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Michigan school shooter’s father wants a jury from outside the community

PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — The father of a Michigan school shooter wants jurors from a different county to decide his involuntary manslaughter case, arguing that he can’t get a fair trial because of widespread publicity and his wife’s recent conviction. “They have been clearly convicted in the court of public opinion,” defense lawyer Mariell Lehman said in a court filing Wednesday. James Crumbley, 47, is accused of making a gun accessible to Ethan Crumbley and failing to get mental health care for his son. The 15-year-old killed four students and wounded more during a mass ...

Ford CEO says company will rethink where it builds vehicles after last year’s autoworkers strike

DETROIT — Last fall’s contentious United Auto Workers’ strike changed Ford’s relationship with the union to the point where it will “think carefully” about where it builds future vehicles, Ford’s top executive said Thursday. CEO Jim Farley told the Wolfe Research Global Auto Conference in New York that the company always took pride in its relationship with the UAW, having avoided strikes since the 1970s. But last year, Ford’s highly profitable factory in Louisville, Kentucky, was the first truck plant that the UAW shut down with a strike. Farley said as the company ...

Arkansas police find firearms, Molotov cocktails after high speed chase of U-Haul

TONTITOWN, Ark. (AP) — Two Michigan men are being held on multiple charges after leading police on a high-speed chase through Arkansas and Oklahoma in a stolen U-Haul that contained weapons and Molotov cocktails, authorities said. Cory Robert Mercier, 21, and Trenton Johnson, 21, were arrested Wednesday after the chase in the cargo van that began in in eastern Oklahoma and ended in Tontitown, Arkansas, located 147 miles (237 kilometers) northwest of Little Rock. Speeds during the pursuit exceeded 120 miles per hour, Tontitown Police said in a news release. Mercier, who was driving ...

Biden is sending aides to Michigan to see Arab American and Muslim leaders over the Israel-Hamas war

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is sending several senior aides to Michigan to meet with Arab American and Muslim leaders, according to three people familiar with the matter, as his administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war frustrates members of a key constituency in a 2024 battleground state. Those making the trip for Thursday’s meeting include Samantha Power, head of the U.S. Agency for International Development, principal deputy national security adviser Jon Finer and Steven Benjamin, who directs the Office of Public Engagement, a White House official said. All who ...

Dearborn ramps up security after op-ed calls it ‘America’s jihad capital’

DEARBORN (AP) — Dearborn, Michigan, is ramping up its police presence in response to fallout from an opinion piece that described the city, which has the nation’s highest Muslim population per capita, as “America’s jihad capital.” Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud on Friday tweeted that city police increased security at places of worship and major infrastructure points as a “direct result” of a Wall Street Journal opinion piece titled, “Welcome to Dearborn, America’s Jihad Capital.” Hammoud posted on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter, that the item published ...

School shooter’s mom could have prevented bloodshed, prosecutor says

PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — Prosecutors on Friday tried to attack the credibility of a Michigan school shooter’s mother, a day after she denied knowing her son had mental health struggles and rejected claims that she should be responsible for the deaths of four students in 2021. During cross-examination, the prosecutor reminded Jennifer Crumbley — and the jury — that she could have prevented the bloodshed by taking Ethan Crumbley home hours earlier when confronted with his violent drawing on a math paper. “On November the 30th of 2021, at 12:51 p.m., you could have been with ...