South Jersey church carnival closes early after hundreds of kids crowd streets in Bellmawr
South Jersey carnival ends in chaos with unruly crowd of kids and teens
South Jersey carnival ends in chaos with unruly crowd of kids and teens
South Jersey carnival ends in chaos with unruly crowd of kids and teens
A large crowd of kids and teens led to a night of chaos at a South Jersey church carnival over the weekend.
CBS News Philadelphia was there as a large crowd of juveniles swarmed the streets of Bellmawr Saturday night. Police say they began to gather at the annual St. Joachim Parish carnival around 8:30 p.m. — forcing officials to close down early — and the group peaked at more than 400 people shortly before 10 p.m.
"(They gathered) from here all the way to probably ShopRite, they were everywhere," said neighbor Diane Pumphrey.
Russell McDonnell lives across from the site of the carnival.
"It was crazy ... I've never seen nothing like it in my life," McDonnell said.
McDonnell also said as things escalated, he feared for his safety.
"It was total chaos. I didn't even want to even come out the door, afraid of somebody shooting," McDonnell said.
While police did receive reports of gunshots in the area, they said they did not find any evidence of a shooting. Police say several cars, street signs and the windows of a corner store were damaged.
Surveillance video from the store shows some of the crowd outside.
"When I saw the cameras, it was crazy because I saw a lot of police," the owner said.
The situation was under control by about 11:30 p.m., Bellmawr police said.
In total, three juveniles were arrested at the scene. Despite all that happened, many here say they don't want the actions of a few to ruin it for everyone and they'd like to see the carnival come back.
Two people were injured, including an elderly woman who had a head injury after being knocked over.
Bellmawr police said they are investigating the incident.
In a statement from the Diocese of Camden, the parish said in part, "We believe those involved were not from our immediate community."
"The carnival is a cherished tradition and serves as the largest fundraiser supporting the many ministries of Saint Joachim Parish," the statement said. "Looking ahead, we are committed to working with local officials, community partners, and the New Jersey Legislature to explore solutions that will preserve the joyful spirit of our carnival while ensuring a secure environment for all."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
22 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Protesters gather after immigration raid targets car wash in L.A. County
Protesters gathered in southeast Los Angeles County Friday evening, facing off with masked men in fatigues after federal agents detained at least three people at a car wash in the city of Bell, according to witnesses, and visited another car wash in neighboring Maywood. The immigration action in Bell took place at Jack's Car Wash and Detailing, located in the 7000 block of Atlantic Avenue, just north of Florence Avenue. Security camera footage reviewed by The Times shows masked men wearing olive vests chasing a car wash employee, who was wearing a bright green uniform and cap. The video shows another employee — wearing a bright green cap, a white long-sleeved shirt and blue jeans — surrounded by the masked men, his hands restrained behind his back. The employee is tackled to the ground as customers and others gathered, with some taking out their phones to record videos. The man in the white-long sleeved shirt is a car wash worker who is a U.S. citizen, according to the employee's brother, Jesús Rafael Cervantes. He said his brother, who lives in Bell Gardens, wanted to defend a coworker— an action that, Cervantes said, prompted agents to detain his brother. "Just for defending someone, they came and knocked him down. As you can see in the videos, they came and knocked him down like that, just like that. And that's unfair, that they come and grab a person like that as if he were an animal or something," Cervantes told The Times. Protesters gathered to confront the agents in the area, which is about 6 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles. In one video shared with The Times, a protester sprays white paint on a silver SUV and a voice can be heard saying, "Get the ... out of here!" while others jeer. People can be seen hitting the vehicle. Read more: 'They are grabbing people.' L.A. and Orange County car wash workers targeted by federal immigration raids Officials with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not immediately return a request for comment. In a statement posted on social media, the agency said Border Patrol vehicles "were violently targeted during lawful operations" in Bell and neighboring Maywood. The Department of Homeland Security said one vehicle was rammed and had its tires slashed on Atlantic Boulevard. On Slauson Avenue, a civilian struck a federal vehicle, totaling it, according to the department. "The driver was arrested for suspicion of vehicular assault as a mob formed and slashed additional tires," the department said. The statement included photos showing silver vehicles with cracked or shattered windows. One silver SUV was shown with dented doors and scratched paint. "Federal law enforcement is facing an ever-escalating increase in assaults—but we will not be deterred," the department said. "If you assault a federal officer, you will be prosecuted." The statement did not indicate how many were detained on immigration-related matters. The protest in Bell, a city with a large Latino and Lebanese community, comes as the federal government continues its campaign in Los Angeles to find and capture undocumented immigrants. The actions have spurred backlash from local and state officials and have forced some residents into hiding. "We're not sure who these armed men are. They show up without uniforms. They show up completely masked. They refuse to give ID. They're driving regular cars with tinted windows and in some cases, out of state license plates. Who are these people?" Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said at a briefing Friday night. "If they're federal officials, why is it that they do not identify themselves?" Bass asked. Around Atlantic and Brompton avenues, crowds of people gathered, taking videos and looking at the agents — armed individuals wearing balaclavas, some carrying long weapons, wearing vests and camoflauge pants. They stood in the street near a Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop. The crowd and agents were separated by yellow tape. One woman with a bullhorn hurled obscenities at the agents and President Trump; others waved a Mexican flag and an upside-down U.S. flag, traditionally a symbol of protest or distress. "Losers!" another woman called out. "Go fight a real war!" Another shouted, "Shame on you!" Read more: More L.A. car washes targeted in immigration raids, some closed amid fears of further sweeps Elsewhere, one of the armed people wore a U.S. flag on his vest, and some onlookers called out to them. "Are you a bounty hunter? How much is the bounty for an illegal right now?" someone on the street yelled. Cudahy Mayor Elizabeth Alcantar Loza was in Bell as the crowds gathered, and said the mood on Atlantic Avenue shifted when suddenly an unmarked silver SUV drove toward her and other people standing near her, angering the crowd. Some began to hit and throw objects at the SUV. A second unmarked vehicle attempted to do the same thing moments later, she said. "It felt like there was a point being made to incite violence," Alcantar Loza said. "People were peacefully protesting, and it became something completely different because of the vehicle that was trying to drive into the crowd." "We've seen it across the board, folks show up to an immigration activity and then violence is enacted upon them. Then they respond and we're shown as violent protesters—when in reality folks were calm, they were chanting, they were protesting. And they tried to run people over," she said. Just after 8 p.m., peaceful protesters waving Mexican and American flags gathered around Jack's Car Wash in Bell, as motorists honked their horns in support. "ICE out of everywhere!!!" one sign said. "Immigrants built this country," said another. There was another immigration action that appeared to focus on a car wash in Maywood on Friday, according to Maywood Councilman Eddie De La Riva. Ultimately no one was taken from that business, he said. At one point, there was considerable commotion near the car wash. Video shared with The Times shows a minor collision between a blue BMW and a blue SUV with at least three agents inside, all wearing green vests. One of the passengers in the SUV opens his door in front of the slowly moving BMW, causing the BMW to hit the SUV's door. Agents detained the BMW's driver, who was later released, the councilman said, after onlookers shouted at the agents to let the driver go. By then, a crowd of protesters had formed. Fernando Botello, 39, was driving back to Maywood after picking up his girlfriend's 14-year-old son when he got an alert on his citizen app that people suspected to be immigration agents were spotted in the area. Moments later, he said, he learned that the agents were at an Xpress Wash at Slauson and Alamo avenues, just blocks from his home. When Botello got close to the intersection, he could see several vehicles were blocking the roadway. Read more: Tensions over L.A. immigration sweeps boil over as Padilla is tackled, ICE arrests pick up Unable to move, he got out of the car and watched the scene. He said the crowd started screaming to let the man go. He could hear people asking for the agents' badge numbers. After five minutes, he said, local police arrived. It was at that point, he said, the agents got in their vehicles and threw tear gas at a group standing on a corner near a park. A video taken by Botello shows an armed masked man standing from the ledge of an open door of a black SUV slowly driving along a street near Maywood's Riverfront Park. The video shows the agent throwing an object toward a crowd of people, and a loud bang can be heard as he gets back in the vehicle. Botello said the object was a flash bang grenade, and was tossed at people who were taking video. "They knew what they wanted to do," he said. As he recounted the situation, Botello paused, trying to hold back tears. "I was upset because the people were exercising their right. They weren't hitting the officers' vehicles, they weren't in the middle of the street," he said. "You're punishing people for standing up for their neighbors and yourself." "It feels surreal. I don't know how long this is going to last." Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
American Press
35 minutes ago
- American Press
Columbia protester Mahmoud Khalil freed from immigration detention
Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil was released Friday from federal immigration detention, freed after 104 days by a judge's ruling after becoming a symbol of President Donald Trump 's clampdown on campus protests. The former Columbia University graduate student left a federal facility in Louisiana on Friday. He is expected to head to New York to reunite with his U.S. citizen wife and infant son, born while Khalil was detained. 'Justice prevailed, but it's very long overdue,' he said outside the facility in a remote part of Louisiana. 'This shouldn't have taken three months.' Email newsletter signup The Trump administration is seeking to deport Khalil over his role in pro-Palestinian protests. He was detained on March 8 at his apartment building in Manhattan. Khalil was released after U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz said it would be 'highly, highly unusual' for the government to continue detaining a legal U.S. resident who was unlikely to flee and hadn't been accused of any violence. 'Petitioner is not a flight risk, and the evidence presented is that he is not a danger to the community,' he said. 'Period, full stop.' During an hourlong hearing conducted by phone, the New Jersey-based judge said the government had 'clearly not met' the standards for detention. The government filed notice Friday evening that it's appealing Khalil's release. The Department of Homeland Security said in a post on the social platform X that the same day Farbiarz ordered Khalil's release, an immigration judge in Louisiana denied him bond and 'ordered him removed.' The decision was made by Judge Jamee Comans, who is in a court located in the same detention facility from which Khalil was released. 'An immigration judge, not a district judge, has the authority to decide if Mr. Khalil should be released or detained,' the post said. Khalil was the first person arrested under Trump's crackdown on students who joined campus protests against Israel's devastating war in Gaza. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said Khalil must be expelled from the country because his continued presence could harm American foreign policy. The Trump administration has argued that noncitizens who participate in such demonstrations should be deported as it considers their views antisemitic. Protesters and civil rights groups say the administration is conflating antisemitism with criticism of Israel in order to silence dissent. Farbiarz has ruled that the government can't deport Khalil on the basis of its claims that his presence could undermine foreign policy. But the judge gave the administration leeway to continue pursuing a potential deportation based on allegations that he lied on his green card application, an accusation Khalil disputes. The international affairs graduate student isn't accused of breaking any laws during the protests at Columbia. He served as a negotiator and spokesperson for student activists and wasn't among the demonstrators arrested, but his prominence in news coverage and willingness to speak publicly made him a target of critics. The judge agreed Friday with Khalil's lawyers that the protester was being prevented from exercising his free speech and due process rights despite no obvious reason for his continued detention. The judge noted that Khalil is now clearly a public figure. Khalil said Friday that no one should be detained for protesting Israel's war in Gaza. He said his time in the Jena, Louisiana, detention facility had shown him 'a different reality about this country that supposedly champions human rights and liberty and justice.' 'Whether you are a U.S. citizen, an immigrant or just a person on this land doesn't mean that you are less of a human,' he said, adding that 'justice will prevail, no matter what this administration may try to portray' about immigrants. Khalil had to surrender his passport and can't travel internationally, but he will get his green card back and be given official documents permitting limited travel within the country, including New York and Michigan to visit family, New Jersey and Louisiana for court appearances and Washington to lobby Congress. In a statement after the judge's ruling, Khalil's wife, Dr. Noor Abdalla, said she can finally 'breathe a sigh of relief' after her husband's three months in detention. 'We know this ruling does not begin to address the injustices the Trump administration has brought upon our family, and so many others,' she said. 'But today we are celebrating Mahmoud coming back to New York to be reunited with our little family.' The judge's decision comes after several other scholars targeted for their activism have been released from custody, including another former Palestinian student at Columbia, Mohsen Mahdawi; a Tufts University student, Rumeysa Ozturk; and a Georgetown University scholar, Badar Khan Suri. ___ Marcelo reported from New York. Jennifer Peltz contributed from New York.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Appeals court upholds convictions of three in brutal MS-13 slaying in Prince George's
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by Ned Oliver/Virginia Mercury) A federal appeals court upheld the murder and racketeering convictions of three members of the international gang MS-13 for their role in the brutal 2019 killing of a 16-year-old in Prince George's County. A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected claims by Jose Domingo Ordonez-Zometa, Jose Henry Hernandez-Garcia and Jose Rafael Ortega-Ayala that evidence against them was improperly obtained by police and should have been suppressed. The court's Tuesday ruling also rejected Hernandez-Garcia's claim that he should have been granted a new trial. The three men were convicted after an eight-day jury trial in U.S. District Court for Maryland, and each given life sentences in 2023. Two of the defense attorneys could not be reached for comment Friday, while a third declined comment. Attorneys for the government also could not be reached for comment. Court document say the case began on the night of March 8, 2019, when Ordonez-Zometa, the leader of 'Los Ghettos Criminales Salvatruchas,' a branch of MS-13 in Maryland, summoned several members of the 'clique' to his home in Hyattsville. He suspected that two gang members, both juveniles, were cooperating with police — something punishable only by death, under the gang's rules. When they arrived, Ordonez-Zometa began interrogating the two members on whether they had cooperated with law enforcement, which they denied. 'In fact, neither of the youths had cooperated with law enforcement,' Circuit Judge Robert B. King wrote for the court. 'Instead, both had recent and brief interactions with police after running away from their homes.' But convinced that one of the two had talked to police, and after speaking by phone with a senior MS-13 member in El Salvador, Ordonez-Zometa began to assault the 16-year-old, identified in court documents only as 'John Doe,' beating him and cutting his face. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Eventually, Ordonez-Zometa had the teen brought to the basement, where he ordered Hernandez-Garcia, Ortega-Ayala and other gang members not named in the case to use 'the glove' — a three-bladed weapon that can be affixed to the hand — to attack the teen while another gang member filmed on his cell phone. Each gang member took part in what King called the 'brutal and horrific' attack. The teen suffered 144 wounds and 'died from those injuries in Ordonez-Zometa's basement, at just 16 years of age,' King wrote. Ordonez-Zometa directed Hernandez-Garcia and another gang member to clean the murder scene and dispose of blood-stained carpeting. The teen's body was shoved in the trunk of Ordonez-Zometa's wife's Nissan Altima, which Ortega-Ayala and two others drove to Stafford County, Virginia, where they dumped the body and set it alight using gasoline. When a Stafford County Sheriff's deputy discovered the burning remains, the body was unidentifiable. But police were able to circulate a photo of a tattoo on the teen's body that the boy's mother identified as her son's. She gave police the names of others who were with her son before his death, which eventually led to the three defendants. By March 13, Stafford County officials had provided Prince George's County police with a photo of Ordonez-Zometa and advised them to be on the lookout for a gold Nissan with a black hood. When police saw Ordonez-Zometa come out of his Hyattsville house and get into the Nissan, they pulled it over for failing to signal a turn, then arrested him. Ordonez-Zometa argued at trial that police did not have probable cause to stop the Nissan. But U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis disagreed and allowed the evidence, and the appeals court upheld that decision Tuesday. Officers 'watched a man who matched the photograph of Ordonez-Zometa leave a residence suspected to be the murder scene, get into a car matching the description of one tied to the Doe murder, and drive away,' King wrote. 'That was certainly enough to justify the traffic stop.' Even though he waived his Miranda rights, Ordonez-Zometa also argued that statements he made during his initial interrogation were involuntary, and given due to 'coercive interrogation tactics.' He said he was worried about family members, who were in the car with him but being held in a separate room, and about a detective's statement that his silence could be used against him in court. The trial court called the detective's statement 'unfortunate and plainly incorrect.' But the courts found that none of those factors 'overbore' the defendant's will to make a statement, which was thus voluntary and admissible. 'Neither uncomfortable circumstances nor a misstep by law enforcement will render a statement involuntary,' King wrote. Even if it was, he said, the weight of other evidence presented by the state would have been enough to convict Ordonez-Zometa without his statements. 'Two former gang members confirmed that he ordered the killing of John Doe, arranged its logistics, directed others to dispose of Doe's body, and oversaw the cleanup,' King wrote. 'Moreover, forensic evidence from the Nissan vehicle corroborated key aspects of those witnesses' accounts. The trial evidence thus provided the jury with ample grounds for conviction, entirely apart from the contested statements.' Ortega-Ayala argued that search warrants for his Facebook account, home and cell phone were overly broad, but the appellate judges said the warrants were 'particularized and specific.' As for Hernandez-Garcia's appeal of Xinis' decision to deny him a new trial, King wrote that there was no 'serious miscarriage of justice' that would merit a new trial.
