Tag: brand safety-nsf crime

Opening statements begin in the trial of Parkland school resource officer who stayed outside during shooting | CNN

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CNN
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The trial of the former school resource officer who remained outside a Parkland, Florida, high school five years ago while 17 people were gunned down inside started in earnest Wednesday, as prosecutors began presenting their opening statement.

The state has accused retired Broward Sheriff’s Office Deputy Scot Peterson of failing to follow his active shooter training by staying outside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on February 14, 2018, taking cover for at least 45 minutes while a former student carried out what remains the deadliest high school shooting in US history. Among the slain were 14 students and three staff members; 17 others were injured.

The case highlights the expectations for officers responding to active shooters as the country faces a seemingly endless scourge of gun violence, with schools such as those in Parkland; Uvalde, Texas; and Newtown, Connecticut, etched in public memory as the scenes of some of the most devastating massacres.

Peterson has pleaded not guilty to 11 counts – including seven of felony child neglect, three of culpable negligence and one of perjury – and maintains he did nothing wrong. The 60-year-old, who retired as criticism of his alleged failure mounted, has said he didn’t enter the unfolding scene of carnage in the school’s 1200 building because he couldn’t tell where the gunshots were coming from.

Before the shooting, Peterson was a dedicated and decorated officer who had served for more than three decades, his attorney, Mark Eiglarsh, told CNN.

“After a 32-year career, this loving husband and father of four went from hero, and in 4 minutes and 15 seconds, he went to criminal,” the defense lawyer said.

Jury selection began last Wednesday, yielding a panel of six jurors and four alternates tasked with weighing the state’s unusual case, which experts have described to CNN as the first of its kind and a legal stretch.

The Broward State Attorney’s Office charged Peterson under a Florida statute that usually applies to caretakers, arguing the then-deputy, in his capacity as a school resource officer, was a caregiver responsible for the protection of the high school’s students and staff.

Peterson was at the school administration building on February 14, 2018, when the shooter opened fire on the first floor of the 1200 building, according to a probable cause affidavit. Peterson got to the building’s east entrance about 2 minutes later, per a timeline in the affidavit.

Peterson moved about 75 feet away and “positioned himself behind the wall of the stairwell on the northeast corner of the 700 Building” – a third campus structure – the affidavit says, calling it a “position of cover” he held for the duration of the shooting.

In a blow to both the state and the defense, the judge last week ruled jurors will not make a trip to the scene of the shooting, as the jury in the shooter’s trial did, CNN affiliate WPLG reported. Eiglarsh wanted the jury to see the exterior of the 1200 building, which has been preserved pending the trials of the shooter and Peterson, while prosecutors had wanted jurors to see the building’s interior, too.

Beyond the child neglect and culpable negligence charges, Peterson was charged with perjury for telling investigators he heard only two or three gunshots after arriving at the scene of the shooting, the affidavit says, while other witnesses said they’d heard more.

Peterson’s attorney intends to argue, in part, that his client’s confusion about the location of the shooter was reasonable and shared by others at the scene, including members of law enforcement, teachers and students, Eiglarsh told CNN. The lawyer also contends Peterson’s actions at the scene illustrate he was not negligent but reacting as well as he could with the information he had, he said.

Additionally, Eiglarsh disagrees with the decision to charge his client under the caretaker statute, he told CNN, calling the choice “preposterous.”

“He’s not a legal caregiver,” Eiglarsh said, acknowledging he understands the argument. “But he’s not a teacher, he’s not a parent, he’s not a kidnapper who’s responsible for the well-being of a child. He’s not hired by the school system.”

In the past, Peterson and his attorneys have argued the caretaker statute does not apply to him, emphasizing one person is responsible for the deaths and injuries that day: the gunman, then-19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, who pleaded guilty to 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder and was sentenced last year to life in prison without the possibility of parole after a jury declined to unanimously recommend the death penalty.

That outcome angered and disappointed many victims’ families, including some who see Peterson’s trial as another opportunity for justice.

“We should not portray or allow the defense team or the deputy who failed to act properly to portray himself as a victim,” Tony Montalto, the father of 14-year-old victim Gina Montalto told CNN before jury selection. “He was charged with keeping the students and staff safe, and he failed to do so.”

“Regardless of the outcome in the trial,” he said, “I hope he’s haunted every day by the fact that his actions cost lives.”

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June 7, 2023
A mass shooting after a high school commencement ceremony leaves 2 dead, including an 18-year-old graduate | CNN

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CNN
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A shooting after a high school commencement ceremony in Richmond, Virginia, killed two people Tuesday evening – an 18-year-old man on his graduation day and a man who’d attended the event – and wounded five others, spreading terror among hundreds who were celebrating, police say.

The gunfire happened in Richmond’s Monroe Park, where graduates and guests were reveling and taking photographs after Huguenot High School held its commencement at a theater across the street, officials said.

The shooting sent people running in all directions, and a 9-year-old girl was injured by a car that struck her during the chaos, the city’s interim police chief said in a news conference.

A suspect – a 19-year-old man – was taken into custody after the shooting. Police intend to seek charges of second-degree murder against him, and other charges could follow, Edwards said. The names of the suspect and those killed and injured were not immediately released.

“This should have been a safe space,” the interim chief, Rick Edwards, said Tuesday night. “It’s just incredibly tragic that someone decided to bring a gun to this incident and rain terror on our community.”

It’s unclear what motivated the attack. The chief said it was unknown Tuesday whether the suspect is a student.

“We think the suspect knew at least one of the victims,” the interim chief said, without elaborating.

Huguenot High’s ceremony was the second Richmond high school commencement to happen Tuesday at Altria Theater, and a third graduation ceremony scheduled there that day was canceled after the shooting, school officials said.

Though Edwards said the 18-year-old who died had graduated Tuesday, Edwards did not say from which school. The other man who died was a 36-year-old who’d just attended the ceremony, the interim chief said.

The other gunshot victims were a 14-year-old boy and four men ranging in age from 31 to 58. The 31-year-old had life-threatening injuries as of Tuesday night and the rest did not, Edwards said

The 9-year-old girl who was hit by a car was being treated at a hospital Tuesday night with non-life-threatening injuries, he added.

The shooting marks one of at least 279 mass shootings in the United States so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as one in which at least four people are shot, excluding the shooter.

The violence added Richmond to a list of communities across the country to grapple with the terror of mass shootings in recent months, including shootings at a mall in Texas, a school in Tennessee, a bank in Kentucky and near a beach in South Florida.

The shooting happened just before 5:15 p.m. ET, when three off-duty officers who were working security at the ceremony heard gunshots and reported them on their radios, and officers working traffic duty nearby responded, Edwards said.

“The initial officers indicated there was a barrage of gunfire, but it was over quickly,” he added.

The suspect fled on foot and was found and detained nearby by security officers with Virginia Commonwealth University, nearby, Edwards said. Monroe Park is part of VCU’s Monroe Park campus.

Police initially announced detained two people but later said one of them was not involved in the shooting.

Police seized several guns following the shooting, the interim chief said.

Turmoil unfolded when the shooting happened, Edwards said.

“I heard the call come over my radio, and you can hear the chaos and the screaming,” Edwards said.

“People were having panic attacks, falling on the ground screaming,” Edwards added. “Some people fell. One child was hit by a car.”

Naomi Wade was outside the Altria Theater selling flowers and teddy bears for the graduates, she told CNN affiliate WTVR. Images of smiling graduates in caps and gowns turned to scenes of panic as gunshots were heard, she said.

“Everyone literally started running for their lives, trampling each other. Trampled me. Trampled our whole entire stand. It was scary,” Wade said.

Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney decried the shooting Tuesday and promised whoever was involved would be brought to justice.

“Is nothing sacred any longer?” Stoney said at a news conference.

“This should not be happening anywhere,” Stoney said “A child should be able to go to their graduation and walk at their graduation and enjoy the accomplishment with their friends and families.”

Richmond Public Schools is closing all its schools Wednesday out of an abundance of caution, the system announced on its website.

The rest of this week’s high school graduations in the district also have been canceled.

“We’ve been preparing for an event like this. We’ve prepared for it with our partners and hoping that this day would come,” Edwards said. “But it came to Richmond.”

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June 6, 2023
A Black mother of 4 was shot and killed by a neighbor. Her family wants the woman who shot her arrested | CNN

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CNN
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A mother of four was shot and killed in Florida following a longtime feud with a neighbor who had complained about the victim’s children playing outside, authorities and a family attorney said.

Deputies responded to a trespassing call Friday night and found one woman suffering from a gunshot wound, Marion County, Florida, Sheriff Billy Woods said in a Monday news conference.

The victim was identified by family attorneys as AJ Owens.

The shooter, also a woman, “engaged” with Owens’ children and threw a pair of skates, hitting the children, the sheriff said.

Following that interaction, one of the children went back inside their home and told their mother, who went to the neighbor’s home “to confront the lady,” the sheriff said.

According to the shooter, there was “a lot of aggressiveness” from both sides, as well as threats being made, and Owens was ultimately shot through the door, Woods said. She was later pronounced dead at a hospital, authorities said.

The woman who fired at Owens has been cooperating with law enforcement, the sheriff added. No arrest has been made in the case.

Authorities have not named the shooter or shared any identifying information. But civil rights attorney Ben Crump, one of the attorneys representing the family, identified her as a White woman, according to a news release from his office Monday.

In a separate news conference held by Owens’ family attorneys, the victim’s mother said the neighbor who shot her daughter had called the family, including the children, racial slurs.

The neighbor’s door “never opened,” when Owens, who was Black, tried to confront her, and she was shot through the door, Pamela Dias, the victim’s mother said.

“My daughter, my grandchildren’s mother, was shot and killed with her 9-year-old son standing next to her. She had no weapon, she posed no imminent threat to anyone,” Dias said.

“What I’m asking is for justice,” she added. “Justice for my daughter.”

In Monday’s news conference, authorities pleaded for calm and patience as they investigated the shooting, worked to recover possible video footage and interview the children who witnessed the incident. The sheriff also asked for anyone with information to come forward.

While responding to criticism about how long the investigation and a possible arrest is taking, the sheriff referenced the state’s “stand your ground” law. The law allows people to meet “force with force” if they believe they or someone else is in danger of being seriously harmed by an assailant.

“What a lot of people don’t understand is that law has specific instructions for us in law enforcement,” he said. “Any time that we think, or perceive or believe that that might come into play, we cannot make an arrest, the law specifically says that.”

“What we have to rule out is whether the deadly force was justified or not before we can even make the arrest,” he said.

Authorities had received reports from the two neighbors dating back to at least January 2021, the sheriff said. Those reports included calls from the shooter complaining about Owens’ children, the sheriff said, adding that it was “children being children,” either being on someone’s property or playing in front of the multiplex.

“Here’s what I wish: I wish our shooter would have called us instead of taking actions into her own hands. I wish Ms. Owens would have called us, in hopes we could have never got to the point in which we are here today,” he said.

“Pray for those children. Pray for each and every one of them,” Woods added. “Their life has changed.”

The sheriff vowed to Owens’ family and friends that his office “is going to do everything to bring justice.”

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June 5, 2023
Mother of 6-year-old who shot teacher will plead guilty to federal felony charges in deal with prosecutors | CNN

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CNN
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The mother of a 6-year-old boy who brought a gun to school and shot his first-grade teacher in January in Newport News, Virginia, will plead guilty to new federal felony charges as part of a deal with prosecutors, her attorney said Monday.

Deja Taylor, the 26-year-old mother, was charged with unlawful use of a controlled substance while possessing a firearm and with making a false statement while purchasing the firearm, specifically a semiautomatic handgun, the federal complaint states.

Her attorney, James Ellenson, said Taylor’s guilty plea was an “agreed procedure which eliminated the need for the government to take the case to a grand jury.”

“Our action follows very constructive negotiations we had with federal authorities. The terms of the agreement, which we believe to be fair to all parties, will be disclosed when we enter the guilty plea,” Ellenson said.

In addition to the federal charges, Taylor has been indicted on state charges of felony child neglect and one count of recklessly leaving a firearm to endanger a child.

The federal charges come about five months after the shooting at Richneck Elementary School in which the 6-year-old shot his teacher, 25-year-old Abigail Zwerner. She suffered gunshot wounds to her hand and chest but survived.

The gun was purchased by Taylor and kept on the top shelf of her bedroom closet, secured by a trigger lock, Ellenson told CNN in January. The child brought the gun to school in his backpack, police said.

The child will not be criminally charged, Newport News Commonwealth’s Attorney Howard Gwynn has said.

Taylor has no criminal record and has cooperated since the shooting occurred, Ellenson said in an earlier statement.

“As always, first and foremost is the continued health and wellbeing of all persons involved in the incident at Richneck Elementary School, to include both the teacher and Deja’s son,” the statement said.

The Commonwealth’s Attorney said the office has asked the Circuit Court to assemble a special grand jury to investigate “any security issues that may have contributed to the shooting.”

Zwerner filed a $40 million lawsuit in April alleging school administrators and the school board were aware of the student’s “history of random violence” and did not act proactively amid concerns over a firearm in the boy’s possession the day of the shooting.

The boy has an “acute disability” and was under a care plan that required a parent to attend school with him, though he was unaccompanied on the day of the shooting, the family has said in a statement. “We will regret our absence on this day for the rest of our lives,” the statement read.

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June 5, 2023
Kathleen Folbigg: Mother who served 20 years for killing her four babies pardoned | CNN

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Brisbane, Australia
CNN
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A woman condemned as Australia’s worst female serial killer has been pardoned after serving 20 years behind bars for killing her four children in what appears to be one of the country’s gravest miscarriages of justice.

New South Wales Attorney General Michael Daley intervened to order Kathleen Folbigg be freed, based on the preliminary findings of an inquiry that had found “reasonable doubt” as to her guilt for all four deaths.

Daley told a news conference Monday that he had spoken to the governor and recommended an unconditional pardon, which had been granted, and she would be released from Clarence Correctional Center the same day.

“This has been a terrible ordeal for everyone concerned and I hope that our actions today can put some closure on this 20-year-old matter,” said Daley, who added that he had informed Craig Folbigg, the babies’ father, of his decision. “It will be a tough day for him,” he said.

Kathleen Folbigg was jailed in 2003 on three counts of murder and one of manslaughter following the deaths of her four babies over a decade from 1989. In each case, she was the person who found their bodies, though there was no physical evidence that she had caused their deaths.

Instead, the jury relied on the prosecution’s argument that the chances of four babies from one family dying from natural causes before the age of 2 were so infinitesimally low as to be compared to pigs flying.

They also noted the contents of her diary, which contained passages that in isolation at the time were interpreted as confessions of guilt.

As recently as 2019, an inquiry into her convictions found there was no reasonable doubt she had committed the crimes. But another inquiry began last year after new scientific evidence emerged that provided a genetic explanation for the children’s deaths.

In her closing submissions, Sophie Callan, the lead counsel assisting the inquiry, said that “on the whole of the body of evidence before this inquiry there is a reasonable doubt as to Ms Folbigg’s guilt.”

She also told the inquiry that in its closing submissions, the NSW director of public prosecutions had indicated she was also “open to the Inquiry to conclude there is reasonable doubt as to Ms Folbigg’s guilt.”

Folbigg was just 20 years old when she married Craig Folbigg, who she’d met in her hometown of Newcastle on the northern New South Wales coast.

Within a year she fell pregnant with Caleb, who was born in February, 1989 and lived only 19 days. The next year, the Folbiggs had another son, Patrick, who died at eight months. Two years later, Sarah died at 10 months. Then in 1999, the couple’s fourth and longest lived child, Laura, died at 18 months.

The police investigation into the deaths of all four children began the day Laura died, but it was more than two years before Folbigg was arrested and charged. By then, the couple’s marriage had fallen apart, and Craig was cooperating with police to build a case against her.

He handed police her diaries, which prosecutors argued contained the deepest thoughts of a mother tortured by guilt for her role in her children’s deaths.

Examination of the babies’ remains failed to find any physical evidence they’d been suffocated, but without another plausible reason to explain their deaths, suspicion focused on Kathleen, their primary carer.

In 2003, as he sentenced Folbigg to 40 years in prison, Judge Graham Barr recalled her troubled past. Folbigg’s father had killed her mother when she was just 18 months old, and she had spent many of her formative years in foster care.

According to court documents, Barr said Folbigg’s prospects of rehabilitation were “negligible.”

“She will always be a danger if given the responsibility of caring for a child,” he said. “That must never happen.”

That initial conviction ruling now stands in stark contrast to the latest inquiry, which looks set to paint a far different picture of Folbigg as a loving mother who was devastated and confused by the successive deaths of her babies.

As he ordered her release Monday, Daley distributed a memorandum of the findings by retired judge Tom Bathurst, who said after reviewing the evidence he was “unable to accept … the proposition that Ms Folbigg was anything but a caring mother for her children.”

In the case of the two girls – Sarah and Laura – Bathurst found there was a “reasonable possibility” a genetic mutation known as CALM2-G114R “occasioned their deaths,” and that Sarah may have died from myocarditis, inflammation of the heart, identified during her autopsy.

In the case of Patrick, who had an unexplained ALTE, an apparent life-threatening event, when he was 4 months old and died at 8 months, Bathurst found that it’s possible his death was caused by an underlying neurogenic disorder.

During Folbigg’s 2003 trial, the prosecution used “coincidence and tendency” evidence to allege that Folbigg had also killed Caleb. In other words, that having been allegedly responsible for the deaths of three children, it was likely she killed him, too.

However, Bathurst found that the reasonable doubt over Folbigg’s role in his siblings’ deaths meant that the prosecution’s case against her for Caleb’s murder “falls away.”

In relation to her diaries, Bathurst said the “evidence suggests they were the writings of a grieving and possibly depressed mother, blaming herself for the death of each child, as distinct from admissions that she murdered or otherwise harmed them.”

Bathurst also expressed doubts about evidence from Craig Folbigg, who had claimed his wife had been “ill-tempered” with their children and had “growled at them from time to time.”

“The balance of evidence … (was) that she was a loving and caring mother,” wrote Bathurst, whose full report will be released at a later date.

Folbigg’s case has been compared to that of Lindy Chamberlain, who swore a dingo took her baby Azaria from the family’s campsite at Uluru in 1980.

The case polarized public opinion and Chamberlain was jailed before evidence emerged that she was telling the truth.

In 1986, Azaria’s matinee jacket was found half-buried in the dirt, prompting officials to free Chamberlain, later known as Chamberlain-Creighton. Two years later, a court overturned her conviction, and in 2012 a coroner ruled that a dingo was indeed to blame for Azaria’s death.

Like Chamberlain-Creighton, Folbigg’s release from prison could be the start of a long process to clear her name.

Daley told reporters Monday that Folbigg’s pardon only meant she did not have to serve the rest of her sentence, and that it would be up to the Court of Criminal Appeal to quash her convictions.

He said it was too early to talk about compensation, as that would require Folbigg to initiate civil proceedings against the New South Wales government, or to approach it seeking an ex-gratia payment.

Daley acknowledged that after 20 years of believing Folbigg’s guilt, some people may not accept her innocence.

“There will be some people who have strong views. There’s nothing I can do to disavow them of those views, (and) it’s not my role to do that,” he said.

But he suggested the events of the past two decades should elicit some compassion for a woman who has lost so much.

“We’ve got four little bubbas who are dead. We’ve got a husband and wife who lost each other. A woman who spent 20 years in jail, and a family that never had a chance. You’d not be human if you didn’t feel something,” he said.

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June 4, 2023
Overseas Hong Kongers carry Tiananmen’s torch as vigils to remember massacre victims are snuffed out back home | CNN

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Hong Kong
CNN
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Hong Kongers living overseas are helping to keep the flame of remembrance alive for the victims of China’s Tiananmen massacre as authorities in a city that once hosted huge annual vigils continue to stamp out dissent.

Until recently Hong Kong was the only place within China where large-scale gatherings each June 4 were tolerated to remember the moment in 1989 when the Communist Party sent tanks in to violently quell peaceful student-led democracy protests in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.

But the annual candlelight vigils have been silenced the last three years in the wake of pandemic restrictions and Beijing’s ongoing political crackdown in Hong Kong, which was upended by its own huge democracy protests in 2019.

This year is set to be no different. Victoria Park, the site that used to hold the vigils, is again open after three years of coronavirus pandemic closures.

But it is hosting a fair put on by pro-Beijing associations whilst many of those who once organized the city’s Tiananmen commemorations languish in jail or have fled abroad.

As a result, it is overseas where the most concerted commemorations were taking place for the 34th anniversary.

Protests, vigils and exhibitions are planned in multiple cities around the world including in Australia, Japan, Taiwan, Europe, the United States and Canada bolstered by a growing cohort of Hong Kongers who have chosen to move overseas.

“I think it’s sad to say that what Beijing and Hong Kong are doing is trying to erase history and the memory,” said Kevin Yam, a former lawyer in Hong Kong, who will be attending a ceremony in Melbourne, Australia, where he now resides.

“For those who can still remember, we have the obligation to let the world know that we have not forgotten,” he told CNN.

A new museum in New York is a vivid example of how Tiananmen commemorations are going global.

On Friday, Zhou Fengsuo and Wang Dan, two former student leaders who took part in the 1989 Tiananmen protests and now live in the United States, unveiled a June 4th Memorial Exhibit on 6th Avenue.

The display includes items collected from those who survived the massacre including newspapers chronicling the event, a blood-stained shirt from a former journalist and a decades-old printer used by protesters that was sneaked out of China.

Zhou said the idea to create a New York exhibition began five years ago but the closure of Hong Kong’s own June 4 museum by authorities in 2021 “added to the urgency”.

“Hong Kong has been carrying the torch for commemorating the Tiananmen massacre, keeping the legacy alive. When the museum was shut down, with the Hong Kong alliance’s leaders in prison, we knew it was a critical moment,” he said.

“We have to continue here in the United States.”

The 2,200-square-feet venue in New York can host up to 100 guests at a time, with schools and universities already reaching to request for a tour, Zhou said, adding they have raised enough funding to keep it running for “many years”.

Thirty four years ago, Beijing sent in People’s Liberation Army troops armed with rifles and accompanied by tanks to forcibly clear the square where students were protesting for greater democracy.

No official death toll is available, but estimates range from several hundred to thousands, with many more injured.

Authorities in mainland China have always done their best to erase all memory of the Tiananmen massacre: Censoring news reports, scrubbing all mentions from the internet, arresting and chasing into exile the organizers of the protests, and keeping the relatives of those who died under tight surveillance.

The censorship has meant generations of mainland Chinese have grown up without knowledge of the events of June 4.

But Hong Kong was different.

Somber and defiant vigils were an annual political cornerstone, first under colonial British rule and then after the city’s 1997 handover to China. Every June 4, come rain or shine, tens of thousands of people would descend on Victoria Park with speakers demanding accountability from the Chinese Communist Party for ordering the bloody military crackdown.

But Hong Kong’s political culture has changed drastically in the aftermath in 2019’s huge and sometimes violent democracy protests.

Beijing responded with a sweeping national security law that outlawed most dissent. Leading democracy activists, including key Tiananmen vigil figures, have been jailed, critical newspapers shuttered and the political system overhauled to ensure only “patriots” are allowed.

Authorities banned the vigil in 2020 and 2021 citing coronavirus health restrictions – though many Hongkongers believe that was just an excuse to clamp down on shows of public dissent.

Last year, the park remained in darkness again, barricaded off on all sides with police stopping and searching passersby to “prevent any unauthorized assemblies which affect public safety and public order, and to prevent the risk of virus transmission due to such gatherings,” according to a government statement.

The Hong Kong Alliance, the group behind the past vigils, has disbanded with three leading figures in jail facing national security charges.

In the run up to this Sunday’s anniversary, authorities made clear commemorating Tiananmen this year would not be tolerated.

Security secretary Chris Tang – a former police chief – said he expected some might use “this very special day” to advocate Hong Kong independence and subvert state power, acts banned by the new national security law.

“But I want to tell these people that if you carry out these acts, we will definitely take decisive action,” he warned, adding: “You will not be lucky.”

Hong Kong police maintained a heavy police presence around the park on the anniversary’s eve, deploying multiple police coaches and even an armored vehicle at one point.

A handful of artists and activists defied warnings and turned up either at the park or surrounding streets on Saturday evening to make private commemorations with floral tributes and banners, only to be quickly intercepted and taken away by officers.

A police spokesman said four people were arrested on suspicion of disorderly behavior in public or carrying out acts with seditious intent as of Saturday. Police said some individuals had protest props bearing allegedly “seditious” wording. Four others were brought in for further investigation, police added.

Richard Tsoi, former secretary for the now-defunct Hong Kong Alliance, said he planned to commemorate the event either at home or at a private location.

“Definitely there will be not be large-scale commemoration activities. Whether one can mourn in public without breaking the law is also a question,” said the ex-organizer, who used attend every vigil in the past.

Throughout Hong Kong physical reminders of the Tiananmen massacre, including a famous “Pillar of Shame” statue that used to stand in the city’s oldest university, have been dismantled in recent years.

Yet last month a replica of the “Pillar of Shame” was erected in Berlin, with the help of its original Danish artist Jens Galschiot and a prominent Hong Kong activist now living in Germany. The artist also provided more than 40 giant banners printed with an image of the pillar to 18 cities for their commemoration events, including Los Angeles and Boston.

Another pillar was unveiled in Norway last year.

“It is true that the commemorations around June 4th have expanded and become more global since it has become impossible to do anything in Hong Kong,” he told CNN.

Hong Kongers, Zhou says, are playing a key role in keeping Tiananmen remembrance alive overseas,

“Since last year, many places have seen record numbers in attendance largely because of Hong Kong immigrants,” he said.

Many Hong Kongers have left for overseas with the city’s population dropping from 7.41 million to 7.29 million last year.

In Britain – where more than 100,000 Hongkongers have since settled after London offered an easier pathway to citizenship two years ago – about a dozen marches and vigils are slated to take place throughout June 4 across the country, from Nottingham and Manchester, a popular destination for Hong Kong immigrants.

In London, marchers will gather at Trafalgar Square before marching to the Chinese embassies, where a vigil will be held.

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June 3, 2023
Son and 8-year old grandson of former Red Sox star George ‘Boomer’ Scott found dead in apparent murder-suicide | CNN

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CNN
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The son and 8-year-old grandson of a former Boston Red Sox player were found dead in an apparent murder-suicide in their Massachusetts home Friday as authorities searched for clues about the boy’s mother – who was reported missing more than four years ago, according to local officials.

Police found the bodies of George Scott III and his son, Dante Hazard, at their New Bedford home after a relative couldn’t reach Scott and asked authorities to do a welfare check Friday morning, according to a news release from the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office.

Scott is the son of the former Boston Red Sox player George “Boomer” Scott, according to Gregg Miliote, a spokesperson for the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office.

Scott played first base for the Red Sox from 1966 to 1971 then again from 1977 to 1979, winning three of his eight career Gold Glove Awards with the team, according to the MLB. He died in 2013 at age 69.

The discovery of his son and grandson comes only weeks after a search warrant was executed at the same home in connection to Dante’s mother, who remains missing.

Scott “appears to have killed the boy with a sharp object before taking his own life,” according to the district attorneys office. Officials are waiting for more details from the medical examiner’s office on the deaths, the release said.

Lisa Hazard, Dante’s mother, has been missing for more than four years, according to a list of missing persons cases on the district attorney’s website. The office said in the news release that Scott is considered a “person of interest” in her disappearance.

In March 2019, Hazard, who was 28 at the time, went missing after leaving Scott’s home. She was supposed to leave to go to a drug rehabilitation center, according to the district attorney’s office. She hasn’t been seen since.

Detectives investigating her disappearance executed a search warrant at Scott’s residence – the same home where he and his son were found dead – last month, the release states. Her missing persons case is ongoing and the search warrant has been sealed by the court, according to the release.

CNN has reached out to the New Bedford Police Department for more information.

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June 3, 2023
Deputies accuse man of using Nintendo ‘Duck Hunt’ pistol during robbery | CNN

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CNN
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A South Carolina man was arrested after authorities said he robbed a convenience store with a fake gun designed to play a Nintendo video game.

David Joseph Dalesandro, 25, held up a Kwik Stop in Sharon, a small town in northwestern South Carolina, using a black spray-painted “Duck Hunt” gaming pistol, according to the York County Sheriff’s Office.

CNN was unable to determine whether he was represented by an attorney.

Witnesses told deputies a person allegedly walked into the store on May 30 wearing a wig, hoodie sweatshirt and a mask, a sheriff’s office news release stated.

The person allegedly showed the clerk the fake gun in his waistband and demanded about $300 from the register, authorities said.

Sheriff’s deputies discovered Dalesandro in a nearby Dollar General store parking lot, armed with the gaming pistol in his pants, according to the news release.

Dalesandro was arrested and remained behind bars Friday without bond, booking details showed.

He faces charges including armed robbery with a deadly weapon and petty larceny, according to the sheriff’s office.

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June 3, 2023
Armie Hammer will not face charges following sexual assault investigation, according to LA District Attorney | CNN

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Actor Armie Hammer will not face charges following an investigation by Los Angeles police into an allegation of sexual assault against the actor, the LA District Attorney’s Office told CNN on Wednesday.

“Sexual assault cases are often difficult to prove, which is why we assign our most experienced prosecutors to review them. In this case, those prosecutors conducted an extremely thorough review, but determined that at this time, there is insufficient evidence to charge Mr. Hammer with a crime,” Tiffiny Blacknell, Director of the Bureau of Communications told CNN.

“As prosecutors, we have an ethical responsibility to only charge cases that we can prove beyond a reasonable doubt. We know that it is hard for women to report sexual assault. Even when we cannot move forward with a prosecution, our victim service representatives will be available to those who seek our victim support services. Due to the complexity of the relationship and inability to prove a non-consensual, forcible sexual encounter we are unable to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Hammer posted a statement to Instagram following the news:

“I am very grateful to the District Attorney for conducting a thorough investigation and coming to the conclusion that I have stood by this entire time, that no crime was committed. I look forward to beginning what will be a long, difficult process of putting my life back together now that my name is cleared.”

The LAPD opened an investigation into the matter in February 2021, after a woman, identified by her attorney at the time as Effie, accused him of raping her in 2017.

Hammer was not charged in the case and has denied any wrongdoing, at the time saying through his attorney that the allegation was “outrageous” and that his interactions with the woman and other partners have been “completely consensual, discussed and agreed upon in advance, and mutually participatory.”

CNN reported last month that the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office was reviewing claims of sexual assault made against the actor. They did not specify the identity of the complainant or complainants.

In a statement made on Wednesday to CNN following the DA’s decision, Effie said in part, “I am disappointed with the LA County District Attorney’s decision not to prosecute Armie Hammer. I felt a duty to speak out and file a report in order to try to hold Armie accountable for all the harm and trauma he has caused me and in order to protect other women from experiencing similar abuse.”

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May 31, 2023
Man arrested and charged with first-degree murder in death of New Jersey councilwoman | CNN

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A man in Virginia has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of Eunice Dwumfour, a 30-year-old councilwoman who was found shot to death in her car in Sayreville, New Jersey, in February, the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office announced Tuesday.

Rashid Ali Bynum, 28, has been charged with first-degree murder, second-degree unlawful possession of a handgun and second-degree possession of a handgun for an unlawful purpose, Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone told a news conference.

Ciccone said Bynum was arrested outside Chesapeake City, Virginia, Tuesday morning and that authorities previously tracked Bynum’s cell phone from near the scene of the shooting and back to Virginia.

On the day of the February 1 murder, Bynum had searched the internet for details related to Dwumfour’s church, Ciccone said.

“A search of the victim’s phone revealed Bynum as a contact in Eunice Dwumfour’s phone with the acronym FCF,” the prosecutor said. “FCF is believed to be an acronym for the Fire Congress Fellowship, a church the victim was previously affiliated with, which is also associated with the Champion Royal Assembly, the victim’s church at the time of her death.”

Dwumfour, a Republican, was found by police with multiple gunshot wounds just after 7 p.m. on February 1 and was pronounced dead on scene, according to Middlesex County officials.

She was inside her car near her home when she was shot, according to CNN affiliate WABC. The vehicle then took off down the road and crashed into other parked vehicles, the affiliate reported.

Bynum is awaiting extradition from Virginia to New Jersey to face the charges, according to Ciccone. No timetable for the proceeding was provided.

CNN has been unable to determine if Bynam has an attorney.

New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin spoke directly to the Dwumfour family at the news conference, telling them it was the beginning of the healing process and a sense of justice.

“There are no words that can be said to you that can make you whole,” Platkin said Tuesday.

At the time of the murder, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy called it “a shocking, awful event.”

“I’ve asked a whole bunch of electeds and folks in the know who have been around for a long time, can they ever remember a sitting elected official in the state being shot and killed, and no one can remember, I mean, this is a shocking, awful event,” Murphy said on the “Ask Governor Murphy” radio show on February 2.

“God bless this woman,” Murphy said at the time.

Within a week of Dwumfour’s murder, another New Jersey councilperson was murdered

The council member was found shot to death in a car, though that case was determined to be a murder-suicide, a spokesman for Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office told CNN.

Milford Borough Councilman Russell Heller, 51, was in the parking lot of a PSE&G energy company facility in Somerset County when a former employee approached his car and shot him, the prosecutor’s office said previously.

Police identified Heller’s shooter as former PSE&G employee Gary T. Curtis, 58, the Somerset County prosecutor’s office said.

Hours after the killing, police found Curtis in a nearby town. They found Curtis with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the prosecutor’s office said. Curtis was declared dead at the scene.

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May 30, 2023
Republican tries to scuttle debt limit bill in House Rules Committee as pressure grows on key swing vote | CNN Politics

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Rep. Chip Roy accused House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Monday of cutting a deal that could complicate negotiators’ efforts to pass a bill to raise the US debt ceiling this week.

But McCarthy’s allies quickly refuted the Texas Republican, underscoring the tension ahead of a key meeting of the House Rules Committee on Tuesday – and putting new pressure on a conservative holdout, Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who has yet to take a position on the plan.

Roy contended that McCarthy cut a hand-shake deal in January that all nine Republicans on the powerful panel must agree to move any legislation forward, otherwise bills could not be considered by the full House for majority approval. That would essentially doom the debt ceiling bill since Roy – who sits on the panel – and another conservative committee member are trying to stop the bill from advancing.

“A reminder that during Speaker negotiations to build the coalition, that it was explicit both that nothing would pass Rules Committee without AT LEAST 7 GOP votes – AND that the Committee would not allow reporting out rules without unanimous Republican votes,” Roy tweeted.

Senior GOP sources acknowledged that there was an agreement for seven Republican committee members to agree to move forward in order to advance a bill to the floor, but they flatly dispute that there was a deal for all nine to sign off for legislation to advance.

“I have not heard that before. If those conversations took place, the rest of the conference was unaware of them,” said Rep. Dusty Johnson of South Dakota. “And frankly, I doubt them.”

The dispute is significant because Roy sits on the committee – which is divided between nine Republicans and four Democrats – as does GOP Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina. Both men have emerged as leading foes of the bipartisan debt limit bill to avoid a June 5 default, arguing it does little to rein in government spending.

A third conservative who sits on the panel – Massie – has been mum about how he plans to handle the rule vote in committee. McCarthy agreed to name all three men to the panel as part of the promises he made during his hard-fought speaker’s victory – all to give more power to conservatives on committees, including on Rules, which is typically stacked with the speaker’s closest allies.

If Massie were to join Roy and Norman and vote against the rule at Tuesday’s meeting, he could effectively stall the measure in committee.

But in January, Massie told CNN he was reluctant to vote against rules to stop bills in their tracks.

“I would be reluctant to try to use the rules committee to achieve a legislative outcome, particularly if it doesn’t represent a large majority of our caucus,” Massie said at the time. “So I don’t ever intend to use my position on there to like, hold somebody hostage – or hold legislation hostage.”

Democrats on the committee may also vote for the rule, sources told CNN, and that would ensure it has the votes to advance to the floor. But if Massie were to oppose the rule, only six Republicans would be in favor of it, complicating McCarthy’s efforts to bring the plan to the floor since he previously agreed to only take up bills with the backing of seven committee Republicans.

Massie’s office declined to comment on how he may vote on Tuesday, and neither Roy nor the speaker’s office responded to requests for comments on the Texan’s assertion.

But Republicans close to McCarthy refuted the notion that bills could only advance with unanimous GOP support in the committee.

“I’m a rules guy,” Johnson said. “And when I checked, there wasn’t a rule that something has to come out of Rules Committee unanimously. Now Chip is a rules guy too. So I think he’s going to understand that, that this is a majoritarian institution, and that ultimately, we’re going to serve Americans the best way that the majority of us know how – that’s going to be to pass this bill.”

Other McCarthy allies agreed.

“I don’t know what Speaker McCarthy agreed to, but that has not been something that any of us were familiar with,” Rep. Stephanie Bice of Oklahoma said. “I think that comment was that it had to be unanimous to come out of the Rules Committee to go to the floor is the tweet that I read. And I think that is inaccurate, at best, but I don’t know because I wasn’t in the room. I don’t know how you would have something like that functionally work.”

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May 29, 2023
A bus driver and passenger opened fire on each other on a moving Charlotte transit bus, leaving both injured | CNN

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A bus driver and passenger opened fire on each other on a moving Charlotte transit bus earlier this month, leaving both injured, transit authorities said.

The incident started when a bus passenger, who authorities identified as Omarri Shariff Tobias, got up while the bus was in motion and asked the driver to let him off between designated bus stops, according to a news release from Charlotte Area Transit System.

The driver, David Fullard, told Tobias he would have to wait until the next approved stop. After about a two-minute exchange, Tobias pulled out a gun and pointed it at Fullard, the transit system said.

At this time, Fullard also pulled out a firearm, the transit system said. Both men fired their guns “in rapid succession,” although it is unclear who shot first, company spokesperson Brandon Hunter told CNN by phone Saturday.

Fullard was struck in the arm and Tobias was struck in the abdomen, according to the transit system.

Dramatic video of the encounter shows Fullard stopping the bus and pushing open the shattered driver barrier, as he stands up with his gun still drawn. As Tobias crawled toward the back of the bus, where the two other passengers on board had moved, Fullard fired his gun again from the aisle of the bus.

Tobias and another passenger exited the bus through the side door and Fullard exited through the front door, firing his gun again, the transit system said.

Both Fullard and Tobias are in stable condition and expected to recover, and the other two passengers were unharmed, the transit system said in a statement released Wednesday.

Tobias was charged with assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injuries, communicating threats, and carrying a concealed firearm, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said in a news release. It’s unclear whether charges will be brought against Fullard.

Fullard was fired by his employer, RATP Dev, which employs the transit system’s bus operators, Hunter told CNN Saturday. CNN has reached out to RATP Dev for comment.

Possession of a firearm or other weapons while on duty or on company property is prohibited by the company’s workplace policy and employees can be discharged after the first violation, according to the transit system.

The Charlotte Area Transit System said Fullard did not follow proper protocol.

“It would have been reasonable for the operator to attempt to de-escalate the situation by allowing the suspect/passenger to exit the bus before arriving at the next bus stop,” the transit system said.

Fullard is still recovering from his injuries, his attorney told CNN Saturday, noting Fullard was “a dedicated employee and treasured his employment,” who worked as a driver for more than 19 years.

“I have represented a substantial number of CATS drivers over the years. Some of whom who have been assaulted, shot at or shot during their work activity,” attorney Ken Harris told CNN in an email.

“They consider themselves public servants. In light of their commitment, dedication and the workplace dangers that they encounter, we have continuously encouraged the CATS system to enhance security measures for drivers,” Harris said.

Tobias is currently being held in lieu of $250,000 bond and is next due in court June 6. CNN has not been able to locate an attorney for him.

Police say they are continuing to investigate the case.

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May 28, 2023
Dutch police arrest over 1,500 people at Extinction Rebellion protest in The Hague | CNN

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Dutch police arrested over 1,500 people after Extinction Rebellion protesters blocked a motorway in The Hague on Saturday.

Hundreds of police were deployed to “maintain public order” during the climate protest, Dutch police said in a press release Saturday.

According to police, shortly before midday local time, the activists descended upon the Utrechtsebaan (A12) motorway, after riot police prevented them for reaching “the underpass that they wanted to block.”

The activists then began protesting in front of the police line, prompting police to “directly” and “repeatedly” ask them to leave, according to the press release.

Extinction Rebellion Netherlands said that police deployed water cannons within 15 minutes of protesters blockading the A12 despite, according to the group, there being “no question of a dangerous or threatening situation.”

Videos of the protest posted in social media showed protesters dressed in swimsuits and raincoats, prepared for the water cannons.

Extinction Rebellion spokesperson, Raki Ap said in the statement that thousands of people had protested “on and next to the A12 with one demand: stop fossil fuel subsidies.”

Dutch actress Carice van Outen, best known for her role as Melisandre in hit TV show, “Game of Thrones,” was reportedly hit by a water cannon and arrested by police at the protest, according to Dutch public broadcaster, NOS. Earlier on Saturday, van Outen posted a video on her Instagram page of musicians playing Beethoven, calling it a “peaceful and musical protest.”

“Most of the activists, 1,539 people, were arrested for violating the Public Demonstrations Act,” the press release said, adding that the Public Prosecution Service will not be pursuing criminal action as it is only a minor criminal offense under Dutch law.

Forty people were arrested for other criminal offenses including obstructing, blocking, vandalism, and insulting, according to the press release. One person was arrested for resisting arrest resulting in injury. These cases remain under review, according to the police.

The arrests in the Netherlands come after Germany’s authorities this week conducted a series of raids against the comparable climate activist group Last Generation.

A total of 15 properties in seven German states were searched as part of the raids conducted on behalf of the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office (LKA) and the Munich General Public Prosecutor’s Office, authorities said.

The Prosecutor General’s Office in Munich said it had initiated a preliminary investigation “due to numerous criminal complaints from the population” against a total of seven defendants aged 22 to 38 years, “on the charge of forming or supporting a criminal organization.”

On Germany’s right, political figures were approving of the authorities’ crackdown on the climate group.

The leader of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) Party, Friedrich Merz, wrote on Twitter that causing “mass damage to property, graffiti or memorial plaques, or gluing oneself to the streets or cars are quite simply criminal offenses.”

He added, “It is correct that police and prosecutors are taking action against the Last Generation and those who finance it.”

Some, though, questioned the move. Die Linke (The Left) Member of Parliament Lorenz Gosta Beutin told Bavarian broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk prosecutors were “putting themselves above our judiciary and courts.”

A member of parliament for Germany’s Green Party, Helge Limburg, agreed that the “blanket assumption” of the group as criminal was legally questionable in an interview with Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND).

The UK in 2020 threatened to class Extinction Rebellion as an organized crime group, which would have seen activists face jail terms of up to five years, although the plans did not come to fruition.

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May 28, 2023
Utah toddler hit in the head by a stray bullet while playing in a fenced area of day care, police say | CNN

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A 2-year-old boy is recovering at a Utah hospital after being hit in the head by a stray bullet while playing with other children outside in the fenced area of a day care, police said.

Police have identified a man who was shooting birds with a .22 caliber air rifle in an area west of the day care, which is located in Spanish Fork. The man is cooperating with investigators and will be identified only if formal charges against him are filed, according to the Spanish Fork Police Department.

On Monday, several children were playing “in the vinyl fenced area” staffed by two adults when a child “appeared to stumble and was seen bleeding from the face,” police said. The day care notified the parents who then brought their child to the hospital for treatment, police said.

“Detectives are continuing to investigate where the bullet may have been shot from and why,” Spanish Fork police said in a statement Tuesday. “It appears this was a tragic accident. Open fields are directly west of the daycare and it is believed the round may have come from that area.”

At the hospital, doctors discovered a small caliber bullet lodged in the toddler’s head and he was then transferred to Primary Children’s Hospital where he’s currently in stable condition and improving, according to a Wednesday update from police.

When the investigation is completed, the case will be handed over to Spanish Fork city prosecutors for review of any charges, police said.

“I still feel like I’m in shock,” said Lane Mugleston, who owns the day care with his wife, told CNN affiliate KSLTV. “We are absolutely surprised. We are dumbfounded that this would happen in Spanish Fork.”

Mugleston told KSLTV that at first, the staff didn’t think the child was injured by a stray bullet.

“Initially, we thought he just had tripped and hit his head,” he said.

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May 27, 2023
Man indicted for the murder of rapper Takeoff | CNN

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A grand jury in Harris County, Texas, on Thursday indicted a man for the murder of Takeoff, a member of the rap group Migos.

Patrick Clark, 33, was arrested in connection with the death in December.

Takeoff, 28, was shot to death outside a private party at 810 Billiards and Bowling in Houston on November 1. “There was an argument outside the bowling alley which led to the shooting,” Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said at the time. Another man, Cameron Joshua, was arrested and charged with unlawful carrying of a weapon in relation to the shooting.

Police described Takeoff as an “innocent bystander” to the argument that preceded the shooting.

In the arraignment document, the state claims Clark “unlawfully, intentionally and knowingly commit the felony offense of Deadly Conduct by knowingly discharging a firearm at and in the direction of” Takeoff.

Clark’s defense attorney, Letitia Quiñones-Hollins, told CNN that the indictment was expected.

“We would ask people to remember that getting an indictment requires meeting a very, very minimal standard of proof,” she said in a statement. “When we get inside a courtroom and in front of a jury, where we will be able to put on our evidence and cross-examine the state’s witnesses – where the standard of proof is guilt beyond reasonable doubt – we expect the jury will come back with a verdict of not guilty.”

Clark remains under house arrest on $1 million bond.

Takeoff was the youngest member of the trio Migos, alongside his uncle Quavo and rapper Offset. Artists including Justin Bieber and Drake remembered Takeoff as a talented rapper and loving friend and family member at his memorial last year.

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May 26, 2023
Investigation launched after death of Navy Seal candidate prompts overhaul of how ‘Hell Week’ training course is monitored | CNN Politics

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Inadequate medical screening and uninformed medical staff contributed to the death of a Navy SEAL candidate hours after he had completed a brutal part of the training course known as “Hell Week,” a Navy investigation found.

The investigation prompted an overhaul of how the Navy monitors one of the military’s most brutal and demanding processes.

It found that the medical support for the Basic Underwater Demolition/Sea Air and Land course was “poorly organized, poorly integrated, and poorly led,” wrote Rear Adm. Peter Garvin, the commander of Naval Education and Training Command. The lack of proper medical care “put candidates at significant risk.”

Garvin also said that additional accountability measures are necessary in the wake of the failures that contributed to Mullen’s death. According to a Navy official, Garvin recommended considering accountability actions against approximately 10 people. A Navy regional legal service office is reviewing the investigation and will make recommendations about accountability, the official said, after which the command will decide what actions to take.

The training and selection course is designed to push SEAL candidates to the limit and beyond, creating an environment where only the most qualified and capable will finish, but Garvin said there must still be “effective risk management” to prevent injuries and illness during the high-risk training.

In February 2022, Navy SEAL candidate Kyle Mullen had just completed Hell Week and underwent a final medical check before he went to rest at his barracks. The investigation found Mullen had suffered respiratory issues during the arduous training, but information about the symptoms was not passed on to the Navy’s medical clinic, leading them to conclude he was not at risk.

Eight hours later, Mullen was pronounced dead.

In the hours before his death, Mullen was coughing up an “orange-red fluid” and having trouble breathing, according to the investigation. Even as he repeatedly refused advanced medical care, he appeared to be choking on his words and gasping for air as if he was drowning. But the personnel assigned to check on Mullen and other SEAL candidates, known as watch standers, had no medical or emergency care training.

Candidates going through Hell Week are normally given a form of penicillin called Bicillin at the start of the course to reduce the risk of bacterial pneumonia. But the investigation found Mullen never received the preventative medicine, likely because there was a shortage at the time.

In the end, the investigation found “failures across multiple systems” that put candidates at a high risk of serious injury, Garvin wrote.

“Our effectiveness as the navy’s maritime special operations force necessitates demanding, high-risk training,” said Rear Adm. Keith Davids, the commander of Naval Special Warfare Command, at the conclusion of the investigation. “While rigorous and intensely demanding, our training must be conducted with an unwavering commitment to safety and methodical precision.”

In October, following a separate investigation that focused specifically on Mullen’s death, the Navy took administrative actions against the former commanding officer of Basic Training Command, Capt. Bradley Geary; the commander of Naval Special Warfare Center, Capt. Brian Drechsler; and senior medical staff under their command. An administrative action is typically in the form of a letter to the service member instructing them on correcting deficient performance.

Earlier this month, Drechsler was removed from his job two months early.

Following Mullen’s death, the Navy revamped how it handles medical screening during the training and selection process. The Navy bolstered medical oversight during and after the Hell Week course, requiring medical screenings every 24 hours.

Candidates now recover from the course in a center located very close to the medical clinic, allowing more thorough observation at a critical time, and the leading watch stander is a qualified high-risk instructor. In addition, a medical officer must be at the Naval Special Warfare Center Medical Department during all of Hell Week to evaluate candidates going through the course.

The investigation also looked at how to handle the use of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) during the course. In September, a naval special warfare senior officer who spoke to CNN on condition of anonymity said there is “beyond a reasonable doubt that a significant portion of the candidate population is utilizing a wide range of performance enhancing drugs.”

A search of Mullen’s car after his death found packages labeled “Big Genes Recombinant Human Growth Hormone” and “Testosterone Cypionate,” a type of steroid. But Mullen was not tested after his death for the PEDs because of the need for a blood and urine sample.

Other members of Mullen’s class told investigators they felt there was an implicit endorsement of the use of PEDs after an instructor told the candidates, “Don’t use PEDs, it’s cheating, and you don’t need them. And whatever you do, don’t get caught with them in your barracks room.”

After Mullen’s death, the Navy received from the Defense Department an expanded authority to test Naval Special Warfare Candidates for PEDs. All candidates going through the SEALs course and the Special Warfare Combatant-Craft Crewman course are subject to random drug testing.

This story has been updated with additional details.

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May 25, 2023
Attorney for 11-year-old Mississippi boy shot by police says there’s ‘no way’ he could have been mistaken for an adult | CNN

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An attorney for an 11-year-old Mississippi boy who was shot by a police officer after he called 911 for help said Thursday there was “no way” the boy could have been mistaken for an adult.

The attorney, Carlos Moore, is asking for “a full and transparent investigation” of the shooting.

Aderrien Murry is recovering after being released from the hospital, according to his family, who has called for the officer to be fired and charged with the shooting. The boy is traumatized and will require counseling, according to family attorney Carlos Moore.

Aderrien was shot in the chest by an Indianola Police Department officer early Saturday morning while the officer was responding to a domestic disturbance call at the child’s home, according to his mother, Nakala Murry, and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation.

Moore told CNN Thursday there is “no way” the boy could have been mistaken by the officer for the adult who was the subject of the 911 call – a man “over 6 feet tall.”

“This 11-year-old child was about 4 feet 10 it looks like and so he could not have been confused,” Moore said. “So we don’t know what happened, but we do know this officer’s actions were reckless, very reckless, and could have led to the loss of life.”

Moore said the boy “did everything right” the morning of the shooting and described him as “a good student” who obeyed his mother’s request that he call the police for assistance.

“No child should ever be subjected to such violence at the hands of those who are sworn to protect and serve,” Moore said in a statement earlier Thursday.

“We must demand justice for this young boy and his family. We cannot allow another senseless tragedy like this to occur. We must come together as a community to demand change and accountability from our law enforcement officials.”

The circumstances of the shooting are under investigation.

Moore, the boy’s mother and others held a sit-in protest Thursday morning at Indianola City Hall. A march and rally to demand the firing of the officer and the release of body-camera footage is planned for Saturday.

“We are demanding justice,” Moore said outside City Hall on Thursday morning before the sit-in. “An 11-year-old Black boy in the city of Indianola came within an inch of losing his life. He had done nothing wrong and everything right.”

CNN on Thursday attempted to reach the police chief and other officials at the Indianola Police Department but was told they were not available.

The boy was seriously injured and suffered a collapsed lung, fractured ribs and a lacerated liver from the shooting. He was released from the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson on Wednesday, hospital spokesperson Annie Oeth said.

“He still has lots of questions,” Moore said of the boy on Thursday. “He is emotionally distraught. He is glad to be alive.”

Murry said her son is “blessed” to be alive and is asking why the police shot him.

Murry told ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Thursday that arriving officers yelled “Open the door, open the door,” and when she opened it, an officer outside was holding up a gun, telling her to come outside.

Murry told the show she stepped outside and walked toward the end of a driveway, where her mother was, and then “heard a shot and I saw my son run out towards where we were.” He then fell, bleeding from a gunshot wound, she said.

The officer who fired the shot told her that he had shot Aderrien after he came around a corner, she told the show.

Moore told CNN he met Aderrien in person for the first time on Thursday and described him as being “in good spirits” but “still shocked about what happened.”

He added, “He is afraid of the police. He is still in pain.”

Moore said the police department has yet to contact the boy’s mother.

Murry told CNN that the “irate” father of another of her children arrived at her home at 4 a.m. Saturday.

Concerned about her safety, Murry asked Aderrien to call the police.

Murry said the officer who arrived at the home “had his gun drawn at the front door and asked those inside the home to come outside.” Murry said her son was shot coming around the corner of a hallway, into the living room.

“Once he came from around the corner, he got shot,” Murry said. “I cannot grasp why. The same cop that told him to come out of the house. (Aderrien) did, and he got shot. He kept asking, ‘Why did he shoot me? What did I do wrong?’” she said.

The shooting happened within what felt like “one to two minutes” after the officer asked those in the house to come outside, Murry said.

The boy was given a chest tube and placed on a ventilator at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson. He had a collapsed lung, fractured ribs and a lacerated liver because of the shooting, his mother said. He was released from the hospital Wednesday. CNN has reached out to the hospital.

Two other children, including Murry’s daughter and 2-year-old nephew, were also in the home at the time of the shooting, she said.

Moore told CNN the incident was captured on police body camera video.

The attorney said his request for the body camera footage was denied due to “an ongoing investigation.”

Moore said he was told there is also video of the incident from a nearby gas station.

The Indianola Police Department confirmed that the officer involved in the shooting is named Greg Capers but did not provide any additional details on the shooting, telling CNN the police chief was unavailable.

CNN reached out to Capers for comment but did not immediately hear back.

On Monday evening, the Indianola Board of Aldermen voted to place Capers on paid administrative leave while the shooting is investigated, according to the family attorney.

In a statement over the weekend, the MBI said the agency is “currently assessing this critical incident and gathering evidence” and would turn over its findings to the state attorney general’s office after the investigation is complete.

On Wednesday, MBI spokesperson Bailey Martin declined to answer additional questions, telling CNN in an email, “Due to this being an open and ongoing investigation, no further comment will be made.”

CNN has contacted the District Attorney’s Office for the Fourth Circuit Court and the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office for comment.

Murry said that after her son was shot, she placed her hand on his wound to apply pressure as he “sang gospel songs and prayed while bleeding out.” The officer, she said, tried to help render first aid and placed his hand on top of hers to try to stop Aderrien’s bleeding.

When an ambulance arrived, medics were “very attentive,” she said.

“Aderrien came within an inch of losing his life,” Moore said. “It’s not OK for a cop to do this and get away with this. The mother asked Aderrien to call the police on her daughter’s father. He walked out of his room as directed by the police and he got shot.”

Murry said police told her that her daughter’s father was taken into custody later in the day on Saturday but eventually released because she had not filed a police report against him.

“When was I going to have time to do that? I was in the hospital with my son,” she said, reacting to the news of the man’s release from custody.

Four days after the shooting, Murry told CNN that “no one came to the hospital from the police station” nor had she spoken to any police investigators about the shooting.

“I’m just happy my son is alive,” she said through tears.

Moore told CNN that he is furious that Capers remains employed by the Indianola Police Department.

“We believe that the city and the officer should be liable to Aderrien Murray, for the damages they have caused,” the attorney said.

Indianola is a small, mostly African American town with 31% of the population below the poverty line. It lies in the Mississippi Delta, about 100 miles north of Jackson.

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May 25, 2023
Three dead, including two police officers, in a rare mass stabbing and shooting attack in central Japan | CNN

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Three people were killed, including two police officers, in a shooting and stabbing attack in central Japan on Thursday, NHK reported citing police.

Police received a call in the late afternoon with reports that a “man stabbed a woman,” a Nakano City police official told CNN.

When officers rushed to the scene, the man fired something resembling a hunting rifle, striking four people, before fleeing the scene and barricading himself in a building, he added.

The woman was taken to hospital where she was subsequently pronounced dead.

Public broadcaster NHK later reported that two police officers also died from their injuries and that one other person was injured.

NHK reported the suspect was wearing a camouflage hat, top and bottoms with sunglasses and a mask.

Nakano City urged citizens to stay indoors in a statement posted onto social media Thursday.

Gun violence is extremely rare in Japan. The country has one of the lowest rates of gun crimes in the world due to its extremely strict gun control laws.

In 2018, Japan, a country of 125 million people, only reported nine deaths from firearms – compared with 39,740 that year in the United States, according to data compiled by the Sydney School of Public Health at the University of Sydney.

However, Japan was rocked by a shooting last year that reverberated around the world.

Shinzo Abe, the country’s longest-serving prime minister, was shot dead during a campaign speech in Nara in July.

His murder sent shock waves through Japan and the international community, and also sparked questions about whether enough security was in place to protect him despite Japan’s track record for being a safe place.

Getting hold of a firearm in Japan is extremely difficult and the suspect in Abe’s shooting used a homemade weapon.

This is a breaking news story, more to follow

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May 25, 2023
FBI director to meet with House Oversight chair in coming days about internal document | CNN Politics

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FBI Director Christopher Wray and House Oversight Chairman James Comer are scheduled to meet in the coming days as the Kentucky Republican continues to escalate his investigation into President Joe Biden’s business dealings, a spokesperson for the FBI told CNN.

The meeting comes after Comer threatened to hold Wray in contempt of Congress if the agency refuses to comply with a subpoena for an internal document that an unnamed whistleblower alleges shows then-Vice President Biden was involved in a criminal scheme with a foreign national, according to a letter Comer sent Wray on Wednesday.

“I received word that the FBI director is committed to meet with me next week in Washington and we can discuss this,” Comer said on Fox News Wednesday night. “But, nothing’s going to change with respect to holding him in contempt of Congress if he doesn’t turn over the document.”

The White House has previously slammed the unverified claim against Biden, calling it another one of Republicans’ “unfounded politically-motivated attacks.”

The ranking Democratic member of the House Oversight Committee, Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, described the allegations as “recycling unsubstantiated claims floated by Senate Republicans.”

“Given Chair Comer’s commitment to ‘dismantle’ the FBI, it’s no surprise that he would rely on these unverified tips to attack President Biden in one more baseless partisan stunt,” Raskin said.

Comer said that Wray has denied multiple requests from him and Sen. Chuck Grassley, the ranking Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, whom the whistleblower first told of their allegations, to speak on the phone. However, an FBI spokesperson told CNN the meeting between Wray and Comer had already been scheduled by the time FBI received Comer’s Wednesday letter.

In the letter, Comer outlined his frustrations over previous meetings his staff has held with the FBI and offered more specifics about the form he is looking for to help the agency accommodate the subpoena.

Comer specified the form, an FD-1023, dated June 30, 2020, said the foreign national allegedly paid $5 million to receive the desired policy outcome, based on unclassified and legally protected whistleblower disclosures.

The form in question, an FD-1023, is a document the FBI uses to memorialize meetings or information gathered from confidential sources. The document typically would include allegations from the source, including information not verified by the FBI.

A spokesperson for the FBI told CNN that “the FBI’s mission is to protect the American people. Releasing confidential source information could potentially jeopardize investigations and put lives at risk. The FBI remains committed to cooperating with Congress’s oversight requests on this matter and others as we always have.”

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May 24, 2023
A man told officers at the CIA headquarters gate, ‘I’m here and I have a gun,’ law enforcement source says | CNN

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A man now under arrest walked up to the CIA Headquarters’ gate Tuesday and allegedly said, “I’m here and I have a gun,” a law enforcement source told CNN.

Uniformed federal officers turned him away and notified Fairfax County, Virginia, police of his description, the source said Wednesday.

He later was arrested and charged with felony possession of a firearm on school property, police said. He was identified as Eric Sandow, 32, of Gainesville, Florida.

Sandow said he was headed to the CIA and had an AK-47 and another weapon in his vehicle as he was arrested Tuesday at Dolley Madison Preschool in McLean, Virgnia, after he trespassed on school grounds around 11 a.m., police said.

The preschool is less than 1.5 miles from CIA Headquarters and about a 10-minute drive to major Washington, DC, landmarks, including the National Mall.

“He requested access to the (preschool) building facilities to use the restroom, which was denied by school staff,” Dolley Madison Preschool said in a statement Wednesday. “At no point did he gain physical entrance to the school building.”

Fairfax County police were then called to the scene. “While speaking with him, he made statements he had weapons inside his car located on school property,” the police department said Wednesday in a statement.

“Officers searched the car and found two weapons, an AK-47 and a pistol, along with magazines and ammunition.”

Sandow was arraigned Wednesday morning in Fairfax County General District Court, a court official said.

He was being held Wednesday without bond, police said. It was not immediately clear whether Sandow had legal representation.

“It does not appear he was acting in conjunction with anyone else,” Fairfax County police said. “Sandow did not make any threats and the weapons never left the vehicle.”

Sandow does not appear to have a lengthy criminal history, public records show. He was charged with misdemeanor domestic battery in 2014 and did not declare a political party with his voter registration.

Law enforcement lauded an alert person who summoned them Tuesday to the day care.

“We’re grateful to the community member who did the right thing and called us,” police said. “We’d like to remind our community to report suspicious activity as you never know what you may prevent by making that call.”

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May 24, 2023