The nation in brief

The nation in brief

An Air Force Global Strike Command unarmed Minuteman III inter- continental ballistic missile launches Tuesday during an oper- ational test at 12:21 a.m. at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. (AP/U.S. Air Force/Senior Airman Hanah Abercrombie)
An Air Force Global Strike Command unarmed Minuteman III inter- continental ballistic missile launches Tuesday during an oper- ational test at 12:21 a.m. at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. (AP/U.S. Air Force/Senior Airman Hanah Abercrombie)

U.S. test fires Minuteman 3 missile

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- An unarmed Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missile was launched from California early Tuesday on a test flight to a target in the Pacific Ocean, the Air Force Global Strike Command said.

The missile blasted off at 12:21 a.m. from Vandenberg Air Force Base and its three reentry vehicles traveled 4,200 miles to the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands as part of a developmental test, the command said from Barksdale Air Force Base, La.

Test launches are essential to sustaining the aging Minuteman 3 nuclear weapon system, Col. Omar Colbert, the 576th Flight Test Squadron commander, said in a statement.

The Air Force said test launches are not a reaction to world events. The launch calendars are developed three to five years in advance, and planning for individual launches takes six months to a year.

Suit says gear costs impeded protests

SEATTLE -- A federal lawsuit filed in Washington state claims the costs of protective clothing and equipment has impeded the civil rights of Black Lives Matter protesters.

The lawsuit filed by five plaintiffs in U.S. District Court in Seattle alleges their right to peacefully demonstrate is hurt by the need to buy the gear necessary for protection in the face of police tactics to disperse crowds, The Seattle Times reported Monday.

The plaintiffs said they were all victims of indiscriminate police violence during protests June 25. The lawsuit said demonstrators need to obtain helmets, gas masks, protective clothing, goggles, gloves, boots, umbrellas and other gear to fend off police pepper spray and less-lethal projectiles.

The plaintiffs also said repeated use of force by the Seattle Police Department during more than six weeks of civil unrest over systemic racism and police brutality has made exercising their rights to gather and protest impossible without costly personal protective gear.

Attorney Talitha Hazelton wrote in the lawsuit that the city of Seattle established a "de facto protest tax" by forcing demonstrators to purchase gear to withstand police munitions.

The Seattle city attorney's office will defend the city against the lawsuit, spokesperson Dan Nolte said.

Vehicle blamed for wildfire east of LA

BANNING, Calif. -- A wildfire in mountains east of Los Angeles that has forced thousands of people from their homes was sparked by a malfunctioning diesel vehicle, fire officials said.

The vehicle spewed burning carbon from its exhaust system, igniting several fires Friday on Oak Glen Road in Cherry Valley, and authorities were asking anyone who may have seen such a vehicle at the time to contact investigators, according to a statement from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

The blaze in Riverside County, among several wildfires across California, had consumed nearly 42 square miles of dry brush and chaparral since it broke out Friday evening, fire officials said.

Five buildings had been destroyed, including at least one home, authorities said. As of Monday night, it was just 7% contained, officials said.

The blaze began as two adjacent fires near the city of Beaumont, about 85 miles east of Los Angeles.

One firefighter was treated for an injury and returned to work. Evacuation orders and advisories have been issued for about 2,500 homes in mountain, canyon and foothill neighborhoods.

Teen says innocent in Twitter hijacking

TAMPA, Fla. -- A Florida teen identified as the mastermind of a scheme that gained control of Twitter accounts of prominent politicians, celebrities and technology moguls pleaded innocent Tuesday to multiple counts of fraud.

photo

The Santa Cruz Sentinel

Waves filled with bioluminescent phytoplankton put on a blue light show at Seacliff State Beach in Aptos, Calif., shortly after mid- night Monday. At night, when the phytoplankton are agitated by movement in the water, they sometimes emit a neon blue glow. (AP/The Santa Cruz Sentinel/Shmuel Thaler)

Graham Ivan Clark, 17, is accused of using the hijacked Twitter accounts to scam people around the world out of more than $100,000 in Bitcoin.

Clark is charged with 17 counts of communications fraud, 11 counts of fraudulent use of personal information, and one count each of organized fraud of more than $5,000 and accessing computers or electronic devices without authority. He remains in the Hillsborough County jail with bail set at $725,000, according to court records.

Although the case was investigated by the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice, Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren said his office is prosecuting Clark in state court because Florida law allows minors to be charged as adults in financial fraud cases.

Two other men were also charged in the case. Mason Sheppard, 19, of Bognor Regis, U.K., and Nima Fazeli, 22, of Orlando were charged separately last week in California federal court.

As part of the high-profile security breach, bogus tweets offering to return $2,000 for every $1,000 sent to an anonymous Bitcoin address were sent out on July 15 from the accounts of Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Mike Bloomberg and a number of tech billionaires, including Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

-- Compiled by Democrat-Gazette staff from wire reports

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