NEWS OF THE DAY
Secret Service: Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, who has been repeatedly accosted by protesters on the campaign trail, is receiving U.S. Secret Service protection beginning this week, the agency said. Biden made the request earlier this month after a handful of testy interactions with protesters at recent campaign events, including one in which two protesters rushed a stage in Los Angeles and came within a few feet of Biden during a Super Tuesday victory speech. Biden’s wife, Jill, and several staff members, including one trained security officer, restrained the women and carried them from the stage.
Mall shooting: Atlanta police have identified the man accused of pulling the trigger in a fatal shooting outside an upscale mall after an argument over a parking space. Authorities said this week that arrest warrants have been obtained for Ricky James Lafargue in the deadly fight March 8 at Lenox Square. Lafargue, 19, has not been arrested but police said he’s charged with felony murder. Police said two groups got into an argument over the parking space. Thuan Nguyen, 31, of Antioch, Tenn., was shot in the head, police. The shooting was the fourth in four months at the mall.
New trial: A Minnesota man of Somali descent who was convicted of opening fire on other Somalis will get a new trial after a detective improperly testified that Somalis often lie to police, a Wisconsin appeals court ruled Tuesday. Ahmed Farah Hirsi was charged with multiple counts of attempted homicide and recklessly endangering safety in the 2014 cartocar shooting at a liquor store in Hudson. A jury convicted Hirsi in 2015 and he was sentenced to 35 years in prison. Court documents say the driver of Hirsi’s car testified in a plea deal that Hirsi pulled the trigger. But victims who testified at trial said they either didn’t see the shooter or that it wasn’t Hirsi.
Russia probe: The Justice Department is moving to drop charges against two Russian companies that were accused of funding a social media campaign to sway U.S. public opinion during the 2016 presidential election. Prosecutors concluded that a trial, against a corporate defendant with no presence in the United States and no prospect of meaningful punishment even if convicted, would likely expose sensitive law enforcement tools and techniques, “potentially undermining their effectiveness.” Concord Management and Consulting LLC and Concord Catering were among three companies and 13 individuals charged by special counsel Robert Mueller to spread disinformation.
Deportation lawsuit: After being denied U.S. asylum in Texas and returned to a squalid camp in Mexico, a mother from El Salvador chose to send her three children back across the border alone. Now, those children face deportation, even though their father lives in Maryland and is eager to take them in. Lawyers for the children sued the U.S. government Tuesday in Houston demanding that the children be released and allowed to seek asylum. Nearly 500 children have family in Mexico, says the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Chronicle News Services