News

A Texas man died after being given a lethal injection on Wednesday ... becoming the first person to be executed in the United States in 2026.

Charles Victor Thompson was pronounced dead at 6:50 PM Central Time at the Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville, about 70 miles north of Houston, the Associated Press reports. He was 55.

Thompson fatally shot his ex-girlfriend, Glenda Dennise Hayslip, and her boyfriend, Darren Keith Cain, at her Houston apartment in April 1998 ... he was convicted of capital murder the following year and was sentenced to death.

Thompson had his original sentence overturned ... but he was retried in 2005, convicted and was again sentenced to die by lethal injection.

In November 2005, he escaped from the Harris County Jail in Houston and spent three days on the run before he was arrested in Shreveport, Louisiana -- he'd tried to receive wire transfers of money from abroad in an attempt to flee to Canada.

The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles denied Thompson's request to commute his death sentence to a lesser penalty on Monday. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Thompson's final appeal about an hour before he was executed.

Thompson expressed regret for what happened in 1998 just prior to his execution and reportedly said there were "no winners in this situation." In 2018, he was featured in one episode of Netflix's "I Am a Killer" series. In an October interview with the Houston Press last year, he joked around with prison staff

Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare said Thompson's execution was "justice a long time coming."

Andy Byron and Kristin Cabot -- the couple who got caught having an affair at a Coldplay concert last summer -- won't ever live it down ... because Pepsi's thrown the moment into their new ad campaign!

The soda giant just dropped their Super Bowl ad on social media ... which begins with a polar bear -- an iconic Coca-Cola mascot -- taking the Pepsi Challenge, and choosing Pepsi over Coke.

The shocked bear runs off to a therapy session -- with a heavily bearded Taika Waititi talking him through his issues -- before he hits the city streets and meets a lady bear on the street ... who offers him a Pepsi.

The two then attend a concert together ... where they're shown on the Jumbotron ... cuddled up and sipping on the beverage.

Yet another new angle of the newest video of Alex Pretti tussling with federal agents in Minneapolis, 11 days before he was shot to death, has surfaced ... and you can see the violent altercation and clearly hear the insults he hurled at the officers leading up to the scuffle.

Watch the intense video recorded on January 13 -- at about 17 minutes in, Pretti trots up as a crowd forms around two SUVs blocking traffic ... he shouts insults at the agents and eagerly flips them the bird, and dares them to pepper-spray him and assault him.

An agent confronts him, then backs off as they get into their SUVs ... you can see Pretti spit toward the open rear door, then kick the vehicle's taillight. At that point, agents get back out and wrestle him to the ground as protesters continue to scream at the agents.

We showed you another angle of the same chaos Wednesday, with a closer view of the late ICU nurse being slammed to the ground. He's somehow able to get up ... and the protest continues on as agents deploy tear gas to break up the crowds of angry residents and drive off.

Ads for Melania Trump's documentary "Melania" have been getting a lot of attention in L.A. ... but not in a good way. The city's public transit agency has reported a huge rise in vandalism on buses and at stops featuring the First Lady's face.

Defaced with expletives, Adolf Hitler mustaches, and references to Hitler's wife Eva Braun, "Melania" posters are getting tagged at bus stops all over the city, sending LA Metro officials into panic mode.

According to L.A.'s NBC4, the agency is scrambling to reassign buses with "Melania" posters ... bus stops featuring the promos have also been vandalized, though Metro does not oversee the stops.

Lady Gaga took a moment at her concert in Japan to blast ICE ... calling out the way they "mercilessly" target families in a passionate speech.

The singer-songwriter was performing in Tokyo Thursday night ... when she took a break from playing songs to get real about the state of the USA.

Gaga says she's headed back home after her incredibly successful 'Mayhem Ball' tour ... and her heart's aching for all the families dealing with immigration raids and other scary situations with the federal law enforcement agency.

Alex Pretti busted the tail light of a federal agent's SUV days before he was shot to death ... and the tense exchange -- while he was armed -- played out on camera.

The Minneapolis ICU nurse, who was killed by Customs and Border Protection officers Saturday, appears in a video reportedly recorded January 13 and published by The News Movement. Pretti's wearing a remarkably similar outfit to the one he wore 11 days later when he was shot.

The clip starts with Pretti yelling and appearing to spit on the vehicle as federal officers are driving away from the area ... before he brings his foot up and kicks and shatters the rear right tail light, leaving it hanging by cords.

It looks like Jenna Wolfe and Stephanie Gosk will NOT be getting back together to try and save their marriage ... because Stephanie just filed for divorce ... TMZ has learned.

The NBC News correspondent beelined it to court Wednesday and filed to divorce the former "Today" host after nearly 13 years of marriage ... according to online records.

Jenna and Stephanie had been separated since September 2021 ... but now it's Stephanie making the first move and pulling the trigger on a divorce filing.

Brooke Nevils -- a woman who accused Matt Lauer of raping her in a hotel room during the 2014 Winter Olympics -- has revisited the brutal experience she says left her broken.

After first reporting Matt in 2017, Brooke has now written a memoir, "Unspeakable Things: Silence, Shame and the Stories We Choose to Believe," which details the initial assault and explains her consensual encounters that followed.

In an excerpt, published by The Cut, Brooke writes, "I have spent the long years since using my otherwise abandoned skills as a journalist to report and write the book about sexual harassment and assault that I wish had existed for me."

Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) represents a district of the city of Minneapolis, and she's known for her progressive views and outspoken tendencies, which have earned her the support -- and ire -- of many ... including the president of the United States.

Here's a look at the politician's background and see how she dealt with a surprising attack during a town hall meeting this week ... on her home turf.

A local TV news meteorologist died in a plane crash Tuesday ... the plane he was in crashed into an icy river near Emmett, Idaho, about 30 miles northwest of Boise.

KBOI-TV confirmed the station's chief meteorologist, Roland Steadham, was on the plane. The other person on the plane was also killed ... that person's identity hasn't been released.

The Gem County Sheriff's Office said in a statement Steadham's plane clipped a power line before crashing into ice on the river.

A large-scale power outage was caused by the power line being hit by the plane ... power's since been restored to the area around the crash, according to KTVB-TV.

It wasn't specified if Steadham was flying the plane when the incident occurred ... and the cause of the crash is currently under investigation. Investigators found GoPro cameras in the plane's wreckage, which may have been recording during the crash, reports KIVI-TV.

Charity Pierce -- best known for her appearance on TLC's "My 600-lb Life" -- has died ... TMZ has learned.

A family source tells TMZ ... Charity died Tuesday at 1:20 AM, surrounded by her loved ones. Our source says Charity had been in hospice care for a month or two due to ongoing medical conditions -- including lymphedema and fluid buildup in her lungs -- adding the fluid in her lungs may have contributed to her death.

The reality TV star's death was also confirmed by her daughter, Charly Jo, who shared an emotional post on Facebook announcing her mother's death. In the message, Charly said she was by Charity's side when she took her last breath ... and that Charity is now "finally at peace."

"I wasn't going to post about this," Charly wrote, explaining an influx of calls and texts prompted her to share the heartbreaking news publicly. She wrote Charity is reunited with deceased family members and closed the post saying how grateful she was to be by her mom's side before taking her last breath.

Charity rose to national attention in Season 3 of "My 600-lb Life," where viewers watched her battle severe obesity, health complications, and emotional trauma. At her heaviest, Charity weighed nearly 800 pounds, before she sought professional help.

Nicki Minaj is doubling down on her support of Donald Trump ... she just told POTUS she's his biggest supporter.

During a U.S. Treasury event today promoting its new "Trump Accounts" investment strategy, Nicki took the podium, where she first seemed to be at a loss for words ... but that didn't last long.

"I am probably the president's number one fan, and that is not going to change," she told the audience in Washington, D.C. "The 'hate' does not affect me ... it actually motivates me to support him more."

The man who sprayed Rep. Ilhan Omar with an unknown substance in a syringe was hauled off to a Minnesota jail ... and posed for a mugshot looking like a total sad sack.

Anthony James Kazmierczak was booked for assault into the Hennepin County Jail Tuesday night following his shocking on-camera interaction with Congresswoman Omar.

As you can see from his booking photo, Kazmierczak had a very rough night, sporting bloodshot eyes with messy hair. He's currently held without bail.

On Tuesday evening, Omar (D-Minn.) was standing at a podium speaking to a crowd of people during a town hall meeting when Kazmierczak came out of nowhere and sprayed the politician with the unidentified brown liquid.

Following weeks of protest in Minnesota, residents of Phoenix, Arizona are now responding to federal agents descending on their city … and fresh video shows a crowd blasted by pepper-spray in a drive-by attack by DHS officers.

In new video, protesters gather at a sidewalk to yell at two trucks driving past ... and get hosed in their faces by pepper-spray without real provocation. Watch the clip ... people hold signs and chant in the parking lot of Zipps Sports Grill in north Phoenix when two unmarked pickup trucks pull up.

The video shows the passenger-side window of the second truck open, and a torrent of pepper-spray is fired at the group standing on the sidewalk. The men inside -- later identified by a local news outlet as HSI officers -- drive off as one pedestrian is brought to their knees by the chemicals.

President Donald Trump says he has his doubts about the strange syringe attack on Rep. Ilhan Omar Tuesday night ... claiming she "probably" set the incident up herself!

We told you all about it -- the Democratic congresswoman representing Minneapolis was squirted with an unknown liquid during a town hall in the city ... and ABC News Senior Political Correspondent Rachel Scott says the prez told her afterward Omar is a "fraud" and "probably had herself sprayed, knowing her."

Notably, he reportedly admitted he didn't see the video of the attack ... and he said "I hope I don't have to bother," according to Scott.

Chaos at a Minnesota town hall where Rep. Ilhan Omar was speaking ... a man rushed up to the podium and squirted her with an unknown substance ... and it's all on video.

The Congresswoman was meeting in her Minneapolis district Tuesday for her first town hall since Border Patrol agents shot and killed Alex Pretti when she was approached by the liquid-spraying maniac.

Omar had just called on Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to resign when the man leapt out of his seat and charged at her ... squirting her top with an unknown, liquid substance.