16 Amish face trial in attacks
16 Amish face trial in attacks
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — A breakaway Amish group accused of settling a score by carrying out hair-cutting attacks against members of their faith moved into the hills of eastern Ohio two decades ago following a dispute over religious differences.
How their community came about is quite common and on the rise among the Amish. Disagreements over church discipline and how to maintain their simple way of life amid the encroaching outside world have created dozens of splinter groups.
But there was something troubling about this one and its leader, according to authorities. They say Samuel Mullet Sr. allowed beatings of those who disobeyed him, had sex with married women to “cleanse them,” and then, last fall, instructed his followers to cut the beards and hair of his critics, an act considered deeply offensive in Amish culture.
Mullet and 15 other Amish men and women are set to go on trial today in Cleveland on charges of hate crimes in the hair-cutting attacks. Other charges include conspiracy, evidence tampering and obstruction of justice in what prosecutors say were crimes motivated by religious differences. They could face lengthy prison terms if convicted.
The defendants — including four of Mullet’s children, his son-in-law and three nephews — say the government shouldn’t intrude on what they call internal church disciplinary matters not involving anti-Amish bias. They’ve denied the charges and rejected plea bargain offers carrying sentences of two to three years in prison instead of possible sentences of 20 years.
Mullet said he didn’t order the hair-cutting but didn’t stop anyone from carrying it out. He also has defended what he thinks is his right to punish people who break church laws.
Anti-Obama doc highlights films
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hollywood may have run out of summer hits, but an anti-Obama documentary is helping to fill the gap.
Holdover movies easily topped the weekend box office again, led by Sylvester Stallone’s “The Expendables 2” at No. 1 for the second-straight weekend with $13.5 million. The weekend’s new wide releases were overshadowed by “2016: Obama’s America,” which expanded from limited to nationwide release and took in $6.2 million to finish at No. 8.
The documentary is a conservative critique of what the country would look like four years from now if President Barack Obama is re-elected.
Released by Rocky Mountain Pictures, “Obama’s America” nearly matched the $6.3 million debut of the No. 7 movie, Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s action tale “Premium Rush,” a Sony release that played in more than twice as many theaters as the Obama documentary.
The weekend’s other new wide releases opened weakly. Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell’s road-chase comedy “Hit & Run,” released by Open Road Films, debuted at No. 10 with $4.7 million, and the Warner Bros. fright flick “The Apparition” opened at No. 12 with $3 million.
The weak openings are typical of late August, a dumping ground for movies without much audience appeal as the summer blockbuster season winds down and young viewers switch to back-to-school mode. But with less competition from Hollywood releases, it also opens the door for surprise successes such as “Obama’s America.”
Snooki gives birth to baby Lorenzo
NEW YORK (AP) — “Jersey Shore” star Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi early Sunday gave birth to her first child, a boy.
The reality TV star and her fiance, Jionni LaValle, welcomed 6-pound, 5-ounce Lorenzo Dominic LaValle into the world at just before 3 a.m. Sunday at Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, N.J., MTV said.
“The world just got another Guido!!!,” a Polizzi rep told MTV. “Nicole, Jionni & Enzo are doing great!”
MTV congratulated Polizzi and her fiance and looked toward the newborn’s possible appearance on “Jersey Shore.”
“We couldn’t be happier for Nicole and Jionni on the healthy delivery of their baby boy!,” MTV said in a statement. “We look forward to Lorenzo’s first trip to the Jersey Shore and can’t wait to see his first animal print onesie.”
MTV has said it’s bringing “Jersey Shore” back for a sixth season, with Snooki, 24, as part of the action, but hasn’t offered specifics on how big a part Snooki will play.
Ex.-S. Carolina
governor engaged
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford proposed marriage to his Argentine lover in the same way he has lived since their affair derailed his political career: combining elements of secrecy with unfiltered expressions of love, and a touch of the weird as well. Sanford confirmed Sunday that he’s engaged to Maria Belen Chapur, an intensely private divorced woman whose affair with the married Republican father of four children became tabloid news three years ago.
He proposed to her on Wednesday in the Bella Italia Grille, a high-end restaurant in the upscale Palermo neighborhood, around the corner from Chapur’s luxury apartment, the restaurant’s manager said Sunday.
The couple have been regular customers at the restaurant, but this time they arrived separately. Sanford arrived first, and considered a table in the main dining room, but then turned it down as too noisy, said the restaurant manager, who gave his name only as Gustavo.
The manager said Sanford settled on a table for two near the door, and left the engagement ring in a small box with one of the waiters, telling him to give it to Chapur when she arrived. Then he hid out in the bathroom for disabled guests, where cracking open the door provides a direct view of the table, and waited for more than an hour before she finally arrived, the manager said.
The waiter then gave Chapur the box, telling her something about winning a prize. She opened it and seemed puzzled to see the ring until Sanford walked up, declared his love and asked her to marry him. She quickly said yes and they kissed and cried, but no one else in the restaurant seemed to notice, the manager said.
“We’re very discreet. They are, too. Nobody noticed. They really are private people,” said the manager, who declined to give his last name and said protecting his clients was paramount.
Sanford, who was South Carolina’s governor from 2003-2011, had been a rising star in the Republican party with presidential aspirations when he disappeared from the state for five days in 2009. Reporters were told he was hiking the Appalachian Trail. But when he returned to South Carolina, Sanford admitted that he was instead in Argentina with Maria Belen Chapur, whom he later called his soul mate.
“I’ve been unfaithful to my wife. I developed a relationship with what started as a dear, dear friend from Argentina. It began very innocently as I suspect many of these things do, in just a casual email back and forth in advice on one’s life there and advice here. But here recently, over this last year, it developed into something much more than that,” Sanford said then in explaining the affair.
Sanford’s wife, Jenny, divorced him, and his political career was derailed. The affair also prompted impeachment hearings over Sanford’s use of state planes, campaign cash and first-class travel. The former South Carolina congressman ended up paying $74,000 in ethics fines and reimbursed the state for the investigation and for travel and personal expenses.
While Sanford professed his love publicly for the woman in Argentina, Chapur never spoke out, issuing just one terse statement asking for privacy.
When asked about the engagement by The Associated Press on Sunday, Sanford simply vouched for the accuracy of a statement released earlier in the day.
“I’d love to talk but we’re going to end up in no man’s land,” Sanford told the AP. “The only comment I’ll stand by is that there was a statement sent to CNN and I stand by its accuracy. I don’t know anything beyond that.”