Latest news with #gunpossession
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Man with alleged stockpile of weapons, ammunition charged with several counts of illegal possession
May 30—Allegations also included the making of bombs An Austin man has been charged with several counts of illegal weapons possession discovered during a search that turned up a stockpile of guns and ammunition he was keeping at his home. Jonathan Julio Nique, 22, was charged Friday with eight felony counts of receiving or possessing a firearm with no serial number, one for each weapon that had been discovered without the required number during the execution of a search warrant earlier this week. However, that was just the tip of the iceberg as law enforcement uncovered over 40 items that included everything from guns, gun parts and ammunition to computer towers and items allegedly used to make explosive devices. Of those materials, law enforcement secured 29 guns of various kinds including several that were 3D printed. Nique made his first appearance in Mower County District Court Friday morning on this and another case in which he was discovered entering the Mower County Courthouse with .22 caliber ammunition. He was arrested for that case at around 8:45 a.m. on Wednesday morning when he was arriving for a hearing, the same day that the search warrant was executed at his home in the 800 block of 14th Avenue SE. According to the court complaint, an Austin Police officer was alerted to the activity by a witness on May 24, who told the officer that Nique allegedly had been seen with what appeared to be a pipe bomb while making comments about making the bombs and blowing up a building if he wanted to. A pair of detectives met with the witness, along with another, regarding the report and were shown a picture that appeared to show a suspected pipe bomb. They also estimated that Nique had approximately 30 firearms at the house. The court complaint also reflects that the detectives had been told that Nique had allegedly used cocaine and that when one of the witnesses had asked "hypothetically" what buildings Nique was considering blowing up, he allegedly responded by saying the Gonda building, which is a Mayo Clinic facility in Rochester, the Olmsted County Government Center, Minnesota State Capitol building and a synagogue. The court complaint also reveals that the witnesses claimed Nique to have White Nationalist viewpoints and had made racist comments. Nique reportedly also has anti-law enforcement sentiments and had allegedly said he would not be afraid to shoot police if pulled over. During the search, law enforcement also recovered the supposed pipe bomb and while it did not have explosives in it, a container of nails was next to the pipe along with containers of smaller metal objects and powders. The bomb squad assisting with the search indicated the powder was likely from matchsticks. After Nique had been arrested Wednesday, he was questioned and indicated statements about blowing up government and religious buildings were only jokes, but when asked for an example said he didn't want to get into it, but they were jokes a person should not make. Nique's next court appearance is slated for July 17, which will be an omnibus hearing.
CTV News
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Thai rock star jailed on gun and drugs charges
Seksan Sukpimai, better known by his stage name Sek Loso, is seen in a photo posted on Instagram. BANGKOK, Thailand -- Thailand's Supreme Court has jailed one of the kingdom's best-known rock stars for more than three years on gun possession and drugs charges. Seksan Sukpimai, better known by his stage name Sek Loso, was convicted of illegal gun possession, drug use and obstructing a police officer. The 50-year-old founder and lead singer of Loso, one of Thailand's most successful rock bands, has long been a staple of Thai gossip columns because of his colourful personal life. He was originally arrested in 2017 after firing a gun into the sky following a concert in the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat. The Supreme Court ruling ordered Seksan to serve two years, 12 months and 20 days in jail.
Malay Mail
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Malay Mail
Thai rock icon Sek Loso sentenced to over three years for guns and drugs
BANGKOK, May 21 — Thailand's Supreme Court has jailed one of the kingdom's best-known rock stars for more than three years on gun possession and drugs charges. Seksan Sukpimai, better known by his stage name Sek Loso, was convicted of illegal gun possession, drug use and obstructing a police officer. The 50-year-old founder and lead singer of Loso, one of Thailand's most successful rock bands, has long been a staple of Thai gossip columns because of his colourful personal life. He was originally arrested in 2017 after firing a gun into the sky following a concert in the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat. The Supreme Court ruling ordered Seksan to serve two years, 12 months and 20 days in jail. — AFP
Washington Post
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Former Capitol riot defendant is convicted of gun charges stemming from his arrest near Obama's home
WASHINGTON — A military veteran whose Capitol riot case was erased by a presidential proclamation was convicted Tuesday of charges that he illegally possessed guns and ammunition in his van when he was arrested near President Barack Obama's home in the nation's capital. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols also convicted Taylor Taranto of recording himself making a hoax threat to bomb a government building in Maryland. The judge decided the case without a jury after a bench trial that started last week in Washington, D.C.
Associated Press
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Former Capitol riot defendant is convicted of gun charges stemming from his arrest near Obama's home
WASHINGTON (AP) — A military veteran whose Capitol riot case was erased by a presidential proclamation was convicted Tuesday of charges that he illegally possessed guns and ammunition in his van when he was arrested near President Barack Obama's home in the nation's capital. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols also convicted Taylor Taranto of recording himself making a hoax threat to bomb a government building in Maryland. The judge decided the case without a jury after a bench trial that started last week in Washington, D.C. Taranto was arrested in Obama's neighborhood on the same day in June 2023 that Trump posted on social media what he claimed was the former president's address. Investigators said they found two guns, roughly 500 rounds of ammunition and a machete in Taranto's van. Taranto was livestreaming video on YouTube in which he said he was looking for 'entrance points' to underground tunnels and wanted to get a 'good angle on a shot,' according to prosecutors. He reposted Trump's message about Obama's home address and wrote: 'We got these losers surrounded! See you in hell, Podesta's and Obama's.' He was referring to John Podesta, who chaired Hillary Clinton's 2016 Democratic presidential campaign. Taranto wasn't charged with threatening Obama or Podesta. But the judge convicted him of making a hoax bomb threat directed at the Gaithersburg, Maryland-based National Institute of Standards and Technology, which is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Taranto's lawyers said he didn't have any bomb-making material and wasn't near the institute when he made those statements on a livestreamed video. During the trial's opening statements, defense attorney Pleasant Brodnax said the video shows Taranto was merely joking in an 'avant-garde' manner. 'He believes he is a journalist and, to some extent, a comedian,' Broadnax said. But the judge concluded that a reasonable, objective observer might have believed Taranto's statements on the video. While some viewers may have thought his words were of a 'madcap nature,' others could have interpreted them as coming from 'an unbalanced narrator willing to follow through on outlandish claims,' Nichols said. Nichols, who was nominated by Trump, didn't immediately schedule a sentencing hearing for Taranto. He has been jailed for nearly two years since his arrest because a judge concluded that he poses a danger to the public. After reading his verdict from the bench, the judge said he would entertain a request by defense attorney Carmen Hernandez to release Taranto from custody until his sentencing. Nichols said he intends to rule on that request later this week. Taranto, a Navy veteran from Pasco, Washington, is one of only a few people charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol who remained jailed after President Donald Trump 's sweeping act on clemency in January. Trump pardoned, commuted the prison sentences or ordered the dismissal of charges for all of the more than 1,500 people charged with crimes in the riot. Before Trump's pardons, Taranto also was charged with four misdemeanors related to the Jan. 6 attack. Prosecutors said he joined the crush of rioters who breached the building. He was captured on video at the entrance of the Speaker's Lobby around the time that a rioter, Ashli Babbitt, was shot and killed by an officer while she tried to climb through the broken window of a barricaded door.
