Secret New Crime Museum Opens in Downtown Los Angeles
Los Angeles is home to the largest Sheriff's Department in the United States and one hundred and seventy-five years of their history is told in the exhibits. From Wild West-era cowboy law enforcement to jail cells used by notorious gangsters like Mickey Cohen and Bugsy Siegel, cult leader Charles Manson and reefer smoker Robert Mitchum are on display alongside autopsy tables and historical equipment used in the post-mortem examinations of Marilyn Monroe and Robert F. Kennedy.Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert G. Luna, District Attorney Nathan Hochman and L.A.'s Chief Medical Examiner-Coroner Dr. Odey C. Ukpo gathered to cut an oversized cake decorated with a historic photo of the building. 'This feels like an old friend who has always been there and inspires us to do better,' Hochman said at the ceremony.
Today, the neoclassical Beaux Arts landmark is the oldest government building in the civic center. The three agencies originally shared the building with the top floors reserved for temporary jail cells and the basement home to the county coroner.
When it opened one hundred years ago, L.A.'s massive new Hall of Justice was undersized and overbudget. The original $3 million budget was doubled, allowing for an architectural dream team that included Octavius Morgan, Sumner Hunt, and Sumner Spaulding calling themselves the Allied Architects Association to go spectacular.
The entire imposing façade is covered in 14 stories of Sierra white granite and decorated with terra cotta ox skulls and acanthus leaves. Elevated high above street level, atop a grand iron, brass and marble staircase, a magnificent loggia lined with Ionic marble columns features a gilded, coffered ceiling over the main lobby.Sheriff's reported 12 escapes in the weeks after opening, prompting enhancements to the jail. The District Attorney eventually relocated to more spacious accommodations. Coroner Thomas Noguchi (subject of a new documentary film) fought to modernize and expand the examination rooms, prompting the creation of a new facility for the dead in Boyle Heights in the 1970s and the Sheriff's Department decamped to suburban Monterey Park in 1993.
The following year, the Northridge earthquake took a heavy toll on the building. 'I looked across the street in horror,' District Attorney Nathan Hochman said of the landmark damaged in the temblor. 'Thinking hopefully one day our friend will get better.'
The forgotten and forlorn building sat boarded-up for two decades before the political will and funds to restore it were found. Emerging from a $234-million renovation in 2014, the building once again became home to the Sheriff's Department and District Attorney, utilizing funds saved from leases at offsite locations.
The historical shivs, skeleton and scalpels on display are off-limits to the public for the foreseeable future since they are buried deep inside the highly secure building. Unless you have business in the Hall of Justice, our photo tour is going to have to be your window into this fascinating new museum.
'I believe it is the most beautiful building in Los Angeles and a cornerstone of law enforcement,' Sheriff Luna said at the dedication. 'We are the only county department that never closes our doors.' Well, except these doors. They're always closed.
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The Hill
4 hours ago
- The Hill
Epstein firestorm consumes House
Morning Report is The Hill's a.m. newsletter. Subscribe here or using the box below: In today's issue: ▪ Battle over interim US Attorney in NJ ▪ GOP eyes renaming opera house for Melania Trump ▪ Trump unveils Japan, Philippines trade deals House Republicans find themselves cornered by President Trump 's MAGA base, their own pledges of 'transparency' and by Democrats intent on making the most of the Jeffrey Epstein firestorm. The result: The House, embroiled in a rebellion, will flee Washington today and won't return until September. The majority on Tuesday was unable to push past the simmering controversy to take up a pending immigration bill or a rollback of Biden-era regulations because a key House panel customarily loyal to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) was closing in on a vote on an Epstein-related measure. Johnson hopes that the upcoming August recess will provide time and 'space' for some kind of resolution. 'We're done being lectured on transparency,' the Speaker told reporters Tuesday, hitting what he called Democratic 'side shows.' Epstein, the disgraced New York financier and convicted sex offender who died in a jail cell while awaiting trial in 2019, remains in the headlines more than two weeks after the Justice Department (DOJ) rocked MAGA World with a memo saying it had no additional Epstein files to share. The administration is still laboring to tamp down the controversy. The DOJ and Attorney General Pam Bondi, urged by Trump to release 'credible' investigatory information, asked courts to unseal grand jury transcripts in the case. Two federal judges on Tuesday told the DOJ they need more information. 'The court intends to resolve this motion expeditiously,' they wrote. Still, the administration's actions have also kept the story front and center. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche on Tuesday said he is seeking a meeting with Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, 63, who is serving a 20-year sentence following her 2021 conviction for sex trafficking and other crimes. Blanche said he planned to ask: 'What do you know?' Trump told reporters on Tuesday that the request to interview Maxwell 'sounds appropriate.' There was no indication the DOJ sought to speak with Maxwell, who is appealing her sentence to the Supreme Court, before issuing its July 7 memo saying an Epstein 'client list' was nonexistent and reaffirming he died by suicide. The DOJ last week urged the court to reject the appeal. Meanwhile, the White House has for days lashed out at a Wall Street Journal report that said Trump had contributed a 'bawdy' letter with his signature for Epstein's 50th birthday in 2003, at the request of Maxwell, for inclusion with notes from other Epstein associates. Trump on Friday sued the Journal and its parent company while the White House banned the outlet from joining its press pool for Trump's trip to Scotland this weekend. ▪ The Hill: Trump fuels Epstein furor he wants to escape. ▪ Politico: Trump's lawsuit against the Journal raises a new constitutional question. The president is wielding lawsuits as both sword and shield. The president, who socialized with Epstein and Maxwell in the 1990s, has said he had no knowledge of criminal allegations during that period. Epstein's legal troubles began when he was accused of molesting a 15-year-old in Palm Beach, Fla., in 2005. He pleaded guilty in Florida in 2008 to two state felony prostitution charges and received a plea deal that was criticized as too lenient. Blanche on Tuesday made his announcement about seeking information from Maxwell within hours of a House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee vote to subpoena her to talk with lawmakers. During an unrelated hearing, Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) moved to direct the panel to authorize and issue a subpoena for Maxwell to appear for a deposition. It passed by voice vote. 'I want justice for those thousands of young ladies who were abused, and I want the dirt bags of the world to know that we're not going to tolerate it,' Burchett said. Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) is expected to seek a subpoena 'as expeditiously as possible,' a spokesperson said. Comer told reporters he and his team would visit Maxwell in prison for a deposition when details and terms are worked out with her lawyers. The deputy attorney general, previously retained as one of Trump's personal defense lawyers, and Maxwell's attorney, David Oscar Markus, are friends, The Hill's Zach Schonfeld and Ella Lee report in The Gavel newsletter later today. (Click here to sign up.) ' I know a lot of people that have worked with you, I know a lot of people who know you very well,' Blanche told Markus last year while appearing on his podcast. 'I now consider you a friend and someone who I know pretty well. You are by far the best out there, ' he said. There were no indications as of Tuesday, The New York Times reported, that the DOJ's outreach to Maxwell's attorney was tied to a pardon or a possible reduction in her time behind bars. Smart Take with Blake Burman You don't see bipartisanship often in this town, yet alone on immigration. However, a bipartisan effort, the DIGNITY Act, which proposes to grant legal status to some migrants without criminal records, is being relaunched to reform immigration laws. 'The hand that we've been dealt is, we have four decades of [a] broken immigration system in the United States,' Rep. Gabe Evans (R-Colo.) told me. However, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt suggested last week that the measure hasn't been on the administration's radar. 'The president has made it very clear he will not support amnesty for illegal aliens in any way,' she said. While this measure has the support of several House Republicans, the White House made it clear the president has other priorities for his immigration agenda at the moment. Burman hosts 'The Hill' weeknights, 6p/5c on NewsNation. 3 Things to Know Today The Environmental Protection Agency is moving to jettison a landmark 2009 ' endangerment finding ' that forms the climate basis for federal greenhouse gas emission limits on vehicles and power plants. Columbia University on Tuesday said it punished students it maintains were involved in pro-Palestinian campus demonstrations last year and in May. The university wants the Trump administration to restore $400 million in federal funding. Elon Musk may pivot back into the political realm, SpaceX warned investors. The SpaceX CEO split from Trump in recent months after serving as a senior adviser and then vowed to launch a new party. Leading the Day SHUTDOWN STRATEGY: Democrats remain divided over how hard to press their leverage with Trump and his GOP allies in a government funding bill that needs to pass by Sept. 30 to avoid a shutdown. Senate Democrats held a tense lunch meeting Tuesday to discuss their plan for how to vote on the first spending bill to reach the floor — the military construction-Veterans Affairs appropriations bill — as well as their strategy for how to handle the end-of-September government funding deadline. Some Democratic senators want Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to come out of the gate hard ahead of the September deadline and make it clear that the party will not accept another partisan stopgap, a bold stance that could raise the risk of a shutdown. Schumer didn't make his strategy clear on the Senate floor on Monday, instead accusing Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and Republicans of being 'obedient' to Trump. 'It's hard to negotiate a budget with Republicans right now because they have demonstrated that they will cut a deal and then turn around and change the deal solely to benefit themselves,' said Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). 'That's not a deal, that's like cutting a deal to buy a car, and then long after the price has been paid, the Republicans want to come and repossess the tires. It doesn't work that way.' ▪ Axios: Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. 's push to overhaul government health programs is extending to the troubled U.S. organ donation system. SPECIAL COUNSEL?: Speaker Johnson said he is open to the idea of appointing a special counsel to probe alleged manufactured intelligence from former White House officials. His comments to the Christian Broadcasting Network come after Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard released a report Friday alleging Obama-era officials manipulated intel related to Russian interference in the 2016 election. 'And I do expect that whether there's a special counsel appointed, which some are suggesting, and/or in conjunction with the House investigations, that we will get the answers and there will be accountability to the extent that we're able to do that,' Johnson said. In a statement Tuesday, a spokesperson for former President Obama dismissed Trump's 'ridiculous' accusation that Obama had committed 'treason' in 2016 by directing his administration to reveal Russian efforts to interfere in that year's presidential election. SANCTIONS: Republican lawmakers, with early support from Democrats, are moving forward to permanently repeal Syria sanctions legislation, in line with Trump's ambition to lift all sanctions on the country. But there's no clear way to passage. Lawmakers are growing squeamish in the wake of sectarian violence in the country and Israel's intervention against Damascus. While Trump has put his support behind Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, skeptical lawmakers are not so quick to brush over his terrorist past. The Washington Post reports that escalations of violence in Syria have led to a U.S. envoy reaffirming Washington's support for Syria's new government. (More on Syria below.) Where and When The House meets at 10 a.m. The Senate will convene at 10 a.m. The White House daily press briefing is scheduled at 1 p.m. The president at 5 p.m. will address a Washington event focused on artificial intelligence (AI) and 'Winning the AI Race' hosted in Washington by the 'All‑In Podcast' and the Hill & Valley Forum. Trump will return to the White House in the evening. Zoom In COURTS: Alina Habba, the interim U.S. attorney in New Jersey since March and a former personal Trump lawyer, was not retained by a panel of the U.S. District Court on Tuesday. In a terse standing order, the court tapped lawyer Desiree Leigh Grace before the expiration of Habba's 120-day temporary term. The order signed by U.S. District Judge Renée Marie Bumb, the district's chief judge, said it took effect Tuesday. Hours later, however, the Department of Justice took the bold move of announcing it had 'removed' Grace without announcing who would replace her. Grace was Habba's first assistant before district judges elevated her to the top job. Habba has been awaiting Senate confirmation. Previous Justice Departments have recognized that district judges have the authority to name a U.S. attorney if the president's nominee is not acted upon by the Senate within 120 days. ' This Department of Justice does not tolerate rogue judges — especially when they threaten the President's core Article II powers,' Bondi wrote on social media platform X while announcing Grace's removal. Early in her interim term, Habba's leadership came under scrutiny following the arrests and charges against Newark Mayor Ras Baraka (D) and Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.) stemming from an incident at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility. Although a trespassing count against Baraka was dropped, McIver is still fighting her criminal charges in court. She has pleaded not guilty. ▪ The New York Times: Democratic attorneys general from 21 states sued the Trump administration over its attempts to restrict access to federal health and safety net programs for immigrants without legal status. FEDERAL RESERVE: Trump has backed off of his threats to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell — for now. The president appeared to reach a breaking point with Powell last week when he told Republican lawmakers he would likely be nixing the Fed chair 'soon.' But he has since backed off, while officials and outside voices have warned about the impacts to the markets. 'I think he's done a bad job, but he's going to be out pretty soon anyway,' Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday. 'Eight months, he'll be out.' Much like he does with his tariff threats — which has created the concept of the Wall Street 'TACO' trade, an acronym that stands for 'Trump Always Chickens Out' — he floated the idea of forcing Powell out and pulled back. ▪ The Hill: Treasury Department Secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday defended the monetary independence of the Federal Reserve after getting caught in the crossfire between Trump and The Wall Street Journal. KENNEDY CENTER: House Republicans are pushing to rename the Kennedy Center's famed opera house to honor first lady Melania Trump. GOP members of the Appropriations Committee approved an amendment to the interior, environment and related agencies annual spending bill that would rename the opera house in the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts the 'First Lady Melania Trump Opera House.' The move came months after Trump, in an unprecedented move that was met with criticism, overhauled the Kennedy Center's board and named himself as its chair after accusing the performing arts institution of being too 'woke.' TRUMP VS. SPORTS TEAMS: Sports teams are holding steady after Trump injected himself into the debate over their names, some of which were changed after Native American groups deemed them insensitive. The president has put pressure on the Washington Commanders to revert to their former name, the Redskins, upending what appeared to be a settled issue when he threatened to use the power of the presidency to hold up the Commanders' plans to build a new stadium in Washington, D.C. While it came as a surprise to local leaders and team officials, it was yet another instance of Trump wading into sports for political purposes. 'Sports is one of the many passions of this president, and he wants to see the name of that team changed,' Leavitt said Monday. 'I think you've seen the president gets involved in a lot of things that most presidents have not. He's a non-traditional president.' D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) said her aim to bring the Commanders back to the nation's capital 'would not change despite' Trump's threat. The head of the Cleveland Guardians baseball team, meanwhile, said his team would not revert its name either. Trump posted on social media they should readopt their old name, the Cleveland Indians, which was changed after the 2021 season amid pressure from Native American groups. ▪ The Washington Post: What Trump can (and can't) do about the Commanders' name and the RFK Stadium deal. ROUNDUP: ▪ The Washington Post: NPR's news chief is leaving the company, days after federal funding cuts. ▪ The Hill: Virginia Republicans are raising alarm bells about the state of Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears's (R) campaign in the state's closely watched gubernatorial race. ▪ The Hill: State laws requiring the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms keep losing in court. But outside advocates believe supporters of laws in Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas are actively trying to get the cases before the Supreme Court, where they stand a better chance. Elsewhere TRADE DEALS: Trump on Tuesday announced two new trade deals — with the Philippines and Japan — ahead of his Aug. 1 tariff deadline. Trump's trade deal with Japan would see the U.S. impose a 15 percent tariff on Japanese goods. Trump posted on Truth Social that Japan would invest $550 billion in projects in the U.S., without offering specifics, adding Japan would open its markets to U.S. automobiles, rice and other agricultural products. In an Oval Office meeting, Trump and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced a trade agreement for 19 percent tariffs on goods coming from the Philippines. American goods shipped there won't be charged a tariff. However, it was not immediately apparent whether the two leaders formally signed a document; similar to other recent trade agreement announcements, few details were revealed. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent emphasized Tuesday that next week's cutoff is a 'hard deadline' for countries that do not negotiate trade deals with the U.S., as businesses brace for Trump to impose tariff rates of between 20 percent and 50 percent. The administration has downplayed any negative repercussions from the tariffs while arguing they will bring back U.S. manufacturing. ▪ CNBC: How Europe's 'trade bazooka' could be a last resort against Trump's tariffs. ▪ The New York Times: The Trump administration said the Indonesian government had agreed to roll back multiple trade barriers that U.S. companies have complained about and make purchases of American oil, gas and farm products. ISRAEL: The U.S. will mediate a meeting between Israeli and Syrian officials on Thursday in an effort to reach security understandings regarding the situation in southern Syria, Axios reports. Last week, Israel bombed a convoy of Syrian army tanks that were heading to the city of Sweida to respond to violent clashes between a Druze militia and armed Bedouin tribesmen. Israel also launched strikes on Damascus. Leavitt confirmed Monday that Trump was unhappy with the Israeli airstrikes and called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to 'rectify' the situation. Meanwhile in Gaza, Israeli strikes continued while civilians, including children, died of starvation, Palestinian health officials said. Israel is pushing in an area that had largely been spared from heavy fighting during the 21-month war. ▪ CNN: 'We are watching our colleagues waste away': Aid workers, doctors, journalists risk starvation alongside people in Gaza. ▪ Time magazine: How Israel appears to be gambling with the Trump administration's patience. ▪ The New York Times: Russia and Ukraine are expected to hold another round of peace talks today in Istanbul, but the two countries have flatly rejected each other's demands. Opinion The lunacy of lawfare against the Fed, by The Wall Street Journal editorial board. Trump's Wall Street Journal lawsuit is as dangerous as it is unprecedented, by Austin Sarat, opinion contributor, The Hill. The Closer And finally… 🐍 Under the category of 'you can't make this up,' a man dressed as a pirate who was riding over the weekend on a Chicago-area train lost control of his ball python named Lucius, named after the slithery Harry Potter character Lucius Malfoy. Incredibly, the large snake burrowed inside the train's control panel, which resulted in a call to the Oak Park Fire Department in Illinois, which sent a well-equipped emergency team to the Harlem/Lake Green Line terminal to retrieve the reptile and chronicle the whole thing with photos. Check out the department's pictorial HERE (and don't miss the pirate).
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
Driver accused of plowing into L.A. crowd charged with 37 counts of attempted murder
LOS ANGELES — A man who authorities said intentionally drove a car into a crowd of people outside a Los Angeles nightclub last week has been charged with 37 counts of attempted murder, the Los Angeles County district attorney said Tuesday. Fernando Ramirez, 29, could face multiple sentences of life in prison if convicted, District Attorney Nathan Hochman said. In addition to the attempted murder counts, Ramirez is charged with 37 counts of assault with a deadly weapon. Hochman said that the incident early Saturday 'could have been catastrophic' and that it was a miracle that no one died. 'When he drove that car onto that sidewalk, he aimed it at a whole sea of pedestrians that were in front of him on the sidewalk at 2 a.m.,' Hochman said. 'Many of them were at the taco truck or they were waiting at valet or they were waiting to get into the club.' Over 100 first responders rushed to the scene outside the Vermont Hollywood nightclub, authorities said. Ramirez, of San Clemente in Orange County, south of Los Angeles, was being held without bail and is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday, Hochman said. It was not clear Tuesday evening whether he had an attorney. Ramirez is accused of driving a Nissan compact sedan on the sidewalk of Vermont Avenue, southbound from Santa Monica Boulevard, before he struck carts that were most likely vendors and ultimately stopped after he hit a light pole, police said. An investigation into what led up to the incident and how it unfolded is ongoing, officials said. Two law enforcement sources familiar with the situation have said the driver had been kicked out of the venue for being intoxicated and disruptive. After the crash into the crowd, bystanders pulled the driver from the vehicle, officials said. Someone from across the street approached and shot him in the back, Los Angeles police said. Police Chief Jim McDonnell said the shooting was not justified. "We understand the emotions involved, but when the threat had ended and the suspect was no longer actively harming others, the use of deadly force was both unlawful and dangerous to everybody present," McDonnell said. Detectives are working to identify the shooter and arrest him, he said. This article was originally published on
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Yahoo
Driver accused of ramming into crowd outside LA nightclub charged with 37 counts of attempted murder
APTOPIX Los Angeles Vehicle into Crowd LOS ANGELES (AP) — The driver accused of ramming his car into a crowd outside a Los Angeles nightclub over the weekend was charged with 37 felony counts of attempted murder, prosecutors said Tuesday. Fernando Ramirez, 29, was also charged with 37 felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon. If convicted, he could face multiple sentences of life imprisonment. Ramirez is accused of intentionally driving his car onto the sidewalk as partygoers were leaving the Vermont Hollywood venue at the end of a reggae hip-hop event early Saturday. The motive for the attack, which injured 37 people, was still unknown. A phone number for Ramirez could not be found in an online database search, and the public defender's office said they have not been appointed to represent him. 'When he drove that car onto that sidewalk, he aimed it at a whole sea of pedestrians," LA County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said in announcing the charges. The car came to a stop after colliding with several food carts, which became lodged underneath the vehicle, and bystanders attacked the driver, police said. Injuries ranged from minor to serious fractures and lacerations, and some people were briefly trapped beneath the vehicle. After fleeing the scene, Ramirez was later found to have been shot in the lower back, but authorities have not identified the suspected gunman. Officials said Tuesday they were still looking for the shooter. 'We understand that this brazen act has shaken the community and but for the good grace of God, this could have been a mass casualty incident" Hochman said. He added that eight people suffered 'great bodily injury.' Among those injured, 23 people were taken to hospitals, said Ronnie Villanueva, Interim Fire Chief of the Los Angeles Fire Department. Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said "it's truly a miracle that no one was killed that day.' Ramirez has a criminal history that includes a battery and gang-related charge in 2014, an aggravated battery conviction for a 2019 attack on a Black man at a Whole Foods grocery store in Laguna Beach, California, and a domestic violence charge in 2021, records show. In the 2019 attack, he was also convicted of a civil rights misdemeanor, and the assault was considered a hate crime because he told police he hated Black people. But a California appeals court in 2021 said he made that statement after invoking his Fifth Amendment rights, and only the battery conviction was allowed to stand. Ramirez was released from custody after more than two years in jail and prison. Ramirez 'has proved to be violent to strangers and family alike and clearly has a lack of concern for the safety of others,' Orange County prosecutors said in a court filing for the 2019 attack. A 2024 drunken driving case and 2022 domestic violence charge were pending at the time of the nightclub crash, according to records.
