MEANWHILE, IN TEXAS…

Encrypted

As investigators piece together the life of the deceased Sutherland Springs church shooter, Devin Kelley, a familiar struggle is surfacing between tech companies and the government. The FBI has possession of Kelley’s phone, but so far it has been unable to crack the device’s password. According to NPR, FBI Special Agent Christopher Combs blamed the industry standard encryption for the agency’s failure to access information inside the phone. “With the advance of the technology and the phones and the encryptions, law enforcement, whether that’s at the state, local, or federal level, is increasingly not able to get into these phones,” Combs said. There was a similar problem in the aftermath of the San Bernardino attack in 2015, when the FBI asked Apple to write software that could override encryption on the shooter’s iPhone. Ultimately, Apple refused, saying that solution would result in a powerful tool that foreign governments could potentially hack. Apple said in a statement that it offered to assist in the immediate aftermath of Sutherland Springs, but that the bureau wasted critical time in not responding. Apple would have advised the FBI to use Kelley’s fingerprints, but that window has now closed.

Another Victim

Pastor Frank Pomeroy, who leads the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, told leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention that it would be too painful to continue using the church where 26 people in his congregation were shot and 20 others wounded, so he plans to demolish the building, according to the San Antonio Express-News. Convention spokesperson Sing Oldham told the paper that Pomeroy hopes that he can turn the the site into a memorial for the victims.

Suspended Again

Dallas Cowboys star running back Ezekiel Elliott is suspended. Again. As SB Nation reports, Elliott was allowed to take the field on Sunday after the Second Circuit Court issued a temporary stay on his six-game suspension, which was issued by the league as a result of a year-long investigation into domestic violence allegations from a former girlfriend. On Thursday—four days later—the same court denied him an emergency injunction, which puts his suspension back in place immediately and makes him ineligible to play in Sunday’s game against the Atlanta Falcons. The court ordered an expedited appeals process, with the hearings taking place on December 1. Elliott will miss four games before the hearing. Without a successful appeal, Elliott will be out until the December 24 game against the Seattle Seahawks. As ESPN notes, this is the second time in as many weeks that Elliott has been suspended.