National Roundup

Arizona
Far-right personality charged with damaging Hanukkah display
PHOENIX (AP) — Far-right social media personality Tim Gionet, who calls himself “Baked Alaska,” has been charged with misdemeanors over allegedly damaging a Hanukkah display in December 2020 outside the Arizona Capitol.

Prosecutors declined to provide specifics on the charges, but one of the people who helped organize the display in Wesley Bolin Plaza said a video shows Gionet tearing a sign off from the display that honors the Jewish Festival of Lights.

Rabbi Levi Levertov said the sign was of little material value, but that damaging a religious display was disturbing. “It’s an attack on an entire community,” Levertov said. “That’s the way I look at it.”

Gionet’s attorney, Zachary Thornley, didn’t immediately return a call Monday seeking comment on behalf of his client.

Gionet hasn’t yet entered a plea to the criminal damage and attempted criminal damage charges filed against him earlier this month in Arizona.

In unrelated cases, Gionet faces charges over allegedly storming the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot and is awaiting sentencing for misdemeanor convictions arising from an encounter in which authorities say he shot pepper spray at an employee at a bar in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Authorities say Gionet livestreamed for about 27 minutes from inside the U.S. Capitol, encouraged other rioters not to leave, Gionet entered offices there, profanely called a police officer an “oath breaker” and identified himself as a member of the media when told by police to move.

Prosecutors dispute that Gionet is a journalist. His lawyer said the former BuzzFeed employee only went to Washington to film what happened.

The federal court record doesn’t say whether Gionet has entered a plea on the charges related to the Capitol riot, though his attorney said in a court filing that his client would be found not guilty if the case goes to trial.

In the Scottsdale case, Gionet was convicted of assault, disorderly conduct and criminal trespassing.

Police say Gionet made customers uncomfortable when he and friends were inside the bar livestreaming video, refused to leave when asked to do so and got into an argument with an employee who pushed him out of the door, leading Gionet to shoot pepper spray twice, The Arizona Republic has reported.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 13.

In a 2017 interview with “Business Insider,” Gionet said he was given the nickname “Baked Alaska” because he grew up in Alaska and that he smoked marijuana at the time.


Rhode Island
Review finds 1966 death of Doris Duke employee an accident
The city manager in Newport, Rhode Island, is standing by the city police department’s review of the 1966 death of an employee of wealthy heiress Doris Duke that found — like the original investigation — it was all an accident.

Police opened the review into the death of Eduardo Tirella in July after a witness who had never before talked to police came forward after reading the book “Homicide at Rough Point,” by Peter Lance. The author and journalist who grew up in Newport suggested Duke, who died in 1993, acted with intent when she struck Tirella with a car at her mansion.

That witness, Bob Walker, 68, was a 13-year-old paperboy at the time who was first upon the scene, and his account differed from official versions of what happened.

But while Detective Jacque Wuest, who conducted the review, found Walker to be “credible,” she concluded in a statement last week: “There is no new evidence that would change the previous conclusion in this matter, nor is there any new evidence that warrants further review.”

The statement Tuesday from the office of City Manager Joseph Nicholson Jr. stood by the police, saying “at this time we cannot ascribe any definitive motive or intent to Ms. Duke.”

“To that end, it would be imprudent to either reclassify this incident or to offer any further commentary beyond our official opinion. Accordingly, as we have previously articulated, it remains the opinion of the Newport Police Department that there is not sufficient evidence to draw any firm conclusions as to the motivations of Ms. Duke,” the statement said.

Lance, in a telephone interview Tuesday, called the findings of the police review “absurd.”

In a statement, he said that as the author of several books critical of the FBI on counterterrorism and organized crime, “I have never seen such an abdication by a law enforcement agency of its responsibility to tell the truth about a known criminal act.”

Duke inherited her money from her father, James Duke, president of the American Tobacco Co. and co-founder of the company known today as Duke Energy. Duke University in North Carolina is named for her family.

Tirella had worked as a designer for Duke for several years. On the day of the death, the pair were taking the car to look at an artifact, according to Lance’s book. But Duke was furious at Tirella for telling her that he was leaving to become a set designer in Hollywood, Lance said in the book.

Police conducted a brief interview with Duke several days after Tirella’s death at which point investigators took her at her word that it was an accident.

Duke had a huge amount of clout in the city in 1966, and apparently still does, Lance said.

“What it means, effectively, is that Doris Duke, who died in 1993 at the age of 80, still wields a huge influence over the current City of Newport administration,” he said.


Kansas
No prison time for drunk-driving wreck that killed officer, young son
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas man will not go to prison for a 2018 drunk-driving accident that killed an off-duty Wichita police officer and his young son.

The Wichita Eagle reports that a judge on Tuesday agreed to a plea agreement recommending three years of probation for James Dalrymple of Valley Center. The victims’ family gave their blessing to the sentence.

The accident happened April 27, 2018, killing 37-year-old Stacey Woodson and his 10-year-old son, Braeden, who were on a motorcycle.

“There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t relive” the crash, Dalrymple said in court.

In addition to probation, Dalrymple must pay Woodson’s widow $3,375 in restitution, complete 200 hours of community service and attend addiction meetings and a victim’s panel.