Articles written by Michael Balsamo & Alanna Durkin Richer


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  • Officials probing whether Northeastern explosion was staged

    MICHAEL BALSAMO and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER|Sep 14, 2022

    BOSTON (AP) — Federal officials are examining whether the employee who reported an explosion at Northeastern University may have lied to investigators and staged the incident, law enforcement officials said Wednesday. Investigators identified inconsistencies in the employee's statement and became skeptical because his injuries did not match wounds typically consistent with an explosion, said one official. The officials could not discuss details of the investigation publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The N...

  • Oath Keeper is 1st suspect to plead guilty in Capitol riot

    MICHAEL BALSAMO and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER|Apr 16, 2021

    WASHINGTON (AP) — A member of the far-right Oath Keepers militia group and heavy metal guitarist on Friday became the first defendant to plead guilty to federal charges in connection with the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Jon Ryan Schaffer, the frontman of the band Iced Earth, has agreed to cooperate with investigators in hopes of getting a lighter sentence, and the Justice Department will consider putting Schaffer in the federal witness security program, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta said. This signals that federal prosecutors see him as...

  • 2 charged in assault of Capitol officer who died after riot

    MICHAEL BALSAMO and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER|Mar 14, 2021

    WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials have arrested and charged two men with assaulting U.S. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick with bear spray during the Jan. 6 riot, but they do not know yet whether it caused the officer's death. George Tanios, 39, of Morgantown, West Virginia, and Julian Khater, 32, of Pennsylvania, were arrested Sunday on an array of charges, including assaulting a federal officer with a dangerous weapon, conspiracy and other offenses. The idea that Sicknick died after being sprayed by a chemical irritant has emerged in r...

  • 'THIS IS ME': Rioters flaunt involvement in Capitol siege

    MICHAEL BALSAMO and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER|Jan 27, 2021

    WASHINGTON (AP) — These suspects weren't exactly in hiding. "THIS IS ME," one man posted on Instagram with a hand emoji pointing to himself in a picture of the violent mob descending on the U.S. Capitol. "Sooo we've stormed Capitol Hill lol," one woman texted someone while inside the building. "I just wanted to incriminate myself a little lol," another wrote on Facebook about a selfie he took inside during the Jan. 6 riot. In dozens of cases, supporters of President Donald Trump downright flaunted their activity on social media on the day of t...