Virginia
Man who set a council member on fire gets 40 years in prison
DANVILLE, Va. (AP) — A man who set a Virginia council member on fire last year in an alleged jealous rage was sentenced to 40 years in prison on Thursday.
Shotsie Buck-Hayes pleaded guilty in April to one count each of attempted first-degree murder and aggravated malicious wounding in the July 30, 2025, attack on Lee Vogler. Witnesses said Buck-Hayes walked into Vogler's Danville office with a bucket of gasoline, doused him, chased him from the building and set him ablaze.
Blair Vogler, the council member's wife, testified that Lee Vogler's burns covered 60% of his body.
Commonwealth's Attorney Michael Newman said Vogler and his family attended Thursday's hearing in Danville Circuit Court, where the visibly scarred councilman made an emotional statement about how the attack had altered his life.
Newman said Buck-Hayes also spoke, offering "what he claimed to be an apology," but repeating that he was motivated by an alleged affair between Vogler and Buck-Hayes' wife.
Circuit Judge James Reynolds sentenced Buck-Hayes to 10 years in prison on the attempted murder charge, with five of those years suspended. He imposed a sentence of life for the malicious wounding count, suspending all but 35 years of that term.
Newman noted that Reynolds imposed triple the sentence on the wounding charge than that called for under citizen guidelines.
"I'm glad the court agreed that it's an aggravating case and went above the guidelines and sentenced in such a way to hopefully hold this defendant accountable for this horrific act," Newman said.
A breaking and entering charge was dropped as part of Buck-Hayes April 1 plea.
California
Former executive sues Meta over attempts to ‘silence’ memoir, ‘Careless People’
A former Meta executive whose memoir, “Careless People,” provides an explosive insider account of her time at the social media giant, has sued the company for attempting to “silence” her.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday in federal court in Northern California, claims the tech giant’s private arbitration order barring her from speaking about the company or promoting her bestselling book is invalid. It also argues that the severance agreement she signed when she left Meta, in which she agreed not to disparage the company, was done under duress.
Sarah Wynn-Williams served as director of global public policy at Facebook, now operating under parent company Meta Platforms Inc., from 2011 until her firing in 2017. “Careless People” alleges cruel and otherwise disturbing behavior by CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other executives. It also describes Zuckerberg’s alleged efforts to win favor with Chinese officials. Meta has countered that Wynn-Williams violated her agreement and wrote a book filled with inaccuracies.
The lawsuit says Meta is seeking $50,000 in damages for each time Wynn-Williams purportedly violates the non-disparagement agreement, putting her under financial duress. She is asking the court to lift the arbitration order and vacate her severance agreement with the company.
Meta, according to the lawsuit, had obtained an emergency gag order that bars Wynn-Williams and her lawyers from criticizing the company or promoting her book. Over the course of more than a year since the book was published, the lawsuit claims, Meta has surveilled her, with company representatives attending her public appearances and photographing her.
Meta, according to the lawsuit, even took issue with Wynn-Williams attending an arts and literary festival in the U.K. earlier this year, where she sat on a panel but remained silent — because other panelists were critics of the company
Man who set a council member on fire gets 40 years in prison
DANVILLE, Va. (AP) — A man who set a Virginia council member on fire last year in an alleged jealous rage was sentenced to 40 years in prison on Thursday.
Shotsie Buck-Hayes pleaded guilty in April to one count each of attempted first-degree murder and aggravated malicious wounding in the July 30, 2025, attack on Lee Vogler. Witnesses said Buck-Hayes walked into Vogler's Danville office with a bucket of gasoline, doused him, chased him from the building and set him ablaze.
Blair Vogler, the council member's wife, testified that Lee Vogler's burns covered 60% of his body.
Commonwealth's Attorney Michael Newman said Vogler and his family attended Thursday's hearing in Danville Circuit Court, where the visibly scarred councilman made an emotional statement about how the attack had altered his life.
Newman said Buck-Hayes also spoke, offering "what he claimed to be an apology," but repeating that he was motivated by an alleged affair between Vogler and Buck-Hayes' wife.
Circuit Judge James Reynolds sentenced Buck-Hayes to 10 years in prison on the attempted murder charge, with five of those years suspended. He imposed a sentence of life for the malicious wounding count, suspending all but 35 years of that term.
Newman noted that Reynolds imposed triple the sentence on the wounding charge than that called for under citizen guidelines.
"I'm glad the court agreed that it's an aggravating case and went above the guidelines and sentenced in such a way to hopefully hold this defendant accountable for this horrific act," Newman said.
A breaking and entering charge was dropped as part of Buck-Hayes April 1 plea.
California
Former executive sues Meta over attempts to ‘silence’ memoir, ‘Careless People’
A former Meta executive whose memoir, “Careless People,” provides an explosive insider account of her time at the social media giant, has sued the company for attempting to “silence” her.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday in federal court in Northern California, claims the tech giant’s private arbitration order barring her from speaking about the company or promoting her bestselling book is invalid. It also argues that the severance agreement she signed when she left Meta, in which she agreed not to disparage the company, was done under duress.
Sarah Wynn-Williams served as director of global public policy at Facebook, now operating under parent company Meta Platforms Inc., from 2011 until her firing in 2017. “Careless People” alleges cruel and otherwise disturbing behavior by CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other executives. It also describes Zuckerberg’s alleged efforts to win favor with Chinese officials. Meta has countered that Wynn-Williams violated her agreement and wrote a book filled with inaccuracies.
The lawsuit says Meta is seeking $50,000 in damages for each time Wynn-Williams purportedly violates the non-disparagement agreement, putting her under financial duress. She is asking the court to lift the arbitration order and vacate her severance agreement with the company.
Meta, according to the lawsuit, had obtained an emergency gag order that bars Wynn-Williams and her lawyers from criticizing the company or promoting her book. Over the course of more than a year since the book was published, the lawsuit claims, Meta has surveilled her, with company representatives attending her public appearances and photographing her.
Meta, according to the lawsuit, even took issue with Wynn-Williams attending an arts and literary festival in the U.K. earlier this year, where she sat on a panel but remained silent — because other panelists were critics of the company
