Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Support for the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution still runs strong here, even after an 18-year-old gunman killed 19 elementary school children and two teachers with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle this week. U.S. doctors reconsider Pfizer's Paxlovid for lower-risk COVID patients Use of Pfizer Inc's COVID-19 antiviral Paxlovid spiked this week, but some doctors are reconsidering the pills for lower-risk patients after a U.S. public health agency warned that symptoms can recur after people complete a course of the drug, and that they should then isolate a second time.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

NRA members give leader LaPierre vote of confidence despite struggles

National Rifle Association members overwhelmingly supported longtime leader Wayne LaPierre with a vote of confidence on Saturday, even as the gun rights group struggles with allegations that millions of dollars were misspent. The NRA is holding its annual meeting in Houston, about 280 miles (450 km) east of the site of a mass shooting on Tuesday, when an 18-year-old man armed with an AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle killed 19 children and two teachers at a Texas elementary school.

Proud Boys leader Tarrio loses latest bid for release from jail

A judge has denied the latest request by Enrique Tarrio, the former top leader of the right-wing group the Proud Boys, for release from jail while he awaits trial on criminal charges relating to last year's attack on the U.S. Capitol. In an order issued late on Friday night, U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly said the evidence against Tarrio is "very strong" and that measures like a bond and home confinement "do not adequately mitigate the threat of dangerousness Tarrio poses."

Jury deliberations in Depp, Heard case to resume on Tuesday

Jurors deliberating the dueling defamation claims from actors Johnny Depp and Amber Heard adjourned on Friday without delivering verdicts, leaving the resolution in the widely watched six-week trial to next week. Depp, the 58-year-old "Pirates of the Caribbean" star, sued ex-wife Heard in Virginia for $50 million and argued that she defamed him when she called herself "a public figure representing domestic abuse" in an opinion piece she wrote.

As U.S. states restrict abortions, pro-choice lawmakers look to Mexico

Pro-choice U.S. lawmakers visiting Mexico said Americans are turning to their southern neighbor to access abortions as some states tighten restrictions on the procedure and with the Supreme Court expected to strike down the right to an abortion. "As Texas has taken a step back into the dark, I am so grateful that so many people here in Mexico have opened their arms to pregnant Texans and helped them access the care they need," said Texas state representative Erin Zwiener at a news conference in the northern Mexican city of Monterrey on Friday.

Trump loses bid to thwart New York AG's probe of his businesses

Former U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday lost a bid to stop New York state Attorney General Letitia James' probe of his business practices, allowing the three-year investigation to move forward. Trump, a Republican, last year sued James in federal court in upstate Albany, arguing the civil investigation into whether the Trump Organization misled banks and tax authorities about the valuations of its assets should be halted because he felt James, a Democrat, was using the case to further her political career.

Investigators question delayed police response in Texas school shooting

Investigators in Texas on Saturday sought to determine how critical mistakes were made in the response to the deadly Uvalde school shooting, including why nearly 20 officers remained outside a classroom as children placed panicked 911 calls for help. Why the officers waited in the hallway nearly an hour before entering and fatally shooting the gunman is at the heart of a probe by the Texas Department of Public Safety into the massacre of 19 children and two teachers in the deadliest U.S. school shooting in nearly a decade.

U.S. prosecutors get guilty verdict in Capitol riot case, extending win streak

The U.S. Justice Department on Friday extended its streak of victories in jury trials against rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, securing a guilty verdict in its prosecution of a New Jersey man facing a felony charge. After less than a day of deliberation, a federal jury in the District of Columbia found Timothy Hale-Cusanelli guilty of all five counts he faced, including obstruction of an official proceeding, a felony carrying a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

After massacre, some in gun-friendly Uvalde favor tougher gun laws

Guns are part of everyday life in Uvalde, Texas, a Republican-leaning corner of the state's Hill Country where hunting is a common pastime and gun stores abound. Support for the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution still runs strong here, even after an 18-year-old gunman killed 19 elementary school children and two teachers with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle this week.

U.S. doctors reconsider Pfizer's Paxlovid for lower-risk COVID patients

Use of Pfizer Inc's COVID-19 antiviral Paxlovid spiked this week, but some doctors are reconsidering the pills for lower-risk patients after a U.S. public health agency warned that symptoms can recur after people complete a course of the drug, and that they should then isolate a second time. More quarantine time "is not a crowd-pleaser," Dr. Sandra Kemmerly, an infectious disease specialist at Ochsner Health in New Orleans, told Reuters. "For those people who really aren't at risk ... I would recommend that they not take it."

Forest Service says it started all of New Mexico's largest wildfire

Two blazes that grew into New Mexico's largest ever wildfire were both started by the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), the agency said on Friday, prompting the state's governor to demand the federal government take full responsibility for the disaster. Forest Service investigators determined the Calf Canyon Fire was caused by a "burn pile" of branches that the agency thought was out but reignited on April 19, the Santa Fe National Forest said in a statement.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)