NEWS OF THE DAY
From Across the Nation
1 Nelly arrested: Police arrested rapper Nelly on Saturday after a woman said he raped her in a town near Seattle, an accusation the Grammy winner’s attorney staunchly denied. Auburn police spokesman Commander Steve Stocker said Nelly, whose real name is Cornell Iral Haynes Jr., was arrested in his tour bus. Nelly performed at the White River Amphitheatre in Auburn on Friday night. His attorney, Scott Rosenblum, called the rape claim a “completely fabricated allegation.” “Our initial investigation clearly establishes this allegation is devoid of credibility and is motivated by greed and vindictiveness,” Rosenblum said in an email. Nelly is a threetime Grammy winner.
2 Soldiers killed: Army privates from Ohio and Tennessee died when a military vehicle struck a formation of soldiers at a training base in South Carolina, officials said Saturday. The soldiers killed Friday at Fort Jackson were identified as Pvt. Timothy Ashcraft, of Cincinnati, and Ethan Shrader, of Prospect, Tenn. Six other soldiers were hurt. Fort Jackson officials have not released any details about the incident. The Army says it has started an investigation.
3 Ranching standoff: A federal judge has postponed the trial of Nevada cattleman Cliven Bundy and others in a 2014 armed standoff because of the Las Vegas mass shooting. Defense attorneys argued the attack would cast a shadow over the trial, which was set to start Tuesday in Las Vegas. On Friday, the judge rescheduled it for Oct. 30. Bundy, two sons and others are accused of conspiring to enlist a self-styled militia to prevent U.S. Bureau of Land Management agents and civilian employees from removing Bundy’s cattle from federal land in Nevada. Defendant Ryan Payne asked that the trial be postponed.
4 Supremacists rally: Dozens of torch-wielding white supremacists led by Richard Spencer flocked Saturday to a Confederate statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville, Va., for the first time since a neo-Nazi attacked marching protesters in August, killing a woman. “We are here to represent white America’s interests,” one member of the group shouted. Charlottesville Mayor Mike Signer denounced the march in a tweet: “Another despicable visit by neo-Nazi cowards . ... Go home! Meantime we’re looking at all our legal options.”
5 Police conduct: A request by St. Louis leaders to have the U.S. attorney’s office investigate police conduct at protests has been referred to the Department of Justice in Washington. More than 300 arrests have been made during protests since a judge’s mid-September acquittal of white former police officer Jason Stockley in the 2011 shooting death of Anthony Lamar Smith, 24, a black drug suspect. Police have drawn criticism for using force and chemicals in some arrests. Mayor Lyda Krewson and interim police Chief Lawrence O’Toole asked for an independent federal investigation. On Friday night, protesters took to the streets of Ferguson, Mo., the St. Louis suburb where the fatal 2014 police shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown, who was black and unarmed, sparked months of protests.