The two New Jersey teenagers accused of setting the devastating Jones Road Wildfire that has scorched more than 15,000 acres initially blamed the blaze on Mexicans, according to authorities.

Joseph Kling (pictured), 19, and his 17-year-old co-defendant both allegedly lied to cops when they were interviewed about the Ocean Count conflagration, and their potential connection to it. Ultimately, investigators were able to determine Kling and his unnamed teen accomplice allegedly deliberately set wooden pallets ablaze April 22, then walking away.

Both Kling and the teen “gave misinformation to law enforcement about how the fire started.” They both blamed the fire on Mexicans they said they’d seen in the woods just before the blaze began, reported the Asbury Park Press. Both defendants are being held in police custody.

…Kling is charged with aggravated arson, arson, and hindering apprehension. The Asbury Park Press reported that investigators searched the suspect’s phones, and found chats that “refute the claim that Mexicans started the fire,” prosecutors said in court Friday.

More at https://nypost.com/2025/05/03/us-news/nj-arsonist-told-cops-jones-road-wildfire-started-by-mexicans/

Nevada Rep. Steven Horsford grilled trade representative Jamieson Greer on President Donald Trump’s abrupt tariff pause during a committee hearing Wednesday, asking “How is this not market manipulation?”

“Tariffs are a tool, they can be used in the appropriate way to protect U.S. jobs and small businesses, but that’s not what this does,” Horsford said of Trump’s “strategy” which Greer tried to defend. “So if it’s not market manipulation, what is it? Who’s benefiting? What billionaire just got richer?” The Democratic representative proceeded to spotlight how Republicans “all left” the hearing because “they don’t even wanna defend this.”

“Meanwhile, the speaker [Mike Johnson] is rushing to the floor to pass a budget reconciliation to screw America by passing the biggest tax cut in history on the backs of the American people,” Horsford added. “WTF! Who’s in charge? Because it sure doesn’t look like it’s the trade representative—you just got the rug pulled out from under you.”

… Sen. Adam Schiff also took a jab at Trump on social media, criticizing the president for “creating giant market fluctuations with his on-again, off-again tariffs…These constant gyrations in policy provide dangerous opportunities for insider trading,” the California senator continued. “Who in the administration knew about Trump’s latest tariff flip flop ahead of time? Did anyone buy or sell stocks, and profit at the public’s expense?…I’m writing to the White House—the public has a right to know,” he concluded.

More at https://www.thedailybeast.com/rep-steven-horsford-grills-jamieson-greer-on-trump-tariffs-pull/