Someone Put This Teen's Number On A Craigslist Ad For A Cow And Now His Phone Is Blowing Up

“This has been the worst morning of my life.”

This is 19-year-old Shannon Barbour from Charlottesville, Virginia. He's a sophomore at Old Dominion University, but is currently working during summer break to make as much money as he can before heading back to school.

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On Thursday night, just before going to bed, Shannon received a text message from someone inquiring about the sale of a cow.

"[Someone called me] and they were asking for a 'heifer' or something," Shannon told BuzzFeed News. "I was like, 'Excuse me?, I think you have the wrong number.'"

Shannon went to bed without thinking much of the message or the phone call, but woke up on Friday morning to so many calls and messages on his phone that it wasn't even displaying notifications anymore.

As it turned out, the calls and text messages were coming from a Craigslist ad which had listed Shannon's cell as the contact number.

The "heffer" that people were asking about was actually a "heifer," a type of cow, that was listed for sale by an anonymous poster and spelled incorrectly. A heifer is a young female cow that has not given birth.

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Trump Tells ICE Agents To Be Rough With Suspected Immigrant Gang Members

Evan Vucci / AP

President Trump on Friday encouraged authorities to rough up undocumented immigrants suspected of committing crimes as part of speech to highlight his administration's efforts to crack down on gang members and illegal immigration.

“When you see these towns and when you see these thugs being thrown into the back of a paddy wagon, you just see them thrown in, rough, I said, 'Please don't be too nice,'" Trump to cheers and applause. “Like, when you guys put somebody in the car and you're protecting their head, you know, the way you put their hand over. Like, don't hit their head and they've just killed somebody. Don't hit their head. I said, 'You can take the hand away, OK?'"

Trump made the comments while speaking in Long Island to law enforcement officials. He and his administration have been pointing to a streak of violence at the hands of MS-13 gang members as a justification for cracking down on illegal immigration — even though federal data show the link is tenuous, at best.

Trump began to focus on the transnational gang after a series of killings earlier this year in Suffolk County, Long Island. In September, two girls were found beaten to death, and in April, the badly beaten bodies of four men were also found in a wooded area, with MS-13 members being the suspected culprits.

"They have transformed peaceful parks and beautiful, quiet neighborhoods into blood-stained killing fields,” Trump said. “They're animals. We cannot tolerate, as a society, the spilling of innocent, young, wonderful, vibrant people, sons and daughters, even husbands and wives."

He also made a connection between unaccompanied minors from Central America and MS-13, saying the increase in the kids coming to the US lead to an increase in the gang's ranks.

"New arrivals came in, and they were all made recruits of each other. And they fought with each other. And then they fought outside of each other, and it got worse and worse," Trump said. "In the three years before I took office, more than 150,000 unaccompanied alien minors arrived at the border and were released all throughout our country into United States communities."

However, an analysis by the Washington Office on Latin America found that MS-13's membership makes up less than 1% of all criminally active gang members in the US and Puerto Rico. The organization also said that Attorney General Jeff Sessions' claim that MS-13 gang membership has increased to 10,000 members is the same estimate the FBI has been using since 2006.

Trump also blamed the spread of MS-13 in part to so-called sanctuary cities and “pathetic mayors” who won't allow local police to work with federal immigration officials.

"It is the policy of this administration to dismantle, decimate, and eradicate MS-13,” Trump said. "We will find you, we will arrest you, we will jail you, and we will deport you."

LINK: Trump Keeps Trying To Link MS-13 Gang Violence To Immigrants. The Data Show Otherwise.

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Charlie Gard, The British Baby At The Center Of A Major Legal Battle, Has Died

Chris Gard and Connie Yates with their son Charlie Gard.

Pa / Press Association Images

Charlie Gard — the 11-month-old terminally ill baby who was at the center of a legal battle over whether his life support should be turned off — died on Friday, the boy's parents announced, according to multiple media reports.

Earlier this week, parents Connie Yates and Chris Gard ended their months long legal campaign to take their son to the United States for experimental treatment.

In a statement carried by the Guardian newspaper, Yates said: “Our beautiful little boy has gone, we are so proud of you Charlie.”

Charlie suffered from a rare form of mitochondrial disease, which causes muscle weakness and irreversible brain damage. Doctors said Charlie was unable to see, hear, move, cry, or swallow since he was 8 weeks old.

But the boy's parents had fought against a decision by Great Ormond Street Hospital in London to turn off Charlie's life support machine, raising the money they needed for the experimental treatment in the US.

President Donald Trump and even the pope also publicly supported their case and called for more to be done to prolong the boy's life.

"If we can help little Charlie Gard, as per our friends in the UK and the Pope, we would be delighted to do so," Trump tweeted on July 3.

However, a series of judges said — based on specialist doctors' assessments — the boy had no chances of survival. And on Monday, the barrister representing the parents said they had accepted that it is "too late" for the baby.

"This is one of the hardest things that we will ever have to say and one of the hardest things they we will ever have to do, which is to let our beautiful little Charlie go," Chris Gard said earlier this week.

On Thursday, Charlie was moved transferred to a hospice, where he was taken off life support. Charlie would have turned 1 next week.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates and follow BuzzFeed News on Twitter.

LINK: Charlie Gard's Parents Have Ended A Legal Fight To Continue His Treatment

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The Trump Administration Is Going After "Lowest Hanging Fruit" To Boost Deportations, Ex-ICE Director Says

Charles Reed / U.S. Immigration and Customs Enf

The nation's former top immigration enforcement officer on Friday said that despite claims to the contrary, the Trump administration is going after undocumented immigrants who are the most easily deportable — those who voluntarily check in, most of them without criminal records — in order to boost deportation numbers.

“We are seeing daily raids, but they’re silent — mom and dads with no record are coming in for check-ins and getting deported,” John Sandweg, former acting director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said. “It’s very abundantly clear that this is not about public safety, not about border security. It’s clearly about setting a record amount of deportations.”

Speaking at an event for America’s Voice Education Fund in Washington, DC, Sandweg said it’s much easier for ICE to deport immigrants who have already been ordered deported by a judge — but who have been allowed to stay in the US so long as they check in with agents, mainly for humanitarian reasons — instead of finding, arresting, and deporting someone with a conviction who would still need to go through backlogged immigration courts.

It’s very rare for people with check-ins to have criminal convictions, he added.

John Sandweg.

Byline Withheld / AP

“Everything they’re doing is designed to avoid immigration courts,” Sandweg said. “These are the lowest hanging fruit, individuals ICE can arrest most quickly and deport in a matter of weeks.”

His comments came on the same day President Trump planned to use the violence inflicted by the transnational gang MS-13 in the US to highlight his pledge to crack down on immigration. He wants Congress to authorize hiring thousands more ICE agents and to bolster the number of immigration judges to rev up the deportation efforts.

ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sandweg's speech. But federal authorities have said in the past that they are focusing on deporting immigrants suspected of committing crimes or with criminal convictions.

However, one of Trump’s executive orders in January made nearly every one of the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the US a priority for deportation. And critics say federal officials are now going after everyone, regardless of criminal record.

In the 100 days since Trump signed the executive order, the administration has boasted of the arrest of more than 41,000 immigrants suspected of living illegally in the United States. About 75% of those arrested during the 100-day period are convicted criminals, ICE said.

But the number of those arrested whose only crime is living in the US illegally has also gone up. More than half of the 683 immigrants arrested in raids shortly after Trump took office through mid-March either had no criminal convictions or had traffic violations on their records, according to federal data obtained by BuzzFeed News.

The administration is also looking into giving the Department of Homeland Security the ability to quickly deport people by expanding expedited removal. Under the proposal, first reported by the Washington Post, the agency would be able to quickly deport an undocumented immigrant apprehended anywhere in the US who can’t prove they’ve lived in the country continuously for 90 days without seeing an immigration judge.

“The only reason to pursue the expansion of expedited removal is to bypass the immigration courts…they know where the backlog is,” Sandweg said. “What we’re seeing, frankly, is a shift away from public safety where they key question is how fast can we deport an individual.”

LINK: Immigration Arrests By ICE Up Nearly 40% Since Trump's Executive Order

LINK: More Than Half Of Immigrants Arrested In ICE Raids Had No Criminal Record Or Traffic Convictions

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People Are Saying The Two Women Who Voted Against The Obamacare Repeal Are Being Overshadowed By McCain

It wasn’t just the Maverick.

Republicans failed to pass their last-ditch effort to repeal and replace Obamacare on Thursday night in a middle-of-the-night showdown that ended with Senator John McCain breaking away from his party and voting "no." Republicans couldn't lose more than two votes, and McCain was the third voting against the bill, killing it 49-51.

Known as the "skinny repeal", the bill would have abandoned the individual mandate (where you have to pay a tax penalty if you don't purchase health insurance), banned federal funding of Planned Parenthood for one year, and abandoned the rule that large companies had to offer insurance to its employees.

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It was dramatic night! McCain, who is still recovering from brain surgery, returned to Washington cast an earlier vote moving forward on health care debate. But when he arrived to cast his vote on Tuesday's "skinny repeal," he cryptically told reporters to "wait for the show."

Drew Angerer / Getty Images

The final vote didn't happen until nearly 1:30am. VP Mike Pence was busily trying to persuade McCain to support the bill, taking him off to chat in a side room. Other Republican Senators huddled around Senator Lisa Murkowksi, trying to convince her to change her mind. Then ~showtime~, McCain walks onto the Senate floor for his finale:

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It was McCain's "Maverick moment," as CNN dubbed it, because McCain, has long portrayed himself as the Republican is brave enough to speak out against his party if he disagrees with them — even if he usually then votes along party lines.

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This Is What A Trip To The Doctor Looks Like For People In Appalachia

For three days a year, Remote Area Medical stages a number of health clinics across Appalachia, offering much needed medical, dental, and vision services to individuals and families without heath coverage. Some are forced to sleep overnight in their cars to see a doctor, while long lines and excessive waiting is a common scene. But for many, Remote Area Medical provides health services that would otherwise be entirely unobtainable.

These pictures capture what a rare trip to the doctor looks like for many Americans.

A patient prepares for a dental procedure at the Remote Area Medical mobile clinic on July 21, 2017, in Wise, Virginia.

John Moore / Getty Images

Joshua Roberts / Reuters

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Patient number 35 out of 150 waits for free RAM aid outside Greensville County High School in Emporia, Virginia, on June 25.

Paul J. Richards / AFP / Getty Images

Medical volunteers assist a woman who collapsed while awaiting medical services in Wise on July 21.

John Moore / Getty Images

A patient receives medical care from onsite dentists in Wise on July 21.

John Moore / Getty Images

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A man has his blood tested at the RAM clinic in Olean, New York, on June 10.

Spencer Platt / Getty Images

A nurse checks the blood pressure of a patient at Greensville County High School on June 25.

Paul J. Richards / AFP / Getty Images

Six-year-old Mallory Collin of Abington, Virginia, has her teeth cleaned at the RAM clinic in Wise on July 22.

Joshua Roberts / Reuters

Paul J. Richards / AFP / Getty Images

A volunteer checks a patient's vision at the RAM clinic in Wise on July 21.

John Moore / Getty Images

Paul J. Richards / AFP / Getty Images

Patients check out free glasses at Greensville County High School on June 25.

Paul J. Richards / AFP / Getty Images

Paul J. Richards / AFP / Getty Images

John Moore / Getty Images

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After sleeping in their car, 5-year-old Oran McCall and his mother wait to register to see a doctor at the RAM clinic in Olean on June 10.

Spencer Platt / Getty Images

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A Guide To The Incredible Video Of John McCain Scuttling The Republican Health Care Plan

There is so much going on in this clip. I can’t stop watching.

While you were sleeping, Senate Republicans held a late-night vote to try to pass their last-ditch effort to repeal Obamacare — but it all failed when Sen. John McCain bucked the party line and voted against the bill.

Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

The decision by McCain, who was recently diagnosed with brain cancer, came as a shock to many of his colleagues — audible gasps could be heard in the Senate when he voted no.

Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

In a statement issued after the vote, McCain said he supported replacing Obamacare, but objected to the provisions of this particular proposal and the highly partisan manner in which it was being achieved.

The skinny repeal "offered no replacement to actually reform our health care system and deliver affordable, quality health care to our citizens," McCain said.

Here's video of the exact moment McCain strolled into the Senate chamber at 1:29 a.m. and voted no with a thumbs down.

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