Jay Town Resigns As U.S. Attorney Of The Northern District Of Alabama
U.S. Attorney Jay Town announced Friday he is resigning from his position with the U.S. Department of Justice.
In a statement, Town said his decision comes after “much thoughtful prayer and great personal consideration.”
Town is taking a position with a privately held defense contractor and cybersecurity solutions company in Huntsville. He said this job operates in both the government and commercial sectors and will allow him to work closer to home.
Town, 46, has served as U.S. Attorney of the Northern District of Alabama since 2017 after he was nominated by President Donald Trump.
Town’s career as U.S. Attorney includes reviewing the case of Emantic “E.J.” Bradford Jr., who was shot and killed by a Hoover police officer in 2018 on Thanksgiving night and a recent investigation into an alleged hate crime against NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace at Talladega Superspeedway.
Town also handed down indictments against Balch & Bingham partners Joel Gilbert and Steven McKinney, and former Drummond Company vice president David Roberson, for their convictions in a bribery scheme related to efforts to clean up pollution around north Birmingham. He also released a number of statements over the years including his support of a compassionate early release for former Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford’s prior to his death.
Town also worked to lower Birmingham’s crime rate by developing a “vertical” model of law enforcement that includes federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, according to BirminghamWatch.
“I have been humbled and honored to lead the dedicated men and women of this office that work tirelessly each day. I have also been so very fortunate to admire the brave men and women of law enforcement – local, state, and federal – who serve this District so honorably and truly are the very best among us. I believe our collective efforts have made the Northern District of Alabama safer,” Town said in a statement.
U.S. Attorney General William Barr will announce his replacement in the coming days or weeks, according to Town. His resignation goes into effect Wednesday, July 15.
Food for Gaza decays in Jordan warehouses as Israel restricts aid
Food aid is moldering in warehouses in Jordan, the main hub for humanitarian aid to Gaza. Other foods and medicines are loaded on trucks that have waited for months at Israeli border crossings.
PBS and Minnesota public TV station sue Trump White House
PBS and Lakeland PBS in rural Minnesota are suing President Trump over his executive order demanding that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting kill all funding for the public television network.
Why did Alabama families drop their challenge to an anti-transgender law?
Alabama parents sued the state over a law banning gender-affirming care for minors, but they dropped the suit earlier this month.
Trump nominates official with ties to antisemitic extremists to lead ethics agency
President Trump nominated Paul Ingrassia to lead the Office of Special Counsel, a government agency that enforces ethics law and protects whistleblowers, despite Ingrassia's links to extremists.
Billowing smoke from Canadian wildfires wafts into the U.S.
The Manitoba wildfires have forced 17,000 people to flee the province. Plumes of heavy smoke are expected to drift into the United States over Friday and Saturday, affecting millions of Americans.
Taylor Swift buys back the rights to her first 6 albums
The pop star's early catalog was acquired in 2019 and sold again in 2020, igniting a years-long saga in which Swift set out to re-record new versions of the albums to compete with the originals.