USS Bonhomme Richard fire

ProPublica did a deep dive into the 2020 fire that destroyed the US Navy's Bonhomme Richard. Ryan Mays, a low-level sailor, is being charged with arson. Mr. Mays sounds like he was immature and given to bragging about his physical prowess. He had tried out for the SEALS one time and failed, but he hope to try again (three chances may be given). There are good reasons to believe that the fire was accidental, given the conditions aboard the ship. The evidence that it was even arson at all is pretty thin gruel, but even if it were, there is at least one other sailor that should have been a person of interest. A primary evidence against Mr. Mays is a very dubious eyewitness identification.

"Velasco told nobody about this person for days, according to testimony — not even during the fire, when that person could have been in danger of being killed. When Velasco sat down with agents, he told them that someone had walked behind him, “but I’ve never seen him before.” Agents went back to Velasco the day after the interview. This time Velasco said he was “fairly sure” the person was Mays, according to NCIS documents. Velasco told the agents that Mays was cocky and talked too much. The agents then brought Velasco back again: How certain was he that he saw Mays? “90%,” Velasco told them."
EDT
NBC has a story about the ongoing trial.

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/lFwc2Kt