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Mega Millions numbers now up to 865 Million as people around the U.S hope to be the lucky ticket holder.

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The Mega Millions jackpot surged to $865 million this week, after no winner was declared during last Friday's drawing.

Tuesday's winning numbers: 10, 19, 26, 28, 50 , with 16 as the Megaplier.

The massive prize is the second-largest in the game's history, marking only the eighth time that the jackpot has exceeded $500 million.

The largest Mega Millions jackpot was valued at $1.537 billion and was claimed in South Carolina in 2018.

Game officials noted that three of Mega Millions' largest prizes have been won in the month of January.

However, after the IRS takes its chunk of the winnings, the prize will be notably smaller.
'JACKPOT FATIGUE' CUTTING LOTTERY TICKET SALES, SHRINKING PRIZE AMOUNTS
A person with a winning ticket is faced with two options: either take the money in the form of a lump sum or an annuity payment, which would be paid out over the course of about 30 years.

In the case of the lump sum, which is the more common choice, the winnings would be valued at $628.2 million before taxes.

Under the cash option, the jackpot is subject to federal withholding, which is an immediate 24% before the winner ever receives a cent.

That would reduce the prize amount by about $150.7 million.

The IRS would also likely tax the winnings at the highest federal income bracket, which is 37% for people with incomes in excess of $500,000. A winner would owe any difference left over between that tax rate of 37% and the federal withholding rate of 24% when the winner files tax returns at the end of the year, which would deduct another $81.6 million.
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That means about $232.3 million would be deducted in federal taxes and the lump sum jackpot would be worth roughly $395.9 million.

Depending on where the winner lives, the jackpot could also be subject to state taxes with rates that range from up to 8.82%.

Winnings are not subject to the 3.8% net investment income tax.

If the winner plans on giving money away, he or she is allowed to give up to $15,000 to as many people as desired without tax consequences.

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Mega Millions $865M jackpot: Here's the tax hit

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The Mega Millions jackpot surged to $865 million this week, after no winner was declared during last Friday's drawing. Tuesday's winning numbers: 10, 19, 26, 28, 50 , with 16 as the Megaplier. The massive prize is the second-largest in the game's history, marking only the eighth time that the jackpot has exceeded $500 million.

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Today, Biden's cabinet nominees will face a senate panel. This is the first step in the conformation process. His nominees for secretary of state, secretary of the treasury, director of national intelligence, defense secretary and secretary of Homeland Security will be facing the panel.

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how to watch biden's cabinet confirmation hearings tuesday - cnnpolitics

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How to watch Biden's Cabinet confirmation hearings Tuesday

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Five of President-elect Joe Biden's national security Cabinet nominees will face Senate panels on Tuesday in the first step of the confirmation process.

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With 5 days until Biden is sworn in there are many conerns from his Covid team. They are worried that the Trump team is not sharing all of there information, which makes it harder for them to succeed.

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biden's covid team is nervous about what the trump team hasn't told them - cnnpolitics

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Biden's Covid team is nervous about what the Trump team hasn't told them

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With the hours dwindling until Joe Biden is sworn in -- officially taking the helm of the US government during its worst health crisis in 100 years -- a sense of nervousness has set in among those advising the incoming President on the pandemic.

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Reports are that Congressmen are comparing the terrorist acts that happened on the 6th to the BLM protests that happened last summer.

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Fiery exchanges took place when House lawmakers convened Wednesday to impeach President Donald Trump for a historic second time, just one week after a mob of his supporters attacked the Capitol grounds. As Democrats railed against the insurrectionists, some Republicans repeatedly drew comparisons between last summer's Black Lives Matter protests and the Capitol siege of Jan. 6.

Comparisons between Black Lives Matter and what happened on Capitol Hill are false equivalencies, said several experts and advocates who spoke with ABC News.
'They lit actual flames!'
During Wednesday's hearing, several Congress members made impassioned cases for and against impeaching President Trump. During these speeches, some lawmakers denounced what they called the white supremacy among the Capitol rioters, while others accused Democrats of hypocrisy by supporting Black Lives Matter protests but condemning Trump supporters.

"If we fail to remove a White supremacist president who incited a white supremacist insurrection, it's communities like Missouri's first district that suffer the most," said Rep. Cori Bush of Missouri during her speech in support of impeachment. "The 117th Congress must understand that we have a mandate to legislate in defense of Black lives, the first step in that process is to root out white supremacy starting with impeaching the White supremacist in chief."

Rep. Bush made history as the first Black Congresswoman to be elected in the state. Missouri's first district has a majority Black population and usually leans blue, according to an election website.

In her speech during the hearing, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., condemned the president for "radicalizing his supporters" and "inciting them to willingly join with White supremacists, Neo-Nazis and para-military extremists in a siege of the United States Capitol building."

In a video statement released following the vote, the president condemned last week's violence, but did not take responsibility for his role in the events. In the past, the president has denied accusations of racism. During the final presidential debate on Oct. 22, when moderator Kristen Welker asked the president about racial strife and hate in America, he answered by saying he is the "least racist person in this room."

Instead of rebuking the president for any role in inciting the riot, some Republicans drew comparisons between the Capitol siege and the Black Lives Matter protests that swept across the nation last year following the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and several victims of police brutality.

Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida defended Trump, saying "some have cited the metaphor that the president lit the flames... Well, they lit actual flames!" accusing Democrats of enabling civil unrest that ensued in some cities during the BLM protests.

The unrest in some cities after some Black Lives Matter protests included vandalism and looting; however, many of these events were rooted in confrontations with police after peaceful protesters left. The vast majority of demonstrations were peaceful and leading BLM activists repeatedly distanced themselves from agent provocateurs and instigators.

BLM and the failed Capitol insurrection cannot be compared, according to Cynthia Miller-Idriss, professor of education and sociology at American University and author of "Hate in the Homeland: The New Global Far Right."

"I don't see a parallel between the two," said Miller-Idriss. "I think making a connection that there was actually incitement of violence or that there's any equivalence in the violence itself, is just absurd."

"What happened at the Capitol, you can't call that a protest anymore," said Miller-Idriss. "That was a riot, it was sedition, it was an insurrection, a siege...it was a domestic terrorist attack."

Stark differences have been pointed out between the protests for racial justice and the riot stoked by unfounded claims of a stolen presidential election.
2 sets of rules?
The majority white "Stop the Steal" mob that stormed the nation's Capitol building was a mix of several right-wing extremist groups, according to Larry Rosenthal, chair and lead researcher of the Berkeley Center for Right-Wing Studies.

Some were members of far-right armed militias. Others were right-wing populists, whom he described as "rally-goers" who are "fanatical about Donald Trump and his presidency."

Rosenthal also described two subsets within the extremist groups. One, is comprised of anti-government militias, whom he referred to as "people who don't recognize the legitimacy" of government on both state and local levels and often deem themselves "sovereign citizens." The other includes white nationalists, those he said are "electrified and mobilize[d] going on the streets to stand up to Black Lives Matter and the fantasy of Antifa".

"Donald Trump asserts his role as the leader of the right-wing militias," said Rosenthal. "Those people who call themselves 'patriots,' they have lived with the idea of a spark that would lead to the civil war ... it's been in their largely fantasy world for four decades. And suddenly, there is this summons from the president of the United States."

There was a "stark difference" in the makeup of the Black Lives Matter protests and the Capitol riots, according to professor Mark Anthony Neal, chair of the Department of African and African American Studies at Duke University.

Neal described the Black Lives Matter protests last year as "a multi-racial social justice movement, much like the civil rights movement in the 1960s."

"Many people of color, Black folks, are killed doing mundane things ... just literally sleeping in their home, walking down the block," Neal told ABC News. "What Black Lives Matter was trying to bring to the forefront was the ways in which Black and people of color are always over-policed."

Non-violent protesters during the summer faced brute force from federal officers, but rioters were met with minimal federal response.

"[Rioters] acted with an extraordinary sense of impunity," said Rosenthal. "Like nothing was going to happen to them."

Federal authorities launched an active investigation into the attack on the Capitol and there are over 275 open investigations, Acting U.S. Attorney Michael Sherwin told reporters on a conference call Friday. As of 8 a.m. Friday morning, the Department of Justice opened 98 criminal cases -- a majority of which are federal felony cases, Sherwin said.

Marc Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League, said the double standard in policing is "a long-standing issue of both covert and overt racism and how law enforcement reacts to protest. When Black people are protesting ... there's an over-militarization of communities. "

"It was as though two sets of rules apply," Morial said. "One set for these [pro-Trump] protesters and another set for not just Black Lives Matter but also civil rights protests."
Motivation behind the movements
Rioters that led the insurrection on the Capitol were a mix of "far-right extremists" and self-proclaimed patriots who believe they were called to defend democracy, according to Miller-Idriss. She described how some were "intentional in their planning" and arrived "tactically prepared to storm the Capitol" carrying weapons, cuffs and mace.

These far-right extremist groups were united by "a commitment to a tremendous set of disinformation about the election" citing unfounded claims of massive voter fraud and an illegitimate election, Miller-Idriss said.

President-elect Joe Biden won the election by more than 70 electoral votes. His victory was certified when Congress convened to ratify the Electoral College vote on Jan. 6. However, weeks after the election, Trump continuously pushed false claims and baseless theories of a rigged election, leading some to argue that it incited his followers and contributed to the siege of the Capitol.

The rioters also displayed symbols of white supremacist extremism including a noose stationed across the Capitol which, according to Miller-Idriss, "symbolizes the horrific history of lynching," but also refers to a white supremacy code that signals a "day of reckoning when traitors will be hung in the streets."

These groups were motivated by a sense of threat, Miller-Idriss said -- a "precarity" or "fear of something being taken away" they believed they deserve is what signaled the attacks on the Capitol, which she said is different from disenfranchisement felt by those supporting Black Lives Matter.

The Black Lives Matter movement was founded in 2013 after the verdict in the murder trial for the killing of Trayvon Martin, a Black teenager who was killed while walking home in Florida.

Amid a racial reckoning in 2020, BLM protests across the country fought against racial injustice, police brutality and advocated for numerous Black Americans that had been violently killed.

Neil said it's important to make the distinction between the Black Lives Matter movement and the Capitol siege.

"One movement, in the case of Black Lives Matter, is really a critique, an attempt to undermine white supremacy. In the latter case, what happened at the Capitol in January was an attempt to buttress white supremacy."
ABC News' Alexander Mallin contributed to this report.

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False equivalency between Black Lives Matter and Capitol siege: Experts, advocates

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Fiery exchanges took place when House lawmakers convened Wednesday to impeach President Donald Trump for a historic second time, just one week after a mob of his supporters attacked the Capitol grounds. As Democrats railed against the insurrectionists, some Republicans repeatedly drew comparisons between last summer's Black Lives Matter protests and the Capitol siege of Jan.

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A blizzard has been issued to the Midwest, Missouri being one of them.

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Santa Ana winds in Southern California are causing fire danger.

A strong storm system is producing lots of wind and snow in the Central U.S., with a blizzard warning issued for five states, from Minnesota to Missouri.

Already Friday morning up to half a foot of snow has fallen in Iowa and winds have been gusting at 60 to 80 mph from the Dakotas to Oklahoma.

As the storm is expected to move into the Northeast, snow alerts have been extended into upstate New York and New England.

Friday morning, 20 states are on alert for wind and snow from the Dakotas down to Texas and east to New York.

This Friday, the storm system is sitting in the western Great Lakes and throwing wind and snow from Minnesota to northern Missouri, with wind effects extending all the way to Texas.

Friday night, part of the same storm system hitting the Midwest now will move into the Northeast with heavy rain for the I-95 corridor, from Philadelphia to New York City and Boston.

One to two inches of rain are expected along the I-95 corridor and some road flooding is possible.

Further north, in upstate New York and into New England, a winter storm watch has been issued. Heavy snow (6-8 inches) is expected Saturday and Sunday.

The heaviest snow over the weekend will be in the Northeast, where a foot of snow is possible in upstate New York and northern New England.

In the Southwest, the issue is not snow but dry, gusty winds that actually helped spread a brush fire Thursday night near Los Angeles.

The brush fire was burning near Thousand Oaks, where some evacuations had to be issued.

The fire burned 250 acres, but firefighters were able to contain it overnight.

More gusty Santa Ana winds are expected in Southern California, where red flag warnings and wind alerts have been issued.

Winds could gust at 40 to 50 mph, with isolated gusts near 60 mph in the mountains.

Humidity will be at less than 10% in some areas, which will only fuel the fires.

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Blizzard warning issued for Midwest as storm moves into Northeast

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Santa Ana winds in Southern California are causing fire danger. A strong storm system is producing lots of wind and snow in the Central U.S., with a blizzard warning issued for five states, from Minnesota to Missouri.

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President elect Biden ask the senate to worry about important business then impeachment.

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President-elect Joe Biden weighed in again on the subject of impeachment late Wednesday, this time pushing the Senate, which will flip to Democrats next week, to press ahead with legislative business and push a possible trial for President Donald Trump, who will have left office, to the backburner.

"I hope that the Senate leadership will find a way to deal with their Constitutional responsibilities on impeachment while also working on the other urgent business of this nation," Biden said.

Biden reportedly remains concerned that Congress is so focused on impeaching and punishing Trump that he will lose the precious time he needs to pass his agenda. Presidents typically have just 100 days to introduce major pieces of legislation and just 18 months to press a full agenda, and if the Senate is fully focused on holding Trump's impeachment trial - a commitment required by the Constitution - it will overshadow any attempt by the Biden Administration to effect change.

"From confirmations to key posts such as secretaries for Homeland Security, State, Defense, Treasury, and director of national intelligence, to getting our vaccine program on track, and to getting our economy going again," Biden said, earlier this week. "Too many of our fellow Americans have suffered for too long over the past year to delay this urgent work."

Biden is most interested in passing another coronavirus relief bill to supplement the COVID-19 aid package passed by Congress in mid-December. On Thursday, he announced some details of his plan, including $1400 supplemental checks for individual taxpayers - checks that would bring the total supplemental individual benefit to $2000 per person.

The president-elect wants that measure passed within the first few days of his administration and, on Tuesday, pleaded with lawmakers to consider a half-day schedule for an impeachment trial.

"Can we go half-day on dealing with the impeachment and half-day getting my people nominated and confirmed in the Senate, as well as moving on a package? That's my hope and expectation," Biden said.

It's increasingly clear that even if a Senate impeachment trial began on Friday - with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) declaring an emergency session - it will not conclude before Biden is sworn in on January 20th, which McConnell noted in a statement made on Tuesday.

"Even if the Senate process were to begin this week and move promptly, no final verdict would be reached until after President Trump had left office," McConnell said. "This is not a decision I am making; it is a fact."

The difficulty Biden and Democrats face, though, is it is not clear a Senate impeachment trial can take place after an impeached president has left office - and it is also not clear whether the Senate can divide their time while handling impeachment proceedings. Guidelines for impeachment trials suggest that all Senators to be present for the trial and for the trial to consume the Senate's business hours for up to six days per week until it concludes.
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Biden Urges Senate To Focus On Important Buiness Over Impeachment

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President-elect Joe Biden weighed in again on the subject of impeachment late Wednesday, this time pushing the Senate, which will flip to Democrats next week, to press ahead with legislative business and push a possible trial for President Donald Trump, who will have left office, to the backburner.

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Covid vaccines are causing more problems in some cases.

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The rapid expansion of COVID-19 vaccinations to senior citizens across the U.S. has led to bottlenecks, system crashes and hard feelings in many states because of overwhelming demand for the shots.

Mississippi's Health Department stopped taking new appointments the same day it began accepting them because of a "monumental surge" in requests. People had to wait hours to book vaccinations through a state website or a toll-free number Tuesday and Wednesday, and many were booted off the site because of technical problems and had to start over.

In California, counties begged for more coronavirus vaccine to reach millions of their senior citizens. Hospitals in South Carolina ran out of appointment slots within hours. Phone lines were jammed in Georgia.
NORTH CAROLINA NURSE WHO WORKS IN COVID-19 UNIT WINS $1 MILLION PRIZE
"It's chaos," said New York City resident Joan Jeffri, 76, who had to deal with broken hospital web links and unanswered phone calls before her daughter helped her secure an appointment. "If they want to vaccinate 80% of the population, good luck, if this is the system. We'll be here in five years."

Up until the past few days, health care workers and nursing home patients had been given priority in most places around the U.S. But amid frustration over the slow rollout, states have thrown open the line to many of the nation's 54 million senior citizens with the blessing of President Donald Trump's administration, though the minimum age varies from place to place, at 65, 70 or higher.

On Thursday, New Jersey expanded vaccinations to people between 16 and 65 with certain medical conditions - including up to 2 million smokers, who are more prone to health complications.

The U.S., meanwhile, recorded 3,848 deaths on Wednesday, down from an all-time high of 4,327 the day before, according to Johns Hopkins University. The nation's overall death toll from COVID-19 has topped 385,000.

President-elect Joe Biden unveiled a $1.9 trillion coronavirus plan Thursday that includes speeding up vaccinations. Called the "American Rescue Plan," the legislative proposal would meet Biden's goal of administering 100 million vaccines by the 100th day of his administration.

More than 11.1 million Americans, or over 3% of the U.S. population, have gotten their first shot of the vaccine, a gain of about 800,000 from the day before, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday. The goal of inoculating anywhere between 70% and 85% of the population to achieve herd immunity and conquer the outbreak is still many months away.

Hard-hit Los Angeles County, the nation's most populous county with 10 million residents, said it couldn't immediately provide shots to the elderly because it had inoculated only about a quarter of its 800,000 health care workers.

"We're not done with our health care workers, and we actually don't have enough vaccine right now to be able to get done more quickly," Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said. "We haven't heard back from the state about vaccine availability and how it would be distributed."

Santa Clara County health officials said the county of 2 million people had only enough vaccine to inoculate people 75 and older, not the 65-and-older crowd.
CORONAVIRUS HAS INFECTED 1 IN 3 PEOPLE IN LOS ANGELES SINCE START OF PANDEMIC
"It's almost like a beauty contest. And this should not be a beauty contest," County Supervisor Cindy Chavez said. "This is about life and death."

In Mississippi, officials said new appointments will probably have to wait until a hoped-for shipment of vaccine in mid-February.

In South Carolina, Kershaw Health in Camden implored people not to call its hospitals or doctors to schedule vaccination appointments after receiving more than 1,000 requests in two days. State health authorities said their hot line got 5,000 calls on Wednesday.

Francis Clark said she tried repeatedly to schedule an appointment for her 81-year-old mother, who lives alone outside Florence, South Carolina, and doesn't have internet access. But the local hospital had no openings on Wednesday, Clark said, and the other vaccination sites are too far away.

"My mom can't drive to Charleston," Clark said. "She's too old."

Allison Salerno, an audio producer from Athens, Georgia, said she spent the better part of a day calling her state's health department to get a vaccine appointment for her 89-year-old mother.

"I started calling at 8:30 a.m. and on the 67th call I was finally put on hold," Salerno said. "I had already pre-registered her two weeks before online, but I never received a confirmation."

After Salerno had spent 65 minutes on hold, someone finally came on the line and gave her mother a Saturday appointment.

"My mother has not been out since the beginning of the pandemic," Salerno said. "She's a very healthy woman and she wants to go to the grocery store, she wants to get her hair done."

Meanwhile, some states, like Minnesota, are waiting before throwing open the doors.

"As we learn more, we will work to make sure everyone who is eligible for a vaccine knows how, where, and when they can get their shots," the state Health Department said in an email. "Everyone's opportunity to get vaccinated will come; it will just take some time."

Arizona, which had the nation's highest COVID-19 diagnosis rate over the past week, will start signing up people 65 and older next week. It also plans to open a vaccination site at Phoenix Municipal Stadium in addition to the one dispensing thousands of shots daily at the home of the NFL's Arizona Cardinals.

To step up the pace of vaccinations, South Carolina made a rule change allowing medical students, retired nurses and other certain professionals to administer the shots.
CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE
California lawmakers are increasing the pressure on Gov. Gavin Newsom to likewise expand authorization for who can give injections to include nursing students, retired medical workers, firefighters and National Guard members with medical training.

Newsom said the state's priority is to deliver vaccines "as quickly as possible to those who face the gravest consequences." He urged patience for those not yet eligible, saying: "Your turn is coming."

Jeffri, the New Yorker, spent several days trying to book a vaccination and once actually received a slot, only to get a follow-up text saying they didn't have the doses. Finally, with some online sleuthing from her daughter, the retired arts-administration professor got an appointment for her first shot - two weeks from now.

"It's a relief," said Jeffri, who wrote to Gov. Andrew Cuomo about her ordeal. "But I'm not sure I trust it until it's done."

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Expanded COVID-19 vaccine rollout in US spawns a new set of problems

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The rapid expansion of COVID-19 vaccinations to senior citizens across the U.S. has led to bottlenecks, system crashes and hard feelings in many states because of overwhelming demand for the shots. Mississippi's Health Department stopped taking new appointments the same day it began accepting them because of a "monumental surge" in requests.

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Biden is discussing and trying to fund a 2T dollar stimulus and the stock market is thriving because of it.

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U.S. equity markets rallied Thursday morning as traders awaited details of President-elect Joe Biden's proposed COVID-19 relief package.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 95 points, or 09.31%, in the opening minutes of trading while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were higher by 0.23% and 0.3%, respectively.

BIDEN'S FORTCOMING STIMULUS PLAN JUICES STOCKS

Biden's proposal, which is expected to cost up to $2 trillion, could extend more help to households and businesses in addition to easing the burden on state and local governments. Soon-to-be Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, was seeking a $1.3 trillion COVID-19 relief package.

Elsewhere on Capitol Hill, President Trump on Wednesday was impeached for "incitement of insurrection." The 232 to 197 vote saw all House Democrats and 10 of their Republican counterparts back the measure. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said the upper chamber won't be able to begin a trial until Jan. 19 at the earliest - one day before Biden's inauguration.

Looking at stocks, Delta Air Lines Inc. halved its daily cash burn to $12 million during the three months through December while posting a slightly larger quarterly loss than Wall Street analysts had expected. The Atlanta-based airline lost a record $12.39 billion last year.

BlackRock Inc. reported quarterly earnings and revenue that exceeded estimates as assets under management reached a record $8.68 trillion. On Friday a trio of big banks will report results including JPMorgan, Wells Fargo and Citigroup.

Elsewhere, Tesla Inc. was asked by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to recall 158,000 vehicles due to failing touchscreens.

Meanwhile, GameStop Corp. surged for a second straight day amid a presumed short squeeze as short interest recently hit 138% of shares outstanding. Shares of the video-game retailer gained 58% Wednesday.

Intel Corp. shares continued their momentum from Wednesday when they gained 6.97% following the news that CEO Bob Swan would step down next month. He will be replaced by VMWare Inc. chief executive Pat Gelsinger.

In deal news, Google and Fitbit have closed their $2.1 billion deal after U.K. regulators approved the transaction. In a company blog, Google

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 46 cents to $52.45 per barrel and gold slid $9.70 to $1,845.20 an ounce.

Britain's FTSE 100 paced the gains in Europe, advancing 0.5%, Germany's DAX 30 adding 0.24% and France's CAC 30 edging up 0.17%.

Asian markets ended mixed with China's Shanghai Composite index falling 0.91% while Japan's Nikkei 225 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index climbed 0.85% and 0.93%, respectively.

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Stocks rally ahead of Biden coronavirus stimulus plan

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U.S. equity markets rallied Thursday morning as traders awaited details of President-elect Joe Biden's proposed COVID-19 relief package. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 95 points, or 09.31%, in the opening minutes of trading while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were higher by 0.23% and 0.3%, respectively.

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Wisconsin prosecutors are asking a judge to restrict Kyle Rittenhouse from going to bars and interacting with white supremacist groups because he was spotted drinking in a bar at 18 years old as well as posing for a picture with two men, while all of them were gesturing the "OK" sign which has been used by white supremacists. Inside the bar 5 men sang "Proud of your Boy" to Rittenhouse, a newly adopted anthem for the white supremacist group Proud Boys.

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Prosecutors in Wisconsin have asked a judge to order an Illinois teen charged with killing two people and wounding a third in a violent protest over a police shooting to stay out of bars and away from white supremacist groups

KENOSHA, Wis. -- Prosecutors in Wisconsin have asked a judge to order an Illinois teen charged with killing two people and wounding a third in a violent protest over a police shooting to stay out of bars and away from white supremacist groups.

The request comes a week after Kyle Rittenhouse, 18, was seen drinking at a bar in the southeastern Wisconsin city of Mount Pleasant, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of Milwaukee, after he pleaded not guilty to homicide and other charges resulting from the Aug. 25 shooting in Kenosha.

The city saw several nights of chaotic protests after a white Kenosha police officer shot Jacob Blake, who is Black, in the back seven times, partially paralyzing him.

The Associated Press left a message seeking comment Thursday with Rittenhouse's defense lawyer Mark Richards.

Rittenhouse, who is white, is free on $2 million bond. After his Jan. 5 arraignment, Rittenhouse, his mother and several other adults went to Pudgy's Pub, where he was seen drinking beer, according to prosecutors. Although the drinking age is 21, Rittenhouse could legally drink alcohol in Wisconsin because he was with his mother.

The prosecutors' motion states that Rittenhouse posed outside the bar for a photo with two men as they all gestured an "OK" sign with their hands, which has become a symbol used by white supremacists.

The motion also said five men at the tavern serenaded Rittenhouse with the song "Proud of Your Boy," which has become the anthem of the Proud Boys, a white supremacist group whose members have been identified as being involved in the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

"The defendant's continued association with members of a group that prides itself on violence, and the use of their symbols, raises the significant possibility of future harm. Further, this association may serve to intimidate potential witnesses," the motion reads.

A hearing on the prosecutors' request has not yet been scheduled.

Richards has said Rittenhouse, of Antioch, Illinois, was acting in self-defense when he killed Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber, and wounded Gaige Grosskreutz, with an assault-style rifle. Rittenhouse told police he was guarding a private business during the protest that night.

The widespread unrest in Kenosha happened after Officer Rusten Sheskey shot Blake on Aug. 23 while responding to a domestic disturbance. Hundreds were arrested, and multiple businesses were destroyed. A Wisconsin prosecutor on Jan. 5 declined to file charges against Sheskey, concluding he couldn't disprove the officer's contention that he acted in self-defense.

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Prosecutors seek restrictions on Rittenhouse after bar stop

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Prosecutors in Wisconsin have asked a judge to order an Illinois teen charged with killing two people and wounding a third in a violent protest over a police shooting to stay out of bars and away from white supremacist groups

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The U.S. executes Lisa Montgomery. She is now the first woman put to death in the federal system since 1953. Montgomery was convicted of strangling a Missouri woman in 2004 and taking her unborn baby. Her lawyers argue that she had severe mental illness.

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Lisa Montgomery, a convicted killer who strangled a pregnant woman and then cut the unborn baby from her womb, was executed in a federal prison in Indiana early Wednesday. She was the first woman executed in the federal system in nearly seven decades.

Montgomery was convicted of strangling a Missouri woman who was eight months pregnant in 2004 and taking the unborn baby, who survived.

The 52-year-old woman was pronounced dead at 1:31 a.m. Wednesday after receiving a lethal injection at the federal prison complex in Terre Haute, Indiana, the Federal Bureau of Prisons said.

The Supreme Court early Wednesday lifted an appeals court stay that had blocked the execution, and it denied a request for a stay filed by Montgomery's attorneys that raised mental illness concerns.

"The craven bloodlust of a failed administration was on full display tonight," Kelley Henry, an attorney for Montgomery, said in a statement.

Henry has said that Montgomery suffered from severe mental illness that was "exacerbated by the lifetime of sexual torture she suffered at the hands of caretakers," and her lawyers sought a chance to prove her incompetence.

The execution of Montgomery comes in the waning days of the Trump administration, which in 2019 announced plans to carry out the first federal executions in 17 years. President-elect Joe Biden has suggested he would put a moratorium on the federal death penalty.

Montgomery was initially set to be executed in December, but the date was delayed after her attorneys, who are based in Nashville, Tennessee, contracted the coronavirus amid traveling to Texas and working on her case.

The spread of Covid-19 across prisons, including at the Indiana, facility where all federal executions take place, contributed to increased criticism over the resumption of the federal death penalty last year, even as states put a halt to executions.

With Wednesday's lethal injection, the Trump administration has put 11 people to death over the past seven months, amounting to the most executions in a presidential lame-duck period in more than 130 years.

Montgomery's execution, which had been planned for Tuesday, was one of three scheduled by the Department of Justice this week.

In a ruling Tuesday, U.S. Judge Tanya S. Chutkan ruled to stay the two other federal executions scheduled for this week, those of Dustin Higgs and Corey Johnson.

Johnson, convicted of killing seven people related to drug trafficking in Virginia, and Higgs, convicted of ordering the murders of three women in Maryland, both tested positive for Covid-19 last month.

Chutkan wrote in her decision that it is not in the public interest to execute the two men.

In December 2004, Montgomery, then 36 and living in Kansas, crossed state lines to the Missouri home of Bobbie Jo Stinnett, whom she met at a dog show, federal prosecutors said. Stinnett was eight months pregnant.

Montgomery strangled Stinnett with a rope and used a kitchen knife she had brought from home to remove the fetus, according to court documents. The baby girl survived. Montgomery tried to pass her off as her own, but was quickly arrested and later convicted by a jury and sentenced unanimously to death.

Montgomery had been incarcerated in an all-female federal prison in Fort Worth, Texas, where staff is trained to deal with mental health issues. Her lawyers said they aren't arguing that she didn't deserve to be punished, but rather the jury never fully learned of her severe mental illnesses diagnosed by doctors.

In a nearly 7,000-page clemency petition filed this month to Trump, her lawyers say her mother's alcoholism caused her to be born brain-damaged and "resulted in incurable and significant psychiatric disabilities." They also detailed Montgomery's claims of physical abuse, rape and torture at the hands of her stepfather and others and being sex trafficked by her mother.

"Everything about this case is overwhelmingly sad," the petition says. "As human beings we want to turn away. It is easy to call Mrs. Montgomery evil and a monster, as the Government has. She is neither."

Diane Mattingly, an older sister of Montgomery, told reporters last week that she, too, suffered sexual abuse in the home before being placed in foster care. She has been vocal in recent months that her sister's life should be spared.

"I went into a place where I was loved and cared for and shown self-worth," Mattingly said. "I had a good foundation. Lisa did not, and she broke. She literally broke."

In October, the Justice Department described the case as an "especially heinous" murder. The Missouri community where her victim had lived gathered last month to remember Stinnett, with some expressing support of Montgomery's execution.

The U.S. government last executed a female inmate in 1953, when Bonnie Brown Heady of Missouri was put to death for the kidnapping and murder of a young boy in a ransom plot.

Kimberly Flores Gaynor contributed.

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U.S. executes Lisa Montgomery, first woman put to death in federal system since 1953

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Lisa Montgomery, a convicted killer who strangled a pregnant woman and then cut the unborn baby from her womb, was executed in a federal prison in Indiana early Wednesday. She was the first woman executed in the federal system in nearly seven decades.

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Lisa Montgomery was the first woman to be excecated in over 60 years. She was excecated on Wednesday because of killing a pregnant woman nearly 17 years ago in 2004.

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lisa montgomery: federal government executes the first woman in nearly 70 years - cnn

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Federal government executes the first woman in nearly 70 years

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The Supreme Court early Wednesday denied a last-ditch effort by defense attorneys who were arguing that Lisa Montgomery, the only woman on federal death row, should have been given a competency hearing to prove her severe mental illness, which would have made her ineligible for the death penalty.

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Mayor Bill de Blasio announced New York City will be terminating its contracts with Trump after the events of January 6th at the capital. De Blasio says he is severing ties with the Trump Organization because he had incited violence against the US government. He states, "The City of New York will no longer have anything to do with the Trump Organization."

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New York City is terminating its contracts with the Trump Organization because of the mob riot at the U.S. Capitol, Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Wednesday.

The contracts are for two ice-skating rinks at Central Park, the Central Park Carousel and the Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point, a city-owned golf course in the Bronx.

Mr. de Blasio said he was ending the relationship because President Trump had incited violence.

"Inciting an insurrection against the U.S. government clearly constitutes criminal activity," Mr. de Blasio said in an interview on MSNBC on Wednesday. "The City of New York will no longer have anything to do with the Trump Organization."

While the city has considered canceling the Trump Organization's contracts before, Mr. de Blasio said the violence in Washington qualified as criminal activity under which New York City had the right to sever ties with a company.

The city's decision is a strong rebuke from Mr. Trump's hometown, which he repeatedly attacked on the campaign trail as he ran unsuccessfully for a second term.

Mr. Trump's name had already been stripped from private properties, including the Trump SoHo hotel, now the Dominick, and some former Trump Place condominiums in Manhattan.

The Trump Organization operates Wollman Rink, near Central Park's southern edge, and Lasker Rink, in the northern end of the park. Both contracts were set to expire in April.

Mr. de Blasio's office said it was notifying the Trump Organization that the city was starting the process of canceling the agreements. The cancellation for the carousel, which is currently closed, would take effect in 25 days; the skating rinks would take effect in 30 days, city officials said. The golf course contract is more complex and could take several months to void.

Mr. de Blasio said on Wednesday that city's deal for the golf course with the Trump Organization "never should have been made in the first place."

Mr. de Blasio first proposed severing the city's ties with the company in 2015, when Mr. Trump made comments disparaging Latinos. But some legal experts argued then that voiding the contracts would not hold up in court.

The agreements contain language that forbids "arbitrary" or "capricious" reasons for cancellation if the decision appeared to be motivated simply by personal animus toward the president.

Mark Levine, a Democratic city councilman from Manhattan who has long supported cutting ties with the Trump Organization, celebrated the news.

"This is a welcome and long (years!) overdue step," he wrote on Twitter.

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New York City Will End Contracts With Trump Over Capitol Riot

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New York City is terminating its contracts with the Trump Organization because of the mob riot at the U.S. Capitol, Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Wednesday. The contracts are for two ice-skating rinks at Central Park, the Central Park Carousel and the Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point, a city-owned golf course in the Bronx.