(BALTIMORE) — Authorities are investigating potential arsons in Baltimore where, in the same area, four homes and an LGBTQ Pride flag were all on fire Wednesday morning.
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott’s office said in a news release that the pre-dawn incidents were separate, clarifying early reports that they were linked. A Baltimore Police spokesperson initially told ABC News that “officers were informed that the Pride flag was set on fire at the location.”
The mayor’s office said later Wednesday that firefighters found the house fires and the Pride flag fire separately — across the street from each other.
Three people were injured: a 74-year-old man, a 57-year-old man and 30-year-old woman. As of Wednesday afternoon, according to the mayor’s statement, the woman had been released from the hospital while the two men remained hospitalized in critical condition.
Officials have not commented on any potential suspects or potential motive.
“At this point, we cannot confirm that this was a hate crime,” Scott said in his statement Wednesday afternoon. “However, my agencies will bring every appropriate resource to bear to get to the bottom of this tragic event. Regardless, I continue to stand in solidarity with our LGBTQ+ community.”
Scott also announced a joint investigation by the fire and police departments along with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the FBI.
Residents of the area told ABC News affiliate WMAR that they believed one of the homes may have been targeted because of a Pride banner on its porch.
The fires come during the middle of Pride Month.
ABC News’ Davone Morales, Leonardo Mayorga, and Lauren Minore contributed to this report.
(GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.) — A Michigan police officer charged with second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of Patrick Lyoya during a traffic stop in April has been fired, city officials said.
Christopher Schurr was terminated after waiving his right to a discharge hearing, Grand Rapids city manager Mark Washington said in a statement Wednesday. The termination was effective June 10.
The Grand Rapids Police Department chief and the city’s Labor Relations Office had recommended Schurr’s termination, Washington said.
“Due to the on-going criminal matter and the potential for civil litigation, I will not be providing any additional comment concerning Mr. Schurr at this time,” Washington said.
The termination comes about two months after Schurr fatally shot Lyoya, 26, a native of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in the back of the head after pulling him over on April 4 for an unregistered license plate.
Body-worn camera footage of the traffic stop released by the police department showed Schurr struggling with Lyoya, eventually forcing him to the ground and shouting “Stop resisting,” “Let go” and “Drop the Taser,” before shooting him.
Lyoya was shot in the back of the head, according to both an independent autopsy report backed by Lyoya’s family and the Kent County medical examiner.
The shooting prompted protests throughout Grand Rapids, and the Kent County prosecutor charged Schurr with second-degree murder in connection with Lyoya’s death last week.
Schurr, a seven-year veteran of the Grand Rapids Police Department, pleaded not guilty during his arraignment on Friday. If found guilty, he could face up to life in prison.
Schurr’s lawyers, Mark Dodge and Matthew Borgula, said in a statement to Grand Rapids ABC affiliate WZZM that Lyoya’s death “was not murder but an unfortunate tragedy, resulting from a highly volatile situation.”
The Grand Rapids Police Officer’s Association has defended Schurr in the wake of the shooting.
“As tragic as this case is all the way around, we feel a thorough review of this entire situation will show that a police officer has the legal right to protect themselves and community in a volatile dangerous situation such as this, in order to return to his/her family at the end of their shift,” the association said in a statement in April.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing the Lyoya family, had called for the officer’s prosecution and termination.
“Officer Schurr must be held accountable for his decision to pursue an unarmed Patrick, ultimately shooting him in the back of the head and killing him — for nothing more than a traffic stop,” Crump said in a statement to ABC News following the charging decision.
ABC News’ Nadine El-bawab contributed to this report.
(CHESTERFIELD, Va.) — Fifteen kids and one adult were taken to the hospital on Wednesday after a hazmat incident at a neighborhood pool in Chesterfield, Virginia.
Emergency crews initially responded to reports that children were experiencing nausea and respiratory issues, a Chesterfield Fire and EMS official told ABC affiliate WRIC.
Four kids and one adult were reportedly transported by ambulance, while the remaining kids were driven to the hospital by their parents.
First responders sprayed down 25 people at the scene, took their blood pressure and monitored their breathing.
The Chesterfield Fire Department did not immediately respond to an ABC News request for comment on what may have caused the hazmat incident.
An emergency vehicle responding to the hazmat incident at the pool also crashed into a pickup truck. No injuries were reported in the crash.
(WASHINGTON) — The United States is facing the most “complex” threat landscape in quite some time, a top Justice Department official told a conference in Washington, D.C., Wednesday.
Lone-wolf actors, and their access to high-capacity firearms — like what allegedly occurred in Buffalo, New York — are very difficult for law enforcement to combat, Assistant Attorney General for the National Security Division Matthew Olsen told attendees at the George Washington University Program on Extremism symposium.
Attorney General Merrick Garland announced hate crime charges Wednesday morning against the alleged shooter accused of storming a Tops grocery store on May 14 and gunning down 10 people, all of whom were Black.
“Once these individuals decide to carry out an act of violence, once they’ve moved on that path from being radicalized to being mobilized to violence, they pose significant challenges to law enforcement,” Olsen said.
Encrypted planning communications and access to high-capacity firearms are two of the most pertinent issues that work against law enforcement, he said.
“There are fewer opportunities for us to detect and disrupt their plots before they happen,” Olsen explained. “The ability to gain access to military-grade weapons makes the job of law enforcement very hard when it comes to violent extremists.”
The threat of domestic violent extremists is not new: the Biden administration has focused on combatting DVEs by establishing a unit at the DOJ and providing grant money through the Department of Homeland Security.
The assistant attorney general said it is “beyond dispute” that the ability to get military-grade weapons gives DVEs the ability to “carry out attacks on a scale that they couldn’t otherwise carry out and that we don’t see in other countries.”
Olsen said his newly established domestic violent extremist unit at the Justice Department, which he announced in January and was stood up a month ago, will not only be prosecuting domestic violent extremist cases, but also training others in identifying DVEs.
“This unit can be a critical safeguard because domestic terrorism cases raise issues about First Amendment and some difficult legal judgements and policy judgements,” Olsen said.
Olsen said attorneys have come in from around the country to work on the unit.
He said the DOJ is well-versed in prosecuting extremist cases given their experience in fighting the war on terror.
(WASHINGTON) — The fiancee of slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi said Wednesday she was “very disappointed” in President Joe Biden’s plan to meet with Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, who the U.S. has determined ordered the operation that killed Khashoggi in 2018.
“Mr. Biden, you’ll soon visit Saudi Arabia as president, where you’ll meet with Jamal’s heartless executer (sic), dishonoring yourself and Jamal by meeting MBS,” said Hatice Cengiz in a video message posted by Democracy for the Arab World Now, a nonprofit Khashoggi founded in 2018.
Cengiz asked Biden to press for more answers in the death of her fiance when he meets with Mohammed during a visit to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, next month.
“If you have to put oil over the principles, and expediency over values,” she says, “can you at least ask, ‘Where is Jamal’s body? Doesn’t he deserve a proper burial? And what happened to his killers?” she implored.
As a candidate, Biden once pledged to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah” over its human rights abuses. Soon after he took office last year, his administration released a U.S. intelligence report that assessed Mohammed had ordered the operation that resulted in Khashoggi’s murder in Istanbul. Khashoggi was a Washington Post columnist who lived in Virginia.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told ABC News that she could not say whether Biden would specifically ask the questions raised by Cengiz but said the president was a “straight shooter.”
“I cannot read out right now or lay out what the agenda is going to be, or what the conversations are going to be,” she said. “But I can assure you, I can assure you that when it comes to human rights, this is something that is a priority for this president.”
She said “just hearing” Cengiz’s comments was “devastating.”
“Clearly, our hearts go out to her and her pain that she’s currently going through,” Jean-Pierre said.
Cengiz’s comments come in the wake of the White House’s announcement that Biden will visit Saudi Arabia in July.
The anticipated trip has drawn ire for the potential message a diplomatic trip could send to a country accused of involvement in the murder of Khashoggi, as well as numerous human rights violations.
But the president is also struggling to reign in sky-high inflation and gas prices, a political liability.
Saudi Arabia, a major oil producer, chairs the Gulf Cooperation Council grouping of oil-producing Arab nations. Saudi Arabia and the Biden administration have both said energy security will be part of discussions during Biden’s visit.
Cengiz also made a personal appeal to Biden.
“President Biden, I know you have experienced the unimaginable pain of losing a loved one,” she said.
Cengiz also tweeted Wednesday that she was “very disappointed” to hear about Biden’s Saudi Arabia travel plans. “A US resident was murdered for defending democracy and human rights in the country and now Biden is legitimizing this action,” she wrote.
Cengiz recently criticized professional golfers who joined LIV Golf, the Saudi Arabian-backed competition that’s drawn some of the biggest names in golf to the league.
“If they still carry on and play as if everything is normal, then they should be banned from playing in the world’s major tournaments,” she said in an email, according to reporting by USA TODAY Sports.
The White House has said Biden plans to discuss “a range of bilateral, regional, and global issues,” in Saudi Arabia including the Saudi truce with Yemen, and “deterring threats from Iran.”
ABC News’ Ben Gittleson contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — Georgia Republican Senate nominee Herschel Walker on Wednesday acknowledged he has a 10-year-old boy, about whom he hasn’t spoken publicly.
The revelation that Walker has a younger son was first reported Tuesday by The Daily Beast and confirmed by Walker’s campaign.
The issue of Walker’s involvement as a parent has brought renewed focus to the fact that Walker has repeatedly talked about the importance of being an active father and, in particular, has said, “the fatherless home is a major, major problem” for Black people. It is, however, unclear what role Walker has played in the life of his 10-year-old son.
He also has an older son, Christian, with his first wife.
A court order obtained by ABC News shows Walker admitted in 2013 to being the younger boy’s father after the boy’s mother filed a paternity petition that April.
In a statement on Wednesday, Walker’s campaign manager, Scott Paradise, pushed back on the idea that the boy was being hidden.
“Herschel had a child years ago when he wasn’t married. He’s supported the child and continues to do so. He’s proud of his children,” Paradise said. “To suggest that Herschel is ‘hiding’ the child because he hasn’t used him in his political campaign is offensive and absurd.”
Paradise pointed to Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock’s court fight with his ex-wife over their child custody arrangement. (Walker hopes to unseat Warnock in November.)
A spokeswoman for Warnock, Meredith Brasher, told ABC News he is a “devoted father who is proud to continue to co-parent his two children as he works for the people of Georgia.”
Walker, a businessman and college football legend in Georgia who easily won the Republican nomination in the state’s primary in May, has previously faced scrutiny about his personal life. That includes allegations of violent behavior and his diagnosis with dissociative identity disorder, or D.I.D., a complex mental health condition characterized by some severe and potentially debilitating symptoms.
Walker has denied some of the past allegations of domestic violence, physical threats and stalking; others he claimed not to remember.
His campaign previously referred ABC News to his 2008 memoir, which detailed his D.I.D. diagnosis, and a 2008 interview he did with ABC News in which he discussed its effects on his first marriage.
ABC News’ Lucien Bruggeman, Pete Madden, Rick Klein, Stephanie Lorenzo and Brittany Shepherd contributed to this report.
Amy Lee is performing during an upcoming streaming concert paying tribute to pioneering rock ‘n’ roll duo The Everly Brothers.
The Evanescence frontwoman will join Dave Stewart of Eurythmics for a rendition of the song “Love Hurts,” which The Everly Brothers first recorded in 1960.
“A bunch of legendary artists have come together and made tribute covers in honor of the incredible, timeless Everly Brothers,” Lee says. “I’m excited to announce I’ve teamed up with the one and only Dave Stewart for a special version of ‘Love Hurts.'”
The streaming event will feature a mixture of new and archival performances, and include artists Paul Simon, The Grateful Dead‘s Bob Weir with The Black Crowes‘ Chris Robinson, The Bangles‘ Susanna Hoffs with Semisonic‘s Dan Wilson, Chris Isaak and The Wallflowers‘ Jakob Dylan.
Country-rock pioneer Richie Furay, a founding member of both Buffalo Springfield and Poco, has released his new cover of Marc Cohn‘s 1991 hit “Walking in Memphis” as an advance track from his upcoming covers album, In the Country.
The song is available now via digital formats, and Furay has also debuted a music video for the tune on his official YouTube channel.
As previously reported, In the Country is due out on July 8 and is made up mainly of Furay’s interpretations of various well-known country songs.
Among the tunes featured on the 12-track collection are renditions of such country chart-toppers as Keith Urban‘s “Somebody Like You,” Garth Brooks‘ “The River,” Alabama‘s “I’m in a Hurry and I Don’t Know Why” and Lee Ann Womack‘s “I Hope You Dance,” as well as notable crossover hits like “Walking in Memphis” and John Denver‘s “Take Me Home, Country Roads.”
The album includes guest contributions from Vince Gill, John Berry, ex-Chicago singer/bassist Jason Scheff, and longtime Eagles bassist and former Poco member Timothy B. Schmit.
The digital version of In the Country features two bonus tracks — new renditions of the 1969 Furay-penned Poco tune “Pickin’ Up the Pieces” and George Strait‘s 1992 chart-topper “I Cross My Heart.” You can preorder the album now.
Furay is in Nashville this week, and his schedule includes a concert Thursday at the City Winery; his first performance at the historic Grand Ole Opry on Friday; and a special in-store appearance Saturday at East Nashville’s Vinyl Tap record shop, where he will be signing vinyl copies of In the Country in conjunction with Record Store Day.
Visit RichieFuray.com to check out his full concert schedule.
(WASHINGTON) — The California man arrested last week near Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s home has been indicted on a charge of attempted assassination.
The federal grand jury on Wednesday formally accused 26-year-old Nicholas Roske, of Simi Valley, of attempting to kill Kavanaugh.
According to the indictment, prosecutors will also seek to have Roske forfeit various property if convicted, including the firearms and other equipment that authorities said he carried on him at the time of his arrest on June 8.
Roske was previously charged, via criminal complaint, with attempted murder for allegedly making threats against Kavanaugh and showing up armed to Kavanaugh’s Maryland home.
He was angry over the recent mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, and the leaked draft of a Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, according to an affidavit from an FBI agent submitted last week in support of the criminal complaint.
Roske arrived to Kavanaugh’s home early on June 8 wearing black clothes and carrying a backpack, according to the affidavit. A Glock 17 pistol, two magazines, pepper spray, zip ties, a hammer, screwdriver, nail punch, crowbar, pistol light and duct tape were inside his bag, according to the affidavit.
He was arrested “without incident” after allegedly calling authorities to tell them he was suicidal and wanted to kill Kavanaugh, police have said.
According to the affidavit against him, “Roske stated that he’d been thinking about how to give his life a purpose and decided he would kill the Supreme Court Justice after finding the Justice’s Montgomery County address on the internet.”
During an appearance in U.S. District Court later on June 8, Roske told Judge Timothy Sullivan that he thought he had a “reasonable understanding” of the attempted murder charge, though he told the court he wasn’t thinking clearly and was on doctor-prescribed medication.
When asked if he could continue, he said, “I have a clear enough understanding” of the court proceedings.
Roske agreed to remain in custody until a preliminary hearing that was scheduled for June 22. However, he will likely face a formal arraignment now that prosecutors have secured a new indictment.
He remains in custody in Maryland. An attorney for him did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Separately, Congress on Tuesday approved a bill increasing security for Supreme Court justices’ families amid new threats to the high court — which has also seen renewed protests by advocates ahead of major opinions on polarizing issues including gun rights and abortion access.
(WASHINGTON) — New photos obtained exclusively by ABC News show former Vice President Mike Pence and his family in hiding after rioters broke into the Capitol and he was evacuated from the Senate floor.
ABC News is publishing the images for the first time on the eve of the House Jan. 6 committee’s hearing Thursday focused on former President Donald Trump’s pressure campaign against Pence.
In one, Pence can be seen with members of his family – second lady Karen Pence, his brother, Rep. Greg Pence and his daughter – in the vice president’s ceremonial office just steps from the Senate floor.
Taken just minutes after the mob had breached the Capitol and as Pence and his family were evacuated from chamber by his Secret Service detail, the photo shows Karen Pence hurriedly closing the curtains in the room, as her daughter looks on with fear.
According to a source who was in the room, the second lady could see rioters outside the Capitol, so she closed the curtains, worried that the attackers would see her and her family.
The photo was taken after the mob had already breached the Capitol, some of them chanting “Hang Mike Pence.”
The photos were taken by the former vice president’s official photographer, Myles Cullen, who was with Pence throughout the day and night of Jan. 6.
While they were previously described in “Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show,” they have never before been made public.
Minutes later, Pence and his family were rushed downstairs to a loading dock beneath the Capitol complex.
In another White House photo obtained exclusively by ABC News, you can see Pence after he returned to the Capitol with his daughter — working on the speech he would give when the joint session of Congress reconvened to certify the election of Joe Biden.
The White House
As seen in another photo, Pence returned to the House chamber later that night, to preside as Congress successfully certified Biden’s victory.
“Today was a dark day in the history of the United States Capitol. But thanks to the swift efforts of U.S. Capitol Police, federal, state and local law enforcement, the violence was quelled. The Capitol is secured, and the people’s work continues,” Pence later said in his remarks from the Senate dais.
