The week at a glance...United States

San Francisco

Football fans shot: Two football fans were shot, one of them seriously wounded, in separate incidents at Candlestick Park in San Francisco last week after an NFL preseason game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Oakland Raiders. One of the shooting victims was reportedly wearing a T-shirt bearing an expletive-laden anti-49ers slogan, according to police. The shootings prompted the rival teams to discontinue their annual preseason contest, and the 49ers pledged to tighten tailgating rules and crack down on drunken and unruly fans. The game was marred by violence during and after the 49ers’ 17–3 victory. Several fights broke out in the stands, and a man was beaten unconscious in a bathroom stall. “There is a small segment of both teams’ fans that, when they get together, it is not a good environment,” said Jed York, the 49ers’ president and CEO. In March, a San Francisco Giants fan was severely beaten at a baseball game in the parking lot of Dodger Stadium, in Los Angeles.

El Cajon, Calif.

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Iraqi-Mexican drug ring busted: More than 60 Iraqi Christians were arrested last week and charged with conspiring with one of Mexico’s most notorious drug cartels to smuggle guns, drugs, and grenades into the U.S. In taking down the ring, local police and federal Drug Enforcement Agency officers seized 18 pounds of methamphetamine and other narcotics, along with guns, explosives, and 3,500 pounds of marijuana. Officials said the gang worked out of an Iraqi social club in the San Diego suburb of El Cajon, where residents have long complained about illegal activity, including high-stakes card games protected by armed guards. Many of those charged are suspected of being part of a Detroit-based organized-crime syndicate of Chaldeans, an Iraqi Christian minority descended from Mesopotamia’s original inhabitants. The group is said to have long-standing ties to the powerful Sinoloa cartel led by Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.

Austin

Perry’s fund-raising slammed: Rick Perry, the Texas governor and GOP presidential candidate, came under fire this week for reportedly handing out lucrative grants and high-ranking government positions to his most generous supporters. An investigation by The New York Times found that a company co-founded by one of Perry’s biggest donors had received a $3 million grant from an economic development fund administered by the governor’s office. Perry has also allegedly received $17 million in donations from more than 900 of his appointees and their spouses. A Perry spokesman denied any link between donors and the state grants, and said that it was appropriate for the governor to appoint people who “support his vision and policies” to state posts.

Jonesboro, Ark.

‘West Memphis Three’ freed: Three men convicted of the gruesome slayings of three children in 1993 walked free this week, after a long legal battle to persuade prosecutors that they were innocent. The men, known to supporters as the “West Memphis Three,” secured their release by pleading guilty to murder in exchange for time served. They each entered a guilty plea under a rarely used legal provision that allows them to maintain their innocence. Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley, and Jason Baldwin were convicted of murdering three 8-year-old Cub Scouts 18 years ago, despite a lack of physical evidence linking them to the crime. Misskelley and Baldwin received life sentences, while Echols was sentenced to death.

Mineral, Va.

Earthquake rattles the East: A rare, 5.8 magnitude earthquake centered near tiny Mineral, Va., rattled the East Coast this week, shaking buildings from Georgia to Canada and as far west as Ohio. The early-afternoon tremor, which lasted around 30 seconds, sent office workers rushing into the streets in Washington, D.C., New York City, and Boston, clogging cell phone networks and snarling transportation. “It felt like when you are sitting on a suspension bridge and you feel it swaying,” said Raleigh, N.C., resident Karen Schaefer. In Washington, about 90 miles northeast of the epicenter, the White House and Capitol building were evacuated, and the Washington Monument and National Cathedral were closed because cracks appeared. There were no reports of major damage—just broken windows, emptied shelves, and rattled nerves.

Washington, D.C.

MLK Memorial opens: The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial opened to the public this week, surviving an earthquake and a controversy over outsourcing. A multiracial, multinational crowd arrived early for the unveiling of the 30-foot granite sculpture of the slain civil-rights leader, who will share the National Mall with Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson. “It’s just a real honor to still be alive and to see this,” said visitor Jean Durr, who remembered King’s assassination, in 1968. The walls of the $120 million memorial are inscribed with quotes from King’s famous speeches, including 1963’s “I Have a Dream.” A dedication of the memorial will take place later this week, on the 48th anniversary of the March on Washington. The memorial planners have been criticized for hiring Chinese sculptor Lei Yixin to create the statue and Chinese stone masons to help build it.