Biden administration announces new actions to curb gun violence

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration announced new actions Thursday on a range of gun-related issues, including a new executive order in part aimed at giving schools guidance about how to train for an active shooter.

The executive order directs Biden administration officials to publish information for K-12 schools and higher education institutions, including resources on how to create, implement and evaluate “evidence-informed active shooter drills,” according to a White House fact sheet.

The information should also include how to conduct effective and age-appropriate drills, and how to best communicate with families and students about the exercises, the White House fact sheet said.

President Joe Biden is directing Education Secretary Miguel Cardona and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to develop the information, in coordination with other administration officials, according to the fact sheet.

Many schools are utilizing drills in their preparation for an active shooter event, but there is “very limited research” into how to design the exercises “to maximize their effectiveness and limit any collateral harms they might cause,” the fact sheet said.

The executive order also establishes a task force on emerging firearm threats, directing it to produce a report that assesses the dangers posed by machine gun conversion devices and 3D-printed firearms that do not have a serial number, according to the fact sheet.

The Biden administration has taken a series of executive actions to combat American gun violence as Congress remains fiercely divided on firearm regulations, with Democrats pushing for stronger restrictions while Republicans raise objections on Second Amendment grounds.

—CQ-Roll Call

'Rust' judge weighs possibility of new trial for armorer Hannah Gutierrez

A New Mexico judge will weigh whether "Rust" armorer Hannah Gutierrez should be given a new trial amid allegations that prosecutors concealed evidence in the on-set shooting case.

New Mexico First Judicial Circuit Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer said Thursday that she would issue a ruling next week on whether to grant a new trial. She will also consider a motion from defense attorney Jason Bowles to immediately release Gutierrez from prison while the court considers her motion.

The rulings for immediate release and a new trial will be issued in two separate orders, Sommer said during an hourlong hearing Thursday morning with Bowles and special prosecutor Kari Morrissey.

Gutierrez was convicted in March of involuntary manslaughter in the accidental on-set shooting death of "Rust" cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

Prosecutors alleged at the time that Gutierrez brought live rounds of ammunition to the set and loaded it into a prop gun that actor Alec Baldwin was holding. Baldwin was pointing the prop gun at Hutchins during a rehearsal when it discharged.

Gutierrez is currently serving an 18-month sentence in prison for her role in the shooting.

But the case took a turn in July. Sommer dismissed a felony criminal charge against Baldwin after his attorneys alleged misconduct, including alleged collusion between the prosecutor and Santa Fe County sheriff's deputies to conceal from defense attorneys a bag of ammunition that could have been evidence in the case.

Days after that ruling, Gutierrez's attorneys filed a motion to dismiss her case as well.

—Los Angeles Times

Right-wing network Newsmax settles Smartmatic defamation lawsuit

Newsmax has settled the defamation lawsuit from voting machine company Smartmatic over the right-wing network's false reporting on fraud claims in the 2020 presidential election.

A deal was reached Thursday as the two sides were headed for trial in a Delaware court where jury selection was scheduled to begin.

"Newsmax is pleased to announce it has resolved the litigation brought by Smartmatic through a confidential settlement," the network, based in Boca Raton, Florida, said in a statement.

Smartmatic's suit said Newsmax provided a platform for its hosts, Donald Trump and the former president's attorneys and allies to falsely claim that the company's software was manipulated to deliver the election for President Joe Biden.

Smartmatic's equipment was used only in Los Angeles County in 2020 and not in any of the swing states that helped decide the election.

The claims were given ample airtime on Newsmax despite a lack of credible evidence of fraud and a complete rejection of Trump's legal challenges in the courts. Smartmatic says it lost business because of the bogus statements.

Smartmatic has a similar $2.7 billion defamation suit against Fox News that could go to trial in New York next year.

“We are very pleased to have secured the completion of the case against Newsmax,” a Smartmatic representative said in a statement. “We are now looking forward to our day in court against Fox and Fox News for their disinformation campaign. Lying to the American people has consequences.”

Fox News shelled out $787 million in a settlement with Dominion Voting Systems just before that case went to trial in April 2023. Like Smartmatic, Dominion said Fox News’ reporting on false claims of election fraud damaged its business.

Court filings that supported Dominion’s claims contained internal emails and communications showing Fox News management and on-air talent were aware of the falsehoods.

Fox News has said that Trump’s election fraud claims were newsworthy and that its reporting on them was protected by the First Amendment.

—Los Angeles Times

Haiti leader makes case for reparations during UN appeal for help with gang violence

The head of Haiti’s presidential transition appealed for “global solidarity” Thursday during his appearance at the United Nations General Assembly, while also endorsing a Biden administration push for a formal U.N. peacekeeping mission in his crisis-wracked nation.

Edgard Leblanc Fils, who spoke as the head of Haiti’s Transitional Presidential Council, said as the world’s first Black independent nation, Haiti “is today the greatest victim of a historical injustice, which has not only delayed our development but saddled our people with a burden.”

“We demand recognition of the moral and historic debt and implementation of justice,” he said.

Leblanc outlined Haiti’s crisis, which U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres has described as one of the greatest human tragedies. The ongoing gang abuse and violence against children should be considered “a crime against humanity,” Leblanc said.

He noted that past U.N. peacekeeping missions have not been without controversy. The mission deployed in 2004 after a bloody armed revolt forced the departure of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, its members were accused of sexual abuse and the mission was later found to have introduced a deadly cholera epidemic after the country’s devastating 2010 earthquake. But Leblanc said Haiti needs help finding a way to guarantee funding for the current Kenya-led security support mission.

“This transformation would not only allow to secure more stable financing and to expand the capabilities of the mission, but also strengthen the commitment of member States to security in Haiti,” he said. “I am convinced that this change of status, while ensuring that errors of the past are not repeated, will guarantee the full success of the mission in Haiti.”

In outlining Haiti’s problems — from endemic poverty and inequality to a near takeover by gangs of its capital — on the world’s most important stage Thursday, Leblanc argued that the effects of his country’s colonial past continues to have present-day repercussions. He called for restitution and reparations, endorsing efforts already being led by the Caribbean Community and the U.N..

The demand for France, Haiti’s original colonial ruler, to repay Haiti is not new. In 2004 during the country’s bicentennial Aristide publicly called on France to repay the 90 million gold francs Haiti was forced to pay after its independence. The amount, he calculated at the time, was the equivalent of more than $21 billion. The payment was ordered in 1825, 21 years after Haiti won its independence from France. It was finally paid off in 1947 after being financed by French banks and the National City Bank of New York.

—Miami Herald