National Roundup

Virginia
Teen charged in ‘swatting’ ring linked to neo-Nazis
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) —  The  U.S. Justice Department has charged a former Virginia college student with calling in fake emergencies to prompt law enforcement responses, in coordination with a group the FBI labelled as sympathetic to neo-Nazi ideology.

John William Kirby Kelley, 19, was charged last week with conspiracy to make threats. He’s accused of being part of a network that “shared racist views” and had a “particular disdain for African Americans and Jewish people,” targeting such individuals in so-called swatting attacks coordinated in online chatrooms, according to an FBI affidavit unsealed Friday. Swatting is a practice in which fake emergencies are called in to authorities to draw a large law enforcement response.

The affidavit also said the group maintained a list of victims on a site called Doxbin, which hosts the personal information of journalists, government officials and company executives, news outlets reported.

An investigation into Kelley began in November 2018, when Old Dominion University in Norfolk received a call that someone armed with an AR-15 had hidden pipe bombs on campus. Police received a call hours later from someone with a similar voice who said he had dialed accidentally. Police and FBI investigators compared the voices on both calls and investigators matched email accounts and phone numbers connecting Kelley to the calls, the documents detailed.

He was expelled from Old Dominion about a year after the call was placed as he faced unrelated state drug charges.

Authorities later linked the group Kelley is accused of being a part of to another November 2018 bomb threat, this time at the predominantly African American Alfred Street Baptist Church in Old Town Alexandria. The church was evacuated by police during evening services. The group is also linked to similar calls in the Alexandria area as well as hundreds of others across the U.S., United Kingdom and Canada, the documents allege.

During a court appearance Friday, Kelley’s public defender didn’t’ comment on the allegations, The Washington Post reported. His next court date is scheduled for Wednesday, WTTG-TV says.

Alaska
Judge dismisses indictment against homicide defendant
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska judge dismissed an indictment against a homicide defendant and ruled statements he made cannot be used in court.

Judge Gregory Heath ruled the statements came after Austin Barrett invoked his right to remain silent during an investigation into the killing of David Grunwald, KTVA-TV reported  Monday.

Juries convicted Erick Alman­dinger, Dominic Johnson and Bradley Renfro of first-degree murder in the November 2016 shooting death of the 16-year-old in Palmer.

Renfro and Almandinger named Barrett, 22, as the person who pulled the trigger.

Heath ruled statements Barrett made before his arrest cannot be used as evidence, while also dismissing the indictment because the same interview was used at a grand jury hearing.

Defense attorney Craig Howard argued Barrett invoked his right to stay silent when he told Alaska State Troopers he was going to “plead the fifth.”

Troopers said Barrett continued to talk with them after that statement.

Barrett told investigators during the interviews that he was in the trailer where Grunwald was pistol-whipped and at the site where he was shot with a 9mm handgun, authorities said.

Heath ruled all statements made after Barrett said he was going to “plead the fifth” will be suppressed.

The judge also ruled that without those statements, there was little evidence for the grand jury to indict Barrett on seven charges, including first-degree murder.

“Grand jury was not presented with physical or forensic evidence, neutral witness testimony, or social media or phone evidence to support a finding of probable cause that Defendant was involved in the murder of David Grunwald,” Heath wrote in the ruling.

Barrett is expected to remain in custody until a new indictment is filed.

Maryland
Teen sentenced to 50 years in girl’s killing linked to MS-13
RIVERDALE, Md. (AP) — A Maryland judge has sentenced a teenager to 50 years in prison for his role in the killing  of a 14-year-old girl who was beaten and slashed with a machete in a gang-related attack last year.

Prince George’s County Circuit Court Judge Cathy Serrette sentenced Josue Fuentes-Ponce, 17, of Bladensburg, on Monday, news outlets reported. He pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, participating in a gang and conspiracy charges in October.

Ponce was part of a group of teens linked to the gang MS-13 who lured Ariana Funes-Diaz into a tunnel at a Riverdale park in April 2019, police and prosecutors said. The girl was then beaten with a baseball bat and slashed with a machete, according to autopsy results. The teens were afraid Ariana would tell authorities about a kidnapping and robbery the group committed hours earlier, Prince George’s County police said.

Co-defendant Joel Escobar, 18, pleaded guilty to the same charges and is scheduled for sentencing in February. Edwin Rios, 19, is set for trial in April on charges of murder, assault, participation in a gang resulting in death and conspiracy to commit murder.

Louisiana
Dismissed: Lawsuit over compulsory bar association dues
NEW ORELANS (AP) — A claim that Louisiana lawyers are unconstitutionally required to join and pay dues to the state bar association was rejected Monday by a federal judge.

New Orleans attorney Randy Boudreaux filed the lawsuit last year in U.S. District Court, claiming the mandatory Louis­i­ana State Bar Association membership violates freedom of speech and freedom of association rights.

U.S. District Judge Lance Africk ruled that the Supreme Court has already upheld such arrangements.

Boudreaux’s lawsuit also claimed the bar association sometimes takes positions on issues that some attorneys disagree with. Examples cited in the lawsuit include past support for a moratorium on the death penalty and a resolution supporting elimination of a “free enterprise” course requirement for high school students.

In dismissing that claim, Africk said it involves an issue that belongs in state, rather than federal court.