Gatlinburg fire mystery: Who doctored prosecution agreement?
A failed bid to hold two Anderson County teenagers legally responsible for the state’s deadliest wildfire in a century is sparking a new mystery — who doctored an official agreement between federal and Tennessee governments and why?
Aggravated arson charges against the boys, ages 17 and 15, were dropped Friday in part because 4th Judicial District Attorney General Jimmy Dunn did not have authority under a 1997 agreement between the state and federal government to prosecute crimes committed in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
The park was left out of the 1997 agreement, which granted both state and federal authorities the power to prosecute crimes committed on federal lands within Tennessee. That meant only federal authorities could level charges for crimes committed in the park. That omission was discovered during Dunn’s attempt to prosecute the boys.
It’s not yet clear if the park was left out of the agreement intentionally or by mistake. Also unclear is how many cases involving crimes committed in the park have been prosecuted in state courts since 1997 and what impact the omission will now have on those cases. The park encompasses sections of Blount, Sevier and Cocke counties.
A soldier displayed the school ID card retrieved from the body of one of the bombers, showing her to be only 15. The photo was of a serious young woman in a white hijab and indicated she had studied in Bangladesh.
“Most of the people who blew themselves up today are women,” said special forces Lt. Col. Salam Hussein. He added that seven women strapped with explosives approached the troops Monday, “but thank God, our units stopped [them].”
Government troops advancing through the Old City were using rougher tactics to clear the remaining pockets of IS forces.
The tempo of airstrikes was so great Monday that coalition aircraft couldn’t keep up with the requests for air support from Iraqi ground forces. Instead, they sought approval for artillery strikes.
Associated Press drone footage showed the result: dozens of buildings burning in the Old City.