What's Behind the Great American Murder Decline?
Baltimore also has fewer people than it used to, so its murder rate isn't quite that low relative to past decades. At 31 homicides per 100,000 residents over the past 12 months, that rate is also still appallingly high. (In crime statistics, homicide is murder plus non-negligent manslaughter, and the terms tend to be used interchangeably.) The national homicide rate was 5.7 per 100,000 people in 2023, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and is probably below five by now — low by historical standards though still quite high compared with other developed countries.
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Yahoo
28 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Boyfriend charged with fatally shooting DC cop nearly 30 years ago
The boyfriend of a police officer who was found shot to death in her Maryland apartment nearly 30 years ago has been charged with her murder again, decades after the case against him was previously dropped, authorities said Wednesday. Officer Denna Fredericka Campbell, 24, was found dead in the White Oak apartment she shared with her boyfriend on Sept. 16, 1995, according to police. The four-year veteran of the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department had been shot five times, police said. Her department-issued handgun was missing from the apartment and was never found, police said. Her boyfriend, Amir Jalil Ali, told police that he found Campbell unresponsive upon returning from a store, according to the Montgomery County Department of Police. He called 911 to report that his girlfriend had been shot during a burglary, police said. Ali -- who was known by the name Kenneth Burnell Wonsom at the time -- was initially charged with murder in 1995, though the case was dropped two months later, police said. MORE: Cold case murder solved 40 years after Utah teenager killed after hitchhiking to work: Police The 62-year-old Ali has been newly charged with first-degree murder in her death, according to Montgomery County Department of Police Chief Marc Yamada. He was taken into custody on Tuesday in Laurel, police said. "This arrest closes one of the longest-standing cold cases for our department," Yamada said during a press conference on Wednesday. "While this arrest won't erase the pain of losing Denna, we hope that it does bring some resolution or sense of peace," he added. Ali is being held in the Montgomery County Detention Center, police said. Montgomery County State's Attorney John McCarthy said he doesn't know why his predecessor initially dropped the case against Ali. "The decision was made not to proceed in that matter," McCarthy said during Wednesday's press briefing. "I was not privy to, nor do I know, what the conversation was regarding why the charges were dropped at that point in time." McCarthy did say there has been "a lot more detail" developed by the police department's cold case unit since Ali was initially charged, that "fleshes out this case." The state's attorney was unable to go into the specifics of the case ahead of the suspect's bond hearing. Montgomery County Detective Paula Hamill said investigators have been reexamining the cold case for the past year or so, including conducting new interviews. Detectives spoke to people who were able to shed light on Campbell's life and the "fear that she felt at that time and the concerns that she had" about her boyfriend, Hamill said. Ali's attorney, Richard Finci, countered in a statement that "little has changed" since the initial case against Ali. "The prior Indictment was dismissed by the State due to lack of evidence after Mr. Wonsom was detained for a lengthy period of time and little has changed," Finci said. MORE: Cold case solved over 50 years after a young mom was killed, her 3-year-old daughter left alive Hamill said she was able to speak with Campbell's father on Tuesday about the arrest. "The only words that he could get out were, 'Thank God,'" Hamill said. Her mother died several years after the deadly shooting, Hamill said. Campbell had a "promising career" with the DC police department and was already a "hero in the community" before she was killed, D.C. Metropolitan Police Executive Assistant Chief Andre Wright said Wednesday. "In 1993, she selflessly pulled four victims out of a burning van on Pennsylvania Avenue," he said. "Her actions that day earned her commendation from MPD leaders and praise from her community." Her colleagues remembered her as being "energetic and full of life," Wright said. "We recognize that today's news doesn't bring Officer Campbell back to her family, our community or our department, but we hope this news can bring some form of closure to all of those who have carried the burden of this tragedy for over three decades," he said.
UPI
30 minutes ago
- UPI
'Mission accomplished:' Fort Bliss soldier accused of spying for Russia
Soldiers with 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, move equipment to the entrance of the Dona Ana Range Complex near Fort Bliss in New Mexico on August 19, 2021. A 22-year-old Army soldier has been charged with attempting to provide Russia with information on military combat operations obtained with top-secret security clearance. File photo by Staff Sgt. Michael West/U.S. Army/UPI | License Photo Aug. 6 (UPI) -- A 22-year-old Army soldier at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, was arrested Wednesday and charged with attempting to provide Russia with information on military combat operations obtained with top-secret security clearance. "Mission accomplished," Taylor Adam Lee wrote in an online message he believed was to a representative of the Russian government, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a news release. The information involved the M1A2 Abrams tank. In El Paso, Lee made his first appearance in federal court after his arrest. Lee was a tank crewman assigned to the 1st Armored Division, which includes tanks, an official told KVIA-TV, and included a photo of him. Fort Bliss, with more than 20,000 military personnel and 7,200 civilians, is the second-largest U.S. installation with 1.1 million acres that stretch into New Mexico. The specific charges are attempting to transmit national defense information to a foreign adversary and exporting controlled technical data without a license, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas said. He is accused of giving information about the M1A2, "our Nation's main battle tank," John A Eisenberg, the assistant attorney general for National Security, said in a statement. "This arrest is an alarming reminder of the serious threat facing our U.S. Army," Brig. Gen. Sean F. Stinchon, the commanding general of Army Counterintelligence Command, said. "Thanks to the hard work of Army Counterintelligence Command Special Agents and our FBI partners, Soldiers who violate their oath and become insider threats will absolutely be caught and brought to justice, and we will continue to protect Army personnel and safeguard equipment. If anyone on our Army Team sees suspicious activity, you must report it as soon as possible." Lee allegedly attempted to provide classified information on Abrams' vulnerabilities to someone he believed was a Russian intelligence officer in exchange for Russian citizenship, Roman Rozhavsky of the FBI's Counterintelligence Division said. "Today's arrest is a message to anyone thinking about betraying the U.S. -- especially service members who have sworn to protect our homeland. The FBI and our partners will do everything in our power to protect Americans and safeguard classified information," Rozhavsky said. As an active-duty member in the U.S. Army, Lee held a top-secret security clearance. Since May, he sought to send information to the Russian Ministry of Defense, DOJ said. In June, he allegedly transmitted export-controlled technical information on the tank online. "The USA is not happy with me for trying to expose their weaknesses," he wrote, according to prosecutors. "At this point I'd even volunteer to assist the Russian federation when I'm there in any way." In July, he met a person he thought was representing the Russian government and gave them an SD card, which included information not only about the tanks but another armored fighting vehicle used, as well as combat operations. The DOJ didn't say who the person actually was. Lee did not have authorization to provide some of this information, which was marked as Controlled Unclassified Information with banner warnings and dissemination controls. Lee frequently said he knew the information was sensitive and likely classified. He also talked about obtaining and providing the Russian government with a specific piece of hardware inside the Abrams' tank. On Thursday, he delivered what appeared to be the hardware to a storage united in El Paso, the DOJ said. The FBI Washington and El Paso field offices investigated with the U.S. Army Counterintelligence Command. "Lee allegedly violated his duty to protect the United States in favor of providing national defense information to the Russian government," Assistant Director in Charge Steven Jensen of the FBI's Washington Field Office said. "The FBI is steadfast in our commitment to protect U.S. national security and bring to justice those who seek to undermine it."
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
Man accused of killing Israeli Embassy staffers indicted on federal hate crime charges
WASHINGTON — The suspect accused of gunning down two Israeli embassy staffers outside a museum in Washington in May has been indicted on federal hate crime and murder charges, according to court documents unsealed Aug. 6. The nine-count indictment, filed in federal court in Washington, returned against Elias Rodriguez, 31, accuses him of carrying out a hate crime resulting in death motivated by the "actual and perceived national origin of any person." Rodriguez also faces charges of first-degree murder and murder of a foreign official. The indictment includes special findings that would make Rodriguez eligible for the death penalty if convicted. The indictment by a federal grand jury comes ahead of a scheduled court appearance in Rodriguez's case on Aug. 8. Rodriguez was accused of fatally shooting Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, 26, who were about to be engaged to be married. They were leaving a May 21 event for young professionals and diplomats at the Capital Jewish Museum and hosted by the American Jewish Committee, an advocacy group that fights antisemitism and supports Israel, when they were killed. Fort Stewart attack: Army sergeant in custody after 5 soldiers shot; motive under investigation Rodriguez told police at the scene: 'I did it for Palestine. I did it for Gaza,' according to a criminal complaint. Witnesses recounted hearing him chant "Free Palestine" after he was taken into custody. He has not yet entered a plea to the prior charges, which also include causing death with a firearm and discharging a firearm in a crime of violence. The killings in downtown Washington were widely condemned as an act of antisemitism and shook Jewish communities around the world. Jeanine Pirro, the top federal prosecutor in Washington said in May that the shooting would be investigated as a hate crime and the charges could carry the death penalty. Indictment alleges suspect had history of violent rhetoric against Israelis The indictment alleges that Rodriguez targeted the couple because they were Israelis and that the suspect had a history of violent rhetoric online against Israelis, including a plea to "vaporize every Israeli 18 and above." Before the shooting, he scheduled a social media post to publish later that night with a document arguing that perpetrators and abettors of Israel's military actions in Gaza had "forfeited their humanity," according to the indictment. Rodriguez, who was born and raised in Chicago, flew to the Washington area from Chicago the day before the shooting. He was seen pacing outside the museum, little more than a mile from the White House, shortly before the shooting, police said. NYC shooting: 4 victims mourned; NYPD to search suspect's Las Vegas home Surveillance video footage showed Rodriguez firing about 20 rounds at Lischinsky and Milgrim, then leaning over them to fire several more rounds after they fell to the ground and after Milgrim tried to crawl away and sat up, according to an FBI affidavit in the criminal complaint. The gunman paused to reload, then resumed firing, it said. He then tossed away his gun, retreated into the museum, and was arrested there after calling attention to himself as the suspect, pulling out a red Palestinian-style keffiyeh scarf and declaring that he "did it," the affidavit said. (Reporting by Andrew Goudsward; Editing by Scott Malone)
