Reuters US Domestic News Summary

On the eve of the expiration of Title 42, the COVID-era provision blocking most asylum-seekers from seeking legal entry into the United States, hundreds of migrants have camped out at the border between Tijuana, Mexico, and San Diego. New York sues company that sold accessory for Buffalo mass shooter's gun New York on Thursday sued the company that sold the locking device included with the gun used by a white supremacist to kill 10 Black people at a Buffalo grocery store last year, saying it allowed the shooter to turn the rifle into an illegal assault weapon.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Former US Marine to be charged in choking death on New York subway

A former U.S. Marine who killed a homeless man by putting him in a chokehold on the New York City subway will be arrested on Friday and arraigned on a charge of manslaughter, the Manhattan district attorney said on Thursday. A viral video showed the former Marine, identified as Daniel Penny, putting 30-year-old Jordan Neely in a chokehold on May 1 while they rode on the F train in Manhattan. Neely died from a compression of the neck, the medical examiner said, but Penny's lawyers said he did not mean to kill him.

U.S. Supreme Court tosses former Cuomo aide's bribery conviction

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday overturned the bribery conviction of Joseph Percoco, an ex-aide to Democratic former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, in a ruling that further limits the ability of federal prosecutors to pursue corruption cases. The justices ruled 9-0 in favor of Joseph Percoco, Cuomo's former executive deputy secretary who was charged in 2016 as part of a corruption crackdown by federal prosecutors in Manhattan centered on the halls of the state capital of Albany.

Desperate and bewildered, migrants stuck at US gates as Title 42 ends

Hundreds of migrants from around the world seeking a better life in the United States have instead found themselves trapped in squalid conditions near the Mexican border, tantalizingly close to their destination, and desperate. On the eve of the expiration of Title 42, the COVID-era provision blocking most asylum-seekers from seeking legal entry into the United States, hundreds of migrants have camped out at the border between Tijuana, Mexico, and San Diego.

New York sues company that sold accessory for Buffalo mass shooter's gun

New York on Thursday sued the company that sold the locking device included with the gun used by a white supremacist to kill 10 Black people at a Buffalo grocery store last year, saying it allowed the shooter to turn the rifle into an illegal assault weapon. In a complaint filed in state court in Manhattan, Democratic Attorney General Letitia James said Georgia-based Mean Arms LLC falsely claimed that its device can make a rifle comply with New York's ban on magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition, by locking a 10-round magazine in place so that it cannot be replaced by a larger one.

Biden, McCarthy debt ceiling meeting postponed, spending cuts on table

A debt limit meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and top lawmakers that had been scheduled for Friday has been postponed, and the leaders agreed to meet early next week, a White House spokesperson said on Thursday. Aides from both sides have started to discuss ways to limit federal spending, as talks on raising the government's $31.4 trillion debt ceiling to avoid a catastrophic default creep forward, people familiar with the discussions said.

U.S. House passes Republican bill tightening border security

The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday approved Republican legislation intended to stop immigrants and illegal drugs crossing the nation's southwestern border with Mexico, leaving it to the Senate to attempt a broader, bipartisan immigration bill. The package, which Democrats have warned will be blocked in the Senate, would set tight limits on asylum seekers and require them to apply for U.S. protection outside the country. It also would resume construction of a wall along the border and expand federal law enforcement efforts.

Trump appeals sexual abuse verdict, $5 million award in Carroll civil case

Former U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday appealed a New York jury's verdict in a civil case that he sexually abused and defamed writer E. Jean Carroll. The jury in Manhattan federal court on Tuesday awarded Carroll, 79, $5 million in damages.

US senators accuse Pentagon of hindering war crimes prosecution of Russia

Lawmakers accused the Pentagon on Thursday of effectively undermining war crimes prosecution of Russia by blocking the sharing of U.S. military intelligence with the International Criminal Court at the Hague. U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, a Democrat, said at Senate hearing that he had been told by the ICC's chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, that the U.S. State Department and Justice Department were both cooperating. But the Defense Department, under the leadership of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, was refusing, Durbin added.

U.S. homeland security chief says border facilities strained by new arrivals

The United States is already seeing high number of border encounters in certain areas, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said on Thursday ahead of a COVID-19 immigration restriction called Title 42's midnight expiration. "Our borders are not open," Mayorkas told reporters at a White House briefing, warning of tougher consequences for those who try to cross the U.S. border illegally.

Hollywood writers try to strike a love match while picketing

As striking Hollywood writers protest working conditions, some are seeking more than a new labor contract. They are also looking for love on the picket lines. Single members of the Writers Guild of America gathered outside the Universal Studios lot this week for a combination of picketing and a dating mixer that later moved to a taco eatery.