The week at a glance ... United States

Hemet, Calif.

Gang arrests: Two dozen suspected members of a local white supremacist gang were arrested this week in connection with a series of attacks against police officers and the torching of Hemet city vehicles, authorities said. More than 200 local, state, and federal officers conducted the raids and made the arrests at 35 different locations, holding the suspects on various weapons, narcotics, and parole violations. The city of Hemet was long considered a slow-paced retirement community, but the area has been hard hit by the foreclosure crisis and crime has been increasing, as has gang activity. Authorities say that several recent attacks on police and city property were apparently aimed at officials involved in a crackdown on gangs.

Phoenix

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Immigration crackdown: Arizona state legislators have passed the nation’s strictest immigration bill, requiring police to determine the immigration status of anyone they have a “reasonable suspicion” may be in the U.S. illegally. The measure, expected to be signed by Gov. Jan Brewer, also requires immigrants to carry their alien registration documents at all times. “I believe handcuffs are a wonderful tool when they’re on the right people,” said Republican State Sen. Russell Pearce, the bill’s sponsor. Civil-rights groups strongly opposed the bill, arguing that it would lead to discrimination. “You cannot tell if a person walking on a sidewalk is undocumented or not,” said activist Pablo Alvarado, “so this is a mandate for racial profiling.”

Venice, La.

Oil rig explosion: An explosion on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico this week left seven people critically injured, and several others were missing and feared dead. The Deepwater Horizon rig, located about 52 miles off Venice, La., had 126 on board when it exploded Tuesday night. Coast Guard rescue crews were dispatched from New Orleans and Mobile, Ala., to search for the missing, and four cutters were sent to assist with evacuation. Rescuers spotted a lifeboat with several people aboard at one point, but then it drifted out of sight “We don’t want to see anybody hurt and we’ll do everything we can to take care of the crew,” said Greg Panagos, a spokesman for Transocean, the company that owns the rig. There was no immediate word on the cause of the explosion.

Washington, D.C.

Beloved educator murdered: Police are investigating the mysterious shooting death of a popular middle school principal credited with turning around one of Washington’s most troubled schools. Investigators found the body of Brian Betts, 42, at his home in a Washington suburb, after he failed to show up for work. Betts was considered one of the city’s most innovative principals, known for cooking dinners for his students and telephoning them to scold them for skipping homework. “He was something like a father to me,” said Daamontae Brown, a ninth-grader at Shaw Middle School. Because there were no signs of forced entry at Betts’ home, police suspect he may have known his killer.

Washington, D.C.

Ban on videos overturned: In a closely watched First Amendment case, the U.S. Supreme Court this week struck down a 1999 federal law that criminalized the creation or sale of videos depicting dog fights or other forms of animal cruelty. “Government has no power to restrict expression because of its message, its ideas, its subject matter, or its content,” said the 8–1 opinion by Chief Justice John Roberts, which found that because of the law’s “alarming breadth,” it could potentially be used to ban hunting videos. Only Justice Samuel Alito accepted the government’s argument that depictions of animals being harmed had “minimal social worth” and deserved no free-speech protection.

Tallahassee, Fla.

Crist may bolt GOP: Florida Republican Gov. Charlie Crist said this week he may run for the U.S. Senate as an independent, after his campaign chairman resigned to protest Crist’s veto of a Republican-backed education bill. Crist, 53, trails challenger Marco Rubio by almost 25 percentage points in the Republican primary race. Rubio enjoys strong backing from many Tea Party groups, which consider Crist insufficiently conservative. Crist hinted in an interview that he might drop out of the primary and run as an independent, ruling out a switch to the Democratic Party. “My fellow Floridians want a public servant who puts people first over politics,” he said. A third-party candidacy by Crist would likely benefit Democratic Senate candidate Kendrick Meek, who currently serves in the U.S. House of Representatives, by splitting the Republican vote.