Colorado
Man charged in Planned Parenthood shooting dies in federal custody
Robert Dear, the man who was charged with killing three people at a Colorado Planned Parenthood clinic in 2015 because it offered abortion services, has died in federal custody, the Federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed Tuesday.
Dear died Saturday at a medical center for federal prisoners in Springfield, Missouri, the Bureau of Prisons said. Dear, 67, died of natural causes, said Kristie Breshears, a spokesperson for the agency.
Dear, who was charged in 2019 in federal court, became entangled in a legal battle over whether he could be medicated for his mental illness, delusional disorder, against his will. He had been repeatedly found incompetent to stand trial, stalling his prosecution. He was most recently civilly committed with the Federal Bureau of Prisons, said 4th Judicial District Attorney Michael J. Allen, whose office tried to prosecute Dear in state court.
Last year, a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit upheld a federal judge’s order from 2022 allowing Dear to be forcibly medicated in order to be well enough to stand trial. Dear’s lawyers had contended that side effects could worsen Dear’s health issues, such as untreated high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
Dear had called himself a “warrior for the babies.” Federal prosecutors alleged that he armed himself with several guns, propane tanks and 500 rounds of ammunition and shot outside the clinic before shooting his way through the door.
Ke’Arre Stewart, 29, an Army veteran who served in Iraq and was a father of two, and Jennifer Markovsky, 36, a mother of two who grew up in Oahu, Hawaii, were accompanying friends to the clinic before they were killed. Garrett Swasey, a campus police officer at a college nearby, responded after hearing of an active shooter and was also killed. Nine others were injured.
Michigan
Campbell’s IT chief on leave after lawsuit claims he said company’s food is for ‘poor people’
The Campbell’s Co. said Tuesday it has placed one of its executives on leave while it investigates claims that he made racist comments and mocked the company’s products and customers in an audio recording.
Martin Bally, Campbell’s vice president of information technology, was named in a lawsuit filed last week by Robert Garza, a former Campbell’s employee. The lawsuit was filed in Michigan, where both men live. Campbell’s is headquartered in New Jersey.
In the lawsuit, Garza claimed he met with Bally in November 2024 to discuss his salary. During the meeting, which Garza allegedly recorded, Bally described Campbell’s as “highly process(ed) food” and said it was for “poor people.”
Garza claimed that Bally made racist remarks about Indian workers, whom he called “idiots,” according to the lawsuit. Garza said Bally also told him that he often went to work high after consuming marijuana edibles.
Garza said he told his manager, J.D. Aupperle, on Jan. 10 that he wanted to report Bally’s comments to Campbell’s human resources department. Garza said Aupperle didn’t encourage him to report the comments but also gave him no advice on how to proceed.
On Jan. 30, Garza was terminated from Campbell’s. He is seeking monetary damages from Campbell’s. He also names Bally and Aupperle in the lawsuit, saying they were responsible for his termination.
In its statement Tuesday, Campbell’s said that if the comments on the audio recording were in fact made by Bally, they are unacceptable.
Washington
Democratic congressman’s lawsuit claims Trump housing official abused post to target Trump critics
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal lawsuit filed Tuesday by U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell accuses the Trump administration’s top housing regulator of abusing his position to misuse private mortgage records belonging to Swalwell and other Democratic critics of the Republican president.
Swalwell sued Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte less than two weeks after Pulte formally referred the California Democrat to the Justice Department for possible criminal prosecution on mortgage fraud charges.
Swalwell is seeking a court order for Pulte and his agency to withdraw the criminal referral. His lawsuit, which also seeks unspecified monetary damages, accuses Pulte of violating federal laws and Swalwell’s First Amendment free speech rights.
Swalwell, who is running for governor of California, served as a House manager in President Donald Trump’s 2021 impeachment trial. His lawsuit claims Pulte has played “an integral role in supporting President Trump’s campaign of retribution against his political foes.”
“Those efforts have resulted in the Department of Justice conducting a series of high-profile criminal investigations and prosecutions nakedly targeting some of the President’s most outspoken critics,” the suit says.
Pulte’s Nov. 13 referral to the Justice Department alleges that Swalwell falsely claimed his Washington, D.C., home as his primary residence on a mortgage agreement to secure better loan terms. Swalwell denies that allegation, saying he submitted a sworn affidavit that the D.C. home would be his wife’s primary residence but not his own.
A push by Pulte and Justice Department official Ed Martin to investigate Trump political foes for mortgage fraud has been plagued by missteps, including overhyped allegations that were easily refuted. Ethics officials at the agency Pulte leads were investigating whether he and his allies had improperly accessed mortgage data.
Pulte, who appointed himself chairman of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, has alarmed the housing industry by purging ethics officials and top leaders of the two government-sponsored lending giants.
“Pulte’s brazen practice of obtaining confidential mortgage records from Fannie Mae and/or Freddie Mac and then using them as a basis for referring individual homeowners to DOJ for prosecution is unprecedented and unlawful,” Swalwell’s lawsuit says.
In August, the Justice Department named Martin as a special prosecutor to help conduct mortgage fraud investigations of other prominent Democrats, including U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff and New York Attorney General Letitia James. Martin also serves as director of the Justice Department’s “weaponization working group,” which is examining Trump’s claims of anti-conservative bias inside the department.
A federal judge on Monday dismissed the separate criminal cases against James and former FBI Director James Comey, concluding that the prosecutor who brought the charges at Trump’s urging was illegally appointed.
Man charged in Planned Parenthood shooting dies in federal custody
Robert Dear, the man who was charged with killing three people at a Colorado Planned Parenthood clinic in 2015 because it offered abortion services, has died in federal custody, the Federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed Tuesday.
Dear died Saturday at a medical center for federal prisoners in Springfield, Missouri, the Bureau of Prisons said. Dear, 67, died of natural causes, said Kristie Breshears, a spokesperson for the agency.
Dear, who was charged in 2019 in federal court, became entangled in a legal battle over whether he could be medicated for his mental illness, delusional disorder, against his will. He had been repeatedly found incompetent to stand trial, stalling his prosecution. He was most recently civilly committed with the Federal Bureau of Prisons, said 4th Judicial District Attorney Michael J. Allen, whose office tried to prosecute Dear in state court.
Last year, a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit upheld a federal judge’s order from 2022 allowing Dear to be forcibly medicated in order to be well enough to stand trial. Dear’s lawyers had contended that side effects could worsen Dear’s health issues, such as untreated high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
Dear had called himself a “warrior for the babies.” Federal prosecutors alleged that he armed himself with several guns, propane tanks and 500 rounds of ammunition and shot outside the clinic before shooting his way through the door.
Ke’Arre Stewart, 29, an Army veteran who served in Iraq and was a father of two, and Jennifer Markovsky, 36, a mother of two who grew up in Oahu, Hawaii, were accompanying friends to the clinic before they were killed. Garrett Swasey, a campus police officer at a college nearby, responded after hearing of an active shooter and was also killed. Nine others were injured.
Michigan
Campbell’s IT chief on leave after lawsuit claims he said company’s food is for ‘poor people’
The Campbell’s Co. said Tuesday it has placed one of its executives on leave while it investigates claims that he made racist comments and mocked the company’s products and customers in an audio recording.
Martin Bally, Campbell’s vice president of information technology, was named in a lawsuit filed last week by Robert Garza, a former Campbell’s employee. The lawsuit was filed in Michigan, where both men live. Campbell’s is headquartered in New Jersey.
In the lawsuit, Garza claimed he met with Bally in November 2024 to discuss his salary. During the meeting, which Garza allegedly recorded, Bally described Campbell’s as “highly process(ed) food” and said it was for “poor people.”
Garza claimed that Bally made racist remarks about Indian workers, whom he called “idiots,” according to the lawsuit. Garza said Bally also told him that he often went to work high after consuming marijuana edibles.
Garza said he told his manager, J.D. Aupperle, on Jan. 10 that he wanted to report Bally’s comments to Campbell’s human resources department. Garza said Aupperle didn’t encourage him to report the comments but also gave him no advice on how to proceed.
On Jan. 30, Garza was terminated from Campbell’s. He is seeking monetary damages from Campbell’s. He also names Bally and Aupperle in the lawsuit, saying they were responsible for his termination.
In its statement Tuesday, Campbell’s said that if the comments on the audio recording were in fact made by Bally, they are unacceptable.
Washington
Democratic congressman’s lawsuit claims Trump housing official abused post to target Trump critics
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal lawsuit filed Tuesday by U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell accuses the Trump administration’s top housing regulator of abusing his position to misuse private mortgage records belonging to Swalwell and other Democratic critics of the Republican president.
Swalwell sued Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte less than two weeks after Pulte formally referred the California Democrat to the Justice Department for possible criminal prosecution on mortgage fraud charges.
Swalwell is seeking a court order for Pulte and his agency to withdraw the criminal referral. His lawsuit, which also seeks unspecified monetary damages, accuses Pulte of violating federal laws and Swalwell’s First Amendment free speech rights.
Swalwell, who is running for governor of California, served as a House manager in President Donald Trump’s 2021 impeachment trial. His lawsuit claims Pulte has played “an integral role in supporting President Trump’s campaign of retribution against his political foes.”
“Those efforts have resulted in the Department of Justice conducting a series of high-profile criminal investigations and prosecutions nakedly targeting some of the President’s most outspoken critics,” the suit says.
Pulte’s Nov. 13 referral to the Justice Department alleges that Swalwell falsely claimed his Washington, D.C., home as his primary residence on a mortgage agreement to secure better loan terms. Swalwell denies that allegation, saying he submitted a sworn affidavit that the D.C. home would be his wife’s primary residence but not his own.
A push by Pulte and Justice Department official Ed Martin to investigate Trump political foes for mortgage fraud has been plagued by missteps, including overhyped allegations that were easily refuted. Ethics officials at the agency Pulte leads were investigating whether he and his allies had improperly accessed mortgage data.
Pulte, who appointed himself chairman of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, has alarmed the housing industry by purging ethics officials and top leaders of the two government-sponsored lending giants.
“Pulte’s brazen practice of obtaining confidential mortgage records from Fannie Mae and/or Freddie Mac and then using them as a basis for referring individual homeowners to DOJ for prosecution is unprecedented and unlawful,” Swalwell’s lawsuit says.
In August, the Justice Department named Martin as a special prosecutor to help conduct mortgage fraud investigations of other prominent Democrats, including U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff and New York Attorney General Letitia James. Martin also serves as director of the Justice Department’s “weaponization working group,” which is examining Trump’s claims of anti-conservative bias inside the department.
A federal judge on Monday dismissed the separate criminal cases against James and former FBI Director James Comey, concluding that the prosecutor who brought the charges at Trump’s urging was illegally appointed.
