Anger renewed as fire destroys memorial where Brown was killed by Ferguson police
Anger renewed as fire destroys memorial where Brown was killed by Ferguson police
FERGUSON, Mo. — Anger spilled over Tuesday after fire destroyed one of two memorials on the street where Michael Brown was killed, a site that has become sacred to many in Ferguson and others nationwide focused on interactions between minorities and police.
How the fire happened wasn’t immediately clear, but it stoked fresh resentment among those who question whether the shooting of the unarmed, black 18-year-old by a white Ferguson police officer on Aug. 9 is being adequately investigated.
“It’s the same as if somebody came and desecrated a grave,” Anthony Levine of Florissant, another St. Louis suburb, said as he studied the charred scene and shook his head.
Many who gathered at the site Tuesday blamed police for the blaze, even as the chief said officers did everything they could to keep the stuffed animals and other items from burning.
Palestinians seek $3.8B in aid for Gaza
NEW YORK — Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah said Tuesday he has asked for $3.8 billion in urgent aid to help rebuild Gaza following its devastating 50-day war with Israel this summer.
Hamdallah told The Associated Press that Saudi Arabia has pledged $500 million and other nations have indicated they would join in. He spoke at the end of a donor meeting led by Norway on the sidelines of a gathering of world leaders at the United Nations.
Secret Service twice interviewed accused intruder before vet scaled White House fence
WASHINGTON — Secret Service agents in Virginia and Washington twice interviewed an Army veteran accused of climbing over a White House fence during the weekend and running into the executive mansion in the two months before the embarrassing security breach, a federal law enforcement official said Tuesday.
In both cases, the official said, the Secret Service concluded there was no evidence that Omar J. Gonzalez was a security threat.
The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss details of an ongoing investigation, said agents interviewed Gonzalez after he was arrested during a traffic stop in southwestern Virginia in July. State troopers there said Gonzalez had an illegal sawed off shotgun and a map of Washington tucked inside a Bible with a circle around the White House, other monuments and campgrounds. The troopers seized a stash of other weapons and ammunition found during a search of Gonzalez’s car after his arrest.
Agents in Washington spoke to him again in late August after Gonzalez was found near a White House fence with a small hatchet in his waistband.
The official said the agents in Washington searched his car and found camping equipment, two other hatches and empty gun cases but no guns or ammunition.
Police: UPS gunman had been fired day before killing 2, then himself at warehouse
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — A man wearing his work uniform started shooting at his former colleagues inside a UPS sorting facility in Alabama a day after he was fired from the company, killing a supervisor and another employee before committing suicide, police said Tuesday.
The gunman has been identified as Kerry Joe Tesney. His two victims have not been named, and Lt. Sean Edwards said police were still trying to reach their families.
By local and wire sources