Trump sued for wrongful death of Capitol police officer after Jan. 6 – National & International News – FRI 6Jan2023

Trump sued for wrongful death of Capitol police officer after Jan. 6.

3.3 million American adults displaced by natural disasters last year.

Oil giant Shell to pay $2 billion in windfall tax in EU, UK.

NATIONAL NEWS

Trump sued for wrongful death of Capitol police officer after Jan. 6

Capitol police officer Brian Sicknick.

On the second anniversary of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, the partner of Capitol police officer Brian Sicknick is suing former President Trump over Sicknick’s death. Sicknick was one of the many officers at the Capitol that day who fought to hold off an assault by Trump’s supporters. In the melee, a rioter sprayed Sicknick in the face with bear spray, temporarily incapacitating him. Later in the day, Sicknick suffered a series of strokes and was taken to a hospital. He died the next day. Sicknick was the first, but not the last, Capitol police officer to die in the aftermath of the standoff.

The suit by Sandra Garza, Sicknick’s longtime partner, alleges that Trump “intentionally riled up the crowd” that attacked Sicknick with a “campaign of lies and incendiary rhetoric”. In addition to Trump, Garza’s suit names Julian Khater and George Tanios, the two rioters who attacked Sicknick. Garza is demanding at least $10 million in damages from each of the three defendants.

The suit alludes to evidence and testimony from the House Jan. 6 hearings and the hundreds of federal prosecutions of rioters. “Many participants in the attack have since revealed that they were acting on what they believed to be Defendant Trump’s direct orders in service of their country,” the lawsuit says. 

Click here for the full story (opens in new tab).

3.3 million American adults displaced by natural disasters last year

A new survey by the US Census Bureau found that natural disasters forced 1.3% of American adults (3.3 million) from their homes in the last years. More than half of those displaced were due to hurricanes. Others had to leave their homes due to wildfires, tornados, floods or other disasters. Of those displaced, about 1 in 6 (about 550,000 people) never returned to their homes.

Some states saw more displacement than others. About a million Floridians had to leave their homes last year due to hurricanes, as did over 400,000 in Louisiana. Indiana, Maine, North Dakota, Ohio and Oklahoma suffered the fewest displacements. 

However, another recently released study found that 90% of US counties had suffered a weather disaster between 2011 and 2021. These counties are home to  93% of the population, or about 300 million people. Some of these counties suffered as many as 12 federally declared disasters over those 11 years. This study found that California, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Iowa and Tennessee had suffered the most disasters during that decade, at least 20 each.

Click here for the full story (opens in new tab).

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Oil giant Shell to pay $2 billion in windfall tax in EU, UK for last quarter of 2022

British multinational oil company Shell has announced it expects to pay about $2 billion in windfall taxes in the UK and EU, only for the company’s profits in the last 3 months of 2022. The EU and UK have both imposed hefty windfall taxes on oil companies which have earned record profits in the last year due to the war in Ukraine. Worldwide, Shell expects to pay between $4.3 billion and $4.7billion in taxes on its fourth quarter profits alone.

The Biden administration has threatened oil giants operating in the US with such a tax to discourage them from price-gouging, but so far no such legislation has materialized.

In May, the British government imposed a 25% windfall tax on oil companies, then increased it to 35% in November. Shell’s chief executive Ben van Beurden said himself in October that it was both necessary and “inevitable” that nations would have to impose windfall taxes on energy companies to protect those most vulnerable to skyrocketing fuel costs. Speaking at an energy conference in London, Van Beurden said, “One way or another there needs to be government intervention. Protecting the poorest, that probably may then mean that governments need to tax people in this room to pay for it”.

Van Beurden stepped down as head of Shell Oil only this week.

Click here for the full story (opens in new tab).

Please share any thoughts, comments or questions in the Comments section below!