NATIONAL NEWS

Ex-Rep. Cawthorn fined after guilty plea over gun at airport

May 5, 2023, 11:33 AM | Updated: 11:52 am

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Former North Carolina U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn pleaded guilty Friday to a misdemeanor after his loaded gun was found last year in his carry-on luggage at Charlotte Douglas International Airport.

Mecklenburg County District Court Judge Cecilia Oseguera ordered a $250 fine but allowed Cawthorn to keep the 9 mm handgun that Transportation Security Administration agents seized at a checkpoint in April 2022, news outlets reported.

Prosecutors had wanted Cawthorn to have to relinquish the gun, but Oseguera said she saw nothing in the charge of possession of a dangerous weapon on city property that required him to give it up.

“I’m very happy and thankful that the judge gave a really clear ruling that sides with the law,” Cawthorn told reporters after the hearing.

Cawthorn, a Republican who served one term representing the 11th Congressional District in the mountains, previously admitted to having the gun at the airport and wrote on social media there was “no excuse” for his mistake.

Cawthorn also was found with an unloaded gun in 2021 while trying to get on a plane at Asheville Regional Airport. Airport police confiscated the gun but allowed him to board.

Cawthorn, from Henderson County, won election to Congress in 2020 at age 25 and became one of former President Donald Trump’s strongest supporters on Capitol Hill. He lost his 2022 GOP primary to Chuck Edwards, who went on to win the general elections.

Cawthorn told reporters Friday that he thinks he’ll return to politics one day but has no definite plans.

“I enjoy the position I’m in now,” said Cawthorn, who now has a home in Florida. “The world really is the oyster for the young.”

National News

Associated Press

Baltimore bridge collapse puts the highly specialized role of ship’s pilot under the spotlight

The expert pilots who navigate massive ships in and out of Baltimore’s port must often maneuver with just 2 feet (0.6 meter) of clearance from the channel floor and memorize charts, currents and every other possible maritime variable. The highly specialized role — in which a pilot temporarily takes control of a ship from its […]

1 hour ago

Associated Press

California man convicted of killing his mother is captured in Mexico after ditching halfway house

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — A Southern California man convicted of killing his mother as a teenager was captured in Mexico a week after he walked away from a halfway house, violating the conditions of his probation, authorities said. Ike Nicholas Souzer, 20, was arrested Wednesday in the coastal city of Rosarito by U.S. Customs […]

1 hour ago

Associated Press

Oklahoma judge rules death row inmate not competent to be executed

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — An Oklahoma judge ruled Thursday that a death row inmate is not competent to be executed for his role in the 1999 slayings of a mother and son. Pittsburg County Judge Michael Hogan issued an order in the case involving 61-year-old James Ryder in that county. “The court could go on […]

3 hours ago

Associated Press

Law enforcement executed search warrants at Atlantic City mayor’s home, attorney says

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — A lawyer for Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small said law enforcement officers visited the mayor’s home Thursday morning to execute search warrants, but would not reveal further information, including whether anyone was taken into custody. Edwin Jacobs confirmed that officers went to Small’s home with search warrants, but would not […]

3 hours ago

Associated Press

Massachusetts joins with NCAA, sports teams to tackle gambling among young people

BOSTON (AP) — Top Massachusetts officials joined with NCAA President and former Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker on Thursday to announce a new initiative aimed at tackling the public health harms associated with sports gambling among young people. Baker said those harms extend not just to young people making bets, but to student athletes coming under […]

4 hours ago

Associated Press

Older Florida couple found slain in their home; police believe killer stole their car

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Florida police are seeking the public’s help in finding a car stolen from an older couple who were found shot to death in their home. Fort Lauderdale Police on Thursday reissued an all-points bulletin for a red 2014 Ford Fusion that belonged to Major Melvin, 89, and his 87-year-old wife, […]

4 hours ago

Ex-Rep. Cawthorn fined after guilty plea over gun at airport