WATCH: Oklahoma trans attorney jailed for contempt after epic court meltdown

A custody hearing in Ada, Oklahoma, last month took a turn for the unexpected — and the incredibly loud — after an attorney who identified himself as transgender was arrested and dragged from the courtroom where he had appeared to represent his client just minutes before.

The exchange occurred during a custody hearing in Pontotoc County, Oklahoma, some 90 minutes southeast of Oklahoma City. The attorney, Rob Hopkins, was jailed for contempt after sparring repeatedly with the judge, Lori Jackson, during an otherwise unremarkable proceeding.

Surveillance footage, audio, and body camera footage reviewed by Fox News Digital has shed new light on the extraordinary confrontation, in which Hopkins can be seen actively resisting arrest by bailiffs. At one point, Hopkins can be seen splaying his body across the judge's bench, resulting in a pile of documents being swept off its finely polished wood surface. 

"You're HURTING ME!" Hopkins bellowed, as bystanders looked on. "I can't BREATHE!" he shrieked again, louder.

Attendees in the courtroom could be seen looking on quietly as Hopkins twisted, turned, and contorted his body to evade the handcuffs that officers used to restrain him.

"I felt very threatened by this person," one individual could be heard telling the judge.

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The meltdown in question, and the arrest, occurred during a custody hearing punctuated by repeated interruptions from Hopkins and warnings from Jackson that he would be held in contempt. 

Hopkins then suggested she was discriminating against him for his transgender status, escalating tensions inside the courtroom. 

"It's because I'm a transgender attorney practicing all over the state," Hopkins leveled sharply, to which Jackson shot back: "I don't know what you are." 

"I don't know you from Adam," Jackson said later, describing his conduct as "entirely inappropriate."

Shortly after, bailiffs entered the courtroom, prompting the hearing to descend into complete chaos.

 "Do NOT HURT ME!" Hopkins yelled at the officers. 

"I'm being thrown down!" he bellowed, as he threw himself on the bench before the officers eventually forced him onto the floor.

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More officers streamed in to help restrain Hopkins, whose uproarious exclamations had, at that point, drawn a crowd — not only in the courtroom, but also in the hallways surrounding it, as the body camera footage shows. 

"Get a female officer, now!" Hopkins demanded. "Call 911!" he shrieked, as the officers attempted to place him in handcuffs. 

"I can't breathe! I can't breathe!" he declared.

From the floor of the court, Hopkins accused the officers of "throwing his glasses" onto the floor — a claim that surveillance footage reviewed by Fox News Digital appears to refute — and ordered the officers to place them back on his face. 

"Put them on my face," Hopkins demanded repeatedly, as the officers attempted to place Hopkins into a seated position and escort him from the court. "PUT THEM ON MY FACE!" Hopkins screamed once more, the volume and urgency unchanged from his request for emergency services just seconds before.

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Hopkins said he has since shuttered his law firm following the contempt charge and fallout from the hearing.

He did not respond to Fox News Digital's requests for comment regarding either the proceedings in question or the reason for his firm's closure.

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Kelly Ripa says she has a secret signal that tells Mark Consuelos she's not in the mood

Kelly Ripa revealed that when she’s not in the mood, her visual cue to her husband, Mark Consuelos, is putting her retainer in.

"When they’re mating the koala goes in there and says ‘Hey, I’m, Mr. Koala.’ At times they’re not interested, so they turn their backs on them, and instead of being heartbroken, they just go to sleep," Consuelos said while discussing koala mating behavior on their morning show "Live with Kelly and Mark" this week.

"It’s like you!" Ripa joked of Consuelos, acting out turning her back on her husband in bed, and adding, "And I pop my retainer in."

"He hears the retainer pop in, it’s like a chastity belt," she laughed. 

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Consuelos joked that the sound of her clicking her retainer in is so loud it almost echoes.

"He’s like, ‘Was that your retainer,'" Ripa said of Consuelos, and he said he adds, "All right, guess I’m going to bed."

"And that’s what they do," Consuelos said, turning back to the topic of koalas. "They have to preserve their energy until the right partner shows up."

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"Right," Ripa added with a smile, before mimicking her putting her retainer in. "Click!"

Last fall, Ripa joked that she and Consuelos should get an "airport divorce" after they got into a small on-air fight.

An "airport divorce" is when couples split while at the airport and reunite when they land, according to People magazine.

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"Couples are doing something unique and I want to run this by you. I think we could do well with this: an airport divorce. [Because] you and I have different traveling philosophies, different traveling styles," Ripa said.

Consuelos immediately went on the defense and said, "What do you mean? Like, I walk fast in the airport?"

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Ripa explained how her husband needs to arrive at the airport much earlier than she's comfortable with.

"You need to get there four to 16 hours before a flight takes off," she said and Consuelos replied, "That's not true."

The couple continued arguing, over whether Consuelos likes to be approached at airports, what security line they get in and even whose responsibility it is to wash their car.

Ripa and Consuelos, who share three children, will celebrate their 30th anniversary this year.

Fox News' Janelle Ash contributed to this report. 

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College outfielder has Jose Canseco-like blunder as fly ball bounces off his head for improbable home run

Across all sports and all levels, coaches tell their players to use their heads. However, Highland center fielder Jake Shields used his head in a completely different sense and had a Jose Canseco moment.

In Highland’s 8-4 loss to Butler in the first game of a doubleheader on Thursday at McDonald Stadium in Kansas, Butler designated hitter Tanay Vyas hit a high fly ball to right-center field with a runner on first base with two outs in the bottom of the third inning.

Shields ran over to make the play, shielding the sun with his glove and his sunglasses, but completely misjudged the ball. Instead of catching the fly ball, it landed on his head and bounced over the wall for an improbable home run to make it 3-1.

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Shields’ blunder was reminiscent of Jose Canseco’s infamous outfielder blunder in 1988. Carlos Martinez, a designated hitter for the Cleveland Indians, hit a fly ball to the warning track in right field.

Canseco, an outfielder for the Texas Rangers at the time, ran to the wall to try to catch the ball, but missed it. The ball hit off his head and bounced up and over the wall for a home run.

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Shields was well short of the warning track in the outfield when the ball hit his head, meaning the ball bounced at least 30 feet off his head and over the wall for a two-run home run. The college baseball player bent over and held his head.

"Oh! Right off his forehead," the announcer said. "Oh my, Jake Shields is going to feel that for a long time."

The main difference between Shields’ and Canseco’s miscues were how far the ball bounced off their heads. Canseco was right next to the wall, while Shields wasn’t even near the warning track.

Unfortunately for Highland, Shields’ blunder was the beginning of a tough four-game series against the Butler Grizzlies, as they swept the series.

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Al Sharpton touts Kamala Harris as ‘potent force in the Black community’ among potential 2028 Dem candidates

MS NOW host Al Sharpton feels former Vice President Kamala Harris has been "been ignored" for a potential 2028 presidential run but will make sure the Black community appreciates her efforts at his upcoming convention. 

Sharpton is gearing up for next week’s National Action Network’s 35th Anniversary Convention, a New York City event that Politico Playbook said will bring together a "who's who" of Black political power brokers, potential 2028 Democratic candidates vying for Black voters and top influencers.

Harris is an expected attendee, alongside other potential 2028 candidates such as Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. 

Sharpton intends to remind attendees that Harris remains a popular figure among Black potential voters, even after the party is still reeling over her 2024 loss to President Donald Trump.

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"I wouldn't ignore the fact that she’s absolutely a potent force in the Black community," Sharpton told Politico.

"I do not have any idea whether she's going to try to go again, but I think she's due all the respect for what she did, and the fact that she got more votes than any presidential candidate in American history, other than Trump," Sharpton continued. "I think she has been ignored, and we're going to raise that at our convention."

Sharpton appeared to forget former President Joe Biden still remains the official record-holder for most votes by a candidate in 2020, when he won 81.2 million.

Harris is also planning to attend a series of fundraisers for state parties in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia in the coming weeks, and will speak at an Arkansas Democratic Party event later this month, according to Politico. 

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The publication suggested Harris’ "southern swing is both the surest sign that she is primed for a 2028 comeback bid," and also a signal the other contenders need to improve their standing among Black voters. 

"That you've got several candidates that have had experience and have won Black votes in their states makes this very competitive… nobody can walk in taking the Black vote for granted," Sharpton told Politico. 

Far-left podcaster Joy Reid, a former colleague of Sharpton when MS NOW was still MSNBC, recently said Harris should not run for president again, arguing the U.S. would never elect a woman to the office of the presidency.

"I hope she doesn't run again. I don't think she should run again," Reid said on the "One54" podcast. 

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"I think there are great ways she can serve," Reid added. "I don't think that the United States is going to elect a woman in my lifetime."

Harris suggested she may run for president again during an interview in February.

Fox News Digital's Hanna Panreck contributed to this report. 

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NY House GOP launches pressure campaign on Hochul to scrap climate law over soaring energy costs

New York House Republicans are ramping up a pressure campaign against Gov. Kathy Hochul, D-N.Y., citing her failure to combat rising utility costs in the Empire State.

The group of lawmakers, led by Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., is calling on Hochul to scrap the state’s 2019 climate law that they blame for "skyrocketing" energy prices.

"Utility bills are at the center of the affordability crisis with New York," the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Hochul Thursday, citing a study that found electricity prices in New York were the sixth highest in the nation in December and 59% higher than the national average. "Given these significant cost burdens, we strongly urge that the CLCPA [Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act] be repealed."

The letter comes as Hochul, who is up for re-election in November and appears to be branding herself as a pragmatist on affordability issues, has acknowledged the "cataclysmic" costs for households and businesses if the law is implemented on schedule. That acknowledgment comes despite her long-standing support for the law, which passed under former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, D-N.Y.

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"Put simply, something has got to give," Hochul wrote in an op-ed in March. "[T]he undeniable fact is we cannot meet the Climate Act’s 2030 targets without imposing new and additional crushing costs on New York businesses and residents."

A Feb. 26 memo released by the Hochul administration found that households would pay $4,000 in additional energy costs per year if the state penalizes oil and gas producers as called for by the law. It also found the climate mandate would increase gas prices by $2.23 a gallon.

However, she has stopped short of backing a full repeal. In March, Hochul proposed delaying enforcement targets while keeping the law’s 2050 target of net-zero emissions in place.

Republicans, who see an opening to go on offense on affordability issues in deep-blue states, have ripped the governor's efforts to move the enforcement goalposts while keeping the law in place. 

"The basic fact is this: the 2019 Climate Law was based on faulty assumptions and was enacted using wishful thinking instead of hard facts," the GOP lawmakers wrote. "It is time to inform the citizens of our state about the realities of the 2019 Climate Law and acknowledge that its goals are unattainable, its costs are too high, and it is overall destructive to our state’s economy."

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The debate over New York’s climate law comes as Democrats across the country are walking back aggressive environmental and climate policies amid surging electric bills and growing voter concern about the cost of living.

"It is essential that the implementation of the energy transition move forward on an affordable and practical basis to protect ratepayers from skyrocketing energy costs," the GOP lawmakers wrote.

The group is also demanding that Hochul provide "immediate relief" to New Yorkers by redirecting several billion dollars in unspent ratepayer-collected funds back to residents facing high electric bills as utility bill credits.

More than 60% of New Yorkers said that keeping energy costs affordable is more important than lowering greenhouse gas emissions, according to an April 2025 Siena College poll. 

A spokesperson for Hochul did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

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Long-cold case shattered as DNA links suspect to savage attack, killing of young woman, investigators say

A Georgia man has been arrested in a decades-old cold case of the rape and murder of a young woman over 40 years ago, authorities announced.  

Freddie Lee Granger Jr., 68, was charged with one count of rape, malice murder, aggravated assault and two counts of felony murder in the death of Sandra Kaye Davis, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI).

Davis was just 22 years old when authorities with the Waycross Police Department discovered her body next to a home on Kollock Street in Waycross Sept. 1, 1984, officials said. 

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Authorities determined Davis had been strangled to death.

After the discovery, local officials requested that GBI assist with investigating the case. 

The case ran cold for several decades as authorities continued to investigate.

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Nearly 42 years later, DNA technology linked Granger to Davis’ alleged killing, officials said. 

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Granger was located and taken into custody March 31, according to GBI.

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He was later booked into the Ware County Jail, authorities said. 

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The Waycross Police Department, Ware County Sheriff’s Office, Georgia Department of Community Supervision and GBI’s Cold Case Unit assisted the GBI Regional Investigative Office in both the investigation and arrest of Granger.

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The investigation remains ongoing, and authorities ask anyone with information to contact the GBI Regional Investigative Office at 912-389-4103 or submit a tip online. 

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Minnesota man who pocketed cash in kids’ meal scheme gets prison time despite 'I'm sorry' apology

A Minnesota man was sentenced on Monday to more than a year in prison after pleading guilty to creating fake invoices to a nonprofit that falsely claimed it served 1.5 million meals to children in need within seven months.

Abdul Abubakar Ali, of St. Paul, Minn., was one of nearly 100 defendants charged in the "Feeding Our Future" fraud scheme, which the Department of Justice (DOJ) claims exploited a federally-funded child nutrition program during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ali pleaded guilty in 2022 to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, but he was initially charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering, according to the DOJ.

The nonprofit, Youth Inventors Lab, allegedly acted as a shell company to submit millions of dollars in fraudulent reimbursement claims for meals that were never served, FOX9 Minneapolis reported.

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According to his guilty plea, Ali submitted fake invoices for technology services from his company, Bilterms Solutions, to Youth Inventors Lab. 

The Justice Department claimed the Youth Inventors Lab received more than $3 million in reimbursements, of which Ali personally pocketed at least $129,000.

During his sentencing hearing Monday, Ali apologized for his role in the scheme, telling U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel he would be "sorry for the rest of his life."

"Your honor, I just want to say I’m sorry to everyone that my actions have hurt," Ali said, according to local reports. "This was a mistake. I will try to correct it for the rest of my life. It’s not something that’s in the past. I’ve let down a lot of people. I promise I will attempt to fix it for the rest of my life. So, I’m sorry."

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While the recommended sentence for Ali's crimes is about three years, the court noted Ali had already paid $90,000 of the $122,000 of ordered restitution, and was one of the first people to plead guilty.

Despite his cooperation, Brasel, an appointee of President Donald Trump, denied Ali's request for probation, sentencing him to one year and one day in prison.

"This is part of a very large fraud scheme, the largest in the District of Minnesota and one of the largest ever in the country. And you stand responsible for that, and for that reason, I just can’t see, despite your cooperation, a noncustodial sentence here," Brasel reportedly said.

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"Let me also add, aggravating factors of not just the money, but the fact that the public trust in government programs has been so substantially undermined and continues to be so," she continued. "We are still having a conversation in this state about the structure of government programs, given the fraud you participated in, and the impact and ripples of that scheme just keep going on and on and on, and you are one reason for it."

Right-wing users on X expressed outrage over the sentencing decision.

"Stole millions from a program meant to feed children and got one year," one user wrote. "Meanwhile, people go to jail longer for drug possession. This is the Minnesota fraud that Tuberville was talking about. The system is broken and the sentence proves it."

Other users said the outcome failed to rebuild confidence in the legal system, noting "a slap on the wrist isn't justice."

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