Tag Archives: aiding and abetting

US Supreme Court to decide whether Mexico may sue gun distributors for allegedly facilitating the flow of firearms to drug cartels

US Supreme Court makes decision

Important Takeaways:

  • In its lawsuit, Mexico alleged the manufacturers and distributors were aiding and abetting the purchase of their firearms by dealers known to supply drug cartels.
  • They also claim that firearm makers have resisted making changes to their products – such as making gun serial numbers harder to tamper with or installing certain technological safeguards that would hinder a gun’s unauthorized use – that would make the guns less appealing to criminal gangs.
  • And the complaint says manufacturers market their products in a “inflammatory” and “reckless” way that makes guns more attractive to cartels.
  • The high court on Friday granted the request by Smith & Wesson and other gun manufacturers to review a federal appeals court ruling reviving the case, after a trial judge threw it out on the basis of the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, a law that generally bars civil liability for firearm manufacturers and distributors for the use of their products by third-party criminals.
  • At the heart of the dispute before the Supreme Court is the 2005 federal law passed by a GOP-led Congress. The ruling in Mexico’s favor came after gunmakers had previous success in using the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act to stop similar lawsuits from local and state governments.

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After more than a week of protests, four Minneapolis police officers face charges

By Brendan O’Brien

MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) – A fired Minneapolis police officer will face a more serious murder charge and three other sacked officers will be charged as aiding and abetting in the death of an unarmed black man that triggered eight days of nationwide protest, court documents said on Wednesday.

George Floyd, 46, died after Derek Chauvin, a white policeman, knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes on May 25, reigniting the explosive issue of police brutality against African Americans five months before a presidential election.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison is charging Chauvin, 44, with second-degree murder in addition to the third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter charges leveled against him last week, according to court documents.

The new charge can carry a sentence of up to 40 years, 15 years longer than the maximum sentence for third-degree murder.

The other three former officers who were involved in the incident – Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao – face charges of aiding and abetting murder and arrest warrants have been issued by Ellison, according to the documents.

Ellison, a black former U.S. congressman, has requested that bail be set at $1 million for each of the four former officers, the documents showed. Ellison was expected to hold a briefing later on Wednesday.

When reached by Reuters over the phone, Earl Gray, the attorney for Lane, said he had not received any information on the charges yet. Attorneys for the other officers who are being charged did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

“This is a significant step forward on the road to justice, and we are gratified that this important action was brought before George Floyd’s body was laid to rest,” Benjamin Crump, attorney for the Floyd family, said in a statement.

He later told CNN that Chauvin should be facing a first-degree murder charge, and that Ellison had informed Floyd’s family that the investigation is ongoing and other charges could be filed.

Protesters who have vented their anger over Floyd’s death in sometimes violent demonstrations in major U.S. cities over the past week had demanded the case be widened to include all the officers who were present during the incident.

“This is another important step for justice,” said U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, who is from Minnesota and a potential running mate for presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden in the Nov. 3 election.

Tens of thousands of people defied curfews and took to the streets of cities coast to coast for an eighth night in protest over Floyd’s death and brutality against other black Americans.

Authorities took the unusual step of ordering the curfews, and bands of police in riot gear and other heavily armed officers patrolled, ringing landmarks and shouting at protesters while helicopters roared overhead.

While most protests have been peaceful, there was less looting and vandalism overnight, and clashes between police and protesters were more sporadic.

The protests have highlighted the issues of racial inequality and excessive police force in a country that will go to the polls on Nov. 3 to decide whether to give Republican President Donald Trump another term in the White House.

Trump has said justice must be done in Floyd’s case but also touted a hard line on the violent protests, threatening to use the military to end the chaos. Biden has vowed to heal the racial divide in the nation if he is elected.

(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien, Nathan Layne, Maria Caspani, Rich McKay, Jonathan Allen, Sharon Bernstein, Dan Whitcomb, Lisa Lambert, Susan Heavey, Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali; Writing by Paul Simao; Editing by Nick Macfie, Howard Goller)

Widow of Orlando nightclub gunman knew of his plans, prosecutors say

Investigators work the scene following a mass shooting at the Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando Florida, U.S. on June 12, 2016. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/File Photo

By Joey Roulette

ORLANDO (Reuters) – The widow of the gunman who killed 49 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, in 2016 made statements to federal investigators after the attack that proved she knew of her husband’s plans, prosecutors told jurors on Wednesday.

But the defense attorney said Noor Salman was unaware that her husband, gunman Omar Mateen, intended to carry out the Pulse nightclub massacre on June 12, 2016.

“I wish I had gone back and told his family what he was going to do,” Salman told Federal Bureau of Investigation agents, Assistant U.S. Attorney James Mandolfo told jurors during his opening statement at Salman’s federal trial.

Salman made that comment right after she said she was sorry for the shooting rampage that had happened hours earlier, Mandolfo said. The prosecutor said her comment showed she had foreknowledge of the attack.

Salman, 31, faces up to life in prison if she is convicted in U.S. District Court in Orlando of aiding and abetting her husband and obstructing a federal investigation. She is the only person charged in the attack, which ended with Mateen’s death in an exchange of gunfire with police.

Salman was at home with the couple’s then-3-year-old son during her husband’s shooting spree. Defense attorney Linda Moreno told jurors Salman was unaware of her husband’s sinister plans.

“Noor was in the dark about Omar’s secret and despicable life,” Moreno said.

Moreno said the FBI did not record its interrogation of Salman and coerced her into making statements that favored the prosecution.

The trial is expected to last for a month.

According to prosecutors, Salman initially told investigators her husband acted without her knowledge but later acknowledged being aware that he was watching Islamic State recruitment videos, had purchased an assault rifle and examined three possible attack locations.

Salman’s attorneys contend the U.S. government could not show any direct links between Mateen and Islamic State before the attack and has provided no evidence that Salman aided her husband.

Salman was indicted on two charges: obstruction of justice for alleged false statements to federal investigators, and aiding and abetting Mateen in his attempt to provide material support to a terrorist organization.

Mateen, 29, opened fire shortly after the last call for drinks on the club’s popular Latin night.

Holding hostages during his standoff with police, he claimed allegiance to a leader of the Islamic State militant group before being fatally shot.

(Reporting by Joey Roulette in Orlando, Florida; Writing by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and David Gregorio)