Ben Carson Speaks at Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial
U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson led a remembrance ceremony in honor of the 168 people killed 22 years ago in the Oklahoma City bombing. Hundreds gathered Wednesday at the memorial that was constructed at the former site of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. Carson had toured the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum Tuesday evening. “This observance is about more than our losses,” said Carson. “It’s also about the survivors and revisiting cherished memories of those who worked so hard every day to ensure a just and free society. The Murrah building was leveled on April 19, 1995 when a truck driven by Timothy McVeigh was left in front of the building. McVeigh was convicted and executed for the crime. An accomplice, Terry Nichols was sentenced to life in prison.
Haiti Planning to Rebuild Destroyed National Palace
Officials in Haiti say they will rebuild the National Palace that was destroyed in the devastating earthquake that hit the Caribbean nation in 2010. The magnitude 7 temblor killed 316,000 people and left another 1.5 million homeless when it hit the capital city of Port-au-Prince. Thousands of properties were smashed in and around the city and the seat of the Haitian government was not spared. But President Jovenel Moise on Wednesday created a reconstruction commission that includes Haitian architects and historians. The new National Palace, he said, would “make the connection between the history, culture and future of the Haitian nation.” Construction is expected to be completed by 2020, government officials say.
Man Convicted in NFL Star Will Smith’s Murder Denied New Trial
A judge in Louisiana declined to allow a new trial for the man convicted of shooting and killing former NFL star Will Smith. Without the new trial the convicted killer, Cardell Hayes, could be given as much as 60 years in prison. State District Judge Camille Buras rejected numerous defense arguments for a new trial, including the claim of a newly found witness who contradicted all trial evidence by saying he heard more than two weapons fired the night Smith was killed, the Associated Press reports. The two men argued during a traffic dispute in 2016. Hayes, who shot smith several times, said that he did it in self defense, but evidence presented at trial showed that Smith’s weapon sat unused in his car.
DHS Makes Turn Around on Deportation Status of Immigrant
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has decided to change its mind on the status of a man who has sued over his deportation to Mexico, acknowledging he was enrolled in a program to shield people who came to the country as young children. Juan Manuel Montes, 23, was entitled to be in the United States until Jan. 25, 2018 under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, according to Homeland Security, which broke from its position a day earlier that his status expired in August 2015 and wasn’t renewed. But the agency said Montes admitted that he came into the country illegally on Feb. 19, which caused him to lose his status as this was an admission that he left the country without the required permission, the Associated Press reported. Montes’ attorneys say their client is believed to be the first known DACA recipient to be deported by President Trump. They say he qualified in 2014 and renewed his status for two years in 2016. Despite urges to eliminate DACA, President Trump has kept the program in place
