Milwaukee, United States:

The gunman who shot at former president Donald Trump during an election rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday appears to have acted alone, according to the FBI, which is investigating it as a potential “domestic terrorism” act.

The gunman has been identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks (20).

“At this point in the investigation, it appears that he was a lone actor, but we still have more investigation to go,” said Robert Wells, the executive assistant director of the FBI’s National Security Branch.

The FBI, he said, is investigating this as an assassination attempt,” and also as a “potential domestic terrorism act.” The counterterrorism division and criminal divisions are working jointly together to determine the motive, he added.

The FBI is leading the investigation into the assassination attempt of Trump at an election rally in Pennsylvania.

Trump was hit with a bullet that pierced the upper part of his right ear. He is now safe and is continuing with his schedule that includes travelling to Milwaukee to attend the Republican National Convention, which would formally nominate him as the party’s presidential nominee against incumbent Joe Biden.

“The shooter may be deceased, but the investigation is very much ongoing. And, because of that, we are limited in what we say at this point,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said.

“What we witnessed yesterday was nothing short of an attack on democracy and our democratic process,” he told reporters at a news conference in Washington DC.

According to an FBI official, the investigation into the gunman at Donald Trump’s rally Saturday has not yet turned up any mental health issues, threatening posts or other motives, but cautioned it was still early.

The shooter, as per FBI, used an AR-style rifle chambered in 5.56mm, a common calibre for such weapons.

The New York Times said authorities were scouring the gunman’s social media and other property as they sought to determine a motive for the attack.

Biden is likely to address the nation at 8 pm from the Oval Office. He will give “a forceful and needed address to update the nation on the horrifying attack on Donald Trump and the need for every American to come together to not just condemn, but put to an end political violence in this country once and for all,” a campaign official told the daily.

Crooks graduated from the Community College of Allegheny County two months ago, earning an associate degree in engineering science, school officials said in a statement, adding that they were “shocked and saddened by the horrific turn of events.” Kimberly Cheatle, the director of the Secret Service, in a memo to her agents said “the attempted assassination of former President Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, is a moment that will forever be remembered in history.”

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Washington:

Chinese government-linked hackers have burrowed into U.S. critical infrastructure and are waiting “for just the right moment to deal a devastating blow,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said on Thursday.

An ongoing Chinese hacking campaign known as Volt Typhoon has successfully gained access to numerous American companies in telecommunications, energy, water and other critical sectors, with 23 pipeline operators targeted, Wray said in a speech at Vanderbilt University.

China is developing the “ability to physically wreak havoc on our critical infrastructure at a time of its choosing,” Wray said at the 2024 Vanderbilt Summit on Modern Conflict and Emerging Threats. “Its plan is to land low blows against civilian infrastructure to try to induce panic.”

Wray said it was difficult to determine the intent of this cyber pre-positioning which was aligned with China’s broader intent to deter the U.S. from defending Taiwan.

China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control. Taiwan strongly objects to China’s sovereignty claims and says only the island’s people can decide their future.

Earlier this week, a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson said Volt Typhoon was in fact unrelated to China’s government, but is part of a criminal ransomware group.

In a statement, China’s Embassy in Washington referred back to the MFA spokesperson’s comment. “Some in the US have been using origin-tracing of cyberattacks as a tool to hit and frame China, claiming the US to be the victim while it’s the other way round, and politicizing cybersecurity issues.”

Wray said China’s hackers operated a series of botnets – constellations of compromised personal computers and servers around the globe – to conceal their malicious cyber activities. Private sector American technology and cybersecurity companies previously attributed Volt Typhoon to China, including reports by security researchers with Microsoft and Google.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) are investigating one of the largest cash heists in the city’s history after as much as $30 million was stolen from a money storage facility. According to CBS News, the break-in took place on Easter Sunday at the Gardaworld facility in Sylmar where cash from businesses across the region is handled and stored. The robbery somehow went undetected until the next morning, with no sign on the outside of the safe that anything was amiss. 

As per CBS, the thieves gained access to the building and entered the vault without setting off the alarms. Officials said that very few people would have known about the cash being stored at the facility, therefore, they are investigating whether the group had inside knowledge of the facility. 

“The LAPD and the FBI have a joint investigation into an alleged burglary that occurred on Sunday evening, March 31, 2024. No additional information related to the incident is being released,” the agencies said in a joint statement. 

Separately, according to The Independent, an employee who works at the facility said that there were multiple questions surrounding the mysterious break-in. “It’s just mind blowing that you would never suspect it. $30 million in the Valley, gone. How? Why? I’m still trying to process it,” the employee said. 

“Was it an inside job? Was it just one person? Was it a group? You know, there’s a lot of questions,” he added. 

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Officers from the LAPD and the FBI are investigating the robbery. No arrests have been made yet and a manhunt is underway for those responsible.

Meanwhile, previously the largest cash heist in Los Angeles happened on September 12, 1997, when $18.9 million was stolen from the former site of the Dunbar Armored facility on Mateo Street. Those suspects were eventually caught.

In 2022, around $100 million worth of jewels was also stolen from a truck at a stop off The Grapevine highway. This case remains unsolved. 

A file photo of a jewellery store in the U.S. (Photo used for representational purpose only.)
| Photo Credit: Reuters

A total of 16 members of a major crime ring have been arrested for allegedly committing multiple violent armed robberies targeting Indian and other Asian jewellery stores across four east coast U.S. states in a span of one year.

Federal law enforcement arrested eight suspects on Wednesday, while the remaining eight were apprehended previously, according to a release by the U.S. attorney’s office, District of Columbia.

According to the indictment, between January 7, 2022 and January 27, 2023, the defendants conspired in the District of Columbia to commit robberies in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Florida, targeting jewellery stores owned by Asian Americans.

The charge sheet listed nine “South Asian” jewellery shops that were targeted by the gang. Out of those, at least four could be identified as owned by people of Indian origin.

The gang disguised in dark clothing, masks and gloves, armed with a gun and used stolen vehicles to commit and flee from the robberies, the press release issued on Wednesday said.

“The defendants targeted small businesses along the East Coast, stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of jewellery from hardworking families,” said assistant director in-charge David Sundberg.

“For the past 20 months, the FBI worked with our partners across state lines to connect the defendants to these heists. Today’s indictment is a testament to the strength of our partnerships and the commitment we all share to eradicating violent crime,” Mr. Sundberg said.

FBI-Newark Special Agent in-charge James Dennehy said that the suspects took part in take-over-style armed robberies meant to terrify and overwhelm store owners and employees.

“We allege these suspects took part in take-over style armed robberies meant to terrify and overwhelm store owners and employees,” Mr. Dennehy said.

“Many of the victim businesses are family owned and operated and have lost large sums of inventory. The alleged violent and reckless actions of the subjects are astounding; they gave no thought to the people who could have been seriously injured or even killed,” he said.

U.S. Attorney Graves said that with an increasing number of robbery schemes that cross state lines, “collaborative operations like this one are critical to holding accountable those who threaten the safety of our communities.” “Search warrants were also executed resulting in the seizure of multiple guns and approximately $3,00,000 from a safe in one of the residences,” the press release said.

The arrested have been slammed with 19 charges including conspiracy to interfere with interstate commerce (known as Hobbs Act) robbery.

According to the law, the maximum sentence for Hobbs Act robbery is 20 years in prison while the use of a firearm to further the severity of crime carries a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years with a maximum possible sentence of life.

“A federal judge will determine the appropriate sentence after considering sentencing guidelines and other factors,” it said.