Man arrested over death of ice hockey player Adam Johnson in Sheffield
A man has been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter following the death of professional ice hockey player Adam Johnson.
Mr Johnson, 29, was seriously injured during a Challenge Cup match between his Nottingham Panthers team and Sheffield Steelers on 28 October.
The American’s neck was cut by the skate blade of another player on the ice in Sheffield and he was later pronounced dead in hospital.
A post-mortem examination confirmed the Minnesota-born star died as a result of a fatal neck injury.
The crowd of 8,000 spectators at Sheffield’s Utilita Arena watched in horror as desperate attempts were made to save his life as he lay on the ice, shielded by fellow players.
Mr Johnson’s aunt, Kari Johnson, told Sky News on Tuesday that the family was “doing terribly because of the senseless tragedy”.
“We just want our boy back and we know we can’t have him.”
The Nottingham club described his death at the time as a “freak accident”.
The American joined the Panthers in August having previously played in Germany and Sweden as well as in the US National Hockey League (NHL).
South Yorkshire Police said the suspect, whose name has not been released, remains in custody after being arrested on Tuesday.
Flowers and messages were left in tribute to Mr Johnson outside the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, where the Panthers are based
Detective Chief Superintendent Becs Horsfall said: “Our investigation launched immediately following this tragedy and we have been carrying out extensive enquiries ever since to piece together the events which led to the loss of Adam in these unprecedented circumstances.”
Ms Johnson was watching her nephew play for the Panthers via a livestream with his father and grandmother when he was fatally injured.
Speaking from Minnesota, Ms Johnson previously told Sky News: “It was terrible, it was horrific, we didn’t know what to do.” There was “nothing we could do”, she said.
She also described how the family “broke down” after hearing he had died.
She said: “It was a mess, it was a nightmare, it was like it wasn’t real. We were in shock, we couldn’t believe this was happening.”
Ms Johnson described her nephew as a “kind soul” and a “private kid” who would “never would have wanted to be in the limelight like this”.
He simply wanted to be “good at hockey and have fun”, she said, adding he was “having the time of his life in the UK” and was planning to get engaged to his girlfriend.
An inquest into Mr Johnson’s death was opened and adjourned on 3 November, but Sheffield’s senior coroner, Tanyka Rawden, has already called on the sport’s governing bodies to take action.
In a Prevention of Future Deaths Report to Ice Hockey UK and the English Ice Hockey Association (EIHA), Ms Rawden said she was “sufficiently concerned that deaths may occur in the future if neck guards or protectors are not worn”.
The EIHA said neck guards will become mandatory from 2024, but the Elite League is not under its control.
The Elite Ice Hockey League, in which the Nottingham Panthers and Sheffield Steelers compete, has said it will not make the use of neck guards mandatory but will “strongly encourage” players and officials to wear them following the tragedy.
Donald Trump has said he is considering “taking away” the US citizenship of actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits a government from doing so.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”
He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.
O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.
“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.
“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”
Rosie O’Donnell moved to Ireland after Donald Trump secured a second term. Pic: AP
O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.
She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.
O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.
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This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.
But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.
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Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.
“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.
“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”
A farmer who fell from a greenhouse roof during an anti-immigrant raid at a licensed cannabis facility in California this week has died of his injuries.
Jaime Alanis, 57, is the first person to die as a result of Donald Trump’s Immigration Compliance and Enforcement (ICE) raids.
His niece, Yesenia Duran, posted on the fundraising site GoFundMe to say her uncle was his family’s only provider and he had been sending his earnings back to his wife and daughter in Mexico.
The United Food Workers said Mr Alanis had worked on the farm for 10 years.
“These violent and cruel federal actions terrorise American communities, disrupt the American food supply chain, threaten lives and separate families,” the union said in a recent statement on X.
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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said it executed criminal search warrants at Glass House Farms facilities on Thursday.
Mr Alanis called family to say he was hiding and possibly fleeing agents before he fell around 30ft (9m) from the roof and broke his neck, according to information from family, hospital and government sources.
Agents arrested 200 people suspected of being in the country illegally and identified at least 10 immigrant children on the sites, the DHS said in a statement.
Mr Alanis was not among them, the agency said.
“This man was not in and has not been in CBP (Customs and Border Protection) or ICE custody,” DHS assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin said.
“Although he was not being pursued by law enforcement, this individual climbed up to the roof of a greenhouse and fell 30ft. CBP immediately called a medivac to the scene to get him care as quickly as possible.”
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Four US citizens were arrested during the incident for allegedly “assaulting or resisting officers”, the DHS said, and authorities were offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a person suspected of firing a gun at federal agents.
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In a statement, Glass House, a licensed Cannabis grower, said immigration agents had valid warrants. It said workers were detained and it is helping provide them with legal representation.
“Glass House has never knowingly violated applicable hiring practices and does not and has never employed minors,” it added.
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