Police: GI on drugs took Army vehicle
RICHMOND, Va. — An Army National Guard officer accused of stealing an M577 armored personnel carrier from a Virginia base and leading police on a more than 60-mile chase was driving under the influence of drugs, police said Wednesday.
Joshua Philip Yabut, 29, of Richmond, was charged with eluding police and unauthorized use of a vehicle, the Virginia National Guard said in a news release.
Yabut, a first lieutenant assigned to the 276th Engineer Battalion, said Wednesday that his brigade commander told him to take the armored personnel carrier and drive it on a pre-planned route to gauge police response. He spoke by telephone from Virginia’s Central State Hospital.
The vehicle, which drives on tracks like a tank, was stolen Tuesday from Fort Pickett in Blackstone. Police chased it for about two hours at speeds as high as 40 mph before the driver stopped and surrendered. Minutes after police began their pursuit, Yabut posted a photo and video of himself in what appears to be the stolen vehicle.
Yabut says some of the charges against him “are just bogus” and that he was not under the influence of drugs.
Judge bars penalty for sanctuary city
PHILADELPHIA — A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the Trump administration cannot cut off grants to Philadelphia over the way the city deals with people who are in the country illegally.
U.S. District Judge Michael Baylson ruled that the conditions the federal government placed on the city in order to receive the funding are unconstitutional, “arbitrary and capricious.” He also wrote that Philadelphia’s policies are reasonable and appropriate.
Philadelphia has said that as a “sanctuary city,” it will turn over illegal aliens to Immigration and Customs Enforcement only if the agency has a warrant signed by a judge.
A federal appeals court in April sided with Chicago in a similar dispute.
Several sanctuary cities have opted to limit cooperation with government enforcement of immigration law. The Justice Department has threatened to cut off millions of dollars in grants to cities if they don’t cooperate with immigration officials.
Suit seeks to halt
census question
NEW YORK — Civil rights lawyers sued the U.S. Commerce Department on Wednesday to try to stop plans to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census, calling it an unconstitutional attempt to discriminate against immigrants.
The Manhattan federal court lawsuit on behalf of immigrants’ rights groups blames racial animus for the recent announcement that the census will include a citizenship question for the first time since 1950.
The lawsuit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and others, claims the question intentionally discriminates against immigrants and will increase fear in their communities. It alleges census participation will be depressed, diluting the economic and political power of residents in places such as New York City; Houston and San Antonio; and Miami-Dade County, Fla.