Also on this day in 2020, protests over the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died in police custody, broke out for a third straight night. See more
TribLIVE s Daily and Weekly email newsletters deliver the news you want and information you need, right to your inbox.
The daughter of a former Westmoreland man had strong words Tuesday for the nursing assistant at a West Virginia veterans hospital who killed her father and six others by giving them insulin they did not need.
“You took some of the greatest men of their time … and you preyed on them when they were at their weakest, and for that you are a coward,” said Melanie Proctor, daughter of Felix McDermott. “May God forgive you, as I never will.”
A federal judge in West Virginia sentenced Reta Mays to seven consecutive life sentences for causing the deaths of seven veterans, including the 82-year-old McDermott, a former Ruffs Dale resident who died April 9, 2018. She was sentenced to a consecutive sentence of 20 years for an eighth patient who died in June 2018, but authorities could not determine if his death was the result of the insulin.
Former Trump administration Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie grew up at Fort Bragg surrounded by Vietnam veterans affected by the toxic chemical Agent Orange. His father, too, was grievously wounded in Vietnam. Still, when given the chance to change policies at the Department of Veterans Affairs to help post-9/11 service members suffering from diseases related to toxic chemical exposure, critics say he chose not to.
By NIKKI WENTLING | STARS AND STRIPES Published: January 8, 2021 WASHINGTON – Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie won’t resign in the aftermath of the takeover of the U.S. Capitol building, the agency said Friday. Two of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet members – Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and Transportation Elaine Chao – stepped down Thursday. In their resignation letters, they condemned the attack at the Capitol, which happened as Congress was certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College win. A mob of Trump supporters smashed through security and breached the Capitol. The secretaries blamed Trump for using rhetoric that fueled the mob to storm the Capitol. Trump urged his supporters to travel to Washington for a “Save America” rally. In a speech Wednesday, he told them to march on the Capitol building to express their anger at the voting process.