From the Trenches World Report
Enforce our Bill of Rights
At least 33 people were feared dead after a boat caught fire off Santa Cruz Island, California, early Monday morning, officials have confirmed.
The Coast Guard said it responded after overhearing a Mayday call around 3:15 a.m. of an “engulfed 75-foot commercial diving vessel with 38 people aboard.” Continue reading “33 people feared dead after boat catches fire off California’s Santa Cruz Island: officials”
Seth Ator has been identified as the accused gunman who was shot and killed by police after a rampage in Odessa and Midland, Texas, according to the Odessa Police Department. Police said Ator, 36, was taken down by officers at the Cinergy movie complex in Odessa. The incident began around 3:15 p.m. local time on Saturday, August 31, as an attempted traffic stop along Interstate 20. Continue reading “Seth Ator: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know”
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump expressed a commitment Sunday, hours after the latest deadly mass shooting, to work with a divided Congress to “stop the menace of mass attacks.” He said any measures must satisfy the competing goals of protecting public safety and the constitutional right to gun ownership and seemed to cast fresh doubt on the merits of instituting more thorough background checks for gun purchases. Continue reading “Trump says he’ll work with Congress to stop mass shootings”
A Nevada college student was arrested on campus after police found a rifle and 2,000 rounds of ammunition in his vehicle.
Shayn Striegel, a 27-year-old student at the College of Southern Nevada, was arrested and charged Wednesday evening after officers discovered the weapon while acting on a tip, the school said in a statement. Continue reading “Nevada college student arrested on campus with rifle, 2,000 rounds of ammunition”
Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., who is accused of improperly using political campaign funds to reimburse her alleged lover for travel expenses, doesn’t need to worry for now about a complaint filed against her with the Federal Election Commission. Vacancies on the FEC make it impossible for the commission to take any action.
The FEC, where I served as a commissioner over a decade ago, is supposed to act as a government watchdog against election law violations. But unless it has four members, the watchdog is effectively muzzled and chained, helpless to act. Right now there are three members and three vacancies on the commission. Continue reading “Ilhan Omar protected – for now – against accusations of campaign finance law violations”
CHICAGO (AP) — A U.S. appeals court Thursday upheld an assault weapons ban that covers Chicago and the rest of Cook County, Illinois, saying guns rights advocates provided no compelling reason why it should diverge from a previous ruling upholding a similar ban in a Chicago suburb.
The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected arguments from gun rights lawyers that the ban passed by the Cook County Board of Commissioners should be assessed differently than the ban in the suburb of Highland Park because crime is worse in Cook County, where residents might conclude they required more firepower to defend themselves. Continue reading “Federal appeals court upholds assault weapons ban in Chicago”
Baltimore Police say the man suspected of trying to run over an officer and shooting at another this week is dead after he was shot by police around 11 p.m. Wednesday during an exchange that left an officer and a woman injured.
Police Commissioner Michael Harrison said in a media briefing at 1:30 a.m. Thursday that the suspect was pronounced dead at the hospital after he was struck by gunfire by responding officers.
An illegal immigrant in Maryland is alleged to have crawled into the bed of a teenage girl while she was taking a nap and placed a knife against her throat before proceeding to rape her, according to authorities.
Federal officials have requested to keep the man in custody. Continue reading “Illegal immigrant raped Maryland girl, 16, at knifepoint in her bedroom, police say”
Free Thought Project – by Matt Agorist
Chino, CA — Li Xi Wang, 49, was shot and killed by Chino police officers last month as he stood in his home, unarmed, hiding behind a door. Video released this week shows how unnecessary his death was as the officer shot him immediately. Not a single weapon was found inside the home to justify such a level of force. And, the entire raid was carried out over growing weed in a state with legal weed. Continue reading “‘Show Me Your Hands’ BOOM! Cop Instantly Kills Unarmed Man Over Growing Weed in California”
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A new U.S. government management plan unveiled Friday clears the way for coal mining and oil and gas drilling on land that used to be off limits as part of a sprawling national monument in Utah before President Donald Trump downsized the protected area two years ago.
The plan released by the Bureau of Land Management would also open more lands to cattle grazing and recreation and acknowledges there could be “adverse effects” on land and resources in the monument. Continue reading “Plan allows drilling, grazing near national monument in Utah”
EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. (AP) — An Illinois State Police trooper died from wounds suffered early Friday while executing a search warrant in East St. Louis.
Trooper Nicholas Hopkins, 33, of Waterloo, a 10-year veteran of the force, was wounded during an exchange of gunfire while serving the warrant at an East St. Louis home, said State Police Acting Director Brendan Kelly. He later died at a hospital. Continue reading “Illinois trooper serving warrant dies from gunshot wounds”
As widely expected, and as he himself previewed earlier in the day, Trump was set to unveil a major development in the US-China trade war this afternoon. That happened moments ago, when the president, in a series of 4 tweets, confirmed that he indeed was hiking tariffs on both existing and future China tariffs. Continue reading “Trump Hikes Tariffs On Chinese Goods In Retaliation To Trade War Escalation”
Anyone who was hoping for a quiet end to the week is currently having a panic attack, as first China announced new tariffs on the US, then Powell’s J-Hole speech came and went, and then, as we expected, Trump responded to China’s trade war escalation when in a barrage of 4 tweets he lashed out at Beijing, saying “We don’t need China and, frankly, would be far better off without them“, and ordered “Our great American companies… to immediately start looking for an alternative to China, including bringing your companies HOME and making your products in the USA.” Continue reading “Stocks Plunge After Trump Vows To Retaliate To China “This Afternoon”, Orders US Companies To Find “An Alternative To China””
A sniper located in an apartment building in Los Angeles County opened fire on a sheriff’s deputy just outside his station house on Wednesday afternoon.
The deputy, identified as 21-year-old Angel Reinosa, was shot in his bulletproof vest in the parking lot of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Lancaster station by someone in the apartment building across the street, which is a government-subsidized facility. Continue reading “Los Angeles sheriff’s deputy shot by sniper from apartment building; still on the loose”
A top government watchdog on Wednesday alerted President Trump and Congress that Customs and Border Protection (CBP), through a “disturbing” pattern of misconduct, has endangered the public for nearly a decade by failing to comply with a federal law requiring that the agency collect DNA samples from detained migrants.
In a scathing letter to Trump, exclusively obtained by Fox News, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) said CBP’s “noncompliance with the law has allowed subjects subsequently accused of violent crimes, including homicide and sexual assault, to elude detection even when detained multiple times by CBP or Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).” Continue reading “Watchdog alerts Trump that border agency violated DNA collection law for years, letting violent criminals walk free”
Is it a bird? Or is it a bunny?
That’s the question sparked by a video that’s gone viral. The clip shows a bird, with its beak in the air, and a human stroking its head. But looked at from a different angle, the beak appears similar to bunny ears. Continue reading “Bunny or bird: What do you see in this viral optical illusion video?”
Aug. 20, 2019 – 1:10 – The National Rifle Association says Trump told Wayne LaPierre that universal background checks for potential gun purchasers are off the table. Continue reading “President Trump tells NRA boss that universal background checks are dead”
Bloomberg – by Jennifer A Dlouhy
After protesters disrupted construction of an oil pipeline in North Dakota by chaining themselves to construction equipment and pitching tents along the route, oil and chemical companies found a way to keep it from happening again.
They made it a crime. Continue reading “Oil Companies Persuade States to Make Pipeline Protests a Felony”
The Daily Beast – by Pilar Melendez
“Five years after Eric Garner’s dying plea “I can’t breathe” became the rallying cry against police brutality across the nation, the police officer who killed him has been fired.
New York City Police Commissioner James O’Neill announced on Monday that NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo has been fired. O’Neill terminated Pantaleo, 34, after it was determined he violated department policy by restraining Garner with a prohibited chokehold in 2014. Continue reading “Five Years After Killing Eric Garner, NYPD Fires Officer Daniel Pantaleo”
New York City‘s chief medical examiner has ruled that disgraced financier and accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein committed suicide by hanging in his prison cell last week.
In a brief statement Friday, Dr. Barbara Sampson said her ruling came following a “careful review of all investigative information, including complete autopsy findings.” Continue reading “New York medical examiner: Jeffrey Epstein’s death was a suicide by hanging”