Trump signals support for states deciding if pot is legal
LOS ANGELES — President Donald Trump said Friday that he was inclined to support a bipartisan effort in Congress to ease the U.S. ban on marijuana, a proposal that would dramatically reshape the nation’s legal landscape for pot users and businesses.
The federal ban that puts marijuana on the same level as LSD and heroin has created a conflict with about 30 states that have legalized pot in some form, creating a two-tiered enforcement system at the state and federal levels.
The legislation would ensure states have the right to determine the best approach to marijuana within their borders, but some U.S. restrictions would remain, including sales of non-medical pot to people under 21.
The proposal introduced Thursday has support from members of Congress from both parties, including Republican U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado.
“I support Senator Gardner. I know exactly what he’s doing,” Trump told reporters in Washington, when asked about the legislation. “We’re looking at it. But I probably will end up supporting that, yes.”
The president’s remarks place him in conflict with his own Justice Department and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who staunchly opposes marijuana. He lifted an Obama administration policy and freed federal prosecutors to more aggressively pursue cases in states that have legalized marijuana.
Asked about the measure in an interview with Colorado Public Radio, Sessions said, “We’ll see how far it goes and how much support there is. … My view is clear: The federal law remains in effect nationwide, just as it does for heroin and cocaine.”
The proposal’s prospects in Congress were unclear.
Kim Jong Un impersonator questioned on arrival in Singapore
SINGAPORE — A Kim Jong Un lookalike was detained and questioned upon his arrival in Singapore on Friday, days before a summit between the North Korean leader and President Donald Trump.
The Hong Kong-based impersonator, who uses the name Howard X, is in the city-state for summit-related promotions by a mall and seafood restaurant.
He said the police officers who stopped him at Singapore’s Changi Airport searched his bags and questioned him for about two hours before letting him go. He said he was told to stay away from Sentosa Island and the Shangri-La Hotel.
Kim and Trump are to meet Tuesday at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa Island and Trump is expected to stay at the Shangri-La during his visit to Singapore.
The impersonator, whose real name is Lee Howard Ho Wun, said police asked if he had been involved in protests around the world, including those by pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong. He said he told them he had been at the scene of Hong Kong demonstrations as a musician playing the drums.
“However, I never rioted and don’t plan to ever riot. I told him (police officer) that I … would never do this in Singapore because it is against your rules to protest,” Wun told The Associated Press.
In a statement, Singapore’s Immigration and Checkpoints Authority said Wun was interviewed for about 45 minutes.
Florida stopped doing gun permit checks for more than a year
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — For more than a year, Florida failed to do national background checks that could have disqualified people from gaining a permit to carry a concealed weapon.
The lapse, revealed in an internal report that was not widely known about until Friday, occurred during a time period when there was a significant surge in the number of people seeking permission to legally carry a concealed weapon. Florida does not allow the open carry of weapons, but more than 1.9 million have permits to carry guns and weapons in public if they are concealed.
The state ultimately revoked 291 permits and fired an employee blamed for the lapse after an inspector general’s report detailing the problem was sent in June 2017 to top officials in the department who oversee the program. The Tampa Bay Times was the first to publish information about the report, which pointed out that the state failed to check the National Instant Criminal Background Check System from February 2016 to March 2017.
Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, a Republican running for governor who has touted his efforts to make it easier for people to obtain concealed-weapons permits, said the state did conduct its own criminal background checks on those applying for permits during that time period.
Putnam blamed the problem on the negligence of a department employee.
Critics blast Trump for sending border detainees to prison
SEATTLE — President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration has already led to overrun detention facilities, long lines of asylum seekers camping out at the U.S.-Mexico border and a decision to separate young children from their parents indefinitely.
Now, the administration is sending more than 1,600 immigrants — including some of those parents — to federal prisons amid a lack of space in other jails. The decision brought immediate denunciation from immigrant rights activists who were already enraged over the policy of separating parents from children.
The move comes as an increasing number of families and children have been coming to the border, further straining an immigration system that’s already at capacity. Despite hard-line rhetoric from the White House, more than 50,000 people were apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border in May alone — many of them families and children — and courts, asylum officers and jails are struggling to keep up with the influx.
Historically, immigrants without serious criminal records were released from custody while they pursued asylum or refugee status. The Trump administration has moved to detain more people, including asylum seekers.
Under a new zero tolerance policy, parents who are criminally charged with illegal entering the country are separated from their children while in custody. The children are usually released to other family.
Suspect accused of burning deputy’s body after killing him
CHARLOTTE, Tenn. — A man charged with killing a deputy in Tennessee and burning his body now faces federal and state charges that could be punishable by death, authorities announced Friday.
A state judge on Friday arraigned Steven Joshua Wiggins on 12 charges, including premeditated murder, in the shooting of 32-year-old Dickson County sheriff’s Sgt. Daniel Baker. Wiggins’ alleged accomplice, 38-year-old Erika Castro-Miles, was arraigned via webcam on the same murder charge.
The judge entered not-guilty pleas and appointed public defenders for both. Wiggins, 31, appeared in court in orange prison scrubs, flip-flops and handcuffs, speaking lowly and showing little emotion. The deputy’s friends and family, including his wife, Lisa, sat through the hearing and became emotional at times.
Baker was responding to a call about a suspicious car last week when he discovered it was stolen, authorities have said. Castro-Miles was in the car when Wiggins shot Baker, dragged the deputy’s body into the police cruiser and drove it to a rural area, where he set it on fire, court documents state.
Wiggins became the object of a massive 48-hour manhunt. A backpack he said he fled with was found nearby with two guns inside, including Baker’s backup weapon, court documents state.
Trump: First lady had ‘big operation,’ can’t fly for a month
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Friday amped up the mystery surrounding his wife Melania’s recent hospitalization for a kidney condition, revealing that she had had a “big operation” that lasted close to four hours but is “doing great.”
Trump said he was attending meetings in Canada and Singapore alone because the first lady is under doctors’ orders not to fly for a month.
“The first lady is great. Right there,” Trump said, pointing up to the White House from the driveway as he departed for Quebec. “And she wanted to go. Can’t fly for one month, the doctors say. She had a big operation. That was a close to a four-hour operation. And she’s doing great.”
“She is a great first lady,” Trump added.
Trump’s comments only deepened the mystery surrounding his wife’s hospitalization in mid-May and her weeks-long absence from the public eye.
