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1 Trump And Eighteen Others Indicted By Georgia Grand Jury
After deliberating until after 7 pm last night, a Fulton County Grand Jury returned a 41-count indictment charging former President Donald Trump and 18 others with violating the state’s anti-racketeering law along with other charges. In a press conference after the indictments were unsealed late last night, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said that she plans to try all 19 defendants together in one trial, which she wants to happen in the next six months. The defendants have until noon on Friday, August 25th to surrender voluntarily for arraignment. Answering a question during her press conference, Willis said that the racketeering charges would require that jail time be served by anyone convicted of that charge.
2 Maui Fire Now Fifth Deadliest Wildfire In U.S. History
With search and recovery efforts still in the very early stages, the wildfire that struck the Hawaiian island of Maui last week is now the fifth-deadliest wildfire in the history of America. As of last night, at least 99 people had been confirmed dead, and search teams and cadaver dogs had only covered 25% of the affected area. The fire is being called the worst natural disaster of any kind in Hawaii’s history, eclipsing the death toll of 61 from a 1960 tsunami. The White House outlined steps it's taking to aid Maui yesterday, with Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell telling reporters that President Joe Biden has ordered a “whole of government” approach to providing relief to those affected. In an X (formerly Twitter) thread yesterday morning, Biden announced Critical Needs Assistance, which is described as “a one-time $700 payment per household offering relief during an unimaginably difficult time.” Residents of the town of Lahaina are facing two new problems, with locals reporting that people are looting the few businesses still standing, and Maui fire survivors are reporting that they’re getting calls from real estate investors wanting to buy what’s left of their properties.
3 Ex-Mississippi Law Enforcement Officers Plead Guilty To State Charges
For the second time, six former Mississippi law enforcement officers have pleaded guilty to charges related to their torture of two black men. The six white men pleaded guilty to federal charges earlier in the month as part of a federal civil rights case, and yesterday the members of the group that called themselves the “Goon Squad” pleaded guilty to state charges. Each of the six agreed to recommended sentences of five to 30 years, but the judge isn’t limited to that agreement, and each of them could get longer sentences in federal court in November. Some of the officers were linked to at least four violent encounters with black men during an Associated Press investigation; those incidents left two people dead and another with lasting injuries. The incident happened after a white neighbor complained to one of the ex-officers that two black men were staying at a home near her with a white woman. The two victims, Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker, were there because Parker was a childhood friend of the homeowner, Kristi Walley, who’s been paralyzed since she was 15. Parker was there helping to care for her.