List of All Articles with Tag 'erica'

The former leader of a Philadelphia chapter of the neo-fascist gang the Proud Boys who stormed the halls of Congress on January 6 has been sentenced to 15 years in prison. Zachary Rehl, the son and grandson of Philadelphia police officers who used pepper spray against law enforcement outside the US Capitol then lied on the witness stand about it, had called for “firing squads” for “traitors” who wanted to “steal” the 2020 election from Donald Trump. He was convicted of seditious conspiracy earlier this year alongside three other members and allies of the group for their roles in an assault that federal prosecutors said “unleashed a force on the Capitol that was calculated to exert their political will on elected officials by force” to “undo the results of a democratic election.” US District Judge Timothy Kelly determined that Rehl committed perjury during the trial when he denied assaulting anyone. Video evidence appeared to show him using a chemical spray against police as the mob broke through barricades and marched to the Capitol. Rehl’s sentence is among the largest against defendants connected to the attack on the US Capitol during a joint session of Congress as lawmakers convened to certify election results. Joe Biggs, a prominent figure within the Proud Boys who marched to the Capitol alongside Rehl, was sentenced to 17 years in prison on 31 August, now the second longest sentence for a January 6 defendant to date. Judge Kelly also issued that sentence. The sentences for Biggs and Rehl are 15 years below sentencing guidelines and roughly half of what prosecutors have asked in their cases. A jury had convicted both Rehl and Biggs on the treason-related charge of seditious conspiracy as well as conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of an official proceeding; conspiracy to use force, intimidation or threats to prevent officers from discharging their duties; interference with law enforcement during civil disorder; and destruction of government property. Sentencing guidelines suggested Rehl could face 30 years to life in prison. Federal prosecutors sought 30 years. Prosecutors also had sought 33 years for Biggs and former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, who is scheduled to be sentenced on 5 September. Co-defendants Ethan Nordean and Dominic Pezzola will be sentenced on 1 September. Proud Boys emerged as what one former member called the “foot soldiers of the right” using the guise of male-dominated drinking clubs to wield threats and physical violence against political enemies, particularly antifascist organizers, while rallying against LGBT+ people and employing white nationalist and antisemitic tropes. “They turned that vigilantism from antifa to law enforcement and the government itself,” Assistant US Attorney Erik Kenerson told Judge Kelly. “Mr Rehl embraced that vigilantism, and he eventually used it to try to impose his vision of America by force.” Pennsylvania-area Proud Boys played an outsized role in the attack, from planning in group chats to joining the mob that breached barricades and broke into the Capitol on 6 January, 2021. In messages on social media, Rehl called for “firing squads for the traitors that are trying to steal the election.” “F*** ‘em, storm the Capitol,” Rehl shouted into a video he recorded moments after breaching a police line. Minutes later, video captures him firing what appears to be chemical spray towards officers in his path. Pezzola seized a riot shield from an officer and used it to break a window, through which the first members of the mob entered the Capitol, according to an indictment. Once inside, Rehl posed for selfies with other members of the Philadelphia Proud Boys chapter and smoked cigarettes as rioters broke into the office of Democratic US Senator Jeff Merkley. “Looking back, it sucked,” Rehl wrote in a message to Philadelphia chapter members the day after the attack. “We should have held the Capitol … Everyone shoulda showed up armed and took the country back the right way.” During the trial, Rehl expressed regret for his actions that day, admitting that he felt much differently about the assault in the months that followed than he did in its immediate aftermath as he celebrated with other Proud Boys. At his sentencing hearing, he broke down in tears, pointing to the baseless narrative of election fraud and manipulation that fuelled the attack in the first place, and apologizing to his family who suffered in its wake. “Politicians spread lies about elections,” he said. “I fell for it hook, line and sinker … It cost me everything.” Read More Proud Boy Joe Biggs sentenced to 17 years in prison for Jan 6 seditious conspiracy Who is Enrique Tarrio? Ex-Proud Boys leader faces longest prison sentence yet for January 6 ‘Donald Trump’s army’: Proud Boys members face decades in prison for January 6 sedition

More than 9700 pounds of cocaine were seized by the Mexican Navy after a high-speed chase across the Pacific Ocean resulted in a huge drug bust. Footage captured by the Mexican Navy shows two operations taking place off the Pacific coast of Mexico near Oaxaca, chasing down the boats at rapid speed. The Navy then used helicopters to lower down to board and take control of the vessels. After a two-day operation that took place last week on 22 and 23 August, the Navy secured three boats. Eleven people were detained and turned over to the prosecutors. Along with the large quantity of cocaine, 1,300 gallons of fuel was also found on the boats. According to the UN, the global production of cocaine has dramatically increased over the past two years since its downturn during the Covid-19 pandemic. When cocaine is imported into Mexico, it is often trafficked inland toward the United States concealed in vehicles, although maritime vessels have also been used as well. Drug-related violence has increased recently, with convenience stores, trucks and cars being set alight by drug cartels in Michoacan to block roads and enforce extortion demands. Three men and three youths aged 16 and 17 were arrested during the attack. 1,200 troops were sent by the Mexican Government after the weekend to disperse the cartels from blocking the roads. Read More Help us find loved ones missing after decades of violence in Mexico, mothers tell government Mexico sends 1,200 more troops to Michoacan state after weekend of cartel violence Mexican Navy hopes to expand net-snagging hooks to protect endangered vaquita porpoises

Donald Trump has moved to sever Georgia case from the defendants seeking a speedy trial, arguing that it would violate his right to a fair process. “President Trump moves the Court to sever his case from those of his co-defendants who have demanded a speedy trial ... and who have a scheduled trial date of October 23, 2023,” lawyer Steven Sadow wrote in a filing on Thursday. The filing states that the timeline wouldn’t allow for the counsel to “have sufficient time to prepare President Trump’s case”. “Requiring less than two months preparation time to defend a 98-page indictment, charging 19 defendants, with 41 various charges including a RICO conspiracy charge with 161 Overt Acts, Solicitation of Violation of Oath by Public Officer, False Statements and Writings, Forgery, Influencing Witnesses, Computer Crimes, Conspiracy to Defraud the State, and other offenses would violate President Trump’s federal and state constitutional rights to a fair trial and due process of law,” Mr Sadow adds. Mr Trump’s motion comes after two of his codefendants in the election subversion case have asked the judge to sever their trials from the rest of the accused – including the former president. Lawyers Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro have both requested speedy trials in the case. On Wednesday, they each formally requested that their cases be separated from the wider indictment, something that – if granted – would prevent Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from holding one trial for all 19 defendants at once. DA Willis previously revealed her plans to hold one trial for all the accused this October. In requesting speedy trials, Georgia state law now requires Ms Powell and Mr Chesebro’s trials to begin before early November. Judge Scott McAfee has already ordered Mr Chesebro’s trial to start on 23 October, while Ms Powell’s request is pending. Mr Trump is against such a hasty timeline, employing his longtime legal tactic of attempting to slow things down and drag out the process until after the 2024 election. But now, if the cases are severed, this could lead to delays in a wider trial for the remaining defendants, including Mr Trump. The requests from Ms Powell and Mr Chesebro mark the first attempts from the defendants to try to break up the massive case into smaller individual trials. Their respective motions were filed on Wednesday as the defendants and the prosecution work to set the framework for the process. Ms Powell and Mr Chesebro both deny all wrongdoing in the case. In her filing, lawyers for Ms Powell said that she “did not represent President Trump or the Trump campaign” in connection to the 2020 election and didn’t have an “engagement agreement” with Mr Trump or his campaign. “She appears on no pleadings for Trump or the Campaign,” the lawyers wrote. “She appeared in no courtrooms or hearings for Trump or the Campaign. She had no contact with most of her purported conspirators and rarely agreed with those she knew or spoke with.” Her insistence comes despite Mr Trump saying in the middle of November 2020, shortly after he lost the election, that he had “added” Ms Powell to his “great team” of attorneys working on legal challenges to the election results. When Ms Powell subsequently shared bizarre conspiracy theories that millions of votes had been flipped in an international plot to take down Mr Trump, his campaign removed her from the legal team and announced that she was “practising law on her own”. Now, her lawyers have also tried to distance herself from the other attorneys charged in the Georgia case, saying that she “went her own way” following the 2020 election and that “many of her purported coconspirators publicly shunned and disparaged Ms Powell beginning in November 2020”. The filing also argued that her legal career had shown her adherence to “integrity” and “the rule of law” while pushing the baseless claim amplified by many on the right that retired General Michael Flynn was the subject of “charges completely concocted against him by a politicized FBI”. Also on Wednesday, Mr Chesebro’s lawyers requested that the judge push Ms Willis to “disclose” the names of the 30 unindicted co-conspirators included in the indictment. Mr Chesebro was behind Mr Trump’s plan to put forward fake electors to win the electoral college and he argued that he needs the identities of the individuals in order to prepare his defence in the case. On Wednesday morning, Ms Willis filed a motion requesting that Judge McAfee advise the defendants in the case of the consequences of requesting a speedy trial, noting the demands on their procedural and evidentiary rights. “By filing their speedy trial demands in this case, the Defendants have personally, willfully and deliberately narrowed numerous options that would otherwise be available to them under Georgia law,” the filing states. Read More Trump moves to ditch Georgia co-defendants and dodge televised court appearance after not guilty plea - live Why Biden is taking the short stairs on Air Force One Proud Boy Joe Biggs sentenced to 17 years in prison for Jan 6 seditious conspiracy

The US Army has charged a military doctor with alleged sexual assault in a case with at least 23 victims that could be the service’s largest abuse case in years. Major Michael Stockin, 37, was charged following a year-long Army investigation, reported The Washington Post. Military officials say that Maj Stockin, an anesthesiologist working at a pain clinic at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, was barred from treating patients in February 2022. Charges against the doctor “include abusive sexual contact and indecent viewing” in violation of military law, Army spokesperson Cynthia Smith said in a statement. The Army has not yet released the specific charges, with Ms Smith calling it “inappropriate” at this time. One soldier told The Post last week that he had reported the doctor after being treated by him at the pain management clinic in January 2022. He alleged that he was seeking treatment for a back injury, but was asked by Major Stocking to drop his trousers while he allegedly touched his ankles and legs. The doctor is also accused of holding the soldier’s genitals. The Post says that a charge sheet it obtained shows Maj Stocking has been charged with one count of sexual assault in that case Maj Stockin’s lawyer, Robert Capovilla, said that the Army was in the process of scheduling a hearing in the case. “The Government and the Defense are in the process of scheduling the Article 32 Preliminary Hearing in Major Stockin’s case. Our sincere hope is that the Army prioritizes Major Stockin’s privacy and his Constitutional right to a fair trial moving forward,” he said in a statement to The Independent. “It’s no secret that the Army has faced immense pressure from Congress and the Media on how they’ve handled sexual assault cases in the past. From my view, much of that criticism is exaggerated. The Army is far more aggressive in pursuing sexual assault allegations than nearly any other legal jurisdiction that I’ve worked with.” And he added: “That being said, the Army cannot forget that Major Stockin is cloaked in the presumption of innocence and my sincere hope is that the Army does everything in its power to ensure a fair process for Major Stockin and not just the alleged victims. “The Army has been investigating this case for more than a year and the Defense must be given adequate time and resources to properly prepare our defense.” Ryan Guilds, a lawyer representing alleged victims in the case, told The Post that he was “deeply concerned” about a lack of communication from the Army. Read More Thousands of Afghans still in limbo as ministers miss own deadline to slash resettlement backlog US, Indonesia and 5 other nations hold war drills amid China concerns Grant Shapps replaces Ben Wallace as defence secretary – but top military brass ask if he’s up to the job

Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty in the Georgia election subversion case. More follows...

Two of Donald Trump’s codefendants in his Georgia election subversion case have asked the judge to sever their trials from the rest of the accused – including the former president. Lawyers Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro have both requested speedy trials in the case. On Wednesday, they each formally requested that their cases be separated from the wider indictment, something that – if granted – would prevent Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from holding one trial for all 19 defendants at once. DA Willis previously revealed her plans to hold one trial for all the accused this October. In requesting speedy trials, Georgia state law now requires Ms Powell and Mr Chesebro’s trials to begin before early November. Judge Scott McAfee has already ordered Mr Chesebro’s trial to start on 23 October, while Ms Powell’s request is pending. Mr Trump is against such a hasty timeline, employing his longtime legal tactic of attempting to slow things down and drag out the process until after the 2024 election. But now, if the cases are severed, this could lead to delays in a wider trial for the remaining defendants, including Mr Trump. The requests from Ms Powell and Mr Chesebro mark the first attempts from the defendants to try to break up the massive case into smaller individual trials. Their respective motions were filed on Wednesday as the defendants and the prosecution work to set the framework for the process. Mr Trump’s lawyers have also said that they want the former president’s case to be severed from the rest of the defendants, but they haven’t yet filed a motion to do so. Ms Powell and Mr Chesebro both deny all wrongdoing in the case. In her filing, lawyers for Ms Powell said that she “did not represent President Trump or the Trump campaign” in connection to the 2020 election and didn’t have an “engagement agreement” with Mr Trump or his campaign. “She appears on no pleadings for Trump or the Campaign,” the lawyers wrote. “She appeared in no courtrooms or hearings for Trump or the Campaign. She had no contact with most of her purported conspirators and rarely agreed with those she knew or spoke with.” Her insistence comes despite Mr Trump saying in the middle of November 2020, shortly after he lost the election, that he had “added” Ms Powell to his “great team” of attorneys working on legal challenges to the election results. When Ms Powell subsequently shared bizarre conspiracy theories that millions of votes had been flipped in an international plot to take down Mr Trump, his campaign removed her from the legal team and announced that she was “practising law on her own”. Now, her lawyers have also tried to distance herself from the other attorneys charged in the Georgia case, saying that she “went her own way” following the 2020 election and that “many of her purported coconspirators publicly shunned and disparaged Ms Powell beginning in November 2020”. The filing also argued that her legal career had shown her adherence to “integrity” and “the rule of law” while pushing the baseless claim amplified by many on the right that retired General Michael Flynn was the subject of “charges completely concocted against him by a politicized FBI”. Also on Wednesday, Mr Chesebro’s lawyers requested that the judge push Ms Willis to “disclose” the names of the 30 unindicted co-conspirators included in the indictment. Mr Chesebro was behind Mr Trump’s plan to put forward fake electors to win the electoral college and he argued that he needs the identities of the individuals in order to prepare his defence in the case. On Wednesday morning, Ms Willis filed a motion requesting that Judge McAfee advise the defendants in the case of the consequences of requesting a speedy trial, noting the demands on their procedural and evidentiary rights. “By filing their speedy trial demands in this case, the Defendants have personally, willfully and deliberately narrowed numerous options that would otherwise be available to them under Georgia law,” the filing states. Read More Trump threatens to ‘lock up’ rivals if he wins 2024 race as he’s accused of inflating wealth by $2bn – live Trump inflated his net worth by as much as $2.2bn, New York attorney general says Trump posts a staggering 31 videos ranting at political opponents in one day

Convicted killer Alex Murdaugh has lost some of his prison privileges after he fed information to a Fox Nation documentary without the permission of South Carolina prison officials. South Carolina Corrections Department officials said on Wednesday that, during a jailhouse phone call back on 10 June, Murdaugh’s lawyer Jim Griffin had recorded him reading aloud entries from the journal he had kept during his double murder trial. Mr Griffin had then handed over the recordings to producers working on the new Fox Nation documentary about his high-profile case titled “The Fall of the House of Murdaugh”, released today. Prison policy prohibits inmates from talking to the media without permission because the agency “believes that victims of crime should not have to see or hear the person who victimized them or their family member on the news,” state prisons spokesperson Chrysti Shain said in a statement. The media interview violation, along with another violation for using a different inmate’s password to make a telephone call, are prison discipline issues and not a crime, Ms Shain said. As a result, the disgraced legal scion has had his phone privileges revoked and his prison tablet computer confiscated. Murdaugh also lost his ability to buy items in the prison canteen for a month. He will now have to get permission from prison officials to get another tablet, which can be used to make monitored phone calls, watch approved entertainment, read books or take video classes, the prison spokesperson said. Mr Griffin was also issued a warning from prison officials that if he knowingly or unknowingly helps Murdaugh violate rules again, he could lose his ability to talk to his client. Phone calls between lawyers and prisoners are not recorded or reviewed because their conversations are considered confidential. But prison officials said they began investigating Murdaugh after a warden reviewing other phone calls heard Murdaugh’s voice on a call made in a different inmate’s account. Murdaugh claimed that his phone password had not been working. He also told the prison investigators about the recorded journal entries, according to prison records. Murdaugh’s use of a jailhouse tablet previously hit headlines when selfie images he took on the device were obtained in a Freedom of Information request by FITS News. In many of the images, the convicted family killer appeared topless. South Carolina prison officials later clarified that the photos are automatically taken as an inmate uses their tablet that is individually assigned to them – as part of inmate monitoring. Now, Murdaugh has lost the use of his tablet indefinitely due to his unauthorised communication with the documentarymakers – which marks his first media interview of sorts since his conviction. His eldest – and now only surviving – son Buster Murdaugh has also broken his silence speaking out in his first TV interview in the three-part series. In the interview, Buster insisted that he still believes his father is innocent of the murders of his mother and brother – but admitted that he may be a psychopath. Maggie and Paul were found shot dead on the family’s 1,700-acre Moselle estate back on 7 June 2021. Alex Murdaugh had called 911 claiming to have found their bodies. During his high-profile murder trial, jurors heard how Paul was shot twice with a 12-gauge shotgun while he stood in the feed room of the dog kennels on the affluent family’s 1,700-acre Moselle estate. The second shot to his head blew his brain almost entirely out of his skull. After killing Paul, prosecutors said Murdaugh then grabbed a .300 Blackout semiautomatic rifle and opened fire on Maggie as she tried to flee from her husband. Following the dramatic six-week trial – in which Murdaugh confessed to lying about his alibi on the night of the murders – the disgraced legal scion was convicted in March of the brutal murders. When Buster was asked in the documentary if he ever thought it possible that his father might have killed their loved ones, he insisted no. “No, because I think that I hold a very unique perspective that nobody else in that courtroom ever held. And I know the love that I have witnessed,” he said. The 29-year-old went on to say that he thinks there are a lot of questions that still need to be answered about the murders. “My biggest thing that I want people to realise, that there are always two sides of the story. Now, they can pick which one they want to believe,” he said. “But I think there’s a heck of a lot that still needs to be answered about what happened on June the 7th.” He said that prosecutors presented a “crappy motive” and that the case was not “fair”. “I do not believe it was fair,” he said. “I was there for six weeks studying it, and I think it was a tilted table from the beginning. “And I think, unfortunately, a lot of the jurors felt that way prior to when they had to deliberate. It was predetermined in their minds prior to when they ever heard any shred of evidence that was given in that room.” Now, with his father behind bars, he said he fears that the real killer is still walking free. “I think I set myself up to be safe but yes, when I go to bed at night, I have a fear that there is somebody that is still out there,” Buster added. Throughout the high-profile murder trial, Buster stood by his father, attending each day of the court’s proceedings with his family members. Buster also testified in his father’s defence saying that Murdaugh had been “destroyed” and “heartbroken” in the aftermath of the deaths of his mother and brother. But despite continuing to insist his father’s innocence even now, Buster did not deny that his father may be a psychopath. “I’m not prepared to sit here and say that it encompasses him as a whole, but I certainly think there are characteristics where you look at the manipulation and the lies and the carrying out of that such, and I think that’s a fair assessment,” he said. Murdaugh, 55, was sentenced to life in prison for the murders and is serving his time in the maximum security facility McCormick Correctional Institution in South Carolina. He is also facing a slew of financial fraud charges for stealing millions of dollars from his law firm clients and his dead housekeeper’s family. He is expected to plead guilty on 21 September to federal charges – marking the first time he has pleaded guilty to a crime in court. Murdaugh is also facing around 100 financial charges in state court as well as charges over a botched hitman plot where he claims he paid an accomplice to shoot him dead. Murdaugh’s high-profile conviction also shone a spotlight on some other mystery deaths tied to the South Carolina legal dynasty. Following Maggie and Paul’s murders, investigations were reopened into the 2018 death of the Murdaugh’s longtime housekeeper Gloria Satterfield and the 2015 homicide of gay teenager Stephen Smith. Meanwhile, at the time of his murder, Paul was also awaiting trial for the 2019 boat crash death of Mallory Beach. The Associated Press contributed to this report Read More Buster Murdaugh breaks silence on Stephen Smith killing – and calls father Alex a ‘psychopath’ Alex Murdaugh planned a birthday party for his son Paul from jail 10 months after killing him, book claims Alex Murdaugh co-conspirator sentenced to seven years and $3.5m fine for financial fraud

Students at the University of North Carolina are demanding action on gun control in the wake of Monday’s deadly Chapel Hill campus shooting. Around 600 students took part in a rally on Wednesday calling for stricter state gun laws and holding a moment of silence for slain professor Zijie Yan. The student newspaper The Daily Tar Heel marked the tragedy with a powerful front page on Wednesday, featuring the terrified text messages sent by loved ones to its editor-in-chief during the active situation. The page has gone viral. Many questions still remain about suspect Tailei Qi’s motive for the attack as the search for the gun continues. Mr Qi, a PhD student majoring in applied physical sciences, had complained about the victim online in the lead-up to the attack and railed against hard work, “girls and tattletales” and bullies in the US. He was arrested and booked into Orange County Sheriff’s Office jail on a first-degree murder charge for fatally shooting Yan, the head of the Department of Applied Sciences. Read More Who was UNC Chapel Hill shooting victim Zijie Yan? Student who survived Parkland shooting ‘forced to relive grief’ five years later in UNC attack The shooting in Chapel Hill took away the magic of a place I love UNC shooting suspect will not face death penalty, DA says

A factory worker from Indiana has been charged with attempted murder for repeatedly smashing his colleague over the head with a hammer, before walking calmly out of the workplace and telling another colleague: “S*** happens”. Austin Hahn, 27, allegedly attacked the unidentified victim at their workplace, the Bright Sheet Metal Co. in Indianapolis, on the morning of Sunday 20 August, according to court records obtained by Law & Crime. Witnesses told law enforcement that Mr Hahn attacked his coworker from behind with a tinner hammer, using the sharp edge to strike the victim at least six times. He then allegedly threw the hammer in the bin as he calmly went to leave the warehouse. Before he left, Mr Hahn approached another colleague who was outside at the time and was not aware of the attack that had just taken place. According to court records, Mr Hahn patted the colleague on the chest and simply said: “S*** happens”. After the attack, Mr Hahn proceeded to get into his car and reportedly drove to his mother’s home. Officers from the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department were called to a report of a possible battery at the warehouse at around 7.30am, according to the arrest report. The victim was taken to St. Vincent’s Hospital in a serious but stable condition. He was found to have suffered skull fractures, brain bleeds, a broken jaw and missing teeth. Mr Hahn’s mother called Anderson Police Department to turn her son into authorities later that morning. He was then arrested at his mother’s house. Police were told by Mr Hahn’s colleagues that he and the victim were “the best of friends” until an argument took place several weeks before, according to court records. Mr Hahn’s roommate told the police that the two were not on good terms because lately, Hahn had been using cannabis “a lot”, WXIN reported. Yet Mr Hahn allegedly apologised, and their dispute was thought to have been forgotten. The unnamed victim, who was at his workstation at the time of the attack, told police he did not know who struck him from behind, but said his colleagues would have witnessed the attack. Mr Hahn is being held without bond on charges of attempted murder, aggravated battery and battery by means of a deadly weapon. He is due to appear in court for his next hearing on 19 October. Read More Lady of the Dunes’ late husband has been linked to two other deaths - now his friend speaks out Texas family of four found dead in apparent murder-suicide weeks after daughter drowned Rachel Morin – updates: Maryland police warn Bel Air suspect could be a serial killer

The military academy first thought the 200-year-old box was empty. Closer study revealed otherwise.

Anti-abortion activist Lauren Handy was convicted of illegally blocking a reproductive health clinic in Washington, DC after she kept five foetuses in her home. Handy and five other defendants were accused of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE Act) — which prohibits intimidation or obstruction of someone seeking reproductive health services — when they blocked access to the Washington Surgi-Clinic in October 2020 using chains and ropes, according to a Justice Department release. A US District Court jury in DC found Handy and four co-defendants —John Hinshaw, Heather Idoni, William Goodman, Herb Geraghty — guilty on all counts. Each defendant was convicted of a felony conspiracy against rights and a FACE Act offence, the release stated, specifying that each face up to a maximum of 11 years in prison and a fine of up to $350,000. The Washington Post noted that a second group of defendants involved in the same blockade have a trial that is set to begin next week. The Justice Department wrote that Handy, Hinshaw, Idoni, Goodman, and Geraghty engaged in the conspiracy when they came from all over the country to Washington, DC “to meet with Handy and participate in a clinic blockade that was directed by Handy and was broadcast on Facebook.” Prosecutors said that Handy called the clinic while under the guise of a prospective patient to book an appointment to figure out when the clinic performed abortions — in order to plan when she and others could arrive to stop patients from getting inside. The Justice Department wrote that Handy, Hinshaw, Idoni, and Goodman “forcefully entered the clinic and set about blockading two clinic doors using their bodies, furniture, chains and ropes.” That’s when they began livestreaming their blockade. In terms of violating the FACE Act, the Justice Department wrote that the defendants used “physical obstruction to injure, intimidate and interfere” with the clinic’s employees as well as a patient who was seeking reproductive health services. “They planned their crime carefully, to take over that clinic, block access to reproductive services and interfere with others’ rights,” Assistant US Attorney John Crabb said last week. “The idea of deliberately breaking the law, to them, was sexy.” The group responsible for the blockade were reportedly members of Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising (PAAU); Handy is the director of activism. The group’s website says its mission is to “achieve socio-political justice for the preborn by mobilizing anti-abortion activists for direct action and opposing elective abortion through a progressive lens.” PAAU wrote on X in the wake of the verdict: “This is a gross miscarriage of justice, and while this is painful for all of those who understand that the unborn have a right to be Rescued, this is not the end!” The group added, “Rescue CANNOT and will not be stopped. This case was an effort by the US government to isolate and intimidate Rescuers and anti abortion people into believing they will face significant jail time for living in alignment with their pro-life values.” The case was brought against Handy and the other defendants in February 2022; one month later, police found five fetuses in a house in Southeast Washington where she was staying. Metropolitan Police Department spokesperson said at the time that officers were investigating a tip regarding “potential bio-hazard material” at a property in Capitol Hill, adding later that they located “five fetuses inside a residence at the location.” Shortly after that news broke, PAAU held a press conference announcing that Handy had 115 more foetuses that she helped baptise and bury in a private cemetery. Handy said at the press conference, “During the five days they were under my stewardship, the 115 victims of abortion violence were given funeral mass for unbaptised children and 110… were given a proper burial in a private cemetery.” Read More Everything we know about Lauren Handy, anti-abortion activist who says she ‘blessed and buried’ 110 foetuses Anti-abortion activists, including one who kept fetuses, convicted of illegally blocking DC clinic Abortion rights protests planned across Poland after death of pregnant woman

A district attorney has ruled out the possibility of seeking the death penalty for the UNC doctoral student accused of murdering his academic advisor in a shooting that sparked terror across the Chapel Hill campus. The UNC community is still reeling from a shooting on Monday that left one faculty member dead and forced frantic students fearing for their lives to barricade themselves inside lecture halls. Tailei Qi, an applied sciences PhD student at UNC, has been charged with first-degree murder and possession of a weapon on academic premises in connection with the fatal shooting of his lab advisor Zijie Yan. Mr Qi appeared in court on Tuesday and was ordered held without bail. The suspect had a Mandarin interpreter during his arraignment and was scheduled to reappear in court next month. Prosecutors did not share a potential motive for why Mr Qi allegedly carried out the attack on Yan. In an interview following the hearing, Orange County District Attorney Jeff Niemen said he would not be seeking the death penalty in Mr Qi’s case “or any case,” FOX8 reports. Responding to criticism about his stance on X, formerly known as Twitter, Mr Nieman said: “I was very transparent about my position on the death penalty in candidate forums.” Mr Nieman pledged to not seek the death penalty if elected as he campaigned in 2021 to become the DA in Chatam and Orange counties. “You can let someone out of prison, but you can’t un-kill them,” Mr Nieman said in a statement at the time. “The death penalty is a complicated societal issue, one that I am ready to discuss in greater depth with our community members in the months ahead. But for the reasons briefly cited above and more, I will not seek the death penalty in my district.” Mr Qi is being held without bail at the Orage County Sheriff’s Jail in Hillsborough County. He was arrested near a residential area two miles away from campus following a three-hour lockdown on Monday. According to his LinkedIn page, Mr Qi graduated from Wuhan University in 2015 and also received a master’s in material science from Lousiana State University in 2021. Mr Qi then joined UNC at Chapel Hill’s Yan Lab in 2022, with his profile page on the university’s website taken down by Tuesday. Wen Liu, a 2022 UNC graduate who worked in the lab with Qi, told the AP that he was “somewhat reserved” but still “pretty sociable.” Ms Liu also said that Qi would often answer other lab member’s questions with “patience and respect.” “For hours he would just be doing things and explaining along the way,” Ms Liu said. UNC Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz said on Tuesday that Yan left two young daughters behind and described the slain professor as a “beloved colleague and friend” who was fondly remembered by everyone who crossed paths with him. Mr Qi is expected to appear in court again on 18 September. Read More UNC shooting updates: Suspect Tailei Qi complained about professor Zijie Yan online before Chapel Hill attack UNC Chapel Hill graduate student Tailei Qi charged with murder in shooting of faculty member A new college term, a faculty member killed and a student arrested: What we know about the UNC shooting