(DENVER) — One person is dead and another is in critical condition following a shooting in Denver, near the Coors Field baseball stadium, Denver police said.
The Denver Police Department responded to the area of 22nd and Blake Streets around 10:30 p.m. on Friday, about 45 minutes after the Colorado Rockies game ended.
Two shooting victims were transferred to the hospital and one adult male was later pronounced dead.
No suspects have been arrested. The investigation is active and ongoing, according to Denver police.
The shooting so close to a baseball stadium comes less than a month after gunfire rang out outside Nationals Park in Washington D.C., which stopped the game and sent panicked fans running for cover.
Three people were injured in the shooting and no arrests have been made.
(NEW YORK) — Florida’s controversial anti-riot law is going to have its day in court.
Civil rights groups including the ACLU of Florida, the Dream Defenders and the Black Collective have sued the state and Gov. Ron DeSantis, alleging HB 1, the law called “Combating Public Disorder,” specifically targets Black people, infringes on Floridians’ First Amendment rights and “deters and punishes peaceful protests.”
Chief Judge Mark Walker will hear from the plaintiffs in a hearing set for Aug. 30 in U.S. District Court in Tallahassee.
Ahead of the hearing, here’s what the law is supposed to do, what to expect at this month’s hearing and what’s at stake for protesters — not just in Florida but throughout the U.S.
The law
HB 1 criminalizes protests that turn violent and could have serious consequences for demonstrators. Protests can be deemed “mob intimidation,” which is a first-degree misdemeanor that carries a penalty of up to one year in prison, or classified as a “riot,” a second-degree felony with a penalty of up to 15 years in prison.
Under the new law, protesters can’t post bail until after making an initial court appearance, and any damage to historical property, such as a Confederate moment, is classified as a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison. The law also protects drivers who potentially injure or kill protesters with vehicles by granting them affirmative defense, excusing them from civil or criminal liability.
DeSantis proposed the legislation after a summer of protests in the wake of George Floyd’s murder. At the bill signing on April 19, Gov. DeSantis proclaimed HB 1 was the “strongest anti-rioting, pro-law enforcement piece of legislation in the country.”
“In Florida, we are taking an unapologetic stand for the rule of law and public safety,” the governor’s office said in a statement to ABC News. “We are holding those who incite violence in our communities accountable, supporting our law enforcement officers who risk their lives every day to keep us safe and protecting Floridians from the chaos of mob violence.”
Opponents of the law say HB 1 is a racist reaction to protests that were mostly peaceful.
“It’s all an effort to demonize Black and brown people to further create division in our country,” state Rep. Anna Eskamani of Florida told ABC News, adding that the governor’s statements only stoked the fire because “statements like that are also against Black voices, because it’s Black voices who are who are speaking for a new vision of law enforcement.”
Civil rights groups suing Florida allege HB 1 makes people afraid to exercise their constitutional right to protest. Representatives from the Dream Defenders said they’ve seen turnout at protests drastically decrease and have even had to cancel demonstrations to protect members from violence, according to the filing.
Section 15
The plaintiffs argue HB1 is “unconstitutional in its entirety,” but this month’s hearing is a preliminary injunction against Section 15. That’s the part of the law that defines what a riot is.
HB 1 challengers say the definition is vague and overbroad, authorizing selective interpretation where “police officers decide in every instance what constitutes a riot and who can be arrested.”
“Section 15 is kind of the central enforcement mechanism of HB 1,” said Max Gaston, a staff attorney of the ACLU of Florida. “So, just to put it into perspective, Section 15 essentially means that peaceful protesters could be arrested, held without bail, charged with a felony punishable by up to five years in prison just for standing in an otherwise peaceful demonstration if violence occurs nearby.”
Republican leaders don’t see the law that way.
“There is a clear difference between a riot and a peaceful protest. A riot is, by legal definition, violent,” Christina Pushaw, DeSantis’ press secretary, said. “The legislation protects First Amendment freedoms while ensuring that law enforcement professionals are empowered to use their discretion to maintain public safety.”
Potential consequences
This month’s hearing, in addition to clarifying the reach of Section 15, could decide the constitutionality of the entire law. That’s because so many of the other penalties in the law rely on the definitions laid out in Section 15.
“The goal of getting Section 15 blocked would essentially allow us to block some of the more problematic provisions,” Gaston told ABC News.
The preliminary injunction asks the court to enjoin the law. If Walker sides with the plaintiffs, HB 1 would be blocked immediately while litigation challenging its constitutionality goes through the courts.
Lawsuits over HB 1 are piling up. Gainesville city commissioners voted Thursday to sue the state over HB 1, becoming the first Florida city to do so.
However, anti-riot bills aren’t just being passed in Florida. Just this week, legislators in Nassau County, New York, approved a bill saying anyone who harasses or injures a first responder can be fined up to $50,000 and that first responders can sue a person directly.
At least 45 other states have considered similar legislation — 36 initiatives limiting the rights of protesters have passed, and 51 of them are currently pending, according to the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law, which tracks federal and local anti-protest laws.
Gaston and other organizers said now they’re concerned about the type of precedent HB 1, if upheld in court, could set nationwide.
“When lawmakers with a certain agenda see that something like HB 1 is able to happen here in Florida,” Gaston continued, “the credible threat exists that they might look at that and say to themselves, ‘Well, maybe we can get away with that here too.'”
Eskamani, the state representative, agreed.
“It’s always like one step forward, two steps back, where you just constantly feel like as you’re marching forward with systematic changes — the status quo pushes back, flexes its muscles and tries to silence you,” she said. “But, I mean, we are preparing for those fights — 100%.”
(PHOENIX) — The school year began on Monday in classrooms across the Phoenix Union High School District, and despite Arizona’s ban on mask mandates, students and staff were all wearing masks indoors in adherence to the district’s mitigation requirements.
Arizona has seen its daily case average increase by 327% in the last month, and hospitalizations are now at their highest point since early February, with more than 1,400 patients currently receiving care, according to federal data.
Given the changing circumstances, several districts in Arizona are now opting to require masks, as recommended by the updated Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for “localities to encourage universal indoor masking for all teachers, staff, students, and visitors to schools, regardless of vaccination status.”
Dr. Chad Gestson, superintendent of the Phoenix Union High School District, has vowed that he will do whatever he feels is best for the health and safety of his students and staff, including defying the governor’s orders, and thus requiring face coverings in classrooms.
“This decision — all decisions that we made — but this particular one is not about defiance. It’s ultimately about science,” Gestson told ABC News.
According to state law, the law prohibiting mask mandates will not go into effect until 90 days after the end of the legislative session. Thus, the mask mandate will not formally begin until Sept. 29.
Following the updated recommendations from the CDC, Ducey reasserted his stance on banning masking in schools.
“Arizona does not allow mask mandates, vaccine mandates, vaccine passports or discrimination in schools based on who is or isn’t vaccinated. We’ve passed all of this into law, and it will not change,” Ducey wrote in a statement on July 27. “The CDC today is recommending that we wear masks in school and indoors, regardless of our vaccination status. This is just another example of the Biden-Harris administration’s inability to effectively confront the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Gestson, who has led the Phoenix Union district high schools since 2015, explained that the decision was the result of concerns over high transmission, and the rapidly spreading coronavirus infections in the area, as he brought nearly 30,000 students back to in-person learning across the district.
“We made a commitment from day one, this was March of 2020, that we would do absolutely everything in our control, to protect our staff and our students and our families, and we made a commitment to our communities that we would be courageous,” he said.
With the emergence of the delta variant, he continued, the district became very concerned about the aggressive nature of the virus.
Gestson said he is fully aware of the legislation that bans masks mandates, and the potential litigation and public backlash that could follow the move.
However, he said, the decision was ultimately an easy one.
“Lives are at stake,” Gestson said. “We are bringing back 32,000 souls, and we had to weigh the implications and the consequences. Our people need us to protect them.”
One of the district’s teachers, Douglas Hester, has already filed a lawsuit against the district over the decision to mandate masks for students and faculty, asserting that it was “in violation of state law,” Health Freedom Defense Fund’s legal team, who is representing Hester, told ABC News in a statement.
“The power to legislate with respect to health issues is reserved to the states and no school district can decide to unilaterally implement rules which contradict the will and intent of the people’s elected representatives in the legislature,” the group wrote, ahead of a hearing planned for next week.
When asked about the lawsuit, Gestson declined to give details on the active litigation, but said that he felt “very comfortable” with the decision, both from a legal perspective and because, he asserts, “we made the right decision,” following the guidance of the CDC and other health professionals.
“If we get to the 29th, and the spread is still high or substantial, the recommendations from CDC and others still say that masks indoors, regardless of vaccination status, are critical to the health and safety, then Phoenix Union is prepared, as always, to do whatever we need to protect our people and ultimately we’ll cross that bridge when we get there at late September,” Gestson said.
“Well over 90% of our students are back on campus,” Gestson said. “We don’t want to find ourselves in a position where we’re back in remote learning, which is why we are really clear that if the science teaches us how to mitigate the spread of COVID, we’re gonna follow that. And ultimately the decision that we made our mask as a part of that.”
Alongside masks, other mitigation strategies are also being implemented. Although social distancing is not always feasible among students in large high schools, other measures, such consistent disinfecting, ensuring that sick people stay home and good contact tracing protocols, have been put in place.
The No. 1 mitigation strategy, asserted Gestson, is vaccination.
Phoenix Union has taken the lead on hosting vaccination events, partnering with local pharmacies, and having drive-thru vaccinations in parking lots, Gestson noted. Over the summer, he said, gyms, cafeterias and auditoriums were also the sites of vaccinations for staff, parents and students older than 12, ultimately inoculating more than 10,000 people.
When asked how parents, staff and students in his district felt about the mask mandate, Gestson said that although they would prefer not to wear masks, they understand it is important if schools are to remain in person.
“I’ve heard from so many students who said, ‘Hey, I will wear this mask every day if that means I get to come to school every day.’ And I have not had any issues with compliance of our mask requirement,” said Gestson.
Gestson said he has heard from some parents who do not like the decision to require masks, but was happy with the “overwhelming support that we received from our staff, our students, our parents.” Parents, he said, understand that the reason behind for the masks is to protect their kids, and ultimately, they are “extremely appreciative, not just of this decision, but all the work that we’ve done over the last year and a half to really prioritize their safety.”
(PLUMAS COUNTY, Calif.) — Eight people are missing as the Dixie Fire rages on in California, the Plumas County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement Saturday.
“We are seeking the public and the media’s assistance is helping us locate the individuals so we can report back to their loved ones,” they said, adding that their investigation unit has already located 16 other individuals who were previously unaccounted for.
“We request if you know where any of these people are to contact them and have them call the Sheriff’s Office at 530-283-6300 to let us know they are safe, so we can report back to the person(s) looking for them,” the police said.
The names of the unaccounted for individuals are: Danny Sczenski of Greenville, Jesus and Ella Gursasola of Greenville, Matthew Henley of Greenville, Glen Gallagher of Greenville, Sally and Harold Brown of Crescent Mills and Donna Shelton of Chester, according to the statement.
The Dixie Fire has been burning near Feather River Canyon for weeks and has now scorched through more than 434,813 acres since it sparked on July 13.
It is 21% contained and is now considered the third largest fire in California history.
The fire “burnt down our entire downtown. Our historical buildings, families homes, small businesses, and our children’s schools are completely lost,” Plumas County Supervisor Kevin Goss wrote on Facebook.
It is one of 90 large wildfires, many of them uncontained, that are currently burning in the West.
(ATLANTA) — Atlanta police have spoken with a jogger who they initially thought may have witnessed the stabbing death of a woman in Piedmont Park last week.
Authorities shared photos Friday morning of a jogger who they said could have been a witness. Atlanta police told ABC News that as of Friday afternoon the man pictured “has come forward and is cooperating with investigators at this time.” He’s not a suspect at this time or accused of any wrongdoing, police added.
Atlanta police said late Friday the jogger had not witnessed the crime.
On Wednesday, APD released surveillance video and photos showing people in the area of Piedmont Park around the time Janness was murdered, asking for those people to come forward or for the public to identify them as possible witnesses.
Police were called to the crime scene around 1:10 a.m. after it was reported a person was being stabbed. Janness and her dog were found dead, each with multiple stab wounds.
Janness’ parter of seven years, Emma Clark, said Janness went to walk Bowie after dinner but never returned, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. When she didn’t come home, Clark tracked her phone’s location and went to the park.
Authorities said the investigation is ongoing, and on Friday they raised to $20,000 the reward for more information in solving the case.
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms addressed concerns that the murder may be a sign there’s a killer on the loose targeting the LGBTQ+ community.
“I know there have been several rumors that there is a serial killer on the loose in the city,” she said. “We don’t have any evidence of that — also that this was a hate crime. As of now, we don’t have any proof of that as well.”
Anyone with information on the identity of the suspect in this case should contact 911 or Crime Stoppers Atlanta. Information on the case can be submitted anonymously to the Crime Stoppers Atlanta tip line at 404-577-TIPS (8477) or online at www.StopCrimeATL.com.
(WASHINGTON) — The Department of Homeland Security said Friday they have observed “an increasing but modest level of activity online” by people who are calling for violence in response to baseless claims of 2020 election fraud and related to the conspiracy theory that former President Donald Trump will be reinstated.
“Some conspiracy theories associated with reinstating former President Trump have included calls for violence if desired outcomes are not realized,” according to a DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis bulletin obtained by ABC News.
There is no evidence that shows there was widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election.
“Over the last few days what has occurred is there’s been much more public visibility, meaning the discussions and these theories have migrated away from being contained within the conspiracy and extremist online communities, to where they’re being the topic of discussion on web forums, or more public web forums, and even within the sort of media ecosystem,” a senior DHS official explained.
DHS says in the bulletin they do not have specific evidence there is a plot imminent.
“As public visibility of the narratives increases, we are concerned about more calls to violence. Reporting indicates that the timing for these activities may occur during August 2021, although we lack information on specific plots or planned actions,” the bulletin sent to state and local partners reads.
The department “does not have the luxury of waiting till we uncover information with the level of specificity, regarding a potential location and the time of an attack” to act on potential threats due to the threat environment, the senior DHS official explained.
“Past circumstances have illustrated that calls for violence could expand rapidly in the public domain and may be occurring outside of publicly available channels. As such, lone offenders and small groups of individuals could mobilize to violence with little-to-no warning,” the bulletin says.
The senior official said that one of the lessons learned from the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol is “that information that may reflect a growing threat may be communicated on public forums.”
“The current threat environment is one which is fueled in large part by conspiracy theories and other false narratives that are spread online by foreign governments, not by foreign terrorist groups [but] by domestic extremist thought leaders, and are consumed by individuals who are predisposed to engage in violence,” the official said.
The official pointed to the events of Jan. 6 and the attacks on the synagogues in Pittsburgh and Poway, California, as examples.
The senior DHS official also pointed to the balance DHS has to walk when putting out products.
“We don’t want to overreact, but we want to make sure that we are at the earliest stage possible providing awareness to law enforcement and other personnel who are responsible for security and are critical to mitigating risk,” the senior official said, adding the bulletin was done with civil rights and civil liberties in mind.
(WASHINGTON) — The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack will hire former Rep. Denver Riggleman, R-Va., as an adviser to the panel, according to a source with direct knowledge of the forthcoming announcement.
The former congressman, who lost his primary last summer, has become one of the few voices inside the Republican Party criticizing the spread of disinformation and conspiracy theories, including the idea that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, which led to the Capitol riot.
Riggleman, who also served as an Air Force intelligence officer, is expected to help the committee catalog and track the mistruths that circulated online and on social media before thousands of former President Donald Trump’s supporters gathered in Washington and descended on the Capitol hoping to overturn the election results.
A spokesman for the Jan. 6 committee did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
ABC News reported earlier this month that according to sources briefed on the discussions, Riggleman could join the committee staff in an advisory capacity.
The committee held its first hearing last week with several police officers who had faced off against pro-Trump rioters at the Capitol in January. With the House now on recess through August, the panel is focused on mapping out the contours of its investigation and building up its staff.
Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said the panel would issue “quite a few” subpoenas and could potentially seek to question and obtain documents from former Trump administration officials and Republican lawmakers who communicated with Trump before and on Jan. 6.
Asked if the committee would want to interview former acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, following the release of handwritten notes from former acting Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue that appear to show Trump trying to pressure the Department of Justice to declare there was significant fraud tainting the 2020 presidential election, Thompson said the committee hasn’t determined who it wants to hear from yet.
“The president wanted to mobilize the apparatus of the entire U.S. government to reinstall him as president, essentially,” Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., another panel member, told reporters. “As one member, I am very interested in retracing the steps of what the president did to guarantee what he called his ‘continuation in power.'”
Riggleman would be the third Republican linked to the panel, along with Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, who both called to impeach Trump and accepted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s invitation to join the investigation over GOP leaders’ efforts to boycott it after Pelosi refused to seat two leading conservative lawmakers who voted to overturn the 2020 election.
In recent days, other conservative lawmakers have sought to push Cheney and Kinzinger out of the House GOP Conference and strip them of other committee assignments over their work on the committee.
(TALLAHASSEE, Fla.) — dThe Florida Board of Education passed a rule Friday allowing parents in the state to skirt mask mandates that districts may enforce for their children.
The rule, passed unanimously at an emergency meeting, lets parents transfer their kids to a private school or another district if they experience “COVID-19 harassment,” including mask requirements.
According to the rule, these students would qualify for a Hope Scholarship, an existing program created to protect children who are bullied, assaulted, harassed or threatened in school.
The Florida Department of Health also announced a rule on Friday requiring school districts to allow parents to opt their children out of mask mandates.
Both rules were in response to an executive order issued last week by Gov. Ron DeSantis, which directed the state departments of education and health to enact measures to protect “parents’ rights … to make health care decisions for their minor children.”
Multiple districts this week defied the governor’s order by issuing mask mandates for their students, including northern Florida’s Alachua County, where schools have experienced a surge of COVID-19 cases among staff, including two recent deaths.
Leonetta McNealy, the chair of the Alachua County School Board, who told ABC News Thursday that the executive order was “appalling and absurd,” said Friday in a text message that the district will now allow parents to opt out of wearing masks by using the Hope Scholarship.
South Florida’s Broward County Public Schools, the other district to require masks for students, had not released updated guidance by Friday evening. The district said Wednesday that it was “awaiting further guidance” before updating its policy.
The debate around mask requirements comes as the delta variant of the coronavirus wreaks havoc in Florida.
On Thursday, the Florida Hospital Association reported 12,500 patients were hospitalized with COVID-19, marking a new pandemic high. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the state is now reporting over 17,000 new cases per day. About 1 in 5 COVID cases diagnosed in the country are now in Florida, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
(WASHINGTON) — The Biden administration has announced it is extending pandemic relief for student loan repayments, interest and collections through January 31, 2022, referring to it as the “final” extension.
The pause has been in effect since former President Donald Trump signed the CARES Act in March 2020 and was extended by both him and President Joe Biden. It was most recently set to expire on Sept. 30.
“As our nation’s economy continues to recover from a deep hole, this final extension will give students and borrowers the time they need to plan for restart and ensure a smooth pathway back to repayment,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in a statement. “It is the Department’s priority to support students and borrowers during this transition and ensure they have the resources they need to access affordable, high quality higher education.”
The Department of Education says the extension will give borrowers time to plan to resume payments and reduce the risk of delinquency and default.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Ayanna Pressley applauded the move in a joint statement Friday afternoon.
“We’re pleased the Biden administration has heeded our call to extend the pause on federally-held student loan payments, providing an enormous relief to millions of borrowers facing a disastrous financial cliff,” they said. “The payment pause has saved the average borrower hundreds of dollars per month, allowing them to invest in their futures and support their families’ needs.”
Still, the group of lawmakers wants the president to go further and use executive action to cancel $50,000 of student debt.
“Student debt cancellation is one of the most significant actions that President Biden can take right now to build a more just economy and address racial inequity,” the statement said.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, however, last month said the president does not have the power to cancel student debt and that only Congress has that authority.
“He can postpone, he can delay, but he does not have that power,” she said at a press conference.
Borrowers will be notified about the new extension “in the coming days” and the Education Department is expected to provide information about how to plan for restarting payments.
(NEW YORK) — Those who wish to spend a few minutes at the edge of Earth’s atmosphere will now have the chance — if they have $450,000 to spare.
Virgin Galactic, the private space tourism firm headed by billionaire Richard Branson, announced Thursday evening that it was officially reopening ticket sales.
The announcement comes on the heels of a successful test flight last month in which Branson and a crew flew to the edge of space in a mission dubbed Unity 22.
“Leveraging the surge in consumer interest following the Unity 22 flight, we are excited to announce the reopening of sales effective today, beginning with our Spacefarer community,” Virgin Galactic CEO Michael Colglazier said in a statement Thursday as the company announced second quarter earnings. “As we endeavor to bring the wonder of space to a broad global population, we are delighted to open the door to an entirely new industry and consumer experience.”
“Spacefarer community” refers to customers who already have put down a refundable deposit to be first in line to purchase tickets. The company said it intends to offer three consumer offerings for the private astronaut market: a single seat, a multi-seat package for couples or friends and a full-flight buyout. When the firm initially announced it was selling tickets to space a few years ago, the announced price was $250,000.
Branson’s July 11 suborbital flight took heat from critics for stretching the definition of space as the crew did not go above the Karman line (62 miles above Earth) that is defined by many agencies — but not all — as the boundary between the planet’s atmosphere and space.
Still, video from the trip showed Branson and his crew enjoying a few minutes of micro-gravity and the entire crew was presented astronaut wings during a news conference after their landing.
Branson’s role in much-viewed test flight was as a mission specialist, tasked with testing the customer experience.
“I think, like most kids, I have dreamt of this moment since I was a kid and honestly nothing can prepare you for the view of Earth from space,” Branson said after landing. “It’s just magical. I’m just taking it all in. It’s just unreal.”
Just nine days after Branson’s spaceflight, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos took a similar jaunt via a ride from his private space-faring company Blue Origin. Many saw the back-to-back billionaire spaceflights as ushering in a new era in space tourism that has been propelled by a budding commercial space industry dominated by the ultra-rich.
