Also on today’s menu:
Trump’s Storm Troopers
Hurricane Fiona Expected To Strengthen
Pop Singer Criticizes Putin’s War
The most compelling evidence that Adnan Syed had been wrongfully convicted in the 1999 murder of his ex-girlfriend, Hae Min Lee, was the prosecution’s admission that it did not let his defense attorney know that there were two other suspects, one of whom reportedly had previously threatened to kill Lee. That, along with an implausible timeline of events, questionable cellphone records, and the failure to pursue other leads — problems outlined by a team of journalists led by Sarah Koenig, the host of the podcast “Serial” — led Judge Melissa Phinn to free Syed on September 19 after he had spent 23 years in prison.
Koenig, who attended the court hearing yesterday, told the New York Times that she was shocked to learn that, in addition to the problems her team already had highlighted, the state revealed that it had not handed over information about the possible alternate suspects in the crime. “That was a bit of a bombshell,” she said.
“The state is saying these suspects (either one or both) have criminal histories that are relevant to the crime. And that one of them has a family connection to the location where Hae Min Lee’s car was found. But the most damning thing is that a couple of people had told the prosecutor’s office at the time that one of the suspects had a motive to kill Hae, and even had threatened to do so. And that information was never told to the defense. That alone — not handing over important evidence — could be grounds to overturn a murder conviction.”
State attorney Marilyn Mosby told reporters that, under state law, prosecutors have 30 days to decide whether to drop the charges against Syed or to retry the case. “We are not yet declaring Adnan Syed is innocent,” she said, “but we are declaring, in the interest of fairness and justice, he is entitled to a new trial.”
Trump’s Storm Troopers
Donald Trump has now embraced QAnon conspiracy theorists as a way forward while he faces an increasing number of legal and financial challenges. At Saturday night’s Ohio rally, Trump made a show of recruiting “from a movement whose members might include people willing to do violence on his behalf,” Tom Nichols writes in The Atlantic.
Especially ominous is his adoption of the term “Storm” for his movement. Think: Storm Troopers. He “retruthed” posts from QAnon, whose followers believe that Trump is leading a secret war against pedophiles and cannibals and that he will soon be placed back into power, arrest his Democratic enemies, try them, and execute some of them. Trump assured his Ohio audience that “The Storm is Coming.” The rally played music similar to the QAnon theme song, featured other QAnon-adjacent politicians, and featured the index-finger salute used by QAnon.
QAnon adherents believe that a cabal of Satan-worshipping Democrats, Hollywood celebrities, and billionaires runs the world while engaging in pedophilia, human trafficking, and the harvesting of a supposedly life-extending chemical from the blood of abused children. Followers believe “the storm” is a maelstrom that will culminate in Trump’s restoration to the presidency after his political enemies have been conquered and then executed on live television.
Hurricane Fiona Expected To Strengthen
Hurricane Fiona, which has devastated Puerto Rico and caused considerable damage in the Dominican Republic, is continuing to strengthen, with the National Hurricane Center saying that the category two storm, with speeds of 115 mph, could worsen to a category four storm, the second-highest designation.
The hurricane was about 10 miles northwest of Grand Turk Island in the Turks and Caicos Islands at 12 GMT on Tuesday, the NHC said.
An estimated 1.3 million homes and businesses in Puerto Rico remain without power, Reuters news agency reports. Fiona made landfall there on Sunday, causing not only deluges but also widespread landslides and mudslides.
Pop Singer Criticizes Putin’s War
The criticism of the war in Ukraine by Russian megastar Alla Pugacheva has set off intense reactions on social media, raising the question of whether the singer’s disapproving Instagram post might mark a turning point in Russian public opinion. Pugacheva’s post described her homeland, which gave her its highest civilian honors, as “a pariah” and said Russian soldiers were dying for “illusory goals.”
Pugacheva, 73, is among Russia’s most popular performers, and she shared her thoughts as President Vladimir Putin faces mounting pressure both militarily and diplomatically, with even key allies voicing concerns about the war. Her music is popular among Putin’s core base.
According to the Los Angeles Times, “the turning point for the singer was apparently the Russian Justice Ministry’s designation of her husband, comedian and TV presenter Maxim Galkin, as a foreign agent Saturday for allegedly conducting political activities on behalf of Ukraine and receiving Ukrainian funding. Galkin had previously criticized the war.”
Support Our Efforts
The News Café is a virtual meeting place where we discuss the news of the day: local, statewide, national, and international.
An offering by the Liberty Independent Media Project, the News Café does not rely on advertising, as most media outlets do, freeing us to provide an independent focus on events and cultural issues. The project instead relies on direct monetary support from donors and subscribers, as well as providing news to other media outlets.
If you like what we’re doing, and want to see more local news you will not find elsewhere, please give what you can.
Subscriptions to this newsletter are available for as little as $5 per month. Subscribers can share their knowledge, thoughts, and questions about any topic, and we may select some of those subjects for more in-depth analysis.
If you’re unable to pay but still want to receive all of the free public posts in your in-box, click the Subscribe button and select a free subscription.