Law enforcement is investigating death threats to the judges who kicked Donald Trump off the ballot in Colorado.
The court narrowly ruled that Trump is ineligible to be president because he caused an "insurrection" on January 6th.
While partisan Democrats have celebrated the ruling as a victory for "democracy," many have criticized it as undemocratic and divisive.
Three of the judges on the all-Democrat court dissented, calling the ruling a "procedural Frankenstein" that ignored due process.
The court's unprecedented ruling has encouraged partisan operatives to target the ballot in states like Michigan, a pivotal battleground.
Trump's defenders note that he has not been convicted of insurrection or even charged with that crime by Jack Smith, the federal prosecutor seeking to convict Trump over January 6th.
But Democrats have argued, more and more earnestly, that extreme measures may be necessary to prevent Trump from being able to win a democratic election.
Trump has furiously blasted efforts to prosecute him and remove him from the ballot as an attempt to interfere with the will of the people. Anger toward the judges and prosecutors involved is widespread.
"This ends when we kill these f--kers," read one threat to the Colorado judges.
Another user wrote, "What do you call 7 justices from the Colorado Supreme Court at the bottom of the ocean?" to which another replied, "A good start."
Law enforcement went to the home of one of the judges on Thursday but found that an alleged threat to the residence was bogus.
Threats against public officials have become more common in America's increasingly polarized and violent political climate.
A man was arrested last year for plotting to assassinate conservative Supreme Court justice Brett Kavanaugh, and just this week a man pled guilty to trying to kill Chief Justice John Roberts, another conservative.
It is widely expected that the Supreme Court will overturn Colorado's ruling if the opportunity arises. That would likely engender harassment and potential violence toward the justices from the far left.
The Supreme Court is also going to come under pressure as the justices wade into Trump's criminal trials.
The court rejected a request from Smith on Friday that would have sped up Trump's January 6th prosecution.
A 42-year-old news anchor whose sudden death shocked her Pennsylvania community died from suicide, according to a coroner's investigation.
Emily Matson, a news anchor for Erie News Now, leapt to her death in front of a train after midnight Monday.
Matson had worked for Erie News Now for nearly two decades, starting out as a morning news producer before moving to the crime beat. She married a local policeman, Ryan Onderko.
At the time of her death, she was co-anchor for the 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. weekday newscasts at Erie News Now. She also produced newscasts in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam.
When Matson showed up for work on Friday, December 8, her colleagues had no idea that would be their last time seeing her.
"After the show last Friday, I thought I’d see her again. I said, 'Have a nice weekend.' Like the end of many of our shows, we truly didn’t have enough time to say goodbye. I will miss Emily," her co-anchor John Stehlin said.
Matson was hit by a train in Fairview Township, where she lived, around 12:45 a.m. Monday, the Erie County Coroner's Office said. The cause of death was ruled a suicide.
The Erie County native was remembered by colleagues as talented and full of life.
"She was very, very upbeat," Paul Wagner, a retired reporter at Erie News Now said. "She was a very positive person. She was always encouraging the new people. She always had a joke for everyone."
Her mother Patricia shared a touching tribute on Facebook, which showed the two of them making pasta together.
"Teaching emily how to make sauce and lasagna last friday. she was so happy and proud," Patricia Matson wrote. "She wanted her picture taken to show her brother travis that she made lasagna just for him!"
In her professional bio, Matson called being a news anchor in her hometown her personal dream.
"I must be dreaming! An anchor gig in my hometown! I am so happy to be in Erie, telling the stories which impact my neighbors every day," she wrote.
Matson is survived by her husband Ryan, her parents, her children Kyle and Emily, two siblings, and her in-laws, nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her daughter Kayla, her cousin Tricia McAndrew, and her maternal and paternal grandparents.
Matson will receive a Catholic funeral mass on Saturday in Erie.
Television actor Andre Braugher, known for his roles in the police shows Homicide: Life On The Street and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, has died. He was 61.
The beloved actor passed away after a battle with lung cancer.
Braugher initially won fame as detective Frank Pembleton in the 1990s police drama Homicide: Life On The Street, winning an Emmy for the role.
The show was based on a book by David Simon, creator of The Wire.
"Andre Braugher. God. I've worked with a lot of wonderful actors. I'll never work with one better," Simon wrote on X. "Stunned and thinking of Ami and his sons and so many memories of this good man that are now a blessing. But too damn soon."
Later in his career, Braugher embraced comedy on the police sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2013-2021), where he won viewers' hearts as Police Captain Raymond Holt.
“I just felt as though it was an opportunity to do something strikingly different from the rest of my career,” Braugher told the AP in 2019.
“I like it because it just simply opens up my mind and forces me to think in a different way. So I think I’ve become much more sort of supple as an actor, and more open to the incredible number of possibilities of how to play a scene.”
Braugher's castmates from Brooklyn Nine-Nine paid tribute to the late actor.
"Will miss your dulcet tones. Forever lucky to have gone on such a journey with you. Ringside seat. You were so funny to me and the epitome of still waters run deep," Chelsea Peretti, who played Gina Linetti on the show, wrote on Instagram.
Terry Crews, who played Terry Jeffords, wrote, "Can’t believe you’re gone so soon....I’m honored to have known you, laughed with you, worked with you and shared 8 glorious years watching your irreplaceable talent."
Marc Evan Jackson, who played Braugher's onscreen partner Kevin, wrote, "O Captain, My Captain."
Born in Chicago, Braugher studied acting at Stanford University and Juilliard.
His first major role was as a Union soldier in the movie Glory, which tells the story of a black regiment in the Civil War. He won a second Emmy for his performance in the miniseries Thief.
He is survived by his wife, Homicide co-star Ami Brabson, and three sons.
The tiny and extremely rich European nation of Liechtenstein is mourning the loss of a member of its royal family, Prince Constantin.
The cause of death was not shared for the 51-year-old, who passed away unexpectedly.
He was the youngest son of the reigning Prince of Liechtenstein, Hans-Adam II, and seventh in line to the throne.
The prince leaves behind his wife, Princess Marie, and their three children, Prince Moritz, 20, Princess Georgina, 18, and Prince Benedikt, 15.
After studying law in Salzburg, Prince Constantin took on management roles at Liechtenstein Group, the largest royal family-owned private banking and asset management group in the world.
He also ran the Prince of Liechtenstein Foundation, which controls nearly all of the royal family's wealth, estimated at roughly $6 billion.
The family's property includes "one of the largest private art collections in the world, the LGT Group, a museum, the Vaduz Court Winery and various real estate," local newspaper Vaterland reported.
A minute's silence was observed in the state parliament in tribute to the departed prince.
Bishop Benno Elbs, the Apostolic Administrator of the capital Vaduz, sent his condolences to the royal family and urged the people of Liechtenstein to pray for the prince.
"This afternoon, at 15 p.m., the bells rang in all the parish churches of the archdiocese," Elbs said.
"I invite all the faithful of the Principality to join in praying for Prince Constantine and thus to express their attachment to the Princely House. I wish Prince Hans-Adam II, Princess Marie, the children and all those who mourn the deceased much strength and comfort in the hope of the resurrection."
"They may be supported by the many people who pray for the deceased throughout the Principality. May God grant Prince Constantine eternal rest."
Liechtenstein was formed in 1719 as a principality of the Holy Roman Empire, eventually gaining independence in the 19th century after the wars of Napoleon.
The Princely House of Liechtenstein is one of the oldest royal families in Europe. Dating to the 12th century, the family takes its name from a castle near Vienna, Austria.
Liechtenstein is one of the wealthiest countries on the planet, per capita.
The German-speaking, landlocked constitutional monarchy is situated between Austria and Switzerland and is one of the smallest countries in the world, with an area of just 62 square miles and a population of about 40,000.
The Justice Department announced first-of-its-kind war crimes charges against four Russians accused of torturing an American.
The charges were announced at a press briefing Wednesday where attorney general Merrick Garland shared some details.
The victim was living in a village in southern Ukraine when the Russian military took him into captivity for ten days and brutalized him.
The accused are two Russian officers, Suren Seiranovich Mkrtchyan and Dmitry Budnik, and two enlisted men known only as Valerii and Nazar.
This marks the first time ever that the DOJ has filed federal charges for war crimes.
"We allege that as they interrogated him, they tortured him. They beat him, again, with a gun. They punched him in his chest and stomach. They threatened to shoot him. They stripped off his clothes and took pictures. One of their conspirators threatened to sexually assault him," Garland said.
Attorney general Garland touted the charges as an "important step toward accountability for the Russian regime's illegal war in Ukraine."
"We will not forget the atrocities in Ukraine, and we will never stop working to bring those responsible to justice," he continued.
The Hague issued a largely symbolic arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin, whom Biden has labeled a war criminal, earlier this year.
Just like Putin, it is not clear how these four Russian soldiers will be brought to the United States to face justice.
The charges could be seen as a face-saving maneuver by the Biden administration as it faces the possibility of having to negotiate with Russia to end the war in Ukraine.
After nearly two years of fighting, a sense of fatalism has begun to creep in as Ukraine continues to struggle to repel the Russian invasion.
Republicans in Congress rejected Biden's pleas for more aid to Ukraine this week, a sign of how skepticism of U.S. involvement in the war is rising in Washington and among the general public.
Biden warned, "This cannot wait," speaking with a sense of urgency that he has not shown towards the crisis at America's southern border.
Biden and Department of Homeland Security chief Alejandro Mayorkas have been under fire from Republicans for failing to secure the border.
In an ironic statement, Mayorkas said, "There is no higher responsibility of government than to safeguard its people" during Wednesday's photo-op with Garland.
A mother and son who helped steal Nancy Pelosi's (D-Ca.) laptop on January 6th have been sentenced to home incarceration.
Maryann Mooney-Rondon, of upstate New York, and her son Rafael Rondon were reprimanded by U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb for their "juvenile" actions.
They both spent about half an hour inside the Capitol. Neither was accused of any violence.
At one point, they entered a conference room where they helped an unidentified man steal Pelosi's laptop. They also stole a pair of respiratory devices meant for lawmakers and then left the Capitol.
Mooney-Rondon was convicted of obstruction of an official proceeding and aiding and abetting theft of government property following a bench trial in March. Her son pled guilty to obstruction of an official proceeding last December.
The judge sentenced Maryann Mooney-Rondon to 12 months of home incarceration and Rafael Rondon to 18 months of home incarceration. Both were sentenced to five years' probation.
Judge Cobb described the punishment as "jail but at home."
In addition, Maryann Rondon must pay $3,657.51 in restitution, a fine of $7,500, and perform 350 hours of community service, and her son was ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution and perform 350 hours of community service.
The Biden Justice Department wanted more than 51 months in prison - more than 4 years - for Rafael Rondon and 46 months for Maryann Moony-Rondon.
But the judge resisted these steep punishments, distinguishing between their "juvenile" conduct and more dramatic crimes like espionage or theft of government secrets.
The judge did not find their conduct reflected any "master plot," a reporter who was present said.
While acknowledging their crimes were not particularly serious, the judge insisted she was letting them off easy.
"I just think that they were acting very stupidly,” Cobb said. “No offense.”
Moony-Rondon and Rondon have both apologized, saying they suffered a lapse in judgment.
“I was the adult in the room, and I failed,” Mooney-Rondon said. “I have brought embarrassment to my family.”
“If we had to do it all over, we would have just stayed home and watched from the safety of our living room,” she continued.
More than 1,000 people have been charged in the Justice Department's probe. Some have been accused of assaulting police, but most of the defendants are not accused of any violence.