1. Paris Terror Attack
One police officer is dead and two are wounded after a known terror suspect opened fire in Paris Thursday. The attack occurred on the city’s famous avenue, the Champs-Élysées. Authorities shot and killed the lone assailant, who had a troubling criminal record that included additional attacks on police officers. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for Thursday’s shooting, which comes just days before France’s presidential election.
ISIS claims responsibility for attack on Paris's Champs-Élysées that left one officer dead and two others injured. https://t.co/EgnnLCLF0S pic.twitter.com/mbX3Sx4aiM
— ABC News (@ABC) April 20, 2017
2. Arkansas Executes First Criminal Since 2005
On Thursday evening, Arkansas state prison officials executed inmate Ledell Lee, 51, marking the state’s first execution in more than a decade. The U.S. Supreme Court signed off on Lee’s execution about a half-hour before the warrant for his death was set to expire at midnight. Lee was one of eight inmates originally scheduled to be put to death before a lethal injection drug expires on April 30. Some of the executions, however, were overturned due to recent court decisions.
3. Federal Officials Prepare Charges Against WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange
The United States Justice Department will pursue a criminal case against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, CNN reported. WikiLeaks entered the national spotlight in 2010 after publishing a series of stolen files pertaining to U.S. national security. More recently, the site came under fire for releasing thousands of emails from the Democratic National Committee’s database during the 2016 presidential election. The pending charges come after U.S. authorities found what they believe to be incriminating evidence linking WikiLeaks and Assange to former NSA analyst Edward Snowden’s massive disclosure of classified documents.
4. DREAMer Controversy
This week 23-year-old Juan Manuel Montes-Bojoquez filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, claiming that he was unjustly deported. U.S. officials have denied the allegations, noting that Montes-Bojoquez violated the terms of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program, which allowed the Mexican national to work in the United States legally.
The federal judge presiding over the case is Gonzalo Curiel, who also heard the controversial Trump University case earlier this year.
5. ICYMI: O’Reilly Exit
Earlier this week, Fox News veteran Billy O’Reilly was fired amid a series of sexual harassment allegations. “The O’Reilly Factor” host has called the claims “completely unfounded.” On Thursday, several outlets reported that O’Reilly could receive a parting package of $25 million, the equivalent of his yearly salary. O’Reilly’s departure comes months after Fox chairman Roger Ailes resigned following multiple sexual harassment allegations.
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