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An African elephant weighing roughly 4 tons that was brought to the Texas Republican party’s annual convention to excite attenders ended up drawing widespread attention for the wrong reasons after she urinated on the convention floor and became the focus of animal welfare concerns.
Inside the George R Brown convention center in Houston on Friday, attenders had been told to prepare for a “larger-than-life surprise” after governor Greg Abbott finished his keynote speech. Organizers also displayed a message asking people to keep the aisles clear.
Shortly after Abbott concluded his remarks, Paige, an African elephant, entered the convention hall adorned with a large campaign-themed banner. As Paige moved through the venue, she suddenly halted and relieved herself, according to videos shared online.
The Texas Republican convention serves as a major event where delegates and party officials from around the state gather to establish priorities, generate enthusiasm and strengthen support before important elections. The appearance of a live elephant – a longstanding symbol for the Republican party – was intended as a show of solidarity in the organisation.
Footage captured the elephant briefly stopping during the procession while urine streamed onto the floor, leading to noticeable reactions from those watching. At least one attender could be heard shouting, “Oh no,” as others laughed or reacted with surprise.
The Texas Democratic party quickly circulated video of the incident and presented it as symbolic.
“Governor Abbott closed out his speech at the Texas GOP convention with a live elephant. It then peed on the floor as it left the room. The perfect metaphor for the Texas Republican Party,” the post read.
The Texas Republican party also posted a video of Paige beginning her walk through the crowd on X, writing: “Welcome Paige! Thanks for stopping by the State Convention! What a treat for our delegates and guests – it’s one they won’t ever forget!”
Paige is part of the East Texas Elephant Experience, an animal facility located in the eastern city of Cut and Shoot, Texas. The company’s website says that Paige, along with two other elephants, were brought to the US after their parents were poached for ivory in the late 1990s. The business offers visitors an “up close and personal” experience with the elephants for $125 per ticket, but apparently also offers their elephants to be rented out.
The Animal Rights Coalition has been highly critical of the East Texas Elephant Experience, accusing them in a 2024 Facebook post of forcing the animals to travel to various events “so they can be used by humans for a few moments of selfish entertainment”.
“They deserve better. They deserve true sanctuary where they can live their lives free from exploitation and the threat of harm,” the statement added.
The advocacy group also has a page on their website titled “Send Jeanie, Krissy, and Paige to Sanctuary!” that further accuses the business of forcing the elephants to endure “long hours of confinement, often chained and transported in cramped trailers across the country”.
The replies to the Republican party’s X post of Paige’s arrival at the convention were also largely critical, with journalist Yashar Ali writing: “Shame on every single human being involved in torturing Paige the Elephant.”
Another commenter wrote: “This is abhorrent cruelty. Elephants are not political props. Disgusting and disgraceful.”
Paige’s species, the African elephant, is considered endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. These gigantic mammals are particularly vulnerable to big game hunting and poaching for their tusks.
Ironically, the national Republican symbol has been put in further peril in recent years after Trump loosened restrictions around the import of elephant trophies from some African countries, a practice that has significantly contributed to the population’s sharp decline.
Two of the president’s sons, Donald Jr and Eric, are prolific big-game hunters, having previously been pictured on a 2011 hunting trip posing with animals they had killed on safari, including an elephant, a buffalo and a leopard.
We’ve got drama at the College World Series, and it has nothing to do with baseball.
Pat McAfee has waged war with Rocco’s — the famous Omaha-based bar known for its Jell-O shot challenge during the 12-day tournament.
And by “war,” I mean McAfee stuffed the GM in a locker during a heated segment on his ESPN and YouTube show Friday afternoon.
“It was nowhere near what I thought it was going to be like,” McAfee said of the crew’s experience at the bar earlier this week. “I did contribute. But it was very much like a, ‘You’re lucky to be giving us this money to do this,’ as opposed to a celebration.”
Rocco’s in the crosshairs after Pat McAfee rips them
So, here’s the backstory for those who don’t want to sit through McAfee’s entire three-minute rant.
Rocco’s has become a household name in recent years for the challenge, which, on paper, seems like a great thing. Launched in 2019, the bar basically has fans pick a school to support when ordering a Jell-O shot to see which fan base can drink the most.
A general view of Rocco’s Pizza and Cantina before a game at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Neb., on June 18, 2025.(Steven Branscombe/Imagn Images)
The proceeds are then divided among a food pantry near the school ($1), a local food pantry in Omaha ($0.50) and the bar itself ($3.50).
“Incredible gimmick to kind of publicly force people who are the boosters for other schools to come compete for this,” McAfee said.
In recent years, some have argued that the challenge has basically just turned into which school’s booster club has the deepest pockets. Like the college game itself, it’s lost some authenticity.
Pat McAfee of College GameDay smiles before the game between the Georgia Bulldogs and the Mississippi Rebels at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Ga., on Oct. 18, 2025.(Roger Wimmer/ISI Photos)
McAfee, of course, made a giant donation. He’s arguably West Virginia’s most famous alum right now, and the Mountaineers are in Omaha for the first time ever.
However, when the former WVU star took his crew to Rocco’s earlier this week, the vibes weren’t great. For starters, the general manager, according to McAfee, was NOT happy he did not call ahead.
Things spiraled from there.
“Did not know we were supposed to do that,” he added. “We were just happy to come and do this entire thing. So then I start asking questions. I go, ‘How’s this work? Do I write a check?’ The guy goes, ‘Yours would bounce I think,’ and then just kept walking. It wasn’t a joke or anything. This was the general manager.”
The two then squabbled for a bit over how McAfee would ultimately pay for the shots, and then he was put in a separate room where they started unloading boxes of premade shots.
“It was very much a, ‘You’re lucky to be giving us this money to do this entire thing,’ as opposed to a celebration. And I think they were treating everybody like that,” McAfee said.
The scoreboard shows Rocco’s Jello Shot Challenge before the game between the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers and the LSU Tigers at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Neb., on June 22, 2025.(Steven Branscombe/Imagn Images)
Yikes. Not great!
I’m not a PR guru, but this can’t be great for Rocco’s. As always, there are two sides to every story. However, Pat McAfee is a media machine. He’s everywhere. Millions of people watch and listen to him every single week. Maybe more.
You don’t want to be on his bad side, especially during your biggest week of the year.
About an hour after this rant went viral, the CWS Jello Shot Counter account on Twitter updated the leaderboard with a special shout-out to McAfee for leaving the “largest tip Rocco’s has ever seen.”
The Seattle Seahawks received their Super Bowl rings on Thursday night, but one person from the team was notably absent: the game’s Most Valuable Player.
Kenneth Walker earned Super Bowl LX honors in Santa Clara after he had 27 carries for 135 yards, making him by far the best offensive player on the field.
Walker had no choice but to be the bell cow for the Seahawks after Zach Charbonnet tore his ACL in the NFC Championship game two weeks prior.
Seattle Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III runs against the New England Patriots during Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium on Feb. 8, 2026.(Mark J. Rebilas/Imagn Images)
But there was a price to pay for the Seahawks, as Walker signed a three-year, $45 million deal with the Kansas City Chiefs a month later.
Walker was the only member of the championship-winning team to not be in attendance, but it should be noted that the Chiefs’ mandatory minicamp still took place on Thursday.
By the second quarter, Walker had already joined Timmy Smith and Marcus Allen with multiple 25-yard runs in a Super Bowl.
Kenneth Walker of the Kansas City Chiefs participates during mandatory minicamp at the University of Kansas Hospital Arrowhead Training Complex in Kansas City, Missouri, on June 9, 2026.(Aaron M. Sprecher/Getty Images)
Walker was unable to find the end zone — in fact, Seattle’s only offensive touchdown came from A.J. Barner. However, Walker’s dominance on the ground helped get Seattle into scoring position. Jason Myers went 5-for-5 on his field-goal attempts after Walker’s ground-and-pound effort.
Walker’s 135 yards on the ground are tied for the eighth-most in Super Bowl history and the second most he has ever had in a game, including playoffs.
Walker’s rushing prop had been hovering around 70 yards, which he surpassed in the first half.
Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald and running back Kenneth Walker III celebrate with the Vince Lombardi trophy after defeating the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium on Feb. 8, 2026.(Mark J. Rebilas/Imagn Images)
Ring highlights include 50 white diamonds around the logo in honor of the team’s 50th season, a piece of a game ball inside the ring, a removable topper that can be used as a chain pendant and much more.
The NBA playoffs aren’t just a showcase for basketball’s biggest stars.
They’re also one of Hollywood’s hottest tickets — where A-list actors, chart-topping musicians and sports icons pack the coveted front-row seats known as “Celebrity Row.” Taylor Swift, Ben Stiller, Mariska Hargitay and more celebrities were spotted as the Knicks faced off against the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday in New York City.
The New York Knicks made a record comeback from 29 points down and moved to the brink of their first championship since 1973 by beating the San Antonio Spurs 107-106 in Game 4 of the NBA Finals.
As the Knicks inched closer to ending a decades-long championship drought, the celebrity-packed courtside section drew almost as much attention as the action on the floor. But while “Celebrity Row” may appear effortless, landing one of the most coveted seats in sports comes with unwritten rules — and even A-listers aren’t immune to the consequences when they break them.
Following New York’s dramatic victory, Taylor Swift, Ben Stiller, the Haim sisters and Mariska Hargitay celebrate.(Al Bello/Getty Images)
“Training Day” star Ethan Hawke revealed he had his front-row experience yanked from him after he made comments about former Knicks head coach Mike D’Antoni’s abrupt exit in 2012.
“They’d always hook me up,” Hawke said during an appearance on “The Bill Simmons Podcast” in 2018. “And then I called up one time, and they said, ‘That’ll be $7,800.’ I was like, ‘Why is this the first time you guys are charging me?’ And they said, ‘You should have thought of that before you went on the Jimmy Fallon show.'”
“And I was like, ‘Wow, this is real.'”
Leonardo DiCaprio, Josh Charles and Ethan Hawke attend the Jersey Nets vs. New York Knicks Game at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, in 2004.(James Devaney/WireImage)
Yet, the Knicks organization doesn’t have full control over the highly coveted courtside seats.
“The biggest misconception is that [Madison Square] Garden controls all the tickets around the court. They’re actually not,” Joe Favorito, who led communications for the NYC team from 2001 to 2008, told ABC News. He revealed that agencies, media companies and even brands control and distribute tickets to A-listers behind the scenes.
Spike Lee cheers on the Knicks courtside.(Al Bello/Getty Images)
There’s also another way for a small group of stars. Some of the famous faces you see actually own their courtside seats, including Dustin Hoffman and director Spike Lee.
Then there are a handful of seats under the control of Madison Square Garden, but they don’t come completely free.
“If you are a celebrity wanting to come and your representatives go through the process of doing that, there is, I don’t want to say it’s a payback, but there’s an understanding,” Favorito said. “There’s a little bit of an expectation of a quid pro quo for getting those seats.”
Ben Stiller, Spike Lee, Nas and Tracy Morgan pose for a photo before Game Four of the 2026 NBA Finals between the San Antonio Spurs and New York Knicks.(Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images)
If the A-lister does come to watch, he or she is unofficially expected to make a charity event contribution or show Knicks pride on the jumbotron during the game. Loyalty can get you to the top of the celebrity list, according to Favorito.
“Loyalty is tremendous,” he said.
While some celebrities earn coveted spots on “Celebrity Row” through years of loyalty to the franchise, others arrive as high-profile guests. Here’s a look at the stars who packed Madison Square Garden for Game 4.
Taylor Swift
Seated alongside friends, including the Haim sisters and Mariska Hargitay, Taylor Swift was seen cheering and dancing as the Knicks mounted a comeback.(Dustin Satloff/Getty Images)
Swift brought her star power to Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night to cheer on the New York Knicks courtside.
Swift sat with close friends Alana and Este Haim.
The pop star embraced a spirited, game-day-inspired look built around a bright royal blue “STEVIE KNICKS” T-shirt featuring bold orange lettering across the front. Alana and Este each wore matching shirts reading “KNICKOLE KIDMAN” and “KNICKELBACK.”
Swift, the Haim sisters and Mariska Hargitay joined hands and danced in a circle as the Knicks erased a 29-point deficit. At one point, Swift and Hargitay jumped up and down while embracing as the “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit” star whipped her hair back and forth.
WATCH: TAYLOR SWIFT CELEBRATES EVERY BIG KNICKS MOMENT DURING DRAMATIC FINALS WIN
Swift’s appearance at Game 4 sparked widespread discussion about whether she’s actually a Knicks fan. While the pop star is best known in sports circles for attending Kansas City Chiefs games to cheer on fiancé Travis Kelce, she has attended Knicks games in the past.
WATCH: TAYLOR SWIFT AND MARISKA HARGITAY SHARE SWEET MOMENT DURING NBA FINALS
Hargitay is a longtime New York Knicks fan and recently developed a close friendship with basketball star Jalen Brunson.
Hargitay told The Hollywood Reporter she raced nearly 10 blocks after completing her Broadway show, “Every Brilliant Thing,” to MSG to catch tip-off of game four. The “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” star has emerged as one of the Knicks’ most recognizable super-fans during New York’s push for its first NBA championship in more than five decades.
Mariska Hargitay famously inspired the name of Taylor Swift’s beloved cat, Olivia Benson, which was named after the actress’ iconic “Law & Order: SVU” character.(Dustin Satloff/Getty Images)
Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor pose during Game Four of the 2026 NBA Finals between the San Antonio Spurs and the New York Knicks on June 10.(Jim Poorten/NBAE)
Stiller has become one of the defining celebrity faces of the New York Knicks fan base. Stiller has attended most major Knicks home games at Madison Square Garden and often travels to cheer the team on from the road.
For many New Yorkers, Stiller isn’t just a Hollywood star who likes basketball — he’s one of the Knicks’ most recognizable and authentic superfans, a role he’s embraced nearly as passionately as any character he’s played on screen.
Timothée Chalamet, Kylie Jenner
Timothée Chalamet and Kylie Jenner attend Game Four of the 2026 NBA Finals.(Michael Gonzales/NBAE via Getty Images)
Timothée Chalamet was raised in Manhattan, making his Knicks fandom feel less like a Hollywood attachment and more like a hometown allegiance.
Throughout the Knicks’ postseason surge, he became a constant courtside presence at Madison Square Garden alongside girlfriend Kylie Jenner.
As a native New Yorker who wears his fandom on his sleeve, he’s become a symbol of the excitement surrounding the franchise’s resurgence and one of the celebrity supporters most closely associated with this era of Knicks basketball.
Iran, the US and mediators suggested on Saturday that a preliminary peace deal could be signed within days to end the three-month war in the Middle East, though they gave differing timelines and versions of its text.
Shehbaz Sharif, Pakistan’s prime minister, said on Saturday that Islamabad was preparing for an electronic signing within 24 hours to be followed by technical-level talks next week.
“We are closer to a peace deal than ever before … we are confident that this historic peace deal will form a strong foundation for lasting peace,” Sharif wrote on social media.
However Esmaeil Baghaei, an Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson, counselled caution.
“We will have to wait and see about the exact date of the signing of the memorandum of understanding, although it will not be tomorrow,” Baghaei was quoted as saying. “The possibility of this happening in the coming days cannot be ruled out.”
Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to seize Iran’s oil export terminal of Kharg Island and launch a new wave of attacks, then suddenly claimed a diplomatic breakthrough, saying a draft deal had been “approved” by “the highest level of Iranian leadership”.
During the conflict, the US president has claimed about 40 times that a deal was on the point of completion, only to then revert to threatening Iran with new attacks.
Officials from both the US and Iran are trying to frame the possible deal as a victory, claiming it includes a series of major concessions by their enemies.
Abbas Araghchi, the Iranian foreign minister, said on state television on Friday that the draft agreement showed his country had emerged stronger from the conflict.
“Iran is the winner of the war with the US,” he told viewers.
Hours after those remarks, US forces shot down several Iranian one-way attack drones heading toward the strait of Hormuz, the critical waterway that carried about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquid gas supplies before the conflict but was closed to most shipping by Iran within days of the outbreak of hostilities.
The proposed deal calls for reopening the strait and lifting the US naval blockade on Iranian ports, sources on either side of the talks said. Negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program would take place afterwards.
On Friday, Trump said a report of the text of the draft deal published by Iran’s semi-offical Mehr news agency, which quoted a source close to Iran’s negotiating team, bore “no relation to the truth”.
According to Mehr and Iranian officials, the agreement would end conflict on all fronts, including Lebanon, where Israel has launched an offensive against Hezbollah, and ensure the release of $24bn (£18bn) of Iran’s frozen assets.
It would also set a 60-day period for negotiations on Tehran’s nuclear programme, offer the suspension of sanctions on the sale of Iran’s oil and petrochemical products, allow Iran to levy service charges on passage through the strait of Hormuz and lift the US naval blockade on Iranian ports, which has been in place since 13 April.
The claims contrasted dramatically with statements from Washington, where officials said the agreement stipulated that Iran’s nuclear material would be destroyed, and its nuclear programme dismantled, none of its frozen money would be released until it met certain demands, and Iran would stop supporting allied militant movements around the Middle East.
A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters on Friday that the deal met Trump’s core objectives and put negotiations “in a very, very good place”.
The apparent deal has prompted consternation in Israel, where the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has clashed with Trump over US demands that Israel curb military action in Lebanon to allow Washington to reach a deal with Tehran.
Israeli forces carried out airstrikes in southern Lebanon on Saturday and issued evacuation warnings for the city of Nabatieh and more than 20 other locations ahead of raids.
A decorated former general compared President Donald Trump’s high-stakes standoff with Iran to the historic military blitz that helped bring North Vietnam back to peace talks and end America’s involvement in the Vietnam War.
Speaking on “Hannity,” Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg argued Trump’s latest use of “kinetic strikes” and heavy threats brought Iran back to the negotiating table this week.
“The bombing that he took, the kinetic strikes, actually brought the Iranians to the table. It’s not the first time we’ve ever done that,” Kellogg said Friday.
He compared Trump’s move to President Richard Nixon’s 1972 “Linebacker II” bombing campaign, which helped break a stalemate in peace negotiations.
President Richard Nixon posed in his White House office after publicly outlining a U.S. peace proposal calling for simultaneous troop withdrawals from Vietnam, the release of prisoners of war and the resignation of South Vietnamese President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu ahead of new elections.(Bettmann/Getty Images)
“If you go back to 1972, we saw the same thing happen with President Nixon and Kissinger when the North Vietnamese were just delaying the peace talks,” Kellogg said. “Well, he unleashed what was called Linebacker II. He put B-52 bombers over Hanoi and Haiphong and basically bombed them back to the table.”
The Linebacker II operation was used to force North Vietnam back into serious peace negotiations and lasted for nearly two weeks as B-52s attacked military targets around Christmas.
Earlier this week, the U.S. carried out a series of attacks inside Iran in retaliation for Iran shooting down an American Apache helicopter. On Thursday, Trump said he canceled plans for further strikes, citing progress toward a potential peace deal.
Kellogg said the strategy unfolding with Iran mirrors the Nixon-era strikes, adding, “You’re seeing the same thing here.”
Trump is “very, very determined to get a result,” he continued.
President Donald Trump spoke during a proclamation signing in the Oval Office of the White House on June 11, 2026, in Washington, D.C. The remarks came after Trump pulled back threatened military strikes against Iran following escalating tensions between the two countries.(Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
He also said Trump’s objective is to dismantle Tehran’s nuclear weapons program, noting Iran has been rapidly accelerating uranium enrichment to “60%, 70%, 80%” capacity.
“You’re not doing that for domestic purposes,” Kellogg warned of Iran’s enrichment levels, adding that stopping the nuclear program “will change the dynamics of the Middle East for decades to come.”
“I’m just shocked, absolutely shocked, that a lot of Americans don’t see this. It’s not for our generation. This is a generation of our kids and our grandkids as well. And we’ve got to ensure that we have peace in the Middle East,” he added.
On Saturday, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced that a U.S.-Iran peace deal is likely to be finalized within the next 24 hours, a message Trump later reposted on Truth Social. Pakistan has served as a key mediator in U.S.-Iran negotiations to end the war.
“We are closer to a peace deal than ever before. With finalization likely expected in the next 24 hours, Pakistan is preparing for the electronic signing of the peace deal immediately after, followed by technical-level talks next week,” Sharif wrote on X.
“We would like to thank [the] United States of America and Islamic Republic of Iran for their ongoing commitment during the negotiations, and we extend our sincere appreciation to our brothers in the region for their support,” Sharif added.
“We are confident that this historic peace deal will form a strong foundation for lasting peace.”
Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman-Diamond contributed to this report.
Madison is a writer for Fox News Digital on the Flash team.
A group of college-aged activists were released on bond after they were charged earlier this week with engaging in a conspiracy to threaten University of Michigan leaders over their refusal to divest from Israel.
Four of the eight defendants — Zainab Hakim, 23; Paige Feyock, 26; Jonathan Zou, 22; and Colin Weger, 24 — appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Anthony Patti on Friday.
After Hakim, Feyock, Zou and Weger entered not guilty pleas, Patti ordered them to be released on bond, according to court records reviewed by Fox News Digital.
They will have to surrender their passports, have no contact with any of the alleged victims or co-defendants and submit to GPS monitoring and travel restrictions, CBS News reported.
A photo shows threatening messages allegedly spray-painted on the Jewish Federation building on the first anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel.(U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Michigan)
Throughout the hearing, prosecutors argued that the defendants should stay in jail because they are a flight risk and a danger to the community.
The judge emphasized free speech concerns, given how reliant the case is on social media posts made by the accused, according to CBS News.
Shortly after Hamas launched the Oct. 7 attacks in 2023, the suspects allegedly began coordinating with each other to intimidate university leaders, law enforcement and businesses they believed were financially supporting Israel, according to a federal indictment.
The U.S Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Michigan released a photo showing one such instance of intimidation, when in May 2024, students put fake corpses wrapped in sheets outside the home of University of Michigan Regent Sarah Hubbard.
Hubbard welcomed charges being brought, saying in a statement that she was “very appreciative of the tireless work” of law enforcement, according to The Associated Press.
Prosecutors say the defendants defaced other homes and businesses with messages such as “Free Palestine,” “Divest Now,” and “Intifada.” These phrases were spray painted on the campus’ Jewish Federation Building on the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks.
“The defendants also left demand notes containing additional threats, caulked doors shut, bike-locked entryways, broke windows, and threw glass jars filled with butyric acid and dye into the homes. The defendants took photographs of the destruction and posted the photos online,” according to the U.S Attorney’s Office.
The indictment alleged that the co-conspirators spent months stalking so-called “targets” and discussing how they could use “poison, bombs and psychological torture” to harm them.
On May 21, 2024, Feyock and Ahmet Korkaya, another defendant in the case, allegedly agreed to kill, torment and terrorize their targets and their families, according to the indictment.
Anti-Israel demonstrators hold a mock trial against the University of Michigan’s Board of Regents on the university campus in Ann Arbor, Mich., on April 21, 2025.(Jeff Kowalsky/AFP via Getty Images)
Korkaya allegedly said in text messages that the “entire family” of one target was on his “hit list,” prosecutors said.
A medical student at the time, Korkaya allegedly told Feyock that he would be the “dirtiest f—— doctor ever” and slowly “poison” one of the people on his hit list.
Korkaya appeared in federal court in Wisconsin earlier this week, and he is scheduled to appear for a detention hearing on Tuesday.
The most serious charge in the indictment, witness intimidation, was levied against Hakim and Feyock. The pair allegedly threatened someone in their circle who they believed might have been talking to law enforcement about their activities. If convicted, they face a maximum prison sentence of 20 years and a $250,000 fine.
Also named in the indictment were Jonathan Hongru Zou, 22, and Alexander Sepulveda, 23, who were accused of throwing two glass jars filled with an unknown blue substance through the window of the home of the university’s provost, Laurie McCauley. They also allegedly spray painted the home with inverted red triangles and phrases including “Divest” and “Free Palestine.”
According to a report from the Detroit Free Press, this incident occurred in March 2025.
Photos show threatening messages allegedly spray-painted on the Jewish Federation building on the first anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel.(U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Michigan)
Authorities attempted to execute a search warrant at Sepulveda’s home in April 2025. Sepulveda was warned of this by an unknown individual on an encrypted group chat, prompting him to erase all the data on his phone and laptop, according to the U.S Attorney’s Office.
Sepulveda will appear for a bond hearing on Monday at a federal court in Detroit.
Those named in the indictment charged with conspiracy to transmit a threat or destruction of property to prevent seizure face up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
James Cirrone is a writer on the Breaking/Trending News team at Fox News Digitial. Story tips can be sent to james.cirrone@fox.com.
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Washington, DC – Fists will fly and blood will be spilt at the White House for US President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event on Sunday, which will also mark next month’s 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, will bring 14 Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighters to “The Octagon” cage constructed on the White House South Lawn.
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As many as 4,000 invite-only attendees will watch the bouts, which will include two title fights, in an unprecedented display of a sport that has lingered on the fringes but has, nevertheless, been a potent political medium for the president.
Trump, a former television personality, real estate heir and hotel owner, has hewed closely to combat sports, dating back to his scene-stealing embrace of professional wrestling in the late 1980s.
Al Jazeera spoke to experts who study the intersection of sport and society about what the UFC match both reflects and projects of Trump’s pugilistic political career, and how it could be received in the current political moment.
From ‘baby face’ to political ‘heel’
In the 1980s, Trump was solidifying his place as a nationally known real-estate developer, casino magnate, and tabloid-ready socialite. World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and its flamboyant entertainment-first style of choreographed wrestling was on a “cultural upswing”, according to Lowery Woodall, a professor at Millersville University in Pennsylvania who studies wrestling.
It was a fast business pairing, beginning with Trump promoting the WWE’s flagship event, Wrestlemania, at a venue near to his Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey in 1988 and 1989.
But Trump’s affinity for the sport and the kindred spirit he appeared to find with WWE co-founder Vince McMahon extended beyond business, into his own nascent personal myth-building.
Trump began regularly appearing as an exaggerated version of himself on the WWE’s flagship events. He and McMahon eventually took part in the so-called “Battle of Billionaires” in 2007, backing opposing fighters while inflating their net worths for maximum entertainment value.
“We see a long history in wrestling of promoting things that aren’t entirely accurate to the fans, for example, taking someone who might have been born and raised in Minnesota and saying that they’re Russian because we need a Russian adversary,” Woodall explained.
Trump raises the arm of wrestler Bobby Lashley after he defeated Umaga at Wrestlemania 23 in 2007 at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan [Carlos Osorio/The Associated Press]
“I might argue that the very liberal relationship that professional wrestling has with the truth might in fact be one of the things that attracts Trump to it,” he said.
“The truth, as is told to the audience, becomes whatever is needed within that moment… which feels quite frankly very much aligned with Trump’s own political messaging outside of the world of professional wrestling.”
Some have argued that Trump’s foray into politics has been, in part, aided by the ease of playing the “heel”, or antagonist, in the wider American narrative, dominating headlines by regularly riling political friends and foes alike.
But the WWE days saw him instead representing the “baby-face”, an industry term for the classic “good guy”. His character even dipped into the anti-corruption, “drain the swamp” populism that helped carry Trump to the White House in his unlikely 2016 election victory.
“If anything, he is seen as the sort of corrective measure against the corrupting force of the Mr McMahon character who is doing dastardly things every week on television to all of your favourite wrestling superstars,” Woodall explained.
“Someone else who has a similar level of wealth and power to you steps into the situation and says, ‘no, no, this is all wrong, we can’t continue to do this. I have the power to usurp your authority and overcome you, ” he said.
Political utility
Upon moving into the White House, first in 2017 and again in 2025, traces of Trump’s television career endured.
During his first term, he appointed Omarosa Manigault Newman, a contestant on the first season of his reality television show, “The Apprentice”, to his White House staff. He tapped WWE co-founder Linda McMahon, Vince McMahon’s wife, as the Administrator of the Small Business Administration.
Linda McMahon is currently in Trump’s second term as education secretary, a cabinet position from which she has overseen several of Trump’s initiatives, including efforts to limit transgender individuals from competing in college athletics and supporting crackdowns on pro-Palestine advocates.
But while WWE lore may have helped to shape Trump’s public persona, his embrace of UFC, beginning with hosting events at his hotel in the early 2000s, may have been more helpful to his unlikely political comeback ahead of the 2024 presidential victory: helping him to tap into otherwise unengaged young, male voters.
“Trump is very good at putting on shows and entertaining people, but it’s more than just the theatrics,” Aaron Ettinger, a professor of international relations at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, told Al Jazeera. “There’s a political agenda underpinning all of this.”
“UFC is aggressive in a way that appeals to that Trumpian sense of masculinity,” he said. “It’s violent. There’s nothing soft about it. It can’t be construed as lefty, social activist-y.”
Journalists get a preview of the UFC fight night at the White House [Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images via AFP]
Both UFC and WWE merged under the TKO Holdings company in 2023.
They boast the same flair for the dramatic, with fighters cultivating personas often based on ethnicity or political affiliations, even if the two sports are separated by a defining difference: WWE is heavily scripted, whereas UFC fights are traditional sporting contests with the winner decided in the match, either via knockout, submission or points.
Average UFC fights get between 300,000 and 2 million views, according to the sports betting site BetMGM, with the audience skewing heavily towards young, male viewers.
The UFC culture is also deeply intertwined with the influential world of podcasting. Joe Rogan, one of the sport’s staunchest supporters, averages about 11 million listeners per podcast episode.
“The audience for this is predominantly young men, and young men in America are some of the most apolitical parts of the population,” Ettinger said. “So it’s a very effective way of mobilising a segment of the electorate.”
Rogan, who endorsed Trump ahead of the 2024 vote, is set to commentate on Sunday’s event.
Nevertheless, he has criticised holding official UFC title bouts in an outside setting that could affect the fights’ outcomes. He has also questioned holding the event amid the ongoing US-Israeli war with Iran.
A very domestic audience
The White House fight night comes just days after kick off of the FIFA World Cup 2026, the most-watched sporting event in the world, across the US, Canada and Mexico.
The UFC event, whose viewers are predominantly based in the US, with other market hubs, including Brazil, China, Russia and the UK, is charting a different path.
Kyle Kusz, a professor at the University of Rhode Island, said the event appears to be an attempt by Trump to project a “warrior-style sporting masculinity”, what he described as Trump’s “sporting vision of an ideal nation”.
That echoes the Trump administration’s vows, espoused by Pentagon Chief Pete Hegseth, to return a “warrior ethos” to the US military and a zero-sum approach to US military engagement abroad.
The Trump administration appears to hope that vision reverberates across the globe.
On Thursday, UFC President Dana White and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio signed an agreement to promote the brand, which he described as distinctly American, as part of a “sports diplomacy” initiative.
“We’re excited about what this brand means about America’s ability to expand and reach out to different parts of the world,” he said, likening the “audacious” UFC approach to the US moon landing.
He further called the UFC “the United Nations of fighting”, pointing to the varied nationalities of fighters.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio with UFC CEO Dana White at the State Department [File: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters]
The UFC may appeal to the Trump administration for other reasons, argued Kusz. He pointed to parallels between Trump’s consolidating approach to presidential power and the UFC’s closely controlled corporate environment, including White’s outsized influence.
The UFC has contended with a slate of lawsuits, with fighters alleging the brand holds an MMA monopoly that limits opportunity. Simultaneously, competitors are employed as contractors, limiting their ability to unionise.
The brand has maintained an “anti-establishment kind of patina,” Kusz explained, “yet at the same time the whole structure of UFC is straight out of like the 1890s… You have kind of the great robber barons running the show, where most of the spoils go to the Dana Whites of the world versus to the fighters who are the workers.”
Another likely appeal to Trump, who has been booed at a slate of recent sporting events, including the NBA finals in New York’s Madison Square Garden: a spectacle with carefully controlled optics.
Beyond the guest list being subject to the administration’s will, US media has widely reported that attending members of the US military must meet a waist-to-height ratio. A Pentagon memo points to the “high visibility” of the event.
“The UFC event will be tightly controlled and orchestrated,” Kusz said. “I imagine that for White and Trump, the idea behind that is they’re going to get the spectacle that they want.”
Let them eat fists?
Trump is no stranger to championing elaborate events that mix patriotic messaging with his own personal milestones. Last year, he held a military parade in Washington, DC, marking both the US Army’s 250th anniversary and his own 79th birthday.
But Sunday’s display comes at a particularly fraught time. Trump has seen his public approval dip amid the US-Israeli war with Iran, which his administration launched on February 28. US residents have grappled with the knock-on effects on the economy, including sky-high gas prices.
Trump has again claimed a possible deal for a lasting ceasefire with Iran is in its final stages, although similar messaging has proved hollow in the past.
A Reuters-Ipsos poll released on Thursday found that just 16 percent of Americans felt the event was appropriate, with 46 percent saying it was inappropriate.
At least one lawsuit has been unsuccessfully filed to halt the event, arguing it did not go through the proper federal permitting process. In a response filing the Trump administration said over $60mn had been poured into the proceedings, with seven federal agencies involved. The White House has maintained the UFC is footing the majority of the bill.
The climate, said Millersville University’s Woodall, makes it “hard not to imagine that this is going to come off as the wealthiest, most entitled parts of our society watching blood sport while their country is in economic turmoil, when people are having to make extraordinarily difficult decisions about how to pay for things like groceries and medications”.
“I would argue,” he added, “that the optics of the class warfare outdo the optics of the actual pugilism that’s occurring inside the octagon.”
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