Month: June 2023

Former President Donald Trump was arrested and arraigned at a federal courthouse in Miami on Tuesday afternoon, where he pleaded not guilty to 37 felony counts related to the mishandling of national security information and obstruction of justice. Trump arrived at the federal courthouse via motorcade around 2 p.m along with his aide and co-defendant Walt Nauta. He was placed under arrest by federal authorities once inside and fingerprinted. The 37 felony counts that Trump faces include charges of willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding a document or record, corruptly concealing a document or record, concealing a document in a federal investigation, scheme to conceal and making false statements.

The event marked the first time a former president has been arraigned on federal crimes. Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, entered Trump’s plea of not guilty during the proceedings. Trump was determined not to be flight risks and was released without bond. Unlike Trump’s arraignment in April on criminal charges in New York, U.S. Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman declined journalists’ request to allow still photography and live audio transmission of the hearing. The district court’s chief judge also barred journalists from bringing any electronic devices, including cellphones or recorders, into the courthouse.

The arrest and arraignment of Trump leads to the next phase of the Justice Department probe into Trump’s retention and mishandling of classified national security information after he left office. It’s unclear whether Trump’s case will go to trial before the 2024 presidential election, and sources say that Trump’s legal team is expected to file a number of pre-trial motions that could delay the trials by months or even more than a year.

Trump is the current front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination and has vowed not to drop out of the race. If Trump is the Republican nominee and is subsequently elected president, he could pardon himself or appoint a friendly attorney general to dismiss the case. Trump posted on Truth Social shortly before heading to the Miami courthouse Tuesday, “ONE OF THE SADDEST DAYS IN THE HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY. WE ARE A NATION IN DECLINE!!!”  and later wrote, “ON MY WAY TO COURTHOUSE. WITCH HUNT!!! MAGA.”

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Authorities confirmed on Tuesday that at least 10 people were injured after an overnight shooting in an area of Denver where basketball fans were celebrating the Nuggets’ NBA championship title.  The shooting unfolded as celebrations were underway after the Nuggets won their first NBA championship with a 94-89 victory against the Miami Heat. According to surveillance footage played at a press conference Tuesday, officers monitoring the areas heard gunshots and rushed toward the sound.  A total of 10 people were taken to Denver Health, four of which required emergency surgery. All patients appeared to be in fair condition as of Tuesday afternoon.

According to Denver Police Major Crimes Division Commander Matt Clark, one of the suspects – 22-year-old Ricardo Vasquez – was chased by officers on foot and taken into custody. Vasquez was found with a firearm and suspected fentanyl pills, and suffered a non-life threatening gunshot wound.  A second suspect, 33-year-old Raoul Jones, was arrested in connection with the investigation. Clark said: “We’re still working to understand the motive that ultimately led to the shooting. In this case there appears to be a drug nexus for this.” Clark said that three other firearms were found following the shooting, but additional forensic work will be required to see which guns were fired. At least 20 rounds were found by police at the scene. Vasquez is being held on charges of possession of a weapon by a previous offender and possession of a controlled substance, while Jones is being held on a charge of possession of a weapon by a previous offender.

Denver Chief of Police Ron Thomas said Tuesday that authorities do not believe the violence was related to the celebration, rather, “There does appear to be a collection of individuals who are engaged in some fashion at some point in time and you begin to see an altercation. And I think at the tail end of that altercation is where shots were exchanged … I think, you know, the two elephants in the room that I think it’s important to address is that there’s far too many guns that are in our communities today. We have a tremendous problem with fentanyl in our community today.”

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On Monday, rescue workers pulled a body from the wreckage of the tanker truck fire beneath an Interstate 95 overpass in Philadelphia. The grim discovery came as demolition crews prepared to dismantle part of the southbound lanes after the fire on Sunday caused a section on the northbound side of the highway to collapse. The incident on Sunday occurred after the driver of an 8,500-gallon-capacity tanker truck apparently lost control while trying to negotiate a curve on the exit ramp, and slammed into a wall beneath the interstate.

Pennsylvania State Transportation Secretary Mike Carroll said that police have not identified the victim and when asked at a press conference whether the victim was the tanker truck driver, he said “I will defer to the medical examiner for comment on that.”

Inspectors discovered that the support beams that hold up the southbound lanes had been severely weakened by Sunday’s explosion, which prompted authorities to order the demolition of the lanes. State Transportation Secretary Carroll said: “The engineering and the inspection of the southbound bridge indicated it’s compromised as a result of the fire. The I-beams are incapable of supporting the traffic and so that structure has to be removed and we’ll be starting today.” Carroll said that he expected that demolition to be completed in four or five days.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro has already warned that it could take months to repair this key stretch of highway that links the East Coast’s two largest cities, New York City and Philadelphia, and which carries roughly 160,000 vehicles a day.

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One person died after being trapped for at least an hour, after a tour boat capsized Monday morning in a cave along the Erie Canal in Upstate New York.  The tour was carrying passengers and one staff member from Destination Niagara through a series of caves in a section of the Erie Canal in Lockport, near Niagara Falls at the U.S.-Canadian border. The Lockport Police Department originally confirmed the incident in a statement shared to its Facebook page about an hour after it happened:  “Lockport police and fire departments, as well as several other agencies, are currently working to assist parties that were on a boat that capsized in the Lockport Cave Tours.”

At a press conference on Monday afternoon, authorities said that the capsize happened during a stretch of the underground trip where tourists board a small boat and travel along a 300-foot channel inside the cave, where the water level hovers around five feet deep, although it exceeds six feet in some areas. The boat became unstable and flipped near the end of the channel. Authorities said there were 28 people on board the boat when it capsized before 11:30 a.m. The passenger who was killed was about 60 years old.  Fire officials and emergency medical personnel rescued 16 people from the water; 11 of those suffered injuries and were transported to a hospital for treatment. The rest of the passengers were able to emerge safely out of the cave.

An investigation into the incident is ongoing, and authorities said the area where the boat capsized will be considered a crime scene until their probe is complete. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul tweeted that authorities with the New York State Police, Division of Homeland Security, State Parks and Health Department were at the scene and assisting local officials in their response.

Authorities said Monday that the Lockport Cave Tours have proceeded without incident since they began more than four decades ago. Boat tours have taken place inside the Erie Canal’s network of caves since 1977, while the caves themselves were created in the late 19th century.

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