The New York International Auto Show still draws a crowd — but like all auto shows these days, it’s not what it used to be.

That’s something Karl Brauer and I talked about on a recent episode of “The Drive.” Automakers don’t rely on shows the way they once did. Big reveals happen online now. A lot of media events are private. The industry has moved on, even if the show is still here.

For consumers, though, it still works. You can walk the floor, sit in everything, and compare cars side by side without a salesperson pressuring you.

Award-winners get the headlines. Concept cars pull people in. But if you’re seriously shopping for a vehicle — or even thinking about it over the next year — what matters is what you can actually buy, what it costs, and how it fits into your life.

Here are five vehicles from this year’s show that stood out for real-world buyers.

1. Volkswagen Atlas

Volkswagen didn’t try to reinvent the Atlas. When you’ve nailed the basics like this, that’s probably the right call.

It’s still one of the few SUVs where the third row actually works for real passengers, not just kids. Pricing starts around $40,000, and the updated interior is simpler and easier to use.

It’s not pushing the boundaries of car design. But it is beautifully practical — and that’s exactly why it sells.

Bloomberg/Getty Images

2. Kia EV3

There’s been a lot of talk about “affordable EVs.” Very few have actually shown up.

The EV3 could be different.

Kia is targeting a starting price under $30,000, with roughly 300 miles of range and access to Tesla’s charging network. If it delivers, the EV3 becomes one of the first electric vehicles that makes sense for mainstream buyers.

That’s still a big “if.” But it’s one to watch.

Bloomberg/Getty Images

3. Hyundai Boulder Concept

Hyundai caught people off guard with the Hyundai Boulder Concept, a Bronco- and Wrangler-style off-roader — and it’s expected to be gas-powered.

That’s not random.

While parts of the industry are still pushing all-electric lineups, Hyundai is clearly leaving room for what buyers actually want: options. Gas, hybrid, or electric.

If the Boulder makes it to production without being watered down, it could shake up a segment that hasn’t seen much real competition.

Bloomberg/Getty Images

4. Genesis GV70

Genesis keeps showing up at these events, but the bigger story is what’s happening outside the show.

The GV70 is its best-selling model — and it makes sense. It’s competitively priced, well-equipped, and doesn’t overcomplicate things.

At the same time, Genesis is rolling out its new Magma performance line. That’s more about brand building, but it shows confidence — and momentum.

Bloomberg/Getty Images

5. Kia Seltos

Quality doesn’t always announce itself with huge fanfare. Case in point: the refreshed Kia Seltos.

It’s smaller, more affordable, and now styled more like a mini Telluride. For a lot of buyers, that’s the sweet spot — usable, reasonably priced, and easy to live with.

It’s not going to win many awards — but it’ll handle the everyday stuff that actually matters.

Bloomberg/Getty Images

​Affordable evs, Electric vehicles, Genesis gv70, Hyundai boulder concept, Kia ev3, Magma performance line, Volkswagen atlas, Align cars 

A 31-year-old male fatally shot eight children execution style in Shreveport, Louisiana, on Sunday morning — and seven of the victims were the shooter’s own children, authorities told the New York Times.

The gunman, Shamar Elkins — who was fatally shot following a police chase — had mental health problems and recently had expressed suicidal thoughts, the Times said, citing family members’ statements in interviews.

‘My babies — my babies are gone.’

The children ranged in age from 1 to 14, officials told the paper, and seven of the eight were Elkins’ own children. A Shreveport Police Department spokesman said he shot them execution style, the Times reported.

Elkins also shot two other people, including his wife, who was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries, the paper said, citing officials and relatives.

Following the shootings, authorities said Elkins took a car by force, and police pursued him, the Times said. Officers opened fire, and Elkins died, Cpl. Chris Bordelon of the Shreveport Police Department said in a news conference, according to the paper. It’s unclear if officers killed Elkins, or if he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the Times said.

Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux said it’s “maybe the worst tragic situation we’ve ever had,” according to the paper.

RELATED: Masked men open fire after storming into Chick-fil-A; 1 dead, 6 injured; manhunt under way

While police haven’t offered a possible motive, the Times said relatives in interviews noted that Elkins recently struggled with mental health and was stressed about his relationship with his wife, Shaneiqua Pugh.

More from the paper:

Earlier this month, on Easter Sunday, he called his mother, Mahelia Elkins, and his stepfather, Marcus Jackson. Ms. Elkins and Mr. Jackson said in interviews that their son sounded despondent. They said they could hear his children playing in the background during the call.

Mr. Elkins told them through tears that he wanted to take his own life. He told Mr. Jackson that his wife wanted a divorce, and that he was drowning in “dark thoughts.”

“I told him, ‘You can beat stuff, man. I don’t care what you’re going through, you can beat it,’” Mr. Jackson said. “Then I remember him telling me: ‘Some people don’t come back from their demons.’”

Elkins’ mother told the Times she didn’t know precisely what problems her son was having with his wife. The paper said records indicate they were married in 2024. Elkins’ mother added to the Times that her son worked for UPS and had served in the Army.

The Army told the paper in a Sunday statement that Elkins served in the Louisiana Army National Guard from August 2013 to August 2020 as a signal support system specialist and a fire support specialist. The Times added that Elkins had no deployment and left the Army as a private.

Elkins’ mother also told the paper she wasn’t extremely close with her son; she had given birth to him when she was a teenager and struggling with a crack cocaine addiction. The Times added that she had a family friend — Betty Walker — raise Elkins, and he and his mother reconnected more than a decade ago.

Walker spoke to authorities Sunday, the paper said. While she didn’t witness the shootings, Walker said in an interview that Elkins shot his wife several times, including in the head and in the stomach, the Times reported.

Walker told the paper she last saw Elkins last weekend when his family came over for dinner, and nothing appeared off with him at the time: “I was getting up this morning to make myself some coffee, and I got the call. My babies — my babies are gone.”

The Times, citing records, reported that Elkins had at least two prior convictions, including driving while intoxicated in 2016 and illegal use of weapons in 2019.

The paper said a police description of the March 2019 incident notes that Elkins pulled a 9-millimeter handgun from his waistband and shot at a vehicle five times after the driver of the car pulled a silver handgun on him. One of the bullets Elkins shot was found near a school where children were playing outside, the Times said.

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​Mass shooting, Fatal shooting, Shreveport, Louisiana, Children fatally shot, Father kills his kids, Shamar elkins, Crime 

A photograph began circulating on social media over the weekend that has many people both angry and confused while others question whether it is a real photo.

And the answers that later emerged did nothing to quell the outrage.

‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’

The photo, posted by Palestinian journalist Younis Tirawi on Saturday, depicts a uniformed Israel Defense Forces soldier smashing the head of a statue of Jesus Christ with a hammer.

The journalist noted that the photo was taken during operations in Southern Lebanon, which have persisted despite the United States’ attempts to reach a ceasefire agreement with Iran.

RELATED: OUTRAGE: Israel scrambles after police block church leaders from celebrating Palm Sunday Mass

Anwar AMRO/AFP/Getty Images

Tirawi made a follow-up post suggesting that the statue was in Debel, one of several predominantly Christian border villages in Southern Lebanon.

The post brought attention to a Facebook post associated with the town with a photo of the intact statue of Jesus. The caption of the post is Luke 23:34, which reads, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

The IDF confirmed that the photo of “an IDF soldier harming a Christian symbol” was indeed of “an IDF soldier operating in southern Lebanon.”

It confirmed the authenticity of the photo, adding that the incident is viewed with “great severity” and that “appropriate measures will be taken against those involved in accordance with the findings.”

The post added that the IDF is “operating to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure established by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, and has no intention of harming civilian infrastructure, including religious buildings or religious symbols.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with the rest of the “Jewish state,” intimated that he was “stunned and saddened to learn that an IDF soldier damaged a Catholic religious icon in southern Lebanon.”

Netanyahu promised that the offender would face “appropriately harsh disciplinary action” and concluded:

While Christians are being slaughtered in Syria and Lebanon by Muslims, the Christian population in Israel thrives unlike elsewhere in the Middle East. Israel is the only country in the region that the Christian population and standard of living is growing. Israel is the only place in the Middle East that adheres to freedom of worship for all. We express regret for the incident and for any hurt this has caused to believers in Lebanon and around the world.

Critics, however, were not so convinced.

Glenn Greenwald mocked anyone who would defend this horrific action: “Christian Zionists: This Israeli soldier was absolutely justified in smashing the head of the Jesus Christ statue because Hezbollah and Hamas were hiding inside. We owe him our gratitude.”

“Horrific,” Matt Gaetz said.

Ana Kasparian attacked the IDF and its post, saying that she didn’t believe a word the IDF said: “This is just another example of Israel’s hatred and disregard for other cultures and faiths. No one trusts your phony investigations, especially when IDF soldiers get away with rape and murder every single day.”

Marjorie Taylor Greene joined the fray, quipping, “’Our greatest ally’ that takes billions of our tax dollars and weapons every year.”

Israel has justified its incursions into Lebanon on the basis of rooting out Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy in the country.

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​Ana kasparian, Benjamin netanyahu, Glenn greenwald, Idf, Israel, Israel defense forces, Jesus christ, Lebanon, Marjorie taylor greene, Matt gaetz, Politics, Prime minister, Hezbollah, Christian, Christ, Christian population, South lebanon 

After 14 months in office, FBI Director Kash Patel has announced that the bureau will be making arrests related to the 2020 presidential election.

President Donald Trump has long said the 2020 election was rigged, tasking Patel with finding any perpetrators of this alleged election fraud. Over a year after Patel took office, the FBI director said arrests would be “coming soon.”

‘We’ve got all the information we need.’

“I lived through it, and the media came at me then too,” Patel told Fox News Sunday. “That just shows you when you’re over the target, you keep pummeling the target, because the media is going to try to pummel you.”

“We are not going to take this and have not taken this laying down,” Patel added. “We did already indict former Director [Jim] Comey, and that’s going through the judicial process.”

RELATED: Trump does shocking about-face on spying power weaponized against him and other Americans, now calls it ‘VITAL’

Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Comey was indicted in September 2025 for allegedly making false statements to Congress and for obstructing a congressional proceeding, citing Comey’s testimony during a 2020 hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The Department of Justice zeroed in on Comey’s claim that he had not authorized anyone at the FBI to leak stories to the media about Russiagate, which prosecutors claimed was false. Comey pleaded not guilty to the charges, and a federal judge dismissed the case in November 2025.

“I am never going to let this go,” Patel said. “Because they have not only personally attacked the presidency of the United States and President Trump, but they’ve tried to thwart our elections and rig the entire system.”

“That is not something I’m going to allow on my watch.”

Although the case against Comey fell through, Patel signaled that there were more arrests coming, claiming the FBI had more than enough information to move forward.

“We’ve got all the information we need,” Patel said about incoming arrests. “We’re working with our prosecutors and the Department of Justice under [acting] Attorney General Todd Blanche, and we are going to be making arrests. And it’s coming, and I promise you, it’s coming soon.”

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​Donald trump, Kash patel, Russiagate, Russia collusion hoax, 2020 election, Election fraud, Fisa, James comey, Fbi, Government weaponization, Todd blanche, Politics 

A high-stakes partisan battle is unfolding in Virginia that could reshape control of the U.S. House in the 2026 midterm elections. The state’s Democrat leaders were called out by the Washington Post for attempting to ram through a new congressional map “in the most brazenly dishonest way imaginable.”

In 2020, Virginians voted to amend their state constitution to establish a 16-member bipartisan redistricting commission responsible for drawing congressional and state legislative district boundaries.

‘Who opposes “fairness” in elections? It depends on how it’s defined.’

The state’s current congressional map was chosen by the Virginia Supreme Court after the Virginia Redistricting Commission reached a deadlock. This map resulted in Democrats securing six U.S. House seats while Republicans obtained five.

In January, the state’s Democrat lawmakers proposed a controversial constitutional amendment that would allow them to redraw the state’s congressional map in the middle of the 10-year redistricting cycle. They argued that the amendment was essential to combat Republican gerrymandering in other states that could shift control of Congress.

Virginians will vote on the proposed amendment in Tuesday’s special election. Under current law, the congressional districts will not be redrawn until 2031.

The Democrat-controlled General Assembly has already approved a map that could give Democrats a 10-1 advantage over Republicans, potentially giving them four additional U.S. House seats. If the proposed amendment passes on April 21, it would allow Democrats to move forward with implementing this new map and adopt new congressional districts for the 2026, 2028, and 2030 elections only. Authority reverts to the bipartisan commission for 2031 onward.

RELATED: Democrat tough talk fails in Maryland, where congressional redistricting plan dies on the vine

Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg/Getty Images

An op-ed from the Washington Post’s editorial board accused Democrat politicians of presenting the amendment “in the most brazenly dishonest way imaginable,” citing the ballot language. Voters will be asked whether the Constitution of Virginia should “be amended to allow the General Assembly to temporarily adopt new congressional districts to restore fairness in the upcoming elections.”

“Who opposes ‘fairness’ in elections? It depends on how it’s defined,” the Post wrote. “In Richmond, apparently ‘fairness’ means maximizing partisan advantage for Democrats and drawing incumbents out of their seats.”

RELATED: Democrats’ gerrymandering campaign in Virginia hits a snag: Obama

Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) issued a statement in March in support of the proposed amendment.

“It is temporary, directly responsive to what other states decide to do, and — most importantly — it preserves Virginia’s bipartisan redistricting process for the future,” Spanberger said. “I supported the formation of Virginia’s bipartisan redistricting commission in 2020, and that support has not changed. What has changed is what we’re seeing in states across the country — and a president who says he is ‘entitled’ to more Republican seats before this year’s midterm elections.”

Former Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) called the proposed map “the result of a process that’s unconstitutional and illegal.”

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​Democrats, News, Redistricting, Republicans, Virginia, Us house, Virginia supreme court, Virginia redistricting commission, Abigail spanberger, Glenn yougkin, Politics 

The future is here, and it seemingly includes CEOs using chatbots to create plans to avoid having to pay out hundreds of millions of dollars.

That was a judge’s conclusion after a smaller American studio sued a giant, publicly traded South Korean conglomerate that allegedly prevented it from putting out its product.

‘Lock down Steam/console publishing rights and access rights.’

Krafton CEO Kim Chang-han handles nearly $2 billion of revenue across a multitude of companies, which includes PubG Studios, a massively popular online shooter game.

Since 2021, Krafton has controlled Unknown Worlds, an American studio responsible for the game Subnautica, which sold over five million copies in two years.

With so much success from the first game, Krafton agreed to a $250 million earnout if Subnautica 2 was able to meet specific sales targets. Krafton’s CEO was not keen on letting that happen and subsequently plotted “Project X,” a plan to prevent the payout.

After internal reports projected Subnautica 2 was likely to hit its targets, things got hairy. According to court documents, when Krafton’s Head of Corporate Development Maria Park warned CEO Kim that removing Unknown Worlds’ leadership via “dismissal with cause” opened them up to “lawsuit and reputational risk,” he turned to ChatGPT for help.

The chatbot told Kim that the earnout would be “difficult to cancel” but suggested forming an internal task force to either negotiate a “deal” or execute a “takeover” of the company; Kim obliged and allegedly continued to follow ChatGPT’s suggestions.

RELATED: Anthropic says its own new model is too dangerous for the public — but not these Big Tech companies

Not only did Kim allegedly share his strategies from ChatGPT with colleagues, but the strategies included a “pressure and leverage package” against Unknown Worlds.

Among its recommendations, ChatGPT suggested Krafton undermine any David versus Goliath narratives, while urging Kim to prepare for scenarios like buyouts and replacements.

Most jarringly, it also suggested locking down Unknown Worlds’ ability to post its new game for sale on Steam, the largest gaming distributor for PC games.

“Lock down Steam/console publishing rights and access rights over code/build pipeline through both legal and technical aspects,” ChatGPT said, the lawsuit revealed. “For the earn-out freeze, keep room for negotiations through provision stating ‘immediate removal if specific development results are achieved.'”

Kim did as the chatbot recommended and locked down the publishing, and Subnautica 2 could not be released. When Unknown Worlds CEO Ted Gill asked for control to be returned, Kim allegedly ignored him and told a Krafton studio rep to relay to Gill that he had “no intention of transferring stuff back to you guys (like the Steam app).”

RELATED: Does this stealthy startup hold the key to keeping data centers out of your neighborhood?

Ina FASSBENDER/AFP/Getty Images

While Gamesradar reported that Krafton leadership admitted to using ChatGPT for “faster answers,” the company told Kotaku that some characterizations made about them have been false.

In response to claims from Unknown Worlds that Krafton said its chat logs no longer exist, the company said the claim was “simply a distraction from their own efforts to destroy evidence.”

In the end, a Delaware judge ruled that Kim relied on ChatGPT to craft a strategy aimed at avoiding the $250 million payment.

“Fearing he had agreed to a ‘pushover’ contract, KRAFTON’s CEO consulted an artificial intelligence chatbot to contrive a corporate ‘takeover’ strategy,” Vice Chancellor Lori Will said in her ruling, per Economic Times.

The court maintained that Krafton was expected to exercise independent judgment and not outsource its decisions to AI systems.

PC Gamer has since reported that Unknown Worlds will be given an extension to reach its earnout goals to mid-September, with the possibility of extending to March 2027.

The game is set for early release in May 2026.

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​Return, Online shooter game, Gaming, Ai, Artificial intelligence, Chatbot, Chatgpt, Pubg, Tech 

A U.S. government-backed recruiting ad exploited what officials said was an obvious crossover in interests.

This led to a rapid intake of job applications that will likely fulfill a key role that has been criticized over the past few years for being at the center of disastrous diversity, equity, and inclusion hiring practices.

‘We’ve leaned into that community.’

On April 10, the Department of Transportation put out a call for applicants to consider transitioning to a career in one of the most prioritized roles the federal government has to offer: air traffic controllers.

The one-minute ad targeted adult gamers by focusing on their attention to detail, multitasking, and simply put, their ability to take in a vast amount of data through a screen.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy revealed on Friday there was an obvious crossover in interest between gamers and air traffic controllers.

“We polled 250 random students at our academy, and only three of them were not gamers. Like, there must be a correlation between gaming and people wanting to become air traffic controllers,” Duffy said at the Semafor World Economy event in Washington, D.C. “So we’ve leaned into that community.”

The recruitment push turned out to be shockingly successful, and after just seven hours, the recruitment portal was almost ready to be shut down.

“We went live last night at midnight — and as of 7:00 this morning, we had almost 6,000 applicants. We are going to shut down the application process at 8,000.”

RELATED: ‘Make a lot of money’: Trump administration has a job opportunity for adult video gamers

Duffy told the audience, “If we’re not there right now, for sure we’ll be there by noon,” at which point there will not be a need for any more applications.

As Return previously reported, Duffy met his goal to recruit at least 2,000 new air traffic controllers last September by bringing in 2,026. This came from a group of 10,000 applications, with more than 8,300 being referred to aptitude testing.

On Friday, Duffy spoke more about the correlation between the gamer mindset and what it takes to be an air traffic controller.

“If you think just what these gamers are doing on screens, and they’re talking, and there’s a lot of things going on. They’re used to that, and that’s actually what you’re doing, in a tower, in a facility,” Duffy continued. “They’ve become well-suited, from the games they’ve played, to actually have a great life [and] job that pays well and can support their families.”

RELATED: Trump can secure a big win for air travel

John Moore/Getty Images

The transportation secretary did stress that the applicants have to be qualified and will go through an assessment process. However, “We’ve had a flood of people, young people coming in that want to be air traffic controllers … this has been wildly successful.”

The department will still endeavor for its ongoing goal of hiring at least 8,900 new air traffic controllers through 2028.

An audit from 2025 by the Office of Inspector General stated that the FAA employs about 13,000 air traffic controllers in over 300 facilities across the U.S. Nearly 10,600 of those are “certified professional controllers.”

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​Department of transportation, Diversity equity inclusion, Return, Us government, Gamers, Gaming, Video games, Air traffic control, Tech 

As a mother and a conservative American patriot, BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales refuses to tolerate the indoctrination of children in public schools. That’s why she regularly exposes how radical activists and woke school administrators are pushing sexual and gender ideology on kids instead of focusing on real education.

On this episode of “Sara Gonzales Unfiltered,” Sara invites former Oklahoma State Superintendent and current CEO of Teacher Freedom Alliance Ryan Walters to the show to dive into a recent scandal in a Maine public school district.

Earlier this month, Fort Fairfield Schools in Fort Fairfield, Maine, invited a self-described queer musician and dancer by the name of “J-Line” to perform for the middle and high school student bodies.

Sara points out that J-Line’s profile is “filled with cross-dressing, LGBTQ propaganda, and pretty sexually charged content.”

“If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times. Public schools are just trying to make your kids trans, gay, and retarded,” she says.

Walters is equally repulsed by Fort Fairfield Schools’ decision to pour resources into the LGBTQ+ agenda as opposed to genuine education. “We’d love to have our kids understand Washington crossing the Delaware, but instead we’re doing how to be a gay dancer,” he sighs, lamenting the “extremes” public schools go to make everything about “sexual orientation.”

Sara shares that when she was still in school, she participated in choir and theater, but never once was she subjected to the LGBTQ+ agenda.

“Not one time did my choir teacher or my vocal coach ever talk about actually anything related to sexuality — ever,” she says.

“If they would put one ounce of the effort they push into trying to get kids to be gay or trans into understanding our history and reading on proficient levels, I mean, we would be crushing it right now in education, but unfortunately, they’re not doing that,” Walters adds.

Sara points out that under the current Trump administration, public schools are not supposed to be promoting gender or DEI ideology, but she speculates that some are just “doing it in secret.”

Walters says that’s exactly what’s happening — even when parents explicitly complain about it.

Some of the teachers he works with at Teacher Freedom Alliance have reported that in their districts, they are given instructions by administration to “placate” parents who complain about certain progressive ideologies being pushed on their child and then “keep doing it anyway.”

“The left isn’t just going to back away,” Walters warns, noting that despite the current Republican administration, liberals are still largely “controlling” many institutions, including education.

“They understand that they control the future if they control the next generation. And so the fight is far from over.”

To hear more of the conversation, watch the video above.

Want more from Sara Gonzales?

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​Blaze media, Blazetv, Gender ideology, Lgbtq agenda, Lgbtq propaganda, Progressive ideologies, Public schools, Ryan walters, Sara gonzales, Sara gonzales unfiltered, Sexual orientation, Teacher freedom alliance, Trump administration, Woke school administrators, Dei ideology, Fort fairfield schools, J-line 

An illegal alien has been accused of intentionally starting a fire in New York City that left four people dead and seven others injured. Though an alleged mass murderer, he may yet dodge federal immigration authorities, thanks to NYC officials.

Around 11:43 a.m. on March 16, Roman Amatitla, a 38-year-old Mexican in the U.S. illegally, allegedly set fire to a three-story building in the Flushing neighborhood of Queens and then, according to the office of Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, stood by and “watched as the building burned.”

‘An act of mass murder.’

Firefighters discovered three deceased victims in the building: 49-year-old male Chengri Cui, 61-year-old female Shin Chie Ming, and Sihan Yang, a 3-year-old little girl. All three died from smoke inhalation, Katz’s office said.

A fourth victim, 64-year-old male Hong Zhao, escaped the fire by jumping out of a window but sustained catastrophic injuries in the fall, including broken bones and head trauma. He was pronounced dead at the hospital, according to Katz’s office.

Seven others — including two firefighters, who endured a terrifying sudden fall to the basement when a stairway collapsed beneath them — were also injured on account of the fire.

The steps that the suspect allegedly took just before setting the fire are bone-chilling. According to the report from Katz, Amatitla:

entered and exited the targeted building multiple times that morning,urinated on the outside of it,crossed the street to the gas station and purchased one beer and stole another,asked the gas station clerk for a lighter, but since lighters were available only for purchase, settled for a book of matches, and thenreturned to the building, lit a piece of paper on fire, and placed the burning paper atop garbage near the stairwell.

As smoke began to billow out onto the street, Amatitla allegedly “stayed in the immediate area and watched the fire consume the building,” Katz’s office said. The DA characterized the deadly fire as “an act of mass murder.”

Authorities believe that the suspect selected the building entirely at random, as he “had no known connection to the building or any of its occupants.”

RELATED: ‘Monster’ suspected of brutally murdering DHS employee walking her dog is an immigrant naturalized under Biden, DHS says

Theodore Parisienne/New York Daily News/Getty Images

Amatitla has been charged with eight counts of murder in the second degree, arson in the first degree, two counts of assault in the second degree, and petit larceny.

Despite the severity of his alleged crimes, the Department of Homeland security claims that the NYC Department of Corrections has refused to honor a request to turn him over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.

“ICE ARREST DETAINER DENIED. On April 14, ICE requested the NYCDOC not release this monster from jail back into American communities. However, because of New York’s sanctuary politicians, the NYCDOC told ICE that they will REFUSE to cooperate,” the DHS tweeted Friday afternoon along with an image of what appears to be the detainer request.

“This monster set fire to a building and watched as innocent people, including a three-year-old, burned to death. New York City sanctuary politicians REFUSE to cooperate with ICE and are choosing to RELEASE this MURDERER onto New York streets,” DHS acting assistant secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

In a response to Blaze News, the DA’s office sidestepped questions about the city’s cooperation with federal authorities and said only that “the defendant is remanded and is due back in court on May 12.”

An NYCDOC spokesperson told Blaze News: “The DOC processes ICE detainers consistent with local law, which defines the extent of our cooperation with federal immigration authorities.”

A source familiar with the matter indicated that the NYCDOC notifies ICE about a defendant’s possible release only if certain ICE warrants have been issued or the defendant has been convicted of a serious and/or violent crime within the last five years.

The DHS and the respective offices of Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) and Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) did not respond to a request for comment.

As of Monday morning, Amatitla remains in custody, NYCDOC records confirm. The jail records also note that an immigration detainer has been lodged against him.

RELATED: Mamdani nailed with backlash over comments about shooting death of 7-month-old baby girl

Theodore Parisienne/New York Daily News/Getty Images

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​Roman amatitla, Queens, Melinda katz, Nyc, Mamdani, Hochul, Ice, Nycdoc, Politics