Friday, October 7 top stories
It is Friday, October 7. Here are today’s top stories.
Biden pardons federal marijuana charges
President Biden on Thursday pardoned thousands of people who were convicted of federal charges of “simple marijuana possession” and those who were charged in D.C. CNBC said about 6.500 people were impacted by the pardons.
Biden called on state governors to do the same. He said he believes that nobody should be in jail or prison solely due to the possession of marijuana.
Biden also announced that he is instructing his administration to review how marijuana is classified under federal drug laws. Marijuana is currently a “Schedule 1 substance,” which puts it in the same category as heroin and LSD. Biden said, “it makes no sense.”
CNBC said cannabis stocks across the U.S. surged after Biden’s announcement.
Las Vegas mass stabbing
On Thursday morning in front of the Wynn Casino on the Las Vegas Strip, a 32-year-old man with a large kitchen knife stabbed multiple people on a sidewalk. Two people were killed and six others were wounded.
Witnesses alerted nearby security guards and police were able to catch the suspect, Yoni Barros. Police said they believe that Barros randomly attacked the victims. Barros was charged with two counts of murder and six counts of attempted murder. Police said they do not think Barros was a resident of Las Vegas.
The two people who were killed were 30-year-old Maris DiGiovanni and 47-year-old Brent Hallett. Both were residents of Las Vegas.
Nicole Mann is the first Native American woman in space
Nicole Mann became the first Native American woman in space when she launched off on a SpaceX rocket with three other astronauts on Wednesday. The four astronauts are going to the International Space Station to conduct many different kinds of scientific experiments.
Mann is a colonel in the Marine Corps, has experience fl ying a variety of military aircraft, and served in Iraq and Afghanistan. She is a registered member of the Wailacki of the Round Valley Indian Tribes.
Mann will be up in the ISS for six months. She said she hopes to inspire future generations of Native Americans.
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Man sentenced to life for killing police captain
On June 2, 2020, during protests across the nation after the murder of George Floyd, a 77-year-old retired police captain in St. Louis, David Dorn, received an alert that his friend’s pawn shop was being robbed. He went to the pawn shop during protests to help out but was fatally shot.
That shooter, 26-year-old Stephan Cannon, was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday. Cannon was found guilty of first-degree murder in July and was sentenced Wednesday. CBS News said Cannon “told the family he was ‘sorry for their loss’ but denied being the shooter.’”
Dorn’s death was captured on a Facebook Live video. That video was taken down on Facebook but it was preserved by prosecutors and was used to convince a jury that Cannon was the shooter.
CBS News said during that night in St. Louis, four other officers were shot and 55 businesses were burglarized or damaged.
Proud Boys member pleads guilty to seditious conspiracy
A member of the Proud Boys, Jeremy Bertino, pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy on Thursday and is now cooperating with the Justice Department in its investigation of the January 6. attack on the Capitol. Bertino faces about 5 years in prison.
He is the first member of the Proud Boys to plead guilty to seditious conspiracy, which is a charge that accuses someone of planning to overthrow the U.S. government by force.
He was not there in D.C. on January 6 but was a top assistant to Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and was allegedly involved in many meetings and chats. Four of the top Proud Boys leaders, including Tarrio, will face a sedition trial in December.
Biden warns about threat of Putin’s nuclear weapons
President Biden warned that Russian President Putin is not joking when he brings up the potential of using nuclear weapons over the course of the war in Ukraine. Biden said Putin may feel threatened because his military is underperforming.
Putin has warned that he would use “all available means” to protect the lands in eastern Ukraine that the Russian government said were annexed lands.
Biden said we have not faced a possible “Armageddon” scenario since the Cuban Missile Crisis during the Kennedy administration.
Biden said he knows Putin pretty well and that he is trying to figure out what Putin’s “off-ramp” is, on what kind of scenario would be possible for Putin to abandon the war in Ukraine without losing his power.
That is all the top stories for this week. Have a good weekend and stay with the light.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/stephan-canon-life-sentence-david-dorn-murder-st-louis/
https://nypost.com/2022/10/06/1-dead-multiple-injured-in-las-vegas-stabbing-attack-near-casinos/
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/biden-warns-putin-joking-nuclear-weapons/story?id=91157281