Month: January 2023

A federal jury found four members of the far-right group Oath Keepers guilty on charges of seditious conspiracy Monday.  According to NBC News, a U.S. District Court in Washington determined that Roberto Minuta, Joseph Hackett, David Moerschel and Edward Vallejo are guilty of seditious conspiracy for their actions on and leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol Building. The decision comes after a five-week trial and more than two days of jury deliberations.

The four were also found guilty of obstruction of an official act, aiding and abetting, and conspiracy to prevent a member of Congress from discharging their official duties, and were found guilty of trying to prevent the certification of results of the presidential election. According to CNN, Hackett also was found guilty of tampering with documents or proceedings The four convicted will be under house arrest with limited Internet access until their sentencing date, which is yet to be determined. The maximum sentence for seditious conspiracy is 20 years in prison.

In addition, Richard Barnett — the man photographed with his feet on Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s desk — was found guilty on eight counts for his actions on Jan. 6, including disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building with a dangerous weapon and theft of government property.

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Two students were killed after a shooting at their Des Moines, Iowa, school on Monday. A third victim, a school employee, is in serious condition after the shooting at the charter school Starts Right Here.

Des Moines police spokesman Paul Parizek told reporters that calls for help came about 12:50 p.m. CT, and responding officers found the two students and an adult school employee all wounded.  Sgt. Parizek said: “There was nothing random about this, it was certainly a targeted incident. As far as a motive, that’s something we are going to try to figure out.” Witnesses provided police a description of a fleeing car, that officers tracked down. Police said the vehicle was pulled over 2 miles south of the school, and two people surrendered immediately while a third took off. A K-9 unit helped police capture that third person, with Parizek confirming “All three of the potential suspects are in custody.”

The Start Right Here charter school describes itself as a school for students who “deserve a chance to rise above the circumstances they were born into” and hopes to “give them a chance to choose a different future.” Des Moines Police Chief Dana Wingert is on the school’s board of directors. Des Moines police spokesman Paul Parizek said: “these are supposed to be our safe spaces, and this school in particular, it’s one that the police department works very closely with. The school is designed to pick up the slack and help kids who need the help the most, the ones who aren’t getting the services they need for a variety of different reasons. To have it happen here, it’s going to be a horrible impact on the community.”

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Authorities said on Sunday that the suspected gunman who allegedly shot 20 people — killing 10 — at a dance studio near a Lunar New Year celebration in the Los Angeles suburb of Monterey Park has been found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The shooting took place in a community of 61,000 that is 65% Asian. Ten people died at the scene — five men and five women — and 10 others were transported to local hospitals in conditions from stable to critical. As of press time, seven remain hospitalized.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said Sunday night that the suspect, Huu Can Tran, 72, was found dead inside a white van in a strip mall parking lot in Torrance, Calif., about 30 miles southwest of Monterey Park, where the massacre occurred. Authorities said they found a handgun and other evidence inside the van. Sources told CNN that Tran had a regular presence at the dance studio, including meeting his ex-wife there.

The shooting occurred at 10:22 p.m. at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio on the eve of the Lunar New Year, which was mostly frequented by Asians in San Gabriel Valley. Monterey Park is about 7 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. The same gunman was later linked to an incident at 10:30 p.m. at another dance studio in the neighboring suburb of Alhambra, north of Monterey Park, in which a man fled and a weapon was seized by two community members. The sheriff’s department said that “several pieces of evidence” linked to both incidents were found inside the van used by the suspect, including a handgun. They added that no outstanding suspects are linked to the massacre and there is no danger to the area. LA Country Sheriff Luna said: “We still are not clear on the motive … The investigation continues … we want to know how something this awful can happen.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom posted on Twitter: “No one should have to fear going to a celebration with their community. Our thoughts are with the victims and all those impacted.” And President Biden ordered all U.S. flags at public buildings to be flown at half-staff to honor the victims, releasing a statement: “Even as we continue searching for answers about this attack, we know how deeply this attack has impacted the Asian American and Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islanders (AA and NHPI) community. Monterey Park is home to one of the largest AA and NHPI communities in America, many of whom were celebrating the Lunar New Year along with loved ones and friends this weekend.”

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Jeff Zients, who ran President Joe Biden’s Covid-19 response effort and served in high-ranking roles in the Obama administration, is expected to replace Ron Klain as the next White House chief of staff.  The Washington Post reported Sunday that Zients is in line to be elevated to the chief of staff role, while rumors of Klain resigning in a few weeks began circulating over the weekend.

Zients was director of the National Economic Council and an assistant on economic policy to President Barack Obama. He was part of Biden’s transition team before picking up the role as coronavirus response coordinator. According to CNN, the White House underwent an internal search to find a replacement for Klain. The chief of staff preferred Zients as the next in line after he played a critical role in filling staffing positions after the midterm elections. In March, Zients stepped away from his position as the White House’s COVID-19 response director for a private sector position. Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of Brown University’s School of Public Health, took Zients’ place on the COVID-19 response team.

Klain has served as chief of staff for more than two years. Unnamed sources have suggested his resignation will come following Biden’s State of the Union address on Feb. 7, though no official word on the resignation has been announced.

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Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen notified congressional leaders in a letter on Thursday that she is implementing “extraordinary measures” to meet U.S. financial obligations — this after the United States hit the national debt limit of $31.4 trillion, which requires Congress to increase it in order to meet existing national financial obligations.

Yellen wrote to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy: “I respectfully urge Congress to act promptly to protect the full faith and credit of the United States.” According to Yellen, it’s not clear exactly how long government cash and extraordinary measures can work to fulfill the nation’s economic obligations but said it’s unlikely resources will be exhausted “before early June.”

House Republicans have indicated they will demand deep spending cuts before agreeing to raise the debt ceiling; the Biden administration wants the debt ceiling raised without conditions. Yellen warned congressional leadership that failure to raise the limit in time would cause irreparable harm to the U.S. economy. Despite that warning, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told reporters this week raising the limit without cutting spending is off the table. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during a press briefing that Republicans “are threatening to kill millions of jobs and 401(k) plans by trying to hold the debt limit hostage unless they can, again, cut Social Security, cut Medicare, cut Medicaid,” adding that President Biden “will not allow Republicans to take the economy hostage or make working Americans pay the price for their schemes to benefit the wealthiest Americans and also special interests.”

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Actor Alec Baldwin has been charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of ‘Rust’ cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. ‘Rust’ armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was also charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter. A statement released on Thursday by New Mexico First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies and Rust special prosecutor, Andrea Reeb announced that charges were filed against Baldwin after the gun he was holding discharged, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza on the film set in New Mexico. Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed’s will be “charged in the alternative” with the two counts of manslaughter, meaning that a jury would decide not simply if they were guilty, but under which definition of involuntary manslaughter they were guilty.

According to the release from Carmack-Altwies’s office, involuntary manslaughter is punishable by up to 18 months in jail and a $5,000 fine if proven. The DA and special prosecution will formally file these charges with the New Mexico’s First Judicial District Court by the end of the month. Carmack-Altwies said: “After a thorough review of the evidence and the laws of the state of New Mexico, I have determined that there is sufficient evidence to file criminal charges against Alec Baldwin and other members of the ‘Rust’ film crew. On my watch, no one is above the law, and everyone deserves justice.”

The shooting occurred on Oct. 21, 2021, inside a building on a film set outside Santa Fe. Baldwin maintains that he did not know the gun was loaded; he is currently suing several ‘Rust’ crew members and accusing them of negligence for providing him with a loaded weapon without his knowledge. The actor initially stated that he “didn’t pull the trigger,” but in his lawsuit against the crew, his team says he pulled back and released the hammer of the gun in Hutchins’ direction while they were preparing camera angles.

The state initially fined the production company the maximum penalty of $136,793 for not following proper safety protocols. Hutchins’ family also sued Baldwin and the production company over wrongful death. They have since reached a settlement. ‘Rust’ is currently scheduled to resume filming this year with Matthew Hutchins, Hutchins’ husband, now involved as an executive producer.

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