Kentucky
Suspect in church shooting had a domestic violence hearing the next day
The man accused of a shooting rampage Sunday at a rural Kentucky church after wounding a state trooper had been expected in court Monday for a domestic violence hearing, a local official said.
Police say Guy House, 47, shot the trooper during a traffic stop near Lexington’s airport, fled in a carjacked vehicle then opened fire at Richmond Road Baptist Church, killing two women and wounding two men before officers fatally shot him.
House went to the church looking for the mother of his children but his domestic violence hearing did not involve her, the Lexington Heald-Leader reported, citing a sister of the woman, Rachael Barnes.
Matt Ball, a deputy clerk for family court in Fayette County, confirmed to The Associated Press that House had been scheduled for the domestic violence hearing on Monday.
Police say Beverly Gumm, 72, and Christina Combs, 34, were killed in the shooting. One of the wounded men was being treated for critical injuries and the other was in stable condition, police said. The trooper was in stable condition, police said.
The shootings remain under investigation, Weathers said. The trooper stopped House after receiving a “license plate reader alert,” police said.
Police tracked the carjacked vehicle to the Baptist church about 16 miles (26 kilometers) from where the trooper was shot, police said. Fayette County Coroner Gary Ginn said the church is home to a small, tight-knit congregation.
Washington
Justice Dept. fires more prosecutors, support staff involved in Trump prosecutions, AP sources say
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department has fired additional lawyers and support staff who worked on special counsel Jack Smith’s prosecutions of President Donald Trump, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The overall number of terminations was not immediately clear but they cut across both the classified documents and election interference prosecutions brought by Smith, and included a handful of prosecutors who were detailed to the probes as well as Justice Department support staff and other non-lawyer personnel who aided them, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel moves that have not been publicly announced.
The firings are part of a broader wave of terminations that have roiled the department for months and that have targeted staff who worked on cases involving Trump and his supporters. In January, the Justice Department said that it had fired more than a dozen prosecutors who worked on prosecutions of Trump, and last month fired at least three prosecutors involved in U.S. Capitol riot criminal cases.
Days ago, Patty Hartman, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s office in Washington, whose prosecutors handled the cases against the Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol, said in a social media post that she had been handed a letter signed by Attorney General Pam Bondi informing her that she had been fired.
Smith’s team in 2023 brought separate indictments accusing Trump of hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida as well as conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the run-up to the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Neither case reached trial. The Supreme Court significantly narrowed the election interference case in a ruling that said former presidents enjoyed broad immunity from prosecution for their official acts, and a Trump-appointed judge dismissed the classified documents case by holding that Smith’s appointment as special counsel was illegal.
Smith ultimately withdrew both cases in November 2024 after Trump’s victory, citing a Justice Department legal opinion that protects sitting presidents from federal prosecution.
Arkansas
Muslim inmate who won U.S. Supreme Court beard case claims retaliatory transfer to prison
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A Muslim inmate who won a U.S. Supreme Court case upholding his right to grow a beard for religious reasons said in a lawsuit that Arkansas officials transferred him to a federal prison in West Virginia in retaliation for several other lawsuits he has filed.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas filed the lawsuit in federal court on behalf of Gregory Holt, also known as Abdul Maalik Muhammad, claiming the transfer violated his constitutional rights.
In 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that Holt could maintain a half-inch beard because Arkansas prison officials could not substantiate claims that the beard posed a security risk.
The lawsuit filed Thursday argues his transfer was an effort to disrupt his advocacy on behalf of himself and other inmates.
“Mr. Muhammad’s history of meritorious litigation showcases the ability of the legal system to provide justice to all, including prisoners,” the lawsuit said. “The Court should not tolerate the (state’s) retaliatory transfer aimed at suppressing Mr. Muhammad’s meritorious litigation and legal work.”
Holt has six active lawsuits against the Arkansas Department of Corrections, according to the complaint. The lawsuit accuses the head of the division of correction of unilaterally pursuing Holt’s transfer to a federal facility after the idea was raised in a mediation session in one of his lawsuits.
Since being moved to the West Virginia facility, the ACLU said, Holt has been denied access to basic hygiene, religious services and contact with his lawyers. The lawsuit said he also has lost access to ongoing casework and legal documents that support his cases.
The lawsuit said that since Holt is still a state inmate, Arkansas has the power to order his return to a state facility.
“This ordeal has made Mr. Muhammad loathe to ever trust the mediation process or participate in a mediation with the ADC ( or any other government actor) again,” the lawsuit said.
In his U.S. Supreme Court case, Holt claimed that he has a right to grow a beard under a federal law aimed at protecting prisoners’ religious rights. He had the support of then-President Barack Obama’s administration, religious groups and atheists alike.
Holt is serving a life sentence for a brutal assault on his girlfriend and was being held at a maximum-security prison 26 miles (43 kilometers) southeast of Little Rock. His case first came to the Supreme Court’s attention when he filed a handwritten plea to the court asking it to block enforcement of Arkansas’ no-beard rule.
Suspect in church shooting had a domestic violence hearing the next day
The man accused of a shooting rampage Sunday at a rural Kentucky church after wounding a state trooper had been expected in court Monday for a domestic violence hearing, a local official said.
Police say Guy House, 47, shot the trooper during a traffic stop near Lexington’s airport, fled in a carjacked vehicle then opened fire at Richmond Road Baptist Church, killing two women and wounding two men before officers fatally shot him.
House went to the church looking for the mother of his children but his domestic violence hearing did not involve her, the Lexington Heald-Leader reported, citing a sister of the woman, Rachael Barnes.
Matt Ball, a deputy clerk for family court in Fayette County, confirmed to The Associated Press that House had been scheduled for the domestic violence hearing on Monday.
Police say Beverly Gumm, 72, and Christina Combs, 34, were killed in the shooting. One of the wounded men was being treated for critical injuries and the other was in stable condition, police said. The trooper was in stable condition, police said.
The shootings remain under investigation, Weathers said. The trooper stopped House after receiving a “license plate reader alert,” police said.
Police tracked the carjacked vehicle to the Baptist church about 16 miles (26 kilometers) from where the trooper was shot, police said. Fayette County Coroner Gary Ginn said the church is home to a small, tight-knit congregation.
Washington
Justice Dept. fires more prosecutors, support staff involved in Trump prosecutions, AP sources say
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department has fired additional lawyers and support staff who worked on special counsel Jack Smith’s prosecutions of President Donald Trump, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The overall number of terminations was not immediately clear but they cut across both the classified documents and election interference prosecutions brought by Smith, and included a handful of prosecutors who were detailed to the probes as well as Justice Department support staff and other non-lawyer personnel who aided them, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel moves that have not been publicly announced.
The firings are part of a broader wave of terminations that have roiled the department for months and that have targeted staff who worked on cases involving Trump and his supporters. In January, the Justice Department said that it had fired more than a dozen prosecutors who worked on prosecutions of Trump, and last month fired at least three prosecutors involved in U.S. Capitol riot criminal cases.
Days ago, Patty Hartman, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s office in Washington, whose prosecutors handled the cases against the Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol, said in a social media post that she had been handed a letter signed by Attorney General Pam Bondi informing her that she had been fired.
Smith’s team in 2023 brought separate indictments accusing Trump of hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida as well as conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the run-up to the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Neither case reached trial. The Supreme Court significantly narrowed the election interference case in a ruling that said former presidents enjoyed broad immunity from prosecution for their official acts, and a Trump-appointed judge dismissed the classified documents case by holding that Smith’s appointment as special counsel was illegal.
Smith ultimately withdrew both cases in November 2024 after Trump’s victory, citing a Justice Department legal opinion that protects sitting presidents from federal prosecution.
Arkansas
Muslim inmate who won U.S. Supreme Court beard case claims retaliatory transfer to prison
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A Muslim inmate who won a U.S. Supreme Court case upholding his right to grow a beard for religious reasons said in a lawsuit that Arkansas officials transferred him to a federal prison in West Virginia in retaliation for several other lawsuits he has filed.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas filed the lawsuit in federal court on behalf of Gregory Holt, also known as Abdul Maalik Muhammad, claiming the transfer violated his constitutional rights.
In 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that Holt could maintain a half-inch beard because Arkansas prison officials could not substantiate claims that the beard posed a security risk.
The lawsuit filed Thursday argues his transfer was an effort to disrupt his advocacy on behalf of himself and other inmates.
“Mr. Muhammad’s history of meritorious litigation showcases the ability of the legal system to provide justice to all, including prisoners,” the lawsuit said. “The Court should not tolerate the (state’s) retaliatory transfer aimed at suppressing Mr. Muhammad’s meritorious litigation and legal work.”
Holt has six active lawsuits against the Arkansas Department of Corrections, according to the complaint. The lawsuit accuses the head of the division of correction of unilaterally pursuing Holt’s transfer to a federal facility after the idea was raised in a mediation session in one of his lawsuits.
Since being moved to the West Virginia facility, the ACLU said, Holt has been denied access to basic hygiene, religious services and contact with his lawyers. The lawsuit said he also has lost access to ongoing casework and legal documents that support his cases.
The lawsuit said that since Holt is still a state inmate, Arkansas has the power to order his return to a state facility.
“This ordeal has made Mr. Muhammad loathe to ever trust the mediation process or participate in a mediation with the ADC ( or any other government actor) again,” the lawsuit said.
In his U.S. Supreme Court case, Holt claimed that he has a right to grow a beard under a federal law aimed at protecting prisoners’ religious rights. He had the support of then-President Barack Obama’s administration, religious groups and atheists alike.
Holt is serving a life sentence for a brutal assault on his girlfriend and was being held at a maximum-security prison 26 miles (43 kilometers) southeast of Little Rock. His case first came to the Supreme Court’s attention when he filed a handwritten plea to the court asking it to block enforcement of Arkansas’ no-beard rule.
