{The UN says 68 African migrants died and dozens are missing in a shipwreck off Yemen} (CORRECTS: A previous APNewsAlert erroneously reported that 65 people were killed in shipwreck)
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San Francisco Chronicle
31 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Man charged with killing a top Minnesota House Democrat is expected to plead not guilty
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The man charged with killing the top Democrat in the Minnesota House and her husband, and wounding a state senator and his wife, is expected to plead not guilty when he's arraigned in federal court on Thursday, his attorney said. Vance Boelter, 58, of Green Isle, Minnesota, was indicted July 15 on six counts of murder, stalking and firearms violations. The murder charges could carry the federal death penalty, though prosecutors say that decision is several months away. As they announced the indictment, prosecutors released a rambling handwritten letter they say Boelter wrote to FBI Director Kash Patel in which he confessed to the June 14 shootings of Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark. However, the letter doesn't make clear why he targeted the Hortmans or Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, who survived. Boelter's federal defender, Manny Atwal, said at the time that the weighty charges did not come as a surprise, but she has not commented on the substance of the allegations or any defense strategies. The hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Dulce Foster will also serve as a case management conference. She plans to issue a revised schedule with deadlines afterward, potentially including a trial date. Prosecutors have moved to designate the proceedings as a 'complex case' so that standard speedy trial requirements won't apply, saying both sides will need plenty of time to review the voluminous evidence. 'The investigation of this case arose out of the largest manhunt in Minnesota's history," they wrote. "Accordingly, the discovery to be produced by the government will include a substantial amount of investigative material and reports from more than a dozen different law enforcement agencies at the federal, state, and local levels.' They said the evidence will include potentially thousands of hours of video footage, tens of thousands of pages of responses to dozens of grand jury subpoenas, and data from numerous electronic devices seized during the investigation. Boelter's motivations remain murky. Friends have described him as an evangelical Christian with politically conservative views who had been struggling to find work. Authorities said Boelter made long lists of politicians in Minnesota and other states — all or mostly Democrats. In a series of cryptic notes to The New York Times through his jail's electronic messaging service, Boelter suggested his actions were partly rooted in the Christian commandment to love one's neighbor. 'Because I love my neighbors prior to June 14th I conducted a 2 year long undercover investigation,' he wrote. In messages published earlier by the New York Post, Boelter insisted the shootings had nothing to do with his opposition to abortion or his support for President Donald Trump, but he declined to elaborate. 'There is little evidence showing why he turned to political violence and extremism,' the acting U.S. attorney for Minnesota, Joe Thompson, told reporters last month. He also reiterated that prosecutors consider Hortman's killing a 'political assassination.' Prosecutors say Boelter was disguised as a police officer and driving a fake squad car early June 14 when he went to the Hoffmans' home in the Minneapolis suburb of Champlin. He shot the senator nine times, and his wife eight times, officials said. Boelter later went to the Hortmans' home in nearby Brooklyn Park and killed both of them, authorities said. Their dog was so gravely injured that he had to be euthanized. Boelter surrendered the next night.
New York Post
3 hours ago
- New York Post
US Attorney Jeanine Pirro backs Trump's DC takeover threat and demand for lower prosecution age limit: ‘Stop coddling!'
US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said in an interview Wednesday that she supports President Trump's threat to federalize Washington, DC, if local officials don't crack down on youth crime – arguing that juvenile delinquents are 'coddled' in cities run by Democrats. Pirro, the top prosecutor in the nation's capital, fumed that she's not allowed to charge minors accused of violent crimes and backed Trump's push to lower the age of legal accountability to as young as 14, in an interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham. 3 Pirro noted that youth crime is on the rise in DC and fumed that she is unable to prosecute most minor offenders. AP 'I support him totally,' Pirro said of Trump's warning Tuesday that he would bring the District of Columbia under federal control if laws aren't changed to prosecute minors as adults. 'If that's what we need to do to get it done, that's what he should do. And I support the president.' 'He's the only one coming here saying, 'I want to make [DC] safe and beautiful.' I haven't heard anyone say that besides him,' Pirro added. During her appearance on 'The Ingraham Angle,' the former Fox News host and New York district attorney noted that she spoke to Trump on Tuesday – when he issued the takeover threat – and explained the situation in DC. 'I said, if you're 14, 15, 16, or 17-years-old, you get coddled, as you do in most American Democrat cities, so I can't charge these people,' Pirro explained. The US attorney went on to describe the early Sunday morning assault of former DOGE employee Edward Coristine, who was beaten up by as many as 10 assailants during an attempted carjacking just a mile from the White House, and how her hands are tied in that situation as well. 'This young kid who worked at the White House was beaten to a pulp … by a gang of punks,' Pirro said of the attack on the 19-year-old tech whiz nicknamed 'Big Balls.' 3 Trump threatened to federalize Washington, DC, Tuesday after a former DOGE employee was beaten up by teenagers during a carjacking attempt in the nation's capital. Truth Social/@realDonaldTrump 3 Pirro said she supports Trump's call for DC officials to crack down on juvenile crime. AFP via Getty Images Two of Coristine's alleged attackers – a 15-year-old boy and 15-year-old girl, both from Maryland – have been arrested by DC police. 'None of them come to my office because they're not considered criminals,' Pirro railed. 'They go to family court, where the effort is rehabilitation.' 'The DC Council – and the president is right – they've got to stop their coddling,' the top prosecutor demanded. 'We've got to lower the age of responsibility to 14.' 'If you think that these kids need to be coddled and they need to be hugged – they need to have consequences. They need to understand that enough is enough,' Pirro continued. 'If you tell me I can't prosecute a 17-year-old for carjacking, then you don't know what you're talking about, because the truth is that if you don't give me that power, and you want to send them to some arts and craft program, then you're out of your mind.'
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Sudan says army destroys Emirati aircraft, killing 40 mercenaries
Sudan's air force has destroyed an Emirati aircraft carrying Colombian mercenaries as it landed at a paramilitary-controlled airport in Darfur, killing at least 40 people, the army-aligned state TV said Wednesday. A military source, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said the UAE plane "was bombed and completely destroyed" at Darfur's Nyala airport. The airport has recently come under repeated air strikes by the Sudanese army, at war with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since April 2023. There was no immediate comment from the RSF or from the United Arab Emirates. Colombia's President Gustavo Petro said his government was trying to find out how many Colombians died in the attack. "We will see if we can bring their bodies back," he wrote on social media platform X. State TV said the aircraft had taken off from an airbase in the Gulf, carrying dozens of foreign fighters and military equipment intended for the RSF, which controls nearly all of Darfur. The army, led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has long accused the UAE of supplying advanced weaponry, including drones, to the RSF via Nyala airport. Abu Dhabi has denied the accusations, despite numerous reports from UN experts, US political officials and international organisations. Satellite images released by Yale University's Humanitarian Research Lab have shown multiple Chinese-made long-range drones at the airport of the South Darfur state capital. In June, three witnesses told AFP that a cargo plane was bombed shortly after landing at Nyala airport. On Monday, Sudan's army-aligned government accused the UAE of recruiting and funding Colombian mercenaries to fight for the RSF, claiming it has documents proving that. Reports of Colombian fighters in Darfur date back to late 2024 and have been confirmed by UN experts. This week, the Joint Forces -- a pro-army coalition in the vast western region of Darfur -- reported over 80 Colombian mercenaries fighting on the RSF's side in El-Fasher, the last Darfur state capital still under army control. Several were reportedly killed in drone and artillery operations during the RSF's latest offensive, the coalition said. The army also released video footage it said was of "foreign mercenaries believed to be from Colombia". AFP was not able to verify the videos. In December, Sudan said Colombia's foreign ministry had expressed regret "for the participation of some of its citizens in the war". Colombian mercenaries, many former soldiers and guerrillas, have appeared in other global conflicts and were previously hired by the UAE for operations in Yemen and the Gulf. In his post Wednesday, Petro said he was moving to ban mercenary activity, calling it "a trade in men turned into commodities to kill." Sudan's war, now in its third year, has killed tens of thousands, displaced 13 million and plunged the nation into the world's worst hunger and displacement crisis. bur-maf/ami/st/
