Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President-elect JD Vance says those answerable for violence in the course of the Capitol riot “obviously” mustn’t be pardoned, as President-elect Donald Trump vows to make use of his clemency powers on behalf of a lot of those trying have on January 6, 2021 to overturn the outcomes of the election, which Trump lost.

Vance insisted in an interview on “Fox News Sunday” that the pardon issue was “very simple,” saying those that “protested peacefully” must be pardoned and “if you committed violence that day, of course you should.” not be pardoned.” He later said there was a “bit of a gray area” in some cases.

Trump said he would pardon rioters on “day one” of his presidency, which begins Jan. 20. “Most likely I will do it very quickly,” he said recently on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” He added: “These people have suffered long and hard. And there may be some exceptions. I have to look. But you know, if someone was radical, they would be crazy.”

More than 1,500 people have been charged with federal crimes in reference to the siege, which injured greater than 100 cops and compelled lawmakers into hiding as they met to certify Democrat Joe Biden's 2020 victory.

Hundreds of people that didn’t take part in destruction or violence were charged only with misdemeanor charges of illegally entering the Capitol. Others were charged with crimes including assault for beating cops. Leaders of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys extremist groups were convicted of seditious conspiracy after prosecutors tried to make use of force to stop the peaceful transfer of power from Republican incumbent Trump to Biden.

In a post on X, Vance responded to criticism from supporters of the Capitol rioters that his position didn’t go far enough to release all those convicted. “I’ve been defending these guys for years,” he said.

“For the president to say he will look at every single case (and for me to say the same thing) is not a step backwards,” Vance said. “I assure you, we care about people who are unjustly incarcerated. Yes, that includes those who were provoked, and that includes those who received a trash trial.”

Originally published: January 12, 2025 at 10:35 am PST

Grayson Murray's parents said Sunday their 30-year-old son committed suicide, only a day after he withdrew from a PGA Tour event. The family asked for privacy and for people to honor Murray by being kind to 1 one other.

“If this is his legacy, we couldn’t ask for anything else,” Eric and Terry Murray said in an announcement released by the PGA Tour.

Murray, a two-time PGA Tour winner, spoke in regards to the turning point in his life, his golf and his battle with alcoholism and mental health problems after his victory on the Sony Open in Honolulu in January. He died on Saturday morning.

Murray needed to undergo the Korn Ferry Tour to get his PGA Tour card back, after which he made a birdie on the ultimate hole on the Sony Open to get into the playoff and made a 40-foot birdie putt on the primary extra hole for an emotional win.

“It's not easy,” Murray said immediately after his victory. “I wanted to give up many times. Give up on myself. Give up on golf. Sometimes give up on life.”

Murray finished forty third on the PGA Championship last week, maintaining his position in the highest 60 and securing a spot in next month's U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2 in his native North Carolina.

He shot 68 within the opening round at Colonial. He was 5 over par in the subsequent round and had three bogeys in a row when he retired as a result of illness.

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said he had spoken to Murray's parents about pausing play at Colonial and so they had insisted the golf tournament should proceed.

Monahan flew to Fort Worth, Texas, to be with the players, lots of whom wore black and red pins on their hats in honor of Murray on Sunday. Those are the colours of the Carolina Hurricanes, his favorite NHL team.

“We have spent the last 24 hours trying to accept the fact that our son is gone. It is surreal that we have to not only admit it to ourselves but also share it with the world. It is a nightmare,” his parents said of their statement.

“We have so many questions that have no answers. But one. Was Grayson loved? The answer is yes. By us, by his brother Cameron, his sister Erica, his entire extended family, by his friends, by his teammates and – it seems – by many of you reading this. He was loved and we will miss him.

“Life wasn’t always easy for Grayson and although he took his own life, we know he is now resting in peace.”

Grayson was a raw talent after starting to play golf at age 8. He won his age group three years in a row at the prestigious World Junior Championship in San Diego. But he struggled to find his feet in college, going to Wake Forest, East Carolina and then Arizona State.

His first coach was Ted Kiegel in North Carolina, who, like so many others, was devastated.

“Words cannot express the tragedy of this moment,” Kiegel said in a statement to The Associated Press. “Grayson got here from an peculiar world and made it EXTRAORDINARY. … He burned brightly within the 30 years he gave us.”

Murray won the Barbasol Championship in Kentucky as a 22-year-old rookie and gradually became frustrated that he was not improving as quickly as others he regularly defeated as an amateur.

He has always spoken openly about depression and anxiety, as well as his addiction to alcohol. One of his darkest moments came at the 2021 Sony Open, when he was suspended for an incident at a bar in Hawaii. Murray posted on social media: “Why was I drunk? Because I'm a (expletive) alcoholic who hates all the pieces to do with life on the PGA Tour and that is my scapegoat.”

He also accused the tour of not helping him adequately, which the tour denied.

Monahan said Saturday at Colonial that he called Murray immediately after that deployment and spent a lot of time with him afterward.

“I feel one in every of the weather of his legacy is his resilience,” Monahan said. “Think back to 2017 when he won the Barbasol Championship and was bouncing between the Korn Ferry Tour and the PGA Tour. … assessing himself, coming back, becoming a stronger person in his own eyes after which winning 3 times up to now yr.”

“For me, that’s a level of resilience that is extraordinary.”

When he won the Korn Ferry Tour last year, Murray said his parents “have mainly been through hell for me for the last six years and have struggled with some mental issues.”

“Everyone has their struggles,” Murray said a year ago. “Sometimes persons are capable of hide them and still function, and sometimes they're not. I feel our society is more accepting now that it's OK to not be OK. I've embraced that mentality. I'm not ashamed of going through depression and anxiety.”

He also used social media to connect with others struggling with similar issues in a sport where there are far more losses than victories.

Murray said in January after his victory at the Sony Open that he often felt like a failure who had wasted his talent.

“It was a horrible place, but like I said, you may have to have courage,” he said. “You should be willing to maintain going. And lo and behold, that's exactly what I did, and now I'm here. I'm so blessed and grateful.”

For him, winning the Sony Open – which allowed him to play in the Masters for the first time – was the beginning of a new chapter. He said he had become a Christian and was engaged to Christiana Ritchie. In January, he said the wedding had been planned for the end of April.

“My story isn’t over yet. I feel it’s just starting,” Murray said in Hawaii. “I hope that in the longer term I can encourage many individuals who’ve their very own problems.”

OAKLAND — In a brand new settlement agreement approved by a federal judge Thursday, the Bay Area Rapid Transit District agreed to take concrete steps to enhance train accessibility for riders with mobility challenges, in line with a news release from groups responding to the change urged.

“This settlement ensures that people with mobility disabilities are not excluded from the Bay Area’s mass transit system and do not receive levels of service far below those of non-disabled people,” said Jinny Kim, senior attorney at Disability Rights Advocates.

Disability Rights Advocates was joined in its lawsuit against BART by the nonprofit Senior and Disability Action, the Independent Living Resource Center of San Francisco, Legal Aid at Work, and BART riders Pi Ra and Ian Smith.

The lawsuit, filed in 2017, alleged that the transit agency violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and California law by failing to properly maintain elevators and escalators, thereby denying riders with disabilities access to services.

BART officials have maintained that they and the agency didn’t violate any federal or state laws and usually are not expected to allege fault under the settlement agreement. Still, the authority has agreed to quite a few remedial measures, including implementing a strategic maintenance plan to renovate its 87 station elevators, immediately repairing out-of-service station elevators and escalators, and implementing a prevention plan to make sure routine access.

The agreement also requires the agency to reply promptly to elevator and station cleanliness, communicate repeatedly about elevator and escalator failures, train staff, and develop a criticism procedure and emergency response plan that features a protocol for passengers who could also be affected by their service Mobility is excluded within the event of an emergency.

“Working with advocates and those most impacted, we are moving forward with a series of improvements to elevators, escalators, training and other things like signage for accessible routes,” BART chief spokeswoman Alicia Trost said in an emailed statement. “We will continue to work to make BART as accessible as possible for all of our riders.”