10 things you need to know today: August 11, 2016

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1. Report: Secret Service looks into Trump 'Second Amendment' remark
2. Terror suspect killed by Canadian police
3. Virginia man arrested while trying to scale Trump Tower
4. Arkansas deputy fatally shot in apparent ambush
5. Pro-government militias claim victory against ISIS in Libyan city
6. 6 Baltimore police officials fired after scathing federal report
7. Trump calls Obama 'founder of ISIS'
8. Investigators blame fatal California wildfire on hot tub wiring
9. Judge condemns 'Grim Sleeper' serial killer to death
10. Cyclist Kristin Armstrong wins third straight Olympic gold

published 11 August 2016

1. Report: Secret Service looks into Trump 'Second Amendment' remark

An anonymous Secret Service official said Wednesday that members of the agency had talked with representatives of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's campaign regarding his remark on how "Second Amendment people" could stop Hillary Clinton from appointing a pro-gun-control majority to the Supreme Court. Democrats have called the comment a threat of violence against Clinton. Secret Service communications director Cathy Milhoan did not confirm the talks, but said the "U.S. Secret Service is aware of Mr. Trump's comments." Trump tweeted that "No such meeting or conversation ever happened."

Canadian police shot and killed a 24-year-old Muslim convert previously identified as an Islamic State supporter. Authorities had received credible information indicating that the man, Aaron Driver, was plotting a suicide bombing in a major Canadian city. Driver's family said he had detonated a device, injuring himself and another person, and had another device nearby when he was shot. Driver had been arrested last year for openly supporting ISIS on social media, and had been banned from contacting the Islamist extremist terror group.

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New York City police on Wednesday arrested a 20-year-old Virginia man who climbed 21 stories up Trump Tower. "What he explained to us is that he wanted a personal meeting with Mr. Trump and he posted a YouTube video on Tuesday," Bill Aubrey, Chief of Detectives with Manhattan South Precinct said at a press conference. The New York Police Department said it did not plan to release the man's name until charges are "dropped or filed."

A gunman fatally shot an Arkansas sheriff's deputy in an apparent ambush on Wednesday. Sebastian County Sheriff's Cpl. Bill Cooper and other officers were responding to a domestic disturbance call Wednesday morning when he was shot in the neck. "Essentially it was an ambush," Fort Smith police spokesman Daniel Grubbs said. "It just appears this guy was waiting on us to get here." The suspected shooter, identified as 35-year-old Billy Monroe Jones, surrendered after an hours-long standoff. He is believed to have been equipped with body armor and an assault-style rifle.

U.S.-backed pro-government militias in Libya said Wednesday that they had retaken the seaside city of Surt from the Islamic State. If confirmed, the militias' victory would be the latest in a string of battlefield setbacks for ISIS, which also has lost territory in Iraq and Syria. The militias have been fighting a summertime offensive against ISIS for the Government of National Accord, which is based in Tripoli and backed by the United Nations.

Baltimore police officials said Wednesday that six officers were fired for violations in the past year, as the Justice Department released a scathing report condemning the department for routinely violating citizens' constitutional rights with unlawful stops and excessive force, Police Commissioner Kevin Davis confirmed. The report describes events such as a BPD sergeant instructing a patrol officer to "make something up" in order to stop and question a group of young black men. The Justice Department launched the civil rights investigation last year after the death of Freddie Gray, a black man who suffered a fatal spinal injury in police custody.

Donald Trump told supporters in Florida on Wednesday that President Obama is "the founder of ISIS," and "crooked Hillary Clinton" is the co-founder. The comments came a day after Trump touched off a firestorm of criticism for saying that "Second Amendment people" could stop Clinton, his democratic rival, from appointing a pro-gun-control majority to the Supreme Court, a remark Democrats said amounted to a threat of violence. Trump's attack on Obama marked an escalation in the Republican presidential nominee's criticism of the president's handling of terror threats.

California officials said Wednesday a wildfire that killed four people and destroyed 1,300 homes last year was started by faulty wiring in a hot tub. Investigators determined that the wiring of the hot tub, on a property belonging to John and Cindy Pinch in Cobb, California, "was not installed according to building code." The couple is under investigation for possible criminal charges and liability for the $57 million cost of putting out the fire. John and Cindy Pinch did not respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.

A California judge on Wednesday sentenced Lonnie David Franklin Jr., also known as the "Grim Sleeper" serial killer, to death for a series of murders from 1985 to 2007. Franklin was convicted earlier this year of killing nine women and a teenage girl, although detectives believe he might have killed more than 25 women. "This is not a sentence of vengeance," Superior Court Judge Kathleen Kennedy told Franklin as relatives of his victims wept. "It's justice."

U.S. cyclist Kristin Armstrong won the gold medal in the women's individual time trial in the Rio Olympics on Wednesday on the eve of her 43rd birthday. The victory made her the oldest female Olympic cycling champion, and the first person ever to win three straight golds in a cycling discipline. Also on Wednesday, U.S. swimmer Katie Ledecky earned her third gold medal, winning the 4x200m freestyle relay with teammates Allison Schmitt, Leah Smith, and Maya DiRado. In basketball, Carmelo Anthony scored 31 points to help the U.S. men's team avoid an upset by Australia, and become the all-time U.S. leading scorer in Olympic competition.

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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.