 15 year-old male acquaintance of the victim was arrested and booked into the Juvenile Detention Center in Geary County on requested charges of Aggravated Battery and Criminal use of a Weapon, according to a statement from Salina Police.</p><p> As the investigation into the incident continues the Salina Police Department will be working with the Saline County Attorney’s Office on additional charges.</p><p>In the interest of clarification and accuracy the Salina Police Department corrected earlier information provided regarding the location of the shooting incident. The incident occurred at a private single family residence located within the 100 block of Raleigh Street and was not associated with the Southwind Apartments complex in any way. The Police Department apologizes for any confusion or concern which arose from the previous information.</p><p>----------------</p>

Boy injured in shooting in Salina has died; 15-year-old arrested

SEDGWICK COUNTY—A man accused in a deadly home-invasion shooting on Christmas weekend has made his first court appearance.

&nbsp;On New Year's Eve, Matthew D. Morgan, 54, was charged with second-degree murder, according to the Sedgiwck County District Attorney's office.

Just before 8:30 p.m. December 27, police responded to a home&nbsp;in the 100 block of North Ash in Wichita, according to a media release. When officers arrived, they found a 52-year-old man and 67-year-old man inside the home with gunshot wounds. Both were transported to a local hospital, the 52-year-old was later pronounced deceased at the hospital. The 67-year-old remained in critical but stable condition.

Police arrested a neighbor identified in booking records as 54-year-old Matthew D. Morgan. An unknown suspect fled the residence on foot. The motive for the home invasion remains under investigation.

Morgan remains jailed on a&nbsp;$1 million bond, according to the district attorney's office.

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/12/1767007817776.png" alt="Morgan photo Sedgwick Co." />
                        <figcaption>Morgan photo Sedgwick Co.</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>SEDGWICK COUNTY—A man accused in a deadly home-invasion shooting on Christmas weekend has made his first court appearance.</p><p>&nbsp;On New Year's Eve, Matthew D. Morgan, 54, was charged with second-degree murder, according to the Sedgiwck County District Attorney's office.</p><p>Just before 8:30 p.m. December 27, police responded to a home&nbsp;in the 100 block of North Ash in Wichita, according to a media release. When officers arrived, they found a 52-year-old man and 67-year-old man inside the home with gunshot wounds. Both were transported to a local hospital, the 52-year-old was later pronounced deceased at the hospital. The 67-year-old remained in critical but stable condition.</p><p>Police arrested a neighbor identified in booking records as 54-year-old Matthew D. Morgan. An unknown suspect fled the residence on foot. The motive for the home invasion remains under investigation.</p><p>Morgan remains jailed on a&nbsp;$1 million bond, according to the district attorney's office.</p>

Neighbor accused in Kan. home invasion killing faced a judge

BARTON COUNTY—Law enforcement are investigating two suspect on drug allegations.

Shortly before midnight on Dec. 29,&nbsp; an officer with the Great Bend Police Department conducted a traffic stop in the 300 Block of 10th Street, Great Bend, according to a media release.&nbsp; Officers made contact with the driver, Gerald James, 46, and front passenger, Terra French, 40. Three children were observed in the back seats.

During the stop, K9 Rem from the Barton County Sheriff's Office was deployed, indicating to the odor of narcotics. Methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia were found during a search of the vehicle.

James was arrested on requested charges of Possession of Methamphetamine, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Felony Interference, Child Endangerment, Driving while Suspended, and for multiple outstanding warrants for his arrest. French was arrested on a requested charges of Possession of Methamphetamine, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and Child Endangerment. Both were booked into the Barton County Jail

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2026/1/1767366759805.png" alt="James photo Barton Co." />
                        <figcaption>James photo Barton Co.</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>BARTON COUNTY—Law enforcement are investigating two suspect on drug allegations.</p><p>Shortly before midnight on Dec. 29,&nbsp; an officer with the Great Bend Police Department conducted a traffic stop in the 300 Block of 10th Street, Great Bend, according to a media release.&nbsp; Officers made contact with the driver, Gerald James, 46, and front passenger, Terra French, 40. Three children were observed in the back seats.</p><figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2026/1/1767366698254.png" alt="French photo Barton Co." />
                        <figcaption>French photo Barton Co.</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>During the stop, K9 Rem from the Barton County Sheriff's Office was deployed, indicating to the odor of narcotics. Methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia were found during a search of the vehicle.</p><p>James was arrested on requested charges of Possession of Methamphetamine, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Felony Interference, Child Endangerment, Driving while Suspended, and for multiple outstanding warrants for his arrest. French was arrested on a requested charges of Possession of Methamphetamine, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and Child Endangerment. Both were booked into the Barton County Jail</p>

Kan. couple caught with meth had 3 children in the vehicle

By&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/author/meg-kinnard">MEG KINNARD</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/author/michelle-l-price">MICHELLE L. PRICE</a>

WASHINGTON (AP) — For months, the U.S. military had been amassing a presence off Venezuela’s coast and conspicuously blowing up alleged drug trafficking boats and killing the occupants.

At the same time, U.S. intelligence agencies were carefully studying the country’s authoritarian President&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-maduro-capture-trump-attack-military-ceb21da088f0a06b1813e66922def9a3">Nicolás Maduro</a>, learning minute details such as his eating habits while special forces secretly rehearsed a plan to forcibly remove him.

Months of covert planning led to the brazen operation overnight, when President&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-maduro-venezuela-b6e272ee8e23636a1ab9618d8257ae59">Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;gave an order authorizing Maduro’s capture. The U.S. plunged the South American country’s capital into darkness, infiltrated Maduro’s home and whisked him to the United States, where the Trump administration planned to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1422326/dl" target="_blank">put him on trial</a>.

Trump, during a news conference Saturday at his Florida home, laid out the details of the strike, after which he said Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were flown by helicopter to a U.S. warship.

The operation termed “Absolute Resolve” unfolded under the cover of darkness, with U.S. forces holding fast in the region, awaiting the ideal weather conditions to give pilots clear routes into Caracas. The extensive planning included practice on a replica of the presidential compound, as well as U.S. service members armed with what Trump said were “massive blowtorches” in the event the steel walls of a safe room needed to be cut open to extract the pair.

“He didn’t get that space closed. He was trying to get into it, but he got bum-rushed right so fast that he didn’t get into that,” Trump said an interview earlier Saturday morning on “Fox &amp; Friends Weekend.”

Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at Trump’s news conference that U.S. forces had rehearsed their maneuvers for months, learning everything about Maduro — where he was at certain hours as well as details of his pets and the clothes he wore.

“We think, we develop, we train, we rehearse, we debrief, we rehearse again, and again,” Caine said, saying his forces were “set” by early December. “Not to get it right, but to ensure we cannot get it wrong.”

Trump said on Fox that U.S. forces had practiced their extraction on a replica building.

“They actually built a house which was identical to the one they went into with all the same, all that steel all over the place,” Trump said.

Trump said in the television interview that U.S. forces held off on conducting the operation for days, waiting four days for cloud cover to pass. Caine said that on Friday night, “the weather broke just enough, clearing a path that only the most skilled aviators in the world could move through,” adding that helicopters flew low to the water to enter Venezuela and were covered above by protective U.S. aircraft.

Trump said the U.S. operation “was dark and it was deadly,” adding that “the lights of Caracas were largely turned off due to a certain expertise that we have,” but giving no further details.

The attack, which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth described as part of “massive joint military and law enforcement raid,” lasted less than 30 minutes. At least seven explosions were heard in Caracas, and Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, who under law takes power, said some Venezuelan civilians and members of the military were killed.

In a televised address later Saturday on state television, she demanded that the U.S. free Maduro and called him the country’s rightful leader. But Rodríguez also left open the door for a dialogue with the U.S. when she said, “We are willing to have respectful relations.”

Yanire Lucas, a Caracas resident whose house sits pressed up next to a Venezuelan military base struck overnight, said she began to hear explosions next to her house around 1:50 in the morning.

Trump said a few U.S. members in the operation were injured, but he believed no one was killed. Caine said one helicopter was struck by fire as it closed in on Maduro’s compound but it was able to safely fly on its return.

Trump said Maduro and Flores were flown by helicopter to a U.S. warship and would go on to New York to face charges. He posted on Truth Social a photo of the Venezuelan leader, wearing a gray sweatsuit, protective headphones and blindfold.

The raid was a dramatic escalation from a series of strikes the U.S. military has carried out on what Trump has said were drug-carrying boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean since early September. On Dec. 29, Trump said the U.S. struck a facility where boats accused of carrying drugs “load up.” The CIA was behind&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-venezuela-facility-boat-strikes-0faff66145c6706e2861fcde36756fe4">the drone strike</a>&nbsp;at a docking area believed to have been used by Venezuelan drug cartels, the first known direct operation on Venezuelan soil since the U.S. began its strikes in September.

Few details about how the US will now run Venezuela

Though Trump had warned for months that the U.S. might conduct strikes in Venezuela, he gave little hint on Friday what was coming.

He spent the morning posting on social media defending his health and complaining about the impact of wind turbines on birds before he went shopping for marble and onyx for the ballroom he’s building at the White House and a visit to his golf club.

Privately, he was readying to give the go-ahead for a military mission that already has generated criticism in the U.S. and abroad. Now, the president said the U.S. will direct the path forward for Venezuela, as questions have emerged&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/legal-questions-maduro-trump-venezuela-capture-congress-7c686106ae7ffc759e5a1726e1b85576">about the legality</a>&nbsp;of both those plans and Maduro’s capture.

Trump said at his news conference that the group of officials standing behind him, including Hegseth, Caine and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, will “be a team that’s working with the people of Venezuela.”

The Republican president left open the possibility that U.S. troops would have a presence in the country. “We’re not afraid of boots on the ground if we have to,” he said, adding, “We had boots on the ground last night.”

The U.S. will now “run” the country until a new leader can be chosen, Trump said.

“We’re going to make sure that country is run properly. We’re not doing this in vain,” he said. “This is a very dangerous attack. This is an attack that could have gone very, very badly.”

Kinnard reported from Chapin, South Carolina. Associated Press reporters Regina Garcia Cano and Juan Arraez in Caracas, Venezuela, contributed to this report.

🎥 Details on how the US captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro

The United States successfully carried out a large scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the Country, according to the White House. "This operation was done in conjunction with U.S. Law Enforcement. " Members of Congress including Kansas U.S. Senator Roger Marshall are expressing differing opinions on the news.&nbsp;

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2026/1/1767451240803.png" alt="Government supporters display posters of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, right, and former President Hugo Chávez in downtown Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that Maduro had been captured and flown out of the country. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)" />
                        <figcaption>Government supporters display posters of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, right, and former President Hugo Chávez in downtown Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that Maduro had been captured and flown out of the country. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>The United States successfully carried out a large scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the Country, according to the White House. "This operation was done in conjunction with U.S. Law Enforcement. " Members of Congress including Kansas U.S. Senator Roger Marshall are expressing differing opinions on the news.&nbsp;</p><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">President Trump made a promise to the American people that he would secure our borders from chaos and cut off threats to us and our children at the source. Venezuela ignored the call to stop running lethal drugs to the America.<br><br>Our children are safer at home because of bold…</p>&mdash; Dr. Roger Marshall (@RogerMarshallMD) <a href="https://twitter.com/RogerMarshallMD/status/2007453825255264758?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">There is no justification for the United States to be at war with Venezuela.<br><br>I lived through the consequences of an illegal war sold to the American people with lies. We swore we would never repeat those mistakes. Yet here we are again.<br><br>The American people did not ask for this,…</p>&mdash; Senator Ruben Gallego (@SenRubenGallego) <a href="https://twitter.com/SenRubenGallego/status/2007433155477717121?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Thank you, <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/SecRubio?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecRubio</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/SecWar?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecWar</a>, and the brave members of our military who led the operation that successfully CAPTURED narco-terrorist Nicolás Maduro.<br><br>A new day is here for Venezuela and Latin America. The United States and our hemisphere are safer because of President… <a href="https://t.co/VL4bnsbGVZ">https://t.co/VL4bnsbGVZ</a></p>&mdash; Rick Scott (@SenRickScott) <a href="https://twitter.com/SenRickScott/status/2007399340457775262?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The president offered multiple off ramps, but was very clear throughout this process: the drug trafficking must stop, and the stolen oil must be returned to the United States. Maduro is the newest person to find out that President Trump means what he says. <br><br>Kudos to our brave… <a href="https://t.co/b1fqkdbB4x">pic.twitter.com/b1fqkdbB4x</a></p>&mdash; JD Vance (@JDVance) <a href="https://twitter.com/JDVance/status/2007447083909841398?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The White House is confirming U.S. military operations in Venezuela tonight. Let us be clear: these strikes are illegal. The President does not have the authority to declare war or undertake large-scale military operations without Congress. Congress must act to rein him in.… <a href="https://t.co/KsbxS6TbSp">pic.twitter.com/KsbxS6TbSp</a></p>&mdash; Rep. Melanie Stansbury (@Rep_Stansbury) <a href="https://twitter.com/Rep_Stansbury/status/2007385713818714191?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Without authorization from Congress, and with the vast majority of Americans opposed to military action, Trump just launched an unjustified, illegal strike on Venezuela.<br><br>He says we don’t have enough money for healthcare for Americans—but somehow we have unlimited funds for war??</p>&mdash; Rep. Jim McGovern (@RepMcGovern) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepMcGovern/status/2007381598912819213?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, have been indicted in the Southern District of New York. Nicolas Maduro has been charged with Narco-Terrorism Conspiracy, Cocaine Importation Conspiracy, Possession of Machineguns and Destructive Devices, and Conspiracy to Possess…</p>&mdash; Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) <a href="https://twitter.com/AGPamBondi/status/2007428087143686611?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Bold move by ⁦<a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDonaldTrump</a>⁩ taking out convicted NARCO TERRORIST and DICTATOR of Venezuela Maduro. <a href="https://t.co/JGFtpq5GG4">pic.twitter.com/JGFtpq5GG4</a></p>&mdash; Tim Burchett (@timburchett) <a href="https://twitter.com/timburchett/status/2007443476900671516?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Nicolas Maduro wasn’t just an illegitimate dictator; he also ran a vast drug-trafficking operation. That’s why he was indicted in U.S. court nearly six years ago for drug trafficking and narco-terrorism. I just spoke to <a href="https://twitter.com/SecRubio?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecRubio</a>, who confirmed that Maduro is in U.S. custody and…</p>&mdash; Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) <a href="https://twitter.com/SenTomCotton/status/2007419529048007012?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">If this action were constitutionally sound, the Attorney General wouldn’t be tweeting that they’ve arrested the President of a sovereign country and his wife for possessing guns in violation of a 1934 U.S. firearm law.</p>&mdash; Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepThomasMassie/status/2007469970364539092?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Maduro and his predecessor took Venezuela from the richest to the poorest country in South America, and destroyed its democracy. The operations last night are great for the future of Venezuelans and the region. My main concern is now Russia will use this to justify their illegal…</p>&mdash; Rep. Don Bacon 🇺🇸✈️🏍️⭐️🎖️ (@RepDonBacon) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepDonBacon/status/2007462335242289166?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Trump’s regime change war in Venezuela is flat out illegal and yet another betrayal of the commitments he made to the American people. <br><br>He said he’d lower prices. He’s driving prices up. <br><br>He said no “new stupid wars.” He’s starting new stupid wars. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Venezuela?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Venezuela</a> <a href="https://t.co/iY3oMVXT7a">pic.twitter.com/iY3oMVXT7a</a></p>&mdash; Rep. James Walkinshaw (@Rep_Walkinshaw) <a href="https://twitter.com/Rep_Walkinshaw/status/2007424774142673020?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">For years, Nicolas Maduro, the cartel he leads, and other cartels in Latin America have trafficked drugs into the United States, which have killed hundreds of thousands of Americans. President Trump’s decisive action to disrupt the unacceptable status quo and apprehend Maduro,…</p>&mdash; Leader John Thune (@LeaderJohnThune) <a href="https://twitter.com/LeaderJohnThune/status/2007464869432267134?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I have spoken in the last several hours with <a href="https://twitter.com/SecRubio?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecRubio</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/SecWar?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecWar</a> Hegseth, and the nation will hear from <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> in his address at 11am ET.<br><br>Today’s military action in Venezuela was a decisive and justified operation that will protect American lives.<br><br>Nicolas Maduro is…</p>&mdash; Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpeakerJohnson/status/2007468765718384961?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">America’s strength comes from our commitment to the rule of law, democratic norms, and constitutional restraint. When we abandon those principles, even in the name of confronting bad actors, we weaken our credibility, endanger global stability, and invite abuses of power that…</p>&mdash; Mark Warner (@MarkWarner) <a href="https://twitter.com/MarkWarner/status/2007476440028020870?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">My statement on President Trump’s actions in Venezuela. <a href="https://t.co/AiHPASu3iO">pic.twitter.com/AiHPASu3iO</a></p>&mdash; Sen. Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) <a href="https://twitter.com/SenSanders/status/2007509175883247805?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The President of the United States just overthrew a foreign ruler and explained to the American people that this is about taking control of the oil reserves of a foreign nation. He said that the U.S. will “run the country” until a proper transition can take place and went right…</p>&mdash; Senator Mark Kelly (@SenMarkKelly) <a href="https://twitter.com/SenMarkKelly/status/2007509794815701037?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>

Kan. U.S. Senator, other lawmakers react to U.S. capture of Venezuelan leader

The United States hit Venezuela with a “large-scale strike” early Saturday and said President Nicolás Maduro and his wife were captured and flown out of the country after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-maduro-venezuela-drug-cartels-military-timeline-91e242e5c56eec39b6b7d72bf55dbd2d">months of stepped-up pressure</a>&nbsp;by Washington — an extraordinary nighttime operation announced by President Donald Trump on social media hours after the attack.

The legal authority for the strike — and whether Trump consulted Congress beforehand — was not immediately clear. The stunning, lightning-fast American military action, which plucked a nation’s sitting leader from office, echoed the U.S. invasion of Panama that led to the surrender and seizure of its leader, Manuel Antonio Noriega, in 1990 — exactly 36 years ago Saturday.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, would face charges after an indictment in New York.