Crime

Orlando’s NBC affiliate reports: “The Voice” singer Christina Grimmie was shot and killed during an autograph signing after her concert in Orlando on Friday night. Grimmie was performing with the band “Before You Exit” at The Plaza Live on Bumby Avenue. According to Orlando police, the concert ended at 10 p.m., and Grimmie, along with band members, stayed to sign …

Michael Lavers reports at the Washington Blade: A prominent LGBT rights activist in Honduras was murdered this week. La Prensa, a Honduran newspaper, reported Rene Martínez’s family reported him missing on Wednesday after he left his home in the city of San Pedro Sula’s Chamelecón neighborhood and got into someone’s car. La Prensa reported that Martínez’s relatives identified his body …

From the Associated Press: Federal prosecutors in New York have filed additional criminal charges against a pharmaceutical executive who separately was heavily criticized for raising the price of a lifesaving malaria medication. A new indictment filed Friday in Brooklyn says Martin Shkreli and his former attorney Evan Greebel schemed to defraud potential investors of his former drug company Retrophin Inc., …

“My experience at the Trump rally in San Jose. Protesters = they are criminals, otherwise known as Democrats. Got jumped last night as we exited the rally. Really? For practicing my right to support the next Commander in Chief?? Law enforcement failed last night in San Jose. Failed. Thanks for a broken nose, uncontrollable bleeding, and a bash to the …

Last month I reported that soon-to-be imprisoned former New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver dropped his support for the reform of child molestation laws shortly after he began an adulterous affair with a lobbyist hired by the Catholic Church. Today the New York Daily News reports on how much the church has spent to oppose the proposed reforms. From their …

Phoenix television reports: Glendale police have arrested a 19-year-old woman suspected of attacking a controversial street preacher with a baseball bat outside Apollo High School. Tabitha Renee Brubaker was taken into custody Thursday. She is facing an aggravated assault charge in connection with the April 26 incident. The sound of a metal bat striking a hard object was captured on …

The Los Angeles Times reports: Two carjacking suspects who reportedly used the gay dating app Grindr to lure their victims have been arrested by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, officials said Tuesday. The carjackings occurred over the last two weeks in the high desert communities of Victorville and Adelanto, according to deputies. “On both occasions, the victims had blindly …

CNN reports: More than a decade after he was first accused of sexual misconduct, Bill Cosby will go to trial. A Pennsylvania judge found enough evidence during a hearing Tuesday to proceed with a criminal trial. It’s not clear when his trial will start. Cosby faces three counts of felony indecent assault from a 2004 case involving Andrea Constand, an …

Reuters reports: George Zimmerman said he has sold the gun he used to kill unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin in Florida in 2012 for $250,000, television stations in Orlando and Las Vegas reported on Friday. Zimmerman could not be reached to verify the reports by KTNV in Las Vegas and the Daytona Beach News-Journal. His offer to sell the Kel-Tec …

From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: The former chairman of the Cobb County Republican Party was arrested Friday morning and charged with child molestation, jail records showed. Joseph Russell Dendy, 71, was arrested at his West Cobb home and charged with aggravated child molestation and child molestation, both felonies. He was being held at the Cobb jail without bond early Friday afternoon. …

Philly Mag reports: The victims of the September 2014 gay-bashing assault in Center City are taking their attackers to court. Earlier this week, Zachary Hesse and Andrew Haught filed a civil suit against Kathryn Knott, Kevin Harrigan and Philip Williams for their roles in the attack. Harrigan and Williams both escaped jail time when they pleaded guilty last year to …

From the Associated Press: Police in Bangladesh said Sunday that they have arrested a suspected Muslim militant for his alleged involvement in the killing last month of a gay rights activist and his friend in the capital. Police identified the suspect as Shariful Islam Shihab, a former member of the banned Islamic group Harkatul Jihad. They said he joined another …

In a refreshing change for New York state politics, today it was a Republican former lawmaker that was sentenced to prison. Instead of a Democrat. For once. From the New York Times: Dean G. Skelos, the once powerful Republican majority leader of the New York State Senate who was convicted with his son in December on federal corruption charges, was …

From the New York Times: Robert L. Dear Jr., the self-described “warrior for the babies” who defiantly admitted to carrying out a shooting rampage at a Planned Parenthood center here last November, was declared on Wednesday unfit to stand trial by the judge overseeing the case. The ruling by Judge Gilbert A. Martinez found Mr. Dear to be mentally incompetent, …

Via the Washington Post: George Zimmerman shot and killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin on February 26, 2012. Zimmerman was charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter, then acquitted by a Florida jury on July 13, 2013. The case sparked a nationwide debate and protests over “stand your ground” laws and race relations in the United States. Now, Zimmerman is auctioning off the …

An Arkansas preacher has been charged with 70 felony counts of distributing, possessing, and viewing child pornography after a watchdog group tipped off authorities that he’d been trading the images via private messages on Twitter under the username “Candy Man.” Pastor David Reynolds of Cornerstone Bible Fellowship today pleaded not guilty to the charges. Reynolds’ church has issued a statement: …

Back in November I reported that an Arkansas judge had been accused of soliciting sex from male defendants. As it turns out, there’s much more to the story. NBC News reports: An Arkansas judge accused of swapping sex for reduced sentences resigned Monday after a state commission said it discovered thousands of photographs from his computer that depicted nude male …

You remember this woman, right? From the Orlando Sentinel: A North Florida gun advocate will avoid prosecution after her 4-year-old son shot her in the back with her improperly stored gun, the State Attorney’s Office said Friday. As part of a diversion agreement with the state, 31-year-old Jamie Lynn Gilt of Jacksonville must complete a gun-safety course, install a mounted …

CNN reports: A former aide to Ron Paul and current strategist for a pro-Donald Trump super PAC was convicted Thursday of falsifying campaign records in a 2012 scheme to pay for a presidential endorsement. A federal jury in Iowa found Jesse Benton guilty on all counts, which included conspiracy and false records charges. Benton was convicted along with John Tate …

Yesterday the AFA issued a press release which claims that despite what you’re reading in the “lying liberal media” – they are not sending men into Target’s ladies rooms to “test” to company’s pro-trans policy. Damn those liars for quoting AFA radio host Sandy Rios: “We’ve already had people testing this, going into Targets and men trying to go into …