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Maine state police to discuss Lewiston mass shooting with investigative panel

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Maine state police to discuss Lewiston mass shooting with investigative panel
  • A panel investigating the deadliest shooting in Maine’s history will hear testimony from state police commanders who led the law enforcement response.
  • The testimony, scheduled for Thursday, aims to provide insight into the attacks, aftermath and the search for the gunman, Robert Card.
  • Tens of thousands of people were ordered to shelter as police searched for Card, an Army reservist armed with an assault rifle.

A panel investigating the deadliest shooting in Maine’s history is set to hear from commanders with state police, which led the multi-agency law enforcement response after 18 people were gunned down at a bar and bowling alley in Lewiston.

Testimony on Thursday from the state police chief, Col. William Ross, and members of the command staff and commanders of specialty teams could shed new light on the Oct. 25 attacks, the aftermath and the search for the gunman.

Tens of thousands of people were ordered to shelter in their homes as police converged on the sites of the shootings and searched for an Army reservist armed with an assault rifle. The gunman, Robert Card, was quickly identified, and his abandoned vehicle was found in a nearby community, but he wasn’t located until 48 hours after the shooting, dead from suicide.

US ARMY INVESTIGATING MAINE SHOOTER WHO KILLED 18 PEOPLE

Democratic Gov. Janet Mills and Attorney General Aaron Frey assembled the independent commission to determine whether anything could have been done under existing law to prevent the tragedy, and whether changes are needed to prevent future mass shooting incidents.

Rain-soaked memorials for those who died in a mass shooting sit along the roadside by Schemengees Bar & Grille, on Oct. 30, 2023, in Lewiston, Maine. An independent commission investigating this deadliest shooting in Maine history is set to hear from state police on Feb. 15, 2024, the lead law enforcement agency. (AP Photo/Matt York, File)

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Both police and the Army were warned that Card was suffering from deteriorating mental heath in the months before the shooting.

In May, relatives warned police that the 40-year-old Card was sinking into paranoia, and they expressed concern about his access to guns. In July, Card was hospitalized for two weeks after shoving a fellow reservist and locking himself in a motel room during training in upstate New York. In August, the Army barred him from handling weapons on duty and declared him nondeployable.

LEWISTON, MAINE SHOOTING INVESTIGATION COMMISSION SEEKS TO OBTAIN GUNMAN’S MILITARY RECORDS

Then in September, a fellow reservist provided a stark warning, telling an Army superior that Card was going to “snap and do a mass shooting.”

Army officials later downplayed the warning, but it prompted local police to go to Card’s home in Bowdoin to check on him. Card didn’t come to the door and the deputy said he didn’t have legal authority under Maine’s yellow card law to knock in the door.

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The deputy told the commission that an Army official suggested letting the situation “simmer” rather than forcing a confrontation. The deputy also received assurances from Card’s family that they were removing his access to guns.

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Connecticut

Family called Connecticut police about suspect in D.C. Correspondents’ Dinner shooting, Trump says

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Family called Connecticut police about suspect in D.C. Correspondents’ Dinner shooting, Trump says


Family members of the accused gunman who tried to storm the ballroom at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner alerted police in Connecticut with concerns about the man, the president said Sunday.

In an interview with Fox News Channel, President Donald Trump said the man — who was armed with guns and knives — had written about targeting Trump administration officials.

Separately, police in New London confirmed in a statement that a person contacted them at approximately 10:49 p.m., about two hours after the incident. Police said the person expressed concern about events that unfolded earlier that evening at the dinner.

“The reporting individual wanted to share information they believed to be pertinent to the matter,” the statement said.

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New London police immediately contacted federal law enforcement partners. Both local and federal officers then interviewed the person, according to the statement.

“The New London Police Department remains committed to working collaboratively with our law enforcement partners at all levels to ensure public safety,” the statement said.

New London police said their investigation into the matter is no longer active and directed further inquiries to the U.S. Secret Service. The federal agency didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The suspect, identified by law enforcement officials as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen of Torrance, California, was expected to face criminal charges on Monday from the Justice Department, whose acting leader, Todd Blanche, said the suspect traveled by train from California and checked in as a guest days earlier at the Washington hotel where the Saturday night gala dinner was held with its typically tight security.

Authorities said Allen attempted to charge into the cavernous ballroom at the Washington Hilton but was tackled to the ground in a violent scene that resulted in shots being fired, Trump being hurried off the stage and guests ducking for cover beneath their tables.

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Fox reported Sunday that the White House said Allen’s brother contacted New London police and reported Allen had sent family members “an alleged manifesto outlining his intent to target administration officials.”

During a live telephone interview, Fox News journalist Jacqui Heinrich asked the president to comment on information she said was provided by the White House about the suspected shooter and his motive.

“I’m being told that he had a manifesto saying he wanted to target Trump administration officials,” Heinrich said. “He had a lot of anti-Trump and anti-Christian rhetoric on his social media accounts, and left a manifesto in his hotel room that his brother had notified New London police about prior to this incident.”

She added that secret service agents had been talking to Allen’s family members, and that Allen attended a No Kings protest in California. She asked Trump for his reaction to the new details.

“I heard about the London situation and I wish they would have told us about it a little bit,” Trump said. “But it is what it is.”

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A law enforcement official familiar with the investigation told The Associated Press the suspected shooter sent writings to family members minutes before the attack in which he railed against Trump administration policies and referred to himself as a “Friendly Federal Assassin.”

The writings made repeated references to Trump without naming him directly and alluded to grievances over a range of administration actions and recent events, including U.S. strikes on drug smuggling boats in the eastern Pacific, the official said Sunday.

The official was not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Allen’s brother contacted police in New London after receiving the writings, according to the official.

This story has been updated. Material from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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Maine

Maine Governor Vetoes Landmark Data Center Moratorium

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Maine Governor Vetoes Landmark Data Center Moratorium


Earlier this month, Maine was firmly on track to become the first state to institute a moratorium on AI data centers.

The state’s Democrat-controlled legislature officially passed a bill that would ban data centers that carry a load of 20 megawatts or more until November 1, 2027, and create a 13-member council to evaluate the impact of data centers. The bill had moved on to Governor Janet Mills for approval.

But this weekend, Mills vetoed the bill, and Maine joined a growing list of states that have tried and failed to instate a data center moratorium.

Mills’ opposition to the moratorium stems from a single data center project planned in a small town in Franklin County.

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“A moratorium is appropriate given the impacts of massive data centers in other states on the environment and on electricity rates,” Mills wrote in a letter announcing her veto decision. “But the final version of this bill fails to allow for a specific project in the Town of Jay that enjoys strong local support from its host community and region.”

The Town of Jay had been reeling from the job loss following the 2023 closure of a mill, and according to Mills, had been looking forward to the hundreds of temporary construction jobs and the several permanent positions that would be created by the data center that is planned for construction on the site of the old mill. Mills said that officials from the Town of Jay, Franklin County Commissioners and the regional Chamber of Commerce all sent letters to her expressing support for the data center project and asking for an exemption.

“I supported the exemption and would have signed this bill if it had included it,” Mills said.

Although she vetoed the bill, Mills announced that she would sign a separate bill that would block data center projects from participating in some state tax incentive programs and would still establish a council that would “examine and plan for the potential impacts of large-scale data centers in Maine.”

If it had passed, the Maine bill would have been the first significant regulatory outcome in the U.S. of rising public dissent against AI and the unprecedented data center buildout it has led to. Artificial intelligence has become a concept particularly unpopular in the public eye, in large part due to its negative impact on mental health, war, the environment, and the job market.

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On top of that, local activists around the country are also staunchly against data center projects, worried about the soaring utility bills, water shortages, air pollution and increased local temperature often associated with the mega structures. In some instances, the opposition has even turned violent, like in Indianapolis, where a shooting took place at the home of a local politician who is in favor of a controversial local data center project. Just a few days after the Indianapolis incident, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s home in San Francisco was hit with a molotov cocktail.

A big tenet of the anti-AI data center push calls for moratoriums on new project developments to give researchers and policymakers time to catch up to the rapidly evolving technology and understand its true impact on local communities, human health, the economy, and the environment. Moratorium supporters claim that with a clearer understanding of AI’s impact, governments can introduce adequate guardrails to ensure the responsible development of these AI data centers.

Mills’ decision in Maine could soon be judged at the ballot box. The governor is running for the Democratic Senate seat in the upcoming Maine primaries, and is currently trailing her opponent Graham Platner in polls. Platner had recently told the press that he thinks Mills should sign the bill into law.



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Massachusetts

Coast Guard search underway for a crew member overboard on Boston-bound cruise

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Coast Guard search underway for a crew member overboard on Boston-bound cruise


A search is underway after a report that a crew member of the C/S Norwegian Breakaway was seen falling from the Boston-bound cruise ship, U.S. Coast Guard officials said Sunday.

The Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England received a report from the C/S Norwegian Breakaway regarding a crew member who had fallen overboard about 12 miles east of Wellfleet. The C/S returned to the last known place of the person and deployed their rescue boat and life rings.

A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter arrived on scene at around 1 a.m. to assist the search along with a crew from the Coast Guard Station Provincetown, officials confirm.

Officials are currently still conducting an aerial search as of SUnday morning along with the Station Provincetown Crew.

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