Virgin Islands
U.S. government sues U.S. territory, accuses officials of violating 2nd Amendment
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A Second Amendment clash has erupted between the federal government and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The U.S. government sued the U.S. territory, its police department and Police Commissioner Mario Brooks on Tuesday, accusing them of obstructing and systematically denying American citizens the right to possess and carry guns.
The U.S. Virgin Islands requires that applicants demonstrate “good reason to fear death or great injury to his person or property,” and to have “two credible persons” to vouch for their need of a firearm. Local law also requires that someone have “good moral character” to obtain a gun permit, which is valid for up to three years and applies to a single weapon.
The lawsuit states that no specific standard has been set or defined for the requirement of character. It also claims that the defendants “regularly” refuse to issue permits to those who by law are “deemed to be an improper person” by the territory’s police commissioner.
The lawsuit states that those in the U.S. territory also must “submit to intrusive and warrantless home searches” as one condition to obtain a gun permit. If an applicant refuses a home inspection, which takes “several months to a year to schedule and complete,” the government will not process their request, according to the lawsuit.
It also notes that the police department “denies firearms licenses to otherwise qualified applicants whenever it deems that the applicant has ‘too many’ firearms.”
In addition, the lawsuit accuses the U.S. Virgin Islands of demanding that applicants “unnecessarily spend money to install a safe,” and that it be bolted to the floor or wall of their home.
The lawsuit accuses the defendants of defying “binding Supreme Court precedent to frustrate the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding American citizens.”
It notes that those citizens “have a fundamental right to possess guns in their homes” and carry handguns publicly for the purpose of immediate self-defense.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S District Court in the U.S. Virgin Islands. It asks that a judge find that the defendants are violating the Second Amendment and seeks an injunction to prohibit them from implementing local laws tied to the issuance of firearms licenses.
The U.S. Virgin Islands government said in a statement late Tuesday that it is reviewing the lawsuit and taking the allegations seriously.
It noted that the administration of Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. and Lt. Gov. Tregenza A. Roach “is committed to protecting constitutional rights while maintaining public safety.”
The lawsuit was filed as the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump pushes to expand gun rights. Last year, Trump claimed that the Second Amendment was “under siege” and described himself as “the best friend gun owners have ever had in the White House.”
Washington
Trump’s National Guard deployment in Washington can continue for now, appeals court says
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal appeals court on Wednesday ruled that the National Guard deployment in the nation’s capital can continue for now, staying a lower-court ruling that had ordered an end to the troops’ presence.
The three-judge panel for U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that Donald Trump may prevail in his argument that the president “possesses a unique power” to mobilize the Guard in Washington, which is a federal district.
The ruling stops the implementation of U.S. District Court Judge Jia Cobb’s Nov. 20 opinion and order, and reaffirms that residents and visitors to Washington will routinely see Guard members well into 2026.
Cobb had ruled that the deployment illegally intrudes on local officials’ authority to direct law enforcement in the District of Columbia.
Wednesday’s unanimous 32-page ruling went on to say that other factors also favored the Republican administration, including the “disruption to the lives of thousands of service members,” as well as what it said was the president’s interest “in the protection of federal governmental functions and property within the Nation’s capital.”
The judges found that the district “has not identified any ongoing injury to its statutory interests.”
The ruling acknowledged that the administration has a strong case for its appeal.
The deployment began in August after Trump issued an executive order declaring a crime emergency in Washington. Within a month, more than 2,300 National Guard troops from eight states and the district were patrolling the city under the command of the Army secretary. Trump also deployed hundreds of federal agents to assist.
The city’s attorney general, Brian Schwalb, sued to challenge the Guard deployments. He asked that the White House be barred from deploying Guard troops without the mayor’s consent while the lawsuit played out. Dozens of states took sides in Schwalb’s lawsuit, with their support falling along party lines.
A spokesperson with Schwalb’s office said the stay was a “preliminary ruling that does not resolve the merits. We look forward to continuing our case in both the district and appellate courts.”
In a posting on X, Attorney General Pam Bondi praised the ruling, saying, “Our federal surge in D.C. has saved countless lives, removed hundreds of illegal guns off the streets, and led to a dramatic drop in crime in our nation’s capital city.” She added the department would continue fighting in court to defend the president’s agenda.
Cobb had found that while the president did have authority to protect federal functions and property, he could not unilaterally deploy the D.C. National Guard to help with crime control as he saw fit or call in troops from other states. She called for the troops to be sent home after her ruling but put her order on hold for 21 days to allow the appeal by the administration.
The appeals court issued an administrative stay of Cobb’s ruling Dec. 4. Wednesday’s action lifts that order.
The court action comes three weeks after two members of the West Virginia National Guard, Spc. Sarah Beckstrom and Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe were ambushed as they patrolled a subway station three blocks from the White House. Beckstrom died Nov. 27 from her injuries. Wolfe continues to recover. Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national, has been charged with murder. He has pleaded not guilty.
The administration has called for an additional 500 National Guard members to be deployed to Washington as a result of the shooting.
The appeals court panel said its decision was “limited in several respects.” For example, it did not address questions such as whether the Guard units were engaged in “law enforcement” activities in violation of federal law.
Massachusetts
Harvard morgue manager who sold body parts like ‘baubles’ gets 8-year prison term
A former manager of the Harvard Medical School morgue in Boston was sentenced to eight years in prison for stealing and selling body parts “as if they were baubles.”
Authorities said Cedric Lodge was at the center of a ghoulish scheme in which he shipped brains, skin, hands and faces to buyers in Pennsylvania and elsewhere after cadavers donated to Harvard were no longer needed for research.
His wife, Denise Lodge, was sentenced to just over a year in prison for assisting him. They appeared Tuesday in federal court in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
In one example, Cedric Lodge provided skin to a buyer so it could be tanned into leather and bound into a book, a “deeply horrifying reality,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Alisan Martin said in a court filing.
“In another, Cedric and Denise Lodge sold a man’s face — perhaps to be kept on a shelf, perhaps to be used for something even more disturbing,” Martin said.
She said Lodge 58, of Goffstown, New Hampshire, treated the parts of “beloved human beings as if they were baubles to be sold for profit” and collected thousands of dollars, from 2018 through March 2020.
After Harvard finishes using a donated body for research or teaching, the body typically is returned to family or cremated. Lodge acknowledged removing body parts before cremation.
Lodge, who was a morgue manager for 28 years, expressed regret in court. Defense attorney Patrick Casey said his acts were “egregious.”
Harvard suspended the donation of bodies for five months in 2023 when charges were filed.
Prosecutors said at least six other people, including an employee at an Arkansas crematorium, have pleaded guilty in the investigation of body-parts trafficking.
Nevada
2 men sentenced for fatal hit-and-run of bicyclist
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Two Nevada men were given lengthy prison sentences Tuesday after pleading guilty to the fatal hit-and-run of a man who had been biking alongside a road in Las Vegas. They recorded the collision on video and laughed as they drove off.
A judge sentenced 20-year-old Jesus Ayala to 20 years to life, and 18-year-old Jzamir Keys to 18 years to life for second-degree murder with a deadly weapon, the Clark County District Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday. The two pleaded guilty in October in a deal with prosecutors.
Retired California police chief Andreas “Andy” Probst, 64, was riding his bicycle in Las Vegas on Aug. 14, 2023, when he was intentionally struck by a stolen vehicle, according to the Clark County District Attorney’s Office. Ayala was driving, and Keys sat in the passenger seat, according to the district attorney’s office.
The video, taken from the passenger seat, shows the vehicle approaching Probst from behind as he rides near the curb on an otherwise traffic-free road. Voices in the car can be heard laughing as the vehicle steers toward Probst and rams the bicycle.
Probst hurtles backward across the hood and into the windshield.
A school resource officer provided the video of the collision with investigators, leading to the arrest of Ayala and Keys. It was later posted to social media and shared by Elon Musk, bringing national attention to the case.
Chief Deputy District Attorney John Giordani called the murders the most “callous and heinous” acts he had seen in his career.
“Although the defendants were young, they knew right from wrong, and nothing could excuse the decisions they made that day,” Giordani said in a statement. “I hope this sentence sends a message to other juveniles that life is sacred and if you take a life, you are forfeiting yours.”
Ayala, who law enforcement authorities say was a member of the Night Crawlers gang, and Keys were juveniles at the time, limiting the court’s sentencing range, according to the Clark County District Attorney’s office. The court imposed the maximum sentence allowed. After 20 and 18 years respectively, Ayala and Keys will be eligible for parole.
In a statement to The Associated Press, Ayala’s attorney P. David Westbrook said Ayala is truly sorry for what he did. Westbrook noted there’s no guarantee his client will get parole.
“He recognizes that he can never make this right, and he does not expect forgiveness, but in accepting this life sentence and sparing the victims’ families from the additional pain of going through a criminal trial, Mr. Ayala has done all he can do to show his remorse,” Westbrook said in an email.
Probst’s family said in 2023 that Ayala and Keys laughed in their direction while waiting for a court hearing to start, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Probst’s family also filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Hyundai Motor Company, alleging Ayala and Keys were able to steal the vehicle using the “Tik Tok method,” a way to steal a car demonstrated on social media with just a screwdriver and a USB cable. On Tuesday, Hyundai and Kia settled a multistate lawsuit that made a similar claim, and the companies agreed to repair millions of models for free to equip them with proper anti-theft technology.
U.S. government sues U.S. territory, accuses officials of violating 2nd Amendment
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A Second Amendment clash has erupted between the federal government and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The U.S. government sued the U.S. territory, its police department and Police Commissioner Mario Brooks on Tuesday, accusing them of obstructing and systematically denying American citizens the right to possess and carry guns.
The U.S. Virgin Islands requires that applicants demonstrate “good reason to fear death or great injury to his person or property,” and to have “two credible persons” to vouch for their need of a firearm. Local law also requires that someone have “good moral character” to obtain a gun permit, which is valid for up to three years and applies to a single weapon.
The lawsuit states that no specific standard has been set or defined for the requirement of character. It also claims that the defendants “regularly” refuse to issue permits to those who by law are “deemed to be an improper person” by the territory’s police commissioner.
The lawsuit states that those in the U.S. territory also must “submit to intrusive and warrantless home searches” as one condition to obtain a gun permit. If an applicant refuses a home inspection, which takes “several months to a year to schedule and complete,” the government will not process their request, according to the lawsuit.
It also notes that the police department “denies firearms licenses to otherwise qualified applicants whenever it deems that the applicant has ‘too many’ firearms.”
In addition, the lawsuit accuses the U.S. Virgin Islands of demanding that applicants “unnecessarily spend money to install a safe,” and that it be bolted to the floor or wall of their home.
The lawsuit accuses the defendants of defying “binding Supreme Court precedent to frustrate the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding American citizens.”
It notes that those citizens “have a fundamental right to possess guns in their homes” and carry handguns publicly for the purpose of immediate self-defense.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S District Court in the U.S. Virgin Islands. It asks that a judge find that the defendants are violating the Second Amendment and seeks an injunction to prohibit them from implementing local laws tied to the issuance of firearms licenses.
The U.S. Virgin Islands government said in a statement late Tuesday that it is reviewing the lawsuit and taking the allegations seriously.
It noted that the administration of Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. and Lt. Gov. Tregenza A. Roach “is committed to protecting constitutional rights while maintaining public safety.”
The lawsuit was filed as the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump pushes to expand gun rights. Last year, Trump claimed that the Second Amendment was “under siege” and described himself as “the best friend gun owners have ever had in the White House.”
Washington
Trump’s National Guard deployment in Washington can continue for now, appeals court says
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal appeals court on Wednesday ruled that the National Guard deployment in the nation’s capital can continue for now, staying a lower-court ruling that had ordered an end to the troops’ presence.
The three-judge panel for U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that Donald Trump may prevail in his argument that the president “possesses a unique power” to mobilize the Guard in Washington, which is a federal district.
The ruling stops the implementation of U.S. District Court Judge Jia Cobb’s Nov. 20 opinion and order, and reaffirms that residents and visitors to Washington will routinely see Guard members well into 2026.
Cobb had ruled that the deployment illegally intrudes on local officials’ authority to direct law enforcement in the District of Columbia.
Wednesday’s unanimous 32-page ruling went on to say that other factors also favored the Republican administration, including the “disruption to the lives of thousands of service members,” as well as what it said was the president’s interest “in the protection of federal governmental functions and property within the Nation’s capital.”
The judges found that the district “has not identified any ongoing injury to its statutory interests.”
The ruling acknowledged that the administration has a strong case for its appeal.
The deployment began in August after Trump issued an executive order declaring a crime emergency in Washington. Within a month, more than 2,300 National Guard troops from eight states and the district were patrolling the city under the command of the Army secretary. Trump also deployed hundreds of federal agents to assist.
The city’s attorney general, Brian Schwalb, sued to challenge the Guard deployments. He asked that the White House be barred from deploying Guard troops without the mayor’s consent while the lawsuit played out. Dozens of states took sides in Schwalb’s lawsuit, with their support falling along party lines.
A spokesperson with Schwalb’s office said the stay was a “preliminary ruling that does not resolve the merits. We look forward to continuing our case in both the district and appellate courts.”
In a posting on X, Attorney General Pam Bondi praised the ruling, saying, “Our federal surge in D.C. has saved countless lives, removed hundreds of illegal guns off the streets, and led to a dramatic drop in crime in our nation’s capital city.” She added the department would continue fighting in court to defend the president’s agenda.
Cobb had found that while the president did have authority to protect federal functions and property, he could not unilaterally deploy the D.C. National Guard to help with crime control as he saw fit or call in troops from other states. She called for the troops to be sent home after her ruling but put her order on hold for 21 days to allow the appeal by the administration.
The appeals court issued an administrative stay of Cobb’s ruling Dec. 4. Wednesday’s action lifts that order.
The court action comes three weeks after two members of the West Virginia National Guard, Spc. Sarah Beckstrom and Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe were ambushed as they patrolled a subway station three blocks from the White House. Beckstrom died Nov. 27 from her injuries. Wolfe continues to recover. Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national, has been charged with murder. He has pleaded not guilty.
The administration has called for an additional 500 National Guard members to be deployed to Washington as a result of the shooting.
The appeals court panel said its decision was “limited in several respects.” For example, it did not address questions such as whether the Guard units were engaged in “law enforcement” activities in violation of federal law.
Massachusetts
Harvard morgue manager who sold body parts like ‘baubles’ gets 8-year prison term
A former manager of the Harvard Medical School morgue in Boston was sentenced to eight years in prison for stealing and selling body parts “as if they were baubles.”
Authorities said Cedric Lodge was at the center of a ghoulish scheme in which he shipped brains, skin, hands and faces to buyers in Pennsylvania and elsewhere after cadavers donated to Harvard were no longer needed for research.
His wife, Denise Lodge, was sentenced to just over a year in prison for assisting him. They appeared Tuesday in federal court in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
In one example, Cedric Lodge provided skin to a buyer so it could be tanned into leather and bound into a book, a “deeply horrifying reality,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Alisan Martin said in a court filing.
“In another, Cedric and Denise Lodge sold a man’s face — perhaps to be kept on a shelf, perhaps to be used for something even more disturbing,” Martin said.
She said Lodge 58, of Goffstown, New Hampshire, treated the parts of “beloved human beings as if they were baubles to be sold for profit” and collected thousands of dollars, from 2018 through March 2020.
After Harvard finishes using a donated body for research or teaching, the body typically is returned to family or cremated. Lodge acknowledged removing body parts before cremation.
Lodge, who was a morgue manager for 28 years, expressed regret in court. Defense attorney Patrick Casey said his acts were “egregious.”
Harvard suspended the donation of bodies for five months in 2023 when charges were filed.
Prosecutors said at least six other people, including an employee at an Arkansas crematorium, have pleaded guilty in the investigation of body-parts trafficking.
Nevada
2 men sentenced for fatal hit-and-run of bicyclist
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Two Nevada men were given lengthy prison sentences Tuesday after pleading guilty to the fatal hit-and-run of a man who had been biking alongside a road in Las Vegas. They recorded the collision on video and laughed as they drove off.
A judge sentenced 20-year-old Jesus Ayala to 20 years to life, and 18-year-old Jzamir Keys to 18 years to life for second-degree murder with a deadly weapon, the Clark County District Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday. The two pleaded guilty in October in a deal with prosecutors.
Retired California police chief Andreas “Andy” Probst, 64, was riding his bicycle in Las Vegas on Aug. 14, 2023, when he was intentionally struck by a stolen vehicle, according to the Clark County District Attorney’s Office. Ayala was driving, and Keys sat in the passenger seat, according to the district attorney’s office.
The video, taken from the passenger seat, shows the vehicle approaching Probst from behind as he rides near the curb on an otherwise traffic-free road. Voices in the car can be heard laughing as the vehicle steers toward Probst and rams the bicycle.
Probst hurtles backward across the hood and into the windshield.
A school resource officer provided the video of the collision with investigators, leading to the arrest of Ayala and Keys. It was later posted to social media and shared by Elon Musk, bringing national attention to the case.
Chief Deputy District Attorney John Giordani called the murders the most “callous and heinous” acts he had seen in his career.
“Although the defendants were young, they knew right from wrong, and nothing could excuse the decisions they made that day,” Giordani said in a statement. “I hope this sentence sends a message to other juveniles that life is sacred and if you take a life, you are forfeiting yours.”
Ayala, who law enforcement authorities say was a member of the Night Crawlers gang, and Keys were juveniles at the time, limiting the court’s sentencing range, according to the Clark County District Attorney’s office. The court imposed the maximum sentence allowed. After 20 and 18 years respectively, Ayala and Keys will be eligible for parole.
In a statement to The Associated Press, Ayala’s attorney P. David Westbrook said Ayala is truly sorry for what he did. Westbrook noted there’s no guarantee his client will get parole.
“He recognizes that he can never make this right, and he does not expect forgiveness, but in accepting this life sentence and sparing the victims’ families from the additional pain of going through a criminal trial, Mr. Ayala has done all he can do to show his remorse,” Westbrook said in an email.
Probst’s family said in 2023 that Ayala and Keys laughed in their direction while waiting for a court hearing to start, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Probst’s family also filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Hyundai Motor Company, alleging Ayala and Keys were able to steal the vehicle using the “Tik Tok method,” a way to steal a car demonstrated on social media with just a screwdriver and a USB cable. On Tuesday, Hyundai and Kia settled a multistate lawsuit that made a similar claim, and the companies agreed to repair millions of models for free to equip them with proper anti-theft technology.
