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China marks Communist Party centennial with warning from Xi

July 4, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(HONG KONG) — As tension runs high in Hong Kong, Thursday marked 24 years of the former British colony’s return to China, and one year since Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law in response to months of unrest and challenge to its authority.

In stark contrast to the mood in Hong Kong, Beijing has been in a celebratory mode, with patriotic shows, military flybys and cannon salutes to memorialize the founding of the Communist Party 100 years ago.

Chinese President Xi Jinping declared in front of tens of thousands gathered in Tiananmen Square that foreign powers attempting to bully his country will “get their heads bashed” and that they’ll be met with a “great wall of steel.”

In a defiant hourlong address, Xi said there was no room for so-called “sanctimonious preaching.”

China’s strongest leader since Mao Zedong also made an “unshakeable” commitment to unification with Taiwan, which China sees as a wayward province. “No one should underestimate the resolve, the will and ability of the Chinese people to defend their national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Xi said.

Beijing’s emphasis on security and territorial integrity isn’t lost on the citizens of Hong Kong, who’ve witnessed authorities carry out an intensive crackdown in the city over the last year since the introduction of the security law. Peaceful mass protests against Beijing’s encroachment erupted in the Asian financial hub in mid-2019 garnering global attention. However as the protest began to grew increasingly violent over the course of months, Beijing became determined to paint them as a Western-backed revolution laying the groundwork for the security law.

It now appears that any hint of resistance in Hong Kong is met with a heavy hand. Police say they can’t allow people to gather because of COVID-19 restrictions, but non-political gatherings seem to have been tolerated in other situations. Hong Kong’s malls on July 1 were packed.

On Wednesday, Amnesty International said the national security law has created a “human rights emergency” and that Hong Kong is “on a rapid path to becoming a police state.”

Beijing has also promoted Hong Kong’s top security official John Lee to become the number two leader in the city, ostensibly rewarding him for enforcing the security law.

When it was first introduced, Beijing insisted the security law would only be used to target an “small minority,” but 12 months on, activists say the law is being weaponized into wiping out the opposition entirely, to stamp out dissent and to curb the city’s freedoms.

The law has sent a chill throughout Hong Kong, and radically transformed its political landscape. Hong Kong police have arrested more than 100 people and charged dozens under its provisions, including almost the entire pro-democracy camp of lawmakers and media tycoon Jimmy Lai. Last month Lai’s paper Apple Daily was forced to close after its editorial staff were arrested and assets frozen.

On the day Apple Daily closed, in response President Biden released a statement saying, “It is a sad day for media freedom in Hong Kong and around the world.”

“Through arrests, threats and forcing through a National Security Law that penalizes free speech, Beijing has insisted on wielding its power to suppress independent media and silence dissenting views,” the statement continued.

Most prominent figures who’ve come to define the Hong Kong democracy movement have fled the city or are in jail. One of them is Albert Ho, who spoke with ABC News just days before he was sent to prison in May. “It’s just a matter of time,” Ho said, “You know, when Hong Kong is now facing such a setback and so many of my friends are already behind bars.”

Albert Ho was sentenced to 18 months in prison for inciting people to participate in an unauthorized assembly back on China’s National Day on October 1, 2019 when an unauthorized protest march later turned violent.

The judge who sentenced Ho and nine of his fellow pro-democracy activists said the harsher than normal sentence was to serve as a “deterrent” and “was necessary in maintaining public order.”

For many, the only response has been to leave, with the United Kingdom and other countries offering an easier pathway to citizenship for some Hong Kongers.

Ronny Tong, a top adviser to Hong Kong’s chief executive Carrie Lam, said that Hong Kongers will have no problem living in the city, as long as they respect the fact that the territory is part of China. “If you do understand the one country, two systems, which involves Hong Kong being a place which is a little bit different from other places, that we are part of China, that is a fact that you can’t change. Not only is it a fact you can’t change, but it’s a fact you need to respect,” Tong said.

“The other thing I would like to say is that I have confidence in the judiciary,” Tong added.

But there are now also questions hanging over whether the integrity of Hong Kong’s judiciary, which is based on the English common law system, might become caught in the crosshairs.

China’s head of security Zheng Yanxiong recently said that the city’s courts should derive power from Beijing. “[Hong Kong’s] independent judiciary’s power is authorized by the National People’s Congress. It must highly manifest the national will and national interest, or else it will lose the legal premise of the authorization,” said Zheng.

Zheng’s comments come as Hong Kong courts start to hear the national security cases of the past year.

8 and 9-year-old boys charged with shooting death of 62-year-old man

July 4, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(WESTMINSTER, S.C.) — An 8-year-old boy along with a 9-year-old boy have been charged with involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of a 62-year-old man in South Carolina.

The incident occurred on Wednesday, June 30, when Oconee County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to an area just northwest of Westminster, South Carolina, after receiving a call from the man’s wife saying that she went to the property to look for her husband after not being able to make contact with him and still could not locate him, according to a press release from the Oconee County Sheriff’s Department on Thursday, July 1.

When deputies responded to the scene they were eventually able to locate 62-year-old Danny Andrew Smith who was unresponsive as he was slumped over the steering wheel of his tractor which was still running but had gone down an embankment before striking a tree.

Following an investigation into the incident, the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office announced that a petition had been filed in Family Court charging an 8-year-old boy and a 9-year-old boy with involuntary manslaughter regarding the shooting death of Smith, according to the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office.

“After a consultation with the Solicitor’s Office, and based on the evidence obtained in our ongoing investigation, we believe that both juvenile males discharged a firearm in a reckless manner in the direction of Mr. Smith who was bush hogging on some family property,” said Oconee County Sheriff Mike Crenshaw. “At this time, it is still undetermined which shot ultimately struck and killed Mr. Smith. However, based upon South Carolina law, the hand of one is the hand of all and that is why Family Court has been petitioned in regards to charging both juveniles with Involuntary Manslaughter.”

Based upon evidence obtained during the investigation as well as from the autopsy, authorities determined that Smith had sustained a single gunshot wound to the back which ultimately killed him.

In South Carolina, juveniles under the age of 10 cannot be detained so both of the juvenile suspects have been remanded to the custody of their parents as the judicial proceedings continue, according to Sheriff Crenshaw.

“The Sheriff’s Office is continuing its investigation and due to that fact, no information will be released that will identify the juveniles in this case,” said Oconee County Sheriff’s Office. “At this time, no information about motive or where the firearm was obtained will be released due to the ongoing investigation and any additional details will be released as conditions and developments warrant.”

The weapon that was allegedly used in the shooting, a .22 caliber rifle, has been recovered and examined by the SLED forensics lab in Columbia, South Carolina.

It is not currently clear which boy pulled the trigger that killed Smith but the investigation into the shooting is ongoing.

Surfside building collapse’s mental toll

July 4, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — More than a week after the building collapse in Surfside, Florida, 24 people have so far been confirmed dead, with 126 still unaccounted for. As search and rescue crews race the clock to retrieve survivors and remains, they’ve had to contend with several barriers: falling debris, a tropical storm looming off the coast and limited time to recover hope from the rubble.

Undeterred, rescue workers in Florida have worked tirelessly, already moving millions of pounds of debris, with teams working up to 12-hour shifts every day — putting their own safety on the line, and with their own skin in the game. Thursday, the body of one of a first responder’s daughter was discovered among the ruins.

Mental wellness peer teams have been deployed to support the responders. When President Joe Biden arrived at Surfside Thursday, local officials called for increasing psychological supports for those affected by this tragedy.

“This isn’t just a Florida tragedy — it’s also a national and international event. We’re planning on appealing to the President for the best PTSD support possible for the men and women who are working in conditions that resemble more of a warzone than a normal search and rescue mission,” State Fire Marshal Jimmy Patronis said in a statement before Biden’s visit.

Dr. Nomi Levy-Carrick, a psychiatrist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital who previously worked in New York City with survivors of the 9/11 attacks, said that while first responders have been trained to deal with the physical and mental demands of their job, that training does not make them invulnerable to the trauma they witness — and may internalize — while on scene.

“In the aftermath of something traumatic like this, there is so much loss, grief, sadness, even anger. There can sometimes [be] levels of stress that approach toxic levels that make first responders vulnerable to PTSD and other mental health conditions like depression. And the risk to community members, who don’t even have this training or experience? It’s even greater” she said.

Post-traumatic stress disorder — meaning sustained symptoms of trauma that continue many months to years later — is a mental health condition that can develop in the aftermath of traumatic events. PTSD can include things like flashbacks of the traumatic event, nightmares, intense or prolonged psychological distress to stimuli that resemble or symbolize aspects of the traumatic events, and recurrent intrusive memories of the event.

With both workers and community members at risk, Levy-Carrick says that finding meaning can be essential, and protective. “Having a sense of meaning and purpose, whatever that may be, is a very important factor that supports resilience. … It’s important that people feel supported and maintain their social connections through this.”

“Rest and sleep are an essential component of physical and mental endurance, especially in situations with an uncertain end point” said Dr. Ripal Shah, a clinical assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine. She has worked in health care disaster settings in Puerto Rico, Nepal, Indonesia and Haiti.

Shah said it’s important that rescuers are given enough time to take care of themselves.

“If there is adequate manpower, limiting the number of shifts in a row, giving enough time in between in shifts, can be so important for mental health recovery,” she said.

The sense of responsibility to help survivors and clear the scene, can bring some measure of hope, comfort or information to the families — and all can drive rescuers to keep going, some have expressed.

“It’s not every day that you get to go help and do this,” Andrew Schmidt, a firefighter on Southwest Florida’s Urban Search and Rescue Task Force 6, told station WINK.

“We’re holding up because we’re all holding up for that hope, that faith that we are going to be able to rescue somebody,” Andy Alvarez, the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue’s deputy incident commander overseeing search and rescue efforts, said.

In the tent city set up for crews’ work, a community has come together: volunteers from Surfside and from around the country have brought food and water to support the rescuers, and the Surfside community has set up memorials and prayer circles for those waiting on news.

The massive search and rescue operation is not yet over; nor are all the answers about why this happened are apparent as of yet. And, experts say, the long-term psychological effects from the collapse and loss of life will have ripple effects over time. And while the risks for PTSD are there, Dr. Levy-Carrick said it does not mean it’s what is fated for these workers and the Surfside community.

“PTSD is not inevitable…The risks are very real though for the workers and communities; we should look for how people can support each other and how the community is coming together. It’s part of the way that you can retain hope amidst such tragedy,” Levy-Carrick said.

Jacinta Leyden, M.D., is a psychiatry resident physician at Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital and a contributor to the ABC News Medical Unit.

Tropical Storm Elsa moves through Caribbean, sets sights on US coastline this week

July 4, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(HAVANA, Cuba) — Tropical Storm Elsa is now 85 miles east of Kingston, Jamaica, and 185 miles southeast of Cabo Cruz, Cuba, as it moves west-northwest at 14 mph with current sustained winds at 65 mph.

A tropical storm warning is in effect for parts of Haiti, Jamaica and parts of Cuba and a tropical storm watch is in effect for parts of Cuba and the Florida Keys.

On the forecast track, Elsa will move away from the southern portion of Haiti during the next couple of hours and move toward Jamaica and portions of eastern Cuba later this morning.

By Monday, Elsa is expected to move across central and western Cuba and head toward the Florida Straits. Elsa is then forecast to move near or over portions of the west coast of Florida on Tuesday and into Wednesday.

Heavy rainfall from Elsa will fall across Florida from Monday through Wednesday and 2 to 4 inches of rain, with localized maximum amounts up to 6 inches, will be possible in the region. Keep in mind that this is on top of already saturated ground which means it will present a threat for flash flooding as Elsa moves through.

Things will be dry for much of the East and West coasts on Sunday as the Gulf Coast from Florida to Texas will see more rounds of rain and storms.

There is a chance for strong storms along the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles on Sunday to the Upper Great Lakes. Flash flooding is a concern along the Gulf Coast into parts of Arizona, New Mexico, northern Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas.

Heat advisories are also scattered across portions of the West on Sunday. Temperatures will be in the 90s and 100s from California to Nebraska and red flag warnings are in effect as gusty winds are possible with scattered thunderstorms and possible lightning strikes could produce new fire starts.

Vaccine-hesitant Americans reject delta variant risk, posing questions for pandemic recovery: POLL

July 4, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Vaccine-hesitant Americans overwhelmingly reject the reported risks of the coronavirus delta variant, posing questions for the nation’s pandemic recovery on a Fourth of July the Biden administration has marked as a turning point in the nation’s long public health ordeal.

Three in 10 adults in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll say they have not gotten a coronavirus vaccine and definitely or probably will not get one. In this group, a broad 73% say U.S. officials are exaggerating the risk of the delta variant — and 79% think they have little or no risk of getting sick from the coronavirus.

President Joe Biden, health officials and others have described the variant as more contagious than other strains, and as such a substantial risk to unvaccinated people. It now accounts for more than a quarter of new cases in the country.

But the government’s plan to address it through vaccinations looks to have hit a wall. Just 60% in this survey, produced for ABC News by Langer Research Associates, report having received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine. While that’s below official estimates (66.8%, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), it confirms the failure to meet Biden’s target of having 70% with at least one dose by July 4. And among those not vaccinated, a growing share — 74%, up from 55% in April — say they probably or definitely won’t get a shot.

Partisan divisions are sharp, underscoring the politicization of the pandemic: Overall just 45% think the government is accurately describing the risk of the delta variant; 35% say it’s exaggerating it, with 18% unsure. Several groups are especially likely to say it’s being exaggerated, including Republicans (57%), conservatives (55%), evangelical white Protestants (49%) and rural residents (47%).

Even as things stand, emergence from the pandemic is far from complete. More than 15 months after it gripped the nation, just 16% of Americans say their community has recovered fully. Nor is the future assured: While 56% think the country has learned lessons that will help it through the next pandemic, a mere 18% are very confident of this.

Biden

Biden, for his part, enjoys broad approval, 62%, for handling the pandemic (including a third of Republicans) — but that isn’t enough to keep him aloft. Just 50% of Americans approve of his job performance overall, a comparatively weak score nearing his six-month mark in office.

Poor ratings on crime and on the immigration situation on the southern border are among Biden’s challenges, as is the hyperpartisanship that marks today’s politics.

His 50%-42% job approval rating is the fourth-lowest out of the last 14 presidents at about five months in office in polls by ABC and the Post and Gallup previously. Biden’s ahead of only Gerald Ford (after his unpopular pardon of Richard Nixon, among other challenges), Bill Clinton (in a struggling economy and with an otherwise rocky start to his presidency) and Donald Trump (who never achieved majority approval). It’s an unusually low rating in a time of strong economic growth.

Biden’s approval ratings tumble to 38% on crime — as reported Friday — and 33% on the immigration situation at the border with Mexico. In partisan terms, 88% of Democrats and independents who lean toward the Democratic Party approve of his job performance overall; 81% of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents disapprove.

Just among party adherents — excluding independents — Biden has 94% approval in his own party versus 8% from Republicans, an 86-point partisan gap. That’s grown steadily from the Clinton presidency forward, demonstrating heightened partisan divisions the past three decades.

Biden’s approval rating is similar to its level in an ABC/Post poll in April, 52%. There are some shifts among groups — a 16-point drop in approval among Hispanics, a 12-point drop in the Midwest (where this poll finds a larger-than-typical number of Republicans and GOP leaners) and a 7-point drop among liberals. Other slight shifts largely offset these.

Pandemic

Additional results show how partisanship has infected pandemic attitudes and behavior. Ninety-three percent of Democrats say they either have been vaccinated or definitely or probably will do so; that plummets to 49% of Republicans. Independents are between the two at 65%.

Vaccine hesitancy also stands out among Republican-leaning groups, such as conservatives, evangelical white Protestants and less-educated adults. And while Republicans are far less likely to get a shot, just 24% see themselves as at risk for infection.

As the table below shows, many groups that are vaccine hesitant are, at the same time, no more apt to see themselves at high risk of infection, and more likely than others to see the risk of the delta variant as exaggerated.

The survey also shows Black adults, at 79%, are more apt than others to say they either have gotten a shot or will do so; it’s 68% among whites and 70% among Hispanics. That’s a positive sign after earlier, higher vaccine hesitancy among Black people.

One further result on the pandemic points to the extent of COVID-19 in the United States. Eleven percent report testing positive for it; an additional 12% think they had it but never tested positive. The net total is 23%, notably higher among Republicans and GOP-leaning independents, 31%. Among people who say they never had it, 72% have been vaccinated or likely will do so; among those who know or think they’ve had it, this declines to 60%.

Voting

Lastly, on an unrelated topic, a Supreme Court decision released Thursday shows a contrast between public attitudes on voting access and the court upholding restrictions in an Arizona law. Americans, by a 2-1 margin, 62%-30%, call it more important to pass new laws making it easier to vote lawfully than to create laws making it harder to vote fraudulently.

There are sharp partisan and ideological differences. Eighty-nine percent of Democrats prioritize making it easier to vote lawfully, as do 62% of independents, dropping to 32% of Republicans. (Still, that means a third of Republicans hold this view, which is at odds with the national party’s focus on the issue.) Similarly, 86% of liberals and 70% of moderates put a priority on expanding lawful voting, compared with 40% of conservatives.

By race and ethnicity, 58% of whites say it’s more important to make lawful voting easier than to make fraudulent voting harder. This rises to 82% of Black people, with Hispanics in between, at 67%.

Methodology

This ABC News/Washington Post poll was conducted by landline and cellular telephone June 27-30, 2021, in English and Spanish, among a random national sample of 907 adults. Results have a margin of sampling error of 3.5 percentage points, including the design effect. Partisan divisions are 30-24-37%, Democrats-Republicans-independents.

The survey was produced for ABC News by Langer Research Associates of New York City with sampling and data collection by Abt Associates of Rockville, Maryland. See details on the survey’s methodology here.

Massachusetts police arrest group of ‘heavily armed men’ claiming to ‘not recognize our laws’

July 4, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(WAKEFIELD, Mass.) — A bizarre incident unfolded Saturday morning in Wakefield, Massachusetts as nearly a dozen armed men were arrested after a standoff with police in the middle of a major highway.

According to local police: “During a motor vehicle stop, several heavily armed men claiming to be from a group that does not recognize our laws exited their vehicles and fled into the woodline” near Interstate 95.

The incident took place around 1:30 a.m. when a state trooper came across a group of people refueling on the side of the I-95 highway in Wakefield, a suburb of Boston. The group was dressed in military-style uniforms, carried tactical gear like body cameras and helmets and had long guns slung over their shoulders.

They told officials they were on their way to Maine from Rhode Island for “training,” Col. Christopher Mason said.

Officials said they made two initial arrests and the rest of the group, which calls itself “Moorish American Arms,” fled into a wooded area. As a result, a stretch of I-95 was closed and shelter-in-place orders were set for people who live nearby.

State police announced the first two arrests around 6:40 a.m. ET, saying they were arrested by members of The Northeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council in Wakefield. Police took them into custody and transported them to one of their barracks.

Police negotiators talked to those hiding in the woods throughout the early morning.

“We’re trying to successfully and peacefully resolve this,” Mason said early Saturday.

At 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Massachusetts State Police said in an update that “7 additional suspects were being transported for booking.”

Officials had conducted searches of the two vehicles the suspects were in and the surrounding woods.

In the afternoon, MSP said: “Two additional suspects were located in their vehicles, bringing the total number of those arrested to 11 (two initially on North Avenue and nine outside and inside the vehicles).”

Col. Christopher Nelson said the remaining nine suspects surrendered “without incident” Saturday morning, following the preliminary two arrests.

Two additional suspects were located in their vehicles, bringing the total number of those arrested to 11 (two initially on North Avenue and nine outside and inside the vehicles) https://t.co/YAXzKlW6Yl

— Mass State Police (@MassStatePolice) July 3, 2021

All 11 suspects are expected to appear in district court Tuesday morning, all on firearm and other charges, Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan said at a press briefing Saturday.

Authorities said they had recovered two AR-15 semi-automatic rifles, two pistols, a bolt-action rifle, a shotgun and a short-barrel rifle. None of the men have a license to carry firearms, state police and the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office said.

All but two individuals, both of whom were “refusing to identify self,” according to police, were identified late Saturday.

The suspects were identified as Jamhal Tavon Sanders Latimer, 29, of Providence, Rhode Island; Robert Rodriguez, 21, of the Bronx, New York; Wilfredo Hernandez, 21, of the Bronx; Alban El Curraugh, 27, of the Bronx; Aaron Lamont Johnson, 29, of Detroit; Quinn Cumberlander, 40, of Pawtucket, Rhode Island; Lamar Dow, 34, of the Bronx; and Conrad Pierre, 29, of Baldwin, New York. Another 17-year-old is not being named by police due to being a juvenile.

Asked what the suspects did wrong, Nelson said: “11 armed individuals standing with long guns slung on an interstate highway at two in the morning certainly raises concerns and isn’t consistent with the firearm laws that we have here in Massachusetts.”

All of the men have been charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, use of body armor in commission of a crime, possession of a high capacity magazine, improper storage of firearms in a vehicle and conspiracy to commit a crime, police said.

Hernandez, Johnson, Dow and the unnamed teen are also being charged with providing a false name to police, authorities said.

The teenager was released to parental custody while the 10 adults are being held at the Billerica House of Correction on $100,000 cash bail, authorities said.

A spokesperson for FBI’s Boston office has confirmed to ABC News that the bureau is involved in the investigation.

“Since the onset of this incident, the FBI Boston Division has been fully engaged with our state and local partners,” public affairs adviser Kristen Setera said.

Mason, of the Massachusetts State Police, said Saturday that the FBI was assisting in the incident.

“I reached out to the FBI earlier, we had FBI assets at the scene, we’ve been engaged in information and intelligence sharing throughout this, and I anticipate that will continue as the investigation moves forward,” Mason said.

The Wakefield Police Department said in an early morning statement: “Approximately 8 males fled into the woods carrying rifles and handguns and appear to be contained in the wooded area adjacent to the highway. No threats were made, but these men should be considered armed and dangerous.”

Massachusetts State Police, who are also on the scene, tweeted early Saturday: “We have several armed persons accounted for at this scene on Rt 95. They are refusing to comply with orders to provide their information and put down their weapons. We are asking residents of Wakefield and Reading to shelter in place at this time.”

“The situation is ongoing w/remaining members of the group. We continue to work to resolve the situation peacefully,” they tweeted at the time.

Police said a “heavy police presence” will remain in the area, and they are asking residents to lock their doors and stay home.

No injuries or shots fired have been reported.

ABC News’ Aaron Katersky, Mark Osborne, Darren Reynolds and Will McDuffie contributed to this report.

Man killed in shooting at Atlanta-area country club

July 4, 2021 by WDNY Radio

KENNESAW, Ga. — A shooting at an Atlanta-area country club has left one man dead as authorities search for his killer.

The slaying occurred Saturday afternoon at Pinetree Country Club in Kennesaw, Cobb County Police Officer Shenise Barner said, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Authorities did not immediately identify the victim or release additional details about the shooting. But footage from WAGA-TV showed a white pickup truck stuck on a hill in the middle of the club’s golf course.

Officials described the suspect as a 6-foot-1-inch Hispanic male with long hair, dark-colored work pants and a white or tan shirt.

Neighbor John Lavender told WAGA-TV that he heard “five, six booms go off” and wasn’t sure whether it was gunshots or fireworks. “You just don’t think it’s gunshots in this area,” he said.

The country club is near the campus of Kennesaw State University. After the shooting, the school tweeted that there were no credible threats to campus, which is about 25 miles (40 kilometers) northwest of downtown Atlanta.

Man faces federal charges after fireworks explosion in neighborhood

July 4, 2021 by WDNY Radio

LOS ANGELES — A 27-year-old man was charged Saturday with illegally transporting tons of explosives he purchased in Nevada — including several that left a trail of destruction and injuries after they blew up in a Los Angeles neighborhood.

Arturo Ceja III faces the federal charges, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office in Los Angeles.

Seventeen people were hurt Wednesday — including nine Los Angeles police officers and a federal agent — in the blast, which also flipped and damaged cars and smashed windows in homes and a laundromat. The explosion was heard blocks away.

Ceja made several trips “made several trips to Nevada in late June to purchase various types of explosives –- including aerial displays and large homemade fireworks containing explosive materials –- that he transported to his residence in rental vans,” the U.S. Attorney’s office said in a statement.

He bought most of his explosives from a fireworks dealer in Parhump, Nevada, according to the criminal complaint against him.

Fireworks in California can be sold for as much as four times what purchasers pay for the fireworks in Nevada, according to the complaint.

“Ceja told investigators that he bought homemade explosives —constructed of cardboard paper, hobby fuse and packed with explosive flash powder – from an individual selling the devices out of the trunk of a Honda” in the parking lot of the fireworks dealer in Nevada, according to the complaint.

Ceja did not have a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives or any other kind of permit “that would allow him to transport either aerial display fireworks or homemade fireworks made with explosive materials, including but not limited to flash powder,” according to the complaint affidavit written by a special agent with the ATF.

Ceja is being held until his initial court appearance scheduled for Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.

On Wednesday, about 10 pounds of homemade explosives blew up while they were inside a spherical containment vessel on a tractor-trailer, tearing the rig apart in what was supposed to be a safe operation by the Los Angeles Police Department to handle explosives that were too unstable to remove from a South Los Angeles neighborhood where tons of illegal fireworks were discovered.

The one-ton lid of the vessel flew into a backyard two blocks away, breaking a lemon tree and damaging the house.

Experts say the explosion was highly unusual, especially for a law enforcement agency with the size and resources of the LAPD. The blast could have been the result of human error — such as not correctly sealing the vessel or over-loading it with material — or a defect in the equipment like a micro-fissure that has grown with time and use. Or both.

The explosion came after police had spent the day disposing of about 3,000 to 5,000 pounds (1,360 to 2,268 kilograms) of commercial-grade fireworks that were found in Cejas’ home following an early-morning tip. Police found some of them on a patio in cartons stacked 8 to 10 feet (2.44 to 3 meters) high.

Fireworks are illegal to sell or possess in Los Angeles and in unincorporated areas of the county.

Surfside building collapse latest: Death toll rises to 24 as search effort pauses during demolition prep

July 3, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(SURFSIDE, Fla.) — The death toll at the 12-story residential building that partially collapsed in South Florida’s Miami-Dade County last week has risen to 24, leaving 121 unaccounted for, as search and rescue efforts paused amid preparations to demolish the remaining structure, officials said Saturday.

The partial collapse occurred around 1:15 a.m. on June 24 at the Champlain Towers South condominium in the small, beachside town of Surfside, about 6 miles north of Miami Beach. Approximately 55 of the oceanfront complex’s 136 units were destroyed, according to Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Assistant Chief Raide Jadallah. Since then, hundreds of first responders have been carefully combing through the debris in hopes of finding survivors.

Two more bodies were pulled from the rubble overnight, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said in a press briefing Saturday morning, as the rescue effort entered its 10th day.

No further victims were found Saturday, and search and rescue efforts were halted at 4 p.m. due to preparations for the demolition, Levine Cava said during a press briefing Saturday evening.

Preparation work for demolishing the remaining structure, such as drilling into columns, presents a threat to the standing building, she said. The search crews have temporarily left the area as a precaution.

Search and rescue will resume once the demolition team has cleared the site, according to the mayor. She did not have a definite timeline for the demolition, though said she was “hopeful” it could happen before Tropical Storm Elsa approaches.

“We are proceeding as quickly as we possibly can,” she said.

Levine Cava said that the contract has been signed for the demolition of the building and Gov. Ron DeSantis said the state will pay for the costs of the demolition and it will “minimally” affect rescue efforts. It comes after the mayor signed an emergency order authorizing the demolition of the rest of the condominium “in the interest of public health and safety” on Friday.

“The building is too unsafe to let people in,” DeSantis said. “This will protect our search and rescue teams because we don’t know when it will fall over.”

Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said that the remainder of the building could be coming down “as early as tomorrow.” Experts continue on the scene to evaluate how the building will be brought down.

Burkett noted that the push to take down the building faster than originally stated was because of Tropical Storm Elsa’s winds.

The demolition will occur via a “charge,” likely using explosives, not a wrecking ball or another method, Miami-Dade County Fire Chief Alan Cominsky said Saturday.

The fire rescue chief said that a tarp will cover the area that has been searched, noting that some areas of the wreckage has not yet been searched.

Officials also said six rescue workers from one task force have tested positive for COVID-19 and have since left the scene.
Preparations are now being made for Elsa, which weakened from a hurricane to a tropical storm in the morning and is expected to come near Southern Florida Monday into Tuesday.

On Saturday, DeSantis declared a state of emergency for several counties in anticipation of Tropical Storm Elsa. Heat, humidity, heavy rain, strong winds and lightning storms have also made the conditions difficult for rescuers, periodically forcing them to pause their round-the-clock efforts in recent days.

On Friday, two more bodies were found in the wreckage as crews search the area of the collapse, officials said.

It follows another two bodies found Thursday evening, including that of a 7-year-old girl who was the daughter of a Miami firefighter, according to Levine Cava. The firefighter was not part of the crew that discovered the girl’s body but he was notified, according to Cominsky.

“It goes without saying that every night since this last Wednesday has been immensely difficult,” Levine Cava said during a press briefing in Surfside on Friday morning. “But last night was uniquely different. It was truly different and more difficult for our first responders.”

Elsa weakens to tropical storm as it moves through Caribbean

July 3, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(FLORIDA) — Elsa, which was the first hurricane of the Atlantic season, has weakened to a tropical storm, though it is bringing damaging winds and rain as it moves through the Caribbean.

After lashing parts of the eastern Caribbean with strong winds and heavy rain Friday, the storm weakened as it approached the southern coast of Hispaniola, with maximum sustained winds dropping to 70 mph. Portions of Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Hispaniola were also hit with heavy rain, gusty winds and rough surf Saturday.

The storm’s center was about 130 miles southwest of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, as of Saturday evening, as it speeds west-northwest at 28 mph.

Tropical storm watches and warnings are in effect across much of the region, and a hurricane warning remains in effect along the southern coast of Haiti due to the strong tropical storm, which is close to minimal hurricane strength at this time.

Life-threatening surf and rip current conditions are expected this weekend through the Caribbean Sea.

At least three people have died during the storm in the Caribbean, including one person in St. Lucia and a 15-year-old boy and 75-year-old woman in the Dominican Republic, according to The Associated Press.

The Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Cuba, the Cayman Islands, the Florida Peninsula and the Florida Keys are all advised to monitor the progress of Elsa.

Elsa is forecast to remain a tropical storm as it passes over Cuba and approaches the Florida Peninsula. A tropical storm warning is now in effect across eastern Cuba, with a tropical storm watch for much of the western half. Jamaica also has a tropical storm warning in effect.

The storm is forecast to impact eastern Cuba and Jamaica later Saturday evening and into the night with torrential rain, flash flooding, strong winds and rough surf.

There could still be some fluctuations in the strength over the next few days, though the storm is expected to slow down as it moves over Cuba and turns toward Florida. It is on track to impact southern Florida late Monday into Tuesday. A tropical storm watch is in effect for portions of the Florida Keys.

Elsa is forecast to track up Florida’s Gulf Coast Tuesday into Wednesday. Scattered showers and thunderstorms could start to develop later Monday afternoon in the Florida Keys and South Florida.

Ahead of the storm, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis issued a state of emergency for Charlotte, Citrus, Collier, DeSoto, Hardee, Hernando, Hillsborough, Lee, Levy, Manatee, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Pasco, Pinellas and Sarasota counties.

Elsa could potentially impact the ongoing rescue efforts in Miami-Dade County following last week’s deadly condo collapse in the beach town of Surfside. So far, at least 24 people have been confirmed dead and 124 others remain unaccounted for since the 12-story residential building partially collapsed on June 24.

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