Ramapo police arrest two men from Rockland in connection with Walmart bomb threat
Ramapo police have arrested two men from Rockland County in connection with a bomb threat made against a Walmart in Airmont on Sunday, March 9.
Ramapo Police Lt. Chris Franklin said in a news release Wednesday, March 12, that Francky Charles, 21, of Spring Valley, and Roosevelt Depas, 22, of Nyack, were arrested and charged with making a terroristic threat, a category D felony. Both were arraigned before Village of Airmont Justice Alan Straus and released without bail pending future court appearances, Franklin said.
According to the news release, Charles and Depas allegedly entered the Walmart at around 7:15 p.m. Sunday and informed employees that they had a bomb and left shortly after, prompting a temporary evacuation of the store.
Authorities subsequently searched the Walmart, using K9s that specialized in explosive detection. No explosives were found.
After an investigation, police were able to identify the two suspects, who were arrested Wednesday.
Ramapo police were assisted in the investigation by the FBI, New York State and Rockland County intelligence centers, Rockland County Crime Analysis Center, Rockland County Sheriff's Office Bureau of Criminal Investigation and K9 Unit, as well as the Clarkstown Police Department K9 Unit.
The Irvington Fire Department and Irvington police responded to calls of a potential bomb threat at the Ardsley Country Club on Saturday, March 8. No explosive devices were found, and the scene was deemed safe.
The Journal News/lohud has reached out to the Irvington Police Department for updates on the Ardsley investigation.
Whether the threats in Ramapo and Ardsley were related was unclear as of Thursday morning.
(This story may update.)
Contributing: Lohud's Alexandra Rivera
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Ramapo NY police make arrests in Suffern Walmart bomb threat case
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hamilton Spectator
17 hours ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Political violence is threaded through recent US history. The motives and justifications vary
The assassination of one Democratic Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband, and the shooting of another lawmaker and his wife at their homes, is just the latest addition to a long and unsettling roll call of political violence in the United States. The list, in the past two months alone: the killing of two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington, D.C. The firebombing of a Colorado march calling for the release of Israeli hostages, and the firebombing of the official residence of Pennsylvania's governor — on a Jewish holiday while he and his family were inside. And here's just a sampling of some other disturbing attacks before that — the assassination of a health care executive on the streets of New York City late last year, the attempted assassination of Donald Trump in small-town Pennsylvania during his presidential campaign last year, the 2022 attack on the husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi by a believer in right-wing conspiracy theories, and the 2017 shooting by a liberal gunman at a GOP practice for the congressional softball game. 'We've entered into this especially scary time in the country where it feels the sort of norms and rhetoric and rules that would tamp down on violence have been lifted,' said Matt Dallek, a political scientist at Georgetown University who studies extremism. 'A lot of people are receiving signals from the culture.' Politics behind both individual shootings and massacres Politics have also driven large-scale massacres. Gunmen who killed 11 worshippers at a synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018, 23 shoppers at a heavily Latino Walmart in El Paso in 2019 and 10 Black people at a Buffalo grocery store in 2022 each cited the conspiracy theory that a secret cabal of Jews were trying to replace white people with people of color. That has become a staple on parts of the right that support Trump's push to limit immigration. The Anti-Defamation League found that from 2022 through 2024, all of the 61 political killings in the United States were committed by right-wing extremists. That changed on the first day of 2025, when a Texas man flying the flag of the Islamic State group killed 14 people by driving his truck through a crowded New Orleans street before being fatally shot by police. 'You're seeing acts of violence from all different ideologies,' said Jacob Ware, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations who researches terrorism. 'It feels more random and chaotic and more frequent.' The United States has a long and grim history of political violence, from presidential assassinations dating back to the killing of President Abraham Lincoln to lynchings and violence aimed at Black people in the South to the 1954 shooting inside Congress by four Puerto Rican nationalists. Experts say the past few years, however, have likely reached a level not seen since the tumultuous days of the 1960s and 1970s, when icons like Martin Luther King, Jr., John F. Kennedy, Malcolm X and Robert F. Kennedy were assassinated. Ware noted that the most recent surge comes after the new Trump administration has shuttered units that focus on investigating white supremacist extremism and pushed federal law enforcement to spend less time on anti-terrorism and more on detaining people who are in the country illegally. 'We're at the point, after these six weeks, where we have to ask about how effectively the Trump administration is combating terrorism,' Ware said. Of course, one of Trump's first acts in office was to pardon those involved in the largest act of domestic political violence this century — the Jan. 6, 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol, intended to prevent Congress from certifying Trump's 2020 election loss. Those pardons broadcast a signal to would-be extremists on either side of the political debate, Dallek said: 'They sent a very strong message that violence, as long as you're a Trump supporter, will be permitted and may be rewarded.' Ideologies aren't always aligned — or coherent Often, those who engage in political violence don't have clearly defined ideologies that easily map onto the country's partisan divides. A man who died after he detonated a car bomb outside a Palm Springs fertility clinic last month left writings urging people not to procreate and expressed what the FBI called 'nihilistic ideations.' But, like clockwork, each political attack seems to inspire partisans to find evidence the attacker is on the other side. Little was known about the man police identified as a suspect in the Minnesota attacks, 57-year-old Vance Boelter. Authorities say they found a list of other apparent targets that included other Democratic officials, abortion clinics and abortion rights advocates, as well as fliers for the day's anti-Trump parades. Conservatives online seized on the fliers — and the fact that Boetler had apparently once been appointed to a state workforce development board by Democratic Gov. Tim Walz — to claim the suspect must be a liberal. 'The far left is murderously violent,' billionaire Elon Musk posted on his social media site, X. It was reminiscent of the fallout from the attack on Paul Pelosi, the former House speaker's then-82-year-old husband, who was seriously injured by a man wielding a hammer. Right-wing figures theorized the assailant was a secret lover rather than what authorities said he was: a believer in pro-Trump conspiracy theories who broke into the Pelosi home echoing Jan. 6 rioters who broke into the Capitol by saying: 'Where is Nancy?!' On Saturday, Nancy Pelosi posted a statement on X decrying the Minnesota attack. 'All of us must remember that it's not only the act of violence, but also the reaction to it, that can normalize it,' she wrote. Trump had mocked the Pelosis after the 2022 attack, but on Saturday he joined in the official bipartisan condemnation of the Minnesota shootings, calling them 'horrific violence.' The president has, however, consistently broken new ground with his bellicose rhetoric towards his political opponents, who he routinely calls 'sick' and 'evil,' and has talked repeatedly about how violence is needed to quell protests. The Minnesota attack occurred after Trump took the extraordinary step of mobilizing the military to try to control protests against his administration's immigration operations in Los Angeles during the past week, when he pledged to 'HIT' disrespectful protesters and warned of a 'migrant invasion' of the city. Dallek said Trump has been 'both a victim and an accelerant' of the charged, dehumanizing political rhetoric that is flooding the country. 'It feels as if the extremists are in the saddle,' he said, 'and the extremists are the ones driving our rhetoric and politics.' Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
San Francisco Chronicle
17 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Political violence is threaded through recent US history. The motives and justifications vary
The assassination of one Democratic Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband, and the shooting of another lawmaker and his wife at their homes, is just the latest addition to a long and unsettling roll call of political violence in the United States. The list, in the past two months alone: the killing of two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington, D.C. The firebombing of a Colorado march calling for the release of Israeli hostages, and the firebombing of the official residence of Pennsylvania's governor — on a Jewish holiday while he and his family were inside. And here's just a sampling of some other disturbing attacks before that — the assassination of a health care executive on the streets of New York City late last year, the attempted assassination of Donald Trump in small-town Pennsylvania during his presidential campaign last year, the 2022 attack on the husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi by a believer in right-wing conspiracy theories, and the 2017 shooting by a liberal gunman at a GOP practice for the congressional softball game. 'We've entered into this especially scary time in the country where it feels the sort of norms and rhetoric and rules that would tamp down on violence have been lifted,' said Matt Dallek, a political scientist at Georgetown University who studies extremism. 'A lot of people are receiving signals from the culture.' Politics behind both individual shootings and massacres Politics have also driven large-scale massacres. Gunmen who killed 11 worshippers at a synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018, 23 shoppers at a heavily Latino Walmart in El Paso in 2019 and 10 Black people at a Buffalo grocery store in 2022 each cited the conspiracy theory that a secret cabal of Jews were trying to replace white people with people of color. That has become a staple on parts of the right that support Trump's push to limit immigration. The Anti-Defamation League found that from 2022 through 2024, all of the 61 political killings in the United States were committed by right-wing extremists. That changed on the first day of 2025, when a Texas man flying the flag of the Islamic State group killed 14 people by driving his truck through a crowded New Orleans street before being fatally shot by police. 'You're seeing acts of violence from all different ideologies,' said Jacob Ware, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations who researches terrorism. 'It feels more random and chaotic and more frequent.' The United States has a long and grim history of political violence, from presidential assassinations dating back to the killing of President Abraham Lincoln to lynchings and violence aimed at Black people in the South to the 1954 shooting inside Congress by four Puerto Rican nationalists. Experts say the past few years, however, have likely reached a level not seen since the tumultuous days of the 1960s and 1970s, when icons like Martin Luther King, Jr., John F. Kennedy, Malcolm X and Robert F. Kennedy were assassinated. Ware noted that the most recent surge comes after the new Trump administration has shuttered units that focus on investigating white supremacist extremism and pushed federal law enforcement to spend less time on anti-terrorism and more on detaining people who are in the country illegally. 'We're at the point, after these six weeks, where we have to ask about how effectively the Trump administration is combating terrorism,' Ware said. Of course, one of Trump's first acts in office was to pardon those involved in the largest act of domestic political violence this century — the Jan. 6, 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol, intended to prevent Congress from certifying Trump's 2020 election loss. Those pardons broadcast a signal to would-be extremists on either side of the political debate, Dallek said: 'They sent a very strong message that violence, as long as you're a Trump supporter, will be permitted and may be rewarded." Ideologies aren't always aligned — or coherent Often, those who engage in political violence don't have clearly defined ideologies that easily map onto the country's partisan divides. A man who died after he detonated a car bomb outside a Palm Springs fertility clinic last month left writings urging people not to procreate and expressed what the FBI called 'nihilistic ideations.' But, like clockwork, each political attack seems to inspire partisans to find evidence the attacker is on the other side. Little was known about the man police identified as a suspect in the Minnesota attacks, 57-year-old Vance Boelter. Authorities say they found a list of other apparent targets that included other Democratic officials, abortion clinics and abortion rights advocates, as well as fliers for the day's anti-Trump parades. Conservatives online seized on the fliers — and the fact that Boetler had apparently once been appointed to a state workforce development board by Democratic Gov. Tim Walz — to claim the suspect must be a liberal. 'The far left is murderously violent,' billionaire Elon Musk posted on his social media site, X. It was reminiscent of the fallout from the attack on Paul Pelosi, the former House speaker's then-82-year-old husband, who was seriously injured by a man wielding a hammer. Right-wing figures theorized the assailant was a secret lover rather than what authorities said he was: a believer in pro-Trump conspiracy theories who broke into the Pelosi home echoing Jan. 6 rioters who broke into the Capitol by saying: 'Where is Nancy?!' On Saturday, Nancy Pelosi posted a statement on X decrying the Minnesota attack. 'All of us must remember that it's not only the act of violence, but also the reaction to it, that can normalize it,' she wrote. Trump had mocked the Pelosis after the 2022 attack, but on Saturday he joined in the official bipartisan condemnation of the Minnesota shootings, calling them 'horrific violence.' The president has, however, consistently broken new ground with his bellicose rhetoric towards his political opponents, who he routinely calls 'sick' and 'evil,' and has talked repeatedly about how violence is needed to quell protests. The Minnesota attack occurred after Trump took the extraordinary step of mobilizing the military to try to control protests against his administration's immigration operations in Los Angeles during the past week, when he pledged to 'HIT' disrespectful protesters and warned of a 'migrant invasion' of the city. 'It feels as if the extremists are in the saddle," he said, 'and the extremists are the ones driving our rhetoric and politics.'
Miami Herald
a day ago
- Miami Herald
Popular brewery and distillery files Chapter 11 bankruptcy
A local taproom or brewery becomes a beloved part of the community. That's actually somewhat rare in the United States where we don't have a tradition of village pubs. There are some bars that fill that role becoming someplace where friends and neighbors come together. Related: New class action suit claims Costco is tricking you on prices A really good neighborhood bar becomes a place where people bring their families, fall in love, and celebrate life's big moments. When a community loses that, it can be devastating. It's very hard to replace a bar, or pub that has become a de facto community center. Real life may not have bars like "Cheers," but a good neighborhood tavern becomes a place where everybody knows your name. Losing that means more than when another Hooters or TGI Fridays closes. Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter Sure, everyone has their favorite place and the loss of any popular business can be a blow, but local pubs build connections with and between passengers unlike any other kind of business. It's just different to be a regular at one of these local businesses than to be known by the bartender at Chilis. The post-Covid period has been dark for local breweries, taprooms, and pubs, and that devastation has continued. When many businesses close or file for bankruptcy, it's solely on the merits of the business. That's not the case for Big Storm Brewing, which has been pulled down due to the financial woes of Boston Finance Group, which is owned by Big Storm partner Leo Govoni. A 2024 lawsuit alleged from 2009 to 2020, Govoni misappropriated over $100 million from special needs trusts, which are specialized irrevocable trusts established for the elderly and people with disabilities. That does not directly speak to the operations of the brewery and distillery which have a long history (at least by the standards of local breweries). More retail: Walmart CEO sounds alarm on a big problem for customersTarget makes a change that might scare Walmart, CostcoTop investor takes firm stance on troubled retail brandWalmart and Costco making major change affecting all customers "Founded in 2012, Big Storm Brewing Co. has embraced our tagline of 'Florida Craft Beer Forecast' by developing a dynamic lineup of Florida favorites like Tropic Pressure Golden Ale, steeped with hibiscus flowers, and Bromosa Tangerine IPA, brewed with all-natural tangerine puree," the company shared on its website. Big Storm also added a distillery to complement its regionally-sold beers, and to sell in its multiple taprooms. "In 2020, Big Storm Distillery was born with a mission to create world-class spirits with a local flair. Our Big Storm team are innovators at heart, always pushing boundaries, and not afraid to take risks. With a commitment to exceptional customer service, dedication to quality products, and the ambition to explore opportunities left unexplored, Big Storm has become a leader in the craft beer industry and beyond," the company added. While the fate of Big Storm had been unclear, its assets were transferred to a bankruptcy trustee by a federal bankruptcy court on June 5. That took control away from Govoni and put it in the hands of the trustee. Judge Roberta Colton found Govoni and Boston Financial Group liable for the missing $100 million as well as $20 million in interest. Big Storm has not closed its Clearwater, Fla taproom and its fate remains unclear. The court's actions put Big Storm Brewing under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, but under control of a trustee and not Govoni. The court could decide that the company has more value as a going concern than it does being sold off for parts. If that proves true, then it's more likely to be sold to an operator that wants to keep producing its beers and spirits. Related: Huge music retail chain closes all stores after 'bankruptcy' Big Storm has been very clear in its mission. "We're here to offer more than just a drink; we're sharing a slice of the Florida lifestyle with you, wherever you might be. Our mission? To transform each sip into a sun-drenched experience, a celebration of Floridian culture and zest. Our creations aren't just products; they're invitations to embrace the laid-back, sunny essence of Florida," it posted on its website. Big Storm's operations have continued and it still sells beer and spirits regionally and locally. It's likely to continue operating as long as it's seen as a positive to the estate. The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
