Homeland Security News

The United States government wants you to know: It really, truly doesn’t like Nazis.

At the United Nations this week, the U.S. plans to vote against a yearly resolution that condemns the glorification of Nazism, State Department officials said Wednesday. Although it may seem counterintuitive — who wouldn’t want to condemn Nazis? — officials said that free speech protections and other problems with the resolution make it impossible for America to support the document.

Introduced by Russia, the resolution calls on all U.N. nations to ban pro-Nazi speech and organizations, and to implement other restrictions on speech and assembly. That’s a non-starter in the U.S., where First Amendment protections guarantee all the right to utter almost anything they want — even praise for Adolf Hitler’s followers.

The United States votes against the resolution every year, along with just a handful of others, while the European Union nations and some others typically abstain. The resolution always passes overwhelmingly, usually with little fanfare.

But this year, the “no” vote from the U.S. is likely to create more of a stir, given it’s the first rendition of the vote since President Donald Trump entered office. Trump adamantly denies any secret affinity for white supremacists. Yet his blame-on-both-sides response to violence in August at a white nationalist protest in Charlottesville, Virginia, gave fodder to critics who say he’s insufficiently critical of neo-Nazis.

Read more:  AP

A Baltimore homicide detective was shot in the head Wednesday afternoon while investigating a killing near a notoriously violent intersection in West Baltimore, police said — an attack that stunned officials and residents already beleaguered by the city’s unrelenting violence.

Police Commissioner Kevin Davis, speaking outside the Maryland Shock Trauma Center Wednesday night, said the 18-year veteran was in “very, very grave condition.” He did not release the detective’s name, but said he is a husband and father of two.

Davis said the detective was in the 900 block of Bennett Place in Harlem Park at about 4:30 p.m. when he observed a man “engaged in suspicious behavior.” The detective tried to start a conversation with the man, Davis said, and was shot in the head.

The detective’s partner was nearby and came to his aid, police said.

Davis said the “cold, callous” shooter was still at large Wednesday night, but wouldn’t be for long. Authorities said there is a $64,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.

“With this community, we’re going to identify him, we’re going to arrest him, and we’re going to ensure justice is done,” Davis said.

Gov. Larry Hogan said on Twitter that the “individual responsible for this heinous crime will be found, charged, and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

“Baltimore Police has our full support as they track down this violent criminal and bring him to justice,” he said.

Read more:  The Baltimore Sun