Month: January 2023

A federal jury found four members of the far-right group Oath Keepers guilty on charges of seditious conspiracy Monday.  According to NBC News, a U.S. District Court in Washington determined that Roberto Minuta, Joseph Hackett, David Moerschel and Edward Vallejo are guilty of seditious conspiracy for their actions on and leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol Building. The decision comes after a five-week trial and more than two days of jury deliberations.

The four were also found guilty of obstruction of an official act, aiding and abetting, and conspiracy to prevent a member of Congress from discharging their official duties, and were found guilty of trying to prevent the certification of results of the presidential election. According to CNN, Hackett also was found guilty of tampering with documents or proceedings The four convicted will be under house arrest with limited Internet access until their sentencing date, which is yet to be determined. The maximum sentence for seditious conspiracy is 20 years in prison.

In addition, Richard Barnett — the man photographed with his feet on Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s desk — was found guilty on eight counts for his actions on Jan. 6, including disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building with a dangerous weapon and theft of government property.

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Two students were killed after a shooting at their Des Moines, Iowa, school on Monday. A third victim, a school employee, is in serious condition after the shooting at the charter school Starts Right Here.

Des Moines police spokesman Paul Parizek told reporters that calls for help came about 12:50 p.m. CT, and responding officers found the two students and an adult school employee all wounded.  Sgt. Parizek said: “There was nothing random about this, it was certainly a targeted incident. As far as a motive, that’s something we are going to try to figure out.” Witnesses provided police a description of a fleeing car, that officers tracked down. Police said the vehicle was pulled over 2 miles south of the school, and two people surrendered immediately while a third took off. A K-9 unit helped police capture that third person, with Parizek confirming “All three of the potential suspects are in custody.”

The Start Right Here charter school describes itself as a school for students who “deserve a chance to rise above the circumstances they were born into” and hopes to “give them a chance to choose a different future.” Des Moines Police Chief Dana Wingert is on the school’s board of directors. Des Moines police spokesman Paul Parizek said: “these are supposed to be our safe spaces, and this school in particular, it’s one that the police department works very closely with. The school is designed to pick up the slack and help kids who need the help the most, the ones who aren’t getting the services they need for a variety of different reasons. To have it happen here, it’s going to be a horrible impact on the community.”

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