DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Democrats chose a failed Congressional candidate to lead their state party as they grapple with a series of election losses and an effort from the national party to take away its first-in-the-nation status in the presidential race. Rita Hart, the former state senator who lost a 2020 U.S. House race by just a handful of votes, was chosen Saturday over two other candidates. Hart said her focus is on helping Democrats start winning elections again. But she’ll also have to help the state party decide how to respond to the national Democratic Party’s decision to put the South Carolina primary ahead of Iowa’s caucuses on the presidential election calendar.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Police are refusing to release body camera video of three Des Moines officers fatally shooting a 16-year-old boy after he pointed a gun at them last month because state law prevents releasing the footage showing a minor committing a “delinquent act” before any charges are filed. The Des Moines Register reports that the police department was preparing to release video from all four officers involved in the Dec. 26 confrontation before the city’s legal department intervened. Des Moines Police spokesman Sgt. Paul Parizek said the state law still applies to this situation even though the boy was killed and won’t be charged. The Attorney General already ruled that the officers were legally justified in the shooting.
WELLSBURG, Iowa (AP) — Authorities have identified the three young children and one adult who died in a rollover crash in northern Iowa that also injured the nine other passengers Friday morning. The Iowa State Patrol said 1-year-old Marlin Borntreger, 2-year-old Rebecca Borntreger, 4-year-old Emma Borntreger and 22-year-old Ervin Borntreger all died. None of the occupants of the van were using seatbelts or child car seats. Iowa State Patrol spokesman Alex Dinkla said the driver lost control of the van on a snow-covered stretch of U.S. Highway 20 near Wellsburg. Four passengers were ejected when the van entered the median and rolled over. Dinkla said he didn’t have updated conditions on the six adults and three young children who were injured.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Authorities in Iowa have charged a second teenager with murder in the shooting deaths of two students at a Des Moines educational program. Nineteen-year-old Bravon Michael Tukes faces two counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted murder and one count of criminal gang participation. The charges filed Friday match those brought earlier in the week against 18-year-old Preston Walls, who is accused of fatally shooting the two students at the Starts Right Here program Monday and wounding its founder. Police say evidence shows Tukes communicated with Walls before and immediately after the shooting and drove the vehicle in which Walls allegedly fled. There is no attorney listed in court records yet who could speak on Tukes’ behalf.
