NATION BRIEFING Suspected Florida school shooter appears in court, denied bond
Trump says he doesn’t think personal lawyer will ‘flip’
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – President Donald Trump said Saturday that he doesn’t expect Michael Cohen, his longtime personal lawyer and fixer, to “flip” as the government investigates Cohen’s business dealings.
Trump, in a series of tweets, accused The New York Times and one of its reporters of “going out of their way to destroy Michael Cohen and his relationship with me in the hope that he will ‘flip’ ” – a term that can mean cooperating with the government in exchange for leniency.
“Most people will flip” even if “it means lying or making up stories,” Trump said. “Sorry, I don’t see Michael doing that despite the horrible Witch Hunt and the dishonest media!”
Governor charged with using charity donor list for campaign
St. Louis prosecutors charged Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens with a felony on Friday for using a charity donor list for his 2016 political campaign. The Republican governor responded by calling it another effort to “smear” him.
The charge of tampering with computer data is in addition to an earlier charge alleging Greitens took and transmitted a nonconsensual photo of a partially nude woman with whom he had an affair in 2015.
The new charge accuses Greitens of disclosing the donor list from The Mission Continues in 2015 without permission from the charity he founded.
Man killed in knife attack while holding daughter at restaurant
LOS ANGELES – A homeless man is facing a murder charge in what authorities said was a random attack on a California father, who was stabbed in the neck as his 5-year-old daughter sat on his lap in a crowded beachside steakhouse.
Jamal Jackson, 49, was charged with first-degree murder in the death of Anthony Mele, 35. Jackson was being held in Ventura County jail on $1.5 million bail.
Mele and his wife were eating dinner with their daughter Wednesday at Aloha Steakhouse in Ventura when the man walked up and stabbed Mele in the neck, police said. Mele died Thursday after being taken off life support.
Patrons kept track of the suspect until police arrived and arrested him, prosecutor Richard Simon said.
OCALA, Fla. – A gunman who opened fire with a shotgun at a Florida high school, wounding one student, has been denied bond during his first court appearance.
Sky Bouche appeared Saturday before Judge Willard Pope via video conference at the Marion County Jail. The Ocala Star-Banner reported a second court date was set for next month.
Bouche said he felt an adrenaline rush before Friday’s shooting that quickly wore off, and he was unable to continue with his plan.
Bouche faces charges including terrorism, aggravated assault with a firearm and possession of a firearm on school property.
Settlement announced in Miss. coroner discrimination lawsuit
JACKSON, Miss. – A settlement has been reached in a racial discrimination lawsuit against a Mississippi Gulf Coast county and its coroner.
David Owens, a lawyer representing six black-owned funeral homes, said Harrison County and its coroner, Gary Hargrove, will agree to a written policy to give all funeral homes an equal chance at county-controlled business and pay $110,000 in damages.
The trial centered on allegations that Hargrove steered county business to two white-owned funeral homes.
Pennsylvania town’s mayor accused of soliciting prostitute
BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – State police have arrested the mayor of a Pennsylvania town on charges of soliciting and patronizing a prostitute.
Police allege that Eric Bower, 36, had sex several times for money, most recently in early April. They allege he and a confidential informant agreed to meet at a motel, and Bower showed up Friday with $200 cash and condoms.
Bower was arraigned Friday night by video on misdemeanor charges, including criminal solicitation and patronizing prostitutes.