No charges for hockey player arrested in on-ice death of former NHL player Adam Johnson
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(LONDON) — A professional hockey player who was arrested in connection with the 2023 on-ice death of former NHL player Adam Johnson will not face charges, British prosecutors announced on Tuesday.
Johnson, 29, was killed during an October 2023 game between two British professional teams, the Nottingham Panthers and Sheffield Steelers. Johnson, who was playing for the Panthers, suffered a fatal neck injury when he was slashed by a skate during the game.
A Steelers player was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter a month later in the incident. Following a “thorough” police investigation, the Crown Prosecution Service said Tuesday it has decided not to bring criminal charges against the player.
“This was a shocking and deeply upsetting incident,” Michael Quinn, deputy chief crown prosecutor, said in a statement.
“Following a thorough police investigation and a comprehensive review of all the evidence by the CPS, we have concluded that there is not a realistic prospect of conviction for any criminal offence and so there will not be a prosecution,” the statement continued. “Our thoughts remain with the family and friends of Adam Johnson.”
Prosecutors did not identify the hockey player who was arrested in the case.
The Panthers, who play in England’s Elite Ice Hockey League, called Johnson’s death a “freak accident” at the time.
Prosecutors did not identify the hockey player who was arrested in the case.
The Panthers, who play in England’s Elite Ice Hockey League, called Johnson’s death a “freak accident” at the time.
ABC News’ Mark Osborne contributed to this report.
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(WASHINGTON) — The Trump administration is facing scrutiny over the use of the commercially available app Signal to discuss plans for a U.S. military attack on Houthi rebels in Yemen, but did anyone break the law?
Inadvertently included on the chain was The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg, who recounted how he was texted information about weapons packages, targets and timing before the strike unfolded.
Goldberg’s report quickly sparked questions about the administration’s handling of sensitive defense information, including whether the chat violated the Espionage Act.
The 1917 law “is the primary statutory vehicle through which the government typically brings criminal prosecutions for mishandling or leaks of classified information,” said national security attorney Bradley Moss.
Signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson soon after the U.S. entered World War I, the Espionage Act was aimed at cracking down on disloyal wartime activities.
Despite its title, Moss said “most of the statute has nothing to do with actual espionage and instead more broadly criminalizes the unauthorized storage, dissemination or modification of national defense information.”
President Donald Trump was charged under the Espionage Act for allegedly mishandling classified materials after his first term, allegations Trump denied. The case was dropped after the 2024 election, with the special counsel citing longstanding Justice Department policy not to prosecute sitting presidents.
The statute was also used in high-profile cases against Pentagon leaker Jack Teixeira, who was sentenced last year to 15 years in prison for exposing defense information, and Chelsea Manning, who was imprisoned for the unauthorized release of hundreds of thousands of classified government documents to WikiLeaks and Julian Assange.
Democrats have called for an investigation into the use of the Signal group chat to discuss a military operation and for some officials involved to be fired or resign.
The White House and top officials have sought to minimize the incident, stating in their defense that there was no classified material involved in the message chain.
“This was not classified. Now, if it’s classified information, it’s probably a little bit different,” Trump said as he was hit with questions on the matter during a meeting with some of his ambassadors on Tuesday afternoon.
The exact content of the messages is unclear. The administration denies they included “war plans” though Goldberg said it included operational details of strikes on Yemen, including information about targets and attack sequencing. National Security Council spokesman, in a statement to ABC News on Monday, said the message thread that was reported “appears to be authentic.”
The Espionage Act, though, predates the modern classification system.
“In this context, information related to national defense also has to be information the possessor has a reason to believe could be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of any foreign nation,” said Sam Lebovic, a historian of U.S. politics who has studied the century-old statute.
“And if, as has been alleged, operational details were in that information, I think you could make the case that would be information which could be used to the injury of the U.S. or to the advantage of a foreign nation. And technically, whether or not it’s classified doesn’t have bearing on that definition,” Lebovic said.
Still, the expansive nature of the Espionage Act — which Lebovic said could cover essentially any disclosure of information related to national defense to someone unauthorized to receive it — has resulted in it being relatively rarely used other than in the most egregious cases.
“They’re often not prosecuted because the law is so broadly written, it gives prosecutors a great deal of discretion to decide when to bring charges and when not to,” Lebovic said.
FBI Director Kash Patel was questioned by Democratic Sen. Mark Warner on Tuesday in a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on whether his bureau would investigate the incident. Patel said he had just been briefed on the matter Monday night and Tuesday morning and didn’t have an update. Warner asked for one by the end of the day.
Officials with the White House’s National Security Council said they “are reviewing” how a reporter was added to the Signal chat, though the scope of the review, including whether it would attempt to determine why high-level discussions about military planning were taking place outside of official channels, was not immediately clear.
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(BOSTON) — A doctor who was arriving in the United States to teach medicine was detained at Boston’s Logan International Airport on March 13, according to legal documents obtained by ABC News.
Dr. Rasha Alawieh had a valid H1B visa, or work visa, that had been issued on March 11. A Lebanese citizen, she was employed by Brown University as an assistant professor of medicine.
A kidney transplant specialist, Alawieh had also previously trained at both the University of Washington and Yale University.
The legal filing claimed that Brown’s Division of Nephrology was “extremely distressed.”
“She is an assistant professor and has serious responsibilities,” the document attested. “Her colleagues have been covering for her, but that is no solution. Dr. Alawieh is an outstanding academic in Transplant Nephrology, and she is needed at Brown Medicine.”
Also according to the legal documents, DHS officials gave no reason for her detention.
Customs and Border Protection did not respond to ABC News’ questions regarding her whereabouts and did not disclose why she was denied entry into the U.S.
However, Hilton Beckham, CBP’s Assistant Commissioner of Public Affairs, shared a statement saying, “Arriving aliens bear the burden of establishing admissibility to the United States. Our CBP Officers adhere to strict protocols to identify and stop threats, using rigorous screening, vetting, strong law enforcement partnerships, and keen inspectional skills to keep threats out of the country. CBP is committed to protecting the United States from national security threats.”
A U.S. district court judge in Massachusetts ordered that Alawieh should not be deported without 48 hours’ notice and a reason why from DHS.
Instead, according to a notice of apparent violation, DHS “willfully” disregarded the court order and deported Alawieh to France, with a scheduled flight to continue on to Lebanon. It is unconfirmed if that deportation took place as planned.
“The Soldier was found after a search by hundreds of rescue workers from the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, Lithuanian Armed Forces, Polish Armed Forces, Estonian Armed Forces, and many other elements of the Lithuanian government and civilian agencies,” the Army said in a statement.
The four soldiers are all based in Fort Stewart, Georgia. Their identities have not been released.
“This past week has been devastating,” Maj. Gen. Christopher Norrie, 3rd Infantry Division commanding general, said in a statement. “Though we have received some closure, the world is darker without them.”
The soldiers went missing on March 25 while operating an M88 Hercules armored recovery vehicle, the Army said, and the next day, their 63-ton vehicle was found submerged in about 15 feet of water and mud in a training area.
“Most likely, the M88 drove into the swamp,” and the vehicle “may have just gone diagonally to the bottom,” Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovile Sakaliene told ABC News via phone last week.
The soldiers’ vehicle was removed from a swamp early Monday morning after six days of work to retrieve it, the Army said.
The search effort — which included law enforcement and military personnel from several countries — was complicated by the muddy conditions and unstable ground, officials said.
“It has been truly amazing and very humbling to watch the incredible recovery team from different commands, countries and continents come together and give everything to recover our Soldiers,” Lt. Gen. Charles Costanza, commanding general, V Corps, said in a statement Tuesday. “Thank you, Lithuania, Poland, Estonia, the U.S. Navy and the Army Corps of Engineers. We are forever grateful.”
