March 7 top stories
It is March 7. Here are today’s top stories.
Americans kidnapped in Mexico: 2 dead, 2 alive
Mexican officials said of the four Americans who were shot at and kidnapped just across the Mexican border on Friday, two are dead and two are still alive.
Relatives of the four Americans said they traveled to Mexico to get cosmetic surgery — a tummy tuck.
Their names are Latavia McGee, Sheered Woodard, Eric Williams, and Zindell Brown. They were the ones that were seen in a video that shows armed men forcing a woman into the back of a pick-up truck before they hauled motionless and bleeding bodies and loaded them into the truck.
The two survivors are considered “safe” and are receiving medical attention and have security.
Mexican President Obrador said, “We are very sorry that this happened in our country and we send our condolences to the families of the victims, friends, and the U.S. government.”
A news report said investigators think that a Mexican drug cartel mistakenly thought the four Americans were rival Haitian drug smugglers.
23 arrested in “Cop City” protests charged with domestic terrorism
On Sunday, there were violent clashes between protesters and police in Atlanta at the site of a planned law enforcement training center. Critics of the site call it “Cop City.”
Protesters threw Molotov cocktails, fired powerful fireworks, bricks, and large rocks at police and construction equipment.
Atlanta’s police chief said this is not a protest but “criminal activity” and charged 23 of them with domestic terrorism.
So the site continues to be controversial and violent — in January, a protester who was among a group camping out for months in the forest shot at a state trooper who was a part of a “clearing operation” and was killed when the trooper returned fire.
Man stabs flight attendant during flight
A 33-year-old man from Massachusetts is accused of trying to open an emergency exit door on a United Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Boston and stabbing a flight attendant in the neck with a broken metal spoon. The incident was on Saturday and the plane was about 45 minutes away from landing.
A video shows that he was shouting that he’s waiting for Homeland Security or SWAT to come and shoot at him. He also shouted threats that he would kill every man on the plane. But passengers swarmed on top of the man and restrained him.
The man’s name is Severo Torres and he was arrested when the plane landed in Boston. He was charged with “interference with flight crew members and attendants using a dangerous weapon” and faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if he is convicted.
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2 killed by stampede at Rochester concert
On Sunday night, there was a stampede during a concert in Rochester, New York after people thought they heard gunshots. Police said two women died as a result of injuries sustained as a result of a large crowd pushing. Eight others were injured.
A survivor said people thought there were gunshots inside the venue, so they swarmed toward the exits. But people then believed they heard gunshots outside of the venue, so they tried to come back in. The survivor said it “got crazy.”
The venue is the Main Street Armory and it has a 5,000-person capacity.
Rapper GloRilla was performing there and she tweeted that she is praying for those who were impacted.
The incident brought back memories of recent crowd crushes that were deadly — the Astroworld music festival in Houston in 2021, a religious festival in Israel in 2021, and the Halloween event in South Korea last fall.
Zelenskyy vows to find killers of Ukrainian prisoner of war
There is a video circulating on social media that appears to show a Ukrainian soldier, who was held as a prisoner of war by Russian troops, being shot and killed. The video shows the Ukrainian soldier standing up and smoking a cigarette. He says, “Glory to Ukraine!” and is immediately shot. His hat flies off and he collapses into a ditch.
Ukraine’s military said his name was Tymofiy Shadura and that he was last seen fighting in Bakhmut, which is an area of heavy fighting.
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy honored the soldier during an address on Monday night. He said he wanted “us all to respond to his words together, in unity: Glory to the Hero! Glory to the Heroes! Glory to Ukraine!” He said, “we will find the murderers.”
DOJ sues to block JetBlue merger with Spirit
The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit to block JetBlue’s plans to merge with Spirit Airlines. The DOJ said if the merger happened, it would end direct competition between JetBlue and Spirit and eliminate Spirit, the nation’s biggest ultra-low-cost airline.
The DOJ said if the merger happens, it would limit customers’ choices and drive up ticket prices.
JetBlue said they are disappointed but not surprised at the DOJ’s action. Last summer, JetBlue offered $3.8 billion to buy Spirit. JetBlue said the merger would not have a negative impact on customers because they could have been in a better position to compete with the “Big Four” airlines: Delta, United, Southwest, and American.
USA Today said the proposed merger is now moving towards an antitrust trial.
That is all the top stories for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-64878721
https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/06/us/atlanta-cop-city-protests/index.html
https://www.abc6.com/man-accused-of-trying-to-open-emergency-exit-stabbing-flight-attendant/
https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/06/us/rochester-armory-crowd-pushing-death/index.html