A North Carolina man who brought two pipe bomb-like devices to a church earlier this year avoided jail time, after family and community members wrote letters en masse to a local court asking for leniency. Joshua Wayne Hawyley, 37, of Connelly Springs, pleaded guilty earlier this month in Catawba County Superior Court to three counts of possession of a weapon of mass destruction. The father was sentenced to three years of supervised probation, a mental evaluation, and barred from possessing firearms and explosives, as well as prevented from contacting the church where he brought explosive devices earlier this year. “Joshua is a good, caring man and deserves better than this,” his wife Savanah Hawley wrote in a letter to the court, the Hickory Record reported. “His children need him, and he needs his children. Please don’t let him go away for 2.5 years. Jail isn’t the punishment he deserves. He deserves a good doctor and medication.” “(Joshua Hawley) often fixates on various things, due to his mental status,” local resident Jackie Miller added in a letter of her own. “And at that time he was fixated on making smoke bombs — something he apparently did in his youth.” The 37-year-old was arrested in May for bringing multiple pipe bombs to Marketplace Church in Mountain View. The pastor of the church told police Hawley had mental issues and showed up to the church in a “manic state,” telling an employee he brought something for the church and asked security guards where the pastor’s vehicle was, warning the employee the pastor should be careful so the bomb didn’t “blow up in his face,” according to the Morganton News Herald. No one was injured in the incident. “I think in a house of worship people should feel safe and not feel intimidated,” Catawba County Sheriff Don Brown said at the time of the arrest. Four months before the pipe bomb incident, Hawyley had been asked to stop attending the church, after members grew uncomfortable with his behaviour, which included showing up to the facility in military-style attire, wearing a body camera and open-carrying guns and knives. Hawley did not have a formal mental health diagnosis at the time, though family members said in letters to the court they believe he suffers from mental illness including bipolar disorder and border schizophrenia. Read More Marjorie Taylor Greene addresses online conspiracy theory linking her to Jan 6 pipe bomber Convicted Colorado pipe bomber will get new trial 30 years later Hoax bomb threats target major US retailers including Walmart and Whole Foods demanding bitcoin and gift cards

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A sixth consecutive night of rioting across France saw a young Paris fireman die as he tried to put out a blaze in an underground car park today. The 24-year-old, who has not been named, was on Monday part of an emergency operation in the troubled northern suburb of Saint-Denis. Rioting spread across the country following the fatal shooting by police of 17-year-old boy Nahel in the Paris suburb of Nanterre on Tuesday. Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, said: “Overnight, while fighting against a blaze involving several vehicles in an underground car park in Saint-Denis, a young Corporal-Chief of the Paris Fire Brigade died despite very rapid treatment by his teammates.” The ongoing violence saw 157 arrests between Sunday and Monday, said Mr Darmanin. The grandmother of 17-year-old Nahel, identified only as Nadia, said in a telephone interview with French news broadcaster BFM TV, “Don’t break windows, buses ... schools. We want to calm things down.” The aunt of the slain teen told The Independent: “The family is very much against the violence. “But I hope that Nahel’s death is going to trigger some kind of change that means this never happens again.” Read More Where are the riots in France and why are they happening? Is it safe to travel to Paris right now? Aunt of teenager whose death sparked riots across France pleads for violence to stop Paris protesters ram burning car into mayor’s home and leave family injured in ‘assassination attempt’

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