Good morning, and welcome to The Epoch Times News Brief for Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. I’m Bill Thomas, we have some urgent stories to share with you right now, and here’s what’s going on.
Police arrest a suspect in the high-profile murder of a prominent health care executive, a Manhattan jury reaches a verdict in the controversial subway chokehold trial, and the mayor of one of our country’s biggest sanctuary cities says he might have to take extreme measures to work with the incoming Trump administration on illegal immigration.
Also, lawmakers introduce a bill that could radically change the U.S. Supreme Court, and the president of Ukraine reveals the devastating toll his country has taken as a result of its war with Russia.
Suspect in Shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Charged in PA
The individual has been identified as 26-year-old Luigi Mangione. He was found and taken into custody yesterday morning at a McDonald’s restaurant in Altoona, Pennsylvania, after an employee recognized him from police-issued photographs and then immediately called the police.You should know that Mangione has already been charged with a variety of offenses in Pennsylvania, including forgery, carrying a firearm without a license, tampering with records or identification, possessing instruments of crime, and falsely identifying himself to law enforcement.
She said that officers who responded to the call questioned the suspect, who was “acting suspiciously,” as well as carrying multiple fraudulent IDs along with a U.S. passport. Additionally, police say one of the fake IDs matches the New Jersey ID used to check into a Manhattan hostel prior to the shooting.
Tisch later said that police officers found a “handwritten document that speaks to both his motivation and mindset” in the shooting, and that he possessed an “ill will toward corporate America.”
The NYPD also said that Mangione was in possession of a “ghost gun” that was capable of firing a 9-mm round, that it may have been made using a 3-D printer, and that it had a suppressor, or a silencer, attached to it.
They said that at some point, the suspect will be extradited back to New York to face charges, and that meanwhile, they’re backtracking his steps from Manhattan to Pennsylvania.
In case you’re not aware, Thompson was killed last week—in what police said was a targeted attack—as he walked alone to a hotel where UnitedHealthcare’s parent company, UnitedHealth Group, was holding its annual investor conference.
Daniel Penny Found Not Guilty in Subway Death of Jordan Neely
Yesterday in court, Daniel Penny was acquitted of criminally negligent homicide over the death of Jordan Neely, a mentally ill homeless man whom Penny put in a chokehold and wrestled to the ground on a New York City subway in May of last year.So you know, as soon as the jury foreperson said “not guilty,” cheers and applause briefly rang out near the front of the courtroom, before the court officers told everyone to quiet down or else they’d be removed.
However, among Neely’s family and supporters, there was a much different reaction, and the court officers asked two people to leave because of their enraged comments and demeanor.
To refresh your memory, Neely, a 30-year-old homeless man, was acting erratically and shouting at subway riders in May last year. He lost consciousness and died after Penny, with the help of two others, put him on the floor, and placed him in a chokehold. Penny pled not guilty to the charges of second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide, saying he was acting in self-defense.
Last week, Judge Maxwell Wiley dismissed the top charge of manslaughter in the second degree after the jury could not reach a unanimous decision following three days of deliberation, and yesterday’s not-guilty verdict for criminally negligent homicide now officially ends the trial.
You should know that the prosecution and defense differed sharply as to the causes of Neely’s death. They also disagreed regarding the necessity of using deadly physical force to protect passengers on the train from Neely, as well as the validity of claims by the defense that Penny’s actions were justified under New York law.
During the trial, the jury heard from an array of witnesses, including people who were present on the subway train and saw Penny and Neely struggle. They also listened to testimony from some of Penny’s former Marine comrades, as well as a pair of medical experts who contradicted each other’s accounts of Neely’s official cause of death.
NYC Mayor Working to Bypass City Council on Sanctuary Law
New York City Mayor Eric Adams says he’s working to bypass the City Council in an effort to change the city’s sanctuary law. The mayor says he plans to work closely with Tom Homan, who’s been tapped by President-elect Donald Trump to be our nation’s new border czar, to curb illegal immigration.Adams told CBS News he wants criminals who are illegal immigrants to be deported first, and that he may try to bypass the city’s sanctuary law to get it done.
Adams said the City Council has “made it clear” that they won’t change the sanctuary city law to allow cooperation with federal immigration officials, and he thinks “they’re wrong.” The mayor also said he’s now going to “plan B” and looking at all of his options—including what he can do by using “executive orders” to accomplish his goals.
During the interview, Adams said he has repeatedly told President Joe Biden and his staff that “we have to deal” with the “small number of violent offenders” who are making their way into the United States. In particular, he pointed to a “very dangerous Venezuelan gang” which he said is preying on other migrants and asylum seekers.
By the way, Adams and Homan are scheduled to meet very soon, and last week, the mayor said that he’s anxious to hear the incoming border czar’s “actual plan” regarding deportation and how it’s going to be implemented.
For his part, Homan is a former acting director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and he has issued multiple warnings to sanctuary cities all across the country, and well ahead of Trump’s inauguration next month.
Senators Introduce Bill to Cap Supreme Court Term Limits
A pair of senators has just introduced a proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would impose term limits for members of the U.S. Supreme Court.The new resolution has been introduced by Sens. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.), and it would limit newly appointed justices to 18 years on the bench and lead to a new opening roughly every two years.
So you know, the proposed amendment will not change the number of sitting justices, which is currently set at nine by law. However, it would establish a transition period to ensure that vacancies occur at regular intervals.
The senators who introduced the legislation say they are taking “urgent” and “necessary” action to restore public trust in our nation’s most powerful court.
They also say the amendment makes sure the Supreme Court will never have more than nine justices, and that it allows the president to appoint a new justice every two years with the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate.
So you know, in order to be enacted, a constitutional amendment has to be passed by a two-thirds majority of both houses of Congress, and must also be ratified by three-quarters of the states.
Zelenskyy: 43,000 Ukrainian Soldiers Killed Since Russian Invasion
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that an estimated 43,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed and 370,000 more have been wounded since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.He also says the latest data shows that nearly 200,000 Russian soldiers have been killed and more than 550,000 have been wounded during that same period.
So you know, Zelenskyy just released the figures on the social media platform X after meeting with both Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron last weekend during the ceremonial reopening of the world-famous Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, France.
In a Truth Social post following the meeting, Trump says that too many lives are being needlessly wasted and too many families are being destroyed.
He also says that if the war keeps on going, “it can turn into something much bigger, and far worse.” He called for an “immediate ceasefire” and the start of negotiations.
Trump closed by saying he knows Russian President Vladimir Putin well, that it’s his time to act, that China can help, and that the entire world “is waiting.”
For his part, Zelenskyy said his meeting with Trump went well. However, he said that a cease-fire “cannot simply end with a piece of paper and a few signatures.”
This is a story with significant global implications and one we’ll all be watching very closely over the next several weeks and months.
And now, it looks like our time is just about up for today, so we’re gonna call it a wrap for the Tuesday edition of the Epoch Times News Brief.
If you’re like us and keeping track, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, and that’s because the big holiday is only 15 days away. Also, Hanukkah falls on Dec. 25 this year as well, so this will be an extraordinary holiday season.
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And finally, as we do each and every day on this program, we wrap everything up with a very notable quote and this one comes to us from Charles M. Schulz who said:
“Life is like a ten speed bicycle. Most of us have gears we never use.”
Schulz was an American cartoonist and the creator of the comic strip Peanuts—Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and all the rest. I was always a fan of Schroeder, and Peppermint Patty.
For all of us here at the Epoch Times News Brief, I’m Bill Thomas.
The Epoch Times News Brief program is written each day by David Ross.
Thank you for making us your one-stop source for a concise, accurate, and unbiased daily synopsis of many of the news stories you need to know about.
Enjoy the remainder of your day and we’ll see you right back here tomorrow for another edition of the Epoch Times News Brief.
For now, let’s all continue to watch out for one another and have an absolutely superb day today. Bye for now.
