Terrified Man Who Fled New York Blast Immediately Returned To Help Victims

In the immediate aftermath of the explosion that rocked Manhattan on Saturday night, a bystander who initially fled the blast returned to the scene and offered help to the victims.

Ramon Lopez, 43, calmed stunned individuals who had been hit by metal shards and led one of them to an ambulance, USA Today reports.

He also filmed the experience, which you can watch in the video below. (Warning: Content is graphic.)

Lopez was on West 23rd and Sixth Avenue in the Chelsea neighborhood when a homemade explosive filled with shrapnel detonated. Lopez ran about a half-block until he decided to turn around and help.

The first person he spotted was a woman with bloodstained clothes and an eye injury. In the video, she can be heard saying: “What’s wrong with my eye? I heard an explosion and I fell.”

As Lopez leads her to emergency personnel, he speaks reassuringly to her: “I’m holding you,” he says. “You’re OK, nothing’s going to happen to you.”

He also ran into a woman who had a small spherical fragment lodged in her arm.

“I was telling [the victims] it was minor, but it was major,” he told USA Today of their injuries. “If I told them it was major they would collapse.”

Twenty-nine people were injured in the explosion, which occurred around 8:30 p.m. Sept. 17. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo tweeted the next day that all the victims had been accounted for and released from the hospital. There were no fatalities.

All 29 victims have been confirmed released from the hospital with no fatalities. We give thanks for that.

— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) September 18, 2016

Ahmad Khan Rahami, the 28-year-old suspect wanted in connection with the explosion, was arrested Monday morning in Linden, New Jersey, after a shootout with police.

Rahami is also believed to be linked to a small bomb that went off near a five-kilometer race in New Jersey on Saturday morning and an unexploded pressure cooker bomb found near the scene of the Chelsea blast.

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Terrified Man Who Fled New York Blast Immediately Returned To Help Victims

Rodney King's Daughter Stands With LAPD 25 Years After Dad's Beating

It’s been 25 years since Lori King witnessed her unarmed father, Rodney King, get brutally beaten by cops from the Los Angeles Police Department.

The beating led to the 1992 L.A. riots, which lasted three days and left 55 dead. Her father’s public call for peace ― “Can we all just get along?” ― became the foundation for what King stands for today. Now, she told the Associated Press, four years after her father’s death, she’s working with the LAPD to help unite them with the communities they serve.

“That’s actually what my dad stood for, so I’m following in his footsteps. He had no hatred in his heart for police,” King told AP at an event with young community members and the LAPD on Thursday.

King, who said she’s had a few negative encounters with law enforcement herself, said she realizes that it’s hard for communities to trust police,”but it’s not going to get anything resolved by hating.”

King said she’s been able to overcome the 1991 tragedy because of her father’s solution-oriented spirit. 

Capt. Ruby Flores Malachi said that King’s courage to forgive speaks volumes.

“The importance of her being here today is huge, is monumental,” Malachi said to the attendees. “That’s a huge step in the right direction. We need to be able to come together and look at each other as people and not by the skin color or the uniform that you wear.”

Watch footage from the event below. 

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Rodney King's Daughter Stands With LAPD 25 Years After Dad's Beating

Corey Lewandowski Cluelessly Turns Bomb Suspect Search Into Immigration Rant

We’ll give him this: Corey Lewandowski sticks to his point, even if he looks ignorant doing it.

Lewandowski, Donald Trump’s former campaign manager, turned the search for NYC bomb suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami into a rant against undocumented immigrants Monday even as fellow CNN broadcasters reminded him that Rahami, who later was reportedly caught, is a naturalized U.S. citizen. The bizarre exchange on CNN’s “New Day” was reported by Media Matters.

Co-host Alisyn Camerota asked Lewandowski whether Trump’s prediction of “more and more” attacks was the proper tone for this moment.

Lewandowski answered that his tone “re-highlights the problems we have with our immigration system. What we know is that 40 percent of the people who are in the country illegally have overstayed their visas. And what we hear from the reports this morning is that this person is either potentially of Afghani descent or...”

Camerota interrupted: “A naturalized citizen. That’s not overstaying his visa.”

Co-host Chris Cuomo reminded Lewandowski again that the suspect is neither a refugee nor someone who overstayed his visa.

Lewandowski, hired by CNN as a political commentator shortly after he was fired by Trump in June, then clumsily steered the conversation to Trump’s promise to “root out terrorism” and again questioned whether Rahami was in the country legally.

Meanwhile on Monday, Trump boasted that he called the Manhattan explosion a “bombing” before officials did. Lewandowski ran with that as well, pointing out that his former boss called the Brussels massacre a terrorist attack before any official.

 H/T Media Matters

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Corey Lewandowski Cluelessly Turns Bomb Suspect Search Into Immigration Rant

Authorities Identify Ahmad Khan Rahami As Suspect In Manhattan Explosion

By Alex Dobuzinskis

(Reuters) - Authorities have identified a suspect in the Manhattan explosion case as a 28-year-old New Jersey resident of Afghan descent who may be armed and dangerous, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Monday.

The New York Police Department released a photo of Ahmad Khan Rahami, who was wanted for questioning in the Saturday night explosions in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood, de Blasio said on CNN.

“He could be armed and dangerous,” de Blasio said, warning that residents should be vigilant and report sightings to authorities.

In Elizabeth, New Jersey, on Monday, the FBI was executing a search warrant, Mayor Christian Bollwage told CNN earlier.

“They will be there for the next few hours, going through this location to find any evidence possible, whether it’s in relation to this incident or the Chelsea incident,” he said.

An explosive device left near a train station in Elizabeth, blew up earlier on Monday when a bomb squad robot cut a wire on the mechanism, one of as many as five potential bombs found at the site, the city’s mayor said.

No one was injured in the blast that followed a series of attacks in the United States over the weekend, including the Saturday night bombing that hurt 29 people in Manhattan.

The device had been left in a backpack placed in a trash can near a train station and a bar, Bollwage told reporters earlier.

As many as five potential explosive devices tumbled out of the backpack when it was emptied, Bollwage said. After cordoning off the area, a bomb squad used a robot to cut a wire to try to disable the device, but inadvertently set off an explosion, he said.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the investigation was focusing on a person of interest in the case.

“The evidence might suggest a foreign connection,” Cuomo said in television interviews on Monday morning.

The Chelsea blast followed a pipe bomb explosion on Saturday morning along the route of a running race in the New Jersey beach town of Seaside Park. No one was injured in that blast.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles, Doina Chiacu and Susan Heavey in Washington; Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)

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Authorities Identify Ahmad Khan Rahami As Suspect In Manhattan Explosion

Black Students Say They Were Harassed With Bananas At American University

Students at American University in Washington D.C. have condemned the school over what they said was an inadequate response to racially-charged incidents on campus this month.

In one case, a rotting banana was left at the door of a black student’s dorm room. In addition, someone drew a penis on a whiteboard attached to her door. 

“I wouldn’t let people drive me out,” Neah Gray, the freshman who found the banana, told the newspaper. “But it’s kind of sad that this kind of thing still happens.”

In another incident, someone threw a rotten banana at a black student, according to the American University Black Student Alliance. The organization said that the actions were part of a pattern of behavior at the university; last year, racist epithets were written on the dorm doors of black students. 

The university described one of the incidents as “not characterized as bias related,” and announced that “conduct charges” were taking place through the “Student Conduct process.” It was not clear which incident the university was referring to. 

On Friday, the administration also announced plans for a town hall meeting to be held that very night.

That response didn’t sit well with many students, who said they weren’t given enough notice to attend the meeting.

“Black women are under threat on campus ― they are being used as target practice,” Jada Bell, the Black Student Alliance’s outreach coordinator, told BuzzFeed. “We’re literally being attacked and assaulted on campus, and there’s nothing being done about it by the administration.”

As a result, the university’s student senate issued a resolution late Sunday not only condemning the incidents, but also the school’s response.

American University student Ryan Shepard said signs were later posted around campus:

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Black Students Say They Were Harassed With Bananas At American University

Ex-Airman Gets 18 Months' Probation In Toddler's Death

A Delaware mother whose toddler suffered fatal brain injuries while in the care of a former airman expressed outrage after the man was sentenced to 18 months of probation for the child’s 2012 death.

Justin Corbett, who was initially charged with first-degree murder in 21-month-old Evan Dudley’s death, faced up to eight years in prison after convicted in July on a lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide, The Associated Press reported.

On Thursday, a judge sentenced the 28-year-old to the full eight years, before suspending it for 31 days time served and probation, citing his clean criminal history and “exemplary military record,” the AP reported. 

Corbett had maintained that the child ― whom he was watching while the toddler’s mother, fellow airman Nicole Dudley, was serving in the Middle East ― sustained his injuries by falling down stairs.

A Delaware Online reporter, speaking to Dudley on Thursday, asked the mother if she believed justice had been served. Her answer: “Absolutely not.”

“You have a man who killed Evan who is walking free. The evidence speaks for itself,” she said outside the Kent County Superior Court in Dover.

A coroner reported that her son suffered serious brain injuries, as well as a detached retina and multiple bruises to his head and body. The medical examiner ruled his death a homicide by blunt-force trauma, Delaware State News reported.

“I’ve been in that house and have seen those stairs. It’s just not possible,” Dudley told Delaware Online of the eight carpeted steps in Corbett’s home.

Ahead of Corbett’s sentencing, the married father took the stand and expressed his grief to Dudley over the loss of her son.

“Nikki, I can’t ever start to understand the pain you feel,” he said, according to Delaware Online. “I will bear the burden of this tragedy my whole life. I am truly aware of the pain this accident and I have caused you, and for that, I am truly sorry.”

His apology appeared to offer little, if any, comfort to the grieving mother.

“Just because you’re in the military doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be held accountable for your actions,” she later told the AP. “I think the jury failed, I think the judge failed and I think justice was not served.”

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Ex-Airman Gets 18 Months' Probation In Toddler's Death

Suspect Killed In Mall Stabbing Spree Referenced Allah: Police

A man wearing a private security uniform wounded eight people in a knife attack on Saturday at a mall in central Minnesota before he was shot dead by an off-duty police officer, authorities said.

The man made references to Allah and asked at least one person if they were Muslim before he assaulted them at the Crossroads Center mall in St. Cloud, the city’s Police Chief William Blair Anderson told reporters.

“Whether that was a terrorist attack or not, I’m not willing to say that right now because we just don’t know,” Anderson said at a news conference.

“We’ll figure out what this is and when we do we will be transparent about it,” he added. He gave no details of the identities of the victims.

The knife attack in St. Cloud, a community about 60 miles (97 km) northwest of Minneapolis-St. Paul, comes at a time of heightened concern in the United States about the threat of violence in public places.

An explosion rocked New York City’s bustling Chelsea district on Saturday, injuring at least 29 people in what authorities described as a deliberate, criminal act. But they said investigators had turned up no evidence of a “terror connection.”

In St. Cloud, the attacker entered the mall in the evening as it was busy with shoppers, Anderson said.

He attacked his victims at several sites in the shopping center, which will remained closed on Sunday as police investigate, the police chief said.

The eight wounded were transported to St. Cloud Hospital but none were believed to have life-threatening injuries, said Chris Nelson, a communications specialist for the medical facility.

One victim was expected to remain there, but the other seven patients had already been released or were expected to be let go shortly, officials said.

Police officials said they were still interviewing witnesses hours after the attack.

The off-duty police officer who shot the suspect was from a jurisdiction outside of St. Cloud, Anderson said. He would not say which agency employs the officer.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; Editing by Susan Fenton)

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Suspect Killed In Mall Stabbing Spree Referenced Allah: Police

College For Convicts: The Need Is Great, the Time Is Now

America faces a humanitarian disaster. It is a disaster that remains invisible to most middle-class Americans, though it is a disaster that blights millions of lives. It is the crisis of the American gulag. America has a higher incarceration rate than any other nation on the planet.

Human Rights Watch has eloquently documented the ongoing crisis of the American penal system. In a 2014 Report entitled Nation Behind Bars, this organization examined both the dimensions of this burgeoning catastrophe, and the reasons for it. "Tough-on-crime" legislation is responsible for much of the problem we face today. Beginning in the 1980's, state legislators and even the United States Congress sought easy solutions to the question of crime by enacting a whole series of draconian laws. Legislators "criminalized minor conduct, instituted mandatory prison sentences, even for low-level crimes, and established 'three-strikes-and-you're-out' laws for recidivists." (p. 5).

The crisis, however, does not end when inmates are released. The American penal system creates a whole class of persons who find it difficult if not impossible to reintegrate into society. There are credible reports that there are as many as twenty million individuals in this country with a felony conviction. Deprived of opportunities -- for training or for meaningful work -- this large pool of persons represents an immense human tragedy. Not only are their talents wasted, not only are they shut out from the chance to contribute to the American economy and society, they are at grave risk of re-offending.

Human Rights Watch offers a number of laudable recommendations for addressing this dire situation -- adopt proportional sentencing, treat young people as especially amenable to rehabilitation, rethink the criminalization of non-violent drug offenses.

Still, Human Rights Watch misses an important component to solving the nation's prison crisis -- and that is the promise offered by higher education. Christopher Zoukis, in his important, highly sensible, and pragmatic new book, "College For Convicts" (McFarland, 2016) fills that gap.

Zoukis is a realist. He knows that politically college for convicts is a tough sell to a public that is conditioned to question every government expenditure. And so he opens by his book by building a statistical case for what many might be tempted to dismiss as so much visionary dreaming.

Ex-convicts are likely to re-offend. And recidivism, he notes, has many costs. Former convicts who re-offend do grave injury to the community. They destroy property, and even injure and kill innocent persons. And the costs are compounded by the need to re-incarcerate. But, Zoukis asks, is there a way to break this tragic cycle?

Zoukis answers this question with compelling evidence: "Among inmates who have completed high school courses, recidivism rates drop to 54.6 percent. Those who complete high school or the GED have an even lower rate. Vocational training brings recidivism down to approximately 30 percent. For prisoners who attain an associate's degree: 13.7 percent recidivism. For prisoners who attain a bachelor's degree: only 5.6 percent recidivism. And for prisoners who attain a master's degree: 0 percent recidivism. Zero!" (p. 13).

Let's be clear: Zoukis is not arguing that every prisoner must obtain a master's degree. His book is realistic. But that realism is grounded in lived human experience. He asks his readers to imagine what it is like to be the typical released prisoner. Such a person may or may not be welcomed back into society by friends or family. And upon release, the ex-inmate is given almost nothing in the way of resources -- perhaps a few hundred dollars, some transportation money, and a hearty "good luck."

The ex-prisoner, in other words, steps from a highly-regimented, controlled environment into a complex and challenging new world without even the minimal tools to navigate the transition successfully. Lacking skills, such an individual is nearly certain to re-offend.

But, Zoukis insists, not all is hopeless. He points to some programs that have had success in educating prisoners and preparing them for life in the free world. He notes, for instance, that North Carolina works closely with its community college system and a couple of in-state universities to provide needed education. So do other states, such as Michigan, Colorado, and Oregon.

Zoukis' larger point is that these programs must be expanded for the most practical of reasons. As he writes near the close of his book: "Is education a form of coddling prisoners or does it make sense because it enhances public safety?" (p. 200). The question answers itself.

I agree completely with Zoukis' pragmatic case for expanded educational opportunities for inmates. But I would also stress the humanitarian side to the question. Human life is precious. We must cherish every human being. We should want people to succeed, to be the best they can be, to achieve greatly in the world. If we can meet inmates' educational needs, rehabilitate them and stop the cycle of re-offending, if we can put these persons back on the road to being positive contributors to society, then it would be almost criminal not to do so.

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College For Convicts: The Need Is Great, the Time Is Now

Loud Explosion Heard In Chelsea Neighborhood Of Manhattan

An explosion shook the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan on Saturday night, prompting New York City police and fire department personnel to swarm the area, a Reuters witness said.

Police confirmed they were called to an incident at the intersection of 23 and Sixth Avenue. 

According to Reuters, at least three people were seen being taken away from the apparent scene of the blast in ambulances, but the severity of their injuries was not immediately clear. Police and fire representatives said they were investigating reports of an explosion.

Javier Quintans, 33, a general manager at Francisco’s Centro Vasco near 7th avenue and 23rd street, said he heard what sounded like an explosion at about 8:45 p.m.

“Just heard a loud boom in the restaurant and initially I thought something fell on our building,” he told The Huffington Post. “People were going outside and I followed and realized it was something up the block. We evacuated all the patrons and now we’re being told to stay indoors or leave the area.”

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Loud Explosion Heard In Chelsea Neighborhood Of Manhattan

Small Bomb Detonates On Military 5K Route In New Jersey

A small bomb exploded in a New Jersey beach town along the route of a planned road race on Saturday morning, causing no injuries but prompting authorities to cancel the event and evacuate dozens of homes as they searched for more devices.

No damage to surrounding structures was reported after the device went off at 9:35 a.m. in a garbage container ahead of a 5 km charity race in Seaside Park, a resort about 80 miles south of New York City, the Ocean County prosecutor’s office said on Facebook.

Even so, the explosion stirred dark memories of the deadly blasts at the finish line of the Boston Marathon in 2013 that killed three people and wounded more than 260 others.

The charity run was organized to benefit military veterans and the families of those lost in military service. The run’s name, Seaside Semper Five 5K, is a reference to Semper Fidelis, Latin for “always loyal,” the motto of the U.S. Marine Corps. 

Law enforcement authorities have made no comment about a possible motive for the blast.

The explosion occurred five minutes after the 5 km race was originally scheduled to start at 9:30 a.m.

The explosive went off near the boardwalk by the intersection of Ocean Avenue and D Street, authorities said. According to a course map for the race posted online, runners would have passed near the intersection twice: once 0.7 miles into the race and again 0.7 miles from the finish.

A 1-mile “fun run” was due to begin at 9 a.m. It was not immediately clear whether it got off on schedule nor whether its route would have taken runners near the site of the blast.

Authorities were evacuating about 30 homes, many of them summer homes, near the site of the explosion, Ocean County Sheriff Michael Mastronardy said in a phone interview. He said authorities were in the initial phase of their investigation and trying to keep people safe.

A second device was found near the site of the explosion, according to news website NJ.com, quoting the prosecutor’s spokesman, Al Della Fave. It was not immediately clear whether the second device was detonated, the website reported.

Authorities including the FBI were in the town and were investigating the possibility there was at least one other unexploded device, the office said.About 5,000 people were set to run the 5 km charity race in Seaside Park, a family-oriented resort known for its beachside boardwalk, a local NBC affiliate reported. The race was to begin at 9 a.m. but was delayed because of late sign-ins and then canceled after the explosion, the affiliate said.

A seafood festival at nearby Point Pleasant Beach scheduled for Saturday was canceled after the explosion, apparently as a precaution, the county sheriff said on Twitter.

At the 2013 Boston Marathon, two brothers of Chechen ethnicity who professed allegiance to Islamist militants planted homemade bombs near the finish line of the renowned race. The subsequent explosions killed and maimed dozens of bystanders in the most high profile attack on U.S. soil since Sept. 11, 2001.

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Small Bomb Detonates On Military 5K Route In New Jersey

Ohio Police Officers Indicted In Killing Of Unarmed Man And Beating Case

CLEVELAND  - A Cleveland police officer was indicted for negligent homicide in the shooting death of an unarmed black man on Friday and two former officers in nearby East Cleveland were indicted for kidnapping and assault for beating a black man who was under arrest.

The indictments by a Cuyahoga County grand jury came amid increased scrutiny of the use of force by police in Ohio, where an officer in Columbus this week shot and killed a thirteen-year-old who was carrying a pellet gun.

In the Cleveland case, officer Alan Buford, who is black, was indicted for misdemeanor negligent homicide in the 2015 death of unarmed-breaking and entering suspect Brandon Jones, 18, Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy J. McGinty said in a statement Friday.

“It is not reasonable for a police officer to use deadly force if he or she does not believe a suspect poses a threat of death or serious bodily harm to the police or the public,” McGinty said.

Prosecutors said Buford and his partner responded to a report of a break-in at a grocery store in Cleveland with guns drawn and confronted Jones, who was carrying a bag of stolen items.

Ohio police in recent years have been the focus of concern over excessive and even lethal force against minority suspects.

In 2014, a white officer in Cleveland shot and killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice, who was carrying a replica gun that shot plastic pellets. The child’s death became a rallying point for the Black Lives Matter movement and was one of a number of deaths that led to nationwide demonstrations against the use of excessive force by police.

In the East Cleveland case, two former officers, Denayne R. Davidson-Dixon and Gerald A. Spencer II, were indicted on three counts of kidnapping, two counts of dereliction of duty and one count each of felonious assault, conspiracy, obstructing official business and interfering with civil rights for the July 2016 beating of Jesse R. Nickerson, a prisoner in their custody.

The two officers are black, as is Nickerson.

According to prosecutors the officers arrested Nickerson and after arguing with him drove to a park near the police station, pulled him from the squad car and assaulted him.

Davidson-Dixon and Spencer were fired shortly after the incident.

(Reporting by Kim Palmer; Editing by Sharon Bernstein and Andrew Hay)

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Ohio Police Officers Indicted In Killing Of Unarmed Man And Beating Case

George Zimmerman Shooter Convicted Of Attempted Murder In Florida

ORLANDO, Fla., - A Florida man was found guilty on Friday of attempted murder for shooting at George Zimmerman during a roadside confrontation with the ex-neighborhood watch captain widely known for killing unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin, local media reported.

Matthew Apperson, 37, who according to prosecutors has a history of mental illness, was convicted in a jury trial in the Orlando suburb of Sanford, Florida, according to accounts by the Orlando Sentinel newspaper and 24-hour Orlando television news channel News 13.

(Reporting by Barbara Liston in Orlando; Writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Bernard Orr)

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George Zimmerman Shooter Convicted Of Attempted Murder In Florida

Why JonBenét's Mother Always Carried A Blue Dress With Her After The Girl's Death

Twelve years after the tragic 1996 death of 6-year-old JonBenét Ramsey ― and 12 years after being the subjects of intense scrutiny from the police and the public ― her parents, John and Patsy, were formally exonerated by the Boulder, Colo., district attorney. Patsy died of ovarian cancer before the D.A. cleared the Ramseys of involvement in JonBenét’s death, but John was able to speak out about the case on behalf of his family. He appeared on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” a few months after the exoneration.

As John told Oprah on that show in 2008, he and Patsy always held out hope that their daughter’s killer would be captured. In fact, John said back then, Patsy was so optimistic that she followed a rather unusual practice to ensure she’d be ready for the news anywhere at any time.

“Anytime we traveled, she took a blue dress with her. The blue dress was ... in case they found the killer and she was asked to be interviewed,” John said. “She did that for years.”

As time went on, Patsy eventually stopped carrying the blue dress everywhere, but John said that she never stopped believing that police would find JonBenét’s killer. Both John and Patsy always asserted that an outside intruder was responsible for the little girl’s bludgeoning, strangulation and sexual assault inside their home on that Christmas Day. 

“We believe they came in while we were out, waited for us to go to bed and sleep, and took JonBenét from her room,” John said. “I’ve said, always, that I don’t know anybody this evil. Or, I’ve not had anybody around me this evil. This was a horribly evil act.”

For as certain as John and Patsy were that an intruder was responsible for the crime, the police were not. They questioned the parents as prime suspects. “It didn’t make sense, but I accepted it. In fact, I told the police, ‘Well, OK, investigate us, but for heaven’s sake, don’t stop with us,’” John said. “Of course, they did.”

In his opinion, law enforcement bungled the investigation. “I don’t know how to say that in a polite way, but they were inexperienced, had a lot of arrogance, and that’s a very dangerous combination,” John said.

Despite being in the media spotlight and under a dense cloud of suspicion, John adds that he and Patsy were able to move forward with their lives for the sake of JonBenét’s older brother, Burke.

“We realized pretty early on that we needed our life back to normal as best we could for the sake of our son, who at the time was 9,” John said. “That really became our focus.”

Another moment from that interview:

John discusses the “cyberspace lynching” he and Patsy received from the media

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Why JonBenét's Mother Always Carried A Blue Dress With Her After The Girl's Death

'I've Been Abducted': 911 Call Leads To Accused Serial Killer

In a whispered phone call, an Ohio woman told a police dispatcher she was being held against her will and feared for her life.

“I’ve been abducted,” the distraught woman said in the call. “Please hurry.”

The woman, who has not been identified, said her captor had a stun gun. She was afraid he’d wake up if she tried to escape.

The call led police to a supposedly vacant home in Ashland, Ohio, on Tuesday. There, police say, 40-year-old Shawn M. Grate, a homeless ex-convict, had fallen asleep in a bedroom after tying the woman up. She somehow freed herself enough from her restraints to call 911. 

Responding officers led the woman to safety before waking Grate and taking him into custody without incident.

Police said they found the remains of two women when they searched the property. They have identified one of the bodies as belonging to 43-year-old Stacey Stanley, who disappeared from a gas station in nearby Huron County on Sept. 8.

The coroner has not determined how Stanley died and the second body has not yet been identified, Ashland police said in a statement.

Grate later led police to a burned-out house in Richland County, where investigators found the remains of a third woman. Grate allegedly confessed to killing that unidentified woman.

Ashland County prosecuting attorney Christopher Tunnell filed a felony complaint against Grate on Thursday, charging him with two counts of murder and one count of kidnapping.

A spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office declined to comment on the case to The Huffington Post, citing the ongoing multijurisdictional investigation.

The charges against Grate do not mention how long the unidentified kidnapping victim was allegedly held captive. A press release from Tunnell’s office says she was held “against her will for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity with her between the dates of September 11 and 13.”

Authorities in Richland County have not yet filed charges against Grate. It’s unclear whether he has an attorney.

Grate has a lengthy criminal record that includes prior arrests for abduction, burglary, domestic violence and drug abuse, The Associated Press reports. 

His ex-wife, Amber Nicole Bowman, issued a statement through her attorney after his arrest. Bowman, who has a daughter with Grate, said she has been estranged from him for four years.

“He is not a part of our lives,” Bowman said. “My prayers are with the families who lost their loved ones to these horrific acts. For the sake of my innocent child, I ask that the press respect our privacy at this time.”

Records obtained by The Richland Source show Grate and Bowman were married in 2011 and divorced the following year. After the divorce, Grate was accused of making threatening phone calls to Bowman, which allegedly prompted an order of protection to be filed against him.

Grate also reportedly has a son who was born in 1999.

Ashland Police Chief David Marcelli declined to comment on whether authorities are attempting to tie Grate to other unsolved cases.

The Norwalk Reflector spoke with several women in Ashland who shared stories about bizarre encounters they had reportedly had with Grate.

One of the women, a 17-year-old mother of a 2-year-old, said Grate approached her on Sunday and invited her into the vacant house where he was staying. She said she declined the invitation ― a decision she now credits with saving her life.

“If I would have went in there with him, [my son and I] would be dead,” she told the publication. “I’m just lucky.”

Brittany Lutz, a 20-year-old mom who lives not far from where Grate was staying, shared a similar story. She said Grate recently approached her while she was sitting on a bench in the neighborhood.

“He came up to me and he was asking me if I did drugs and this and that and, ‘Hey, can we hang out?’ ‘Can I go buy you a beer?’ And I said, ‘No.’ I thought to myself, ‘I’ve got a 2-year-old to worry about, not some dude that’s randomly coming up to me and being weird,’” Lutz told The Norwalk Reflector.

She reflected on that decision earlier this week when she learned of Grate’s arrest.

“I’m just a little freaked out because he could have just as easily snatched me up,” she said.

Authorities are still in the early stages of reviewing evidence gathered by police, according to the Ashland County Prosecutors Office, and additional charges could be forthcoming.

For now, many questions remain unanswered.

“I’d like to know the reason he took my mom’s life,” Stacey Stanley’s son, Kurtis Stanley, told “Good Morning America.” “He’s not God. He didn’t deserve to take my mom’s life.”

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'I've Been Abducted': 911 Call Leads To Accused Serial Killer

Watch These Women Open A New Front Against Mass Incarceration

Adnan Syed Of 'Serial' Just Got A Big Boost In His Quest For Freedom

A coalition of defender organizations are urging a Maryland appeals court not to delay the retrial of Adnan Syed, the subject of the popular “Serial” podcast.

The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Maryland Criminal Defense Attorneys’ Association filed a “friend of the court” brief on Friday, arguing that Maryland prosecutors shouldn’t have “a free pass” to drag their feet after Syed was granted a new trial more than two months ago.

“A prompt retrial is better suited to resolve this case in a manner that promotes public confidence in the Maryland criminal justice system,” Maryland appeals attorney Steven Klepper wrote in the brief.

In June, a Baltimore judge vacated Syed’s conviction for the murder of his former high school girlfriend, Hae Min Lee, on the grounds that Syed’s trial attorney, the late Cristina Gutierrez, did not provide effective assistance of counsel. The judge said Gutierrez failed to introduce evidence that called into question cell tower data placing Syed in the vicinity of the murder scene.

Last month, Maryland’s attorney general appealed the June order and charged that Syed shouldn’t get a new trial in the absence of “new evidence” or a “change in law” since he was convicted. 

But the criminal defense organizations are asking the appeals court to subject the state’s request to “rigorous scrutiny” and deny it ― in the interests of justice and the “millions” of podcast listeners who may now doubt that Syed murdered Lee.

The story of Syed’s 1999 trial and murder conviction captivated listeners of the first season of “Serial,” which first aired in 2014. In the podcast, journalist and creator Sarah Koenig raised questions about Syed’s guilt and how the state of Maryland conducted its prosecution.

In light of the renewed interest in the case, the lawyer organizations say Maryland owes it to the public to get Syed’s trial right the second time around.

“Millions will continue to passionately believe that the Maryland criminal justice system failed Mr. Syed, and that he would prevail in a fair trial with competent counsel,” the groups’ brief read. “The only satisfactory way to resolve the debate between the believers and doubters is through a retrial.”

Read the brief below.

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Adnan Syed Of 'Serial' Just Got A Big Boost In His Quest For Freedom

Nick Gordon Found Legally Responsible For Death Of Bobbi Kristina Brown

Nick Gordon was found legally responsible for the July 2015 death of longtime girlfriend Bobbi Kristina Brown on Friday, multiple reports confirm.

The Brown estate filed a $50 million wrongful death suit against Gordon shortly after the death of Bobbi Kristina. The suit alleged that the daughter of Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston, who was found unconscious in January 2015, had been in an altercation with her boyfriend, who put her in a bathtub and injected her with a “toxic cocktail” of drugs. 

The 22-year-old was placed in a medically induced coma and succumbed to her injuries six months later.

The suit, which was first filed last June, also alleged that Gordon stole more than $11,000 from Brown’s account after she was found unresponsive in January, and accused Gordon of assault, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, unjust enrichment and conversion. According to E!, Brown’s father Bobby also became a plaintiff in the suit as of May 2016.

Gordon neglected to show up to court on two separate occasions, meaning anything alleged by Brown’s conservator in the suit against him was admitted through omission, according to Fulton County Superior Court Judge T. Jackson Bedford, per NBC.

“We have said all along that we believed Nick Gordon was responsible for the death of Bobbi Kristina Brown. This judgment confirms our belief. Mr. Gordon had every opportunity to appear in Court and attempt to clear his name. He declined,” said a statement to E! News from Brown’s father’s legal team.

Still, Gordon hasn’t been criminally charged in Brown’s death.

Her father also spoke out in light of the judge’s decision, indicating he was pleased with the news while also expressing his grief, according to People.

“Today’s judgment tells me it was Nick Gordon,” he said. “Now I need to process all the emotions I have and lean on God to get me and my family through this.”

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Nick Gordon Found Legally Responsible For Death Of Bobbi Kristina Brown

Black Church To Host Meeting, March In Honor Of Slain 13-year-old Tyre King

Columbus, Ohio, officials on Friday evening will discuss the shooting death this week of a black 13-year-old boy by a white police officer responding to an armed robbery call, to try to maintain calm, city officials said.

Mayor Andrew Ginther and Police Chief Kim Jacobs will answer questions “to facilitate healthy dialogue during a painful community tragedy,” said a statement from Central Seventh-Day Adventist Church, which is hosting the event. The officials will also march with members of the African-American church.

“It’s a very difficult time for the city, and we want to make sure we’re available to listen and answer questions,” city spokeswoman Robin Davis said.

Officer Bryan Mason shot Tyre King multiple times in a Columbus alley on Wednesday evening after the teenager drew what appeared to be a handgun, police said. It was later determined to be a pellet-shooting BB gun. 

Police were responding to reports of an armed robbery. The victim told officers a group of males had demanded money, threatening him with a gun.

Soon afterward, officers found three males, including King, matching the descriptions of the suspects, police said.

While trying to apprehend King, Mason shot the teenager after he pulled out the BB gun, police said.

King’s family said in a statement released by a Columbus law firm it retained to investigate the shooting that witness accounts conflicted with the officer’s version of the events.

An internal police probe of the shooting and a separate investigation of the reported robbery are under way. A grand jury will ultimately decide whether Mason will face criminal charges, police said.

King’s death comes nearly two years after the fatal shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, who was black, by a white Cleveland police officer responding to reports of a suspect with a gun in a city park.

An investigation revealed Rice had a replica gun that shoots plastic pellets.

Rice’s death became a rallying point for the Black Lives Matter movement and was one of a number of deaths that led to nationwide demonstrations against the use of excessive force against minorities, especially young black men, by police.

Columbus has remained calm since King’s death. Family and friends held a prayer vigil on Thursday near where the boy was shot.

“My eyes are still swollen, and my head still hurts,” the Columbus Dispatch quoted King’s 13-year-old sister, Marshay Caldwell, as saying. “He’s really not coming back.”

(Reporting by Laila Kearney; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)

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Black Church To Host Meeting, March In Honor Of Slain 13-year-old Tyre King

Citizens In Tanzania Could Face Jail Time For Insulting The President On Social Media

Serial Rapist Darren Sharper Nominated For Pro Football Hall Of Fame

The nominees for the 2017 Pro Football Hall of Fame class were announced on Wednesday — and one name stands out for all the wrong reasons.

Darren Sharper, a five-time Pro Bowl safety, made the list of 94 former players and coaches up for the honor. He’s also serving an 18-year prison sentence for drugging and raping women in four states.

Sharper was nominated last year as well, only to receive zero votes from the selection committee. And just like one year ago, several outlets noted after the news broke that “character” is not among the criteria for being included.

The only restriction on nominations is “a player and coach must have been retired at least five years before he can be considered,” according to the Hall of Fame website.

Sharper, 40, was booted from the Hall of Fame at his alma matter, William & Marry, after he pleaded guilty to the rape charges.

The selection committee will meet in February 2017 to vote on the nominees.

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Serial Rapist Darren Sharper Nominated For Pro Football Hall Of Fame

Man Who Attacked Gay Couple At Dallas BBQ Sentenced To Jail

Bayna-Lekheim El-Amin was sentenced to nine years in prison and three years post-release supervision for assaulting two men in the Dallas BBQ in Chelsea in 2015.

“The jury rejected your claim of self-defense,” said Arlene Goldberg, the judge who heard the case in Manhattan Supreme Court, on September 15.

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Man Who Attacked Gay Couple At Dallas BBQ Sentenced To Jail

USC Football Osa Masina Charged With Rape In Utah

A University of Southern California football player was charged in Utah on Thursday with raping a 19-year-old woman in July, according to court documents.

The Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office also charged Osa Masina, 19, with two counts of forcible sodomy in connection with an alleged sexual assault in the town of Cottonwood Heights on July 25.

If convicted, Masina faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. The USC sports website lists Masina as being from Salt Lake City.

The charges against Masina, a linebacker for USC, follow an investigation by California police into whether he previously sexually assaulted the same woman in Los Angeles, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times, which cited the search warrant in that case.

Masina turned himself in at a jail in Salt Lake County on Thursday and was held in lieu of $250,000 bail, said Cottonwood Heights police Lieutenant Dan Bartlett in a telephone interview.

Greg Skordas, an attorney for Masina, said in an email that the player’s family was working to obtain the bail amount. “The bail amount is really quite high for a first time teenage offender but we are stuck with it for now.”

He added: “I have not received a single page of any police reports or evidence so I can’t comment on the Government’s case at this time.”

A probable cause statement submitted in Salt Lake County court said the woman told investigators that on July 25 in Cottonwood Heights she passed out or fell asleep after consuming alcohol and marijuana, awaking later to find Masina sexually assaulting her.

The woman told police Masina had also sexually assaulted her in a similar incident in Los Angeles on July 14, after she consumed drugs and alcohol, according to the probable cause statement filed in Utah.

The Los Angeles Times, citing the warrant filed in California, reported the woman told investigators that Masina and another USC football player, Don Hill, performed sex acts on her without her consent in the Los Angeles incident.

Police in Utah notified USC’s public safety division of the allegations on Aug. 2, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The university on Tuesday announced Masina and Hill had been suspended from the football team.

Hill could not be reached for comment.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; Editing by Matthew Lewis)

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USC Football Osa Masina Charged With Rape In Utah

The Gazebo Where Tamir Rice Was Killed To Be Displayed At Museum

The gazebo in Cleveland, Ohio where 12-year-old Tamir Rice was killed is being moved to be put on display at a museum in Chicago.

The structure was dismantled on Wednesday and will be loaned to the Stony Island Arts Bank after the Tamir Rice Foundation, which is led by Tamir’s mother, agreed to loan it to the museum. Initially, Samaria Rice, was reluctant to conserve the gazebo altogether after she and the city of Cleveland agreed to demolish it, according to Rice’s family Attorney Billy Joe Mills. However, eventually, Mills told ABC News that Tamir’s mother “and those around her began to realize its historical significance and importance of preserving it.” 

Rice was shot and killed at the site in November 2014 after officer Timothy Loehman fired shots immediately upon arriving at the scene. Rice, who was holding a toy BB gun, died almost instantly. His death prompted protests that demanded accountability on behalf of the officers involved and even more outrage followed when the officers were acquitted by a grand jury in December 2015. 

Rice’s family filed a lawsuit over his death which resulted in a $6 million settlement from the city of Cleveland. Despite the arrangement, the gazebo, which has since been transformed into a makeshift memorial honoring Rice, still stands as a “symbol of pain,” as another attorney for the family described. 

“[The gazebo] is one of the strongest national symbols of the current era of civil rights and police brutality,” Mills said.

“We hope that it will continue to serve as that symbol but that by installing it at prominent institutions it will be elevated further in importance and power.”

This move to preserve the memory of Rice isn’t the first time the victim of a police shooting has been memorialized in a museum in Chicago. In July 2015, an exhibit at Gallery Guichard displayed a life-sized mannequin of Michael Brown’s dead body, which was condemned by visitors and Brown’s father himself.

However, Mills said the gazebo’s move made in Rice’s honor was embraced by all. 

“All sides have positive feelings about the loan and partnership,” Mills said. 

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The Gazebo Where Tamir Rice Was Killed To Be Displayed At Museum

Roy Blunt's Senate Challenger Can Assemble An AR-15 Blindfolded

WASHINGTON ― Jason Kander, the Democratic challenger trying to unseat Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) in November, is calling out Blunt for not supporting tighter background checks on gun sales ― and in a way that only someone with Kander’s military background could do.

In an ad released Wednesday titled “Background Checks,” Kander stands at a table assembling an AR-15 rifle while talking about his time in the U.S. Army. Oh, and he’s blindfolded.

“Senator Blunt has been attacking me on guns,” Kander says, jamming together gun parts he can’t see. “In Afghanistan, I volunteered to be an extra gun in a convoy of unarmored SUVs. And in the state legislature, I supported Second Amendment rights. I also believe in background checks so that terrorists can’t get their hands on one of these.”

Then, in dramatic fashion, he peels off the blindfold, looks into the camera and holds up the now-assembled rifle.

“I approve this message,” Kander says, “because I’d like to see Senator Blunt do this.”

Watch the ad here:

Blunt has voted at least twice against strengthening the background check system by closing the so-called gun show loophole and extending checks to all internet gun sales. About 90 percent of Americans support these reforms.

Kander’s ad comes after the National Rifle Association ran a spot accusing him of being weak on Second Amendment rights. The NRA endorsed Blunt in April.

The Blunt campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

Blunt is leading Kander in the polls by about 5 percentage points, according to HuffPost Pollster.

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Duterte Ordered Killings, Hitman Tells Philippine Senate Hearing

MANILA (Reuters) - A former militiaman testified to a Philippine senate hearing on Thursday that President Rodrigo Duterte had personally given assassination orders while mayor of a southern city in which activists say hundreds of summary executions took place.

Speaking during a legislative investigation into Duterte’s ongoing anti-crime crackdown, Edgar Matobato, a self-confessed hit-man, told senators he personally heard then Davao city mayor Duterte give instructions to carry out extrajudicial killings.

“Our job was to kill criminals like drug pushers, rapists, snatchers,” said the 57-year-old, who said he himself had killed more than 50 people while working for a “Davao Death Squad”.

“They were killed like chickens,” he told the televised hearing, during which alleged that the president’s eldest son and current Davao vice mayor, Paolo Duterte, was a drug user who ordered the death of a hotel owner in 2014.

Rodrigo Duterte has frequently denied involvement in any vigilantism as both mayor and president. In a public speech on Thursday afternoon, he made no mention of the senate hearing.

Rights groups have documented some 1,400 suspicious killings in Davao since the early 1990s and critics say the bloody war on drugs Duterte has unleashed since taking office on June 30 bears the same hallmarks.

More than 3,500 people, or about 47 per day, have been killed in the past 10 weeks, some 58 percent by unknown assailants and the rest in legitimate police operations, according to police.

Matobato said that during the 1990s he had overheard Rodrigo Duterte order the bombing of mosques in Davao as retaliation for the attack on a cathedral.

“He ordered us to kill Muslims,” Matobato said.

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre described Matobato’s testimony as “lies, fabrications and a product of a fertile and a coached imagination”.

METEORIC RISE

Matobato told the hearing that one man was fed to a crocodile and most victims were cut into pieces and buried in a mass grave at a quarry.

He said others were thrown into the sea, their stomach slashed to prevent bodies floating to the surface, he said.

Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said he did not believe Rodrigo Duterte was capable of ordering the killings and investigations had proved him innocent.

Though the existence of Davao death squads has never actually been proven, the term is familiar in the Philippines and part of the narrative behind Duterte’s meteoric rise to the presidency as a no-nonsense crime buster determined to cure the country’s of its ills.

The United Nations and United States have expressed concern about his latest crackdown, and received profane and angry rebukes from Duterte, who has told them not to interfere.

Paolo Duterte issued a statement pouring water on Matobato’s testimony, which he said was “all based on hearsays”.

Little is known about Matobato, who volunteered to give testimony in a senate investigation led by Leila de Lima, a former justice minister who has denounced Duterte’s crackdown.

De Lima has yet to say why she did not seek to prosecute Duterte over the Davao killings when she was justice minister in the previous administration when Matobato first came to her for protection.

Matobato told the hearing he once served as a paramilitary who fought Maoist rebels and decided to tell all that he knew about the Davao death squad after being made a “fall guy” in the killing of a Davao businessman.

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Duterte Ordered Killings, Hitman Tells Philippine Senate Hearing

Trevor Noah Blasts Missouri Law That Requires No Gun Training

“Daily Show” host Trevor Noah has questions about a Missouri law approved Wednesday that allows many people to carry concealed guns even if they haven’t undergone the training for a permit.

“If shit goes down and suddenly everyone pulls out a gun, how do the cops know who to shoot?” Noah said on Wednesday’s show. “I mean obviously the black guy first. But after that, who do they shoot?” 

As long as the states wants to live dangerously, Noah suggested it do away with meat inspection as well.

But at least Missouri can rest easier knowing that its streets are not overrun by untrained “master naturalists.”

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Ohio Teen With BB Gun Killed By Police Following Reported Armed Robbery

The officers saw three males matching the victim’s description of the suspects and approached for an interview.

The suspects fled, prompting a police pursuit, AP reported.

Police told WBNS-TV, the local CBS affiliate, that the officers followed the suspects into an alley and tried to take them into custody. When one of the suspects allegedly pulled a gun from his waistband, an officer opened fire.

That suspect, who was later identified as 13-year-old Tyree King, was transported to Nationwide Children’s Hospital in critical condition, the police said on Twitter. He died at 8:22 p.m.

King’s weapon was later determined to be a BB gun with an attached laser sight, police said.

The other male suspect was taken into custody for questioning and later released, per the New York Daily News. He was not injured during the shooting.

Neither of the officers involved were wounded in the encounter. The unidentified officer who fired the shots was a nine-year veteran of the force, the local NBC affiliate WCMH reported.

Authorities are searching for suspects for the robbery and the incident remains under investigation.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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Ohio Teen With BB Gun Killed By Police Following Reported Armed Robbery

WADA: Hackers Leak Another Batch Of Athlete Data

Man Mailed Dead Skunks, Raccoon To Rival For Job, Police Say

An Indiana man who police say mailed dead skunks and a raccoon to a man chosen over him as school basketball coach has been arrested on stalking, animal cruelty and other charges, police said on Wednesday.

Travis Tarrants, 40, was also accused of spray painting the victim’s car with such messages as “you will die” in a bid to get him to resign as coach and fourth grade teacher at the school in French Lick, Indiana, which happens to be the hometown of 1980s National Basketball Association star Larry Bird.

“It’s bizarre, its just hard to believe,” said Charles Murphy, Jackson County Sheriff’s jail commander. He said the case began in June when “the post office gets these packages that smell like skunks, blood coming from them,” and called police.

It was not immediately clear if Tarrants had retained an attorney.

Murphy said an investigation by police in Brownstown, where the victim lives, as well as the Federal Bureau of Investigation and U.S. Postal Service, ultimately lead to Tarrants, director of a small museum in nearby West Baden.

Authorities believe Tarrants began a campaign of trying to get the victim fired or force him to resign because he was disgruntled about losing out on the job.

“It’s my understanding that Mr. Tarrants decided to create some false information about the gentleman who did get the job, accused him of child molestation, mailed a couple of dead skunks, mailed a raccoon,” Murphy said.

Witnesses said Tarrants had trapped the animals outside his home in West Baden.

Tarrants is also accused of calling the county department of child protective services from a phone outside his office at the museum to falsely accuse his rival of having sex with a 15-year-old boy.

Tarrants was booked into Jackson County Jail on suspicion of criminal mischief, intimidation, staking, criminal trespass, false reporting, animal cruelty and harassment.

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Man Mailed Dead Skunks, Raccoon To Rival For Job, Police Say

Tenacious Photographers Expose Philippine President's Brutal Drug War To The World

Florida Mosque Arson Leads To Arrest Of Joseph Michael Schreiber

The arson suspect, Joseph Michael Schreiber, 32, faces at least 30 years in prison if convicted on pending charges of deliberately starting the blaze at the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce, where Orlando gunman Omar Mateen worshiped, police said.

(Reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Chris Reese)

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Florida Mosque Arson Leads To Arrest Of Joseph Michael Schreiber

Toddler Suffocates Under Beanbag Chair When Day Care Worker Sits On It

Utah parents are mourning the death of their toddler, who suffocated to death Thursday when a day care employee sat on a beanbag chair with the boy underneath.

Leo Sanchez would have turned 2 on Sept. 17, CBS News reports. Instead, his parents plan to hold his funeral that day.

Police, who have called the incident a “very tragic, sad accident” are reviewing surveillance footage from West Jordan Child Center in the city of West Jordan, KUTV reports. They believe the employee, who was sitting down to read a story to other children, did not realize Leo was underneath the chair.

“How could this happen?” Leo’s mother, Danielle Sanchez, said in an interview with the station. “He’s a big boy. How did they lose track of him? Too many kids, too much noise, overwhelmed, a bad day. ... Somebody dropped the ball and now we’re going to have to bury a boy because of that.”

Utah’s Department of Health is also investigating. DOH spokesman Tom Hudachko told CBS that within the past five years, the facility has had some “minor infractions” but nothing major. However, former employee Madiee Smith told the network that the day care center was a “disaster” and that staff members were often overwhelmed, with too many kids in their care at once.

Barry Johnson, an attorney for the day care center, released a statement on Friday:

We regret deeply the tragic death of a young toddler at our day care facility. No words adequately describe the depth of the sorrow we feel. And, of course, we do not pretend to understand how devastating this is for the family. We know the family well, we grieve with them, and we pray that God will provide them the comfort and peace they inevitably will need.

Sanchez told the Deseret News that she urges other parents to “”hold your children and give hugs and kisses.”

“You just don’t know when the last time will be when you see your baby,” she said.

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Toddler Suffocates Under Beanbag Chair When Day Care Worker Sits On It

Inside China's Role In Corruption In Kenya

Hero School Bus Driver Saves 20 Kids After Vehicle Catches Fire

Twenty children escaped a burning school bus with their lives thanks to their cool-headed bus driver who leapt into action, authorities say.

Dramatic dash cam video capturing the aftermath of Monday’s rescue in College Park, Maryland, shows the evacuated Glenarden Woods Elementary School bus completely engulfed in heavy smoke and flames.

Driver Renita Smith said she had just finished her third or fourth stop when the bus abruptly started smoking. She started to call for a backup vehicle when flames appeared toward the back.

“I put the mic back down, undid my seatbelt, jumped up, got my babies and got off,” she told ABC News.

“Once we got off, neighbors kicked right into ‘Mommy mode,’ as I call it, and helped the kids get to a safe haven. When that was going on, I ran back onto the bus to make sure there was no children on the bus,” she said. “By the time I got to the last step on the bus, it just went up in smoke.”

Parent Fazlul Kabir, who identified Smith in a Facebook post, lauded her efforts as a hero.

“Not only Reneita took (sic) each one of the 20 kids from the bus one by one, but also went into the empty bus again to check if everyone was out, while it was still burning,” he wrote.

“I am a mom of two kids,” Kabir quoted Smith as later telling him. “It’s my job to save them.”

In a statement, Mark Brady, a spokesman for the Prince George’s County, Maryland Fire and EMS Department, credited her with remaining calm throughout the ordeal which left no people injured.

The fire, which is believed to have originated from near one of the rear wheels, remains under investigation as of Wednesday morning.

“We are looking at an accidental cause,” Brady told The Huffington Post via email.

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Hero School Bus Driver Saves 20 Kids After Vehicle Catches Fire

Texas Girl Who Shot Schoolmate Was Targeting Her Stepbrother: Cops

Why Kratom's Getting Banned - And How We Can Stop This Drug War Madness

The DEA's recent move to prohibit and criminalize kratom, a medicinal plant used for millennia in Southeast Asia, shows us just how far we are from the drug war's ultimate demise. Without any serious scientific analysis, the DEA intends to subject anyone caught with any quantity of kratom to long prison sentences, while obstructing scientific investigation into the plant's medical benefits.

Kratom is a long-established folk remedy in southeast Asia, where it is traditionally popular among day laborers and has long been used as a replacement therapy for people struggling with opiate addiction. Kratom leaves can be chewed fresh, or dried and consumed in powder, tea or bar form. In small doses, it can have stimulant-like effects, and in larger quantities it acts as a sedative. Side effects of kratom are minimal, and its withdrawal symptoms are weak and nearly inconsequential compared to the suffering of people trying to quit opiates or amphetamines.

Many people struggling with opioid addiction have turned to kratom to help them cut back or quit, but now all promising scientific studies on kratom's role in opioid treatment could be immediately shut down. With U.S. currently suffering from an overdose epidemic linked to opioids, it's absurd to criminalize a substance that many people use to help with opioid withdrawal. If the DEA gets its way, more people who struggle with addiction could be criminalized, which is exactly the opposite direction drug policy should be going.

The Drug Policy Alliance is fighting to put the brakes on kratom prohibition - you can help us by taking action and pressuring Congress to stop the DEA before it's too late.

Many news reports mis-state that the DEA is imposing "strict regulations" on kratom or something to that effect - but prohibition is actually the opposite of strict regulation, since it completely abdicates regulatory responsibility to the illicit market. In fact, strict regulations are exactly what we need - such as quality control measures, product labeling requirements, as well as marketing, branding and retail display restrictions, which are long proven to reduce substance misuse and youth access. (Funnily enough, it was reported last week that teen rates of alcohol and tobacco use are at their lowest in decades - a massive public health success that was accomplished through education and legal regulation, rather than criminalizing and arresting teens who smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol.)

Ultimately, kratom is suffering the same fate as countless other medicinal plants that have been used by our ancestors for millennia - there's no profit incentive for pharmaceutical companies to do years of clinical research to gain FDA approval for a plant that they can't patent for prescription use. That's one of the many reasons why in the long run we need a new, post-prohibition drug classification system that's based on science and best public health practices, perhaps with some sort of new FDA for recreational drugs and psychoactive plants like kratom.

In the meantime, given the now-widespread moral, political and scientific consensus that drug use and addiction are best treated as health issues rather than as criminal issues, there's no good reason for people who use kratom to be treated as criminals - especially considering how much we already know about prohibition's disproportionate impact on people of color and other marginalized communities.

And it makes no sense for the DEA to still be left in charge of federal decisions involving scientific research and medical practice, especially when its successive directors have systematically abused their discretionary powers in this area. Responsibility for deciding drug classifications and public health policies should be completely removed from the DEA and transferred to a health or science agency.

(Check out DPA's "Fire the DEA" campaign to learn more about how the DEA has fueled mass incarceration, wasted taxpayer money, and blocked scientific research.)

With more than 100,000 people currently joining together to stop the madness of kratom prohibition, hopefully we can accelerate a new vision for sensible drug policies before the next misguided "drug scare" inevitably rears its head.

This piece first appeared on the Drug Policy Alliance blog.

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Why Kratom's Getting Banned - And How We Can Stop This Drug War Madness

Man Crashes Car Into Police Officers In Alleged 'Targeted' Attack

An Arizona man is facing attempted murder charges following what police are calling a “targeted” attack against three officers that was caught on video.

The officers were standing outside a Phoenix convenience store around 2 a.m. Tuesday when surveillance video captured a vehicle charging at them.

The car, police said, was driven by 44-year-old Marc LaQuon Payne and hit two of the officers. It grazed a third who was later injured while restraining the driver, according to an emailed statement from police.

Incredibly, an officer who is seen being thrown into the air gets up moments later to help detain the driver. Phoenix Police Chief Joe Yahner said it was that officer’s first night on the job.

“The officer’s first name is Jeremy. He gets up and engaged with the suspect in a fight,” Yahner told reporters at a press conference, according to KSAZ-TV. “Jeremy, and I’m not going to give you his last name, first day out of the squad, gets propelled into that glass, has the guts to get up, get back into the fight and take this guy into custody. Unbelievable. He is a hero.”

The rookie officer, 33, was hospitalized with a non-life threatening head injury. A 41-year-old sergeant, with 18 years of experience, suffered a broken leg and a 36-year-old officer, with eight years of experience, sustained minor injuries during Payne’s arrest, according to a police statement.

“I am outraged by this incident,” Yahner said, according to CBS 5 News. “Our Phoenix police officers were targeted. We have all heard about officers being targeted and ambushed across this nation. But this happened here. This happened in Phoenix. This happened to your Phoenix police officers.”

Payne is believed to have been impaired at the time of the incident. Though police believe the crash was intentional, based on a preliminary investigation, a suspected motive has not been released.

In a Facebook message, Yahner said they were lucky that the officers “were not killed or more seriously injured.”

“We are living in uncertain times, and this is yet another reminder of how important it is to stay vigilant, and to watch out for one another. The actions taken by our officers in the immediate moments following this incident were nothing short of heroic. I am so proud of them and all the men and women of the Phoenix Police Department,” his statement read.

This isn’t the first time Payne’s been arrested for attacking police, KPNX reported citing court documents.

In 1997, he was taken into custody following a traffic stop ― during which he assaulted the arresting officers ― because there was an outstanding warrant for his arrest. He later pleaded guilty to the assault. Police later said that he appeared to be remorseful for his actions and the charge was eventually downgraded to a misdemeanor.

In addition to facing three attempted murder charges following Tuesday’s incident, jail records show Payne faces charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, criminal damage and resisting arrest with physical force. He is being held without bond.

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Man Crashes Car Into Police Officers In Alleged 'Targeted' Attack

Protester With Oxygen Tank Allegedly 'Cold-Cocked' By Trump Supporter At N.C. Rally

A woman protesting at a Donald Trump event in North Carolina on Monday night was allegedly assaulted by a supporter of the Republican presidential candidate. 

“I said you better learn to speak Russian, and I said the first two words are going to be, ha ha. [The suspect] stopped in his tracks, and he turned around and just cold-cocked me,” Shirley Teter, 69, told the local ABC station WLOS. 

Teter has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and needs an oxygen tank to breathe, the Citizen Times reported. She told the newspaper she was in the hospital until 2 a.m., has pain in her jaw and can’t chew. 

Authorities have issued a warrant for Richard Campbell, 73, of Edisto Island, South Carolina, in connection with the attack, WLOS reported. 

Five other people were also arrested in connection with unruly behavior at Monday night’s rally. In one incident that went viral, a man was caught on video slapping protesters.

“People need to know what state of agitation [Donald Trump] puts people in,” Teter said, per the Citizen Times. 

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Protester With Oxygen Tank Allegedly 'Cold-Cocked' By Trump Supporter At N.C. Rally

Mistrial Means Delayed Justice For Shooting Victim

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. ― Kate Ranta was minutes away from facing her ex-husband ― the man accused of shooting and attempting to kill her in 2012 ― and she felt as prepared as she’d ever be. 

She was flanked by two close friends, both domestic violence survivors who flew to Florida to support her during the trial, carting chocolate and luxury bath products for relaxation. She was wearing her special pumps, which are purple, the color for domestic violence awareness. Her stomach, which had been upset for days, had finally settled down. 

Almost four years since the incident, she was ready to tell the jury about the harrowing night police say her ex-husband, Thomas Maffei, shot her and her father in front of her 4-year-old son. 

Maffei, a retired Air Force officer, is charged with two counts of attempted murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and other crimes.

And then, as quickly as the trial had begun, it was over. 

Less than five hours after opening statements were read, Broward County judge Raag Singhal declared a mistrial due to jury misconduct.

During a short break, he said he received four written questions from the jury. The content of two of the questions indicated the jurors had been talking about the case, which is strictly forbidden until deliberations begin. 

“There can’t be any discussion about anything involving the case until all of the testimony has been given, all the evidence presented and all of the instructions have been given by the judge,” he said. “We are going to start all over.”

Ranta burst into tears upon hearing the news.

“They don’t understand the toll,” she said standing outside the courtroom, her sobs muffling her words. “I was fucked up for two weeks leading up to this and now I have to do it all over again?” 

Ranta, who is diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder from the shooting, said that during the lead-up to the trial, she experienced painful flashbacks, unexpected crying fits, nightmares and panic attacks. 

“When they said that it was a mistrial, I felt shock and then anger and then intense pain,” she said. “I thought I was about to have my moment and finally have some closure.”

Adam Gonzalez, assistant professor at Stony Brook University School of Medicine, said it can be extremely distressing for victims with PTSD to go through a trial.

“One of the main symptoms of PTSD is avoiding talking about the trauma itself, or being exposed to triggers,” he said. “If one had to testify, the testimony itself would be a form of exposure, having to confront those thoughts, memories and the emotions connected with the event.”

But he stressed that at the same time, the process can be empowering.

“Avoidance is one key symptom of PTSD, but is also something that helps to maintain the disorder,” he said. “Confronting the trauma and the memories associated with it can also be therapeutic.”

Kim Gandy, president and CEO of the National Network to End Domestic Violence, said it’s a huge challenge for victims to move on with their lives when proceedings in the criminal justice system drag on for so long. 

“When your only recourse is either the civil justice system or the criminal justice system, and it means you’ll be tied up for years, many people feel that they will never get justice,” she said. “It reminds me of that old saying: Justice delayed is justice denied.”

Assistant State Attorney Molly McGuire apologized to Ranta and her family.

“We realize that every delay is a re-victimization of sorts,” she said. “She has to fly here, prepare, go through late-night phone calls and endless emails with us.” 

Maffei’s attorney, Fred Haddad, said he, too, was disappointed about the mistrial.

“But the jurors obviously weren’t following the judge’s directions,” he said.  

A new trial is expected to kick off in November. 

“I’m going to have to go through this process all over again in two short months,” Ranta said. “I can’t believe it.” 

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Melissa Jeltsen covers domestic violence and other issues related to women’s health, safety and security. Tips? Feedback? Send an email or follow her on Twitter.

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Need help? In the U.S., call 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) for the National Domestic Violence Hotline .

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Mistrial Means Delayed Justice For Shooting Victim

British Man Pleads Guilty After Grabbing Officer's Gun At Trump Rally

A British tourist who caused a security scare at a Donald Trump campaign rally in Las Vegas in June by trying to grab a gun from a police officer pleaded guilty on Tuesday to charges of illegal weapon possession and disorderly conduct, court papers showed.

Michael Steven Sandford, 20, admitted as part of his plea deal with prosecutors that he had approached a policeman at the event, saying he wanted an autograph from the presidential candidate, then tried to pull the officer’s gun from his holster with both hands, the papers said.

Sandford, who had by then overstayed his tourist visa by about 10 months, was immediately arrested and removed from the rally.

He also acknowledged having visited a Las Vegas gun range the day before the June 18 incident at the Treasure Island casino-hotel, to take shooting lessons with a rented Glock handgun, firing 20 rounds at a paper target, court papers showed.

No mention was made in the plea agreement about whether Sandford intended to harm Trump, then the presumptive Republican nominee in the U.S. presidential race.

In the initial June 20 criminal complaint stemming from the incident, prosecutors said Sandford had told a U.S. Secret Service agent he had driven to Las Vegas from California with the aim of shooting Trump.

On June 29, Sandford was charged with felony counts of being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm and disrupting government business, but he was not accused of plotting to kill Trump.

At Tuesday’s hearing in federal court in Las Vegas, Sandford pleaded guilty to those two charges, each of which carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement. Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 13.

Brenda Weksler, one of Sandford’s federal public defenders, declined to comment.

(Reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; Editing by Steve Gorman and Richard Chang)

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British Man Pleads Guilty After Grabbing Officer's Gun At Trump Rally

Dangers Of Private Prison Vans Brought Into Spotlight

A front-page New York Times story headlined "On Private Prisoner Vans, Long Road of Neglect" examined the little-known for-profit firms providing interstate transport in large vans for persons being extradited to face out-of-state court hearings or shuttled to distant prisons.

The companies give law enforcement agencies an alternative to assigning their own deputies to handle extradition of fugitives or suspects, but the business faces growing claims its providers are ill-trained, poorly equipped or otherwise unsuited to providing efficient or even safe service.

The July 6 Times article, jointly prepared by a reporter for the newspaper and a staff writer for The Marshall Project, a non-profit newsgroup on criminal justice, recounts deaths and serious injuries suffered by private extradition service passengers. It began with Steven Galack, a 46-year-old Florida man who in July 2012 was arrested on an out-of-state child-support warrant and ordered to appear at a hearing in an Ohio county over a thousand miles away.

The county ordered Prisoner Transportation Services of America, the nation's largest private extradition service, to send a van to pick Galack up at the Florida jail where he was being held. Like the 10 other persons already in the van, he was handcuffed and put in ankle and waist shackles on a seat inside a cage in the back of the van. No toilets or beds are provided; uniformed guards ride in the driver's compartment, take turns driving and usually stop overnight only if they can find a local jail willing to put their passengers up.

To maximize revenue (law enforcement clients pay $0.75 to $1.50 per passenger mile), the company's routes are not direct, but include numerous pick-ups and drop-offs along the way (the log for Galack's van's showed 41 stops along its Ohio to Florida round-trip). The van's air conditioning failed in 90-degree temperatures, and Galack soon began acting oddly, complaining of pain, and making so much noise the other passengers could not sleep while chained in their seats for the first two nights of the northbound trip.

The third day, two prisoners later testified, a guard suggested passengers beat Galack into silence. After reaching Tennessee an hour or so later, guards discovered Galack had died. Local authorities did not act, saying any crime had likely been committed in Georgia; state police there only briefly investigated the death (whose cause was never determined), and let the van continue.

The Times article noted at least three other passenger deaths since Galack's, two from perforated ulcers for which no medical help was provided, and another from withdrawal from medication. It also detailed other harm befalling prison van passengers, including a diabetic who needed a double-leg amputation after several days on the road in a private prison van. Further, crashes have killed at least a dozen passengers and guards, and over a dozen female passengers have charged they were sexually assaulted during van trips. About 60 passengers also escaped during van trips.

The Marshall Project, which interviewed dozens of former private van guards, added most receive only an hour or so of training and no medical preparation beyond CPR. The article also reported the guards say they've seen little sign of Justice or Transportation Department oversight of regulations for interstate van passenger service.

Christopher Zoukis is the author of College for Convicts: The Case for Higher Education in American Prisons (McFarland & Co., 2014) and Prison Education Guide (Prison Legal News Publishing, 2016). He can be found online at http://ift.tt/20rYTL5, PrisonEducation.comand PrisonLawBlog.com

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Dangers Of Private Prison Vans Brought Into Spotlight