Va. county, governor at odds over protests at homes of justices
FALLS CHURCH, Va. — Fairfax County officials have rebuffed a request from Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin to establish a security perimeter around the neighborhoods of U.S. Supreme Court justices living in the county after some have faced protests outside their homes.
Youngkin, a Republican, made the request Wednesday in a letter to the county board of supervisors.
“I fundamentally believe such demonstrations and picketing should not be allowed at the Justice’s (sic) homes as they are meant to intimidate and influence the Justices,” he wrote.
Three justices — Samuel Alito, Amy Coney Barrett and Clarence Thomas — live in the county. Justices living in and outside the county have been confronted with protests outside their homes since a draft of Alito’s opinion that would overturn the Roe v. Wade abortion-rights decision was leaked.
Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff Mckay said Youngkin’s request for a security perimeter is unnecessary and improper.
Mckay said establishing a perimeter would amount to creating an unconstitutional neighborhood “checkpoint” that would infringe on First Amendment protest rights. He also noted that protests that have occurred outside Alito’s home in the Fort Hunt neighborhood have been peaceful.
Fairfax County Police, for their part, said through a spokeswoman that they’re providing extra staffing in response to reports of planned protests “to maintain the safety and security of the public, while ensuring First Amendment rights are protected.”
Youngkin also joined Maryland GOP Gov. Larry Hogan in calling on federal law enforcement entities to “take the lead and provide sustained resources” to protect the justices and ensure the neighborhoods are secure in the weeks and months ahead.
Boat capsizes: A boat loaded with suspected migrants capsized north of an uninhabited island near Puerto Rico and 11 people had been confirmed dead while 31 others were rescued Thursday, authorities said.
It wasn’t immediately clear how many people were aboard the boat when it turned over, U.S. Coast Guard spokesman Ricardo Castrodad said.
“We’re looking to rescue as many people as we can and find as many survivors as we can,” he said.
At least eight Haitians were taken to the hospital, but the nationalities of all those aboard were not immediately known.
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection helicopter spotted the overturned boat late Thursday morning.
The boat was spotted more than 11 miles north of the uninhabited island of Desecheo, which is off Puerto Rico’s west coast.
Somalia election: Somalia is set to hold its long-delayed presidential vote Sunday, ending the convoluted electoral process that raised tensions in the country when the president’s term expired last year without a successor in place.
Authorities have registered 39 presidential candidates, a list that includes incumbent Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, two former presidents, a former prime minister, several top officials and even a journalist.
The field includes one woman, Fawzia Yusuf Haji Adam, a lawmaker who once served as Somalia’s foreign minister.
The vote will take place amid heightened insecurity as the Islamic extremist group al-shabab, which opposes the federal government, continues to stage lethal attacks in the capital and elsewhere in the nation.
The vote is behind schedule by 15 months and Somali authorities faced a May 17 deadline to hold the vote or risk losing key funding from international donors.
ASEAN summit: President Joe Biden on Thursday kicked off the first Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit to be held in Washington as his administration makes an extended effort to demonstrate that the United States has not lost focus on the Pacific even while dealing with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
As Biden welcomed leaders from eight ASEAN nations for a dinner to
start the two-day “special summit,” the White House announced that the U.S. would commit to more than $150 million in new projects to bolster Southeast Asia’s climate, maritime and public health infrastructure.
A senior administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the effort was meant to signal that the U.S. is looking to “step up our game in Southeast Asia.”
The gathering marked the group’s first meeting at the White House in its 45-year history. Leaders will take part in more formal talks Friday at the State Department.
The ASEAN nations include Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
The top leaders from ASEAN member Myanmar were barred from attending, while outgoing Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte dispatched Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. to represent his government.
Nkorea fires 3 missiles: North Korea fired three short-range ballistic missiles toward the sea Thursday, its neighbors said, the latest in a series of weapons demonstrations this year and one that came just hours after it confirmed its first case of the coronavirus since the pandemic began.
The launches could underscore North Korea’s determination to press ahead with its efforts to expand its arsenal, despite the virus outbreak, to rally support behind leader Kim Jong Un, and keep up pressure on its rivals amid long-dormant nuclear diplomacy.
Thursday’s launches were the North’s first weapons fired since the inauguration of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday.
North Korea has a history of rattling new governments in Seoul and Washington in an apparent bid to boost its bargaining chips in future negotiations.
There was no report of any damage to aircraft or vessels.
NM wildfire out of control: The flames of a northern New Mexico wildfire have become unstoppable as the largest blaze in the country burns trees sucked dry of moisture, according to wildfire fighting managers.
Meanwhile, winds in Southern California sent embers flying in the coastal town of Laguna Niguel on Wednesday. More than 20 homes were destroyed, many of them multimillion-dollar mansions. No injuries were reported.
In New Mexico, the fastest-moving flames in the southern foothills of the Rocky Mountains were headed northeast and away from the area’s biggest population center of Taos, a popular tourist destination 40 miles south of the state line with Colorado.
The winds have made it difficult for aircraft to fly to help firefighters on the ground, but some planes managed to drop retardant on the blaze Wednesday despite winds gusting in some areas above 45 mph.