FORT PIERCE, Fla.
Man charged in mosque fire
A 32-year-old Florida man was arrested and is facing a charge of arson and hate crime in a fire that heavily damaged a mosque that Orlando nightclub gunman Omar Mateen attended, authorities announced Wednesday. Joseph Michael Schreiber was arrested without incident Wednesday afternoon and was being interrogated by investigators looking into the fire set late Sunday at the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce, said Maj. David Thompson of the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office. Thompson said the arson charge, coupled with a hate crime enhancement under Florida law, carries a sentence of up to 30 years in prison.
CHICAGO
Alleged gang leaders on trial
Six purported leaders of Chicago’s powerful Hobos street gang went on trial Wednesday in a case that could provide a rare look inside the kind of criminal activity fueling gun violence in the nation’s third-largest city. A prosecutor displayed photos of killing scenes and held up assault rifles during opening statements, telling jurors the defendants murdered, maimed and tortured their way into controlling lucrative drug markets on Chicago’s South Side. The trial is the biggest of its kind in recent city history and could take up to three months.
WASHINGTON
Emails reveal Powell’s views
In a trove of newly leaked emails, former Secretary of State Colin Powell calls Donald Trump “a national disgrace” and suggests his own Republican Party is “crashing and burning.” Powell also laments Hillary Clinton’s attempt to equate her use of private email at the State Department with his. The emails, posted on the website DCLeaks.com and first reported by Buzzfeed News late Tuesday, offer insight into the unvarnished opinions of the respected retired Army general who was secretary of state under President George W. Bush.
NEW YORK
Sculpture’s design unveiled
The developer behind a cluster of skyscrapers rising near the Hudson River raised eyebrows when he boasted the project would be anchored by a monumental sculpture that would be the city’s Eiffel Tower. After months of secrecy and speculation, plans for the work of public art were unveiled Wednesday. And while the price tag was a big-league $150 million, only time will tell whether New Yorkers embrace the 150-foot-tall work of art. The concrete and steel structure looks like an inverted honeycomb. People will be able to climb it.
Compiled from wire reports