Siblings indicted in explosive at US base
Siblings indicted in explosive at US base
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A man who fled to China after leaving an explosive device outside MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa has been indicted along with his sister in Florida on federal charges, and their mother has been detained pending deportation for overstaying her visa, a federal prosecutor said Thursday.
Alen Zheng, 20, and Ann Zheng, 27, were charged Wednesday in separate federal indictments. The sister was arrested upon her return from China, where she had flown with her brother after the threat. They have U.S. citizenship, U.S. Attorney Gregory Kehoe said during a news conference.
The device didn’t detonate, but “could have potentially been very deadly,” Kehoe said.
The suspicious package went undiscovered for nearly a week, but the investigation developed very quickly after it was found March 16, Kehoe said.
Agents determined that Alen Zheng actually planted the device March 10 and made a 911 call minutes later saying there was a bomb at the base, he said. Then he and his sister sold their Mercedes-Benz SUV, bought tickets to China, and were gone by March 12.
Air Force personnel had searched the base without discovering the device initially. When it was found outside the visitors center, investigators used phone data to connect the 911 call to Alen Zheng, and spotted the SUV on surveillance video.
Agents also searched the family’s home and reported finding explosive device components. Meanwhile, the device found outside the base’s gate was flown by helicopter to an FBI lab in Huntsville, Ala., for further examination, FBI Special Agent in Charge Matthew Fodor said.
US strikes boat in Caribbean; 4 killed
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon said it blew up a boat Wednesday in the Caribbean Sea, killing four people. The strike raised the death toll in the Trump administration’s campaign against people it accuses of smuggling drugs at sea to at least 163 people.
The U.S. military’s Southern Command announced the strike on social media with a 15-second video clip that showed a stationary boat floating in the water and then suddenly exploding.
Legal specialists on the use of lethal force have said the strikes are illegal, extrajudicial killings because the military cannot deliberately target civilians who do not pose an imminent threat of violence, even if they are suspected of engaging in criminal acts.
Southern Command cited unspecified intelligence in its announcement. It said the boat had been traveling on “known narco-trafficking routes” and was “engaged in narco-trafficking operations.”
Court pauses restrictions on tear gas
PORTLAND, Ore. — An appeals court has paused lower court rulings in Oregon that restricted federal officers’ use of tear gas during protests at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland.
A three-judge panel at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision, granted the Trump administration’s request for temporary administrative stays in two cases Wednesday.
At a demonstration in January, federal authorities fired tear gas at hundreds of people.
The federal responses prompted one lawsuit by the ACLU of Oregon on behalf of protesters and freelance journalists, and another by residents of an affordable housing complex across from the Portland ICE building. The lawsuits argue that federal officers’ use of chemical and projectile munitions has violated the rights of protesters and residents.
The Department of Homeland Security, a defendant in both cases, has said it is authorized to do what is appropriate and necessary to defuse violence against officers.
Earlier this month, the federal judges in Portland overseeing the separate cases issued preliminary injunctions limiting federal agents from using chemical munitions unless someone poses an imminent threat. The Trump administration appealed the rulings.
In its order, the 9th Circuit panel said oral arguments in the two cases will be consolidated and scheduled for April 7.
Cornhole player, amputee extradited
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — A professional cornhole player and a quadruple amputee will be moved from a Virginia jail to face charges in Maryland, where he is accused of fatally shooting a front-seat passenger in a car he was driving.
Dayton Webber waived his right to an extradition hearing Thursday while taking part in a court hearing in Charlottesville, Va., through a video call.
“I am trying to go back to Maryland,” said Webber, 27.
Alexander Goodman, Webber’s attorney, declined to comment. It is unclear when Webber will return to Maryland.
Webber was arrested and charged as a fugitive from justice Sunday by police in Albemarle County, Va., after the shooting in Charles County, Md.
Webber reportedly shot 27-year-old Bradrick Wells, of Waldorf, twice in the head after a heated argument, according to police charging documents. Authorities haven’t publicly disclosed what the argument was about.
