Monterey Park mass shooting live updates: Suspect had criminal history, police say

January 23, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(MONTEREY PARK, Calif.) — Eleven people were killed and nine others were injured by a gunman who opened fire at a crowded dance studio in Monterey Park, California, on Saturday night, authorities said.

The suspect — identified as 72-year-old Huu Can Tran — fled the scene and traveled to nearby Alhambra, where he allegedly entered a second dance hall before being disarmed there that same night. Tran was found dead on Sunday from a self-inflicted gunshot wound inside a van in Torrance, about 30 miles southwest of Monterey Park, according to police.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:

Jan 23, 7:50 PM EST
Monterey Park was worst mass shooting in LA County history, supervisor says

Chair of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Janice Hahn said that Saturday night’s shooting in Monterey, California, was the worst mass shooting in LA County history.

“Los Angeles County is in mourning,” Hahn said at a news conference on Monday.

Jan 23, 6:45 PM EST
Monterey Park suspect had criminal history, was making homemade firearm suppressors: Police

The suspected gunman in the Monterey Park, California, shooting that left 11 people dead had a limited criminal history, police said at a news conference on Monday.
Huu Can Tran, 72, was arrested in 1990 for unlawful possession of a firearm, according to officials.
Law enforcement officials served a search warrant at the suspect’s home and recovered a .308 caliber rifle and numerous electronic devices, police said.
According to Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna, the suspect manufactured homemade firearm suppressors.

-ABC News’ Matthew Fuhrman

Jan 23, 5:53 PM EST
2 more victims identified

The LA County Coroner’s office released the names of two more victims from this weekend’s mass shooting.
Xiujuan Yu, 57, and Valentino Alvero, 68, were among the 11 victims, the coroner’s said Monday afternoon.
The 11th victim who died at the hospital on Monday was also described as a woman in her 70s.

-ABC News’ Alex Stone

Jan 23, 4:13 PM EST

Gov. Newsom laments ‘rinse and repeat’ of mass shootings

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday lamented the “rinse and repeat” motions of the U.S. between mass shootings, during which the nation mourns but doesn’t make changes.

Newsom called large-capacity magazines “weapons of pure, mass destruction,” and said it’s “disgraceful” that the U.S. does not address it.

“The No. 1 killer of our kids last year was guns. The hell’s wrong with us?” Newsom told reporters Monday.

Americans should have the “freedom to walk the damn streets without being fearful,” he said.

The governor said he didn’t hold a news conference on the Monterey Park shooting on Sunday because “I can’t do those again … saying the same thing over and over again. I mean, it’s insane.”

-ABC News’ Matt Fuhrman

Jan 23, 4:00 PM EST

Man injured in massacre recounts the horror

Heong Bang, a man in his 60s who was injured in the mass shooting, told ABC News he heard what he thought was celebratory Lunar New Year fireworks, then suddenly felt pain his leg.

He said he looked around and saw fellow dancers on the ground covered in blood.

Monterey Park Mayor Henry Lo prays as members of the community hold a prayer vigil in…

Bang was taken to the hospital with a leg injury. Bullet pieces were recovered from his leg; he said he gave the fragments to police.

Bang said he never thought this could happen. He said he’ll never step foot in a dance studio again.

-ABC News’ Reena Roy

Jan 23, 2:53 PM EST

11th victim dies

One of the victims hospitalized after the Monterey Park mass shooting has died, bringing the death toll to 11, hospital officials said Monday.

The LAC+USC Medical Center said it still has three patients from the shooting: one in serious condition and two who are “are recovering.”

Jan 23, 1:12 PM EST
Suspect ‘distrusted everyone,’ acquaintance says

The mass shooting suspect, 72-year-old Huu Can Tran, filed for divorce from his then-wife in 2005, according to court filings. The judge approved the divorce in 2006.

It appears he worked as a professional trucker for at least 20 years. He was the chief executive officer of a San Gabriel-based business called Tran’s Trucking Inc., established in 2002 and dissolved in 2004, according to incorporation filings.

Tran was found dead on Sunday from a self-inflicted gunshot wound inside a van in Torrance, about 30 miles southwest of Monterey Park, according to police. No motive for the massacre has been determined. According to law enforcement sources, Tran had no known criminal history.

Tran’s former tenant and longtime acquaintance, who wished to remain unnamed, told ABC News that the suspect was a regular at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio, where the massacre unfolded, and Lai Lai Ballroom and Studio, where Tran entered with a gun later that night and was disarmed by a good Samaritan.

He told ABC News that Tran liked to dance but that he didn’t have many friends at either of the dance studios.

He said Tran “distrusted everyone.”

He added, “I wouldn’t say he was aggressive, but he just couldn’t get along well with people.”

He said Tran spent his nights mainly alone, but would offer women free lessons in the dance studio. He said that upset the owner and staff instructors, who made their living on paid lessons.

“I think there was tension between Tran and those instructors,” he said.

In 2015, the former tenant filed a small claims case against Tran, claiming Tran owed $750 to him, court records show. He explained that he filed the lawsuit because Tran had refused to pay him his security deposit. He told ABC News that he did not serve Tran in the suit, but he did serve his co-owner of the property, Janine Liu. ABC News reached out to Liu but has not heard back.

Jan 23, 12:31 PM EST
Devastated family of 65-year-old victim speaks out

Mymy Nhan, a 65-year-old woman killed in the Monterey Park dance studio mass shooting, “spent so many years” going there to dance on weekends, her family said.

“It’s what she loved to do,” the family said.

“We are starting the Lunar New Year broken. We never imagined her life would end so suddenly,” her family said. “Her warm smile and kindness was contagious. She was a loving aunt, sister, daughter and friend. Mymy was our biggest cheerleader.”

Jan 23, 11:30 AM EST
Rep. Chu’s message to community: Go to Lunar New Year celebrations

Rep. Judy Chu, a Democratic congresswoman who represents Monterey Park, told ABC News’ GMA3 that she wants to know the gunman’s motive for Saturday night’s massacre that claimed 10 lives.

“For him to do this right after we had our opening celebration of Lunar New Year was just horrific. There were thousands of people that were only one block away celebrating this very, very important holiday,” she said. “It was a joyous time that immediately turned to tragedy.”

Chu said the community is “beginning the healing process.”

“It’s been a horrific 24 hours. People were so fearful and anxious about an active shooter being out there in the community,” she said.

The suspect was found dead on Sunday from a self-inflicted gunshot wound inside a van in Torrance, about 30 miles southwest of Monterey Park, according to police.

“My message to the community is: you are safe,” Chu said. “And it’s so important for people to heal and to go to the Lunar New Year celebrations that they have been looking forward to all year long.”

Chu added, “The feelings of Asian Americans are very raw right now because we’ve just come from three years of anti-Asian hate due to COVID.”

“In fact, the reason that everybody was so enthusiastic about this Lunar New Year is that it was on hiatus for three years due to COVID. This was the first time it was being done in three years where everybody was together and in person,” she said. “So it should have been a wonderful time for our community.”

Jan 23, 10:53 AM EST
Ten slain victims all in their 50s, 60s or 70s

The Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office has released the names of two women killed in the mass shooting: 65-year-old My Nhan and 63-year-old Lilan Li.

The names of the other eight people killed have not yet been released. The coroner’s office has only identified them as a woman in her 50s; two women in their 60s; two men in their 60s; and three men in their 70s.

Jan 23, 9:51 AM EST
Governor visits Monterey Park

California Gov. Gavin Newsom tweeted photos of his Sunday visit to Monterey Park.

He said he met with “leaders and those impacted by this terrible tragedy” and called their strength “incredible.”

“No other country in the world is terrorized by this constant stream of gun violence,” the Democratic governor tweeted. “We need real gun reform at a national level.”

Jan 23, 8:42 AM EST
Suspect had no documented criminal history

Authorities have found no criminal history for the suspect in the Monterey Park mass shooting, ABC News has learned.

Investigators are still looking into a possible motive, including domestic violence.

-ABC News’ Josh Margolin and Alex Stone

Jan 23, 7:36 AM EST
‘Something came over me,’ says man who disarmed shooter

The man who disarmed the Monterey Park mass shooter recalled how “something came over me” during an interview Monday on ABC News’ “Good Morning America.”

“I realized I needed to get the weapon away from him,” Brandon Tsay said. “I needed to take this weapon, disarm him or else everybody would have died.”

Jan 23, 7:01 AM EST
Dance studio releases statement

The dance studio in Monterey Park where Saturday’s mass shooting took place has released a statement.

“What should have been a festive night to welcome the first day of the Lunar New Year turned into a tragedy. Our heart goes out to all the victims, survivors, and their families,” Star Dance Studio said in a Facebook post late Sunday. “In this time of healing, we hope that all those who were affected have the space to grieve and process what transpired within the last 24 hours. In the meantime, all classes will be canceled and studio will be closed until further notice.”

Jan 23, 5:31 AM EST
Survivor says longtime dance partner was among those killed

Shally was dancing the jive with her longtime dance partner on Saturday night when a gunman entered the studio and opened fire.

“We go to hide under the table,” Shally, who only provided her first name, recalled during an interview with Los Angeles ABC station KABC. “I think [my partner] had got shot already but not realized yet.”

Shally said she saw the gunman leave to get more bullets. When he returned, he reloaded the gun and opened fire again, she said.

“I said, ‘Lie down.’ We all lied down,” Sally told KABC.

Shally said the shooter then fled the scene and she turned to her partner, who she realized was unconscious. She tried to wake him but then saw her hands were covered in blood, she said.

“I thought I got shot too,” she told KABC.

Shally said she then realized that her partner had been shot in the back and the blood on her hands was his, from when they were holding each other in fear while hiding under the table.

“‘Wake up, wake up,'” she recalled telling her partner. “He was dead.”

Shally, who did not want to share the name of her dance partner, said he was a good friend and that they had danced together every week for about 10 years. She described him as a 62-year-old Asian man who didn’t have any family and said he was also friends with her husband, whom she married a couple years ago.

“He’s a nice guy,” she told KABC of her dance partner. “We love to dance.”

Ukraine expects to get 100 Leopard 2 tanks from 12 countries, once Germany approves: Senior Ukrainian official

January 23, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Twelve countries have agreed to supply Ukraine with around 100 Leopard 2 tanks if the German government gives its consent, according to a senior Ukrainian official who spoke exclusively to ABC News.

Those agreements, the source said, were made at Friday’s summit at Ramstein US Air Force Base in Germany when allied nations discussed military support for Ukraine.

Countries such as Poland and Finland have already indicated publicly that they are willing to provide a number of their Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.

The Ukrainian official with knowledge of the matter said Spain, the Netherlands and Denmark were also willing to provide some of their tanks, however Germany’s consent was still necessary for the coalition of countries to proceed on the matter.

As the country where the military hardware is manufactured, Germany has to approve the export license if countries want to supply some of their tanks to a third nation, such as Ukraine.

The Biden administration and other western governments are working to increase Ukraine’s military capabilities ahead of a possible escalation in the fighting in the coming weeks or months.

During a briefing last week, a western diplomat called it “the right moment” to provide new capabilities such as tanks to Ukraine.

“Ukraine’s allies have the ability to increase the quantity and quality of Ukraine’s military capabilities in a way that Russia simply doesn’t”, the diplomat said.

However the senior Ukrainian official, who spoke with ABC News on condition of anonymity, said the German-made Leopard tanks were also urgently needed by Ukraine because its stocks of ammunition for its soviet-era tanks are “running out.”

Ukraine is unable to produce new ammunition for these Soviet era tanks, the official said, “so this forced us to find an alternative way.”

Earlier this month the U.K. made a symbolic gesture by pledging to supply Ukraine with 14 of its Challenger 2 tanks.

The move was an attempt by the U.K. government to convince Berlin to move on its Leopards. The senior Ukrainian official with knowledge of the matter told ABC News that it helped.

“It started to be realistic after the decision in the UK. (UK Defense) Minister Wallace broke through this wall,” the official said.

Germany has faced criticism for delaying its decision on whether to approve the export of Leopard tanks.
In an interview broadcast on German TV last Thursday, the day before the Ramstein summit, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested the delay was costing lives.

“People die here, every day”, he said. “In plain language, can you deliver Leopards or not?”

However the senior Ukrainian source told ABC News that there was a great “understanding” that the Ramstein summit took place on the second working day for the newly-appointed German Defense Minister, Boris Pistorius.

“It’s not the time to put pressure on a newly appointed minister of defense. We fully understand (the need) for him to discuss it further,” the official told ABC News.

Indiana Republicans face blessing and curse in jockeying for 2024 Senate seat

January 23, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — A game of political musical chairs is unfolding in Indiana ahead of the 2024 campaign cycle as some of the state’s most high-profile Republicans begin to lay the groundwork for new prospects amid a competitive national Senate landscape.

The looming shuffle kicked off after Sen. Mike Braun announced in December that he plans to run for governor rather than pursue a second term in office.

Since then, Rep. Jim Banks officially threw his hat into the ring to succeed Braun and at least two other Hoosier Republicans — Rep. Victoria Spartz and former Gov. Mitch Daniels — have emerged as potential contenders. Spartz confirmed the possibility in December and while Daniels has not publicly acknowledged the possibility of a Senate run, he hasn’t ruled it out either, sources told ABC News.

State Republican operatives said that although primaries featuring multiple federal-level lawmakers on the same ticket is not a new phenomenon, it does give Indiana a unique political brand that favors candidates’ abilities to articulate and execute conservative policies.

“The Republican Party in Indiana is both blessed and cursed,” said Pete Seat, who served as an executive director for the Indiana Republican Party before pursuing a bid for state treasurer in 2022.

“It’s blessed in that it has an exceptionally deep bench of talent — just look at the fact that 90% of county-wide offices are held by Republicans. We have supermajorities in the state House and the state Senate. We’ve got a lot of people who could aspire to running for federal office. But that’s also the curse: There’s only so many options [available],” Seat told ABC News in an interview.

The 2024 Senate race will come the same year as the presidential election, which all but ensures high voter interest and media coverage. Republicans are also looking to take back the chamber, and holding Braun’s seat makes it all the easier to focus on the 23 Senate seats held by Democrats or independents, multiple of them in red or swing states.

Armed with a broad spectrum of Republican talent, Hoosier conservatives are now closely watching whether Daniels decides to get back into politics. He served eight years as the state’s top executive but left office in 2013 due to term limits.

Since then, Daniels has been working as the president of Purdue University while offering opinions on the national environment as a contributing columnist for The Washington Post. Daniels stepped down from his post at Purdue at the end of last year, and in November he penned a column on Election Day that warned about how “transparent nonsense can be shielded by tribalism or the groupthink of ‘elite’ opinion” while applying that idea to fiscal policy.

“If a notion is convenient enough in justifying a preferred outcome, it can survive despite mountains of evidentiary, or just common sense, refutation. Think of imaginary stolen elections or defunding police in an era of exploding crime,” Daniels wrote at the time.

The combination of policy topics cited by Daniels — anti-election denialism, pro-police — could lay the groundwork for the kind of platform the former governor would likely express on the campaign trail.

“If there was a Mount Rushmore of Indiana politicians, Mitch Daniels would be on it,” former Rep. Luke Messer told ABC News, while also noting that Daniels’ stature within the party does not preclude other Republicans from running successful campaigns.

The mounting speculation surrounding the upcoming Republican primary lineup is already opening the door for political attacks. In an online video earlier this month, the conservative anti-tax group Club for Growth threw its support behind Banks while labeling Daniels as “an old guard Republican clinging to the old ways of the bad old days.”

Nearly a week into his Senate candidacy, Banks boasts another high-profile ally: former President Donald Trump.

In an interview with The Daily Mail, a British tabloid, Banks welcomed Trump to join him on the campaign trail, and the former president — who announced his third presidential bid in November — appeared to lean into the idea on conservative social media.

Meanwhile, Spartz made waves earlier this month by changing her vote amid the contentious House election for the speakership. She opted to vote “present” on the fourth ballot before ultimately voting in favor of now-Speaker Kevin McCarthy on the 12th ballot. At the time, the congresswoman attributed her decision to shift the dynamics of the fourth ballot to her belief that Republicans needed to negotiate further until one candidate had enough support to secure the gavel.

In a December campaign email, Spartz expressed uncertainty about her future plans in politics but confirmed being “asked to consider” a Senate run. The congresswoman did not specify who requested her consideration for the role.

“I love our Republic dearly and understand how important these times are for our nation, but I need to decide if I am ready to commit at least 8 more years to Washington D.C. As some of you might know, I am not a huge fan of it,” Spartz wrote in the email, adding that she would make a decision about “how and where I can bring the most value and will let you know for sure in January-February of next year.”

Despite the current rough contours of the race, state Republicans go into 2024 with a heavy advantage to win the Senate seat, thereby ensuring the national spotlight — as well as the bulk of political spending — will stay focused on them into next year’s primary election.

In November, incumbent Sen. Todd Young was reelected in a landslide victory that nearly reached 60% of the vote.

Democrats appear to also be on shaky ground in the state’s 3rd Congressional District, which will be open due to Banks’ Senate candidacy. The district covers the northeastern corner of Indiana and has a partisan lean of 34 points, according to FiveThirtyEight. Banks won reelection with 65% of the vote in the fall.
Spartz represents the 5th Congressional District, where she also won by double digits, topping 60% of the vote.

The area covers parts of the northern Indianapolis ring counties where Republicans boast a partisan lean of 22 points over Democrats.

“Look at Indiana in 2022 — we actually did have a red wave, other states didn’t,” Seat, formerly with the state GOP, told ABC News. “We were talking about how it was going to be a wash across the shores, from sea to shining sea. Well, it happened here in the middle of America, and it didn’t happen in other places.”

FDA proposes most Americans receive one annual COVID vaccine, similar to flu

January 23, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Nik Oiko/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is considering a new COVID-19 vaccine strategy that would see Americans getting a single annual shot, similar to the flu vaccine.

Up until now, Americans who’ve gotten a primary series have received boosters that have targeted specific variants, with the most recent booster targeting the original variant and the Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5.

However, the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, the FDA’s advisory panel, is holding a meeting Thursday to discuss a new schedule: one shot every year for all Americans, regardless of vaccination status.

According to briefing documents published Monday, the new approach would simplify public health messaging on when to get COVID vaccines, with the hope that making the guidance easier for people to understand could potentially increase vaccination rates in the U.S.

There might be an exception, however, for people at higher risk of severe disease, including senior citizens and immunocompromised people. The FDA proposal suggests these groups continue receiving two shots per year.
Younger children who have never been vaccinated or infected with the virus would also continue with two shots a year.

“In age and risk groups presumed to have ‘insufficient preexisting immunity,’ two doses of an approved or authorized COVID-19 vaccine may be needed to induce the expected protective immunity for the desired duration,” the proposal reads.

The FDA’s independent advisors are likely to weigh in during Thursday’s meeting with potential changes to the guidelines, though, and advisors from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will also consider the new vaccine schedule in February.

For the flu vaccine, researchers and modelers often look to the southern hemisphere, which experiences its flu season first — typically from May to October — to predict how the season will look in the U.S. and model the flu vaccine accordingly.

Similar, it is assumed the FDA and other public health organizations will try to determine in the late spring or early summer which variant will be circulating in the fall and have a vaccine ready to go.

“FDA anticipates conducting an assessment of SARS-CoV-2 strains at least annually and to engage VRBPAC in about early June of each year regarding strain selection for the fall season,” the FDA said.
It is not expected that the discussion on Thursday will lead to an immediate decision or policy change, with discussions to likely to continue over the next few weeks and months.

ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett contributed to this report.

Monterey Park shooting victims: Dance studio regular among those who died, family says

January 23, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(MONTEREY PARK, Calif.) — Eleven people have died following a mass shooting at a dance studio in Southern California.

Five men and five women were initially killed in the shooting, which took place near a Lunar New Year celebration in Monterey Park Sunday night, a suburb of Los Angeles.

One of the 10 injured in the shooting died at the Los Angeles County+USC Medical Center on Monday after succumbing “to their extensive injuries,” the hospital announced.

A “night of joyful celebration” transformed into “a horrific and heartless act of gun violence,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement in response to the shooting.

“Our hearts mourn as we learn more about the devastating acts of last night,” Newsom said.

The motive for the shooting is unclear, including whether it is “a hate crime defined by law,” Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna told reporters during a news conference on Sunday.

Here are the victims of the Monterey Park shooting:

Mymy Nhan, 65

The family of Mymy Nhan, 65, is “broken” as the Lunar New Year begins, according to a statement released Monday.

Nhan was a regular attendee of the Monterey Park dance studio on weekends, her family said.
“It’s what she loved to do,” the statement read. “But unfairly, Saturday was her last dance.”

Nhan was a “loving” aunt, sister and friend and the family’s “biggest cheerleader.” She had a warm smile and possessed the kind of kindness that was “contagious,” they said.

Nhan’s family is still reeling with the realization of what happened to her, according to the statement.
“We never imagined her life would end so quickly,” they said.

Lilan Li, 63

Lilan Li, 63, is one of the 11 victims who died in the Monterey Park mass shooting, according to the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office.

Garland pushes back on suggestion Biden has been treated better than Trump in documents probes

January 23, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Attorney General Merrick Garland on Monday fielded his first questions on the Justice Department’s handling of the investigation into classified documents found at President Joe Biden’s Delaware home and a post-vice presidency think tank, responding in broad terms to criticism that Biden has faced fairer treatment than former President Donald Trump.

“The department has a set of norms and practices,” Garland said. “These mean, among other things, that we do not have different rules for Democrats or Republicans, different rules for the powerful or powerless, different rules for the rich or poor.”

Garland addressed the questions during a meeting of the Justice Department’s reproductive rights task force, which was founded following the Supreme Court overruling Roe v. Wade last summer.

His answer came in response to a question on how he would answer those who argue Biden has been treated better than former Trump — who had his home searched by the FBI last August after the government said he repeatedly resisted efforts to hand over all classified records in his possession.

“We apply the facts and the law in each case in a neutral and nonpartisan manner,” Garland said. “That is what we always do, and that is what we do in the matters you are referring to.”

Asked about his decision to appoint special counsels to investigate both Biden and Trump and whether that was “good for the country,” the attorney general again emphasized that he believed he was following the department’s rules and norms.

“The role of the Justice Department is to apply the facts and the law in each case in a nonpartisan and neutral way without regard to who the subjects are,” Garland said. “That is what we have done in each of these cases and what we will continue to do.”

Trump has denied wrongdoing in his handling of classified materials while out of office and has claimed he is being politically persecuted.

An attorney for Biden said earlier this month that his documents were “inadvertently misplaced” and he moved quickly to address the matter once it was discovered.

2 students killed in shooting at Des Moines school

January 23, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(DES MOINES, Iowa) — Two students have died after a shooting at their Des Moines, Iowa, school on Monday, according to police.

The third victim, a school employee, is in serious condition after the shooting at Starts Right Here, a charter school, Des Moines police spokesman Paul Parizek told reporters.

The shooting was reported just before 1 p.m. About 20 minutes later, three potential suspects were taken into custody at a traffic stop about 2 miles away from the school, according to police.

The victims have not been identified.

A motive is unclear, but Parizek said the shooting was “definitely targeted” and “not random.”
Des Moines Public Schools interim Superintendent Matt Smith said in a statement, “We are still waiting to learn more details, but our thoughts are with any victims of this incident and their families and friends. Starts Right Here is a valuable partner to DMPS, doing important work to help us re-engage students, and we stand by to support them during this critical time.”

Mike Beranek, president of the Iowa State Education Association, said in a statement, “We implore our elected leaders to consider effective strategies to eliminate gun violence and pursue concrete solutions that will keep our students, educators, and communities safe. Our schools need to be bastions of safety, not the recipients of violence. This needs to end. As a nation we need to recognize this is societal issue seeping into our schools.”
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said in a statement that she’s “shocked and saddened.”

She said she’s seen “first-hand how hard” the school staff “works to help at-risk kids through this alternative education program.”

“My heart breaks for them, these kids and their families,” the governor said.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

American detained in Iran ends 7-day hunger strike, calling it ‘weapon of last resort’

January 23, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Siamak Namazi, a U.S. citizen who has been detained in Iran since 2015, has ended his seven-day hunger strike, according to a Monday news release.

Namazi, 51, began the hunger strike on Jan. 16 to mark the seventh anniversary of a prisoner swap with Iran that freed five other Americans while he remained detained in Evin Prison.

Namazi said last week that he was protesting to draw the attention of the Biden administration.

“I went on hunger strike because I’ve learned the hard way that U.S. presidents tend to rely more on their political thermometer than their moral compass when deciding whether or not to enter a prisoner deal with Iran – or indeed who to include in one,” Namazi said in a statement after ending his strike. “I denied myself food for an entire week so that maybe President [Joe] Biden will recognize just how desperate the situation of the U.S. hostages here has become.”

Namazi, who is classified as wrongly detained by the U.S. government, was arrested while on a 2015 business trip to Iran for “colluding with an enemy state.”

“I’ve been Iran’s prisoner for a very long time,” Namazi said in Monday’s statement. “I know better than most that a hunger strike is a prisoner’s weapon of last resort – to be used only if our cup of endurance has truly run over and after exhausting all other options.”

During his seven-day hunger strike, Namazi lost around 10 pounds and his blood pressure spiked above normal levels, according to the news release. He also suffered drops in energy and lacked the ability to focus and stay warm.

In 2016, the Obama administration negotiated the freedom of five Americans detained in Iran, but Namazi was not included.

In an open letter to President Biden that announced his hunger strike last week, Namazi wrote, “Seven years and two presidents later, I remain caged in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison, holding that long overdue IOU along with the unenviable title of the longest held Iranian-American hostage in history.”

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Tuesday, “We received the letter, and our thoughts are with Namazi and his family.”

“The U.S. government is continuing to work to bring him home along with U.S. citizens who are wrongfully detained in Iran, including Emad Shargi and Morad Tahbaz,” Jean-Pierre said then.

A spokesperson for the State Department told ABC News after Namazi began his hunger strike last week that “our thoughts are with him and his family.”

“Iran’s use of wrongful detention as political leverage is outrageous, and Iran should release our wrongfully detained citizens,” the spokesperson said.

Despite the negative physical effects of the hunger strike, the positive international response has renewed Namazi’s hope for freedom, according to Monday’s news release.

“Everyone here for the sole crime of speaking their mind and for demanding their rights and the rule of law deserves our attention and respect,” Namazi said in his statement.

ABC News’ Shannon K. Crawford and Cindy Smith contributed to this report.

Jeffries taps Schiff, Swalwell for House intel after McCarthy promised to block them

January 23, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries has selected Reps. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., to sit on the powerful House Intelligence Committee, setting up a fight with Speaker Kevin McCarthy over the assignments.

In a letter sent to McCarthy over the weekend, Jeffries wrote that Schiff — most recently the top Democrat on the intelligence panel — and Swalwell were both “eminently qualified” to continue to serve on the committee, despite McCarthy’s criticism of their conduct.

“It is my understanding that you intend to break with the longstanding House tradition of deference to the minority party Intelligence Committee recommendations and deny seats to Ranking Member Schiff and Representative Swalwell,” Jeffries wrote.

The House Intelligence Committee has special rules that allow the speaker to assign its members in consultation with the minority leader. McCarthy is able to decline to seat members without relying on a full floor vote of the chamber.

Typically, however, the minority party’s recommendations have been seated.

McCarthy has repeatedly pledged to keep Swalwell and Schiff off of House committees in this Congress — in Swalwell’s case, because of his reported run-ins with an alleged Chinese spy, though Swalwell wasn’t accused of any wrongdoing; and for Schiff, because of what McCarthy has said was his promotion of a disputed dossier about Donald Trump and Russia.

Jeffries wrote in his letter to McCarthy that “the denial of seats to duly elected Members of the House Democratic Caucus runs counter to the serious and sober mission of the Intelligence Committee.” Jeffries also wrote that embattled Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., is a “serial fraudster” who was seated on committees while Democrats could lose their seats.

“The apparent double standard risks undermining the spirit of bipartisan cooperation that is so desperately needed,” Jeffries wrote.

Republican leaders have cited how the House’s Democratic majority in the last Congress removed Republican Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar from their committees over their past incendiary behavior, including Greene spreading conspiracies.

In both cases, some Republicans joined Democrats in voting to strip Greene and Gosar’s seats, Jeffries noted in his letter to McCarthy.

McCarthy has not responded to ABC News’ request for comment on Jeffries letter or when he will respond. Punchbowl News was the first to report the letter.

“What I am doing with the Intel Committee [is] bringing it back to the jurisdiction it’s supposed to do. Forward-looking to keep this country safe, keep the politics out of it,” McCarthy told reporters at a press conference earlier this month.

“So yes, I’m doing exactly what we’re supposed to do,” he said.

Separately, Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., will be named by her party this week to the House Foreign Affairs Committee, according to Democratic sources.

McCarthy has also promised to keep Omar off of that committee, citing some of the controversial statements she has made, which could set up a House vote this week to remove her assignment.

4 more Oath Keepers militia members found guilty of seditious conspiracy for Jan. 6 riot

January 23, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — A Washington, D.C., jury on Monday convicted four more members of the far-right Oath Keepers militia group for engaging in a seditious conspiracy to stop the certification of President Joe Biden’s election victory on Jan. 6, 2021.

Roberto Minuta, Joseph Hackett, David Moerschel and Edward Vallejo were the second set of individuals associated with the Oath Keepers to be convicted in connection with the insurrection.

All four men were found guilty of conspiring to disrupt the electoral college certification, preventing a member of Congress from discharging their duties and conspiring and obstructing an official proceeding.

The group’s leader, Stewart Rhodes, was convicted of seditious conspiracy along with another associate in November.

Three other members were found not guilty of seditious conspiracy in that trial, but were found guilty on a host of other felony charges connected to their actions around the Jan. 6 attack.

The Civil War-era sedition charge was rarely brought in the U.S. until Jan. 6 and carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

Members of the group have maintained their innocence throughout the trials and have vowed to continue fighting the judgments against them.

The jury’s decision is the latest victory for the Justice Department, which has brought cases against more than 900 defendants in connection with the Jan. 6 assault over the past two years.

The jury returned a mixed verdict on charges the defendants wiped cellphone evidence to throw off investigators, acquitting Minuta and Moerschel on those charges.

While he was never accused of being at the Capitol on Jan 6., prosecutors alleged that Vallejo was “on standby” at a nearby Virginia hotel waiting for the orders from Rhodes to bring firearms into the city. Vallejo and another member discussed the possibility of “armed conflict” and “guerilla war” on a podcast the morning of Jan. 6, according to evidence produced by prosecutors.

Defense attorneys stressed that those who amassed a cache of firearms at the Virginia hotel were mindful of Washington’s strict gun laws and were merely exercising their rights in self-defense.

Hackett and Moerschel were seen in images as part of the now-infamous military style “stack” formation of Oath Keepers who moved throughout the mob together during the riot.

Minuta was previously been identified as having served as a bodyguard for Donald Trump adviser Roger Stone on Jan. 6 before he and another member of the Oath Keepers rushed to the Capitol in a golf cart to join other members of the militia.

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