News – Page 2202 – 105.7 WDNY

Harris to announce over $13 billion in assistance to help cut energy costs this winter

November 2, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Harris to announce over billion in assistance to help cut energy costs this winter

(WASHINGTON) — Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday will announce new steps the Biden administration is taking to help lower energy costs for Americans this winter.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is providing $4.5 billion in assistance to help cut heating costs for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), according to the White House.

“In addition to covering home heating costs this winter and unpaid utility bills, the program will help families make cost-effective home energy repairs to lower their heating and cooling bills,” the White House said in a statement.

Over the last year, LIHEAP has helped 5.3 million households across the United States with heating, cooling and weatherization, according to the White House.

The U.S. Department of Energy will also allocate $9 billion in funding from the Inflation Reduction Act to support up to 1.6 million households nationwide in upgrading their homes to decrease energy bills. This will be separated into two rebate programs: one for whole home energy efficiency retrofits and another for highly efficient and electric home appliances, according to the White House.

“In addition to lowering costs, energy-efficient and electric building and appliance upgrades can reduce indoor and local outdoor air pollution, improving health in our communities,” the White House said. “In addition, they will cut millions of tons of greenhouse gas emissions every year to help tackle climate change.”

Harris will discuss the initiatives while visiting a union hall and training facility in Boston on Wednesday, according to the White House.

Nearly half of U.S. households rely on natural gas for heating and their bills could jump 28% this winter, compared with last winter, while bills for heating oil are projected to be 27% higher and electricity 10% higher, according to a recent analysis from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, an independent agency within the U.S. Department of Energy.

The National Energy Assistance Directors Association, which represents the state directors of LIHEAP, said in a recent report that energy costs are expected to be the highest this winter in more than a decade. This comes amid soaring inflation rates, with U.S. consumer prices increasing to a 40-year high 6.6% in September.

There are a number of contributing factors, including a rebound in global energy consumption from the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has triggered price spikes, and Russia’s war in Ukraine further increasing prices and reducing supplies.

Fed expected to impose another major rate hike, intensifying inflation fight

November 2, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Economists expect another jumbo-sized increase in borrowing costs when the Federal Reserve announces its interest rate decision on Wednesday. Mounting evidence suggests that previous rate hikes have slowed key areas of the economy but inflation remains highly elevated.

The move would mark the latest in a string of borrowing cost increases imposed by the Fed in recent months as it tries to slash price increases by cooling the economy and choking off demand. But the approach risks tipping the U.S. into a recession and putting millions out of work.

Arriving less than a week before the midterm elections, the rate hike would indicate that the central bank considers inflation a continued threat to the U.S. economy.

Data on consumer prices released last month showed that costs rose 0.4% on a seasonally adjusted basis in September, defying efforts to bring prices down. Consumer prices overall rose 8.2% over the 12 months ending in September, exceeding economists’ predictions.

The Federal Reserve is expected to raise the benchmark interest rate by 0.75%, repeating the same hike it imposed at each of the last three meetings, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists. Prior to this year, the Fed last matched a hike of this magnitude in 1994. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on several occasions has reiterated the central bank’s commitment to bring inflation down to a target rate of 2%, saying in September the Fed expects to put forward “ongoing increases” to its benchmark interest rate.

The personal consumption expenditures price index — the inflation measure preferred by the Fed — stands at a year-over-year growth rate of 5.1%, government data showed last week.

“Powell has been very clear that inflation is unacceptably high and we have to stay the course to get it down,” Anne Villamil, an economist at Iowa University, told ABC News. “Markets have been a little hopeful that we could have a pause — I don’t see that happening.”

Despite persistent inflation, growing evidence suggests that the Fed’s moves have put the brakes on some economic activity.

Mortgage rates reached a 20-year high last week, as the U.S. faces an ongoing slowdown in home sales and housing construction.

Job growth has persisted at a strong rate but has shown signs of moderating.

U.S. employers added 263,000 jobs in September and the unemployment rate fell slightly to 3.5% from 3.7%, exceeding expectations and demonstrating the continued strength of the labor market.

But the total came in well below the typical jobs added over a given month in 2022. Monthly job growth has averaged 420,000 so far this year versus 562,000 per month in 2021, according to the Department of Labor.

Meanwhile, hires and quits fell slightly in September, suggesting that the demand for labor from employers has begun to ebb, government data released on Tuesday showed. The number of job openings, however, increased in September, a sign that the need for workers remains robust.

While some data points to an economic slowdown, a government report released last month showed significant economic growth over three months ending in September. U.S. gross domestic product grew 2.6% over that period; by contrast, economic activity shrank a combined 2.2% over the first six months of the year.

“We’re getting these very conflicting signals,” Villamil said. “That’s why the Fed has a tough job.”

Prosecutors, defense deliver closing arguments in Trump ally Tom Barrack’s illegal lobbying trial

November 2, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Prosecutors accused former President Donald Trump ally Tom Barrack of “leveraging his access” while the defense accused the prosecution of “misdirection” as closing arguments concluded Tuesday in Barrack’s trial on charges of illegal foreign lobbying.

The government has accused Barrack, a billionaire California real estate investor who ran Trump’s 2016 inaugural committee, of illegally lobbying the Trump campaign and administration on behalf of the United Arab Emirates. The nearly two-month trial included mentions of Trump himself and some of his closest associates.

Prosecutors urged the jury to convict Barrack on charges that he acted as a foreign agent for the UAE from 2016 to 2018 without registering with the Department of Justice. He also faces charges of obstruction and multiple counts of lying to the FBI during a 2019 FBI interview.

“There are two Tom Barracks,” prosecutor Ryan Harris told the jury. “The man who talks about weaving a web of tolerance, and the man he really is when the cameras are off, when no one is watching, when the facade is stripped away — a man ultimately just leveraging his access and influence within the Trump administration to make money and acquire power.”

In exchange for acting under the “direction and control” of the UAE, prosecutors said, UAE officials in turn “unlocked its purse strings” and invested nearly $375 million in Barrack’s business from sovereign wealth funds.

“Mr. Barrack sold the UAE on his political connections,” Harris said.

Barrack has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him. On Tuesday, his attorney said in his summation that there was a “total lack of evidence in this case.”

“Instead of proof of direction and control, I submit to you that throughout this entire case what they have given you is misdirection and control,” Barrack’s attorney, Randall Jackson, told the jury.

During the trial, Barrack testified in his own defense to deny the charges against him, and spent nearly three days on the stand answering questions about his contacts with UAE officials, which he said were part of his long-standing business ties to the Middle East.

Barrack, who at times denounced Trump on the stand, denied prosecutor’s allegations — including that he agreed to act on behalf of the UAE during a spring 2016 meeting with the head of the UAE’s security council.

“Did he ask you if you wanted to be a UAE foreign agent?” his defense attorney, Michael Schachter, asked him during his testimony.

“No,” replied Barrack.

Barrack, whose family is from Lebanon, testified that his interactions with UAE officials were well-known, and that he did not think there would have been any restrictions on his ability to discuss the Trump campaign’s positions with UAE officials.

“I thought that was actually a great thing,” Barrack said. “The idea of having somebody that had knowledge in both confused arenas that could create some web of understanding and tolerance is what I know we all needed.”

He laughed when asked by his attorney about the government’s allegation that he was working to “manipulate the public” and “spread UAE propaganda.”

“Not at all,” Barrack said.

Barrack also testified that he briefed then-candidate Trump on his interactions with United Arab Emirates officials as he tried to help Trump better understand Middle East issues.

“I talked to President Trump about it, and he said, ‘You do the right thing,'” Barrack testified about one of his meetings with a UAE official.

The high-profile case at times offered a glimpse into the workings of Trump’s inner circle during the 2016 campaign and the early days of his administration, including their contacts with foreign officials. Trump associates including Paul Manafort, Jared Kushner, and Rick Gates were all mentioned over the course of the trial.

The majority of the government’s case rested on hundreds of Barrack’s emails and text messages, which prosecutors and witnesses read aloud to the jury over several days. The correspondences showed Barrack arranging meetings with senior UAE government officials to discuss policy initiatives over the course of several months.

Matthew Grimes, Barrack’s aide at his real estate firm, is also charged in the case and has also pleaded not guilty. Grimes’ attorney, Abbe Lowell, told the jury that prosecutors had “failed miserably” in their case.

The jury is expected to receive the case Wednesday for deliberations, the judge said in court.

Two police officers shot in Newark, New Jersey; suspect still at large

November 2, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEWARK, N.J.) — A suspect is at large after two police officers were shot while serving a search warrant in Newark, New Jersey, law enforcement sources told ABC News.

The officers are in the hospital in stable condition, the sources said.

Police are still searching for the gunman, who appears to have fired from an elevated location, likely a window, the sources said.

Newark police have named a suspect, Kendall Howard. The Essex County Prosecutor’s Office has authorized charges against Howard of two counts of attempted murder, as well as unauthorized possession of a weapon and unauthorized possession of a weapon for unlawful purposes.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy tweeted, “I am aware of and closely monitoring an unfolding situation in Newark. I am in touch with local authorities and the State is providing resources as requested. We will continue to support local law enforcement and ensure that all residents are safe.”

Who is Lula? Winner of Brazil’s presidential election

November 2, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Brazil’s voters on Sunday chose a new president: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, known by the name Lula.

Lula narrowly beat out Jair Bolsonaro, the incumbent far-right president who has become infamous during four years in office for accelerating the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest, as well as for his administration’s handling of the pandemic. Brazil suffered the world’s second-highest death toll from COVID-19, behind the U.S.

Although Bolsnaro did not officially concede the election during public remarks Tuesday, and has in the past spread myths questioning the integrity of elections in the country, Lula is expected to be sworn in on Jan. 1.

So who is Brazil’s new president?

Lula is a former labor organizer and founding member of the country’s Workers’ Party. He served two terms as the president of Brazil from 2003 to 2010 and left office with an approval rating of 80%.

During his presidency, he expanded social welfare programs including a vast family assistance program, raised the minimum wage, grew the economy and expanded trade. His programs are estimated to have lifted millions of Brazilians out of poverty and grown the country’s middle class.

He was known as a pragmatic negotiator, helping to expand foreign markets for Brazilian goods such as meat and soybeans. Former President Barack Obama once called him “one of the most popular politicians on Earth.”

The country’s constitution prohibited Lula from running for a third term, and he helped elect his former energy minister and close ally Dilma Rousseff as president. She would become the country’s first female president.

Despite his popularity, his presidency was marred by a number of public scandals including revelations the Workers’ Party was paying a monthly bribe, or “mensalão” to political officials, and “Operation Car Wash,” a multi-year criminal investigation into dealings of the state-owned oil company Petrobras along with dozens of individuals in public and private sectors.

He was convicted on charges of corruption and money laundering, and eventually arrested in 2018. Lula maintained that he was innocent. He spent a year and a half in prison before his charges were annulled in 2021 by a Supreme Federal Court decision that found the judge in the case had been biased against him.

Lula tried to run for president in 2018 but a court denied his candidacy due to his imprisonment. Bolsonaro, a former military officer and conservative Congressman who ran on a far-right platform, won the presidential election.

Lula was born to a poor family in northeast Brazil, moving to the metropolis of São Paulo with his family at a young age. He only achieved a middle school education and began working at a very young age, first as a shoe-shiner and then in factories. While working in the metal industry he first became involved in union organizing.

He would go on to serve as the leader of a steel-workers union, helping to organize strikes during the military rule in the late 1970s. The military dictatorship in Brazil lasted from 1964 to 1985.

In 1980, he helped found the national political party, the Workers’ Party, alongside other union leaders, politicians, organizers and intellectuals. The Workers’ Party helped to organize a campaign and social movement called “Diretas Já!” in 1984, which advocated for the country’s presidents to be elected by popular vote.

Lula held his first political office in 1986, when he was elected to Congress. His party helped to draft the country’s new Constitution, which was ratified in 1988.

He ran for president unsuccessfully three times, beginning in the 1989 election, before being elected in 2002.

In 2011, Lula was diagnosed with throat cancer, for which he underwent successful chemotherapy. He has been married three times, marrying his third wife, Rosangela Silva, in May of this year.

He campaigned on reducing the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest, tackling climate change and expanding social welfare services, including increasing taxes on the rich.

“I consider myself a citizen who has had a process of resurrection in Brazilian politics,” Lula said in his victory speech Sunday night. “They tried to bury me alive.”

“I am here to govern in a very difficult situation,” he added. “But I have faith in God that, with our people’s help, we will find a way out for this country.”

US citizen imprisoned in Saudi Arabia over tweets

November 2, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — U.S. citizen and Florida resident Saad Ibrahim Almadi was arrested for a series of tweets he published that were critical of Saudi Arabia while visiting family in the Kingdom last November.

His son, Ibrahim Almadi, spoke with ABC News’ Linsey Davis Monday about his fight for his father’s release and what he knows about the case. Almadi said his father has been tortured and sentenced to 16 years in prison, and that the U.S. is not doing enough to help his father.

The U.S. State Department said in a statement to ABC News, “we’ve consistently and intensively raised our concerns regarding his case at senior levels of the Saudi government several times in both Washington and Riyadh and will continue to do so. The Saudi government understands the priority we attach to resolving this matter.”

PRIME: Thank you so much for joining us. Talk to me about that day that you last saw your dad. How did you hear about what happened?

ALMADI: Last time I saw my dad, I thought everything was okay. I didn’t know about his situation until December 20. That’s when I reached out to the State Department and our embassy in Riyadh.

PRIME: And what did you hear?

ALMADI: They told me, “we’ll try to locate your father. We have no idea where he is right now.”

PRIME: And did you ever learn then about some charges? How did that information come to you?

ALMADI: Nothing until March 29th, when they saw my father at Al-Ha’ir prison. It’s a political prison where they throw all the Saudis there for practicing freedom of speech, which they don’t have in their constitution there but as American citizens, we have it here.

PRIME: And so what are they accusing him of?

ALMADI: Terrorism, trying to destabilize the kingdom and they torture him until convicted himself that he made these tweets to do that.

PRIME: And you say that he’s been tortured. What evidence do you have of that?

ALMADI: That’s his own words, his own reply to the judge. The judge wanted to sentence him for 42 years. But after reading my father’s reply to the way the investigation went, they discounted him to 16 years from 42.

PRIME: You’ve not been able to talk to your father.

ALMADI: Until now. And the Department of State has no news about my father since August 10th.

PRIME: So you don’t really know his status at all? Is there any way to get any kind of update or what is the United States— ?

ALMADI: I mean, the White House needs to recognize my father. He’s a senior American citizen. I don’t want my father to die in prison like Dr. Abdullah Mohammed.

PRIME: Of course, you’re aware of the publicity and the push to get the United States to free Paul Wheelan and Brittney Griner from Russia. Do you feel that there are any similar efforts underway to get your dad out?

ALMADI: That’s that’s what I’m that’s what I’m hoping for, but nothing yet.

PRIME: You’ve said that the State Department has mishandled your father’s case. And I do want to give you a quote that they have told ABC, they say “we’ve consistently and intensively raised our concerns regarding his case at senior levels of the Saudi government several times in both Washington and Riyadh and will continue to do so. The Saudi government understands the priority we attach to resolving this matter” and that they have no further updates. How do you respond to that?

ALMADI: I mean, if His Highness Crown Prince, is quite sensitive from Twitter, I suggest he buy the rest of the stake, he can shut down Twitter. He can’t send a senior American citizen to prison for practicing his First Amendment.

PRIME: And so what does the U.S. State Department tell you? Do you get any updates from them at all?

ALMADI: Nothing. Last time I talked to them was two weeks ago, and that is nothing.

PRIME: And what did they say?

ALMADI: We’re still working on it. We submitted a ticket to see your father, but the Saudis didn’t respond to the ticket.

PRIME: If you could talk to your dad, what would you say to him?

ALMADI: I love you so much. I will do everything to bring you back home.

PRIME: Is there anything else that you can do? Do you feel, are your hands tied because you’re just waiting for the State Department to act?

ALMADI: Absolutely. They need to act and they must act. My father is facing the most aggressive sentence for an American citizen overseas. The Saudi court under MBS they broke a new record. They need to act.

PRIME: Did your dad express any concern when he was going over there to Saudi Arabia, that because he had been critical of the government that something might happen?

ALMADI: That’s a lovely question. My father had his American passport printed, a photo of it, in his bedroom. And he told me ‘son, if I’m gone, immediately reach out to our embassy.’

PRIME: And you did that?

ALMADI: Absolutely.

PRIME: And you feel that the response has not been adequate?

ALMADI: Not yet.

PRIME: Well, we thank you so much for sharing your story, your father’s story with us, and hope that it will do some good for you.

ALMADI: Thank you, Linsey.

Family of man killed by Detroit police are suing them for $50 million

November 2, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Family of man killed by Detroit police are suing them for million

(DETROIT) — The family of Porter Burks, a 20-year-old schizophrenic man killed by Detroit police, is suing four unnamed officers for $50 million, according to the family’s attorney, Geoffrey Fieger, who announced the lawsuit at a press conference Tuesday.

Fieger lists the officers as “unknown” because he claims Detroit Police Chief James White has “failed to provide the names of the officers who were involved in the execution-style killing of Porter Burks.”

“The chief, despite my request to him directly to provide everything, the videos and everything involved in this case…to date for the last two weeks, I’ve received nothing,” Fieger said. “They have not been forthcoming with any information.”

Detroit police responded to a call from Burks’ brother Damondo Anderson on Oct. 2, after he called asking them to help Burks while he was having a mental health crisis and armed with an 8-inch blade knife. Police approached Burks when they found him and negotiated with him to drop his weapon.

“You’re not in any trouble, just drop the knife and we’ll get you some help,” one officer said in the body cam video White showed at a press conference he held days after Burks’ death.

Burks can be seen running toward officers in the video before he was fatally shot. Officers fired 38 shots in three seconds, killing Burks.

Fieger said he would obtain the names of the officers being sued from the Detroit Police Department at a later time and “will fill them in later.” The lawsuit was filed in the Wayne County Circuit Court and alleges gross negligence, assault, battery and violation of the Disabilities Act under Michigan state law, according to Fieger.

Police were aware of Burks’ mental health condition, according to Detroit Police executive team director Christopher Graveline. They responded multiple times on separate occasions, including two incidents dating back to 2020 where Burks stabbed his siblings according to police.

In the autopsy report for Burks, it was revealed that no shots were fired by police in close proximity and that Burks was hit at least 19 times with shots to the head, face, chest, arms and legs, according to Fieger.

“It’s just nonsense that this could occur in a civilized society when so many alternatives were available to the Detroit police officers to prevent this type of tragedy,” Fieger said.

“They saw him out, they provoked the confrontation and they executed him without excuse,” he added.

Fieger also claimed White showed the public “edited videos” of the incident during the press conference.

“He has never provided those videos to the family and we don’t want an edited video…we want the full video,” Fieger said.

Despite his claims, Fieger says he and his team plan to obtain all video footage by issuing subpoenas to the Detroit Police Department and will release the videos to the public once obtained.

“The people of the state of Michigan don’t get the full effect of the brutality and the un-necessity of having shot him,” Fieger said.

ABC News reached out to the Detroit Police Department to confirm Fieger’s claims. They did not immediately respond for comment on the claims or lawsuit.

Burks’ family did not speak at the presser, but according to Fieger, the family wants to see the police involved in their loved one’s death behind bars.

“There’s no justification for this,” Fieger said. “This is the definition of excessive force.”

Woman starts Facebook group to help protect other women amid rise in drink spiking

November 2, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — A Facebook group started to help protect women from the dangers of drinks “spiked” with illegal drugs has gone viral with nearly 8,000 followers.

The group was started by Melanie Hubbard after police in Boston issued a safety warning following more allegations from women about their drinks being spiked with dangerous drugs.

Hubbard co-founded the Facebook page “Booze in Boston” as a way for people to shed light on incidents of spiked drinks in the Boston area.

“People don’t feel safe anymore. People don’t want to go to the bar because they hear what happened to their friends,” Hubbard told ABC News’ Good Morning America. “I hope that it spreads that awareness.”

Boston police said Friday they have received reports of more than 70 incidents involving spiked drinks this year alone, according to Boston ABC affiliate WCVB-TV.

Of those incidents, four were confirmed by subsequent drug tests, WCVB reported, citing comments made Friday by Boston Police Department Lt. Detective Richard Driscoll.

The Boston Police Department also issued a warning about reports of spiked drinks in September, as college students returned for the start of school.

“The Boston Police Department has become aware of numerous social media posts from various individuals who state that they were victims of drink spiking at local area bars,” stated a letter signed by Boston Police Commissioner Michael A. Cox.

In the letter, Cox encouraged people to report incidents of drink spiking to the police department.

One of the many colleges in the area, Boston University, shared a new warning last week about “scentless, colorless and tasteless drugs being placed in alcoholic drinks.”

“Drugs used in this way can cause disorientation, unconsciousness or other symptoms,” the university’s police department said in a warning that was shared on Twitter.

Sarah Solomon told GMA she became incapacitated after having a third round of drinks at a concert in Boston.

“I couldn’t stand up,” Solomon said. “I basically had to sit on the sidewalk, and then I just started getting sick, like uncontrollably.”

Solomon said she was hospitalized the next day, adding, “Even in the hospital I was throwing up. I mean it was like the worst hangover.”

Solomon, who is now recovered, said she filed a police report after her experience. She said she wants people to know that this can happen to anyone.

“I just turned 40. I’m not a college kid. I’m not a party animal,” she said. “Make sure you keep your wits about you.”

Another woman, who asked that her name not be used, told WCVB that she was terrified after an alleged drugging incident in Cambridge, outside of Boston.

“All of a sudden, I felt so drunk and then I collapsed,” the woman said, adding that her memory of the incident is “hazy.” “I did end up in the emergency room. I couldn’t stop shaking. I couldn’t stop throwing up.”

ABC News contributor Brad Garrett said drink spiking has always been prevalent, but can be underreported.

He said the latest rise in reported incidents in the Boston area may mean that people are more empowered to speak out.

“It is a crime that’s big-time underreported,” Garrett said. “And so, as a result, we don’t really know the numbers.”

Garrett said people should always keep an eye on their drinks and surround themselves with trusted friends.

The Boston Police Department is also urging people not to consume a drink that is not served to them directly by the bartender or server, and to keep their drink covered with their hand when they are not drinking it.

The department said people can also use products for sale that enable a drink to be tested for drugs.

Signs that a person may have consumed a spiked drink include loss of motor skills, vomiting, numbness, loss of control over the body and gaps in memory, according to Boston University and the Boston Police Department.

Suspect in Paul Pelosi attack pleads not guilty during court appearance

November 1, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(SAN FRANCISCO) — The man accused of attacking House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband with a hammer last week has been arraigned in San Francisco Superior Court.

David DePape, 42, from Richmond, California, is facing a slew of state charges, including attempted murder, residential burglary and assault with a deadly weapon, as well as federal charges of assault and attempted kidnapping.

DePape walked into the courtroom wearing an orange jumpsuit and a shoulder sling on his right arm — having dislocated his shoulder during the alleged attack. Through his public defender, he pleaded not guilty and denied all allegations.

He has been ordered held without bail, and a preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Friday. DePape is expected to be arraigned on the federal charges against him on Wednesday.

A protective order that states DePape can make no contact with either Nancy or Paul Pelosi and can not come within 150 yards of their home was also signed by a judge.

According to the federal complaint, DePape allegedly used a hammer to break into the Pelosi residence in the upscale Pacific Heights neighborhood of San Francisco early Friday, just before 2 a.m. local time. The intruder then went upstairs, where 82-year-old Paul Pelosi was asleep, and demanded to talk to “Nancy.” Despite being told that the speaker was not home and would not be for several days, DePape said he would wait and started taking out zip ties from his backpack to tie up Paul Pelosi, according to the complaint.

According to the complaint, Paul Pelosi told DePape that he needed to use the bathroom, allowing him to get his cellphone and call 911. Two police officers arrived minutes later and entered the home, encountering DePape and Paul Pelosi struggling over a hammer. The officers told the men to drop the hammer, at which time DePape allegedly gained control of the hammer and swung it, striking Paul Pelosi in the head. The officers immediately restrained and disarmed DePape, while Paul Pelosi appeared to be unconscous on the floor.

The officers later secured a second hammer, a roll of tape, white rope, zip ties as well as a pair of rubber and cloth gloves from the crime scene, according to the complaint.

Paul Pelosi was struck at least twice with the hammer, sources told ABC News. He was hospitalized following the attack and underwent successful surgery on Friday to repair a skull fracture and serious injuries to his right arm and hands, according to a statement from Nancy’s Pelosi’s spokesperson, Drew Hammill. Although his injuries are significant, the speaker’s husband is expected to make a full recovery, Hammill said.

While being questioned by police, DePape stated that he was planning to hold Nancy Pelosi hostage and talk to her and that he wanted to use her to lure another unnamed individual. If she were to tell the “truth,” DePape told police he would the speaker go. And if she “lied,” he said he was going to break “her kneecaps,” according to the complaint. DePape told police he viewed Nancy Pelosi as the “leader of the pack” of lies told by the Democratic Party and that he was certain she would not have told the “truth.” DePape explained that by breaking her kneecaps, the speaker would then have to be wheeled into Congress, which would show other members of her party there were consequences to actions, according to the complaint.

During a press conference on Monday evening, when announcing the state charges against DePape, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins described the attack as “politically motivated” and implored the public to “watch the words that we say and to turn down the volume of our political rhetoric.”

“This house and the speaker herself were specifically targets,” Jenkins said.

Nancy Pelosi gave an update on her husband’s condition in a statement on Monday night, saying he “is making steady progress on what will be a long recovery process.” She added that her family is “most grateful” for “thousands of messages conveying concern, prayers and warm wishes” since the “horrific attack.”

ABC News’ Julia Jacobo and Mola Lenghi contributed to this report.

Kansas mother who led ISIS battalion sentenced to 20 years in prison

November 1, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — A Kansas mother who was convicted of leading an ISIS battalion was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Tuesday.

Allison Fluke-Ekren, 42, pleaded guilty in June to expressing interest in carrying out terrorist attacks in the United States in support of ISIS on six separate occasions between 2014 and 2017, according to court documents unsealed in February.

In letters to the court, her family described Fluke-Ekren as a “monster.” In court on Tuesday, her adult daughter said her mother forced her to marry an ISIS fighter who raped her when she was only 13.

“My mother is a monster who enjoys torturing children for sexual pleasure. My mother is a monster very skilled in manipulation and controlling her emotions to her advantage,” wrote her son, who remains unnamed in court documents filed by the Justice Department last week. “My mother is a monster without love for her children, without an excuse for her actions.”

Fluke-Ekren’s son, according to court documents, said she physically abused him as a child.

Fluke Ekren trained over 100 women and young girls, some just 10 years old on how to use automatic weapons, grenades and suicide belts, according to the Justice Department.

“Allison Fluke-Ekren brainwashed young girls and trained them to kill,” court documents say. “She carved a path of terror, plunging her own children into unfathomable depths of cruelty by physically, psychologically, emotionally, and sexually abusing them. For at least eight years, Fluke-Ekren committed terrorist acts on behalf of three foreign terrorist organizations across war zones in Libya, Iraq, and Syria.”

She also urged her daughter to delete messages shared between them to make sure she wasn’t caught in Syria where she had taken her children and was evading U.S. law enforcement, according to audio recordings played in court. Her daughter in court documents said she would inflict pain on her children, picking out what each one disliked the most and inflicting that damage upon them, then getting off on the pleasure of doing so, court documents say.

Fluke-Ekren was arrested in Syria earlier this year and transferred to U.S. custody, according to the DOJ.

Fluke-Ekren, who also used the name Umm Mohammed al-Amriki, moved to Syria in 2012 and married a “prominent” ISIS leader, court documents said. She can reportedly speak four languages, and the documents alleged she rose up the ranks to command her own all-female battalion.

“Fluke-Ekren’s alleged ISIS-related conduct includes, but is not limited to, planning and recruiting operatives for a potential future attack on a college campus inside the United States and serving as the appointed leader and organizer of an ISIS military battalion located in Syria, known as the Khatiba Nusaybah, in order to train women on the use of automatic firing AK-47 assault rifles, grenades, and suicide belts,” court documents filed in January said.

Prosecutors say she provided ISIS members with services, which included lodging, translating speeches made by ISIS leaders, teaching extremist ISIS doctrine and training children on the use of weapons and suicide belts.

Justice Department prosecutors said they believe the 20-year sentence is not enough.

“Twenty years in prison is insufficient to fully account for her monstrous acts of terror and the immeasurable damage that she has caused to countless individuals across the globe, including her own children,” prosecutors said.

One former friend, who said she last spoke to Fluke-Ekren more than 10 years ago, painted a picture of a woman who was close with her family but then became increasingly radicalized.

“I told people who she was friends with in Kansas, I told them, ‘This girl is radicalized,'” said the former friend, who agreed to be identified by her last name, Farouk. Farouk knew Fluke-Ekren when she lived in Kansas and then as a teacher in the Middle East.

She said Fluke-Ekren was a “good mom” and that their children were close, but that living in the Middle East as a teacher during the 2010 unrest of the Arab Spring and ensuing refugee crisis deeply impacted her.

+ More