Convicted US Capitol rioter dies by suicide before sentencing
PITTSBURGH — A Capitol rioter from Mercer County killed himself Friday.
Matt Perna, who was awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to four counts related to the Capitol breach, died of a "broken heart," his family said in his obituary.
The Mercer County Coroner's office on Tuesday confirmed that Perna committed suicide at his residence. He was 37.
His family partly blamed the government and the prosecution of his case for his fate. "His community, which he loved, his country and the justice system killed his spirit and his zest for life," the obituary said.
"The constant delays in hearings and postponements dragged out for over a year. Because of this, Matt's heart broke and his spirit died and many people are responsible for the pain he endured."
Perna drove to Washington on Jan. 6 to attend the Donald Trump rally falsely declaring that the election was stolen.
He marched on the Capitol and entered the building wearing a "Make America Great Again" sweatshirt. He stayed inside for 20 minutes, filming with his phone and chanting "U.S.A." with the crowd.
A Penn State graduate, Perna had lived in Thailand and South Korea at one time, teaching English, his family said. He also traveled extensively in Europe, Asia, India and South America and had gone on a mission trip to Haiti.
—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Loaded gun found in girl's lunchbox, NC school officials say
RALEIGH, N.C. — A loaded handgun was found inside an 11-year-old's lunchbox after students alerted their band teacher, officials said.
Now, the sixth-grader will be suspended from Parkton Elementary School for a year, according to the Public Schools of Robeson County. The district also said the girl's parents could be charged after the incident on Monday.
Just after noon, officials said a band teacher heard about a possible weapon and told a school resource officer. The girl was isolated, and the gun was found during a search of her belongings, district spokesperson Gordon Burnette told McClatchy News in a phone interview.
No one was injured during the incident at Parkton Elementary, a K-8 campus located in a rural area roughly 80 miles southwest of Raleigh.
It's not the first time a gun has been reported on a Robeson County campus.
In December, a second-grader was accused of bringing a gun to an elementary school and showing it to another child at recess. Two months earlier, officials said a loaded gun was found in a kindergartner's backpack.
Several other firearms have been located in or near high schools, McClatchy News reported. Random searches have started at the high school level, and that strategy could expand to other campuses.
"More enhanced safety measures will be something that our district looks into for the future," Burnette said. "But right now in particular with this incident, we just want to say thank you to those students who did stand up and speak out and might have saved some lives within that school."
—The News & Observer
Herschel Walker won’t go to Greene event after her speech
ATLANTA — U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker pulled out of a weekend event organized by U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene after she spoke at a white nationalist rally where attendees cheered Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and chanted Vladimir Putin’s name.
Walker had planned to speak Saturday at Greene’s “Second Amendment and Freedom Rally” in Rome alongside U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, strategist Stephen Bannon and other far-right figures.
But his campaign told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Tuesday that he will no longer participate in the rally, which was to promote a gun rights expansion in Georgia. His campaign spokeswoman offered no additional comment.
Other Republicans, including former U.S. Sen. David Perdue, said they still plan to attend.
Walker’s decision is just the latest sign that Republicans in Georgia and across the nation are distancing themselves from Greene, who has a long history of hateful, xenophobic and antisemitic remarks, along with social media posts endorsing violence against political opponents.
U.S. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and other top Republican figures have condemned her decision to speak at the America First Political Action Conference, a group organized by white nationalist Nick Fuentes.
—The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Judge sees justice in keeping accused school shooter jailed
PONTIAC, Mich. — An Oakland County Circuit Court judge ruled Tuesday that the county jail is the appropriate place to house accused Oxford High School shooter Ethan Crumbley and denied requests to have him transferred to the county's Children's Village juvenile facility.
Judge Kwame Rowe heard arguments last week from defense attorneys and the Oakland County Prosecutor's Office regarding the placement of the 15-year-old charged with fatally shooting four fellow students and wounding six others and a teacher in the Nov. 30 incident at his school. He has been held in the Oakland County Jail since his arrest that day.
Crumbley's attorney argued the teen is being kept in isolation and monitored in jail and that was inappropriate for their young client who would receive better care and treatment at Children's Village with other teenagers.
In a 12-page opinion, Rowe said after weighing all testimony and evidence he believed "justice was best served" with Crumbley remaining in the Oakland County Jail.
Crumbley faces 24 felony charges that carry a penalty of up to life imprisonment.
Attorneys have filed intentions to raise an insanity defense on Crumbley's behalf.
His next hearing is scheduled for March 24.
—The Detroit News
