List of All Articles with Tag 'erica'

A 63-year-old moviegoer who was assaulted after asking a couple to move from his reserved seats revealed how the younger attacker “just went to town on me.” The victim, who has not been identified, reserved VIP tickets with his wife for a movie on 10 July at the AMC Pompano Beach 18 theater. He arrived to find another man and woman sitting in the seats and asked them to move. “This guy just kept staring at me instead of getting up,” the victim told NBC6 on Friday. “I said to the people at this point, who didn’t apologize or say thank you, I said, ‘You guys can just keep the seats.’ “As I’m walking away, he said ‘Go run to your wife little boy.’ So I turned around and I said, ‘You know, I’m not the one who’s being a little boy, you took my seats and you didn’t apologize or you didn’t say thank you and I let you keep them.’” “He jumped up, he wanted to fight me, he backed me up, I fell over the stairs and as soon as I fell down the stairs, it was like a boxer being against the ropes, this guy just went to town on me,” the victim said. He told the station that he “couldn’t even get a defensive shot in.” “It happened so fast,” he said. “He basically sucker-punched me, is what he did.” The victim is a disabled veteran and suffered a broken nose and needed stitches at a local hospital, the station reported. “I didnt think anybody would be stupid enough to actually start a fight like that in the movies,” the victim said. Broward Sheriff’s Office Violent Crimes Unit detectives have released video of the attack. “In the heated moment, the victim loses his balance and falls down the steps,” the office said in an accompanying release. “The subject is seen standing above the 63-year-old victim repeatedly punching him in the face until witnesses rushed to the victim’s aid and pulled the subject off him. “The subject and the adult female left the theater.” Authorities have appealed to the public for help in identifying the couple. Read More Man attacked at movie theatre for asking couple to move out of his seat Boy charged over serious assault in Dublin Family of award winning artist paralysed in random NYC subway shove attack speak out Woman jailed for killing fellow hospital patient, 83, in unprovoked attack Barbie doubles Oppenheimer’s earnings in box office previews

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis defended a hard-right school curriculum that went into effect in his state this week while on the campaign trail for the Republican presidential nomination. At an event in Utah, Governor DeSantis defended how slavery will now be taught in Florida middle schools. Children will now be taught that enslaved persons picked up skills that they later “parlayed” into profitable crafts after slavery was abolished. “They’re probably going to show that some of the folks that eventually parlayed, you know, being a blacksmith into doing things later in life,” Mr DeSantis told reporters on Friday. However at the same press conference, the GOP candidate also appeared to back away from the specific assertions of the teachings, saying of the curriculum: “I didn’t do it. I wasn’t involved in it.” He went on to say that the curriculum was “rooted in whatever is factual”. “It was not anything that was done politically,” he added. The Florida governor’s hard-right record will likely be a key talking point on the 2024 campaign trail - potentially presenting both a boon for Mr DeSantis in the GOP primary but also a challenge as he seeks to woo moderates in a general election. Florida Department of Education’s social studies standards for the 2023-2024 school year provide lesson topics for teachers including a “benchmark clarification” which instructs educators to teach students that “slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit”. It isn’t clear what “their personal benefit” would be in this scenario. The line is included as part of a broader lesson entitled: “Examine the various duties and trades performed by slaves (e.g., agriculturalwork, painting, carpentry, tailoring, domestic service, blacksmithing, transportation).” The majority of polling puts Mr DeSantis second in the crowded GOP primary field, though he trails former president Donald Trump by a wide margin and faces a number of rivals closing in on his position including Vivek Ramaswamy and Nikki Haley. Read More Biden will establish a national monument honoring Emmett Till, the Black teen lynched in Mississippi Southern California school board OKs curriculum after Gov. Gavin Newsom threatened a $1.5M fine Florida man pleads guilty over Jan 6 riot as state’s governor Ron DeSantis insists there was no insurrection Trump outstrips nearest Republican rival DeSantis by 30 points in latest poll - live Biden will establish a national monument honoring Emmett Till, the Black teen lynched in Mississippi Southern California school board OKs curriculum after Gov. Gavin Newsom threatened a $1.5M fine

Donald Trump will face trial for the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case on 20 May 2024, just six months before the presidential election. Judge Aileen Cannon gave the order on Friday morning. Meanwhile, the former president has been busy bullying his rivals for the Republican presidential nomination, including Ron DeSantis, Chris Christie and Asa Hutchinson, on Truth Social as he braces for an imminent grand jury indictment over his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and his role in inciting the Capitol riot of 6 January 2021. Mr Trump announced on Tuesday that he had been sent a letter by special prosecutor Jack Smith informing him that he is the “target” of the investigation, citing three statutes under which he could be charged, including conspiracy to commit offence or to defraud the United States, deprivation of rights under colour of law and tampering with a witness, victim or informant. That indictment, Mr Trump’s third in four months, could be handed down any day now, The Independent learned. Meanwhile, the latest attorney to join Mr Trump’s legal team says he wants cameras in court when the former president is potentially put on trial over his alleged election interference. Read More What Donald Trump’s trial date means for the 2024 election Trump demands cameras in courtroom for potential election fraud case Trump legal team tries again to block Georgia election interference grand jury probe Trump calls for ‘immediate’ death penalty for child traffickers after watching QAnon-linked movie

Wisconsin's Supreme Court will flip from majority conservative to liberal control in August and Democrats have high hopes the change will lead to the state's abortion ban being overturned and its maps redrawn to weaken GOP control of the Legislature and congressional districts. Democrats in the perennial battleground state focused on abortion to elect a liberal majority to the court for the first time in 15 years. The Democratic Party spent $8 million to tilt the court’s 4-3 conservative majority by one seat with the election of Janet Protasiewicz, who spoke in favor of abortion rights and against the Republican-drawn map in a campaign. Her April victory broke national spending records for a state Supreme Court race. Still, there are no guarantees. Republicans were angered when a conservative candidate they backed in 2019 turned out to sometimes side with liberal justices. While the court is widely expected to weigh in on abortion and redistricting, liberals also are talking about bringing new challenges to school choice, voter ID, the 12-year-old law that effectively ended collective bargaining for most public workers and other laws backed by Republicans. “When you don’t know the extent of the battle you may have to fight, it’s concerning,” said attorney Rick Esenberg, president of the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty. "It’s very concerning.” Some issues could take years to reach the court, said liberal attorney Pester Pines, who like Esenberg has argued numerous times before the state Supreme Court. Unlike under the conservative majority, Pines said the new liberal court will be unlikely to rule on cases before lower courts have heard them. “They're not going to do it," Pines said. There is already a pending case challenging Wisconsin's pre-Civil War era abortion ban, and a circuit court judge ruled earlier this month that it can proceed, while also calling into question whether the law actually bans abortions. The case is expected to reach the Supreme Court within months. Protasiewicz all but promised to overturn the ban by repeatedly speaking out for abortion rights, winning support from Planned Parenthood and others. “When you’re a politician and you’re perceived by the voters as making a promise, and you don’t keep it, they get angry,” Esenberg said. There is no current redistricting lawsuit, but Democrats or their allies are expected to file a new challenge this summer seeking new districts before the 2024 election. The state Supreme Court upheld Republican-drawn maps in 2022. Those maps, widely regarded as among the most gerrymandered in the country, have helped Republicans increase their hold on the Legislature to near supermajority levels, even as Democrats have won statewide elections, including Tony Evers as governor in 2018 and 2022 and Joe Biden in 2020. Protasizewicz declared those maps to be “rigged” and said during the campaign they should be given another look. Democrats also hope for new congressional maps improving their chances in the state’s two most competitive House districts, held by Republicans. “What we want to see is maps that are fair and that represent the will of the people and the actual make up of their state," Democratic strategist Melissa Baldauff said. Four of the past six presidential elections in Wisconsin have been decided by less than a percentage point. The outgoing conservative court came within one vote of overturning Biden's win in 2020. The new court will be in control to hear any challenges leading up to the election and in the months after. That includes voting rules. Courts have repeatedly upheld Wisconsin's voter ID requirement, in place since 2011, but some Democrats see a chance to challenge it again, particularly over what IDs can legally be shown. There is also a looming fight over the state's top elections administrator. “It seems to me that the most consequential topics that could come before the new court would have to do with elections," said Alan Ball, a Marquette University Law School history professor who runs a statistical analysis blog of the court and tendencies of justices. Considering comments Protasiewicz made during the campaign, “it’s really hard for me to imagine she would not side with the liberals on those issues,” Ball said. A national Democratic law firm filed a lawsuit on Thursday seeking to undo a Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling last year banning absentee ballot drop boxes. The case could make its way to the state high court before the 2024 presidential election. Other sticky issues that have garnered bipartisan criticism, including powers of the governor, also could come before the new court. Evers surprised many with a veto this year putting in place a school spending increase for 400 years. Republicans said a challenge was likely. In 2021, the court struck down three of Evers' previous partial vetoes but failed to give clear guidance on what is allowed. A Wisconsin governor's veto power is expansive and used by Republicans and Democrats, but the new court could weigh in on whether it should be scaled back. Esenberg, who brought the previous case challenging Evers' veto powers, said he expected another legal challenge in light of the 400-year veto. Read More Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Wisconsin woman's killing, dismemberment trial to begin Monday after jury chosen, judge's ruling Biden is building his reelection bid around an organization Obama shunned What are the 10 largest US lottery jackpots ever won?

Carlee Russell has been fired from the Alabama beauty spa where she was working on the night she claimed to have been kidnapped, according to a new report. Stuart Rome, the owner of the Woodhouse spa in Birmingham, told the New York Post that Ms Russell was no longer employed there and staff were “pissed” about her abduction claims. The 25-year-old told police she was kidnapped while stopping to help a toddler on Interstate 459 on 13 July. However, Alabama police have expressed doubt over Ms Russell’s abduction claims and revealed she appeared to have made suspicious internet searches about kidnappings prior to the incident. Mr Rome said staff had been devastated by Ms Russell’s disappearance, and had passed out flyers in an effort to help find her. “As the information came out that there were some questionable things, we’ve been a little pissed off, mainly because so many people took so much time out to search,” Mr Rome toldthe New York Post. Hoover police chief Nick Derzis said during a press conference on Wednesday that investigators were “unable to verify” most of the 25-year-old’s statements. Read More Carlee Russell sent several bizarre tweets before disappearing Alabama lawyer says police is using ‘every other synonym for lie except saying she lied’ in Carlee Russell case Boyfriend of Carlee Russell deletes social media posts after police cast doubt over her kidnapping story Police doubt Carlee Russell’s kidnapping claims. Could she face consequences?

Members of the US Senate have backed calls for safe haven for an Afghan pilot threatened with deportation to Rwanda, saying he and other veterans should not be left in “legal limbo”. The pilot, who served alongside coalition forces in Afghanistan, said he hoped he might be able to find a new life in the US, but slammed the UK government for failing to offer him refuge. The Afghan Air Force official, who arrived in Britain last year, says he feels abandoned by the UK Home Office who are refusing to process his asylum claim. American senators from across the political divide told The Independent that Afghan allies who supported coalition forces should be supported to new lives in the States. The Independent is campaigning for the pilot and other Afghan veterans to be given asylum in countries for whom they have bravely risked their lives. Dozens of military chiefs, politicians, diplomats and celebrities have backed the call. The Republican senator Thom Tillis, from North Carolina, said that the fact that people who helped US service members are stuck in third countries needed to be fixed. He said initially that many people worried that Afghans coming to the United States would not be properly vetted. “I think many of those things worked themselves out and we still owe them,” he said. “I believe we owe it to those who serve alongside our men and women and our Nato partners and allies, to get them where they want to be.” Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat, told The Independent that Afghan veterans should not be left with uncertain immigration status. She said Afghans who “helped our military literally are holding letters from top military people saying that they saved their lives and they should not be in legal limbo”. The pilot, who flew combat missions in support of British and US forces, arrived in the UK via a boat last November and has been waiting to find out his fate ever since, with his young family in hiding in Afghanistan. The threat of deportation to Rwanda has still not been removed despite the UK’s Court of Appeal ruling that the government’s returns agreement is illegal. Without the notice being removed, his application for asylum in the UK cannot progress. He told The Independent: “I don’t know why they haven’t removed the notice. I am scared they are still trying to send people to Rwanda and of course I am worried about what they will do next. Lately, I am completely disappointed in the UK government.” The airman has been forced to turn to the US for help, with the White House pledging to “take care of the folks who helped us during the longest war in this country”. He is being considered for possible sanctuary in the US and has had his initial relocation interview. In order to access the so-called P1 scheme, he had to be personally referred by a US official. Speaking about his disappointment with UK, he said: “At the moment, I feel like it doesn’t matter who you are, or what you did with the allies, troops or partner countries. Right now I hear lots of Afghan diplomats, military generals, and others, they are saying that the government doesn’t care about us, who we are and what we did with them. I think the government is not seeing us as colleagues. “When they came to Afghanistan, they were saying we are your friends and we will help you. Now I think they have completely forgotten us.” The pilot spoke about his hope that the US would accept him: “I am happy that the US government is helping me, but on the other side I am not happy about the instability of not knowing where I should be or where I will be. I don’t know which country I will be in and my family needs comfort and a new life.” Dan Jarvis, a Labour MP and former soldier in Afghanistan, said: “This pilot risked his life on combat missions in support of coalition forces. That he faces the threat of deportation from the UK to Rwanda stands as a mark of shame on No 10 Downing Street, whose policy position is increasingly at odds with the much more decent approach taken by the White House.” He continued: “There is considerable angst amongst the Armed Forces community and beyond that the UK government seems unwilling or unable to honour the commitments made to these men. This isn’t just a point of principle, it’s a matter of honour and a failure to do the right thing in this case will further undermine our international reputation.” Kevan Jones MP, of the defence select committee, added: "We owe a huge debt of gratitude to these individuals and the government dragging its feet on supporting them is a national disgrace." Most Afghans who arrived in the United States were permitted on temporary humanitarian grounds. But a bipartisan group of senators is trying to change the law to adjust their status to permanent resident. The group wanted to add the Afghan Adjustment Act, to a series of must-pass bills during the final year of the 117th Congress. But senators failed to garner enough support to include their legislation in final versions of last year’s National Defense Authorisation Act (NDAA). Ms Klobuchar, the Minnesota senator, is one of the Afghan Adjustment Act’s Democratic sponsors. She told The Independent she hoped the bill would pass in the future and had strong support from senior Republicans on the Senate’s Armed Services, Judiciary and Veterans Affairs committees. “We’re building support and would hope to have a vote on the defense authorisation act,” she said. Another Democratic sponsor of the Adjustment Act, Delaware senator Chris Coons, told The Independent the legislation is about fulfilling America’s commitment to its veterans. "The core objective of this bill is to ensure that every Afghan currently here is vetted and has a pathway towards a legal status in the United States making it possible for additional Afghans who served alongside our troops and the troops of our treasured Nato allies like the United Kingdom, to have a safe path in a safe passage to our country while addressing legitimate security concerns of my colleagues is a valuable core purpose of this bill," he said. Sign The Independent’s petition calling for UK to support Afghan war heroes who served alongside Britain A UK government spokesperson said: “Whilst we don’t comment on individual cases, we remain committed to providing protection for vulnerable and at-risk people fleeing Afghanistan and so far have brought around 24,500 people impacted by the situation back to the UK. “We continue to work with like-minded partners and countries neighbouring Afghanistan on resettlement issues, and to support safe passage for eligible Afghans.” Read More Tobias Ellwood’s call to reopen talks with Taliban sparks backlash: ‘Were Afghan women spoken to?’ Afghan judge who put Taliban members behind bars ‘overjoyed’ to be given sanctuary in UK Biden turns up heat on UK over asylum for Afghan hero pilot

Tens of thousands of protesters marched on the main highway into Jerusalem on Saturday evening in a last-ditch show of force aimed at blocking Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's contentious judicial overhaul. More than 100 of Israel's former security chiefs signed a letter pleading with the Israeli premier to halt the legislation. The arrival of the marchers turned the city's main entrance into a sea of blue and white Israeli flags as they completed the last leg of a four-day, 70 kilometer (45-mile) trek from Tel Aviv to Israel's parliament. The marchers joined forces with hundreds of other protesters and planned to camp outside the Knesset, or parliament, ahead of Monday's expected vote. Netanyahu and his far-right allies claim the overhaul is needed to curb what they say are the excessive powers of unelected judges. But their critics say the plan will destroy the country's system of checks and balances and put it on the path toward authoritarian rule. The proposed overhaul has drawn harsh criticism from business and medical leaders, and a fast-rising number of military reservists in key units have said they will stop reporting for duty if the plan passes, raising concern that the country's security interests could be threatened. Over 100 top former security chiefs, including retired military commanders, police commissioners and heads of intelligence agencies joined those calls on Saturday, signing a letter to Netanyahu blaming him for compromising Israel’s defense, undermining the Israeli Defense Forces and urging him to halt the legislation. The signatories included Ehud Barak, a former Israeli prime minister. “The legislation is crushing those things shared by Israeli society, is tearing the people apart, disintegrating the IDF and inflicting fatal blows on Israel’s security,” they wrote. “The legislative process violates the social contract that has existed for 75 years between the Israeli government and thousands of reserve officers and soldiers from the land, air, sea, and intelligence branches who have volunteered for many years for the reserves to defend the democratic state of Israel, and now announce with a broken heart that they are suspending their volunteer service,” the letter said. After seven straight months of the most sustained and intense demonstrations the country has ever seen, the grassroots protest movement has reached a fever pitch. The parliament is expected to vote Monday on a measure that would prevent the Supreme Court judges from striking down government decisions on the basis that they are “unreasonable.” Proponents say the current “reasonability” standard gives the judges excessive powers over decision making by elected officials. But critics say that removing the standard, which is invoked only in rare cases, would allow the government to pass arbitrary decisions, make improper appointments or firings and open the door to corruption. Protests were also planned on Saturday evening at the central square of the coastal city of Tel Aviv, Israel's main hub. Monday's vote would mark the first major piece of legislation to be approved. The overhaul also calls for other sweeping changes aimed at curbing the powers of the judiciary, from limiting the Supreme Court’s ability to challenge parliamentary decisions, to changing the way judges are selected. Protesters, who make up a wide swath of Israeli society, see the overhaul as a power grab fueled by various personal and political grievances by Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption charges, and his partners, who want to deepen Israel’s control of the occupied West Bank and perpetuate controversial draft exemptions for ultra-Orthodox men. In a speech Thursday, Netanyahu doubled down on the overhaul and dismissed as absurd the accusations that the plan would destroy Israel’s democratic foundations. “This is an attempt to mislead you over something that has no basis in reality,” he said. Alarmed by the growing mass of reservists refusing to serve, the country’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant, pushed for a delay in Monday’s vote, according to reports in Israeli media. It was unclear if others would join him. Read More Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Fierce protests have been rocking Israel for months. What's fueling them? Thousands march from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem to protest Israeli government's judicial overhaul plan Ex-Israeli security chief backs reservists' protest as Netanyahu allies advance judicial overhaul

American Airlines agreed to raise its pilot contract offer by more than a billion dollars to bring it on par with the tentative agreement competitor United Airlines reached with its pilots last week.

Donald Trump will face trial for the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case on 20 May 2024, just six months before the presidential election. Judge Aileen Cannon gave the order on Friday morning. Meanwhile, the former president has been busy bullying his rivals for the Republican presidential nomination, including Ron DeSantis, Chris Christie and Asa Hutchinson, on Truth Social as he braces for an imminent grand jury indictment over his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and his role in inciting the Capitol riot of 6 January 2021. Mr Trump announced on Tuesday that he had been sent a letter by special prosecutor Jack Smith informing him that he is the “target” of the investigation, citing three statutes under which he could be charged, including conspiracy to commit offence or to defraud the United States, deprivation of rights under colour of law and tampering with a witness, victim or informant. That indictment, Mr Trump’s third in four months, could be handed down any day now, The Independent learned. Meanwhile, the latest attorney to join Mr Trump’s legal team says he wants cameras in court when the former president is potentially put on trial over his alleged election interference. Read More What Donald Trump’s trial date means for the 2024 election Trump demands cameras in courtroom for potential election fraud case Trump legal team tries again to block Georgia election interference grand jury probe Trump calls for ‘immediate’ death penalty for child traffickers after watching QAnon-linked movie

American Airlines Group Inc on Friday said it raised the value of its contract offer to pilots by

The Department of Justice warned Texas on Thursday it plans to sue over the state’s decision to install a floating wall in the middle of the Rio Grande river, which forms the international border between the US and Mexico. “The State of Texas’s actions violate federal law, raise humanitarian concerns, present serious risks to public safety and the environment, and may interfere with the federal government’s ability to carry out its official duties,” the DoJ wrote in a letter to state officials, which was obtained by CNN. The letter says US law “prohibits the creation of any obstruction to the navigable capacity of waters of the United States, and further prohibits building any structure in such waters without authorization from the United States Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps”).” “Texas has the sovereign authority to defend our border, under the U.S. Constitution and the Texas Constitution,” Texas governor Greg Abbott said in a statement on twitter on Friday. “We have sent the Biden Administration numerous letters detailing our authority, including the one I hand-delivered to President Biden earlier this year.” (The governor claimed last year he is authorised under the US Constitution to carry out military-style actions along the border because of a clause concerning states under “invasion,” though legal scholars have said this is not an accurate interpretation of the provision.) The warning from the federal government is the latest challenge to the governor’s plan to install a 1,000-foot long aquatic wall of buoys and netting across the river at Eagle Pass, Texas, a busy border-crossing site. As The Independent reported, a local kayak guide has also sued the state, arguing that Texas doesn’t have jurisdiction to build an impediment along an international borderline. Mexico has also said it is investigating whether Texas broke international law with the barriers. “You’ve taken a beautiful waterway and you’ve converted it into a war zone,” Jessie Fuentes, a kayak guide who works on the Rio Grande, told The Independent. Migrant advocates have also strongly criticised the buoys. They argue such installations don’t actually slow down immigration, but rather will push migrants towards ever more remote places to cross the border, increasing the likelihood they will face a perilous and potentially lethal crossing. An estimated 250 people died crossing the Rio Grande last year, and that was before Texas installed what amounts to a giant net in the river. “It’s been proven time after time that these so-called prevention through deterrence strategies don’t work,” Fernando García of the Border Network for Human Rights told The Independent. “They have not stopped immigration flows, but what they have done is they have put immigrants at risk.” “All of this is death by policy.” Criticisms have also come from the inside. A Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) trooper, one of countless state officers deployed to the border under Mr Abbott’s Operation Lone Star, wrote in a message to superiors that the obstacles at the border, as well as alleged orders from the state to push migrants back into the water, showed that Texas has “stepped over a line into the inhumane.” The medic also detailed multiple instances in June and July in which military-style barriers along the Rio Grande caused migrants to suffer severe injuries and medical issues. He described a man who lacerated his leg on razor wire attached to a buoy while trying to rescue his son, a 15-year-old who broke his leg trying to avoid the floating barrier, and a 19-year-old who had a miscarriage while trapped in razor wire. “We need to operate it correctly in the eyes of God,” Trooper Nicholas Wingate told the Texas DPS. “We need to recognize that these are people who are made in the image of God and need to be treated as such." Texas officials have denied ordering troopers to push migrants into the water, and the claims from the trooper are under investigation. Read More Buoys, razor wire, and a Trump-y wall: How Greg Abbott turned the Rio Grande into an immigration ‘war zone’ White House condemns ‘abhorrent’ reports of Texas troopers being told to push migrant children into Rio Grande Border Patrol fails to assess medical needs for children with preexisting conditions, report says Trump demands cameras in courtroom for potential election fraud case Trump probe ‘subpoenaed CCTV from Georgia 2020 ballot counting centre’ DeSantis says charging Trump for Jan 6 is ‘criminalising political differences’

Donald Trump’s new lawyer will ask a judge to allow cameras in a federal courtroom if the one-term president is indicted with January 6 election fraud charges by the Department of Justice. Mr Trump has said that he received a target letter from special counsel Jack Smith who could be set to bring criminal charges against the GOP front-runner within days. “I would hope that the Department of Justice would join in that effort so that we can take the curtain away and all Americans can see what’s happening,” attorney John Lauro said in an appearance on Fox News. The problem for Mr Lauro is that courtroom photographing and broadcasting are banned in federal court under the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. “Except as otherwise provided by a statute or these rules, the court must not permit the taking of photographs in the courtroom during judicial proceedings or the broadcasting of judicial proceedings from the courtroom,” the rule states. Mr Lauro also explained to Fox News why Mr Trump declined Mr Smith’s invitation to appear before the grand jury investigating him. “There’s no need to appear in front of a grand jury right now. Because President Trump did nothing wrong. He’s done nothing criminal,” he insisted. Any indictment, Mr Trump’s third in four months, could be handed down as soon as this week, The Independent has learned. Mr Trump wrote in a lengthy statement delivered via his Truth Social platform that special counsel Jack Smith had notified him via letter on Sunday about the development. “On Sunday night, while I was with my family...HORRIFYING NEWS for our country was given to me by my attorneys,” said Mr Trump. “Deranged Jack Smith...sent a letter (again, it was Sunday night!) stating that I am a TARGET of the January 6th Grand Jury investigation, and giving me a very short 4 days to report to the Grand Jury, which almost always means an Arrest and Indictment,” he stated. Read More Trump calls for ‘immediate’ death penalty for child traffickers after watching QAnon-linked movie What Donald Trump’s trial date means for the 2024 election Trump classified documents trial will be six months before 2024 election as Jan 6 cases close in - latest Trump and Michael Cohen reach settlement over $1.3m in unpaid legal bills What charges does Donald Trump face in the classified documents case?