Tag Archives: crimes

Politico reports: Federal prosecutors in Michigan have charged a man with making a death threat against one of the attorneys for a whistleblower who initiated the impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump, according to newly unsealed court records. The man, Brittan J. Atkinson, allegedly emailed the attorney in November, calling him a “traitor” who “must die a miserable death.” The …

The Associated Press reports: San Angelo’s former longtime police chief has been indicted on bribery and fraud counts accusing him of taking $134,000 in bribes to help a radio communications vendor obtain $11 million in city contracts. Timothy Ray Vasquez made an initial court appearance in federal court in San Angelo. He had served as police chief from 2004 until …

CNBC reports: A judge on Wednesday dismissed New York state criminal charges filed against Paul Manafort, the fallen Republican lobbyist who served for several months as President Donald Trump’s campaign chief in 2016. Judge Maxwell Wiley said during a hearing in Manhattan Supreme Court that New York’s double-jeopardy law barred the state indictment against Manafort. The Washington Post reports: Manafort, …

Politico reports: Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) is showing no signs of stepping down from office despite his guilty plea Tuesday on a felony campaign finance charge in federal court. When asked Wednesday about whether and when he intended to resign, Hunter blew off the question. “Good talk,” Hunter told a POLITICO reporter. Former Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.), who pleaded guilty …

Politico reports: New Jersey could soon bar a legal defense tactic in murder cases known as “gay panic,“ under a bill the state Assembly approved on Monday without opposition or debate. The defense has been used to attempt to downgrade charges against defendants who argued that they killed because they were provoked by the disclosure of the victim’s gender identity …

The Associated Press reports: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s indictment has sharpened the battle lines in Israel’s deadlocked political system and could test the loyalty of his right-wing allies, Israeli commentators said Friday. The serious corruption charges announced Thursday have dashed already slim hopes for a unity government after September elections, paving the way for an unprecedented repeat vote in March, …

Law & Crime reports: A lengthy exposé by Quartz shows how Chase Metals used “fear and Facebook,” allegedly to scam the elderly out of their retirement funds. And all of that fear was transformed into financial security paranoia–keyed toward a certain ideological faction of late-aged Americans. Screenshots of Facebook ads show that Fox News viewers were specifically targeted. “Is Your …

The Daily Beast reports: A Pentagon cybersecurity contractor has been charged with threatening to kill a member of Congress over the introduction of a bill that would require public schools to vaccinate children, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in the District of Maryland. Darryl Albert Varnum of Westminster, Maryland called the congressperson—identified only as “congressperson …

The Arizona Daily Star reports: Saying the president can’t erase facts, a federal judge on Thursday rejected a bid by former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio to have all record of his criminal conviction wiped out. Susan Bolton said she already dismissed the criminal contempt case against Arpaio following the decision by President Trump to issue a pardon. That saved …

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports: A man who drove his car into a group of protesters in St. Louis on Wednesday night has been charged with a felony. Mark Colao, 59, was charged Thursday with a felony count of resisting arrest by fleeing and two misdemeanor charges of leaving the scene of an accident and operating a vehicle in a …

Via press release from HBO: VICE News has obtained exclusive access to Argun Prison in Chechnya where it is alleged that gay men were rounded up and tortured as part of an unprecedented ‘anti-gay purge’ by Chechnya’s law enforcement. VICE News is the first international news organization to be allowed into the location, capturing images and footage from the now …

Yesterday the State Department called on Russia to investigate reports that Chechen police are rounding up and murdering gay men. Tonight the State Department has issued a second statement: We are increasingly concerned about the situation in the Republic of Chechnya, where there have been numerous credible reports indicating the detention of at least 100 men on the basis of …

Via press release: Congressman Alan Lowenthal (CA-47) today called the attack on the Pride flag outside his Capitol Hill office “a shocking demonstration of hate” and yet another example of a wave of intolerance that has spiked across the nation over the past several months. Yesterday, a visitor to the Cannon House Office Building entered the Congressman’s office and angrily …

The Washington Post reports: After three decades of public life, Richard “Scott” Silverthorne was known simply as the mayor around Fairfax City. But online, a prosecutor said Monday, he used a sexually suggestive screen name that would lead to his stunning downfall. Using the online moniker, Silverthorne, 50, arranged an orgy with an undercover police officer in exchange for methamphetamine …

Mic reports: As Meyers notes, Trump’s apparent beef with Hamilton is a diversion from some of the president-elect’s other, more unsavory stories from over the weekend. Specifically, Meyers refers to Trump settling for $25 million over fraud lawsuits with Trump University. “As fun as it is to talk about this Hamilton feud, it’s just a distraction from a far bigger …

The Washington Post reports: The Justice Department plans to end its use of private prisons after officials concluded the facilities are both less safe and less effective at providing correctional services than those run by the government. Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates announced the decision on Thursday in a memo that instructs officials to either decline to renew the contracts …

“All Americans should be deeply troubled by the fatal shootings of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Philando Castile in Falcon Heights, Minnesota. We’ve seen such tragedies far too many times, and our hearts go out to the families and communities who’ve suffered such a painful loss. “Although I am constrained in commenting on the particular facts of these …

As I reported yesterday, confessed killer Elliot Morales is finally on trial for the May 2013 hate crime slaying of Mark Carson, a black gay man Morales shot to death on a West Village corner. Morales, who is representing himself in the trial, yesterday questioned Carson’s companion on the night of the murder, declaring that the pair had instigated the …

This was definitely the most surreal news on the net last night. CBS News reports: The recapture of drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman took a surprise, Hollywood twist when a Mexican official said security forces located the whereabouts of the world’s most-wanted trafficker thanks to a secret interview with U.S. actor Sean Penn. Penn’s interview with Guzman, who has …

From the Corpus Christi NBC affiliate: Federal hate crime indictments were returned Monday against two Corpus Christi men accused of beating and torturing a gay black man back in 2012. In the days after the alleged attack, the victim told KRIS6 News he was targeted because of sexual orientation and race. Per policy, we are not identifying the victim of …