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Colorado Shooting Suspect’s 2021 Case Dropped For Lack Of Witnesses

Colorado Shooting Suspect's 2021 Case Dropped For Lack Of Witnesses

(CTN NEWS) – A 2021 bomb threat case against the Colorado Springs gay nightclub shooter was dropped after family members refused to cooperate, according to court documents unsealed Thursday.

According to the disclosed records, the accusations were dropped despite investigators discovering a “tub” filled with bomb-making materials.

And later, hearing from other family members, suspect Anderson Lee Aldrich would undoubtedly harm or kill a pair of grandparents if released.

The relatives portrayed an image of a lonely, angry individual who was given $30,000 that was primarily used to buy 3D printers to create guns in a letter last November to state District Court Judge Robin Chittum.

Colorado Shooting Suspect's 2021 Case Dropped For Lack Of Witnesses

Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, the suspect in the mass shooting that killed five people and wounded 17 at an LGBTQ nightclub, appears seated before a judge during his charging hearing in Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S. December 6, 2022.

El Paso County District Attorney Michael Allen said Aldrich attempted to retrieve guns taken after the threat, but the officials did not give them back.

Allen testified hours after Chittum unsealed the case, which contained accusations that Aldrich had left five people dead more than a year before the attack on the nightclub.

Vowed to kill the grandparents and turn into the “next mass murderer.”

According to Allen, the prosecution’s efforts to serve the suspect’s mother and grandmother with a subpoena were unsuccessful because they managed to elude them.

As a result, the accusations against them were dropped when the defence claimed that the laws governing expedited trials were in jeopardy.

Colorado Shooting Suspect's 2021 Case Dropped For Lack Of Witnesses

People look at flowers and mementos left at a memorial after a mass shooting at LGBTQ nightclub Club Q, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S. November 26, 2022. REUTERS/Isaiah J

Two months after the threat, the suspect’s mother and grandmother testified in court, calling Aldrich a “lovely” and “kind” young man who didn’t deserve to be imprisoned, according to the prosecution.

Despite dealing with numerous witnesses eluding subpoenas, the former district attorney who Allen succeeded told The Associated Press that the failure to serve the Aldrich family was unusual.

Dan May of the suspect’s family stated, “I don’t know if they were hiding, but if that was the case, shame on them.” “This is a severe case of what appears to have been manipulation, and the outcome is terrible.”

Public defender Joseph Archambault, Aldrich’s legal representative, had opposed the document release because Aldrich’s right to a fair trial was crucial.

According to Archambault, “it will ensure that there is no presumption of innocence.”

In a letter to the court in November 2021, the in-laws of the grandmother said that Alrich posed a continued threat and should be kept behind bars.

According to the letter, the grandmother stepped in to prevent police from holding Aldrich for 72 hours following a previous reaction to the residence.

“We think if Anderson were released, my brother and his wife would suffer physical harm or worse. Anderson needs rehabilitation and counselling in addition to being imprisoned,” according to Robert Pullen and Jeanie Streltzoff’s letter.

Colorado Shooting Suspect's 2021 Case Dropped For Lack Of Witnesses

Flowers, candles, and mementos are left at a memorial after a mass shooting at LGBTQ nightclub Club Q in Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S. November 26, 2022. REUTERS/Isaiah J.

They said Aldrich had smashed windows and punched holes in the grandparents’ Colorado house walls, forcing them to “sleep in their bedroom with the door closed” and a bat by the bed.

The letter said that while Aldrich was a teenager in San Antonio, he attacked the grandfather and brought him to the hospital with unspecified wounds.

The letter claimed that the suspect had been homeschooled as a child because the grandfather later told lies to the police out of fear of Aldrich.

After news organizations, including the AP, requested that the documents be made public and two days after the AP published portions of the documents that had been confirmed with a law enforcement official, the judge issued her order.

In June 2021, Aldrich, 22, was detained on suspicion of making a threat that prompted the evacuation of about 10 homes.

The records detail how Aldrich warned the terrified grandparents that weapons and bomb-making supplies were in the basement.

And swore not to let them get in the way of his plans to become “the next mass murderer” and “go out in a blaze.”

Investigators later searched the mother’s and grandparents’ homes, where they found and seized handguns.

Hundreds of rounds of ammunition, body armour, magazines, a gas mask, and a tub filled with chemicals that make an explosive when combined.

Aldrich, who uses they/them pronouns and is nonbinary, holed up in their mother’s home in a standoff with SWAT teams and warned about having armour-piercing rounds and a determination to “go to the end.”

Aldrich’s “escalating homicidal behaviour” was mentioned in past calls to law enforcement, according to a sheriff’s report, but no other details were provided.

The sheriff’s office did not immediately respond to a request for clarification.

Colorado Shooting Suspect's 2021 Case Dropped For Lack Of Witnesses

This image provided by the Colorado Springs Police Department shows Anderson Lee Aldrich. A year and a half before the Colorado Springs gay nightclub shooting that left five dead, Aldrich, the alleged shooter, was accused of threatening to kill his grandparents if they stood in the way of his plans to become “the next mass killer.”

The culprit was apprehended when the grandparents dialled 911, and Aldrich was jailed on suspicion of kidnapping and felony menacing.

Aldrich’s bond was initially set at $1 million, but after hearing from his mother and grandparents, the amount was lowered to $100,000 with several requirements, including rehabilitation.

According to Allen, the lawsuit was withdrawn after unsuccessful attempts to serve the family members with subpoenas to testify against Aldrich.

According to Allen, the subpoena procedure became more challenging once both sets of grandparents relocated.

Documents reveal that although grandmother Pamela Pullen claimed through a lawyer that a subpoena was in her mailbox, it was never delivered to her personally or properly served.

After all, they weren’t going to testify against Andy, according to Xavier Kraus, a former friend and Aldrich’s neighbour, who spoke to the Associated Press.

Kraus later learned that the family had been evading subpoenas and that he had texts from Aldrich’s mother claiming that she and the suspect were “hiding from somebody.”

Aldrich’s “words were, ‘They received nothing. There’s no evidence,'” Kraus said.

A protective order against the suspect that was in force until July 5 banned Aldrich from owning guns, the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office stated.

Kraus claimed that Aldrich started bragging about having access to weapons again soon after the charges were dropped, adding that Aldrich had shown him two assault-style rifles, body armour, and incendiary bullets.

Aldrich slept next to a gun while it was covered up because he “was thrilled about it,” according to Kraus.

Documents in the case state that after the suspect’s arrest in 2021, relatives of Aldrich’s grandmother said that she had just given him $30,000, “most of which went to his purchase of two 3D printers – on which he was producing firearms.”

Aldrich’s comments in the bomb case aroused concerns about whether law enforcement may have impounded the suspect’s weapons under Colorado’s “red flag” law.

In a statement issued on Thursday, El Paso County Sheriff Bill Elder claimed that since Aldrich’s guns had already been taken as part of his arrest and he was unable to purchase new ones, there was no need to request a red flag order.

The sheriff also denied the notion that he could have been able to request a red flag order following the conclusion of the investigation.

The bombing case was too old to say there was danger shortly, Elder said, and the material was sealed a month after the dismissal and couldn’t be utilized.

“There was no legal mechanism” to take guns following the case dismissal, the sheriff added.

Under Colorado law, documents are automatically sealed when a case is dropped, and defendants are not prosecuted, as in Aldrich’s 2021 case.

Officials cannot acknowledge the existence of sealed records, so the process of unsealing the records is initially conducted behind closed doors with an unnamed judge and no docket.

Chittum stated the “profound” public interest in the case outweighed Aldrich’s privacy rights. The judge continued, saying that close examination of court proceedings is “fundamental to our system of government.”

Aldrich did not appear to react when their mother’s attorney requested that the case be kept confidential during the hearing on Thursday. Instead, he sat at the defence table and occasionally looked straight ahead or down.

Aldrich was formally charged on Tuesday with 305 criminal counts, including murder and hate crimes, in connection with the shooting at Club Q on November 19 in the largely conservative Colorado Springs.

As a drag queen celebrated her birthday, Aldrich allegedly entered just before midnight with an AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle and started shooting.

Witnesses claimed patrons interrupted the killing by pulling the suspect to the ground and beating Aldrich into submission.

17 people were shot but survived, according to the authorities.

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Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding, But Still Accounting 48% Search Revenue

Google

Google is so closely associated with its key product that its name is a verb that signifies “search.” However, Google’s dominance in that sector is dwindling.

According to eMarketer, Google will lose control of the US search industry for the first time in decades next year.

Google will remain the dominant search player, accounting for 48% of American search advertising revenue. And, remarkably, Google is still increasing its sales in the field, despite being the dominating player in search since the early days of the George W. Bush administration. However, Amazon is growing at a quicker rate.

google

Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding

Amazon will hold over a quarter of US search ad dollars next year, rising to 27% by 2026, while Google will fall even more, according to eMarketer.

The Wall Street Journal was first to report on the forecast.

Lest you think you’ll have to switch to Bing or Yahoo, this isn’t the end of Google or anything really near.

Google is the fourth-most valued public firm in the world. Its market worth is $2.1 trillion, trailing just Apple, Microsoft, and the AI chip darling Nvidia. It also maintains its dominance in other industries, such as display advertisements, where it dominates alongside Facebook’s parent firm Meta, and video ads on YouTube.

To put those “other” firms in context, each is worth more than Delta Air Lines’ total market value. So, yeah, Google is not going anywhere.

Nonetheless, Google faces numerous dangers to its operations, particularly from antitrust regulators.

On Monday, a federal judge in San Francisco ruled that Google must open up its Google Play Store to competitors, dealing a significant blow to the firm in its long-running battle with Fortnite creator Epic Games. Google announced that it would appeal the verdict.

In August, a federal judge ruled that Google has an illegal monopoly on search. That verdict could lead to the dissolution of the company’s search operation. Another antitrust lawsuit filed last month accuses Google of abusing its dominance in the online advertising business.

Meanwhile, European regulators have compelled Google to follow tough new standards, which have resulted in multiple $1 billion-plus fines.

google

Pixa Bay

Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding

On top of that, the marketplace is becoming more difficult on its own.

TikTok, the fastest-growing social network, is expanding into the search market. And Amazon has accomplished something few other digital titans have done to date: it has established a habit.

When you want to buy anything, you usually go to Amazon, not Google. Amazon then buys adverts to push companies’ products to the top of your search results, increasing sales and earning Amazon a greater portion of the revenue. According to eMarketer, it is expected to generate $27.8 billion in search revenue in the United States next year, trailing only Google’s $62.9 billion total.

And then there’s AI, the technology that (supposedly) will change everything.

Why search in stilted language for “kendall jenner why bad bunny breakup” or “police moving violation driver rights no stop sign” when you can just ask OpenAI’s ChatGPT, “What’s going on with Kendall Jenner and Bad Bunny?” in “I need help fighting a moving violation involving a stop sign that wasn’t visible.” Google is working on exactly this technology with its Gemini product, but its success is far from guaranteed, especially with Apple collaborating with OpenAI and other businesses rapidly joining the market.

A Google spokeswoman referred to a blog post from last week in which the company unveiled ads in its AI overviews (the AI-generated text that appears at the top of search results). It’s Google’s way of expressing its ability to profit on a changing marketplace while retaining its business, even as its consumers steadily transition to ask-and-answer AI and away from search.

google

Google has long used a single catchphrase to defend itself against opponents who claim it is a monopoly abusing its power: competition is only a click away. Until recently, that seemed comically obtuse. Really? We are going to switch to Bing? Or Duck Duck Go? Give me a break.

But today, it feels more like reality.

Google is in no danger of disappearing. However, every highly dominating company faces some type of reckoning over time. GE, a Dow mainstay for more than a century, was broken up last year and is now a shell of its previous dominance. Sears declared bankruptcy in 2022 and is virtually out of business. US Steel, long the foundation of American manufacturing, is attempting to sell itself to a Japanese corporation.

Could we remember Google in the same way that we remember Yahoo or Ask Jeeves in decades? These next few years could be significant.

SOURCE | CNN

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2024 | Supreme Court Won’t Hear Appeal From Elon Musk’s X Platform Over Warrant In Trump Case

trump

Washington — Trump Media,  The Supreme Court announced Monday that it will not hear an appeal from social media platform X about a search warrant acquired by prosecutors in the election meddling case against former President Donald Trump.

The justices did not explain their rationale, and there were no recorded dissents.

The firm, which was known as Twitter before being purchased by billionaire Elon Musk, claims a nondisclosure order that prevented it from informing Trump about the warrant obtained by special counsel Jack Smith’s team violated its First Amendment rights.

The business also claims Trump should have had an opportunity to exercise executive privilege. If not reined in, the government may employ similar tactics to intercept additional privileged communications, their lawyers contended.

trump

Supreme Court Won’t Hear Appeal From Elon Musk’s X Platform Over Warrant In Trump Case

Two neutral electronic privacy groups also joined in, urging the high court to hear the case on First Amendment grounds.

Prosecutors, however, claim that the corporation never shown that Trump utilized the account for official purposes, therefore executive privilege is not a problem. A lower court also determined that informing Trump could have compromised the current probe.

trump

Trump utilized his Twitter account in the weeks preceding up to his supporters’ attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, to spread false assertions about the election, which prosecutors claim were intended to create doubt in the democratic process.

The indictment describes how Trump used his Twitter account to encourage his followers to travel to Washington on Jan. 6, pressuring Vice President Mike Pence to reject the certification, and falsely claiming that the Capitol crowd, which battered police officers and destroyed glass, was peaceful.

musk trump

Supreme Court Won’t Hear Appeal From Elon Musk’s X Platform Over Warrant In Trump Case

That case is now moving forward following the Supreme Court’s verdict in July, which granted Trump full immunity from criminal prosecution as a former president.

The warrant arrived at Twitter amid quick changes implemented by Musk, who bought the company in 2022 and has since cut off most of its workforce, including those dedicated to combating disinformation and hate speech.

He also welcomed back a vast list of previously banned users, including Trump, and endorsed him for the 2024 presidential election.

SOURCE | AP

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The Supreme Court Turns Down Biden’s Government Appeal in a Texas Emergency Abortion Matter.

Supreme Court

(VOR News) – A ruling that prohibits emergency abortions that contravene the Supreme Court law in the state of Texas, which has one of the most stringent abortion restrictions in the country, has been upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States. The United States Supreme Court upheld this decision.

The justices did not provide any specifics regarding the underlying reasons for their decision to uphold an order from a lower court that declared hospitals cannot be legally obligated to administer abortions if doing so would violate the law in the state of Texas.

Institutions are not required to perform abortions, as stipulated in the decree. The common populace did not investigate any opposing viewpoints. The decision was made just weeks before a presidential election that brought abortion to the forefront of the political agenda.

This decision follows the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that ended abortion nationwide.

In response to a request from the administration of Vice President Joe Biden to overturn the lower court’s decision, the justices expressed their disapproval.

The government contends that hospitals are obligated to perform abortions in compliance with federal legislation when the health or life of an expectant patient is in an exceedingly precarious condition.

This is the case in regions where the procedure is prohibited. The difficulty hospitals in Texas and other states are experiencing in determining whether or not routine care could be in violation of stringent state laws that prohibit abortion has resulted in an increase in the number of complaints concerning pregnant women who are experiencing medical distress being turned away from emergency rooms.

The administration cited the Supreme Court’s ruling in a case that bore a striking resemblance to the one that was presented to it in Idaho at the beginning of the year. The justices took a limited decision in that case to allow the continuation of emergency abortions without interruption while a lawsuit was still being heard.

In contrast, Texas has been a vocal proponent of the injunction’s continued enforcement. Texas has argued that its circumstances are distinct from those of Idaho, as the state does have an exemption for situations that pose a significant hazard to the health of an expectant patient.

According to the state, the discrepancy is the result of this exemption. The state of Idaho had a provision that safeguarded a woman’s life when the issue was first broached; however, it did not include protection for her health.

Certified medical practitioners are not obligated to wait until a woman’s life is in imminent peril before they are legally permitted to perform an abortion, as determined by the state supreme court.

The state of Texas highlighted this to the Supreme Court.

Nevertheless, medical professionals have criticized the Texas statute as being perilously ambiguous, and a medical board has declined to provide a list of all the disorders that are eligible for an exception. Furthermore, the statute has been criticized for its hazardous ambiguity.

For an extended period, termination of pregnancies has been a standard procedure in medical treatment for individuals who have been experiencing significant issues. It is implemented in this manner to prevent catastrophic outcomes, such as sepsis, organ failure, and other severe scenarios.

Nevertheless, medical professionals and hospitals in Texas and other states with strict abortion laws have noted that it is uncertain whether or not these terminations could be in violation of abortion prohibitions that include the possibility of a prison sentence. This is the case in regions where abortion prohibitions are exceedingly restrictive.

Following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which resulted in restrictions on the rights of women to have abortions in several Republican-ruled states, the Texas case was revisited in 2022.

As per the orders that were disclosed by the administration of Vice President Joe Biden, hospitals are still required to provide abortions in cases that are classified as dire emergency.

As stipulated in a piece of health care legislation, the majority of hospitals are obligated to provide medical assistance to patients who are experiencing medical distress. This is in accordance with the law.

The state of Texas maintained that hospitals should not be obligated to provide abortions throughout the litigation, as doing so would violate the state’s constitutional prohibition on abortions. In its January judgment, the 5th United States Circuit Court of Appeals concurred with the state and acknowledged that the administration had exceeded its authority.

SOURCE: AP

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