Police are trying to pinpoint the last place Missouri college student Riley Strain was last seen by using his phone and Apple watch.Video above: Vigil held to honor 22-year-old college student who went missingStrain, a University of Missouri student, was visiting Nashville with members of his fraternity for a group outing when he disappeared on March 8 after being asked to leave Luke Bryan’s bar on Broadway.Police have released four videos that show Strain stumbling through the streets of Nashville.Strain told friends he was heading back to their hotel when he was asked to leave the bar Friday night. However, videos show him walking up Third Avenue North, turn onto Church Street and then continuing on Gay Street before disappearing after a ping near James Robertson Parkway.”The last contact with his friends was after he left Luke Bryan’s,” Metro Nashville Police Cold Case Sgt. Bob Nielsen said. “I believe one of them tried to reach out to him. I don’t remember if it was by phone or by test. I think he said he heard, it sounded like he was outside. He could hear a lot of loud noise outside but couldn’t get any more information because he wasn’t able to actually speak to him.”Video below: Surveillance video shows missing college student crossing street by himself in downtown NashvillePolice have spent days scouring the downtown area for clues. Nielsen said they’re digging through Strain’s call logs, text messages and any location pings that could’ve gotten lost.”Some of the data we are still waiting on,” Nielsen said. “There’s a legal process when you’re getting some of this information, so sometimes it’s multiple steps and a lot of it depends on the company that you’re trying to get that information, whether social media or cell phone company.”Police are also looking for information on the Apple Watch Strain was wearing.A phone location specialist told WSMV that in some of these cases, the company that created the phones or watches can track down more precise locations of the devices before they turned off.”Right now, we have requested some of that information. We have done emergency pings and are just trying to get that information from them,” Nielsen said.Nielsen said they’re hoping to get new information from Strain’s phone or watch as soon as possible.Police said the last known location of Strain was somewhere between the Woodland Street Bridge and the James Robertson Parkway Bridge.
Police are trying to pinpoint the last place Missouri college student Riley Strain was last seen by using his phone and Apple watch.
Video above: Vigil held to honor 22-year-old college student who went missing
Strain, a University of Missouri student, was visiting Nashville with members of his fraternity for a group outing when he disappeared on March 8 after being asked to leave Luke Bryan’s bar on Broadway.
Police have released four videos that show Strain stumbling through the streets of Nashville.
Strain told friends he was heading back to their hotel when he was asked to leave the bar Friday night. However, videos show him walking up Third Avenue North, turn onto Church Street and then continuing on Gay Street before disappearing after a ping near James Robertson Parkway.
“The last contact with his friends was after he left Luke Bryan’s,” Metro Nashville Police Cold Case Sgt. Bob Nielsen said. “I believe one of them tried to reach out to him. I don’t remember if it was by phone or by test. I think he said he heard, it sounded like he was outside. He could hear a lot of loud noise outside but couldn’t get any more information because he wasn’t able to actually speak to him.”
Video below: Surveillance video shows missing college student crossing street by himself in downtown Nashville
Police have spent days scouring the downtown area for clues. Nielsen said they’re digging through Strain’s call logs, text messages and any location pings that could’ve gotten lost.
“Some of the data we are still waiting on,” Nielsen said. “There’s a legal process when you’re getting some of this information, so sometimes it’s multiple steps and a lot of it depends on the company that you’re trying to get that information, whether social media or cell phone company.”
Police are also looking for information on the Apple Watch Strain was wearing.
A phone location specialist told WSMV that in some of these cases, the company that created the phones or watches can track down more precise locations of the devices before they turned off.
“Right now, we have requested some of that information. We have done emergency pings and are just trying to get that information from them,” Nielsen said.
Nielsen said they’re hoping to get new information from Strain’s phone or watch as soon as possible.
Police said the last known location of Strain was somewhere between the Woodland Street Bridge and the James Robertson Parkway Bridge.
A former San Francisco State University employee who oversaw the handling of sexual misconduct and discrimination cases alleged that the campus president and an official with the state university system tried to interfere with an investigation into harassment allegations against a professor and said that the school failed to properly investigate hundreds of claims of wrongdoing.
In a 20-page complaint filed Wednesday against the campusand the California State University system, Heather Borlase said that she was terminated last summer after she launched an investigation into multiple Muslim students’ complaints that a professor showed a drawing of the prophet Muhammad in his Islamic studies class without warning or reason.
Borlase alleged that San Francisco State President Lynn Mahoney and CSU Vice Chancellor of Human Resources Leora Freedman believed the professor’s actions were protected under academic freedom and asked Borlase to halt the investigation. But Borlase said that a probe was necessary to determine whether the professor’s actions constituted religious harassment. Visual depictions of Muhammad are considered offensive for many Muslims.
Freedman wanted to offer time “for the parties to reach an informal resolution,” according to the complaint, and took the case from Borlase in April 2023. Roughly a week later, after the case faced public criticism by an outside advocacy group, Borlase said she was placed on administrative leave and learned months later that her job would not be reinstated. According to the complaint, she was told the decision was “in the best interest of the university.”
The university said that “the change wasn’t made to influence the outcome of any investigation.”
“Like all CSU campuses, S.F. State takes seriously its responsibility to provide students and employees a safe learning and working environment,” director of communications Bobby King said. “Different leadership was desired to lead work in the department, which was already happening to improve processes and outcomes.”
Borlase claimed that she inherited more than 400 unresolved cases of harassment, misconduct and discrimination when she started in 2021 and had received pushback from university officials who “expressed concern about the exposure” when she tried to address the reports.
According to the complaint, the university “encouraged her to only work on the most egregious cases involving current students or faculty. Ms. Borlase insisted on bringing all cases into compliance.”
In one instance, an investigation into sexual harassment allegations against a professor found that people were dissuaded from bringing such claims forward. But Borlase said she was discouraged from taking corrective action that could put the university “in a negative light,” the complaint said.
In another instance, an investigation found that a campus administrator had racially harassed an employee, calling them “a runaway slave.” According to the complaint, Borlase was asked to “downplay the university’s failure to act when concerns … were first raised.”
“S.F. State’s failure to timely respond to student and staff complaints, its interference with the integrity of investigations, and scapegoating and terminating Ms. Borlase cannot be condoned,” said Katherine Smith, one of the attorneys representing Borlase.
Borlase’s concerns coincided with CSU’s examination of its policies around Title IX — the federal ban on sex discrimination — following multiple accounts of inconsistencies over how university officials handled complaints of sexual misconduct and retaliation. On several of CSU’s 23 campuses from San Diego State University to California State University Maritime Academy, Times investigations found that students and employees lacked confidence in the Title IX process and often feared that their issues would be ignored. A Times analysis of complaints from the 2021-2022 school year found that about 3% of more than 2,600 reports of sexual harassment and sexual misconduct were formally investigated.
“It is critical for students to know it is safe to come forward and when they do, their complaints will be fairly investigated,” said Wendy Musell, another attorney for Borlase.
Shortly before Borlase’s dismissal last year, the Cozen O’Connor law firm shared a report with CSU’s Board of Trustees and the university community that found flaws in how CSU campuses collect data, widespread distrust by students and employees in how wrongdoing is addressed and a low number of investigations.
A state audit found similar breakdowns. And in a push for broader accountability, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law that would require the CSU system to disclose the outcome of sexual harassment cases and investigations.
The CSU is the largest four-year public university system in the nation. It has previously said that it will make changes to its handling of complaints and is hiring additional staff to improve its investigative process.
“Transforming culture is not easy or quick. It takes time and significant resources,” Board Chair Wenda Fong told The Times last year.
The Beverly Hills Unified School District board of education voted at a special meeting Wednesday evening to approve stipulated agreements of expulsion with five students. According to a source close to the investigation, the expelled students were attending Beverly Vista Middle School. Under a stipulated agreement, the students and their parents do not contest the punishment and no hearing was held.
The names of the students were not released, and the agreements are confidential. Typically, however, such agreements specify how long a student is expelled and what the terms are for their return to the district.
According to Supt. Michael Bregy, the five students who were the focus of its investigation were the “most egregiously involved” in the creation and sharing of the images, which superimposed pictures of real students’ faces onto simulated nude bodies generated by artificial intelligence. The victims, the district said, were 16 eighth-grade students.
Shared through messaging apps, the images outraged parents and school officials, prompting Bregy to tell parents in a message last month that he was prepared to impose “the most severe disciplinary actions allowed by state law.” The students involved were identified and disciplined in less than 24 hours, but the district did not move to expel them until it completed its investigation.
The Beverly Hills Police Department and the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office are still investigating the incident, but no arrests have been made or charges brought. California’s laws against possessing child pornography and sharing nonconsensual nude pictures do not specifically apply to AI-generated images, which legal experts say would pose a problem for prosecutors.
The fake nudes circulated briefly among Beverly Vista students in late February, school officials say. They haven’t specified how the images were made, other than to say it involved generative A.I.
Dozens of A.I.-powered apps are available online to “undress” someone in a photo, simulating what a person would look like if they’d been nude when the shot was taken. Other A.I.-based tools allow you to “face swap” a targeted person’s face onto another person’s nude body.
Versions of these programs have been available for years, but the earlier ones were expensive, harder to use and less realistic. Today, AI tools can clone lifelike images and quickly create fakes; even using a smartphone, it can be accomplished in a matter of seconds.
In a message to parents Thursday evening, Bregy said, “This incident has spurred crucial discussions on the ethical use of technology, including AI, underscoring the importance of vigilant and informed engagement within digital environments. In response, our district is steadfast in its commitment to enhancing education around digital citizenship, privacy, and safety for our students, staff, and parents which was immediately reemphasized at all schools following the incident.”
No specific policy change has been announced in response to the incident, but the district had already prohibited students from using cell phones on campus.
Bregy said that the nude images, which were reported to school officials Feb. 21, were contained within 24 hours.
“We recognize that kids are still learning and growing, and mistakes are part of this process,” he said in the message. “However, accountability is essential, and appropriate measures have been taken.”
WEST BABYLON, Suffolk County (WABC) — The four people arrested in connection with human remains found scattered across Long Island are out on supervised release.
Steven Brown, 44, Jeffrey Mackey, 38, and Amanda Wallace, 40, all of 25 Railroad Ave., Amityville, along with Alexis Nieves, 33, who is homeless are all charged with first-degree hindering prosecution, tampering with physical evidence, and concealment of a human corpse.
The charges come after more body parts were discovered on Tuesday, including in Bethpage State Park last week.
There have now been human remains discovered in three different locations across Suffolk County — and police say they belong to the same man and woman.
Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney released a statement saying, “It is our understanding that the Suffolk County Police Department is still investigating these murders. Unfortunately, due to “Bail Reform” passed by the New York State Legislature in 2019, charges relating to the mutilation and disposal of murdered corpses are no longer bail-eligible, meaning my prosecutors cannot ask for bail. This is yet another absurd result thanks to “Bail Reform” and a system where the Legislature in Albany substitutes their judgment for the judgment of our judges and the litigants in court. We will work with the Suffolk County Police Department to resolve this investigation as soon as possible and implore our Legislature to make common sense fixes to this law.”
All four suspects are getting monitoring bracelets and have been ordered to stay in Suffolk County. They will make all court appearances in person (2 on 3/8, the other 2 on 3/11) and surrender any passports as a condition of their supervised release.
Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine also released a statement, outraged that the suspects were not being held: “The failure of Albany’s Bail Laws has resulted in those charged with dismembering and placing body parts in our communities to walk free without posting any bail. This is outrageous, and completely unacceptable in a civilized society, when our prosecutors are handcuffed and those charged with this heinous crime are mandated by the state to go free. Despite the incredible work by the Suffolk County Police Department and our District Attorney Ray Tierney the failed 2019 NYS Bail Laws continue to put the public at risk. These laws must be changed immediately, and I will support the law enforcement community in any efforts to force change in Albany to make Suffolk County a safer place to live.”
The suspects can’t go back to their Amityville apartment due to inoperable plumbing Some of the plumbing was removed during the police investigation.
The two victims — believed to be a 59-year-old woman and a 53-year-old man — may have lived together in Yonkers and their deaths might stem from a domestic dispute.
Those who live in the Amityville neighborhood, near those taken into custody and saw their home being raided, have questions: like did any of those gruesome crimes happen here?
“Very scary. I mean I’m not afraid, but I’m afraid for their neighbors,” Amityville resident Bill Seiman said.
Hours later, police found an additional body part in Bethpage State Park that is believed to be linked to those previously located in Southard Pond Park in Babylon. Human remains were also discovered in a wooded area in West Babylon on Tuesday.
“It’s shocking,” said one West Babylon resident about the discovery. “Very shocking.”
The remains located on Tuesday are believed to belong to the same victims from the February 29 discovery.
“It’s crazy,” said Jahron Causey, who lives across the street from the woods in West Babylon. “Someone over here just told me. I was taken back for sure.”
The Suffolk County Medical Examiner previously said a female head, right upper leg, left leg from the knee down and right arm and two male arms were found.
The grisly discoveries began Thursday morning, when a group of teenagers walking near Babylon Memorial Grade School found a severed arm on the side of the road at the edge of Southard Pond Park.
When officers arrived and searched the area, they found a second arm about 20 feet from where the first arm was found. Police say both appeared to belong to a man.
As the search expanded Thursday afternoon and into the night, a cadaver dog found a woman’s leg, arm and head on the opposite side of the park, near Babylon Elementary School.
At a Friday morning press conference, detectives said the condition of the remains suggested they had not been in the park long – maybe a few days or even hours.
Police have not publicly identified the victims pending family notifications.
The suspects are expected to appear in First District Court in Central Islip later Wednesday.
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RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KABC) — Two teenagers were stabbed, one of them fatally, during a party in Riverside early Sunday morning.
Officers responded to a complaint of a loud party in the 3400 block of Gay Way around 12:20 a.m., according to the Riverside Police Department.
When they arrived at the scene, where the party was already in the process of shutting down, they found two teen boys suffering from stab wounds. One of them died at the scene and another was taken to the hospital with a non-life threatening stab wound.
Less than half an hour later, police learned of a third teenager who had also been taken to the hospital with an unspecified injury. Authorities determined that the teen was possibly involved in the stabbing and was detained.
Police don’t believe anybody else was involved. All of them were described as being of high school age.
Additional details about what led up to the stabbing were not available.
Republican California lawmakers on Thursday called for an investigation into Gov. Gavin Newsom’s ties to a billionaire Panera franchisee and the restaurant’s exemption from a new state law that will require major fast-food chains to pay their workers $20 an hour. “He owes everybody an explanation,” Republican State Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones said. Some Republican lawmakers said they had little faith in the ability of California’s Democratic Supermajority Legislature or other top Democrats in state government to investigate the issue. Assemblyman Joe Patterson, R-Rocklin, went as far as to say the FBI should get involved. “Frankly, I don’t think the California Attorney General is capable of doing that,” Patterson said. “I think it has to be an outside agency that investigates this.” Multiple sources who spoke on condition of anonymity have confirmed to KCRA that billionaire franchisee and Newsom donor Greg Flynn influenced Newsom’s push to carve out chains that sell and break bread on-site from the new law in the final weeks of the legislative session in 2022. Newsom’s office has said that it was the result of two years’ worth of negotiations between him and the Legislature. The law goes into effect in April. “The Governor never met with Flynn about this bill & this story is absurd. Our legal team has reviewed and it appears Panera is not exempt,” Newsom’s spokesman Alex Stack said on Thursday. Newsom’s office said the exemption applies to those who produce bread on-site, and said some bakeries, including Panera, mix dough off-site at a centralized location before sending it to their restaurants for baking and sale. Experts note that appearance is up for interpretation, and stakeholders for years have understood it as an exemption. The legislation also does not define the word “produce.” KCRA 3 asked Newsom why the exemption was in there when he signed the law in September of 2023. He said it was “part of the sausage making … part of the negotiations.” Greg Flynn sent KCRA 3 a lengthy statement on Thursday night: “It is true that I opposed AB1228, as did thousands of other California restaurant owners. If the intent of the bill was to address alleged labor code violations in fast food restaurants, then the scope of the law should be limited to true fast food restaurants and not include fast casual restaurants like bakeries, bagel shops, delis, etc. I suggested the bill’s language defining “fast food restaurant” should be amended to exclude fast casual restaurants,” Flynn said. “To be clear, at no time did I ask for an exemption or special considerations. In fact, the idea never even occurred to me and I was surprised when the exemption appeared in the final legislation. Such a narrow exemption has very little practical value. As it applies to all of our peer restaurants in the fast casual segment, we will almost certainly have to offer market value wages in order to attract and retain employees,” Flynn said. “I also never met with Governor Newsom about this bill, though I did meet with his staff in a group meeting with other restaurant owners. And finally, although we attended the same high school, I never met him there and in fact didn’t meet him until decades later,” he said. Democratic Assemblyman Chris Holden, who wrote the law, said he did not know why the exemption was put into the bill. He told reporters on Thursday that despite being the author of the law, he was not part of the negotiation to include the carve-out for bakeries. “It’s my bill, but in terms of the negotiations, it was bringing together the business community and franchisees and franchisors and through the governor’s leadership, it came together and what came out of that came the amendments of the bill,” Holden said. Holden said he was not aware of the relationship between Flynn and Newsom. When KCRA 3 asked if, to the average Californian, Panera’s exemption from the law may appear questionable, Holden replied, “That’s a conversation you’ll have to have with others.”Neither Speaker of the Assembly Robert Rivas nor Senate Pro Tem Mike McGuire have responded to a request for comment. Flynn has not responded to KCRA 3’s request for comment but told Bloomberg he was not involved in the crafting of the exemption. Campaign finance data show Flynn donated $100,000 to Newsom’s campaign to fight his recall in 2021. In 2022, Flynn donated $64,800 to Newsom’s reelection campaign. That includes a $32,400 contribution deposited three months before the law passed with the exemption in 2022, and a $14,800 donation that October after Newsom signed it. Flynn has donated to other state politicians individually, but the majority of his contributions have gone to Newsom. Since 2020, Flynn has made smaller contributions to State Treasurer Fiona Ma and State Sen. Steve Glazer. His most recent contribution was made to Attorney General Rob Bonta for $5,000 in June of 2023. Bonta did not respond to a request for comment. Flynn is the franchisee of dozens of Panera restaurants across Northern California. According to city records, Flynn opened another Panera restaurant within view of the state capitol in Sacramento in December. See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app.
“He owes everybody an explanation,” Republican State Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones said.
Some Republican lawmakers said they had little faith in the ability of California’s Democratic Supermajority Legislature or other top Democrats in state government to investigate the issue. Assemblyman Joe Patterson, R-Rocklin, went as far as to say the FBI should get involved.
“Frankly, I don’t think the California Attorney General is capable of doing that,” Patterson said. “I think it has to be an outside agency that investigates this.”
Multiple sources who spoke on condition of anonymity have confirmed to KCRA that billionaire franchisee and Newsom donor Greg Flynn influenced Newsom’s push to carve out chains that sell and break bread on-site from the new law in the final weeks of the legislative session in 2022.
Newsom’s office has said that it was the result of two years’ worth of negotiations between him and the Legislature. The law goes into effect in April.
“The Governor never met with Flynn about this bill & this story is absurd. Our legal team has reviewed and it appears Panera is not exempt,” Newsom’s spokesman Alex Stack said on Thursday. Newsom’s office said the exemption applies to those who produce bread on-site, and said some bakeries, including Panera, mix dough off-site at a centralized location before sending it to their restaurants for baking and sale. Experts note that appearance is up for interpretation, and stakeholders for years have understood it as an exemption. The legislation also does not define the word “produce.”
KCRA 3 asked Newsom why the exemption was in there when he signed the law in September of 2023. He said it was “part of the sausage making … part of the negotiations.”
Greg Flynn sent KCRA 3 a lengthy statement on Thursday night:
“It is true that I opposed AB1228, as did thousands of other California restaurant owners. If the intent of the bill was to address alleged labor code violations in fast food restaurants, then the scope of the law should be limited to true fast food restaurants and not include fast casual restaurants like bakeries, bagel shops, delis, etc. I suggested the bill’s language defining “fast food restaurant” should be amended to exclude fast casual restaurants,” Flynn said.
“To be clear, at no time did I ask for an exemption or special considerations. In fact, the idea never even occurred to me and I was surprised when the exemption appeared in the final legislation. Such a narrow exemption has very little practical value. As it applies to all of our peer restaurants in the fast casual segment, we will almost certainly have to offer market value wages in order to attract and retain employees,” Flynn said.
“I also never met with Governor Newsom about this bill, though I did meet with his staff in a group meeting with other restaurant owners. And finally, although we attended the same high school, I never met him there and in fact didn’t meet him until decades later,” he said.
Democratic Assemblyman Chris Holden, who wrote the law, said he did not know why the exemption was put into the bill. He told reporters on Thursday that despite being the author of the law, he was not part of the negotiation to include the carve-out for bakeries.
“It’s my bill, but in terms of the negotiations, it was bringing together the business community and franchisees and franchisors and through the governor’s leadership, it came together and what came out of that came the amendments of the bill,” Holden said.
Holden said he was not aware of the relationship between Flynn and Newsom.
When KCRA 3 asked if, to the average Californian, Panera’s exemption from the law may appear questionable, Holden replied, “That’s a conversation you’ll have to have with others.”
Neither Speaker of the Assembly Robert Rivas nor Senate Pro Tem Mike McGuire have responded to a request for comment. Flynn has not responded to KCRA 3’s request for comment but told Bloomberg he was not involved in the crafting of the exemption.
Campaign finance data show Flynn donated $100,000 to Newsom’s campaign to fight his recall in 2021. In 2022, Flynn donated $64,800 to Newsom’s reelection campaign.
That includes a $32,400 contribution deposited three months before the law passed with the exemption in 2022, and a $14,800 donation that October after Newsom signed it.
Flynn has donated to other state politicians individually, but the majority of his contributions have gone to Newsom. Since 2020, Flynn has made smaller contributions to State Treasurer Fiona Ma and State Sen. Steve Glazer. His most recent contribution was made to Attorney General Rob Bonta for $5,000 in June of 2023. Bonta did not respond to a request for comment.
Flynn is the franchisee of dozens of Panera restaurants across Northern California. According to city records, Flynn opened another Panera restaurant within view of the state capitol in Sacramento in December.
Dakar, Senegal / Madrid, Spain – The Senegalese government deployed a special counterterrorism unit, created, equipped, and trained with funding from the European Union, to violently suppress recent pro-democracy protests, a joint investigation between Al Jazeera and porCausa Foundation reveals.
Since 2021, the trial of popular and controversial opposition leader Ousmane Sonko has led to demonstrations across the West African nation, in which dozens have been killed. Al Jazeera and porCausa obtained visual evidence, Spanish government contracts, a confidential evaluation report, and testimonies from multiple sources suggesting that the EU-funded Rapid Action Surveillance and Intervention Group, also known as GAR-SI, was used to violently crush those protests.
In one video, security personnel in the same type of armoured vehicles the EU bought for GAR-SI Senegal are seen firing tear gas at a protest caravan organised by Sonko last May. Al Jazeera verified that the incident happened in the southern Senegalese village of Mampatim, about 50km (31 miles) from Kolda, in the Casamance region.
The EU-funded elite units were instead meant to be based in Senegal’s border areas with Mali to fight cross-border crime.
A supporter of Senegalese opposition leader Ousmane Sonko reacts during a protest to demand the release of alleged political prisoners in Dakar, Senegal, March 14, 2023 [Zohra Bensemra/Reuters]
Elite unit
GAR-SI Sahel was a regional project lasting between 2016 and 2023 and funded with 75 million euros ($81.3m) from the EU’s Emergency Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF for Africa), a pot of development funding dedicated to addressing the root causes of migration in Africa.
The programme was implemented by the International and Ibero-American Foundation for Administration and Public Policies (FIIAPP), a development agency belonging to Spain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. GAR-SI units were created across the region, in countries like Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Senegal, “as a prerequisite for their sustainable socio-economic development”.
The Senegalese 300-strong unit, created in 2017, cost more than 7 million euros ($7.6m at the current exchange rate) and was aimed at creating a special intervention unit in the town of Kidira, on the border of Mali, to protect Senegal from potential incursions by armed groups and cross-border crimes, including migrant smuggling.
Modelled after Spanish units that fought against the separatist movement Basque Homeland and Liberty, also known by the Spanish initials ETA, GAR-SI Senegal has received technical training and mentoring from the Spanish Civil Guard as well as French, Italian and Portuguese security forces.
After the completion of the project, at the request of all stakeholders, the EU delegation in Senegal continued with a second phase using another funding mechanism, according to one Spanish and one Senegalese police source familiar with the matter. About 4.5 million euros ($4.9m) was earmarked for a second 250-strong GAR-SI Senegal unit near the town of Saraya, close to the border with Guinea and Mali.
A second unit was also created in Mali but for other countries, especially Chad, the project was considered to be a “failure”, according to the former Senegalese police official, who said the EU lost money by paying for equipment that was not appropriate for use.
Deux blindés de la gendarmerie suivent le convoi du président Ousmane SONKO 🇸🇳 et tirent des grenades lacrymogènes aux foules qui tentent d’arrêter le convoi pour l’accompagner.#caravanedelalibertépic.twitter.com/2QKlkUJjIh
— Ⓜ️ister Bakhdad2️⃣.0️⃣🇸🇳🇨🇦 (@BakhdadO) May 27, 2023
‘A serious allegation’
An analysis of the vehicles captured in the Mampatim video shows that they fit with the URO SUV Vamtac ST5, a Spanish model made by Galicia-based heavy-duty manufacturer Urovesa. The same car model was delivered in the presence of the EU ambassador to Senegal in April 2019 as part of an aid package to increase GAR-SI Senegal’s capabilities to fight cross-border crime. The unit also received drones, sixteen 4×4 Toyota pick-up vehicles, an ambulance, 12 motorcycles, and four trucks, but it is unclear whether these were also deployed during the protests.
Internal FIIAPP contracts seen by Al Jazeera and porCausa also mention Vamtac armoured vehicles gifted to the Senegalese gendarmerie as part of the GAR-SI project in 2022.
The resources, initially provided for the crime unit, were de facto integrated into the territorial commands and used by Senegalese security forces, according to a Spanish police source working in Senegal.
A former senior Senegalese police officer also confirmed the use of the GAR-SI unit during pro-democracy protests in Senegal. When shown the evidence, human rights groups were alarmed.
“These units seem to be used to repress human rights instead of fighting terrorism or surveilling the border,” said Ousmane Diallo, a researcher with Amnesty International’s West and Central Africa bureau. “It’s a serious allegation as the Senegalese gendarmerie has been involved in repressing human rights and the right to protest since 2021.”
Irene Mingasson, ambassador for the EU in Senegal, with Sidiki Kaba, Senegal’s minister of the armed forces, at a GAR-SI barrack in Kidira, Senegal in October 2019 [Courtesy: EU in Senegal/X]
‘There is no evidence’
Al Jazeera and porCausa obtained the 67-page final evaluation report of the GAR-SI project from 2022, which makes clear in different parts that in Senegal, GAR-SI functions differently from other countries where the unit is present.
The report states that the unit is sometimes deployed on joint missions together with other police units, such as the Surveillance and Intervention Squadron, or ESI in the French initials, of the Senegalese Gendarmerie, to carry out a series of missions for “internal security”.
The confidential document stresses that the project lacks human rights safeguards and that there is no trace of any written strategy elaboration or communication within the police hierarchy, with commands for operations outside of border areas being given informally and orally.
Al Jazeera and porCausa reached out to the Senegalese Ministry of Interior and Public Security but did not receive an answer before publication. In its response, the EU Commission said it had no information on the units Senegalese authorities deployed in the demonstrations.
“The EU has consistently called on Senegalese authorities to investigate any disproportionate use of force against peaceful demonstrations and expects appropriate follow-up,” it said. The EU spokesperson also said the framework of GAR-SI was “very specific and clearly defined in its scope and interventions”, adding that equipment or funding for it “should be used in cross-border areas to fight organised crime and increase protection for the local population”.
The Spanish foreign and interior ministries denied, in a joint statement, the involvement of the elite unit in the protests. “The Ministry of the Interior and the Civil Guard confirm that there is no evidence of the use by the Senegalese authorities of units formed within the framework of the GAR-SI project in the aforementioned actions.”
The statement added that it did not provide GAR-SI with security training “in the context of mass public demonstrations or protests” and that the project agreement forbids Senegal to “make any use of materials and equipment in a way that deviates from the objective of the [GAR-SI] project”.
Gendarmes deployed to calm protests after opposition leader Ousmane Sonko was arrested, in Dakar, Senegal, July 31, 2023 [Ngouda Dione/Reuters]
A source of controversy
As several court cases mounted against Sonko, among other things, charges of corrupting a minor and libel, the politician mobilised his supporters, who have alleged that the suits are a plot by incumbent Macky Sall to flatten the opposition ahead of the presidential election.
This led to riots and a crackdown by the government in March 2021 and in May and June 2023. Protests returned in February 2024 when Sall announced that he would postpone the election, which was supposed to happen on February 25. The courts declared the move unconstitutional, leaving the country in limbo as to when the election will happen.
At least 60 people died since the first protests in 2021 as a result of live ammunition fired by the Senegalese security forces or by agitators, called “nervis” in Senegal, paid by the government to come to protests, according to an Amnesty International estimate. No one has been prosecuted to date.
Amid the continued social unrest, irregular migration also went on. As of August 2023, one in three irregular arrivals to the Canary Islands in Spain were Senegalese.
Diallo, the researcher with Amnesty International, said all partners of EU-funded projects have a responsibility to ensure that the programmes they fund do not contribute to human rights violations, such as lethal repression of peaceful protests.
But if European authorities were aware of the rights violations committed in Senegal, they did not show it. At the end of 2023, Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska visited Senegal to strengthen the cooperation against irregular migration, while the EU and Senegal signed their latest agreement on development aid that would help Senegalese authorities intercept departures from the country.
This happened despite the project becoming a source of controversy in Europe.
Last year, an evaluation report commissioned by the European Commission revealed significant mismanagement by the head of the team implementing the GAR-SI Sahel regional project — Francisco Espinosa Navas, the Spanish civil guard-general.
The report identified unjustified expenses totalling at least 12 million euros ($13m) and errors in the choice of protective equipment, which led to further expenses. The report also noted that neither FIIAPP nor the European Commission raised these irregularities with the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF).
The fraud case was part of a wider scandal in Spain that revealed a widespread corruption scheme, known as the “Mediador” case, allegedly involving General Espinosa Navas in extortion, preferential treatment in public contracts, and other illicit activities.
The corruption scheme allegedly offered businessmen and entrepreneurs preferential treatment in exchange for procurement of public contracts and extorted them for favourable inspections and access to European aid funds. The internal evaluation report mentions that, in Senegal, too much equipment was acquired.
“The design and implementation of this project was not focused on people but on suppliers, companies to take advantage of it,” one external consultant familiar with the project, told Al Jazeera and porCausa anonymously.
This story is a joint investigation between Al Jazeera and PorCausa Foundation.
SCHENECTADY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — Officers from the Schenectady Police Department (SPD) report that they witnessed a crash between a car and a pedestrian on Saturday night at approximately 8:15 p.m. The police say that the crash occurred in the area of State Street and Hulett Street.
Police identified the pedestrian as Luis Dones, of Schenectady. Paramedics of the Schenectady Fire Department treated Dones on the scene and then they were transported to Albany Medical Center. Police say Dones remains in critical condition.
SPD identified the driver as Josef Jarvis, of Albany, who remained on the scene and is cooperating with the investigation. Police report that Jarvis was found to have a suspended license and was charged with aggravated unlicensed operation.
Law enforcement says the cause of the crash is still under investigation. Stick with NEWS10 for updates as they become available.
RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — A man was seriously injured during a shooting at the Dollar General store in Raleigh.
According to the Raleigh Police Department, officers were called about a person who was shot at the Dollar General at 5416 Rock Quarry Road just before 1:15 p.m. Police said a man was taken to the hospital for treatment of serious injuries.
WEST RUTLAND, Vt. (NEWS10) — A Castleton, Vermont, man was arrested on Thursday and is accused of sexually assaulting a minor under 13. Sean Seguin, 37, turned himself in and faces multiple charges.
According to Vermont State Police, an investigation with the Department for Children and Families (DCF) looked into a report of possible child sexual abuse first reported on February 12. The suspect, Seguin, turned himself in on Thursday.
Charges:
Aggravated sexual assault
Lewd/lascivious conduct with a child
Seguin was processed by Vermont State Police at the Rutland Barracks and was brought to Rutland Criminal Court for arraignment. he is held without bail at the Marble Valley Correctional Facility.
A West Covina elementary school substitute teacher is under investigation after students alleged the educator viewed “inappropriate images” on his cellphone while on campus.
The teacher, who was not identified, was immediately removed from the classroom Friday as the West Covina Unified School District conducts an investigation, the district said in a news release. School officials also alerted the West Covina Police Department and Los Angeles County Child Protective Services.
In addition, Cameron Elementary School Principal Sylvia Fullerton sent an email to parents Friday night notifying them about what happened.
“We are in full cooperation with law enforcement and child welfare authorities and are committed to implementing the necessary actions based on the outcomes of the investigation which remains ongoing,” according to the district’s news release.
The West Covina Police Department could not immediately confirm what action was taken against the teacher. KTLA-TV Channel 5 reported the teacher was not arrested because of a lack of evidence.
Outraged at the alleged incident, some parents are planning to protest outside the elementary school Tuesday morning. Parents can contact the district to request counseling services for any student who needs additional support.
ADAMS, Mass. (NEWS10) — Adams Police Department announced they are searching for a woman that has been reported missing. Christina Barnes, 28, was last seen on February 15 around 3 p.m.
Christina Barnes (Adams Police Department)
Police say Barnes was last seen near Melrose Street. She is described as being 5’2″ tall, weighing about 230 pounds with brownish red hair and blue eyes. Barnes reportedly has developmental disabilities.
She was last known to be wearing a black “Punisher” hoodie, white and black tie-dye leggings and work boots. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Adams Police Department at (413)743-1212.
The RTD will reopen the Downtown Boulder Station lobby on Feb. 19 after over a year of renovations to replace the building’s interior ductwork, which was contaminated with methamphetamines last year.
The inside of the station at 1800 14th St. in Boulder was closed last January after an investigation into strong odors emitting from a restroom revealed levels of meth exceeding Center for Disease Control limits, according to Regional Transportation District news releases. Residue was also detected in the ductwork and was impossible to clean out, necessitating a full replacement of the ventilation system.
“The collective goal of all employees involved in this project was to ensure the station could be reopened in a safe condition,” said RTD General Manager and CEO Debra Johnson in a Monday release. “While illicit drug abuse is a societal issue that is not unique to RTD, it is our responsibility to provide employees and the public with a space that is clean and welcoming to inhabit.”
The agency spent $295,000 on external contractors to remediate the methamphetamine contamination, including testing for contamination, repairing areas affected by replacing all ductwork and repainting the station interiors, said Project Manager Pauline Haberman.
The new ducts installed in the station have exterior insulation, allowing for the insides to be cleaned, the release noted. Additionally, restroom ventilation was improved with more powerful exhaust fans that will keep smoke within those spaces.
The RTD also gave the lobby of the station a refresh, repainting the walls, adding a new coating to the benches and deep cleaning and sealing the main tile floor.
The agency will use its police department — now made up of many sworn officers instead of a traditionally contracted security agency — to proactively reduce potentially dangerous situations, Haberman said.
BALLSTON, N.Y. (NEWS10) — A Greenfield man was arrested following a scam investigation, according to state police. Michael Marlett, 21, has been charged with third-degree grand larceny.
On January 25 at 6:30 p.m., police received a complaint from a Saratoga County resident regarding a contracting dispute. The investigation determined that in December of 2023, the victim had agreed to hire the owner and operator of ATQ Contracting LLC, identified as Marlett, to complete a remodeling project at a home in Ballston.
Police say the victim gave Marlett a deposit of $10,000 ahead of the work. Marlett allegedly failed to start the project by an agreed upon date and did not return the deposit, resulting in the theft of the money.
Marlett was taken into custody in Clifton Park and transported to SP Saratoga for processing. He was arraigned at the Malta Town Court before being released on his own recognizance.
(FOX40.COM) –The Sacramento Police Department is currently on the scene of what they call a suspicious death investigation.
Around 8:11 a.m. on Sunday, officers responded to the area of 32nd Street, V Street, and W Street alley about a person lying partially in the roadway. Upon arrival, officers said they located a 34-year-old man with “significant trauma.” The Sacramento Fire Department also responded and pronounced the individual dead on the scene.
Homicide detectives and crime scene investigators are canvassing the scene and interviewing witnesses. Officials said the circumstances of the incident remain under investigation. The Sacramento County Coroner’s Office said they will release the identity of the deceased after next of kin have been notified.
Any witnesses with information regarding this investigation can contact the Sacramento Police Department at (916) 808-5471 or Sacramento Valley Crime Stoppers at (916) 443-HELP (4357). Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward up to $1,000. Anonymous tips can also be submitted using the free “P3 Tips” smartphone app.
BAKER, Calif. (KABC) — The CEO of one of Nigeria’s largest banks was killed on Friday when a helicopter he was riding in crashed near Baker in San Bernardino County.
Herbert Wigwe, CEO of Access Bank, was among six people on board when the helicopter crashed shortly after 10 p.m. His death was confirmed by Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, director general of the World Trade Organization and formerly Nigeria’s finance minister, in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said the helicopter crashed east of Interstate 15 near Halloran Springs Road, which is near the California-Nevada border and about an 80-mile drive from Las Vegas.
The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed the helicopter – a Eurocopter EC 120 – had six people aboard. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate. The NTSB said investigators would arrive on Saturday and begin gathering information.
The sheriff’s department said they had not found any survivors, but declined to elaborate.
The helicopter took off from Palm Springs Airport around 8:45 p.m. and was en route to Boulder City, Nevada. Boulder City is about 26 miles southeast of Las Vegas, where the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers are set to play in Super Bowl LVIII on Sunday.
Halloran Springs Road crosses over the 15 Freeway in an area known to travelers for an abandoned gas station with a sign declaring “Lo Gas” and “Eat.” It’s located in a remote area of the Mojave Desert, with an elevation of nearly 3,000 feet. Logs from the California Highway Patrol show there was rain and snow in the area at about the time of the crash.
The crash comes just three days after a U.S. Marine Corps helicopter crashed in the mountains outside San Diego on Tuesday during historic downpours. Five Marines were killed.
PORT JERVIS, N.Y. (NEWS10) — A Port Jervis man was arrested and is accused of attempting to sexually assault a child under 13. James Pospisil, 44, was charged with attempted predatory sexual assault of a child.
New York State Police say they worked in tandem with the Orange County Child Protective Services which received a complaint regarding an adult man engaging in sexual contact with a child under 13. Police say the investigation led to Pospisil’s arrest.
Pospisil was arraigned in the City of Middletown. He was remanded to the Orange County Jail without bail.
ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — The Albany Police Department is investigating a shooting that took place near Ontario Street and Central Avenue on Saturday afternoon. The victim, a 41-year-old man, suffered a gunshot wound to his leg, according to police.
Police say the victim was tended to on the scene by emergency medical personnel before being transported to Albany Medical Center. The investigation remains active and ongoing.
Gunshots rang out just before midnight Friday at a vacant skyscraper that taggers recently covered in graffiti across the street from Crypto.com Arena in downtown Los Angeles, authorities said.
Officers responded to Oceanwide Plaza on Figueroa Street late Friday night after receiving a call of shots fired but found no victim or suspects, according to LAPD Officer Jader Chaves.
Police recovered two spent bullet casings at the scene and the investigation is continuing, he said.
The incident comes after vandals spray painted at least 27 floors of the skyscraper this week, judging by aerial video of the building.
Early Tuesday morning, officers responded to a vandalism call on South Figueroa Street, the site of the unfinished and long-idle Oceanwide Plaza development, according to the LAPD.
The department’s Air Support Division reported seeing more than a dozen suspects trespassing and possibly spray painting the building.
By the time more officers arrived, all but two suspects had fled the location, authorities said. The two — L.A. residents Victor Daniel Ramirez, 35, and Roberto Perez, 25 — were arrested and transported to the Central Area station, where they were cited for trespassing on private property and released.
Two days later, officers returned to the construction site in the early afternoon to respond to another vandalism call, this time involving spray painting on the 30th floor, according to the LAPD. Officers were told by the site’s security guards that the suspects fled the building in a car.
Police found a car matching the description they’d been given and told the driver to stop, but the driver didn’t yield, the department alleged. Officers eventually found the vehicle a short distance away and the driver was cited for failure to yield to an officer. The investigation is still ongoing.
Oceanwide Plaza was once one of the biggest real estate development projects in Los Angeles, but construction was halted five years ago when its Chinese developer ran out of money. The $1-billion mixed-use project was supposed to feature hotel and retail space as well as luxury apartments and condominiums.
The buildings have remained unfinished ever since in the popular LA Live complex, which includes shops, restaurants and the Grammy Museum. Crypto.com Arena anchors the complex and will host the 66th Grammy Awards on Sunday.
