"The toxicology report how now come out, where he had 3 times the level of fentanyl needed to kill a human being, that and methamphetamine."

Whoops. That's going to be a problem for prosecutors.

https://www.lawenforcementtoday.com/report-former-defense-attorney-predicts-chauvin-will-be-acquitted/

Videos from Germany, Belgium & Netherlands are insane. I often think about how "bad" things are here in the US and when you see what's going on in other countries you realize that what we are going through is nothing.

HAPPENING TODAY: Los Angeles County officially moved into the state's less-restrictive "red" tier, allowing more businesses to reopen like gyms, restaurants for indoor dining and movie theaters.

The cities of Long Beach and Pasadena, which both have their own health department, will also move into the red tier on Monday. Long Beach and Pasadena each released their own lists of permitted reopenings.

Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said it would take 48 hours after the state announces the vaccination threshold is met for the county to officially move into the "red" tier.

The state's "red" tier guidelines allow indoor dining at 25% of capacity, but counties are permitted to impose stricter regulations. The tier also allows indoor fitness centers at 10% of capacity and movie theaters, museums and aquariums at 25%.

Ten years of war in Syria: Syria's decade-long war has left more than 380,000 people dead and forced millions into exile. Here is a timeline of the main events in the conflict, which has drawn in a host of regional and international powers.

The attorney for Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer charged in George Floyd’s death, asked the judge overseeing the case to delay the trial and reconsider a change-of-venue motion, saying he was “gravely concerned” the $27 million civil settlement announced last week between the city of Minneapolis and the Floyd family has tainted the jury pool.

Eric Nelson, Chauvin’s defense attorney, questioned the “suspicious timing” of the settlement and argued it was “highly prejudicial” against his client. He called on Hennepin County District Court Judge Peter A. Cahill to “at least” call back the seven jurors already seated in the case to question them to see if they had read the news of the settlement and if they could continue to be impartial in the case.

“The fact that this came in the exact middle of jury selection. It’s perplexing to me,” Nelson said. “Whose idea was it to release this information?

He criticized members of the Minneapolis City Council and Mayor Jacob Frey, suggesting they had intended to sway public opinion in the case. He was particularly critical of Frey, who is also a civil rights attorney, saying “he should have known better.” (Read more.)

Spanish musician Xavier Lozano playing a flute made from a street barricade.

Meanwhile, in Texas ... Starship SN7.2 is headed back to the production site at SpaceX Boca Chica. SN7.2 is now in front of tent 1 at the production site.

EXCLUSIVE: Ghislaine Maxwell's brother insists she should be treated as "presumed innocent."

Think there's no crisis at the border? Think again. The truth is that it's simply being hidden from you.

https://www.lawenforcementtoday.com/report-biden-administration-appears-to-engage-in-almost-complete-media-blackout-of-true-border-crisis/

Two men have been charged with assaulting fallen U.S. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick on Jan. 6 after prosecutors say video evidence shows them dousing Sicknick and other law enforcement officers with a chemical spray outside the building, according to a report Monday.

But the suspects have not been charged with homicide, and prosecutors so far have not implicated anyone directly in causing Sicknick's demise, as an official cause of death remains pending.

Julian Elie Khater, 32, of Pennsylvania, and George Pierre Tanios, 39 of Morgantown, West Virginia, were arrested Sunday and are expected to make a court appearance Monday, the Washington Post first reported.

Each faces nine counts, including assault with a deadly weapon against Sicknick, a second Capitol police officer identified in court documents as "C. Edwards," and a D.C. Metropolitan Police officer identified as "B. Chapman."

Tipsters helped identify the two suspects using surveillance and body-camera images released by the FBI. According to charging documents, video shows Khater asking Tanios for a can of bear mace at 2:14 p.m. near the Lower West Terrace of the Capitol. About nine minutes later, Khater, who says he was struck with bear spray, is seen discharging a canister into the faces of Sicknick and the other officers.

CNN's Don Lemon reacts to the Vatican declaring that God cannot bless same-sex unions:

"God is not about hindering people or even judging people."

🤦‍♂️ #facepalm

Have any of the front-running mayoral candidates noticed New York City’s intense crime problem? It sure doesn’t seem so.

Shootings surged in February, despite the record snowfalls and continuing lockdowns. And that followed a 40 percent hike in murders in 2020 over the previous year — and a doubling of shooting incidents.

Do any of our mayoral candidates care?

Andrew Yang is in first place in the polls, and he should prove he’s a real New Yorker by actually speaking to our crime problem — instead of showing us around bodegas. In a piece for the New York Daily News, Yang laid out his vision for fighting crime in New York City and it involves getting tough on . . . police.

Noting a drop in solved crimes between 2019 and 2020, Yang warns, “In my administration, lieutenants and captains won’t get promoted if they can’t improve these rates.” Yang also wants to force “all new officers to live in the five boroughs.” Not only is that a tough ask, given how expensive the city is; it also limits the pool of possible cops, meaning some better ones may be shut out simply because of where they live. (Read more.)

Jacob soboroff reports that the Biden administration is considering Ssheltering unaccompanied migrant children at a NASA research facility in California to alleviate overcrowding at Border Patrol facilities.

That is some efficient thinking right there? Load them up in a rocket and blast em back where they came from? 🤔

President Donald Trump knew what he was doing! Gonna get worse -- more illegal immigrants are in their way to America!

Reporter: "Does the president believe that his administration has a handle on what's happening on the southern border right now?"

Pippi Longstocking: "We certainly do"