National, Regional and Local News

[skatingfan]

Okay, I had to watch that video a few times before I was looking at the right vehicle - hint: it's not the silver SUV.

[ti-amie]

Rep. Eric Swalwell @RepSwalwell 9m

[ti-amie]

Meanwhile...

Ted Cruz @tedcruz

This confirms our worst fear: the explosion at Rainbow Bridge was a terrorist attack.

Both attackers are dead, and one law enforcement officer is injured.

I am praying that officer makes a full recovery and is able to spend Thanksgiving surrounded by family and loved ones.

Thank you to our law enforcement officers who are remaining vigilant and working to protect Americans traveling for Thanksgiving.

[ti-amie]

Okay, I had to watch that video a few times before I was looking at the right vehicle - hint: it's not the silver SUV.

This is clearer.

[skatingfan]

It's really unfortunate that a certain vulpine news channel had to jump to terrorism, and suddenly every US official has to go on television and say it wasn't terrorism before they even know what happened. In Canada it got left as an explosion caused by a motor vehicle accident, and the word terrorism wasn't used.

[Owendonovan]

It looked like a typical out of control car, not terrorism. They (idiots on the right) somehow didn't jump all over the car that blew up in front of a Yeshiva a block away from me the day Hamas slaughtered 1200 Israelis.

[Fastbackss]

Louisiana’s Governor-Elect Wants To Withhold Funds For New Orleans’ Decaying Water Infrastructure Until Women Who Seek Abortions Are Prosecuted
IN A HORRIFYING INTERSECTION OF REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE, JEFF LANDRY HAS URGED THE STATE TO WITHHOLD FUNDS BECAUSE OF HIS PERSONAL FEELINGS ABOUT REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS.

This is straight from the Tommy Tuberville playbook.

You can't be a public official that jeopardizes health and/or public safety just to make a stand about something unrelated

[dryrunguy]

The NY Times is reporting Derek Chauvin, the police officer who murdered George Floyd, has been stabbed in federal prison. They also report the injuries are serious.

Sidebar: Has anyone seen my violin?

[Fastbackss]

[Owendonovan]

Have the right wing nuts set a GoFundMe for Chauvin yet?

[ti-amie]

Texas woman at the center of an abortion ban challenge leaves state for procedure
By Caroline Kitchener and Maegan Vazquez
Updated December 11, 2023 at 3:17 p.m. EST|Published December 11, 2023 at 2:19 p.m. EST

Kate Cox, a Dallas-area woman who petitioned a judge to get an abortion in Texas, has left the state for abortion care after a week of legal whiplash.

The Texas Supreme Court late Friday night blocked a lower-court ruling that would have allowed Cox to get an abortion under the state’s near-total abortion ban but has not yet issued a final decision on the matter.

Cox, a 31-year-old mother of two, had sought an abortion after learning that her fetus had a fatal genetic condition and that carrying the pregnancy to term could jeopardize her future fertility. The case is the first instance of an adult pregnant woman asking a court for permission to terminate her pregnancy under an abortion ban since Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973.

Cox’s lawsuit has been widely viewed as a test case for other abortion litigation across the country. Advocacy groups have tried a variety of different approaches to overturn or temporarily block the bans, in full or in part, since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022. Most recently, several cases have centered on the women directly affected by the laws, instead of abortion clinics or doctors.

While the Texas Supreme Court might have eventually ruled in Cox’s favor, the Center for Reproductive Rights, the organization representing Cox in the case, said she couldn’t wait any longer for abortion care.

“This past week of legal limbo has been hellish for Kate,” said Nancy Northup, president and CEO at the Center for Reproductive Rights. “Her health is on the line. She’s been in and out of emergency rooms and she couldn’t wait any longer.”

Travis County District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble, an elected Democrat, on Thursday granted a temporary restraining order to allow Cox to have an abortion under the narrow exceptions to the state’s ban, which allows abortions in medical emergencies. But Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) asked the Supreme Court of Texas to intervene to block Cox from obtaining an abortion.

Paxton in a letter on Thursday threatened to take legal action if Cox had the procedure in the state, warning doctors and hospitals that anyone involved in performing an abortion for Cox would face “civil and criminal liability … including first-degree felony prosecutions.” He contended that Cox’s doctor did not meet “all of the elements necessary to fall within an exception to Texas’ abortion laws” and that the judge was “not medically qualified to make this determination.”

The case drew national attention after Cox described in an op-ed in the Dallas Morning News how she came to the decision to seek an abortion after learning that her fetus had Trisomy 18. Almost all such pregnancies end in miscarriage or stillbirth, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Babies who do survive often die prematurely.

“I just never thought I’d be in the situation I’m in right now. Twenty weeks pregnant with a baby that won’t survive and could jeopardize my health and a future pregnancy,” Cox wrote.

She also explained why she was seeking legal permission in Texas for the procedure.

“I am a Texan. Why should I or any other woman have to drive or fly hundreds of miles to do what we feel is best for ourselves and our families, to determine our own futures?” Cox said.

Cox had been to the emergency room at least three times during the course of her pregnancy, according to the complaint, experiencing “severe cramping, diarrhea, and leaking unidentifiable fluid.” Cox has had two prior Caesarean sections and would have likely needed a third if she carried this pregnancy to term, according to the complaint — a procedure that doctors said could have affected her ability to have more children in the future.

Doctors and hospitals across the country watched closely as Cox’s legal battle unfolded. In Texas, a doctor who performs an abortion could be sentenced to life in prison.

In his letter on Thursday, Paxton issued the most clear and credible threat to date to hospitals and doctors in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling. While medical professionals have feared what might happen if they provide abortions later deemed illegal, no medical professional has yet been prosecuted under the new abortion bans.

“This is the most direct confrontation we’ve seen,” said Mary Ziegler, a law professor at the University of California at Davis who specializes in the politics of reproduction. “There’s been some interest in prosecuting people who are in the broader abortion support network, but not doctors.”

The Texas Attorney General’s office was probably eager to stop Cox’s case from becoming a blueprint for future litigation across the country, Ziegler added.

Days after Cox filed her lawsuit, a second pregnant woman came forward with a lawsuit challenging the abortion ban in Kentucky. The class-action lawsuit, filed on Friday, could have broader implications for abortion access across the state. Instead of appealing just for her abortion, the unidentified pregnant woman is seeking to strike down the ban altogether.

Cox’s suit is not related to a separate, broader case in the state, Zurawski v. State of Texas, in which a group of women who experienced pregnancy complications sued the state over its abortion ban. The women claim that state law denied them proper health care and put their lives in danger. The Texas Supreme Court held a hearing on the matter last month.

Pradnya Joshi contributed to this report.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics ... -abortion/

[ti-amie]

Suspect arrested after breaking into judicial building in Denver after crash, holding security guard at gunpoint
colorado
BY JOEL HILLAN, JESSE SARLES

UPDATED ON: JANUARY 2, 2024 / 10:46 AM MST / CBS COLORADO

An intruder in Denver shot out a window of the Ralph L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center, entered the building and held an unarmed security guard at gunpoint early Tuesday morning. The suspect was arrested after allegedly firing additional shots and starting a fire inside the building that is the home of the Colorado Supreme Court and the Colorado Court of Appeals.

Colorado State Patrol said in a press release this all started with a two-vehicle crash at 13th Street and Lincoln Street where one individual reportedly pointed a handgun at another driver around 1:15 a.m. Tuesday.

A short time later, the suspect, whom Denver police identified as an adult male, shot out a window on the east side of the building and climbed in. Soon after, he came into contact with an unarmed security guard from the Colorado State Patrol Capitol Security Unit.

He held the guard at gunpoint, took their keys, and proceeded to access other parts of the building, eventually making his way to the 7th floor, where he fired additional shots. Law enforcement set up a perimeter around the building, and at around 3 a.m. the suspect called 911 to surrender. He was taken into custody and transported to a hospital to be cleared by medical personnel.

There were no injuries to occupants in the building, the suspect, or law enforcement.

The Denver Fire Department was called to the scene at one point because law enforcement spotted a fire. Firefighters were quickly able to get the fire under control.

There is significant and extensive damage to the building, according to the Colorado State Patrol.

The suspect's identity has not been released.

The Colorado Supreme Court made headlines late last year when it ruled that former President Donald Trump is disqualified from holding the presidency under the Constitution's so-called insurrection clause and ordered the secretary of state to exclude his name from the state's Republican presidential primary ballot. That decision has been appealed.

As of Tuesday morning, the Colorado State Patrol and the Denver Police Department do not believe this to be associated with previous threats to the Colorado Supreme Court Justices. The Denver Police Department is taking the lead on this investigation.

[ti-amie]

Brandon Olsen faces robbery, burglary and arson charges after break-in at Ralph L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center in Denver
colorado
BY JESSE SARLES

JANUARY 2, 2024 / 1:41 PM MST / CBS COLORADO


Brandon Olsen
DENVER POLICE

A 44-year-old man is under arrest and facing robbery, burglary and arson charges after an unusual crime spree at the Ralph L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center in Denver overnight. Brandon Olsen was arrested early Tuesday morning, and it's not believed that his alleged actions are tied to any recent threats that have been made to members of the Colorado Supreme Court.

The judicial center is located at on East 14th Avenue just off Civic Center Park and is the home of the state's supreme court as well as the Colorado Court of Appeals.

The incident began with a car crash outside the building after midnight. Two vehicles were involved, according to Denver police, and one of the people in one of the cars ran away with a gun.

Soon afterwards police say that same person, believed to be Olsen, shot out a window of the judicial center's east wall and broke in.

"The individual entered the building and came in contact with an unarmed security guard from the Colorado State Patrol Capitol Security Unit," Denver police wrote in a news release.

The suspect then confronted the guard and got their keys to the building. Soon afterwards the suspect went up to the 7th floor and fired his gun there more than once. He also allegedly started a fire in a stairwell.

By this time Denver officers as well as officers from the Colorado State Patrol were at the scene. They say a little less than 2 hours after the crash -- at 3 a.m. -- Olsen turned himself in and was arrested without any sort of fight.

Denver firefighters were able to extinguish the fire.

So far it's hasn't been determined how much damage was caused to the building, which was closed on Tuesday while an investigation took place.

Olsen has a criminal history in Colorado involving mostly drugs and theft cases that dates back to 1997. He was being held at the Denver Jail.

The Colorado Supreme Court made headlines late last year when it ruled that former President Donald Trump is disqualified from holding the presidency under the Constitution's so-called insurrection clause and ordered the secretary of state to exclude his name from the state's Republican presidential primary ballot. That decision has been appealed. Since the ruling some of the justices have received threats.

https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/b ... er-denver/

[ti-amie]

Sixth Grader Killed and 5 Others Injured in Iowa School Shooting
Four other students and an administrator were injured in the shooting at an Iowa school. The gunman, identified as a 17-year-old student, died from a self-inflicted gunshot, the authorities said.


Parents picked up their children from a reunification center in Perry, Iowa, on Thursday morning.Credit...Rachel Mummey for The New York Times

By Remy Tumin and Victor Mather
Jan. 4, 2024
Updated 4:59 p.m. ET
A gunman killed a sixth-grade student and injured five other people at a high school in Perry, Iowa, early Thursday morning just as students were arriving back to school after their winter break.

Four of the injured were students, and one was an administrator, Mitch Mortvedt, assistant director of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, said at a news conference on Thursday. One of the injured victims was in critical condition.

The administrator was identified by Easton Valley Community School District as Dan Marburger, the principal at Perry High School, where the shooting took place. Officials did not release the names of any other victims.

The gunman, identified as Dylan Butler, a 17-year-old student at the high school, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Mr. Mortvedt said. Law enforcement officials believe he acted alone and said the motive for the attack was not yet known.

Mr. Mortvedt said calls about someone with a gun at Perry High School began coming in just after 7:30 a.m. and emergency responders arrived about seven minutes later at the school. Perry is about 40 miles northwest of Des Moines.

The attack took place before classes began, Mr. Mortvedt said, but a breakfast program was catering to students on campus from multiple grades at the time of the shooting.

He said that when law enforcement officials arrived on the scene, they found multiple victims with gunshot wounds, and students and faculty sheltering in place and running from the school.

They also found a “rudimentary” improvised explosive, Mr. Mortvedt said, and agents with the state fire marshal and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives “rendered the device safe.”

The gunman was armed with a pump-action shotgun and a small caliber handgun, Mr. Mortvedt said. He also made “a number of social media posts in and around the time of the shooting,” which law enforcement officials are investigating, Mr. Mortvedt said.

About 150 law enforcement officers responded to the scene, Mr. Mortvedt said.

As of Thursday afternoon, multiple patients with gunshot wounds were being treated at Iowa Methodist Medical Center and MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center, Polk County Medical Coordination Center said in a statement.

Ava Augustus, a senior at Perry High School, told WHO 13 News that she was in her counselor’s office when she heard three gunshots. When they got the all-clear, she saw glass everywhere, blood on the floor, and a student who had been shot in the leg being taken out of the auditorium.

Jody Kurth told KCCI 8 News, a local CBS affiliate, that her stepson, a student at Perry High School, was hurt in the shooting. She described the morning attack as “an absolute nightmare.”

Her daughter texted her to let her know about the shooter, she said, calling it “one of the worst moments of my entire life.”

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Both of her children were safe, she told KCCI.

At a community center in Perry, a bus dropped off students from the elementary school, where parents waited for their children to arrive. One of the first parents was Amanda Woods, 34, a mother of two young sons.

“At first I wasn’t sure which school it was at,” said Ms. Woods, who had been listening to the police scanner to get more information of the shooting. “I was freaking out.”

The shooting added an extra layer of national attention to the small community of Perry, where about 8,000 people live. Media organizations were already in the area on Thursday to cover a scheduled campaign event by the Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who hosted a prayer circle just hours after the attack. Attendees expressed fear, but little surprise.

“God please help our country,” said Mr. Ramaswamy as he addressed the prayer event and shook hands with everyone, calling it a “somber day.”

Mr. Ramaswamy was in Iowa ahead of the state’s Republican caucuses, scheduled for Jan. 15.

Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, said President Biden had been briefed on the shooting.

“Our students and teachers deserve to know that their schools are safe spaces and to focus on learning — not duck and cover drills,” she said at a briefing on Thursday.

In a statement on social media, Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa called the “appalling violence” at Perry High School “heartbreaking” and thanked school and law enforcement officials for their quick response.

Shelbie Lehman came into Mr. Ramaswamy’s event with her partner after picking up her first grade daughter from elementary school after hearing about the shooting at the high school.

“It’s very scary having them walk your kid out with a gun and officer, and having seven, eight cops there,” Ms. Lehman told Mr. Ramaswamy.

Ms. Lehman said it was hard to explain to her daughter why there were so many police and why she was picked up from school. She said she planned to try to explain things to her daughter later today as best she could.

The Perry Community School District said the high school, middle school and elementary school would be closed on Friday.

Remy Tumin and Victor Mather reported from New York. Molly Longman and Leah McBride Mensching contributed reporting from Perry, Iowa.


https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/04/us/p ... ticleShare

[ti-amie]

I swear to all that's holy...

On Xitter earlier they were raging about the shooter being a trans school administrator. Others chimed in to say they understood why a school administrator would "snap". Both camps accepted that the administrator took their own life.

Disgraceful what the paid for blue check people have done to that site.