Friday, December 16 top stories
It is Friday, December 16*. Here are today’s top stories. (It is actually Friday, December 16)
QAnon Capitol attacker sentenced 5 years
Doug Jensen, one of the first Jan 6. rioters who entered the Capitol while wearing a QAnon t-shirt, has been sentenced to five years in prison.
Jensen is from Iowa. He was found guilty in September on seven counts including assaulting officers and civil disorder. There was a viral video that shows Jensen walking up the stairs and chasing a Capitol police officer. Look at this clip.
[Clip]
That’s Jensen. Axios said around 900 people have been arrested for crimes connected to the Capitol riot.
Huge aquarium bursts in Berlin hotel
A 50-foot-high aquarium in a hotel in Berlin, Germany burst this morning and sent over 250,000 gallons of water and 1,500 fish through the hotel lobby and into the street outside.
Two people were injured from cuts caused by broken pieces of glass.
Witnesses saw many dying fish on the street. It was below freezing outside and some fish froze to death.
The aquarium was called the AquaDom and it was built in 2003. It was described as the largest cylindrical free-standing aquarium in the world.
There were some fish that survived and they may go to a local zoo.
Cop who killed Atatiana Jefferson is guilty of manslaughter
The former police officer who shot and killed a 28-year-old Black woman named Atatiana Jefferson at her home in 2019 was found guilty of manslaughter. His name is Aaron Dean.
Dean went to Atatiana’s home in Fort Worth, Texas after getting a call from a neighbor who was concerned that its front door was left ajar.
Dean went into the backyard with a flashlight. When he saw Atatiana through a window, he opened fire at her. Atatiana was with her young nephew at the time cooking hamburgers and playing video games. She thought there were intruders in her backyard and got her gun and looked out the window — that’s when she was shot. The door was ajar to let the smoke out from some overcooked burgers. Dean never identified himself as a police officer.
ABC News said the jury considered both a murder charge and a lesser charge of manslaughter during its deliberations. The jury went with manslaughter.
Today is his sentencing hearing for his manslaughter conviction but at the time of signing this news, the court hasn’t issued a sentence.
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Elon’s Twitter suspends journalists
On Thursday night Elon Musk’s Twitter suspended several well-known journalists who have been covering stories related to Elon. The reporters worked for outlets such as CNN and The Washington Post or were independent journalists who had a large Twitter following.
Elon said the suspensions happened because the journalists were doxxing him by sharing his location and putting his life at risk. Elon said the journalists posted links to websites that tracked the movements of Elon’s private jet. The plane data is available to the public.
Elon said the suspensions would last seven days.
Naturally, there is criticism over what this means for “free speech” and because Elon previously said he was so committed to free speech that he would not suspend Twitter accounts tracking his jet.
So the drama with Elon and Twitter continues.
Brittney Griner intends to play basketball
Brittney Griner posted on her Instagram for the first time since returning to America from her detainment in Russia. She said the last 10 months have been a battle at every turn.
She said President Biden brought her home and that she knows he is committed to bringing Paul Whelan and all Americans home too.
Griner was at a military facility in Texas to make sure she is in good health and now she’s back home with her wife, Cherelle.
Griner said she intends to play basketball for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury this season, which begins in May 2023.
Boy rescued after being swallowed by hippopotamus
In Uganda, a two-year-old boy was partially swallowed by a hippopotamus but the boy was rescued after a man threw stones at the animal.
The boy’s name is Paul Iga. He was playing near his home when he was attacked. The hippo bit the boy’s head and half of his body went inside. A bystander named Chrispas Bagonza saw the incident and threw stones at it, which scared the hippo and made it release the boy.
The boy was taken to a hospital for treatment and was released back to his parents.
Hippos are naturally aggressive and dangerous. They cause an estimated 500 deaths annually, often from attacking boats.
So it’s a relief that little boy, Paul Iga, is okay. He can share that story for the rest of his life.
That is all the top stories for this week. Have a nice weekend and I’ll see you on Monday. Stay with the light.
https://www.axios.com/2022/12/16/qanon-doug-jensen-jan-6-capitol-riot-sentence
https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/crime/article270093112.html
https://abcnews.go.com/US/verdict-reached-murder-trial-police-officer-aaron-dean/story?id=95229227
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/16/world/europe/germany-aquarium-aquadom.html
https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/16/us/brittney-griner-departs-medical-military-facility/index.html
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2022/12/16/hippo-swallows-boy-uganda-africa/10908725002/