NEWS OF THE DAY
From Across the Nation
➊ Crane collapse: Twentytwo people were injured Wednesday after two construction cranes became entangled and caused an accident at a work site in Austin, Texas, the authorities said. Eight ambulances were sent to the scene and 16 people were taken to a hospital, according to Cmdr. Mike Benavides, a spokesman for AustinTravis County Emergency Medical Services. One person had a serious injury and the others had minor ones, he said. It was not immediately clear what had led to the collision. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration said Wednesday that it was investigating the incident.
➋ Barr on sedition: Attorney General William Barr told federal prosecutors in a call last week that they should consider charging rioters and others who committed violent crimes at protests in recent months with sedition, according to two people familiar with the call. The highly unusual suggestion to charge people with insurrection against lawful authority alarmed some on the call, which included U.S. attorneys around the country. The most extreme form of the federal sedition law, which is rarely invoked, criminalizes conspiracies to overthrow the government of the United States — an extraordinary situation that does not seem to fit the circumstances of the unrest in response to police killings of Black men.
➌ Intelligence briefings: The Trump administration has agreed to provide inperson briefings on threats to the November election to key members of Congress, backing down from a decision last month to provide that information only in writing. The move comes after significant pushback from Democrats and some Republicans who said the briefings were more important than ever as the 2020 election approaches and Russia signals it will try to interfere again as it did four years ago.
➍ Officer charged: A Utah police officer was charged with aggravated assault after ordering a dog to attack a Black man who had put his hands in the air, prosecutors announced Wednesday. Jeffery Ryans was in his backyard on April 24 when police responded to a domestic dispute call. The Salt Lake County district attorney’s office said Ryans complied with officers’ orders to raise his hands and remain in the backyard. K9 officer Nickolas Pearce then told Ryans to get on the ground before kicking him in the leg, forcing him to his knees, and ordering the dog to bite Ryans, prosecutors said. After he was bitten, Ryans underwent surgery and later experienced “prolonged loss of the use” of his leg, prosecutors said.
➎ Mayor furloughed: New York Mayor Bill de Blasio on Wednesday announced that he was furloughing his own staff at City Hall, himself included. The policy will cover 495 mayoral staff members, who will have to take an unpaid, weeklong furlough at some point between October and March 2021. The mayor intends to work during his furlough without pay. Facing a $9 billion, twoyear revenue shortfall because of the coronavirus’ impact on the economy, de Blasio this year closed the city’s budget with $1 billion in unspecified labor savings.