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  • Man accused of killing former girlfriend by throwing her over balcony found guilty | CNN

    Man accused of killing former girlfriend by throwing her over balcony found guilty | CNN

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    Editor’s Note: Since this story was published, Pursehouse was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, according to a spokesperson with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.



    CNN
     — 

    A man was convicted Thursday of killing his former girlfriend, Amie Harwick, a sex therapist who was once engaged to comedian Drew Carey, by throwing her over a balcony in February 2020.

    Gareth Pursehouse, 45, was found guilty by a jury of one count of murder and first-degree residential burglary with a special circumstance allegation of lying in wait, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.

    Harwick was a former Playboy model who advocated for sex workers and supported a non-profit that subsidized mental health care for performers in the adult industry.

    Pursehouse faces a maximum life sentence in state prison without the possibility of parole, according to a news release from the district attorney.

    Autopsy results showed the primary cause of death as blunt force injuries to the head and torso from a fall after an altercation, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner said at the time of her death.

    Evidence of “manual strangulation” also was found, CNN reported previously.

    “Today, justice has been served for Amie Harwick and her loved ones who have endured unimaginable pain throughout this terrible ordeal,” Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said in a statement. “Our thoughts and support remain with them as they begin to heal.”

    CNN reached out to Pursehouse’s attorney for comment but did not immediately hear back.

    Harwick, who specialized in family and sex counseling, had filed a restraining order against Pursehouse, police said, but it had expired.

    When LAPD officers responded to reports of a “woman screaming,” they met Harwick’s roommate in the street who told them Harwick was being assaulted inside the home.

    They found her beneath a third-story balcony, where she was “gravely injured” and unresponsive, LAPD said. An investigation showed forced entry into the home and a struggle upstairs.

    Harwick became engaged to Carey, host of “The Price is Right,” in 2018. The pair split less than a year later.

    “Amie and I had a love that people are lucky to have once in a lifetime,” Carey said in a statement to CNN at the time of her death. “She was positive force in the world, a tireless and unapologetic champion for women, and passionate about her work as a therapist.”

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  • Sandy Hook School Shootings Fast Facts | CNN

    Sandy Hook School Shootings Fast Facts | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Here’s a look at the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings in Newtown, Connecticut. On December 14, 2012, six adults and 20 children were killed by Adam Lanza, who had earlier killed his mother, Nancy Lanza, in their home.

    Birth date: April 22, 1992

    Death date: December 14, 2012

    Birth place: Kingston, New Hampshire

    Birth name: Adam Lanza

    Father: Peter Lanza, an accountant

    Mother: Nancy (Champion) Lanza

    Lanza’s parents were divorced in September 2009.

    A 2014 report by the Connecticut Office of the Child Advocate described Lanza as a young man with deteriorating mental health who had a fascination with mass shootings.

    Weapons found at the scene were legally purchased by Nancy Lanza.

    Lanza used a Bushmaster Model XM15-E2S rifle during the shooting spree. Three weapons were found next to his body; the semiautomatic .223-caliber rifle made by Bushmaster, and two handguns. An Izhmash Saiga-12, 12 gauge semi-automatic shotgun was found in his car.

    December 14, 2012 – At an unknown time, 20-year-old Adam Lanza kills his mother Nancy, 52, with a .22 caliber Savage Mark II rifle. Lanza then drives his mother’s car to Sandy Hook Elementary, about five miles away.

    At approximately 9:30 a.m., Lanza arrives at Sandy Hook Elementary, a school with about 700 students. The principal, Dawn Hochsprung, had installed a new security system that required every visitor to ring the front entrance’s doorbell for admittance. Lanza shoots his way through the entrance.

    Hochsprung and school psychologist Mary Sherlach step out to the hall to see what is going on, and are followed by Vice Principal Natalie Hammond. Hochsprung and Sherlach are killed, and Hammond is injured.

    The first 911 calls to police are made at approximately 9:30 a.m. Police and first responders arrive approximately five minutes later.

    Lanza enters the classroom of substitute teacher Lauren Rousseau. Lanza kills 14 children as well as Rousseau and a teacher’s aide.

    He then enters the classroom of teacher Victoria Soto. Six children in the room, as well as Soto and a teacher’s aide, are killed. Lanza dies by suicide in the same classroom, ending the rampage in less than 11 minutes.

    At about 3:15 p.m., an emotional President Barack Obama gives a televised address, “We’re going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics.” He orders flags to be flown at half-staff at the White House and other federal buildings.

    December 15, 2012 – Connecticut State Police release the names of the victims: six adult women and 12 girls and eight boys, all ages six and seven.

    December 16, 2012 – Obama visits with the relatives of those who were killed. He also attends an interfaith vigil. “We can’t tolerate this anymore,” he says. “These tragedies must end, and to end them we must change.”

    December 17, 2012 – Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy announces a statewide moment of silence on December 21. He also requests that bells be tolled 26 times in memory of the victims.

    December 18, 2012 – Newtown Superintendent of Schools Janet Robinson announces Sandy Hook students will remain out of school until January. At that time, they will be taught in a converted middle school.

    January 8, 2013 – Malloy announces the names of the people who will serve on the Sandy Hook Advisory Commission, to review current policy and make recommendations on public safety, mental health and violence prevention policies.

    March 2013 – A new police report reveals Lanza possessed a list of 500 of the world’s most notorious mass murderers, and was trying to rack up the greatest number of kills in history.

    November 25, 2013 – Connecticut state officials release a report closing the investigation into the shooting and confirm that Lanza had no assistance and was the only shooter.

    December 4, 2013 – Audio recordings of the 911 calls from Sandy Hook Elementary are released.

    December 27, 2013 – The final report on the investigation into the shooting is released.

    November 21, 2014 – The Connecticut Office of the Child Advocate, as directed by the State Child Fatality Review Panel, releases a report profiling Lanza’s developmental and educational history. The report notes “missed opportunities” by Lanza’s mother, the school district and multiple health care providers. It identifies “warning signs, red flags, or other lessons” that could be learned.

    December 15, 2014 – The families of nine children killed, along with one teacher who survived the attack, file a wrongful death suit against the manufacturers and distributors of the Bushmaster rifle, as well as the retail store and dealer who sold the firearm used in the shooting.

    March 6, 2015 – The final report of the Sandy Hook Advisory Commission is released.

    December 17, 2015 – In a final agreement, 16 plaintiffs will share in a $1.5 million settlement against the estate of Nancy Lanza. The plaintiffs are from eight separate lawsuits filed in early 2015.

    April 14, 2016 – A superior court judge rules that the wrongful death suit against gun manufacturers can proceed. The judge denies a motion to dismiss the case on the basis that firearms companies have limited liability when their products are used by criminals, according to a federal law passed in 2005.

    October 14, 2016 – Connecticut Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis dismisses a lawsuit that families of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims had filed against a gun manufacturer, invoking a federal statute known as PLCAA, the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act. The law prohibits lawsuits against gun manufacturers and distributors if their firearms were used in the commission of a criminal act.

    November 15, 2016 – The Sandy Hook families file an appeal, asking the Connecticut Supreme Court to consider their case against the gun manufacturer.

    March 14, 2019 – The Connecticut Supreme Court rules that the families of the Sandy Hook victims can go forward with their lawsuit against Remington, which makes the Bushmaster AR-15 rifle used in the shooting.

    April 5, 2019 – Remington files an appeal with the US Supreme Court, asking the high court to decide on the state’s interpretation of a federal statute that grants gun manufacturers immunity from any lawsuit related to injuries that result from criminal misuse of their product.

    November 12, 2019 – The US Supreme Court declines to take up the Remington appeal.

    July 27, 2021 – Remington offers nearly $33 million to nine families of victims killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in a proposed lawsuit settlement.

    November 15, 2021 – The families suing InfoWars founder Alex Jones win a case against him after a judge rules that Jones, and the entities owned by him, are liable by default in the defamation case against them. Connecticut Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis cites the defendants’ “willful noncompliance” with the discovery process as her core reasoning behind the ruling. The case stems from past claims that the 2012 mass shooting was staged. Jones has since acknowledged that the shooting was real.

    February 15, 2022 – A settlement is reached between the nine families of victims killed and the now-bankrupt Remington and its four insurers, according to court records. The plaintiffs’ attorneys say the $73 million settlement also includes “thousands of pages of internal company documents that prove Remington’s wrongdoing and carry important lessons for helping to prevent future mass shootings.”

    August 4, 2022 – A jury decides that Jones will have to pay Scarlett Lewis and Neil Heslin, the parents of a Sandy Hook shooting victim, a little more than $4 million in compensatory damages.

    October 12, 2022 – A Connecticut jury decides Jones should pay eight family members of Sandy Hook shooting victims and one first responder $965 million in compensatory damages caused by his lies regarding the shooting. On November 10, a Connecticut judge orders Jones to pay an additional $473 million in punitive damages.

    November 13, 2022 – The Sandy Hook Permanent Memorial, designed by Dan Affleck and Ben Waldo, is unveiled publicly in Newtown, Connecticut.

    October 19, 2023 – A federal bankruptcy judge rules that bankruptcy proceedings will not shield Jones from more than $1.1 billion in damages he owes the families of Sandy Hook shooting victims.

    November 22, 2023 – In a court document, the families of Sandy Hook shooting victims offer Jones a “path out of bankruptcy” if he pays them a “small fraction” of the more than $1 billion he owes in damages, which could help resolve the bankruptcy cases of both Jones and Free Speech Systems. The families suggest Jones pay at least $85 million over 10 years — $8.5 million per year for a decade, in addition to half of any annual income over $9 million, “with a proportionate reduction of liabilities for each year of full payment.”

    The Victims at Sandy Hook Elementary School

    Allison Wyatt, 6
    Ana Marquez-Greene, 6
    Anne Marie Murphy, 52 (Teacher)
    Avielle Richman, 6
    Benjamin Wheeler, 6
    Caroline Previdi, 6
    Catherine Hubbard, 6
    Charlotte Bacon, 6
    Chase Kowalski, 7
    Daniel Barden, 7
    Dawn Lafferty Hochsprung, 47 (Principal)
    Dylan Hockley, 6
    Emilie Parker, 6
    Grace McDonnell, 7
    Jack Pinto, 6
    James Mattioli, 6
    Jesse Lewis, 6
    Jessica Rekos, 6
    Josephine Gay, 7
    Lauren Rousseau, 30 (Teacher)
    Madeleine Hsu, 6
    Mary Sherlach, 56 (Psychologist)
    Noah Pozner, 6
    Olivia Engel, 6
    Rachel D’Avino, 29, (Therapist)
    Victoria Soto, 27 (Teacher)

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  • Ebrahim Raisi Fast Facts | CNN

    Ebrahim Raisi Fast Facts | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Here’s a look at the life of Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi.

    Birth date: December 14, 1960

    Birth place: Mashhad, Iran

    Full name: Sayyid Ebrahim Raisol-Sadati

    Father: Seyyed Haji, a cleric

    Mother: Sayyedeh Esmat Khodadad Husseini

    Marriage: Jamileh Alamolhoda (1983-present)

    Children: Two daughters

    Education: Attended seminary in Qom; Shahid Motahari University, Ph.D in law

    Religion: Islamic, Shiite Muslim

    His father passed away when Raisi was 5 years old.

    Wears a black turban, signifying that he is a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad.

    Has long opposed engagement with the West and is a close ally of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Hosseini Khamenei.

    Raisi is the first elected Iranian leader who is under US sanctions.

    Early 1980s – Prosecutor for the cities of Karaj and Hamadan.

    1985-1988 – Deputy prosecutor of Tehran, Iran.

    1988 – According to different rights groups, Raisi is part of a four-person “death panel” which allegedly oversees the mass execution of up to 5,000 political prisoners. To date, Raisi has never publicly commented on these allegations, but it’s believed that he rarely leaves Iran for fear of retribution or international justice over the executions.

    1989-1994 – Prosecutor general of Tehran.

    1994-2004 – Head of the General Inspection Organization, tasked with investigating misconduct and corruption.

    2004-2014 – First deputy chief justice.

    2006 – Raisi is elected to the Assembly of Experts, the clerical body that appoints the supreme leader.

    2012 – Becomes prosecutor general of the Special Court for the Clergy.

    2014-2016 – Prosecutor general of Iran.

    2016-2019 – Custodian of Astan Quds Razavi, a foundation reportedly worth billions, and responsible for managing the shrine of Imam Reza in Mashhad.

    May 19, 2017 – Loses in the presidential election to Hassan Rouhani, claiming 38.5% of the vote to Rouhani’s 57%.

    March 7, 2019 – Ayatollah Khamenei appoints Raisi as chief justice.

    March 12, 2019 – Elected deputy chief of the Assembly of Experts.

    November 4, 2019 – The US Department of the Treasury sanctions Raisi, citing his participation in the 1988 “death commission” and also a United Nations report indicating that Iran’s judiciary approved the execution of at least nine children between 2018 and 2019.

    June 19, 2021 – Is declared the winner of a historically uncompetitive presidential election in Iran. Raisi wins almost 18 million of the nearly 29 million ballots cast, according to Interior Minister Rahmani Fazli. Many reform-minded Iranians had refused to take part in an election widely seen as a foregone conclusion. Overall voter turnout was only 48.8% – the lowest since the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979.

    June 21, 2021 – In his first international news conference since being elected president, Raisi says he would not meet with US President Joe Biden, even if both sides agreed on terms to revive the 2015 nuclear deal, under which Iran had pledged to stop uranium enrichment in return for the lifting of crippling US sanctions. Responding to a question from CNN, the president-elect accuses the United States and the European Union of violating the deal and calls on Biden to lift all sanctions, before adding that Iran’s ballistic missile program is “not up for negotiation.”

    August 5, 2021 – Is officially sworn in as president.

    November 2023 – Raisi attends a summit in Saudi Arabia where Arab and Muslim leaders decry Israeli “war crimes” in Gaza. Speaking at the summit, Raisi says “we have gathered here today to discuss the focus of the Islamic world, which is the Palestinian cause, where we’ve witnessed the worst crimes in history.”

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  • Boston Marathon bomber moved to Supermax | CNN

    Boston Marathon bomber moved to Supermax | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, sentenced to death in the Boston Marathon bombings, has been moved to Supermax, the nation’s most secure federal prison, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

    He had been held in USP Florence, a separate prison in Florence, Colorado.

    A federal jury sentenced Tsarnaev to death in May for his involvement in the 2013 bombings at the marathon. Two women and an 8-year-old boy were killed and more than 260 people were injured.

    The Federal Bureau of Prisons was in charge of determining whether Tsarnaev was placed in Supermax or death row at the penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, to wait out the lengthy appeals process.

    Supermax is home to criminals such as Ramzi Yousef, who plotted the 1993 bombing at the World Trade Center; 9/11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui; “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski; and Richard Reid, the “shoe bomber.”

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  • Woody Allen Fast Facts | CNN

    Woody Allen Fast Facts | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Here’s a look at the life of Oscar-winning filmmaker Woody Allen.

    Birth date: December 1, 1935

    Birth place: Brooklyn, New York

    Birth name: Allan Stewart Konigsberg

    Father: Martin Konigsberg, worked various jobs

    Mother: Nettie (Cherry) Konigsberg, bookkeeper

    Marriages: Soon-Yi Previn (December 22, 1997-present), Louise Lasser (divorced), Harlene Rosen (divorced)

    Children: daughters adopted with Soon-Yi Previn: Manzie Tio Allen (2000), Bechet Dumaine Allen (1998); with Mia Farrow: Satchel Farrow (1987, now goes by Ronan), Dylan O’Sullivan Farrow (1985, adopted daughter), Moses Farrow (1978, adopted)

    Education: Attended New York University and City College of New York.

    He legally changed his name at 17 to Heywood Allen.

    Allen has worked as a comedy writer, stand-up comic, screenwriter, actor, playwright, musician and director.

    He has 24 Oscar nominations and four wins: 16 for writing, with three wins; seven for directing, with one win; and one nomination for acting.

    Allen has one Emmy nomination for writing.

    Allen has appeared in dozens of the movies he’s directed and claims to have never watched his films once they are released.

    Although Allen is best known for comedies, he has explored different genres including dramas (“Interiors”), thrillers (“Match Point”) and musicals (“Everyone Says I Love You”).

    Most of his movies have been filmed in and around New York.

    He plays the jazz clarinet and piano.

    1950-1960 – Comedy writer.

    1961-1964 – A standup comic.

    July 1964 – Releases his first comedy album, “Woody Allen.”

    June 22, 1965 – The first movie he wrote and performed in, “What’s New Pussycat?” is released.

    November 17, 1966 – “Don’t Drink the Water,” Allen’s first play, opens on Broadway.

    February 12, 1969-March 14, 1970 – “Play It Again, Sam,” his second play, runs on Broadway with Allen in the lead. In 1972, he reprises his role in the movie adaptation.

    1978 – “Annie Hall” wins four Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay Written for the Screen and Best Actress. Allen earns two of the four Oscars as writer and director. He is also nominated for Best Actor but does not win.

    1987 – Wins the Academy Award for Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen for “Hannah and Her Sisters.” He is also nominated for Best Director for the same film.

    1992 – His 12 year relationship with actress Mia Farrow ends when she discovers his affair with her adopted daughter, Soon-Yi Previn. Subsequently, allegations of sexual molestation are made by their adopted daughter, Dylan, 7. A two-year custody battle for their three children Satchel, Dylan and Moses ensues, which Farrow wins.

    April 1998 – The documentary, “Wild Man Blues,” is released, showcasing Allen’s love for the jazz clarinet and his association with the Eddy Davis New Orleans Jazz Band.

    2002 – Makes his only appearance at an Academy Awards ceremony. He appeals for the continued use of New York as a setting for movies after September 11, 2001.

    2012 – Wins an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for “Midnight in Paris.”

    February 1, 2014 – An open letter written by Dylan Farrow is published in the New York Times, recounting her allegation that Allen sexually assaulted her when she was a child. A representative for Allen releases a statement the next day, denying the charges.

    February 7, 2014 – Allen responds in an op-ed column released by The New York Times. He says the allegations are untrue and rooted in his acrimonious breakup with Mia Farrow.

    September 30, 2016 – Allen’s first video streaming series, “Crisis in Six Scenes” debuts on Amazon.com.

    January 2018 – Several actors who appeared in Allen’s latest film, “A Rainy Day in New York,” announce they will be donating their salaries to charity amid questions about longstanding sexual abuse claims against Allen. The movie has yet to be released.

    September 16, 2018 – In a New York magazine profile, Soon-Yi Previn defends Allen against allegations of molestation.

    February 7, 2019 – Allen and his production company file a lawsuit against Amazon claiming the company backed out of a $68 million four-picture deal.

    November 8, 2019 – Allen and his production company reach a settlement with Amazon in a breach of contract lawsuit.

    March 23, 2020 – Allen’s memoir “Apropos of Nothing” is published by Arcade Publishing. Grand Central Publishing, a division of Hachette Book Group, originally acquired the rights to the book but canceled their plans to publish it after employees walked out in protest.

    February 21, 2021 – “Allen v. Farrow,” a four-part HBO docuseries that examines Allen’s relationship with Farrow and sexual-assault allegations by their daughter Dylan premieres.

    March 28, 2021 – In an interview for “CBS Sunday Morning,” Allen denies the sexual abuse allegation by his daughter Dylan.

    June 7, 2022 – “Zero Gravity,” Allen’s new essay collection is published.

    September 27, 2023 – Allen releases his 50th film and first French-language film, “Coupe de Chance.”

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  • China is using the world’s largest known online disinformation operation to harass Americans, a CNN review finds | CNN

    China is using the world’s largest known online disinformation operation to harass Americans, a CNN review finds | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    The Chinese government has built up the world’s largest known online disinformation operation and is using it to harass US residents, politicians, and businesses—at times threatening its targets with violence, a CNN review of court documents and public disclosures by social media companies has found.

    The onslaught of attacks – often of a vile and deeply personal nature – is part of a well-organized, increasingly brazen Chinese government intimidation campaign targeting people in the United States, documents show.

    The US State Department says the tactics are part of a broader multi-billion-dollar effort to shape the world’s information environment and silence critics of Beijing that has expanded under President Xi Jinping. On Wednesday, President Biden is due to meet Xi at a summit in San Francisco.

    Victims face a barrage of tens of thousands of social media posts that call them traitors, dogs, and racist and homophobic slurs. They say it’s all part of an effort to drive them into a state of constant fear and paranoia.

    Often, these victims don’t know where to turn. Some have spoken to law enforcement, including the FBI – but little has been done. While tech and social media companies have shut down thousands of accounts targeting these victims, they’re outpaced by a slew of new accounts emerging virtually every day.

    Known as “Spamouflage” or “Dragonbridge,” the network’s hundreds of thousands of accounts spread across every major social media platform have not only harassed Americans who have criticized the Chinese Communist Party, but have also sought to discredit US politicians, disparage American companies at odds with China’s interests and hijack online conversations around the globe that could portray the CCP in a negative light.

    Private researchers have tracked the network since its discovery more than four years ago, but only in recent months have federal prosecutors and Facebook’s parent company Meta publicly concluded that the operation has ties to Chinese police.

    Meta announced in August it had taken down a cluster of nearly 8,000 accounts attributed to this group in the second quarter of 2023 alone. Google, which owns YouTube, told CNN it had shut down more than 100,000 associated accounts in recent years, while X, formerly known as Twitter, has blocked hundreds of thousands of China “state-backed” or “state-linked” accounts, according to company blogs.

    Still, given the relatively low cost of such operations, experts who monitor disinformation warn the Chinese government will continue to use these tactics to try to bend online discussions closer to the CCP’s preferred narrative, which frequently entails trying to undermine the US and democratic values.

    “We might think that this is confined to certain chatrooms, or this platform or that platform, but it’s expanding across the board,” Rep. Mike Gallagher, chairman of the House Select Committee on the CCP, told CNN. “And it’s only a matter of time before it happens to that average American citizen who doesn’t think it’s their problem right now.”

    When trolls disrupted an anti-communism Zoom event organized by New York-based activist Chen Pokong in January 2021, he had little doubt who was responsible. The trolls mocked participants and threatened that one victim would “die miserably.” Their conduct reminded Chen of repression by the government of China, where he spent nearly five years in prison for pro-democracy work.

    But his suspicions about who was behind the interruption were solidified when the US Department of Justice charged more than 30 Chinese officials earlier this year with running a sprawling disinformation operation that had targeted dissidents in the US, including those in the Zoom meeting Chen says he hosted in 2021.

    It was just one of multiple indictments the Justice Department unsealed in April exposing alleged Chinese government plots to target its perceived critics and enemies, while impugning the sovereignty of the United States. Two alleged Chinese operatives were charged with running an “undeclared police station” in New York City. Last year, another indictment outlined how Chinese agents allegedly tried to derail the congressional campaign of a Chinese dissident.

    “They want to deprive my freedom of speech, so I feel like it’s not only an attack on me,” said Chen, who was ejected from his own meeting during the disruption. “They also attack America.”

    The DOJ complaint named 34 individual officers with China’s Ministry of Public Security and published photographs of them at computers, allegedly working on the disinformation campaign known as the “912 Special Project Working Group.” The operation, primarily based in Beijing, appears to involve “hundreds” of MPS officers across the country, according to an FBI agent’s affidavit.

    The complaint does not refer to the cluster of fake accounts as “Spamouflage,” but private researchers and a spokesperson for Meta told CNN that the social media activity described by the DOJ is part of that network. As part of a mission “to manipulate public perceptions of [China], the Group uses its misattributed social media accounts to threaten, harass and intimidate specific victims,” the complaint states.

    When asked about Spamouflage’s reported links to Chinese law enforcement, a spokesperson for China’s embassy in Washington, Liu Pengyu, denied the allegations.

    “China always respects the sovereignty of other countries. The US accusation has no factual evidence or legal basis. It is entirely politically motivated. China firmly opposes it,” Liu said in a statement to CNN. He claimed that the US “invented the weaponizing of the global information space.”

    A report released by Meta in August illustrates how the posts from the network often align with the workday hours in China. The report described “bursts of activity in the mid-morning and early afternoon, Beijing time, with breaks for lunch and supper, and then a final burst of activity in the evening.”

    And while Meta detected posts from various regions in China, the company and other researchers have found centralized coordination that relentlessly pushed identical messages across multiple social media platforms, sometimes repeatedly insulting the same individuals who have questioned the Chinese government.

    One of those individuals is Jiayang Fan, a journalist for The New Yorker who told CNN she began facing harassment by the network when she covered pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong in 2019.

    Jiayang Fan, a US-based journalist, says the online harrassment against her began when she covered the 2019 pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.

    Attacks directed at Fan – which ranged from cartoons of her painting her face white as though rejecting her identity to accusations that she killed her mother for profit – carry telltale signs of the Spamouflage network, said Darren Linvill of the Media Forensics Hub at Clemson University. Linvill’s group found more than 12,000 tweets attacking Fan using the same hashtag, #TraitorJiayangFan.

    Although she hasn’t lived in China since she was a child, Fan believes such messages have been levelled against her to spark fear and silence others.

    “This is part of a very old Chinese Communist Party playbook to intimidate offenders and aspiring offenders,” said Fan, who questioned what her distant relatives in China may think when they see such content. “It is uncomfortable for me to know that they are seeing these portrayals of me and have no idea what to believe.”

    Experts who track online influence campaigns say there are signs of a shift in China’s strategy in recent years. In the past, the Spamouflage network mostly focused on issues domestically relevant to China. However, more recently, accounts tied to the group have been stoking controversy around global issues, including developments in the United States.

    Spamouflage accounts – some of which posed as Texas residents – called for protests of plans to build a rare-earths processing facility in Texas and spread negative messages about a separate US manufacturing company, according to a report by cybersecurity firm Mandiant last year. The report also described how the campaign promoted negative content about the Biden administration’s efforts to hasten mineral production that would curb US reliance on China.

    Other posts by the network have referenced how “racism is an indelible shame on American democracy” and how the US committed “cultural genocide against the Indians,” according to a Meta report in August. Another post claimed that former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is “riddled with scandals.”

    Chinese government-linked accounts have also posted messages that included a call to “kill” President Biden, a cartoon featuring the so-called QAnon Shaman who rioted at the US Capitol as a symbol of “western style democracy,” and a post that suggested US defense contractors profit off the deaths of innocent people, according to a Department of Homeland Security report in April obtained through a records request.

    The DOJ complaint filed against Chinese officials alleged that last year they sought to take advantage of the second anniversary of George Floyd’s death and post on social media about his murder to “reveal the law enforcement brutality” in the US. They also received a task to “work on 2022 US midterm elections and criticize American democracy.”

    Spamouflage is “evolving in tactics. It’s evolving in themes,” said Ben Nimmo, the global lead for threat intelligence at Meta. “Our job is to keep on raising our defenses and keep on telling people about it, especially as we get closer to the election year.”

    Yet as social media companies race to stop disinformation and the US government files complaints against those allegedly responsible, accountability can be elusive.

    “This is the rub with a lot of cybercrimes, that it becomes very, very difficult to actually put the perpetrators in jail,” said Lindsay Gorman, the head of technology and geopolitics at the German Marshall Fund’s Alliance for Securing Democracy.

    But, Gorman added, that doesn’t mean there are no consequences for China.

    “Even if individuals have a degree of impunity because they are never planning on coming to the United States anyway, that doesn’t mean that the party operation has impunity here – certainly not in terms of public opinion, certainly not in terms of US-China relations,” she said.

    Meta, Google, and other companies that have published reports outing Spamouflage stress that most of the social media accounts within the network receive little or no engagement, meaning they rarely go viral.

    But Linvill of Clemson University argues that the network uses a unique strategy of “flooding” conversations with so many comments that posts from genuine users receive less attention. This includes posting on platforms typically not associated with disinformation, such as Pinterest.

    “They are operating thousands of accounts at a time on a given platform, often to drown out conversations, just with sheer volume of messaging,” Linvill said. “When we think of disinformation, we often think of pushing ideas on users and making ideas more salient, whereas what China is doing is the opposite. They are trying to remove conversations from social media.”

    When Beijing hosted the 2022 Winter Olympics, for example, human rights groups began promoting the hashtag #GenocideGames to bring attention to accusations that China has detained more than a million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in internment camps.

    But then something surprising happened. Accounts that Linvill and his colleagues believed were part of Spamouflage started tweeting the hashtag too.

    It might be counterintuitive for a pro-Chinese government group to start spreading a hashtag that brought attention to the Chinese government’s human rights’ abuses, Linvill explained. But by using the hashtag repeatedly in tweets that had nothing to do with the issue itself, Spamouflage was able to reduce views on the legitimate messages.

    Jiajun Qiu, whose academic work focused on elections and who fled China in 2016, showed CNN what happens when he types his name into X, formerly known as Twitter. There are sometimes dozens of accounts pretending to be him by using his name and photo.

    Jiajun Qiu, who fled China in 2016, has faced an onslaught of Spamouflage trolls.

    They are designed by the operators of Spamouflage, Linvill explained, to confuse people and prevent them from finding Qiu’s real account by muddying the waters.

    Now living in Virginia, Qiu runs a pro-democracy YouTube channel and has faced an onslaught of homophobic, racist and bizarre insults from social media accounts that Linvill’s team and others have tied to Spamouflage.

    Some accounts have posted cartoons that convey Qiu as an insect working on behalf of the US government. Another image depicts him being stomped by a cartoon Jesus. Yet another paints him as a dog on the leash of an American rat.

    “I tell people the truth, so they want to do anything possible to insult me,” Qiu said.

    Linvill and his team have tracked hundreds of these cartoons across the internet, and said they are a “tell” of Spamouflage. Cartoons, Linvill explained, can be more effective than text because they are “eye-catching” and “you have to stop and look at it.” In addition, these original cartoons can easily be translated into hundreds of languages at a very low cost.

    Beyond the online smears, Qiu says he has also faced threats via other online messages and escalatory calls from unidentified sources who he believes have ties to the Chinese government. One anonymous message told him he would be arrested and brought to justice for breaking Chinese law. An email referenced the church he attends in Manassas, Virginia and said, “for his own safety and that of the worshippers, he would do well to find another place to stay.”

    Qiu told CNN that the FBI has interviewed him four times regarding these threats, and that he has been instructed to contact local police if he is ever followed.

    “Every day I live in a sense of fear,” Qiu said.

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  • Chuck Schumer Fast Facts | CNN

    Chuck Schumer Fast Facts | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Here’s a look at the life of Chuck Schumer, the US Senate majority leader and Democratic senator from New York.

    Birth date: November 23, 1950

    Birth place: Brooklyn, New York

    Birth name: Charles Ellis Schumer

    Father: Abe Schumer, exterminator

    Mother: Selma (Rosen) Schumer

    Marriage: Iris Weinshall (1980-present)

    Children: Jessica, Alison

    Education: Harvard University, A.B., 1971; Harvard Law School, J.D., 1974

    Religion: Jewish

    He was valedictorian at James Madison High School in Brooklyn and received a perfect 1600 score on the SAT test. He edited his high school newspaper, and at one point considered pursuing a career in chemistry. His parents encouraged him to go to medical school, but he opted for law school instead.

    He funded his Harvard education by selling class rings while in school.

    For more than three decades, Schumer shared an aging row house in Washington with Congressional colleagues, including Dick Durbin and George Miller. He lived in the row house during the week and returned to his family home in Brooklyn on weekends.

    Writer/actress Amy Schumer is his second cousin, once removed.

    1975-1980 – New York state assemblyman.

    1981-1999 – US representative from New York 9th District (formerly 10th District and 16th District).

    1987-1988 – Sponsors the Fair Credit and Charge Card Disclosure Act, which requires credit card companies to list detailed information about fees and interest rates when soliciting new customers. The credit card disclosures are nicknamed “Schumer Boxes.”

    1993-1994 – Sponsors the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, which requires background checks and a five-day waiting period for handgun purchases. Sponsors the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, meant to prevent the government from interfering with an individual’s right to express his or her faith. Also, cosponsors the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, a measure that provides funding to expand police departments, increases prison capacity and allows judges to impose longer sentences for violent crimes. The crime bill includes an assault weapons ban, prohibiting the sale of certain types of military-style semi-automatic rifles for 10 years.

    1998 – Wins election to US Senate.

    2004 – Wins reelection to the US Senate.

    2004 – Leads an unsuccessful push to renew the assault weapons ban.

    2005-2008 – Chairs the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

    2007-2008 – Introduces the Keeping the Internet Devoid of Sexual Predators Act, requiring registered sex offenders to give law enforcement their email addresses and social media accounts so their online activity can be tracked.

    2007-2010 – Chairs and vice chairs the US Senate’s Joint Economic Committee.

    2009 – Cosponsors the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Hate Crimes Prevention Act, broadening the definition of hate crimes to include acts of violence against individuals based on their actual or perceived gender, disability, sexual orientation or gender identity.

    2009-present – Serves on the US Senate Committee on Rules and Administration.

    2010 – Wins reelection to US Senate.

    2011-present – Chairman of the US Senate’s Democratic Policy and Communications Committee.

    2013 – Works on immigration reform as a member of the bipartisan “Gang of Eight.” The group’s bill, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013, passes the Senate. The House, however, declines to vote on the package, which creates a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.

    August 3, 2015 – Holds a joint press conference with his cousin, actress and comedian Amy Schumer, to announce gun control legislation promoting stricter state background check laws. The press conference takes place 11 days after a deadly mass shooting at a screening of Schumer’s comedy, “Trainwreck,” in Louisiana. Schumer’s bill, the Fix Gun Checks Act of 2016, stalls in the Senate.

    August 6, 2015 – Expresses his opposition to the nuclear deal with Iran in a statement. He says that he is concerned about a 24-day delay for inspectors to access facilities and other limitations on inspections.

    November 8, 2016 – Wins reelection to the US Senate.

    November 16, 2016 – Senate Democrats choose Schumer to succeed Harry Reid as leader in the chamber.

    January 3, 2017 – On his first day as Senate minority leader, Schumer tells CNN that Senate Democrats plan to hold President-elect Donald Trump accountable but will also work with him if he supports legislation that is true to the Democratic Party’s principles.

    March 2, 2017 – Schumer calls on Attorney General Jeff Sessions to resign in the wake of a report that Sessions met with the Russian ambassador to the US during the presidential campaign, contradicting his testimony during his Senate confirmation hearing. Sessions does not resign but recuses himself from involvement in the investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

    September 6, 2017 – Schumer meets with Trump and other congressional leaders in the Oval Office. During the meeting, Trump agrees to endorse a plan to attach hurricane relief money to a three-month extension of the debt ceiling that was proposed by Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

    January 19, 2018 – Schumer meets with Trump at the White House to discuss a deal that could avert a looming government shutdown. Schumer offers to increase military spending and fully fund border security measures in exchange for a pledge to protect beneficiaries of the Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals program (DACA). Trump ultimately rejects the deal. The failed negotiations lead to a brief shutdown that White House officials label the “Schumer Shutdown.”

    June 27, 2018 – Schumer introduces a bill, the Marijuana Freedom and Opportunity Act, that would decriminalize and regulate marijuana at the federal level.

    November 11, 2018 – Schumer says that Democrats may combine a must-pass spending bill with a measure protecting the Robert Mueller special counsel investigation into Russian election meddling.

    November 10, 2020 – Schumer is reelected as a Senate party leader.

    January 20, 2021-present – Senate majority leader.

    July 14, 2021 – Schumer and a group of other Senate Democrats introduce draft legislation that would decriminalize marijuana at the federal level by striking it from the federal controlled substances list.

    November 8, 2022 – Wins reelection to the US Senate.

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  • John F. Kennedy Assassination Fast Facts | CNN

    John F. Kennedy Assassination Fast Facts | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Here’s some background information about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963.

    November 22, 1963
    – 11:37 a.m. – Air Force One arrives at Dallas’ Love Field with the President and his wife, Jacqueline Kennedy, Texas Governor John B. Connally Jr. and his wife, Idanell Connally. Vice President Lyndon Johnson and his wife, Lady Bird Johnson, arrive in a separate plane. It is a campaign trip for the coming 1964 election, although not officially designated as such.

    During a 10-mile tour of Dallas, the President and Mrs. Kennedy and the governor and Mrs. Connally ride in an open convertible limousine. The motorcade is on the way to the Trade Mart where the President is to speak at a sold-out luncheon.

    – 12:30 p.m. – As the President’s limousine passes the Texas School Book Depository, shots are fired from a sixth-floor window.

    President Kennedy and Governor Connally are both wounded and are rushed to Parkland Hospital.

    Wire services report three shots were fired as the motorcade passed under Stemmons Freeway. Two bullets hit the President and one hit the Governor.

    Emergency efforts by Drs. Malcolm Perry, Kemp Clark and others are unsuccessful at reviving the president. Governor Connally’s injuries are critical but not fatal. From one bullet, he sustains three broken ribs, a punctured lung and a broken wrist. The bullet finally lodged in his left thigh.

    – 12:36 p.m. – The ABC radio network broadcasts the first nationwide news bulletin reporting that shots have been fired at the Kennedy motorcade.

    – 12:40 p.m. – The CBS television network broadcasts the first nationwide TV news bulletin also reporting on the shooting.

    – 1:00 p.m. – Kennedy is pronounced dead by Parkland Hospital doctors, becoming the fourth US president killed in office.

    – 1:07 p.m. – News of the shooting causes the New York Stock Exchange to halt trading after an $11 million flood of sell orders.

    – 1:15 p.m. – Lee Harvey Oswald kills Dallas Police Patrolman J.D. Tippit approximately 45 minutes after the assassination.

    – 2:00 p.m. – A bronze casket carrying the President’s body, accompanied by Mrs. Kennedy and the Johnsons, leaves Parkland Hospital for Air Force One.

    – 2:15 p.m. – Oswald, a 24-year-old ex-Marine, is arrested in the back of a movie theater where he fled after shooting Tippit.

    – 2:39 p.m. – Johnson is sworn in on the runway of Love Field aboard Air Force One. Federal Judge Sarah T. Hughes, of the Northern District of Texas, administers the oath of office. Witnesses include Jacqueline Kennedy and Johnson’s wife.

    – 5:00 p.m. (6:00 p.m. ET) – Air Force One arrives at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland. The coffin bearing the President’s body is taken by ambulance to Bethesda Naval Hospital for an autopsy. The flag-draped coffin is taken to the East Room of the White House early the next morning following the autopsy.

    – 7:15 p.m. – Oswald is arraigned for the murder of Tippit.

    November 22-25, 1963 – Major television and radio networks devote continuous news coverage to ongoing events associated with the President’s assassination, canceling all entertainment and all commercials. Many theaters, stores and businesses, including the stock exchanges and government offices, are closed through November 25.

    November 23, 1963 – Oswald is arraigned for the murder of the president.

    November 23, 1963 – Johnson designates November 25 as a day of national mourning.

    November 24, 1963 – As Oswald is being transferred from the Dallas city jail to the county jail, nightclub owner Jack Ruby shoots and kills him. The shooting is inadvertently shown live on TV. Ruby is immediately arrested.

    November 24-25, 1963 – Kennedy’s flag-draped casket lies in state in the Capitol Rotunda.

    November 25, 1963 – Kennedy is buried at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors and representatives from more than 90 countries in attendance.

    November 26, 1963 – Ruby is indicted in Dallas for the murder of Oswald. He is later convicted, has the conviction overturned on appeal, and dies of cancer in 1967 awaiting a new trial.

    November 29, 1963 – Johnson appoints the President’s Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy. Commonly called the Warren Commission, its purpose is to investigate the assassination.

    September 24, 1964 – The Warren Report is released with the following conclusions: “The shots which killed President Kennedy and wounded Governor Connally were fired from the sixth-floor window at the southeast corner of the Texas School Book Depository.” And: “The shots which killed President Kennedy and wounded Governor Connally were fired by Lee Harvey Oswald.”

    October 26,1992 – President George H.W. Bush signs the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act into law. The law directs the National Archives to establish a collection of records consisting of any materials, by any state or federal agency, that were created during the federal inquiry into the assassination.

    October 26, 2017 – The US government releases more than 2,800 records relating to Kennedy’s assassination in an effort to comply with a 1992 law mandating the documents’ release. President Donald Trump keeps roughly 300 files classified out of concern for US national security, law enforcement and foreign relations. In a memo, Trump directs agencies that requested redactions to re-review their reasons for keeping the records secret within 180 days.

    April 26, 2018 – Trump extends to 2021 the deadline for the public release of files related to the assassination. More than 19,000 documents are released by the National Archives, in compliance with the records law and Trump’s 2017 order.

    October 22, 2021 – The White House announces that it will further postpone the release of more documents related to the assassination, pointing to the “significant impact” of the Covid-19 pandemic.

    December 15, 2021 – The National Archives releases almost 1,500 previously classified documents related to the assassination.

    December 15, 2022 – The National Archives releases over 13,000 previously classified documents collected as part of the government review into the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

    June 30, 2023 – The White House announces the National Archives has concluded its review of the classified documents related to the assassination of President Kennedy, with 99% of the records having been made publicly available.

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  • Controversial Police Encounters Fast Facts | CNN

    Controversial Police Encounters Fast Facts | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Here’s a look at controversial police encounters that have prompted protests over the past three decades. This select list includes cases in which police officers were charged or a grand jury was convened.

    March 3, 1991 – LAPD officers beat motorist Rodney King after he leads police on a high-speed chase through Los Angeles County. George Holliday videotapes the beating from his apartment balcony. The video shows police hitting King more than 50 times with their batons. Over 20 officers are present at the scene, mostly from the LAPD. King suffers 11 fractures and other injuries.

    March 15, 1991 – A Los Angeles grand jury indicts Sergeant Stacey Koon and Officers Laurence Michael Powell, Timothy Wind and Theodore Briseno in connection with the beating.

    May 10, 1991 – A grand jury refuses to indict 17 officers who stood by at the King beating and did nothing.

    April 29, 1992 – The four LAPD officers are acquitted. Riots break out at the intersection of Florence and Normandie in South Central Los Angeles. Governor Pete Wilson declares a state of emergency and calls in the National Guard. Riots in the next few days leave more than 50 people dead and cause nearly $1 billion in property damage.

    May 1, 1992 – King makes an emotional plea for calm, “People, I just want to say, can we all get along? Can we get along? Can we stop making it horrible for the older people and the kids?”

    August 4, 1992 – A federal grand jury returns indictments against Koon, Powell, Wind, and Briseno on the charge of violating King’s civil rights.

    April 17, 1993 – Koon and Powell are convicted for violating King’s civil rights. Wind and Briseno are found not guilty. No disturbances follow the verdict. On August 4, both Koon and Powell are sentenced to 30 months in prison. Powell is found guilty of violating King’s constitutional right to be free from an arrest made with “unreasonable force.” Koon, the ranking officer, is convicted of permitting the civil rights violation to occur.

    April 19, 1994 – King is awarded $3.8 million in compensatory damages in a civil lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles. King had demanded $56 million, or $1 million for every blow struck by the officers.

    June 1, 1994 – In a civil trial against the police officers, a jury awards King $0 in punitive damages. He had asked for $15 million.

    June 17, 2012 – King is found dead in his swimming pool.

    November 5, 1992 – Two white police officers approach Malice Wayne Green, a 35-year-old black motorist, after he parks outside a suspected drug den. Witnesses say the police strike the unarmed man in the head repeatedly with heavy flashlights. The officers claim they feared Green was trying to reach for one of their weapons. Green dies of his injuries later that night.

    November 16, 1992 – Two officers, Larry Nevers and Walter Budzyn, are charged with second-degree murder. Sgt. Freddie Douglas, a supervisor who arrived on the scene after a call for backup, is charged with involuntary manslaughter and willful neglect of duty. These charges are later dismissed. Another officer, Robert Lessnau, is charged with assault with intent to do great bodily harm.

    November 18, 1992 – The Detroit Free Press reports that toxicology tests revealed alcohol and a small amount of cocaine in Green’s system. A medical examiner later states that Green’s head injuries, combined with the cocaine and alcohol in his system, led to his death.

    December 1992 – The Detroit police chief fires the four officers.

    August 23, 1993 – Nevers and Budzyn are convicted of murder after a 45-day trial. Lessnau is acquitted. Nevers sentence is 12-25 years, while Budzyn’s sentence is 8-18 years.

    1997-1998 – The Michigan Supreme Court orders a retrial for Budzyn due to possible jury bias. During the second trial, a jury convicts Budzyn of a less serious charge, involuntary manslaughter, and he is released with time served.

    2000-2001 – A jury finds Nevers guilty of involuntary manslaughter after a second trial. He is released from prison in 2001.

    August 9, 1997 – Abner Louima, a 33-year-old Haitian immigrant, is arrested for interfering with officers trying to break up a fight in front of the Club Rendez-vous nightclub in Brooklyn. Louima alleges, while handcuffed, police officers lead him to the precinct bathroom and sodomized him with a plunger or broomstick.

    August 15, 1997 – Police officers Justin Volpe and Charles Schwarz are charged with aggravated sexual abuse and first-degree assault.

    August 16, 1997 – Thousands of angry protesters gather outside Brooklyn’s 70th Precinct to demonstrate against what they say is a long-standing problem of police brutality against minorities.

    August 18, 1997 – Two more officers, Thomas Wiese and Thomas Bruder, are charged with assault and criminal possession of a weapon.

    February 26, 1998 – Volpe, Bruder, Schwarz and Wiese are indicted on federal civil rights charges. A fifth officer, Michael Bellomo, is accused of helping the others cover up the alleged beating, as well as an alleged assault on another Haitian immigrant, Patrick Antoine, the same night.

    May 1999 – Volpe pleads guilty to beating and sodomizing Louima. He is later sentenced to 30 years in prison.

    June 8, 1999 – Schwarz is convicted of beating Louima, then holding him down while he was being tortured. Wiese, Bruder, and Bellomo are acquitted. Schwarz is later sentenced to 15 and a half years in prison for perjury.

    March 6, 2000 – In a second trial, Schwarz, Wiese, and Bruder are convicted of conspiring to obstruct justice by covering up the attack. On February 28, 2002, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals overturns their convictions.

    July 12, 2001 – Louima receives $8.75 million in a settlement agreement with the City of New York and the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association.

    September 2002 – Schwarz pleads guilty to perjury and is sentenced to five years in prison. He had been scheduled to face a new trial for civil rights violations but agreed to a deal.

    February 4, 1999 – Amadou Diallo, 22, a street vendor from West Africa, is confronted outside his home in the Bronx by four NYPD officers who are searching the neighborhood for a rapist. When Diallo reaches for his wallet, the officers open fire, reportedly fearing he was pulling out a gun. They fire 41 times and hit him 19 times, killing him.

    March 24, 1999 – More than 200 protestors are arrested outside NYPD headquarters. For weeks, activists have gathered to protest the use of force by NYPD officers.

    March 25, 1999 – A Bronx grand jury votes to indict the four officers – Sean Carroll, Edward McMellon, Kenneth Boss and Richard Murphy – for second-degree murder. On February 25, 2000, they are acquitted.

    January 2001 – The US Justice Department announces it will not pursue federal civil rights charges against the officers.

    January 2004 – Diallo’s family receives $3 million in a wrongful death lawsuit.

    September 4, 2005 – Six days after Hurricane Katrina devastates the area, New Orleans police officers receive a radio call that two officers are down under the Danziger vertical-lift bridge. According to the officers, people are shooting at them and they have returned fire.

    – Brothers Ronald and Lance Madison, along with four members of the Bartholomew family, are shot by police officers. Ronald Madison, 40, who is intellectually disabled, and James Brisette, 17 (some sources say 19), are fatally wounded.

    December 28, 2006 – Police Sgts. Kenneth Bowen and Robert Gisevius and officers Robert Faulcon and Anthony Villavaso are charged with first-degree murder. Officers Robert Barrios, Michael Hunter and Ignatius Hills are charged with attempted murder.

    August 2008 – State charges against the officers are thrown out.

    July 12, 2010 – Four officers are indicted on federal charges of murdering Brissette: Bowen, Gisevius, Faulcon and Villavaso. Faulcon is also charged with Madison’s murder. Bowen, Gisevius, Faulcon and Villavaso, along with Arthur Kaufman and Gerard Dugue are charged with covering up the shooting.

    April 8, 2010 – Hunter pleads guilty in federal court of covering up the police shooting. In December, he is sentenced to eight years in prison.

    August 5, 2011 – The jury finds five officers guilty of civil rights and obstruction charges: Bowen, Gisevius, Faulcon, Villavaso and Kaufman.

    October 5, 2011 – Hills receives a six and a half year sentence for his role in the shooting.

    April 4, 2012 – A federal judge sentences five officers to prison terms ranging from six to 65 years for the shootings of unarmed civilians. Faulcon receives 65 years. Bowen and Gisevius both receive 40 years. Villavaso receives 38 years. Kaufman, who was involved in the cover up, receives six years.

    March 2013 – After a January 2012 mistrial, Dugue’s trial is delayed indefinitely.

    September 17, 2013 – Bowen, Gisevius, Faulcon, Villavaso and Kaufman are awarded a new trial.

    April 20, 2016 – Bowen, Gisevius, Faulcon, Villavaso and Kaufman plead guilty in exchange for reduced sentences.

    November 25, 2006 – Sean Bell, 23, is fatally shot by NYPD officers outside a Queens bar the night before his wedding. Two of his companions, Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield, are wounded. Officers reportedly fired 50 times at the men.

    March 2007 – Three of the five officers involved in the shooting are indicted: Detectives Gescard F. Isnora and Michael Oliver are charged with manslaughter, and Michael Oliver is charged with reckless endangerment. On April 25, 2008, the three officers are acquitted of all charges.

    July 27, 2010 – New York City settles a lawsuit for more than $7 million filed by Bell’s family and two of his friends.

    2009 – Oakland, California – Oscar Grant

    January 1, 2009 – San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) officer Johannes Mehserle shoots Oscar Grant, an unarmed 22-year-old, in the back while he is lying face down on a platform at the Fruitvale BART station in Oakland.

    January 7, 2009 – Footage from station KTVU shows demonstrators vandalizing businesses and assaulting police in Oakland during a protest. About 105 people are arrested. Some protesters lie on their stomachs, saying they are showing solidarity with Grant, who was shot in the back.

    January 27, 2010 – The mother of Grant’s young daughter receives a $1.5 million settlement from her lawsuit against BART.

    July 8, 2010 – A jury finds Mehserle guilty of involuntary manslaughter. At the trial, Mehserle says that he intended to draw and fire his Taser rather than his gun. On November 5, 2010, Mehserle is sentenced to two years in prison. Outrage over the light sentence leads to a night of violent protests.

    June 2011 – Mehserle is released from prison.

    July 12, 2013 – The movie, “Fruitvale Station” opens in limited release. It dramatizes the final hours of Grant’s life.

    July 5, 2011 – Fullerton police officers respond to a call about a homeless man looking into car windows and pulling on car handles. Surveillance camera footage shows Kelly Thomas being beaten and stunned with a Taser by police. Thomas, who was mentally ill, dies five days later in the hospital. When the surveillance video of Thomas’s beating is released in May 2012, it sparks a nationwide outcry.

    May 9, 2012 – Officer Manuel Ramos is charged with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter, and Cpl. Jay Patrick Cicinelli is charged with involuntary manslaughter and felony use of excessive force. On January 13, 2014, a jury acquits Ramos and Cicinelli.

    May 16, 2012 – The City of Fullerton awards $1 million to Thomas’ mother, Cathy Thomas.

    September 28, 2012 – A third police officer, Joseph Wolfe, is charged with involuntary manslaughter and excessive force in connection with Thomas’ death. The charges are later dropped.

    July 17, 2014 – Eric Garner, 43, dies after Officer Daniel Pantaleo uses a department-banned chokehold on him during an arrest for allegedly selling cigarettes illegally. Garner dies later that day.

    August 1, 2014 – The New York City Medical Examiner rules Garner’s death a homicide.

    December 3, 2014 – A grand jury decides not to indict Pantaleo. Protests are held in New York, Washington, Philadelphia and Oakland, California. Demonstrators chant Garner’s last words, “I can’t breathe!”

    July 14, 2015 – New York settles with Garner’s estate for $5.9 million.

    August 19, 2019 – The NYPD announces Pantaleo has been fired and will not receive his pension.

    August 21, 2019 – Pantaleo’s supervisor, Sgt. Kizzy Adonis, pleads no contest to a disciplinary charge of failure to supervise, and must forfeit the monetary value of 20 vacation days.

    August 9, 2014 – During a struggle, a police officer fatally shoots Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old.

    August 9-10, 2014 – Approximately 1,000 demonstrators protest Brown’s death. The Ferguson-area protest turns violent and police begin using tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd. Black Lives Matter, a protest movement that grew out of the Trayvon Martin shooting in 2012, grows in visibility during the Ferguson demonstrations.

    August 15, 2014 – Police identify the officer as 28-year-old Darren Wilson. Wilson is put on paid administrative leave after the incident.

    August 18, 2014 – Governor Jay Nixon calls in the Missouri National Guard to protect the police command center.

    November 24, 2014 – A grand jury does not indict Wilson for Brown’s shooting. Documents show that Wilson fired his gun 12 times. Protests erupt nationwide after the hearing.

    November 29, 2014 – Wilson resigns from the Ferguson police force.

    March 11, 2015 – Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson resigns a week after a scathing Justice Department report slams his department.

    August 9-10, 2015 – The anniversary observations of Brown’s death are largely peaceful during the day. After dark, shots are fired, businesses are vandalized and there are tense standoffs between officers and protestors, according to police. The next day, a state of emergency is declared and fifty-six people are arrested during a demonstration at a St. Louis courthouse.

    June 20, 2017 – A settlement is reached in the Brown family wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Ferguson. While the details of the settlement are not disclosed to the public, US Federal Judge Richard Webber calls the settlement, “fair and reasonable compensation.”

    October 20, 2014 – Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke shoots and kills Laquan McDonald, 17. Van Dyke says he fired in self-defense after McDonald lunged at him with a knife, but dashcam video shows McDonald walking away from police. Later, an autopsy shows McDonald was shot 16 times.

    April 15, 2015 – The city agrees to pay $5 million to McDonald’s family.

    November 19, 2015 – A judge in Chicago orders the city to release the police dashcam video that shows the shooting. For months, the city had fought attempts to have the video released to the public, saying it could jeopardize any ongoing investigation. The decision is the result of a Freedom of Information Act request by freelance journalist, Brandon Smith.

    November 24, 2015 – Van Dyke is charged with first-degree murder.

    December 1, 2015 – Mayor Rahm Emanuel announces he has asked for the resignation of Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy.

    August 30, 2016 – Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson files administrative charges against six officers involved in the shooting. Five officers will have their cases heard by the Chicago Police Board, which will rule if the officers will be terminated. The sixth officer charged has resigned.

    March 2017 – Van Dyke is indicted on 16 additional counts of aggravated battery with a firearm.

    June 27, 2017 – Three officers are indicted on felony conspiracy, official misconduct and obstruction of justice charges for allegedly lying to investigators.

    October 5, 2018 – Van Dyke is found guilty of second-degree murder and of 16 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm, but not guilty of official misconduct. Though he was originally charged with first-degree murder, jurors were instructed on October 4 that they could consider second-degree murder. He is sentenced to six years and nine months in prison. On February 3, 2022, Van Dyke is released early from prison.

    January 17, 2019 – Cook County Associate Judge Domenica Stephenson finds three Chicago police officers not guilty of covering up details in the 2014 killing of McDonald. Stephenson’s ruling came more than a month after the officers’ five-day bench trial ended.

    July 18, 2019 – The Chicago Police Board announces that four Chicago police officers, Sgt. Stephen Franko, Officer Janet Mondragon, Officer Daphne Sebastian and Officer Ricardo Viramontes, have been fired for covering up the fatal shooting of McDonald.

    October 9, 2019 – Inspector General Joseph Ferguson releases a report detailing a cover-up involving 16 officers and supervisors.

    April 4, 2015 – North Charleston police officer Michael Slager fatally shoots Walter Scott, 50, an unarmed motorist stopped for a broken brake light. Slager says he feared for his life after Scott grabbed his Taser.

    April 7, 2015 – Cellphone video of the incident is released. It shows Scott running away and Slager shooting him in the back. Slager is charged with first-degree murder.

    October 8, 2015 – The North Charleston City Council approves a $6.5 million settlement with the family of Walter Scott.

    May 11, 2016 – A federal grand jury indicts Slager for misleading investigators and violating the civil rights of Walter Scott.

    December 5, 2016 – After three days of deliberations, the jury is unable to reach a verdict and the judge declares a mistrial in the case. The prosecutor says that the state will try Slager again.

    May 2, 2017 – Slager pleads guilty to a federal charge of using excessive force. State murder charges against Slager – as well as two other federal charges – will be dismissed as part of a plea deal. On December 7, 2017, Slager is sentenced to 20 years in federal prison.

    April 12, 2015 – Police arrest 25-year-old Freddie Gray on a weapons charge after he is found with a knife in his pocket. Witness video contains audio of Gray screaming as officers carry him to the prisoner transport van. After arriving at the police station, Gray is transferred to a trauma clinic with a severe spinal injury. He falls into a coma and dies one week later.

    April 21, 2015 – The names of six officers involved in the arrest are released. Lt. Brian Rice, 41, Officer Caesar Goodson, 45, Sgt. Alicia White, 30, Officer William Porter, 25, Officer Garrett Miller, 26, and Officer Edward Nero, 29, are all suspended.

    April 24, 2015 – Baltimore police acknowledge Gray did not get timely medical care after his arrest and was not buckled into a seat belt while being transported in the police van.

    April 27, 2015 – Protests turn into riots on the day of Gray’s funeral. At least 20 officers are injured as police and protesters clash on the streets. Gov. Larry Hogan’s office declares a state of emergency and activates the National Guard to address the unrest.

    May 21, 2015 – A Baltimore grand jury indicts the six officers involved in the arrest of Freddie Gray. The officers face a range of charges from involuntary manslaughter to reckless endangerment. Goodson, the driver of the transport van, will face the most severe charge: second-degree depraved-heart murder.

    September 10, 2015 – Judge Barry Williams denies the defendants’ motion to move their trials out of Baltimore, a day after officials approve a $6.4 million deal to settle all civil claims tied to Gray’s death.

    December 16, 2015 – The judge declares a mistrial in Porter’s case after jurors say they are deadlocked.

    May 23, 2016 – Nero is found not guilty.

    June 23, 2016 – Goodson is acquitted of all charges.

    July 18, 2016 – Rice, the highest-ranking officer to stand trial, is found not guilty on all charges.

    July 27, 2016 – Prosecutors drop charges against the three remaining officers awaiting trial in connection with Gray’s death.

    August 10, 2016 – A Justice Department investigation finds that the Baltimore Police Department engages in unconstitutional practices that lead to disproportionate rates of stops, searches and arrests of African-Americans. The report also finds excessive use of force against juveniles and people with mental health disabilities.

    January 12, 2017 – The city of Baltimore agrees to a consent decree with sweeping reforms proposed by the Justice Department.

    2016 – Falcon Heights, Minnesota – Philando Castile

    July 6, 2016 – Police officer Jeronimo Yanez shoots and kills Philando Castile during a traffic stop in Falcon Heights. Castile’s girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, live-streams the aftermath of the confrontation, and says Castile was reaching for his identification when he was shot.

    November 16, 2016 – Yanez is charged with second-degree manslaughter and two felony counts of dangerous discharge of a firearm.

    December 15, 2016 – The Justice Department announces it will conduct a review of the St. Anthony Police Department, which services Falcon heights and two other towns.

    February 27, 2017 – Yanez pleads not guilty.

    June 16, 2017 – A jury finds Yanez not guilty on all counts. The city says it will offer Yanez a voluntary separation agreement from the police department.

    June 26, 2017 – It is announced that the family of Castile has reached a $3 million settlement with the city of St. Anthony, Minnesota.

    November 29, 2017 – The city of St. Anthony announces that Reynolds has settled with two cities for $800,000. St. Anthony will pay $675,000 of the settlement, while an insurance trust will pay $125,000 on behalf of Roseville.

    September 16, 2016 – Tulsa Police Officer Betty Shelby fatally shoots Terence Crutcher, a 40-year-old unarmed black man, after his car is found abandoned in the middle of the road.

    September 19, 2016 – The Tulsa Police Department releases video of the incident captured by a police helicopter, showing Shelby and other officers at the scene. At a news conference, the police chief tells reporters Crutcher was unarmed. Both the US Department of Justice and state authorities launch investigations into the officer-involved shooting.

    September 22, 2016 – Officer Shelby is charged with felony first-degree manslaughter.

    April 2, 2017 – During an interview on “60 Minutes,” Shelby says race was not a factor in her decision to open fire, and Crutcher “caused” his death when he ignored her commands, reaching into his vehicle to retrieve what she believed was a gun. “I saw a threat and I used the force I felt necessary to stop a threat.”

    May 17, 2017 – Shelby is acquitted.

    July 14, 2017 – Shelby announces she will resign from the Tulsa Police Department in August. On August 10, she joins the Rogers County, Oklahoma, Sheriff’s Office as a reserve deputy.

    October 25, 2017 – A Tulsa County District Court judge grants Shelby’s petition to have her record expunged.

    June 19, 2018 – Antwon Rose II, an unarmed 17-year-old, is shot and killed by police officer Michael Rosfeld in East Pittsburgh. Rose had been a passenger in a car that was stopped by police because it matched the description of a car that was involved in an earlier shooting. Rose and another passenger ran from the vehicle, and Rosfeld opened fire, striking Rose three times, Allegheny County police says.

    June 27, 2018 – The Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, district attorney charges Rosfeld with criminal homicide.

    March 22, 2019 – A jury finds Rosfeld not guilty on all counts.

    October 28, 2019 – A $2 million settlement is finalized in a wrongful death lawsuit filed against Rosfeld and East Pittsburgh.

    September 1, 2018 – During a traffic stop, O’Shae Terry is gunned down by an Arlington police officer. Terry, 24, was pulled over for having an expired temporary tag on his car. During the stop, officers reportedly smelled marijuana in the vehicle. Police video from the scene shows officer Bau Tran firing into the car as Terry tries to drive away. Investigators later locate a concealed firearm, marijuana and ecstasy pills in the vehicle.

    October 19, 2018 – The Arlington Police Department releases information about a criminal investigation into the incident. According to the release, Tran declined to provide detectives with a statement and the matter is pending with the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office. Tran is still employed by the police department but is working on restricted duty status, according to the news release.

    May 1, 2019 – A grand jury issues an indictment charging Tran with criminally negligent homicide. On May 17, 2019, the Arlington Police Department announces Tran has been fired.

    March 13, 2020 – Louisville Metro Police officers fatally shoot Taylor, a 26-year-old EMT, after they forcibly enter her apartment while executing a late-night, no-knock warrant in a narcotics investigation. Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker III, is also in the apartment and fires one shot at who he believes are intruders. Taylor is shot at least eight times and Walker is charged with attempted murder of a police officer and first-degree assault. The charges are later dismissed.

    April 27, 2020 – Taylor’s family files a wrongful death lawsuit. In the lawsuit, Taylor’s mother says the officers should have called off their search because the suspect they sought had already been arrested.

    May 21, 2020 – The FBI opens an investigation into Taylor’s death.

    June 11, 2020 – The Louisville, Kentucky, metro council unanimously votes to pass an ordinance called “Breonna’s Law,” banning no-knock search warrants.

    August 27, 2020 – Jamarcus Glover, Taylor’s ex-boyfriend and the focus of the Louisville police narcotics investigation that led officers to execute the warrant on Taylor’s home, is arrested on drug charges. The day before his arrest, Glover told a local Kentucky newspaper Taylor was not involved in any alleged drug trade.

    September 1, 2020 – Walker files a $10.5 million lawsuit against the Louisville Metro Police Department. Walker claims he was maliciously prosecuted for firing a single bullet with his licensed firearm at “assailants” who “violently broke down the door.” In December 2022, Walker reaches a $2 million settlement with the city of Louisville.

    September 15, 2020 – The city of Louisville agrees to pay $12 million to Taylor’s family and institute sweeping police reforms in a settlement of the family’s wrongful death lawsuit.

    September 23, 2020 – Det. Brett Hankison is indicted by a grand jury on three counts of wanton endangerment in the first degree. The other two officers involved in the shooting are not indicted. On March 3, 2022, Hankison is acquitted.

    April 26, 2021 – Attorney General Merrick Garland announces a Justice Department investigation into the practices of the Louisville Police Department.

    August 4, 2022 – Garland announces four current and former Louisville police officers involved in the raid on Taylor’s home were arrested and charged with civil rights violations, unlawful conspiracies, unconstitutional use of force and obstruction. On August 23, one of the officers, Kelly Goodlett, pleads guilty.

    May 25, 2020 – George Floyd, 46, dies after pleading for help as Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneels on Floyd’s neck to pin him – unarmed and handcuffed – to the ground. Floyd had been arrested for allegedly using a counterfeit bill at a convenience store.

    May 26, 2020 – It is announced that four Minneapolis police officers have been fired for their involvement in the death of Floyd.

    May 27, 2020 – Gov. Tim Walz signs an executive order activating the Minnesota National Guard after protests and demonstrations erupt throughout Minneapolis and St. Paul.

    May 27, 2020 – Surveillance video from outside a Minneapolis restaurant is released and appears to contradict police claims that Floyd resisted arrest before an officer knelt on his neck.

    May 28-29, 2020 – Several buildings are damaged and the Minneapolis police department’s Third Precinct is set ablaze during protests.

    May 29, 2020 – Chauvin is arrested and charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter, according to Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman.

    June 3, 2020 – Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announces charges of aiding and abetting second-degree murder for the three previously uncharged officers at the scene of the incident. According to court documents, Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng helped restrain Floyd, while officer Tou Thao stood near the others. Chauvin’s charge is upgraded from third- to second-degree murder.

    October 21, 2020 – Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill drops the third-degree murder charge against Chauvin, but he still faces the higher charge of second-degree unintentional murder and second-degree manslaughter. On March 11, 2021, Judge Cahill reinstates the third-degree murder charge due to an appeals court ruling.

    March 12, 2021 – The Minneapolis city council unanimously votes to approve a $27 million settlement with Floyd’s family.

    April 20, 2021 – The jury finds Chauvin guilty on all three counts. He is sentenced to 22 and a half years.

    May 7, 2021 – A federal grand jury indicts the four former Minneapolis police officers in connection with Floyd’s death, alleging the officers violated Floyd’s constitutional rights.

    December 15, 2021 – Chauvin pleads guilty in federal court to two civil rights violations, one related to Floyd’s death, plus another case. Prosecutors request that he be sentenced to 25 years in prison to be served concurrently with his current sentence.

    February 24, 2022 – Lane, Kueng and Thao are found guilty of depriving Floyd of his civil rights by showing deliberate indifference to his medical needs. The jurors also find Thao and Kueng guilty of an additional charge for failing to intervene to stop Chauvin. Lane, who did not face the extra charge, had testified that he asked Chauvin twice to reposition Floyd while restraining him but was denied both times.

    May 4, 2022 – A federal judge accepts Chauvin’s plea deal and will sentence him to 20 to 25 years in prison. Based on the plea filed, the sentence will be served concurrently with the 22.5-year sentence tied to his murder conviction at the state level. On July 7, Chauvin is sentenced to 21 years in prison.

    May 18, 2022 – Thomas Lane pleads guilty to second-degree manslaughter as part of a plea deal dismissing his murder charge. State and defense attorneys jointly recommend to the court Lane be sentenced to 36 months.

    July 27, 2022 – Kueng and Thao are sentenced to three years and three and a half years in federal prison, respectively.

    September 21, 2022 – Lane is sentenced to three years in prison on a state charge of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter in Floyd’s death.

    October 24, 2022 – On the day his state trial is set to begin on charges of aiding and abetting in George Floyd’s killing, Kueng pleads guilty.

    December 3, 2022 – Kueng is sentenced to 3.5 years in prison for his role in the killing of Floyd.

    May 1, 2023 – A Minnesota judge finds Thao guilty of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter, according to court documents. He is sentenced to four years and nine months in prison.

    June 12, 2020 – Rayshard Brooks, 27, is shot and killed by Atlanta police officer Garrett Rolfe outside a Wendy’s restaurant after failing a sobriety test, fighting with two officers, taking a Taser from one and running away.

    June 13, 2020 – Rolfe is terminated from the Atlanta Police Department, according to an Atlanta police spokesperson. A second officer involved is placed on administrative leave.

    June 14, 2020 – According to a release from the Fulton County, Georgia, Medical Examiner’s Office, Brooks died from a gunshot wound to the back. The manner of death is listed as homicide.

    June 17, 2020 – Fulton County’s district attorney announces felony murder charges against Rolfe. Another officer, Devin Brosnan, is facing an aggravated assault charge for standing or stepping on Brooks’ shoulder while he was lying on the ground. On August 23, 2022, a Georgia special prosecutor announces the charges will be dismissed, saying the officers acted reasonably in response to a deadly threat. Both officers remain on administrative leave with the Atlanta Police Department and will undergo recertification and training, the department said in a statement.

    May 5, 2021 – The Atlanta Civil Service Board rules that Rolfe was wrongfully terminated.

    November 21, 2022 – The family of Brooks reaches a $1 million settlement with the city of Atlanta, according to Ryan Julison, a spokesperson for Stewart Miller Simmons Trial Attorneys, the law firm representing Brooks’ family.

    April 11, 2021 – Daunte Wright, 20, is shot and killed by Brooklyn Center police officer Kimberly Potter following a routine traffic stop for an expired tag.

    April 12, 2021 – During a press conference, Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon announces Potter accidentally drew a handgun instead of a Taser. According to Gannon, “this was an accidental discharge, that resulted in a tragic death of Mr. Wright.” Potter is placed on administrative leave. According to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office, Wright’s death has been ruled a homicide.

    April 13, 2021 – Gannon submits his resignation. CNN is told Potter has also submitted a letter of resignation.

    April 14, 2021 – Potter is arrested and charged with second degree manslaughter. Washington County Attorney Pete Orput issues a news release which includes a summary of the criminal complaint filed against Potter. According to the release, Potter shot Wright with a Glock handgun holstered on her right side, after saying she would tase Wright. Later, the state amends the complaint against Potter, adding an additional charge of manslaughter in the first degree.

    December 23, 2021 – Potter is found guilty of first and second-degree manslaughter. On February 18, 2022, she is sentenced to two years in prison. In April 2023, Potter is released from prison after serving 16 months.

    June 21, 2022 – The city of Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, agrees to pay $3.25 million to the family of Wright. The sum is part of a settlement deal the family struck with the city, which also agreed to make changes in its policing policies and training, the Wright family legal team said in a news release.

    2022 – Grand Rapids, Michigan – Patrick Lyoya

    April 4, 2022 – Patrick Lyoya, 26-year-old Black man, is shot and killed by a police officer following a traffic stop.

    April 13, 2022 – Grand Rapids police release video from police body camera, the police unit’s dashcam, a cell phone and a home surveillance system, which show the police officer’s encounter with Lyoya, including two clips showing the fatal shot. Lyoya was pulled over for an allegedly unregistered license plate when he got out of the car and ran. He resisted the officer’s attempt to arrest him and was shot while struggling with the officer on the ground.

    April 19, 2022 – An autopsy commissioned by Lyoya’s family shows the 26-year-old was shot in the back of the head following the April 4 encounter with a Grand Rapids police officer, attorneys representing the family announce. The officer has not been publicly identified.

    April 21, 2022 – Michigan state officials ask the US Department of Justice to launch a “pattern-or-practice” investigation into the Grand Rapids Police Department after the death of Lyoya.

    April 25, 2022 – The chief of Grand Rapids police identifies Christopher Schurr as the officer who fatally shot Lyoya.

    June 9 ,2022 – Schurr is charged with one count of second-degree murder in the death of Lyoya. Benjamin Crump. the Lyoya family attorney says in a statement, “we are encouraged by attorney Christopher Becker’s decision to charge Schurr for the brutal killing of Patrick Lyoya, which we all witnessed when the video footage was released to the public.” On June 10, 2022, Schurr pleads not guilty.

    January 7, 2023 – Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, is hospitalized following a traffic stop that lead to a violent arrest. Nichols dies three days later from injuries sustained, according to police.

    January 15, 2023 – The Memphis Police Department announces they immediately launched an investigation into the action of officers involved in the arrest of Nichols.

    January 18, 2023 – The Department of Justice says a civil rights investigation has been opened into the death of Nichols.

    January 20, 2023 – The five officers are named and fired: Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith.

    January 23, 2023 – Nichols’ family and their attorneys view police video of the arrest.

    January 26, 2023 – A grand jury indicts the five police officers. They are 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.

    January 27, 2023 – The city of Memphis releases body camera and surveillance video of the the traffic stop and beating that led to the Nichols’ death.

    January 30, 2023 – Memphis police say two additional officers have been placed on leave. Only one officer is identified, Preston Hemphill. Additionally, the Memphis Fire Department announces three employees have been fired over their response to the incident: emergency medical technicians Robert Long and JaMichael Sandridge and Lt. Michelle Whitaker.

    May 4, 2023 – The Shelby County medical examiner’s report shows that Nichols died from blunt force trauma to the head. His death has been ruled a homicide.

    September 12, 2023 – The five police officers involved are indicted by a federal grand jury on several charges including deprivation of rights.

    November 2, 2023 – Desmond Mills Jr., one of the five former Memphis police officers accused in the death of Nichols, pleads guilty to federal charges and agrees to plead guilty to related state charges as part of a plea deal with prosecutors.

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  • Lionel Messi Fast Facts | CNN

    Lionel Messi Fast Facts | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Here is a look at the life of soccer player Lionel “Leo” Messi, who plays for Argentina’s national team and Major League Soccer (MLS) club Inter Miami.

    Birth date: June 24, 1987

    Birth place: Rosario, Argentina

    Birth name: Lionel Andrés Messi

    Father: Jorge Messi, factory worker

    Mother: Celia Cuccittini de Messi

    Marriage: Antonela Roccuzzo (June 30, 2017-present)

    Children: Ciro, Mateo and Thiago

    As a young boy, Messi was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency. At age 13, he signed with Futbol Club Barcelona and moved to Spain. As part of the contract, FC Barcelona agreed to pay for Messi’s hormone treatments.

    All-time leading scorer of FC Barcelona and Spanish soccer league La Liga.

    Winner of the Ballon d’Or, or footballer of the year, a record eight times: a record four consecutive years (2009-2012) and again for 2015, 2019, 2021 and 2023.

    Won the European Golden Shoe award six times: 2009-10, 2011-12, 2012-13, 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19.

    1995-2000 – Plays for the local club team, Newell’s Old Boys, in Rosario, Argentina.

    2000-2003 – Signs with FC Barcelona and works his way up through Barca’s youth squads.

    November 16, 2003 – Makes his team debut, as a replacement in a friendly match against FC Porto.

    October 16, 2004 – Makes his official debut for FC Barcelona against Espanyol. Barca wins 1-0.

    2007 – Establishes the Leo Messi Foundation, working to improve access to education and health care for children.

    August 2008 – Leads Argentina’s soccer team to a gold medal at the Summer Olympics in Beijing.

    March 11, 2010 – Messi is announced as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.

    2011-2012 season – Sets the all-time record for most goals scored in a single season for a major European football league, with 73 goals.

    June 2013 – Prosecutors in Barcelona file tax fraud charges against Messi and his father for the period between 2007 and 2009. The complaint alleges that Messi and his father, aiming to lower their Spanish tax bill, sought to manage the player’s lucrative income from image rights through shell companies set up overseas. Messi denies all allegations of wrongdoing.

    June 25, 2013 – Prosecutors in Barcelona tell CNN that Messi paid €10 million ($13 million) in taxes to cover the tax period 2010-2011, but efforts to prosecute him for alleged tax fraud from 2007 to 2009 are still ongoing.

    August 14, 2013 – Messi and his father, Jorge Messi, make a “reparatory” payment of €5 million ($6.6 million) to Spanish authorities for allegedly committing tax fraud between 2007 and 2009.

    September 27, 2013 – Messi and his father testify in a Barcelona court in a preliminary hearing over allegations they defrauded Spanish tax authorities of more than $5 million.

    March 16, 2014 – Scores a hat-trick (three goals during a game), to become FC Barcelona’s all-time leading scorer with 371 goals, eclipsing the record set by Paulino Alcantara, who scored 369 goals.

    May 2014 – Signs a new contract with FC Barcelona for a reported annual net of €20 million ($27 million).

    June 2014 – A Spanish state prosecutor asks the judge to drop the tax fraud charges against Messi, but not his father.

    July 13, 2014 – Messi wins the Golden Ball award for the best player of the World Cup tournament.

    July 28, 2014 – A judge rules that the tax fraud case against Messi and his father will proceed, despite the Spanish state prosecutor’s June request that the charges against Messi be dropped.

    November 22, 2014 – Messi scores a hat-trick to become the Spanish league’s all-time leading goalscorer with 253 goals, surpassing Telmo Zarra’s previous record of 251 goals.

    October 8, 2015 – A Spanish court rules that Messi and his father will stand trial for tax fraud charges.

    May 31, 2016 – The tax fraud trial begins for Messi and his father.

    June 27, 2016 – Says he probably will retire from international soccer after Argentina loses the Copa America final to Chile on penalties.

    July 6, 2016 – A Barcelona court fines Messi €2 million ($2.3 million), and sentences him to 21 months in prison for tax fraud. The Spanish courts reduces Messi’s prison sentence to an additional fine of €252,000 ($287,000) in July 2017.

    August 12, 2016 – Messi announces that he will play for Argentina once again, having stated in June that he would retire from international soccer.

    July 5, 2017 – Barcelona and Messi announce a contract extension that will keep Messi at Barca until June 30, 2021, and is reportedly worth €565,000 ($645,000) a week.

    January 13, 2019 – Scores his 400th Spanish league goal in his 435th appearance, extending his record as La Liga’s all-time top scorer. Messi is the first player to score 400 times in any of Europe’s “big five” leagues.

    August 2, 2019 – Messi is banned from all competition for three months and fined $50,000 by the CONMEBOL Disciplinary Court. The punishment comes after Messi accused South American football’s governing body of corruption, suggesting the 2019 Copa America was rigged in favor of hosts Brazil.

    August 5, 2021 – Messi is leaving FC Barcelona, according to a statement from the club.

    August 10, 2021 – French club Paris Saint-Germain announces signing Messi to a two-year contract with an option of extending for a third year.

    January 2, 2022 – In a statement, Paris Saint-Germain announces Messi is one of four players of the French club to have tested positive for Covid-19. The other three players are Juan Bernat, Sergio Rico and Nathan Bitumazala.

    May 30, 2022 – Speaks about his struggle to recover from Covid-19 after testing positive in January. He missed three matches: two in Ligue 1 and one in the French Cup. “It left me with after effects. It left me with after effects in my lungs. I came back and it was like a month and a half without even being able to run because my lungs were affected.”

    December 18, 2022 – Argentina defeats France to win the World Cup. Messi, playing in his fifth and final World Cup, scores twice. Later, Messi wins his second Golden Ball award.

    June 7, 2023 – Messi says he’s going to join the MLS club Inter Miami. “I made the decision that I am going to Miami. I still haven’t closed it one hundred percent. I’m missing some things but we decided to continue my journey there,” he says in an interview posted by Spanish outlets SPORT and Mundo Deportivo. On July 21, he makes his debut with the club.

    August 19, 2023 – Messi scores to lead Inter Miami past Nashville FC in a penalty kick shootout to capture the Leagues Cup title and score the club’s first trophy.

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  • She lost her mother to gun violence. 5 years later, this vibrant fourth grader was killed while getting ice cream | CNN

    She lost her mother to gun violence. 5 years later, this vibrant fourth grader was killed while getting ice cream | CNN

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    Editor’s Note: This story is part of a series profiling American youth killed this year by guns, a leading cause of death of children in the US. Read more about the project here.



    CNN
     — 

    Every morning since the school year started, before teacher assistant Madelyn Cedeno shuts the front door of Peter A. Reinberg Elementary School at the start of classes, she peers out one last time.

    She hopes she’ll see Serabi Medina running late, with her playful smile, her big red hair flying and her father trailing just behind her. The teacher and student first bonded over their ginger hair when Serabi began kindergarten four years ago. “She just reminded me of me at her age with that color hair,” Cedeno said. “I pretty much told her, ‘All of us gingers around the world, we stick together in any kind of weather, so you and I are stuck together forever.’”

    “We were the gingers of Reinberg,” she said.

    The two often chatted in the school hallways and in the mornings, when Cedeno stood outside the school to greet students. And every day, before Serabi walked into school, she would tell Cedeno she loved her.

    They saw each other again in early August, after Serabi had finished a summer class she took before she was set to start fourth grade. Cedeno told her the upcoming school year would be fantastic. They hugged and said goodbye with their special, signature wave.

    Less than a week later, the vibrant 9-year-old was shot and killed, allegedly by a neighbor, in front of her Chicago home – one of at least 1,400 children and teens killed by a firearm so far in 2023, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Firearms became the No. 1 killer of children and teens in America in 2020, surpassing motor vehicle accidents, which had long been the leading cause of death among America’s youth, federal data shows.

    Serabi had been riding her scooter and had just returned from a nearby ice cream truck carrying two ice-creams: one for herself and one for her dad, who was outside with her. As she reached the door of their apartment building, authorities say neighbor Michael Goodman approached her and fired his gun, fatally striking Serabi in the head.

    He has pleaded not guilty and is being held without bond on first-degree murder charges. Goodman’s public defender, Kathryn Lisco, told CNN Goodman has been “plagued by debilitating and documented mental health issues over the course of his life.”

    “The real question we should be asking is why, despite Michael Goodman’s mental health history was he ever able to legally obtain a gun?” Lisco said.

    At every court hearing, Serabi’s family has been there, waiting for justice. It’s been rough, her father says. But that doesn’t even begin to describe it: Serabi was his “light,” the little girl he had devoted his life to after his partner, Serabi’s mom, was shot and killed five years ago right in front of their eyes. Chicago police say that investigation is ongoing, and no suspect is in custody.

    “Once I lost her mom, I lost half of myself, so my focus was all on my daughter,” Michael Medina told CNN in a recent interview.

    “She was just a beautiful girl, my light. She was my life.”

    Braids and press-on nails

    Even for those who knew her best, putting Serabi into words isn’t easy: She was unstoppable.

    Serabi was always happy, always active. She was a dodgeball champion, a YouTube enthusiast, an animal lover. She didn’t shy away from saying hello to strangers.

    “She was full of life,” her cousin, Jaleesa Medina, 29, said. “She wouldn’t need music to dance.” She loved to dress up during Halloween – last year, she dressed up in a Ghostbusters theme, her cousin recalled.

    Serabi is seen here with her cousin, Jaleesa Medina, in an undated picture.

    And she was creative, often putting press-on nails and pouring time into braiding her hair and coming up with new hairstyles, her father recalled. She’d often ask Medina for help, directing him to hold one braid as she worked on another. “Daddy, just do it, you can do it, don’t worry,” she’d encourage him.

    Serabi was fearless, never afraid to learn something new or stand up to someone decades older than her when she felt picked on. She was always cracking jokes to make others laugh, and often enjoyed sassy exchanges with family members, they said. At school, even the eighth graders knew her, her father says, and she was always trying to be “a comedian.”

    “She walked in the room with a big smile on her face and everyone just kind of turned and looked,” her principal, Edwin Loch, said.

    Five days after her death, Loch helped organize a candlelight service in her honor. He asked everyone to wear purple, her favorite color. More than a hundred people gathered to say goodbye.

    “She was never mean to anybody, always wanted to be the person that got people together, and have fun,” Loch recalled. “She just wanted to live.”

    Serabi Medina's favorite color was purple, her family said.

    To John Hogue Jr., her half-brother, Serabi was, first and foremost, his “baby sister.”

    John, 16, was the second person to ever hold her when she was born. He fed her when she was a baby, rocked her to sleep and watched cartoons like “Paw Patrol” and Barbie, just to spend time with her. When their mom, Blanca Miranda, was still alive, the three of them would often go to water parks and the movies.

    He had felt excited, he told CNN, to be a big brother to Serabi and wanted to take care of her. But often, it felt like she took care of him, he said.

    “She was always caring, and if something happened, she’d be there and help me talk,” John, a high school junior, said. “She’d talk like a grown-up, she was loving like a grown-up.”

    Serabi with her mother, Blanca, and brother, John, seen in an undated picture.

    It’s something many of her loved ones point out: Despite her young age, Serabi always seemed wise beyond her years, and quick to offer words of comfort to those who needed it most, though she was hurting from her own loss. Serabi saw her mother’s fatal shooting, alongside John and her father, when she was just 4 years old.

    “I don’t know if it was like a little sister feeling that she would get inside, but it seemed at times when I’d be hurting the most, she would reach out and say, ‘Hey, I love you,’” Serabi’s half-sister, Lacey Tatro, said. The two hadn’t seen each other in years but would video call almost every night. “That was my best friend,” Tatro said.

    After her mother’s killing, Serabi would also often console her aunt Juanita Miranda, Blanca’s sister. “Mommy’s okay,” Serabi would remind her, urging her not to cry.

    More about Serabi

  • She was shot and killed on August 5, 2023
  • She was 9 years old and preparing for fourth grade
  • Her neighbor, Michael Goodman, has been charged with murder and is expected again in court on December 6, according to jail records.
  • A verified GoFundMe has been set up for her family
  • Online, her family uses #justiceforSerabi for updates in the case

“She raised us,” Miranda said. “She taught me to be strong in a lot of ways, no matter what. And she still teaches me to this day.”

The two shared a special bond, Miranda said, since the very moment Serabi was born. “She came out with her eyes open, and I’ll never forget that,” she said of that moment. “She was just open to the world. She was my baby before I even had a daughter.”

Together, they made YouTube videos that never got posted, did internet challenges, and regularly ordered their favorite drink: iced coffee, extra caramel. Three days before Serabi was killed, she spent the night with her aunt, and they ate snacks, scrolled through TikToks and watched the Barbie movie.

Her niece’s loss, Miranda says, has left her deeply traumatized. But she’s determined to join other family members in court once the trial in Serabi’s killing begins. “I just want to know why,” Miranda said.

At school, faculty members are preparing to dedicate a permanent memorial on the campus Serabi once roamed. The past two months have been very difficult, Cedeno says.

“Her reminder, her presence is very, very strong,” she said. Mornings are the toughest.

At home, Medina misses his daughter’s voice, the brief arguments they’d share in the morning as they got ready to start the day, their walks to school, their bike rides in the evenings. Since losing her mother, Serabi and her father had become inseparable. Even when he spent time fixing cars in their garage during the frigid Chicago winters, Serabi was there, passing him the tools.

Serabi, left, and her father, Michael Medina.

“My baby was always with me,” Medina said. “That’s why I’m so lost now.”

After she died, Serabi was laid to rest with her mother.

John said he promised her he’d visit every weekend, but the visits are devastating reminders of the two losses the teen has suffered in the past five years: his mom, and his only little sister.

“When I go over there, I cry,” he said. “I just think about the times me and her had together.”

“She always loved me, her big brother.”

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  • Iran Hostage Crisis Fast Facts | CNN

    Iran Hostage Crisis Fast Facts | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Here’s a look at the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, in which 52 US citizens were held captive for 444 days.

    1978 – Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi’s authoritarian rule sparks demonstrations and riots.

    January 16, 1979 – The Shah flees Iran and goes to Egypt.

    February 1, 1979 – Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returns to Iran, after 14 years in exile, to lead the country.

    October 22, 1979 – The Shah is allowed to enter the United States to receive medical treatment for cancer.

    November 4, 1979 – Iranian students demonstrating outside of the US embassy in Tehran storm the embassy and take 90 people hostage including 66 Americans. The students demand the extradition of the Shah from the United States. Ayatollah Khomeini issues a statement of support for the students’ actions.

    November 5, 1979 – The Iranian government cancels military treaties with the US and the Soviet Union, treaties that would permit US or Soviet military intervention.

    November 6, 1979 – Premier Mehdi Bazargan and his government resign, leaving Ayatollah Khomeini and the Revolutionary Council in power.

    November 7, 1979 – US President Jimmy Carter sends former Attorney General Ramsey Clark and Senate Intelligence Committee staff director William Miller to Iran to negotiate the release of the hostages. Ayatollah Khomeini refuses to meet with them.

    November 14, 1979 – Carter orders Iranian assets in US banks frozen.

    November 17, 1979 – Khomeini orders the release of female and African-American hostages. They are released November 19 and 20, bringing the total number of US hostages to 53.

    December 4, 1979 – The United Nations Security Council passes a resolution calling for Iran to release the hostages.

    December 15, 1979 – The Shah leaves the United States for Panama.

    January 28, 1980 – Six American embassy employees, who avoided capture and hid in the homes of Canadian Embassy officers, flee Iran. In 1997 it is revealed that, along with the Canadian government, the CIA made the escape possible.

    March 1980 – The Shah returns to Egypt.

    April 7, 1980 – President Carter cuts diplomatic ties with Iran, announcing further sanctions and ordering all Iranian diplomats to leave the United States.

    April 25, 1980 – Eight US servicemen are killed when a helicopter and a transport plane collide during a failed attempt to rescue the hostages.

    July 11, 1980 – Another hostage is released due to illness. The total number of US hostages is now 52.

    July 27, 1980 – The Shah dies of cancer in Egypt.

    September 12, 1980 – Ayatollah Khomeini sets new terms for the hostages’ release, including the return of the late Shah’s wealth and the unfreezing of Iranian assets.

    November 1980-January 1981 – Deputy Secretary of State Warren Christopher and his delegation work through mediators in Algeria to negotiate the release of the hostages.

    January 19, 1981 – The United States and Iran sign an agreement to release the hostages and unfreeze Iranian assets.

    January 20, 1981 – The remaining 52 US hostages are released and flown to Wiesbaden Air Base in Germany.

    December 18, 2015 – Congress passes a budget bill that includes a provision authorizing each of the 53 hostages to receive $10,000 for each day they were held captive. In addition, spouses and children will separately receive a one-time payment of $600,000.

    November 19, 2019 – The act is amended to include victims of the September 11 terror attacks, reducing the amount of available funds to compensate the former hostages.

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  • Judges Targeted Fast Facts | CNN

    Judges Targeted Fast Facts | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Here’s a look at notable cases in which US judges have been targets of lethal violence. Three federal judges were targeted and murdered from 1979 to present, Judge John Wood, Judge Richard Daronco and Judge Robert Vance, as well as several judges from lower courts.

    The US Marshals Service is in charge of protecting federal judges.

    The Marshals Service protects approximately 2,700 federal judges and about 30,300 other court officials at 888 court facilities throughout the nation.

    2022 – 1,362 threats and inappropriate communications against the judiciary assessed by the Marshals.

    2021 – 4,511 threats and inappropriate communications against the judiciary assessed by the Marshals.

    2020 – 4,261 threats and inappropriate communications against the judiciary assessed by the Marshals.

    2019 – 4,449 threats and inappropriate communications against the judiciary assessed by the Marshals.

    2018 – 4,542 threats and inappropriate communications against the judiciary assessed by the Marshals.

    2017 – 2,847 threats and inappropriate communications against the judiciary assessed by the Marshals.

    2016 – 2,357 threats and inappropriate communications against the judiciary assessed by the Marshals.

    2015 – 926 threats and inappropriate communications against the judiciary assessed, mitigated and deterred by the Marshals.

    2014 – 768 threats and inappropriate communications against the judiciary assessed, mitigated and deterred by the Marshals.

    June 3, 1974 – Washington state Superior Court Judge James Lawless is killed by a mail bomb in his chambers. Ricky Anthony Young is convicted of the crime.

    May 29, 1979 – US District Judge John Wood is killed by a contract killer allegedly tied to a drug-smuggling case the judge is handling. Three members of the Chagra family are later convicted of conspiring to kill Wood. One of the Chagras had been scheduled to appear before Judge Wood in the drug smuggling case.

    1983 – Illinois Judge Henry Gentile is shot and killed in his courtroom by a man whose divorce case is being handled by Judge Gentile. The man had hidden the gun used in a blanket in his wheelchair.

    March 20, 1987 – Joel Cacace, of the Columbo crime family, hires hitmen to kill federal prosecutor William Aronwald. By mistake they tail Aronwald’s father, George, a 78-year-old city administrative law judge who shares an office with his son. They kill Aronwald when he stops to pick up his laundry.

    September 14, 1987 – Mississippi Circuit Judge Vincent Sherry and his wife Margaret are killed in their home. The murders are tied to a prison scam run by former Biloxi Mayor Pete Halat who shared a law office with Sherry. Prosecutors say Halat believed the Sherrys may have taken some of the scam profits for themselves.

    May 21, 1988 – US District Judge Richard Daronco is shot and killed at his home in Pelham, New York, by a man upset over Daronco’s dismissal of the man’s daughter’s sexual discrimination suit.

    1989 – Federal Appeals Court Judge Robert Vance is killed in his home in Birmingham, Alabama, when he opens a mail bomb. Walter Leroy Moody Jr. is convicted of the death of Vance and attorney Robert Robinson. Prosecutors allege Moody sent the mail bombs out of anger over his conviction in 1972 for possessing a mail bomb.

    March 18, 1999 – Los Angeles County Court Commissioner H. George Taylor and his wife Lynda Taylor are shot and killed at their home in Rancho Cucamonga, California. Investigators believe the shootings are “court-related” but the case remains unsolved.

    February 28, 2005 – The husband and mother of US District Court Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow are shot to death inside the Lefkows’ Chicago home. A former plaintiff whose case had been dismissed by Judge Lefkow claims credit for the murder in a suicide note.

    March 11, 2005 – Atlanta Judge Rowland Barnes and three others are fatally shot when Brian Nichols escapes custody while being escorted to Barnes’ courtroom to face a second trial on rape charges. Nichols went to Judge Barnes’ private chambers in the Fulton County courthouse and asked for him before entering Barnes’ courtroom and fatally shooting the judge and court reporter.

    August 21, 2017 – Common Pleas Judge Joseph J. Bruzzese Jr. is ambushed and shot outside the Jefferson County Courthouse in Steubenville, Ohio. Bruzzese and an accompanying probation officer returned fire, killing the assailant. According to public court records, the suspect, Nate Richmond, is a plaintiff in a wrongful death case overseen by Bruzzese.

    July 19, 2020 – A man wearing a FedEx uniform opens fire at the home of US District Court Judge Esther Salas. The suspected gunman, a hate-filled men’s rights attorney who had argued a case before Judge Salas, kills her son and seriously wounds her husband, Mark Anderl, when they open the door. The next day, law enforcement officials report the gunman died from self-inflicted wounds. Two weeks after the shooting, Judge Salas calls for greater privacy protections for judges.

    June 3, 2022 – Former Juneau County Circuit Court Judge John Roemer, 68, is killed in a New Lisbon, Wisconsin, home, in a targeted attack. The suspect, identified as Douglas K. Uhde, was found in the basement of the home with an “apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound,” and died four days later in the hospital. It was later revealed that Uhde had been sentenced to prison by Roemer more than 15 years ago, court documents show.

    October 19, 2023 – Washington County Circuit Judge Andrew Wilkinson is fatally shot in his driveway by a suspect Wilkinson ruled against in a child custody case.

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  • Three generations of women under one roof raised an outgoing, curious boy. They’ll never see him graduate from high school | CNN

    Three generations of women under one roof raised an outgoing, curious boy. They’ll never see him graduate from high school | CNN

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    Editor’s Note: This story is part of a series profiling American youth killed this year by guns, a leading cause of death of children in the US. Read more about the project here.



    CNN
     — 

    “Hi Grandson, I started grief counseling today, I need to do this to help me with why you are not here, I yearn for you sooooooo much.”

    “Hi Grandson, I know you said YaYa don’t cry, but I am crying Bryson because my heart hurts so much for you, I miss you like crazy, I am so sad that you are not here.”

    “Hi Grandson, YaYa is fighting for you, because you did not deserve what has happened to you.”

    Erica Colbert texts her grandson, Bryson Hudson, almost every day. She gives him updates about his mother, Katika Travis, and younger brother, Drake. She tells him how she talks about him to everybody. She tells him he is her “everything.”

    The curious, rambunctious child was raised by his mother, his grandmother and great-grandmother, Colbert’s mother. When 19-year-old Travis learned she was pregnant with Bryson, her firstborn, the three generations of women were living under the same roof in Baltimore.

    The moment she laid eyes on her grandson, Colbert said he changed her life.

    She said they showered their outgoing boy with love and affection, instilled in him an infectious sense of humor, taught him and nurtured him from his birth to his senseless, violent death this year.

    “He was very much the light of where he stepped,” Colbert said.

    But now, Colbert spends her days trying to answer the “whys” surrounding her grandson’s killing, she said. She won’t see Bryson graduate from high school; she won’t see him have a girlfriend, wife, or children.

    He will always be 16 years old, Colbert said.

    On August 14, two months after his 16th birthday, Bryson was killed in the East Baltimore neighborhood where he grew up. He was two blocks from home when he was shot multiple times in broad daylight.

    Bryson was pronounced dead roughly 11 minutes after arriving at the hospital, according to his grandmother.

    His death came just two weeks before he would have started his junior year at Digital Harbor High School, a Baltimore City public college preparatory high school for students who desire to pursue a technology career. His mother had been planning to surprise him with driving lessons soon, Colbert said. Bryson had told his family he wanted to travel the country after graduation.

    Christopher McLean, 28, was charged in September with first- and second-degree murder in Bryson’s killing and faces additional charges related to the shooting, including first-degree assault and attempted murder, state charging documents show. Robert D. Cole, an attorney for McLean, declined to comment on his client’s behalf when contacted by CNN.

    A 28-year-old man was also wounded in the shooting, police said. It’s unclear whether Bryson was a bystander or targeted.

    More about Bryson

  • Died August 14
  • Shot by a 28-year-old suspect on the 900 Block of North Broadway in northeast Baltimore, near his home, police said.
  • The suspect, Christopher McLean, is scheduled to be arraigned on November 2, according to the office of the state’s attorney for Baltimore City.

    • Bryson is among at least 1,400 children and teens killed by a gun so far in 2023, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Firearms became the No. 1 killer of children and teens in America in 2020, surpassing motor vehicle accidents, which had long been the leading cause of death among America’s youth.

    Read other profiles of children who’ve died from gunfire

    “He should be looking at my death certificate, not me looking at his death certificate that says he died from multiple gunshot wounds,” Colbert said through tears. “That should not be a reality.”

    The grandmother winces every time she hears the phrase, “He was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

    “Where was he supposed to be? Are all of us in the wrong place at the wrong time? He wasn’t in the wrong place. He was in his neighborhood,” she said.

    Bryson Hudson, as a child, playing the flute.

    Bryson loved to make jokes, his grandmother said, often causing belly-laughs just by being himself. His outgoing spirit and warmth helped even shyer children open up around him.

    He also loved to dance, Colbert said, and they danced together often.

    But she misses his deep, full-bodied laughter the most.

    “I just want to hear him laugh. He had such a unique laugh and we used to have such a good time,” his grandmother said.

    Bryson was also interested in fashion and liked to dress in his own way. He was known for his hair, Colbert said, so much so that his friends would tell her, “You know, YaYa, everybody wants to get their hair just like Bryson’s.”

    But most of all, Bryson had a “heart of gold.”

    Bryson Hudson

    Colbert laughed when she recalled his 15th birthday, when he asked her for a Louis Vuitton belt as a gift. Though it was expensive, she bought it for him anyway.

    Then, one day, she noticed Bryson’s friend wearing a very similar belt.

    “‘Your friend got a belt like yours?’” Colbert recalled asking Bryson at the time. “He said, ‘Oh no, YaYa, I just let him use it. We borrow each other’s things.’”

    “Anything he did – if he had $10, he was going to give a friend five,” she said.

    Bryson’s friends are devastated by his loss, Colbert said. They grew up together and never missed the chance to celebrate each other’s milestones. As kids, they played football. As teens, they rapped and made music videos.

    “He was definitely the light. His friends, everyone came around him,” Colbert added. “I could see my daughter’s house was the house that all the kids migrated to.”

    But no one came between Bryson and his 12-year-old brother, Drake. Colbert described them as “two peas in a pod,” constantly playing, bickering and teasing each other.

    Drake misses his brother, and it shows, she said.

    Bryson Hudson, right, and his younger brother, Drake.

    At the start of the school year, his mother bought Drake a new pair of shoes. But he chose to wear Bryson’s sneakers to school instead, even though they were a size too big.

    “Anything he can still wear of Bryson’s, he’s wearing it,” Colbert said.

    Gun violence is an epidemic in the US. Here are 4 things you can do today

    Along with his younger brother, Bryson was especially close to his great-grandmother. One of the hardest moments in his young life, Colbert recalled, was when his “Granny” died. Bryson was 13 at the time.

    They had a special bond, communicating often and effortlessly, despite their wide age gap, Colbert said of her grandson and mother. When the family all came together, the pair were always laughing and whispering to each other, Colbert said.

    “It would just be them wanting to get a reaction from you,” she said. “Because my mom was a jokester, she always wanted laughter. She always felt like something was funny to laugh at, so she definitely passed that on to him and he carried it well.”

    In her texts now to her grandson, Colbert tells Bryson she often thinks about him reuniting with his Granny.

    “I want you here, but I feel Granny has you in her arms, Bryson you are my heart and not having you here my heart is broken.”

    “I miss you Grandson #1, wyd? Are you and Granny whispering?”

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  • David Petraeus Fast Facts | CNN

    David Petraeus Fast Facts | CNN

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    Here is a look at the life of David Petraeus, former director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

    Birth date: November 7, 1952

    Birth place: Cornwall, New York

    Birth name: David Howell Petraeus

    Father: Sixtus Petraeus, Danish-born sea captain

    Mother: Miriam (Howell) Petraeus

    Marriage: Hollister “Holly” Knowlton (July 6, 1974-present)

    Children: Anne and Stephen

    Education: US Military Academy – West Point, B.S., 1974; Princeton University, M.P.A., International Relations, 1985; Princeton University, Ph.D., International Relations, 1987

    Military: US Army, 1974-2011, four-star general

    Growing up in Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York, friends nicknamed Petraeus “Peaches.”

    1974 – Is commissioned as an infantry officer in the US Army upon graduation from West Point.

    1975-1979 – Platoon leader, adjutant, 1st Battalion, 509th Airborne Battalion Combat Team in Vicenza, Italy.

    1979-1982 – Commander, then aide de camp, 24th Infantry Division (Mechanized) at Fort Stewart, Georgia.

    1985-1987 – Instructor, then Assistant Professor of Social Sciences, US Military Academy at West Point.

    1987-1988 – Military Assistant to the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, NATO, Brussels, Belgium.

    1989 – Serves as aide to the Army’s chief of staff.

    1991 – Is shot in the chest during a training exercise at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

    1991-1993 – Commander, 3rd Battalion of the 187th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division.

    1995-1997 – Commander, 1st Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division.

    2000 – Breaks his pelvis during a parachute jump.

    2000-2001 – Chief of staff, XVIII Airborne Corps., US Army, Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

    2000 – Is promoted to brigadier (one star) general.

    2001-2002 – Serves in Bosnia as the assistant chief of staff for military operations of the NATO Stabilization Force.

    2002-2004 – Commanding general of the 101st Airborne Division US Army, Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

    March 2003 – Leads troops into battle as commander of the 101st Airborne Division during the US-led invasion of Iraq.

    June 2004-September 2005 – Commander of the Multinational Security Transition Command in Iraq.

    October 2005-2007 – Commanding general of the Combined Arms Center, US Army, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

    February 2007-September 2008 – Commander of all coalition forces in Iraq.

    October 31, 2008-July 4, 2010 – Commander in Chief of Central Command.

    October 6, 2009 – Announces that he was diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer and underwent two months of radiation treatment.

    June 15, 2010 – Becomes “a little lightheaded” and faints while testifying at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.

    July 4, 2010-July 18, 2011 – Commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan.

    April 28, 2011 – Nominated by President Barack Obama to replace Leon Panetta as CIA director.

    June 30, 2011 – Unanimously confirmed by the US Senate as the next director of the CIA.

    July 18, 2011 – Petraeus turns over command of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan to Gen. John R. Allen.

    August 31, 2011 – Retires from the Army.

    September 6, 2011 – Petraeus is sworn in as the new director of the CIA.

    November 9, 2012 – Petraeus submits his resignation to President Obama, citing personal reasons and admits he had an extramarital affair.

    March 27, 2013 – Publicly apologizes for his extramarital affair during a speech at the University of Southern California.

    May 30, 2013 – It is announced that Petraeus has joined private equity firm KKR as the chairman of a new global institute.

    July 1, 2013 – Joins the University of Southern California faculty as a Judge Widney Professor, “a title reserved for eminent individuals from the arts, sciences, professions, business, and community and national leadership.”

    January 9, 2015 – A federal law enforcement official tells CNN that Justice Department prosecutors are recommending charges be filed against Petraeus for disclosure of classified information to his former lover Paula Broadwell who was working on a book with Petraeus at the time.

    March 3, 2015 – Pleads guilty to one federal charge of removing and retaining classified information as part of a plea deal. According to court documents, Petraeus admitted removing several so-called black books – notebooks in which he kept classified and non-classified information from his tenure as the commander of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan – and giving them to Broadwell.

    March 16, 2015 – White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest confirms that the National Security Council and the Obama administration have consulted with Petraeus on matters related to Iraq and ISIS.

    April 23, 2015 – Petraeus is sentenced to serve two years probation and fined $100,000 for sharing classified information with his biographer and lover, Broadwell. Prosecutors agree to not send him to jail because the classified information was never released to the public or published in the biography.

    September 22, 2015 – Petraeus speaks before the Senate Armed Services Committee regarding the US’s Middle East policy. He begins this, his first public hearing since his resignation, with a formal apology for the indiscretions that led to his resignation.

    June 10, 2016 – Along with retired NASA astronaut Mark Kelly, announces that they are launching Veterans Coalition for Common Sense to encourage elected leaders to “do more to prevent gun tragedies.”

    June 12, 2019 – The University of Birmingham announces that Petraeus has accepted an honorary professorship in the Institute for Conflict, Cooperation and Security. The three-year position begins immediately.

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  • Here’s what we know about the suspect in the Maine mass shooting | CNN

    Here’s what we know about the suspect in the Maine mass shooting | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    The suspect in the Maine mass shooting started making statements about hearing voices and wanting to hurt fellow soldiers while serving at a military base this summer, and spent a few weeks in a hospital, law enforcement officials told CNN.

    But a relative of the suspect and two former colleagues in the Army Reserve told CNN they weren’t aware of him having any longstanding history of mental health issues – although one former colleague remembered him as a skilled marksman and outdoorsman who was among the best shooters in his unit.

    Robert R. Card II, who police are searching for in connection with the fatal shooting of at least 18 people in Lewiston, Maine, made his troubling statements while he was at the Camp Smith training facility in New York, the law enforcement officials said. His command referred him to a military hospital, and he spent a few weeks under evaluation, they said.

    In July, Army Reserve officials reported Card for “behaving erratically,” and he was transported to the nearby Keller Army Community Hospital at the United States Military Academy for “medical evaluation,” a National Guard spokesman told CNN.

    “Out of concern for his safety, the unit requested that law enforcement be contacted,” said the spokesperson, Col. Richard Goldenberg. New York State Police responded and transported Card to the hospital, he said.

    Card then spent a few weeks under evaluation at the hospital, the law enforcement officials said.

    The 40-year-old Card also threatened to shoot up a National Guard base in Maine, law enforcement officials previously told CNN.

    Card’s sister-in-law, Katie O’Neill, said in a brief conversation with CNN Thursday that Card does not have a long history of mental health struggles.

    “This is something that was an acute episode. This is not who he is,” O’Neill said. “He is not someone who has had mental health issues for his lifetime or anything like that.”

    Except for an arrest in 2007 for an alleged driving under the influence charge, the suspect is not known to ATF or in FBI holdings, according to law enforcement sources. He legally possesses multiple weapons and owns a home on hundreds of acres of land in Maine, the sources said.

    Card is a petroleum supply specialist in the Army Reserve and first enlisted in 2002, according to records provided by the Army on Thursday. He has no combat deployments, according to the records. 

    Clifford Steeves of Massachusetts told CNN he knew Card when they served in the Army Reserve together, starting in the early 2000s until about a decade ago. He said he never witnessed any concerning behavior from Card.

    “He was a very nice guy – very quiet. He never overused his authority or was mean or rude to other soldiers,” Steeves said. “It’s really upsetting.”

    Steeves said the two served together around the country at different points, including in Wisconsin, Georgia and New York. He said he felt as though he “grew up” with Card because they entered the Army as young men and trained together. 

    Steeves said that while “aggressive leadership was very prominent” in the Army, Card stuck out for being a “rational, understanding person” who “led through respect rather than fear.”

     Steeves said Card never saw combat but had extensive training, including firearms training and land navigation, “so he would be very comfortable in the woods.” He described Card as an “outdoors type of guy” and a skilled marksman who was one of the best shooters in his unit.

    Another former Army Reserve member who served with Card also described him as a “nice guy” who “never had an issue with anybody.” The servicemember, who asked to speak anonymously due to the sensitivity of the situation, did not recall Card showing any kind of violent behavior.

    Card studied engineering technology at the University of Maine between 2001 and 2004 but did not graduate, Eric Gordon, a university spokesperson, told CNN. 

    Public records show addresses for Card in Bowdoin, Maine, a town near Lewiston. Card appears to have been a member of a local horseshoe-throwing club in the nearby town of Lisbon, Maine, according to a local news story and a Facebook photo that showed him wearing a t-shirt with the club’s logo.  

    An account on the social media platform X with Card’s name and a photo that appears to be him, which has been taken offline, had a history of liking right-wing and Republican political content. 

    When WNBA player Brittney Griner was released from Russian detention after a prisoner exchange for a convicted arms dealer, the account posted what appeared to be its only tweet. Responding to a CNBC story about the topic, the account wrote: “Mass murderer for a wnba player great job keep up the good work,” in an apparent jab at President Joe Biden.

    The account liked a tweet earlier this year from right-wing author and filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza arguing against an assault weapons ban, as well as other tweets from political figures like Donald Trump Jr. and Tucker Carlson.  

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  • Jonathan Majors’ accuser arrested in New York, won’t be prosecuted | CNN

    Jonathan Majors’ accuser arrested in New York, won’t be prosecuted | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    The woman who accused actor Jonathan Majors of assaulting her during a dispute in March was arrested Wednesday night on suspicion of assault and criminal mischief related to the same incident, according to a source with knowledge of the matter.

    Grace Jabbari, Majors’ former girlfriend, voluntarily surrendered to police in New York City and was given a desk appearance ticket to appear in court at a later date, the source said. The charges are both misdemeanors.

    Jabbari and her attorney have not publicly commented on the case, which will not be prosecuted. CNN has been unable to reach Jabbari.

    “The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has officially declined to prosecute the case against Grace Jabbari because it lacks prosecutorial merit. The matter is now closed and sealed,” Doug Cohen, a spokesman for the Manhattan DA, told CNN in a statement on Thursday.

    In a Sept. 21 court filing in the case against Majors, the DA’s office said it did not plan to prosecute Jabbari.

    Majors is charged with assault and aggravated harassment related to the dispute with Jabbari on March 25. Through his attorney, Majors has denied the allegations against him, which, according to the complaint, include striking her “about the face with an open hand, causing substantial pain and a laceration behind her ear.”

    Majors filed a counter-complaint against Jabbari in June, claiming he was assaulted by her in the same March dispute, according to court filings obtained by CNN.

    A New York judge on Wednesday denied a motion to dismiss the case against Majors.

    His trial is set to start on Nov. 29.

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  • This middle-schooler ‘knew how to be a best friend to everybody.’ Then gunfire erupted while she was out to buy milk | CNN

    This middle-schooler ‘knew how to be a best friend to everybody.’ Then gunfire erupted while she was out to buy milk | CNN

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    Editor’s Note: This story is part of a series profiling American youth killed this year by guns, a leading cause of death of children in the US. Read more about the project here.



    CNN
     — 

    It’s been almost nine months since Brexi Torres-Ortiz and her mom sang together – hitting every note, feeling every emotion with every word of a gospel tune that happened to be the 11-year-old’s favorite song.

    Take me to the King. I don’t have much to bring.

    My heart is torn in pieces; it’s my offering.

    Take me to the King.

    “You will cry just listening to her sing it,” said Brexi’s mom, Brenlee “Bre” Ortiz. “It’s like, she was so young, how did she know what this song was saying?”

    Back then, even Ortiz didn’t realize the depth of those lyrics, she said.

    Sometimes she wishes she still didn’t.

    The hymn’s power, though, has become clear, Ortiz said, since Brexi – short for Brexialee – was fatally shot while grabbing a gallon of milk from a corner store in Syracuse, New York – one of more than 1,300 youth killed by a gun this year in the US, according to the Gun Violence Archive, as firearms surpassed motor vehicles in 2020 as the nation’s No. 1 killer of children and teens.

    January 16 was supposed to have been a cozy night at home for Brexi, with a movie on the projector and blankets covering the floor after her favorite dinner of macaroni and cheese made from scratch by her grandmother. Brexi’s two sisters and their mom, after she got home from work, would have been with them.

    Instead, Brexi spent her last hours in a hospital bed on life support while Ortiz tried to make sense of how her middle daughter – while she was out to buy milk for the meal – got caught in what police described as a storm of bullets no more than 40 feet from her home.

    Three suspects – then ages 16, 18 and 20 – were arrested within 10 days of the shooting, an Onondaga County senior assistant district attorney told CNN, and indicted by a grand jury on second-degree murder and other charges, a court record shows. Two have pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and the third is due to go to trial early next year, according to prosecutor Anthony Mangovski and court filings.

    4 things you can do today about the US gun violence epidemic

    As the justice system’s response to Brexi’s killing unfolds, Ortiz attends every hearing.

    But still, she struggles.

    Every day.

    And every hopeless night.

    “As soon as I open my eyes, it’s her on my mind,” Ortiz said. “And as soon as I’m finally able to close my eyes, I don’t fall asleep but my body turns off and she’s in my mind and I can see her in my dreams.

    “But they’re not dreams; they’re nightmares.”

    She was everybody’s ‘best friend’

    The warmth of her smile, the way she made you feel after a hug and her ability to empathize with both her peers and adults are on the never-ending list of what made Brexi special, Ortiz said.

    “You never get to know a person, even if it’s your own kid, until stuff like this happens,” she said. “I didn’t want to find out like this.”

    At Brexi’s funeral, Ortiz received condolences from so many children, she said. “She was my best friend,” her mom heard more times than she could count.

    Brexi's image, stuffed animals and other decorations adorn her grave.

    Brexi “knew how to be a best friend to everybody and give each one of them what they needed,” Ortiz said. “She will be a way with you that she wouldn’t be with me because we don’t have the same needs.”

    The middle schooler also was student council president of her sixth-grade class, a “shining star” on the after-school dance team and “always encouraged others to make the right choice,” educators from her school said.

    Brexi’s death stole all that – while it also drove home her generation’s gun-violence reality, said her school’s psychologist, who discovered a broader horror as she went classroom-to-classroom to help the kids confront the killing.

    Brenlee Ortiz, left, prepares ice cream for students at her late daughter's school on

    “It was that every single child already knew what to do,” Kayla Gallagher said. “They had T-shirts, lanyards, hats, all sorts of clothing with her name and image. They created a shrine at her locker. They went to the vigils.”

    More about Brexialee Torres-Ortiz

  • Died January 16
  • Age 11
  • Shot while out buying milk at a corner store as three people, each with a semi-automatic handgun, opened fire on another person, according to her mom and a grand jury indictment.
  • Two teens and a young adult were arrested in the shooting, an Onondaga County prosecutor told CNN. All were indicted by a grand jury with second-degree murder in her killing, second-degree attempted murder in the non-fatal wounding of their intended target, plus second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, the court record shows.
  • Both teens pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in return for 20 to 25 years in prison, according to the prosecutor and court records. The older suspect pleaded not guilty and is set to go to trial in February

    • “The children are so used to this violence that they helped the adults in the building grieve,” Gallagher said.

    Now, Brexi’s school community honors her life every month on “Brexi Day,” with activities like putting on a talent show, decorating the campus with flowers or enjoying an ice cream treat.

    “We choose to remember her not for the sorrow of her passing but for the joy, determination and the sense of belongingness she brought to our school,” Leeza Roper, a teacher at Syracuse STEM at Blodgett Middle School told CNN.

    “Her legacy lives on in the hearts of those she touched.”

    Read other profiles of children who have died from gunfire

    At the Boys and Girls Club at Central Village where Brexi spent so much of her free time, her name was added to a sign outside the building and her photo hung in the entryway to commemorate the “wonderful impression” she left on the organization, said Stacey Nichols, spokesperson for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Syracuse.

    “I want that all the kids that go there not be sad when they see her picture,” Ortiz said. “I want them to be motivated to do more and to be better.”

    And the Syracuse Police Department worked with the Syracuse Housing Authority to purchase a bench that sits in front of the building in Brexi’s memory so her friends and family have a place to reflect and remember her, Syracuse Police Sgt. Brad Giarrusso said.

    “Brexi came from a forgotten community,” Gallagher said, “but she will not be forgotten by her community.”

    The Boys and Girls Club at Central Village renamed its site after Brexi.

    On October 7, Brexi’s loved ones celebrated what would have been her 12th birthday. But there was no cake and no Brexi to blow out the candles after the birthday song.

    Instead, relatives and friends gathered around her grave in the evening and released white balloons in her honor.

    “I gotta go celebrate my baby’s birthday at the cemetery,” Ortiz said. “There is no justice. Justice will be bringing my daughter back.”

    And though Ortiz would give anything for one more hug from Brexi or one more verse sung together, she takes an ounce of comfort, she said, knowing her daughter “finally made it to the King.”

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  • 82-year-old Korean man has heart attack after choking on ‘live octopus’ dish | CNN

    82-year-old Korean man has heart attack after choking on ‘live octopus’ dish | CNN

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    Seoul, South Korea
    CNN
     — 

    An 82-year-old man in South Korea had a heart attack after choking on a piece of “live octopus,” or san-nakji, a local delicacy comprised of freshly severed – and still wriggling – tentacles.

    Fire station authorities in Gwangju, a city near the country’s southern tip, received a report on Monday morning that a piece of san-nakji had become stuck in a man’s throat, according to a fire station official.

    When first responders arrived on site, the man had a cardiac arrest, and they conducted CPR, the official said.

    The official did not say whether the man survived.

    San-nakji refers to a small octopus that is sliced and served raw, often eaten in South Korea’s coastal areas or seafood markets.

    Though the dish’s name translates to “live octopus,” this is slightly misleading – the octopus is killed before serving, with its tentacles cut into portions.

    However, it is served immediately after slicing, and is so fresh that the tentacles’ nerves are still active – causing the octopus to appear “live” as it continues moving on the plate.

    San-nakji is often served with sesame oil, sesame seeds, and sometimes ginger, and has a chewy texture.

    It made an appearance on a 2015 episode of Anthony Bourdain’s CNN series “Parts Unknown,” when the famed chef and television host traveled to South Korea to sample everything from soju to Korean fried chicken – and san-nakji, with Bourdain using his chopsticks to peel a sticky tentacle off the plate.

    The dish has also previously made headlines, with local media reporting multiple cases over the years of diners dying after choking or asphyxiating on “live octopus.”

    In perhaps the best-known case, dubbed the “octopus murder,” a South Korean man was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2012 for allegedly killing his girlfriend and claiming it was a san-nakji accident – before he was acquitted by the Supreme Court in 2013 for insufficient evidence.

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  • California man sentenced to 1-year in federal prison for cyberstalking, harassing parent of Parkland school shooting victim | CNN

    California man sentenced to 1-year in federal prison for cyberstalking, harassing parent of Parkland school shooting victim | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    A California man who sent hundreds of harrowing messages to an activist against gun violence whose daughter was killed in the 2018 Parkland, Florida, school shooting has been sentenced to 1 year in federal prison, according to prosecutors and court documents.

    James Catalano, 62, of Fresno, California, pled guilty to cyberstalking on March 28, according to the court documents. CNN has reached out to his attorney.

    In December 2021, a parent of one of the students killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School “began receiving a slew of harassing messages” with references to “his daughter, the manner of her death, her pain and suffering as she was murdered and his advocacy against gun violence.” The parent is identified only with the initials “F.G.” in court documents.

    According to a complaint, on June 21, 2022, “F.G.” tweeted, “Three weeks after the Parkland shooting, & on the day that gun safety legislation was passed in Florida, I stood with @marcorubio & asked him to support what was about to happen in Florida. He refused. He was a waste then and he is a waste now. Florida will elect @valdemings.”

    CNN has found that the tweet and others mentioned in the complaint were sent by Fred Guttenberg – who has dedicated his life to “fighting for gun safety in America” after his 14-year-old daughter, Jaime, was among the 17 people killed at Parkland, his Twitter profile reads.

    Catalano replied to Guttenberg’s tweets and continued to send harassing messages through July 2022 via multiple online platforms. Catalano sent “hundreds of disparaging messages, which graphically described the victim’s daughter’s death, and focused on the debate surrounding gun control and the victim’s activism against gun violence,” according to a news release Monday from the US Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Florida.

    Federal authorities were informed of the messages and traced two IP addresses to Catalano’s workplace and home in Fresno, according to court documents.

    On July 20, 2022, Catalano met with law enforcement after waiving his Miranda rights, according to a complaint. He admitted to sending the messages.

    Guttenberg tweeted following the sentencing Friday, saying it “sends a message to those who cyberstalk the families of shooting victims that they will be caught and punished.”

    CNN has reached out to Guttenberg for comment.

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