Political Glance
A California philosophy lecturer accused of assaulting federal agents after removing a tear gas canister from a crowd — the same canister that a U.S. Border Patrol agent had thrown at protesters during an immigration raid — was found not guilty by a jury on Thursday.
Jonathan Caravello, 38, faced up to 20 years in prison if he was convicted of the charge. The verdict is the latest blow to the Trump administration, which has thrown baseless assault charges at people who protest its mass deportation operations — but has repeatedly failed to secure convictions.
By the government’s own admission, no federal agent was hit or harmed by the canister, which flew over the heads of agents and landed far behind them. Prosecutors argued instead that Caravello threatened and intended to harm agents, although they failed to identify a specific individual who was supposedly at risk of being harmed. Caravello’s attorney presented evidence that Border Patrol agents deployed tear gas indiscriminately at peaceful protesters and observers without reason or warning, and that Caravello was acting in self-defense when he threw the canister away from the crowd.
The jury returned their verdict after roughly two hours of deliberation.
First lady Melania Trump made a statement at the White House on Thursday to slam reports about any connections she may have had with Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.
The black S.U.V. carrying Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived at the White House just before 11 a.m. on Feb. 11. The Israeli leader, who had been pressing for months for the United States to agree to a major assault on Iran, was whisked inside with little ceremony, out of view of reporters, primed for one of the most high-stakes moments in his long career.
The California supreme court on Wednesday ordered a county sheriff and gubernatorial candidate who seized more than half a million 2025 election ballots to pause his investigation into election fraud allegations while the judges review the legal challenge against it.
A freshman at the University of Southern California has lost an eye after he was shot last month with a “less-lethal” projectile by a Department of Homeland Security agent at a No Kings march, according to his attorney.
A Democratic lawmaker filed articles of impeachment on April 6 against President Donald Trump, though it faces unlikely odds of succeeding in a Republican-controlled Congress.
Eligible men will automatically be registered into the military draft pool by December as part of an effort to streamline the previous process of self-registration and save money.
