Latest news with #Jenkins'
USA Today
3 days ago
- USA Today
Police search for man suspected of fatally stabbing his 2 sisters in Chicago area
Police search for man suspected of fatally stabbing his 2 sisters in Chicago area Show Caption Hide Caption Ex-Arkansas police chief imprisoned for murder escapes prison Grant Hardin, a former Gateway, Arkansas, police chief serving time for murder and rape, escaped from the North Central Unit in Calico Rock on May 25. unbranded - Newsworthy Police in a Chicago suburb are searching for a man suspected of stabbing a woman and a young girl, identified by local media as his sisters. The Streamwood Police Department identified 25-year-old Jalonie Jenkins as the suspect involved in the killing of a 21-year-old woman and a 10-year-old girl in Streamwood, Illinois, on Wednesday evening, May 28. Jenkins' last known location was in Bensenville, a suburb near the Chicago O'Hare International Airport, police said. The two victims were identified as Janyia Jenkins, 21, and Eyani Jones, 10, the Cook County Medical Examiner confirmed to USA TODAY. According to CBS News and ABC7, which cite neighbors and friends of the family, the two victims were Jenkins' younger sisters. Community not believed to be in 'further danger' In a statement on Facebook, Streamwood Police Chief Shawn Taylor said: "Our deepest sympathies are with the families of these young victims. We are working hard to bring a swift resolution to this case so the families can grieve." Taylor added that the department does not believe the community is in "further danger." "This remains a tragic, isolated incident," Taylor said. "However, we believe in erring on the side of caution. If you see the suspect, please avoid him, and call 911 immediately.' Anyone with information should contact the Streamwood Police Department at 630-736-3700 or email police@ or leave a message on the department's confidential tip line at 630-736-3719. Greta Cross is a national trending reporter at USA TODAY. Story idea? Email her at gcross@
Axios
5 days ago
- Politics
- Axios
Trump pardons criminals with MAGA credentials or big money
Two reality stars, a MAGA-aligned sheriff and a former nursing home executive with a well-connected mother recently joined the list of President Trump 's clemency recipients. The big picture: Though early in his second term, Trump's pardons mark a continuation of his first-term trend of granting clemency to political loyalists. He's not the first president to pardon political allies, but his clemency actions signal strong messages about his priorities. His second-term clemency actions started with a controversial avalanche of pardons for Jan. 6 rioters and commutations for members of extremist groups the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers. Since then, several loyalists and wealthy allies have received relief for white-collar crimes. Driving the news: Trump said on Tuesday he plans to pardon reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley who were convicted of tax evasion and bank fraud in 2022. Savannah Chrisley, who has been advocating for her imprisoned parents' release, filmed an episode of "My View with Lara Trump" with the president's daughter-in-law that aired earlier this month, and spoke at the Republican National Convention last summer. Zoom out: Trump in April also pardoned Paul Walczak, a former nursing home executive who was sentenced to 18 months in prison and ordered to pay more than $4 million in restitution for tax crimes. Walczak's pardon has received particular scrutiny because of the political activity of his mother, Elizabeth Fago, a GOP donor who recently attended a $1-million-per-person fundraising dinner at Mar-a-Lago, the New York Times reported. And on Tuesday, Trump issued a pardon for a former Virginia sheriff, Scott Jenkins, whom a jury convicted on federal fraud and bribery charges last year. Trump wrote on Truth Social that Jenkins and his family had "been dragged through HELL by a Corrupt and Weaponized Biden DOJ" — a statement reminiscent of his own contention that the cases against him were politically motivated by a " weaponized" Justice Department. In his sentencing memorandum, Jenkins' attorneys wrote that he "adamantly maintains his innocence." Ed Martin, who Trump originally nominated to be D.C.'s top prosecutor but is now serving as Trump's pardon attorney, posted in a thread about Jenkins' pardon, "No MAGA left behind." Friction point: Martin's comment sends the message that the pardon power is being "totally and thoroughly politicized" Liz Oyer, the former DOJ pardon attorney, told PBS. The White House did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment. What they're saying: "One thing that is easy to see is, setting aside the January 6 clemencies, that there's really been a focus on grants to people who committed financial crimes," said Mark Osler, a law professor at the University of St. Thomas and a former federal prosecutor. Clemency trends within administrations are not uncommon, he noted, pointing to former President Obama's focus on clemency for drug-related charges. "But one thing that we do see is that this president uses clemency for message sending about policing, about the previous administration, about financial crimes, and that's message-sending in a way that is probably stronger than we've seen with previous presidents," he said. Flashback: During Trump's first term, he gave clemency to several allies, including former chief strategist Steve Bannon, former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Charles Kushner, the father of Trump's son-in-law and current U.S. ambassador to France. What we're watching: Trump has already signed dozens of pardons and commutations since taking office — on top of the 1,500-plus Jan. 6 defendants — which is toward the high end at the start of a presidency in recent decades. Catch up quick: Alice Marie Johnson, who was pardoned by Trump after having her life sentence for a nonviolent drug offense commuted under his first term, was appointed"pardon czar" in Trump's second White House. "I think that what a lot of people hope is that Alice Johnson, who received one of those worthwhile pardons in the first Trump administration, will be a forceful voice for everybody else — that is those who don't have access to the president at parties and other events," Osler said. He added, "I just have to hope that within the White House, there's someone who will be the advocate for those people, the ones who are not wealthy, but who really changed their lives."
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump's pardons of public officials and break-in at Beanie Babies mogul's house: Morning Rundown
A handful of Trump's recent pardons show a shift in Justice Department priorities. British authorities garner praise for swift reaction to incident involving a vehicle in Liverpool. And a woman is in a coma after a break-in at the home of Beanie Babies billionaire Ty Warner. Here's what to know today. When President Donald Trump announced this week that he would pardon Scott Jenkins, the former sheriff of Culpeper County, Virginia, it furthered a shifting mission within the Justice Department: to de-emphasize public corruption cases. Jenkins' name and his case are likely not widely recognized by the general public. In March, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison after a jury found him guilty of accepting over $75,000 in exchange for giving law enforcement authority to local businessmen, as well as two undercover FBI special agents. All of Jenkins' co-defendants pleaded guilty. This is Morning Rundown, a weekday newsletter to start your day. Sign up here to get it in your inbox. Still, Trump sees him as a 'victim of an overzealous Biden Department of Justice' who 'doesn't deserve to spend a single day in jail.' It's part of a broader pattern, in which he has pardoned at least four supportive former public officials who were convicted of financial improprieties. That includes: Rod Blagojevich, the Democratic former governor of Illinois, over corruption charges related to bribery; Republican former Tennessee state Sen. Brian Kelsey over a campaign finance-related fraud conviction; and Republican former Las Vegas City Council member Michele Fiore, who was convicted on conspiracy and wire fraud charges and had been set to be sentenced this month. Also notably, the Trump administration moved to drop the corruption case against New York Mayor Eric Adams earlier this year. And yesterday, the president said he plans to pardon Todd and Julie Chrisley, the pair known for their roles on the reality TV show 'Chrisley Knows Best' who are serving time for bilking banks out of tens of millions of dollars. Trump, who faced two separate federal criminal cases that were dropped after his re-election, has long argued that he was a victim of the weaponization of the DOJ and FBI, and he has been sympathetic to those who make similar claims. Since Trump took office, the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section has shrunk both in size and influence, while the FBI's Washington Field Office is shutting down a public corruption squad that was focused on federal corruption. 'It's clear that this administration doesn't believe that tamping down on public corruption is a priority,' said Stacey Young, a former Justice Department official. Read the full story here. The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to make it easier for officials to deport convicted criminals to 'third countries' that are not their countries of origin. The Trump administration has also stopped scheduling new interviews for international students seeking visas to study in the U.S. as the State Department prepares for expanded social media screenings. ICE deported over 17,200 people in April, according to new data, a 29% increase compared to the same period last year and an almost 40% increase from the previous month. Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville announced he's running for governor of Alabama. Britain's King Charles III said Canada is facing a 'critical moment' in a rare speech seen as a show of support for Canada in the face of Trump's annexation threats. Authorities in England announced the arrest of a suspect on suspicion of attempted murder after a vehicle drove through a crowd of soccer fans in Liverpool's city center, leaving dozens injured. Eleven people remained hospitalized as of yesterday. When the incident initially made national newscasts on Monday, it didn't take long for notorious right-wing voices on social media to label it a 'suspect terrorist attack' and for others to speculate that the driver had been motivated by Islamic extremism. But authorities shut down those rumors within a couple of hours. First, police described the suspect as a 53-year-old white British male from the Liverpool area. A few hours later, police said the incident was not being investigated as terrorism-related. 'I've never known a case like this before where they've given the ethnicity and the race of the individual who was involved in it,' Dal Babu, a former Metropolitan Police chief superintendent, told BBC Radio 5 Live. But the remarkably swift release of details in Monday's incident, which authorities and civilians praised, was a sign of lessons learned after a deadly stabbing attack last year sparked violent riots in the town of Southport. Read the full story here. A woman is in a coma and a suspect has been arrested after a break-in at the California home of Beanie Babies billionaire Ty Warner, the Santa Barbara County District Attorney's office said in a criminal complaint. The incident happened last week when the suspect, identified as 42-year-old Russell Maxwell Phay, allegedly broke into the home, 'violently' beat a woman and then barricaded himself in an upstairs bathroom, according to the Santa Barbara County's Sheriff's Office. Phay was apprehended after he 'attempted to flee by climbing out of' the bathroom window. The victim was identified through public records and social media as Linda Malek-Aslanian, whose LinkedIn profile identifies her as a financial services professional from New York. Warner, who is known for being reclusive, was at home at the time of the attack but not harmed. Phay is charged with attempted murder, burglary, kidnapping and assault in the incident. Previous local news reports and public records reveal his previous run-ins with law enforcement. Read the full story here. The CDC will no longer recommend routine Covid shots for healthy children and pregnant women, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said. Thousands of hungry Palestinians stormed a new, controversial U.S.- and Israel-backed aid distribution center in Gaza and made off with boxes of food as Israeli soldiers fired live rounds in the air. Eight of the 10 New Orleans jail escapees are now in custody after three arrests yesterday. Meanwhile, court documents have revealed where the inmates went after their escape and the names of those accused of assisting them. As the use of dietary or herbal supplements grows, so have rates of toxic hepatitis. Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani hasn't pitched in a game in more than 640 days, but that could soon change. As the oldest, richest and most renowned university in the U.S., Harvard is a dream school not just for Americans but also for international students, who make up more than a quarter of its student body. Their future at the Ivy League school is uncertain, however, as the Trump administration tries to impose a ban on international students' enrollment. Such a ban would be a loss for Harvard both financially and in terms of academic talent — and a win for universities in Asia, Europe and elsewhere that are eager to snatch them up. Now, some students say they're exploring their options. — Jennifer Jett, Asia digital editor Curious about the best way to clean your windows? One quick tip is to clean your windows in the shade or in the evening to prevent streaks from forming. Plus, the NBC Select team tested over 20 compression socks and shared their six favorite options. Sign up to The Selection newsletter for hands-on product reviews, expert shopping tips and a look at the best deals and sales each week. Thanks for reading today's Morning Rundown. Today's newsletter was curated for you by Elizabeth Robinson. If you're a fan, please send a link to your family and friends. They can sign up here. This article was originally published on
NBC News
6 days ago
- Politics
- NBC News
Trump's pardons of public officials and break-in at Beanie Babies mogul's house: Morning Rundown
A handful of Trump's recent pardons show a shift in Justice Department priorities. British authorities garner praise for swift reaction to incident involving a vehicle in Liverpool. And a woman is in a coma after a break-in at the home of Beanie Babies billionaire Ty Warner. Here's what to know today. Trump's pardons highlight Justice Department's pullback from public corruption cases When President Donald Trump announced this week that he would pardon Scott Jenkins, the former sheriff of Culpeper County, Virginia, it furthered a shifting mission within the Justice Department: to de-emphasize public corruption cases. Jenkins' name and his case are likely not widely recognized by the general public. In March, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison after a jury found him guilty of accepting over $75,000 in exchange for giving law enforcement authority to local businessmen, as well as two undercover FBI special agents. All of Jenkins' co-defendants pleaded guilty. This is Morning Rundown, a weekday newsletter to start your day. Sign up here to get it in your inbox. Still, Trump sees him as a 'victim of an overzealous Biden Department of Justice' who 'doesn't deserve to spend a single day in jail.' It's part of a broader pattern, in which he has pardoned at least four supportive former public officials who were convicted of financial improprieties. That includes: Rod Blagojevich, the Democratic former governor of Illinois, over corruption charges related to bribery; Republican former Tennessee state Sen. Brian Kelsey over a campaign finance-related fraud conviction; and Republican former Las Vegas City Council member Michele Fiore, who was convicted on conspiracy and wire fraud charges and had been set to be sentenced this month. Also notably, the Trump administration moved to drop the corruption case against New York Mayor Eric Adams earlier this year. And yesterday, the president said he plans to pardon Todd and Julie Chrisley, the pair known for their roles on the reality TV show 'Chrisley Knows Best' who are serving time for bilking banks out of tens of millions of dollars. Trump, who faced two separate federal criminal cases that were dropped after his re-election, has long argued that he was a victim of the weaponization of the DOJ and FBI, and he has been sympathetic to those who make similar claims. Since Trump took office, the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section has shrunk both in size and influence, while the FBI's Washington Field Office is shutting down a public corruption squad that was focused on federal corruption. 'It's clear that this administration doesn't believe that tamping down on public corruption is a priority,' said Stacey Young, a former Justice Department official. The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to make it easier for officials to deport convicted criminals to 'third countries' that are not their countries of origin. The Trump administration has also stopped scheduling new interviews for international students seeking visas to study in the U.S. as the State Department prepares for expanded social media screenings. ICE deported over 17,200 people in April, according to new data, a 29% increase compared to the same period last year and an almost 40% increase from the previous month. Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville announced he's running for governor of Alabama. Britain's King Charles III said Canada is facing a 'critical moment' in a rare speech seen as a show of support for Canada in the face of Trump's annexation threats. A rush to release details after the Liverpool parade incident Authorities in England announced the arrest of a suspect on suspicion of attempted murder after a vehicle drove through a crowd of soccer fans in Liverpool's city center, leaving dozens injured. Eleven people remained hospitalized as of yesterday. When the incident initially made national newscasts on Monday, it didn't take long for notorious right-wing voices on social media to label it a 'suspect terrorist attack' and for others to speculate that the driver had been motivated by Islamic extremism. But authorities shut down those rumors within a couple of hours. First, police described the suspect as a 53-year-old white British male from the Liverpool area. A few hours later, police said the incident was not being investigated as terrorism-related. 'I've never known a case like this before where they've given the ethnicity and the race of the individual who was involved in it,' Dal Babu, a former Metropolitan Police chief superintendent, told BBC Radio 5 Live. But the remarkably swift release of details in Monday's incident, which authorities and civilians praised, was a sign of lessons learned after a deadly stabbing attack last year sparked violent riots in the town of Southport. Read the full story here. Violent break-in at Beanie Babies billionaire's mansion A woman is in a coma and a suspect has been arrested after a break-in at the California home of Beanie Babies billionaire Ty Warner, the Santa Barbara County District Attorney's office said in a criminal complaint. The incident happened last week when the suspect, identified as 42-year-old Russell Maxwell Phay, allegedly broke into the home, 'violently' beat a woman and then barricaded himself in an upstairs bathroom, according to the Santa Barbara County's Sheriff's Office. Phay was apprehended after he 'attempted to flee by climbing out of' the bathroom window. The victim was identified through public records and social media as Linda Malek-Aslanian, whose LinkedIn profile identifies her as a financial services professional from New York. Warner, who is known for being reclusive, was at home at the time of the attack but not harmed. Phay is charged with attempted murder, burglary, kidnapping and assault in the incident. Previous local news reports and public records reveal his previous run-ins with law enforcement. The CDC will no longer recommend routine Covid shots for healthy children and pregnant women, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said. Thousands of hungry Palestinians stormed a new, controversial U.S.- and Israel-backed aid distribution center in Gaza and made off with boxes of food as Israeli soldiers fired live rounds in the air. Eight of the 10 New Orleans jail escapees are now in custody after three arrests yesterday. Meanwhile, court documents have revealed where the inmates went after their escape and the names of those accused of assisting them. As the use of dietary or herbal supplements grows, so have rates of toxic hepatitis. Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani hasn't pitched in a game in more than 640 days, but that could soon change. Staff Pick: As the oldest, richest and most renowned university in the U.S., Harvard is a dream school not just for Americans but also for international students, who make up more than a quarter of its student body. Their future at the Ivy League school is uncertain, however, as the Trump administration tries to impose a ban on international students' enrollment. Such a ban would be a loss for Harvard both financially and in terms of academic talent — and a win for universities in Asia, Europe and elsewhere that are eager to snatch them up. — Jennifer Jett, Asia digital editor NBC Select: Online Shopping, Simplified Curious about t he best way to clean your windows? One quick tip is to clean your windows in the shade or in the evening to prevent streaks from forming. Plus, the NBC Select team tested over 20 compression socks and shared their six favorite options.
Sydney Morning Herald
18-05-2025
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘It's just cold. I don't like the cold': The haunting plight of Oscar Jenkins
Then comes a moment of unexpected clarity: 'I don't want a world where people kill each other. I would rather have a world where there's all peace, security, freedom. The best, the best world.' Captured in the eastern town of Makiivka in December, Jenkins was at first paraded on social media and then, just as quickly, disappeared. False rumours of his death circulated until, in February, he again appeared on pro-Russian Telegram accounts with a broken arm in a proof-of-life video. He was formally charged with fighting as a mercenary in April and put on trial by a Russian-backed court in the occupied Luhansk region. On Friday, he was sentenced to 13 years in a maximum-security penal colony. During the hearing, he stood behind glass in jeans and a striped jumper, his voice flat and apologetic. 'I feel sorry that I participated in a potentially violent way,' he said, his comments sounding rehearsed. 'I am not a Ukrainian nationalist, my ideas are more global. I hope everyone in the world can have peace without war.' British fighter Shaun Pinner, who spent months in Russian captivity, warned that such performances were choreographed. 'They break you first,' he told this masthead last month. 'And then they parade you.' Pinner, who fought with Ukraine's marines and, in 2022, was sentenced to death by a separatist court in Donetsk before being returned to the United Kingdom in a prisoner swap, has since spoken publicly about the conditions inside Russian captivity – physical abuse, mock executions, starvation. His testimony casts a long shadow over Jenkins' case, fuelling concerns that the Australian could face a similar fate, or worse. In Canberra, Foreign Minister Penny Wong called Jenkins' trial 'a sham' and said the Australian, having served in Ukraine's regular armed forces, must be afforded prisoner-of-war protections under the Geneva Conventions. 'Russia is obligated to treat him in accordance with international humanitarian law, including humane treatment,' she said. Loading Prime Minister Anthony Albanese echoed those concerns, calling the sentence 'an outrage' and 'a continuation of the way they have behaved, abrogating their responsibilities'. But Russia does not recognise foreign fighters in Ukraine as lawful combatants. Instead, it categorises them as criminals or paid mercenaries – a stance that strips them of POW protections and makes them pawns in a wider geopolitical game. Moscow claimed Jenkins was paid up to 800,000 roubles ($15,000) a month and arrived via a recruiting centre in Ternopil, in western Ukraine. From there, he was sent east, where he served with the 66th Separate Mechanised Brigade in the Donbas. Jenkins' account offers a bleaker, less heroic picture of service in the name of justice. 'Most of my work has been digging defensive position [sic]. Digging position,' he says in the video. 'If the Russians come, you push back, you shoot for the drones. But I haven't really done much of that.' He recounts firing a machine gun once into a Russian position, but it's unclear if he ever saw combat. 'I don't know what a win is. Is it to freeze the line and then let Donetsk, Luhansk, Crimea choose again?' He describes a battlefield stripped of meaning – bleak, grim, senseless. 'I saw lots of bodies, dead bodies. Infrastructure had been destroyed, the environment, ecology had been destroyed. Mud, just a lot of mud. Not many trees. It's not beautiful, it's not nice.' Jenkins also gives a candid account of dysfunction among the volunteer ranks. 'There were other drugs with some of the foreigners. I tried in Ternopil, I tried marijuana, I had a puff,' he says. 'But on the base near Slovyansk, there were people who were smoking marijuana, cannabis and drinking on base, and it was causing issues.' What began as a personal mission – perhaps for justice, perhaps for meaning – seems to have curdled into a slow descent into disillusionment. Jenkins, a talented cricketer and footballer, was known for his skills and dedication. After graduating in 2010 and studying biomedical sciences at Monash University, he moved to China in 2015, where he worked as a lecturer at Tianjin Modern Vocational Technology College from 2017. Jenkins was a passionate vegan and runner, often sharing his beliefs through social media, including a rather odd video stating he would 'force Chinese people to be vegan'. A schoolfriend recently described Jenkins as 'quirky, but a really great guy'. But after school, he said, he'd lost contact with many of his friends. As a cricket teammate, he was 'a bit smarter than average, more deep-thinking'. But here Jenkins doesn't speak in absolutes. He second-guesses himself constantly. What is clear, though, even in his hesitant answers, is that by the time he was captured, he wanted out. Russia's refusal to grant him POW status severely limits the options available to the Australian government. Quiet diplomatic overtures are being made, mainly through the International Committee of the Red Cross, and officials are believed to be exploring the possibility of a prisoner exchange. Loading Russian human rights groups have speculated that Jenkins may be part of a future swap involving Kira and Igor Korolev – Russian nationals arrested in Brisbane last year and charged with preparing to carry out an act of espionage. For now, Jenkins remains a prisoner – not just of the Kremlin, but of the uncertainty that has defined his story from the beginning. Don Rothwell, a professor of international law at the Australian National University, points out that, unlike other high-profile Australian detainees in recent years – Kylie Moore-Gilbert in Iran, Cheng Lei in China, Sean Turnell in Myanmar – Jenkins is no academic, no journalist, no dissident. He is a man who inserted himself into a war, and because of Russia's stance, may have forfeited the usual lines of diplomatic protection. That doesn't mean his life is worthless to the Kremlin. But it does mean that the path to bringing him home is narrower, more fraught, and more susceptible to politics. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has – as is its longstanding habit – urged his family to stay silent, wary of jeopardising sensitive talks. In public, Jenkins is now reduced to a series of clips: a courtroom video, a coerced confession, a shaky YouTube monologue. But it's in those moments – especially the unguarded ones – that his story comes through. Not as a symbol. Not as a hero. Just a man who went looking for something, and found something else entirely.
