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Van Jones says Charlie Kirk sent him a message about getting together to respectfully disagree about some major issues the day before he died ... and it underscored what Kirk was all about.

Van shared the alleged DM from Charlie with Anderson Cooper on CNN ... and it's basically Charlie reaching out to get Van to debate him on the Charlotte train stabbing.

Van and Charlie had been going back and forth over whether the Ukrainian refugee who was killed was attacked because she was white ... and the beef was heated. But Van says Charlie reached out to have a civilized and gentlemanly discussion.

Jeffrey Epstein made himself the king on his own chessboard, lording over his queens -- literally!

If that doesn't sound strange enough ... get a load of these photos of Epstein and a bunch of beautiful young women -- who, we're told, were all adults. Our sources with direct knowledge of the bizarre project tell us ... approximately 9 women in their 20s walked into an NYC photo shop in 2016, and asked the staff to take photos of them which would be made into pieces for a chessboard.

We're told the ladies said they were in a chess club, but didn't reveal who the club's president was. Over the next several months, our sources say the women came into the shop and posed for 3-dimensional pics in stylish outfits.

An armed man posing as a law enforcement officer at Charlie Kirk's memorial service site was taken into federal custody Friday and charged by the state of Arizona.

The Arizona Department of Public Safety tells TMZ ... 42-year-old Joshua Runkles was taken into custody and booked into the Maricopa County Jail after "exhibiting suspicious behavior" Friday afternoon at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona ... the location of Sunday's memorial service for Kirk.

The Arizona DPS and Secret Service tell TMZ the man informed Secret Service agents he was armed when they approached him, and he falsely claimed to be a member of law enforcement. Officials say he is not affiliated with law enforcement.

Well, that didn't take long -- shortly after bullets ripped through a local ABC news station in California's capital ... cops made an arrest.

Police in Sacramento tell TMZ ... 64-year-old Anibal Hernandezsantana is the alleged shooter ... and he's been arrested and slapped with three felony charges.

Cops say Hernandezsantana is charged with assault with a deadly weapon, shooting into an occupied building and negligent discharge of a firearm.

Luigi Mangione's attorneys are taking a big crap on the federal death penalty case against their client in connection with the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson -- and they're asking a judge to completely throw out the indictment!

In new court documents, obtained by TMZ, Luigi's legal team, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, Marc Agnifilo and Jacob Kaplan, claim that Luigi's rights have been "intentionally and serially violated" by the NYPD, federal government and other public officials in order to secure the possibility of the death penalty for him ... and due to these violations, the "unconstitutional" indictment needs to be struck down.

They list numerous examples as to how Luigi -- accused of shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson to death in December 2024 -- has been wronged, starting with the NYPD's alleged leaking of information pertaining to the investigation, including a handwritten manifesto found on his body when he was taken into custody.

President Donald Trump is picking off international drug traffickers again ... he ordered the deadly strike of a vessel he says was packed with illegal narcotics.

47 jumped on Truth Social Friday night to boast about his third strike in recent memory on boats transporting drugs like fentanyl into the United States through international waters.

Check out video of the strike ... it's quite the eye-popper.

Cops in Sacramento say someone shot up the ABC10 news station downtown Friday afternoon ... with police responding to reports of shots being fired just after 1:30 PM ... and footage shows three bullet holes in one of the building's windows.

Journalists were working inside the building when the bullets came bursting through ... but incredibly, no one was injured.

The autopsy for De'Martravion "Trey" Reed -- a black student found hanging from a tree this week at Delta State University -- has been completed ... and officials have determined his manner of death was suicide.

The Cleveland Police Department announced an autopsy performed by the Mississippi State Medical Examiner's Office was "consistent with the initial investigation, determining the cause of death to be hanging and the manner of death as suicide."

Final toxicology results are still pending, and can take between 2 and 4 weeks, police noted. They also said "all files and investigative material" have been sent to the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office for further review.

An attorney for the family of De'Martravion "Trey" Reed says cops initially told Trey's relatives he was found dead in his dorm ... even though police told the media he was found hanging from a tree on his college's campus ... but law enforcement says the family is mistaken.

Here's the deal ... cops in Mississippi announced Monday they had found Trey's body hanging from a tree on campus at Delta State University and said foul play was not suspected.

Attorney Vanessa Jones is representing the Reed family and on Tuesday she told the Mississippi Free Press, the university and Bolivar County officials were leaving Trey's family in the dark.

President Donald Trump and J.D. Vance are slated to deliver speeches at Sunday's Turning Point USA memorial for Charlie Kirk, along with other notable names from the administration.

Charlie's widow Erika is also set to speak at the Arizona event -- this will be her second time publicly addressing her husband's murder. She first gave a passionate speech about carrying on her husband's legacy last Friday, just 2 days after his horrific death.

White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Cabinet Secretaries RFK Jr., Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth, and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard will also attend. Donald Trump Jr., Tucker Carlson, Stephen Miller and Sergio Gor will make their way to the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona to honor Charlie as well. More names were expected to be announced.

Donald Trump and his wife, Melania, are in for some royal treatment ... meeting with the British Royal Family at Windsor Castle.

The President and First Lady touched down Wednesday via helicopter, where they were immediately greeted by Prince William and Kate Middleton at the Walled Garden.

From there, the Prince and Princess of Wales brought the Trumps to Victoria House for a sit-down with King Charles and Queen Camilla. The Queen is in attendance despite recently falling ill due to "acute sinusitis" ... and it marks the first face-to-face between DT and Charles since he took the throne.

Tyler Robinson -- the 22-year-old Utah native charged with murdering conservative pundit Charlie Kirk -- just went in front of a judge for the first time ... and he was stone-faced.

Robinson appeared via video call for his first court hearing Tuesday in Utah ... staring blankly ahead as a judge rattled off the charges against him.

Earlier Tuesday, Robinson was officially charged with aggravated murder ... and prosecutors said they would seek the death penalty. When capital punishment was brought up in court, Robinson simply looked down.

Prosecutors in Utah just released a conversation police say alleged Charlie Kirk killer Tyler Robinson had with his lover/roommate after the fatal shooting ... and it includes a confession.

According to documents, Robinson texted his roommate shortly after the murder on September 10th to look for a note under a keyboard. The note stated, "I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I'm going to take it."

After reading the note, the roommate texted Robinson, "You weren't the one who did it, right????" Robinson responded, "I am, I'm sorry."

There's some fishy business going on near Disney World -- police say a man in scuba gear swam up to a popular Disney Springs restaurant and stole thousands in cash!

Florida's Orange County Sheriff’s Office says the swimmer suspect took between $10-$20K from the Paddlefish restaurant shortly after midnight Monday, after forcing 2 employees to stand in the corner of the manager's office with their eyes closed, WFTV9 reports.

Sources told the outlet the perp tied up the employees, who were counting the money. After he grabbed the cash, he reportedly put his wetsuit and scuba gear back on and hopped into the nearby pond to make his escape.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is blaming politicians -- and social media -- for the deep divide America is facing following the assassination of Charlie Kirk ... and calling on younger generations to help heal the divide.

The 'Terminator' star spoke at University of Southern California's Democracy Day Monday and expressed his shock and sadness over Charlie's murder, calling him a "great communicator" who could debate people who both agreed and disagreed with him.

Check out the clip -- Arnold said there's plenty of blame to go around ... from social media and mainstream media to politicians on both sides of the scale, and warns America needs to "be careful" about where things are headed. He reasons ... "We have to be very careful that we don't get any closer to the cliff because when you fall down the cliff, down there, there's no democracy."

1:18 PM PT -- A Discord spokesperson tells TMZ ... "During our investigation, Discord identified an account belonging to the suspect. We have not found or received any evidence that the suspect planned this incident on Discord or promoted violence on Discord."

They continued ... "The messages referenced in reporting about weapon retrieval and planning details were not Discord messages, and likely took place on a phone-number based messaging platform. We continue to work closely with the FBI and local authorities, and will continue to deliver prompt responses to their requests for assistance."

The suspected killer of Charlie Kirk was messaging with people over social media after the assassination last week, claiming a lookalike fired the deadly shot, according to a new report.

The New York Times says Tyler Robinson was chatting with 20 individuals online after the FBI released photos of Kirk's alleged killer, which were the spitting image of Robinson.

One person reportedly recognized Robinson, tagging him in a post with the FBI pics and asking where he was at the time of the murder.