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10 guards charged over the fatal beating of a New York inmate, including 2 with murder

10 guards charged over the fatal beating of a New York inmate, including 2 with murder

Independent16-04-2025
Ten New York prison guards were charged Wednesday in connection with the fatal beating of a 22-year-old prison inmate, including two charged with murder. It's the second time this year a group of correctional officers in the state was indicted for a death behind bars.
Other prisoners say several guards severely beat Messiah Nantwi, a prisoner at the Mid-State Correctional Facility, sending him to a hospital where he died on March 1.
The Utica-area facility was one of many state prisons that was struggling to function during a three-week wildcat strike by guards.
Nantwi's death came several months after Robert Brooks was fatally beaten at the Marcy Correctional Facility, across the street from the Mid-State prison. Six guards have pleaded not guilty to murder charges in Brooks' death and other prison employees have also been charged.
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Suspected Kentucky church shooter had a domestic violence hearing the next day
Suspected Kentucky church shooter had a domestic violence hearing the next day

NBC News

time14-07-2025

  • NBC News

Suspected Kentucky church shooter had a domestic violence hearing the next day

The man accused of killing two women in a shooting rampage at a Kentucky church after wounding a state trooper had been expected in court for a domestic violence hearing on Monday, a local official said. In a chilling account of Sunday's attack, Star Rutherford, a relative of the two slain women, said Guy House went to the Lexington-area church looking for one of her sisters but was told she wasn't there. He declared: 'Well I guess someone's going to have to die then,' and shot her mother, 72-year-old Beverly Gumm, in the chest. Rutherford spoke to the Lexington-based broadcaster WKYT-TV. House later killed Christina Combs, who media reports said was another of Rutherford's sisters. Two men were also critically wounded, police said Monday. House went to Richmond Road Baptist Church seeking the mother of his children but his domestic violence hearing did not involve her, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported, citing Rachael Barnes. She identified Gumm and Combs, 34, as her mother and sister. Matt Ball, a deputy clerk for family court in Fayette County, confirmed to The Associated Press that House had been scheduled for the domestic violence hearing on Monday. Authorities have offered no motive and the investigation was ongoing. Officers confronted House, 47, in a rear parking lot after the shootings at the close-knit rural church where many members are related or close friends. At least three Lexington police officers fired, striking House and resulting in his death, authorities said. The trooper is in stable condition, and authorities have not identified the wounded. Sunday's violence began when House shot the trooper during a traffic stop near Lexington's airport, police said. House then fled, forcibly stole a vehicle and opened fire at the church about an hour later, police said. The trooper stopped House after receiving a 'license plate reader alert,' police said. House had active arrest warrants and he shot the trooper as the officer interacted with people in the vehicle, Kentucky State Police Sgt. Matt Sudduth said Monday. The others in the vehicle were not involved in the shooting, did not flee and have cooperated with investigators, he said. A woman who witnessed that shooting said it initially appeared to be a routine traffic stop, with the trooper talking through an open window. 'And as we were driving by, I heard, 'pop, pop' and I knew it was gunshots,' Larissa McLaughlin told WLEX-TV in Lexington. Police credited several people for coming to the trooper's aid immediately. 'Without the assistance of several Good Samaritans, this likely could have been a very life-threatening injury,' Sudduth said. He didn't offer details on what aid was provided and said police were working to identify them. Officers tracked the stolen vehicle to the church about 16 miles (26 kilometers) from where the trooper was shot, police said. 'Please pray for everyone affected by these senseless acts of violence,' Gov. Andy Beshear said Sunday, 'and let's give thanks for the swift response by the Lexington Police Department and Kentucky State Police.' State Attorney General Russell Coleman said Sunday that detectives with his office were ready to support local and state agencies, saying, 'Today, violence invaded the Lord's House.'

U.S. citizen seeks $1M after arrest, detention for recording immigration raid at Home Depot
U.S. citizen seeks $1M after arrest, detention for recording immigration raid at Home Depot

NBC News

time02-07-2025

  • NBC News

U.S. citizen seeks $1M after arrest, detention for recording immigration raid at Home Depot

The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund is demanding the federal government pay $1 million in damages to a U.S. citizen who was arrested and detained while he was recording an immigration raid at a Home Depot in Los Angeles last month. MALDEF put the government on notice of a coming civil lawsuit for what it says were assault, battery, false arrest and false imprisonment against Job Garcia, 37. Garcia, a Ph.D. student and photographer, was tackled and thrown to the ground by agents in the Home Depot parking lot in Hollywood, arrested and held for more than 24 hours, MALDEF said. It said Wednesday that it submitted the claim against Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Border Patrol and other Department of Homeland Security agencies involved in Garcia's arrest. MALDEF also said that Garcia's arrest and detention were racially motivated and that the government agents may have violated his constitutional protections for free speech, his right to remain silent, his freedom from unreasonable search and seizure and his right to due process. MALDEF said the claim is a required administrative step before it files a lawsuit against the Border Patrol, ICE and the other DHS agencies. "The Border Patrol and ICE agents unlawfully restrained and detained Mr. Garcia for more than 24 hours without any valid grounds for interfering with his liberty and freedom of movement and they did so based on legally prohibited grounds," MALDEF said in its claim letter, dated Tuesday. MALDEF said he was released without arraignment or notification of a future court date. DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in an emailed statement that Garcia assaulted and verbally harassed a federal agent and that he was subdued and arrested for the alleged assault. She repeated Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's warning that anyone who lays a hand on a law enforcement officer will be fully prosecuted. Ernest Herrera, MALDEF's Western regional counsel, said the claim sends a message to the federal government about punishing people for exercising their First Amendment rights "and for hurting bystanders and protesters, whether they be U.S. citizens or not during these raids that are happening in public places." Garcia regularly traveled to Los Angeles-area Home Depots for his job as a delivery driver for an online business. He and others saw agents making the arrests and started recording them on his smartphone, MALDEF said. When Customs and Border Patrol agents surrounded a commercial light truck, he and other bystanders yelled to the driver not to open his door or window and to keep silent, according to MALDEF. "All individuals that Border Patrol agents had detained up to this point appeared to be Latino or Latin American national origin. The driver of the light commercial truck also appeared to be Latino or of Latin American national origin," it said. MALDEF said a masked agent lunged at Garcia and tried to grab his phone, leading him to move backward. The agent who had lunged at him threw Garcia's phone to the ground and tackled him. Other agents joined in, restraining him with their knees in his back and pressing his face into the asphalt, even though he did not resist, MALDEF said. "Mr. Garcia felt that his breathing was restricted and momentarily feared that he may be killed in this position," the claim says. An agent transferring Garcia tried to speak to him in Spanish "and was surprised when Mr. Garcia responded in English" but continued to try to speak Spanish to him. Garcia was taken to Dodger Stadium in handcuffs. By that time, agents had confirmed that he was a citizen with no criminal warrants and that there was no information to suspect he had committed a crime, MALDEF said. "During this time, Garcia said he heard the agents boasting about how many 'bodies' they had gotten that day and saw them celebrate with high-fives," it said. The claim also sends a message that 'the American public does not approve of this sort of immigration enforcement action where people are terrorized, where certain people are targeted and agents themselves are bragging about how many bodies they got,' Herrera said. Agents tried to interrogate Garcia after they read him his rights, MALDEF said. He refused to answer questions and was not read his rights when later attempts were made to interrogate him, it said. He was transferred to the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles and released the next day, without arraignment or any information about a future court date, MALDEF said. "Border Patrol and ICE punished me for informing others of their rights and exercising my own rights," Garcia said in the MALDEF statement. MALDEF said Garcia sustained bruising on his back, neck, arms, face and legs from the tackling and restraint, that he is suffering emotional distress and that he lost out on more than four days of delivery work, costing him $2,500 to $3,000. He also has stopped his academic work because of emotional distress and might not complete his program in a year, as expected, MALDEF said. 'When government engages in widespread violation of individual rights with respect to immigrants without status, the harm inevitably spills over and spreads to others; that is why we must insist, as a society, on respect for the rights of everyone,' Thomas A. Saenz, MALDEF's president and general counsel, said in a statement. 'Here, a citizen, acting in the best traditions of our democracy, was engaged in documenting government misconduct to encourage policy change; he was wrongfully arrested and detained because of his race and his heroic efforts,' Saenz said.

Justin Tucker suspension: Everyone loses as ex-Ravens kicker penalized
Justin Tucker suspension: Everyone loses as ex-Ravens kicker penalized

The Herald Scotland

time28-06-2025

  • The Herald Scotland

Justin Tucker suspension: Everyone loses as ex-Ravens kicker penalized

And, yeah, some rookie you've never heard of is going to benefit from the fact that Baltimore had already cut ties with Tucker, creating an open job to compete for in training camp. But there are no winners from this sad saga. There are most definitely losers, though, and they are as follows: Justin Tucker Duh. On the one hand, he ought to be grateful the NFL's announcement was, per usual, devoid of details regarding his violation of the league's personal conduct policy. And unlike the penalty the league levied against Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson three years ago, in what can only be described as similar circumstances - at the time, 24 women had filed civil suits against him involving allegations of sexual misconduct during massage therapy sessions - Tucker has not been fined nor ordered to undergo treatment or an evaluation. Watson was and had to pay $5 million. But Tucker is radioactive. Last season was decidedly the worst of his 13-year career. Still the most accurate kicker in NFL history, he converted a career-low 73.3% of his field-goal attempts. It gave the Ravens a convenient excuse to cut a 35-year-old who was at the top of his positional compensation scale. And in light of the sexual misconduct allegations made by Baltimore-area massage therapists for incidents that reportedly occurred between 2012 and 2016, no team was likely to touch Tucker before the league completed its investigation into the matter - and there will undoubtedly be less consideration for him now given he won't be eligible to return until Nov. 11. But this runs deeper. Again, the NFL didn't offer details as to why it had suspended Tucker, though The Baltimore Banner reported them in spades. All the while, Tucker, a practicing Catholic, has denied them, characterizing the website's reporting as "unequivocally false" - yet also won't appeal his suspension. Take that for what it's worth. At this point, it seems unlikely Tucker plays in the NFL again. And what appears to be the final chapter of his once enviable career has probably delivered a fatal broadside to his Hall of Fame candidacy given the high bar his position already demanded. In a statement issued last month and attributed to executive vice president and GM Eric DeCosta, he said, "Sometimes football decisions are incredibly difficult, and this is one of those instances," when explaining why the Ravens released Tucker with three years left on his four-year, $22 million extension. Anyone paying more than a scintilla of attention knew the move involved far more calculus than that, but that's how the Ravens chose to frame it. They missed the mark. This is the same organization that was spotlit by the Ray Rice situation in 2014, when the team's top running back was seen on video assaulting his fiancee in an elevator. He was eventually released and never played another NFL snap after being indefinitely suspended. Following the issuance of Watson's penalty in 2022, head coach John Harbaugh said of the Ravens' stance about player misconduct, "Basically, we're kind of zero tolerance. You have to know the truth, you have to try to understand the circumstances, but we've stayed away from that particular situation - when we draft players, when we sign them as free agents. "I'm glad that we have that policy." (For what it's worth, the Ravens just spent a second-round pick on linebacker Mike Green, who's been accused of sexual assault multiple times in the past.) More: Opinion: NFL's suspension of kicker Justin Tucker is essentially a guilty verdict Any profession has people who are less-than-savory characters. The NFL is no different, but its scandals make headlines that members of Fortune 500 companies (or far less notable ones) rarely draw. It's just baffling the Ravens - a well-run, first-rate organization by nearly every other measure, on or off the field - would further jeopardize their brand. They undoubtedly carefully parsed their announcement signaling Tucker's departure. DeCosta also thanked him for his "many contributions" to the franchise (meaning its win total). It's fine that the club took its time before cutting the cord while doing its own due diligence on the matter. But given the circumstances, "The Ravens have released Justin Tucker" always seemed to be about the extent of what he deserved. The victims In the event crystal clarity is needed here, victims are not "losers." But the NFL's verdict offers further credence that they've lost too much. According to The Banner's reporting, 16 massage therapists from eight local spas shared horror stories about Tucker's alleged misconduct. It's important to note he has not been charged with a crime, and the statute of limitations in Maryland to file a civil action against him is long past. Sadly, this is often how it goes whenever women are exploited. They won't see a penny in the aftermath of their trauma, which could be very difficult to escape for the balance of their lives. Nobody's lost more than them, and that can't be forgotten. All NFL news on and off the field. Sign up for USA TODAY's 4th and Monday newsletter.

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