America in Brief

Former FBI Director James Comey Indicted

Former FBI Director James Comey has been charged with crimes related to the disclosure of sensitive information.

The charges center on a testimony he gave in 2020, where he is accused of lying under oath, in which he told Congress he had not authorized someone at the FBI to leak sensitive information to the press as an anonymous source.

Comey, who denies all wrongdoing, faces up to five years in prison if convicted.

“Everyone, especially those in positions of power, will be held to account—no matter their perch,” said FBI Director Kash Patel in a statement. “No one is above the law.”

TikTok Sale to Go Ahead

President Donald Trump on Sept. 25 extended the deadline to finalize the terms of TikTok’s divestiture to American investors, allowing its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, 120 more days to wrap up the deal.

Under these conditions, TikTok will be allowed to continue to operate in the United States, but ByteDance will be limited to less than a 20 percent stake with only one member on a seven-seat board, who will be excluded from the company’s security committee.

TikTok was labeled a national security threat in 2024 and was given until Jan. 19 to divest its U.S. operations or face a nationwide ban. On Jan. 20, Trump signed an executive order delaying the ban until April and subsequently continued delaying the ban amid tariff talks with China until a suitable buyer was found.

Deadly Shooting at Dallas ICE Facility

A shooting occurred at a U.S. Immigration and Customs facility in Dallas, Texas, on Sept. 24, involving a sniper on a roof who shot three detainees, killing one, before shooting himself.

The shooter, 29, allegedly had a monthslong premeditated plan to kill ICE agents and had left a note saying he wanted to terrorize ICE agents. The FBI released a photo of some unspent bullet casings that showed one with a message that read “anti-ICE.”

The shooter was believed to have acted alone.

In August, the same facility was attacked when a 36-year-old man arrived at the reporting entrance, claiming to have a bomb in his backpack.

Trump Orders Troops to Portland, Oregon

Trump says he has ordered troops to Portland, Oregon, to secure federal immigration facilities and to use “full force” if needed, in the latest of deployments to cities to fight crime.

In a Sept. 27 Truth Social post, Trump announced that ICE facilities were under attack by “Antifa, and other domestic terrorists.”

On Sept. 22, Trump designated the left-wing group as a domestic terrorist organization in response to years of political violence.

Portland Mayor Keith Wilson released a statement refuting the need for federal troops in the city.

“The number of necessary troops is zero,” Wilson said.