Juvenile, 22-year-old man arrested in connection with Facebook Marketplace robberies in Waterbury
The suspects were identified as William Brown, 22, and a 17-year-old male juvenile, also from Waterbury, according to Lt. Ryan Bessette of the Waterbury Police Department.
Bessette said in each incident a weapon was allegedly either displayed or threatened during the attempts to steal the items being purchased.
The juvenile was arrested on May 24 and charged with conspiracy to commit sixth-degree larceny and conspiracy to commit first-degree robbery, according to Bessette.
Detectives located and arrested Brown on an active warrant on Monday and he was charged with two counts of first-degree robbery. two counts of conspiracy to commit first-degree robbery, carrying a pistol without a permit and interfering with police. Bessette said Brown was also arrested on an unrelated warrant for second-degree harassment and second-degree threatening. He is being held on a $775,000 bond pending arraignment.
According to Bessette, additional warrants are being sought in connection with other recent robbery incidents.
'At the time of his arrest, Brown was found in possession of a loaded firearm, which is believed to be similar to the one described by victims in the recent robbery incidents and has been recovered by investigators,' Bessette said.
The investigation is ongoing.
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Miami Herald
2 days ago
- Miami Herald
The 44 Percent: Tips for Black businesses and Trina at SeaWorld
Earlier this week, the Trump administration announced the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department would be under federal control and deployed the National Guard to the city, claiming it was crime-ridden and needed to be under control. The decision caught D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser off guard, who admitted there isn't much they could do. 'While this action today is unsettling and unprecedented, I can't say that, given some of the rhetoric of the past, that we're totally surprised,' Bowser said during a press conference. Some have said the decision to put more policing in a community already experiencing a downward trend in violent crime – the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Columbia announced D.C.'s violent crime rate hit a 30-year low – is a reminder of the racist rhetoric projected onto Black communities, particularly those in urban areas. As Matt Brown with the Associated Press reported: 'The president foreshadowed that if these heavy-handed tactics take root here, they will be rolled out to other majority-Black and Brown cities, like Chicago, Oakland and Baltimore, across the country,' said Monica Hopkins, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union's D.C. chapter. 'We've seen before how federal control of the D.C. National Guard and police can lead to abuse, intimidation and civil rights violations — from military helicopters swooping over peaceful racial justice protesters in 2020 to the unchecked conduct of federal officers who remain shielded from full accountability,' Hopkins said. An examination of policing data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics by the Prison Policy Initiative shows Black people continue to experience racial disparities still with regard to arrests and use of force. So, suffice to say, there is imminent concern regarding the entry of the National Guard in Black communities. And while cities in Florida weren't named among Trump's list of places he's considering sending the National Guard (which coincidentally have Black mayors and large minority populations), it is worth wondering how long before Black communities in South Florida are even more of a target? 'Have to find a way:' Black leaders in Miami weigh defunded Overtown park's future An $82 million planned park in Overtown is out $60 million in federal funding after the Trump administration sent a letter rescinding the funds. While that is a hefty shortfall, communities leaders are searching for ways to find the money so the project can come to the historically Black neighborhood that experienced displacement in the 1960s due to the interstate being built in its community. 'Get your back office together': 6 tips from the Herald's Black business event Minority Business reporter Michael Butler held an event this week offering tips for budding and current Black business owners. The event, which featured, Miami-Dade Chamber of Commerce president and CEO G. Eric Knowles, marketing professional Suzan McDowell and Italian Vice founder Aamir Taylor. They offered tips on ensuring your paperwork is in order and how to market your business. Read a few tips from Butler's event in case you couldn't make it. These Black Miami neighborhoods may become a city. How does that work? Black communities in unincorporated Miami-Dade have begun the very early stages of determining if they should become a city. As residents contemplate what that means for them, I wrote an explainer on what that process looks like. Danielle 'Dee' Spencer, child star of '70s sitcom 'What's Happening!!,' dies at 60 Danielle Spencer, didn't miss a beat playing the younger, sarcastic and witty younger sister Deadra 'Dee' Thomas. But her personal story is one of perseverance: While a regular on the show, Spencer was in a severe car crash that killed her stepfather and left her in a coma for weeks. Spencer would eventually recover through physical therapy, and attended college while working on the show's spinoff 'What's Happening Now!!' and eventually became a veterinarian. She died Monday at 60 years young. We've seen the viral videos of Trina performing at SeaWorld. Our next thoughts were if it's going up like that, we need to be there. Well, VIBE Magazine reporter DeMicia Inman went to see the Baddest B*tch ) perform at SeaWorld San Diego's Summer Series. As Inman reported: Once the gates opened, attendees rushed to get a seat that commanded the best view of the 46-year-old hip-hop veteran. A sign displayed at the entrance warned that while the show was open to all ages, 'please be advised that this performance may include adult language and themes.' Posted in bold, bright lettering so it is not missed, Trina shared that even she was slightly taken aback by the booking. You'll have to read the rest to see how it turned out. Where does 'The 44 Percent' name come from? Click here to find out how Miami history influenced the newsletter's title.
Black America Web
2 days ago
- Black America Web
Trump Is Targeting Cities With Large Black Populations
Source: The Washington Post / Getty Donald Trump's latest 'anti-crime' crusade against Democratic-led, predominantly Black cities is a blatant lie. The 34-count felon turned grifter in chief doesn't care about crime; he's a criminal, and his latest propaganda push is nothing more than the preservation of a regime built on fear and racial division and another act in his decades-long performance of racist political theater. He's doing the same tired ol' routine of painting Black and Brown communities as dangerous, only to position himself as the 'law-and-order' savior while laying the groundwork for an authoritarian power grab; but the jig is up—Trump is not fighting crime; he's manufacturing it to dismantle democracy. His fixation on cities like Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Oakland, and Chicago has nothing to do with reducing crime and everything to do with undermining democracy, targeting Black political leadership, and manufacturing a false narrative that paints Black and Brown communities as violent, dangerous, and in need of 'rescue,' in order for him to justify illegally taking control. We care about your data. See our privacy policy. This strategy is straight out of the authoritarian playbook: create a crisis where there isn't one, assign blame to a marginalized group, then use the fabricated emergency to consolidate power. For Trump, that means militarizing policing in Black cities, vilifying their leaders, and distracting his followers from the reality that violent crime in most major cities is down—not up—over the past two years. Data shows declines in violent crime, murders, and robberies. Oakland has seen significant drops in homicides. Baltimore just recorded its lowest homicide rate in over 50 years. Chicago's violent crime is down over 30%. Yet Trump trots out false, misleading statistics to paint these communities as hellscapes. Why? Because they have Black mayors, significant Black populations, and they vote against him in overwhelming numbers. While Trump points fingers, the truth is that the only convicted felon in this conversation is Donald J. Trump himself—a man who has been convicted of sexual assault, fraud, and who has repeatedly stiffed small business owners out of money owed. He's not interested in making Black communities safer—he's interested in dismantling the institutions that protect them, all while enriching himself and those bankrolling his political ambitions. In response to Trump's announcement that his administration would be taking over the city, the Washington Post reports officials in Washington, D.C., stated they were still in command of their police department, operating as usual, having received no new orders from the Trump administration. The city's police chief, Pamela A. Smith, has been supplying ideas about how federal law enforcement could be used by D.C. — not the other way around, but the White House, however, continued to project clear control. 'We plan to work with the D.C. police,' White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday, 'but ultimately the chain of command is as such: The president of the United States; the attorney general of the United States; our DEA administrator, Terry Cole,' who she said 'is in charge of' the department and is 'working with the chief to ensure that law enforcement officers are allowed to do their jobs in this city.' On Tuesday evening, the White House announced the National Guard would begin to arrive on D.C.'s streets that night. Five Humvees lined the street at the corner of Jefferson Drive and 14th Street SW, between the National Museum of African American History and Culture and the Holocaust Memorial Museum. National Guard troops walked the sidewalks that form walking paths around the monuments, as three DEA agents headed east toward the U.S. Capitol. This racist fearmongering is a smokescreen to distract from his own many failures and crimes. If we're talking about criminals that need removing from this country, let's start with Trump, his entire administration, and every enabler in Congress, statehouses, and boardrooms funding this regime. Because make no mistake, the clown in the seat is not the real danger—it's the regime of hatred paying him to dismantle America from within, to rewind the clock to an era when white supremacy was the law of the land. That's the real threat. The attack on predominantly Black cities is part of a broader strategy. Trump's targeting of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, his hostility toward Black billionaires, his focus on dismantling Black political influence, and his push to gut protections in education, housing, reproductive health, and environmental justice are all interconnected. These efforts are designed to keep Black and Brown Americans economically weakened, socially marginalized, and politically powerless. We've already seen the fallout since the great white heist began; over 300,000 Black women professionals have been laid off. Trump's interests in controlling college athletes' Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals, his attacks on Hollywood and the Kennedy Center, and his assaults on Black-led educational and legal institutions all point to one thing—he's targeting the economic, cultural, and political engines of progress in our communities. Trump has already said the quiet part out loud. During his recent interview with CNBC, the disgraced president said that 'the inner city isn't going to work on the farms,' before outlining an indentured labor scheme where brown immigrants 'come to work and leave' because they 'do it naturally.' The over-policing of Black neighborhoods isn't just about intimidation—it's about filling prison beds when immigrant labor won't suffice. It's one step closer to the full authoritarian implementation of Project 2025, which is designed to strip away civil rights, consolidate executive power, and crush any community or institution that resists. Under its provisions, the president could wield near-unilateral authority over the federal government, erasing decades of legal safeguards designed to protect marginalized communities. Source: Andrew Leyden / Getty Project 2025 is not abstract—it is a clear and present danger to Black America across seven critical areas: • Civil Rights: It guts anti-discrimination laws and bars federal agencies from collecting racial demographic data, making it nearly impossible to enforce workplace protections. • Education: It dismantles the Department of Education, allowing discriminatory discipline to run rampant and making higher education even less accessible for Black students. • Political Power: By overhauling the Census and criminalizing election-related activity, it will suppress the Black vote and destabilize multiracial democracy. • Criminal Legal System: It expands the racially biased death penalty and abolishes consent decrees that hold police accountable for civil rights violations. • Housing: It hands affordable housing programs to states with histories of racial discrimination, threatening millions of Black low-income families. • Reproductive Rights: It bans federal access to abortion care, disproportionately harming Black women, who already face dangerously high maternal mortality rates. • Environmental Justice: It shutters the Office of Environmental Justice, allowing environmental racism to further poison Black communities. What we're witnessing is a modernized version of post-Reconstruction America, when Jim Crow laws stripped newly freed Black people of their constitutional rights, locking them out of political power, economic opportunity, and social equality. The playbook is the same—change the laws, control the narrative, suppress the vote, and weaponize the justice system. By invoking images of chaos in Black cities, Trump is not just playing to racist stereotypes—he's setting the stage for federal takeovers of local governance, replacing elected leaders with handpicked loyalists and eroding the very foundation of home rule. Washington, D.C., has already been subjected to this unprecedented seizure of power, and the list of targeted cities is growing. The bottom line is: Trump is lying and Trump is the criminal. The projection in his 'lock them up' chant is as transparent as it is tired. His lies about crime in Black-led cities are more than campaign rhetoric; they're part of a deliberate, well-funded scheme to erode democracy, suppress Black political power, and cement an authoritarian regime. The 'law and order' talk is nothing but code for racial domination and political control, and his repeated targeting of these cities is a direct assault on the progress made by generations of Black Americans. The only people who should be behind bars are the ones orchestrating this dismantling of democracy. It's time to stop treating this as politics as usual. This is a coordinated assault on truth, justice, and equality—and the regime funding the coup are betting we won't fight back. We've seen this move before, and we know how it ends if we don't act. It's time to clean house, America—before there's nothing left to save. America's biggest threat is not the residents of D.C., Baltimore, Chicago, or Oakland—it's the man in the Oval Office who sees democracy as an obstacle, truth as a liability, and the law as something that applies to everyone but himself. SEE ALSO: Black D.C. Is The Stage For Trump's Authoritarian Rehearsal Dean Cain's New Job: Being A Superhero For White Nationalism SEE ALSO Trump Is Targeting Cities With Large Black Populations was originally published on
Motor 1
3 days ago
- Motor 1
‘Sometimes Being a Musician Really Helps:' Man Sells Car On Facebook. Then 2 Buyers Try to Trick Him Into Thinking a Gasket Blew
A man selling his car on Facebook Marketplace shared how two buyers nearly tricked him into thinking his vehicle had blown a gasket so they could purchase it at a discount. Jon Bryant (@jonrbryant) posted a TikTok on July 31 that accrued over 87,000 views. Bryant begins his clip by thanking his background in music for helping him avoid getting scammed. He shares a peripatetic journey that begins with a woman reaching out to him on Facebook Marketplace. Bryant states that he listed his car on the popular online sales platform and was able to arrange a short-notice meetup with the intrigued buyer. However, two men showed up instead. Despite the incongruity between the person who reached out to buy the car and who showed up, Bryant greeted them and allowed the men to check the car out. While he was talking to one person, another was walking around the car and inspecting it. Shortly after, they asked if they could go on a test drive, and Bryant agreed. Not long into their journey, smoke began pouring out of his car's exhaust, prompting Bryant to immediately become anxious. That's because the optics of the situation positioned him to look like a shady online scammer trying to foist a problematic vehicle on a prospective buyer. However, Bryant states that the smoke plume, while embarrassing, was odd because he had never experienced any problems with his car's emissions previously. Facebook Marketplace Con Job Furthermore, Bryant said that he felt 'awful' because the man said he had a wife and two kids, and that they really needed a car as soon as possible. Compounding the scammer's orchestrated guilt trip was their assertion that they drove about an hour to come and meet Bryant to scope out the ride. After seeing the smoke, they decided to pop the hood of the car to see what was wrong. Upon doing so, there was a bit of oil visible on the engine block. The buyer told Bryant that his car had a blown gasket, but that he'd give Bryant $1,000 for the car and get it immediately towed out of there. More on Facebook Marketplace Facebook Marketplace Bans Dealers From Posting Used Cars For Sale 'It Works:' Woman Shares How to Find Out if Furniture Fits in Your Car—Before You Buy From Facebook Marketplace Not wanting to just fork over the car at that price, the TikToker decided to take it to a nearby body shop to get it checked out. The tech there stated that it certainly looked like the vehicle was in dire straits; however, they urged Bryant to get a second opinion, as they didn't specialize in motors. Following this, he drove his car to a mechanic and, while revving the engine, noticed that the aroma emitting from his car was familiar. Metallica Concerts Save the Day Bryant went on to state that the smoky smell wafting through the air was reminiscent of stage performances from the popular heavy metal band. 'It's the smoke that they billow out in the air to create atmosphere. I know that smell. I'm a musician; I've been around it enough times to know,' Bryant tells his viewers. Following this, he breaks down what he believes happened during his meetup with the Facebook Marketplace buyers. The TikToker speculated that the two-man-scam operated as follows: Guy A distracted Bryant with conversation while Guy B spritzed some of the fake smoke into his car's exhaust pipe. 'Guy A distracts me, Guy B does the dirty, and I'm none the wiser—until I use my little brain here to figure out what the plan was all along,' he tells his viewers. Bryant had his suppositions confirmed by the mechanic, who said the smoky smell was indeed not oil or coolant. Afterward, Bryant reveals that he was recording his video directly after making the con job discovery. He adds that the two men still believed they were getting his vehicle for $1,000. Despite wanting to confront the men, Bryant said the police officers he reported them to advised against this course of action. Payback In a follow-up post , Bryant said that he learned the men placed glycol inside his car, which prompted the smoky discharge. While not confronting them outright about the scam, he elected instead to string them along to think that they still had a chance at buying the car for a reduced price. The TikToker told them that he was filing an insurance claim and asked if he should bring his mother along when he does so. His goal was to waste as much of their time as possible by asking inane questions, such as whether he should wear a suit while filing the claim in person. Ultimately, in a third and final update on the situation, Bryant says that he wrote the potential buyer a 'nice message' where he 'congratulated him' on almost successfully pulling off the con. As officers instructed, however, Bryant didn't confront them in person. Motor1 has reached out to Bryant via TikTok comment for further information. Now Trending 'I Can't Stop Crying:' Woman is Desperate for a New Car. Then She Gets an Email with a Shocking Offer 'Now We're SOL:' South Carolina Woman Goes to Midas for $50 Oil Change. The Car's Deemed Totaled Immediately After Get the best news, reviews, columns, and more delivered straight to your inbox, daily. back Sign up For more information, read our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use . Share this Story Facebook X LinkedIn Flipboard Reddit WhatsApp E-Mail Got a tip for us? Email: tips@ Join the conversation ( )
