List of All Articles with Tag 'sons'

In a bombshell moment in federal court on Tuesday, the former leader of right-wing hate group Proud Boys finally admitted for the first time that Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election. Enrique Tarrio, 39, was sentenced to 22 years in prison for orchestrating a failed plot to keep the former president in power – marking the longest sentence ever doled out in connection to the January 6 Capitol riot. Before his sentence was handed down, the man who once led the neo-fascist gang gave a statement to the court where he begged for leniency from the judge. Tarrio apologised for his actions, branded the Capitol riot a “national embarrassment” and vowed that his days of meddling in politics are over. Then, in a shock move, he publicly denounced his false claims that the election was “stolen” from Mr Trump for the very first time. “My candidate lost,” he admitted. “What happened on January 6 was a national embarrassment... I do not think what happened that day was acceptable.” Choking up with emotion, Tarrio said that he had let his family down with his actions as he begged the judge not to rob him of his 40s behind bars. “I am not a political zealot. Inflicting harm or changing the results of the election was not my goal,” Tarrio said. “Please show me mercy. I ask you that you not take my 40s from me.” He added: “When I get back home I want nothing to do with politics, groups, activism or rallies... and when you walk out that door your honour, I won’t be saying anything other than that.” But the admission came too late to save him from being hit with the longest prison sentence to date over the Capitol riot that resulted in five deaths and hundreds of law enforcement officers injured. US District Judge Timothy Kelly said that Tarrio was the “ultimate leader” of the Proud Boys’ conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election in Mr Trump’s favour. “I do think the evidence of Mr Tarrio’s leadership was, quite frankly, evident during trial,” the judge said. “I do find the evidence shows that Mr Tarrio was on the top of the command structure with regard to the planning of the offence.” “That day broke our previously unbroken tradition of peacefully transferring power,” he added. Tarrio was among four members of the group convicted of seditious conspiracy and other crimes earlier this year following a four-month trial. Tarrio, as the group’s leader, organised and directed a mob towards the US Capitol, where Proud Boys dismantled barricades and broke windows to breach the halls of Congress, then bragged about their actions on social media and in group chat messages that were later shared with jurors. He served as a “naturally charismatic leader, a savvy propagandist, and the celebrity Chairman” of the group, wielding his influence over his subordinates and allies to “organize and execute the conspiracy to forcibly stop the peaceful democratic transfer of power” as lawmakers convened to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election, federal prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memo. Tarrio instead used his talents “to inflame and radicalise untold numbers of followers, promoting political violence in general and orchestrating the charged conspiracies in particular,” they argued. Federal sentencing guidelines indicated Tarrio could have faced 27 to 33 years in prison. Prosecutors sought a sentence of 33 years. As he did with other Proud Boys cases, Judge Kelly applied what is called a terrorism “enhancement” to the sentencing guidelines but refrained from imposing larger prison sentences for crimes he has contrasted to mass casualty events. Four other members of the group were sentenced last week for their roles in the attack. Ethan Nordean received a sentence of 18 years in prison, tying Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes for what is now the second-longest sentence to date among the hundreds of people convicted in connection with January 6. Joe Biggs was sentenced to 17 years, Zachary Rehl was sentenced to 15 years, and Dominic Pezzola – the sole co-defendant among them who was not convicted of seditious conspiracy – was sentenced to 10 years. Tarrio’s verdict marked the first successful seditious conspiracy conviction against a January 6 defendant who was not physically at the Capitol that day – he was barred from entering Washington DC after he was arrested for burning a Black Lives Matter banner outside a church during a riot weeks earlier. He watched the insurrection from a hotel room in Baltimore. During the Proud Boys trial, prosecutors presented hundreds of internal messages revealing the group’s culture of violence and preparations for an attack in the weeks leading up to January 6. Prosecutors argued that Proud Boys were not merely obedient followers of Donald Trump’s commands, amplifying his bogus narrative of election fraud, but were preparing for “all-out war” to undermine millions of Americans’ votes and upend a democratic election to preserve his presidency. In the insurrection’s aftermath, Tarrio wrote on the social media platform Parler that “when the government fears the people, there is liberty,” a post he accompanied with a photo of House members ducking for cover. “When he wrote those words, Tarrio was not referring to politicians’ fear of being voted out of office,” prosecutors wrote. “He was speaking concretely and approvingly about what the members of Congress and their staffs were experiencing that very afternoon: fear of injury and death at the hands of a vicious mob that included Tarrio’s own hand-picked soldiers.” Defence attorney Sabino Jauregui claimed that his client was simply a “misguided patriot” who never intended to “bring down” the government. Tarrio’s attorneys sought unsuccessfully to separate Tarrio from the destructive actions of other Proud Boys on the ground. Tarrio’s influence among the Proud Boys and far-right extremism more broadly extends far beyond the scope of January 6. Following the federal case against him in the aftermath of the January 6 attack, as the US Department of Justice scrutinized far-right groups like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, Tarrio announced he was stepping down from his leadership role. He urged other members to “start getting more involved in local politics” and said the group would be “running our guys for office from local seats, whether it’s a simple GOP seat or a city council seat.” Members of the group would go on to do just that. Members have also harassed drag queen story-telling events at libraries and amplified “groomer” smears aimed at LGBT+ people. Proud Boys have been central to a wave of attacks and threats against drag performers and the people and venues that host them, targeting at least 60 such events within the last year, with more than half resulting in physical and verbal clashes. Read More Proud Boys ringleader Enrique Tarrio sentenced to 22 years in prison for Jan 6 attack Who is Enrique Tarrio? Ex-Proud Boys leader faces longest prison sentence yet for January 6 ‘Donald Trump’s army’: Proud Boys members face decades in prison for January 6 sedition

Forty-nine elite Russian soldiers were killed on the way to defend a key battleground on the front line in Ukraine, it has been claimed. US think tank the Institute for the Study of War, citing a Russian military blogger, said the troops were killed in one day of fighting near the village of Staromayorske, Donetsk. The blogger posted an audio recording on 5 September purportedly from a soldier in the Russian 247th VDV Regiment in which the soldier claims that he has to retrieve bodies of Russian personnel near Staromayorske. “The Russian soldier’s claims suggest that elements of the 247th Regiment remain defending in the western Donetsk-eastern Zaporizhia Oblast area, despite claims from a prominent Russian source in late August that some elements are fighting in the Robotyne area,” the think tank said in a statement. Earlier, Ukraine’s ground forces commander said the situation along the eastern frontline remains “difficult”. Oleksandr Syrskyi added that the main task for Ukraine’s troops is to ensure reliable defence and prevent the loss of strongholds. Read More British Challenger 2 tank ‘destroyed in Ukraine’ – defence source Wagner to be declared a terrorist organisation, Home Office says Why Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un are desperate for each other’s help Drone warfare map reveals how Ukraine is striking Russia hundreds of miles from the frontline

King Charles III will travel to France later this month for a state visit that was postponed in March due to fears that protesters demonstrating against President Emanuel Macron’s economic policies would disrupt the pageantry

A state judiciary disciplinary panel has rejected several complaints lodged against Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Janet Protasiewicz alleging that she violated the judicial code of ethics for comments she made during the campaign

The Labour Party has brutally mocked the Tories' failure to deal with the economy with the Liz Truss lettuce. Last year, the former prime minister became associated with the salad vegetable when the Economist published a column saying she had caused turmoil during her premiership faster than the time it takes for a lettuce to go bad. It said: "Liz Truss is already a historical figure. However long she now lasts in office, she is set to be remembered as the prime minister whose grip on power was the shortest in British political history. Ms Truss entered Downing Street on September 6th. She blew up her own government with a package of unfunded tax cuts and energy-price guarantees on September 23rd. Take away the ten days of mourning after the death of the queen, and she had seven days in control. That is the shelf-life of a lettuce." The Daily Star then ran with the idea of livestreaming a lettuce, asking whether it or Truss would last longer (the lettuce won). After that, the lettuce became the most lasting symbol of Truss's premiership. Now, posting on Twitter, the opposition party has brought the meme back with a picture of a lettuce in a wig with googly eyes, to make a point about soaring inflation. They wrote: "The lettuce that outlasted Liz Truss would cost 20 per cent more today thanks to Tory economic failure." They added: "This is the cost of the Tories." Food inflation is coming down, but it is still very high. Latest British Retail Consortium (BRC) data suggests it dropped to 11.5 per cent in August from 13.1 per cent in July and 17.4 per cent in June. In the last year, popular staple supermarket items like eggs have seen an annual increase of 17.3 per cent to an average of £2.65 per pack, compared to 17.2 per cent for baked beans (£1.98), 7.2 per cent for toilet rolls (£5.83), and 5.9 per cent for milk (£1.80). Meanwhile, Labour have been ramping up their attack ads lately, recently attacking the Tories over the Raac crisis in schools. Now they've brought back the lettuce, it is clear Truss will never catch a break. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers, who served seven terms in the U.S. House, is running for U.S. Senate in Michigan

SpaceX is ready to launch its next-generation Starship rocket, according to Elon Musk, pending regulatory approval. Starship is the most powerful rocket ever built, measuring 121 metres in height and capable of producing 5,000 metric tons of thrust. Once testing is complete, the craft will form part of Nasa’s Artemis mission to return astronauts to the Moon. Mr Musk also plans to use the rocket to transport people and cargo around the solar system, eventually using fleets of Starships to establish a permanent human colony on Mars. The next launch will be the second attempt at an orbital flight test, with the only previous effort ending in an explosion just three minutes into the 90 minute flight earlier this year. Each launch attempt requires approval from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), while also requiring favourable weather conditions. “Starship is ready to launch, awaiting FAA licence approval,” Mr Musk posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Wednesday. A spokesperson for the FAA previously told The Independent that the launch licence application for Starship depends on various requirements being met, including reviews on policy, payload, safety, airspace integration, financial responsibility and environmental impacts. “The FAA will make a licence determination only after the agency is satisfied SpaceX meets all licensing, safety and other regulatory requirements,” the spokesperson said. SpaceX typically only reveals the date for rocket tests a few days before they take place, though numerous factors can still delay them. Weather at SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Texas is currently favourable for a launch, though the area can be prone to storms and hurricanes between June and November. SpaceX performed its 62nd orbital rocket launch of 2023 earlier this week, breaking its own record for the most number of launches in a single year. The private company has delivered roughly 80 per cent of all Earth payload mass to orbit in 2023, with Mr Musk predicting that this figure will rise to more than 99 per cent once Starship is in operation. “These magnitudes are madness to consider, but necessary to make consciousness multiplanetary,” he posted on X on Sunday. Read More SpaceX smashes rocket launch record as Musk eyes historic Starship mission SpaceX abandons YouTube for live streams of launches in favour of X/Twitter

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Kyiv Wednesday on what is his third trip to the Ukrainian capital since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.

The disturbing sketches feature terrified and bound women, reigniting investigations into cold cases that may be linked to the 78-year-old criminal

The New York Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit to retrieve a significant sum of unpaid wages, penalties, and interest from Rex Heuermann

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, who is presiding over the Georgia election subversion case against former President Donald Trump and 18 other co-defendants, will hold his first hearing Wednesday afternoon amid questions of how soon a trial could begin.

The United Nations' migration agency says that more than 5 million people have now been displaced by the monthslong fighting in Sudan