Terrorism

CNN reports: The Florida man who pleaded guilty to mailing explosive devices said in a letter to a federal judge that attending a rally for President Donald Trump “became like a newfound drug.” In the handwritten letter filed Tuesday in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, he told a judge that “the first thing you …

NPR reports: A Sri Lankan government official says coordinated suicide bombings in the island nation on Easter Sunday, which killed more than 320 people, were carried out in retaliation for last month’s mass shooting at mosques in New Zealand. State minister for defense, Ruwan Wijewardene, said the attacks were carried out by two Islamist organizations. As NPR’s Lauren Frayer reports, …

The BBC reports: A wave of bombings that killed 290 people in Sri Lanka on Sunday was carried out with the support of an international network, officials say. The government has blamed a little-known local jihadist group, National Thowheed Jamath, although no-one has yet admitted carrying out the attacks. Another 500 people were injured in the suicide attacks on churches …

The New York Times reports: A series of coordinated bombings ripped across Sri Lanka on Sunday morning, striking hotels and churches, killing almost 200 people and shattering the relative calm that the war-torn nation had enjoyed in recent years. The targets of the attacks were Catholic worshipers attending Easter Mass and guests at high-end hotels that are popular with foreign …

NBC News reports: An 18-year-old who authorities say has an “infatuation” with the 1999 Columbine High School massacre appears to have kept a journal online in which she wrote about suicide and guns, and alluded to “plans” she was making. The woman, Sol Pais of Florida, flew from Miami to Colorado earlier this week, bought a pump-action shotgun and ammunition …

USA Today reports: Authorities have launched a manhunt for what they say is an armed and dangerous woman who made “credible threats” against Denver-area schools four days before the 20th anniversary of the Columbine school shooting. Police said the woman, Sol Pais, 18, is “infatuated” with the Columbine shooting. They said she traveled from Miami to Colorado on Monday night, …

Newsweek reports: A man wearing a Donald Trump T-shirt allegedly shouted abuse outside the mosque that was the scene of New Zealand’s deadliest mass killing. The incident was detailed on the Facebook page “Muslims in Christchurch and Canterbury,” where an image was posted of a man in a black T-shirt with the words “Trump 2020” on it, next to two …

The Associated Press reports: New Zealand’s Parliament on Wednesday passed sweeping gun laws that outlaw military style weapons, less than a month after mass shootings at two mosques in the city of Christchurch left 50 people dead and dozens wounded. A bill outlawing most automatic and semi-automatic weapons and banning components that modify existing weapons was passed by a vote …

The Washington Post reports: In love letters knotted with stick figures and smiley faces, Parkland shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz looks toward the future. “I really want kids. I think of it all the time, you know the joy they bring,” Cruz, 20, wrote on Halloween to Miley, one of his many online admirers whom he has reached from prison, according …

The Associated Press reports: Facing a newly revived wrongful death lawsuit in Connecticut over the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, gun-maker Remington is going to the U.S. Supreme Court to argue it can’t be sued because of a much-debated federal law that shields firearms manufacturers from liability in most cases. The Connecticut Supreme Court issued a 4-3 ruling last month …

The Huffington Post reports: FBI agents arrested a 22-year-old white supremacist who managed an extremist Facebook group and was evidently plotting a terrorist attack against Muslims with his cousin. Federal authorities have charged New York resident Thomas Alonzo Bolin with lying to the FBI about possessing a weapon. He appears to have first come under federal scrutiny after his cousin …

Australia’s ABC News affiliate reports: The Australian man who carried out the Christchurch massacre has been charged with 50 counts of murder and 39 counts of attempted murder. New Zealand Police announced the fresh charges against Brenton Harrison Tarrant, 28, in a written statement on Thursday afternoon. Tarrant was arrested on March 15 for his involvement in the shooting deaths …

CBS News reports: An Australian senator was censured by his colleagues on Wednesday for seeking to blame the victims of last month’s mosque shootings and vilify Muslims. Sen. Fraser Anning was the target of widespread condemnation for blaming the attack in New Zealand on immigration policies. He faced more criticism later for physically striking a teenager who cracked a raw …

The Daily Beast reports: The Department of Homeland Security has disbanded a group of intelligence analysts who focused on domestic terrorism, The Daily Beast has learned. Numerous current and former DHS officials say they find the development concerning, as the threat of homegrown terrorism—including white supremacist terrorism—is growing. In the wake of this move, officials said the number of analytic …

The Hill reports: David Hogg, an activist who survived the Parkland, Fla., school shooting, requested on Friday that a photo of his death be publicized if he is ever a victim of gun violence. Hogg took to Twitter to share a photo of a sticker placed on the back of his ID card, part of a gun violence prevention project …

The Daily Progress reports: A Virginia teenager has pleaded guilty to posting a racist threat online that shut down Charlottesville City Schools for two days last week. News outlets report the 17-year-old boy was convicted Wednesday and is set to be sentenced April 24. Assistant Commonwealth Attorney Samantha Markley says the teen told authorities he was bored and joking when …

CBS News reports: James Fields, Jr. has pleaded guilty to 29 federal hate crime charges for his car attack on a crowd of people on Aug. 12, 2017 in Charlottesville. The attack killed Heather Heyer Charlottesville that killed Heather Heyer and injured many other people. As a result of the plea, the death penalty was taken off the table. The …

The Associated Press reports: Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz on Wednesday said there was a financial link between the man who killed 50 people in mass shootings at mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, and the far-right Identitarian Movement in Austria. Hansjoerg Bacher, spokesman for prosecutors in Graz, said Martin Sellner, head of the Identitarian Movement – which says it wants to …

Two Parkland survivors also took their lives last week. The Hartford Courant reports: The father of Avielle Richman, one of 20 first-grade students and six educators killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook School shooting, was found dead of an apparent suicide at Edmond Town Hall early Monday, police said. Jeremy Richman, 49, was found by an electrician working in the …

ABC News reports: A second survivor of the Parkland shooting has died by suicide, the Coral Springs Police Department in Florida confirmed to the Miami Herald on Sunday. Police told the newspaper that a current Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student died in “an apparent suicide” on Saturday night. The death of this student follows that of 19-year-old Sydney Aiello, …