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Tag: Assault and battery

  • Man suspected of kidnapping and beating a woman in Oregon may be using dating apps to evade police | CNN

    Man suspected of kidnapping and beating a woman in Oregon may be using dating apps to evade police | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    Authorities in southwestern Oregon are warning that a man suspected of kidnapping a woman and beating her unconscious may now be using dating apps to evade capture or find potential new victims, according to police.

    The suspect, 36-year-old Benjamin Obadiah Foster, has so far evaded capture but he appears active on online dating services, the Grants Pass Police Department said in a statement Friday.

    “The investigation has revealed that the suspect is actively using online dating applications to contact unsuspecting individuals who may be lured into assisting with the suspect’s escape or potentially as additional victims,” Grants Pass Police said.

    The search for Foster began Tuesday after officers found a woman who had been bound and severely beaten into unconsciousness, Grants Pass Police said. She was taken to a hospital in critical condition and is being guarded while the suspect remains at large, police said.

    The man fled the scene before officers arrived, but investigators identified Foster as the suspect and asked members of the public to call 911 immediately if they see him, warning he “should be considered extremely dangerous.”

    Police said Foster “likely received assistance in fleeing the area.” A 68-year-old woman was arrested “for Hindering Prosecution” as authorities searched for the suspect, according to the department.

    As the search continues, a $2,500 reward has been offered for information leading to Foster’s capture. Police said he is wanted on suspicion of kidnapping, attempted murder and assault.

    Prosecutors accused Foster of attempting to kill the victim “in the course of intentionally torturing” the woman, according to charging documents filed in court and obtained by CNN affiliate KDRV.

    “This is a very serious offense – a brutal assault on one of our residents that we take extremely serious and we will not rest until we capture this individual,” Grants Pass Police Chief Warren Hensman said in a news conference Thursday.

    This is not the first time Foster has been accused by authorities of violence against women.

    Court records in Clark County, Nevada, show that Foster was charged in two different cases years earlier, accusing him of attacking women.

    In the first case, Foster was charged with felony battery constituting domestic violence, court documents show. Foster’s ex-girlfriend testified in a preliminary hearing that he had attempted to strangle her in a rage in 2017 after another man texted her.

    While that case was still pending in court, Foster was charged with felony assault, battery and kidnapping for allegedly attacking another woman – his girlfriend at the time – in 2019, charging documents show.

    The victim told police “Foster strangled (her) to the point of unconsciousness several times” and kept her tied up for most of the next two weeks. She said she was only able to gain her freedom after convincing Foster they needed to go shopping for provisions, and escaped while in a store, according to the court records.

    The woman was left with seven broken ribs, two black eyes and abrasions to her wrists and ankles from being tied up, according to a Las Vegas police report.

    Foster ultimately agreed to plea deals in the cases, the documents read. He was sentenced to a maximum of 30 months in prison but given credit for 729 days served in the first case.

    “Am I troubled by what I know already? The answer is yes,” Hensman said when asked about the previous charges in Nevada.

    “We’re laser focused on capturing this man and bringing him to justice,” Hensman said.

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  • The names and places that define America’s week of ‘tragedy upon tragedy’ | CNN Politics

    The names and places that define America’s week of ‘tragedy upon tragedy’ | CNN Politics



    CNN
     — 

    Tyre Nichols. Monterey Park. Half Moon Bay.

    Three new entries in America’s roster of tragedy burst from obscurity to their haunting moment in the media spotlight and exemplified societal undercurrents of violence, injustice and grief.

    A week that began with the nation reeling from more mass shootings ended with the release of a video capturing the beating of yet another Black man pulled over for a police traffic stop who ended up dead.

    Nichols, a 29-year-old from Memphis, became the latest victim suddenly introduced to millions of Americans after his death. A grand jury Thursday returned murder indictments against five since-fired police officers involved in his arrest. With tensions rising in Tennessee and further afield, the city of Memphis released body camera and surveillance video of the arrest on Friday evening. The footage drew stunned reaction from law enforcement experts and outrage from officials, including President Joe Biden.

    In California, meanwhile, grieving families are processing the horror that suddenly pitches a town or city into the public eye and epitomizes an epidemic of lone gunmen unleashing massacres in everyday places where people trusted they were safe.

    At a dance studio on Saturday night in Monterey Park, 11 people between the ages of 57 and 76 were killed celebrating Lunar New Year. Unbelievably, on Monday, it happened again. Seven innocent people died in a mass shooting that unfolded at a mushroom farm and near a trucking facility. The community’s sense of peace was “destroyed by senseless death,” California Assemblymember Marc Berman said.

    Aside from the brutal, sudden arrival of needless death, this week’s shootings and the aftermath of the loss of another young man are not linked. But there is a sense that the rituals of anger and mourning after such horrors are familiar. A fresh batch of relatives is thrust into the gauntlet of interviews and news conferences as well as the political melees often stirred by tragic incidents. They are like new characters reciting the same lines of anger and disbelief in an endless cycle of loss.

    The trauma afflicting California and Memphis this week also touches on areas in which a polarized political system has failed, repeatedly, to make progress to stop such tragedies from happening. The rituals after mass shootings – of politicians expressing condolences, liberals demanding gun reform and conservatives deflecting blame from lax firearms laws – lead almost always to not much being done.

    A similarly politicized debate over police reform delivers futility after almost every incident of apparent brutality. After a spate of deaths of young Black men at police hands, a bipartisan attempt to address officer conduct foundered in 2021 and has little chance of a revival in now-divided Washington. Caricatured arguments over whether Democrats want to “defund” the police – many do not – and the amped-up politics around guns effectively paralyze any hope of change.

    The tragedy of Tyre Nichols is deepened by its familiarity. He was taken to the hospital after his arrest on January 7 and died three days later from injuries sustained when he was taken into custody. After his family and attorneys met with police and viewed videos of his arrest, momentum steadily built for accountability as the story generated local and then national headlines. It all led up to Thursday’s indictments.

    The face of Nichols is now smiling out from a photo on every television station or news website. His name has joined those of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Daunte Wright and countless others who in death rose to prominence and became examples of America’s struggles against police brutality. Others like Ahmaud Arbery and Trayvon Martin, more broadly, have become casualties of societal and individual racism.

    It’s important that these names are remembered – given both the individuals they were and the unresolved national pain they represent. Prominent civil rights and wrongful death attorneys Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci made this point in a statement issued on behalf of the Nichols family on Thursday.

    “This young man lost his life in a particularly disgusting manner that points to the desperate need for change and reform to ensure this violence stops occurring during low-threat procedures, like in this case, a traffic stop,” they wrote.

    “This tragedy meets the absolute definition of a needless and unnecessary death. Tyre’s loved ones’ lives were forever changed when he was beaten to death, and we will keep saying his name until justice is served.”

    Yet it’s haunting that millions of Americans who never met Nichols only now know him in death. It’s a dehumanizing trend that victims become metaphors for a social blight or political failures and their lifetimes are fitted into established narratives when they can no longer write their own stories. That’s why an anecdote about Nichols – like how he loved to rush out in the evenings to take snapshots of sunsets – is so important to restoring a piece of his humanity.

    The release of the video on Friday, which had officials from Biden on downwards warning against a violent reaction, offered new insight into Nichols’ death. As will the prosecution of the five former officers. A trial will also likely feature context about a challenging public order and crime situation in Memphis, intensive police tactics and how conditions set off a chain of events where a routine traffic stop could end so awfully.

    Unlike many recent incidents where young Black men have been disproportionately impacted in encounters with White police officers, the case in Memphis involved five Black officers.

    But CNN political analyst Bakari Sellers said that the incident nevertheless underscored a criminal justice system that was failing.

    “For many of us, we haven’t been critical necessarily of the race of the officer whether or not they are White, Black, Hispanic or otherwise, but it’s the system. And what you are seeing over and over, again and again, is a system that perpetuates violence against people of color,” Sellers said on CNN’s “The Situation Room.”

    Each of the five police officers has been charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, two charges of aggravated kidnapping, two charges of official misconduct and one charge of official oppression. While each played a different role in the incident, Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy said, “The actions of all of them resulted in the death of Tyre Nichols, and they are all responsible.”

    But lawyers for two of the men cautioned that the full facts of the case are yet to emerge. “No one out there that night intended for Tyre Nichols to die,” said William Massey, who is representing Emmitt Martin, one of the former officers. “Justice means following the law and the law says that no one is guilty until a jury says they’re guilty.”

    Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay in California now join the roll call of cities whose notoriety is burned into America’s consciousness by mass shootings, including Columbine, Newtown, Uvalde, Parkland, San Bernardino and others too numerous to count.

    Everyone who died represents a crushing individual tragedy, a family severed and future memories obliterated by an assailant armed with a gun.

    Valentino Marcos Alvero, 68, hoped to retire in a year and return home to the Philippines, but in the meantime loved to “dance around the house,” his son Val Anthony Alvero said. Mymy Nhan, 65, also loved to dance and for years went to the studio in Monterey Park where she died, a family statement said.

    While the mass shootings left a pall of fear and loss over the Golden State, there was one ray of light epitomized by 26-year-old Brandon Tsay, who wrestled with the Monterey Bay shooter in another dance studio in Alhambra, eventually disarming him and potentially averting even greater carnage. Biden called Tsay on Thursday to thank him for “taking such incredible action in the face of danger.”

    “I don’t think you understand just how much you’ve done for so many people who are never going to even know you,” the president told a modest Tsay, according to a transcript.

    “You are America, pal. You are who we are. … America’s never backed down, we’ve always stepped up, because of people like you.”

    Overall, though, it was a harrowing week in which the grief never seemed to stop, best summed up in a tweet by California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom.

    “Tragedy upon tragedy.”

    This story has been updated with additional developments.

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  • Memphis releases video showing police stop that led to Tyre Nichols’ death | CNN

    Memphis releases video showing police stop that led to Tyre Nichols’ death | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    The city of Memphis has released police body camera and surveillance video showing the January 7 traffic stop and violent police confrontation that led to the death of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols.

    CNN is reviewing the video.

    The video clips released by the city include three police body cams and an overhead angle from a pole-based police camera, city officials have said.

    Five Memphis officers were fired this month and then charged Thursday over Nichols’ death, which happened days after the traffic stop police initially said was on suspicion of reckless driving. Nichols was Black, as are the five officers.

    Two Memphis Fire Department employees who were part of Nichols’ initial care have been relieved of duty, pending the outcome of an internal investigation.

    Live updates: Memphis to release Tyre Nichols arrest videos

    Earlier Friday, Memphis’ police chief said the video would show “acts that defy humanity,”

    “You’re going to see a disregard for life, duty of care that we’re all sworn to and a level of physical interaction that is above and beyond what is required in law enforcement,” Chief Cerelyn “CJ” Davis told Don Lemon of the video.

    Ahead of the video release, officials were urging any demonstrations Friday to be civil.

    “Individuals watching will feel what the family felt,” Davis said. “And if you don’t, then you’re not a human being. … There will be a measure of sadness, as well.”

    Nichols’ mother, RowVaughn Wells, told CNN on Friday, “It’s still like a nightmare right now.”

    “I’m still trying to understand all of this and trying to wrap my head around all of this,” Wells said. “I don’t have my baby. I’ll never have my baby again.”

    In describing what she heard in the video, Davis said she heard Nichols “call out for his mother, for his mom.”

    Video: Lawyer shares Nichols called out for his mom 3 times

    “Just the disregard for humanity … That’s what really pulls at your heartstrings and makes you wonder: Why was a sense of care and concern for this individual just absent from the situation by all who went to the scene?”

    Police nationwide have been under scrutiny for how they treat Black people, particularly since the Minneapolis police murder of George Floyd in May 2020 and the mass protest movement known as Black Lives Matter. Davis likened the video to the 1991 Los Angeles police beating that sparked outrage across the country.

    “I was in law enforcement during the Rodney King incident, and it’s very much aligned with that same type of behavior,” she said.

    In Nichols’ case, the encounter began with a traffic stop police initially said was on suspicion of reckless driving. An initial altercation happened between Nichols and several officers, and pepper spray was used, Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy said Thursday.

    Nichols then fled on foot, and a second altercation happened – and that’s when Nichols suffered his serious injuries, Mulroy said. Nichols required hospitalization after the arrest and died on January 10.

    Davis said police have not been able to find anything that substantiated the probable cause for reckless driving by Nichols before his fatal encounter with police.

    The department will release the video of the incident in four parts on YouTube, Davis said.

    “The video is broken into four different, sort of fragmented pieces,” that are all relative to the incident, Davis said. The department plans “to post it on a YouTube link so that it can be accessible to just about anybody who wants to access that video,” she said. The video will show the initial stop and also body-worn camera of individual officers she noted.

    Nichols died three days after his arrest.

    Police officials in a number of major cities nationwide have said they are monitoring for any possible public outcry this weekend over what will be seen in the video footage.

    Nichols’ mother is asking for supporters to be peaceful during demonstrations, saying at a vigil in Memphis on Thursday she wants “each and every one of you to protest in peace.”

    “I don’t want us burning up our cities, tearing up the streets, because that’s not what my son stood for,” Wells said. “And if you guys are here for me and Tyre, then you will protest peacefully.”

    Memphis police officers arrived at Wells’ home between 8 and 9 p.m. on January 7 to tell her Nichols had been arrested, she told CNN.

    Officers told her that her son was arrested for a DUI, pepper sprayed and tased, she said. Because of that, he was going to the hospital and would later be taken to booking at the police station, she said.

    “They then asked me (if) was he on any type of drugs or anything of that nature because they were saying it was so difficult to put the handcuffs on him and he had this amount of energy, superhuman energy,” Wells said. “What they were describing was not my son, so I was very confused.”

    Wells said officers told her Nichols was “nearby” but would not tell her exactly where. They also told her she could not go to the hospital, she said.

    tyre nichols mother

    ‘Beat him to a pulp’: Mom shares immediate reaction when arriving at hospital

    However, at about 4 a.m., she said, she received a call from a doctor asking her to see Nichols.

    “The doctor proceeded to tell me that my son had went into cardiac arrest and that his kidneys were failing,” she said, adding it didn’t “sound consistent” with what police had described as Nichols being tased and pepper-sprayed.

    ben crump tyre nichols

    Crump: Nichols video will ‘remind you of Rodney King’

    “When my husband and I got to the hospital and I saw my son, he was already gone,” Wells said. “They had beat him to a pulp.”

    Wells described the horrific injuries her son had when she saw him in the hospital.

    Read stepfather’s description of video: ‘No one rendered aid to him’

    “He had bruises all over him. His head was swollen like a watermelon. His neck was busting because of the swelling. They broke his neck. My son’s nose look like a S,” she said. “They actually just beat the crap out of him. And so when I saw that, I knew my son was gone, the end. Even if he did live, he would have been a vegetable.”

    A Memphis church is scheduled to hold Nichols’ funeral Wednesday.

    Ben Crump and RowVaughn Wells at a news conference Friday in Memphis.

    The five Memphis Police Department officers identified – Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Justin Smith, Emmitt Martin and Desmond Mills Jr. – were fired January 20 for violating police policies including on use of excessive force, police said.

    They were then charged this week. Each has been charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, two charges of aggravated kidnapping, two charges of official misconduct and one charge of official oppression, Mulroy, the Shelby County district attorney, said.

    Martin and Haley were released from jail on a $350,000 bond, according to Shelby County Jail records, while Smith, Bean and Mills Jr. have been released after each posting a $250,000 bond.

    The five former officers are scheduled for arraignment on February 17.

    Two fire department employees who were part of Nichols’ “initial patient care” were relieved of duty “while an internal investigation is being conducted,” department Public Information Officer Qwanesha Ward told CNN’s Nadia Romero.

    The US Department of Justice has said it is conducting a federal civil rights investigation of Nichols’ death.

    Crump, in a news conference Friday in Memphis, called Memphis’ rapid criminal charges – compared to other cities and states that have waited months or years in similar cases – a “blueprint” moving forward.

    “We have a precedent that has been set here in Memphis, and we intend to hold this blueprint for all America from this day forward,” Crump said.

    He called for Tennessee to enact what he called “Tyre’s Law”: A proposed measure which would require police officers to intervene when they see crimes being committed, including by fellow officers.

    Blake Ballin, an attorney for Mills Jr., one of the officers, said he doesn’t believe his client “is capable of” the accusations, and his client is “remorseful” to be “connected to the death” of Nichols.

    Ballin told CNN he has not yet seen the video, but has spoken to people who have. He urged those who watch the video to “treat each of these officers as individuals.”

    “The levels of culpability amongst these five officers are different, and I expect that you’re going to see in this video that my client Desmond Mills is not, in fact, guilty of the crimes he’s been charged with,” Ballin said.

    Police departments in Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Nashville, Milwaukee, Seattle, Denver, Dallas, New York and Atlanta told CNN they are either monitoring the events in Memphis closely or already have plans in place in case of large-scale protests or unrest.

    bennie cobb valencia pkg

    Friend of charged officer describes conversation they had about Nichols’ death

    Memphis will continue to work with community leaders and organizers ahead of the video release, in hopes of quelling any potentially dangerous protests, City Council Vice Chair JB Smiley Jr. said.

    “You will see protests, but it will be peaceful because the Memphis Police Department, the sheriff’s department, the district attorney and the Memphis City Council, along with the city administration, has took all the necessary steps to quell any potential of rioting in our city,” Smiley said.

    Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy, seen here at press conference Thursday, called the video

    President Joe Biden is echoing Nichols’ family’s call for peaceful protests, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said on “CNN This Morning.”

    “We certainly don’t want to see anyone else hurt by this terrible, terrible tragedy, and we’ll stay in close touch with the local and state authorities,” Kirby said.

    The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement on Friday it is coordinating with partners across the United States ahead of the expected release of the video.

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  • A timeline of the investigations into Tyre Nichols’ death after a traffic stop and arrest by Memphis police | CNN

    A timeline of the investigations into Tyre Nichols’ death after a traffic stop and arrest by Memphis police | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    Nearly three weeks after a traffic stop in Memphis, Tennessee, resulted in a violent arrest and subsequent death of a driver, police are expected to release footage of the incident to the public.

    Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, was hospitalized after the arrest on January 7 and died three days later from injuries sustained, according to police. Five officers from the Memphis Police Department, who are also Black, were fired and face criminal charges.

    The family of Nichols and attorneys have met with police and city officials to view the traffic stop’s video recordings, which have been described as a vicious, prolonged beating that lasted for minutes after officers chased down a fleeing Nichols.

    Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn “CJ” Davis decried the officers’ conduct, adding additional officers continue to be investigated.

    “This is not just a professional failing,” Davis said. “This is a failing of basic humanity toward another individual. This incident was heinous, reckless and inhumane. And in the vein of transparency, when the video is released in the coming days, you will see this for yourselves.”

    After charges were announced Thursday, Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland said of the accelerated investigation, “We have worked to get a resolution to these matters in record time because we take them extremely seriously.”

    Here’s what we know about the timeline of the incident, investigations from authorities and reaction from Nichols’ family:

    On January 7 at approximately 8:30 p.m., officers pulled over a vehicle for suspected reckless driving, according to a statement from Memphis police.

    “A confrontation occurred” between officers and the vehicle’s driver – later identified as Nichols – who then fled on foot, according to Memphis police. Officers apprehended him and “another confrontation occurred,” resulting in Nichols’ arrest, police said.

    An ambulance was called to the scene of the arrest after Nichols complained of shortness of breath, police said, and he was transported to a nearby hospital in critical condition.

    On January 10, three days after the stop, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation announced Nichols had died due to injuries sustained in the “use-of-force incident with officers,” according to a statement.

    Following the traffic stop, the officers involved were relieved of duty – a standard departmental procedure while an investigation into their use of force began, Memphis police said. The TBI and the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office were also enlisted to investigate.

    Preliminary findings indicated the serious nature of the officers’ conduct during the stop, police said.

    “After reviewing various sources of information involving this incident, I have found that it is necessary to take immediate and appropriate action,” Chief Davis said in a statement released January 15. “Today, the department is serving notice to the officers involved of the impending administrative actions.”

    The department needed to follow a required procedural process before disciplining or terminating government civil servant employees, the statement added.

    In the days after Nichols’ death, his family’s attorney Ben Crump repeatedly voiced their desire for the release of body camera and surveillance footage of the traffic stop.

    “This kind of in-custody death destroys community trust if agencies are not swiftly transparent,” Crump said in a statement.

    On January 18, the Department of Justice said a civil rights investigation has been opened into the death of Nichols.

    “Last week, Tyre Nichols tragically died, a few days after he was involved in an incident where Memphis Police Department officers used force during his arrest,” Kevin G. Ritz, US Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, said in a statement.

    Acknowledging the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s ongoing efforts, the US Attorney’s office “in coordination with the FBI Memphis Field Office and the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, has opened a civil rights investigation,” Ritz said, declining to provide further details.

    After its internal investigation, Memphis police identified and fired five officers involved in the traffic stop due to their violation of multiple department policies.

    Officers Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills, Jr., and Justin Smith were terminated for failing in their “excessive use of force, duty to intervene, and duty to render aid,” the department said in a statement.

    “The egregious nature of this incident is not a reflection of the good work our officers perform, with integrity every day,” Davis said.

    A statement from the Memphis Police Association, the union representing the officers, declined to comment on the terminations beyond saying that the city of Memphis and Nichols’ family “deserve to know the complete account of the events leading up to his death and what may have contributed to it.”

    Nichols family attorneys Crump and Antonio Romanucci called the firing of the five officers “the first step towards achieving justice for Tyre and his family.”

    Two Memphis Fire Department employees who were part of Nichols’ “initial patient care” were also fired, department Public Information Officer Qwanesha Ward told CNN’s Nadia Romero.

    After meeting with officials to watch the unreleased police video of the arrest, Nichols’ family and their attorneys described their horror at what they saw.

    “He was defenseless the entire time. He was a human piñata for those police officers. It was an unadulterated, unabashed, nonstop beating of this young boy for three minutes. That is what we saw in that video,” Romanucci said. “Not only was it violent, it was savage.”

    “What I saw on the video today was horrific,” Rodney Wells, Nichols’ stepfather, said Monday. “No father, mother should have to witness what I saw today.”

    Crump described the video as “appalling,” “deplorable” and “heinous.” He said RowVaughn Wells, Nichols’ mother, was unable to get through viewing the first minute of the footage after hearing Nichols ask, “What did I do?” At the end of the footage, Nichols can be heard calling for his mother three times, the attorney said.

    According to preliminary results of an autopsy commissioned by attorneys for his family, Nichols suffered “extensive bleeding caused by a severe beating.” CNN has requested a copy of the autopsy, which Crump said will be available when the full report is ready.

    Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy told CNN on Tuesday his office was ensuring all necessary interviews with those involved had been conducted before the footage’s release.

    “A lot of the people’s questions about what exactly happened will, of course, be answered once people see the video,” Mulroy said, noting he believes the city will release enough footage to show the “entirety of the incident, from the very beginning to the very end.”

    Civil rights attorney Ben Crump speaks at a news conference with the family of Tyre Nichols, who died after being beaten by Memphis police officers, as RowVaughn Wells, mother of Tyre, right, and Tyre's stepfather Rodney Wells, along with attorney Tony Romanucci, left, also stand with Crump, in Memphis, Tenn., Monday, Jan. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

    Tyre Nichols’ family speaks out after seeing police footage of police beating

    A grand jury indicted the five officers fired by Memphis police on several charges, according to the county’s district attorney.

    Martin III, Smith, Bean, Haley and Mills, Jr. were each charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, two charges of aggravated kidnapping, two charges of official misconduct and one charge of official oppression, according to both Shelby County criminal court and Shelby County jail records.

    “While each of the five individuals played a different role in the incident in question, the actions of all of them resulted in the death of Tyre Nichols, and they are all responsible,” Mulroy said during a news conference.

    All five former officers reported to Shelby County Jail on Thursday, with four bonding out by early Friday morning, jail records showed.

    ben crump tyre nichols

    Crump: Nichols video will ‘remind you of Rodney King’

    Correction: A previous version of this story misspelled RowVaughn Wells’ first name.

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  • Five former Memphis police officers indicted on charges of murder and kidnapping in Tyre Nichols’ death | CNN

    Five former Memphis police officers indicted on charges of murder and kidnapping in Tyre Nichols’ death | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    Five former Memphis police officers who were fired for their actions during the arrest of Tyre Nichols earlier this month were indicted on charges including murder and kidnapping, Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy announced Thursday.

    The former officers, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Justin Smith, Emmitt Martin and Desmond Mills Jr., have each been charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, two charges of aggravated kidnapping, two charges of official misconduct and one charge of official oppression, Mulroy said.

    “While each of the five individuals played a different role in the incident in question, the actions of all of them resulted in the death of Tyre Nichols, and they are all responsible,” he said.

    Live updates on the Tyre Nichols case

    Second-degree murder is defined in Tennessee as a “knowing killing of another” and is considered a Class A felony punishable by between 15 to 60 years in prison.

    The criminal charges come about three weeks after Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, was hospitalized after a traffic stop and “confrontation” with Memphis police that family attorneys have called a savage beating. Nichols died from his injuries on January 10, three days after the arrest, authorities said.

    Four of the officers remained in custody Thursday evening, after being booked into the Shelby County Jail. Bond was set at $350,000 for Haley, 30, and Martin, 30, and $250,000 for Bean, 24, and Smith, 28, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. Mills, 32, posted $250,000 bond Thursday evening and was released, according to jail records.

    In a joint news conference Thursday afternoon, Blake Ballin, an attorney for Mills, and William Massey, Martin’s attorney, said they have not yet watched the video of the police encounter, which is expected to be released to the public Friday.

    Ballin described Mills as a “respectful father,” who was “devastated” to be accused in the killing. Mills, previously a jailer in Mississippi and Tennessee, was in the process of posting bond Thursday to secure his release and plans to enter a not guilty plea in court, his attorney said. Ballin said he had not spoken to Mills specifically about Nichols.

    Martin also intended to post bond and will also plead not guilty, his attorney said. “No one out there that night intended for Tyre Nichols to die,” Massey said.

    Other officers’ attorneys did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

    Police nationwide have been under heightened scrutiny for how they treat Black people, particularly since the Minneapolis police murder of George Floyd in May 2020 and the mass protest movement known as Black Lives Matter. Officials in Memphis have braced for potential civil unrest due to Nichols’ death and have called for peaceful protests.

    President Joe Biden said in a Thursday statement the killing is a “painful reminder that we must do more to ensure that our criminal justice system lives up to the promise of fair and impartial justice, equal treatment, and dignity for all.”

    Video of the fatal police encounter, a mix of body-camera and pole-cam video, is expected to be released publicly after 6 p.m. Friday, Mulroy said.

    Speaking to CNN’s Erin Burnett on Thursday night, Mulroy said that while he can’t definitively say what caused the encounter to escalate, the video shows that the officers were “already highly charged up” from the start of the video and “it just escalated further from there.”

    The video doesn’t capture the beginning of the altercation between the officers and Nichols but rather “cuts in as the first encounter is in progress,” Mulroy said.

    “What struck me (about the video) is how many different incidents of unwarranted force occurred sporadically by different individuals over a long period of time,” the district attorney added.

    Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director David Rausch said the fatal encounter was not proper policing.

    “I’m sickened by what I saw and what we’ve learned from our extensive and thorough investigation,” he said. “I’ve seen the video, and as DA Mulroy stated, you will too. In a word, it’s absolutely appalling.”

    Nichols’ family and attorneys were shown the video on Monday and said it shows officers severely beating Nichols and compared it to the Los Angeles police beating of Rodney King in 1991.

    “The news today from Memphis officials that these five officers are being held criminally accountable for their deadly and brutal actions gives us hope as we continue to push for justice for Tyre,” attorneys Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci said Thursday.

    Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis took on the position in June 2021.

    The five Memphis police officers, who are also Black, were fired last week for violating policies on excessive use of force, duty to intervene and duty to render aid, the department said.

    In a YouTube video released late Wednesday, Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis condemned the officers’ actions and called for peaceful protests when the arrest video is released.

    “This is not just a professional failing. This is a failing of basic humanity toward another individual,” Davis said in the video, her first on-camera comments about the arrest. “This incident was heinous, reckless and inhumane.”

    “I expect our citizens to exercise their First Amendment right to protest to demand action and results. But we need to ensure our community is safe in this process,” said Davis, the first Black woman to serve as Memphis police chief. “None of this is a calling card for inciting violence or destruction on our community or against our citizens.”

    The five terminated officers all joined the department in the last six years, according to police. Other Memphis police officers are still under investigation for department policy violations related to the incident, the chief said.

    In a statement posted Thursday, Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland said the city had initiated an “outside, independent review” of the training, policies and operations of the police department’s specialized units. At least two of the officers belonged to one of those special units, according to their attorneys.

    Two members of the city’s fire department who were part of Nichols’ “initial patient care” also were relieved of duty, a fire spokesperson said. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation announced an investigation into Nichols’ death and the US Department of Justice and FBI have opened a civil rights investigation.

    Mulroy said the investigation is ongoing and there could be further charges going forward.

    Meanwhile, law enforcement agencies nationwide are bracing for protests and potential unrest following the release of video, multiple sources told CNN.

    The Memphis Police Department has terminated five police officers in connection with the death of Tyre Nichols. Top: Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmit Martin. Bottom: Desmond Mills Jr., Justin Smith

    Nichols, the father of a 4-year-old, had worked with his stepfather at FedEx for about nine months, his family said. He was fond of skateboarding in Shelby Farms Park, Starbucks with friends and photographing sunsets, and he had his mother’s name tattooed on his arm, the family said. He also had the digestive issue known as Crohn’s disease and so was a slim 140 to 145 pounds despite his 6-foot-3-inch height, his mother said.

    On January 7, he was pulled over by Memphis officers on suspicion of reckless driving, police said in their initial statement on the incident. As officers approached the vehicle, a “confrontation” occurred and Nichols fled on foot, police said. The officers pursued him and they had another “confrontation” before he was taken into custody, police said.

    Nichols then complained of shortness of breath, was taken to a local hospital in critical condition and died three days later, police said.

    In Memphis police scanner audio, a person says there was “one male Black running” and called to “set up a perimeter.” Another message says “he’s fighting at this time.”

    On Thursday, Mulroy offered a few further details, saying the serious injuries occurred at the second confrontation. He also said Nichols was taken away in an ambulance after “some period of time of waiting around.”

    Attorneys for Nichols’ family who watched video of the arrest on Monday described it as a heinous police beating that lasted three long minutes. Crump said Nichols was tased, pepper-sprayed and restrained, and Romanucci said he was kicked.

    “He was defenseless the entire time. He was a human piñata for those police officers. It was an unadulterated, unabashed, nonstop beating of this young boy for three minutes. That is what we saw in that video,” Romanucci said. “Not only was it violent, it was savage.”

    Nichols had “extensive bleeding caused by a severe beating,” according to the attorneys, citing preliminary results of an autopsy they commissioned.

    Among the charges, the officers were indicted on two counts of aggravated kidnapping: one for possession of a weapon and one for bodily injury.

    “At a certain point in the sequence of events, it is our view that this, if it was a legal detention to begin with, it certainly became illegal at a certain point, and it was an unlawful detention,” Mulroy said.

    Less than a month after the murder of Floyd, the Memphis Police Department amended its duty to intervene policy, according to a copy of the policy sent to CNN by the MPD.

    “Any member who directly observes another member engaged in dangerous or criminal conduct or abuse of a subject shall take reasonable action to intervene,” the policy, sent out on June 9, 2020, said.

    “A member shall immediately report to the Department any violation of policies and regulations or any other improper conduct which is contrary to the policy, order, or directives of the Department.”

    The policy went on to say “this reporting requirement also applies to allegations of uses of force not yet reported.”

    Correction: A previous version of this story gave the wrong spelling for the name of one of the arrested officers. According to the indictment, it is Tadarrius Bean.

    Previous versions of this story spelled Emmitt Martin’s name incorrectly.

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  • House Democratic whip’s daughter arrested at protest and charged with assaulting police officer | CNN Politics

    House Democratic whip’s daughter arrested at protest and charged with assaulting police officer | CNN Politics



    CNN
     — 

    House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark’s daughter was arrested during a protest in Boston and has been arraigned on charges including assault on a police officer.

    Riley Dowell, 23, was found by police tagging the Parkman Bandstand monument “NO COP CITY” and “ACAB,” according to a press release from the Boston Police Department. “ACAB” is commonly known as an acronym for the anti-police slogan “All Cops Are Bastards.”

    While police tried to arrest Dowell, protesters surrounded officers and one was hit in the face and bleeding, according to the press release. The release referred to Dowell by her birth name.

    Dowell has now been arraigned and charged with assault of a police officer, according to a news release from Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden’s office.

    “Riley Dowell, 23, was arraigned in the Central Division of Boston Municipal Court today on charges of assault and battery on a police officer, vandalizing property, tagging property, vandalizing a historic marker/monument, and resisting arrest,” the release obtained by CNN affiliate WCVB said. “Judge James Coffey set bail at $500 and ordered Dowell to stay away from Boston Common.”

    Dowell is represented by attorney Chris Dearborn, according to the release. Dearborn had no comment when reached by CNN. Dowell’s next court appearance is scheduled for April 19, the release said.

    Dowell posted bail and is no longer in police custody, the Boston Municipal Court told CNN in an email Tuesday.

    Clark commented on the news in a tweet Sunday.

    “Last night, my daughter was arrested in Boston, Massachusetts. I love Riley, and this is a very difficult time in the cycle of joy and pain in parenting,” Clark wrote. “This will be evaluated by the legal system, and I am confident in that process.”

    Clark began serving as minority whip in the 118th session of Congress after House Democrats elevated her to the position.

    Clark is only the second woman after former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to serve in one of the top two party leadership positions in Congress.

    Previously, the congresswoman served in the leadership role of assistant speaker.

    This story is breaking and has been updated.

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  • 10 people were killed at a dance studio in Monterey Park, California, and the assailant is still at large | CNN

    10 people were killed at a dance studio in Monterey Park, California, and the assailant is still at large | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    Authorities are scrambling to find whoever killed 10 people Saturday night in Monterey Park, California, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said.

    Officers responded to a dance studio around 10:22 p.m. Saturday (1:22 a.m. ET Sunday) and found people “pouring out of the location, screaming,” Capt. Andrew Meyer said.

    The massacre Saturday night took place in the Star Ballroom Dance Studio, according to a CNN analysis.

    Ten people were pronounced dead at the scene, the sheriff’s captain said.

    “There were at least 10 other victims who were transported to numerous local hospitals and are listed in various conditions from stable to critical,” Meyer said.

    The assailant fled the scene and remains at large Sunday morning, Meyer said.

    Police respond to the mass shooting Saturday night in Monterey Park, Caifornia.

    “As far as motive goes, it’s too early in the investigation to know what the motive is,” Meyer said.

    Monterey Park is about 7 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.

    About 65% of Monterey Park’s residents are of Asian descent, according to the US Census Bureau.

    The shooting happened near Monterey Park’s Lunar New Year festival, which was scheduled to take place until 9 p.m. on Garvey Avenue between Garfield and Alhambra avenues.

    Meyer said it was too early to know whether the massacre was a hate crime.

    The Star Ballroom Dance Studio is in Monterey Park, California.

    Past Lunar New Year events in the city have drawn crowds estimated at over 100,000 people from across Southern California, according to the city. It’s unclear how many people were still gathered in the area when shots were fired.

    The local Lunar New Year festival that began Saturday and was scheduled to extend into Sunday has been canceled, Monterey Park Police Chief Scott Wiese said Sunday.

    “Out of an abundance of caution and reverence for the victims, we are canceling the event that’s going to happen later today,” Wiese said.

    Authorities are asking the public for any clues that may help with the investigation. Those with information can contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500 or provide an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).

    This is a developing story and will be updated.

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  • Times Square machete attack suspect indicted on terrorism charges | CNN

    Times Square machete attack suspect indicted on terrorism charges | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    Trevor Bickford, the 19-year-old accused of attacking New York Police Department officers with a machete on New Year’s Eve, was indicted Friday on more than a dozen charges, including several terrorism charges, prosecutors announced.

    Bickford now faces three counts of attempted murder in the first degree, as well as three counts of attempted murder in the first degree in furtherance of an act of terrorism, one count of assault in the first degree as a crime of terrorism, one count of aggravated assault on a police officer as a crime of terrorism, two counts of attempted assault in the first degree as a crime of terrorism, and several other charges related to assault and attempted assault.

    “We are grateful for our NYPD officers who put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe, as well as our Joint Terrorism Task Force partners,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement Friday evening.

    “All eyes are on Times Square on New Year’s Eve and these charges reflect the seriousness of this alleged threat to the safety of our city and our officers,” Bragg added.

    Rosemary Vassallo-Vellucci, Bickford’s attorney with the Legal Aid Society, said Wednesday her client should be presumed innocent.

    Bickford allegedly went to the Times Square checkpoint just after 10 p.m., authorities said. At the security area, he allegedly pulled out a machete, struck one officer with the blade and another officer in the head with the handle, and then swung the blade at a third officer, who shot Bickford in the shoulder, according to law enforcement sources and the NYPD.

    The three officers were hospitalized in stable condition and released, the department previously said.

    At his arraignment on Wednesday, prosecutors said the suspect tried to grab a gun from an officer during the attack but could not get it out of the holster.

    Prosecutors also alleged the suspect said all government officials were his target because in his mind, they “cannot be proper Muslims because the United States government supports Israel.”

    According to law enforcement sources briefed on the investigation, Bickford told officers he went to Times Square that night prepared to kill, but only agents of the government, not civilians.

    Bickford said he was about to attack a police officer who was talking to a woman with a small child, but did not want to risk injuring the woman and child so he attacked the next officer from behind and then engaged the other two officers who came to his aid, the sources said.

    Prosecutor Lucy Nicholas also alleged in court Wednesday the suspect “admitted that he purposefully waited until he saw a moment when the officer was isolated and not near any civilian when he could attack him.”

    Multiple law enforcement sources with direct knowledge of the case also previously told CNN a diary which was found in the suspect’s backpack expressed a desire to join the Taliban and it criticized his brother for joining the US military.

    The suspect also worried his mother would not repent to Allah, according to another writing in the diary, the sources said.

    Bickford had also been interviewed by FBI agents in Maine last month after he said he wanted to travel overseas to help fellow Muslims and was willing to die for his religion, according to multiple law enforcement sources.

    Bickford’s mother and grandmother became increasingly concerned about his desire to travel to Afghanistan to join the Taliban and reported this to the Wells, Maine, police department out of concern for him on December 10, the sources said.

    When the FBI opened its wider investigation, they also placed him on a terrorist watch list, according to sources. Because the Taliban is not designated a foreign terrorist entity, planning to travel to Afghanistan to join the group does not constitute the federal crime of “attempted material support of a terrorist group.”

    Multiple law enforcement sources told CNN Bickford traveled to New York via Amtrak, so those travels would not have tripped any watch list databases.

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  • Kansas sexual assault suspect accused of kidnapping children was taken into custody, police say | CNN

    Kansas sexual assault suspect accused of kidnapping children was taken into custody, police say | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    A 21-year-old sexual assault suspect accused of kidnapping three children over the span of two days was taken into custody Thursday, police in Wichita, Kansas, said.

    All three children have been located and are safe, Wichita Police Department spokesperson Chad Ditch told reporters during a Thursday news conference.

    A teenage girl reported being kidnapped on Wednesday evening by a “biracial male driving a blue vehicle” who attempted to sexually assault her in the car, Ditch said. The teen was let go by the suspect and reported the incident to a family member. Authorities began looking into the case and investigated throughout the night, Ditch added.

    Ditch described the victim as being in her “early teens.”

    Less than 24 hours later, two elementary school students – a boy and a girl – left their home by foot shortly before 9 a.m. to go to school. The children were allegedly kidnapped by a man in a blue vehicle who would go on to drop off the boy shortly after, police said.

    The young girl was also located safe a short time later, according to Ditch.

    Officers who were patrolling the area spotted the suspect’s vehicle and after attempting to stop him, a brief pursuit by foot occurred. He was eventually taken into custody without incident, Ditch said.

    Authorities did not identify the suspect by name.

    “Both these cases are still in their early stages,” Ditch added. “We have investigators out here still actively investigating both incidents. We do strongly believe that the suspect that we have in custody is the suspect involved in both of these cases.”

    Authorities are continuing to investigate potential charges, Ditch said. Though the children are safe, the experience was “extremely traumatizing,” he said.

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  • Man accused of attacking NYPD officers with machete wanted ‘to kill people and carry out jihad,’ prosecutors say | CNN

    Man accused of attacking NYPD officers with machete wanted ‘to kill people and carry out jihad,’ prosecutors say | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    Trevor Bickford, the 19-year-old accused of attacking New York Police Department officers with a machete on New Year’s Eve, traveled to the city “in order to kill people and carry out jihad,” prosecutors say.

    Bickford allegedly went to the Times Square checkpoint just after 10 p.m., authorities have said. At the security area, he allegedly pulled out a machete, struck one officer with the blade and another officer in the head with the handle, and then swung the blade at a third officer, who shot Bickford in the shoulder, according to law enforcement sources and the NYPD.

    The three injured NYPD officers were hospitalized in stable condition and have been released, the department said.

    Speaking at Bickford’s arraignment Wednesday, prosecutors said the suspect tried to grab a gun from an officer during the attack, but couldn’t get it out of the holster.

    “The defendant admitted that he purposefully waited until he saw a moment when the officer was isolated and not near any civilian when he could attack him,” prosecutor Lucy Nicholas said in court.

    Bickford, according to a criminal complaint, told authorities during his interview that he said “(Allahu) Akbar” before he walked up and hit the officer over the head with the weapon.

    The suspect also allegedly said that all government officials were his target because in his mind, they “cannot be proper Muslims because the United States government supports Israel,” prosecutors said.

    Bickford appeared via video feed from his hospital bed at Bellevue Hospital, where sources previously said he was being treated for the gunshot wound.

    He was formally charged with three counts of attempted murder in the first degree, one count of assault in the first degree, two counts of attempted assault in the first degree and three counts of assault in the second degree.

    Bickford was remanded back into custody. No plea was entered.

    Rosemary Vassallo-Vellucci, Bickford’s attorney with the Legal Aid Society, said her client is “presumed innocent” and argued he should be released on his own recognizance, highlighting his age, that he’s been in custody for more than 24 hours and has no arrest record.

    Vassallo-Vellucci also mentioned the suspect’s alleged community ties, telling the judge he was living with his family in Maine and most recently worked at a golf course.

    The Legal Aid Society said the suspect “has no prior contact with the criminal legal system.” The group said it had recently received details of the case from the District Attorney’s office and will have “more to say … after a thorough review and investigation.”

    “For now, we ask the public to refrain from drawing hasty conclusions and to respect the privacy of our client’s family,” the group added.

    Bickford had been on the FBI’s radar even before the attack, and was interviewed by federal agents in Maine last month after he said he wanted to travel overseas to help fellow Muslims and was willing to die for his religion, multiple law enforcement sources previously said.

    Bickford’s mother and grandmother became concerned about his desire to travel to Afghanistan to join the Taliban and reported this to the Wells, Maine, police department on December 10, the sources said.

    When the FBI opened its wider investigation they also placed him on a terrorist watch list, according to sources.

    But because the Taliban is not designated a foreign terrorist entity, planning to travel to Afghanistan to join the group does not constitute the federal crime of “attempted material support of a terrorist group.”

    Multiple law enforcement sources told CNN that Bickford traveled to New York via Amtrak, so those travels would not have tripped any watch list databases.

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  • Delivery driver charged with the murder of a 7-year-old in Texas faces 3 unrelated sexual assault charges dating back to 2013 | CNN

    Delivery driver charged with the murder of a 7-year-old in Texas faces 3 unrelated sexual assault charges dating back to 2013 | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    The new sexual assault charges filed against the delivery driver suspected of kidnapping and killing 7-year-old Athena Strand in Texas earlier this month date back to three separate incidents in 2013, charging documents show.

    An investigation by the Fort Worth Police Department determined Tanner Lynn Horner allegedly sexually assaulted children under the age of 17 on three separate occasions in June, August, and December of 2013, according to charging documents filed Wednesday.

    The minor victims were not identified. The charges came out of Tarrant County, records show.

    Horner was arrested earlier this month on capital murder and aggravated kidnapping charges after authorities say he told them he accidentally hit Athena with his vehicle while making a delivery to her home on November 30. Horner allegedly told investigators he put the girl in his van and strangled her because he was scared she would tell someone she was hit by a FedEx truck, according to two arrest warrants obtained by CNN affiliate KTVT.

    Horner, who was already being held on a $1.5 million bond in Wise County jail, now has additional $15,000 surety bonds set against him on each of the three sexual assault charges out of Tarrant County. His initial court appearance is set for January 5, 2023, Tarrant County court records show.

    Wise County Sheriff Lane Akin told CNN the 2013 charges “happened back some time ago” and were separate from the Strand case. Some people have come forward in relation to the 2013 charges following Horner’s arrest, Akin said.

    CNN was not able to determine if Horner has an attorney.

    Strand’s family filed a lawsuit against FedEx and one of its subcontractors this month, accusing them of gross negligence and accusing Horner of assault. The family is seeking more than $1 million in damages from the companies and Horner, according to the suit.

    Horner delivered packages for FedEx Ground but was employed through a subcontractor, Big Topspin, Inc., according to the lawsuit.

    In response to the lawsuit, FedEx said in a statement, “Our thoughts remain with the family of Athena Strand in the wake of this tragedy. We are aware of the complaint filed against FedEx Ground.”

    CNN has previously attempted to reach Big Topspin, Inc. for comment.

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  • Best portable chargers in 2022 | CNN Underscored

    Best portable chargers in 2022 | CNN Underscored



    CNN
     — 

    Even when working from home, a power supply can be hard to come by, what with your computer, monitor, WiFi hub and other gadgets and gizmos and their wall chargers hogging those sparse outlets. And when you’re on the go, a solid power source is especially a necessity. The solution: a portable charger to keep your phone, tablet and more juiced to the max.

    So to help identify the best options for avoiding that dreaded “low battery” notification, we spent several weeks testing portable chargers — draining devices, charging them up and calculating capacities. Ultimately, we found three winners that each stole the show in their own way.

    Best portable charger overall

    Where the Anker PowerCore 13000 shone most was in charging capacity. It boasts 13,000mAh, which is enough to fully charge an iPhone 11 two and a half times. Plus, it has two fast-charging USB Type-A ports so you can juice a pair of devices simultaneously.

    The most portable

    CNN Underscored_best portable chargers_Belkin Pocket

    The ultraportable Belkin Power Pocket 5K is almost the exact same size as an iPhone SE, but weighs even less. And, proving the old adage “big things come in small packages” correct, it packs enough power to fully charge an iPhone 11 from its singular USB Type-A port.

    Best portable charger for iPhone

    CNN Underscored_best portable chargers_belkin boost

    The Belkin Boost Power Pocket 5K goes hand-in-hand with iPhones thanks to the inclusion of a Lightning port along with the USB Type A port. That means you can use the same cord to charge your phone and refill the battery.

    underscored anker powercore 13000

    Benjamin Levin/CNN

    Simply put, the Anker PowerCore 13000 packs a ton of value.

    You can charge a lot with this thing — and quickly. The PowerCore 13000 has enough capacity to bring an iPhone 11 to full charge two and a half times, or two Samsung Galaxy S20s from empty to more than 90%. And you won’t be sitting by idly for too long, either, as the PowerCore 13000 takes just 41 minutes to charge an iPhone 11 to 50%, tied for fastest charging in our testing.

    While the PowerCore 13000 doesn’t fully live up to its promise of 13,000mAh (we found it delivers 7918mAh), it hit a respectable 61% of what’s advertised — a percentage that put it about average among all the batteries we tested. In other words: None of the portable chargers we tested fully lived up to their claims, and the PowerCore 13000 still has more charging capacity than most others we tested. (You can read more about how we measured mAhs by scrolling down.) Plus, it’s just a few more bucks than the Belkin Pocket Power 5K for more than double the mAhs.

    The side of the battery houses three ports: dual USB Type-A ports (which are fast-charging) and a micro-USB port to charge the battery itself — allowing you to run several USB-C cables to different devices all at once. When we charged an iPhone 11 and a Nintendo Switch simultaneously, the battery barely heated up. Four LED lights alert you to the charger’s remaining battery life, with a button on the edge to turn the lights on.

    The charger’s matte plastic design feels nice to the touch and resists smudging surprisingly well. It’s about the size of a full wallet, so it’s easy to carry around. And it’s durable: The charger survived our drop tests, which included a 3-foot drop onto grass and a 1.5-foot drop onto carpet, with neither external nor internal damage. (You can read more about our durability testing below.)

    Overall, not only does the Anker PowerCore 13000 pack major mAhs, but it’s got two ports for your USB cables and is fairly small and durable.

    underscored belkin pocket 5k

    Benjamin Levin/CNN

    When we first encountered the Belkin Power Pocket 5K, it was hard to believe its size: just 5 inches long, 2.5 inches wide and a half-inch thick. There are few places this battery won’t fit, yet many devices it’ll charge.

    It was the smallest and the lightest charger we tested; you might even mistake it for the phone in your pocket. This portable charger is really the definition of a personal power bank, easily whipped out of a pocket and held alongside your mobile device.

    The charging capacity of the Power Pocket 5k is modest, but it did come closest to living up to its claimed output out of all the models we tested. While its maximum capacity is stated to be 5,000mAh, we measured it at about 3,655mAh. That’s 73% of the expected value, which is 12% better than average in our testing. While its capacity isn’t huge, it’s more than enough to bring an iPhone 11 or Samsung Galaxy S10 battery back to full life. The only significant downside we could find was the charging speed: It takes a little more than 51 minutes to charge an iPhone 11 to 50%.

    The Anker PowerCore 13000 features four battery-indicating LEDs on its side alongside a button to turn them on. Around the corner are the ports: a single USB-C input along with a micro-USB port to charge the battery with the included charging cable. Like the PowerCore 13000, the Pocket Power 5K received no superficial or internal damage during our drop testing. And you can rest assured that even if you do break it, it comes with a two-year warranty along with a generous $2,500 connected equipment warranty (which covers unlikely electrical damage to tech that was properly plugged into the Pocket Power 5K).

    The wee-as-can-be Belkin Pocket Power 5K is impressive for its size. Although the capacity isn’t huge, it’s more than enough to fulfill the needs of most personal devices and small enough to keep in your pocket everywhere you go — and a bit lighter on the wallet for those on a budget.

    underscored belkin pocket boost 5k

    Benjamin Levin/CNN

    The Belkin Boost Charge Power Pocket 5K offers a bit less capacity than the Belkin Power Pocket 5K, but it’s a match made in heaven for iPhones — and it charges faster, too.

    Along one side of the Belkin Boost Charge resides a USB Type-A port and a Lightning port (MFi-approved) to charge the battery. This is the big deal here — that’s the very same kind of port that your iPhone and iPad has. In other words, as long as you have a Lightning cable to charge your iPhone (we’re going to assume you do), you have a cable to recharge your battery, too. Consolidating cables is a big win in our book. This charger also pairs better alongside a smartphone because it’s lighter than the Anker 13000 and sports more of a rectangular shape, so it fits a bit more snug in the hand.

    The Boost Power Pocket 5K has more than enough juice to fully charge an iPhone 11. It also took a little more than 45 minutes to charge an iPhone 11 to 50%, which is faster than the Belkin Pocket Power 5K by six minutes. The capacity of the BOOST Power Pocket 5K is advertised as 5,000mAh and, during our testing, we measured about 3,415mAh. That’s nearly 70% of the advertised value, making it one of the top three batteries we tested in terms of living up to its promise (the average was about 61%).

    All in all, the Belkin Boost Charge Power Pocket 5K is a terrific personal charger for your iPhone. With both MFi certification and cable consolidation thanks to the Lightning port, it should really stand out to iPhone users.

    We ran each and every portable charger through a series of tests. We charged each battery to full, ran it dry juicing up one or several devices, calculated its capacity and compared charging speeds. At the same time, we took a look at properties like weight, size, build quality and visual design. Whether it was a chunky battery that could charge all our tech, or a slim, sleek battery with enough to fill an iPhone, we put these things through the ringer.

    Read on to see the breakdowns of all our testing categories.

    • Battery Size: We noted how many milliamp Hours (mAh) each battery promised.
    • Meets Estimation: This is where we measured how much each battery could actually provide in mAhs. To do so, we charged a variety of devices with each battery, recording how much battery life (aka what percentage) each device gained. When a device was at about 95%, but the battery was not empty, we immediately swapped it for a different device. Once a battery was empty, we calculated how many mAhs it provided in total across all the devices it charged and then divided the promised total by the recorded value. This allowed us to figure out what percentage of its promised total each battery provided. We used a 0.3M Nomad Universal Cable, plugged into a battery’s USB-A port (fast charging if available), to charge each device. The device pool we chose from for charging was: iPhone 11, iPhone 8, Fire HD 10 tablet, Nintendo Switch and Bose QuietComfort 35 II.
    • Design and materials: We researched what materials each battery was made of, as well as how many color options are available. We also felt out the quality of each battery’s build. Visually, we checked out how each device looked alongside a variety of tech, noting if it appeared too big or small beside it, as well as if you could hold a battery and a phone in the same hand or pocket. The device pool we chose from for this was: iPhone 11, Fire HD 10 tablet and Nintendo Switch.
    • Size and weight: We checked each battery’s dimensions, volume and weight. In our scoring, we favored smaller, lighter devices.
    • Dust resistance: We checked whether the product is rated to resist dust, and to what extent it does so. This test was incorporated into our drop test below. After dropping a device onto grass, we checked how much dust and dirt it picked up. We also look into whether these particles could be dislodged from the ports via shaking the device or using compressed air.
    • Drop Test: We performed two drop tests: 3 feet onto grass and 1.5 feet onto carpet. The former was to simulate a likely drop scenario outdoors, and the latter indoors. After each test, we examined the battery for superficial damage and checked whether it still functioned.
    • Number of ports: We counted the number of ports on each device that could output power. We noted each port type, which could be one of the following: USB Type-A, USB Type-C, micro USB or Lightning. We also noted how many, if any, USB Type-A ports supported fast charging.
    • Wireless charging: We noted whether a device supported wireless charging.
    • Speed of charge: We charged an iPhone 11 from about 5% until it received 50% battery, recording how long the process took.
    • Warranty: We researched the duration of each device’s warranty.

    The Otterbox Otterspot is unlike any portable charger we’ve seen before. The system works as follows: A disk-shaped charging pad can charge mobile devices wirelessly, as well as the included disk-shaped battery via charging pins. The battery, which can be stacked up to three on the pad, can charge devices wirelessly or with a cable and then be recharged upon the pad. Wirelessly, it only delivered 2,519mAh to an iPhone 11. With a wired connection, it provided 3,134mAh. This is significantly less than, say, the 3,655mAh from the Belkin Pocket Power 5K with the same 5,000mAh promise. Overall, the Otterbox Otterspot is an awesome concept that may need some work on the capacity end.

    TheAnker PowerCore III Sense 10K is a beautiful charger. It comes in multiple vibrant colors and features a woven yarn surface on top and matte plastic below. Unfortunately, it only provided 4,189mAh of its expected 10,000mAh capacity. This is 42% of the expected value, compared with the 61% the Anker PowerCore 13,000 was able to achieve. Despite its aesthetic beauty and quality build, this battery dropped the ball on capacity.

    The Anker PowerCore II 20000 is the same price as the Anker PowerCore III Sense 10K, but provides 12,300mAh of its promised 20,000mAh. This is a more respectable 61.5% of what’s expected. The battery is pretty hefty and large, but it feels very durable and has a unique texture that eliminates most smudging. Compared to its 20,000mAh counterpart, the Elecjet PowerPie Power Bank, it weighs way less and provides more mAhs.

    The Aukey 8,000mAh Power Bank was a favorite among those we tested. It’s quite slim, and a little lighter than the Anker PowerCore 13000. Out of the 8,000mAh expectation, it delivered 5509mAhs, which is almost 70%. That’s impressive, made better by three functional output ports and wireless charging (a feature that didn’t end up working on our unit). But despite this battery’s promising properties, it fell short of the PowerCore 13000’s capacity at a higher price, and it didn’t charge an iPhone 11 nearly as fast.

    The Elecjet PowerPie Power Bank lists the same 20,000mAh capacity as the Anker PowerCore II 20000, except it reached just 11,969mAh, or about 60% of what we expected. It also weighs more and has a less sleek design, which didn’t help it score-wise. Overall, it’s got a lot of juice to provide, but it didn’t find a place among the winners.

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  • Harvey Weinstein is convicted of 3 of 7 charges, including rape, in his Los Angeles sexual assault trial | CNN

    Harvey Weinstein is convicted of 3 of 7 charges, including rape, in his Los Angeles sexual assault trial | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    Disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein was found guilty Monday of rape and sexual assault against one of four women he was accused of assaulting in Los Angeles – a significant conviction in the second trial of a man at the center of allegations that fueled the global #MeToo movement.

    Weinstein, who prosecutors said used his Hollywood influence to lure women into private meetings and assault them, was found guilty of three of seven charges against him.

    After weeks of emotional testimony and 10 days of deliberations, jurors in Los Angeles also acquitted Weinstein of one count of sexual battery by restraint against a massage therapist in a hotel room in 2010. They were a hung jury on one count of sexual battery by restraint, one count of forcible oral copulation and one count of rape related to two other women – including Jennifer Siebel Newsom, a filmmaker and first partner to California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

    The three charges Weinstein was convicted of – rape, sexual penetration by foreign object and forcible oral copulation – were all tied to one of his accusers, a model and actress who testified the movie mogul assaulted her in a Beverly Hills hotel room in February 2013.

    The woman, identified as Jane Doe 1 in court, was the first to testify in the trial.

    “Harvey Weinstein forever destroyed a part of me that night in 2013. I will never get that back. The criminal trial was brutal. Weinstein’s lawyers put me through hell on the witness stand. But I knew I had to see this through the end, and I did… I hope Harvey Weinstein never sees the outside of a prison cell during his lifetime,” Jane Doe 1 said in a statement released through her attorney.

    Weinstein had pleaded not guilty to all seven charges against him.

    “Harvey is obviously disappointed, however hopefully because with this particular accuser there are good ground to appeal based on time and location of alleged events,” Weinstein’s spokesperson Juda Engelmayer said in a statement. “He is grateful the jury took their time to deliberate on the other counts and he is prepared to continue fighting for his innocence.”

    Weinstein faces a possible sentence of 24 years in prison for the Los Angeles conviction, according to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office. The once-powerful film producer is already serving a 23-year sentence for a 2020 New York rape conviction.

    Jurors will return to court Tuesday to consider aggravating factors to help determine the outcome of Weinstein’s sentencing hearing, according to the DA’s office.

    The District Attorney’s office will meet to determine whether to retry the counts on which the jury could not agree, officials said.

    Elizabeth Fegan, an attorney representing Siebel Newsom, who was identified in court as Jane Doe 4, said they were disappointed the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict on the charges related to her client.

    “Harvey Weinstein will never be able to rape another woman. He will spend the rest of his life behind bars where he belongs. Harvey Weinstein is a serial predator and what he did was rape,” Siebel Newsom said in a statement. “Throughout the trial, Weinstein’s lawyers used sexism, misogyny, and bullying tactics to intimidate, demean, and ridicule us survivors. This trial was a stark reminder that we as a society have work to do. To all survivors out there – I see you, I hear you, and I stand with you.”

    Gov. Newsom also released a statement, saying, “I am so incredibly proud of my wife and all the brave women who came forward to share their truth and uplift countless survivors who cannot. Their strength, courage and conviction is a powerful example and inspiration to all of us. We must keep fighting to ensure that survivors are supported and that their voices are heard.”

    The Los Angeles jury reached its verdict after deliberating for a total of 41 hours – longer than the New York jury in Weinstein’s first criminal trial, in which he was convicted of criminal sex act and third-degree rape after 26 hours of deliberations. His attorneys have appealed that conviction, which put more attention on the outcome of the trial in Los Angeles.

    Jane Doe 2, who was identified as Lauren Young, told her attorney Gloria Allred by phone she was happy Weinstein was convicted on some counts despite there being a mistrial on her count, Allred said in a news conference after the verdict.

    “I am relieved that Harvey Weinstein has been convicted because he deserves to be punished for the crimes that he committed, and he can no longer use his power to intimidate and sexually assault more women,” Young said in a statement read by Allred.

    The weekslong trial saw emotional testimony from Weinstein’s accusers – a model, a dancer, a massage therapist and Siebel Newsom – all of whom were asked to recount the details of their allegations against him, provide details of meetings with the producer from years ago, and explain their reactions to the alleged assaults.

    Weinstein initially faced 11 charges, but four counts connected to an unnamed woman were dropped without explanation. She did not testify in the trial.

    In closing arguments, Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Marlene Martinez called Weinstein a “titan” who used his power in Hollywood to prey on and silence women.

    “Rapists rape. You can look at the pattern,” fellow prosecutor Paul Thompson told jurors.

    Meanwhile, Weinstein’s attorneys maintained the allegations were either fabricated or occurred consensually as part of a “transactional relationship” with the movie producer, repeatedly saying there is no evidence of assault.

    Defense attorney Alan Jackson called the accusers “fame and fortune seekers.”

    The trial in Los Angeles also included testimony from other witnesses, including experts, law enforcement, friends of accusers and former aides to Weinstein.

    Additionally, four women testified they were subjected to similar behavior by Weinstein in other jurisdictions.

    Each morning at trial, Weinstein was brought from a correctional facility and wheeled into the Los Angeles courtroom wearing a suit and tie and holding a composition notebook.

    His accusers all began their oftentimes emotional testimonies by identifying him in the courtroom as he looked on.

    “He’s wearing a suit, and a blue tie and he’s staring at me,” Siebel Newsom said last month, before what was one of the most emotional moments of the trial. She testified Weinstein raped her in a hotel room in 2005.

    During the trial, defense attorney Jackson asked jurors if they could “accept what (the Jane Does) say as gospel,” arguing what they said was a lack of forensic evidence supporting their claim.

    “Five words that sum up the entirety of the prosecution’s case: ‘Take my word for it,’” Jackson said. “‘Take my word for it that he showed up at my hotel room unannounced. Take my word for it that I showed up at his hotel room. Take my word for it that I didn’t consent. Take my word for it, that I said no.’ “

    Siebel Newsom described an hourslong “cat-and-mouse period,” which preceded her alleged assault. She, like other accusers, described feeling “frozen” that day.

    Attorneys for Weinstein do not deny the incident occurred, but said he believed it was consensual.

    Jackson called the incident “consensual, transactional sex,” adding: “Regret is not the same thing as rape. And it’s important we make that distinction in this courtroom.”

    In her closing arguments, Martinez highlighted the women who testified chose to do so despite knowing they would face tough conditions in court.

    “The truth is that, as you sit here, we know the despicable behavior the defendant engaged in. He thought he was so powerful that people would … excuse his behavior,” Martinez said. “That’s just Harvey being Harvey. That’s just Hollywood. And for so long that’s what everyone did. Everyone just turned their heads.”

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  • Jury deliberations in Harvey Weinstein’s 2nd sexual assault trial enter 6th day in Los Angeles | CNN

    Jury deliberations in Harvey Weinstein’s 2nd sexual assault trial enter 6th day in Los Angeles | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    The second sexual assault trial of Harvey Weinstein, the former movie producer accused of using his Hollywood influence to lure women into private meetings and assault them, entered its sixth day Friday in the hands of a Los Angeles jury.

    Weinstein, behind bars in a medical unit, awaits a verdict on two counts of forcible rape and five counts of sexual assault involving four women – a model, a dancer, a massage therapist and a producer. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him.

    Jurors began deliberating Friday after hearing weeks of testimony from dozens of witnesses. As of Thursday evening, jurors have been in deliberation for about 20 hours.

    At trial, four of the original 11 charges against Weinstein tied to one of the Jane Does were dropped without explanation.

    Weinstein could face 60 years to life in prison, plus an additional five years, if the jury finds him guilty.

    Weinstein is already serving a 23-year sentence after being convicted of a criminal sex act and third-degree rape during a 2020 trial in New York. His attorneys have appealed the conviction.

    Weinstein’s publicist, Juda Engelmayer, told CNN the former producer is in a detention facility’s medical unit, and is anxious but “hoping for the best.”

    The trial in Los Angeles included testimony from the four accusers identified as Jane Does in court, and other witnesses, including experts, law enforcement, friends of accusers and former aides to Weinstein.

    Additionally, four women testified they were subjected to similar incidents by Weinstein in other jurisdictions.

    All the accusers were asked in court to recount the details of their allegations against Weinstein, provide details of meetings with the producer from years ago and explain their reactions to the alleged assaults.

    Jennifer Siebel Newsom, a filmmaker and the wife of California Gov. Gavin Newsom – identified by her attorneys as Jane Doe 4 – alleged Weinstein raped her in a hotel room in 2005.

    In closing arguments Wednesday, Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Marlene Martinez called Weinstein a “titan” who used his power in Hollywood to prey on and silence women.

    “Rapists rape. You can look at the pattern,” fellow prosecutor Paul Thompson told jurors.

    “You have irrefutable, overwhelming evidence about the nature of this man and what he did to these women,” Thompson said.

    Meanwhile, Weinstein’s attorneys have maintained the allegations are either fabricated or occurred consensually as part of a “transactional relationship” with the movie producer, repeatedly saying there is no evidence of assault.

    Defense attorney Alan Jackson called the accusers “fame and fortune seekers.”

    Each morning at trial, Weinstein was brought from a correctional facility and wheeled into the Los Angeles courtroom wearing a suit and tie and holding a composition notebook.

    His accusers all began their oftentimes emotional testimonies by identifying him in the courtroom as he looked on.

    “He’s wearing a suit, and a blue tie and he’s staring at me,” Siebel Newsom said last month, before what was one of the most emotional moments of the trial.

    On Thursday of last week, defense attorney Jackson asked jurors if they could “accept what (the Jane Does) say as gospel,” arguing what they said was a lack of forensic evidence supporting their claim.

    “Five words that sum up the entirety of the prosecution’s case: ‘Take my word for it,’” Jackson said. “‘Take my word for it that he showed up at my hotel room unannounced. Take my word for it that I showed up at his hotel room. Take my word for it that I didn’t consent. Take my word for it, that I said no.’”

    Siebel Newsom described an hourslong “cat-and-mouse period,” which preceded her alleged assault. She, like other accusers, described feeling “frozen” that day.

    Attorneys for Weinstein do not deny the incident occurred, but said he believed it was consensual.

    Jackson called the incident “consensual, transactional sex,” adding: “Regret is not the same thing as rape. And it’s important we make that distinction in this courtroom.”

    Women’s rights lawyer Gloria Allred, who is representing Jane Doe 2 in the case, told CNN she hopes the jury sees her client “has no motive at all to do anything but tell the truth.”

    “She never sought or received any compensation … She doesn’t live in California anymore. But she is testifying because she’s been asked to testify and I hope that they see her as the young woman that she was when she met Harvey Weinstein, and the woman that she is today approximately nine to 10 years later. Her life has changed,” Allred said.

    “To be willing to subject yourself to what could be a very brutal cross-examination. That takes a very special person to do that. And she is a special person. I’m very proud,” Allred said.

    In her closing arguments, Martinez also highlighted that the women who testified chose to do so despite knowing they would face tough conditions in court.

    “The truth is that, as you sit here, we know the despicable behavior the defendant engaged in. He thought he was so powerful that people would … excuse his behavior,” Martinez said. “That’s just Harvey being Harvey. That’s just Hollywood. And for so long that’s what everyone did. Everyone just turned their heads.”

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  • The latest on Donald Trump’s many legal clouds | CNN Politics

    The latest on Donald Trump’s many legal clouds | CNN Politics

    A version of this story appears in CNN’s What Matters newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free here.



    CNN
     — 

    Former President Donald Trump has been campaigning in between his many different court appearances for much of the year.

    But his decision to attend the first day of his $250 million civil fraud trial in New York created another opportunity to appear on camera from inside a courtroom when the judge allowed photographers to document the moment before proceedings got underway.

    Keeping track of the dizzying array of civil and criminal cases is a full-time job.

    He is charged with crimes related to conduct:

    • Before his presidency – a hush money scheme that may have helped him win the White House in 2016.
    • During his presidency – his effort to stay in the White House by overturning the 2020 election.
    • After his presidency – his treatment of classified material and alleged attempts to hide it from the National Archives.

    Trump denies any wrongdoing and has pleaded not guilty in all of the criminal cases. He alleges a “witch hunt” against him. But each trial has its own distinct storyline to follow.

    Here’s an updated list of developments in Trump’s very complicated set of court cases, beginning with the one playing out in Manhattan this week.

    The civil fraud trial, unlike Trump’s multiple criminal indictments, does not carry the danger of a felony conviction and jail time, but it could very well cost him some of his most prized possessions, including Trump Tower.

    New York Attorney General Letitia James brought the $250 million lawsuit in September 2022, alleging that Trump and his co-defendants committed repeated fraud in inflating assets on financial statements to get better terms on commercial real estate loans and insurance policies.

    Judge Arthur Engoron has already ruled that Trump and his adult sons are liable for fraud for inflating the value of his golf courses, hotels and homes on financial statements to secure loans.

    The trial portion of the case, playing out in court in Manhattan, will assess what damages will be levied against Trump and how Engoron’s decision to strip Trump of his New York business licenses will play out.

    In May, a federal jury in Manhattan found Trump sexually abused former advice columnist E. Jean Carroll in a luxury department store dressing room in the mid-1990s and awarded her about $5 million.

    A separate civil defamation lawsuit will only need to decide how much money Trump has to pay her. That case for January 15 – the same day Iowa Republicans will hold their caucuses, the first date on the presidential primary calendar.

    In August, Trump was indicted by a federal grand jury in special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the aftermath of the 2020 election. The former president was arraigned in a Washington, DC, courtroom, where he pleaded not guilty.

    The case is based in part on a scheme to create slates of fake electors in key states won by President Joe Biden.

    In late September, Judge Tanya Chutkan rejected Trump’s request that she recuse herself from the case. Chutkan, a Barack Obama appointee, has overseen civil and criminal cases related to the January 6, 2021, insurrection and has repeatedly exceeded what prosecutors have requested for convicted rioters’ prison sentences.

    Chutkan set the trial’s start date for March 4, 2024, the day before Super Tuesday, when the largest batch of presidential primaries will occur. The trial marks the first of Trump’s criminal cases expected to proceed.

    Trump has been charged in Manhattan criminal court with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to his role in a hush money payment scheme involving adult film actress Stormy Daniels late in the 2016 presidential campaign.

    The former president pleaded not guilty at his April arraignment in Manhattan.

    Prosecutors, led by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, accuse Trump of falsifying business records with the intent to conceal $130,000 in payments to Daniels made by former Trump attorney and fixer Michael Cohen to guarantee her silence about an alleged affair.

    Trump has denied having an affair with Daniels.

    The trial was originally scheduled to begin in late March 2024, but Judge Juan Merchan has suggested the date could move. The next court date is scheduled for February.

    Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is using racketeering violations to charge a broad criminal conspiracy against Trump and 18 others in their efforts to overturn Biden’s victory in Georgia.

    The probe was launched in 2021 following Trump’s call that January with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, in which the president pushed the Republican official to “find” votes to overturn the election results.

    The August indictment also includes how Trump’s team allegedly misled state officials in Georgia; organized fake electors; harassed an election worker; and breached election equipment in rural Coffee County, Georgia.

    One co-defendant, bail bondsman Scott Hall, has pleaded guilty to five counts in the case.

    Fulton County prosecutors have signaled they could offer plea deals to other co-defendants.

    Willis this week issued a subpoena to former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, a Trump ally, who in turn demanded an immunity deal in exchange for testimony.

    Trial for two co-defendants is expected to begin this month and could last three to five months. A trial date has not been set for Trump, who has pleaded not guilty.

    Federal criminal court in Florida: Mishandling classified material

    Trump has pleaded not guilty to 37 federal charges brought by Smith over his alleged mishandling of classified documents. Smith added three additional counts in a superseding indictment.

    The investigation centers on sensitive documents that Trump brought to his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida after his White House term ended in January 2021.

    The National Archives, charged with collecting and sorting presidential material, has previously said that at least 15 boxes of White House records were recovered from Mar-a-Lago, including some classified records.

    Trump was also caught on tape in a 2021 meeting in Bedminster, New Jersey, where the former president discussed holding secret documents he did not declassify.

    Smith’s additional charges allege that Trump and his employees attempted to delete Mar-a-Lago security footage sought by the grand jury investigating the mishandling of the records.

    Trial is not expected until May, after most presidential primaries have concluded.

    There are other cases to note:

    Trump’s namesake business, the Trump Organization, was convicted in December by a New York jury of tax fraud, grand larceny and falsifying business records in what prosecutors say was a 15-year scheme to defraud tax authorities by failing to report and pay taxes on compensation provided to employees.

    Manhattan prosecutors told a jury the case was about “greed and cheating,” laying out a scheme within the Trump Organization to pay high-level executives in perks such as luxury cars and apartments without paying taxes on them.

    Former Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg pleaded guilty to his role in the tax scheme. He was released after serving four months in jail at Rikers Island.

    Several members of the US Capitol Police and Washington, DC, Metropolitan Police are suing Trump, saying his words and actions incited the 2021 riot.

    The various cases accuse Trump of directing assault and battery; aiding and abetting assault and battery; and violating Washington laws that prohibit the incitement of riots and disorderly conduct.

    In August, Trump requested to put on hold the lawsuit related to the death of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, citing his various criminal trials. The estate of Sicknick, who died after responding to the attack on the Capitol, is suing two rioters involved in the attack and Trump for his alleged role in egging it on.

    Other lawsuits have been put on hold while a federal appeals court considers whether Trump had absolute immunity as the sitting president.

    Former top FBI counterintelligence official Peter Strzok, who was fired in 2018 after the revelation that he criticized Trump in text messages, sued the Justice Department, alleging he was terminated improperly.

    In summer 2017, former special counsel Robert Mueller removed Strzok from his team investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election after an internal investigation revealed texts with former FBI lawyer Lisa Page that could be read as exhibiting political bias.

    Strzok and Page were constant targets of verbal attacks by Trump and his allies, part of the larger ire the then-president expressed toward the FBI during the Russia investigation. Trump repeatedly and publicly called for Strzok’s ouster until he was fired in August 2018.

    Trump is set to be deposed this month as part of the case, according to Politico.

    A federal judge dismissed Trump’s lawsuit against Hillary Clinton, the Democratic National Committee, several ex-FBI officials and more than two dozen other people and entities that he claims conspired to undermine his 2016 campaign with fabricated information tying him to Russia.

    “What (Trump’s lawsuit) lacks in substance and legal support it seeks to substitute with length, hyperbole, and the settling of scores and grievances,” US District Judge Donald Middlebrooks wrote.

    Trump appealed the decision, but Middlebrooks also ruled that the former president and his attorneys are liable for nearly $1 million in sanctions for bringing the case.

    Trump launched a Hail Mary bid in July to revive the sprawling lawsuit, relying on a recent report from special counsel John Durham that criticized the FBI’s Trump-Russia probe.

    Trump’s former lawyer Cohen sued Trump, former Attorney General William Barr and others, alleging they put him back in jail to prevent him from promoting his upcoming book while under home confinement.

    Cohen was serving the remainder of his sentence for lying to Congress and campaign violations at home, due to Covid-19 concerns, when he started an anti-Trump social media campaign in summer 2020. Cohen said that he was sent back to prison in retaliation and that he spent 16 days in solitary confinement.

    A federal judge threw out the lawsuit in November. District Judge Lewis Liman said he was empathetic to Cohen’s position but that Supreme Court precedent bars him from allowing the case to move forward.

    Trump sued journalist Bob Woodward in January for alleged copyright violations, claiming Woodward released audio from their interviews without Trump’s consent.

    Woodward and publisher Simon & Schuster said Trump’s case is without merit and moved for its dismissal.

    Woodward conducted several interviews with Trump for his book “Rage,” published in September 2020. Woodward later released “The Trump Tapes,” an audiobook featuring eight hours of raw interviews with Trump interspersed with the author’s commentary.

    Trump-filed lawsuits: The New York Times, Mary Trump and CNN

    The former president is suing his niece and The New York Times in New York state court over the disclosure of his tax information.

    A New York judge dismissed The New York Times from Trump’s lawsuit regarding disclosure of his tax returns and ordered Trump to pay the newspaper’s legal fees. Trump is still suing his niece Mary Trump for disclosure of the tax documents. She had tried to sue him for defrauding her out of millions after the death of his father, but the suit was dismissed.

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  • Community seeks bodycam video in St. Paul police shooting

    Community seeks bodycam video in St. Paul police shooting

    ST. PAUL, Minn. — Community members are calling for the quick release of body camera video after a Minnesota officer shot and killed a man, who police say had a gun.

    Family members have identified the man as 24-year-old Howard Johnson. He was shot by a St. Paul police officer on Monday, police said.

    “He loved everybody and everybody loved him,” his mother, Monique Johnson, told the St. Paul Pioneer Press. “I don’t understand why this had to happen to my child.”

    The St. Paul Police Department says officers were responding to a domestic assault Monday evening and were told by the caller that the man had a gun, before the call ended abruptly. The man ran away before officers arrived.

    According to a statement from police, officers saw the man running with a gun in his hand. When they saw him appear to attempt a carjacking, officers drove up to the man and police believe they struck him with a squad car.

    “As the officers got out of their car, the man was standing with the gun in his hand and an officer fired multiple rounds, striking the man in the torso and leg,” the statement said. “Officers immediately rendered aid to the man and called for St. Paul Fire medics.”

    Johnson was taken to a hospital where he later died.

    A vigil was held Tuesday night at the scene of the shooting.

    Trahern Crews, co-founder and lead organizer of Black Lives Matter Minnesota, said they want to see body camera footage “to clear all doubts.”

    “We should know exactly what happened so this family can be comforted, and if something went wrong then people need to be held accountable swiftly and immediately,” Crews said.

    Johnson had been convicted in recent years of felony domestic abuse and fleeing from police. Family members say he was the father of 4-year-old twins.

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  • Ex-prison worker faces 100-year sentence for knife attack

    Ex-prison worker faces 100-year sentence for knife attack

    INDIANAPOLIS — A former Indiana Department of Correction worker faces a potential sentence of 100 years in prison under a deal in which she agreed to plead guilty to two counts of murder for a knife attack two years ago in which two people were killed and a third was wounded, a prosecutor said Tuesday.

    Kristen L. Wolf, of Madison, also will plead guilty to attempted murder and attempted battery by means of a deadly weapon for the attack at an Indianapolis apartment that killed Victoria Cook, 24, and Dylan Dickover, 28, and seriously injured Elizabeth McHugh, Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears said.

    Sentencing is set for Jan. 20.

    On May 11, 2020, Indianapolis police responded to a home on the city’s west side where they found the three victims, Mears’ office said. Cook was declared dead at the scene, and Dickover and McHugh were transported to a hospital. Dickover eventually died from his wounds.

    Witnesses told investigators that before the attack, Wolf, dressed in black and armed with a hunting-style knife, knocked aggressively on the front door. When Cook answered the door, they said, Wolf charged her and began to stab her before attacking the other victims.

    During the attack, a DOC hat that Wolf was wearing fell off and was left at the scene, investigators said. The hat had a tag with the name “Wolf” written on it.

    At the time, Wolf worked at a prison in the Ohio River city of Madison.

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  • Man arrested after egg allegedly thrown at King Charles III

    Man arrested after egg allegedly thrown at King Charles III

    LONDON — A man was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of assault after an egg was allegedly hurled towards King Charles III during a visit to a town center, police said.

    Bedfordshire Police said a man in his 20s was being questioned over an alleged common assault.

    Charles was meeting members of the public outside the town hall in Luton, 30 miles (46 kilometers) north of London, when the projectile was apparently thrown. He was moved to a different area by his security guards and resumed shaking hands with members of the public.

    The king has traveled widely across Britain since becoming monarch on the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in September. He was due to visit several sites in Luton on Tuesday, including a transit station and a Sikh house of worship, a gurdwara.

    Last month a 23-year-old man was arrested after eggs were hurled at Charles and his wife Camilla, the queen consort, during a visit to York, northern England. The man was later released on bail.

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  • Colorado gay club shooting suspect set to return to court

    Colorado gay club shooting suspect set to return to court

    The suspect accused of entering a Colorado gay nightclub clad in body armor and opening fire with an AR-15-style rifle, killing five people and wounding 17 others, is set to appear in court again Tuesday

    DENVER — The suspect accused of entering a Colorado gay nightclub clad in body armor and opening fire with an AR-15-style rifle, killing five people and wounding 17 others, is set to appear in court again Tuesday to learn what charges prosecutors will pursue in the attack, including possible hate crime counts.

    Investigators say Anderson Lee Aldrich entered Club Q, a sanctuary for the LGBTQ community in the mostly conservative city of Colorado Springs, just before midnight on Nov. 19 and began shooting during a drag queen’s birthday celebration. The killing stopped after patrons wrestled the suspect to the ground, beating Aldrich into submission, they said.

    Aldrich, who is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns according to defense court filings, was arrested at the club by police and held on suspicion of murder and hate crimes while District Attorney Michael Allen determined what charges to pursue against them. Allen has noted that murder charges would carry the harshest penalty — likely life in prison — and charging Aldrich with bias-motivated crimes would not lead to a harsher punishment.

    But at a Nov. 21 news conference, Allen did say that, if there was evidence to support bias motivated crimes, it was still important to pursue them to send the message “that we support communities that have been maligned, harassed, intimidated and abused.”

    According to witnesses, Aldrich fired first at people gathered at the club’s bar before spraying bullets across the dance floor during the attack, which came on the eve of an annual day of remembrance for transgender people lost to violence.

    More than a year before the shooting, Aldrich was arrested on allegations of making a bomb threat that led to the evacuation of about 10 homes. Aldrich threatened to harm their own family with a homemade bomb, ammunition and multiple weapons, authorities said at the time. Aldrich was booked into jail on suspicion of felony menacing and kidnapping, but the case was apparently later sealed and it’s unclear what became of the charges. There are no public indications that the case led to a conviction.

    Ring doorbell video obtained by the AP shows Aldrich arriving at their mother’s front door with a big black bag, telling her the police were nearby and adding, “This is where I stand. Today I die.”

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  • Man charged with killing 4 workers at Oklahoma pot farm

    Man charged with killing 4 workers at Oklahoma pot farm

    OKLAHOMA CITY — A man accused of killing four workers at an Oklahoma marijuana farm had demanded the return of his $300,000 investment in the operation shortly before he started shooting, prosecutors allege in court documents.

    Chen Wu, 45, was charged Friday in Kingfisher County with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of assault and battery with a deadly weapon in connection with the Nov. 20 killings.

    “Eyewitnesses to the murders have stated that (Wu) demanded $300,000 be handed over to him by other employees of the marijuana operation, as a return of a portion of his ‘investment’ in the enterprise,” Assistant District Attorney Austin Murrey wrote. “The fact that it could not be handed over on a moment’s notice is what precipitated the mass murder.”

    Prosecutors on Friday also filed a motion that Wu be held without bond.

    In an arrest affidavit filed in the case, a worker who was at the farm on the day of the killings told investigators that a man, later identified as Wu, came into the garage and shot one man in the leg.

    “The suspect held multiple people inside the garage at gunpoint,” Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agent Phillip Ott wrote in the affidavit. “The suspect demanded $300,000 within the next half hour or he was going to kill everyone in the garage.”

    Another worker at the farm told investigators Wu had worked at the farm about a year earlier.

    Killed in the attack were Quirong Lin, Chen He Chun, Chen He Qiang and Fang Hui Lee, court documents show. A fifth person, Yi Fei Lin, was wounded. Authorities have said Wu and all of the victims were Chinese citizens and that the pot farm on a 10-acre (4-hectare) property west of Hennessey was operating under an illegally obtained license to grow marijuana for medical purposes.

    Wu is scheduled to make an initial appearance Wednesday, court documents show. Jail and court records don’t indicate the name of an attorney who could speak on his behalf.

    The state’s motion also indicates there is video that depicts portions of the slayings and that eyewitnesses who know Wu have positively identified him. Authorities have previously said the victims were “executed.”

    Wu was arrested Nov. 22 in Florida after the vehicle he was driving was flagged by a car tag reader, police in Miami Beach said. Oklahoma authorities took Wu from Miami-Dade County jail Wednesday, and he was booked into the Kingfisher County jail on Thursday.

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