Family and friends of actor Johnny Wactor urge more action to find his killers

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Family and friends of actor Johnny Wactor called for action Tuesday from the public and officials to help find and convict his killers.

The former “General Hospital” actor was shot on May 25 when he interrupted thieves stealing the catalytic converter from his car in downtown Los Angeles, authorities said. No arrests have yet been made.

“I’m asking that anybody that knows anything please come forward,” the actor's mother, Scarlett Wactor of South Carolina, said at a news conference outside Los Angeles City Hall. “It will help me and his brothers in our healing to know that they’ve been captured and convicted.”

Police made their own plea for public help on Aug. 5 when they released surveillance images of three unidentified suspects and their getaway car — a stolen 2018 black Infiniti Q50.

Johnny Wactor was born in Charleston, South Carolina, and grew up in the nearby town of Summerville. He portrayed Brando Corbin on the ABC soap opera “General Hospital” from 2020 to 2022. He also appeared in films and TV series including “Station 19,” “NCIS” and “Westworld.”

Scarlett Wactor said previously that her son had left work at a rooftop bar with a coworker when he saw someone at his car and thought it was being towed. A mask-wearing suspect opened fire, his mother said.

“Grief is my constant companion," she said Tuesday. “I can’t wish him happy birthday on Aug. 31 — he would have been 38. I can’t ask if he’s coming home for Christmas. I can’t ask how his day went.”

Others at the news conference called for more action from Mayor Karen Bass and other leaders to combat crime.

“We will make sure that no family has to endure the pain that Scarlett is enduring today,” City Councilman Kevin de León said. “We want justice for Johnny and we shall have it.”

Los Angeles council member Kevin de Leon, surrounded by friends of late actor Johnny Wactor, pictured, speaks during a news conference outside Los Angeles City Hall, in Los Angeles Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, asking citizens to help find the suspects that murdered the former "General Hospital" actor. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Micah Parker, "Vampire Diaries," actor, producer, and organizer of Justice for Johnny Wactor, speaks during a news conference outside Los Angeles City Hall in Los Angeles Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, asking citizens to help find the suspects that murdered the former "General Hospital" actor seen in pictures. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

This notification provided by the Los Angeles Police Department shows images of three suspects and the getaway car used in the killing of former "General Hospital" actor Johnny Wactor in downtown Los Angeles when he interrupted thieves stealing the catalytic converter from his car. (Los Angeles Police Department via AP)

Los Angeles Councilmember Kevin de Leon, surrounded by friends of late actor Johnny Wactor, pictured, speaks during a news conference outside Los Angeles City Hall, in Los Angeles Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. asking citizens to help find the suspects that murdered the former "General Hospital" actor. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Johnny Wactor arrives at the world premiere of "The Mule" on Dec. 10, 2018, in Los Angeles. Police have released images of three suspects and the getaway car used in the killing of the former “General Hospital” actor in Los Angeles when he interrupted thieves stealing the catalytic converter from his car last May. (Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP)

Scarlett Wactor, the mother of late actor Johnny Wactor, speaks during a news conference outside Los Angeles City Hall in Los Angeles, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. asking citizens to help find the suspects that murdered the former "General Hospital" actor. At right, detective Moses Castillo. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Monday launched his family's cryptocurrency venture, World Liberty Financial, with an interview on the X social media platform in which he also gave his first public comments on the apparent assassination attempt against him a day earlier.

Trump did not discuss specifics about World Liberty Financial or how it would work, pivoting from questions about cryptocurrency to talking about artificial intelligence or other topics. Instead, he recounted his experience Sunday, saying he and a friend playing golf “heard shots being fired in the air, and I guess probably four or five.”

“I would have loved to have sank that last putt,” Trump said. He credited the Secret Service agent who spotted the barrel of a rifle and began firing toward it as well as law enforcement and a civilian who he said helped track down the suspect.

World Liberty Financial is expected to be a borrowing and lending service used to trade cryptocurrencies, which are forms of digital money that can be traded over the internet without relying on the global banking system. Exchanges often charge fees for withdrawals of Bitcoin and other currencies.

Other speakers after Trump, including his eldest son, Don Jr., talked about embracing cryptocurrency as an alternative to what they allege is a banking system tilted against conservatives.

Experts have said a presidential candidate launching a business venture in the midst of a campaign could create ethical conflicts.

“Taking a pro-crypto stance is not necessarily troubling; the troubling aspect is doing it while starting a way to personally benefit from it,” Jordan Libowitz, a spokesperson for the government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said earlier this month.

During his time in the White House, Trump said he was “not a fan” of cryptocurrency and tweeted in 2019, “Unregulated Crypto Assets can facilitate unlawful behavior, including drug trade and other illegal activity." However, during this election cycle, he has reversed himself and taken on a favorable view of cryptocurrencies.

He announced in May that his campaign would begin accepting donations in cryptocurrency as part of an effort to build what it calls a “crypto army” leading up to Election Day. He attended a bitcoin conference in Nashville this year, promising to make the U.S. the “crypto capital of the planet” and create a bitcoin “strategic reserve” using the currency that the government currently holds.

Hilary Allen, a law professor at American University who has done research on cryptocurrencies, said she was skeptical of Trump's change of heart on crypto.

“I think it’s fair to say that that reversal has been motivated in part by financial interests,” she said.

Crypto enthusiasts welcomed the shift, viewing the launch as a positive sign for investors if Trump retakes the White House.

Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign has not offered policy proposals on how it would regulate digital assets like cryptocurrencies.

In an effort to appeal to crypto investors, a group of Democrats, including Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, participated in an online “Crypto 4 Harris” event in August.

Neither Harris nor members of her campaign staff attended the event.

Gomez Licon contributed from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump waves as he boards a plane at Harry Reid International Airport after a campaign trip, Saturday, Sept.14, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)