South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
Feds reportedly pinpoint suspect in officer’s death at riot
WASHINGTON— Federal investigators probing the death of a U.S. Capitol Police officer killed in the Jan. 6 riot have zeroed in on a suspect seen on video appearing to spray a chemical substance on the officer before he later collapsed and died, two people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.
The FBI has obtained video that shows the person spraying Brian Sicknick and other law enforcement officers during the Jan. 6 riot, the people said. But they cautioned that federal agents haven’t yet identified the suspect by name and the act hasn’t been directly tied to Sicknick’s death.
The idea that Sicknick died after being sprayed by a chemical irritant has emerged in recent weeks as a new theory in the case.
Investigators initially believed that Sicknick was hit in the head with a fire extinguisher, based on statements collected early in the investigation, according to one of the people and another law enforcement official briefed on the case.
But as they’ve collected more evidence, the theory of the case has evolved and investigators now believe Sicknick may have ingested a chemical substance — possibly bear spray — during the riot that may have contributed to his death, the officials said.
The people could not publicly discuss the details of an ongoing investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Sicknick died after defending the Capitol against the mob that stormed the building as Congress was voting to certify Joe Biden’s electoral win over Donald Trump. It came after Trump urged supporters on the National Mall to “fight like hell” to overturn his defeat.
The circumstances surrounding Sicknick’s death remain unclear and a final cause of death has not yet been determined. Capitol Police have said he died after he was injured “while physically engaging with protesters” and this month, the agency’s acting chief said officials consider it a line-ofduty death.
Saudi Arabia says missile
intercepted: Saudi Arabia said Saturday it intercepted a missile attack over its capital and bomb-laden drones targeting a southern province, the latest in a series of airborne assaults it has blamed on Yemen’s rebel Houthis.
The Saudi-led military coalition fighting in Yemen’s yearslong war announced the Iran-allied Houthis had launched a ballistic missile toward Riyadh and three booby-trapped drones toward the province of Jizan, with a fourth toward another southwestern city and other drones being monitored. No casualties or damages were initially reported. There was no immediate comment from the Houthis.
The attack comes amid sharply rising tensions in the Middle East, a day after a mysterious explosion struck an Israeli-owned ship in the Gulf of Oman. That blast renewed concerns about ship security in the strategic waterways that saw a spate of suspected Iranian attacks on oil tankers in 2019.
Myanmarfires envoy: Myanmar’s month-old military regime fired the country’s ambassador to the United Nations on Saturday, a day after he gave an impassioned speech to the U.N. General Assembly in Geneva, pleading for international help in restoring democracy to his homeland.
State television announced the firing of Kyaw Moe Tun, saying he had “betrayed the country and spoken for an unofficial organization which doesn’t represent the country and had abused the power and responsibilities of an ambassador.”
Kyaw Moe Tun’s speech buoyed Myanmar’s pro-democracy movement, which has held protests every day since Feb. 1, when the military took control of the country in a coup, and has broadened into a civil disobedience movement with hundreds of thousands of people walking off their jobs.
Kyaw Moe Tun was appointed under the civilian government that had shared power with the military before the coup, and was outside Myanmar when the coup took place.
Death row inmates may
As many as 10 get reprieve: death row inmates in Oklahoma, more than one-fifth of the state’s prisoners condemned to die, could escape execution because of a Supreme Court ruling concerning criminal jurisdiction in Indian Country.
The inmates have challenged their convictions in state court following the high court’s ruling last year, dubbed the McGirt decision, that determined a large swath of eastern Oklahoma remains an American Indian reservation.
The decision means that Oklahoma prosecutors lack the authority to pursue criminal charges in cases in which the defendants, or the victims, are tribal citizens.
Dozens of other inmates convicted in non-death penalty cases also are seeking to have their convictions tossed, which is expected to result in a dramatic increase in the workload of federal prosecutors.
EU summons envoy over
The EuroCuba letter: pean Union has summoned its ambassador to Cuba to return to Brussels to explain himself after he reportedly signed an appeal asking U.S. President Joe Biden to lift sanctions against Cuba and begin normalizing ties with the country.
A spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Saturday that the ambassador, Alberto Navarro, was asked “to come to Brussels to provide explanations.”
He was also instructed “to provide a note detailing the matter,” said the spokesman, Peter Stano.
Stano did not answer a question on whether Navarro will be fired.
The ambassador’ s summons to Brussels was first reported by Politico.
Doctor in video court while
doing surgery: The Medical Board of California said it would investigate a plastic surgeon who appeared in a videoconference for his traffic violation trial while operating.
The Sacramento Bee reports Dr. Scott Green appeared Thursday for his Sacramento Superior Court trial, held virtually because of the coronavirus pandemic, from an operating room. He was dressed in surgical scrubs with a patient undergoing the procedure just out of view.
The clerk reminded Green the proceedings were being livestreamed because traffic trials are required by law to be open to the public, and Green said he understood.
He appeared to continue working with his head down while waiting for Court Commissioner Gary Link to enter the chamber.
When Link appeared, the judge hesitated to proceed with the trial out of concern for the welfare of the patient.
The board said it would look into the incident, saying it “expects physicians to follow the standard of care when treating their patients.”
A call seeking comment from Green was not returned.