Crime

From the Philadelphia Inquirer: A blogger who wrote about Kathryn Knott – the Bucks County woman convicted of participating in a 2014 attack on a gay couple in Center City – has sued Knott, Knott’s father [above right], the Bucks County district attorney, and others. Kathleen O’Donnell, 61, of Norristown, says in her lawsuit filed Friday in federal court, that …

IMPORTANT UPDATE: The first sentence of the original ABC News report has been changed. It now reads: Former Speaker of the House John Dennis Hastert was sentenced today in federal court to 15 months in prison and two years of supervised release after he faced one of his accusers, who identified himself publicly for the first time as Scott Cross, …

The Telegraph reports: An al-Qaeda affiliate has claimed the murder of a prominent gay rights activist who was hacked to death in Dhaka by men armed with guns and machetes who entered his flat pretending to be parcel couriers. Xulhaz Mannan, along with his friend Mahbub Tony, also an activist, died on the spot from cuts to their heads, according …

The Mirror reports: The editor of Bangladesh’s first ever LGBT magazine has been hacked to death by suspected Islamist militants in a horrific attack, it is reported. Julhas Mannan, 35, who worked for ‘Roopbaan’, was killed alongside his friend, Tanay Mojumdar, in an apartment in the capital of Dhaka, a police official said. A third person was injured in the …

Philadelphia Gay News reports: It appears that Kathryn Knott will not file a full appeal of her prison sentence. Knott was convicted of assault and other charges in December, stemming from a 2014 gay-bashing incident, and sentenced to 5 to 10 months in prison Knott would have typically had 30 days after her Feb. 8 sentencing hearing to appeal to …

For several days New York City’s music sites have been consumed with explosive allegations of child molestation against hip-hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa, whose 1982 global smash Planet Rock virtually created the electro and freestyle genres that dominated airwaves in the 80s and continues to influence much of current dance music. From today’s New York Daily News: Afrika Bambaataa was not …

The New York Daily News reports: The “Affluenza” teen will spend the next two years behind bars. A judge ordered Ethan Couch — the Texas teen who dodged a prison sentence for a fatal 2013 DUI crash by claiming he was too privileged to serve time, only to flee the country two years later — to serve four consecutive 180-day …

The New York Times reports: The sentencing of Elliot Morales, who was convicted last month of murder as a hate crime after shooting a gay man in the West Village, was delayed on Monday, as the defense requested additional time to review a series of issues surrounding the case. The delay comes as the defense prepares for the prosecution to …

From the Dallas Morning News: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday announced fraud charges against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and several others involved in promoting a north Texas tech company. Paxton and a former member of the board of Servergy, Inc., a north Texas tech firm, were charged with allegedly convincing others to buy stock in the …

From the Los Angeles Times: Los Angeles prosecutors on Friday charged a 69-year-old man with fatally shooting his son outside the family’s North Hills home because the son was gay. The shooting occurred Tuesday when police responded to a call at the family home and found the bodies of Amir Issa, 29 [photo], and his mother, who was not identified. …

Video below. From Miami’s CBS affiliate: Police are looking for at least one man, and possibly up to three, involved in the violent attack of a gay couple at a Miami Beach restaurant. A Miami Beach police officer was standing in front of the police station when he noticed something going down right across the street. It turns out 25-year-old …

He’s also CPAC’s 2011 “Blogger Of The Year.” From the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel: A prominent political blogger was arrested Saturday and charged with the attempted murder of his sister’s boyfriend, authorities said. Javier Manjarres, 43, a South Florida-based blogger in the conservative movement with a national following, was arrested after he left his sister’s boyfriend with a broken nose and …

It turns out that Capitol Police already knew this guy. From the Daily Beast: ABC and NBC News report police have identified Larry Dawson of Antioch, Tennessee as the gunman who allegedly drew a gun at the visitors center on Monday. Dawson was shot by a police officer and taken to the hospital. In October, Dawson was caught yelling he …

The Associated Press reports: The FBI has opened a hate-crime investigation after a man was accused of pouring boiled water on two gay men inside a suburban Atlanta apartment. Authorities say 48-year-old Martin Blackwell, the boyfriend of the mother of victim Anthony Gooden, told investigators he was disgusted with Gooden’s relationship with Marquez Tolbert and poured “a little hot water …

Paying somebody else to pray that you win the lottery seems about as effective as praying yourself. From Seattle’s ABC affiliate: A Seattle man accused of deceiving people with online Christian websites has agreed to pay consumers $7.8 million. The Washington State Attorney General says the Christian Prayer Center website, where you had to pay to receive prayers, was one …

From Atlanta’s ABC affiliate: A young couple is recovering from severe burns after police say a man threw burning water on them — because they are gay. The victims told Channel 2’s Nicole Carr that they were sound asleep, resting after a long day at work, when they were attacked. “The pain doesn’t let you sleep. It’s just, like, it’s …

Kathryn Knott is staying in prison. Via the Philly Voice: Judge Roxanne Covington on Monday denied a request to reconsider the sentence of Kathryn Knott, the Bucks County woman convicted of simple assault and related charges in the 2014 beating of a homosexual couple in Center City. “The sentence is well within the guidelines and is as appropriate as I …

And they threw in anti-gay and racist slurs as well. The Chicago Tribune reports: A Cook County judge on Saturday lashed out at two Northwestern University freshmen accused of spray-painting racist and homophobic messages along with the name of Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump inside a nondenominational chapel on the university’s campus. “These allegations are disgusting to me,” Judge Peggy …

The Florida gun rights activist who was shot in the back by her toddler son earlier this week has a record for shoplifting clothes that she hid in her son’s stroller. Via the Daily Mail: Jamie Gilt, 30, was arrested by Jacksonville Sheriff’s Department on April 4, 2013 after she was detained by security guards at Dillard’s department store in …

The jury took less than a day to find him guilty. GOOD. Via the New York Daily News: A crazed killer was convicted Wednesday of gunning down an unarmed gay man in the West Village nearly three years ago — and the murder was deemed a hate crime. Elliot Morales, 36, now faces up to life in prison for the …