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A28 u.s. news
Diahuebs 29 Juli 2021

Gun maker offers $33M to settle suit by Sandy Hook families

offered nearly $3.7 million Relatives of nine victims
apiece, are considering the killed in the shooting say in “Ironshore and James River
proposals, their lawyers said. their lawsuit that Reming- ... deserve credit for now real-
ton should have never sold izing that promoting the use
A Hartford lawyer represent- such a dangerous weapon to of AR-15s as weapons of war
ing Remington, James Ro- the public and allege it tar- to civilians is indefensible.
tondo, declined to comment geted younger, at-risk males Insuring this kind of conduct
Wednesday. The settlement in marketing and product is an unprofitable and unten-
offers were filed a day after placement in violent video able business model,” Kos-
a judge denied Remington’s games. They say their focus koff said in a statement.
request to dismiss the law- is on preventing future mass
suit. shootings. Remington’s lawyers have
denied the lawsuit’s allega-
A Bushmaster AR-15-style One of the plaintiffs, Nicole tions. In their request to dis-
rifle made by Remington Hockley, whose 6-year-old miss the lawsuit, they argued
was used to kill 20 first grad- son Dylan died in the shoot- there were no facts presented
ers and six educators at the ing, said Wednesday that the to establish that Remington’s
Newtown, Connecticut, families need to talk with marketing had anything to do
(AP) — The maker of the firearm to the public. school on Dec. 14, 2012. The their lawyers about the settle- with the shooting.
rifle used in the Sandy 20-year-old gunman, Adam ment offers and declined fur-
Hook Elementary School Lawyers for now-bankrupt Lanza, killed his mother at ther comment. Remington, based in Madi-
shooting has offered some Remington filed the offers their Newtown home be- son, North Carolina, filed
of the victims’ families late Tuesday in Waterbury fore the massacre, then killed Joshua Koskoff, an attorney for bankruptcy last year for
nearly $33 million to settle Superior Court in Connecti- himself with a handgun as for the families, said the set- the second time in two years.
their lawsuit over how the cut. The nine families suing police arrived at the school. tlements were offered by two Its assets were later sold off to
company marketed the the company, who are being of Remington’s insurers. several companies.

NXIVM sex cult member who cooperated avoids prison time

(AP) — A former member his 2019 trial as reason for le-
of NXIVM leader Keith niency. She also testified that she or-
Raniere’s inner circle ganized other brandings, in-
who was charged in his Salzman, a one-time mem- viting women to her house,
sex trafficking enterprise ber of NXIVM’s executive where they were required
avoided prison at sentenc- board who pleaded guilty and to strip naked and sit blind-
ing Wednesday after pros- agreed to become a govern- folded in a circle as part of the
ecutors cited her extraor- ment cooperator, was one of ritual.
dinary cooperation. two witnesses to testify at Ra-
niere’s trial about submitting The first woman branded,
Lauren Salzman was sen- to a barbaric ritual meant to she said, “was screaming and
tenced in Brooklyn federal show his slaves devotion to squealing.”
court to time served for her him.
role in the scandal-ridden, Last October, Garaufis sen-
cult-like secret society of Salzman testified about being tenced Raniere to 120 years
brainwashed women, who held down in 2017 while an- in prison for turning some
included millionaires and ac- other Raniere devotee used adherents into sex slaves
tors. He also ordered her to a cauterizing pen to etch his branded with his initials and ated with the prosecution af- form labor, take nude photo-
perform 300 hours of com- initials into an area near her sexually abusing a 15-year- ter pleading guilty in the case. graphs, and in some cases, to
munity service. pelvis, describing a bizarre old. engage in sex acts with Ra-
initiation procedure. Without cooperating, Mack niere.”
In a letter two weeks ago to At Raniere’s sentencing, 15 would have faced between 14
Judge Nicholas G. Garau- “Master, please brand me. It victims called for a lengthy and 17 1/2 years behind bars, As authorities closed in on
fis, prosecutors noted that would be an honor,” she re- prison term. according to federal sentenc- Raniere, he fled to Mexico
her guilty plea to racketeer- called saying just before she ing guidelines. with Mack and others to try
ing would normally call for was branded. Last month, “Smallville” ac- to reconstitute the group
a sentence of seven to nine tor Allison Mack was sen- Her sentence included pris- there. He was arrested and
years in prison. But they She testified that it was “the tenced to three years in pris- on time after prosecutors said sent to the United States in
cited her “credible, detailed” most painful thing I’ve ever on for her role in NXIVM. she became a “master” for March 2018; Mack was ar-
testimony against Raniere at experienced.” Prosecutors said she cooper- “slaves” she ordered “to per- rested a few days later.

1 arrested in shooting that wounded TikTok star, killed teen

(AP) — Police have arrested a man in connec- east of Los Angeles. “It was completely unprovoked, and the victims
tion with a shooting that killed an 18-year-old were shot without any kind of prior contact,” he
woman and seriously wounded a 19-year-old Rylee Goodrich was fatally shot, and Anthony said.
social media influencer as they watched “The Barajas remained on life support Wednesday. Bara-
Forever Purge” at a Southern California mov- jas, known online as itsanthonymichael, has nearly The suspect, 20-year-old Joseph Jimenez, was
ie theater. a million followers on TikTok and more on other booked in jail Tuesday night on suspicion of mur-
platforms. der, attempted murder and robbery. He is being
Authorities say there is no known motive for the held on $2 million bail.
violence and that the shooting Monday appeared to The suspect acted alone, and there’s no indication
be “an unprovoked attack.” he knew the victims or that Barajas’ role as a Tik- A firearm that matched the caliber of the weapon
Tok influencer played a role in the crime, Corona used in the shooting was found at his home. It was
The teens were found by theater workers cleaning police Cpl. Tobias Kouroubacalis told reporters not immediately clear if he had an attorney who
up after the 9:35 p.m. showing of the violent hor- Wednesday. could speak on his behalf.
ror movie at The Crossings mall in Corona, south-