Wednesday morning news: August 14, 2019

Friend of Dayton shooter faces federal charges » A friend of the man who killed nine people in Dayton, Ohio, this month will make his second court appearance today. Twenty-four-year-old Ethan Kollie faces two federal charges related to the mass shooting.

GLASSMAN: Unlawfully possessing a firearm while being a user of controlled substances and of lying on the form 4473, the firearms form.

U.S. Attorney Ben Glassman said the charges against Kollie stemmed from the shooting investigation, but he’s not accused of helping plan the attack.

Kollie told investigators he had done drugs regularly with the gunman in previous years.

GLASSMAN: He also acknowledged that he had purchased body armor, as well as the upper receiver of an AR-15 weapon and the 100-round double-drum magazine that was ultimately used in the August 4th shooting…

Kollie told investigators he kept the items in his apartment to hide them from the gunman’s parents.

Dayton police released a detailed timeline of the shooting on Tuesday. Using security camera footage, they tracked the attackers movement’s from the time he arrived with his sibling and a friend at the busy entertainment district.

Police Chief Richard Biehl said two hours later, the gunman went back to his car.

BIEHL: He spends the next eight minutes gathering content out of the trunk of that vehicle. In which he has also now changed attire. He has a very heavy backpack that he is carrying.

Police engaged the gunman 20 seconds after he began his attack. They shot and killed him 32 seconds after he fired his first shot.

Biehl said investigators are divided on whether the gunman targeted his 22-year-old sibling—one of the first victims he shot and killed.

Trump administration delays Chinese tariffs » U.S. stock markets soared Tuesday after the White House announced it would delay planned tariffs on Chinese goods.

The 10 percent tax on nearly all Chinese imports will not take effect until December 15th. That means holiday shoppers buying things like iPhones, shoes, and toys won’t face higher prices.

The Chinese Ministry of Commerce reported that top negotiators spoke by phone this week with their U.S. counterparts. President Trump described the conversation as “very good” and said he thought China was prepared to do something, quote— “dramatic.”

Negotiators plan to talk again in two weeks.

Protests close Hong Kong airport for a second day » AUDIO: [Sound of protesters]

Protesters in Hong Kong forced the city’s airport to close for a second day on Tuesday. They eventually left after police officers armed with pepper spray and swinging batons tried to enter the terminal. 

But organizers said they planned to return today.

The escalating violence has United Nations officials worried about how China might respond. Rupert Colville is a spokesman for the UN’s high commissioner for Human Rights.

COLVILLE: We’re very concerned because the balance appears to be increasing, and certainly segments of the population appear to be getting angrier, and this is one reason we are calling for prompt, impartial independent investigations. 

Beijing is becoming increasingly impatient with the protests. Officials insist the 10 weeks of unrest must end soon. State-run media has shown videos of security forces massing at the border.

Hands on Originals case proceeds » The Kentucky Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case of a Christian print shop owner accused of discrimination. WORLD Radio’s Leigh Jones has that story.

LEIGH JONES, REPORTER: Blaine Adamson owns Hands on Originals, a print shop in Lexington, Kentucky. 

In 2012, Lexington’s Gay and Lesbian Services Organization asked him to print T-shirts for the local gay pride festival. He declined, citing his Christian faith.

The organization complained to the city’s human rights commission, which found Adamson guilty of discrimination.

Adamson appealed that decision, arguing the Constitution protects him from being forced to print messages that conflict with his sincerely held beliefs.

A state appeals court ruled in Adamson’s favor in 2017. But the human rights commission appealed to the Kentucky Supreme Court.

The court will hear oral arguments in the case on August 23rd.

Reporting for WORLD Radio, I’m Leigh Jones.

(Dayton Police Department via AP) This August 2019 photo provided by the Dayton Police Department shows the firearm used by Connor Betts in a mass shooting in a popular entertainment district on Aug. 4, 2019, in Dayton, Ohio. 

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