Tag: law enforcement

Top Treasury sanctions official to visit southern border as it ramps up efforts to crack down on deadly fentanyl trade | CNN Politics

CNN
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Treasury’s top sanctions official Brian Nelson will travel to the southern border Tuesday as part of the department’s ongoing push to crack down on the cartels and illicit financial networks fueling the deadly fentanyl trade, Treasury officials told CNN.

Nelson’s trip – his second in sixth months – and a spate of recent sanctions activity is the latest indicator that Treasury is ramping up efforts to tackle the illegal fentanyl trade through actions that disrupt the supply chains funneling “precursor” chemicals from China to producers in Mexico where much of the deadly drug is made.

Nelson and Treasury officials will meet with fellow law enforcement representatives, including from the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, as well as private financial institutions and local officials.

“What we are doing is trying to be as effective as we possibly can in combining Treasury’s tools with the efforts that other US government agencies and allied governments are deploying in this space,” said Nelson, the under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence at Treasury, in an interview with CNN.

The engagements over the 48-hour trip will provide officials an opportunity to discuss how Treasury’s tools and information can complement law enforcement and to learn about the big issues and patterns that agents are seeing on the ground. The trip is also aimed at exploring how trends and information from the extensive financial information Treasury collects can be helpful to the broader government-wide effort to quell the synthetic opioid epidemic.

Nelson, who will also be joined by the acting director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) Himamauli Das, will visit Laredo and San Antonio in Texas on Tuesday and Wednesday.

In Laredo, Nelson will receive briefings on border operations from CBP officials at the city’s port of entry as well as discuss cargo processing and inspections.

“There’s a credible value in seeing that in person,” Nelson said.

In San Antonio, Nelson and Das will host a “FinCEN Exchange,” which is a public-private information sharing forum where Treasury can share the different patterns and connections they’re seeing with financial institutions, as well as discuss further ways the federal government can partner with the private sector to better spot red flags and identify illicit financial networks.

The department has been involved in the counter-narcotics business for decades, using its tools and financial expertise to both starve criminal organizations of critical financing through sanctions and blocking assets, as well as providing crucial financial data to other law enforcement and federal agencies.

“We can help disrupt financial flows and target the whole supply chain, starting with the precursor chemicals all the way down to distributors bound for US markets. And it’s not just sanctions,” Nelson said, pointing also to FinCEN’s financial mapping tools as well as Treasury’s focus on cooperating with Mexico to improve their capacity to trace and combat illicit finance.

“These tools, combined with financial mapping that our FinCEN team does, is very, very powerful insight,” he added.

Investigators from the Treasury, especially those at FinCEN, can access and share powerful financial data with enforcement bodies like the Drug Enforcement Agency, the Department of Homeland Security and others as they work to track and disrupt the fentanyl trade and drug suppliers.

Nelson also said that Treasury is “absolutely” looking to build on US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s latest engagements in China, which included discussing where the two nations could cooperate on curbing the flow of precursor chemicals from China. Blinken, who traveled to Beijing last month, said both sides agreed to “explore” establishing a working group on the precursor chemicals used to produce the deadly synthetic drug.

There has been a government-wide push to curb synthetic opioids like fentanyl, which are the main driver of overdose deaths in the US. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there has been a more than seven-fold increase overall in deaths from 2015-2021, and despite a recent slowing, overdose deaths still hover near record levels and remain the third leading cause of death in adolescents aged 19 and younger.

In April, the Biden administration announced a broad effort to target the production and distribution of fentanyl, which included criminal charges from the Department of Justice and a host of new Treasury sanctions.

It was an announcement that built off of an executive order signed in 2021 that expanded Treasury’s authorities to target the distribution chains of fentanyl and other narcotics, which Nelson said has been critical to helping Treasury “increase the pace at which we are able to target and designate the key nodes in fentanyl distribution.”

Since then, Treasury has continued to issue sanctions against precursor chemical supply networks, particularly in China, as well as other corrupt activity like arms trafficking and money laundering that helps support the trade.

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April 12, 2021
House Republicans grapple with cutting DOJ and FBI funding amid growing internal divisions and outside pressure | CNN Politics

CNN
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House Republican leadership came into power on a pro-police, tough-on-crime message. Four months later, that position is in limbo.

The internal differences emerged soon after Republicans took control of the House. In January, an effort to pass a resolution expressing support for law enforcement agencies, which was meant to serve as a messaging tool, fell apart. The House GOP’s behind-the-scenes disagreements reflect growing divisions inside the conference over whether to defund or restrict the Department of Justice and FBI. The contentious political issue is returning to center stage as CNN has learned that some House Republicans are actively sketching out ways to limit certain federal law enforcement programs through the appropriations process.

The sponsor of the January resolution, GOP Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado, a former federal prosecutor, wanted to offer broad support for all levels of law enforcement. But a faction of hard-line members, led by House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan of Ohio, wanted to restrict it only to state and local authorities, multiple sources told CNN.

“The language that they wanted to incorporate was not something that I could agree to,” said Buck.

Describing the diverging viewpoints over the issue within the House GOP conference, a separate source familiar with the negotiations in January told CNN, “We were starting a big oversight of the FBI, we didn’t want to lock ourselves in here,” referring to the Judiciary committee’s effort to investigate the FBI.

Conversations with more than a dozen lawmakers since the January dust up reveal that a growing number of House Republicans are proposing ways to act on calls made by former President Donald Trump to crack down on federal law enforcement. Support started building after Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home was searched by the FBI in August 2022, as part of an investigation into the handling of presidential documents, including classified documents. And that support to act on the calls was super-charged by Trump’s indictment by the Manhattan District Attorney at the end of March.

This comes as Jordan and the “weaponization” subcommittee he leads have waged a protracted campaign against the DOJ and FBI, and as House Judiciary Republicans are considering recommending various budget cuts to DOJ through the Appropriations process, a source familiar with the plans tells CNN.

One of the cuts House Judiciary Republicans are exploring, which could be proposed as its own legislation or part of a broader House spending package, includes restricting funding to specific DOJ departments that refuse to respond to oversight requests, a source familiar with the discussions tells CNN.

Other proposals include reigning in the ability for DOJ to give out grants, and clawing back civil asset forfeiture funds obtained through a program that allows the federal government to coordinate with state and local officials to seize cash, drugs, guns and other assets from suspects before they have been convicted of a crime, the source added.

CNN has also obtained multiple letters sent by House Republicans to the House Committee on Appropriations that outline specific cuts that could be made to DOJ.

DOJ declined to comment. CNN has reached out to the FBI.

Democrats, meanwhile, are painting any Republicans who voice support for defunding federal law enforcement as hypocritical, just as Republicans were once framing Democrats as the party that wanted to defund the police. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, has said he will introduce a measure condemning Trump’s calls to defund the DOJ, seeking to create a political liability for Republicans.

Calls to defund, restructure or decentralize federal law enforcement vary across the House Republican conference, both in degree and specificity. With many moderate Republicans still balking at the idea, and since the conference has yet to reveal its budget, it is unclear if any of these proposals have broad support.

Some lawmakers on the far right such as Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Matt Gaetz of Florida and Paul Gosar of Arizona, have carried Trump’s mantel in calling for a full defund of the FBI.

GOP Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona, who floated the idea of defunding the FBI and DOJ at the Conservative Political Action Conference last year, told CNN, “I would suggest that we look internally at a line item by line-item basis in those two areas, DOJ and FBI, and make them justify everything. Start it out at a 0 basis.”

Buck, meanwhile told CNN, “I will not support any drastic cut in appropriations.”

While Jordan said he wanted to support rank-and-file agents at the FBI, he said vaguely “everything should be on the table” when asked what parts of federal law enforcement need to be cut and referenced a since withdrawn memo from an FBI field office focusing on extremism in the Catholic Church as an example of the kind of actions he believes need to change. Jordan has often argued, without much specificity, the best way to hold DOJ and FBI accountable is through “the power of the purse.”

Some House Republicans, however, are more specific about how to restrict certain activities or restructure certain components.

Rep. Warren Davidson of Ohio, who acknowledged the role Trump has had in swaying members on this issue, told CNN he believes the problem “has less to do with funding and more to do with structure,” and floated an idea of using US Marshals to take over a lot of FBI’s current responsibilities, with “an entirely different law enforcement entity” taking over the bureau’s international aspects.

Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, who serves on the Judiciary Committee, told CNN he does not believe the FBI needs a new headquarters and said he would like federal law enforcement to focus less on domestic terrorism.

“I would like to take it back at a minimum to pre-9/11 to focus on crime and working with local and state jurisdictions to combat crime and not be so much dwelling on the domestic terrorism bit, which they exploited in ways that I don’t think is particularly beneficial,” he said.

Roy was also one of 12 Republicans to send a letter, obtained by CNN, to the Committee on Appropriations in March requesting Congress “prohibit funding” for DOJ to enforce the FACE Act, which protects individuals obtaining an abortion as well as religious freedom.

Twenty-eight House Republicans sent a separate March letter to the Appropriations subpanel that oversees DOJ funding, which was reviewed by CNN, calling for appropriators to prohibit the federal government from taking “any discriminatory action” against an individual who has the “sincerely held religious belief, or moral conviction that marriage is, or should be recognized as, a union of one man and one woman.”

Another effort led by Rep. Jim Banks of Indiana to defund “woke programs” and initiatives across the federal government has included letters to each of the 12 House Appropriations subcommittees in March, and calls for no more funding to certain programs within DOJ that target diversity, equity, inclusion and climate.

Multiple Republicans told CNN that they are looking to Jordan’s “weaponization” subcommittee to outline cuts for the Committee on Appropriations to carry out.

Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida said the “weaponization” subcommittee must “identify and isolate” what types of cuts to the DOJ and FBI need to be made for GOP appropriators to then “take a scalpel and cut them out.”

GOP Rep. Darrell Issa, who serves on Jordan’s weaponization subcommittee, said the subpanel’s job is to “expose” parts of the DOJ and FBI he believes to be hurting freedom of speech for appropriators to take up.

“I think at a minimum, no funds may be used to do ‘X’ are likely to be either in the bill or in amendments, where we specifically deny them certain activities,” the California Republican said. “However, you know, nobody that I know of is talking about defunding these organizations, but defunding programs.”

Another weaponization committee member, Rep. Dan Bishop, acknowledged to CNN that details of what should be defunded, restructured or decentralized still need to be worked out. But the North Carolina Republican said he intends to see reforms take effect “if I do nothing else in Congress.”

“The FBI and the Department of Justice obviously require very substantial reform. Precisely what that is, we’ll see,” Bishop said.

Republicans on the Appropriations committee receiving these requests also present a spectrum of opinions.

Rep. Andrew Clyde of Georgia, who sits on the specific subcommittee that oversees DOJ’s budget, told CNN, “It seems like that one of the few things that three letter agencies listen to is their budget.”

Another one of those appropriators, Rep. Steve Womack of Arkansas – who said he saw some “shortcomings” from DOJ and FBI leadership, but offered support to rank-and-file agents – acknowledged of his Republican colleagues on the right, “I will tell you, I know there are members of our conference that would like a pound of flesh.”

Despite increasing pressure, Appropriations Committee member GOP Rep. Dave Joyce of Ohio said that while things will “take a haircut” as the result of the House GOP’s proposal on the debt ceiling, “in reality, I don’t think there is ever going to be a blanket defund.”

Looking at the process from across the aisle, the top Democrat on Jordan’s select subcommittee, Del. Stacey Plaskett of the US Virgin Islands, told CNN she is worried about the groundwork Republicans on the subcommittee are laying.

“I am concerned about them trying to outline through their conspiracy theories and others going down their rabbit holes that they are making an argument that the FBI is an enemy of the state,” she said. “I’m concerned about they’re trying to fracture rule of law here in the country.”

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April 12, 2021
Democratic congressman’s staff attacked by man with baseball bat | CNN Politics

CNN
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Virginia Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly said two staffers were injured Monday by a man wielding a bat who came into his district office in Fairfax.

Connolly told CNN that the assailant who entered his office and attacked two of his aides did so with a metal bat. The attacker struck one senior aide in the head with the metal bat, he said. The attacker also hit an intern – on her first day on the job – in the side with the bat.

In a statement earlier Monday, Connolly said that both aides were taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries, and City of Fairfax Police Department arrested the man.

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill facing unprecedented number of threats

The suspect, whom US Capitol Police identified as 49-year-old Xuan Kha Tran Pham of Fairfax is facing charges for one count of aggravated malicious wounding and one count of malicious wounding, USCP stated.

“At this time, it is not clear what the suspect’s motivation may have been,” USCP said in their statement. “Based on what we know right now, investigators do not have any information that the suspect was known to the USCP.”

Pham suffers from schizophrenia, his father said in an interview with CNN, and had previously been charged with assaulting a law enforcement officer before the charge was subsequently dropped, records show.

The attacker, who is a constituent from his district but who Connolly said he doesn’t know, caused wide damage in his office, shattering glass in a conference room and breaking computers along the way. “He was filled with out of control rage,” Connolly told CNN in a phone interview.

Connolly said later Monday that the man had contacted his office in the past.

“He had contacted our office, soliciting help on something, and my staff were helping him,” Connolly told CNN. “But there is no indication today that the two were related at all. And my staff did sense in talking to him that he engaged in bizarre statements. Never threatening, however.”

The Virginia Democrat said he didn’t “think there’s a motivation” for the incident, adding: “I think we are talking about real mental illness.”

Connolly said he was at a ribbon cutting at the time for a food bank when the assailant drove to his office and entered the building. The congressman estimates it took police about five minutes to respond to the emergency call for help.

Neighbors identified Pham as a person captured on a home security camera Monday morning wielding a bat and chasing a woman in his neighborhood.

The security video, provided to CNN by a homeowner who lives near the suspect, shows a woman screaming as she flees from the man with the bat. The recording was timestamped as occurring at 10:34 a.m., before the attack at the congressional office.

A law enforcement source confirmed that prior to the attack in the congressional office, the suspect confronted a woman in Fairfax County. He damaged her vehicle with a baseball bat, the source said.

Pham’s father, Hy Xuan Pham, told CNN his son is schizophrenic and hadn’t taken his medication for three months. He said that he last saw him Monday morning, and later heard from police that he had been arrested.

“He is in a really bad condition,” the father said in an interview. “All day and all night, he mumbles … he talks and looks like he talks with someone in his brain, and suddenly, he is shouting angrily.”

The suspect’s father said that he had tried to get his son mental health treatment but hadn’t been able to.

Virginia court records show that Pham was previously charged in January 2022 in Fairfax with felony assault on a law enforcement officer, several charges of attempted disarmament of a law enforcement officer’s stun gun, and obstructing justice or resisting arrest. The case’s disposition was listed as “nolle prosequi,” which generally means that the district attorney declined to prosecute it. No further details about the case were immediately available Monday afternoon.

Last year, someone with the same name and city of residence as Pham filed a federal lawsuit against the CIA, alleging in a short handwritten complaint that the agency was guilty of “wrongfully imprisoning me in a lower perspective based on physics called the book world since 1975,” and “brutally torturing me with a degenerating disability consistently since 1988 till the present from the fourth dimension.”

The CIA moved to dismiss the case, which Pham filed without a lawyer, earlier this year, calling his claims “facially implausible.” The motion is pending.

Monday’s attack comes amid a string of incidents where members of Congress, their staff and their families have been attacked in recent months.

In March, a staffer for Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky was stabbed in Washington, DC. In February, a man assaulted Democratic Rep. Angie Craig of Minnesota in the elevator of her apartment building also in Washington. In October, a man attacked Paul Pelosi, the husband of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, hospitalizing him after hitting Paul Pelosi with a hammer in the couple’s home in San Francisco.

Connolly said Monday that there needs to be more security funding for members’ offices in their districts.

“I think we’re gonna have to reassess the security we provide or don’t provide district offices,” Connolly said. “So if you’re a member of Congress and your office happens to be in a federal building, in the courthouse, you’re gonna have security. But if you’re in a commercial office space like me, you have no security. None. And what could go wrong with that? Well, we learned the answer to that this morning.”

This story has been updated with additional developments.

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April 12, 2021
Tim Scott once described own police reform bill as a ‘defund’ bill — then attacked Democrats for same approach | CNN Politics

CNN
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Republican presidential candidate Sen. Tim Scott once said his 2020 police reform bill would “defund” local police departments from federal grants for non-compliance, but he later attacked Democrats for proposing the same policies.

Introduced in the summer of 2020, Scott’s JUSTICE Act was aimed at reforming the practices of local police departments in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.

The bill, according to its text and summaries from the Congressional Research Services, in part used incentives from the federal government to force local police departments to enact change, withholding funding through two key programs from local police departments that did not comply with law.

“Our bill says that we will defund departments if they don’t ban chokeholds,” Scott said in one Facebook live in June 2020, describing one of the defunding provisions.

“You lose money from the federal government,” he added, if departments didn’t use body cameras. “It’s all tied to money. That’s the one penalty we can actually enact on the federal level.”

Senate Democrats blocked Scott’s bill shortly after it was introduced in June 2020, saying the bill inadequately addressed reforming law enforcement and police misconduct.

As Republicans took strong issue with the so-called “Defund the Police” movement – a slogan that gained popularity during the summer of 2020 in which supporters sought to redirect funds from police to other public services such as social work and mental health services or remove police funding entirely – Scott began to use the approach he had previously advocated for to attack Democrats.

“Is it OK to limit funding to grants if local police don’t meet a certain standard or don’t qualify based on some parameters? I say, no. They say yes,” Scott said in April 2022.

A Scott campaign spokesman said in a statement that Scott’s “focus has always been to provide more resources to departments while incentivizing reform.”

“As Democrats called for defunding the police, the senator worked with law enforcement for more net funding. To suggest otherwise is patently false,” said the spokesman, Nathan Brand.

The JUSTICE Act stipulated that state and local governments would not be eligible to continue to receive grant funding through two federal grant programs – the COPS program and the Bryne Program – unless police departments put in place certain reform practices.

The bill required the banning of chokeholds and no-knock warrants in drug cases to continue to receive funding under the programs. It also put in place certain DOJ training requirements for new officers and compelled police departments to provide use of force data to FBI databases to maintain funding.

Speaking on ABC’s “This Week” in June 2020, Scott responded to a story from The Root, a left-leaning Black publication, which said that the bill’s mechanism of preventing departments from receiving funding if they failed to comply with the law was a version of defunding the police.

“God bless ‘The Root.’ It’s nice to have them on my side every blue moon. I’m not sure I would go with their conclusions. But, yes, it is important for us to use the resources that we provide to law enforcement, and a way to get them, to compel them towards the direction that we think is in the best interest of the nation, the communities that, they, they serve and frankly of the officers themselves,” said Scott.

“And I guess their point is if the, if the – police departments don’t do what you are asking, they will lose access to federal funds,” followed up Jon Karl, the show’s host. “So, so there would be an element of withholding funding here?

“Yes,” said Scott. “Very, very important aspect of our bill.”

Speaking with PBS, Scott made similar comments in summer 2020.

“In your proposal, you are saying these things should be tied to federal funding, that, if departments go ahead with them, they risk losing funding,” Scott was asked.

“Yes,” he responded.

A year later, however, Scott was directly attacking Democrats for the same approach.

“We have about a billion dollars in grant money that goes to police,” Scott said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” in September 2021. “When you start saying in order to receive those dollars, you must do A, B, and C, and if you don’t do A, B, and C, you literally lose eligibility for the two major pots of money – the Byrne grants and the COP grants, when you tell local law enforcement agencies that you are ineligible for money, that’s defunding the police. There’s no way to spin that.”

After Scott made his comments, the two major policing organizations – the Fraternal Order of Police and the International Association of Chiefs of Police – disputed his categorization that the Democratic bill defunded police departments.

“Despite some media reports, at no point did any legislative draft propose ‘defunding the police,’” the groups said in joint statement in September 2021. “In fact, the legislation specifically provided additional funding to assist law enforcement agencies in training, agency accreditation, and data collection initiatives.”

“What I did not agree to was the cuts that come from noncompliance,” Scott added on CBS. “When you say once again that in order for you to receive the money for the Byrne grants or the COP grants, you must do the following, and if you don’t do the following you lose money – that’s more defunding the police. We saw that tried throughout the country.”

The Democrats’ bill, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, like Scott’s bill, had requirements, albeit harsher ones, to continue to receive funds through the two programs. The bill required reporting use of force data, submitting misconduct records to a national database, the elimination of and training on racial profiling and independent audit programs, and passing laws banning chokeholds and no-knock warrants in drug cases, among other provisions.

“I’m not gonna be a part of defunding the police by making them ineligible for the two major grants that come from the federal government to local police,” Scott added on Fox News in September 2021.

Scott made similar comments in April 2022.

“Is it OK to limit funding to grants if local police don’t meet a certain standard or don’t qualify based on some parameters? I say no. They say yes,” Scott said in April 2022. “You know, the whole defund the police conversation that’s been going on. And what we’ve seen is that unfortunately, a lot of the cities have literally tried defunding the police to see if it works. The answer is, it doesn’t work very well.”

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April 12, 2021
Martin UAV Unveils V-BAT 128, Featuring Increased Payload, Endurance for Defense and Private-Sector Application

Agile VTOL UAV is now available for military missions, public safety, energy and emergency response

Press Release
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updated: Mar 30, 2021

PLANO, Texas, March 30, 2021 (Newswire.com)
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Martin UAV, a leading advanced aviation technology manufacturer in the United States, today announced the public release of the latest unmanned aircraft system (UAS), the V-BAT 128, for defense and commercial use, including search and rescue, firefighting, logistic resupply, and energy and oil and gas operations.

Martin UAV previously demonstrated its upgraded version of the V-BAT featuring an increase in power, payloads and endurance at the Army Expeditionary Warrior Experiment (AEWE). Over the course of several weeks, the V-BAT 128 flew numerous missions, showcasing its VTOL capabilities and the versatility of its small footprint; one of the impressive features noted from those involved in the exercise is the aircraft’s ability to transition from take-off to a vertical hover and persistent stare capability while maintaining a sensor line of sight, in spite of difficult terrain.

“Martin UAV continues to push the boundaries of what is possible for unmanned aircraft systems,” said Heath Niemi, chief development officer. “We have listened to the customer and expanded the capabilities and agility of the V-BAT 128, delivering technology that serves a wider range of mission needs. We’re proud to make the V-BAT 128 available to the broader market and to provide more power and payload that can be transported in the bed of a pick-up truck, or, inside a Black Hawk.”

As the interest and adoption of UAV/UAS increases across commercial industries, the company stated a renewed commitment to support these verticals adapting to new technologies. Most recently, the company announced the addition of industry veteran Bill Irby as the Chief Operating Officer, who previously held leadership roles with Textron, L3 Harris and Northrop Grumman. Martin UAV strives to make UAVs more accessible and easier to implement, empowering organizations to streamline operational efficiencies, security and increase the safety measures for its staff.

The V-BAT 128 is designed to make transportation and rapid tactical deployment easier for both defense and commercial applications. It can be assembled by two personnel in less than 30 minutes. The aircraft’s duct fan propulsion design provides for top operational safety by eliminating exposed rotors, which are commonly found in propeller-driven VTOLs.

V-BAT 128 is ideal for takeoff and landing on both stationary and moving platforms, in areas with a footprint of less than 12-feet by 12-feet. The upgraded V-BAT provides significantly enhanced payload capacity of 25 pound and interchangeable payloads to meet mission-specific requirements. Increased endurance of up to 11 hours, and higher thrust were made possible by leveraging a more powerful engine, the Suter TOA 288 model. With a wingspan of 9.7 feet, the V-BAT 128 can reach over 90 knots reaching altitudes of 20,000 feet.

For more information on Martin UAV, its V-BAT and use across industries, visit: martinuav.com.

About Martin UAV:

Martin UAV is a private, advanced technology company based in Plano, TX. The company specializes in building wholly-unique, unmanned aircraft systems and associated flight control software. The company’s systems are commercially developed to fill critical operational needs in tactical & confined operational environments. Its V-BAT series aircraft is the only single-engine ducted fan VTOL that has the ability to launch & recover from a hover, fly up to eleven hours in horizontal flight, and make mid-flight transitions to “hover & stare” at any time throughout a given mission set. For more information visit: martinuav.com.

Media Contact

Amy Kauffman I Newswire
Phone: 214.235.6043
Email: amy@newswire.com

Source: Martin UAV

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March 30, 2021
Luna Global Networks Supports Private-Sector Campaign Against COVID-19 Fraudulent Goods

Luna Global Networks joins coalition of private-sector partners in the launch of a new initiative to spotlight resources available to help combat the trade in fraudulent goods.

Press Release
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updated: Jul 13, 2020

WASHINGTON, July 13, 2020 (Newswire.com)
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Luna Global Networks today joined Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI) in launching a new two-month advertising campaign designed to raise awareness of the trade of fraudulent personal protective equipment and resources available to combat the trade of these goods.

“We are proud to be partnering with PMI and other private industry brand protection leaders and long-time partners in fighting illicit trade,” said David M. Luna, President & CEO, Luna Global Networks.

To date, there have been nearly 1,000 COVID-19-related seizures of prohibited test kits and medicine, counterfeit masks, and other medical equipment in the U.S., which has accounted for $17.9 million in disrupted transactions and recovered funds.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, global illicit trade was already booming from an array of trafficking and smuggling crimes. In fact, today’s global illicit markets generate trillions of U.S. dollars every year for transnational criminal organizations, complicit corrupt facilitators, and other threat networks. These profitable criminal activities include the trafficking of narcotics, opioids, arms, and people, fake medicines, counterfeit and pirated goods, illegal tobacco and alcohol products, endangered wildlife, pillaged oil, diamonds, gold, natural resources and precious minerals, and other contraband or commodities. They are sold on our main streets, social media, online marketplaces, and the dark web every hour of every day.

From the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, as the virus spread worldwide, numerous market and supply chain disruptions created new opportunities for criminals in vulnerable sectors. As police and security resources were re-directed, prosecuting the battle against illicit trade was attenuated. Bad actors and threat networks have further accelerated illicit trade in recent months and continue to exploit vulnerabilities in global supply chains to expand illicit economies and criminalized markets in areas such as the life science and healthcare sectors, excisable products, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), frauds, cybercrime and other profitable illicit enterprises.

“In fact, COVID-19 has mutated criminality to a higher level of danger as corrupt regimes and criminals enrich themselves through an illicit trade pandemic that puts the health and safety of all citizens and communities at risk, such as fake medicines and counterfeited medical equipment and supplies,” said Luna.

About Luna Global Networks & Convergence Strategies LLC

David M. Luna is also a former U.S. diplomat and national security official. He is the current Chair of the Business at OECD Anti-Illicit Trade Experts Group (AITEG); Chair, Anti-Illicit Trade (AIT) Committee of the U.S. Council for International Business (USCIB); co-Director, Anti-Illicit Trade Institute, Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center (TraCCC), Schar School of Policy and Government, GMU.

Luna Global Networks is an international security consultancy well-positioned to help clients tackle the most pressing illicit trade and governance challenges and related security threats globally

Media Contact:

David M. Luna, Luna Global Networks

Info@LunaGlobalNetworks.com

Source: Luna Global Networks

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July 13, 2020
CourtCall Can Help Courts Limit the Impact of Impending Budget Cuts

Press Release
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updated: Apr 22, 2020

LOS ANGELES, April 22, 2020 (Newswire.com)
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Unfortunately, courts across the nation and the globe are already feeling the budget cuts associated with the pandemic. As is being reported, courts are being warned about and sustaining double-digit budget cuts. While nothing like the current situation, CourtCall has served courts and their communities during trying times in the past.

“Among many local disruptions and emergencies, we were here for courts in the ’90s, during the dot-com bust of the 2000s and the Great Recession and the aftermath that impacted courts for years. It is during times like these when our experience really sets CourtCall apart,” said Bob Alvarado, CourtCall’s CEO. “Courts cannot take on the costs of highly priced, equipment-heavy solutions or the risks associated with new or unproven software solutions. Nor are courts in a position to have Judges and staff spend hours training, learning how to manipulate and troubleshoot other platforms while backlogs grow. It is no accident that many courts and communities have relied on CourtCall for decades,” Alvarado continued. “And, while our video platform can enhance and expand remote participation and access to justice, there will remain countless situations where our telephonic appearance program will be more than sufficient to complete a court’s important work.”

With CourtCall’s solutions, courts have the flexibility to use business-grade technology while preserving as many jobs and court services as possible.

About the Company

CourtCall was established in 1995, with the desire to make remote court appearances simple, accessible and affordable for all parties and has completed more than six million remote appearances. With this objective in mind, CourtCall developed the Remote Appearance Platform, creating an organized and voluntary way for attorneys to appear for routine matters in civil, family, criminal, probate, bankruptcy, workers’ compensation and other cases from their offices, homes or other convenient locations. Designed with reliable and user-friendly technologies, courts and remote participants experience seamless communication during cases, while benefiting from significant time and cost savings. Today, CourtCall is the industry leader in facilitating remote court appearances throughout the United States, Canada and worldwide. Technologies continue to expand, such that remote court appearances can be conducted with audio, video and, when necessary, remote interpretation services.

Contact:
Edie Liu, Chief Operating Officer
(888) 882-6878, Ext. 856 or eliu@CourtCall.com

Source: CourtCall

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April 22, 2020
KidzCanDesign Introduces the Most Inspiring and Creative Way to Capture Memories

Press Release
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updated: May 11, 2018

NEW YORK, May 11, 2018 (Newswire.com)
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KidzCanDesign proudly announces the most inspiring creative way to capture memories and a beautiful new way to wear a child’s work of art forever. KidzCanDesign will turn a child’s masterpiece into stunning, high-quality sterling silver jewelry that everyone can wear with pride! From their first footprint to their first drawing or even their first signature, each piece can be captured forever by KidzCanDesign.

Even turn photos of a pet’s paw print, a military award/law enforcement badge/patch into a beautiful keepsake that will last a lifetime. The sterling silver jewelry is a perfect way to show that special someone that what they have “designed” is adored.

Parents, grandparents, godparents and more can proudly wear a one-of-a-kind, custom-made piece of jewelry made from the heart. They come in a variety of designs to match anyone’s style and preference. KidzCanDesign custom jewelry makes the perfect birthday, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, graduation, retirement, bridal, new baby, holiday or Grandparents’ Day present.

Use code “KCD20off” for 20 percent off plus FREE shipping.

PRESS CONTACT:

Adrianne Goff
adriannegoff@me.com
(415) 846-4515

www.kidzcandesign.com

www.facebook.com/KidzCanDesign/

Source: KidzCanDesign

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May 11, 2018
St. Louis school shooter had an AR-15-style rifle, 600 rounds of ammo and a note saying ‘I don’t have any friends. I don’t have any family,’ police say | CNN

CNN
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The 19-year-old gunman who killed two people and wounded several others at his former high school left a note saying his struggles led to “the perfect storm for a mass shooter,” St. Louis police said.

Orlando Harris graduated from Central Visual and Performing Arts High School last year and returned Monday with an AR-15-style rifle, over 600 rounds of ammunition and more than a dozen high-capacity magazines, St. Louis police Commissioner Michael Sack said.

Harris died at a hospital after a gun battle with officers.

Investigators found a handwritten note in the car Harris drove to the school. Sack detailed some of the passages:

“I don’t have any friends. I don’t have any family. I’ve never had a girlfriend. I’ve never had a social life. I’ve been an isolated loner my entire life,” the note said, according to Sack. “This was the perfect storm for a mass shooter.”

Given the gunman’s extensive arsenal, the tragedy could have been “much worse,” the police chief said.

Authorities credited locked doors and a quick law enforcement response – including by off-duty officers – for preventing more deaths at the school.

But the shooter did not enter a checkpoint where security guards were stationed, said DeAndre Davis, director of safety and security for St. Louis Public Schools.

Davis also said the security guards stationed in the district’s schools are not armed, but mobile officers who respond to calls at schools are.

“For some people that would cause a stir of some sort,” Davis said Tuesday. “For us, we thought it’s best for our officers, for the normalcy of school for kids, to not have officers armed in the school.”

Student Alexandria Bell, 15, and teacher Jean Kuczka, 61, were gunned down in the attack.

One of the teacher’s colleagues, Kristie Faulstich, said Kuczka died protecting her students.

During the rush to evacuate students from the school, “One student looked at me and she said, ‘They shot Ms. Kuczka.’ And then she said that Ms. Kuczka had put herself between the gunman and the students,” Faulstich said.

Kuczka was looking forward to retiring in just a few years, her daughter Abigail Kuczka told CNN.

Alexandria was looking forward to her Sweet 16, her father Andre Bell told CNN affiliate KSDK.

“It’s a nightmare,” Bell said. “I am so upset. I need somebody – police, community folks, somebody – to make this make sense.”

He joins a growing list of parents grappling with the reality of their child being killed at school.

Across the country, at least 67 shootings have happened on school grounds so far this year.

As the shooting unfolded in St. Louis, a Michigan prosecutor who just heard the guilty plea of a teen who killed four students last fall said she was no longer shocked to hear of another school shooting.

“The fact that there is another school shooting does not surprise me – which is horrific,” Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said.

“We need to keep the public and inform the public … on how we can prevent gun violence. It is preventable, and we should never ever allow that to be something we just should have to live with.”

Bell, the father of the slain teen, said he’s struggling to get answers about what happened.

“I really want to know: How did that man get inside the school?” he told KSDK.

Authorities have said the doors were locked. But the St. Louis police commissioner declined to detail how the shooter got in.

“I don’t want to make this easy for anybody else,” Sack said.

The gunman didn’t conceal his weapon when entering the school, Sack said.

“When he entered, it was out … there was no mystery about what was going to happen,” the commissioner said. “He had it out and entered in an aggressive, violent manner.”

Faulstich said school’s principal came over the intercom and used the code phrase “Miles Davis is in the building” to let faculty know an active shooter was in the building.

“I instantly but calmly went to lock my door and turn off the lights,” the teacher said. “I then turned to my kids and told everyone to get in the corner.”

Within a minute of locking her second-floor classroom door, Faulstich said, someone started “violently jostling the handle, trying to get in.”

“I absolutely commend my students for their response,” Faulstich said. “Even in the moments when they were hearing gunfire going on all around they stood quiet and I know they did it to keep each other safe.”

Adrianne Bolden, a freshman at the school, told KSDK that students thought the school was conducting a drill – until they heard the sirens and noticed their teachers were scared.

“The teacher, she crawled over and she was asking for help to move the lockers to the door so they can’t get in,” Bolden said. “And we started hearing glass breaking from the outside and gunshots outside the door.”

Sophomore Brian Collins, 15, suffered gunshot wounds to his hands and jaws. He escaped by jumping from a classroom window onto a ledge, his mother VonDina Washington said.

“He told me they heard an active shooter notification over the intercom so everyone in the class hid,” Washington said. According to her son, the gunman then came into the classroom and fired several shots before leaving.

After the gunman left the third-floor classroom, Washington said another student opened a classroom window, and some of them jumped.

Brian has numbness in his hands and trouble moving some of his right-hand fingers.

“He’s really good at drawing,” Washington said. “He went to CVPA for visual arts, and we’re hoping he’ll be able to draw again.”

Math teacher David Williams told CNN everyone went into “drill mode,” turning off lights, locking doors and huddling in corners so they couldn’t be seen.

He said he heard someone trying to open the door and a man yell, “You are all going to f**king die.”

A short time later, a bullet came through one of the windows in his classroom, Williams said.

His classroom is on the third floor, where Sack said police engaged the shooter.

Eventually, an officer said she was outside, and the class ran out through nearby emergency doors.

Security personnel were at the school when the gunman arrived, St. Louis Public Schools Communications Director George Sells said.

“We had the seven personnel working in the building who did a wonderful job getting the alarm sounded quickly,” Sells said.

The commissioner did say the school doors being locked likely delayed the gunman.

“The school was closed and the doors were locked,” Sack told CNN affiliate KMOV. “The security staff did an outstanding job identifying the suspect’s efforts to enter, and immediately notified other staff and ensured that we were contacted.”

After widespread controversy over the delayed response in confronting school shooters in Uvalde, Texas, and Parkland, Florida, Sack said responding officers in St. Louis wasted no time rushing into the school and stopping the gunman.

“There was no sidewalk conference. There was no discussion,” Sack said. “There was no, ‘Hey, where are you going to?’ They just went right in.”

A call about an active shooter at the high school came in around 9:11 a.m., according to a timeline provided by the commissioner.

Police arrived on scene and made entry four minutes later.

Officers found the gunman and began “engaging him in a gunfight” at 9:23 a.m. Two minutes later, officers reported the suspect was down.

Asked about the eight minutes between officers’ arrival and making contact with the gunman, Sack said “eight minutes isn’t very long,” and that officers had to maneuver through a big school with few entrances and crowds of students and staff who were evacuating.

Police found the suspect “not just by hearing the gunfire, but by talking to kids and teachers as they’re leaving,” Sack said.

As phone calls came in from people hiding in different locations, officers fanned out and searched for students and staff to escort them out of the building.

Officers who were at a church down the street for a fellow officer’s funeral also responded to the shooting, the commissioner said.

A SWAT team that was together for a training exercise was also able to quickly load up and get to the school to perform a secondary sweep of the building, Sack said.

Some officers were “off duty; some were in T-shirts, but they had their (ballistic) vests on,” the commissioner said. “They did an outstanding job.”

Correction: An earlier version of this story gave the wrong age for 15-year-old Alexandria Bell, who was killed in the shooting.

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December 31, 1969