A judge has ordered a mental evaluation and delayed the trial of an 85-year-old white man who shot Ralph Yarl after the teenage Black honor student came to his Kansas City, Missouri, home by mistake.
Andrew Lester’s lawyer requested the evaluation last month, saying the retired aircraft mechanic's health has deteriorated so much that he now lacks the capacity to understand the proceedings against him or to assist in his own defense. The prosecution didn’t object to the request.
The trial of Lester had been scheduled to begin Oct. 7. Instead, there will be a hearing the following day.
Lester has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree assault and armed criminal action in the April 13, 2023, shooting of Yarl, then 16. Yarl survived the shooting and graduated from high school in the spring. But his family said the shooting took a big emotional toll and has filed a lawsuit against Lester.
The shooting shocked the country and renewed national debates about gun policies and race in the U.S.
Attorney Steve Salmon has long argued that Lester was acting in self-defense, terrified by the stranger who knocked on his door as he settled into bed for the night.
Yarl showed up on Lester’s doorstep after he mixed up the streets where he was supposed to pick up his twin siblings. Yarl testified at an earlier hearing that Lester shot him in the head and uttered, “Don’t come here ever again.” Although the bullet didn’t penetrate Yarl’s brain, the impact knocked him to the ground. Yarl said Lester then shot him in the arm.
In the ensuing months, Lester has had heart issues, a broken hip and hospitalizations, Salmon said. Lester also has lost 50 pounds (23 kilograms), which Salmon blames on the stress he has experienced because of intense scrutiny from the news media and death threats.
FILE - Andrew Lester appears in court to answer charges of first-degree assault and armed criminal action, April 19, 2023, in Liberty, Mo. (KMBC via AP, Pool, File)
Back-to-back hurricanes have jumbled the presidential campaign schedules of Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump.
Trump and Harris have separately gone to Georgia to assess hurricane damage and pledge support. Harris also has visited North Carolina, requiring the candidates to cancel campaign events elsewhere and use up time that is a precious resource in the final weeks before any election. Both Georgia and North Carolina are political battlegrounds.
Meanwhile, a recent poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that a solid majority of Hispanic women have a positive opinion of Harris and a negative view of Trump. Hispanic men are more divided on both candidates.
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President Joe Biden said ahead of a Friday briefing about hurricane damage that estimates are the Hurricane Milton alone caused $50 billion of damage, while adding that his predecessor, Donald Trump, is “just the biggest mouth” for disinformation about the government’s response.
The president added that the disinformation is a “permanent state of being for some extreme people,” but that he believes the country as a whole wants facts and bipartisan cooperation to address natural disasters.
“I think those who have been spreading these lies to try to undermine the opposition are going, gonna pay a price for it,” Biden added.
Donald Trump has been running a decidedly “bro-y” campaign.
But he will try to expand his appeal with women as he participates in a Fox News town hall focusing on issues impacting women
Fox News Channel announced that host Harris Faulkner will moderate the discussion in front of an audience of women.
“Women constitute the largest group of registered and active voters in the United States, so it is paramount that female voters understand where the presidential candidates stand on the issues that matter to them most,” Faulkner said said in a statement.
Trump’s campaign has aggressively courted men — especially younger men of color — with appearances on podcasts and sporting events popular with the demographic.
Polls have repeatedly shown he is seen more favorably by men than by women.
The Trump sit-down will be taped Tuesday and air the next day, Oct. 16th.
Fox says it has extended a standing invitation to Vice President Kamala Harris to participate in a town hall as well.
A trio of Wisconsin conservatives declared Friday that they support Democrat Kamala Harris rather than Donald Trump in the Nov. 5 election.
Charlie Sykes, a former conservative radio talk show host from Milwaukee; former Republican state Senate Majority Leader Dale Schultz; and former Republican state representative and appellate judge David Deininger told reporters that Trump lacks the character and moral fiber to serve as president.
Sykes said the election is a referendum on constitutional values that the country had always taken for granted before Trump’s political ascendance.
“Republicans have decided winning or staying in power is more important than standing up for these values, which used to be fundamental,” Sykes said. “I’m going to be voting for Kamala Harris for president and it’s not a difficult choice for me. It’s absolutely essential to keep Donald Trump out of the White House.”
Schultz said the country needs real leadership.
“I continue to consider myself a good Republican but it’s time to put the good of the country ahead of the party,” Schultz said.
Deininger said Trump has lied to Americans “about just about everything.”
“A second Trump term would be far worse and far more dangerous,” Deininger said. “If he regains power, he won’t have guardrails to restrain him.”
Doug Emhoff, Kamala Harris’ husband, says Donald Trump won’t debate his wife again because he was badly beaten in their first encounter.
“He’s afraid that that’s going to happen again,” Emhoff says in an interview for the MSNBC show “Morning Joe.”
The husband of the Democratic nominee says Trump would rather spread “this fog of misinformation and disinformation and gaslighting” than face Harris directly.
Emhoff says he doesn’t have the time to be angry at Trump’s criticisms of him and his wife, because that would be a “distraction” and the focus of the Democratic ticket is on campaigning to win the Nov. 5 election.
Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is firing back at Donald Trump in Michigan for insulting Detroit while campaigning in the city.
Trump said Thursday that if Vice President Kamala Harris wins the White House, “The whole country will be like — you want to know the truth? It’ll be like Detroit.”
Walz was to use a campaign event in nearby Warren, Michigan, to attack Trump’s record in the battleground state, according to prepared remarks shared by the campaign.
“Maybe if he ever spent any time in the Midwest, he’d know Detroit is experiencing a great American comeback. Crime is down. The city is growing. Factories are opening again,” he was to say. "But all these guys know about manufacturing is how to manufacture bulls—-.”
Walz plans to quote Trump campaigning in the state in 2016 promising that they “won’t lose one” automotive plant if he’s elected. ”I guess, technically, that wasn’t a lie — because he lost 6 of them across the country,” Walz was to say.
Walz also plans to reassure the auto-heavy state that Harris was not trying to ban gas-powered vehicles.
Vice President Kamala Harris will participate in a town hall hosted by Charlamagne tha God on Tuesday, the influential radio host announced on his show Friday.
The appearance comes as Harris’ campaign is looking to shore up support among Black men for her candidacy.
The announcement comes a day after former President Barack Obama delivered a forceful call for Black men to support Harris during a campaign swing in Pennsylvania.
Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz says, “I don’t know if any of us do everything right,” as he tried to draw some distance between the Democratic ticket and President Joe Biden.
Speaking to ABC’s "Good Morning America,” Walz was asked whether he and Vice President Kamala Harris would have done anything different over the last four years.
“Look, I don’t know if any of us do everything right,” he replied. “But I can tell you he’s done everything in the best interests of the American public.”
Harris drew fire from former President Donald Trump when she told “The View” earlier this week that she couldn’t think of a difference with Biden — before saying she would put a Republican in her Cabinet if elected.
Walz also used the interview to try to walk back his call at a fundraiser this week to eliminate the electoral college. Harris’ campaign quickly stated it doesn't support such a move and Walz told ABC, “My position is the campaign’s position.”
Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz greets supporters after speaking at a campaign event, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024, in Warren, Mich. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
Republican vice president nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, speaks during a campaign event in Greensboro, N.C., Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)
Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks to the crowd during an early voting rally at Palo Verde High School in Tucson, Ariz., Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (Kelly Presnell/Arizona Daily Star via AP)
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris poses for a photo with a supporter after speaking at a campaign event Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, on the Gila River Indian Community reservation in Chandler, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a meeting of the Detroit Economic Club, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
