Inquirer.com – Zurich DR

Author: Ximena Conde

  • A Philly man pleaded guilty to stealing nude images of 5 Pennsylvania women and posting them online

    A Philadelphia man, whom several women in the region accused of posting stolen intimate photos of them, has pleaded guilty to stealing the images of five victims from their cell phones and posting them online without their permission.

    Tyler J. Jones, 34, pleaded guilty Friday to eight felonies and nine misdemeanors, according to the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office. He is slated to serve 2½ to 5 years in state prison followed by five years probation.

    A Philly man is accused of stealing nude images of women and posting them online. His accusers describe how he exploited their trust.

    The victims at the center of the case could not be immediately reached or declined to comment.

    Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday, whose office accepted the case on referral from the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, said prison is the “appropriate resolution for this disturbing case.”

    “Every time the defendant posted one of these stolen images or videos — and every time that content was viewed online — the person depicted was revictimized,” he said in a statement.

    Jones was convicted in 2013 of secretly recording two women and a 17-year-old girl in a bathroom and posting the recordings on platforms such as Discord, Telegram, and 4Chan — an online message board known for racist and explicit content.

    In this more recent case, four of the Philadelphia victims told The Inquirer last year that Jones presented with a “veneer of a ‘nice guy.’” They said Jones hid his past from them or claimed he’d changed, only to betray them. Jones targeted two people he was in relationships with and their friends, as well as a colleague’s wife.

    One woman said she started experiencing nightmares; all became less trusting of strangers.

    Prosecutors said in at least one instance in the Pennsylvania cases, Jones posted the victim’s full name, something he’d allegedly done to a New Jersey woman as well.

    In that instance, a Gloucester County woman who went by J.G. in civil court filings accused Jones of repeatedly posting photos he stole from her phone on websites, including 4chan, with her identifying information. A federal judge awarded the woman $8.7 million in damages last year, believed to be the biggest judgment under a 2022 federal law.

    Because Jones was posting J.G.’s images on websites with lax moderation policies on explicit content, she said others were able to download and repost them. In at least 10 instances, people tried to contact J.G. in an attempt to “strike up a lewd conversation with her,” according to the lawsuit.

    Experts and victim advocates say the type of crimes Jones was accused of, called image-based sexual abuse, are a growing problem and likely underreported because some victims don’t know their photos are online.

    Sunday, who had previously called Jones’ behavior “cruel and despicable,” said Friday that “engaging in this deviant criminal conduct has been a lifestyle for this defendant.”

    As part of his plea, Jones must also remain registered a sex offender for 15 years and is barred from contacting the victims.

    Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Zachary Shaffer will formally issue his sentence Oct. 30.

  • New Jersey and Pennsylvania move forward on chip cards for SNAP benefits to prevent theft

    New Jersey and Pennsylvania move forward on chip cards for SNAP benefits to prevent theft

    New Jersey and Pennsylvania are the latest states to tackle a growing and nationwide crisis: EBT skimming.

    New Jersey is rolling out a roughly four-week pilot to distribute Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits through chip-enabled EBT cards this summer, the New Jersey Department of Human Services announced Monday.

    Cumberland, Essex, and Mercer Counties, as well as anyone in the state who has lost a card and is in need of a replacement, will be the first to get the new cards that do away with outdated magnetic stripe technology, which is vulnerable to scammers looking to steal people’s benefits.

    “The new chip cards provide enhanced security to help prevent that kind of loss in the first place, keeping benefits in the hands of the people who need them,” Human Services Commissioner Stephen Cha said.

    Next door, Pennsylvania has also moved forward with a chip card transition, setting aside $7 million in the latest budget for the change, which is due no later than Jan. 1, 2028. The federal government would cover the other $7 million needed for the transition as part of the current breakdown of how administrative costs are to be split.

    The next steps are being worked out, and that will determine a distribution timeline, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services. Implementation of the chip cards is slated to take six to eight months.

    The switch to chip cards is seen as long overdue among government watchdogs and advocates of those whose benefits have been stolen. By sticking an inconspicuous contraption onto a point-of-sale terminal, scammers can copy magnetic strip card information and spend benefits in different states. The onus of protecting the benefits has largely fallen on recipients, who are required to download apps onto their phones that allow them to lock their cards until the moment they are ready to pay for their groceries.

    “This is a basic security measure that will prevent our clients from losing millions of SNAP dollars to international organized criminals, and we hope that Pennsylvania can implement this change quickly,” said Louise Hayes, a supervision attorney at Community Legal Services, which has advocated for Pennsylvania to adopt chip cards.

    Help for victims of this kind of fraud has also been limited, leaving churches and food pantries to step in. Stolen benefits were being reimbursed between October 2022 and December 2024, but that ended when Congress did not extend funding.

    “Having benefits stolen, with no means to replace them, only adds further strain to already stretched households,” said Natasha Johnson, assistant commissioner of the New Jersey Division of Family Development.

    With the federal government no longer replacing stolen benefits, states believe EBT skimming has gone underreported in recent years.

    Exact numbers of thefts in New Jersey were not immediately available.

    In Pennsylvania, there were at least 5,100 skimming cases in the first five months of 2026, accounting for $2.5 million in stolen benefits, according to the Pennsylvania Office of State Inspector General, which investigates the reports and seizes the skimming devices.

    In February 2025, California became the first state to begin replacing the magnetic stripe cards. Oklahoma embarked on a chip card pilot this year and Massachusetts announced in April its own plans for a pilot. This week, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced new chip cards would be distributed in the state in early 2027.

    Like other states with plans to adopt EBT chip cards, New York hopes to see instances of skimming radically decline with the overhaul.

    Staff writer Gillian McGoldrick contributed to this article.

  • An explosion leveled a home in Bucks County, drawing a multi-agency response

    An explosion leveled a home in Bucks County, drawing a multi-agency response

    Local police and fire responded to a house explosion in Sellersville, Bucks County, on Monday that left the property in ruins and white debris scattered in a broad blast radius.

    Hilltown Police Department, which serves Sellersville, said the reports of the explosion on Highview Road came in sometime around 9 a.m.

    Hilltown Police Chief Christopher Engelhart told Fox29 that a contractor was on site at the time of the explosion and was taken to an area hospital for treatment. His injuries and condition, however, were not immediately clear, though Engelhart said the worker was expected to survive.

    The blast resulted in a flood of support from neighboring fire and police departments.

    Silverdale Volunteer Fire Company, Sellersville Fire Department, Hilltown Police, Hilltown Township Volunteer Fire Company, Souderton Fire Company, and Telford Fire Company were among the crews on site.

    The source of the blast is under investigation.

    Properties on Highview Road are spaced out with lots of green space between, and aerial footage from local television stations shows the debris was largely contained within the home’s property line.

    The three-bedroom “contemporary designer farmhouse” sits on a three-acre lot, according to a previous real estate listing. The home garnered media coverage from publications such as Elle Decor and Philadelphia magazine in 2022 after interior designer Ghislaine Viñas listed the renovated property for sale.

  • Walmart unveils ‘store of the future’ concept in Bucks. We tried it out.

    Walmart unveils ‘store of the future’ concept in Bucks. We tried it out.

    Grocery stores are constantly trying to reinvent the wheel.

    Consumers have been introduced to googly-eyed robots roaming aisles, the expansion of self-checkout, the rollback of self-checkout, and increasingly fast grocery delivery in recent years, as major grocers try to stand out in an industry known for low profit margins.

    Not to be left behind, Walmart has touted a “store of the future” concept for years as it opens and remodels hundreds of locations, including 32 in Pennsylvania this year, to have better layouts and services that aim to make the shopping experience seamless.

    “By modernizing our stores, we’re making shopping faster, easier, and more convenient, all while empowering our teams to serve customers better and creating local opportunity,” said Annie Walker, senior vice president of the East Business Unit at Walmart, in a statement announcing the Pennsylvania investments this year.

    The Walmart Supercenter in Warminster is the latest “store of the future,” unveiling its remodel this month.

    I tried it out to see what the future holds for shoppers. Spoiler alert: It’s nothing out of The Jetsons, but a handful of customers told me they liked the improvements nonetheless.

    “A lot of stuff is different, but it’s easier to find things,” said Cuong Kim, 41, of the new layout, walking out with a bag of toiletries.

    Sparky, where are the fiber gummies?

    Walking in, the store doesn’t feel that different from counterparts in South Jersey or Philadelphia. The polished concrete floors remain the same and there are an Auntie Anne’s and a Subway near the entrance.

    Still, I could see the company followed through on its “elevated assortment of healthy foods” promise. There were meat and cheese snack packs galore, along with a wide range of ready-to-eat salads and sandwiches in the grab-and-go section.

    Because better online/in-store integration is part of the company’s “store of the future” pitch, I brought an admittedly specific grocery list with me to test out Sparky, the company’s generative AI shopping assistant launched last year, another trend major retailers are adopting.

    We used a new AI app to grocery shop in South Philly. This is what happened.

    Though the Walmart app provided a handy static map of the store, Sparky was not helpful in helping me find mango pulp for a cheesecake I’m making or my fiber gummies, which I will need if my rich dessert plans move forward.

    A static map of the Warminster Walmart in the app.Screenshot by Ximena

    While Sparky pointed me to several fiber gummy brands, it was less helpful in telling me what aisle they were in.

    “Your best bet is to ask a store associate or check the Walmart app’s store map when you arrive,” Sparky said.

    Sparky, Walmart’s AI shopping assistant, doesn’t know what aisle the fiber gummies are in.Screenshot by Ximena

    On the mango pulp front, Sparky showed me several options, which got my hopes up because I’d never used this item and was worried it might be hard to find.

    Alas, none of Sparky’s suggestions were in the store, but could be shipped by the next day — helpful information if I weren’t already on site.

    To be fair, one shopper told me that while Sparky doesn’t have a 100% hit rate, it is not a total dud.

    He was right. Seltzer, another item on the list, was in aisle A22.

    As I walked around the store, I noticed some aisles, like the beverage sections, could fit three shopping carts across. That’s some Costco-level width and another “store of the future” feature.

    Even so, wider lanes, a semi-useful shopping assistant, and more snack packs didn’t make my shopping experience feel that futuristic, so I asked Sparky: “What’s new about my Walmart? I heard it’s the store of the future but not sure what’s changed.”

    It reiterated some of what I’d already seen and highlighted the enhanced pickup and express delivery services. I recently had a laptop charger delivered from a different Walmart location and I can confirm it arrived in less than an hour.

    Sparky lays out the store of the future upgrades.Screenshot by Ximena Cn

    Ol’ Sparky, however, warned me “not every feature is at every store yet.” For example, Walmart plans to roll out digital shelf labels that allow rollbacks and price changes to appear in real time, but were nowhere to be found in Warminster.

    I also asked an employee what was new with the store to fact-check Sparky.

    “It’s little things,” said the cheerful associate. “There’s more [grab and go] coolers, more cash registers, and a bigger electronics section.”

    A reminder that no one knows a store better than the people who work there.

    What we learned

    It seems the people who would get the most use out of Sparky are those ordering online for delivery or planning their haul ahead of time, checking to see if their desired items are in store. These features, however, are not exclusive to the 32 Walmarts up for a makeover.

    Yet while not exactly futuristic, shoppers in Warminster certainly appreciated the less tech-centered changes, such as the added breathing room as they shopped in clearly labeled sections.

    Kim, the shopper who traveled from Northeast Philadelphia for his haul, also reminded me that sometimes the most seamless shopping experience is pretty simple. He’s not an app user like some of the other customers I talked to. But he travels to Warminster because very few items require waiting for an associate to unlock them from glass cases.

    “It’s easier to shop here,” he said. “In Philly, they lock everything up.”

  • Three injured in a fire at Delta’s Monroe Energy refinery in Delco

    Three injured in a fire at Delta’s Monroe Energy refinery in Delco

    A fire involving a process unit pump, a device that moves fluids, broke out Thursday morning inside the Monroe Energy refinery in Trainer, Delaware County, according to the company.

    At least one person suffered burn injuries in the fire, which began about 11:30 a.m., county spokesperson Michael Connolly said. The individual had to be airlifted to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital; their condition remained unclear. Monroe later confirmed it was an employee who suffered non-life-threatening injuries that were treated off-site. The county later said two other people experienced heat-stress-related injuries, which were not expected to be critical.

    “Our understanding is that it’s contained to a small location and is under control,” Connolly said.

    Local police and fire could not immediately be reached for details regarding the blaze and how many people were in the facility when the fire broke out, but the large black plumes rising from the refinery raised alarm among area residents.

    “As of now all we know is that there is a fire at the refinery all personnel are working on locating the fire and extinguishing it!!” read a Facebook post by the Trainer Borough Police Department from around noon.

    Amid the chaos, at least one individual sought guidance on how to reach out to someone working inside in the comments of the post.

    Just last week, the refinery stopped its two 100,000-barrels-per-day crude-oil distilleries because of a leak, though a Delta Air Lines spokesperson — the airline owns the refinery and uses much of it to produce jet fuel — said there was no danger to the public.

    Delta’s Monroe Energy refinery in Delco shuts due to internal leak

    Connolly said it was unclear if the leak was connected to the fire, directing questions to Monroe.

    The company, which employs about 500 workers, did not say whether the leak played a role.

    “Our on-site Fire Response Team was immediately activated, deploying multiple emergency response resources, including fire and foam tanker vehicles, mobile deluge guns, and stationary high flow firewater suppression systems,” a company statement said.

    The company said air monitoring showed there was no current risk to the community.

    Police said air quality was at a “nuisance level” and it was recommended for people up to half a mile from the refinery to shelter in place. The county lifted the order at 3:15 p.m.

    “The specific cause of the incident will be investigated,” the company said.

  • American Swedish Historical Museum aims to tackle $2.8 million in improvements as it turns 100

    American Swedish Historical Museum aims to tackle $2.8 million in improvements as it turns 100

    The American Swedish Historical Museum in South Philadelphia’s FDR Park could be getting some exterior upgrades, including a new auxiliary building for storage, for its 100th anniversary.

    Museum staff appeared Tuesday before one of the Philadelphia Historical Commission’s advisory committees seeking input and support for a new ADA ramp, parking area, plaza, pedestrian paths, and lighting for the grounds of the property, as well as the additional building.

    The nonprofit’s board has chosen to focus on projects that provide equitable and safe access to the building for its centennial, said Tracey Beck, the executive director of the museum, the oldest Swedish museum in the nation.

    “We do serve a lot of families with small children and senior citizens, and therefore things like the 25 steps leading up to our front door create a real barrier for a lot of people,” Beck told members of the architectural committee that met Tuesday.

    The museum sits on the northern edge of the park, facing Pattison Avenue, which is an advantage but comes with some logistical hurdles, including park parking that can be easily gobbled up during 5Ks and other events hosted at FDR.

    The small 10-spot parking area that would be located on the Pattison Avenue side of the building would ensure the museum would always have parking available, no matter what is going on in the rest of the park, said Brittany Scherer with Studio Sustena, the design lead on the project. A one-way vehicular entrance drive illustrated in plans submitted to the committee also aims to create an accessible drop-off. New plantings would make the street-facing side of the building more inviting to those driving by.

    The building is already accessible, with two handicap parking spaces and an elevator installed in the early aughts, Beck told The Inquirer. Still, she said, the pandemic highlighted the need for better connectivity between the museum’s indoor and outdoor spaces during events.

    The new ADA ramp would be located on the side of the building that faces the park, which serves as the main entrance, creating a connection between the museum’s interior and its terrace, where events are held. The addition would save visitors with limited mobility from having to navigate half the building’s footprint in order to reach the existing ramp.

    Proposed Pattison Ave. improvements, including a new driveway for accessible drop-off.Courtesy of Studio Sustena

    Other improvements are more practical. The lighting aims to make the museum more visible to passersby and drivers at night, while the added building would store large and heavy items, such as tables and chairs for outdoor programming.

    Members of the advisory committee were largely receptive to the improvements, unanimously approving all but two that required tweaks — the auxiliary building and the ramps — for design reasons.

    Committee members raised concerns over placement of the added storage building and how close it would be to the museum. They also thought the design was too eye-catching, possibly leading people to believe it was a welcome center or bathrooms.

    Aerial view of proposed changes to the American Swedish Historical Museum.Courtesy of Studio Sustena

    “I want it to disappear a little more,” said committee member Justin Detwiler.

    Another member disagreed with the use of acrylic panels meant to provide more protection for children along the proposed ADA ramp. Committee members worried that panels would scratch and become unsightly in the future, suggesting a simple ramp or other changes to eliminate the need for panels.

    Those tweaks should be simple enough to incorporate in time for a July 10 meeting of the full commission, Beck said.

    Because the museum is still in the early stages of fundraising and awaiting conceptual approval, there is no firm timeline for the projects, budgeted to run about $2.8 million.

    The museum’s proposed improvements come as the rest of the park continues a $250 million, once-in-a-generation overhaul.

  • 3 Philly-area athletes, including 2 Syracuse football recruits, arrested in Old City attack

    3 Philly-area athletes, including 2 Syracuse football recruits, arrested in Old City attack

    Three Philadelphia-area athletes were recently arrested in connection with an April assault in Old City that left the victim with a concussion, a broken nose, and two chipped teeth, among other injuries.

    Charles W. Foulke and Masiia Acrey, both 18, have been charged with aggravated assault, conspiracy, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, and harassment.

    Jalen Millevoix, 19, was charged with criminal mischief and conspiracy.

    Foulke is a former starting quarterback for St. Joseph’s Prep who transferred to Glassboro High School in the last school year. Acrey is currently a cornerback at St. Joe’s. Millevoix played football at Eastern Regional High School in New Jersey and graduated in 2025, according to his social media.

    As first reported by Syracuse.com, Foulke and Acrey are Syracuse University football recruits. The university’s athletics department did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but a source familiar with the football program’s thinking told Syracuse.com the school still considers Foulke and Acrey part of the 2027 football class.

    The incident started with a “noogie” just before 2:30 a.m. on April 12, according to Philadelphia police.

    The group of athletes encountered a man and woman outside waiting for their rideshare when one of the football players proceeded to rub his knuckles against the man’s head. The interaction appeared to have ended after the man told the group to knock it off.

    But as the rideshare arrived, one athlete gave the man another noogie. The man lunged in response, took a swing, and the group began to attack him.

    Police said the victim was taken to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital with abrasions to the left side of his face and body, requiring stitching for his nose, which was also broken. The rideshare car was also damaged in the scuffle.

    Millevoix was arrested May 23 and released without bail, with his preliminary hearing scheduled for June 22. His attorney, Gregory Joseph Pagano, could not immediately be reached for comment.

    Foulke was arrested May 26 with his unsecured bail set at $200,000 and his preliminary hearing scheduled for July 10. His attorney, Joseph Kelly, declined to comment.

    Acrey was arrested June 3 with unsecured bail set at $50,000 and a preliminary hearing scheduled for June 22. His attorney, Fortunato Perri Jr., could not immediately be reached for comment.

  • ICE officer in Manahawkin fires shot during an attempted arrest

    ICE officer in Manahawkin fires shot during an attempted arrest

    A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent was hit with a vehicle in Manahawkin early Monday as he tried to arrest a man who later fled in the car, according to local police. As the suspect got away, the officer struck the vehicle with his firearm.

    The attempted arrest played out on Route 72 near Mermaid Drive, according to the Stafford Township Police Department, which learned of the incident around 9:30 a.m.

    An ICE spokesperson said immigration officers were conducting a targeted car stop to arrest Peruvian national Friedrich Castillo-Ormeno, who’d been given a final order of removal Jan. 30.

    “The driver then weaponized his vehicle and struck an officer resulting in the officer discharging his weapon,” said the ICE spokesperson in a statement, adding the incident was part of a “pattern of vehicle attacks” against its officers.

    The ICE agent was reported to have sustained injuries, but his condition was not immediately clear. The ICE spokesperson did confirm the officer was transported to a local hospital for treatment

    Stafford Township Police said it’s unclear whether the suspect fired back at the ICE agent as he tried to flee, but noted they believed there is no threat to public safety.

    For now, local police continue to secure the area, which is expected to see road closures for several more hours as ICE continues to investigate. The FBI was also on the scene.

    New Jersey’s Immigrant Trust Directive and other state policies limit police cooperation with ICE. Stafford Police said they were not part of the attempted arrest when the incident occurred, adding they would not be investigating the incident, either.

    New Jersey State Police similarly directed all questions regarding the ongoing investigation to ICE.

    An ICE spokesperson said the agency would update the public when more information is available.

  • Walmart plans to bring delivery drones to Philly. What that means for Amazon and the same-day delivery wars.

    Walmart is raising the stakes in the high-speed delivery war with Amazon, with part of this latest battle playing out in Philadelphia.

    Wing, the first company to offer commercial drone delivery to homes in the United States, announced this week that it will expand its partnership with Walmart to bring drone service to seven new cities, including the City of Brotherly Love, sometime in 2027.

    A Walmart spokesperson said there was no timeline for when the drones would come online in Philadelphia, nor did the company say which of the city’s five stores would get the service. Even so, Philadelphia’s inclusion in Walmart’s drone program would be the first for the Northeast, part of a plan to bring drone delivery to 270 stores.

    “Expanding into new markets with Wing allows us to provide an innovative delivery option for customers, utilizing our vast store network to make everyday shopping and fulfilling last-minute needs just a little bit easier,” said Greg Cathey, Walmart’s senior vice president of eCommerce fulfillment transformation in the U.S, in a statement.

    The move, according to industry observers, would intensify the competition with Amazon, which has been feverishly working to offer increasingly faster deliveries to consumers through a mix of human couriers and drones. While Amazon has been testing out drone delivery since 2016, the competition lies not in who has the better machines, but in who can deliver goods faster.

    Walmart, which launched its pilot that began in 2021, has used Atlanta and Dallas-Fort Worth as a testing grounds for its drones.

    Just last month, the e-commerce giant launched “Amazon Now,” a 30-minute-or-less (human) delivery service in Philadelphia, also available in Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Seattle.

    Early Walmart reports tout an average delivery time of 23 minutes with their drones.

    “I think [the drone expansion] is signaling that Walmart feels that they are ready to reduce the delivery time,” said Subodha Kumar, founding director of the Center for Business Analytics and Disruptive Technologies at Temple University’s Fox School of Business.

    “They are going to put a lot of pressure on Amazon.”

    While Amazon is seen as the gold standard for e-commerce logistics and had a head start experimenting with drones, its under-60-minute delivery through “Prime Air” has been primarily deployed in suburban areas. Part of the challenge for Amazon is that its fulfillment centers are far from customers.

    Walmart has the advantage of being much closer to its customers, said Kumar, calling plans to introduce drones a significant development in the wars for faster deliveries.

    “For Walmart, the drone makes even more sense because drones are limited in their distance and what they can carry,” said Kumar, adding the retailer has the advantage of having its stores much closer to their customers.

    For its part, Walmart has billed the machines as a fast way to get last-minute items. The Wing drones will deliver up to eight miles from a location that offers the service and carry up to 2.1 pounds, according to the company’s website.

    The company has said some of the most popular items for this kind of delivery include medicine, fruit, eggs, ice cream, baby formula, and pet food.

    People can place orders on the Walmart app and their delivery will be lowered on a tether in front of their home, driveway, or backyard. Deliveries will be free for a limited time to Walmart+ members, according to the company website, or $19.99 for nonmembers.

    “Our work with Walmart has shown that drone delivery isn’t just a novelty, it’s a service many customers count on multiple times per week,” said Heather Rivera, Wing’s chief business officer, in a statement.

    The pilot, which Walmart says works with “drone providers” that are experts in their field, made its millionth delivery last month with an average delivery time of 23 minutes going at speeds up to 60 miles an hour.

    Drones are currently carrying out deliveries in select cities in Texas, North Carolina, and Georgia. In addition to Philadelphia, Memphis, New Orleans, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Diego, and the San Francisco Bay Area are part of the expansion.

    Kumar said the new technology demonstrates there’s an appetite for faster deliveries on the consumer side and a service with no human interaction.

    In that way, the drones are similar to Uber Eats’ autonomous delivery bots, which were introduced in March to a mixed response. While many appreciate the convenience, others have lamented the sight of cuboids blocking the sidewalks. Lawmakers have already expressed concerns over the technology moving too fast and suggested restrictions. Waymo, the autonomous vehicles, have spurred similar conversations in Philadelphia.

    In its expansion announcement, Wing said both companies plan to work closely with local leaders and community members, sharing information about the machines.

    Kumar said the drones will likely bring a whole new set of public concerns over airspace traffic and safety.

    “It will bring new issues that we don’t know the answers to yet,” he said.

  • ICE arrests six in Phoenixville Thursday, say immigration advocates

    ICE arrests six in Phoenixville Thursday, say immigration advocates

    At least six people were detained in Phoenixville by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Thursday, according to a nonprofit that works with undocumented people in the Greater Philadelphia area.

    Rachel Rutter, executive director of Project Libertad, said the tips regarding ICE sightings started pouring in at around 7 a.m. Agents were reportedly at an Acme, a Wawa on the other side of the borough, and a car stop at an intersection.

    “It really was just kind of a feeling of the town crawling with ICE because it was just kind of coming from everywhere and they’re moving around quickly,” said Rutter, whose organization confirmed the arrests and was still pinning down the locations of where they took place.

    ICE did not immediately respond to questions regarding the alleged flurry of activity and arrests.

    One Phoenixville resident, who declined to give her name out of privacy concerns, said she was walking her dog when she saw four SUVs with tinted windows and siren lights on their back dashboards in the middle of a car stop just blocks from the borough’s main commercial corridor. About eight plainclothes officers, some in face masks and wearing vests with “police” emblazoned on them, were at the scene, she said.

    After dropping her dog off, the woman returned to Washington Avenue, near Star Street, where she saw the officers arrest two of the car’s passengers.

    “From the time I saw them until the time I left, I’d say the total time was probably about 10 minutes,” she said, adding the driver of the car would later tell her the group was heading to work.

    As of Thursday afternoon, Project Libertad, which has been connecting families of people detained by ICE to legal help, food, and financial assistance, was still in the process of reaching those affected by the arrests.

    Some Phoenixville immigration advocates say the timing of the sudden arrests, after what felt like a lull in ICE activity, comes two days after a unanimous Phoenixville Council vote to pass an ordinance amendment that would limit immigration enforcement on borough property.

    The change was introduced in Council earlier this year after the controversial arrest of two Guatemalan men off the borough’s main commercial corridor in February.

    The mayor’s office and members of the Borough Council could not be reached for comment by publication.

    “We’ve seen this in other areas across the country where when a city or a town, especially around sanctuary cities, takes a stand, ICE responds in force,” said Parker Studebaker, director of the Phoenixville Liberation Center, which has been hosting “know your rights” immigration trainings.

    Studebaker also expressed concern over how the arrests took place a day after President Donald Trump signed a bill funding ICE and Border Patrol through the end of his term. Many immigration advocates worry that the roughly $70 billion going to the agencies comes with little oversight.

    For now, immigration advocates in Phoenixville vowed to continue organizing and educational efforts.

    “We really want to make it heard and make it known that the community is coming together and is willing to defend our neighbors, and that will not change, and so that’s the best we can do is show up and meet this where it’s at,” he said.

    Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that six people were detained.