Category Archives: Utah

Man arrested in shooting of prominent Muslim leader in Utah during Ramadan

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Imam Shuaib Din was not hit by multiple shots fired by Abdul Raouf Afridi, who ambushed him outside his home

A man has been arrested for recently shooting a gun at prominent Muslim leader Imam Shuaib Din in Utah, the police department in the city of Sandy said Saturday.

Din’s suspected attacker was identified as Abdul Raouf Afridi. Police said the man was arrested on 12 counts of aggravated assault, including felony discharge of a firearm, possession of a controlled substance, dangerous discharge of a weapon from a vehicle and possession of a dangerous weapon as a prohibited person.

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Owl described as ‘fighter’ set to fly free after falling into cement mixer in Utah

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Staff at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab spent days cleaning the concrete-covered great horned owl

An owl found partially encased in concrete after it got inside a cement mixer in south-western Utah is expected to fly free again after it was painstakingly cleaned by animal sanctuary workers who described the bird as a “fighter”.

The great horned owl was found at the Black Desert Resort in the south-western part of the state and arrived at the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah, earlier this month with its face, chest and right wing covered in dried concrete. After making sure the bird could breathe, sanctuary workers spent days cracking apart the concrete using forceps and cleaning its feathers using toothbrushes, dish soap and their fingers.

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US man accused of faking own death after rape conviction gets at least five years in prison

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Nicholas Rossi, who fled US, receives first of two sentences after being convicted of raping two women in Utah in 2008

A judge has sentenced a Rhode Island man who appeared to fake his death and flee the United States to avoid arrest of at least five years in prison for rape.

The sentence handed down Monday for Nicholas Rossi, 38, was the first of two he faces after being convicted separately in August and September of raping two women in northern Utah in 2008. He is scheduled to be sentenced in November for the second conviction.

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Utah prosecutors’ evidence indicates suspected motives of Charlie Kirk’s alleged shooter

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Tyler Robinson is quoted talking to his partner about having enough of the far-right activist’s ‘hatred’ in texts

Evidence put forth by Utah prosecutors Tuesday offered the clearest indication yet of what they suspect motivated Tyler Robinson to kill far-right provocateur Charlie Kirk.

In seized texts reproduced by prosecutors as they charged the 22-year-old with capital murder and other crimes after his arrest, Robinson is quoted talking to his partner – whom they described as “transitioning genders” – about having enough of Kirk’s “hatred”.

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Two men arrested in Utah after incendiary device found under news vehicle

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Men could face terrorism-related and weapons charges after officials say device ‘had been lit but failed to function’

Authorities in Utah say two men have been arrested on suspicion of placing an incendiary device under a news media vehicle in Salt Lake City. The bomb didn’t go off.

Police and fire department bomb squads responded on Friday when a suspicious device was found under the vehicle parked near an occupied building.

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Utah campus open carry permit under fresh scrutiny after Kirk shooting

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HB 128, passed in August, allows people with the proper permit to openly carry firearms on college campuses

As authorities at the federal and state levels parse the details of the fatal shooting of far-right activist Charlie Kirk at a university in Utah, a recently passed state bill that allows people with concealed-carry permits to carry firearms openly on college campuses has drawn fresh scrutiny.

Utah has allowed for permitless open and concealed carry of weapons since 2021. But before the passage of HB 128, firearms had to be concealed when carried on college campuses. The law allowed people with the proper permit to carry them openly.

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‘Despicable’: Republicans and Democrats condemn violence after Charlie Kirk killing

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US lawmakers, in bipartisan rebuke, say violence has no place in America as Trump orders flags lowered

The killing of the rightwing activist Charlie Kirk at a Utah college on Wednesday afternoon prompted outrage from Democrats and Republicans over the latest act of political violence in the United States, with Donald Trump lamenting the loss of a key ally.

“The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead. No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie,” the US president posted on his Truth Social platform.

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Utah high court pauses firing squad execution of man with dementia

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Lower court to decide if Ralph Leroy Menzies, who killed Maurine Hunsaker in 1986, is competent to face execution

The impending execution of a man by firing squad in Utah was blocked by the state’s supreme court on Friday after his attorneys argued he should be spared because he has dementia.

Ralph Leroy Menzies, 67, was set to be executed on 5 September for abducting and killing Utah mother of three Maurine Hunsaker in 1986. When given a choice decades ago, Menzies selected a firing squad as his method of execution. He would have become only the sixth US prisoner executed by firing squad since 1977.

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Suspect in ‘No Kings’ rally shooting death in Utah released from jail

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Police say Arturo Gamboa was carrying a rifle when safety volunteer fired on him and accidentally killed bystander

A man jailed on suspicion of murder for allegedly brandishing a rifle at a “No Kings” rally in Utah before an armed safety volunteer fired and inadvertently killed a protester has been released from custody.

Local district attorney Sim Gill’s office said on Friday that it was unable to make a decision on charges against Arturo Gamboa after the 14 June shooting that killed demonstrator Arthur Folasa Ah Loo – but that the investigation into the slaying continues.

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Utah nurse allegedly killed woman by injecting unprescribed insulin

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Nurse allegedly convinced woman she had cancer while plotting to collect more than $1m from the victim’s life insurance

A registered nurse in Utah allegedly convinced a woman that she had terminal cancer, injected unprescribed insulin into her, and killed her with that method while plotting to collect more than $1m from the victim’s life insurance, according to police.

Meggan Randall Sundwall faces charges of first-degree felony aggravated murder as well as obstruction of justice after her recent arrest in the death of Kacee Lynn Terry, 38, authorities said in documents that spell out the unusually grim case and were reported by various Utah news outlets.

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Mormon church rocked by child sexual abuse allegations in California

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Look-back window results in nearly 100 allegations against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) in the US has been rocked by a slew of sexual abuse allegations launched against it in California in the latest scandal to hit the organization that is better known as the Mormon church.

A three-year look-back legal window that allows adult survivors of sexual assault to file claims in California has produced almost 100 allegations of childhood sexual abuse by Mormon leaders.

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Firing squad could become Idaho’s main execution method if governor signs bill

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State senate passes bill as its sponsor suggests shooting someone is more effective and humane than other methods

Firing squads could become Idaho’s primary execution method under a bill headed to the governor’s desk this week.

The Idaho senate passed the bill on Wednesday, and if signed by governor Brad Little, it will take effect next year.

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Storm-fueled mud submerges roads in California town hit by LA wildfires

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Residents in Sierra Madre begin cleanup effort after strongest storm of year sweeps through southern California

Residents of a southern California mountain community near the Eaton fire burn scar dug out of roads submerged in sludge on Friday after the strongest storm of the year swept through the area, unleashing debris flows and muddy messes in several neighborhoods recently torched by wildfires.

Water, debris and boulders rushed down the mountain in the city of Sierra Madre on Thursday night, trapping at least one car in the mud and damaging several home garages with mud and debris. Bulldozers on Friday were cleaning up the mud-covered streets in the city of 10,000 people.

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Utah woman raised $1.2m for her kids before her death from cancer

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Donations poured in for Erika Diarte-Carr, a single mother, after a post announcing her death went viral

A single mother from Utah, who was confronted with a terminal cancer diagnosis in 2022, managed to raise more than $1m in donations meant to help secure her children’s future before she died over the weekend, according to her family.

The story of Erika Diarte-Carr, 30, broke hearts across the US’s digital landscape particularly after relatives announced her death Saturday in a social media post that went viral.

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Families of Americans ensnared in DRC coup plot assert their innocence

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Young Americans face death penalty for ‘amateurish’ assault in Congo that was led by one of their fathers

The family of a Utah student sentenced to death in the Democratic Republic of Congo for his alleged role in a failed coup d’etat in which his father was killed fears he and two other Americans could be executed within days without US government intervention.

Marcel Malanga, 22, was one of dozens convicted and sentenced at a military tribunal in Kinshasa last week, after the attempted overthrow of the Congolese government in May. The “amateurish” assault, which left six dead, was led by his father, Christian Malanga, a former DRC opposition leader, army captain and self-styled warlord.

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Utah’s famed ‘Double Arch’ geographical feature collapses

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Park rangers suspect changing water levels and erosion to blame for the collapse of the popular tourist attraction

A large geological feature in southern Utah known as the “Double Arch”, the “Hole in the Roof” and sometimes the “Toilet Bowl” has collapsed, National Park Service officials said on Friday. No injuries were reported.

The popular arch in the Glen Canyon national recreation area fell on Thursday, and park rangers suspect changing water levels and erosion from waves in Lake Powell contributed to its demise.

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Advocates react to Utah ban of 13 books in schools and libraries: ‘It’s a tragedy’

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Utah is first in the US to outlaw titles statewide they deem ‘indecent’ as free speech advocates worry about impact

Library associations, free speech groups and advocates are expressing outrage and concern after the state of Utah ordered 13 books to be removed from public school classrooms and libraries in accordance with a new state law that passed earlier this year.

“It’s a tragedy,” said Deborah Caldwell-Stone, the director of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom.

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Utah outlaws books by Judy Blume and Sarah J Maas in first statewide ban

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State has ordered books by 13 authors, 12 of them women, to be removed from every public school, classroom and library

Books by Margaret Atwood, Judy Blume, Rupi Kaur and Sarah J Maas are among 13 titles that the state of Utah has ordered to be removed from all public school classrooms and libraries.

This marks the first time a state has outlawed a list of books statewide, according to PEN America’s Jonathan Friedman, who oversees the organisation’s free expression programs.

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Salt Lake City must lobby for end to FBI doping investigation in return for 2034 Winter Olympics

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  • FBI is looking into allegations of Chinese doping
  • French Alps given 2030 Winter Olympics

What was expected to be a simple coronation of Salt Lake City as the 2034 Winter Olympic host turned into complicated Olympic politics on Wednesday, as the IOC pushed Utah officials to end an FBI investigation into a suspected doping coverup.

In a separate decision earlier in Paris, the 2030 Winter Games were awarded – with conditions – to France for a regional project split between ski resorts in the Alps and Nice. That project needs official signoff from the national government which is still being formed after elections in France earlier this month.

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Utah firefighters battle to contain wildfire in hills above state capitol

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Utah brush fire started Saturday and quickly grew to 200 acres, while in southern California fires forced evacuations

A wildfire in Salt Lake City forced people living uphill from Utah’s state capitol to evacuate, and it remained uncontained on Sunday as more than 100 firefighters worked to protect nearby homes.

Meanwhile in southern California, flames descended on the residential neighborhood of Riverside, forcing evacuations. Fires were also burning in Colusa and Lake counties in the north of the state. And in Oregon and Washington state, more than 500,000 people were under red flag warnings over the weekend.

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