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City employee accused of planting noose on her own desk at Pennsylvania city hall in alleged staged hate crime

City employee accused of planting noose on her own desk at Pennsylvania city hall in alleged staged hate crime

Fox News25-03-2025
A Pennsylvania city employee has been arrested following a months-long investigation after she allegedly falsely reported finding a noose on her desk.
During a news conference on Monday, the Allentown Police Department announced the arrest of city employee LaTarsha Brown, who police said made a report on Jan. 10, after she reported finding a noose on her desk when she arrived for work at City Hall.
A criminal investigation was initiated following Brown's report to identify the person responsible for placing the noose on her desk.
During the investigation, police said video surveillance and building access control records were reviewed to identify city employees present on the third floor of City Hall between the time Brown left work on the afternoon of Jan. 9 and her arrival on the morning of Jan. 10.
Each employee was interviewed, police said, and was asked if they would provide a buccal swab for DNA testing, if needed.
Police said every city employee agreed, except for Brown, who officers said was "initially cooperative" but later requested that the investigation be discontinued.
Days later, Brown's DNA sample was obtained through a search warrant after the noose was submitted to the Pennsylvania State Police crime lab for DNA testing.
Police determined that Brown's DNA matched the DNA found on the noose, according to a forensic report issued on March 10.
"No other person's DNA profile was found on the evidentiary items involved in this investigation," police said in a release.
As a result of the findings, police said that Brown is now facing charges in connection with the noose investigation, including tampering with or fabricating physical evidence and false reports to law enforcement authorities.
When asked about the future of Brown's employment, Allentown Police Chief Charles Roca said he could not comment but that Brown is still currently employed by the city.
Roca added that Brown's motive for her actions could not be discussed.
Brown is scheduled for a preliminary court hearing on April 22.
Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk told Fox News Digital that this was a "serious incident" and that they are working closely with law enforcement.
"This was a serious incident that deeply impacts employees who are dedicated to serving Allentown, and we're praying for peace for all affected," Tuerk's office shared in a statement.
"We're grateful for the work of Allentown PD, Pennsylvania State Police, and the FBI for their thorough investigation. We remain committed to a safe, welcoming workplace in our city."
Brown's case mimics the case of actor Jussie Smollett, who reported to Chicago police that he was the victim of a racist and homophobic attack by two men wearing ski masks in January 2019.
The "Empire" actor was originally convicted of orchestrating the hate crime, but after filing a petition, Smollett had his charges overturned by the Illinois Supreme Court in November 2024 as a judge ruled he should not have been charged a second time due to a deal he reached with prosecutors and that it violated his rights.
Stepheny Price is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. She covers topics including missing persons, homicides, national crime cases, illegal immigration, and more. Story tips and ideas can be sent to stepheny.price@fox.com
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'Send them home': To promote tougher policies, report claims Spokane's homeless aren't from here
'Send them home': To promote tougher policies, report claims Spokane's homeless aren't from here

Yahoo

time15 hours ago

  • Yahoo

'Send them home': To promote tougher policies, report claims Spokane's homeless aren't from here

Jul. 5—Half of the homeless people in Spokane aren't from here and should be given bus tickets home, more strictly enforced by police and cut off from long-term services, according to a recent report released by the Spokane Business Association, a prominent political advocacy group funded by businessman Larry Stone. A week after the report's release, the association proposed an amendment to the city's charter, which if approved by voters would reshape the city's homelessness laws and force Spokane to shift funding away from affordable housing, firefighting equipment and other priorities to fund emergency shelters, more visible police patrols and other policies recommended in the report. Critics in City Hall have dismissed the report as unscientific, unhelpful and politically motivated ahead of the November elections, when several seats currently or recently occupied by progressives are being challenged by candidates more in line with the Spokane Business Association's policy goals. But the report's author and the organization sponsoring the survey argue the data is concrete proof that Spokane's homelessness policies aren't only not helping people get off the streets, they're attracting people from elsewhere who are drawn to the city by lax law enforcement. Just over 50% of the roughly 230 homeless people surveyed for the association said they moved to the city after becoming homeless. This contradicts the federally mandated "point-in-time" counts, annual standardized surveys that try to reach every homeless person living on the streets or in a shelter. The point-in-time counts have their own flaws, as the authors of Spokane County's 2024 report readily acknowledged. But of the 2,021 people surveyed in last year's point-in-time count, roughly 80% said they lived in Spokane County before becoming homeless. Robert Marbut, President Donald Trump's "homeless czar" from 2019 to 2021 and the consultant contracted to conduct the survey, argues his data is more accurate because he also asked where people were born, went to high school and whether they have family in Spokane. It is not clear why these additional questions would sway the data by 30 points, but Marbut's recommendations for dealing with this influx are clearer, and consistent with the "Velvet Hammer" approach he has pitched cities across the country for at least a decade: Spokane has to get tougher with the homeless, pressuring them into treatment or departure. Gavin Cooley, an executive of the Spokane Business Association, argued Marbut's expertise lent the report more authority than it lost from a lack of cited sources, and dismissed as "deeply political" a recent article from Range Media that turned to an expert in homeless research to pick apart the report's methodology and conclusions. Cooley believes the media and politicians are overly focused on attacking the data and not paying enough attention to the conclusions Marbut reaches with that data. "You can certainly note the deficiencies as you see them ... but I think it'd be a pity to miss the higher level order of what's being recommended," Cooley said. Every effort should be made to send people back where they came from, particularly if they've been in Spokane for less than 90 days, according to the report. Those who stay should be cut off from long-term services, which should be reserved only for those with longstanding ties to Spokane. For those who are from Spokane, the report recommends mandatory treatment services in order to receive housing, which city officials claim would violate state and federal law. Marbut has spoken out for at least a decade against policies he believes are "enabling" the homeless with "goodies," including Housing First policies that have been the national standard since 2013, in which homeless people are given stable housing upfront to enable them to then address addiction, mental health and social reintegration. Attempts to relocate the homeless en masse are even older. The phrase "Greyhound therapy" has been used to describe the practice since the 1970s and has been criticized by researchers for just as long for redistributing the social costs of homelessness rather than improving them. Many of America's largest cities have, at one point or another, attempted similar policies; between 2011 and 2017, the Guardian tracked over 20,000 homeless people given bus tickets out of and sometimes between 16 U.S. cities. Proponents, including the Spokane Business Association, argue that such programs reconnect people to families and friends and can lead to a long-term improvement in their situation. Spokane's homeless service providers have engaged in the practice for years, however. If a homeless person requests a bus ticket, and a friend or family member declares they can take them in, they will be provided a ticket. Julie Garcia, who runs the homeless services organization Jewels Helping Hands, which manages several of the city's homeless shelters, estimated her organization hands out around 250 tickets a year. There appears to be little academic research into whether these programs lead to long-term reductions of homelessness or just move it elsewhere. The Guardian reported that, of the thousands being bused from San Francisco through the Homeward Bound program between 2010 and 2015, the city had records of following up with only three people after they reached their destinations. But the Spokane Business Association report goes further to suggest that the city should cut off people who decline these tickets from long-term homeless services and even emergency shelters after 21 days. While much of the study copies nearly verbatim a similar report on King County that Marbut was commissioned to write for the Discovery Institute, Marbut claims that Spokane is unusual in one regard: Homeless people aren't coming to Spokane for its quality services, but for its lax enforcement. "What we got on the street was generally, they treat me nice here, they don't hassle me," Marbut said. "It wasn't that they came here because of the services — many communities I go to, it's, 'Oh, they have great services' — but here it was, 'They sort of let me be.' " This picture notably doesn't match what many homeless people on Spokane's streets have told The Spokesman-Review in recent years, who described being pushed from place to place throughout the day by law enforcement, security guards and business owners. "We literally don't get to sit down like this," said Amber, a 32-year-old homeless woman interviewed under an overpass in August. "We are moving constantly. ... So many people have cracked feet and heels." Cooley dismissed this type of enforcement as an "occasional blow of the horn," and wants to see tougher laws and stricter enforcement — not because he wants them to go to jail, which he says would be ineffective and expensive — but to force people to change their lives. Cooley acknowledged that Washington's involuntary treatment laws are not extensive enough to force a homeless person into drug or mental health treatment. Instead, he argued, the city should use its tougher homelessness laws to offer them a choice: either go to jail, or enter "voluntary" treatment. Or they could leave, Cooley noted. "If you find that a great number of people have no connection to Spokane at all, and you suddenly begin to say you cannot use fentanyl in this community unfettered ... how many of those folks will stick around?" Cooley asked. In an interview, Mayor Lisa Brown dismissed the report as misinformed, arguing many of the report's claims about the city's policies were untrue and some of its recommendations were already standard practice. "I believe this is really about the political campaigns in November," Brown said, noting Stone's longstanding funding of candidates opposing progressive policies and production of high-dollar videos to encourage tougher homelessness policies. "I also believe that, with the resources they are apparently able to mobilize, it would be great if, as a show of good faith, they put them into an actual solution, rather than a propaganda campaign against the city and the majority on the city council," Brown added. But Cooley believes the evidence was clear, regardless of the survey's findings, that what the city is doing is failing to have a significant impact on the city's visible homeless population or its soaring overdose deaths. "I know Seattle really damn well, and I can't believe the rapid turnaround as it relates to enforcement," Cooley said. "And what I don't know is where those people are ... but I know they've made a visible turn in on-street homelessness." The report has started to leak into the broader public conversation on Spokane's homelessness policies. Wendy Fishburne, vice president of the East Spokane Business Association, appeared to quote parts of it verbatim Monday before the Spokane City Council voted to reform its homelessness laws. "Research shows that people do better recovering from addiction when they're surrounded by their families of origin," Fishburne said. "Find out where people actually come from and compassionately send them home ... so that our resources could be used for our folks."

Eric Adams' indicted former top aide Ingrid Lewis-Martin returns to his inner circle — as mayor fails to shed problematic cronies amid tough re-election fight
Eric Adams' indicted former top aide Ingrid Lewis-Martin returns to his inner circle — as mayor fails to shed problematic cronies amid tough re-election fight

New York Post

time3 days ago

  • New York Post

Eric Adams' indicted former top aide Ingrid Lewis-Martin returns to his inner circle — as mayor fails to shed problematic cronies amid tough re-election fight

With friends like these … Mayor Eric Adams is refusing to shake scandal-scarred cronies who plagued his first administration — while telling skittish backers that they have been taken off his re-election campaign, The Post has learned. Indicted former top Adams adviser Ingrid Lewis-Martin has been quietly making calls for the campaign, insiders said, with one source describing her as his 'shadow political director.' Two other confidantes whose homes were raided by the feds in the run-up to Adams' historic corruption case — former City Hall aide Winnie Greco and fundraiser Brianna Suggs — are also helping his campaign, sources said. 'Just unbelievable,' one source said, when told about the crew's return to Adams' good graces. The trio's resurrection comes to the chagrin of Adams' powerful backers, who want him to shed problematic pals to have any shot at beating Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani in November's election, insiders said. 4 Mayor Eric Adams' indicted longtime consigliere Ingrid Lewis-Martin is helping with his re-election campaign. Paul Martinka At least one backer called Adams' campaign last week to raise alarm about Lewis-Martin and Greco, but were told the pair were no longer with the re-election effort, sources said. Lewis-Martin and Greco are still working with the campaign in a volunteer capacity, while Suggs has quietly remained on the payroll since the federal probe emerged into public view, said spokesman Todd Shapiro. 'These people are not working in government, they're simply volunteering on a campaign with a thousand others,' Shapiro said. 'We are not stopping people from volunteering.' The longtime Democrat Adams is running as an Independent in a tough re-election battle against Mamdani, Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa, independent candidate Jim Walden and, potentially, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Business leaders and moderates frightened over the prospect of a Mamdani mayoralty have shown signs that they'll flock to Adams as their last, best shot after Cuomo was trounced by the socialist upstart in the Democratic mayoral primary. Insiders have been telling Adams he needs to cut loose troublesome cronies to have a shot at re-election — as well as distance himself from President Trump and MAGA allies, sources said. Adams acknowledged in a spree of mea culpa-style interviews that he hired staffers during his first term whom he 'should not have brought on board.' 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She denies the accusations. 4 Lewis-Martin faces bribery and conspiracy charges. Steven Hirsch Her resignation came as Adams — then facing his now-dismissed federal corruption case — was under pressure from Gov. Kathy Hochul to finally shed a cadre of close friends who faced criminal probes after being elevated to top spots in his administration. Lewis-Martin, whom Adams once called his 'sister ordained by God,' had a strained relationship in the days leading to her resignation and indictment, sources had said. Sources said Lewis-Martin, who declined to comment, has since been making calls for Adams' re-election campaign. 'She's like his shadow political director,' a source said. 4 Lewis-Martin has been close to Adams for decades. Paul Martinka Shapiro downplayed Lewis-Martin's role in the campaign, noting she has known Adams for 40 years. 'She is not holding an official title,' he said. 'We do not restrict people from giving their support.' Suggs, the top campaign fundraiser whose shocking federal raid last year first revealed the corruption probe into Adams, attended the mayor's official re-election campaign launch last week. Not only that, but Suggs stood alongside Greco — a longtime Adams aide who resigned from City Hall after her properties in the Bronx were raided by FBI agents. Insiders were stunned to see her at the event and refused to embrace her, sources said. Neither Greco nor Suggs has been charged in connection with the raids. 4 Adams' backers concerned about Zohran Mamdani becoming mayor want Hizzoner to shed problematic friends. Paul Martinka for NY Post Both Adams and Cuomo have been jockeying for support from political and business poohbahs anxious over Mamdani. Those bigs fear that Adams and Cuomo could end up splitting anti-Mamdani votes in November and ease the socialist's path into Gracie Mansion. Cuomo, for his part, has flip-flopped over whether he'll actively run as an Independent in November's general election — and sources said he's trying to position himself as the best candidate to defeat Mamdani, despite his lopsided primary loss. But many of Cuomo's former supporters view his Independent run as dead-on-arrival. Billionaire hedge fund titan Bill Ackman on Wednesday backed Adams' bid and urged the 'subdued' Cuomo to drop out. 'Eric's first term has not been without flaws,' Ackman wrote in a lengthy X post. 'In particular, he relied too much on friends of Adams to staff his administration; however, when one looks at his record in totality, he has had a strong first term.'

Why Bryan Kohberger committed the Idaho college murders — and the eerie similarities to an incel mass killer
Why Bryan Kohberger committed the Idaho college murders — and the eerie similarities to an incel mass killer

New York Post

time3 days ago

  • New York Post

Why Bryan Kohberger committed the Idaho college murders — and the eerie similarities to an incel mass killer

Vicky Ward has investigated the dark, intricate Bryan Kohberger case since his arrest in December 2023. She conducted over 300 interviews in Idaho, Washington State, and the Poconos in Pennsylvania, where he grew up, for her new book with James Patterson, 'The Idaho Four: An American Tragedy,' to be published by Little, Brown on July 14. Here she previews the clearest profile yet of the twisted quadruple killer and his motives: There were two words Bryan Kohberger repeated calmly and coolly in the Ada County courthouse in Boise on Tuesday. They were 'yes' – he understood what he was admitting to – and 'guilty,' of five counts, including four murders and burglary. Advertisement Tantalizingly, Kohberger offered no explanation of what had driven him to stalk a house at 1122 King Road in Moscow and murder four University of Idaho murder students: Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin in their bedrooms. 14 Bryan Kohberger, 30, pleaded guilty to killing four University of Idaho students in their Moscow home while they slept in November 2022. AP I report in 'The Idaho Four' that the people closest to the victims believe, for all sorts of reasons, he targeted just one, Maddie Mogen. It was her room he went straight to. And it's her room you could see from the road if you parked your car at the cul-de-sac behind the King Road house, which the police believe he did multiple times. And Kohberger's actions before the murders bear eerily striking resemblances to another rampage killer, Elliot Rodger. Advertisement Rodger inspired the incel world Kohberger was deeply immersed in by the time he got to Washington State University to do his PhD in Criminal Justice. Incels, for the uninitiated, are members of a 'movement' of frustrated men, all virgins, that sprang up on 4chan in 2014 just hours after Elliot Rodger, a privileged student at Santa Barbara City College, committed mass murder and then suicide. The idea of the movement, started in Rodger's honor, is that one day the incels will succeed in their 'Beta Revolution' and overthrow women. Advertisement When Rodger lost his only childhood male friend – and after a female friend called 'Maddy' had started ignoring him – he was triggered and began to plan the diabolical end. 14 Madison Mogen was one of the students who were killed. Instagram / @maddiemogen 14 Madison Mogen is seen above with Xana Kernodle, who was also killed of 'The Idaho Four.' maddiemogen/Instagram 14 This is known to be the last picture of Kaylee Goncalves (bottom), 21, and Madison Mogen (top) before they were brutally murdered, according to reports. Instagram / @kayleegoncalves Advertisement 14 Xana Kernodle, along with her boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, were both murdered in Idaho. Xena Kernodle/Instagram He intended his final act to be so performative that it would catapult him to global fame. The last words he wrote in his journal were 'Finally, I can show the world my true worth.' Here's some of what Elliot Rodger had to say about his Maddy in 'My Twisted World,' his 137-page manifesto: 'The first real friend I made in the United States was a girl named Maddy Humphreys… Maddy would eventually come to represent everything I hate and despise; everything that is against me; and everything that I am against. 'I stalked her Facebook for a bit, and I saw that she was the exact image of everything I hated in women. She was a popular, spoiled USC girl who partied with her hot, beautiful blonde-haired clique of friends … my hatred for them all grew from each picture I saw on her profile… 14 Some believe that Kohberger's actions before the murders bear eerily striking resemblances to another rampage killer, Elliot Rodger (seen above). AP 'They represented everything that was wrong with this world … I would take great delight in torturing and flaying her and every single one of her spoiled, obnoxious, evil friends.' Is it just a coincidence that Maddie Mogen was also a beautiful blonde sorority sister? Bryan Kohberger, of course, had long exhibited many incel characteristics. His father, Michael Kohberger, recently told a former neighbor, Connie Saba, that Bryan 'wasn't the same person after the drugs.' Advertisement 14 Karen and Scott Laramie, the mother and stepfather of Madison Mogen, listen as their attorney Leander James makes a statement to members of the media outside the Ada County Courthouse on Wednesday, July 2, 2025. AP 14 Ben Mogen, father of victim Madison Mogen is outside the courtroom where Kohberger plead to killing four Idaho college students. REUTERS Both Bryan and Connie's son, Jeremy Saba, a popular, athletic kid whom the young loner Bryan hero-worshipped, had become a heroin addict. Both had gone to rehab. But Jeremy had died in March 2021 of an overdose. That was the year before Bryan moved to Washington State. And nine months before, he bought a Ka-bar knife on Amazon. Advertisement Bryan's first turn to the dark side was in his mid-teens, when he stole from Connie to pay for his heroin habit. Actually, it was worse than that. He phoned her up when Jeremy had been arrested for the first time for a DUI and drug possession. 'I'd like to go visit Jeremy in jail; when are you going?' he asked her. She told him the time and was surprised when he didn't show up. But when she got home and discovered that someone had broken into her house and stolen her iPad, she was less surprised. She knew who the culprit was. Advertisement A year or so later, he showed up, suddenly, in her kitchen to admit to stealing from her, and she understood immediately what was going on. He was in rehab. Atonement is a key part of the process. It seemed as if he had made a full recovery from addiction. But appearances can be deceptive. The interviews I did revealed that no one person had full visibility into Kohberger during his years getting bachelor's and master's degrees in psychology. His fellow students at De Sales University referred to him as The Ghost because he'd show just before class started, coffee cup in hand, and vanish immediately after, muttering about all the jobs he was working. Advertisement They knew nothing about him, other than he was intense and had a strangeness to him. His eyes looked as if they were 'bugging out,' one classmate said. He was obviously on the Autism Spectrum. Students who hung at the Seven Sirens brewing company in the nearby town of Bethlehem saw a very different side of him. He was a nuisance, especially to women. I met a recent De Sales graduate who told me Kohberger had come and sat down with him and his girlfriend, uninvited, said nothing, and then followed the girlfriend around all night. 14 Kohberger has been held in maximum security at Ada County Jail in Boise since the trial was moved to the state capital. AP 14 A makeshift memorial for the four Idaho students was set up in front of their home. Kai Eiselein It was creepy. Kohberger did this sort of thing often. The bar's owner, Jordan Seruleck, told him to leave and not come back. But Kohberger, as Connie Saba, knew firsthand, was manipulative. He took his last year of his master's remotely because of COVID-19. Via Zoom, he impressed one of the professors, Michele Bolger, who recommended him as a PhD student. When Kohberger got to Washington State University, for the first time, people got a glimpse into a mind that was full-blown misogynistic. In class, he interrupted the women students, mansplained, eye-rolled them, winking at the guys as if they must be in on his joke. 14 Blood oozes out of the side of an off-campus home where the four University of Idaho students were stabbed to death on November 30, 2022. James Keivom And in the classes he taught, there were also problems. One time, he followed a female student out the door to her car. Other women complained he was discriminating against them, grading them worse than the men. The WSU administration noticed and the school began to issue him warnings about his teaching position, which was funding his time there. It began to look fragile… Finally, one evening, when Ben Roberts, a classmate, reluctantly accepted a ride from Kohberger, the guy laid out what he really felt. Here's the latest coverage on Bryan Kohberger: He told Roberts in a conversation that went on for hours that women belonged in the kitchen and bedroom. Not the classroom. AND he told Robert, they were easy. He could walk into any social gathering and have any of them he wanted sexually. Roberts told me he just wanted this conversation to stop. Kohberger had studied Elliot Rodger long before that tirade. When he was a psychology student at De Sales University, he was part of a course about serial killers taught by leading criminologist Dr Katherine Ramsland. 14 Bryan Kohberger pleads guilty to the heinous on July 2, 2025, in Boise, Idaho. AP And, like Kohberger — who lived in Pullman in Washington State, but drove ten minutes to Moscow, Idaho, where the campus of the University of Idaho was more buzzy — Rodger also went back and forth between two college towns. As he wrote in his manifesto: 'In all the times I went out by myself to Isla Vista, none of the beautiful blonde girls showed any interest in having sex with me. 'For a while, I had been deciding on whether I would exact my retribution in Isla Vista or at Santa Barbara City College.' 14 'The Idaho Four: An American Tragedy' is written by James Patterson. When Kohberger was arrested, the police took a book from him with underlinings on page 118. 'Do you think it was Elliot Rodger's manifesto?' Steve Goncalves, Kaylee's dad, asked me the other night. Steve has read my book. Of course, I don't know for sure. But you do have to wonder. On that page, Rodger wrote of how he came to select the date of his 'day of retribution.' 14 The four University of Idaho students who were found dead in off-campus housing are Madison Mogen, 21, top left, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, bottom left, Ethan Chapin, 20, center, and Xana Kernodle, 20, right. After ruling out Halloween because of the heavy law enforcement presence, he decided it 'would have to be on a normal party weekend, so I set it for some time during November.' Elliot Rodger got what he wanted – infamy – from his horrendous acts. It's an awful irony and striking parallel – that now that he's pleaded guilty, so too has Bryan Kohberger.

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