FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Airports big and small around the country are refusing to play a video with a message from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in which she blames Democrats for the federal government shutdown and its impacts on Transportation Security Administration operations.
Airports in New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Las Vegas, Charlotte, Phoenix, Seattle and more say the video's political content goes against their policies or regulations prohibiting political messaging in their facilities.
Various government agencies, in emails to workers and on websites, have adopted language that blames Democrats for the shutdown. Some experts argue it could be in violation of the 1939 Hatch Act, which restricts certain political activities by federal employees.
The shutdown has disrupted routine operations at some airports, leading to flight delays. Democrats say any deal to reopen the government has to address their health care demands, and Republicans say they won’t negotiate until they agree to fund the government. Some medical insurance premiums would double if Congress fails to renew the subsidy payments that expire Dec. 31.
In the video, Noem says the TSA's “top priority” is to help make travel pleasant and efficient while keeping passengers safe.
“However, Democrats in Congress refuse to fund the federal government, and because of this, many of our operations are impacted, and most of our TSA employees are working without pay,” she continues.
The TSA falls under the Department of Homeland Security. Roughly 61,000 of the agency’s 64,130 employees are required to continue working during the shutdown.
A spokesperson for DHS responded to a request for comment restating some of the message from Noem's video.
“It’s unfortunate our workforce has been put in this position due to political gamesmanship. Our hope is that Democrats will soon recognize the importance of opening the government,” spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said.
DHS said Friday that the video is being rolled out to airports across the country.
In Columbus, Ohio, the video was not being aired at John Glenn International Airport as of Tuesday. Spokesperson Breann Almos said it is under legal review but did not provide a timeline.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates John F. Kennedy International Airport, LaGuardia Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport, said it would not air the videos, citing rules against “politically partisan messages.”
Near the border with Canada, travelers won't see the video at Buffalo Niagara International Airport or Niagara Falls International Airport. The Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority said its “long-standing” policy and regulations prohibit “partisan messaging” in its facilities.
The Chicago Department of Aviation said advertising and public service announcements must follow guidelines that “prohibit content that endorses or opposes any named political party.” In Florida, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport said it has a policy that doesn’t allow political messaging to be displayed in its facility. Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas said it had to “remain mindful of the Hatch Act's restrictions.”
“Per airport regulations, the terminals and surrounding areas are not designated public forums, and the airport’s intent is to avoid the use of the facility for political or religious advocacy,” the airport's statement said.
Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins said the county north of New York City won’t play the video at its local airport. In a statement, he called the video “inappropriate, unacceptable, and inconsistent with the values we expect from our nation’s top public officials,” and said its tone is “unnecessarily alarmist” as it relates to operations at Westchester County Airport.
“At a time when we should be focused on ensuring stability, collaboration and preparedness, this type of messaging only distracts from the real issues, and undermines public trust,” he said.
Even in red states, airports weren’t showing the video for various reasons. Salt Lake City International Airport wasn’t playing it because state law prohibits using city-owned property for political purposes, said airport spokesperson Nancy Volmer.
The airport in Billings, Montana, “politely declined” even though it has screens that could show the video with audio, assistant aviation director Paul Khera said Tuesday.
Yamat reported from Las Vegas. Associated Press writers Mead Gruver in Fort Collins, Colorado; Julie Carr Smyth in Columbus, Ohio; and Claire Rush in Portland contributed to this report.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a roundtable meeting with President Donald Trump on antifa in the State Dining Room at the White House, Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Travelers sit together and wait at the Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Transportation Security Administration employees leave a security checkpoint during a shift change at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — A special tribunal sentenced Bangladesh’s ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and one of her close aides to death on charges of crimes against humanity for her crackdown on a student uprising last year that killed hundreds of people and led to the toppling of her 15-year rule.
The International Crimes Tribunal based in Dhaka, the capital, sentenced Hasina and former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan to death for their involvement in the use of deadly force against protesters.
Both Hasina and Khan fled to India last year and were sentenced in absentia.
A third suspect, a former police chief, was sentenced to five years in prison after becoming a state witness against Hasina and pleading guilty.
Hasina and Khan were accused of crimes against humanity for the killing of hundreds of people during a student-led uprising in July and August of 2024. The country’s health adviser under the country’s current interim government said more than 800 people were killed and about 14,000 were injured. The United Nations in a February report estimated that up to 1,400 may have been killed.
Hasina says the charges are unjustified, arguing that she and Khan “acted in good faith and were trying to minimize the loss of life.”
“We lost control of the situation, but to characterize what happened as a premeditated assault on citizens is simply to misread the facts,” she said Monday in a statement denouncing a verdict she called “biased and politically motivated."
“I mourn all of the deaths that occurred in July and August of last year, on both sides of the political divide," she said. "But neither I nor other political leaders ordered the killing of protesters.”
Hasina cannot appeal the verdict unless she surrenders or is arrested within 30 days of the judgment.
The verdict comes as the country still grapples with instability after Hasina was ousted on Aug. 5, 2024. Bangladeshi Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus took over as the head of an interim government three days after her fall. Yunus has vowed to punish Hasina and banned the activities of her Awami League party ahead of elections set for February.
A three-member tribunal, headed by Justice Golam Mortuza Mozumder, announced the tribunal's ruling, a session that was broadcast live and lasted hours.
Some of those in the packed courtroom cheered when Mazumder announced the death penalty for Hasina. He admonished them, telling them to express their feelings outside the courtroom.
Many families of the killed and the injured during last year's uprising waited for hours outside the tribunal.
Hasina’s son Sajeeb Wazed, currently in the United States, said in message to The Associated Press that the “verdict is a joke and meaningless. My mother is safe in India. The trials were so legally flawed they won’t survive any challenge once rule of law returns to Bangladesh.”
In a media statement Monday, Bangladesh’s Ministry of Home Affairs urged India to send both Hasina and Khan back soon.
India’s foreign ministry in a statement acknowledged the tribunal’s verdict but fell short of stating whether it would hand them over to Dhaka.
“As a close neighbor, India remains committed to the best interests of people of Bangladesh, including in peace, democracy, inclusion and stability in that country. We will always engage constructively with all stakeholders to that end,” it said.
India previously had not responded to requests by Bangladesh to extradite Hasina and Khan to stand trial.
India's failure to extradite the pair has created some tensions between the neighboring nations.
Tensions and disruptions had grown in the country in recent days ahead of the verdict.
Nearly 50 arson attacks, mostly targeting vehicles, and dozens of crude bombs explosions were reported nationwide over the past week. Two people were killed in the arson attacks, local media reported.The interim government beefed up security ahead of the verdict, with paramilitary border guards and police deployed in Dhaka and many other parts of the country.
Hasina’s Awami League party called for a nationwide shutdown to protest the verdict on Monday.
A few kilometers away from the tribunal, Hasina’s opponents on Monday gathered outside her father’s home-turned-museum to demolish the rest of the establishment, which was looted and damaged earlier. They brought two excavators to demolish the building.
Police charged with batons and used stun grenades to disperse the crowd even as the judges were still reading out the verdict.
In the evening more than 300 people were still there and burned tires on streets as the security officials took their position.
Authorities at the Supreme Court, in a letter to army headquarters on Sunday, requested the deployment of soldiers around the tribunal premises ahead of the verdict.
Yunus said his interim government would hold the country's next elections in February, and that Hasina’s party would not get a chance to contest the race.
Bangladesh's politics under Yunus has remained at a crossroads with limited signs of stability.
Protesters shout slogans outside the demolished residence of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladesh's former leader and the father of the country's ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina ahead of an expected verdict against Hasina, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, Nov. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahadul Karim Khan)
Protesters throw stones and shout slogans during a standoff with police outside the demolished residence of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladesh's former leader and the father of the country's ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina after the verdict against Hasina, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, Nov. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/ Rajib Dhar)
Police use baton to disperse protesters gather outside the demolished residence of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladesh's former leader and the father of the country's ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina ahead of an expected verdict against Hasina, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, Nov. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/ Ahadul Karim Khan)
Protesters shout slogans outside the demolished residence of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladesh's former leader and the father of the country's ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina ahead of an expected verdict against Hasina, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, Nov. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/ Ahadul Karim Khan)
A police man checks the bag of a commuter near International Crimes Tribunal after security has been beefed up across the country ahead of an expected verdict against ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, Nov. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)
Policemen stand guard outside International Crimes Tribunal after security has been beefed up across the country ahead of an expected verdict against ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, Nov. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)
Bangladeshi Army soldiers stand guard outside the Supreme Court after security have been beefed up across the country ahead of an expected verdict against ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, Nov. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar)
Security personnel walk past a bus stop as ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her former ruling Awami League party called for a nationwide "lockdown" in protest against her trial, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu)
Security personnel stand guard at a traffic intersection as ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her former ruling Awami League party called for a nationwide "lockdown" in protest against her trial, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu)
FILE- Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina speaks during a press conference in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Jan. 6, 2014. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh, File)
Security personnel stand guard at Bangladesh's Supreme Court as ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her former ruling Awami League party called for a nationwide "lockdown" in protest against her trial in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu)
