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Democratic lawmakers in California revived a stalled child trafficking bill Thursday following public pressure after they initially chose not to advance the legislation. 

The bill, Senate Bill 14, would increase penalties for child traffickers and would add the crime to the list of serious felonies in California, FOX Los Angeles reported. Anyone convicted of at least three serious felonies would face a prison sentence of between 25 years to life.

CALIFORNIA ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE BLOCKS BILL THAT COULD HAVE SENT HUMAN TRAFFICKERS OF KIDS TO PRISON FOR LIFE

Earlier this week, Democrats on the state Assembly Public Safety Committee chose not to advance the bill, because they opposed longer prison sentences, arguing it isn’t a deterrent to crime. Gov. Gavin Newsom publicly supported the bill, introduced by Republican state Sen. Shannon Grove, prompting Democrats to change course after he went against the party. 

On Thursday, the committee advanced the bill with no amendments. In a brief meeting, four Democrats — including chair Reggie Jones-Sawyer — joined Republicans to advance the bill out of the committee ahead of a legislative deadline.

Assemblymember Liz Ortega on Thursday said she “made a bad decision” to vote against the bill earlier in the week. 

“Voting against legislation targeting really bad people who traffic children was wrong,” she tweeted. “I regret doing that and I am going to help get this important legislation passed into law.”

The legislation will be vetted by the Appropriations Committee before heading to vote on the Assembly floor. Jones-Sawyer said he will ask for amendments to make sure victims of child trafficking are not penalized and that the legislation doesn’t disproportionately affect people of color.

“We shouldn’t be playing politics. We should be coming together — together — to move this forward so that everybody is safe,” Jones-Sawyer told reporters after the hearing. “I’m going to make a commitment to do everything in my…

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OAKLAND, Calif. – It was a sunny day in the East Bay and there had already been multiple armed carjackings, two armed robberies, a handful of armed assaults and a fatal hit-and-run, and it was just after noon. For West Oakland, California, resident Seneca Scott, it was just another Wednesday morning. 

“So the reason that Oakland is not safe and livable is because of the failed policies of our neo-progressives who have come to dominate our local government,” Scott, founder of the nonprofit Neighbors Together Oakland, told Fox News. “The defund movement was a dismal failure.”

“No one feels safe to go outside, businesses are failing, and we created a dangerous doom loop,” the safe neighborhood advocate continued. “The luxury politics of our elite who don’t live with the consequences of their policy is absolutely destroying our city.”

There were nearly 500 homicides in Oakland from 2018 to 2022, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, making the town the most dangerous city in the Bay Area. From July 6 to 12, Oakland police reported 251 larceny cases, 146 motor vehicle thefts, 43 robberies, 94 assaults and 50 burglaries, according to city data. 

COMMUNITY SAFETY ADVOCATE EXPLAINS HOW PROGRESSIVE POLICIES CAUSED OAKLAND’S “DANGEROUS DOOM LOOP”:

WATCH MORE FOX NEWS DIGITAL ORIGINALS HERE

“It’s been a long-standing issue that Oakland doesn’t have enough 911 dispatchers and there’s a lot of turnover and attrition in that position,” Scott said. “We don’t have enough dispatchers and people are waiting upwards of 20 minutes to get someone on the phone.”

The Oakland 911 dispatch system has failed twice since last Thursday.

The California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services’ standards mandate 90% of 911 calls should be answered in 15 seconds or less. Oakland police, in the first three months of 2023, answered only 55% of calls in 15 seconds or less. 

Oakland police’s 911 average answer time during June was the worst in the state, taking callers over a minute to reach…

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• Former Police Chief Alan Hostetter, of California, was convicted Thursday for his role in the U.S. Capitol protest on Jan. 6.
• Hostetter, a right-wing activist, was carrying a hatchet in his bag when he stormed the Capitol to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s presidential victory.
• A judge convicted Hostetter of conspiracy to block the presidential certification and entering the Capitol with a dangerous weapon.

A former California police chief was convicted on Thursday of joining the riot at the U.S. Capitol with a hatchet in his backpack and plotting to stop Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory.

A judge in Washington’s federal court heard testimony without a jury before convicting Alan Hostetter, a right-wing activist and vocal critic of COVID-19 restrictions who defended himself at his bench trial with help from a standby attorney.

Hostetter used his closing arguments to spin conspiracy theories about the Jan. 6, 2021, riot. He falsely claimed the 2020 election was stolen from former President Donald Trump, portrayed himself as a victim of FBI corruption and referred to the mob’s attack as a “federal setup” involving “crisis actors wearing costumes.” He downplayed violence at the Capitol, referring to the riot as “basically the equivalent of a three-hour hissy fit.”

MAN WHO STORMED US CAPITOL WHILE FREE ON AN ATTEMPTED MURDER CHARGE GETS 3 YEARS FOR ROLE IN PROTEST

U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth told Hostetter that no reasonable person — let alone a veteran police officer — would believe that it was legal to use mob violence to obstruct Congress.

“Belief that your actions are for a greater good does not negate consciousness of wrongdoing,” Lamberth said.

Hostetter — who previously served as police chief in La Habra, California, near Los Angeles — was convicted on all four counts, including conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding and entering a restricted area with a deadly or dangerous weapon. The judge scheduled…

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• More than a third of U.S. residents were given warnings, watches, and advisories for extreme heat.
• Temperatures from the blistering heat wave continue to climb to triple-digit figures across the Southwest and California.
• Officials have opened cooling centers to protect the homeless and elderly who are more vulnerable to the heat.

More than a third of Americans were under extreme heat advisories, watches and warnings Thursday as a blistering heat wave that’s been baking the nation spread further into California, forcing residents to seek out air conditioning or find other ways to stay cool in triple-digit temperatures.

The sweltering conditions were expected to build Friday and through the weekend in Central and Southern California, where many residents should prepare for the hottest weather of the year, the National Weather Service warned. Highs in inland desert areas could top 120 degrees Fahrenheit during the day, and remain in the 80s overnight, offering little relief.

In the desert city of Palm Springs, many homeless people were left to contend with the heat on their own, with just 20 indoor beds at the lone overnight shelter.

MARYLAND ANNOUNCES FIRST HEAT-RELATED DEATH OF 2023

John Summers, a homeless resident, climbed through a dry riverbed Thursday to seek shade at an encampment.

“I basically just use water as much as I can. And hit shade. And, you know, the mall, wherever they’ll let you in,” he said.

Roman Ruiz, the city’s homeless services coordinator, said homeless residents struggle daily just to find a place with enough shade.

“I don’t know how anyone can do it really,” he said. “I feel so bad, and yet there’s not much I can do.”

The mercury was expected to near 110 degrees in the city Thursday.

Elsewhere, officials prepared to repurpose public libraries, senior centers and police department lobbies as cooling centers, especially in desert areas.

The heat wave came as the California State Fair prepared to kick off Friday in Sacramento, forcing organizers…

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• In 2021, a vehicle carrying two dozen illegal immigrants crashed into a tractor-trailer in Holtville, California.
• The Southern California incident resulted in 13 migrant deaths.
• Jose Cruz Noguez, who coordinated the human smuggling trip, was given 15 years in prison.

A federal judge on Thursday sentenced a man to 15 years in prison for coordinating a smuggling trip in which two dozen migrants were stacked into a Ford Expedition that crashed into a tractor-trailer, killing 13 people outside a California desert town.

Jose Cruz Noguez pleaded guilty earlier this year to charges stemming from the March 2, 2021, crash near Holtville, about 125 miles east of San Diego. It was one of the deadliest highway crashes involving migrants smuggled into the United States.

Cruz Noguez also admitted to trying to still get payment for the smuggling trip from the survivors, prosecutors said. Neither Cruz Noguez nor his attorney could be reached for comment.

NEWSOM THREATENS DESANTIS WITH ‘KIDNAPPING CHARGES’ OVER MIGRANT FLIGHTS TO SACRAMENTO 

“Cruz Noguez organized one of the most callous and inhumane smuggling attempts that law enforcement has responded to in this district,” U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman said. “He and his co-conspirators treated these individuals like a worthless commodity.”

Cruz Noguez arranged for the Ford Expedition and a GMC Yukon to be modified by removing the passenger seats so people could be stacked on top of each other, prosecutors said. He then drove the route north of the border to ensure no law enforcement were in the area.

At least 24 people were crammed into the Ford Expedition and another 19 were put in the GMC Yukon. A section of the border fence was then removed so the vehicles could drive across the Mexican border into California, prosecutors said.

Shortly after crossing the border, the Yukon caught fire and the driver fled, while the Ford Expedition continued on Interstate 8 towards Holtville. Just outside the town, it slammed into a…

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Wildlife officials were trying to capture a wayward sea otter Thursday that has been wrestling surfboards away from surfers and aggressively approaching kayakers off the coast of Santa Cruz, California.

The 5-year-old female otter has shown aggression toward people for several weeks and poses a public safety risk, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said in a statement.

Video and photographs shared on social media show the marine mammal getting on top of different surfboards — on at least one occasion biting and tearing chunks off a board — and aggressively approaching surfers.

WISCONSIN ZOO MOURNS UNEXPECTED LOSS OF 17-YEAR-OLD GIRAFFE

A team of wildlife experts with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the nearby Monterey Bay Aquarium were working to capture and put the animal in a new home, the service said.

“While there have been no confirmed reports of injury, due to the highly unusual behavior of this otter, kayakers, surfers, and others recreating in the area should not approach the otter or encourage the otter’s interactions,” U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said.

Federal wildlife officials said the otter’s behavior is highly unusual and the exact cause for such behavior is unknown.

“Aggressive behavior in female southern sea otters may be associated with hormonal surges or due to being fed by humans,” federal officials said.

The animal, which wildlife officials named sea otter 841, was born in captivity and released into the wild in June 2020. She is tagged with her number and has a radio transmitter that officials are monitoring to find and capture her, wildlife officials said.

They said it is not the first time the otter has shown aggressiveness toward humans. The sea otter was observed approaching people in late 2021. Last May, she was spotted with a pup in the Santa Cruz area and four months later exhibited similar aggressive behavior.

MAN WALKS DOWN THE STREET WITH LIVE ALLIGATOR ON HIS SHOULDER

In September, a team of California…

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Slain at the hands of strangers or gunned down by loved ones. Massacred in small towns, in big cities, inside their own homes or outside in broad daylight. This year’s unrelenting bloodshed across the U.S. has led to the grimmest of milestones: The deadliest six months of mass killings recorded since at least 2006.

From Jan. 1 to June 30, the nation endured 28 mass killings, all but one of which involved guns. The death toll rose just about every week, a constant cycle of violence and grief.

Six months. 181 days. 28 mass killings. 140 victims. One country.

“What a ghastly milestone,” said Brent Leatherwood, whose three children were in class at a private Christian school in Nashville on March 27 when a former student killed three children and three adults. “You never think your family would be a part of a statistic like that.”

Leatherwood, a prominent Republican in a state that hasn’t strengthened gun laws, believes something must be done to get guns out of the hands of people who might become violent. The shock of seeing the bloodshed strike so close to home has prompted him to speak out.

“You may as well say Martians have landed, right? It’s hard to wrap your mind around it,” he said.

PITTSBURGH SYNAGOGUE SHOOTER ROBERT BOWERS IS ELIGIBLE FOR DEATH PENALTY, FEDERAL JURY DECIDES

A mass killing is defined as an occurrence when four or more people are slain, not including the assailant, within a 24-hour period. A database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University tracks this large-scale violence dating back to 2006.

The 2023 milestone beat the previous record of 27 mass killings, which was only set in the second half of 2022. James Alan Fox, a criminology professor at Northeastern University, never imagined records like this when he began overseeing the database about five years ago.

“We used to say there were two to three dozen a year,” Fox said. “The fact that there’s 28 in half a year is a staggering statistic.”

But…

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Two correctional officers who were fired amid an investigation that they were sexually abusing inmates at a federal women’s prison in California pleaded guilty Thursday to multiple felony counts.

Andrew Jones, a former cook supervisor at Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, pleaded guilty to six felony charges of sexual abuse of three women he supervised. Nakie Nunley, a guard at the prison call center, pleaded guilty to four charges of sexual abuse and five lesser felonies of abusive sexual contact with five women.

Both also pleaded guilty to making false statements to the government

Their pleas come after an investigation by The Associated Press last year at the facility revealed a harrowing culture of rampant abuse and subsequent cover-ups. Dublin, California, is located approximately 40 miles east of San Francisco.

FORMER CALIFORNIA PRISON GUARD WHO ALLEGEDLY CALLED INMATE ‘GIRLFRIEND’ IS CONVICTED OF SEXUAL MISCONDUCT

The former officers will be sentenced at a later date.

Nunley wrote in his plea agreement that during an incident with an inmate in May 2021, he called her into his office, solicited sexual conduct and told her he could make her time in prison easier or more difficult. She complied with his request.

FORMER CALIFORNIA PRISON OFFICER CHARGED WITH SEXUALLY ASSAULTING 13 FEMALE INMATES OVER THE PAST 9 YEARS 

Jones and Nunley are at least the seventh and eighth former employees charged with abusing inmates after the former warden and chaplain were prosecuted last year.

In December, the prison’s former warden Ray Garcia was convicted of molesting inmates and forcing them to pose naked in their cells. He was sentenced to serve six years in prison.

Sexual activity between a prison worker and an inmate is not permitted. Correctional employees, who enjoy substantial power over inmates, can abuse this authority.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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A California man with mixed martial arts training took down an arson suspect in a stolen Tesla by dragging him out of the driver’s seat Saturday and wrapping him up like a “pretzel” until police arrived, according to Bay Area authorities.

The suspect allegedly swiped the Tesla in Fremont and drove to Vallejo, where police say he used road flares to light a fire that scorched 15 acres of vegetation before firefighters put it out – about the size of 11 football fields.

Alex Bello, the good Samaritan martial artist, witnessed a man “playing” in a field before he saw flames erupt near the intersection of Admiral Callaghan Lane and Turner Parkway on his way home from Costco with his family.

“It sounds weird, but that’s why I started staring because he looked like he was just poking at the grass, and all the sudden I realized he was lighting a fire,” Bello told Fox News Digital.

WINE COUNTRY WASTE WORKERS FOR PELOSI, NEWSOM NAPA VINEYARDS SEEK $300M OVER ALLEGED TOXIC CONTAMINATION

The man, who appeared homeless, then threw a flare into the middle of the field, which Bello said is next to a residential area stocked with homes, including his own.

“It was not a bravery thing, it was more of a ‘We’re on our phones a lot, and we’re used to recording instead of acting upon,’ and I was with my kids and the mother of my kids, and I talked to her and I told her I got to get involved,” he said. “It was right behind my house, so it was something I had to do.”

It was windy. The field was dry. And the fire spread rapidly, he said.

MMA FIGHTER NATE DIAZ PUTS SOMEONE TO SLEEP AFTER CHOKEHOLD IN STREET FIGHT

So, he and at least one other witness called 911, and Bello decided to follow the suspect and keep an eye on him.

“The dispatcher kept asking where he is, what is he doing,” Bello said. “I told them I would feel comfortable if I could take him down – I wouldn’t have to keep following him around.”

The dispatcher gave him the OK, he said, and he waited for the chance.

He…

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