Prosecutor says suspect in Liverpool soccer parade ramming used vehicle as a weapon

LONDON (AP) — The ramming suspect in Liverpool deliberately used his vehicle as a weapon when he plowed his car into a crowd of soccer fans celebrating their team’s Premier League championship, a prosecutor said Friday.

Paul Doyle, wearing a black suit, white shirt and gray tie, looked emotional and hung his head during his initial court appearance in Liverpool Magistrates’ Court.

Doyle, 53, is charged with dangerous driving and six serious assault charges alleging that he caused or tried to cause grievous bodily harm to the two children and four adults who suffered the worst wounds among the 79 people injured, prosecutor Philip Astbury said.

“He used his vehicle deliberately as a weapon to injure those individuals,” Astbury said.

Doyle, who spoke only to confirm his name, address and birth date, did not enter a plea.

The charges carry a maximum sentence of life in prison if he is convicted.

Doyle’s case was transferred to Liverpool Crown Court, where a different judge scheduled an Aug. 14 hearing for him to enter pleas to the charges. His trial date was tentatively scheduled for Nov. 24 and was expected to last three to four weeks.

Doyle’s defense lawyer did not ask for bail and he was returned to jail.

District Judge Paul Healey ordered that the victims’ names not be published.

The city had been celebrating Liverpool’s record-tying 20th title when the Doyle allegedly turned down a street full of fans and joy quickly turned to tragedy. Police said they believed Doyle got past a road block by following an ambulance that was trying to reach a possible heart attack victim.

Videos showed the car hit and toss a person wrapped in a red Liverpool flag into the air and then swerve into a sea of people packed on the side of the road.

At least four people, including a child, had to be freed from beneath the vehicle when it came to a halt.

The victims ranged in age from 9 to 78, police said. Seven people remained hospitalized Thursday.

The suspect was believed to have acted alone and terrorism was not suspected, Merseyside Police said. They have not disclosed an alleged motive for the act.

This court artist sketch by Elizabeth Cook shows Paul Doyle, 53, appearing at Liverpool Magistrates' Court, where he was remanded in custody charged with seven offenses following the incident in Liverpool city center on Monday, May 26, 2025. (Elizabeth Cook/PA via AP)

Police and emergency personnel deal with an incident near the Liver Building during the Premier League winners parade, in Liverpool, England, Monday May 26, 2025. (Owen Humphreys/PA via AP)

Liverpool players celebrate with the trophy on an open-top bus during the Liverpool FC Premier League victory parade in Liverpool, England, Monday, May 26, 2025.(AP Photo/Jon Super)

A fan scarf lies near the site where a 53-year-old British man plowed a minivan into a crowd of Liverpool soccer fans who were celebrating the city's Premier League championship Monday, injuring more than 45 people in Liverpool, England, Tuesday, May 27, 2025.(AP Photo/Jon Super)

Scooters lie on the site where a 53-year-old British man plowed a minivan into a crowd of Liverpool soccer fans who were celebrating the city's Premier League championship Monday, injuring more than 45 people in Liverpool, England, Tuesday, May 27, 2025.(AP Photo/Jon Super)

Fans leave as Police and emergency personnel deal with an incident after a car collided with pedestrians near the Liver Building during the Premier League winners parade in Liverpool, England, Monday, May 26, 2025.(AP Photo/Jon Super)

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea have seized another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration says has ties to Venezuela, part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of the South American country’s oil.

The U.S. Coast Guard boarded the tanker, named Veronica, early Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote on social media. The ship had previously passed through Venezuelan waters and was operating in defiance of President Donald Trump’s "established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean,” she said.

U.S. Southern Command said Marines and sailors launched from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford to take part in the operation alongside a Coast Guard tactical team, which Noem said conducted the boarding as in previous raids. The military said the ship was seized “without incident.”

Several U.S. government social media accounts posted brief videos that appeared to show various parts of the ship’s capture. Black-and-white footage showed at least four helicopters approaching the ship before hovering over the deck while armed troops dropped down by rope. At least nine people could be seen on the deck of the ship.

The Veronica is the sixth sanctioned tanker seized by U.S. forces as part of the effort by Trump’s administration to control the production, refining and global distribution of Venezuela’s oil products and the fourth since the U.S. ouster of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid almost two weeks ago.

The Veronica last transmitted its location on Jan. 3 as being at anchor off the coast of Aruba, just north of Venezuela’s main oil terminal. According to the data it transmitted at the time, the ship was partially filled with crude.

Days later, the Veronica became one of at least 16 tankers that left the Venezuelan coast in contravention of the quarantine that U.S. forces have set up to block sanctioned ships, according to Samir Madani, the co-founder of TankerTrackers.com. He said his organization used satellite imagery and surface-level photos to document the ship movements.

The ship is currently listed as flying the flag of Guyana and is considered part of the shadow fleet that moves cargoes of oil in violation of U.S. sanctions.

According to its registration data, the ship also has been known as the Gallileo, owned and managed by a company in Russia. In addition, a tanker with the same registration number previously sailed under the name Pegas and was sanctioned by the Treasury Department for being associated with a Russian company moving cargoes of illicit oil.

As with prior posts about such raids, Noem and the military framed the seizure as part of an effort to enforce the law. Noem argued that the multiple captures show that “there is no outrunning or escaping American justice.”

Speaking to reporters at the White House later Thursday, Noem declined to say how many sanctioned oil tankers the U.S. is tracking or whether the government is keeping tabs on freighters beyond the Caribbean Sea.

“I can’t speak to the specifics of the operation, although we are watching the entire shadow fleet and how they’re moving,” she told reporters.

But other officials in Trump's Republican administration have made clear they see the actions as a way to generate cash as they seek to rebuild Venezuela’s battered oil industry and restore its economy.

Trump met with executives from oil companies last week to discuss his goal of investing $100 billion in Venezuela to repair and upgrade its oil production and distribution. His administration has said it expects to sell at least 30 million to 50 million barrels of sanctioned Venezuelan oil.

Associated Press writer Ben Finley contributed to this report.

This story has been corrected to show the Veronica is the fourth, not the third, tanker seized by U.S. forces since Maduro’s capture and the ship also has been known as the Gallileo, not the Galileo.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a press conference, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks at a news conference at Harry Reid International Airport, Nov. 22, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill, File)