Arizona man arrested in Dem office shootings, over 120 firearms seized
Police arrested a 60-year-old Arizona man in connection with multiple shootings targeting a Democratic campaign office in Tempe, Arizona. Authorities discovered more than 120 firearms, including machine guns, at his home, raising concerns about the potential escalation of his actions. Investigators are now examining whether the suspect had broader plans for violence.
The Tempe Police Department arrested Jeffrey Michael Kelly on Tuesday, Oct. 22, in connection with three shootings at a Democratic National Committee office. Police believe Kelly was also involved in suspicious incidents involving political signs.
Our @TempePolice Department arrested a suspect in connection with the DNC office shootings. Get the latest details and watch statements made by Chief Kenneth McCoy and Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell. https://t.co/ooosRZbdP3pic.twitter.com/5YSMWSQUOS
Kelly faces multiple felony charges, including acts of terrorism, unlawful discharge of a firearm and criminal damage.
The charges stem from allegations that he fired at the office on three occasions. Investigators said he used a BB gun and a .22 caliber firearm.
Authorities launched an investigation into Kelly after receiving a tip from the public, which, along with surveillance footage, linked him to the shootings that took place in September and October.
The office also housed staff for Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign and was targeted during overnight hours. Police said no one was hurt. However, they noted that the escalating nature of the attacks raised safety concerns for those working nearby.
During a search of Kelly’s home in the Ahwatukee Foothills, officers discovered a cache of more than 120 firearms. This included machine guns, silencers, body armor and 250,000 rounds of ammunition.
Prosecutors suggested Kelly’s accumulation of weapons, combined with his previous arrests for stealing campaign signs, raised concerns about the possibility of a larger planned act of violence.
Kelly is also accused of posting political signs in a nearby village, lining them with barbed wire and attaching a bag of white powder. Authorities are still investigating these actions, with additional charges pending.
Kelly made his initial court appearance on Wednesday, Oct. 24, where a judge set his bail at $500,000 and ordered electronic monitoring if released.
Harris, Trump turn to PA with 3 weeks to go until Election Day
With exactly three weeks until Election Day, both candidates have their sights set on Pennsylvania. And NASA has launched its ambitious plan to visit the largest planet in our solar system in hopes of making a new discovery. These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024.
Harris, Trump turn to PA with 3 weeks to go until Election Day
With just three weeks until Election Day, the 2024 presidential candidates are focusing on the key battleground states — and none may be as important as Pennsylvania and its 19 electoral votes. Both Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump took their message once again to the Keystone State on Monday, Oct. 14, each believing that if they win Pennsylvania, they will win the election.
Harris held a rally in the northwestern city of Erie, where Trump visited a few weeks ago. The vice president painted her opponent as a threat to American democracy, warning her supporters of what she calls the dangers of another Trump presidency.
“I believe so strongly that a second Trump term would be a huge risk for America and dangerous,” she said. “Donald Trump is increasingly unstable and unhinged, and he is out for unchecked power. That’s what he’s looking for.”
Harris also urged Pennsylvanians to get out to vote early as mail-in voting is now underway in the state.
Also Monday, former President Trump spoke during a town hall in Oaks, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. He touched on claims he’s a threat to democracy.
“When they talk about a threat to democracy, how about where they take a candidate who won fair and square, they throw them out and they put up a woman who failed, was the first one to drop out of a field of 22 and got no votes?” he said. “And this is the person we’re running against. And she is not a smart woman. That’s true. And we cannot — we’ve had that for four years. We’re not going to have it for another four years.”
Trump cut his town hall short after two attendees required medical attention, with both the former president and moderator South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem commenting on the heat in the venue. Trump then requested music be played for the remainder of the event.
Trump will be back in Georgia on Tuesday as the focus on the battleground states intensifies.
Along with rallies, the candidates are continuing their media tour to reach voters. The vice president will take part in a town hall Tuesday, Oct. 15, hosted by the radio program “The Breakfast Club” and then she will appear on Fox News on Wednesday, Oct. 16.
The group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators staged a sit-in demanding an end to U.S. support for Israel’s war against Hamas. While none of the protesters got into the stock exchange, dozens did cross the security fence put in place by police.
A New York Police Department spokesperson said officers arrested 206 people.
Since the war in Gaza started just over a year ago, more than 42,000 Palestinians have been killed and almost the entire population has been displaced, according to Gaza health officials.
North Carolina man arrested for allegedly threatening FEMA workers
Investigators in North Carolina arrested and charged a man with threatening to harm FEMA workers who were helping parts of the state devastated by Hurricane Helene.
According to the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office, William Parsons, 44, is charged with “going armed to the terror of the public” — a misdemeanor.
In a statement, the sheriff said while initial reports indicated there was a group of armed militia members threatening FEMA workers, they found Parsons acted alone. Officials said he did have a handgun and a rifle in his possession when arrested.
The arrest followed misinformation and disinformation being spread about FEMA in the wake of the natural disaster and caused FEMA to change the way it was working to help people impacted by Helene because of concerns over workers’ safety.
NASA launches mission to find signs of life on Jupiter moon
The mission, dubbed Europa Clipper, started its long journey to Jupiter’s fourth largest moon on Monday. It’s expected to enter the planet’s orbit in 2030 after a flight of 1.8 billion miles.
Pair of giant pandas set to arrive at the National Zoo
Eleven months after the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. Said goodbye to its giant pandas, two new ones are on their way. The pair of giant pandas have officially left a research facility in China and are set to be flown to D.C., according to Chinese officials.
It’s not yet clear when they’ll arrive. The zoo’s website still says new pandas will be coming by the end of the year, however, on Monday, the Zoo did announce it will be closed Tuesday for the safety of the pandas and staff.
The return of panda diplomacy between China and the U.S. has already seen a pair delivered to the San Diego Zoo with another promised to San Francisco.
2,471-pound pumpkin wins world championship
A 2,471-pound pumpkin won the 51st World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-off Monday in Half Moon Bay, California, south of San Francisco, defeating its closest competitor by six pounds.
At least six new lawsuits filed against Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, first from minor
Another round of lawsuits filed against Sean Diddy Combs on Monday, Oct. 14, accuse the rapper of raping women, sexually molesting an underaged boy, and sexually assaulting men. Until these new lawsuits, Comb had been accused only of sex crimes against adults.
At least six lawsuits were filed against the hip hop star on Oct. 14 in Manhattan federal court. All of the lawsuits were anonymous and came from two women and four men.
In the latest round of filings, a man who was 16 at the time, said Combs fondled his genitals in 1998, telling him that “it was a rite of passage to becoming a music star.” The man said he agreed to the act out of fear of Combs, only realizing later he was sexually molested.
The other lawsuits filed on Oct. 14 alleged that Combs raped people, forced people to perform oral sex and drugged people to incapacitate them during sexual assaults.
The latest accusers are among more than 100 alleged victims of Combs’ following his sex trafficking arrest on Sept. 16. Combs has pleaded not guilty to charges of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking. Prosecutors say that Combs kept his victims silent with threats of blackmail and physical violence including kidnapping and beatings.
Two judges have refused to release Combs on bail, saying he is a danger to the community.
US sending troops, anti-missile system to Israel as war escalates
The United States is sending troops and an anti-missile system to Israel. And an incredible landing has SpaceX cheering and thinking about future missions. These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Monday, Oct. 14, 2024.
US sending troops, anti-missile system to Israel as war escalates
Iran has now warned Washington to keep American military forces out of Israel.
“While we have made tremendous efforts in recent days to contain an all-out war in our region, I say it clearly that we have no red lines in defending our people and interests,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi posted on X.
This comes as Israel said at least four of its soldiers were killed in a drone attack by the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah Sunday, Oct. 13. At least 60 other people were injured in the attack on an army base in central Israel, including seven soldiers.
http://twitter.com/IDF/status/1845719319449145830
Hezbollah said the attack was in response to Israeli strikes on Beirut last week that left 22 people dead.
An attack this deadly in Israel is unusual. Its advanced air defense systems usually spot a threat well beforehand. Israel has said it’s investigating how the drone entered the country without triggering an alert.
Meanwhile, Israeli strikes left at least 40 people dead in Gaza Sunday, including 13 children, according to local officials. One of those strikes was at a hospital in central Gaza, where thousands of displaced Palestinians were sheltering.
The Israeli military said it was a precise strike on a Hamas command center “embedded inside a compound that previously served as the ‘Shuhadah Al-Aqsa’ hospital.” Israel’s military also said it took steps to limit harm to civilians in the attack.
Authorities said the Nevada man had a shotgun, a loaded handgun, ammunition and several fake passports with him when he was stopped near where the rally was being held in Coachella.
Deputies assigned to the rally said they stopped the 49-year-old suspect as he was driving an unregistered vehicle with a “homemade” license plate. They said the man claimed to be a journalist.
The man passed an outer security boundary before being stopped at an inner perimeter, patrolled by local deputies. Authorities said former President Trump was not yet at the rally when the arrest happened, and he was “not in any danger.”
The suspect has since been released on $5,000 bail. Court records show his next appearance is scheduled for Jan. 2.
Biden approves $612 million to support Florida’s hurricane-ravaged communities
As hundreds of thousands remain without power and flooding continues to be an issue, President Biden visited Florida on Sunday for the second time in less than a week. This time it was to get a firsthand look at communities ravaged by Hurricane Milton.
On Saturday, Biden approved a disaster declaration to give federal funding to people affected by Milton, including grants for temporary housing, home repairs and loans. Biden said more than 250,000 Floridians have already registered for help, which he said was “the most in a single day ever in the history of this country.”
Trial begins in mysterious murders of 2 Indiana teenagers
Investigators arrested Allen in 2022 in connection to the deaths of 14-year-old Libby German and 13-year-old Abby Williams, five years after the girls disappeared while walking on a trail in the town of Delphi near an abandoned bridge. Searchers found their bodies a day later.
SpaceX pulled off an incredible feat on Sunday, successfully launching its fifth test flight of its unmanned Starship spacecraft. However, it was the return of the Super Heavy rocket booster that wowed the crowd, as well as SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.
For the first time, after breaking off from the Starship, the 232-foot-tall booster returned to Earth but didn’t land in the ocean like the spacecraft would. Instead, it returned to the Texas launch pad, caught by two mechanical arms which SpaceX calls “chopsticks.”
Elon Musk called the moment a “big step towards making life multiplanetary.”
SpaceX is hoping its Starship system will one day take people to the moon and Mars — with plans to use the capsule to transport NASA astronauts to the moon as soon as 2026.
‘Game of Thrones’ Iron Throne sells for $1.49 million
One “Game of Thrones” fan is sitting pretty, or at least powerfully, after taking the iconic “Iron Throne.” Unlike the characters in the HBO drama, the winner didn’t have to go through eight seasons of fighting, just a six-minute bidding war and $1.5 million.
This 310-pound plastic version of the throne was used during promotional and touring events for the series.
In total, Heritage auctions said its three-day auction in Dallas raked in more than $21 million dollars, making it the company’s second biggest entertainment event ever — behind the $22.8 million record set in 2011 by the Debbie Reynolds sale.
Smell of weed not enough for warrantless vehicle searches: Illinois Supreme Court
The smell of burnt marijuana can no longer be used as probable cause for a warrantless search of a vehicle in Illinois, the state’s Supreme Court ruled. In 2019, Illinois legalized the recreational use of marijuana and decriminalized possession of the drug up to 30 grams.
In a unanimous decision, with one abstention, the justices determined that the smell of burnt cannabis or possession of cannabis is not sufficient evidence that a crime has recently been committed or is being committed.
The case stems from a traffic stop in September 2020, when an officer pulled over Ryan Redmond for speeding on Interstate 80 in Henry County and smelled the substance coming from the vehicle.
According to court documents, the officer searched the car and found a gram of marijuana but “did not observe any cannabis or drug-related paraphernalia in the vehicle, smoke in the vehicle or signs of impairment on Redmond.”
Redmond was charged with failure to transport cannabis in an odor-proof container. A lower court ruled in 2021 that the officer lacked sufficient evidence to search Redmond’s vehicle, citing the change in cannabis law. The Illinois Supreme Court upheld the lower court’s ruling.
“The laws on cannabis have changed in such a drastic way as to render the smell of burnt cannabis, standing alone, insufficient to provide probable cause for a police officer to search a vehicle without a warrant,” Illinois Supreme Court Justice P. Scott Neville wrote in the opinion.
According to Illinois state law, it is still illegal to smoke marijuana while driving or be impaired while driving a vehicle.
A sex offender brought his case to court over a Halloween law, he won
A U.S. federal judge ruled on Wednesday, Oct. 2, that a Missouri law requiring sex offenders to post warning signs for trick or treaters is unconstitutional. Under Missouri law, convicted sex offenders are mandated to keep outside lights off, stay inside and put up signs saying that they had “no candy” to handout at their homes on Halloween night.
Now, the sign requirement can no longer be enforced by law enforcement throughout the state this Halloween.
The judge’s decision to toss the provision came after Missouri resident Thomas Sanderson, a registered sex offender, filed a lawsuit last year arguing that being forced to put out the warning violated his right to free speech.
Police arrested Sanderson after Halloween in 2022, saying that he put out a large Halloween display and handed out candy to kids.
Sanderson claimed that he was told by authorities in 2006 and 2012 the statute didn’t apply to him because his crime happened before the law was enacted in 2008, and he said that he never had a problem legally before 2022.
Sanderson pleaded guilty to one charge of failure to comply with the Halloween restrictions.
Missouri’s attorney general opposed the effort to overturn the provision, arguing that the law isn’t a violation of First Amendment rights because the state’s duty is to protect vulnerable kids.
Sanderson’s lawyer said there are already protections in the law for children, and she said that parents “should check” sex offender registries “themselves” and “take responsibility.”
Raid targeting Tren de Aragua gang sees 20 arrested in Texas
Twenty individuals, including four confirmed members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, were arrested during a multiagency raid this weekend in San Antonio, Texas. The operation, dubbed “Operation Aurora,” involved over 150 officers from various agencies, including the San Antonio Police Department, Texas Department of Public Safety, FBI, Homeland Security, and U.S. Border Patrol.
The raid was prompted by reports of human trafficking, narcotics violations, and threats to apartment staff at the Palatia Apartments complex on San Antonio’s North Side. Law enforcement cleared nearly 300 vacant apartments suspected of being used by gang members.
The Tren de Aragua gang, originating from Venezuela’s Aragua state, has reportedly infiltrated the United States, blending with undocumented migrants and expanding its criminal activities to include prostitution, drug trafficking, and violent crimes.
The operation against Tren de Aragua is part of a broader effort to disrupt the gang’s influence in Texas, with authorities forming specialized units to address the evolving landscape of international gang activity.
“Also, I directed the DPS to create a new TDA strike team made of highway patrol officers, DPS special agents, Texas Rangers, SWAT teams including aircraft, helicopters, and drones, K-9 teams, and intelligence units,” Abbott said. “These strike teams will collaborate with Texas Anti-Gang Center law enforcement officers to surge resources to areas where known or suspected TDA activity is taking place.”
Abbott also announced Texas will allocate over $100 million to support the Texas Anti-Gang Centers over the next two years.
