List of All Articles with Tag 'americas'

A witness to the car crash that killed eight people outside a migrant shelter in Texas says the driver made anti-immigrant remarks before he was detained by members of the public. Suspect George Alvarez, 34, has been charged with eight counts of manslaughter and 10 counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after Sunday morning’s incident. Police say they are still investigating whether the crash was intentional as well as the driver’s alleged remarks. Earlier police revealed that Mr Alvarez has a lengthy criminal history, including multiple assault charges. And shocking security camera footage shared by Texas congressman Henry Cuellar showed the moment a grey Ranger Rover, travelling along North Minnesota Avenue towards Boca Chica Boulevard, smashed into the crowd outside of the city’s Bishop Enrique San Pedro Ozanam Center. The Venezuelan government has called for an investigation to determine if the crash was deliberate and motivated by hate or xenophobia, after it emerged that several of the victims were from Venezuela. Read More George Alvarez: Everything we know about driver in Brownsville crash that killed 8 migrants Two days, three attacks, 18 dead: Texas reels from horrifying weekend of violence Everything we know about the Brownsville, Texas crash that killed 8 people outside a migrant centre George Alvarez identified as driver in Texas migrant shelter crash as death toll rises to eight

A social media profile that appears to belong to a gunman who killed eight people in a busy Dallas-area shopping mall on 6 May includes dozens of Nazi-related images and hate-filled rants against women and racial minorities. The profile on the Russian-based platform ok.ru also includes more than two dozen photos of the Texas mall and surrounding areas, including Google location information that shows when the mall is at its busiest. It was posted in the days leading up to the attack. Posts reviewed by The Independent and extremism researchers include photos showing SS and swastika tattoos, praise for Adolf Hitler, misogynistic screeds that echo incel (or involuntary celibate) ideas and forums, and complaints about the state of his mental health. The profile allegedly belongs to Mauricio Garcia, the 33-year-old who was fatally shot by police after he fired an AR-style rifle at the outlet mall, killing eight and injuring seven others. Law enforcement officials have not publicly disclosed or suggested a motive behind the mass shooting. A federal law enforcement bulletin notes that the FBI’s “review and triage of the subject’s social media accounts revealed hundreds of postings and images to include writings with racially or ethnically motivated violent extremist rhetoric, including neo-Nazi materials and material espousing the supremacy of the white race.” The profile did not have any followers or appear to have any engagement from other users. One image on the ok.ru profile includes a picture of his hand which appears to be the same tattoo that belonged to the gunman. Another photo receipt from January has the name “Mauricio” and a phone number that appears to match one that belongs to Garcia. Photos on the profile also include dumped-out boxes of ammunition, posted at the same time with images outside the mall. The profile had appeared to telegraph preparations for violence for years; a photo of a written diary entry in a spiral-bound notebook from 2019 details a dream about racist violence. In what appears to be a final post, the user claims that a psychologist would not be able to “fix” him. A link to a YouTube video posted by the same person on the day of the shooting shows Garcia removing a Scream mask and asking, “Not quite what you were expecting, huh?” During the attack, he was reportedly wearing a patch reading “RWDS,” an acronym for “Right Wing Death Squad” – a flak jacket with the patch appears on the ok.ru profile. This catchphrase has emerged in recent years as both a far-right brand and rallying cry popular with the Proud Boys, a neo-fascist group. Its also often associated with memes and T-shirts praising Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and his extrajudicial killing of political enemies by throwing them from helicopters. “Dissidents, particularly leftists, socialists, and supporters of the previous government, were dropped to their death from helicopters by Pinochet’s regime,” West Point’s Combating Terrorism Center notes in its research of the “Right Wing Death Squad” meme. “Today, the reference often features an image of a helicopter and is often accompanied by slogans such as ‘Right Wing Death Squad,’ ‘Free Helicopter Rides,’ and other iterations.” The phrases are emblazoned on T-shirts and stickers; several members of the Proud Boys who were convicted of seditious conspiracy for their actions surrounding the January 6 attack have been photographed with similar patches or T-shirts reading “Pinochet Did Nothing Wrong.” “RWDS” has appeared at neo-Nazi gatherings, far-right protests and other events attracting Proud Boys members and other fascist groups within the years after the 2016 election. The phrase was scrawled on shields during the so-called “Unite the Right” rally white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017. At the time, Facebook removed several racist groups from the platform, including one called “Right Wing Death Squad”. In 2019, federal investigators uncovered an alleged plot involving an active-duty US Marine to kill minorities, drug users and members of the Democratic National Committee in a group chat called “Right Wing Death Squad”. Allen is among one of the most diverse suburbs of the Dallas-Fort Worth area, home to roughly 105,000 people. Many of the posts allegedly written by Garcia also discuss or reference his Hispanic heritage, underscoring the ways in which white supremacism, fascism and violent extremist ideologies often escape rigid racial or ethnic lines. Virulent antisemite and white nationalist Nick Fuentes has a half-Mexican father, and Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the Proud Boys who was convicted of seditious conspiracy for his role in the Capitol attack, is Afro-Cuban. Nazi propaganda website The Daily Stormer also began publishing in Spanish in 2017 in an effort to seize on Latin American audiences. The ok.ru profile mentions the website and its founder Andrew Anglin. “I think I even read in the news Hispanics could be the new white supremist [sic],” one of the ok.ru post reads. “Just the other day this black dude told me the line is blurring. He can’t tell the difference anymore. Someone would look white but their [sic] actually Hispanic.” In photographs of his spiral-bound diary entries, he also said he wore an “It’s OK to be White” shirt and that he is Hispanic whether he “likes it or not.” Garcia was heavily armed and armoured when he began firing indiscriminately with an AR-style rifle at the Allen Premium Outlets shopping centre on 6 May. Among the eight victims are a three-year-old boy, an eight-year-old girl and an 11-year-old girl, according to the Allen Police Department. An Allen police officer who was already at the scene for an unrelated incident fatally shot him. There have been more than 200 mass shootings, including 21 mass murders, so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive. White supremacists are behind the highest number of extremism-related murders in most years, according to an analysis from the Anti-Defamation League. Last year, 21 of 25 extremism-linked murders were committed by white supremacists – but “all the extremist-related murders in 2022 were committed by right-wing extremists of various kinds,” the report found. Read More Allen mall shooting - update: Parents and three-year-old son named among eight killed by Texas outlet shooter Mauricio Garcia: Everything we know about the Texas mall gunman who killed eight Two days, three attacks, 18 dead: Texas reels from horrifying weekend of violence

A New York judge presiding over the hush money prosecution against Donald Trump ruled Monday that the former president can’t post certain information about the evidence and witnesses involved in the case. Judge Juan Merchan held that Mr Trump “shall not copy, disseminate or disclose” sensitive materials shared with his legal team from the prosecution “without prior approval from the court,” including putting information on social media. The former president, according to the order, can only view “Limited Dissemination Materials" from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office in the presence of his lawyers, and "shall not be permitted to copy, photograph, transcribe, or otherwise independently possess the Limited Dissemination Materials,” NBC News reports. In April, the former president was charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, related to alleged attempts to pay two women hush money to stop them from coming forward during the 2016 presidential campaign about their alleged affairs with Mr Trump. He has pleaded not guilty. This is a breaking news story and will be updated with new information. Read More Ivanka and Jared split over attending Trump 2024 launch – follow live Why was Donald Trump impeached twice during his first term? Four big lies Trump told during his 2024 presidential announcement

The trial of “doomsday cult mom” Lori Vallow continues for another week at the Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho, where the mother-of-three is accused of killing her two youngest children and her new husband Chad Daybell’s first wife. The 49-year-old is charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy, and grand theft over the deaths of her daughter Tylee Ryan, 16, son Joshua “JJ” Vallow, 7, and Mr Daybell’s wife Tammy, 49. Tylee and JJ were last seen alive in September 2019. In June 2020, their remains were found buried on the Daybell property. Tammy died one month after their disappearance in October 2019. Friday’s testimony included a detailed look at text messages between Ms Vallow and Mr Daybell that spanned their affair, referred to their spouses and children as “obstacles”, and grew increasingly romantic following her husband’s death as she ignored his son’s pleas for more information. On Monday even more texts were shown in court as well as the last videos of the two children seen alive which were found on Ms Vallow’s iCloud account. Meanwhile, the court is eyeing June 2024 as a possible start date for Mr Daybell’s trial. Read More Lori Vallow ignored stepsons’ pleas as she exchanged romantic texts with Chad Daybell after husband’s death Lori Vallow trial hears autopsy details that show Tammy Daybell was likely restrained during her murder Lori Vallow’s friend says she threatened to ‘cut up’ and bury her one month after children disappeared

Two more children have been identified among the eight victims who were fatally shot in the Allen, Texas mall shooting - sisters Daniela and Sofia Mendoza. Daniela, a fourth grader, and Sofia, a second grader, were killed while at the Allen Premium Outlets with their mother, Ilda on Saturday, the Wylie Independent School District confirmed. In a letter sent to parents and students, Superintendent David Vinson said, “Words cannot express the sadness we feel as we grieve the loss of our students. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Mendoza family, the families of the victims, and all those affected by this senseless tragedy.” "Daniela and Sofia will not be forgotten. Hug your kids, and tell them you love them," Mr Vinson added according to NBC News. Both Daniela and Sofia attended Cox Elementary in Sachse, Texas. Cox Elementary School principal, Krista Wilson, called the girls “rays of sunshine”. Daniela and Sofia’s mother, Ilda, remains in critical condition according to reports. The two young girls are among the three children currently identified as victims of the mass shooting. Three-year-old James Cho was also fatally shot. The mass shooting occurred on Saturday when gunman Mauricio Garcia arrived at the Allen Premium Outlets armed with an AR-15-style rifle and ammunition. Garcia opened fire at people shopping at the outdoor mall, killing eight and injuring seven. A law enforcement officer shot Garcia dead, bringing the horrific shooting to an end. As of now, four other victims have been identified as 20-year-old Christian LaCour, 27-year-old Aishwarya Thatikonda, and Cindy and Kyu Cho - the parents of three-year-old James Cho. Mr and Ms Cho leave behind a six-year-old son who survived the shooting. As of now, six people who were injured remain under Medical City Healthcare’s care. According to CBS News, three people remain in critical condition, two patients are in fair condition and one patient is in good condition. Read More Allen mall shooting - update: Parents and three-year-old son named among eight killed by Texas outlet shooter Texas mall gunman was terminated from US Army training due to mental health concerns Texas mall shooting: All we know about the deadly outlet massacre

Lawyer Joe Tacopina is the head of the legal team representing former President Donald Trump in the civil rape trial against former Elle advice columnist E Jean Carroll. Mr Tacopina began closing argument in the trial on 8 May, stemming from Ms Carroll’s allegation that Mr Trump raped her in a New York City department store dressing room in 1995 or 1996. The attorney is also representing the ex-president in the Manhattan District Attorney’s investigation into his alleged hush money payments to women claiming to have had affairs with him. A Manhattan grand jury voted earlier this year to indict Mr Trump for falsifying business records in connection to a 2016 hush money payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels for her to remain silent about a 2006 affair she claims to have had with Mr Trump, a claim he denies. Here’s what we know about the ex-president’s top lawyer: Brooklyn-born lawyer known for explosive media appearances Mr Tacopina, 56, was born in Brooklyn and has made a name for himself with explosive media appearances as he defends Mr Trump. He has also represented rapper Meek Mill and baseball player Alex Rodriguez, according to the New York Post. Mr Tacopina is the founder and managing partner of the law firm Tacopina, Seigel & DeOreo in New York. “The Law Offices of Tacopina Seigel & DeOreo has built a reputation as a law firm that tackles high-profile criminal and civil cases,” its website states. “We have proudly served our national and international clients for more than 20 years, and our distinguished attorneys have more than 70 years of combined legal experience.” Before becoming a criminal defence lawyer, Mr Tacopina was a prosecutor in Brooklyn. He was initially hired by Mr Trump in January of this year to defend him in the civil lawsuit filed by Ms Carroll. 1-800-Save-My-A** In March 2007, GQ Magazine published a piece entitled 1-800-Save-My-A**. The introduction states: “Suspected of murdering that blond girl in Aruba? Having some problems with your appointment as homeland-security chief? Made the mistake of having sex with Christie Brinkley’s husband? Call Joe Tacopina, the best-dressed, smoothest-talking, hardest-working criminal-defense attorney going, and for a mere $750 an hour, everything will be okay.” Mr Tacopina has five children with his wife Tish, The Post notes. ‘Most experienced American owner’ in Italian football In August 2021, he acquired the Italian Serie B – second-tier – football club Società Polisportiva Ars et Labor, also known as SPAL. In November of last year, Forbes wrote that he has spent “more than a decade as a top executive across four Italian soccer clubs,” and they called him the “most experienced American owner” in Italian football. What Tacopina has said about the hush money case Mr Tacopina criticised the indictment of Mr Trump, appearing on Fox News earlier this year saying that “I’ve never been more angry about a charge because today, the rule of law in the United States of America died. It’s dead. It’s dead”. Speaking about Mr Trump, he said, “he’s ready to fight. You know, he’s the toughest guy I know. He was shocked, you know, because we really weren’t — I was shocked”. Twitter user Acyn posted a clip of Mr Tacopina from 2018, in which he appears on a CNN panel discussion with Frank Bruni of The New York Times and CNN’s Laura Coates. Mr Tacopina appeared to say that alleged payments and subsequent falsification of records were an “illegal agreement”. “I mean, you know, once that net is out, once the microscope is on you, everything is fair game,” Mr Tacopina said on 14 March 2018, according to a CNN transcript. “And it’s hard to argue, ‘oh, you can’t look at this or you can’t look at that’. So, yes, if there’s an issue with that payment to Stormy Daniels being that it was made on behalf of the candidate. Okay. And it was not declared. That’s fair game. Unfortunately, if that’s the case.” “And you know, quite frankly, you know, Michael Cohen, again has made statements that would give rise to suspicion,” he added. “For any prosecutor to say that doesn’t make sense, that a lawyer took out a home equity loan with his own money, paid somebody that he didn’t even know on behalf of a client who, by the way, had the wherewithal and the money to afford $130,000. And, by the way, didn’t tell the client about the settlement agreement. It’s an illegal agreement. It’s a fraud, if that’s, in fact, the case.” “It doesn’t pass the straight-face test, and quite frankly, if that is what happened, we have a potential campaign finance issue,” he added. When reached by The Independent for comment, Mr Tacopina emphasized that twice during his 2018 appearance, he said, “if that is in fact the case”. “I was opining on a hypothetical that was posed by the host without [knowing] any of the facts. That is [why] I qualified my statements. The facts as I have now learned clearly show, that is NOT in fact the case,” he said in an email. “My mind hadn’t changed about the issue but what has changed is that I learned the facts,” he added. “My response was based on a hypothetical question … which is why I qualified my response TWICE,” he noted. The E Jean Carroll lawsuit Ms Carroll claims that Mr Trump raped her in a Manhattan department store dressing room in 1995 or 1996 and that he later defamed her in 2019 as president when he rejected her allegation. As he began cross-examining Ms Carroll on 27 April, Mr Tacopina brought up a draft of her book What Do We Need Men For? in which she writes about the episode involving the former president. “You wrote that you thought Donald Trump was trying to kill you, to poison your water,” he said. “That’s a draft. That was not published,” Ms Carroll responded. On 8 May, Mr Tacopina said during closing arguments that Ms Carroll “became a star” after she went public with her story. In a podcast interview played for the jury, Ms Carroll said she got her “revenge” on Elle following her 2019 firing because she’s now more successful after becoming an independent Substack writer. Mr Tacopina went on to claim that Ms Carroll, and witnesses Lisa Birnbach, and Carol Martin “colluded” to create fake claims about Mr Trump. The attorney said both Ms Birnbach and Ms Martin testified that they didn’t tell anyone else about the incident. He added that Ms Martin didn’t bring it up on election night in 2016. Mr Tacopina told the jury that she didn’t say “Oh, my God. He’s going to win. He raped my friend,” according to Law & Crime. The attorney went on to mock Ms Birnbach for testifying that she wasn’t thinking about the alleged rape on election night 2016. “I wasn’t thinking about it,” she said. Mr Tacopina said there’s “no way that’s truthful testimony”. Kings County prosecutor Mr Tacopina attended Bridgeport Law School, which is now called Quinnipiac University School of Law, located in North Haven, Connecticut. Before entering private practice, he was a prosecutor at the Kings County District Attorney’s Office. A rapper, a baseball star, a state senator, and a long line of New York City cops Meek Mill was sent to jail in 2008 on charges relating to gun and drug violations. The rapper was convicted in 2017 for violating his probation. Mr Tacopina was able to get him out after five months. In January, the rapper was pardoned by the outgoing governor of Pennsylvania, Democrat Tom Wolf. Mr Tacopina represented baseball star Alex Rodriguez in the appeal of his 2014 suspension after he tested positive for human growth hormones and testosterone. The attorney has also represented several New York police officers. New York Democratic state Senator Hiram Monserrate faced charges of felony assault in 2009 following allegations that he dragged his girlfriend down a hallway, but Mr Tacopina helped him get acquitted.

A gunman clad in black body armour and armed with an AR-15-style assault rifle opened fire at a Texas mall on Saturday, killing eight people and injuring seven others. The suspect was identified by the Texas Department of Public Safety as 33-year-old Mauricio Garcia, a security guard and former US Army trainee. Dashcam video circulating on social media appeared to show the gunman getting out of a grey sedan just outside the entrance of the Allen Premium Outlets, a sprawling centre on the outskirts of Dallas, and immediately opening fire on passersby in the carpark. An Allen Police Department officer attending an unrelated call at the mall heard the gunfire and “neutralised” the suspect, police said. What we know about the suspect Mauricio Garcia, 33, was identified on Sunday as the gunman who killed eight innocent shoppers and mall staff members in Saturday’s horror attack. Garcia drove to the mall with several weapons and opened fire as soon as he stepped out of his vehicle. An AR-15 rifle and a handgun were reportedly found on him and in his car. Police have not released a possible motive, but investigators are looking into Garcia’s possible neo-Nazi and white supremacist beliefs. Garcia was wearing black body armour and a patch on his chest that suggested he may have harboured extremist ideologies, law enforcement sources told The Washington Post. The patch read RWDS, which stands for Right Wing Death Squad, a popular phrase among far-right extremists. Police sources told NBC News that Garcia had posted and engaged with neo-Nazi and white supremacist content online. His accounts appear to have since been taken down. Garcia also trained with the US Army but was terminated in June 2008, three months into his training without completing entry training, US Army Public Affairs Spokeswoman Heather J Hagan told The Independent. After that, he became a security guard, most recently working for an aluminum supply company. Through his work as a security guard, Garcia underwent firearms proficiency training as recently as 2018, according to the Texas Online Private Security database. The online records show that he began training in 2015 before becoming a commissioned security officer in April 2016. His licence expired in April 2020. During that time, he is listed as working for three security companies: Ruiz Protective Service, Statewide Patrol and Verified Response Security & Investigations. It is unclear why his security guard licence was suspended. It is unclear if he had any connection to the mall where he carried out Saturday’s rampage. Private security guards are vetted and are barred from gaining a license if they have convictions for crimes such as assault or sexual offenses, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. According to CBS News reporter JD Miles, Garcia was a security guard with no serious criminal record. At the time of the shooting, Garcia had reportedly been living in a motel. FBI agents raided a Dallas home where Garcia had been living with his parents for years, according to Fox News. Officers were stationed outside the address on Sunday. The suspect’s family requested a translator to speak with authorities. How the shooting unfolded The gunman arrived at the mall just after 3.30pm local time on Saturday. Video showed him exiting a grey sedan vehicle, dressed in black tactical gear and armed with an AR-15-style weapon before opening fire. Hundreds of shoppers could be seen trying to flee the scene on aerial footage after the gunman opened fire with an AR-15-style gun. Bodies of the victims, including several young children, were covered by sheets. Seven people — including the suspect — were killed at the scene, Allen Fire Chief Jonathan Boyd said at a press conference on Saturday. Nine people were transported to hospital, where two more succumbed to their injuries. Three survivors were undergoing surgery and remained in a critical condition on Saturday night, Mr Boyd said. Four others were in a stable condition. The injured included children as young as five, a Dallas area hospital told CNN. The victims As details continue to emerge about the gunman, the victims are starting to be identified. Christian LaCour, a 20-year-old security guard at the mall, was identified by family members as one of the victims of Sunday’s massacre. LaCour’s grandmother posted a tribute to her grandson on social media. “He was such a beautiful soul,” she wrote. “I was so proud of him and so glad I got to see him 2 weeks ago.” Aishwarya Thatikonda, an engineer who moved to the US from India, was also killed in the attack. Thatikonda was shopping with a friend at the mall when she was shot and killed by the gunman, a family representative told WFAA. Her friend was also shot and injured in the shooting and is currently in stable condition in hospital. Thatikonda’s family is planning to fly her body to India where she has family. Texas’ dark weekend The mall shooting marked the start of a dark weekend for Texas. In Brownsville, eight people were killed when an SUV slammed into a crowd of people outside a migrant shelter in the border city on Sunday afternoon. Horrifying footage, taken from a security camera and shared by Texas Rep Henry Cuellar, shows a group of people waiting for a bus outside the city’s Ozanam Center. The SUV then rams into the victims. Seven people died before an eighth victim succumbed to their injuries in hospital later that day. At least nine others were hospitalised. Most of the victims were Venezuelan men who had spent the night at the shelter and were boarding a bus to return to downtown Brownsville. Officials initially said that the incident appeared to be intentional and described the driver – whose identity remains unknown – as “very uncooperative”. Also on Sunday, one person was killed and two others were injured in a shooting on a DART train in Dallas, Texas, on Sunday – just a 30-minute drive from the mall massacre. Gunfire broke out on board a Green Line train near Hatcher Station when two people got into an argument on Sunday afternoon, accoding to authorities. DART police said that officers were called to reports of a shooting on the northbound train at around 4.30pm. Officers arrived on the scene to find two people – one of them a bystander – suffering from gunshot wounds. They were both transported to local hospitals where one of the victims was pronounced dead. The condition of the second victim – the bystander – is unknown. A third individual was also wounded in the shooting after being struck by shrapnel and was treated at the scene, police said. Now, DART police are searching for the suspected shooter, whose identity is unknown. Read More Texas shooting – live: Nine dead including ‘monster’ shooter in massacre at Allen mall Audio reveals moment officer made frantic request for backup moments before taking down Texas mall shooter Marjorie Taylor Greene sidesteps gun issue, blames Texas mall shooting on ‘evil forces’

Republican Senator Ted Cruz received a torrent of criticism after he tweeted his condolences after a mass shooting in Allen, Texas, killed eight people and left seven injured. On Saturday, Mr Cruz tweeted his condolences and said he would be monitoring events unfolding after 33-year-old Mauricio Garcia opened fire at Allen Premium Outlets on Saturday afternoon. “Heidi and I are praying for the families of the victims of the horrific mall shooting in Allen, Texas,” he tweeted out. “We pray also for the broader Collin County community that’s in shock from this tragedy.” In response, many pointed out how Mr Cruz ardently opposes measures to curb gun violence. David Hogg, a survivor of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, who has since become an outspoken advocate for gun control, criticised Mr Cruz. “Man if only there was something you could do to prevent these tragedies,” he tweeted in response. Shannon Watts, the founder of Moms Demand Action, tweeted how Mr Cruz supported regulation of industries other than guns. “After 16 people were killed in a hot air balloon in Lockhart, Cruz authored and passed legislation improving safety rules. After mass shootings, he only offers his prayers,” she tweeted. “That’s not because laws don't work, but because there's no hot air balloon lobby funding his Senate seat.” In recent years, Mr Cruz has opposed measures to curb gun control, including last year when his fellow Senator from Texas John Cornyn engaged in bipartisan negotiations with Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Democrat-turned-Independent Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona. The legislation ultimately passed with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell voting for it. Last week, Democratic Representative Colin Allred announced he would challenge Mr Cruz in 2024. Mr Allred criticised the lack of action after the shooting. “Eight lives tragically cut short,” he tweeted on Sunday. “As I grieve with my fellow Texans and pray for those who were injured, I won't accept that we are powerless to prevent this. It's our responsibility as lawmakers to help make our communities safer. We must take common sense steps to save lives.” Read More Allen mall shooting – live: Texas outlet worker died saving shoppers from ‘white supremacist’ gunman Hero Texas outlet worker died in mall shooting after risking life to hide customers Texas mall gunman was allegedly removed from military due to ‘mental health concerns’ Tanked Biden pick highlights escalation of dark-money forces Colin Allred, former NFL player, announces Democratic challenge to Ted Cruz in Texas Will the Supreme Court have to answer to ethics rules?

The Texas man who killed eight people while carrying out a mass shooting at Allen Premium Outlets on Saturday (6 May) was terminated from the US Army training in 2008 due to a physical or mental health concern according to the US Army. The shooter, identified as 33-year-old Mauricio Garcia, entered the regular army in 2008 but was terminated three months later according to a statement provided to The Independent by Heather J Hagan, US Army Public Affairs Spokeswoman. “Mauricio Garcia entered the regular Army in June 2008; he was terminated three months later without completing initial entry training. He was not awarded a military occupational specialty. He had no deployments or awards,” Ms Hagan said. She added that the Army does not provide characterisation of the discharge of any soldier. However, an Army Official noted that Garcia was “separated” under the 2005 edition of Army Regulation 635-200 paragraph 5-17, “other designated physical or mental conditions”. Garcia’s mental health has been subject to questions after law enforcement investigating the horrific attack revealed that Garcia may have engaged with white supremacist or neo-Nazi rhetoric online. An insignia associated with right-wing groups was found on the gunman’s clothing indicating he could have embraced a far-right ideology. Though law enforcement said they had not established a motive for the mass shooting yet. Local and state law enforcement are working with the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to determine if the shooting was racially or ethnically motivated. As of now, authorities believe Garcia acted alone in the shooting. Garcia arrived at the mall around 3.30 pm local time on Saturday armed with an AR-15-style rifle, body armour and multiple rounds of ammunition. A dashcam video circulating on social media appeared to show the gunman getting out of a grey sedan just outside the mall’s entrance and then immediately begin shooting. Allen police said that an officer attending an unrelated call at Allen Premium Outlets heard gunshots at 3.36 pm on Saturday. Eight people, ranging in age from 5 to 61, were fatally shot before Garcia was shot dead by law enforcement. An image circulating online seemingly showed Garcia lying on the ground after being shot. Police said while searching the car Garcia arrived at the Allen Premium Outlets mall in, they found multiple weapons. Initial reports say Garica formerly worked as a security guard and received firearms training. It is believed that he did not have a criminal history. The Texas Department of Public Safety said Garcia is from Dallas. Read More Allen mall shooting – live: Texas outlet worker died saving shoppers from ‘white supremacist’ gunman Video captures moment people escape out back door of Burger restaurant during Texas mall shooting Texas mall shooting: All we know about the deadly outlet massacre

Brownsvillepolice have identified the driver in a fatal car crash that left eight people dead outside a migrant centre in Texas. Chief Felix Sauceda identified the driver as George Alvarez, 34. Mr Sauceda said Mr Alvarez lost control of his SUV while running a red light. The SUV then rolled onto its side and slammed into a group of people outside a migrant centre. Police found six people dead when they arrived and another 12 that were in need of critical care. The death toll later rose to eight. Mr Alvarez allegedly tried to flee the scene of the accident, but was held down by bystanders, according to the chief. Reporters asked Mr Sauceda if police had ruled out the collision being an intentional act on the part of Mr Alvarez. Mr Sauceda said that police were still in the midst of an investigation and had not ruled anything out at the time of the press conference. Earlier reports suggested Mr Alvarez was allegedly "very uncooperative" with the investigation. Weeks before the attack, thousands of migrants — many from Venezuela — arrived in the city, prompting a state of emergency. No threats of violence were made to the migrant centre where the crash occurred, according to Sister Norma Pimentel, the executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley. Read More Driver in deadly Texas crash charged with manslaughter Shocking video captures moment before car rammed into migrants outside Brownsville shelter Video captures moment people escape out back door of Burger restaurant during Texas mall shooting

Oklahoma’s governor is joining the messaging war against gay, lesbian and transgender Americans with an announcement on Monday that he would veto a bill set to fund the state’s PBS station through 2026. Kevin Stitt made the news on Friday, and expanded on his decision in an interview with Fox News. He told the right-wing network that Oklahoma’s local PBS station OETA was responsible for the “sexualization” of children. “OETA, to us, is an outdated system. You know, the big, big question is why are we spending taxpayer dollars to prop up or compete with the private sector and run television stations? And then when you go through all of the programing that's happening and the indoctrination and over-sexualization of our children, it's just really problematic, and it doesn't line up with Oklahoma values," he said. “I mean, some of the programming that we're seeing… it just doesn't need to be on public television.” he continued. “Oklahoma taxpayers are going, 'Hey, hang on, time out for just a second. That's not my values.” His office provided numerous examples of supposedly objectionable instances of PBS programming to Fox News. Some were typical of the recent anti-transgender panic: A reading of The Hips on the Drag Queen Go Swish, Swish, Swish by drag queen Little Miss Hot Mess, while others were more in line with the typical efforts by conservative Republicans to paint any mention of LGBT persons as “propaganda” in support of some sinister political agenda. In that vein, the governor’s office took issue with a PBS Newshour segment where persons who supported the use of puberty blockers were interviewed, as well as a depiction of a same-sex marriage on the show Odd Squad. He argued that the prevalence of digital technology in contemporary life made the concept of a publicly-funded broadcast channel obsolete. Republicans have long made that argument from a government spending standpoint. During the 2012 presidential election, funding for PBS was among the federal programs that would-be president Mitt Romney would have cut had he defeated then-President Barack Obama. At the time, the Obama campaign savaged Mr Romney over his suggestion. “There’s so much television, there’s so much media,” the governor told Fox News. “Maybe in 1957 you could have made an argument that you needed a public television station. That’s totally outdated at this point.” His critics, including some Republicans, argue that his explanation displayed a critical lack of understanding regarding rural life in his home state. “Our broadcast towers are how we inform a lot of rural Oklahoma about disasters like tornadoes and thunderstorms,” said Kenneth Busby, a board member of Friends of OETA and CEO of the Route 66 Alliance. His concerns were highlighted on an MSNBC segment hosted by Joy Reid over the weekend. Mr Stitt dismissed concerns that rural Oklahomans without access to cable news or internet would be adversely affected by a cut to the channel’s broadcast infrastructure. Oklahoma is largely enveloped by an informal section of the American midwest known as “Tornado Alley”, where particularly violent storms are known to form with regularity. "All those towers and our communications, that's all owned by the state and whether we continue to fund an outdated public television station with taxpayer dollars, or we let the free market work, we're still going to have the same capabilities, the same assets, the same towers," he said. "Our DPS system is what rolls out the Amber Alerts, for example. None of that's going away," the governor continued. "So that's just people confusing the issue, not being clear with their mission, trying to make excuses of why the tax dollars should still fund this outdated system. His effort to make his own personal contribution in the campaign to smear content that features LGBT persons or supports their basic rights as the “sexualization of our children” doesn’t appear to be headed for success. If it does, members of his own party (not to mention Democrats) say it will hurt the state’s Department of Public Safety — specifically, the state’s early emergency alert system. A number of Republicans are reportedly against the governor’s veto and told local publication Tulsa World that they plan to override the veto. Doing so would take two-thirds of Oklahoma’s legislature, which leans heavily Republican. The state House speaker and president of the Senate both say they support OETA’s funding. The Oklahoma Senate Pro Tem, Greg Treat, told Tulsa World that he had been reprimanded by his predecessor over his support for a previous attempt to cut OETA’s funds, and was informed at the time about OETA’s importance for the state’s early warning system. “Ever since then, I have supported its continuation,” he told the publication. Read More Turkey’s Erdogan attacks ‘pro-LGBT’ opposition in tight election race To improve kids' mental health, some schools start later Lewis Hamilton criticises Florida’s anti-LBGTQ measures ahead of Miami Grand Prix LOCALIZE IT: States push raises to address teacher shortages Supreme Court blocks Richard Glossip’s execution in Oklahoma Drag queen fronting US Navy’s recruitment drive claps back at critics: ‘They only hate when you’re winning’

In her closing arguments on behalf of writer E Jean Carroll, lawyer Roberta Kaplan told the jury: “You saw for yourself. E Jean Carroll wasn’t hiding anything.” Ms Kaplan called Ms Carroll’s testimony “credible,” “consistent,” and “powerful,” according to Law & Crime. During his video deposition in October last year, Mr Trump mixed up Ms Carroll and his then-wife Marla Maples. Ms Kaplan said, “Mr Trump pointed to Ms Carroll, the woman he supposedly said was not his type”. “He only corrected himself when his own lawyer” corrected him, she added. Mr Trump “did [what] he always does” when caught, Ms Kaplan said. “He made up an excuse,” claiming that it was “blurry,” the lawyer added. Referencing the Access Hollywood tape, Ms Kaplan said, “He grabbed her, using his words, ‘by the p****.’” “He didn’t even bother to show up in person,” Ms Kaplan said about Mr Trump choosing not to attend the trial. “In a very real sense, Trump is a witness against himself,” the attorney said about Mr Trump’s video deposition. She said Mr Trump “knows what he did. He knows he sexually assaulted E Jean Carroll”. Ms Kaplan laid out a timeline of the alleged attack during her closing argument, saying that it happened while Ms Carroll was hosting Ask E Jean on America’s Talking between 1994 and 1996. America’s Talking was run by Roger Ailes, who later served as the CEO and chairman of Fox News before he was ousted following a series of sexual misconduct allegations against him. Ms Kaplan noted that at the time of the alleged rape by Mr Trump, Ms Carroll was wearing a wool dress with tights, but she wasn’t wearing a coat, indicating what kind of weather there was on that day, according to Law & Crime. Ms Carroll said that it must have taken place after her friend Lisa Birnbach had published her story on Mar-a-Lago, published in February of 1996. The writer said she thinks it happened on a Thursday as the department store was open late. “She was trying to come to grips with the fact that she was being attacked,” Ms Kaplan said during her closing argument on Monday. The lawyer noted that her client remembers the attack in “great detail”. Ms Kaplan spoke to the jury about why they showed Mr Ailes’s interview with Donald Trump from the 1990s. She said that Mr Ailes’s talk show on the shortlived cable news network America’s Talking was recorded in the same building, and broadcast on the same network, as Ms Carroll’s programme on the channel – Ask E Jean. Ms Kaplan noted that Mr Trump would have seen the end of Ms Carroll’s programme if he watched his appearance on Mr Ailes’s show unless he changed the channel the exact right moment. The attorney for Ms Carroll noted that a former executive at the Berghof Goodman said that there weren’t many people in the lingerie department on Thursday nights, particularly in the early spring. Regarding Ms Carroll telling Mr Trump to tell on the lingerie, Ms Kaplan said, “I think we understand what was happening. This was a combination of humour and flirting,” according to Law & Crime. “It was a joke. Ms Carroll could see the joke in her mind’s eye,” Ms Kaplan added. “The point was that it was funny.” Speaking about what Mr Trump is alleged to have done to the writer, Ms Kaplan said, “He grabbed her by the p****, or vagina — I’m sorry for my language”. More follows... Read More Closing arguments start for columnist's claims against Trump Trump news - live: E Jean Carroll trial told Trump is ‘witness against himself’ in closing arguments What are the allegations in E Jean Carroll’s rape case against Donald Trump?