News Roundup

Published for NC Criminal Law on February 05, 2021.

As USA Today reports, fallen United States Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who was killed during a violent insurrection by extremist supporters of former President Donald Trump in early January, laid in honor in the Capitol Rotunda on Wednesday before his interment at Arlington National Cemetery.  Sicknick is the third Capitol Police officer to receive that honor, the first two being Jacob Chestnut and John Gibson who were shot by an armed intruder in 1998.  Keep reading for more news. Garner Man Charged.  WRAL reports that a Garner man, Stephen Maury Baker, has joined other North Carolinians charged with criminal offenses for their alleged role in the attack on the Capitol in early January.  Baker, who reportedly announced while livestreaming to YouTube under the name “Stephen Ignoramus” that he “was inside for like an hour, dude” and was “like one of the last 10 people in there,” has been charged with violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds and knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted area without lawful authority.  Hayes Pardoned.  With the news from the last weeks of Donald Trump’s presidency focusing primarily on the deadly insurrection at the United States Capitol, a North Carolina story from those days flew under the radar.  For the last two years, criminal cases against Greg Lindberg and Robin Hayes related to their attempt to bribe State Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey have been fairly big news in North Carolina.  Hayes, who is a former state congressman and a former state Republican Party [...]