International

MAGA Movement accompanies Donald Trump to vote in Palm Beach

Dozens of supporters of former president (2017-2021) and Republican candidate Donald Trump met this Tuesday at the voting center of the Morton and Barbara Mandel Recreation Center, in Palm Beach (Florida, USA), to support him and accompany him to vote in the place.

“I am here because I am a faithful follower of Donald Trump, he is a leader who can say no more, because we need a leader for the economy and people,” Juan David Rubio, a Colombian-American resident in the area, who spent hours waiting for the arrival of the former president, told EFE.

Rubio is one of the hundreds of followers of the White House aspirant who is part of the MAGA (Make America Great Again) movement, which in Spanish means ‘Let’s Make the United States Great Again’, and who were encouraged to accompany Trump at the time of casting his vote for the Presidency.

Dressed in a black T-shirt on which Trump’s photo is printed on the words “Never Surrender”, Rubio repeated the rhetoric of Trump’s campaign about how the Democrats have destroyed the country, without giving further details.

The support of the MAGA movement to Trump

For her part, the Cuban Xiomara Claudio, who had a cap and posters in support of the Republican, explained that she was there “to support our President Trump because he is the only one who will protect this country. Not Kamala Harris (in reference to the vice president and Democratic candidate).”

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Former New York Mayor Rudy Giulliani also arrived at the place, assuring the press that if the Republican loses the elections it is “because the Democratic Party is the most corrupt in the history of the United States.”

Trump’s supporters of the MAGA movement spent hours standing, enduring the sun and intermittent rain, hoping to see their candidate.

In the early hours of the morning, the line in front of the polling center was extended for several blocks, with people waiting to cast their vote, in what is considered a crucial day.

The only political activists not related to the Trump movement were some women who promoted the right to abortion in Florida, a point that will be decided in a referendum included in the ballot, in which seats for the Senate, members of the House of Representatives, school district leaders and judges are also chosen.

Trump is “very confident” in victory

Numerous media, including EFE, installed their equipment in the community center with a playground, soccer fields and classrooms for neighbors, a gym and a cafeteria.

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The former president arrived at the place with his wife, Melania Trump, and cast the vote shortly after 11:40 local time (16:40 GMT)

“We are doing very well in Georgia (‘hinge’ state) and everywhere,” Trump told the media at the voting center of this city where his luxurious Mar-a-Lago complex is located.

Trump said that he is “very confident” in the victory, which, according to him, will not even be by a very narrow margin, to ensure that this has been “the best” of the three electoral campaigns he has starred in.

However, he complained about the probable delay in calculating the election results.

However, Trump did not go out to greet his supporters. Once it was known that he would not do it, the members of the MAGA movement left the place and its surroundings, although they promised to meet around the Palm Beach County Convention Center, where the campaign will see the vote count and followers of the tycoon have already begun to arrive.

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Strict security measures

The streets adjacent to the voting center and the convention center were closed from the day before, as well as those surrounding the former president’s house, in a measure that had already been implemented following previous incidents such as the arrest of a man with a gun near the golf course last July.

The city has been heavily guarded. “We have no reason to think that something could happen, but the community must know that we are always attentive in case anything happens, and we are ready to act, if necessary,” the local police spokesman, Captain Will Rothrock, told the press when talking about the operation.

He added that the Palm Beach County Police Department closely monitors security during the election process, in coordination with other state and federal security agencies, including the U.S. Secret Service.

International

Luigi Mangione Pleads Guilty to Killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson

Luigi Mangione admitted Friday to fatally shooting Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, the largest health insurance group in the United States, during an appearance before a federal judge.

The case shocked the U.S. business community and dates back to December 2024, when Mangione opened fire on Thompson, 50, on a Manhattan street. Prosecutors have described the attack as being motivated by Mangione’s opposition to the U.S. health insurance system.

“On the morning of December 4, I shot Mr. Thompson in Manhattan and he died,” Mangione said as he pleaded guilty to a federal stalking charge related to his pursuit of the executive.

Mangione, 28, is scheduled to be sentenced on December 18, and prosecutors have indicated that they will seek a life sentence.

In addition to the federal charges related to stalking Thompson, Mangione also faces a murder case brought by the state of New York.

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Following his guilty plea in federal court, Mangione’s defense asked a state court to dismiss the state charges, arguing that prosecuting him again for the same conduct would violate protections against double jeopardy.

“We have just filed our motion in state court to explain why the charges should be dismissed under New York’s protections against double jeopardy,” Mangione’s attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, said Friday.

Both the federal and state cases could result in a life sentence. Two other federal charges that initially carried the possibility of the death penalty were dismissed by a judge earlier this year.

International

ICE Plan to Equip Agents With Electric Shock Gloves Raises Abuse Concerns

Plans to equip U.S. immigration agents with gloves capable of delivering electric shocks are raising concerns over potential abuses by a law enforcement agency that critics accuse of using excessive force and providing inadequate training to its personnel.

The plan involves the potential purchase of electric-shock gloves for agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the agency primarily responsible for carrying out President Donald Trump’s campaign to deport millions of undocumented immigrants.

Democratic Representative Maxwell Frost criticized the proposal on X, arguing that the agency has already faced accusations of excessive force during immigration enforcement operations.

“As if assaulting and shooting people in the streets wasn’t enough,” Frost wrote. He also criticized the reported $20 million potential expenditure on the devices and called for greater restrictions on ICE.

The agency has faced growing scrutiny following a series of deadly shootings during immigration enforcement operations. Among the incidents were the deaths of two U.S. citizens in Minnesota in January who were participating in protests against the agency.

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Critics have focused on the tactics used by ICE agents when detaining immigrants, as well as allegations that training standards for newly recruited personnel have been lowered.

According to a procurement plan first reported by the Associated Press, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees ICE, could spend between $10 million and $20 million on the devices.

The gloves are described by the agency as tools intended for “distraction and de-escalation,” rather than lethal weapons. The system, known as GLOVE, stands for “Generated Low-Output Voltage Emitter.”

The device is manufactured by Compliant Technologies, a Kentucky-based company that describes its products as advanced non-lethal tools designed to protect and assist law enforcement and other personnel.

The proposal comes amid an intensifying national debate over ICE’s enforcement methods and the use of force during the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

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International

Three U.S. Executions Set for Same Day as Trump Pushes to Expand Death Penalty

The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 U.S. states, while three others —California, Oregon and Pennsylvania— currently have moratoriums in place.

The United States is set to carry out three executions on the same day, a rare occurrence that has not happened since 2010, according to the nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center.

President Donald Trump has sought to expand the use of capital punishment for what he describes as “the most heinous crimes.” In April, the Department of Justice proposed expanding execution methods to include firing squads, lethal gas and electrocution.

Tennessee is scheduled to execute Anthony Darrell Dugard Hines, 66, on Thursday. He was sentenced to death for the 1985 murder of a woman, according to local media.

In Oklahoma, Carlos Cuesta-Rodríguez, 70, is scheduled to be executed for a 2003 murder.

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Meanwhile, Alabama plans to execute Jeremy Williams, 42, who was sentenced to death for the rape and murder of a five-year-old girl.

The United States carried out 47 executions in 2025, the highest number since 2009, when 52 executions were recorded.

Florida conducted the largest number of executions last year, with 19, followed by Alabama, South Carolina and Texas, with five each.

Of the executions carried out in 2025, 39 were conducted by lethal injection. Three were carried out by firing squad and five through nitrogen hypoxia, a method that involves forcing nitrogen gas into a face mask, depriving the prisoner of oxygen.

The United Nations has condemned nitrogen gas as a cruel and inhumane method of capital punishment.