“Federal prosecutors appear to have made their biggest breakthrough yet in their sprawling investigation into the violent riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. A high-ranking Proud Boy has flipped, agreeing to testify in any and all cases where his testimony might be ‘deemed relevant by the government,'” Vice News reports.

“It’s the latest example of the government strengthening its case against the far-right street-fighting gang that’s become a national household name since its leaders and dozens of members have been charged in relation to the Capitol riot.”

“Ed Buck, once a fixture of West Hollywood’s political scene, was sentenced Thursday to 30 years in prison for drug and sex crimes that included providing lethal doses of methamphetamine to two men,” the Los Angeles Times reports.

“To the outside world, Buck was a champion of causes such as fur bans and AIDS awareness, and a donor to Democratic officeholders.”

“But behind the walls of his Laurel Avenue apartment was a nightmare. For nearly a decade, the wealthy, white Buck lured young Black men at the lowest points in their lives — homeless, addicted, resorting to subsistence-level sex work — into what he called ‘party and play’ sessions.”

“A January 6 rioter who claimed he was following ‘presidential orders’ when he stormed the US Capitol and stole liquor and a coat rack was convicted Thursday on all charges by a jury in Washington, DC,” CNN reports.

Politico: “The signs of the Democratic Party’s evolution on crime are everywhere — and go beyond defeats suffered by the ‘defund the police’ movement in Minneapolis and elsewhere last year. As the midterm elections pick up, Democrats are calling for more police funding and attempting to co-opt traditionally Republican talking points on crime…”

“The adoption of firmer postures on law and order come after a spike in murders nationally in recent years, including in some of the nation’s largest, most heavily Democratic cities. The change of tone also comes in anticipation of attacks from Republicans about “defund the police” in this year’s midterm elections.”

“A federal judge declined Wednesday to dismiss special counsel John Durham’s case against a Hillary Clinton campaign lawyer accused of lying to the FBI during its investigation of potential Trump-Russia collusion,” CNN reports.

“Across the country, Democratic candidates are sprinting to claim the tough-on-crime mantle,” Politico reports.

“The signs of the Democratic Party’s evolution on crime are everywhere — and go beyond defeats suffered by the ‘defund the police’ movement in Minneapolis and elsewhere last year. As the midterm elections pick up, Democrats are calling for more police funding and attempting to co-opt traditionally Republican talking points on crime.”

“If 2020 was the year progressives reordered the traditional politics of crime and policing, 2022 looks like the year centrists are regaining their footing and nullifying those gains.”

New York Times: “As more motorists seemed to be firing guns last year, the Dallas Police Department began tracking road rage shootings for the first time. The results were alarming: 45 people wounded, 11 killed.”

“In Austin last year, the police recorded 160 episodes of drivers pointing or firing a gun; this year, there have been 15 road rage shootings, with three people struck. (Two others were stabbed in altercations stemming from road rage.)”

“The prevalence of such violence, not just in Texas but around the country, suggests a cultural commonality, an extreme example of deteriorating behavior that has also flared on airplanes and in stores. It is as if the pandemic and the nation’s sour mood have left people forgetting how to act in public at the same time as they were buying millions more weapons.”

A jury in Washington, DC found an ex-Virginia police officer guilty on all six charges he faced for his actions around the US Capitol attack on January 6, 2021, CNN reports.

Politico: “The result was a boost for the Justice Department, which has now won both Jan. 6-related jury trials that have been completed to date.”

The District Attorney who charged a Texas woman with murder for a “self-induced abortion” is dropping the charges.

From the statement: “The issues surrounding this matter are clearly contentious, however based on Texas law and the facts presented, it is not a criminal matter.”

A 26-year old Texas woman was arrested and charged with murder for having a self-induced “illegal abortion,” the McAllen Monitor reports.

In a newly filed statement of offense, prosecutors said that Proud Boys leader Charles Donohoe — who took a plea deal earlier today — “understood that the purpose of the rally in Washington, D.C., on January 6, 2021, was to stop the certification of the Electoral College vote,” the Washington Post reports.

Key passage: “Donohoe was aware that members of MOSD leadership were discussing the possibility of storming the Capitol. Donohoe believed that storming the Capitol would achieve the group’s goal of stopping the government from carrying out the transfer of presidential power. Donohoe understood that storming the Capitol would be illegal.”

Donohoe has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.

“Jurors found two men accused by the government of plotting to kidnap and hurt Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer not guilty and failed to reach unanimous verdicts against two others,” the Detroit News reports.

“The four men faced kidnapping conspiracy charges, a felony punishable by up to life in prison. Three faced multiple charges, including conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction.”

Detroit Free Press: “In a case that highlighted the growth of violent extremism in America, the jury spent three weeks listening to testimony about how four-like minded men bonded over social media, vented about the government controlling their lives, and then came together through a group called the Wolverine Watchmen – a self-proclaimed Michigan militia that wanted to spark a second Civil War, and use the Whitmer kidnap as a starting point.”

“A leader of the Proud Boys pleaded guilty on Friday to two felony charges in one of the most prominent criminal cases against an organized far-right group that participated in the US Capitol attack on January 6, 2021,” CNN reports.

“Charles Donohoe, 34, is the first person in the Proud Boys leadership to plead guilty and to assist the Justice Department’s investigation against the pro-Donald Trump group.”

“Brian Kolfage, an Iraq War veteran who launched a multimillion-dollar crowdfunding effort to build a private border wall, has agreed to plead guilty to fraud charges after prosecutors say he surreptitiously took hundreds of thousands of dollars from the fundraiser,” BuzzFeed News reports.

Former Trump campaign aide and GOP staffer Ruben Verastigui was sentenced to 12 years in prison for his role in a child pornography ring.

The details of the case are unbelievably awful.

Gallup: “Americans’ concern about crime and violence in the U.S. has edged up in the past year, and for the first time since 2016, a majority (53%) say they personally worry a ‘great deal’ about crime.”

“Another 27% report they worry a ‘fair amount,’ which places the issue near the top of the list of 14 national concerns — behind only inflation and the economy.”