Attorneys in Chauvin’s trial probe potential jurors’ views on police
MINNEAPOLIS — Attorneys in the trial of a former Minneapolis police officer charged in George Floyd’s death probed potential jurors Wednesday about their attitudes toward police, trying to determine whether they’re more inclined to believe testimony from law enforcement over evidence from other witnesses to the fatal confrontation.
Judge Peter Cahill seated two more jurors to go with the three picked Tuesday on the first day of jury selection for the trial of Derek Chauvin on second-degree murder and manslaughter charges. It’s been a grinding process during which attorneys ask prospective jurors one by one whether they could keep an open mind, what they think of the criminal justice system and racial justice issues, how they resolve conflicts and much more.
The first juror picked Wednesday, a man who works in sales management and grew up in a mostly white part of central Minnesota, acknowledged saying on his written questionnaire that he had a “very favorable” opinion of the Black Lives Matter movement and a “somewhat unfavorable” impression of the Blue Lives Matter countermovement in favor of police, yet “somewhat agreed” that police don’t get the respect they deserve. He said he agrees that there are bad police officers.
“Are there good ones? Yes. So I don’t think it’s right to completely blame the entire organization,” he told the court under questioning from prosecutor Steve Schleicher.
He also said he would be more inclined to believe an officer, all things being equal, over the word of another witness.
But he maintained he would be able to set aside any ideas about the inherent honesty of an officer and evaluate each witness on their own.
The second, a man who works in information technology security, marked “strongly agree” on a question about whether he believes police in his community make him feel safe.
“In my community, I think when there is suspicious activity, the police will stop by, they will ask a question,” he said. “I think that sense of community is all we want right. We want to live in a community where we feel safe regardless of race, color and gender.”
US budget deficit: The U.S. government’s budget deficit through February hit an all-time high of $1.05 trillion for the first five months of this budget year, as spending to deal with the coronavirus pandemic surged at a pace far above an increase in tax revenue.
The Treasury Department reported Wednesday that the October through February deficit was 68% larger than the $624.5 billion deficit recorded during the same period last year.
It easily surpassed the previous five-month deficit of $652 billion set in 2010 when the government was spending to try to lift the country out of the deep recession caused by the 2008 financial crisis.
The Congressional Budget Office has projected that the deficit for the budget year that ends Sept. 30 will be $2.3 trillion. However, that estimate does not include the cost of President Joe Biden’s
$1.9 trillion COVID relief measure, which cleared Congress Wednesday.
Last year’s deficit, also driven higher by virus relief packages, was a record $3.1 trillion.
Seoul to pay more to US:
Striking a delicate balance, the United States and South Korea have agreed that Seoul will pay 13.9% more this year for hosting American troops as part of a multiyear deal crafted to keep Seoul’s share of the overall cost within historical norms, officials said Wednesday.
The deal, which had been announced this week but without financial details, ends a long stalemate that had strained relations between allies after the Trump administration demanded a fivefold increase in Seoul’s contributions.
President Joe Biden’s willingness to quickly accept smaller increases is cast by the State Department as evidence that the Biden administration
wants to repair relations with key allies in East Asia as it focuses on regional unity in confronting China and North Korea.
The FBI has released new video showing someone placing two pipe bombs outside the offices of the Republican and Democratic national committees the night before the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
The explosive devices were placed outside the two buildings between 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Jan. 5 and were located by law enforcement the next day.
U.S. Capitol Police and agents from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were called to the Republican National Committee’s office around 12:45 p.m. Jan. 6. About 30 minutes later, as the agents and bomb technicians were still investigating at the RNC, another call came in for a similar explosive device found at the Democratic National Committee
New video of bomber:
headquarters nearby. The bombs were rendered safe, and no one was hurt.
The video, released Tuesday, shows a person in a gray hooded sweatshirt, a face mask and gloves appearing to place one of the explosives under a bench outside the DNC and separately shows the person walking in an alley near the RNC before the bomb was placed there.
Toll on Syria’s children: Syria’s 10-year-long civil war has killed or wounded almost 12,000 children and left millions out of school in what could have repercussions for years to come in the country, the U.N. children’s agency said Wednesday.
The statistics were released in a UNICEF report ahead of the 10th anniversary of Syria’s conflict that began in mid-March 2011. The war has killed nearly a half-million people, wounded more than a million and displaced half the country’s population, including more than 5
million as refugees.
Over the past year, the situation has been compounded by a severe economic crisis and the spread of coronavirus in the country, where medical facilities have been hard hit by a devastating war that left large parts of Syria destroyed.
China, Russia to partner: China and Russia said they will build a lunar research station, possibly on the moon’s surface, marking the start of a new era in space cooperation between the countries.
A statement posted Wednesday on the website of the China National Space Administration said the International Lunar Research Station would also be open to use by other countries, but gave no timeline for its construction.
China drew heavily on Russian expertise in the early years of its space program, but has largely forged its own path since launching its first crewed mission in 2003.