WASHINGTON: A shooting at a protest against President Donald Trump’s policies in the western state of Utah left one person with “life-threatening injuries,” police said, adding that three others were taken into custody.
Police said the incident occurred around 8:00 p.m. Saturday (0200 GMT Sunday) in Utah’s capital Salt Lake City during a protest that drew about 10,000 people — one of several “No Kings” demonstrations across the United States rallying against Trump.
“We can confirm the shooting resulted in one person being critically injured. The patient has been taken to a hospital with life-threatening (injuries),” said the Salt Lake City police department in a social media post, adding that they had “a person of interest in custody.”
Police Chief Brian Redd stressed during a news conference that the events leading up to the shooting “were very peaceful,” adding that the first person taken in custody had a gunshot wound and was transported to the hospital.
Two other individuals involved in the incident were also taken into custody, he said.
“At this time, there is... no ongoing threats to the public,” Redd said, adding that it was too early in their investigation to say if the shooting was politically motivated.
City Mayor Erin Mendenhall said “this act of violence does not define” Salt Lake City — a Democratic bastion in the deep-red Republican state of Utah.
“The purpose of today’s demonstration was a powerful and peaceful expression until this event and that cannot be overshadowed or silenced by a single act meant to harm,” she said.
“We are a nation that needs our First Amendment right, we deserve to protest in peace. And what happened today I hope will not silence the voices of the public who deserve to have their voices heard.”
Police say one ‘critically injured’ in shooting at US protest
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Police say one ‘critically injured’ in shooting at US protest
Australian bushfires raze homes, cut power to tens of thousands
- PM Anthony Albanese said the nation faced a day of “extreme and dangerous” fire weather, especially in Victoria, where much of the state has been declared a disaster zone
SYDNEY: Thousands of firefighters battled bushfires in Australia’s southeast on Saturday that have razed homes, cut power to thousands of homes and burned swathes of bushland. The blazes have torn through more than 300,000 hectares (741,316 acres) of bushland amid a heatwave in Victoria state since the middle of the week, authorities said on Saturday, and 10 major fires were still burning statewide. In neighboring New South Wales state, several fires close to the Victorian border were burning at emergency level, the highest danger rating, the Rural Fire Service said, as temperatures hit the mid-40s Celsius (111 degrees Fahrenheit). More than 130 structures, including homes, have been destroyed and around 38,000 homes and businesses were without power due to the fires in Victoria, authorities said. The fires were the worst to hit the state since the Black Summer blazes of 2019-2020 that destroyed an area the size of Turkiye and killed 33 people. “Where we can fires will be being brought under control,” Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan told reporters, adding thousands of firefighters were in the field.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the nation faced a day of “extreme and dangerous” fire weather, especially in Victoria, where much of the state has been declared a disaster zone.
“My thoughts are with Australians in these regional communities at this very difficult time,” Albanese said in televised remarks from Canberra. One of the largest fires, near the town of Longwood, about 112 km (70 miles) north of Melbourne, has burned 130,000 hectares (320,000 acres) of bushland, destroying 30 structures, vineyards and agricultural land, authorities said. Dozens of communities near the fires have been evacuated and many of the state’s parks and campgrounds were closed. A heatwave warning on Saturday was in place for large parts of Victoria, while a fire weather warning was active for large areas of the country including New South Wales, the nation’s weather forecaster said. In New South Wales capital Sydney, the temperature climbed to 42.2 C, more than 17 degrees above the average maximum for January, according to data from the nation’s weather forecaster.
It predicted conditions to ease over the weekend as a southerly change brought milder temperatures to the state.
