WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military has raised the security protection measures it is taking at its bases throughout Europe, asking service members to be more vigilant and keep a lower profile due to a combination of threats it is seeing across the region.
U.S. European Command said in a statement Sunday that a “variety of factors play into the safety of U.S. military community abroad.”
Increasing the threat level to Charlie, the second-highest of five levels for service members, is the result of a combination of events occurring across Europe, including elections in France and the U.K., the upcoming Olympics and other major sporting events, and the ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza, according to two U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide additional details. But they said they were unaware of any specific threat.
Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh would not say Monday whether bases in the Middle East, Africa or the Indo-Pacific were at similar increased force protection levels. However, one of the officials said that many of those bases, especially bases throughout the Middle East and Africa, already maintain higher security levels.
Force protection Charlie is instituted “when an incident occurs or intelligence is received indicating that some form of terrorist action or targeting against personnel or facilities is likely.” The highest of the five levels is Delta, which applies where a terrorist attack has occurred or when intelligence indicates terrorist action against a person or place is imminent, followed by Charlie, Bravo, Alpha and Normal, the minimum level.
Raising the threat level to Charlie means additional security measures will be in place at U.S. military installations, but it's up to each commander's discretion to determine what those measures are. It also means service members and their families who are living in each community should be more aware of their surroundings and maintain a lower profile, one of the officials said.
FILE - The main entrance for the U.S. Army Patch Barracks in Stuttgart, Germany, Nov. 28, 2006, where the headquarters of the U.S. European Command (EUCOM) is located. The U.S, military has raised the security protection measures it is taking at its bases throughout Europe, asking service members to be more vigilant and keep a lower profile due to a combination of threats it's seeing across the region. (AP Photo/Thomas Kienzle, File)
ROME (AP) — An Italian appeals court on Wednesday upheld the convictions of two American men in the slaying of an Italian plainclothes police officer during a botched sting operation but reduced their sentences. The new trial was ordered after Italy’s highest court threw out their convictions.
The court convicted Lee Elder Finnegan and sentenced him to 15 years and 2 months in prison and gave a sentence of 11 years and four months, along with a 800 euro ($863) fine to Gabriele Natale-Hjorth.
They were found guilty in the July 2019 slaying of Carabinieri Vice Brigadier Mario Cerciello Rega and after the first trial, both were sentenced to life in prison, Italy's harshest penalty. Those sentences were reduced on appeal, and last year, Italy’s highest Cassation Court ordered a retrial.
In the new trial, prosecutors asked that Finnegan be sentenced to 23 years and nine months and Natale-Hjorth to 23 years.
Teenagers at the time of the slaying, the former schoolmates from the San Francisco Bay area had met up in Rome to spend a few days vacationing. The fatal confrontation took place after they arranged to meet a small-time drug dealer, who turned out to have been a police informant, to recover money lost in a bad deal. Instead, they were confronted by the officers.
Cerciello Riga was stabbed 11 times with a knife brought from the hotel room.
In ordering the retrial, the Cassation Court said it hadn’t been proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendants, with limited Italian language skills, had understood that they were dealing with Italian police officers when they went to meet the alleged drug dealer in Rome.
The defense had argued that the defendants didn’t know they were facing law enforcement when the attack happened, an argument their lawyers repeated during the new trial.
In a statement released by lawyers after the new verdicts, Leah Elder, Finnegan Elder’s mother, insisted that her son didn’t know he had police officers in front of him but said he was prepared to take responsibility for his actions.
“This trial is unfortunately connected to the tragedy of a person’s death, a grave fact that has marked and will forever mark the lives of all the families involved,” she said. “Bringing out the truth of the facts would help Finnegan take full responsibility for the pain he caused with his tragic reaction. I hope that, even as he pays for his mistake, he will also open up to hope for the future.”
The killing of the officer in the storied Carabinieri paramilitary police corps shocked Italy and the 35-year-old Cerciello Rega was mourned as a national hero.
Prosecutors alleged Elder stabbed Cerciello Rega with a knife that he brought with him on his trip to Europe and that Natale-Hjorth helped him hide the knife in their hotel room. Under Italian law, an accomplice in an alleged murder can also be charged with murder without carrying out the slaying.
Prosecutors contend the young Americans concocted a plot involving a stolen bag and cellphone after their failed attempt to buy cocaine with 80 euros ($96) in Rome’s Trastevere nightlife district. Natale-Hjorth and Elder testified they had paid for the cocaine but didn’t receive it.
Barry reported from Soave, Italy.
Gabriel Natale Hjorth is hugged by a relative after the reading of the judgment at the end of a hearing for the appeals trial in which he is facing murder charges for killing Italian Carabinieri paramilitary police officer Mario Cerciello Rega, in Rome, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Gabriel Natale Hjorth sits surrounded by his lawyers after the reading of the judgment at the end of a hearing for the appeals trial in which he is facing murder charges for killing Italian Carabinieri paramilitary police officer Mario Cerciello Rega, in Rome, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (AP Photo/ Alessandra Tarantino)
Finnegan Lee Elder, left, and Gabriel Natale Hjorth, sit before the reading of the judgment at the end of a hearing for the appeals trial in which they are facing murder charges for killing Italian Carabinieri paramilitary police officer Mario Cerciello Rega, in Rome, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Finnegan Lee Elder, center, is hugged by his lawyer Renato Borzone, after the reading of the judgment at the end of a hearing for the appeals trial in which he is facing murder charges for killing Italian Carabinieri paramilitary police officer Mario Cerciello Rega, in Rome, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Ethan Elder, left, father of Finnegan Lee Elder hugs his son before the reading of the judgment at the end of a hearing for the appeals trial in which Finnegan is facing murder charges for killing Italian Carabinieri paramilitary police officer Mario Cerciello Rega, in Rome, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Finnegan Lee Elder, second from left, and Gabriel Natale Hjorth, third from left, listen to the reading of the judgment at the end of a hearing for the appeals trial in which they are facing murder charges for killing Italian Carabinieri paramilitary police officer Mario Cerciello Rega, in Rome, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Rosa Maria Esilio, widow of Italian Carabinieri paramilitary police officer Mario Cerciello Rega, leaves after the reading of the judgment of the appeals trial for his murder, in Rome, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Ethan Elder, left, back to camera, father of Finnegan Lee Elder, hugs his son before the reading of the judgment at the end of a hearing for the appeals trial in which Finnegan is facing murder charges for killing Italian Carabinieri paramilitary police officer Mario Cerciello Rega, in Rome, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. At right sits Gabriel Natale Hjorth charged for the same killing. (AP Photo/ Alessandra Tarantino)
Gabriel Natale Hjorth is hugged by his father Fabrizio Natale, after the reading of the judgment at the end of a hearing for the appeals trial in which he is facing murder charges for killing Italian Carabinieri paramilitary police officer Mario Cerciello Rega, in Rome, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (AP Photo/ Alessandra Tarantino)
Andrea Varriale, top left, colleague of Italian Carabinieri paramilitary police officer Mario Cerciello Rega, and Paolo Cerciello Rega, his brother, attend the appeal trial of Gabriel Natale-Hjorth and Finnegan Lee Elder where they are accused of slaying the Carabinieri paramilitary police officer in Rome, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (AP Photo/ Alessandra Tarantino)
Gabriel Natale Hjorth leaves at the end of a hearing for the appeals trial in which he is facing murder charges for killing Italian Carabinieri paramilitary police officer Mario Cerciello Rega, in Rome, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Two American men face a new trial in the slaying of an Italian plainclothes police officer during a botched sting operation after Italy's highest court threw out their convictions. (AP Photo/ Alessandra Tarantino)
Ethan Elder, father of Finnegan Lee Elder, left, attends a hearing for the appeals trial in which his son is facing murder charges for killing Italian Carabinieri paramilitary police officer Mario Cerciello Rega, in Rome, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (AP Photo/ Alessandra Tarantino)
Gabriel Natale Hjorth listens to his lawyer Francesco Petrelli during a hearing for the appeals trial in which he is facing murder charges for killing Italian Carabinieri paramilitary police officer Mario Cerciello Rega, in Rome, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Two American men face a new trial in the slaying of an Italian plainclothes police officer during a botched sting operation after Italy's highest court threw out their convictions. (AP Photo/ Alessandra Tarantino)
Gabriel Natale Hjorth attends a hearing for the appeals trial in which he is facing murder charges for killing Italian Carabinieri paramilitary police officer Mario Cerciello Rega, in Rome, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Two American men face a new trial in the slaying of an Italian plainclothes police officer during a botched sting operation after Italy's highest court threw out their convictions. (AP Photo/ Alessandra Tarantino)
