Actor Michael Cole, star of The Mod Squad, died Tuesday at age 84, Fox News reported. A representative for the actor said Cole died "peacefully this morning, surrounded by loved ones, after living a full and vibrant life."
Cole passed away at the Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. No cause of death has been publicly provided for the actor.
He is survived by his third wife, Shelley Funes, and his two adult children, Candi and Jeff, from a previous relationship. Cole was predeceased by Peggy Lipton and Clarence Williams III, both of his co-stars from the ABC detective series.
Cole's career spanned several decades, but he is best known for playing Pete Cochran in The Mod Squad from 1968 to 1973. The show notched 123 episodes by the time the series wrapped after five seasons.
Cole was born on July 3, 1940, and did not have an easy childhood. Raised in Madison, Wisconsin, with his older brother and mother in his grandmother's home, Cole never met his father.
He began drinking when he was just 12 and was always in some kind of trouble as an adolescent. At 16, Cole got his girlfriend pregnant and decided to drop out of high school to get married.
The couple had two children together before getting divorced. However, this rocky start led to some serendipitous meetings that would ultimately propel the actor to stardom.
After leaving Wisconsin, Cole settled in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he met actor and singer Bobby Darin. He would move again, this time to live under a freeway in Los Angeles, where he eventually met acting coach Estelle Harman.
Cole credited Harman with giving him a significant boost with a helping hand, including a bed to sleep on in her workshop and free acting lessons. In 2018, the actor said Harman "recognized what was in there before I did."
Following that life-changing help from Harman, Cole's career took off after a meeting with famed producer Aaron Spelling. In his 2018 memoir, "I Played the White Guy," Cole described how he was cast in the hit television series.
"I resisted taking the part when Spelling offered it, telling him, ‘[The show] sounds stupid, and I hope it never gets on the air. I didn’t want to play some guy who ratted on some other troubled kids," Cole said The Mod Squad, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
It was precisely that attitude that Spelling was looking for. Cole took the role as one of the three criminals turned detectives in the drama that defined a generation. "They were able to effectively bring criminals to justice with little or no violence," Rebeka Knott noted on the nostalgia website Groovy History.
"That is what the hippie culture was about … being peaceful." This role launched Cole on a trajectory that included appearances on notable television shows of the era, including CHiPs, Fantasy Island, Murder, She Wrote, and later the iconic 1990s groundbreaking medical drama ER.
Cole was a man who left his mark on midcentury television and beyond. His death is a tragedy that has left a nation in mourning, but Cole's body of work lives on in the annals of classic television.
Actor Tom Selleck said he's considering collaborating with Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan for his next project, Fox News reported. The 79-year-old actor said he "wants to sit on a horse again" and looks forward to starring in another Western.
Since 2010, Selleck has played Commissioner Frank Reagan on the network television cop drama Blue Bloods. The program is in its final season, but Selleck isn't ready to head out to pasture just yet.
"A good Western’s always on my list. I miss that; I want to sit on a horse again," Selleck said. Selleck is an avocado farmer and lives on a 63-acre ranch.
The Magnum P.I. actor has appeared in six Westerns throughout his career. Selleck's best-known role was as leading man Matthew Quigley in Quigley Down Under, the 1990s Australian Western.
In 1979, Selleck had a pair of cowboy roles, starring in the TV miniseries The Sacketts and a made-for-television movie Concrete Cowboys. Just three years later, Selleck joined The Sacketts co-stars Sam Elliott and Jeff Osterhage for The Shadow Riders.
However, it would be his role as Quigly that cemented his cowboy persona. It has remained one of Selleck's most notable and beloved roles, though he has always flourished in the genre.
"I’m very proud of ‘Quigley Down Under,’ which has passed the test of time and is still very, very popular. That was a big Western, and he was clearly an iconic hero," Selleck said in an interview.
"I don’t mind saying I was a little anxious to play a part that maybe John Wayne could have done better," he added. Selleck would parlay that success into future Westerns, including the 1997 television movie Last Stand at Saber River.
Selleck was awarded the Western Heritage Awards Bronze Wrangler for that role. He also starred in Crossfire Trail, another TV movie for the TNT network. The final time Selleck played a cowboy came in the 2003 TV movie Monte Walsh.
With Selleck well into his golden years, the actor said new roles aren't "pouring in" but that "some people are thinking of" him with his successful drama wrapping up soon. "I don’t know where my next job will take me," Selleck said.
"People ask, ‘What do you want to do next?’ I’m not sure. I don’t want to do Frank Reagan II," he added.
However, Selleck wouldn't discount the idea of reprising his role in a spin-off of the popular series. "I’m open to suggestions because I love Frank Reagan, but nobody’s really asked," Selleck said.
"I don’t see him retiring and going off somewhere," Selleck said of his character. "If he goes off to a small town, I’d rather do more ‘Jesse Stone’ movies," the actor added.
With many iconic roles that defined the latter part of the last century, Selleck remains a star even in his later years. There's no telling what will be next for him, but it doesn't seem like retirement is an option for the iconic celebrity.
Liz Peek believes President Joe Biden will absolve his corrupt cronies with "preemptive pardons" before President-elect Donald Trump takes office in the hopes of staving off investigations, the Fox News contributor said in her opinion piece. Meanwhile, Peek thinks Trump's "retribution will be his success" as Democrats face backlash.
Biden has been issuing "blanket pardons" for many in his administration and family members. He is working under the assumption that Trump will be looking to use the Justice Department against his political adversaries "because that’s what they have done," Peek noted.
Trump has already said that he's not out for his pound of flesh. "I’m really looking to make our country successful," Trump told Kristen Welker on Meet the Press.
"But here is the truth: Trump supporters – or at least this Trump supporter – don’t want vengeance. We want accountability," Peek wrote.
Peek believes that the strategy Biden is employing will be the Democrats' undoing. "Top Democrats have reportedly encouraged the president to grant preemptive blanket pardons to a slew of Trump’s adversaries, including Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and former NIH Director Dr. Anthony Fauci, supposedly to protect them from his wrath," Peek wrote.
"They suggest that the nominations of Kash Patel to head the FBI and Pam Bondi for attorney general endanger the former president’s political foes, and that Trump World is bent on vengeance. Democrat leaders want Biden to protect them with a wave of his pardon wand," she continued.
"Issuing preemptive pardons is an offensive idea, but also so outlandish that it must be a smokescreen," Peek said. She believes that "Biden hopes to bury pardons of his family members among many others, hoping...they will not notice Jim or Hallie Biden on the list."
Besides his son Hunter Biden, whom the president already pardoned, other family members "cited by the House Oversight Committee as pocketing money from Hunter’s activities" may also receive the same treatment. "The more immunities granted, the fewer investigations and the safer Joe Biden himself will be," Peek continued.
However, Democrats are under the misguided belief that "Trump and his appointees will use the Department of Justice to punish some of the perpetrators of the years-long attacks on him, because that’s what they have done." Instead, it's voters who will be looking to hold these people accountable.
Peek believes the worst people in the Biden orbit have escaped consequences primarily due to media malpractice. "In the past, Americans counted on an ambitious press to hold government officials to account for such misdeeds; today, they cannot," Peek wrote.
"Few in the legacy media pursued credible reports of Biden family corruption, even though the infamous laptop (authenticated and held by the FBI for more than a year before the 2020 election) provided plenty of damaging information," she continued. The laptop also tracked how Joe Biden benefitted from his son's shady dealings.
"When the president pardoned his son, he was actually pardoning himself," Peek added. Even the Justice Department has skewed in favor of Democrats as "more than 1,100 Trump supporters who protested the 2020 election on January 6 have been rounded up, and over 600 sentenced to prison" while "there have been few prosecutions for the riots that took place after the murder of George Floyd," Peek noted.
The tide is turning, however. "It is infuriating that the Left has been winning so many rounds; on November 5 they began what we hope will be a long losing streak. Trump is right: his retribution will be his success. I cannot wait," Peek concluded.
Peek is correct that the entirety of Joe Biden's strategy centers on keeping him, his family, and his cronies out of the law enforcement spotlight. Unfortunately, that will do nothing to stop the political and electoral reckoning against the left that has already begun.
Video footage of President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden arriving at the Kennedy Center Honors to a standing ovation Sunday night seemed to show the Bidens ignoring Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentlemen Doug Emhoff even though the couple was standing right next to them, according to the New York Post.
Harris was beaming as she clapped for the Bidens and didn't seem to notice that she was being snubbed.
Joe Biden was smiling broadly as he received the applause. He looked around at the audience and pointed at different people.
Biden seemed to look at Emhoff, but not at Harris.
On social media, some users commented that the interaction seemed "awkward" and speculated that maybe the Bidens felt "robbed" by Harris after he was made to step aside for her and then she didn't win the election.
Some even suggested that the Bidens might have voted for President-elect Donald Trump to spite Harris.
"Where is the joy?" one asked of Democrats, echoing Harris's campaign slogan.
The Kennedy Center Honors was hosted by Queen Latifah and honored members of the Grateful Dead, Bonnie Raitt and Francis Ford Coppola, among others.
It is held at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC each year to honor artists that have made an impact in the U.S.
For the most part, Biden has been minimized since he gave up on his re-election bid.
The media and Democrats have been only too happy to ignore his embarrassing gaffes and doddering ways as his presidency winds down.
But while the majority of voters showed they were sick of him on Election Day, the entertainment class is still all too willing to show their allegiance.
For a little while, the Bidens could pretend they aren't has-beens whose time has passed and whose legacy will quickly be forgotten.
A sense of upheaval has taken hold in a key part of the Middle East in recent days, as Syrian rebels claimed a successful seizure of Damascus in addition to several other cities in an effort to topple the Assad regime once and for all.
Less clear, however, is the location -- and indeed the condition -- of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who departed the capital city by air as rebel fighters approached its outskirts in the wee hours of Sunday, as USA Today reports.
The apparent ouster of Assad has been spearheaded by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an Islamist group known as a former al-Qaeda affiliate group, which declared Syria now “free from the tyrant.”
In a stunning set of developments, rebels also gained control of the Sednaya prison near Damascus, freeing prisoners held by the prior regime, as Axios notes.
Soldiers were seen shedding their uniforms and donning civilian attire while thousands of Syrians poured into the streets to celebrate the fast-moving events.
Notably, rebels also seized control of Damascus International Airport, further solidifying their grip on the situation.
In the wake of the swiftly changing scenario, the Russian embassy in Egypt decried the fall of Damascus to what officials called U.S.-backed “terrorists,” though a spokesperson for the French government heralded the “historic day for Syria and the Syrian people.”
Numerous reports suggested that Assad departed the capital via air early Sunday morning, but the movements of the aircraft he was said to have boarded have sparked uncertainty and speculation, as the U.K. Express reports.
After leaving Damascus, the flight traveled eastward toward the country's border with Iraq, but then in made a northeasterly swing toward the Mediterranean coast.
There was no destination specified for the flight at its time of departure, and though the aircraft passed over the town of Homs – now controlled by rebels – it dramatically reversed course before approaching the country's coastal mountains.
Less than an hour after departing Damascus, the flight disappeared from flight trackers, sparking speculation that the airplane could have been forced down by enemy actions, mechanical malfunction, or some other serious event.
As the BBC notes, officials from Syrian ally Russia stated simply that Assad had “stepped down” and left his embattled country but offered no additional details about where he might be.
As the chaotic developments unfolded, White House spokesperson Sean Savett issued a statement saying, “President Biden and his team are closely monitoring the extraordinary events in Syria and staying in constant touch with regional partners.”
President-elect Donald Trump was rather more pointed in his reaction, writing on his Truth Social platform, “Assad is gone. He has fled his country. His protector, Russia, Russia, Russia, led by Vladimir Putin, was not interested in protecting him any longer,” but precisely where things will go from here, only time will tell.
Manslaughter charges have been dropped against Marine vet Daniel Penny, 25, after a Manhattan jury could not agree despite days of deliberation, Breitbart reported. Penny could still face charges for criminally negligent homicide.
In May 2023, Penny was riding a subway when 30-year-old homeless man Jordan Neely came into the car and began threatening passengers. In an effort to subdue Neely, Penny restrained him in a chokehold.
Neely was still alive when police arrived but later died, which triggered the charges. Some believe the prosecution is racially motivated because Penny is white and Neely is black.
The jury in the trial deliberated for days but could not come to agreement about the manslaughter charges even after the judge sent them back with instructions to come up with a unanimous guilty or not guilty verdict. Deliberations will continue next week on the lesser charges.
Judge Maxwell Wiley was within his rights to ask the jurors to devise an "Allen charge." With the jury unable to agree on manslaughter, Penny's defense team believes the judge should have declared a mistrial.
Instead, prosecutors asked Wiley to have the jury consider criminally negligent homicide. The difference lies in the sentencing requirements and the nature of the conduct in question.
For a manslaughter charge, a defendant would face up to 15 years in prison if convicted. The court would have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the "defendant recklessly caused another person’s death," the news outlet noted.
By contrast, criminally negligent homicide carries a lesser sentence with a minimum of probation and a maximum of four years in behind bars. The criteria for such a charge would be to prove that the defendant exhibited "blameworthy conduct" without considering a risk.
Juries are permitted by law to find a defendant guilty of a lesser charge, but Wiley's decision to throw out manslaughter may complicate the case. The defense argues that only a "not guilty" charge on a higher crime would allow for lesser crimes to be considered.
Although it's a partial victory for the manslaughter charge to be thrown out, many believe the fact that Penny is being prosecuted at all is a blight on the justice system. Former NYPD inspector Paul Mauro told Fox News that bringing this case in the first place was the problem.
"A deadlocked jury on the top charge is not a victory for the defendant in a case that should never have been brought to begin with. Daniel Penny is a young man spending thousands on attorneys, he faces a civil case, and a district attorney’s office that has chosen ideology over law enforcement may well retry him if we get a mistrial," Mauro pointed out.
"His liberty remains at risk. This is not justice," he added. The facts of the case point to Penny's actions as heroic. Neely, who has a criminal record and was diagnosed with schizophrenia, told riders on the subway that somebody would "die today" and that he didn't fear prison.
The passengers believed they were in danger, and Penny stepped forward to protect them that day. It was later revealed that Neely had synthetic marijuana in his system, which could account for his erratic behavior.
Penny should never have seen the inside of a courtroom over this, let alone face murder charges. If there is anything less than a full acquittal for Penny, it means the justice system in New York is not doing its job.
Rep. Jerry Nadler has left the race to become a ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, NBC News reported. The New York Democrat and longtime lawmaker endorsed Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) who only two days ago announced he would challenge Nadler for the position.
Nadler, 77, has been in Congress since 1992 and has been a leader on the Judiciary Committee since 2019. Now, Raskin is expected to take the position as there are no challengers with Nadler out of the way.
The powerful position is meant to keep the FBI and Department of Justice in check. Nadler announced his intentions Thursday in a letter to fellow lawmakers, complete with hysterical predictions about President-elect Donald Trump.
"As our country faces the return of Donald Trump, and the renewed threats to our democracy and our way of life that he represents, I am very confident that Jamie would ably lead the Judiciary Committee as we confront this growing danger. Therefore, I have decided not to run for Ranking Member of the Judiciary Committee in the 119th Congress," Nadler wrote.
The Democratic Party has singled Raskin out as their next big thing. This was made known when then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi chose him to be the lead prosecutor for Trump's second impeachment over the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol.
Pelosi also appointed him to head the House Select Committee on the Jan. 6 Attack. At the time, Democrats considered this their ace in the hole for getting rid of Trump for good, and Raskin's appointment was a signal of his future importance.
Raskin ran with that and parlayed the notoriety into a 2022 book, "Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth, and the Trials of American Democracy." He wrote about the interplay between grieving his 25-year-old's Dec. 31, 2020 suicide and the political uprising less than a week later.
He also draws on his fight with cancer twice to oppose "authoritarianism and MAGA’s campaign to dismantle our Constitutional system and the rule of law as we know it," Raskin claimed. "I hope to be at the center of this fight and — as someone who has battled cancer and chemotherapy — I can tell you that I will never, never surrender," Raskin said.
This narrative has cemented Raskin's position as a politician to watch in the coming years, especially considering they have no standouts to speak of besides him. Their desperation is palpable, but it seems Raskin is doing all he can to rally excitement for Democrats.
With Raskin a shoo-in for the leadership position, his current post as the ranking Democrat on the Oversight Committee will become vacant. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) has already jumped in his grave, but he may get pushback from "Squad" member Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
The New York Democrat said she was "receiving a lot of input from my colleagues, and we'll be making a decision" but has yet to commit to putting her name forward. For his part, Connolly argued that he was the better choice because of his experience running another Oversight Committee.
"To me, it's not generational. It's about experience and record and capability, that's how I got to present it," Connolly said.
"And she's a new talent and has a lot of promise, but I'm the only one in the race ... who, in fact, has a subcommittee. I've invested in the committee. I think that's really important," he added.
The shakeup to Congress from the 2024 election seems to have ripple effects for people like Nadler. Democrats will need fresh leadership if they have any hope of regaining power in the coming years, and they believe Raskin is a good bet.
Prince Harry set the record straight after he and Meghan Markle have stepped out separately to several events, the New York Post reported. He chalked it up to rumors while the pair practiced a "twin-track approach" to overhaul their tarnished image.
There have been several rumors about a split between Harry and the Duchess of Sussex as they appear alone on separate coasts. On Wednesday, Markle stepped onto the red carpet at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills for this year's Paley Honors Fall Gala.
The 43-year-old was decked out in a designer gown but did not have her prince on her arm. Instead, Markle was at the event as the guest of Tyler Perry, a longtime friend and godfather of her daughter Princess Lilibet.
Meanwhile, Harry was on the other side of the country in New York City to attend the New York Times’ DealBook conference. The couple insists they are not headed for divorce despite the thousands of miles between them.
Royal experts see the physical separation as a sign of a marriage in shambles. Harry attempted to dispel those rumors with his own take when asked about the chatter about his marriage.
"Apparently we’ve bought or moved house 10, 12 times. We’ve apparently divorced maybe 10, 12 times as well," Harry clumsily said of the rumors surrounding the couple.
"So it’s just like, 'what?'" he added. "It’s hard to keep up with, but that’s why you just sort of ignore it," Harry went on.
"The people I feel most sorry about are the trolls. Their hopes are just built and built, and it’s like, ‘Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes,’ and then it doesn’t happen," Harry said.
"So I feel sorry for them. Genuinely, I do," he added.
Despite the couple's insistence that all is well for the ex-royals, who relinquished their royal duties and moved to California in 2020, there seem to be plenty of signs of trouble. As Fox News reported, watchers of the royal family note that the pair have increasingly seemed at odds.
Harry has all but severed ties with most of his family, thanks in no small part to his wife's accounts of how she was mistreated. The move to California was supposed to be a fresh start, but their attempts at increasing their fame and popularity have fallen short.
Kinsey Schofield, who hosts the "To Di For Daily" podcast about the royal family, believes this has caused a rift in the marriage. "Last summer, Rolling Stone ran the story, ‘Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Are in Their Flop Era.' The Sussexes have accomplished nothing significant since. Are they still technically in their flop era?" Schofield questioned.
"I am not going to applaud Prince Harry for successfully networking… I have higher expectations than that. But if we continue to see Prince Harry work away from Meghan after the new year, I think it’s fair to debate what a professional divorce means for the couple personally," the podcaster added.
It's unclear whether these signs point to a divorce or if they're strategizing to recapture some of the fame that now eludes them since moving to the U.S. However, it's undeniable that the relationship seemed doomed as soon as Harry gave up his family and identity because of Markle.
Ten members of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's administration have offered their resignations following Tuesday's call for martial law, ABC News reported. Among those to leave is Yoon's Presidential Chief of Staff Jeong Jin-seok.
During a late-night speech Tuesday, Yoon announced that circumstances in the country warranted a military crackdown on the people. He claimed that the nation's Democratic Party, which opposes Yoon, posed a threat to the nation.
Yoon claimed that the party was aligned with North Korea, unduly exerting control over parliament and stymied the business of government. This move sparked immediate outrage that turned into protests at the National Assembly.
The order was lifted hours later when all 190 members of the governing body showed up and unanimously voted to cancel the decree. Since then, there have been calls for Yoon to step down as well.
The fallout continues as the secretaries and advisers left Yoon in the wake of the debacle. Now, the South Korean Democratic Party is calling to impeach Yoon if he doesn't tender his resignation, Fox News reported.
"President Yoon Suk Yeol’s martial law declaration was a clear violation of the constitution. It didn’t abide by any requirements to declare it," the party's statement said.
"His martial law declaration was originally invalid and a grave violation of the constitution. It was a grave act of rebellion and provides perfect grounds for his impeachment," the statement added.
Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung admonished Yoon's declaration as "unconstitutional" and a move that "goes against the people" with its military. "President Yoon declared emergency martial law for no reason," he said.
Some are also calling for Yoon's entire cabinet to resign in teh wake of this serious miscalculation. This was the first time the nation called in its military against its own people since it became a democracy in 1987.
A White House National Security Council spokesperson weighed in with a statement after the matter was resolved. "We are relieved President Yoon has reversed course on his concerning declaration of martial law and respected the ROK National Assembly's vote to end it," the statement said.
"Democracy is at the foundation of the U.S.-ROK alliance, and we will continue to monitor the situation," the spokesperson added. The New York Times suggested this may have happened because President Joe Biden will be handing power over to President-elect Donald Trump next month.
Of course, it also blamed Trump for this and likened Yoon's move to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. However, Biden has had the most influence after meddling in the region to get Japan and South Korea to improve relations.
The president declared a win in March 2023 over a "groundbreaking new chapter of cooperation and partnership" agreement between Japan and South Korea forged to de-escalate tensions, the Washington Examiner reported. Now, that legacy may be in jeopardy with Yoon's move toward martial law because of perceived political threat.
The situation in South Korea seems to have resolved for the most part. However, this will likely be another mess Biden made, and Trump will spend the next four years cleaning it up.
President-elect Trump warned Hamas and its allies that there will be "ALL HELL TO PAY" if they don't release hostages by Jan. 20, 2025, Breitbart reported. Trump wrote this on his Truth Social Monday after it was confirmed an American hostage was already dead.
Omer Neutra, an American-Israeli, presumed captured on during Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, has been dead since that date. His family said in a statement that President Joe Biden and Trump must "use all of their leverage and resources to return all 101 hostages — living and the deceased — to their families as soon as possible."
The family previously spoke at the Republican National Convention, where Trump warned Hamas about the coming day of wrath. "To the entire world, we want our hostages back—and they better be back before I assume office, or you will be paying a very big price," Trump said during his acceptance speech.
Neutra's family also spoke at the Democratic National Convention. However, with his death now confirmed, Trump made it clear that there would be no mercy if they didn't give up the remaining hostages.
Unlike other world leaders who are afraid of their own shadows, Trump was direct and firm about what would happen to Hamas and all who sponsor the terrorist state. He also expressed his frustration with the way Biden and other leaders have handled it.
"Everybody is talking about the hostages who are being held so violently, inhumanely, and against the will of the entire World, in the Middle East – But it’s all talk, and no action!" Trump began.
"Please let this TRUTH serve to represent that if the hostages are not released prior to January 20, 2025, the date that I proudly assume Office as President of the United States, there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East, and for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against Humanity," Trump promised. Although Trump didn't mention military action, but it's clear that's what was meant.
"Those responsible will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied History of the United States of America. RELEASE THE HOSTAGES NOW!" Trump urged.
Neutra was a resident of Plainview, New York, but was serving as a tank commander with the Israeli Defense Forces when the Hamas attack happened, the New York Post reported. "Omer was a man of values, blessed with talents and a Zionist in every sense of the word," a statement from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
"He immigrated to Israel to enlist in the IDF, chose a combat path and was chosen to command and lead," Netanyahu continued. Until Monday's confirmation, the 21-year-old was presumed to be alive.
Unfortunately, Neutra was killed in the initial attack last year, and Hamas took his body to the Gaza Strip. He was one of eight Israeli-Americans captured by Hamas who were not part of the hostage exchange last year.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul ordered the flags at half-staff on Tuesday in his honor. "For months, we’ve prayed for the safe return of Omer Neutra and all those kidnapped by Hamas on October 7th. This horrific news shakes all New Yorkers to our core," the Democrat said in a statement.
Tragically, Neutra was killed in the line of duty while defending Israel from the terrorists. What's worse is that nobody in power is actively moving to make it all stop except the incoming president.