NEWS OF THE DAY
From Across the Nation
_1 Liberian deported: A member of imprisoned former Liberian President Charles Taylor’s security forces has been deported from the United States back to the West African country, immigration officials said. Officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported Alexander Mentol Zinnah, 56, who was living in Minnesota. He had been a member of Taylor’s National Patriotic Front of Liberia, which sparked a civil war that left more than 200,000 civilians dead. An immigration court ordered Zinnah deported in May 2019. His petition to be released was dismissed by a U.S. District Court in February.
_2 Voting rights: A federal appeals court panel ruled Wednesday that a Kansas law requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote is unconstitutional, upholding a judge’s injunction that had banned its use. A 10th Circuit Court of Appeals panel found in two consolidated appeals challenging the Kansas statute that the state law violates the Equal Protection Clause and the National Voter Registration Act. The panel upheld the permanent injunction that U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson had imposed prohibiting enforcement of the requirement.
_3 Libertarian candidate: U.S. Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan said Wednesday he is seeking the Libertarian nod for president because millions of Americans do not feel wellrepresented by either major political party and their standardbearers: President Trump and presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden. Amash, a Trump critic who left the Republican Party to become an independent and later supported his impeachment, said too many people vote Republican or Democrat because they do not feel they have any other choice. Amash was elected in 2010 as part of the Tea Party wave that toppled Democratic control. Trump has called him a “total loser.”
_4 Police shooting: Extended security and bodycam video shows Chicago police shooting an unarmed shortorder cook at the foot of a subway escalator and then again with his back turned to officers after they tried to stop him for violating a city ordinance by walking from one train car to another. The Feb. 28 shooting raised questions about whether the Chicago Police Department is complying with a courtmonitored reform plan that, among other things, seeks to remedy decades of excessive force by the 13,000officer force through training that stresses conflict deescalation. Ariel Roman, 33, survived but was severely injured. The videos were released by the city agency that investigates alleged misconduct by police.
_5 Nuclear plant: Two operating reactors at an aging nuclear plant serving millions of people in the New York City area will shut down Thursday as federal regulators consider the owner’s proposal to sell it to a company that plans to demolish it. The Unit 2 reactor at the Indian Point Energy Center along the Hudson River will close Thursday, and Unit 3 will close in April 2021. Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, had long sought the shutdown, saying the plant 24 miles north of Manhattan posed too great a risk to millions of people who live and work nearby.
Chronicle News Services