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Tag: Violent crime

  • Today in History: December 2, Senate condemns McCarthy

    Today in History: December 2, Senate condemns McCarthy

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    Today in History

    Today is Friday, Dec. 2, the 336th day of 2022. There are 29 days left in the year.

    Today’s Highlight in History:

    On Dec. 2, 1954, the U.S. Senate passed, 67-22, a resolution condemning Republican Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy of Wisconsin, saying he had “acted contrary to senatorial ethics and tended to bring the Senate into dishonor and disrepute.”

    On this date:

    In 1823, President James Monroe outlined his doctrine opposing European expansion in the Western Hemisphere.

    In 1859, militant abolitionist John Brown was hanged for his raid on Harpers Ferry the previous October.

    In 1942, an artificially created, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction was demonstrated for the first time at the University of Chicago.

    In 1957, the Shippingport Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania, the first full-scale commercial nuclear facility in the U.S., began operations. (The reactor ceased operating in 1982.)

    In 1980, four American churchwomen were raped and murdered in El Salvador. (Five national guardsmen were convicted in the killings.)

    In 1982, in the first operation of its kind, doctors at the University of Utah Medical Center implanted a permanent artificial heart in the chest of retired dentist Dr. Barney Clark, who lived 112 days with the device.

    In 1993, Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar was shot to death by security forces in Medellin (meh-deh-YEEN’).

    In 2000, Al Gore sought a recount in South Florida, while George W. Bush flatly asserted, “I’m soon to be the president” and met with GOP congressional leaders.

    In 2001, in one of the largest corporate bankruptcies in U.S. history, Enron filed for Chapter 11 protection.

    In 2015, a couple loyal to the Islamic State group opened fire at a holiday banquet for public employees in San Bernardino, California, killing 14 people and wounding 21 others before dying in a shootout with police.

    In 2016, a fire that raced through an illegally converted warehouse in Oakland, California, during a dance party killed 36 people.

    In 2020, in a video released on social media, President Donald Trump stood before a White House lectern and delivered a 46-minute diatribe against the election results that produced a win for Democrat Joe Biden, unspooling one misstatement after another to back his baseless claim that he really won. Britain became the first country in the world to authorize a rigorously tested COVID-19 vaccine, giving the go-ahead for emergency use of the vaccine developed by American drugmaker Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech.

    Ten years ago: Hundreds of concrete slabs, each weighing more than a ton, fell from the roof of a highway tunnel west of Tokyo, crushing vehicles below and killing nine people. Dustin Hoffman, David Letterman, Led Zeppelin, Chicago bluesman Buddy Guy and ballerina Natalia Makarova received Kennedy Center Honors.

    Five years ago: President Donald Trump changed his story on why he fired Michael Flynn as his national security adviser, now suggesting that he knew at the time that Flynn had lied to the FBI about his contacts with Russians. ABC News suspended investigative reporter Brian Ross for four weeks without pay for an erroneous report about Flynn. (Ross had reported that then-candidate Trump had directed Flynn to make contact with the Russians; Ross clarified the report hours later, saying that his source now said Trump had not done so as a candidate, but as president-elect.)

    One year ago: Nevada’s Supreme Court ruled unanimously that gun manufacturers could not be held responsible for the deaths in the 2017 mass shooting on the Las Vegas Strip because a state law shielded them from liability unless the weapon malfunctioned. Jason Meade, the Ohio sheriff’s deputy who shot Casey Goodson Jr. in the back five times as the Black man entered his grandmother’s house, was charged with murder, as Goodson’s family also filed a federal civil rights lawsuit. (Meade has pleaded not guilty.) Major League Baseball plunged into its first work stoppage in a quarter-century when the sport’s collective bargaining agreement expired and owners immediately locked out players.(An agreement would end the lockout after 99 days; the start of the season was delayed by about a week.)

    Today’s Birthdays: Former Attorney General Edwin Meese III is 91. Actor Cathy Lee Crosby is 78. Movie director Penelope Spheeris is 77. Actor Ron Raines is 73. Country singer John Wesley Ryles is 72. Actor Keith Szarabajka is 70. Actor Dan Butler is 68. Broadcast journalist Stone Phillips is 68. Actor Dennis Christopher is 67. Actor Steven Bauer is 66. Country singer Joe Henry is 62. Rock musician Rick Savage (Def Leppard) is 62. Actor Brendan Coyle is 59. Rock musician Nate Mendel (Foo Fighters) is 54. Actor Suzy Nakamura is 54. Actor Rena Sofer is 54. Rock singer Jimi (cq) HaHa (Jimmie’s Chicken Shack) is 54. Actor Lucy Liu (loo) is 54. U.S. Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough is 53. Rapper Treach (Naughty By Nature) is 52. Actor Joe Lo Truglio is 52. International Tennis Hall of Famer Monica Seles is 49. Singer Nelly Furtado is 44. Pop singer Britney Spears is 41. Actor-singer Jana Kramer is 39. Actor Yvonne Orji is 39. Actor Daniela Ruah (roo-ah) is 39. NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers is 39. Actor Alfred Enoch is 34. Pop singer-songwriter Charlie Puth is 31.

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  • ‘Regret is not rape,’ Weinstein lawyer says in closing

    ‘Regret is not rape,’ Weinstein lawyer says in closing

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    LOS ANGELES — An attorney for Harvey Weinstein at his Los Angeles rape and sexual assault trial told jurors Thursday that prosecutors’ case relies entirely on asking them to trust women whose testimony showed they were untrustworthy.

    “‘Take my word for it’ — five words that sum up the entirety of the prosecution’s case,” Jackson told jurors in his closing argument.

    The 70-year-old former movie magnate is charged with raping and sexually assaulting two women and committing sexual battery against two others.

    Jackson argued that two of the women were entirely lying about their encounters, while the other two took part in “transactional sex” for the sake of career advancement that was “100% consensual.” But after the #MeToo explosion around Weinstein with stories in the New York Times and the New Yorker — which Jackson called a “dogpile” on his client — the women became regretful.

    “Regret is not rape,” Jackson told jurors several times.

    Weinstein is already serving a 23-year sentence for a conviction in New York for rape and sexual assault against two women.

    Prosecutors in Los Angeles completed their closing argument earlier Thursday, after giving most of it Wednesday, and urged jurors to complete Weinstein’s takedown by convicting him in California.

    “It is time for the defendant’s reign of terror to end,” Deputy District Attorney Marlene Martinez said. “It is time for the kingmaker to be brought to justice.”

    In his closings, Weinstein’s attorney urged jurors to look past the emotion of the testimony the four women gave, and focus on the factual evidence.

    “‘Believe us because we’re mad, believe us because we cried,’” Jackson said jurors were being asked to do. “Well, fury does not make fact. And tears do not make truth.”

    He was especially adamant about the tearful and dramatic testimony of Jennifer Siebel Newsom, a documentary filmmaker and the wife of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who said Weinstein raped her in a Beverly Hills hotel room in 2005.

    “It was a theatrical, overly dramatized performance,” he said. “What you saw was an act.”

    Siebel Newsom was one of the women who engaged in “transactional sex,” Jackson argued. “She knows it, and she hates it.”

    He said the testimony was also dishonest, as when Siebel Newsom testified that she bumped into Weinstein occasionally after the assault, including an encounter at the 2007 film festival, which left her “triggered.” Jackson pointed to an email where Siebel Newsom had actually sought out the meetup with Weinstein.

    Jackson told the jurors Weinstein was never even in the hotel room with the other woman he is charged with raping, an Italian model who in court went by Jane Doe 1. She testified that he attacked her after showing up uninvited to her hotel room during a Los Angeles film festival in 2013.

    “Jane Doe 1 is lying. Period,” Jackson said, pointing to the absence of evidence putting Weinstein at the scene. “Not a single witness can corroborate that Harvey Weinstein ever walked through that door.”

    He showed photos of Jane Doe 1 smiling as she interacted with director Quentin Tarantino on the following night of the festival, with Weinstein sitting just a few feet away.

    “This is not consistent with her having suffered the violence she suffered just hours before,” the lawyer said.

    Earlier on the night those pictures were taken, according to the allegations, Weinstein trapped model Lauren Young in a hotel bathroom, groped her and masturbated in front of her during what was supposed to be a meeting about a script she’d written.

    Jackson said the meeting was real but she had fabricated most of the rest, focusing on what he said were the impossible details of her being locked in the bathroom by a woman on the outside, and the room having a sliding door where photos proved it didn’t.

    “None of it makes sense, because she’s making it up,” Jackson said.

    The Associated Press does not generally name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly or agree to be identified through their lawyers, as those named in this story have done. All of the women Weinstein is charged with assaulting are going by Jane Doe in court.

    The prosecution is set to give its final rebuttal Friday morning, after which jurors will begin deliberations.

    ———

    Follow AP Entertainment Writer Andrew Dalton on Twitter: twitter.com/andyjamesdalton

    ———

    For more on the Harvey Weinstein trial, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/harvey-weinstein

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  • Man charged with murder of Ole Miss student released on bond

    Man charged with murder of Ole Miss student released on bond

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    OXFORD, Miss. — The man charged with first-degree murder in the case of a University of Mississippi student who has been missing since early July was released on a $250,000 bond Thursday.

    Sheldon Timothy Herrington Jr., 22, faces a murder charge for the suspected killing of 20-year-old Jimmie “Jay” Lee, whose body has yet to be found after his July 8 disappearance. Lee was well-known in the LGBTQ community of the town of Oxford, and his disappearance sparked fear among students and residents.

    Herrington was arrested two weeks after Lee vanished. Lee was last seen at an apartment complex in Oxford. In August, Judge Grady F. Tollison III initially denied bond for Herrington.

    Third Circuit Court District Attorney Ben Creekmore and Herrington’s defense attorney reached an agreement for Herrington to become eligible for bond while surrendering his passport and wearing an ankle monitor, WMC-TV reported.

    Herrington has maintained his innocence since being charged. In October, he filed a lawsuit against Lafayette County Sheriff’s Department, claiming he was being held in jail without direct evidence to implicate him in Lee’s murder.

    Police say they viewed social media conversations on Herrington’s phone that showed conversations between him and Lee on the morning of July 8. They added that Herrington did numerous computer searches about international travel, and they found Google searches for “how long it takes to strangle someone” minutes after Lee reportedly told Herrington he was on his way to the apartment.

    Legal proceedings are ongoing, and Herrington will face a grand jury, according to a spokesperson for the Oxford Police Department. Kevin Horan, Herrington’s attorney, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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  • Prosecutor drops Australian Parliament House rape charge

    Prosecutor drops Australian Parliament House rape charge

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    CANBERRA, Australia — A prosecutor said Friday he had dropped a rape charge against a former government adviser because of the life-threatening trauma a trial would cause the woman allegedly assaulted in a Parliament House office.

    Former government staffer Brittany Higgins alleges a more senior colleague, Bruce Lehrmann, 27, raped her in a minister’s office after a might of heavy drinking in March 2019.

    The Associated Press does not usually identify alleged victims of sexual assault, but Higgins has chosen to identify herself in the media.

    Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold said he dropped the case based on medical evidence that a trial could cost Higgins’ life.

    “I’ve recently received compelling evidence from two independent medical experts that the ongoing trauma associated with this prosecution presents a significant and unacceptable risk to the life of the complainant,” Drumgold told reporters.

    Higgins was in a hospital receiving the care and support she needed, her friend Emma Webster said in a statement to Australian Broadcasting Corp. While the decision to drop the case was disappointing, Higgins’ heath came first, the statement said.

    Drumgold said there was a “reasonable prospect” that a trial would end in a conviction.

    “In light of the compelling independent medical opinion and balancing all factors, I’ve made the difficult decision that it is no longer in the public interest to pursue a prosecution at the risk of a complainant’s life,” he said.

    Lehrmann’s lawyers did not immediately comment.

    Lehrmann had pleaded not guilty to a charge of sexual intercourse without consent and his trial in the Australian Capital Territory Supreme Court ended without a verdict in October.

    A judge discharged the jury while they were deliberating their verdict after a juror had been found to be researching academic publications on sexual assault, which amounted to juror misbehavior. The jury was supposed to reach its verdict solely on the evidence presented during the 12-day trial.

    Lehrmann was to be retried in February 2023. He faced a potential 12-year prison sentence if convicted.

    Complainants in sexual assault cases in the Australian Capital Territory are entitled to testify remotely via video rather than face their alleged assailants in court, but Higgins chose to attend court in person to testify.

    Lehrmann did not give evidence, but claimed through his lawyers that he had no sexual contact with Higgins.

    A book deal Higgins had signed was offered as a motivation for her to lie about being raped.

    After the mistrial in October, Higgins gave a press conference in which she attacked the justice system.

    “I chose to speak up. Speak up against rape, speak up against injustice, to speak up and share my experiences with others. I told the truth no matter how uncomfortable or unflattering to the court,” a tearful Higgins told reporters outside court.

    “Today’s outcome does not change that truth. But I did speak up, I never fully understood how asymmetrical (the) criminal justice system (is), but I do now,” she added.

    She recounted how she was questioned for days in the witness box and forced to surrender her telephones, messages, photos and data to Lehrmann’s lawyers. Lehrmann exercised his right not to give evidence.

    “My life has been publicly scrutinized, open for the world to see. His was not,” Higgins said.

    Drumgold on Friday praised her bravery.

    “During the investigation and trial, as a sexual assault complainant Ms. Higgins has faced a level of personal attack that I’ve not seen in over 20 years of doing this work,” Drumgold said.

    “She’s done so with bravery, grace and dignity and it is my hope that this will now stop and Ms. Higgins will be allowed to heal,” he added.

    Higgins has become a household name in Australia since she went to the media last year with her accusations that the former government had treated her rape allegation, when she was 24, as a political problem and failed to adequately support her.

    The case sparked nationwide protests as an example of a toxic work culture in Australian politics that is criticized as hostile toward women.

    She quit her government job in January 2021 and then made a statement to police about the then-two-year-old alleged rape.

    Then-Prime Minister Scott Morrison responded in February 2021 by apologizing to Higgins in Parliament for the “terrible things” that she had endured in the building.

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  • Ex-con gets at least 18 years in severed head case in Vegas

    Ex-con gets at least 18 years in severed head case in Vegas

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    LAS VEGAS — An ex-convict who led police on a chase around Las Vegas before officers found the severed head and dismembered body of his friend in a stolen vehicle he was driving was sentenced Thursday to at least 18 years in prison.

    Eric John Holland said he was “truly remorseful” for killing Richard P. Miller, whose remains were found in coolers in the bed of a Chevrolet Avalanche in which Las Vegas police stopped Holland last December. Authorities found that Miller had been shot several times, including at least once in the head, before his body was carved up.

    “It’s a terrible thing that happened and I’m just so sorry,” Holland said.

    That provided little comfort to Miller’s daughter, who tearfully and haltingly told a judge she felt “very little relief,” that Holland pleaded guilty in July to a reduced charge and avoiding trial on an open murder charge that could have resulted in a life sentence behind bars.

    “I don’t know how to make sense of it,” sobbed Amanda Dawn Potter, who traveled from Portland, Oregon, for Holland’s sentencing. She called her father’s slaying “the most bizarre thing to ever happen to my family.”

    “My dad didn’t deserve this,” she said.

    Holland, 58, has an extensive criminal history, mostly for forgery and embezzlement, but also including an attempted prison escape in Texas.

    Before Clark County District Court Judge Tierra Jones sentenced him to 18 to 45 years for second-degree murder and felony theft, Holland said Thursday he hoped authorities would continue to investigate his motive for killing Miller.

    “I was going to bring it up in court, but I’m not going to because of family members,” Holland said. “There was a reason, and I hope that they’ll get closure today.”

    Holland’s attorney, Daniel Westbrook, told the judge he would not say more than what his client said. Westbrook declined additional comment after the sentencing hearing.

    Holland was friends with Miller, 65, who lived on a houseboat at Lake Mead, the Colorado River reservoir about a 30-minute drive from Las Vegas.

    Miller was reported missing in November 2021, and investigators later determined he was killed during an argument with Holland.

    The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported Thursday that in jailhouse interviews, Holland said he wanted police to investigate whether Miller was responsible for the disappearance of Miller’s ex-wife, Jing Me Zhu, in 2018 or 2019.

    “I’m going to prison for the rest of my life, and I just want to make sure that she wasn’t forgotten,” Holland told the newspaper.

    Holland said he believed Zhu lived in China and Canada before marrying Miller in 2018. In divorce proceedings less than a year later, Miller alleged in court documents that Zhu left him and moved to China. Records showed that Zhu could not be located to receive a court summons.

    Westbrook told the newspaper that Holland believes Zhu is dead and that Miller killed her.

    Holland did not provide details of Miller’s death, the Review-Journal reported.

    Las Vegas police said Thursday they had no missing person investigation related to Zhu.

    Police previously said Holland drove away from patrol officers trying to stop him on Dec. 23, 2021, in a stolen pickup truck and that he was seen switching vehicles before he was arrested in the second vehicle by officers who tracked him to an apartment complex west of the Las Vegas Strip.

    Police later found receipts in the vehicles for items including a power saw and trash bags purchased from a home improvement store after Miller’s disappearance.

    Holland had been sought since May 2019 on an arrest warrant in a 2018 case in Las Vegas accusing him of embezzlement, identity theft, issuing false checks and theft, according to court records. He had posted $5,000 bail in that case.

    Records show Holland also used the name Eric Allen Holland and served prison time in Nevada for a felony theft conviction stemming from a 2000 forgery case in Las Vegas. He also used names including John Carl Hall, Phil Whidden, Robert Daniel Lauer and Steven Tauber, prison records show.

    Holland had prior felony convictions dating to 1987 in California for embezzlement, assault with a deadly weapon, resisting arrest causing substantial bodily harm and property theft and false identification, according to a Las Vegas prosecutor, prison and court records.

    Records show that Holland was convicted in Texas in a federal counterfeiting case, and later of attempted escape and aiding in an escape.

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  • Fired San Antonio cop is indicted for shooting teen in car

    Fired San Antonio cop is indicted for shooting teen in car

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    SAN ANTONIO — A former San Antonio police officer who shot and wounded a 17-year-old as the teen put his car in reverse while eating a hamburger has been indicted by a grand jury on two counts of aggravated assault by a public servant and one count of attempted murder, prosecutors said Thursday.

    James Brennand, 28, was a rookie officer when he was fired and charged with the two counts of aggravated assault after shooting Erik Cantu on Oct. 2 in a McDonald’s parking lot.

    Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales said that one of the aggravated assault charges is for shooting Cantu and the other is for shooting in the direction of his female passenger. He said the attempted murder charge relates to the shooting of Cantu.

    Aggravated assault by a public servant is punishable by up to life in prison, while attempted murder is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, Gonzales said.

    “We know that most officers in this city care deeply about this community, but we cannot have a safe city if the community does not have trust in the criminal justice system,” Gonzales said.

    One of Brennand’s attorneys, Nico LaHood, said Thursday that so far, Brennand’s side of the story hasn’t been told, adding that there’s been an initial “rush to judgement attitude.” Video of the episode from Brennand’s body-worn camera has been released by police.

    “We anticipate more information will be revealed that will further shed light on this incident,” LaHood said.

    Cantu was released from the hospital last week, nearly two months after the shooting. In a statement after his release, his parents said he “still has a long road to recovery.”

    Family attorney Ben Crump, who has taken on some of the nation’s most high-profile police killings of Black people, said in a statement that the indictments were “a relief” for the family.

    “Erik and his family are grateful for the outpouring of support they have received, not only in Erik’s fight for survival, but also in our fight for full justice,” Crump said. “Today, we are one step closer.”

    Police said Brennand had been responding to an unrelated disturbance at the McDonald’s when he saw Cantu in a car he believed had evaded him the day before during an attempted traffic stop.

    Police said Brennand violated his training and police procedures after approaching the car, which they said he believed to have been stolen. Although the car’s registration plates didn’t match the vehicle, the car was not stolen, according to police.

    In body camera footage released by police, Brennand opens the car door and tells Cantu to get out. The car then drives backward with the door open, and the officer fires multiple times into the vehicle. He continues to shoot as the car drives away.

    ———

    This story has been updated to correct James Brennand’s age to 28, not 27.

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  • Uvalde sues local prosecutor over school shooting records

    Uvalde sues local prosecutor over school shooting records

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    AUSTIN, Texas — The city of Uvalde sued the local prosecutor’s office Thursday seeking access to records and other investigative materials on the May shooting at Robb Elementary School that left 19 children and two teachers dead, a move that highlights ongoing tensions over the slow police response and information flow on the rampage.

    The lawsuit filed in Uvalde County against District Attorney Christina Mitchell Busbee says the lack of access on the May 24 massacre is affecting an independent investigator’s ability to look for policy violations by local responding officers and determine whether internal disciplinary actions are needed. Busbee is conducting a criminal investigation into the shooting, which will include examining a report she is awaiting from the Texas Department of Public Safety. The state’s police chief said it would come by the end of the year.

    “The Uvalde community has waited entirely too long for answers and transparency with regard to the Robb Elementary shooting incident,” Uvalde city officials said in a statement.

    An employee at the Uvalde District Attorney’s Office declined to comment Thursday when reached by phone.

    The only information that has been available to an independent investigation agency for the city’s review is from city witnesses, “much of which was provided to the City subject to a non-disclosure agreement and criminal investigation privilege,” the lawsuit says. Busbee has cited the criminal investigation — which she told city officials would be done by November — when asked for additional records, the lawsuit says.

    The independent investigator, Jesse Prado, would be subject to a confidentiality and non-disclosure agreement if provided the information, which the lawsuit says has already been handed over to other agencies conducting similar reviews and would not be available to anyone from the city, according to a statement by city officials.

    Nearly 400 law enforcement officials rushed to the school the day of the shooting, according to a legislative investigate report, but all of them waited more than 70 minutes to enter a fourth-grade classroom to confront the gunman.

    Two officers have been fired because of their actions at the scene and others have resigned or been placed on leave. In October, Col. Steve McCraw, the head of the Texas Department of Public Safety, acknowledged mistakes by officers when confronted for the first time by families of the Uvalde victims over false and shifting accounts from law enforcement and lack of transparency in the available information. McCraw defended his agency, and said they “did not fail” Uvalde.

    Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin has previously lashed out at the response to the shooting by state officers and expressed frustration at the lack of information available regarding one of the worst school shootings in state history.

    ———

    Follow AP’s full coverage of the Uvalde school shooting: https://apnews.com/hub/uvalde-school-shooting

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  • ‘Squid Game’ actor indicted over indecent assault charges

    ‘Squid Game’ actor indicted over indecent assault charges

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    South Korean actor Oh Young-soo speaks during a press conference at the Welcome Daehakro Festival 2022 in Seoul, South Korea, Sept. 21, 2022. Award-winning “Squid Game” actor Oh will stand trial on charges of indecent assault after a woman accused him of inappropriately touching her in 2017, a South Korean court said. (Park Jin-hee/Newsis via AP)

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  • Prosecutor: Weinstein a ‘degenerate rapist’ and ‘predator’

    Prosecutor: Weinstein a ‘degenerate rapist’ and ‘predator’

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    LOS ANGELES — Harvey Weinstein was a “predator” with unmistakable patterns who used his Hollywood power to lure women into meetings, sexually assault them and escape the consequences, a prosecutor said in closing arguments Wednesday at the former movie mogul’s Los Angeles trial.

    Deputy District Attorney Marlene Martinez said the accusers who testified during the trial entered Weinstein’s hotel suites or let him into their hotel rooms with no idea what awaited them.

    “Who would suspect that such an entertainment industry titan would be a degenerate rapist?” Deputy District Attorney Marlene Martinez said to jurors.

    She constantly emphasized the similarity of the testimony of the four women Weinstein is charged with raping or sexually assaulting and the four other accusers who testified to show his propensity for such acts.

    “These are eight women who do not know each other,” Martinez said, showing the jury a composite image of all of them on a screen. “They all describe the same conduct by the same man.”

    Weinstein’s attorneys have said, and are likely to argue in their own closing Thursday, that two of the women had consensual sex for career advancement with the movie producer. His attorneys have said the encounters with the other two women didn’t happen at all.

    After more than five weeks of testimony, jurors, who are expected to get the case Thursday, will be tasked with deciding on two counts of rape and five other counts of sexual assault dating from 2005 to 2013. Weinstein, 70, has pleaded not guilty.

    In her closing, Martinez outlined what she said were Weinstein’s consistent tactics across decades. He would arrange to meet with a woman at a hotel. Then he would find a way to bring her into his suite. He would then go from “charming and complimentary to aggressive and demanding,” she said, either masturbating in front of them, groping them or raping them, often finding ways to prevent them from leaving.

    “For this predator, hotels were his trap,” Martinez said. “Confined within those walls victims were not able to run from his hulking mass. People were not able to hear their screams, they were not able to see them cower.”

    She noted that many of the women before their assaults were reassured by the presence of other women who worked with Weinstein. Those women would suddenly and unexpectedly leave the victims alone and isolated with him, Martinez said.

    “He used women to make these women feel comfortable,” Martinez said, “to get their guard down.”

    Three such women testified during the trial. All said they had little memory of the accusers or the meetings they had allegedly led them to, which Martinez called “convenient,” suggesting they had betrayed their fellow women.

    “Isn’t there a girl code?” Martinez said. “Apparently, if you know the defendant, there is no girl code.”

    She said that during the encounters, Weinstein ignored clear and repeated signs of lack of consent.

    She frequently harkened back to a line from a witness who seemed of minimal importance when he was on the stand, Weinstein’s LA limo driver Freddy Baroth, who testified that he was often ordered to run red lights when Weinstein was in a hurry, saying “when Harvey wants to go, you go.”

    “He didn’t care about ‘no’s,” Martinez said. ”He didn’t care about red lights.”

    She used variations of the image throughout her argument.

    Weinstein, sitting at the defense table, did not look across the courtroom at Martinez during her presentation, staring forward, looking at the screen she was projecting images on, and occasionally looking down to make notes.

    During their cross-examinations of the women, defense attorneys often challenged them over continued associations with Weinstein after their alleged assaults. Some met with him or emailed him again. Others attended parties and premieres at his invitation. A massage therapist who alleged he assaulted her after one treatment twice agreed to treat him again.

    Martinez urged jurors not to make too much of such choices by the women, saying they were the result of deliberate attempts by Weinstein to cover up what he had done to them.

    “If his victims were photographed at these parties,” she said, “if they took these meetings, how could they accuse him of sexual assault?”

    She said he used his power as much after the assaults as he did before and during them.

    “He used that power to live his life without the repercussions of his predatory behavior,” Martinez said.

    The proceedings have coincided with several trials on both coasts of Hollywood men with #MeToo implications, including the rape trial just down the hall of Danny Masterson, which was declared a mistrial while Martinez was giving her closing argument.

    ———

    Follow AP Entertainment Writer Andrew Dalton on Twitter: twitter.com/andyjamesdalton

    ———

    For more on the Harvey Weinstein trial, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/harvey-weinstein

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  • Former Nebraska interim coach arrested in domestic case

    Former Nebraska interim coach arrested in domestic case

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    LINCOLN, Neb. — Mickey Joseph, Nebraska’s interim coach for nine games after Scott Frost’s firing, was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of strangulation and third-degree domestic assault.

    Police went to a Lincoln residence in the afternoon after a report of a domestic disturbance. Following an investigation, the 54-year-old Joseph was arrested at another location. He was being held at Lancaster Country Jail.

    “While the Lincoln Police Department does not normally provide a news release for a domestic-related arrest, due to the high-profile nature of the person involved and, in an effort, to provide transparency on an arrest involving a public figure, notification of the arrest is being made,” police said in a statement.

    Further details weren’t released.

    Matt Rhule was introduced as the Cornhuskers’ head coach Monday. Athletic director Trev Alberts had said he spoke with Joseph about the job before Rhule’s hiring.

    Rhule had not announced whether Joseph would be retained on his staff. Rhule did not immediately respond to a text message and voice mail left on his phone.

    Joseph played quarterback for the Cornhuskers from 1988-91 and returned last December as receivers coach.

    He was named interim head coach Sept. 11 after Alberts fired Frost. The Huskers were 3-6 under Joseph and finished the season 4-8.

    “I was made aware of the charges against Coach Joseph and given the nature of the allegations and based on University policy he has been placed on administrative leave,” Alberts said in a statement. “We will have no additional comment at this time.”

    Joseph had said at his first news conference as interim coach that he wanted the job full-time.

    When asked Monday by The Associated Press how Joseph reacted when told Rhule would be hired, Alberts said, “He took it really good.”

    Alberts did not answer directly Monday when asked if Joseph were a serious candidate. Alberts has repeatedly lauded Joseph for creating positive energy around the team and motivating players to play hard.

    “Mickey’s an outstanding coach, and he’s obviously got a huge and bright future in the business, and we’ll see whether it continues here,” Alberts said Monday. “Coach Rhule wants to sit down with him. I have so much respect for Mickey Joseph and what he’s done for our program, and our players do as well.”

    ———

    AP college : https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://twitter.com/AP—Top25. Sign up for the AP’s college football newsletter: https://bit.ly/3pqZVaF

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  • US Virgin Islands reach $105M settlement with Epstein estate

    US Virgin Islands reach $105M settlement with Epstein estate

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    SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The U.S. Virgin Islands announced Wednesday that it reached a settlement of more than $105 million in a sex trafficking case against the estate of financier Jeffrey Epstein.

    The settlement ends a nearly three-year legal saga for officials in the U.S. territory, which sought to hold Epstein accountable after he was accused of sexually abusing dozens of underage girls and of causing environmental damage on the two tiny islands he owned in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The islands will be sold as part of the agreement.

    “This settlement restores the faith of the people of the Virgin Islands that its laws will be enforced, without fear or favor, against those who break them,” Attorney General Denise George said.

    Epstein’s estate agreed to pay the territorial government $105 million in cash and half of the proceeds from the sale of Little St. James island where Epstein owned a home and authorities allege many of his crimes took place.

    The estate also will pay $450,000 to repair environmental damage on Great St. James, another island Epstein owned where authorities say he removed the ruins of colonial-era historical structures of slaves.

    The money from the sale of Little St. James island will be placed in a government trust to finance projects, organizations, counseling and other activities to help residents who have been sexually abused, officials said.

    “We owe it to those who were so profoundly hurt to make changes that will help avoid the next set of victims,” said George, who added that she met with three alleged victims who were trafficked and sexually exploited on Little St. James island.

    A real estate company is listing the island for $55 million, noting that its features include three beaches, a helipad, a gas station and more than 70 acres (28 hectares) of land that offer “an array of subdivision possibilities” and “a comprehensive, discreetly located, infrastructure support system.”

    The company also is offering Great St. James for $55 million, an island of more than 160 acres (65 hectares) with three beaches.

    In addition, the estate will return more than $80 million in economic tax benefits that U.S. Virgin Islands officials say Epstein and his co-defendants “fraudulently obtained to fuel his criminal enterprise.”

    The government previously accused an Epstein-owned business known as Southern Trust Co. of making fraudulent misrepresentations to qualify for the benefits.

    Daniel Weiner, an Epstein estate attorney, sent a statement to The Associated Press saying that the settlement does not include any admission or concession of liability or fault by the estate or anyone else.

    “The co-executors deny any allegations of wrongdoing on their part,” he wrote. “The co-executors ultimately concluded that the settlement is in the best interest of the estate.”

    Weiner also noted that the estate has paid more than $121 million to 136 individuals via a victims’ compensation fund.

    Epstein killed himself at a federal jail in New York in August 2019 while awaiting trial. He had pleaded not guilty to charges of sexually abusing dozens of girls, some as young as 14 years old.

    Several had sued Epstein and accused him and his longtime companion, Ghislaine Maxwell, of pressuring them into sexual trysts with powerful men.

    Maxwell, who was convicted on sex trafficking and other charges, was sentenced to 20 years in prison in June.

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  • Half-empty Idaho campus full of fear, grief after killings

    Half-empty Idaho campus full of fear, grief after killings

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    BOISE, Idaho — In a normal year, University of Idaho students would be bustling between classes and the library, readying for the pre-finals cramming period known as “dead week.”

    On Wednesday, however, a little under half the students appeared to be gone, choosing to stay home and take classes online rather than return to the town where the killings of four classmates remain unsolved, said Blaine Eckles, the university’s dean of students. Some students who were in attendance were relying on university-hired security staffers to drive them to class because they didn’t want to walk across campus alone.

    The Moscow Police Department has yet to name a person of interest in the stabbing deaths of Madison Mogen, 21, of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; Xana Kernodle, 20, of Post Falls, Idaho; Kaylee Goncalves, 21, of Rathdrum, Idaho; and Kernodle’s boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, 20, of Mount Vernon, Washington. The three women lived together in a rental home across the street from campus, and Chapin was there staying that night.

    A county coroner said they were likely asleep when they were attacked. Two weeks later investigators have yet to find a weapon used in the killings — believed to be a military-style knife — or elaborate on why they think the killings were “targeted.”

    The killings have left the university and the small farming community that contains it shell-shocked.

    “When we lose any students, especially under these circumstances, my heart is absolutely broken,” Eckles said. “It shakes you to your core a little bit, knowing that in this community, which is incredibly safe in general, can have something this horrific happen.”

    Now, as students and faculty members try to navigate a quagmire of grief and fear, government agencies and community members are searching for answers and trying to help lessen the damage.

    Gov. Brad Little announced last week that he was directing up to $1 million in state emergency funds for the investigation. The FBI has assigned 44 people to the case — half of them stationed in Moscow — and the Idaho State Police has 15 troopers helping with community patrols and another 20 investigators working the case.

    Some community members started online fundraising campaigns to support family members and friends of the slain students. A university alum began raising money to equip women on campus with handheld personal safety alarms. By last week, Kerry Uhlorn had brought in more than $18,000, ordered more than 700 of the alarms and had plans to buy 900 more, Boise television station KTVB reported.

    Thousands of people were expected to join the university community in mourning Wednesday evening, with several simultaneous candlelight vigils scheduled across the state. The school districts in Boise and Meridian announced plans to light up their athletic fields at the same time in solidarity.

    Still, the question for faculty members and students remains: How do they focus on learning with four friends gone and a killer on the loose? Staffers are talking directly to students about how to handle the challenge, Eckles said.

    “It’s the elephant in the room, right? It’s hard to do that,” Eckles said. “Our faculty are also really understanding that it’s going to be a hard time for students to kind of focus and concentrate at this time. So they’re being very patient and leading with a lot of grace. And quite frankly, I think our students are doing that with our employees as well.”

    Local law enforcement agencies have seen an uptick in calls reporting suspicious behavior.

    “We understand there is a sense of fear in our community,” the Moscow Police Department wrote on Nov. 27. Since the killings, the number of people requesting welfare checks, in which an officer is sent to check on a person’s wellbeing, has doubled.

    The university has also seen an increase in people calling its “Vandal Care” phone line to report that they were struggling or worried someone else was struggling with an issue, Eckles said.

    “While I personally am very confident that the police will resolve (the deaths), until that happens, no one is resting easy,” he said. “There’s someone out there that took the lives of four of our Vandals, and we don’t know who they are. We don’t know where they are.”

    Eckes added he hopes the vigils will offer some temporary comfort, but the community will not “ultimately be able to heal until someone is brought to justice for this crime.”

    Some of the victims’ family members were expected to attend the vigils.

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  • Police: Deputy posed as teen online to sexually extort girl

    Police: Deputy posed as teen online to sexually extort girl

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    RIVERSIDE, Calif. — A Virginia sheriff’s deputy posed as a 17-year-old boy online and asked a teenage California girl for nude photos before he drove across the country and killed her mother and grandparents and set fire to their home, authorities said Wednesday.

    Austin Lee Edwards, 28, died by suicide Friday during a shootout with San Bernardino sheriff’s deputies. The 15-year-old girl from Riverside, California, was rescued and is in counseling for trauma, family members and police said at a news conference Wednesday.

    Edwards, a resident of North Chesterfield, Virginia, appears to have posed as a teenager online to engage in a romantic relationship with the girl and obtain her personal information by deceiving her with a false identity, known as “catfishing,” police said.

    Authorities did not provide additional details about their communications and said they still need to comb through online accounts. Officials are looking into whether he victimized other minors across the country.

    It’s also unclear whether this was the girl’s first in-person encounter with Edwards or whether she was aware that he was coming to California, officials said.

    Riverside Police Chief Larry Gonzalez said that because of the girl’s young age and trauma it will take time to complete their interviews with her and get answers to the many questions surrounding the case, such as whether she was coerced or threatened into leaving with him.

    “We don’t believe at this point she had anything to do with the murders,” he said.

    At some point, Edwards asked the girl for sexual photos and she stopped communicating with him, Gonzalez said, but detectives don’t yet know when that happened or whether Edwards killed her family in retaliation.

    Authorities believe Edwards parked his vehicle in a neighbor’s driveway, walked to the home and killed the family members before leaving with the girl on Friday. Officials have not yet determined how he entered the home, killed the victims or set the fire.

    The bodies found in the Riverside home — about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southeast of downtown Los Angeles in a suburban neighborhood of single-family homes where the loud rush of freeway traffic can be heard — were identified as the girl’s grandparents and mother: Mark Winek, 69; Sharie Winek, 65; and their 38-year-old daughter, Brooke Winek.

    “Nobody could imagine this crime happening to my family, to our family,” said Michelle Blandin, Mark and Sharie’s daughter and Brooke’s sister.

    A tearful Blandin said her parents and sister “lived and loved selflessly.” The killing of Brooke, a single parent, means that her daughters — the 15-year-old girl and her 13-year-old sister — are now motherless, Blandin said.

    A front window of the charred home in the Riverside cul-de-sac was boarded up Wednesday with a wooden cross. Dozens of candles had been laid on the sidewalk, along with bouquets of flowers and stuffed animals.

    Edwards is a former Virginia state trooper and was a sheriff’s deputy in Washington County, Virginia, at the time of the killings. The law enforcement agencies there said he did not show any concerning behaviors and no other employers disclosed any issues during background checks.

    Gonzalez called it “disgusting really” to see someone in law enforcement involved in such heinous crimes and wondered how he had been hired at two Virginia agencies.

    “How did this person get past a background investigation? How this person get past a polygraph investigation?” the chief said. “From what we understand so far about him, there’s really not a big rap sheet on this person or anything that would indicate that they can see that outcome.”

    Police are also looking into whether Edwards used his law enforcement weapon or government-issued laptop in the crimes.

    A neighbor on Friday called police to report Edwards’ red Kia Soul as a suspicious car and said the girl appeared to be in distress and involved in a disturbance with a man, Gonzalez said.

    Police were able to run the vehicle’s license plate and discovered that Edwards had filed a police report earlier this year regarding vandalism to the Kia, the chief said. The police report had Edwards’ cellphone number in it, which allowed investigators to ping his phone and quickly locate him in Southern California.

    He got into a gun battle with San Bernardino sheriff’s deputies and died by a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the coroner’s office said Wednesday.

    Blandin said she last saw her parents and sister on Thanksgiving, the day before they were slain.

    “We had a family debate, and it got heated, on if the brownies my mom made should be frosted with sprinkles or just left plain,” she said. “Little did I know, on that day, that would be the last time that my husband and I would see my parents and my sister again.”

    Blandin begged parents and guardians to use her family’s tragedy to start conversations about internet safety.

    “When you are talking to your children about the dangers of their online actions, please use us as a reference,” she said. “Tell our story to help your parenting. Not out of fear, but out of an example of something that did happen.”

    ——

    This story has been corrected to attribute a quote to Riverside Police Chief Larry Gonzalez. It was incorrectly attributed to Riverside Police Officer Ryan Railsback.

    ——

    Dazio reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press Writer Denise Lavoie in Richmond, Virginia, contributed.

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  • Man seen at Takeoff’s fatal shooting facing weapons charge

    Man seen at Takeoff’s fatal shooting facing weapons charge

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    HOUSTON — A man who has been accused of illegally having a gun at the time that rapper Takeoff was fatally shot last month following a private party at a downtown Houston bowling alley has been charged in connection with the case, authorities said Wednesday.

    But during a court hearing, prosecutors said the suspect, Cameron Joshua, 22, is not believed to have fired a weapon during Takeoff’s shooting. Joshua is facing a charge of unlawful carrying of a weapon for allegedly having a handgun when the rapper was killed around 2:30 a.m. on Nov. 1 as gunfire erupted outside of 810 Billiards & Bowling following a private party.

    Takeoff, whose off-stage name was Kirsnick Khari Ball, formed one-third of the Grammy Award-nominated rap trio Migos with uncle Quavo and cousin Offset from suburban Atlanta.

    “We believe Cameron Joshua has been appropriately charged in this case and we’re continuing our investigation into the death of Takeoff,” Matt Gilliam, a prosecutor with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, told reporters in a brief statement after Wednesday’s hearing.

    Christopher Downey, Joshua’s attorney, told reporters that he has not seen anything to suggest that his client fired a weapon or had anything to do with Takeoff’s shooting.

    “The bottom line is … Cameron Joshua did not shoot Takeoff,” Downey said.

    When asked if Joshua knows who shot Takeoff, Downey said, “We will discuss that with the DA’s office if we decide to. Right now, we’re charged with offenses and we’re not saying anything.”

    During the hearing, a judge decided to keep Joshua in custody until a bond hearing set for next week.

    Joshua is also facing a charge of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon for allegedly having a weapon when he was arrested on Nov. 22. He had already been out on bond after being charged in Harris County with having a fake ID in September 2021 and with burglary of a vehicle in April. He had also been convicted in October in Los Angeles County of grand theft.

    Houston police have said that least two people discharged firearms when Takeoff was killed. Takeoff’s primary cause of death was listed as “penetrating gunshot wounds of head and torso into arm,” according to an autopsy.

    Two others were hit by gunfire but had non-life-threatening wounds.

    After the shooting, investigators sought to speak with the 40 people who attended the party and fled after the gunfire.

    Migos first broke through with the massive hit “Versace” in 2013. They had four Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, though Takeoff was not on their multi-week No. 1 hit “Bad and Boujee,” featuring Lil Uzi Vert. They put out a trilogy of albums called “Culture,” “Culture II” and “Culture III,” with the first two hitting No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart.

    At a memorial service earlier this month in Atlanta, fans as well as recording artists such as Justin Bieber and Drake celebrated Takeoff’s musical legacy.

    ———

    Follow Juan A. Lozano on Twitter: https://twitter.com/juanlozano70

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  • 4 appear in court over terror attack at Ivory Coast beach

    4 appear in court over terror attack at Ivory Coast beach

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    ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast — Four of the defendants arrested in connection with a 2016 Islamic extremist attack that killed 19 people on an Ivory Coast tourist beach appeared in court Wednesday to face murder and terrorism charges.

    Authorities last week had released the names of 18 defendants accused in the Grand-Bassam killings, which were later claimed by al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb.

    It was the nation’s first terror attack of its kind, and deepened fears that Islamic extremism was spreading further south from neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso. In the year after the killings, suspects also were arrested in those countries as well as in Senegal.

    Prosecutors did not address where the other defendants were on Wednesday or whether they might appear at a later date.

    Prosper Kouassi, a defense lawyer representing the detainees, could not provide an explanation either.

    “We were presented the four people, it is the four people we will defend,” Kouassi said.

    Grand-Bassam is linked by highway to Abidjan, Ivory Coast’s commercial hub, and was a popular weekend destination for beach-goers. The victims that day included 11 Ivorians, four French, one German, one Lebanese, one Macedonian and one Nigerian.

    When gunfire broke out on the beach on that Sunday afternoon in 2016, many holidaymakers initially thought they were hearing fireworks. As the jihadis approached closer with their Kalashnikov assault rifles, terrified tourists and workers at the beachside bars and restaurants tried to seek refuge in nearby hotels. Some beachgoers who were in the ocean at the time of the attack were able to swim out against the waves to safety.

    Among those in the courthouse to watch the proceedings Wednesday was Odile Koko Kouamenan, whose son was there that day in 2016 and has never been the same since, she said.

    “The scene happened in front of him,” she recalled, “He was a witness on the ground and so traumatized that he left the city and went to the village for a year.”

    Her son needs follow-up care, which he hasn’t gotten, she added.

    “If the state can face him and help him, that’s all a mother wishes for her child.”

    ———

    Associated Press writer Krista Larson in Dakar, Senegal contributed.

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  • Today in History: November 30, birth of Winston Churchill

    Today in History: November 30, birth of Winston Churchill

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    Today in History

    Today is Wednesday, Nov. 30, the 334th day of 2022. There are 31 days left in the year.

    Today’s Highlight in History:

    On Nov. 30, 1782, the United States and Britain signed preliminary peace articles in Paris for ending the Revolutionary War; the Treaty of Paris was signed in September 1783.

    On this date:

    In 1803, Spain completed the process of ceding Louisiana to France, which had sold it to the United States.

    In 1874, British statesman Sir Winston Churchill was born at Blenheim Palace.

    In 1981, the United States and the Soviet Union opened negotiations in Geneva aimed at reducing nuclear weapons in Europe.

    In 1982, the motion picture “Gandhi,” starring Ben Kingsley as the Indian nationalist leader, had its world premiere in New Delhi.

    In 1993, President Bill Clinton signed the Brady Bill, which required a five-day waiting period for handgun purchases and background checks of prospective buyers.

    In 2000, Al Gore’s lawyers battled for his political survival in the Florida and U.S. Supreme Courts; meanwhile, GOP lawmakers in Tallahassee moved to award the presidency to George W. Bush in case the courts did not by appointing their own slate of electors.

    In 2004, “Jeopardy!” fans saw Ken Jennings end his 74-game winning streak as he lost to real estate agent Nancy Zerg.

    In 2010, the Obama administration announced that all 197 airlines that flew to the U.S. had begun collecting names, genders and birth dates of passengers so the government could check them against terror watch lists before they boarded flights.

    In 2011, an Arizona jury sentenced convicted “Baseline Killer” Mark Goudeau (goo-DOH’) to death for killing nine people in the Phoenix area. (He remains on death row.)

    In 2013, Paul Walker, 40, the star of the “Fast & Furious” movie series, died with his friend, Roger W. Rodas, who was at the wheel of a Porsche sports car that crashed and burned north of Los Angeles.

    In 2018, former President George H.W. Bush, a World War II hero who rose through the political ranks to the nation’s highest office, died at his Houston home at the age of 94; his wife of more than 70 years, Barbara Bush, had died in April.

    In 2020, two battleground states, Wisconsin and Arizona, certified their presidential election tallies in favor of Joe Biden, even as President Donald Trump’s legal team continued to dispute the results; Biden’s victory in Wisconsin was certified following a partial recount that only added to his 20,600-vote margin over Trump.

    Ten years ago: Israel approved the construction of 3,000 homes in Jewish settlements on occupied lands, drawing swift condemnation from the Palestinians a day after their successful bid for recognition by the United Nations. Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets in Egypt, denouncing President Mohammed Morsi and a draft constitution that was approved earlier in the day by his Islamist allies.

    Five years ago: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi called on veteran Democratic congressman John Conyers to resign in the face of multiple accusations of sexual misconduct. (Conyers resigned five days later.) A jury found a Mexican man not guilty in the killing of a woman on a San Francisco pier, a shooting that touched off a fierce national immigration debate. (Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, who had been deported five times, did not deny shooting Kate Steinle but said it was an accident. He was found guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm.) Rapper DMX pleaded guilty to tax fraud, admitting he concealed millions of dollars in revenue to dodge $1.7 million in taxes. (The rapper was sentenced to a year in prison.) Actor Jim Nabors, best known as TV’s “Gomer Pyle,” died at the age of 87.

    One year ago: Ethan Crumbley, a 15-year-old sophomore, opened fire at a Michigan high school, killing four students and wounding seven other people; school staff had discovered his violent drawings but his parents wouldn’t remove him from school. (The parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, are accused of making the gun accessible and ignoring their son’s mental health needs; they face charges including involuntary manslaughter.) The Biden administration moved to toughen testing requirements for international travelers to the U.S., including both vaccinated and unvaccinated people, amid the spread of the omicron variant of the coronavirus. CNN took Chris Cuomo off the air indefinitely, saying information released by New York’s attorney general showed that he had played a greater role than he had previously acknowledged in defense of his brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, as he fought sexual harassment charges. (Cuomo would be fired days later.)

    Today’s Birthdays: Country singer-recording executive Jimmy Bowen is 85. Movie director Ridley Scott is 85. Screenwriter Geoffrey C. Ward is 82. Movie writer-director Terrence Malick is 79. Rock musician Roger Glover (Deep Purple) is 77. Playwright David Mamet (MA’-meht) is 75. Actor Mandy Patinkin is 70. Musician Shuggie Otis is 69. Country singer Jeannie Kendall is 68. Singer Billy Idol is 67. Historian Michael Beschloss is 67. Rock musician John Ashton (The Psychedelic Furs) is 65. Comedian Colin Mochrie is 65. Former football and baseball player Bo Jackson is 60. Rapper Jalil (Whodini) is 59. Actor-director Ben Stiller is 57. Rock musician Mike Stone is 53. Music producer Steve Aoki is 45. Singer Clay Aiken is 44. Actor Billy Lush is 41. Actor Elisha Cuthbert is 40. Actor Kaley Cuoco (KWOH’-koh) is 37. Model Chrissy Teigen (TY’-gihn) is 37. Actor Christel Khalil is 35. Actor Rebecca Rittenhouse is 34. Actor Adelaide Clemens is 33. World chess champion Magnus Carlsen is 32. Actor Tyla Harris is 22.

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  • Colorado governor visits shooting site as community heals

    Colorado governor visits shooting site as community heals

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    COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — In a crowded brewery, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis embraced Richard Fierro, the veteran hailed as a hero after tackling a shooter who killed five people and injured 17 others at the LGBTQ enclave Club Q last week.

    There was a festive atmosphere Tuesday at Atrevida Beer, owned by Fierro, where patrons clutched pints of beer, a long line stretched across the room to the door, and above the bar was printed a message: “Diversity, it’s on tap.”

    Fierro’s event, where Polis and the Colorado Springs mayor both made an appearance, was the paradigm of a catchphrase Fierro has repeated since the shooting: “Be nice, hug each other, take care of your neighbor.”

    The hugs seemed contagious. Fierro squeezed Wyatt Kent, a drag queen whose 23rd birthday was being celebrated the night of the shooting, and chatted with his family.

    Kent, who’s drag name is Potted Plant, was still reeling from the horrific night. Kent remembered shots, then collapsing below Kelly Loving, who had been shot in the chest. Squeezing her hand as they asked Siri to call 911, Kent then held Loving’s head, repeating “one more breath, just one more breath” before paramedics arrived.

    The bleeding from Loving’s chest, was “like a hole in an air mattress,” said Kent, pausing and looking away. Loving was among the five dead, along with Daniel Aston, who Kent was in a relationship with. Aston had left strawberries, roses and a card for Kent’s birthday before he was killed.

    Kent, who’d written 119 poems about Aston, went completely numb in the days afterward. Then, they began connecting with Aston’s family and friends, those “who loved him, it’s really healing,” they said.

    Club Q’s community had been a steadfast support network, said Kent, one which has continued to undergird the community’s healing since the tragedy.

    “If I pour myself out into others they will pour themselves out back into me,” said Kent, “and that’s what this community has always done.”

    The broader Colorado Springs community is pouring out support for the survivors, too. At his brewery, Fierro was honored with $50,000 from a local credit union.

    “I’ve never had that much money in my life,” said an astonished Fierro, who reiterated that “everyone in (Club Q) was a hero.”

    Matt Gendron, chief engagement officer at Ent Credit Union and who’s employee had been in Club Q that night, said that Fierro “saved the lives of many people, including one of our family members.”

    Earlier that day, Polis solemnly walked along a line of flowers, crosses and signs bearing the photos and names of the victims outside Club Q in Colorado Springs.

    When he reached the end, he picked up a piece of pink chalk and drew a heart and wrote “We remember” on the pavement in front of the memorial, which had been covered with tarps to protect it from snow until his arrival.

    “Five people are lost forever. We celebrate their lives. We mourn them,” Polis said while speaking to reporters afterward at the site.

    Polis, who spoke earlier in the day to relatives of those killed as well as the injured, wore a gay pride ribbon pinned to the zipper of his puffy jacket. The Democrat, who became the first openly gay man elected governor in the U.S. in 2018, said he was concerned about rhetoric associating mainly transgender people with grooming and pedophilia and feared it could “inspire acts against the LGBTQ community.”

    But he was also optimistic about the future of the club, a sanctuary for the LGBTQ community in the mostly conservative city of 480,000, located about 70 miles (110 kilometers) south of Denver.

    “Club Q will be back and the community will be back,” he said.

    The attacker opened fire Nov. 19 with a semiautomatic rifle inside the gay nightclub before being subdued by patrons and arrested by police who arrived within minutes, authorities have said.

    The motive remains under investigation and one person is in custody.

    Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, was being held without bond on suspicion of murder and hate crimes. Aldrich was arrested at the club after being stopped and beaten by patrons.

    Hate crime charges would require proving that the shooter was motivated by bias, such as against the victims’ actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.

    Prosecutors have not yet filed formal charges against Aldrich, who is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, according to court filings by his lawyers.

    Aldrich was arrested last year after a relative reported Aldrich was threatening her with a homemade bomb and other weapons, according to authorities.

    Ring doorbell video obtained by The Associated Press shows Aldrich arriving at their mother’s front door with a big black bag the day of the 2021 bomb threat, telling her the police were nearby and adding, “This is where I stand. Today I die.”

    Authorities at the time said no explosives were found.

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  • Virginia Walmart mass shooting survivor files $50M lawsuit

    Virginia Walmart mass shooting survivor files $50M lawsuit

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    NORFOLK, Va. — A Walmart employee who survived last week’s mass shooting at a store in Virginia has filed a $50 million lawsuit against the company for allegedly continuing to employ the shooter — a store supervisor — “who had known propensities for violence, threats and strange behavior.”

    The lawsuit, which appears to be the first to stem from the shooting, was filed Tuesday in Chesapeake Circuit Court by Donya Prioleau.

    Walmart, which is headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas, said in a statement that it was reviewing the complaint and will respond “as appropriate with the court.”

    “The entire Walmart family is heartbroken by the loss of the valued members of our team,” the company said. “Our deepest sympathies go out to our associates and everyone impacted, including those who were injured. We are focused on supporting all our associates with significant resources, including counseling.”

    Prioleau’s suit alleges that she has experienced post-traumatic stress disorder, including physical and emotional distress, from witnessing the rampage in the store’s breakroom on Nov. 22. Her lawsuit offers fresh details of the terrifying attack and provides a long list of troubling signs displayed by the shooter that she claims managers failed to address.

    “Bullets whizzed by Plaintiff Donya Prioleau’s face and left side, barely missing her,” the lawsuit states. “She witnessed several of her coworkers being brutally murdered on either side of her.”

    The lawsuit adds: “Ms. Prioleau looked at one of her coworkers in the eyes right after she had been shot in the neck. Ms. Prioleau saw the bullet wound in her coworker’s neck, the blood rushing out of it, and the shocked look on her coworker’s helpless face.”

    Store supervisor Andre Bing, 31, fatally shot six employees and wounded several others before he died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot, police said.

    The lawsuit alleges that Bing “had a personal vendetta against several Walmart employees and kept a ‘kill list’ of potential targets prior to the shooting.”

    The list is in reference to a “death note” found on Bing’s phone and released Friday by authorities. The note appeared to contain specific references to people he worked with, but authorities redacted their names.

    Bing was a Walmart team leader who had worked for the company since 2010. He was responsible for managing the overnight stocking crew, including Prioleau, who started her job in May 2021, the lawsuit says.

    The lawsuit claims management knew or should have known about Bing’s disturbing behavior and lists several instances of alarming conduct.

    “Prior to the shooting, Mr. Bing repeatedly asked coworkers if they had received their active shooter training,” the suit states. “When coworkers responded that they had, Mr. Bing just smiled and walked away without saying anything.”

    Bing “made comments to other Walmart employees and managers suggesting that he would be violent if fired or disciplined,” according to the suit, which also says Bing “was disciplined leading up to the shooting, making his violent outburst predictable.”

    In another instance, Bing told co-workers “he ran over a turtle with a lawnmower just to see its (guts) spray out, which made him hungry and reminded him of ramen noodles,” the lawsuit says.

    Bing was previously disciplined for bad behavior and harassing employees, but Walmart “kept employing him anyway,” the suit says.

    In her court filing, Prioleau states that she and her mother attempted to take action against Bing.

    Prioleau had submitted a formal complaint on a Walmart Global Ethics Statement Form indicating that Bing had “bizarrely and inappropriately commented on Ms. Prioleau’s age,” the lawsuit stated.

    The lawsuit alleges that Bing told her: “Isn’t your lady clock ticking? Shouldn’t you be having kids?”

    Prioleau also complained that Bing had harassed her for “being poor and being short,” according to the lawsuit.

    The lawsuit states that she also informed Walmart that Bing called her a “bitch” under his breath.

    In September, Prioleau’s mother expressed concerns to a Walmart manager about her daughter’s safety “because it appeared their concerns were falling on deaf ears,” the lawsuit states.

    The manager said “there was nothing that could be done about Mr. Bing because he was liked by management,” according to the suit.

    Before the shooting, Bing told co-workers that “the government was watching him,” the suit says. “He kept black tape on his phone camera so no one could spy on him.”

    In the note left on his phone, Bing claimed he was harassed and said he was pushed to the brink by a perception that his phone was hacked. The note also accused colleagues of mocking him.

    Bing’s death note rambles at times through 11 paragraphs, with references to nontraditional cancer treatments and songwriting. He says people unfairly compared him to serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer.

    Jessica Wilczewski, a Walmart employee who witnessed the shooting, told The Associated Press last week that Bing seemed to target certain people.

    “The way he was acting — he was going hunting,” she said.

    In a note to employees on Tuesday, Walmart president and CEO John Furner wrote that the people who were killed were “amazing, irreplaceable members of our family.”

    “The Walmart Foundation also intends to contribute $1 million to the United Way of South Hampton Roads’ Hope & Healing Fund, which will support those impacted by the shooting and the broader Chesapeake community,” Furner wrote.

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  • Survivor of Virginia Walmart mass shooting files $50M suit

    Survivor of Virginia Walmart mass shooting files $50M suit

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    NORFOLK, Va. — A Walmart employee who survived last week’s mass shooting at a store in Virginia has filed a $50 million lawsuit against the company for allegedly continuing to employ the shooter — a store supervisor — “who had known propensities for violence, threats and strange behavior.”

    The lawsuit, which appears to be the first to stem from the shooting, was filed Tuesday in Chesapeake Circuit Court by Donya Prioleau. Walmart, which is headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas, did not immediately respond to a written request seeking comment on the litigation.

    Prioleau’s suit alleges that she has experienced post-traumatic stress disorder, including physical and emotional distress, from witnessing the rampage in the store’s breakroom on Nov. 22.

    “Bullets whizzed by Plaintiff Donya Prioleau’s face and left side, barely missing her,” the lawsuit states. “She witnessed several of her coworkers being brutally murdered on either side of her.”

    The lawsuit adds: “Ms. Prioleau looked at one of her coworkers in the eyes right after she had been shot in the neck. Ms. Prioleau saw the bullet wound in her coworker’s neck, the blood rushing out of it, and the shocked look on her coworker’s helpless face.”

    Store supervisor Andre Bing, 31, fatally shot six employees and wounded several others before he died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot, police said.

    The lawsuit alleges that Bing “had a personal vendetta against several Walmart employees and kept a ‘kill list’ of potential targets prior to the shooting.”

    The lawsuit also states that Prioleau had submitted a formal complaint on a Walmart Global Ethics Statement Form indicating that Bing had “bizarrely and inappropriately commented on Ms. Prioleau’s age.”

    The lawsuit alleges that Bing told her: “Isn’t your lady clock ticking? Shouldn’t you be having kids?”

    Prioleau also complained that Bing had harassed her for “being poor and being short,” according to the lawsuit.

    The lawsuit states that she also informed Walmart that Bing called her a “bitch” under his breath.

    “Despite Mr. Bing’s long-standing pattern of disturbing and threatening behavior, Walmart knew or should have known about Mr. Bing’s disturbing and threatening behavior, but failed to terminate Mr. Bing, restrict his access to common areas, conduct a thorough background investigation, or subject him to a mental health examination,” the lawsuit states.

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  • Missouri prepares to execute man for killing officer in 2005

    Missouri prepares to execute man for killing officer in 2005

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    FOR MOVEMENT TUESDAY AT 1 AM ET. EDITED BY CBLAKE.

    A Missouri inmate convicted of ambushing and killing a St. Louis area police officer he blamed in the death of his younger brother was scheduled to be executed Tuesday, though his lawyers are seeking to have the lethal injection halted.

    Kevin Johnson’s legal team doesn’t deny that he killed Police Officer William McEntee in 2005, but contend in an appeal to the Missouri Supreme Court that he was sentenced to death in part because he is Black. The U.S. Supreme Court declined a stay request last week, and Gov. Mike Parson on Monday announced he would not grant clemency.

    “The violent murder of any citizen, let alone a Missouri law enforcement officer, should be met only with the fullest punishment state law allows,” Parson, a Republican and a former county sheriff, said in a statement. “Through Mr. Johnson’s own heinous actions, he stole the life of Sergeant McEntee and left a family grieving, a wife widowed, and children fatherless. Clemency will not be granted.”

    Johnson, 37, faces execution at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the state prison in Bonne Terre. He would be the second Missouri man put to death in 2022 and the 17th nationally.

    McEntee, 43, was a 20-year veteran of the police department in Kirkwood, a St. Louis suburb. The father of three was among the officers sent to Johnson’s home on July 5, 2005, to serve a warrant for his arrest. Johnson was on probation for assaulting his girlfriend, and police believed he had violated probation.

    Johnson saw officers arrive and awoke his 12-year-old brother, Joseph “Bam Bam” Long, who ran to a house next door. Once there, the boy, who suffered from a congenital heart defect, collapsed and began having a seizure.

    Johnson testified at trial that McEntee kept his mother from entering the house to aid his brother, who died a short time later at a hospital.

    That same evening, McEntee returned to the neighborhood to check on unrelated reports of fireworks being shot off. A court filing from the Missouri attorney general’s office said McEntee was in his car questioning three children when Johnson shot him through the open passenger-side window, striking the officer’s leg, head and torso. Johnson then got into the car and took McEntee’s gun.

    The court filing said Johnson walked down the street and told his mother that McEntee “let my brother die” and “needs to see what it feels like to die.” Though she told him, “That’s not true,” Johnson returned to the shooting scene and found McEntee alive, on his knees near the patrol car. Johnson shot McEntee in the back and in the head, killing him.

    Johnson’s lawyers have previously asked the courts to intervene for other reasons, including a history of mental illness and his age — 19 — at the time of the crime. Courts have increasingly moved away from sentencing teen offenders to death since the Supreme Court in 2005 banned the execution of offenders who were younger than 18 at the time of their crime.

    But a broader focus of appeals has been on alleged racial bias. In October, St. Louis Circuit Judge Mary Elizabeth Ott appointed a special prosecutor to review the case. The special prosecutor, E.E. Keenan, filed a motion earlier this month to vacate the death sentence, stating that race played a “decisive factor” in the death sentence.

    Ott declined to set aside the death penalty. The Missouri Supreme Court convened an emergency hearing Monday to consider the request.

    Keenan’ told the state Supreme Court that former St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch’s office handled five cases involving the deaths of police officers during his 28 years in office. McCulloch sought the death penalty in the four cases involving Black defendants, but did not seek death in the one case where the defendant was white, the file said.

    Assistant Attorney General Andrew Crane responded that “a fair jury determined he deserves the death penalty.”

    McCulloch does not have a listed phone number and could not be reached for comment.

    Johnson’s 19-year-old daughter, Khorry Ramey, had sought to witness the execution, but a state law prohibits anyone under 21 from observing the process. Courts have declined to step in on Ramey’s behalf.

    The U.S. saw 98 executions in 1999 but the number has dropped dramatically in recent years. Missouri already has two scheduled for early 2023. Convicted killer Scott McLaughlin is scheduled to die on Jan. 3, and convicted killer Leonard Taylor’s execution is set for Feb. 7.

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