U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia

CAIR, FCPS reach temporary agreement on students’ records in ‘kidnapping’ skit lawsuit

Published July 28, 2026 at 11:34AM | Updated July 28, 2026 at 2:31PM

Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Fairfax County Public Schools has temporarily agreed not to release the disciplinary records of the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJ) students who were suspended for making a “kidnapping” skit for social media to promote their chapter of the Muslim Students Association, pending the outcome of a lawsuit against the school system.

Filed in federal court last week, the preliminary agreement largely prevents FCPS from releasing disciplinary records related to the case to colleges and universities or anyone else who inquires. It also stipulates that the students will not be disciplined for wearing clothing with a map of Palestine or the Palestine flag.

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Man pleads guilty to illegally having gun dropped during FCPD encounter

By Angela Woolsey

Published July 13, 2026 at 8:30AM

Gun dropped during police encounter in Herndon on Feb. 18, 2026 (via U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia)

A Woodbridge man could spend as many as 15 years in prison after pleading guilty last week to possessing a gun despite having a felony conviction on his record, the U.S. Justice Department says.

Khari Wheeler, 27, was arrested on Feb. 18 of this year after a loaded gun “fell from his person” while he was allegedly attempting to flee Fairfax County police officers at an apartment community in Herndon, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.

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Woman shot by CIA Police pleads guilty after crashing into HQ gate while drunk

By Angela Woolsey

Published June 9, 2026 at 11:45AM | Updated June 10, 2026 at 11:46AM

Warning sign outside the entrance to the CIA headquarters in McLean (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

A woman who was shot by the CIA Police after crashing outside the front gates of the intelligence agency’s headquarters in Langley in May 2025 has pleaded guilty to multiple federal charges.

Monia Spadaro, a 28-year-old identified in court documents as an Arlington resident, pleaded guilty yesterday (Monday) to disregarding a law enforcement signal for her to stop and driving while under the influence of alcohol, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia announced today.

Countywide

Fairfax County Public Schools sued over response to Muslim students’ ‘kidnapping’ skit

By Mary Stachyra Lopez

Published June 4, 2026 at 3:45PM

Ahmad Kaki, a staff attorney with CAIR, plays the video made by Thomas Jefferson High School students during a press conference June 4. (Screenshot via CAIR's Facebook page)

A Muslim civil rights group is suing Fairfax County Public Schools for suspending several students after they created a “kidnapping” video for social media to promote their chapter of the Muslim Student Association (MSA) last fall.

The video was intended to depict a “playful overreaction” in response to a “specific, viral comedy skit circulating nationwide,” according to a filing submitted by the CAIR Legal Defense Fund today (June 4) in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Alexandria.

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McLean man sentenced to prison for threat to longtime Trump ally

By Angela Woolsey

Published June 3, 2026 at 1:45PM

President Donald Trump discusses improvements to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts with Kennedy Center Executive Director Richard Grenell in Washington, D.C., Wednesday, August 13, 2025. (Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok)

A McLean man will spend more than a year in prison for threatening violence against former Kennedy Center president and longtime Trump ally Richard Grenell.

Scott Allen Bolger, 33, was sentenced today (Wednesday) to a year and three months in prison after he pleaded guilty in February to transmitting a threat via interstate commerce, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia announced.

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UPDATED: Pregnant asylum seeker who was detained at Dulles will return to Ghana

By Charlotte Rene Woods / Virginia Mercury

Published May 29, 2026 at 8:30AM | Updated May 29, 2026 at 6:01PM

Dulles Airport main terminal (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

After 10 days spent detained at Dulles International Airport, Ghanaian asylum seeker Anabella Gyasi and her son will go back to her home country. A judge with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia ordered Friday that the pregnant woman cannot stay in the airport any longer.

“For the reasons stated from the bench, the Court finds that the welfare of the petitioners and the interests of justice are best served by allowing petitioners to return home immediately,” Judge Leonie M. Brinkema wrote after an emergency hearing the morning of May 29 in Alexandria.

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Ex-CIA official charged with stealing millions of dollars in gold bars from federal government

By Associated Press and Angela Woolsey

Published May 28, 2026 at 11:45AM

The CIA seal next to a U.S. flag at the agency's Langley headquarters (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

A former senior CIA official with top secret-level clearance is accused of stealing hundreds of gold bars worth more than $40 million from the federal government and stashing them in his home.

David Rush was arrested and charged with criminal theft of public money last week, according to federal court filings in Virginia, where he lives.