Feds continue arrests in Capitol riot
Federal prosecutors have charged more than 300 individuals for their roles in January’s Capitol riots, Department of Justice officials said Friday.
The announcement came during a press briefing on the threat of domestic terrorism by numerous federal law enforcement agencies, during which officials said that the threat of violence committed by Americans will be a top priority under the Biden administration.
“The first briefing that I received in my new job was about the effort to bring the perpetrators of the Jan. 6 attack to justice,” said John Carlin, the acting deputy attorney general who took office on Jan. 21. He added that roughly 280 of the more than 300 people charged for storming the U.S. Capitol last month in a violent riot have been arrested.
A senior FBI official noted that the top two domestic terrorism threats moving forward are racially motivated attacks as well as anti-government attacks.
The official noted that 2019 was the deadliest year for domestic violent extremists since the Oklahoma City bombing.
The officials also addressed the potential for an attack on President Joe Biden’s first address to a joint session of Congress, after far-right groups threatened to blow up the Capitol when he speaks. The date of Biden’s speech has not yet been set.
— New York Daily News
NY's COVID-19 hospitalization rates drop to lowest level in months
NEW YORK — New York’s coronavirus hospitalization rate fell to its lowest level in more than two months Friday as the state’s vaccination pace continued to pick up, according to officials.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said 5,626 New Yorkers were hospitalized statewide with COVID-19 as of Friday afternoon, the lowest level since Dec. 12. In the 24-hour period ending Friday, Cuomo said 179,038 doses of COVID-19 vaccine were administered in New York, an all-time high, with more than 4 million shots administered so far in the state in total.
“Defeating COVID-19 is front and center in New York state, and declining positivity rates and hospitalizations are aiding our efforts to vaccinate more New Yorkers, reopen the economy and get to the light at the end of the tunnel,” Cuomo said.
At the same time, another 95 New Yorkers died from COVID-19 in the latest reporting window, according to Health Department data, underscoring that the pandemic is far from over. The state’s total death toll is approaching 39,000.
The governor, who is facing bipartisan criticism for his administration’s alleged cover-up of coronavirus deaths at nursing homes, said it’s critical that New Yorkers continue to adhere to face mask and social distancing guidelines as the state seeks to vaccinate its way out of the pandemic.
“We’re still in a footrace to keep the infection rate down and drive vaccinations way up,” Cuomo said.
The governor also acknowledged he had received a letter from State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, State Sen. Jamaal Bailey and other Bronx Democrats lamenting that the borough is not receiving an equitable share of vaccine doses.
— New York Daily News
FCC approves broadband stipend for low-income families hit by pandemic
WASHINGTON — The Federal Communications Commission has voted to establish a program that will provide a $50 monthly stipend for broadband internet access to individuals struggling during the pandemic.
The stipend, provided by the new Emergency Broadband Benefit Program, will increase to $75 per month for people living on tribal lands, and includes a one-time $100 discount on a computer or tablet.
Congress created the program last December and included $3.2 billion for it in the fiscal 2021 omnibus spending package. Individuals who qualify for the program include those who lost their jobs or were furloughed because of the pandemic and low-income families, including recipients of Medicaid, food stamps and free or reduced school lunch. Pell Grant recipients also qualify.
— CQ-Roll Call
Police arrest woman who punched 2-year-old child on Manhattan subway
NEW YORK — Police have arrested the woman accused of punching a 2-year-old boy in the head as she argued with the child's mother about social distancing on a Manhattan train, officials said.
Elizabeth Galarza, 56, was taken into custody in Harlem early Friday for the Feb. 20 attack on a northbound C train coming into the 116th Station, officials said.
Galarza was on the subway around 3 p.m. when a 21-year-old mom asked her to give her some space as they rode the train together, police said.
“Please stay six seats away from my little baby,” the mom said, according to police.
Instead of complying, an irate Galarza stomped on the mother’s foot, punched the 2-year-old boy several times in the face, then ran off when the train entered the station.
The boy suffered bruises to his face and ear. Medics took him to Mount Sinai Morningside for treatment.
Galarza faces charges of assault and acting in a manner injurious to a child. Her arraignment was pending Friday.
— New York Daily News
Police confirm abduction of 317 girls from school in Nigeria
LAGOS, Nigeria — Police on Friday confirmed the abduction of 317 girls from their school in north-western Nigeria, the second case of a mass school kidnapping in less than 10 days.
The children were kidnapped by unidentified gunmen from their secondary school in the town of Jangebe, in Zamfara State, early on Friday, the state's police spokesperson Mohammed Shehu said.
Police and the military have launched a joint search and rescue operation and sent "a heavily armed reinforcement team” to Jangebe, according to Shehu.
Aid organization Save the Children said it had received reports of up to 450 kidnapped schoolgirls, saying it was “horrified” about the incident.
Initial estimates had placed the number of abducted girls at 300.
— dpa
