Reuters US Domestic News Summary

09/22/2016 19:52

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Chicago police officer pleads not guilty to civil rights charges

A Chicago policeman who was indicted on federal civil rights charges after being captured on a dashboard camera firing into a car full of teenagers, wounding two of them, pleaded not guilty on Thursday, a court official said. Marco Proano, 41, was charged last week in a two-count indictment in U.S. District Court in Chicago for allegedly using unreasonable force with a dangerous weapon.

Accused New York bomber's wife back; lawyer seeks access to suspect

The wife of the Afghan-born U.S. citizen charged in last weekend's bombings in New York City and New Jersey has returned to the United States, a law enforcement official said on Thursday, as a defense lawyer pressed to get access to the accused man. Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28, has been held in a Newark, New Jersey, hospital since being arrested on Monday with wounds after a shootout with police. Rahami faces federal charges in both states stemming from a Saturday night bombing in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood that injured 31 people and explosives found in two New Jersey locations. No one was killed in the blasts.

Severely disabled Wisconsin girl who stopped treatments dies at 14

A severely disabled Wisconsin girl who made headlines with her controversial decision to end the medical assistance and treatment that was keeping her alive died on Thursday at the age of 14, the county medical examiner said. Jerika Bolen passed away at the Sharon S. Richardson Community Hospice center in Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin, Sheboygan County Medical Examiner David Leffin said.

Image purported to be Michelle Obama's passport posted online

An image purported to be a scanned copy of U.S. first lady Michelle Obama's passport was leaked online on Thursday alongside personal emails said to belong to a low-level White House staffer who worked with Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. Reuters was unable to verify the authenticity of the passport or related documents, the latest dump of sensitive material by a hacking entity U.S. intelligence officials suspect is linked to Russia.

Kentucky Supreme Court blocks governor's college funding cuts

Kentucky's Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that the state's Republican governor does not have the authority to cut public universities' budgets. The 5-2 decision reinstates more than $18 million in funds to eight of Kentucky's nine public universities and its community college system, and handed a victory to the state's Democratic attorney general who has opposed the governor on several issues.

Ex-Cuomo advisers, others charged in New York corruption cases

Federal and state prosecutors on Thursday announced charges against 10 men, including two onetime senior advisers to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, in corruption and fraud cases involving state contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The charges followed a federal investigation into Buffalo Billion, a signature $1 billion economic development project of Cuomo aimed at revitalizing the area around the city of Buffalo, once an upstate industrial powerhouse.

Pressure grows on Charlotte police to release shooting video

Pressure on Charlotte police intensified on Thursday to release a video showing the fatal shooting of a black man by officers that has sparked two nights of violent protests in North Carolina's largest city. The video will only be shown to the family of Keith Scott, 43, who was shot dead by a black police officer in the parking lot of an apartment complex on Tuesday, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney said.

Cleveland settles 'I can't breathe' wrongful death lawsuit with black man's family

The family of a African-American man who died in 2010 after being tasered by Cleveland police will receive a $375,000 settlement from the city, the mayor's office said on Thursday. Rodney Brown died on New Year's Eve after a police radio caught him telling officers "I can't breathe."

U.S., Canada aboriginal tribes form alliance to stop oil pipelines

Aboriginal tribes from Canada and the northern United States signed a treaty on Thursday to jointly fight proposals to build more pipelines to carry crude from Alberta's oil sands, saying further development would damage the environment. The move came as Native American tribes on Thursday took their fight to Washington to stop development of the $3.7 billion Dakota Access oil pipeline, which would cross federally managed and private lands in North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and Illinois.

Tulsa officer charged with manslaughter for fatal shooting seen on video

The white Tulsa police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black man whose car had broken down and blocked a road was charged with first degree manslaughter on Thursday and a warrant has been issued for her arrest. Court papers filed by Tulsa County said Officer Betty Shelby escalated the situation and overreacted in shooting Terence Crutcher, 40. If convicted, she faces at least four years in prison, lawyers said.

09/22/2016 19:52