(WASHINGTON) — The Justice Department on Monday announced a new indictment charging Enrique Tarrio, the chairman of the extremist far-right group the Proud Boys, and four other members with seditious conspiracy — marking the second such indictment alleging coordination leading up to the Jan. 6 riot by individuals allegedly pledging to use violence to disrupt the peaceful transition of power.
All the individuals named in the 32-page indictment, including Tarrio, had previously faced conspiracy charges related to their involvement in planning to disrupt Congress’ certification of Joe Biden’s victory.
The other members charged include Ethan Nordean, who assumed leadership of the Proud Boys on Jan. 6 as Tarrio was ordered to stay out of Washington, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola — whois accused of initiating the first breach of the Capitol by smashing windows with a stolen police riot shield.
The indictment follows news from last April that another senior member of the Proud Boys, Charles Donohoe, reached a plea agreement and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors against the group.
The Justice Department previously charged 11 members of the Oath Keepers militia group with seditious conspiracy in January, including the group’s founder Stewart Rhodes.
Three senior members of the group have pleaded guilty in the case since the indictment was returned and agreed to cooperate with DOJ’s investigation — the remaining members have all pleaded not guilty.
(LONDON) — U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson won a “no-confidence” vote on Monday evening, with Conservative lawmakers voting in favor of his leadership by a margin of 211-148.
The vote could have forced his resignation after the prime minister became embroiled in a series of scandals.
Held by Johnson’s Conservative Party, the vote was the latest challenge aimed at ending the political career of the United Kingdom’s controversial leader.
“Conservative MPs made their choice tonight,” Keir Starmer, leader of the opposing Labour Party, said in a speech following the results. “They have ignored the British public and hitched themselves and their party firmly to Boris Johnson, and everything that he represents.”
Graham Brady, a Conservative MP, announced the vote on Monday morning, saying it had been triggered on Sunday when a 15% threshold of Conservative lawmakers in the House of Commons had decided they no longer trusted Johnson to lead.
“The PM welcomes the opportunity to make his case to MPs and will remind them that when they’re united and focused on the issues that matter to voters there is no more formidable political force,” No. 10 Downing St., Johnson’s office, said in a statement.
Brady told BBC News that he had informed Johnson on Sunday. Members who filed no-confidence letters with Brady had dated them to coincide with the end of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee on Sunday, so as not to interrupt the celebration, he said.
The prime minister required a simple majority to survive. The Conservative Party holds 359 seats in the U.K. Parliament, meaning he required 180 MPs to back him in order to stay in office.
Despite living to fight another day, the scale of victory could still prove to be a problem. With a close vote, observers say, he could still be pressured to resign at a later date. Under the current rules, however, he will be immune from a similar challenge to his leadership for a year.
Theresa May, Johnson’s predecessor, won a confidence vote 200-117 in December 2018, but would still resign five months later. Johnson received an even lower percentage of support.
The no-confidence vote comes after months of pressure building on Johnson’s leadership, and this is the first vote of its kind since Johnson became prime minister in July 2019.
A much publicized investigation by a top civil servant, Sue Gray, into over a dozen gatherings held at key government residences attending by Downing Street staff concluded in May.
The prime minister himself was personally issued a fine by the Metropolitan Police in April for attending an illegal gathering during COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020, becoming the first sitting prime minister in British history to receive a sanction for breaking the law.
Johnson apologized, but has since faced a chorus of calls to resign from opposition lawmakers and, now, members of his own party.
The report included a photo of the prime minister making a toast at a gathering held in No. 10 to mark the departure of one of his special advisers, at a time when the nation was under a strict lockdown. There were also a number of damning details in the report, including “multiple examples of a lack of respect and poor treatment of security and cleaning staff” and instances of “excessive alcohol consumption.”
“Many will be dismayed that behaviour of this kind took place on this scale at the heart of Government,” Gray wrote in the conclusion of the report. “The public have a right to expect the very highest standards of behaviour in such places and clearly what happened fell well short of this.”
While the government has received praise at home and abroad for their support for Ukraine, the scandal over “Partygate” and growing concern about the cost of living has overshadowed Johnson’s recent premiership.
On Friday, Johnson was booed by spectators at St. Paul’s Cathedral as he arrived for the National Service of Thanksgiving.
He has received public backing from several key lawmakers ahead of the no-confidence vote, which is a secret ballot, and Johnson will reportedly address his own MPs in order to make the case for his leadership ahead of the final vote on Monday evening.
Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
(PHILADELPHIA) — At least two suspects in a mass shooting Saturday night in Philadelphia are expected to be charged as early as Monday afternoon as police continue to work to identify other gunmen in the rampage that left three people dead and 11 injured, according to prosecutors.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said at a news conference Monday morning that he expects to approve charges soon against two suspects “in connection to what we anticipate are non-fatal shootings.”
Krasner, who did not name the suspects, said he expects to sign off on the charges stemming from the gun violence by the end of Monday.
He said that based on the caliber of shell casings found at the crime scene, at least four guns were involved in the shooting on Second Street, a popular nightlife area full of bars and restaurants.
Philadelphia police officials said officers recovered two guns from the scene, including one with an extended magazine, authorities said.
“Hour by hour we are finding out more information,” Kramer said.
Krasner described witnessing a “chilling” scene when he visited the site of the shooting just hours after it occurred.
“It is no less chilling that it happened in no less than 10 places around the country in a space of a few days,” said Krasner, referring to mass shootings that occurred over the weekend in nine different states that left a total of at least 17 people dead and 62 injured.
The Philadelphia shooting erupted just before midnight Saturday at the busy intersection of Third and South streets.
Inspector D.F. Pace of the Philadelphia Police Department said hundreds of people were milling about the area when the shooting caused a panic and sent people running in all directions, some diving behind cars for cover.
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said at a press conference Sunday afternoon that a police officer responding to gunshots in the area witnessed a man firing a gun into a crowd and attempted to detain him. Outlaw said the officer fired at the armed man three times before losing the assailant in the crowd.
Outlaw said investigators believe the officer shot the gunman, who is still being sought.
Investigators are combing through security video to identify the suspects and determine a motive for the shooting.
Outlaw said the shooting possibly started during a physical confrontation between two people, including one of the people killed in the incident.
“These individuals eventually began firing at one another with both being struck, one fatally,” Outlaw said.
Outlaw said two of the slain victims were innocent bystanders as well as many of those who were wounded.
One of those killed was identified as Kris Minners, a resident adviser at Girard College in Philadelphia, the Girard College Federation of Teachers union said in a statement. Two more victims were identified by the Philadelphia Police Department Sunday afternoon as 34-year-old Gregory Jackson and 27-year-old Alexis Quinn.
“The loss of Kris reminds us that gun violence can and will touch everyone in our nation as long as our elected officials allow it to continue,” the teachers’ union statement read.
(DETROIT) — An 11-year-old girl was sleeping over at her grandmother’s home when gunfire erupted outside, shooting and killing her, authorities said.
The young girl “was murdered while attending a sleepover with her grandmother in our community,” Detroit Police Chief James White told reporters. “Making TikTok videos and laughing one minute and being shot in the back … the next.”
Two people are in custody — one adult and one minor — following Saturday’s shooting, which took place around 10:15 p.m., Detroit police said.
No one besides the 11-year-old was struck when the shots rang out, police said.
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan told reporters, “When you can have an 11-year-old girl in a home with her grandmother and five other children as young as the age of 7, dancing joyously in the house, and have a bullet come through and kill her — it hits you very hard.”
The police chief blamed “irresponsible gun ownership” and “irresponsible use of a weapon.”
“It is of epidemic proportions right now in our country and in our city,” he told reporters.
The 11-year-old’s name has not been released.
“Our deepest condolences go out to the victim’s family and friends at this unimaginable time,” the Detroit Police Department tweeted.
The little girl’s death came amid another weekend of mass shootings in the U.S. Three people were killed and many others injured when multiple people opened fire on a Philadelphia street, and at least three people were killed with others injured in a mass shooting outside a Chattanooga, Tennessee, nightclub.
(NEW YORK) — Over the past decade, the number of children overdosing on melatonin, a sleep aid, has increased by 530%, according to a new study published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The largest increase, a 38% jump, came in the first year of the coronavirus pandemic, which the study’s authors say was likely because more children were spending more time at home.
In 2021 alone, more than 50,000 calls were placed to poison control centers in the United States about melatonin ingestion by kids, the study found.
“Most were unintentional exposure, meaning the parent did not give the child melatonin,” said ABC News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton, also a board-certified OBGYN. “So the implication is the child got into it themselves.”
Here are four things for parents to know to help keep kids safe:
1. Melatonin is a widely-accessible supplement.
Melatonin is a hormone that plays a role in sleep, according to the National Institutes of Health.
In the U.S., melatonin supplements are considered dietary supplements, which means they are accessible to the public without the regulations of a prescription drug.
Melatonin supplements come in the form of tablets, capsules, liquid and even gummies, which may make them more attractive to kids.
According to the study’s authors, “Increased sales, availability, and widespread use have likely resulted in increased access and exposure risk among children in the home.”
2. Melatonin has not been widely studied in kids.
There have not yet been enough studies on melatonin and kids to know the full impact of the supplement, according to the NIH.
Even in adults, according to the NIH, the long-term impacts of melatonin are not well-known, even if the supplement does appear to be mostly safe with short-term use.
With kids, because melatonin is a hormone, there is a possibility that taking it by supplement could impact hormonal development like puberty and menstruation, according to the NIH.
3. Melatonin ingestion by a child is a medical emergency.
According to Ashton, when a child ingests melatonin without adult supervision, it is a medical emergency that requires immediate action.
“You either want to bring them to an emergency room or contact a poison control center,” she said.
The phone number to reach a poison control center is 800-222-1222.
Symptoms of melatonin ingestion in kids includes abdominal pain, nausea or vomiting, excessive tiredness and labored breathing.
4. Parents should store melatonin out of kids’ reach.
Ashton said parents should keep all medications and supplements, including melatonin, out of the reach of kids, even young teenagers.
Bottle tops should also be kept securely closed, according to Ashton, who encouraged parents to talk to their kids about medication safety.
“You always want to use any medication exposure as an opportunity to really teach that child about medication, that it should only be given by an adult, is not candy and can have consequences both good and bad,” she said.
The CDC also has additional tips HERE for keeping medication safely away from kids.
(WASHINGTON) — Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Monday that he’s tested positive for COVID-19 and is “experiencing mild symptoms.”
“I plan to work remotely while isolating according to CDC guidelines, and look forward to when I can safely return to the office and the road,” Buttigieg, 40, tweeted.
I have tested positive for COVID-19 and am experiencing mild symptoms. I plan to work remotely while isolating according to CDC guidelines, and look forward to when I can safely return to the office and the road.
— Secretary Pete Buttigieg (@SecretaryPete) June 6, 2022
(MINNEAPOLIS) — The state trial for two former Minneapolis police officers charged in George Floyd’s death was delayed until next year by a judge, who said a recent plea deal accepted by a third officer charged in the fatal arrest of the 46-year-old Black man could create the “reasonable likelihood of an unfair trial.”
Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill ordered that the trial for Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng will be delayed until Jan. 5, 2023.
Thao and Kueng were expected to go on trial together beginning on June 13.
Both men are charged with aiding and abetting in murder and aiding and abetting in manslaughter.
Cahill denied a motion from defense attorneys for a change of venue, but cited two recent events in his decision to postpone the trial.
The judge noted that pretrial publicity over the plea deal struck with a third defendant, former Minneapolis police officer Thomas Lane, and the convictions in February of Lane, Thao and Kueng on federal civil rights charges, could make it difficult at this time to select an impartial jury.
“These two recent events and the publicity surrounding them are significant in [that] it could make it more difficult for jurors to presume Thao and Kueng innocent of the state charges,” Cahill wrote in his ruling.
The judge added that postponing the trial should “diminish the impact of this publicity on the defendants’ right and ability to receive a fair trial from an impartial and unbiased jury.”
Lane pleaded guilty in May to aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. In exchange for the plea, state prosecutors agreed to dismiss the top charge against him of aiding and abetting second-degree unintentional murder.
Under the agreement, prosecutors and Lane’s attorneys will jointly recommend a sentence of 36 months in prison. Had he gone to trial and been convicted on all charges, he faced a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison, according to the plea agreement.
(NEW YORK) — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” into neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with Russian forces invading from Belarus, to the north, and Russia, to the east. Ukrainian troops have offered “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
The Russian military has since launched a full-scale ground offensive in eastern Ukraine’s disputed Donbas region, capturing the strategic port city of Mariupol and securing a coastal corridor to the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Jun 06, 9:05 am
Russia beefs up air defense on Snake Island
Russia has likely moved multiple air defense assets, including SA-15 and SA-22 missile systems, to Snake Island in the western Black Sea, the U.K. Ministry of Defense said Monday in an intelligence update.
The move follows the loss of the Russian warship Moskva, the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.
“It is likely these weapons are intended to provide air defence for Russian naval vessels operating around Snake Island,” the ministry added. “Russia’s activity on Snake Island contributes to its blockade of the Ukrainian coast and hinders the resumption of maritime trade, including exports of Ukrainian grain.”
Russian forces captured Ukraine’s Snake Island in the early days of the invasion, memorably when Ukrainian soldiers defending the tiny islet told an attacking Russian warship to “go f— yourself.” Ukrainian troops have failed in their attempts to retake the previously inconsequential territory.
Meanwhile, in eastern Ukraine’s contested Donbas region, heavy fighting continues in the war-torn city of Sieverodonetsk, according to the ministry.
“Russian forces continue to push towards Sloviansk as part of their attempted encirclement of Ukrainian force,” the ministry said.
And in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, Russian air-launched cruise missiles struck rail infrastructure Sunday in the early morning hours, “likely in an attempt [to] disrupt the supply of Western military equipment to frontline Ukrainian units,” according to the ministry.
Jun 05, 3:39 pm
Russian missiles target Kyiv
After five weeks of relative calm in Kyiv, Russian rockets hit Ukraine’s capital city on Sunday as Russian President Vladimir Putin warned of strikes on “new targets” if the United States goes through with plans to supply Ukraine with longer-range missiles.
Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Defense Hanna Maliar said the war is still in its “hot phase” and “capturing Kyiv is still Russia’s main goal.”
An ABC News crew visited Kyiv’s Darnytskyy district, where several Russian cruise missiles slammed into a railway repair plant. One building was still on fire when the ABC News crew arrived. Nearby, another missile strike left a creater on a cement path.
It took hours before Ukrainian authorities permitted media access to the site, saying the area needed to be cleared for safety first.
The Russians claimed the attack in Darnystskyy destroyed military vehicles and armaments. Ukrainian officials said the missiles hit a railway repair plant where no tanks were stored.
Speaking on Russian TV on Sunday, Putin issued a warning to the West on supplying the Ukrainians with high-powered rocket systems. He said if the West carried through with it, Russia would hit “new targets they had not attacked before.”
Jun 05, 7:05 am
Putin warns of strikes if West supplies longer-range missiles
President Vladimir Putin warned that Russian forces would strike new targets if the West began supplying Ukraine with longer-range missiles.
“But if they [missiles] are actually delivered, we will draw appropriate conclusions and apply our own weapons, which we have in sufficient quantities to carry out strikes on targets we aren’t striking yet,” Putin told Rossyia 1 TV Channel in an interview on Sunday.
(NEW YORK) — As the midterm election approaches, most Americans say that the economy, inflation and rising gas prices are the most important issues in determining how they will vote for Congress this November, according to a new ABC News/Ipsos poll.
With inflation on the rise since last fall, Americans have been significantly affected by the rising cost of goods and services. And, more than eight in 10 Americans (83%) now say that the economy is either an extremely or very important issue in determining how they will vote, in the latest ABC News/Ipsos poll conducted using Ipsos’ KnowledgePanel.
In the poll, 80% of Americans say that inflation is also an extremely or very important factor in how they will vote and for gas prices, it is 74%.
Joe Biden’s approval ratings for his handling of these key issues are all well underwater, suggesting trouble for the president and Democratic candidates ahead of the midterm. Only 37% approve of Biden’s handling of the economic recovery, and even fewer approve of his handling of inflation (28%) and gas prices (27%).
Friday, Biden spoke about the May jobs report, which saw 390,000 jobs added and unemployment remained at 3.6%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Even though Biden said the latest jobs report was “excellent,” he acknowledged that many Americans are still worried about the economy.
“I know that even with today’s good news, a lot of Americans remain anxious, and I understand the feeling,” Biden said.
Biden’s highest approval rating is for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic (56%), which is now among the least important issues to Americans, according to the ABC News/Ipsos poll.
In an April ABC News/Ipsos poll, there was a 20-point gap between Republicans and Democrats in enthusiasm to vote this November, with 55% percent of Republicans saying they were very enthusiastic about voting compared to 35% of Democrats. That gap has narrowed somewhat in this poll, but Republicans still enjoy a significant advantage with 57% saying they are enthusiastic about voting compared to 44% of Democrats.
The poll also found that gun violence (72% saying extremely or very important) and abortion (63%) are also potentially important drivers of the vote. As the nation waits to see if the Supreme Court will overturn Roe v. Wade and Congress considers legislation in the wake of the mass shootings in Buffalo, New York and Uvalde, Texas, these issues stand just below the top tier drivers of the vote.
These figures also demonstrate that while rising inflation and gas prices may be the primary factors pushing people to vote this election cycle, gun violence and abortion are also growing in importance in the mind of voters.
A separate question asking what the single most important issue will be in their vote for Congress showed a similar ranking of issue priorities. The top issues were inflation (21%), the economy (19%), gun violence (17%) and abortion (12%).
Meanwhile, 70% think that enacting new laws to reduce gun violence should be a higher priority than protecting the right to own a wide variety of guns (29%). The last time this question was asked, in March 2021, 66% said enacting new laws to reduce gun violence should be the higher priority.
Thursday, Biden addressed the American people following a string of mass shootings across the country and said that if members of Congress do not act, they will be voted out.
“If Congress fails, I believe this time a majority of the American people won’t give up. I believe the majority of you will act to turn your outrage into making this issue central to your vote. Enough,” Biden said.
Congress will hold hearings this week to address the gun violence epidemic in the country as pressure mounts on legislatures to take action to combat the rise of mass shootings.
This ABC News/Ipsos poll was conducted using Ipsos Public Affairs‘ KnowledgePanel® June 3-4, 2022, in English and Spanish, among a random national sample of 542 adults. Results have a margin of sampling error of 4.8 points, including the design effect. Partisan divisions are 28-26-40 percent, Democrats-Republicans-independents. See the poll’s topline results and details on the methodology here.
ABC News’ Dan Merkle and Ken Goldstein contributed to this report.
(LONDON and ABUJA, Nigeria) — Dozens of people, including women and children, were killed in southwestern Nigeria on Sunday when gunmen attacked a church, officials said.
The bloodshed occurred at St. Francis Catholic Church in the town of Owo in Ondo state, more than 200 miles southwest of Abuja, the Nigerian capital. A group of unknown gunmen stormed the church at around 11:30 a.m. local time during a service for Pentecost Sunday, with about four of the assailants open firing inside the building while others shot at worshippers outside, according to Funmilayo Ibukun Odunlami, a spokesperson for the Nigeria Police Force’s command in Ondo state.
“Some lives were lost and some sustained varying degrees of injuries,” Odunlami said in a statement on Sunday, later telling ABC News on Monday that police do not yet have an estimate on the number of casualties.
Health workers at the Federal Medical Center in Owo told ABC News that at least 35 bodies had been transported to the hospital from the scene of Sunday’s attack. They said there is also an urgent need for blood donations for the many wounded.
Earlier media reports, citing local officials and hospital workers, had placed the number of dead at more than 50.
The attack remains under investigation and specialized police units have been deployed to Owo “to restore normalcy and fortify the entire community,” according to Odunlami. A motive for the massacre and the identity of the perpetrators was not immediately clear, as no group has claimed responsibility.
A U.S. official briefed on the situation told ABC News that the attack reportedly began with an explosion outside the church, followed by gunmen shooting sporadically at worshippers inside. Stray bullets also killed passersby, the official said.
One of the priests at the church, Rev. Fr. Andrew Abayomi, said they were at the end of the service and people were getting ready to leave when the first gunshot rang out.
“We hid inside the church but some people had left when the attack happened,” Abayomi told reporters in Owo on Sunday. “We locked ourselves in the church for 20 minutes. When we heard that they had left, we opened the church and rushed victims to the hospital.”
A Catholic Church spokesperson in Nigeria, Rev. Fr. Augustine Ikwu, said the attack “has left the community devastated,” but that all the priests and bishops in the parish were “safe.”
“Nonetheless, let us continue to pray for them and the good people of Owo and the state at large,” Ikwu said in a statement on Sunday.
Ondo state Gov. Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, who visited the scene of the attack as well as some of the hospitalized victims, “is deeply saddened by the unprovoked attack and killing of innocent people of Owo,” according to his spokesperson, Richard Olatunde.
“The vile and satanic attack is a calculated assault on the peace-loving people of Owo Kingdom who have enjoyed relative peace over the years,” Olatunde said in a statement on Sunday. “We shall commit every available resource to hunt down these assailants and make them pay.”
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari condemned what he described as “the heinous killing of worshippers.”
“No matter what, this country shall never give in to evil and wicked people, and darkness will never overcome light,” Buhari said in a statement on Sunday.
ABC News’ Josh Margolin contributed to this report.
