WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has given a top award to the service member who scolded him and his staff at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier following a Veterans Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery.
On social media Thursday, Hegseth posted photos that show him pinning the award and shaking hands with a soldier. His post says, “We love soldiers. We love standards. Well done, Specialist.”
Hegseth welcomed to the Pentagon the Army unit that guards the tomb and awarded Spc. Thomas Iglesias with the Joint Service Commendation Medal “for the execution of his duties at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on November 11, 2026,” the Pentagon said.
Iglesias reprimanded Hegseth and a group of his staffers when a loud laugh was heard after they took photos at the site following a ceremony that included President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance.
Video showed Hegseth taking photos on the empty steps in front of the tomb on Wednesday with his wife, Jennifer, chief of staff Ricky Buria, deputy chief of staff Patrick Weaver and senior adviser Tami Radabaugh.
The tomb is considered to be one of the most solemn and revered war memorials in the U.S., being the final resting place of unidentified soldiers from World War I, World War II and the Korean War. It has been guarded around the clock — rain or shine — by a soldier from the Army’s 3rd Infantry Regiment, also known as “The Old Guard,” since 1948.
The Joint Service Commendation Medal is considered to be one of the higher awards in the military and is not typically issued to junior enlisted service members.
Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s top spokesman, said soon after video of the reprimand emerged that the soldier “correctly and respectfully reminded everyone to maintain decorum.”
The scolding drew attention once more to the embattled defense secretary, who had survived an impeachment attempt the day before.
The effort was led by Republican Rep. Thomas Massie and backed by Democrats. While Hegseth’s critics were not successful in Tuesday’s vote, Republicans may have only delayed a bid to impeach him. With Democrats set to take control of the House and Senate in January, those efforts are likely to be renewed.
Hegseth rebuked the move Tuesday in his first news conference in months, arguing that he had committed none of the high crimes required in the Constitution for his removal and framing the effort as an indictment against the nation’s service members and their successes.
“This is not patriotism,” Hegseth argued. “This is sabotage.”
Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins gives a fist bump to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth during a ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on National Veterans Day Observance at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
President Donald Trump stands in silence after placing a wreath during a ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on National Veterans Day Observance at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth listens during an event to mark Veterans Day at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
NEW YORK (AP) — Crews operating heavy equipment hoisted chunks of debris Thursday in the search for more victims in the rubble of a collapsed Brooklyn apartment building that killed at least eight people, including two children.
The three-story building gave way while construction workers were digging Wednesday afternoon at an adjacent lot, causing New York City's mayor to order inspections at about 100 building sites involving companies related to the project.
“If there is anyone, or any entity, operating in this city that bears responsibility for what happened, we will hold them fully accountable," Mayor Zohran Mamdani said during a news conference.
Investigators have not determined what caused the collapse that injured 18 others, including four firefighters, Mamdani said.
One witness said he watched bricks fall minutes before the disaster while a woman in a neighboring building said she and fellow residents blamed vibrations from the construction for cracks that appeared in their apartment walls.
Emergency workers used power saws and pickaxes to get through the debris, pulling four victims out of the rubble in the early hours of Thursday. Hours later, excavators removed larger piles of the wreckage so searchers could get deeper into the construction pit, said New York Fire Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore.
“We always assume there are more people there until we can access the ground,” Bonsignore said. “So until we remove some of the bigger debris and are able to search beneath them, this will remain a rescue operation”
Among those killed and injured were people from Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador and Trinidad, Mamdani said. Two of the dead were construction workers, he said.
He described how some workers who survived joined firefighters in digging out survivors, thanking “those who ran toward danger when this building collapsed, and in the hours afterward.”
James Williams, who works at a deli across the street, said he heard loud banging at the site all day Wednesday and looked outside to see bricks falling. “Two minutes later, the building collapsed,” he said.
As the building crumbled and exposed the neighboring building, Williams spotted a woman on a staircase. “There wasn’t anything I could do,” he said, his voice cracking.
Customers and stylists at a nearby hair salon jumped up and ran onto the sidewalk as the building fell.
“We heard the boom and we all rushed outside and saw smoke and dust everywhere,” said hairstylist Brigitte Anama.
She saw emergency workers pulling people from the rubble, including what appeared to be a child. “People were saying, ‘Pray for the baby, pray for the baby,’” Anama said.
Dervie Mapp, who lives along the construction site, said she and others complained for months about the project. Her landlord brought engineers into the building, but residents never received an inspection report, she said.
This was the second high-profile structural problem with a building in New York in the past five months. In July, several buildings in Manhattan were evacuated after support columns buckled inside a skyscraper that was formerly the headquarters of Pfizer.
First responders in Brooklyn worked to clear through a massive heap that included mattresses, a broken sink and a refrigerator tossed on its side. Among the belongings scattered in the rubble were vinyl records, clothes and shoes.
Rescue dogs sniffed piles of twisted wood and brick dotted with brightly colored clothing.
Firefighters pulled a pregnant woman from the rubble Wednesday, hoisted her up on a stretcher and rushed her to a waiting ambulance. Others were rescued as the night wore on.
The fire commissioner said the search would not end despite heavy rain Thursday afternoon.
Building records show there were four apartments on the upper two floors and a commercial unit on the ground floor of the collapsed building.
The Consulate of Ecuador in New York said José Luis Caguana Cosquillo from Ecuador was among those found dead.
His brother told WNBC-TV that he died while working at the construction site. He was an immigrant from Ecuador who had been in the U.S. for about six years and had a pregnant wife and a young child, Carlos Caguana said.
“He was the sole provider for the family. Now that he’s gone, she is going through an immense amount of pain,” Caguana said.
The surrounding blocks along Flatbush Avenue, a busy thoroughfare in Brooklyn, are tightly packed with mostly older brick buildings and a few newly built apartment complexes. A mix of Caribbean and Mexican restaurants reflects the diversity of the neighborhood.
New York City’s buildings commissioner, Ahmed Tigani, said Wednesday that construction workers were excavating the empty lot next door when the building buckled. The city’s Department of Buildings is investigating what caused the collapse.
The architect, property owner and general contractor listed in city records have not responded to phone and email messages seeking comment.
City officials said a stop work order was issued in March after inspectors concluded the building next door was being demolished without adequate overhead protection such as netting to shield neighboring buildings, the department said in an emailed statement.
In April, inspectors found that the demolition work had resumed in violation of the stop work order, the department said. Work was allowed to continue in May after the problems were corrected, it said.
The project has active permits for excavation and foundation work.
McCormack reported from Concord, New Hampshire. Associated Press writers Yuki Iwamura in New York; Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut; Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin; Hannah Fingerhut in Des Moines, Iowa; R.J. Rico in Atlanta; Laura Turbay in Little Rock, Arkansas; and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, contributed.
New York City Department of Buildings employees stand on a rooftop during their investigation of a building that collapsed the previous day in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
A view of the site where a building collapsed the previous day in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Employees of NYC department of buildings investigating the rooftop of the building next to a building, that collapsed the previous day, in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
First responders rescue a person after a building collapsed in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
Officials work at the site of a building that collapsed the previous day in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Members of the FDNY work at the site of a building that collapsed the previous day in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Heavy machinery works at the site of a building that collapsed the previous day in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
A view of the site where a building collapsed the previous day in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
First responders work the scene after a building collapsed in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
First responders rescue a person after a building collapsed after a building collapsed in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
First responders work the scene after a building collapsed in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
First responders rescue a person after a building collapsed after a building collapsed in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
First responders work the scene after a building collapsed in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
