Millions of Americans will attend parades, fireworks, barbecues and other Independence Day events, celebrating the courage and sacrifices of the nation’s 18th century patriots who fought for the nation’s independence from England and what they considered an unjust government.

A former neo-Nazi has pleaded guilty to fatally shooting his two Florida roommates in 2017.

Experts say far-right groups in the U.S. are taking a more dangerously radical turn as four men go on trial in an alleged scheme to kidnap Michigan’s governor.

Eteri Tutberidze's young pupils have dominated women's figure skating for the past eight years.

Virginia Democrats who have fought for criminal justice and police reforms since 2020 are worried that their progress could be rolled back by the new Republican majority in the House of Delegates.

Attorneys say the man who killed five people at a newspaper in Maryland told a state psychiatrist he wanted to destroy a building “Timothy McVeigh-style” and that there was “no defense” for the crimes he committed.

The mother of a 20-year-old Black man who was fatally shot by Minnesota police this week says it all started when police pulled her son over for having air fresheners hanging from his rearview mirror.

President Joe Biden's pick for attorney general Merrick Garland, addresses staff on his first day at the Department of Justice, Thursday, March 11, 2021, in Washington. Welcome to the new Justice Department, likely a much tamer place to be after four years of blaring headlines under Donald Trump. The former president insisted that his attorney general, and entire department, be loyal to him personally, battering the department’s reputation for political independence. “When I walked in the door of Main Justice this morning, it really did feel like I was coming home,” Garland said, referring to Justice Department headquarters. AdAbout 15 minutes later, he took the oath of office, administered by Assistant Attorney General Lee Lofthus.

Activists Tyasha Harrison, left, and Holly T. Bird pose along the Grand Traverse Bay waterfront in Traverse City, Mich., Feb. 13, 2021. “In this age, no place is an island,” said Warren Call, president of a business organization in Traverse City, the county seat. Producers of the fruit for which Traverse City bills itself “cherry capital of the world” are struggling to survive. The area remains solidly Republican, although Democrats have captured two county commission seats representing Traverse City, which has a gay mayor. Her organization formed after a Black Lives Matter rally along the Traverse City waterfront last summer.

President-elect Joe Biden is set to name Garland as Attorney General. His confirmation prospects as attorney general were all but ensured when Democrats scored control of the Senate majority by winning both Georgia Senate seats. Biden also introduced three others for senior Justice Department leadership posts on Thursday, including Obama administration homeland security adviser Lisa Monaco as deputy attorney general and former Justice Department civil rights chief Vanita Gupta as associate attorney general, the No. He also named an assistant attorney general for civil rights, Kristen Clarke, now the president of Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, an advocacy group. Garland was selected over other finalists including former Sen. Doug Jones, D-Ala., and former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates.

But with no-knock warrants, officers don't have to say anything and don't have to wait. “There has been an historic issuance of no-knock warrants for inappropriate purposes, basically for fishing expeditions for drug evidence,” said Kraska, who helped Campaign Zero write its recommendations. The group is now working with 37 cities and states to introduce legislation on no-knock warrants. In Charlotte, North Carolina, when police Chief Johnny Jennings took over his post in July he dug into the issue of no-knock warrants and ended their use for the department's 1,800 officers. “We found that if there is something that is so dangerous that it requires a no-knock search warrant, that we did not need to take that risk.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer campaigns with Dan O'Neil, a Democratic candidate for the Michigan House in Traverse City, Mich., Friday, Oct. 9, 2020. Whitmer visited the area the day after police announced a foiled plot to kidnap the governor. (AP Photo/John Flesher)

Gretchen Whitmer campaigns with Dan O'Neil, a Democratic candidate for the Michigan House in Traverse City, Mich., Friday, Oct. 9, 2020. In many ways, their focus is unchanged, including contempt for authority, reverence for the Second Amendment and backwoods military-style training exercises. The ADL said it wasn’t immediately clear if the suspects had extensive ties to other self-styled militia groups. Their more recent focus on state governments makes the job of monitoring them and preventing terrorist activities harder, he said. I have asked for their help and none of them have done a darn thing.”___Kunzelman reported from College Park, Maryland.

He would be the first African American on federal death row to be put to death in the series of federal executions this year. Two days after killing Tiesler, LeCroy was arrested driving Tiesler’s truck after passing a U.S. checkpoint in Minnesota heading to Canada. Authorities found a note LeCroy wrote before his arrest in which he asked Tiesler for forgiveness, according to court filings. After he cut her throat, he went to Tiesler’s computer to search for books about witchcraft, court filings said. He was convicted in 2004 on a federal charge of carjacking resulting in death and a jury recommended a death sentence.

Daniel Lee, father of Tiffany Lee, wipes his face as he leaves the podium after a statement by his attorney at the federal prison complex in Terre Haute, Ind., Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2020. Lezmond Mitchell, the only Native American on federal death row, was executed at 6:29 p.m. for the slaying of Lee's 9-year-old daughter Tiffany and her grandmother nearly two decades ago. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

(AP Photo/Jonathan J. Cooper)CHICAGO The only Native American on federal death row is set to die Wednesday for the slayings of a 9-year-old and her grandmother nearly two decades ago, though many Navajos are hoping for last-minute intervention by President Donald Trump to halt the execution. The first three federal executions in 17 years went ahead in July after similar legal maneuvers failed. If Mitchells execution goes ahead as planned, it would happen on the third night of the GOP convention. There are currently 58 men and one woman on federal death row, many of whose executions have been pending for over 20 years. Several relatives had said they opposed Mitchell's execution.

A Lebanese army helicopter flies over the scene where an explosion hit the seaport of Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2020. Prime Minister Hassan Diab, in a short televised speech, has appealed to all countries and friends of Lebanon to extend help to the small nation, saying: "We are witnessing a real catastrophe." (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Some other recent deadly explosions involving ammonium nitrate:Aug. 12, 2015: A massive warehouse explosion rocked the port city of Tianjin, China, killing 173 people and injuring nearly 800. Investigators found the warehouse held illegal stores of ammonium nitrate, which caught fire and caused a series of blasts. The fire ignited in a seed room and quickly engulfed an area where ammonium nitrate was stored in wooden containers. According to investigators, the primary ingredient of the main bomb that tore through the popular Kuta nightclub district was ammonium nitrate. Ammonium nitrate was found to be the main ingredient.

WASHINGTON The Justice Department scheduled two additional federal executions on Friday, an announcement that comes weeks after it fought off last-minute legal challenges and successfully resumed federal executions following a 17-year pause. The government carried out three executions in July, and two other executions had been set previously for August. There are currently 58 men and one woman on federal death row, all of them in Terre Haute. No federal executions were carried out from 1963 to 2001. The Justice Department announced an Aug. 26 execution date for the only Native American on federal death row, Lezmond Mitchell, earlier this week.

FILE - In this March 18, 2020 file photo, visitors walk next to the reflecting pool at the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum in Oklahoma City. The Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum has announced that it will offer a recorded, one-hour television program in place of a live ceremony to mark the 25th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing due to concerns about the spread of the coronavirus. But prosecutors would soon learn the Oklahoma City attackers were U.S. citizens and that their bombing was inspired by a different 1993 event. McVeigh had visited the compound during the 51-day standoff that preceded the raid, and prosecutors say that fueled his anger toward the federal government, culminating in the Oklahoma City attack. Acknowledging that the Oklahoma City bombing frequently is referred to as the worst act of domestic terrorism in U.S. history, McCann pointed to another atrocity in Oklahoma.