False Fears on Harvard Yard
As a Jew, I appreciate the Rev. Matthew Ichihashi Potts's condemnation of centuries' old transgressions by Christians against Jews (Letters, June 16). But that he couldn't bring himself to condemn antisemitism without also invoking 'Islamophobia and colonialism' tells me all I need to know about how serious his commitment to ending the problem is.
Fred Rothzeid
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Yahoo
34 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Deadly lawmaker ambush in Minnesota raises fears about fake police officers knocking on doors
Vance Boelter left the state of Minnesota in fear after he allegedly posed as a police officer and carried out the shootings of two state lawmakers, killing one and her husband, at their homes last week. But what can you do to verify that the person who knocks on your door or pulls you over while you're in your vehicle is a law enforcement officer? Mark Bruley, chief of police in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, where Boelter allegedly shot and killed Minnesota state lawmaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, told reporters at a press conference earlier this week that there's one thing you can do that's "never wrong." "You always can call 911 and verify if the person at your door is a police officer," Bruley said. "If they are working police officer, they will be connected to a dispatch center that can validate that. So the first thing I would do is, if you're concerned about it, is call 911. Obviously, there's a lot of different uniforms, and it's never wrong to do that." What Motivated Suspect In Minnesota Lawmaker Shooting Is Unclear, So Are His Politics Police officers typically wear a visible badge with their identification number and name on their uniform. They often also carry agency-issued photo identification that can include their name, rank and agency information. Read On The Fox News App Fox News Digital spoke with Brian Higgins, founder of Group 77 and former Chief of Police of Bergen County, N.J., to learn more about what citizens can do in cases where they feel the need to verify that who they're speaking to is a law enforcement officer. Higgins said that most verification measures, such as requesting the officer's photo identification, require the citizen to open the door, at which point it would be too late if the individual is an impersonator. "If you're not sure, don't open the door," Higgins said, adding that citizens can stand to the side of their door and speak to officers through the door while calling 911 or the local police department to confirm that an officer was sent to their home. Higgins said that knowing what police uniforms look like and, if you live in a town with a smaller police force, being familiar with its members helps with verifying. "If you see an officer not in uniform, not someone you recognize," Higgins said, "it's prudent to call police and ask if this person is a police officer." Not all situations, however, are the same. "It's more difficult when on the road and a police officer pulls you over," Higgins said of verification during traffic stops. In these situations, Higgins said it's important to know what law enforcement vehicles look like, adding that sometimes real law enforcement cars can be unmarked. Minnesota Police Praised For Foiling Lawmaker Shooting Suspect's Plan Higgins said officers usually call in traffic violations to dispatch, so drivers can still call 911 or the local police to verify that an officer performing their duties initiated the stop. Higgins advised citizens to always be aware of their surroundings and to pull over in public places, if possible. If unable to immediately pull over in a public place, Higgins said drivers can lower their window just enough, keep their car in drive and ask the officer if it's possible to drive to another place that is safer or more public. Higgins said that police officers understand that citizens may be uncertain or nervous and ask for verification. "If their answer is anything other than professional, it should raise a concern," Higgins said. In the case in Minnesota, Boelter allegedly impersonated a police officer, wearing a flesh-colored mask, a black tactical vest and carrying a flashlight before shooting and killing state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, and wounding state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, at their respective homes. Boelter also drove a black SUV equipped with police-style lights and a fake license plate that said "POLICE," according to a court affidavit. Video footage from Hoffman's home shows a masked Boelter at the front door wearing the black tactical vest and holding a flashlight, according to the affidavit. Boelter then allegedly knocked on their door and shouted repeatedly, "This is the police. Open the door." The Hoffmans answered the door but, since Boelter was shining the flashlight in their eyes, realized too late that Boelter was not a real police officer, the affidavit article source: Deadly lawmaker ambush in Minnesota raises fears about fake police officers knocking on doors
Bloomberg
an hour ago
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Summers on the Fed, Middle East and NYC Mayoral Primary
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Yahoo
an hour ago
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‘Justice prevailed': Columbia University student activist Mahmoud Khalil speaks after release from ICE detention
Columbia University student activist Mahmoud Khalil has walked out of an immigration detention center in rural Louisiana where he was locked up for more than three months for his campus activism against Israel's war in Gaza. A federal judge ordered his release hours earlier on Friday and rebuked President Donald Trump's administration for its 'highly, highly unusual' decision to hold him there, with no evidence Khalil committed any crime, and after the judge's determination that his detention and threat of removal from the country over First Amendment-protected speech is unconstitutional. 'Justice prevailed, but it's long overdue,' said Khalil, wearing a keffiyeh wrapped around his shoulders. 'This should not have taken three months. I leave some incredible men — more than 1,000 people, behind me — in a place where they should not have been.' The Trump administration 'are doing their best to dehumanize everyone here,' he said. Khalil is now returning to New York, where he looks forward to embracing his wife and son, who was born while he was in custody. The judge's order is the latest in a string of high-profile losses for Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Trump administration in its campaign against international student activists arrested and threatened with removal from the country over their pro-Palestinian activism. During a bail hearing on Friday, New Jersey District Judge Michael Farbiarz said Khalil poses no danger to the community and is not a flight risk. 'Period, full stop,' he said. Following the order, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said that only an immigration judge, not a federal district judge, 'has the authority' to decide whether he can be released, despite a series of federal court rulings granting the release of student activists the administration has sought to remove from the country while their legal challenges continue. Lawyers for the Trump administration appealed the order for his release on Friday night. Yet the immigration judge presiding over Khalil's case, Jamee Comans, determined on Friday that Khalil could be deported based on the government's allegations against him. 'On the same day an immigration judge denied Khalil bond and ordered him removed, one rogue district judge ordered him released,' Homeland Security assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin said. 'This is yet another example of how out-of-control members of the judicial branch are undermining national security.' Khalil was stripped of his green card and arrested in front of his then-pregnant wife in their New York City apartment building on March 8. He was then sent to an ICE detention center in Louisiana, roughly 1,300 miles away from their home in New York. Following his arrest, Khalil was accused of 'antisemitic activities' for his role in campus-wide demonstrations against Israel's war, allegations Khalil and his legal team have resoundingly rejected. Officials concede that Khalil did not commit any crime, but Rubio has sought to justify Khalil's arrest by invoking a rarely used law claiming that Khalil's presence in the United States undermines foreign policy interests of preventing antisemitism. Khalil and his attorneys and critics have argued that the administration has broadly sought to conflate criticism of Israel's war with antisemitism, dovetailing with the president's threats to college campuses and an anti-immigration agenda. 'After more than three months we can finally breathe a sigh of relief and know that Mahmoud is on his way home to me and Deen, who never should have been separated from his father,' Noor Abdalla, Khalil's wife, said in a statement. 'We know this ruling does not begin to address the injustices the Trump administration has brought upon our family, and so many others the government is trying to silence for speaking out against Israel's ongoing genocide against Palestinians,' she added. 'But today we are celebrating Mahmoud coming back to New York to be reunited with our little family, and the community that has supported us since the day he was unjustly taken for speaking out for Palestinian freedom.' On June 11, Judge Farbiarz ruled that the administration had unconstitutionally wielded the law against Khalil, whose 'career and reputation are being damaged and his speech is being chilled,' the judge wrote. The government has 'little or no interest in applying the relevant underlying statutes in what is likely an unconstitutional way,' Farbiarz added. The judge said the government could not detain and deport him on those spurious legal grounds. Khalil and his legal team argue his arrest and detention — and attempted removal from the country, which is currently blocked by court order — are retaliatory violations of his First Amendment right to freedom of speech and his Fifth Amendment right to due process of law, among other claims. His arrest sparked international outrage over the Trump administration's attempts to crush campus dissent. Rubio has said he 'proudly' revoked hundreds of student visas over campus activism, leading to several high-profile arrests of international scholars. Khalil, who is Palestinian, grew up in a refugee camp in Syria. He entered the United States on a student visa in 2022 to pursue a master's degree in public administration, which he completed last year. He missed his graduation ceremony last month. 'As someone who fled persecution in Syria for my political beliefs, for who I am, I never imagined myself to be in immigration detention, here in the United States,' Khalil wrote in a sworn declaration in court filings. Khalil's wife gave birth to their son in April. They met for the first and only time before an immigration court hearing last month. 'Instead of holding my wife's hand in the delivery room, I was crouched on a detention center floor, whispering through a crackling phone line as she labored alone,' Khalil wrote in court filings. 'I listened to her pain, trying to comfort her while 70 other men slept around me. When I heard my son's first cries, I buried my face in my arms so no one would see me weep.'
