TOPEKA, KAN. – Former Kansas Highway Patrol Trooper James Carson was sentenced today to nine months in prison for violating an individual’s civil rights by using excessive force, according to U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister.
Carson pleaded guilty to one count of violating civil rights in his capacity as a law enforcement officer.
In his plea, he admitted he used unreasonable force against a man he arrested, R.T.
Carson conducted a lawful arrest and then transported R.T. to the Labette County Jail, where at least five other law enforcement officials were present. As Carson removed R.T. from the patrol vehicle and escorted him into the booking area, R.T.’s hands were cuffed behind his back. Without warning, Carson kicked the legs out from underneath R.T., causing R.T. to crash down on his back onto the floor. Carson admitted in court that he used force against R.T. for the purpose of punishment and not for a legitimate law enforcement purpose.
As part of the plea agreement, Carson agreed to surrender his law enforcement credentials and never again accept any employment related to law enforcement.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican Gov. Jeff Colyer and top GOP rival Secretary of State Kris Kobach called Thursday for the University of Kansas to remove an altered U.S. flag from its campus completely rather than showing it in an art museum after complaints prompted an end to its being displayed publicly outside.
Colyer and other Republicans saw flying the altered flag as a public art display as disrespectful. He said during a Fox News Radio interview Thursday that the piece should be returned to the artist.
Kobach also demanded publicly that the altered flag be removed from the university. Kobach is trying to unseat Colyer in the state’s Aug. 7 primary and issued a statement as Colyer was being interviewed, criticizing both the university and Colyer.
The altered flag was part of a national project called “Pledges of Allegiance,” meant to stir conversations about the nation’s current political climate. It was flying on a pole outside a building on the university’s main campus in Lawrence, but Chancellor Douglas Girod had it moved Wednesday afternoon , saying its display had generated public safety concerns.
Colyer called Girod on Wednesday to demand that the altered flag be taken down. He also ordered that an additional 19 flags be raised on the Statehouse grounds in Topeka in what spokesman Kendall Marr said was a show of support for the flag and its proper display.
“It’s not appropriate to have a desecrated U.S. flag at a taxpayer-funded institution,” Marr said Thursday. “He doesn’t want it at the university at all.”
Kobach said the same thing in his statement. But he also took after Colyer over the relocation of the art display to the Spencer Musuem of Art, suggesting the governor hoped “the public will not notice that the defiled flag is still on display.”
“It is ridiculous to call that a solution,” said Kobach, who rides in parades in a Jeep painted in a flag design and festooned with campaign stickers with a replica machine gun mounted on back.
The University of Kansas police took at least one report Wednesday of a threat at the museum. Someone threatened a person by phone, according to the department’s online crime report log. The case remained open Thursday.
A university spokeswoman did not immediately respond Thursday to a telephone message and email from The Associated Press requesting comment on the Republicans’ most recent comments or the threat report.
Micah Kubic, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas, said the decision to move the altered flag “smacks of censorship.”
“That is an affront to the spirit of the First Amendment, and the values for which the flag stands,” Kubic said in an email.
Creative Time, the nonprofit, New York-based arts organization that commissioned the work, said events in Kansas illustrate the political divisions that the “Pledges of Allegiance” project “confronted head-on.”
“The right to freedom of speech is one of our nation’s most dearly held values. It is also under attack,” the group said in a statement. “We are proud to stand by artists who express themselves.”
KEARNEY, Mo. (AP) – The mother of two Missouri girls who died on July Fourth says she fell asleep with her daughters in a running car and found them unresponsive when she woke up.
Jenna Boedecker-Ribando photo Clay Co.
Applications for search warrants in the case of against 29-year-old Jenna Boedecker also indicate a social worker from the Missouri’s Children’s Division in Clay County was at the family’s residence in rural northwest Missouri less than three hours before Boedecker’s infant and 2-year-old daughters were discovered.
The social worker told investigators he checked the house but didn’t see anyone. He said he noticed the car was running but didn’t get close enough to see if anyone was inside.
Boedecker has not been charged in the girls’ deaths. She is jailed on charges arising from an alleged assault against her husband.
Just after 8:00 a.m. Thursday, officers were dispatched to the 2800 block of NW Topeka Blvd. Upon arrival, officers found a woman had been struck by her husband with his motorcycle, according to police spokesperson Gretchen Koenen.
An initial investigation indicates the man and woman had gotten into an argument at a nearby gas station. The woman was walking away when the man struck her from behind with his motorcycle.
Jacob Lee Sender, 30, Topeka, was booked into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on charges of Aggravated Battery (reckless behavior) for the incident, according to Koenen.
The woman sustained minor injuries and is expected to recover, according Koenen.
Vice President Mike Pence came to Kansas City Wednesday, where he touted Republicans running for office on both sides of the state line and tried to ease concerns about the Trump administration’s expanding trade war.
Great to see my friend @AGJoshHawley & talk w/ working families in Kansas City! We’re in the middle of a great American comeback. Businesses large & small have created nearly 3.7M new jobs – including 61,600 jobs in Missouri and Kansas alone. And we’re just getting started! pic.twitter.com/9l5j78pWcv
The visit was part of a tax policy tour hosted by the group America First Policies.
Pence told the crowd at the downtown Marriott that the trade disputes with China, Canada, Mexico, and Europe would ultimately lead to better deals and open markets for agriculture and livestock producers in states like Missouri and Kansas.
“We’re going to keep fighting for a level playing field for our farmers,” Pence said. “America will win that fight and so will American farmers.”
The vice president’s comments come as the Trump administration considers yet another round of tariffs on Chinese goods, which could prompt a further response from China.
The crowd turns their cellphone cameras to the stage as Vice President Mike Pence appears on stage in Kansas City, Missouri. STEPHEN KORANDA / KANSAS NEWS SERVICE
The world’s most populous country has already slapped retaliatory tariffs on some U.S. agricultural products, including soybeans.
Protesters outside the event blasted the administration’s stance on immigrant rights and abortion issues. And there were a few hecklers in the crowd inside the event hall.
Moments after Pence took the stage, one man took aim at the vice president for the administration’s policy, now ended, that separated children from their parents at the U.S. border.
“Mike, where are the children? Shame on you,” shouted one man before he was hauled out by security.
Pence took the protest in stride and the majority of crowd of several hundred was clearly in the vice president’s corner. They shouted “USA” as the demonstrators were removed from the room.
He urged the crowd to stay motivated and involved as the nation nears the first midterm election since President Donald Trump took office.
“That’s just what President Trump calls a good start,” Pence said. “We need your continued support.”
The vice president voiced his support for Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley, who is expected to win the Republican primary and take on U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill.
Pence chided McCaskill and other Democrats for opposing policies President Trump has pushed for, including the tax cuts signed into law in December.
“This is the kind of obstruction that the American people have had enough of from Washington D.C.,” Pence said.
Republican Congressman Kevin Yoder of Kansas did not attend the event, but he also was the beneficiary of some kind words from the vice president. Pence held a fundraiser for Yoder earlier in the day.
“Kevin Yoder’s been working hard, working hard to advance the president’s agenda,” Pence said.
Yoder is facing a primary challenge and a crowded field of Democrats vying for the 3rd District seat in the Kansas City area. It’s a seat both parties are eyeing as a potentially close race.
Pence’s endorsement of Yoder also drew the attention of Kansas Democrats.
Ethan Corson, executive director of the Kansas Democratic Party, sent out an email blast noting that Yoder wasn’t at the vice president’s fundraising event (the congressman’s campaign said he would be doing Appropriations Committee work in Washington, D.C.) and calling him “out-of-touch.”
“This November, the Third District has a chance to elect a representative who will actually meet with their constituents and put working Kansans ahead of special interests,” Corson said.
Thirty-seven-year-old Christopher Jones and 22-year-old Markell Pinkins were charged Wednesday with second-degree murder in the death of 45-year-old Kevin Thomas. No attorneys are listed for them.
Police say Thomas struck a parked vehicle across the street from the Yum Yum Bar & Grill in January while the guards were stationed at the door.
A witness said the guards repeatedly asked Thomas to turn off the car after a passenger exited Thomas’ car and said Thomas was drunk. The witness said Thomas’ car inched forward before the guards opened fire.
Police say the guards acknowledged lacking the authority to handle incidents off the bar’s premises. A third guard is charged with hiding Jones’ gun afterward.
The Highland, Kansas, Police Department is investigating after two people were found dead at a residence last week.
The police department, along with the Doniphan County Sheriff’s Dept. and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation is conducting an investigation into the deaths of 61-year-old Daniel Ingles and 57-year-old Theresa Gurwell.
Around 6 p.m. on July 3, the Highland Police Dept. was requested to conduct a welfare check at 108 S. Vermillion St. in Highland. Officer Williams discovered both residents were deceased.
According to a press release, the investigation is ongoing, but no other persons are believed to have been involved.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – A Missouri man has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for drug trafficking in a case that involved police fatally shooting another suspect.
Wilkins -photo Mo. Dept. of Corrections
The U.S. attorney’s office says 27-year-old Michael Wilkins on Kansas City was sentenced Wednesday for possession of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute.
He was under police surveillance in June 2016 when he was followed to a house, where officers saw him place a box and backpack containing nearly 5 kilograms of methamphetamine and more than $12,000 inside a car. He was arrested after fleeing on foot.
A standoff ensued when officers went to serve a search warrant. Authorities say Luis Carlos Garcia-Aguilar was shot hours later when he ran from the house with a rifle. Wilkins also had a brother who was killed in a police shooting.
It’s going to be a hot out there as we transit from the work week to the weekend. The oppressive heat and humidity will stick around through much of the weekend before slightly “cooler” air filters south behind a frontal boundary that will sweep across the region Sunday night. This will allow the potential for storms to visit the region Saturday and Sunday, with near normal conditions looking to dominate the region by early next week. Here’s the 7-day forecast from the National Weather Service:
Today: Sunny and hot, with a high near 100. Heat index values as high as 108. South southeast wind 5 to 9 mph.
Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 75. South wind 5 to 8 mph.
Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 96. Heat index values as high as 102. South wind 5 to 8 mph.
Friday Night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1 a.m. Partly cloudy, with a low around 75. South wind 5 to 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Saturday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 92. South wind 5 to 8 mph becoming west southwest in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Saturday Night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 75. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 92.
Sunday Night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 73. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Monday: Partly sunny, with a high near 89.
Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 69.
Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 89.
Tuesday Night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 68. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Wednesday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 83. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – A Missouri judge has upheld a governor’s right to appoint a lieutenant governor, at least temporarily resolving a decades-old argument in the state.
Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem’s Wednesday ruling said Gov. Mike Parson had the authority to appoint Mike Kehoe as the state’s lieutenant governor last month. Beetem dismissed the case.
Beetem also said the Missouri Democratic Party and a man named Darrell Cope, who had sued in protest of the appointment, lacked the authority to sue.
Parson and Kehoe, who are both Republicans, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Missouri Democratic Party did not immediately respond to questions about whether it plans to appeal.
