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Political Warlord Trump Now Targets His Enemies — And Mitch Is First On The List https://digitalarizonanews.com/political-warlord-trump-now-targets-his-enemies-and-mitch-is-first-on-the-list/ Donald Trump aspires to be a warlord. He publicly admires despots, tyrants and other authoritarian leaders who kill their enemies and take away the rights of anyone who oppose them. Mental health professionals have repeatedly warned that Donald Trump is likely a sociopath with an erotic attraction to violence and mayhem. He has repeatedly shown that he has no regard for the rule of law, democracy, human rights or other restrictions on his behavior. He encourages his followers and allies to engage in acts of terrorism and other violence on his behalf. The most notable example came, of course, on Jan. 6, 2021. To this point, Trump has been limited by his cowardice. He prefers to have others engage in violence on his behalf instead of directly ordering such acts or participating in them himself. Matters are now in flux. Trump is under investigation by the Department of Justice and other law enforcement agencies, and may face serious consequences for his lawbreaking for the first time. As George Conway described in a recent conversation with Salon, Trump is ready to lash out: Trump is basically a cornered animal. He’s got all these legal proceedings bearing down on him. In addition, he is losing his touch and his connection to his public, because his act has become very tiresome. That explains why Trump is embracing the QAnon conspiracy. He’s doing that because of his narcissism: He’s feeling attacked, and for the first time in his life, he is facing real consequences for his actions. The DOJ and other investigations have caused Trump to suffer a narcissistic injury. … Trump is in a downward psychological, emotional and physical spiral. His embrace of QAnon shows how extreme his deterioration is. But here is the problem for the rest of us: Donald Trump is not going to go away immediately. He is going to try to use the electoral process, and threats of violence, to regain power and influence. Then Trump will say that he can’t control what people do because they are so angry at how he is being treated by Joe Biden, Merrick Garland, the DOJ, the various prosecutors and judges, the news media and so on. Trump is going to make things much worse in this country before things finally get better. Ultimately, as Donald Trump becomes more desperate, he will reveal more of his true self: a violent predator who will almost always attack instead of retreating or otherwise surrendering. Last Saturday, Donald Trump took one more step on this journey when he threatened the life of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. On his social media platform Truth Social, Trump accused McConnell of having a “death wish” because he has (on a few specific occasions) supported legislation sponsored by Democrats. Trump also used a racial slur to describe McConnell’s wife, former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, calling her “his China loving wife, Coco Chow!” Political scientist Brian Klaas, author of “The Despot’s Apprentice: Donald Trump’s Attack on Democracy,” wrote on Twitter that Trump’s threats were “[t]otally detached from reality, inciting political violence — putting a target on a senior member of the U.S. Senate — and a new racist nickname. We can’t just pretend this isn’t happening, because these posts are radicalizing more and more extremists every day.” In a recent interview with MSNBC, Mary Trump, who is a clinical psychologist as well as Donald Trump’s niece, and author of the family memoir “Too Much and Never Enough,” offered this ominous and direct warning: “Everything Donald has done is a prelude to worse things to come.” As usual, the mainstream media largely avoids covering Trump’s threats with the seriousness they demand. Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin observed that neither McConnell himself nor other senior Republicans have even condemned Trump’s statement: That’s the state of today’s MAGA movement, where decency toward fellow Americans, loyalty to one’s spouse and support for democratic values all take a back seat to cult worship and the unquenchable thirst for power. And once again, the mainstream media is failing to rise to the moment. One might expect the media to stop treating Republicans like normal politicians after their “big lie” about a stolen election, their ongoing whitewashing of the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol, their attacks on the FBI and their indifference — if not assent — to racism. Alas, there is little sign that mainstream outlets have dropped their addiction to false equivalence and willful, moral blindness…. These and countless other interviews illustrate the urgent need to reimagine coverage of the GOP. Refusing to confront and expose MAGA Republicans’ betrayal of democratic values doesn’t make members of the media “balanced.” It makes them enablers. Donald Trump’s aspiration to warlord status is guided by his malicious gifts as an entrepreneur of violence. In an interview with Salon in March, political scientist Barbara Walter, who is the author of the book “How Civil Wars Start: And How to Stop Them,” explained this concept: One of the challenges that violent extremists have is how to expand their base of support. If they don’t expand their support base, they just remain fringe movements forever. One way is to provoke a harsh government response. Let’s say that there are peaceful protests, but then there are provocateurs there who try to get the police to open fire or to bash a few heads. Violence entrepreneurs will use those actions as evidence that the police or the government or the opposition are evil and intent on crushing them. That tactic is often successful in radicalizing at least some portion of average citizens. It pushes them towards the extremists. Donald Trump is what I would describe as an “ethnic entrepreneur.” He and his loyalists want to regain power. He is an autocrat. Trump has no interest in ruling democratically. But Trump is not going to get that power back without the support of the average white American. This means that Donald Trump has to convince them somehow that his is a worthy cause to defend. Understanding Trump and the Republican-fascist movement requires a broader sense of their social and political context, which in turn renders their behavior both predictable and readily understandable rather than something “shocking” or “surprising” and therefore unknowable. For the most part, the mainstream news media has refused to use such a framework, which would require some candid discussion of the fact that the Republican Party and its supporters no longer support democracy.  For most of the media, that’s an existential challenge they are not willing to consider. Beginning with his 2015 campaign and then throughout his presidency and beyond, Trump has used the technique known as stochastic terrorism to incite violence against his designated enemies. At his rallies and other events Trump has urged his followers to attack protesters. He wanted the U.S. military to crush the civic dissent that took place across the country in response to the police murder of George Floyd in 2020. His regime created a concentration camp system where nonwhite migrants and refugees were imprisoned in violation of their civil and human rights. Borrowing from language used by the Nazis and other fascist regimes, Trump attacks the free press as “enemies of the people” in an attempt to intimidate journalists into silence. Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course. Trump has repeatedly threatened Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden and other prominent Democrats with prison or worse. Republicans he deems disloyal (such as Rep. Liz Cheney or former Vice President Mike Pence) have also been subjected to his violent threats and wanton disregard for their safety. As president, Trump praised right-wing paramilitaries, white supremacists and other street thugs as “very fine people.” His administration maintained an arm’s-length friendship with right-wing paramilitaries and other violent extremists. During the 2020 campaign, Trump refused to condemn those groups — and after that election they played an integral role in his coup attempt and the Capitol attack. Trump has suggested several times that his followers will descend upon majority Black and brown “Democrat-controlled” cities if he is indicted for his many apparent crimes. He has made barely-veiled threats against Attorney General Merrick Garland and the FBI, implying that he only can save the country from the violence and mayhem that will occur if he is prosecuted. Trump’s acolytes are often even more explicit with their threats of violence then he is. During Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene‘s speech at Trump’s rally last Saturday, she claimed that “Democrats want Republicans dead, and they have already started the killings.” President Biden, she said, “has declared every freedom-loving American an enemy of the state…. We will take back our country from the communists who have stolen it and want us to disappear.” These are of course inflammatory lies, based in projection and inversion. As the House Jan. 6 hearings have revealed, Trump envisioned a crescendo to the Jan. 6 uprising, perhaps with him personally arriving at the Capitol amid the mayhem and destruction to declare himself an American Caesar. Trump has continued to embrace the antisemitic QAnon conspiracy cult, with its threats of revolutionary violence and destruction. QAnon believers claim that the “Storm” will return Trump to power, and along the way there will be mass executions of “global elites” and their agents, a laundry list of villains that includes all leading Democrats, numerous Hollywood celebrities, liberal donors and the supposedly sinister forces of antifa, Black Lives ...

FBI Sends Hunter Biden Tax, Gun Purchase Evidence To US Attorney https://digitalarizonanews.com/fbi-sends-hunter-biden-tax-gun-purchase-evidence-to-us-attorney/ Friday, October 7th 2022, 5:25 am By: CBS News The FBI months ago gathered what agents believed was sufficient evidence to charge Hunter Biden, the president’s son, with crimes related to taxes and making a false statement when purchasing a gun, according to sources familiar with the investigation.  Evidence gathered by FBI and IRS investigators was sent to the U.S. Attorney’s office in Delaware, according to the sources. A spokesperson for the Trump-appointed U.S. Attorney in Delaware declined to comment. The Washington Post was first to report that the agency had provided evidence of alleged crimes to federal prosecutors. Chris Clark, an attorney for Biden, criticized the FBI in a statement to CBS News, accusing someone within the agency of leaking information from grand jury proceedings, which would be a felony he expects “the Department of Justice will diligently investigate and prosecute.” “As is proper and legally required, we believe the prosecutors in this case are diligently and thoroughly weighing not just evidence provided by agents, but also all the other witnesses in this case, including witnesses for the defense. That is the job of the prosecutors,” Clark said. A source close to Hunter Biden told CBS News that Biden’s team believes that this leak was driven by frustration inside the FBI over the time it is taking prosecutors to deliberate over this case. Biden’s team believes the bureau is trying to pressure prosecutors to act.  The FBI has been facing increasing pressure from Republicans in Congress over assertions that it is making decisions based on political considerations.  The U.S. attorney’s office in Delaware has been investigating Hunter Biden since at least 2019. A federal subpoena from that year, obtained by CBS News, sought Hunter Biden’s bank records dating back to 2014, when Joe Biden was vice president. Investigators have examined whether Biden owes taxes on income from a controversial stint, during his father’s vice presidency, as a board member for Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company, according to sources familiar with the matter.  CBS News reported in May that Biden had garnered financial backing from high-powered Hollywood attorney Kevin Morris, who sources said paid Biden’s past-due tax debts. A December 2020 subpoena requested documents as far back as January 2017, “regarding (Hunter) Biden’s income, assets, debts, obligations, and financial transactions… and all personal and business expenditures.”  The subpoena also requested “all federal, state, local and foreign tax documentation related to (Hunter) Biden.” Prosecutors investigating Hunter Biden also subpoenaed documents from a paternity lawsuit that included his tax records, according to documents and an attorney involved in the matter. The investigation into Hunter Biden’s finances has been led by U.S. attorney David Weiss, who was appointed by then-President Donald Trump in 2018. He had been acting head of the Delaware office at the time and received the endorsements of the state’s U.S. Senators Tom Carper and Chris Coons, both Democrats. In February 2021, soon after Biden took office, dozens of federal prosecutors appointed by Trump were asked to resign, but then-acting attorney general Monty Wilkinson asked Weiss to remain on the job, a Justice Department official told CBS News. Mr. Biden has said he was not involved in his son’s business dealings, and there has been no evidence that has emerged to refute this.  “I have not taken a penny from any foreign source, ever, in my life,” Mr. Biden said in October 2020 at a presidential debate. First published on October 6, 2022 / 4:41 PM © 2022 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. Read More Here

Thailand's Day Care Massacre Unites Families And A Country In Grief | CNN https://digitalarizonanews.com/thailands-day-care-massacre-unites-families-and-a-country-in-grief-cnn/ 01:59 – Source: CNN ‘I didn’t expect he would also kill the kids’: Nursery teacher describes horror of deadly massacre Uthai Sawan, Thailand CNN  —  Smears of dried blood still stained the wooden floor of a classroom in northern Thailand on Friday, a day after the country’s worst massacre unfolded in perhaps one of the most unlikely places. At the Child Development Center Uthai Sawan, school bags sat uncollected on colored shelves, and photos of children smiled from the wall, clipped into place with pegs near cardboard cut-outs of ladybirds. Outside, sobbing parents sat on blue plastic chairs in a makeshift shed, nursing their grief and clinging to each other and their children’s blankets and bottles, any reminder of life, as officials finalized plans for a visit from the country’s top leaders. More than 20 young children ages 2-5 lost their lives in this classroom during nap time on Thursday when a former policeman armed with a knife and handgun forced his way inside and slashed them in their sleep. In a strange mix of grief and grandeur, at the center’s front door, a red carpet had been rolled out for the delivery of a floral wreath, a gift from the Royal Highness Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana Rajakanya, the King’s youngest daughter. Later Friday, King Maha Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida are due to fly north from the Grand Palace in Bangkok to meet the families of the dead and the six injured, still receiving medical care in Nong Bua Lamphu Hospital. Their visit will follow that of the country’s prime minister, Prayut Chan-o-cha, who arrived earlier Friday to visit the hospital and meet with families at the relief center set up by the government. Thailand is accustomed to the underlying tensions that come in a nation governed by leaders of a military coup, but violence of the type perpetrated on Thursday is rare. The last mass death in the southeast Asian country was two years ago, when a former soldier went on a rampage at a military site before targeting shoppers at a mall in Nakhon Ratchasima Province, known as Korat, further south. In that case, the shooter was said to have erupted after an argument with another soldier over a land-selling commission fee. In this case, the motive is unclear but after terrorizing the childcare center, Panya Kamrab, a 34-year-old former policeman drove home and shot his wife and child, before taking his own life. The total death toll was 36, including Panya’s wife and two-year-old stepson, who normally attended that day care center, but who wasn’t there when the officer came searching for him. The toddler’s death takes the number of children killed to 24. Drugs may have played a role – officials said Panya had appeared in court that morning on drug possession charges – though blood tests are being carried out to determine if drugs were in his system at the time of the attack. “Regarding the motivation, the police have not ruled out any possibilities, it could be from personal stress, or a hallucination from drugs, we have ordered a blood test,” Royal Thai Police said in a statement. The results may give some answers as to why it happened – but they won’t put an end to the inconsolable grief felt throughout this small, close knit community, or solve the question of how to stop it from happening again. Nopparat Phewdam sat outside the day care center on Friday with other parents, though she lost her brother in the attack. Unlike others there, Nopparat knew the killer. She said he was a frequent customer to her convenience store and often came in with his stepson. “He seemed polite and spoke softly,” she said. Details of the massacre have been slow to emerge, but the accounts given so far describe a man armed to kill, who didn’t hesitate to attack innocent children, and even shot dead a pregnant staff member who was a month away from giving birth. One staff member said Panya entered the center around noon, while two other staff members were having lunch. They heard sounds “like fire crackers” and saw two colleagues collapse on the floor. “Then he pulled another gun from his waist…I didn’t expect he would also kill the kids,” they said. Most of the deaths were the result of “stabbing wounds,” local police chief Major General Paisan Luesomboon told CNN. First responders told CNN of the grim scene that awaited them – most injuries were to the head, they said. In the any community, the loss of 36 people in one atrocity would be keenly felt, but the deaths of so many young children in a small rural area has shaken the village of around 6,300 people. Distraught families sat side by side outside the center, united in grief, as they waited Friday for details of government support. They included the heavily pregnant mother of four-year-old Thawatchai Siphu, also known as Dan, who was too distraught to speak. Dan’s grandmother, Oy Yodkhao, told CNN the family had been excited to welcome a new baby brother. Now their joy is drowned in loss and disbelief that someone could murder innocent children. “I couldn’t imagine there would be this kind of people,” said Oy. “I could not imagine he was this cruel to children.” Also sitting in numb grief were Pimpa Thana and Chalermsilp Kraosai, the parents of talkative twin boys, Weerapat and Worapon, who were yet to celebrate their fourth birthday – with two children, their family had been complete. Pimpa said her mother had phoned her to tell her there’d been a shooting at the day care center. “At that time I was not aware that my children were dead, my husband kept the news from me. I know it after I returned home.” Rows of small toddler-sized coffins in white and pale pink were laid on the ground as police retrieved the bodies from the classroom Thursday. Across the country on Friday, people wore black and flags flew at half-staff at government buildings, as thoughts turned to what lessons could be learned from a massacre within the walls of a classroom. Gregory Raymond from Australian National University says he sees parallels between the mass shooting in 2020 and what happened Thursday at the day care center. Both perpetrators had served as officers in a country with a strong policing and military presence. “These are young men. They appear to have become alienated in some way. And they had access to weapons,” he said. It’s not known what mental issues Panya had been suffering, though it was believed he had a long-term drug problem – a growing issue in the country’s north, near the border and the Golden Triangle, a global hub for illicit drugs. Last year, officials seized a record amount of methamphetamine – nearly 172 tons – in East and Southeast Asia in 2021, including the first haul of over 1 billion methamphetamine tablets. “There’s a lot of manufacturing going on in the Mekong sub region, and there’s also a lot of trafficking through Thailand,” said Raymond. “So all of that means that there’s more people who are developing problems with methamphetamine, and I think that has to be seen as a pretty significant cause of what’s happened here.” The mix of drugs and mental health issues among the forces is a problem Thailand needs to address, he added. “Thailand might have to start to think more about how it manages mental health amongst professionals, particularly those who have access to guns, or who have become used to having used to having violence as a kind of tool for their occupation.” Read More Here

Police: 2 Dead, 6 Injured In Stabbings Along Las Vegas Strip https://digitalarizonanews.com/police-2-dead-6-injured-in-stabbings-along-las-vegas-strip/ An attacker with a large kitchen knife killed two people and wounded six others in stabbings along the Las Vegas Strip before he was arrested Thursday, police said.Three people were hospitalized in critical condition and another three were in stable condition, according to Las Vegas police, who said they began receiving 911 calls about the stabbings around 11:40 a.m. across the street from the Wynn casino and hotel.Yoni Barrios, 32, was booked on two counts of murder and six counts of attempted murder late Thursday, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.Barrios, who is not a Las Vegas resident, was detained by Sands security guards and Metropolitan Police Department officers while running on a Strip sidewalk, police said.“This was an isolated incident,” Metro Police Deputy Chief James LaRochelle said in a statement. “All evidence indicates Barrios acted alone and there are no outstanding suspects at this time.”Police said they were continuing to investigate the motive but do not believe there was an altercation before the attacks.The Clark County coroner’s office identified the victims who were killed as Brent Allan Hallett, 47, and Maris Mareen Digiovanni, 30, both Las Vegas residents, the Review-Journal reported.The names of those wounded in the attack were not immediately released.Video below: Police provide update on Las Vegas stabbingsThe initial stabbing was unprovoked and on the eastern sidewalk of Las Vegas Boulevard. The suspect then headed south and stabbed others, LaRochelle said.The man fled and was followed by 911 callers before he was taken into custody, authorities said. Police recovered the “large knife with a long blade” believed to have been used, LaRochelle said, calling the case a “hard-to-comprehend murder investigation.”There were no other suspects in the case and “the Strip is secure,” Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo said.“Locals and tourists are the victims of this crime,” Lombardo said.Witnesses told Las Vegas TV stations that some of the victims appeared to be showgirls or street performers who take pictures with tourists on the Strip.The suspect told a woman that he was a chef who wanted to take a picture with some of the showgirls with his knife, but he started stabbing people when the group declined the man’s offer, the woman told KTNV.Jason Adams told KLAS that he witnessed the attack on a showgirl.“This guy came, ran up, and started stabbing this lady in front of me and she ran around the escalators and she tried to get up under the bridge and her girlfriend was trying to help her,” Adams said, adding that the attack happened very quickly.Pierre Fandrich, a tourist from Canada, told KTNV that he did not see the stabbing suspect as he was walking along the Strip. But he said he thought he heard “three or four showgirls laughing,” and it turned out to be screaming.Fandrich said he saw “a lot of blood” as one woman ran across a bridge, one was on the ground, and another had a stab wound on her back as she tried to help the fallen woman.Fandrich also told KTNV that he thought one of the victims fell from the bridge because there was so much blood on the ground.Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak posted a message on social media saying, “Our hearts are with all those affected by this tragedy.”“At the State level, we will continue to work with partners in law enforcement to make resources available on the ground and ensure the Las Vegas Strip remains a safe and welcoming place for all to visit,” Sisolak said. CLARK COUNTY, Nev. — An attacker with a large kitchen knife killed two people and wounded six others in stabbings along the Las Vegas Strip before he was arrested Thursday, police said. Three people were hospitalized in critical condition and another three were in stable condition, according to Las Vegas police, who said they began receiving 911 calls about the stabbings around 11:40 a.m. across the street from the Wynn casino and hotel. Yoni Barrios, 32, was booked on two counts of murder and six counts of attempted murder late Thursday, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. Barrios, who is not a Las Vegas resident, was detained by Sands security guards and Metropolitan Police Department officers while running on a Strip sidewalk, police said. “This was an isolated incident,” Metro Police Deputy Chief James LaRochelle said in a statement. “All evidence indicates Barrios acted alone and there are no outstanding suspects at this time.” Police said they were continuing to investigate the motive but do not believe there was an altercation before the attacks. The Clark County coroner’s office identified the victims who were killed as Brent Allan Hallett, 47, and Maris Mareen Digiovanni, 30, both Las Vegas residents, the Review-Journal reported. The names of those wounded in the attack were not immediately released. Video below: Police provide update on Las Vegas stabbings The initial stabbing was unprovoked and on the eastern sidewalk of Las Vegas Boulevard. The suspect then headed south and stabbed others, LaRochelle said. The man fled and was followed by 911 callers before he was taken into custody, authorities said. Police recovered the “large knife with a long blade” believed to have been used, LaRochelle said, calling the case a “hard-to-comprehend murder investigation.” There were no other suspects in the case and “the Strip is secure,” Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo said. “Locals and tourists are the victims of this crime,” Lombardo said. Witnesses told Las Vegas TV stations that some of the victims appeared to be showgirls or street performers who take pictures with tourists on the Strip. The suspect told a woman that he was a chef who wanted to take a picture with some of the showgirls with his knife, but he started stabbing people when the group declined the man’s offer, the woman told KTNV. Jason Adams told KLAS that he witnessed the attack on a showgirl. “This guy came, ran up, and started stabbing this lady in front of me and she ran around the escalators and she tried to get up under the bridge and her girlfriend was trying to help her,” Adams said, adding that the attack happened very quickly. Pierre Fandrich, a tourist from Canada, told KTNV that he did not see the stabbing suspect as he was walking along the Strip. But he said he thought he heard “three or four showgirls laughing,” and it turned out to be screaming. Fandrich said he saw “a lot of blood” as one woman ran across a bridge, one was on the ground, and another had a stab wound on her back as she tried to help the fallen woman. Fandrich also told KTNV that he thought one of the victims fell from the bridge because there was so much blood on the ground. Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak posted a message on social media saying, “Our hearts are with all those affected by this tragedy.” “At the State level, we will continue to work with partners in law enforcement to make resources available on the ground and ensure the Las Vegas Strip remains a safe and welcoming place for all to visit,” Sisolak said. Read More Here

The Twitter-Musk Trial Is Now On Pause | CNN Business https://digitalarizonanews.com/the-twitter-musk-trial-is-now-on-pause-cnn-business/ New York CNN Business  —  The judge overseeing the acquisition dispute between Elon Musk and Twitter on Thursday ruled to pause the legal proceedings until Oct. 28 following a request from the Tesla CEO, meaning the trial that was set to begin Oct. 17 will not go ahead as planned. Twitter had opposed Musk’s motion to stay the proceedings and raised concerns that he might not follow through on his word to quickly close the deal. “If the transaction does not close by 5 p.m. on October 28, 2022, the parties are instructed to contact me by email that evening to obtain November 2022 trial dates,” the judge, Delaware Chancery Court chancellor Kathaleen St. Judge McCormick, said in the order. Lawyers for Elon Musk on Thursday filed a motion to stay the legal proceedings in its dispute with Twitter and to remove from the court’s calendar the trial that had been set to begin Oct. 17, noting “changed circumstances that have effectively mooted this action,” according to a Thursday court filing. The filing — which says the stay is “pending the closing of the transaction” — comes after Musk earlier this week proposed proceeding with the $44 billion acquisition of Twitter at the originally agreed upon terms after having spent months trying to get out of the deal. The filing states that Musk is “willing to close the transaction at $54.20, the Debt Financing parties are working cooperatively to fund the close, and closing is expected on or around October 28.” But the filing also alludes to resistance from Twitter to halt the legal proceedings. “Twitter will not take yes for an answer. Astonishingly, they have insisted on proceeding with this litigation,” according to the letter. Lawyers for Twitter issued a sharp response to Musk’s filing. “The obstacle to terminating this litigation is not, as Defendants say, that Twitter is unwilling to take yes for an answer,” the letter states. “The obstacle is that Defendants still refuse to accept their contractual obligations.” It notes that for months, Musk has been attempting to exit the deal and “now, on the eve of trial, Defendants declare they intend to close after all. ‘Trust us,’ they say, ‘we mean it this time.’” “Until Defendants commit to close as required, Twitter is entitled to its day in Court,” Twitter’s letter states. “Defendants can and should close next week. Until they do, this action is not moot and should be brought to trial.” The back-and-forth offers the clearest indication yet that Musk’s financing may now be the central issue in the dispute between the Tesla CEO and Twitter over halting the legal proceedings and completing the deal. Musk has previously said he would pay for the acquisition through a mix of debt commitments from financial institutions, equity financing from investors and his own assets. But legal experts have raised concerns that debt financiers may now want to pull out of the deal in light of recent changes to the debt market and declines in value of social media companies. Twitter, according to experts, would likely want to maintain the litigation as pressure on Musk unless he agrees to close the deal with or without the debt financing. In the Thursday filing, Musk’s legal team stated that Twitter has resisted a stay based on concerns that Musk has made his offer to close the deal contingent on the receipt of the debt financing, and that payment could fall through. “Counsel for the debt financing parties has advised that each of their clients is prepared to honor its obligations,” Musk’s filing states. The filing asks the court to stay the proceedings and order Twitter to complete the deal. “Proceeding toward trial is not only an enormous waste of party and judicial resources, it will undermine the ability of the parties to close the transaction,” the filing states. “Instead of allowing the parties to turn their focus to securing the Debt Financing necessary to consummate the transaction and preparing for a transition of the business, the parties will instead remain distracted by completing discovery and an unnecessary trial.” In its response letter, Twitter’s lawyers state that Musk’s team has refused “to commit to any closing date.” It added that a representative for one of the banks set to lend to Musk testified Thursday morning that “Mr. Musk has yet to send them a borrowing notice and has not otherwise communicated to them that he intends to close the transaction, let alone on any particular timeline.” Twitter’s lawyers added: ‘Defendants should be arranging to close on Monday, October 10.” Earlier Thursday, lawyers for Musk and Twitter agreed to postpone the Tesla CEO’s deposition in the court fight, a source familiar with the negotiations told CNN. Musk’s deposition had been set to begin Thursday, per a notice filed earlier this week. It’s not clear whether a new date has been set for Musk’s deposition, but Twitter could end up pushing to complete it early next week if a deal is not reached. As of Wednesday, the two sides had yet to reach a deal to close the acquisition, a separate source told CNN. Delaware Chancery Court chancellor Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick, the judge who is overseeing the litigation, said in a Wednesday court filing that neither side had filed to stay the proceedings and she was continuing to prepare for trial to begin on Oct. 17. On Thursday, McCormick filed a letter to both sides laying out deadlines for responding to discovery motions, noting that the “trial is fast approaching.” Read More Here

Machine (Gun) Politics https://digitalarizonanews.com/machine-gun-politics/ “The Supreme Court said Monday it won’t take up two cases that involved challenges to a ban enacted during the Trump administration on bump stocks . . . .” –The Associated Press So the negative of the negative is a positive? Or something? See, the issue was a problem. So the Trump administration de-problemed it. And the U.S. Supreme Court did not un-de-problem it. Let’s put it a little plainer than our friends in the legal reporting business: The Supreme Court has confirmed that bump stocks are no good. And that government can ban them. That’s it, in a nutshell, and nut graph. And that should be that, unless one day the Supreme Court decides to hear a similar case. Bump stocks are mechanisms that–not to go into too much detail–use a rifle’s recoil energy to load another shell for automatic firing. It happens so quickly, and only takes one pull of the trigger to empty a magazine, that the rifle is turned into a de facto machine gun. Making it forbidden by common sense. And now by legal ruling. It’s a good bet that most Americans, even gun owners, never heard of “bump stocks” before the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas. The gunman used rifles to fire more than 1,000 rounds into a crowd at a concert, shooting down on victims from his high-rise hotel room. Sixty people were killed and more than 850 injured. And most of the gunman’s rifles were fitted with those bump stocks. After the massacre, the Trump administration decided to ban bump stocks at the federal level. And now that the court has ruled–and unless it rules otherwise in the future–bump stocks will be verboten. Machine guns aren’t completely illegal. But it takes so much paperwork and background checks and general license requirements that most people don’t bother. Apparently the country likes it that way, and has since the 1930s when Tommy guns (Thompson machine guns) were used by the syndicates to enforce their bloody rules. These bump stocks gave certain folks fully automatic weapons without all those checks, licenses and inspections. In some cases with murderous results. Now that the court has ruled, or at least now that the court has not taken up challenges to the ban, the nation can move on as before, with at least one rule to limit the mayhem in the streets. There now. This one issue is no longer a problem. Read More Here

Why Is North Korea Firing So Many Missiles — And Should The West Be Worried? | CNN https://digitalarizonanews.com/why-is-north-korea-firing-so-many-missiles-and-should-the-west-be-worried-cnn/ 03:04 – Source: CNN Analyst predicts North Korea’s next move after ballistic missile launch Seoul, South Korea CNN  —  Tensions are running high in the Korean Peninsula, as the United States and its allies respond to North Korea’s flurry of recent missile tests – including one that flew over neighboring Japan without warning. North Korea has fired six missiles in the past two weeks – a prolific number, even in a year that has seen the highest number of launches since leader Kim Jong Un took power in 2011. The aggressive acceleration in weapons testing has sparked alarm in the region, with the US, South Korea and Japan responding with missile launches and joint military exercises this week. The US has also redeployed an aircraft carrier into waters near the peninsula, a move South Korean authorities called “very unusual.” International leaders are now watching for signs of a further escalation such as a potential nuclear test, which would be the hermit nation’s first in nearly five years – a move that would present US President Joe Biden with a new potential foreign policy crisis. Here’s what you need to know about North Korea’s rush toward nuclear weapons and intercontinental missiles, why they’re ramping up now – and what, if anything, the US can do to counter Kim Jong Un. The testing itself isn’t new – North Korea’s weapons development program has been ongoing for years. Tensions reached near-crisis levels in 2017 when North Korea launched 23 missiles throughout the year, including two over Japan, as well as conducting a nuclear test. The tests showcased weapons with enough power to put most of the world in range, including the country’s first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Relations thawed in 2018, when then-US President Donald Trump held a landmark summit with Kim. The two leaders “fell in love,” Trump said; in return, Kim praised their “special” relationship. North Korea pledged to freeze missile launches and appeared to destroy several facilities at the nuclear test site, while the US suspended large-scale military exercises with South Korea and other regional allies. But the talks ultimately fell apart, and hopes for a deal that would see the North curtail its nuclear ambitions dwindled by the end of Trump’s term. Then the Covid-19 pandemic hit, pushing North Korea further into isolation. The already-impoverished country sealed its borders entirely, with foreign diplomats and aid workers fleeing en masse. During this time, the number of missile launches also remained low – just four in 2020 and eight in 2021. 04:33 – Source: CNN How should the Biden administration handle the rising tensions with North Korea? Experts say there are a few reasons North Korea is accelerating its testing so rapidly now. First, it could simply be the right time after the events of the last few years, with Kim declaring victory against Covid in August, and a new US administration in place that has focused on shows of unity with South Korea. “They’ve been unable to test for quite a few years due to political considerations, so I’d expect North Korean engineers and generals to be very eager to make sure their toys are going to work well,” said Andrei Lankov, a professor at South Korea’s Kookmin University. Jeffrey Lewis, a weapons expert and professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, said it’s also normal for North Korea to pause testing during the stormy summer and resume once weather improved in the fall. But, several experts said, Kim could also be sending a message by deliberately showcasing North Korea’s arsenal during a period of heightened global conflict. “They want to remind the world that they should not be ignored, that they exist and their engineers are working around the clock to develop both nuclear weapons and delivery systems,” said Lankov. Carl Schuster, a former director of operations at the US Pacific Command’s Joint Intelligence Center in Hawaii, echoed this sentiment. Kim “launches missiles to generate attention towards himself, but also to create pressure for Japan and the United States to engage him,” he said. He added that North Korea might also feel emboldened to act now while the West is distracted with the war in Ukraine. “(The missile tests) started in January, which is about the time we were beginning to report on what Russian President Vladimir Putin was doing opposite Ukraine,” said Schuster. “Kim Jong Un is doing what he thinks he can get away with – he’s not expecting any kind of strong US reaction.” Lankov said that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine may have also boosted Kim’s confidence because “it demonstrated that if you have nuclear weapons, you can have almost impunity. And if you don’t have nuclear weapons, you’re in trouble.” Despite the US and its allies’ quick military response this past week, experts say there’s little they can do to stop or prepare for North Korea’s weapons tests. “The Americans sent the Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier. South Koreans are launching these missiles, which are not necessarily working well,” said Lankov, referring to a South Korean missile on Wednesday that crashed right after launch. “What is the impact of all these American aircraft carriers cruising around Korea? Pretty much nothing.” Though these shows of force might serve to deter North Korea from “starting a war” – which likely isn’t Kim’s plan, anyway – it does little to prevent further weapons development or missile testing,” he said. “It’ll probably make some people in the US and (South Korea) a bit happier, but it’ll have zero impact on North Korea’s behavior and decision making.” A lack of hard intelligence also means the US is largely left in the dark when it comes to Kim’s plans. The North lacks the widespread use of technology that not only facilitates economic and societal advances, but also provides critical windows and opportunities to glean information for the intelligence services of the US and its allies. “Since so much of what North Korea does is driven by the leader himself, you really have to get inside his head, and that’s a hard intelligence problem,” said Chris Johnstone, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. And on the international stage, the US’ efforts to punish North Korea have faltered due to pushback from Moscow and Beijing. In May, Russia and China vetoed a US-drafted UN resolution to strengthen sanctions on North Korea for its weapons testing – the first time either country had blocked a sanction vote against the North since 2006. Kim has spearheaded an aggressive weapons development program that far outstripped efforts by his father and grandfather, both former North Korean leaders – and experts say the country’s nuclear program is at the heart of Kim’s ambitions. In September, North Korea passed a law declaring itself a nuclear weapons state, with Kim vowing to “never give up” nuclear weapons. The law also demonstrated North Korea’s hopes of strengthening its ties with China and Russia, said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul. After China and Russia’s open opposition to new sanctions against North Korea, Kim “knows he has their backing,” said Schuster. He added that Kim’s weapons testing serves a dual purpose: apart from making a statement to the international community, it also boosts his own image domestically and cements the regime’s power. “It’s a very paranoid regime – (Kim) is as worried about the people under him as he is worried about regime change from the outside,” said Schuster. With the tests, Kim, is telling his own senior people, “We can deal with whatever the threat the West, the US and South Korea can come up with,” he said. However, in terms of wider public perception, KCNA, North Korea’s state-run media, has made no mention of missile launches for months – since its last report of a launch in March. Lewis, the expert at the Middlebury Institute, added that North Korea will likely continue developing weapons such as ICBMs and submarine-launched ballistic missile until “they get to a point where they’re satisfied with that – then I think they’ll probably express an interest in talking again.” The concern in the short-term is whether North Korea will launch a nuclear test, which Lewis said could come “anytime.” However, Schuster and Lankov both said that given the friendly relationship between North Korea and China, Kim might wait until after China holds its high-profile Communist Party Congress later this month – if it happens at all. The meeting of the party elite is the most significant event on the Chinese political calendar – especially so this year, with Chinese leader Xi Jinping expected to be appointed to a third term in power, further cementing his status as the most powerful Chinese leader in decades. Kim “depends too much on Chinese aid to keep his country afloat,” meaning he can’t afford to “do anything to detract from the Party Congress,” said Schuster. “So although China can’t dictate to him what he must do … he will not cause them problems.” After October, however, the runway is clear for any more significant weapons tests, said Lankov. South Korean and US officials have been warning since May that North Korea may be preparing for a nuclear test, with satellite imagery showing activity at its underground nuclear test site. Read More Here

Experts Say Trump's Fourth Defamation Case Has “Almost No Chance” https://digitalarizonanews.com/experts-say-trumps-fourth-defamation-case-has-almost-no-chance/ ”He’s filing it because it helps perpetuate his narrative that he’s a victim of the system,“ one attorney tells Donald Trump has “almost no chance” in the defamation case he filed Monday against CNN, legal experts say of the former president’s latest attempt to sue a news organization over negative coverage — his fourth since 2020, when he filed an earlier suit against CNN as well as The New York Times and The Washington Post. “This new suit seems to have even less of a chance than the previous ones,”Fred Schauer, a University of Virginia law professor, said that defamation actions against public officials or candidates for public office cannot be based on the strong opinions and interpretations in the suit. This was in response to the 1964 Supreme Court ruling in New York Times v. Sullivan. Trump’s suit seeks $475 million in damages for what the former president calls a “campaign of libel and slander”That was included “defamatory labels of ‘racist,’ ‘Russian lackey,’ ‘insurrectionist,’ and ultimately ‘Hitler.’”Although the suit claims Hitler-like comparisons, “actual malice,”Experts believe it will be difficult to succeed as a critical component of any defamation suit. “Defamation law is designed to allow people to sue for false statements of fact, but to preserve the ability to make statements of opinion,”RonNell Andersen Jones is a First Amendment scholar who is also a law professor at Utah. Schauer concurred: “Since the basis for Trump’s suit is not the publication of a fact, let alone a knowingly false one, there is essentially no chance he will win, and almost no chance that he will even survive a motion to dismiss at an early stage,”He said that Trump would need to prove that his statements were true. “in the realm of hard fact, that the claimed hard fact was false and that CNN knew it was false — or suspected it was false — at the time of publication.” David Sloss, a professor Santa Clara University School of Law, believes the former president said that the suit — which has “zero chance of winning that claim” — is less about a victory in a courthouse than in the court of public opinion. “I don’t think he’s really filing it because he thinks he can win; I think he’s filing it because it helps perpetuate his narrative that he’s a victim of the system,”Sloss narrated. “It’s mostly about publicity and public relations and not about not really about trying to present a viable legal claim.” Jones agreed. “The real focus of these sorts of lawsuits tends to be the [former] President’s political base, who will hear the threat of a lawsuit and clock only that this news organization has so crossed the line that the President is doing it,”He said that the move was delegitimizing the press and positioned the media as an enemy. “It casts Trump as a source of truth, and the news organization as sources of falsehoods,”Jones stated. “The wider goal may just be messaging that there was a lie, rather than ultimately getting to court and proving that there is actionable defamation.”Jones notes that it is difficult to sue a news organization because they have called you racist. “the courts have often considered accusing someone of racism to be opinion and not factual assertion.” Since the three other similar cases were filed 2020, two Supreme Court Justices — Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch, who was appointed by Trump — have expressed an interest in revisiting libel law precedents like Times v. Sullivan. However, no shift in libel doctrineThis has happened. This case will be heard by the same courts as other cases. “Some justices would like to make a change, but that change hasn’t happened,”Jones stated. “The First Amendment’s standard as of today remains strongly protective news organizations like CNN in these kinds of cases, and remains a very tough standard for public figures and public officials like Donald Trump.” Sloss was added: “It’s very unlikely that this will get to the Supreme Court and I don’t think there’s going to be any changes in the relevant First Amendment doctrine soon enough to help Donald Trump in this lawsuit.” YWrapPRO has made an exclusive article available to you (free) today. If you would like to have access to all of our member-only stories and virtual events, please CLICK HERE to receive 7 free days of WrapPRO – The Essential Source for Entertainment Insiders. Read More Here

Asia-Pacific Markets Fall Ahead Of U.S. Jobs Report https://digitalarizonanews.com/asia-pacific-markets-fall-ahead-of-u-s-jobs-report/ The logo of the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), operated by Japan Exchange Group Inc. (JPX), is displayed at the bourse in Tokyo, Japan, on Friday, Oct. 2, 2020. Akio Kon | Bloomberg via Getty Images Shares in the Asia-Pacific fell on Friday ahead of the monthly U.S. jobs report, which is likely to guide the Federal Reserve’s monetary decision in November. Payrolls are expected to increase 275,000 in September, and unemployment is predicted to be steady at 3.7%, according to economists surveyed by Dow Jones. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index lost 1.27% in the final hour of trade and the Hang Seng Tech index shed 2.96%. The Nikkei 225 in Japan fell 0.71% to 27,116.11 and the Topix index slipped 0.82% to 1,906.80. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.8% to 6,762.80. South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.22% to 2,232.84 while the Kosdaq dropped 1.07% to 698.49. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 1.29%. Markets in mainland China remain closed for a holiday. Overnight in the U.S., major indexes fell — the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 346.93 points, or 1.15%, to 29,926.94. The S&P 500 declined 1.02% to 3,744.52, while the Nasdaq Composite was 0.68% lower at 11,073.31. “Equities struggled as markets await the much-anticipated U.S. payrolls data … and as comments from Fed officials maintained a ‘more is needed’ vibe,” ANZ Research analysts wrote in a Friday note. Asian currencies to face more depreciation toward year-end, says Nomura Asia currencies are “still in the mid phase” of depreciation and will continue to weaken against the U.S. dollar until the end of the year, said Craig Chan, global head of FX strategy at Nomura Securities “Central banks in the region will have to think about whether they need to continue hiking interest rates to stabilize their currencies, or allow for more flexibility around currency depreciation,” Chan said on “Street Signs Asia,” adding that he expects to see the latter. “We will continue to see intervention come through, but because of the reserve drainage, we’ve seen through this whole year in Asia, there has to be other actions,” he said. –Charmaine Jacob Inflation could resurge if the Fed pivots too early, former Fed president says Former Kansas City Federal Reserve President Thomas Hoenig said the Fed could “reignite” inflation if it stops raising interest rates “too soon.” The Fed should not enter a rate-cutting cycle immediately after reaching the terminal rate, Hoenig told CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia.” Officials have signaled their intention to raise rates to 4.6% by 2023. Speaking of the Fed’s cycle of rate hikes, Hoenig said, “They need to stay there and not back off of that too soon to where they reignite inflation, say in the second quarter [of] 2023 or the third quarter.” “They have a very delicate and very difficult period ahead of them in terms of decision-making,” he said. — Jihye Lee CNBC Pro: Fund manager says oil is in a multi-year bull market – and names 3 stocks to cash in Oil is in a bull market that’s going to last for at least six years, according to fund manager Eric Nuttall. The partner and senior portfolio manager at Ninepoint Partners, which manages more than $8 billion in assets, named three stocks for investors to cash in. Pro subscribers can read more here. — Zavier Ong Malaysia set to announce its budget for 2023 Malaysia’s budget will carry an “even more pronounced” election focus now that speculation of a vote happening this year has grown, according to Mizuho. Economist Lavanya Venkateswaran wrote in a note, “higher allocations towards cash handouts and other social transfers” are expected, but the government also needs to balance that with the “reality of fading commodity tailwinds in 2023,” which will affect Malaysia’s tax revenues. “In walking a fine line between sticking to its fiscal consolidation agenda and playing up the election card, we suspect the governments’ scope to announce more medium-term tax reforms (diversifying the tax base away from oil, for example) is limited,” she wrote. “The underlying assumption is that the government sticks to its stated fiscal consolidation agenda of narrowing the deficit to 5.0% of GDP from 2022-2024; this implies a deficit of 4.5-5.0% of GDP in 2023,” the note said. — Abigail Ng CNBC Pro: Tesla or Nvidia? One will dominate in A.I., analyst says, giving it 50% upside Tech’s next frontier — artificial intelligence — is still in its adolescence, but offers significant growth opportunities for suppliers and users alike, according to Truist Securities. Both Nvidia and Tesla offer ways to get exposure to AI, the analysts say, revealing their price targets on both stocks. CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here. — Weizhen Tan Samsung posts decline in operating profit for the first time since late 2019 South Korean chipmaker Samsung Electronics announced a 31.7% drop in operating profit in the third quarter of 2022 compared with the same period a year ago, according to a preliminary earnings release. Demand for semiconductors has slowed, the release showed. Operating profit fell to 10.8 trillion Korean won ($7.65 billion), compared with 15.8 trillion won in the third quarter of 2021. That’s the first decline in quarterly profits since the fourth quarter of 2019, data from Refinitiv Eikon showed. Sales rose to 77 trillion Korean won in the July-to-September quarter, from 73.98 trillion won in the same period last year. Shares of Samsung Electronics fell as much as 1.95% in Asia’s morning. — Abigail Ng Read More Here

Biden Offers Stark 'Armageddon' Warning On The Dangers Of Putin's Nuclear Threats | CNN Politics https://digitalarizonanews.com/biden-offers-stark-armageddon-warning-on-the-dangers-of-putins-nuclear-threats-cnn-politics/ Washington CNN  —  President Joe Biden on Thursday delivered a stark warning about the dangers behind Russian President Vladimir Putin’s nuclear threats as Moscow continues to face military setbacks in Ukraine. “First time since the Cuban missile crisis, we have a direct threat of the use (of a) nuclear weapon if in fact things continue down the path they are going,” Biden warned during remarks at a Democratic fundraiser in New York where he was introduced by James Murdoch, the youngest son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, according to the pool report. He added: “I don’t think there’s any such thing as the ability to easily (use) a tactical nuclear weapon and not end up with Armageddon.” It’s striking for the President to speak so candidly and invoke Armageddon, particularly at a fundraiser, while his aides from the National Security Council to the State Department to the Pentagon have spoken in much more measured terms, saying they take the threats seriously but don’t see movement on them from the Kremlin. “I’m trying to figure out what is Putin’s off ramp?” Biden said during the event, “Where does he find a way out? Where does he find himself in a position that he does not not only lose face but lose significant power within Russia?” His comments come as the US considers how to respond to a range of potential scenarios, including fears that Russians could use tactical nuclear weapons, according to three sources briefed on the latest intelligence and previously reported by CNN. 02:08 – Source: CNN Ex-US defense secretary says in unlikely event that Putin resorts to nukes, he could use this weapon Officials have cautioned as recently as Thursday that the US has not detected preparations for a nuclear strike. However, experts view them as potential options the US must prepare for as Russia’s invasion falters and as Moscow annexes more Ukrainian territory. “This nuclear saber rattling is reckless and irresponsible,” Pentagon spokesperson Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said earlier Thursday. “As I’ve mentioned before, at this stage, we do not have any information to cause us to change our strategic deterrence posture, and we don’t assess that President Putin has made a decision to use nuclear weapons at this time.” Following Biden’s remarks, officials emphasized to CNN Thursday night that they had not seen any changes to Russia’s nuclear stance. A US official said that despite Biden’s warning that the world is the closest it has been to a nuclear crisis since the 1960s, they have not seen a change to Russia’s nuclear posture as of now. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre’s Tuesday statement that there has been no indication of a change in Russia’s posture and therefore no change in the US posture still stands, the official said. A senior US government official expressed surprise at the President’s remarks, saying there were no obvious signs of an escalating threat from Russia. While there is no question Russia’s nuclear posture is being taken seriously, this official said the President’s language at a fundraiser tonight caught other officials across the government off guard. “Nothing was detected today that reflected an escalation,” the official said, who went on to defend Biden’s remarks because of the ongoing gravity of the matter. At the fundraiser, Biden was speaking clearly about the threat officials believe Russia poses, a person familiar with his thinking told CNN. Still, US officials have taken somber note of the Russian President’s repeated public threats to use nuclear weapons. In a televised address late last month, Putin said, “If the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, we will without doubt use all available means to protect Russia and our people. This is not a bluff.” Last Friday, at a ceremony in which he announced the illegal annexation of four Ukrainian regions, Putin said Russia would use “all available means” to defend the areas, adding that the US had “created a precedent” for nuclear attacks in the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II. “We’ve got a guy I know fairly well,” Biden said of Putin Thursday. “He’s not joking when he talks about potential use of tactical nuclear weapons or biological or chemical weapons because his military is, you might say, significantly under-performing.” This story has been updated with additional information. Read More Here

A Suspect Is In Custody After 2 People Are Killed, 6 Others Wounded In Series Of Stabbings In Front Of Las Vegas Casino, Police Say | CNN https://digitalarizonanews.com/a-suspect-is-in-custody-after-2-people-are-killed-6-others-wounded-in-series-of-stabbings-in-front-of-las-vegas-casino-police-say-cnn/ CNN  —  A suspect is in custody after two people were killed and six others were wounded in a series of stabbings in front of a casino in Las Vegas on Thursday, police said. Three of the surviving six victims were taken to hospitals, where they were in critical condition, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said in a news release. The remaining three victims were in stable condition. One victim died at the scene, and another was pronounced dead at a hospital, police said. The suspect, 32-year-old Yoni Barrios, was taken into custody on two counts of open murder with a deadly weapon and six counts of attempted murder with a deadly weapon, police said in the news release. The suspect has been booked into Clark County Detention Center. It is unclear if Barrios has legal representation. The incident took place near the Wynn hotel and casino in the 3100 block of South Las Vegas Boulevard shortly before noon. Police Capt. Dori Koren said it was too early to determine a motive. “The initial stabbing occurs on the sidewalk area. It appears unprovoked. There is no altercation beforehand,” Police Deputy Chief James LaRochelle said earlier Thursday. “That stabbing occurs quickly, and then the suspect subsequently goes southbound on the sidewalk area and stabs additional victims.” A large kitchen knife was found at the scene, police said. Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said the victims were a combination of locals and tourists, and police will provide information on them after their families have been contacted. The suspect doesn’t appear to be from the area and is believed to have acted alone, authorities said. “Our thoughts are with the victims of this senseless attack on the Strip today,” Clark County officials said in a statement posted on Facebook. “We are grateful for the quick response from our Clark County Fire Department, LVMPD and other first responders.” Read More Here

City Holds Seminar On Proposed Building Code Changes https://digitalarizonanews.com/city-holds-seminar-on-proposed-building-code-changes/ A group of about 50 residents got a look at changes to the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) and the International Green Construction Code (IGCC) Sept. 27 that Scottsdale City Council is scheduled to approve in November. The scope of the IECC has increased in the 22 years since its inception, said Scottsdale Senior Building Consultant Anthony Floyd: It’s gone from looking at the energy efficiency of buildings to looking at it over the life of the building, he said. Changes to this year’s IECC center on keeping roofs on new construction projects cool, creating the charging infrastructure to accommodate electric vehicles in single and multi-family buildings, and additional efficiency package options for residential solar panels. The intent of the IGCC is different than the IECC, Floyd said. “It’s not just health, safety and public welfare,” Floyd said. “It’s also in terms of the public welfare, the extended public welfare – reducing emissions from buildings that can contribute to climate change, enhancing building health, conserve water, use sustainable and regenerated materials and enhance resilience to natural and human caused hazards.” Changes to the IGCC for commercial buildings include requirements for electric vehicle charging stations, heat island mitigation for 50% of asphalt parking areas; water efficient irrigation systems and solar panel systems. Commercial buildings also would have to have low gas emitting paints, sealants, adhesives, flooring and acoustical ceiling tiles for commercial buildings, construction waste management and “reduced impact” material options. Audience members were allowed to ask questions about the changes. For instance, one question was whether there would be any incentive to repair solar systems if they go down after they are installed. “No, typically with building codes, once the (approval) is issued, we’re not monitoring the performance of the building,” Floyd said. Daniel Ishac asked, “Is there a threshold at which a renovation project would become subject to any of the new requirements and if not has there been any thought given to creating that threshold?” The building codes do not require buildings to be brought up to today’s code if they were built and approved under a previous building code. There are exceptions and there is a certain premise that if you touch something, it’s not necessary to bring the whole building up to code, Floyd said. But, he added, whatever is done does need to be up to today’s code. The city also plans to adopt similar measures for new home construction as well as multifamily residential developments. Information: scottsdaleaz.gov/green-building-program. Read More Here

Kelly Criticizes Biden, Masters Backtracks In Senate Debate – KESQ https://digitalarizonanews.com/kelly-criticizes-biden-masters-backtracks-in-senate-debate-kesq/ By JONATHAN J. COOPER Associated Press PHOENIX (AP) — Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly distanced himself from President Joe Biden on Thursday, calling the U.S.-Mexico border “a mess” and saying his party doesn’t understand border issues during his first and only debate against his Republican challenger Blake Masters. Masters, trying to back away from some of the hard-line positions he took during the bruising GOP primary, said there should be some limits on abortion but not a national ban, conceded after a few prompts that Biden was the legitimately elected president and acknowledged that he hadn’t seen evidence the 2020 vote count was rigged. For Masters, the debate was a chance for a reset in his first political campaign, with polls showing he’s trailing Kelly in a race that could help determine party control of the Senate. Kelly, seeking his first full term in office and cognizant of Biden’s faltering approval ratings, sought to portray himself as an effective senator who was working for solutions on the country’s immigration problem and Americans’ economic worries. On defense over an issue that Republicans have made a central plank of their bid to retake the Senate majority, Kelly said he’s stood up to his party when necessary to stem the flow of illegal immigration and drug trafficking. “When I got to Washington, D.C., one of the first things I realized was the Democrats don’t understand this issue,” Kelly said. “And Republicans just want to talk about it, complain about it but actually not do anything about it. They just want to politicize that.” He pointed to his opposition to Biden’s plans to end a pandemic-era program that allows for the speedy removal of immigrants in the name of public health. “When the president decided he’s going to do something dumb on this and change the rules, that would create a bigger crisis, I told him he was wrong,” Kelly said. The Arizona race is one of a handful of contests that Republicans targeted in their bid to take control of what is now a 50-50 Senate. Kelly, a retired astronaut and Navy pilot, first captured the seat in 2020, winning a special election to fill the remainder of the late Sen. John McCain’s term. Masters, a protégé of billionaire investor Peter Thiel, was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, who cited the candidate’s strident support of his lies about a stolen 2020 election. On Thursday night, Masters tried to pivot away from claims of a rigged election and instead blamed Trump’s loss on a conspiracy among powerful institutions. “I suspect President Trump would be in the White House today if big tech and big media and the FBI didn’t work together to put the thumb on the scale to get Joe Biden in there,” Masters said, claiming institutions conspired to bury news stories about material on a laptop owned by Hunter Biden, the president’s son. Under repeated questioning, he acknowledged that he hasn’t seen evidence that the vote count or election results were manipulated, as Trump has claimed. Numerous federal and local officials, a long list of courts, top former campaign staffers and even Trump’s own attorney general have all said there is no evidence of the fraud he alleges. Masters endeared himself to many GOP primary voters with his penchant for provocation and contrarian thinking. But since then, he has struggled to redefine his image for the more moderate swing voters he will need to win in November. Kelly drew from a pile of controversial statements Masters made during the primary to portray him as an extremist. He repeatedly hammered Masters’ earlier call to “cut the knot” and “privatize Social Security,” a plan that Kelly said would “send your savings to Wall Street.” Masters later scrubbed some controversial positions from his website. He now says he wants to protect Social Security for older and middle-aged workers while creating a private investment option for younger workers. On abortion, Masters said Thursday that he’s “pro-life as a matter of conscience” and believes states should be able to set their own laws on terminating pregnancies, but said he’d support federal legislation banning it after 15 weeks gestation. During the GOP primary, Masters said abortion was “demonic” and called for a federal personhood law that would give fetuses the rights of people. Kelly said abortion should be a personal decision and said he supports limits from Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturned last summer that guaranteed a right to an abortion. “I think we all know guys like this, guys that think they know better than everyone about everything,” Kelly said, turning to Masters. “You think you know better than women and doctors about abortion.” Masters tried to pierce Kelly’s image as an independent moderate willing to work across the aisle. He said Kelly has failed to use his leverage to secure the border and is responsible for rising prices that are forcing families to make tough decisions. The Phoenix metro area has been the hardest hit nationally by inflation, according to an analysis by the personal finance website WalletHub. “Two years ago Mark Kelly stood right there and he promised to be independent,” Masters said in his opening statement, calling Kelly a reliable vote for Biden’s agenda. “But he broke that promise.” For Masters, the debate was a chance to go on the offensive against Kelly, whose popularity with independents helped him win two years ago in a state long dominated by Republicans. Thiel, who employed Masters for most of his adult life and bankrolled the candidate’s primary campaign, has not opened his wallet for the general election, though he has held fundraisers. A super political action committee controlled by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has pared back its own spending commitments. That has left Democrats an opening to define Masters on their terms. Masters met Thiel when Masters took a class that the billionaire taught at Stanford University. They wrote a book together, Thiel hired him and Masters eventually rose to senior positions in Thiel’s foundation and his investment firm. The debate came less than a week before early and mail voting begins in the state, the methods chosen by at least 80% of voters in Arizona in recent elections. ___ Associated Press writer Bob Christie in Phoenix contributed to this report. ___ For more information on the midterm elections, go to: https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections Read More Here

Austria's President Likely To Be Re-Elected As 'safe' Choice https://digitalarizonanews.com/austrias-president-likely-to-be-re-elected-as-safe-choice/ VIENNA — Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen, who held office through a period of domestic political instability, a global pandemic and the ongoing war in Ukraine, has campaigned for reelection by pitching himself as the stable option in unstable times. Voters are widely expected to hand Van der Bellen a second term. The main question is whether his victory will come when the country holds the first round of its presidential election on Sunday or if the election will go to a second-round runoff. Campaign posters in recent weeks featured the incumbent occupant of Vienna’s Hofburg presidential palace with a red-white-red background — representing the colors of the Austrian flag — and the slogan “The Safe Choice in Stormy Times.” Van der Bellen, who previously belonged to The Greens but is running as an independent, is one of seven candidates vying for the presidency. He has the implicit or explicit backing of most major parties in Austria, which is partly why his reelection is so likely. The Greens, the Social Democrats and the liberal Neos have endorsed him, and the conservative People’s Party declined to field a challenger. Of the five parties represented in the Austrian Parliament, only the far-right Freedom Party opted to run a candidate against him — its former parliamentary leader Walter Rosenkranz, a lawyer. Other candidates on the ballot include the left-leaning, satirical Beer Party’s Dominik Wlazny, known as Marco Pogo, as well as a handful of right-wing and conspiracy-minded candidates, such as Michael Brunner of the anti-coronavirus party People Freedom Fundamental Rights and Gerald Grosz, a former leader of the now-defunct, far-right party Alliance for the Future of Austria. Austrian presidents are elected for six-year terms and serve as the country’s head of state. Although the position on paper holds significant authority, including to sign off on legislation, dismiss government ministers and to dissolve the parliament and call for new elections, the powers are rarely used. Van der Bellen must receive 50% of the vote to avoid a runoff election in November. Opinion polling has consistently put him above that mark in recent weeks. Peter Hajek, head of the Vienna-based polling firm Public Opinion Strategies, said the most recent polls put Van der Bellen’s support well above 50%, meaning that he will likely reach that threshold even if there is low voter turnout. “Alexander Van der Bellen indeed holds all the trump cards,” Hajek said. As a result, the presidential campaign has been relatively subdued: Van der Bellen has opted for smaller events rather than large-scale rallies, and he declined to participate in televised debates with his opponents. Rosenkranz and other candidates, meanwhile, have used the race as an opportunity to get their messages and campaign rhetoric out despite the tough odds they face. Van der Bellen has said he is confident he can win outright in Sunday’s vote. “If things go well, I’m going to get more votes than all six of my competitors combined,” he said during an event at a Jewish community center this week. “If I don’t get my wish, well, then I’ll just win four weeks later. … I don’t want that. I want to win this Sunday.” Van der Bellen was first elected president in 2016 in a closely watched race between him and the Freedom Party’s Norbert Hofer. That year, the same one that produced the Brexit vote in the United Kingdom and Donald Trump’s election in the United States, Austria could have elected its first far-right head of state since World War II. This year, the Freedom Party has capitalized on inflation and rising energy prices to make modest poll gains in recent months. But it’s been unable to pose the kind of strong challenge to Van der Bellen that Hofer did six years ago. Early election projections should be available shortly after the polls close at 5 p.m. (3 p.m. GMT) Sunday. —— Philipp Jenne in Vienna contributed reporting. Read More Here

NC Senate Candidates To Meet In Likely Only Televised Debate https://digitalarizonanews.com/nc-senate-candidates-to-meet-in-likely-only-televised-debate-2/ RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The two major-party candidates seeking to succeed retiring North Carolina Republican Sen. Richard Burr are meeting for what is likely their only televised debate. Democrat Cheri Beasley and Republican Ted Budd agreed to a one-hour debate being held Friday night at a cable television studio in Raleigh. Budd is a three-term congressman from Davie County who received the endorsement of former President Donald Trump over a year ago. Trump again campaigned on his behalf two weeks ago in Wilmington. Beasley is a former chief justice of the state Supreme Court and would be the first Black senator for North Carolina if elected. The election outcome could decide which party takes a majority in the current 50-50 Senate. Budd has said Beasley would push President Joe Biden’s agenda that’s led to inflation and unchecked immigration. Beasley says Budd would seek extreme abortion restrictions and has voted against efforts to rein in health care costs. While Beasley’s campaign has outraised Budd’s, national Republicans have already spent over $20 million on advertising opposing Beasley. Democrats in Washington haven’t been as generous in fighting Budd. Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Read More Here

Riot Plea: Proud Boys Member Admits To Seditious Conspiracy https://digitalarizonanews.com/riot-plea-proud-boys-member-admits-to-seditious-conspiracy-2/ Far-right Proud Boys member Jeremy Joseph Bertino, second from left, joins other supporters of President Donald Trump who are wearing attire associated with the Proud Boys as they attend a rally at Freedom Plaza, Dec. 12, 2020, in Washington. Bertino pleaded guilty on Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022, to plotting with other members of the Proud Boys to violently stop the transfer of presidential power after the 2020 election, making him the first member of the extremist group to plead guilty to a seditious conspiracy charge. (AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez, File) WASHINGTON (AP) — A North Carolina man pleaded guilty Thursday to plotting with other members of the far-right Proud Boys to violently stop the transfer of presidential power after the 2020 election, making him the first member of the extremist group to plead guilty to a seditious conspiracy charge. Jeremy Joseph Bertino, 43, has agreed to cooperate with the Justice Department’s investigation of the role that Proud Boys leaders played in the mob’s attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, a federal prosecutor said. Bertino’s cooperation could ratchet up the pressure on other Proud Boys charged in the siege, including former national chairman Henry “Enrique” Tarrio. The guilty plea comes as the founder of the another extremist group, the Oath Keepers, and four associates charged separately in the Jan. 6 attack stand trial on seditious conspiracy — a rarely used Civil War era offense that calls for up to 20 years behind bars. Bertino traveled to Washington with other Proud Boys in December 2020 and was stabbed during a fight, according to court documents. He was not in Washington for the Jan. 6 riot because he was still recovering from his injuries, court papers say. Bertino participated in planning sessions in the days leading up to Jan. 6 and received encrypted messages as early as Jan. 4 indicating that Proud Boys were discussing possibly storming the Capitol, according to authorities. A statement of offense filed in court says that Bertino understood the Proud Boys’ goal in traveling to Washington was to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s victory and that the group was prepared to use force and violence if necessary to do so. On Jan. 6, Bertino applauded the insurrection from afar and sent messages encouraging other Proud Boys to keep pushing toward the Capitol. “DO NOT GO HOME. WE ARE ON THE CUSP OF SAVING THE CONSTITUTION,” he wrote on a social media account. That night, he messaged Tarrio, “You know we made this happen.” Bertino also pleaded guilty to a charge of unlawfully possessing firearms in March 2022 in Belmont, North Carolina. U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly agreed to release Bertino pending a sentencing hearing, which wasn’t immediately scheduled. Justice Department prosecutor Erik Kenerson said sentencing guidelines for Bertino’s case recommend a prison sentence ranging from four years and three months to five years and three months. A trial is scheduled to start in December for Tarrio and four other members charged with seditious conspiracy: Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola. The charging document for Bertino’s case names those five defendants and a sixth Proud Boys member as his co-conspirators. Tarrio’s case is among the most serious charged in the attack, which sent lawmakers running and left dozens of officers bloodied and bruised. The indictment in Tarrio’s case alleges that the Proud Boys held meetings and communicated over encrypted messages to plan for the attack in the days leading up to Jan. 6. On the day of the riot, authorities say Proud Boys dismantled metal barricades set up to protect the Capitol and mobilized, directed and led members of the crowd into the building. Video testimony by Bertino was featured in June at the first hearing by the House committee investigating Jan. 6. The committee showed a clip of Bertino saying that the group’s membership “tripled, probably” after Trump’s comment at a presidential debate that the Proud Boys should “stand back and stand by.” Tarrio wasn’t in Washington on Jan. 6, but authorities say he helped put into motion the violence that day. Police arrested Tarrio in Washington two days before the riot and charged him with vandalizing a Black Lives Matter banner at a historic Black church during a protest in December 2020. Tarrio was released from jail on Jan. 14 of this year after serving his five-month sentence for that case. More than three dozen people charged in the Capitol riot have been identified by federal authorities as leaders, members or associates of the Proud Boys. Two — Matthew Greene and Charles Donohoe — pleaded guilty to conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding, the Jan. 6 joint session of Congress for certifying the Electoral College vote. Proud Boys members describe the group as a politically incorrect men’s club for “Western chauvinists.” They have brawled with antifascist activists at rallies and protests. Vice Media co-founder Gavin McInnes, who founded the Proud Boys in 2016, sued the Southern Poverty Law Center for labeling it as a hate group. Nordean, of Auburn, Washington, was a Proud Boys chapter president and a member of the group’s national “Elders Council.” Biggs, of Ormond Beach, Florida, is a self-described Proud Boys organizer. Rehl was president of the Proud Boys chapter in Philadelphia. Pezzola is a Proud Boys member from Rochester, New York. Today’s breaking news and more in your inbox Read More Here

Phoenix Country Day Takes Down Tonopah Valley https://digitalarizonanews.com/phoenix-country-day-takes-down-tonopah-valley/ Junior middle blocker Emma Lammerson goes in for a spike. Lauren Avenatti is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Phoenix Country Day School for AZPreps365.com. PARADISE VALLEY, Ariz. – Phoenix Country Day School girls’ varsity volleyball team swept Tonopah Valley High School, 3-0, to secure its 12th win of the season on Thursday night.  The Eagles quickly showed dominance in the first set at Najafi Gymnasium, winning thirteen points in a row, ultimately taking the set 25-7. PCDS consecutively won the second and third sets, 25-13 and 25-21, coming out victorious on their home turf. Head coach Kat Glaeseman said her team was able to find a level of control in the game. “I think we have girls who really work hard and want to do their best. There’s no motivation issues. Everyone’s trying their best and working hard every day,” Glaeseman said. The freshmen duo of outside hitter Asia Harper and setter Josie Robinson were both standouts in Thursday’s game. “When we were going into the season, I was a libero, but then the coach told me I was going to be an outside, so it was kind of challenging for me to take on a new position. But, when I saw the team during tryouts, I knew that I could do this, and I could try new things. Everyone was just so welcoming,” Harper said. Robinson emphasized just how full circle this season has been, as she’s filling the shoes of her older sister and PCDS alumna, Lilly. “My older sister, Lilly, also started as a freshman, and she was a setter as well. I always looked up to her and knowing that when she graduated that I immediately got to try out to be the setter on varsity was amazing. It felt like I was just like her. She’s helped me with everything that I do, and it’s so exciting for me,” Robinson said. Glaeseman said the youth on her team show how much potential is in the future of the varsity squad. “I think where we trip up is that we’re young, we’re still trying to figure each other out. We’re a brand new team to each other. So, there’s definitely a lot of growth potential because the desire is there. A majority of the starters are underclassmen, so I think we’re still trying to figure that out. We’re hoping that some people step up in some ways and others step up in other ways. It’s been a big growth year for us,” Glaeseman said. Phoenix Country Day’s annual Blue and Gold weekend, starting Oct. 21, celebrates the fall athletics and acts as the school’s homecoming. The girls’ varsity volleyball team is front and center during this tradition as it plays their rival, Rancho Solano Prep. It’s a weekend on the calendar that has PCD’s young players excited. “I think it’ll be really fun. Afterwards, we’re gonna have this big carnival. We’re playing a really good team, so I think we’re all just gonna pour our hearts out,” Harper said. “Everyone comes out to support, even if they don’t like volleyball. It’s the one day a year where everyone just comes together, and I’m so happy that Asia gets to experience it,” Robinson said. The Phoenix Country Day girls’ varsity volleyball team travels to face sectional opponent Scottsdale Preparatory Academy at 6 p.m. on Oct. 17. Read More Here

Trump-Backed Blake Masters Pummels Mark Kelly Over Biden, Borders And Soaring Inflation In Testy Arizona Debate https://digitalarizonanews.com/trump-backed-blake-masters-pummels-mark-kelly-over-biden-borders-and-soaring-inflation-in-testy-arizona-debate/ Trump-backed Republican Blake Masters pummeled his Democratic rival over “open borders”, Joe Biden and the soaring cost of living in a bad-tempered debate in Arizona on Thursday. A month before voters across the country go the polls in mid-term elections that will determine the control of Congress, Mr Masters laid into incumbent senator Mark Kelly, accusing him and Mr Biden of letting inflation surge out of control and failing to lock-down the nation’s borders. At times, particularly in the first half of the debate when Mr Masters appeared to have the momentum, Mr Kelly was saved by the intervention of Libertarian Mark Victor, who often denounced both Republicans and Democrats and claimed he had better ideas than both. “I want to speak up on behalf of the drunken sailor,” he said at one point, in what was likely the most memorable quote of the evening. Mr Masters 36, who is backed by tech billionaire Peter Thiel, said in his opening remarks: “Two years ago Mark Kelly stood right there and he promised to be independent. But he broke that promise.” Mr Kelly, 58, a former Naval officer and astronaut, and the husband of former congresswoman Gabby Giffords, said the Republican held views that were “dangerous” for Arizona. Trump-backed Blake Masters dodges question if he removed ‘big lie’ material from website Arizona Senate debate gives Masters a chance to reset race “He celebrated when Arizona enacted a national ban on abortion. And he wants to privatise your Social Security,” he said. The event on Thursday in Phoenix will be the only major debate held in Arizona this election cycle. The competing Senate candidates agreed to a single evening, while the debate for governor has been largely meaningless after Democratic candidate and current secretary of state Katie Hobbs said she would not appear with Republican opponent Kari Lake, who has repeated falsehoods that the 2020 election was rigged. Polls show the Senate race very close, with Real Clear Politics curating an average of around four points advantage to Mr Kelly. But other polls have suggested the race is all but tied, and with the Senate divided 50-50 – with vice president Kamala Harris possessing a tiebreaker vote – Republicans would love to bag Arizona and in doing so win the upper chamber. Two years, ago Mr Biden managed to become the first Democrat to win there since Bill Clinton in 1996, but he beat Donald Trump by just 10,000 votes. On a state that borders Mexico, immigration is a key issue. Mr Masters hammered away at Mr Kelly, blaming him and Mr Biden for allowing record number of migrants to enter the country. Records show the border authorities are set to make more than 2.3 million arrests during the 2022 fiscal year. That will exceed last year’s record of more than 1.7 million arrests. Mr Kelly sought to place space between his actions and those of Mr Biden. “When the president decided he’s going to do something dumb on this and change the rules and create a bigger crisis, I told him he was wrong,” Mr Kelly said. Mr Masters retorted: “We have a wide open southern border, so if that’s the best you can do, I respectfully request you resign.” Mr Masters had previously repeated Mr Trump’s falsehoods that the 2020 election was rigged. He also backed a very conservative position on abortion. After winning the Republican primary and seeking to moderate his image for the kind of suburban voters he would need to win to his side, Mr Masters changed his website. Around one-third of registered voters in Arizona are independents. On Thursday he was confronted about these changes by the moderators. “I encourage people to go read my website now it is still the most pro life most detailed agenda of any Senate candidate running nationwide. I’m pro life. I’m proud to be pro life. I will never run from that,” he said, dodging the question. He was also asked if he recognised Mr Biden as the president. Blake Masters is seeking to oust Mark Kelly (Getty Images) “Joe Biden is absolutely the president. I mean, my gosh, have you seen the gas prices lately,” he replied. He was asked if he thought the election was “rigged”. “I suspect that if the FBI didn’t work with big tech and big media to censor the Hunter Biden infer or the Hunter Biden crime story,” he said. “I suspect that changed a lot of people’s votes. I suspect President Trump would be in the White House today, if big tech and big media and the FBI didn’t work together to put the thumb on the scale to get Joe Biden in there.” Mr Kelly also landed some blows. Looking at Mr Masters, he said: “I think we all know guys like this – guys that think they know better than every one about everything.” He added: “You think you know better than women and doctors about abortion. You even think you know better than seniors about Social Security, and you think you know better than veterans about how to win a war.” He said: “Folks, we all know guys like this. And we can’t be letting them make decisions about us. Because it’s just dangerous.” Read More Here

Even Democrats And Republicans Agree, Democracy Is In Crisis https://digitalarizonanews.com/even-democrats-and-republicans-agree-democracy-is-in-crisis/ Photograph by Nathaniel St. Clair Seven out of ten Republicans — like seven of ten Democrats — believe that American democracy is in danger of collapse. Both sides correctly fear the end of our democracy. But they see the danger very differently. As Democrats see it, GOP candidates are mouthing Donald Trump’s “big lie” that the 2020 election was stolen and supporting the January 6 rioters at the Capitol as “patriots.” Democrats see Republican legislatures attacking the right to vote based on phony claims of election fraud — and they see GOP plans to steal elections if they lose. By contrast, as Republicans see it, there was a big steal. Indeed, hundreds of Republican political leaders claim that Trump won the 2020 election in a landslide, but that it was stolen by massive election fraud. Trump and his supporters have asserted a bewildering range of claims of wrongdoing, convincing fully 70 percent of Republican voters that President Biden was not legitimately elected. And now they’re fighting mad. “It may be necessary at some point soon for citizens to take up arms against the government,” 36 percent of Republicans agreed in a recent poll. How do you figure out which side is right? Actually, it’s not all that difficult. You can decide by asking yourself a few questions. If the 2020 election was marred by voting fraud on a massive scale, why did Trump’s own attorney general, Republican William Barr, say that “we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have affected a different outcome in the election”? If there had been a “steal,” what reason could Barr have had to hide the facts? Similarly, if Trump won the key battleground states, what reason could Republican election officials in those states have to deny the truth? Why, for example, would Georgia’s Secretary of State, Republican Brad Raffensperger, deny the fraud claims if there were any reason to believe there had been large-scale election wrongdoing? Isn’t the truth that he investigated and, like Barr, found no evidence of election cheating? Likewise in Arizona, if Trump really won, why did a Republican official responsible for voting records call Trump’s claims “insane lies”? If Trump won Arizona, why did a Republican-sponsored “audit” of the Arizona vote — as even Fox News reported — conclude that Biden actually won by an even larger margin than originally reported? And if there was electoral misconduct in states across the nation, why did every judge who considered any of Trump’s dozens of election lawsuits — including many appointed by Trump himself — throw out every single one? Ask yourself, how could the Democrats pull off a massive fraud, in state after state, involving millions of ballots — and leave not a trace of evidence? Trump judges found there was no evidence supporting Trump’s claims because the election wasn’t stolen. It just makes no sense to claim that all these Republicans — Trump’s attorney general, Republican election officials, Trump-appointed judges, and Trump White House lawyers too — were part of a giant, sinister conspiracy to steal the election for a Democrat. The alternative is easier to believe: Joe Biden won the election fair and square. And Trump, like a would-be dictator, lied about losing. And then it’s easy to see the danger: Trump and his GOP supporters prefer overthrowing American constitutional democracy to allowing voters to decide who should be president. And next time, they could succeed. Republican candidates in key states who claim to believe in the big lie are running to become the election officials who count the ballots next time. What will happen if they refuse to certify the actual results come 2024, or if state legislatures try to ignore what the voters in their states decide? The brutal truth: Republicans have given up on democracy. And American voters must decide whether they can trust a party that no longer trusts them. Read More Here

Trump News – Live: DoJ Believes Trump May Have More Documents, As Proud Boys Leader Pleads Guilty https://digitalarizonanews.com/trump-news-live-doj-believes-trump-may-have-more-documents-as-proud-boys-leader-pleads-guilty/ Former US president Donald Trump claims he can declassify top secret documents just ‘by thinking about it’ Donald Trump may still be hiding more top-secret documents he took from the White House at the end of his presidency Department of Justice officials believe, a report claims. A top official, Jay I Bratt, informed the former president’s lawyers that the government believes he has not yet returned all the material in his possession, two people briefed on the matte told The New York Times. Earlier, a Proud Boys leader pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy over the January 6 attack on the US Capitol. Jeremy Bertino is the first member of the far-right group to make a guilty plea on those charges. He also accepted charges of unlawful possession of a firearm by a prohibited person before US District Court Judge Tim Kelly on Thursday. Meanwhile, federal agents believe they have sufficient evidence to charge Hunter Biden with tax crimes and making false statements to purchase a firearm, The Washington Post reports. The Post reported on Thursday that investigators probing the activities of Joe Biden’s son believe they had gathered enough evidence some several months ago, and that the decision now rests in the hands of local US attorneys. Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska one of seven Republican Senators who voted to convict Donald Trump for his role in the January 6 riot, announced he would resign from the Senate to serve as president of the University of Florida. The University of Florida, which is based in Gainesville, announced him as the sole finalist for its position as president. Mr Trump gloated about it on Truth Social, writing, “Great news for the United States Senate, and our Country itself. Liddle’ Ben Sasse, the lightweight Senator from the great State of Nebraska, will be resigning. If he knew he was going to resign so early in his term, why did he run in the first place? But it’s still great news! The University of Florida will soon regret their decision to hire him as their President….” 1665119053 RNC threatens to sue Google for sending its emails to people’s spam folders ICYMI: The Republican National Committee has threatened to sue Google over claims its emails are landing in Gmail users’ spam folder at a higher rate than do emails from Democratic-aligned groups. RNC chair Ronna Romney McDaniel promised news about a lawsuit “soon” in an interview Thursday morning on Fox Business Network’s Mornings with Maria. “We need to find a way to keep Big Tech’s thumb off the scale in our elections and our democracy, because they should not be able to suppress emails that we’re sending to people who asked for us to send these emails,” she said. Read more: Graeme Massie7 October 2022 06:04 1665115308 Joe Scarborough says Walker is ‘perfect lab experiment’ to see ‘how low Republican party’ will go ICYMI: Joe Scarborough lambasted Republicans on Thursday morning for their unwavering defence of the GOP Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker, who in recent days has faced an onslaught of bad press after it was reported by The Daily Beast that the woman who he allegedly paid to have an abortion years before also happens to be the mother of one of his children. “It’s almost like a perfect lab experiment to see how low the Republican Party can go with people it’s willing to put in the United States Senate,” began the Morning Joe host, before listing the reports of alleged domestic abuse, bad behaviour with his son and discrepancies with the truth that have plagued the former football star’s campaign since its inception. “All of this comes even before we get to the fact that Republicans understand he’s not qualified to be a senator. He doesn’t know the issues. He can’t talk about any issues in a way that’s cogent, that makes any sense whatsoever,” said the MSNBC host. “This is almost the perfect lab experiment on just how low Republican voters are willing to go to quote, ‘own the libs.’ It’s not worth it.” Graeme Massie7 October 2022 05:01 1665112250 Feds have chargeable case against Hunter Biden: WaPo ICYMI: Federal agents investigating Joe Biden’s son Hunter believe they have a chargeable case against him, The Washington Post reported on Thursday. The Post reports that agents involved in the case believe they have gathered sufficient evidence to charge Mr Biden’s son with tax-related crimes as well as making a false statement while under oath to investigators regarding the purchase of a firearm. Donald Trump has long argued that Mr Biden’s son was involved in corrupt international business practices, but these potential charges do not appear to relate to the ex-president’s longstanding criticisms. Read Eric Garcia in The Independent for more: Graeme Massie7 October 2022 04:10 1665108230 Jan 6 committee hearing rescheduled for next Thursday ICYMI: The House select committee investigating January 6 will hold a public hearing next Thursday afternoon, rescheduling a meeting that was called off due to the landfall of Hurricane Ian in one member’s home state. Committee members announced on their website that the hearing would be held on 13 October at 1pm est. Read more: Graeme Massie7 October 2022 03:03 1665104630 Trump boasts that claim he assaulted Secret Service agent made him look ‘tough’ ICYMI: Former president Donald Trump on Wednesday boasted to a group of supporters that an ex-aide’s congressional testimony regarding his alleged assault of a Secret Service agent made him appear “physically tough”. The moment occurred as Mr Trump was attending the Hispanic Leadership conference in Miami. Mr Trump told a crowd of listeners that he “almost didn’t want” to dispute the accusation made by former aide to White House chief of staff Mark Meadows during her sworn testimony to the January 6 committee. “You know, I almost didn’t want to dispute it because a lot of people said I never knew you were that physically tough,” he told the crowd. Read more from Andrew Feinberg: Graeme Massie7 October 2022 02:03 1665102750 Trump may still be hiding more secret documents, DoJ official believes: report Donald Trump may still be hiding more top-secret documents he took from the White House at the end of his presidency Department of Justice officials believe, a report claims. A top official, Jay I Bratt, informed the former president’s lawyers that the government believes he has not yet returned all the material in his possession, two people briefed on the matter told The New York Times. Graeme Massie7 October 2022 01:32 1665100864 Inside the nastiest and potentially most important Senate race in the country A race that could determine control of the Senate, and the direction of the country for at least the next four years, was always going to be fiercely fought. But even in the cut-and-thrust of Trump-era politics, few could have predicted just how bitter the campaign for Pennsylvania’s seat would become. With one month to go until election day, the race between Democrat John Fetterman and his Republican opponent Mehmet Oz has the dubious honour of becoming the nastiest in the country, and there is little sign that either side is slowing down. Eric Garcia has the story. Graeme Massie7 October 2022 01:01 1665098753 What has Hunter Biden been accused of, and what comes next? The Washington Post reported stunning news on Thursday — federal investigators believe they have a chargeable case against Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden. Even more interestingly, they have felt that the case is sufficient to go to court for the past several months, according to the Post. John Bowden has the story. Graeme Massie7 October 2022 00:25 1665096639 Trump mocks Ben Sasse and brands him ‘lightweight’ The former president attacked the US Senator from Nebraska, who is one of just seven Republicans who voted to convict Trump over the January 6 insurrection. “Great news for the United States Senate, and our Country itself. Liddle’ Ben Sasse, the lightweight Senator from the great State of Nebraska, will be resigning,” Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social. “If he knew he was going to resign so early in his term, why did he run in the first place? But it’s still great news! The University of Florida will soon regret their decision to hire him as their President….” Graeme Massie6 October 2022 23:50 1665095573 Ben Sasse, one of seven Republicans who voted to convict Trump, to resign from the Senate Nebraska lawmaker was simultaneously a critic of the former president but also someone who frequently voted with him. Eric Garcia has the story for The Independent. Graeme Massie6 October 2022 23:32 Read More Here

NC Senate Candidates To Meet In Likely Only Televised Debate https://digitalarizonanews.com/nc-senate-candidates-to-meet-in-likely-only-televised-debate/ RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The two major-party candidates seeking to succeed retiring North Carolina Republican Sen. Richard Burr are meeting for what is likely their only televised debate. Democrat Cheri Beasley and Republican Ted Budd agreed to a one-hour debate being held Friday night at a cable television studio in Raleigh. Budd is a three-term congressman from Davie County who received the endorsement of former President Donald Trump over a year ago. Trump again campaigned on his behalf two weeks ago in Wilmington. Beasley is a former chief justice of the state Supreme Court and would be the first Black senator for North Carolina if elected. The election outcome could decide which party takes a majority in the current 50-50 Senate. Budd has said Beasley would push President Joe Biden’s agenda that’s led to inflation and unchecked immigration. Beasley says Budd would seek extreme abortion restrictions and has voted against efforts to rein in health care costs. While Beasley’s campaign has outraised Budd’s, national Republicans have already spent over $20 million on advertising opposing Beasley. Democrats in Washington haven’t been as generous in fighting Budd. Read More Here

A Bump And A Miss https://digitalarizonanews.com/a-bump-and-a-miss/ WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Thursday effectively acknowledged the failure of one of his biggest and most humiliating foreign policy gambles: a fist-bump with the de-facto leader of Saudi Arabia, the crown prince associated with human rights abuses. Biden’s awkward encounter with Mohammed bin Salman in July was a humbling attempt to mend relations with the world’s most influential oil power at a time when the US. was seeking its help in opposing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the resulting surge in oil prices. That fist bump three months ago was followed by a face slap this week from Prince Mohammed: a big oil production cut by OPEC producers and Russia that threatens to sustain oil-producer Russia in its war in Ukraine, drive inflation higher, and push gas prices back toward voter-angering levels just before U.S. midterms, undercutting the election prospects of Biden and Democrats. Asked about Saudi Arabia’s action, Biden told reporters on Thursday it was “a disappointment, and it says that there are problems” in the U.S.-Saudi relationship. A number of Democrats in Congress were calling on the U.S. to respond by pulling back on its decades-old provision of arms and U.S. military protection for Saudi Arabia, charging that Prince Mohammed had stopped upholding Saudi Arabia’s side of a more than 70-year strategic partnership. The relationship is based on the U.S. providing the kingdom with protection against its outside enemies, and on Saudi Arabia providing global markets with enough oil to keep them stable. Calling the oil production cuts “a hostile act,” New Jersey Democratic Rep. Tom Malinowski led two other lawmakers in introducing legislation that would pull U.S. troops and Patriot missile batteries out of the kingdom. The U.S. has no plans at the moment to withdraw military personnel or equipment from Saudi Arabia, State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel said Thursday. Congress and the administration were reacting to the announcement of a bigger than expected cut of 2 million barrels a day by the OPEC-plus group, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia. The production cut is likely to drive up prices, bolstering the oil revenue Russia is using to keep waging its war in Ukraine despite U.S.-led international sanctions and further shaking a global economy already struggling with short energy supply. Saudi oil minister Abdulaziz bin Salman, a half-brother of the crown prince, insisted at the OPEC-plus session there was no “belligerence” in the action. But he smiled as he separately told Arabic-speaking reporters that oil producers were “keeping the world on its toes.” As a candidate, Biden had made a passionate promise to make the Saudi royal family a “pariah” over human rights abuses, especially Saudi officials’ killing of U.S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018. The U.S. intelligence community formally concluded that Prince Mohammed, who wields much of the power in Saudi Arabia in the stead of his aging father, King Salman, had ordered or approved of Khashoggi’s killing. Biden as president disappointed rights activists when he opted not to penalize Prince Mohammed directly, citing his senior position in the kingdom and the U.S. strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia. Then Russia’s February invasion of Ukraine worsened an already tight global oil market, driving up gasoline prices and inflation overall. Ally Israel and some in the administration argued that smooth relations between Riyadh and Washington had to be the U.S. priority. As U.S. prices at the pump rose and Biden’s poll ratings fell further, senior administration officials began shuttling to the Gulf, seeking to soothe Prince Mohammed’s anger at Biden’s campaign remarks and the U.S. findings in Khashoggi’s killing. That led to Biden paying his first visit as president to Saudi Arabia in July, putting presidential prestige behind the attempt to get U.S.-Saudi relations, and the global oil supply, back on steadier ground. In Jeddah, Biden stopped short of offering a much-anticipated handshake. Instead, Biden, looking frailer and more stooped in comparison with Prince Mohammed, who is in his late 30s, leaned in to offer an out-of-character fist bump. Prince Mohammed reciprocated. Any smiles on the two men’s faces as their knuckles touched were fleeting. Critics deplored Biden’s outreach to a prince accused of ordering the imprisonment, abduction, torture and killing of those, even fellow royals and family members, who oppose him or express differing views. Even if “you’re not willing to use the sticks with MBS, then don’t give up the carrots for free,” Khalid al Jabri, the son of a former Saudi minister of state, Saad al Jabri, said Thursday, using the prince’s initials. The senior al Jabri accuses Prince Mohammed of sending a hit squad after him in 2018, and of detaining two of his children to try to force his return. Prince Mohammed denies any direct wrongdoing, although he says as a Saudi leader he accepts responsibility for events on his watch. Khalid al Jabri, who like his father now lives in exile, offered an argument echoed by rights advocates, Democratic lawmakers and others: “That is one major flaw of the Biden policy so far, that in this kind of U.S.-Saudi rapprochement, it has been lopsided, it’s been one-way concessions. And that doesn’t work for MBS.” He cited President Donald Trump’s handling of oil-market upheaval in 2020, when Prince Mohammed and Russian President Vladimir Putin were flooding the global market with cheap oil, driving U.S. producers of costlier shale oil to their knees. Trump brought it to an end with some phone calls and, by some news accounts, an indirect threat to Saudi Arabia’s U.S.-provided security. “Trump didn’t need to take the plane to Saudi, he didn’t need to like sell arms. He didn’t need to give fist bumps,” Khalid al Jabri said. “He’s a bully who knew how to deal with another bully.” Saudi Arabia has made a couple of moves that benefited the U.S. since Biden’s visit. Saudi Arabia was among the intermediaries who recently won the release of two Americans and other foreigners captured by Russia as they fought for Ukraine. And OPEC-plus made a modest increase in oil output shortly after the visit. Far sharper oil production cuts since then, however, have offset that, even before this week’s. Prince Mohammed and other Saudi officials also have kept up outwardly warm dealings with Russian officials. And rights advocates point to a series of multidecade prison terms handed down to Saudi men and women over the mildest of free speech, especially tweets, since Biden’s visit. By November, the Biden administration will have to decide whether to make another major concession to the prince. A U.S. court set that deadline for the U.S. to determine whether it will weigh in to agree or disagree with Prince Mohammed’s lawyer that the prince has legal immunity from a lawsuit in U.S. federal court over the killing of Khashoggi. Lawmakers are scheduled to be out of Washington until after the Nov. 8 midterm elections and when they return will be focused on funding federal agencies for the full fiscal year through September 2023. Prospects for a lame-duck Congress taking up the bill introduced by Malinowski and the two other lawmakers are slight. Rising gas prices would be bad news for Democrats heading into the final stretch of the midterm elections, while Republicans remain eager to capitalize on the decades-high inflation and rising cost of living, with high gas prices a constant reminder as voters fill up their tanks. Sen. Dick Durbin, the second-highest ranking Democrat in the Senate, had one of the more scathing reactions to OPEC’s announcement. “From unanswered questions about 9/11 & the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, to conspiring w/ Putin to punish the US w/ higher oil prices, the royal Saudi family has never been a trustworthy ally of our nation. It’s time for our foreign policy to imagine a world without their alliance,” he tweeted Thursday. Today’s breaking news and more in your inbox Read More Here

Authorities Arrest Man, Accusing Him Of Threatening To Hang Arizona Official https://digitalarizonanews.com/authorities-arrest-man-accusing-him-of-threatening-to-hang-arizona-official/ An Iowa man was arrested Thursday on charges that he left a pair of threatening voicemails for a local election official in Arizona and an official associated with the state attorney general’s office nearly a year after the 2020 election, the Justice Department said. Mark A. Rissi, of Hiawatha, Iowa, is accused of threatening to hang Clint Hickman, a member of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors. Rissi also allegedly left a threatening voicemail for an employee in Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich’s office. Rissi, 64, was charged with two counts of making a threatening interstate communication and one count of making a threatening telephone call, the Justice Department said. The case is part of the department’s Election Threats Task Force, which was launched in June 2021. It has charged people in numerous states. Hickman, a Republican who attended then-President Donald Trump’s final rally in the state just days before the 2020 election, was the chair of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, a Republican-controlled and -elected board that stood in staunch defense of the county’s 2020 election. Joe Biden narrowly won Arizona. Rissi is alleged to have left the voicemail for Hickman last September, accusing him of lying about the fairness of the 2020 election. The board of supervisors oversees elections in the county. “I am glad that you are standing up for democracy and want to place your hand on the Bible and say that the election was honest and fair,” he said, according to a Justice Department news release. “When we come to lynch your stupid lying Commie [expletive], you’ll remember that you lied on the [expletive] Bible, you piece of [expletive]. You’re gonna die, you piece of [expletive]. We’re going to hang you. We’re going to hang you.” The Justice Department, which redacted the expletives, said the call was made three days after the Cyber Ninjas, a cybersecurity firm, released a partisan review of Maricopa County’s 2020 election, which had been ordered by the GOP-controlled state Senate. Hickman confirmed Thursday that he listened to the voicemail. “I remember exactly where I was when I heard that voicemail. It was chilling. This wasn’t a prank call. This wasn’t protected speech. This was a serious threat to me and my family,” he said in a statement. “No one should be subjected to this kind of hatred,” he added. “And if we truly want to keep our country great, we will do everything we can to denounce threats against election workers and combat the disinformation that imperils our democracy.” Rissi is accused of leaving a separate voicemail with an official in Brnovich’s office on Dec. 8, claiming he was a “victim of a crime” that he described as “the theft of the 2020 election” and threatening hanging. “I’m a victim of a crime. My family is a victim of a crime. My extended family is a victim of a crime. That crime was the theft of the 2020 election,” Rissi is alleged to have said, suggesting that “conspirators” had deleted election fraud data from the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors computer system. If he is convicted, Rissi could face up to five years in prison for each count of making a threatening interstate communication and up to two years in prison for the threatening telephone call charge. Rissi could not be reached for comment. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com Read More Here

Ohio Launches Public Integrity Unit For Elections https://digitalarizonanews.com/ohio-launches-public-integrity-unit-for-elections/ COLUMBUS (AP) — Ohio’s Republican elections chief has announced a new public integrity unit in response to what he called Americans’ “crisis of confidence” in the electoral process even while acknowledging the state’s reputation for secure voting. The unit, taking effect next week, will consolidate and highlight the Ohio secretary of state’s investigative work and eventually have one or more dedicated investigator, Secretary of State Frank LaRose said in a statement. Those investigators won’t start until after the General Election, however. He referenced a growing national trend “that indicates a crisis of confidence in the electoral process.” That crisis is largely a concern of Republican voters and stems from claims by former President Donald Trump about election fraud in the campaign won by Joe Biden. Numerous federal and local election officials in both parties, a long list of courts, top former campaign staffers and even Trump’s own attorney general have all said there is no evidence of the election fraud the former president alleges. For his part, LaRose initially said the 2020 election was secure and accurate, but as last spring’s primary neared — which LaRose won, defeating a 2020 election skeptic — he began to echo some of Trump’s talking points. LaRose claimed there were problems in other states and touted his office’s work to combat voter fraud. Trump endorsed LaRose, a longtime supporter. LaRose said his new division will help his office more efficiently and thoroughly do work it already does, such as voting system certification and investigation of election law violations, including a team dedicated at looking into rare cases of voter fraud or suppression and campaign finance violations, said LaRose, who is seeking a second term in November. “Our elections are being scrutinized like never before, and any lack of absolute confidence in the accuracy and honesty of those elections weakens the very foundation of our democracy,” LaRose said in a statement. He also referred to Ohio’s “strong national reputation for secure, accurate, and accessible elections.” LaRose’s announcement follows a decision in Florida in which lawmakers and Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis created a police force dedicated to pursuing voter fraud and other election crimes. Democrats called LaRose’s news a waste of taxpayer dollars aimed at bolstering his political aspirations. LaRose’s name is often mentioned as a possible 2024 U.S. Senate candidate. In a referral of 11 individuals for possible election fraud in August, LaRose identified just a single case of possible illegal voting, said party spokesperson Matt Keyes, making the new office “a taxpayer-funded solution to a problem that doesn’t exist.” In fact, in a series of referrals since 2019, LaRose identified at least 548 cases of potential election fraud violations it referred to prosecutors, his office said. LaRose has acknowledged that cases of election fraud are a tiny fraction of overall votes cast in Ohio. Chelsea Clark, LaRose’s Democratic opponent, questioned the timing of the announcement. She also noted LaRose’s efforts to keep his other opponent, independent candidate Terpeshore Maras, off the ballot. Clark called out LaRose for a “history of politicizing these investigations to punish opponents.” Maras is a conservative podcaster who embraces Trump’s lies about the 2020 election. Last month, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled her eligible to run for Ohio secretary of state this fall. In August, LaRose’s office had upheld a judge’s decision that a number of Maras’ petition signatures were invalid, and invalidated her candidacy, a move overturned by the state Supreme Court. Today’s breaking news and more in your inbox Read More Here

GOP Steps Up Crime Message In Midterm’s Final Stretch https://digitalarizonanews.com/gop-steps-up-crime-message-in-midterms-final-stretch/ NEW YORK (AP) — The graphic surveillance video shows a man on a sidewalk suddenly punching someone in the head, knocking them to the ground. With muted screams and gunshots in the background, the video stitches together other surveillance clips of shootings and punching on streets and subway trains as a voiceover says, “You’re looking at actual violent crimes caught on camera in Kathy Hochul’s New York.” That’s not exactly true. The ad from Rep. Lee Zeldin, the Republican challenging New York Gov. Kathy Hochul in next month’s election, included video of an assault in California. Some of the footage depicted crimes that took place before Hochul took office last year. While acknowledging a mistake, Zeldin’s campaign defended the ad and said the message was clear: violent crime is out of control. That’s a theme GOP candidates across the U.S. are sounding in the final month of the critical midterm elections. The issue of crime is dominating advertising in some of the most competitive Senate races, including those in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Nevada, along with scores of House and governors campaigns such as the one in New York. The rhetoric is sometimes alarmist or of questionable veracity, closely echoing the language of former President Donald Trump, who honed a late-stage argument during the 2020 campaign that Democratic-led cities were out of control. That didn’t help Trump avoid defeat, but experts say Democrats would be wrong to ignore the potency of the attacks. “When violence is going up, people are concerned, and that’s when we tend to see it gain some traction as a political issue,” said Lisa L. Miller, professor of political science at Rutgers University, who focuses on crime as a political issue in countries across the world. The FBI released annual data this week that found violent crime rates didn’t increase substantially last year, though they remained above pre-pandemic levels. The report presents an incomplete picture, in part because it doesn’t include some of the nation’s largest police departments. More broadly, rates of violent crime and killings have increased around the U.S. since the pandemic, in some places spiking after hitting historic lows. Non-violent crime decreased during the pandemic, but the murder rate grew nearly 30% in 2020, rising in cities and rural areas alike, according to an analysis of crime data by The Brennan Center for Justice. The rate of assaults went up 10%, the analysis found. The rise defies easy explanation. Experts have pointed to a number of potential causes from worries about the economy and historically high inflation rates to intense stress and the pandemic that has killed more than 1 million people in the U.S. There is a history of candidates relying on racist tropes when warning of rising crime rates. During the 1988 presidential campaign, supporters of George H.W. Bush released the so-called Willie Horton ad that has become one of the most prominent examples of race-baiting in politics. In this year’s elections, Republicans often blame crime on criminal justice reforms adopted after George Floyd’s killing by Minneapolis police, including changes to bail laws that critics had long contended disproportionately impacted communities of color, along with accusations that Democrats have not been sufficiently supportive of law enforcement. Some GOP candidates are trying to make their case in communities of color. Zeldin, for instance, has delivered his anti-crime message while speaking at buildings and bodegas in diverse New York City neighborhoods. In Pennsylvania, the Republican nominee for Senate, heart surgeon-turned-TV talk show host Dr. Mehmet Oz, has toured the state holding “safe streets” forums in Black communities. Asked by a reporter about his focus on crime, Oz pointed to a conversation he had with Black Republican ward leaders in Philadelphia that turned from economic issues to struggling Black-owned businesses. “The African Americans in the group said, ‘Well, the deep problem is … people don’t feel safe,” Oz said in an interview. Malcolm Kenyatta, a Democratic state lawmaker from Philadelphia, said Oz is using crime victims to get votes but rejects steps like limiting the availability of firearms that would reduce gun violence. “Oz does not live in a community that is struggling with this kind of crime and nobody, nobody believes that he actually cares and would actively advance policy solutions that would help deal with this problem,” Kenyatta said. Despite the GOP messaging, it’s not clear that crime is a top priority for voters. In an AP-NORC poll conducted in June that allowed U.S. adults to name up to five issues they consider most important for the government to be working on in the next year, 11% named crime or violence, unchanged since December and well below the percentage naming many of the other top issues for Americans. A September Fox News poll asking people to name one issue motivating them to vote this year found just 1% named crime, even as most said they were very concerned about crime when asked directly. Still, Democrats are responding to Republican efforts to portray them as soft on crime. Hochul in recent days announced the endorsement of several law enforcement unions and released her own ad with a public safety message titled, “Focused on it,” to remind voters that she toughened the state’s gun laws. During a debate last week in Colorado, Democratic Gov. Jared Polis responded to his Republican opponent Heidi Ganahl, who has repeatedly portrayed him as soft on crime, by suggesting her plan to cut taxes would “defund the police” by cutting prison and police budgets. Ganahl denied that, calling herself a “law-and-order girl,” and blamed Polis for rising crime rates. In Oregon, the Republican candidate for governor is making crime a top issue in a three-person race, where an independent candidate who is a former Democratic state lawmaker could take enough votes from the Democratic nominee to help the GOP win the top office in a blue state. Democrat Tina Kotek has joined her opponents in pledging to increase police funding but has also backed tougher gun laws as part of a plan to tackle crime. That approach is one embraced by gun control group Everytown for Gun Safety Victory Fund, which is spending $2.4 million combined on ads in Wisconsin and Georgia to convince voters that Republicans who don’t support tougher gun laws are actually the ones “soft” on crime. “We can reset this narrative and neutralize the GOP’s, what I would call, artificial advantage on the issue,” said Charlie Kelly, a senior political advisor to Everytown. In some states, candidates are raising alarm about crime rates that remain relatively low or have even fallen. Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, a Democrat, said in a recent debate as he runs for reelection that the state’s crime is “going down despite some of the fearmongering you hear.” State data shows violent crime rates in Connecticut dropped 9% in 2021 from 2020, which Lamont pointed out in a recent debate with his Republican challenger, Bob Stefanowski, who has made “out of control” crime a central plank of his campaign. When asked how he can keep making the argument that crime is on the rise when the numbers tell a different story, Stefanowski said people are afraid of rising crime, but he denied stoking those fears. “If we weren’t highlighting this, we wouldn’t be doing our job. I can tell you when we’re out there, people are afraid. I’m not trying to make them afraid,” he said. “They’re coming to me afraid and saying, ‘What are you going to do about it?’” ___ Bedayn reported from Denver, Colorado. Associated Press writers Sara Burnett in Chicago, Gabe Stern in Reno, Nevada, Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Susan Haigh in Hartford, Connecticut, contributed to this report. Read More Here

Mark Kelly And Blake Masters Squared Off Thursday In Their Only Debate https://digitalarizonanews.com/mark-kelly-and-blake-masters-squared-off-thursday-in-their-only-debate/ In a contentious debate, U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly painted his Republican opponent as someone who “thinks he knows better than you,” while Blake Masters repeatedly sought to cast Kelly as tied at the hip with President Joe Biden, who is broadly unpopular among voters, according to political polling.  Kelly, a former Navy pilot and astronaut who won a special election in 2020 and is now seeking a full six-year Senate term, and venture capitalist Masters got the majority of the talking time Thursday evening in a debate televised live on Arizona PBS, while Libertarian lawyer Marc Victor was sometimes pushed to the sidelines.  The candidates discussed and sometimes traded barbs over inflation, immigration, abortion rights, the 2020 election and Arizona’s water crisis.  Inflation Masters blamed inflation on Kelly and Biden, specifically on their “war against oil and gas.” When oil and gas prices increased, so did the cost of everything else that is made or shipped using those energy sources, Masters said.  “They caused this crushing inflation, and it’s ruining people’s lives,” Masters said.  He also attributed inflation to Democrats approving $6 trillion in domestic spending since Biden became president.  “Joe Biden is spending like a drunken sailor, and at every opportunity, Mark Kelly says ‘yes’” Masters said.  Kelly said he’d been working to help cut costs for consumers, including standing up to big pharmaceutical companies to help reign in costs for senior citizens. He also refuted Masters’ claim that he sided with Biden’s actions on oil and gas companies.  “When Joe Biden refused to increase oil and gas production, I told him he was wrong,” Kelly said.  Throughout the debate Kelly repeated that Masters favors privatizing Social Security, a policy that Kelly said would hurt seniors more than any other policy. After winning the GOP nomination, Masters walked back that policy position, and now says he opposes privatization. Victor said that inflation was the fault of foolish economic policies of both Republicans and Democrats over the past several administrations.  Immigration “Our southern border is a mess,” Kelly said, acknowledging that the area is in crisis.  Kelly said he’s worked to bring more Border Patrol agents to Arizona and to better fund staffing and technology for the border Patrol. He added that he has introduced  legislation to increase pay for Border Patrol agents.  “I’ve been focused on the border since Day One on this job,” Kelly said.  Masters retorted that if Kelly has been doing his best to make things better at the border, he should probably resign.  The Republican claimed that Kelly and Biden had given up Arizona’s southern border to drug cartels, adding that when illegal immigrants come to the U.S.,they are given envelopes full of cash, plane tickets and are put up in hotel rooms in Scottsdale. “The Mexican drug cartels, if these narcos could vote in this election, every single one of them would vote for Senator Kelly,” Masters said.  Kelly said he supports giving citizenship to Dreamers, people brought to the U.S. illegally as children but who grew up here, because he views them no differently than his own children. Masters previously said he opposed citizenship for Dreamers.  Kelly and Masters both lamented the increasing problem with fentanyl, much of it coming from Mexico.  Kelly said he voted to rebuild the country’s ports of entry because, for example, the one in Nogales only has one lane out of 12 with the technology to scan for fentanyl. Abortion Kelly said he believes Roe v. Wade should be codified into law.  “Arizona women have totally lost the right to make their own decision about abortion,” Kelly said, referring to Arizona’s full abortion ban that went into effect Sept. 23.  Masters said he is pro-life, but would support the 15-week ban approved by the state Legislature earlier this year. That’s the law that Gov. Doug Ducey says is currently in effect, but Attorney General Mark Brnovich and many other authorities say Arizona’s full ban dating to 1864 is the law of the land.  But he continually dodged a question from moderator Ted Simons, who asked about language on his website regarding abortion that was changed after he won the Republican primary. Masters had previously said he was pro-life from the point of conception, endorsed a nationwide ban on all abortions and had been accused of changing the language to win over moderates.  Masters then accused Kelly of supportiing abortion “up until the moment of birth.” “That’s nonsense,” Kelly said, adding that late-term abortions are usually performed because of problems with a pregnancy, and typically with a pregnancy that was wanted.  2020 Election Masters, who previously promoted the “Big Lie” that former President Donald Trump won the 2020 election, said that he’d seen no evidence of widespread voter fraud in 2020.  However, he said that Trump would have won if the FBI and the media hadn’t worked together ahead of the election to suppress information about the corrupt business dealings of Hunter Biden, Joe Biden’s son. “The only reason that we’re having this conversation is because Masters put out a video questioning who won the presidential election in 2020,” Kelly said.  He accused Masters of wanting to completely do away with voting by mail, even for U.S. military members deployed outside Arizona, which Masters denied.  Masters said he believed voting by mail was OK, as long as the voter included a copy of their ID. Arizona voters will decide whether to implement such a requirement in November. Water Kelly accused Masters of wanting to privatize Arizona’s water. He contrasted that with his work in Washington to help farmers keep more water in Lake Mead, one of Arizona’s water sources, and said California and Nevada need to step up their efforts for water conservation in the Colorado Basin.  Masters accused Kelly of “acting like the third senator from California” and said California should be getting its water from the ocean, using nuclear-powered desalination plants, not the Colorado River.  California has primary water rights to Colorado River water, and has since 1922, when the seven Colorado Basin states signed the Colorado River Compact.   Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our web site. Please see our republishing guidelines for use of photos and graphics. Read More Here

Made In Arizona: Phoenix Area Business Making Original, Unique Versions Of Popular Mexican Dish https://digitalarizonanews.com/made-in-arizona-phoenix-area-business-making-original-unique-versions-of-popular-mexican-dish/ Tamale is something that many Arizonans have eaten, and one Valley business is putting their unique touch on the popular dish. FOX 10’s Christina Carilla has more, in this week’s edition of Made In Arizona. Posted 3 hours ago Facebook Twitter Print Email Latest News View More video Stoleen painting returns to UArizona decades later video 2022 Election: 3 Arizona candidates for U.S. Senate took part in televised devate video Phoenix apartment fire displaces 80 people from their homes video 2022 Election: Kelly, Masters, Victor took part in Arizona Senate debate video Parts of I-10 closed for hours following deadly crash video Made In Arizona: Phoenix area business making original, unique versions of popular Mexican dish video Tempe to offering grants for micro-manufacturers video Crash kills 1 person along highway in Queen Creek area View More Arizona Morning View More video Liberty Market shows how to make an Apple Betty video Taste of the Town: Mr. Momo video $50 adoption fees: MCACC’s Empty the Shelters Event video Cool House: Charming 1930’s style Arcadia neighborhood home video Hurricane Ian: Storm surge leads to catastrophic flooding video Cool House: 1930s home in downtown Phoenix video Weekend freeway travel advisory for Sept. 24-25 video Arizona State Fair opens View More Read More…

Stock Futures Litte Changed Ahead Of September's Jobs Report https://digitalarizonanews.com/stock-futures-litte-changed-ahead-of-septembers-jobs-report/ Stock futures were flat on Friday morning as investors looked ahead to September’s jobs report for further clues into the Federal Reserve’s tightening campaign. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 12 points, or 0.04%, while S&P 500 futures dipped 0.09%. Futures tied to the Nasdaq 100 slipped 0.07%. Advanced Micro Devices’ stock fell in overnight trading after the chipmaker warned its third-quarter revenue would be lower than anticipated. Levi Strauss shares slipped following a cut to its guidance. Major averages closed lower during regular trading but are on pace to cap their best week since June 24 and finish about 4% higher. The Dow fell 346.93 points, or 1.15%, to 29,926.94, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite shed 1.02% and 0.68%, respectively. All major S&P sectors finished the session in negative territory, with the exception of energy. The sector rose 1.8% as oil prices gained and is on pace to close out the week 14.7% higher. Thursday’s downdraft comes as investors remain on edge ahead of September’s jobs report slated for release Friday. The findings could offer further certainty into the Fed’s tightening cycle, with a strong jobs market or upside surprise signaling that the Fed may need a tougher stance to slow the economy and tame surging prices. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expect the data to show a 275,000 increase in nonfarm payrolls and unemployment to hover at 3.7%. “The environment is ripe for a crisis and if the Fed keeps its hawkish communication up I think we’re quite likely to have something break in the financial markets,” Scott Minerd, Guggenheim’s global chief investment officer said on CNBC’s “Closing Bell: Overtime” on Thursday. Minerd said the pace of tightening is beginning to create cracks in the financial markets and could force a Fed pivot in the coming weeks. “All the signs are there,” he said. “I can’t tell you exactly what will cause it, but the environment is ripe and when the Fed pivots, they’re not going to preannounce it, they’re not going to ring a bell.” A surprise to the downside occurring 75% of the time over the last 25 years in the September jobs report could lead investors to stage a rally, he added. Along with the big jobs report, wholesale inventories and consumer credit data are also due out Friday. Cannabis stock Tilray Brands, which rose Thursday as the White House announced marijuana pardons, will report earnings results. CNBC Pro: Fund manager says oil is in a multi-year bull market – and names 3 stocks to cash in Oil is in a bull market that’s going to last for at least six years, according to fund manager Eric Nuttall. The partner and senior portfolio manager at Ninepoint Partners, which manages more than $8 billion in assets, named three stocks for investors to cash in. Pro subscribers can read more here. — Zavier Ong CNBC Pro: Tesla or Nvidia? One will dominate in A.I., analyst says, giving it 50% upside Tech’s next frontier — artificial intelligence — is still in its adolescence, but offers significant growth opportunities for suppliers and users alike, according to Truist Securities. Both Nvidia and Tesla offer ways to get exposure to AI, the analysts say, revealing their price targets on both stocks. CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here. — Weizhen Tan Levi Strauss slumps on revenue miss, outlook cut Shares of Levi Strauss shed 6.5% in extended trading Thursday despite an earnings beat. The company missed revenue estimates for the recent quarter and cut its guidance, dragged down by the U.S. dollar’s strength. Levi Strauss posted earnings of 40 cents a share on revenues of $1.52 billion. Analysts expected earnings of 37 cents a share on $1.60 billion in revenue. — Samantha Subin Exxon on pace for best week since October 1974 Exxon Mobil shares are on track to finish their best week since October 1974. The energy stock rose about 3% in regular trading Thursday as oil prices gained, putting Exxon on track to close out the week 17% higher. Energy was the only S&P 500 sector finishing in positive territory on Thursday, rising nearly 2%. It’s on track to finish the week about 15% higher and close out its best week since November 2020. As of Thursday’s close, energy was also the only sector positive for the year. Shares of Marathon, Halliburton and Devon Energy are on track to finish the week higher by roughly 20% or more. — Samantha Subin, Gina Francolla Advanced Micro Devices falls on disappointing preliminary third-quarter results Advanced Micro Devices‘ stock fell 3.9% in extended trading as the company preannounced results for the third quarter that came in below its previous guidance. The semiconductor company shared preliminary revenue of $5.6 billion for the period, down from the expected $6.7 billion. It blamed the cut on a weakening PC market and supply chain issues. AMD also said it expects a non-GAAP gross margin of roughly 50%, previously expecting gross margins would range closer to 54%. — Samantha Subin Stock futures open lower Stock futures opened lower in overnight trading Thursday. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 57 points, or 0.19%. S&P 500 futures dipped 0.36%, while futures tied to the Nasdaq 100 slipped 0.49%. — Samantha Subin Read More Here

Orlando Free Fall To Be Torn Down Following Teen's Death https://digitalarizonanews.com/orlando-free-fall-to-be-torn-down-following-teens-death/ The Orlando Free Fall will be torn down, officials announced Thursday. Tyre Sampson, 14, died in March after falling from the Free Fall ride about halfway down the 400-foot drop. The Orlando Free Fall ride has been shut down since March when Sampson fell to his death after he slipped out of his seat.In April, investigators found that safety sensors on Sampson’s seat had been modified to open wider than the other seats. The investigation into who is responsible is ongoing.Sampson’s death sparked a public outcry for the ride to be taken down.On Thursday, the ride’s operator, the Orlando SlingShot, released a written statement:”We are devastated by Tyre’s death. We have listened to the wishes of Tyre’s family and the community and have made the decision to take down the Free Fall. In addition, Orlando SlingShot will honor Tyre and his legacy in the classroom and on the football field by creating a scholarship in his name.”ICON Park released a statement supporting the decision. “Tyre’s death is a tragedy that we will never forget. As the landlord, we welcome and appreciate the decision to take down the ride,” the statement read.The attorney for Nekia Dodd, Sampson’s mother, said Dodd was too emotional today to speak with WESH 2 News, but he said she is relieved to know the ride will soon be torn down.”With the tremendous grief that she’s enduring every day, it’s some measure of closure knowing that that will never happen again with another child and that her son’s legacy will be that,” said Dodd’s attorney Michael Haggard.Tourists familiar with the tragedy also said the dismantling of the ride is the right thing to do.”I think it’s a good idea,” Amy Buckley said. “Who would want to get on it after a tragedy like that? I think it would just be an insult to the family, so I think it’s a good idea that they’re gonna take it down.”Orlando SlingShot did not provide a timeline for the ride’s dismantling, saying it was pending approval from all the parties involved and state regulatory agencies which are still investigating the March incident.The state is still investigating Sampson’s death. In a statement, Florida Commissioner of Agriculture, Nikki Fried said in part: “While the investigation is ongoing, I hope this news brings a measure of comfort to Sampson’s family.”Ken Martin is an amusement ride safety consultant and analyst.”What surprises me is no one – no one is being charged criminally with anything in this case. And this was not an accident. People were responsible for this,” he said. Martin has been critical of how the state handled the inspection of Free Fall when it opened. “Part of this boils down to the issue that no two states regulate amusement ride safety the same way. And it should be that way. Florida should not be exempt to fix the amusement park. I mean, my goodness we’re talking about children here,” he said.Meanwhile, a lawsuit filed by Sampson’s parents against several businesses, including Orlando SlingShot, is set to go to trial next year. Tyre’s father, Yarnell Sampson, and Attorney Ben Crump have continuously called for the ride to be taken down. “How would you feel? You send your kid to vacation, they’re going to have fun. Next thing you know, they don’t come home,” Yarnell Sampson said. “This is a reminder. It needs to come down. It needs a permanent memorial.”Rep. Geraldine Thompson has announced plans to draft legislation in Sampson’s name.”It was out of the ordinary that the signs in regard to height and weight requirements were not posted so that Tyre could make his own decision,” Thompson said. “His life was taken during spring break because of the things that happened here that were out of the ordinary, but we’re going to correct that with the Tyre Sampson law that is going to be filed on the very first day of the legislative session, and I will be the author of the Tyre Sampson bill.”Orlando SlingShot didn’t give a timeline as to when the ride will be taken down but said it was waiting for approval from everyone involved. ORLANDO, Fla. — The Orlando Free Fall will be torn down, officials announced Thursday. Tyre Sampson, 14, died in March after falling from the Free Fall ride about halfway down the 400-foot drop. The Orlando Free Fall ride has been shut down since March when Sampson fell to his death after he slipped out of his seat. In April, investigators found that safety sensors on Sampson’s seat had been modified to open wider than the other seats. The investigation into who is responsible is ongoing. Sampson’s death sparked a public outcry for the ride to be taken down. On Thursday, the ride’s operator, the Orlando SlingShot, released a written statement: “We are devastated by Tyre’s death. We have listened to the wishes of Tyre’s family and the community and have made the decision to take down the Free Fall. In addition, Orlando SlingShot will honor Tyre and his legacy in the classroom and on the football field by creating a scholarship in his name.” ICON Park released a statement supporting the decision. “Tyre’s death is a tragedy that we will never forget. As the landlord, we welcome and appreciate the decision to take down the ride,” the statement read. The attorney for Nekia Dodd, Sampson’s mother, said Dodd was too emotional today to speak with WESH 2 News, but he said she is relieved to know the ride will soon be torn down. “With the tremendous grief that she’s enduring every day, it’s some measure of closure knowing that that will never happen again with another child and that her son’s legacy will be that,” said Dodd’s attorney Michael Haggard. Tourists familiar with the tragedy also said the dismantling of the ride is the right thing to do. “I think it’s a good idea,” Amy Buckley said. “Who would want to get on it after a tragedy like that? I think it would just be an insult to the family, so I think it’s a good idea that they’re gonna take it down.” Orlando SlingShot did not provide a timeline for the ride’s dismantling, saying it was pending approval from all the parties involved and state regulatory agencies which are still investigating the March incident. The state is still investigating Sampson’s death. In a statement, Florida Commissioner of Agriculture, Nikki Fried said in part: “While the investigation is ongoing, I hope this news brings a measure of comfort to Sampson’s family.” Ken Martin is an amusement ride safety consultant and analyst. “What surprises me is no one – no one is being charged criminally with anything in this case. And this was not an accident. People were responsible for this,” he said. Martin has been critical of how the state handled the inspection of Free Fall when it opened. “Part of this boils down to the issue that no two states regulate amusement ride safety the same way. And it should be that way. Florida should not be exempt to fix the amusement park. I mean, my goodness we’re talking about children here,” he said. Meanwhile, a lawsuit filed by Sampson’s parents against several businesses, including Orlando SlingShot, is set to go to trial next year. Tyre’s father, Yarnell Sampson, and Attorney Ben Crump have continuously called for the ride to be taken down. “How would you feel? You send your kid to vacation, they’re going to have fun. Next thing you know, they don’t come home,” Yarnell Sampson said. “This is a reminder. It needs to come down. It needs a permanent memorial.” Rep. Geraldine Thompson has announced plans to draft legislation in Sampson’s name. “It was out of the ordinary that the signs in regard to height and weight requirements were not posted so that Tyre could make his own decision,” Thompson said. “His life was taken during spring break because of the things that happened here that were out of the ordinary, but we’re going to correct that with the Tyre Sampson law that is going to be filed on the very first day of the legislative session, and I will be the author of the Tyre Sampson bill.” Orlando SlingShot didn’t give a timeline as to when the ride will be taken down but said it was waiting for approval from everyone involved. Read More Here

Family Of Mesa Man Killed In Hit-And-Run Seeking Community’s Help Finding Suspect https://digitalarizonanews.com/family-of-mesa-man-killed-in-hit-and-run-seeking-communitys-help-finding-suspect/ MESA, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) – Funny, outgoing, and a good-hearted person is how family and friends described 64-year-old Gilbert Hill. The family has been grieving the loss of their loved one after he was run over by a car last month. On Sept. 18, Gilbert was crossing the road near Broadway Road and Horne to get to his apartment complex when a driver hit him. The driver didn’t stop and left Gilbert to die just feet away from his home. His nieces Maya and Mystery Hill said Gilbert didn’t have children of his own, so they were very close to their uncle, which made the news even more difficult. “It just felt like my whole world crumbled,” said Maya. Mesa police released photos from the scene of the suspect car, which is described as a Grey or light-colored Toyota Camry from years 2002 to 2011. The vehicle would have damage to the front grill, middle to passenger side of the hood, and possibly the windshield. Gilbert’s family wants the suspect to come forward. “We just want justice for our uncle because he deserves it,” Mystery said. Gilbert has a brother and 11 nieces and nephews. The family said he was well-known and loved by every person he met. “He always had this huge smile on his face and wanted to start a conversation,” Maya said. “he would try to touch everybody any way he could.” If you have any information or think you may have seen anything involving the car or driver, contact Mesa Police Department. Copyright 2022 KTVK/KPHO. All rights reserved. Read More Here