Latest news with #JohnJayCollegeofCriminalJustice
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Lone wolf attacks in Boulder and D.C. highlight the difficulties in securing public spaces
BOULDER, Colo. — Once again, the war in Gaza has come home to America. A man using what police called a "makeshift flamethrower" launched a gruesome attack on demonstrators in Boulder on Sunday, raising questions about why security wasn't stronger in the wake of an earlier attack in Washington, D.C. Run for Their Lives, the organization behind the long-standing demonstration that advocated for the return of Israeli hostages, had anticipated that its members would have safety concerns. The group offered principles to make the events safer, including "don't protest," "be polite and peaceful" and "don't disturb your neighbors." "Focus on humanity," the guidance on its website says. "This is about innocent children, women, the elderly, and other civilians being held by terrorists—not about the war." The Boulder chapter of Run for Their Lives has been holding regular demonstrations demanding that Hamas release the hostages seized during the terrorist attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Kyle and Elizabeth Shorter, who live in a Denver suburb and were taking their wedding pictures in Boulder when the attack happened, said the Run for Their Lives demonstrators had become fixtures on the street. 'Every time we've come up here the past couple of years, they've always been here,' said Elizabeth Shorter, 26. 'They've never been aggressive or chanting, just simply walking.' And that, an expert said, could make them harder to protect from a terrorist. 'Usually, there is a regular detail assigned to protect protesters,' said Brian Higgins, who teaches at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City and runs a security consulting firm called Group 77. 'But it's not uncommon for a mindset to set in that, as time goes on and nothing out of the ordinary happens, that there's no need to be on high alert.' Higgins, who said he wasn't aware of what security measures Boulder police had in place Sunday, was taken aback by video that showed the attacker threatening people before police intervened. 'That shouldn't have happened,' Higgins said. 'That raises questions for me about how much security there was at this protest.' Police Chief Stephen Redfearn said his department is aware of events taking place later in the month and will plan to provide additional security coverage. 'We want to ensure that people feel comfortable and safe in this community,' he told reporters on Monday. Shira Weiss, global coordinator for Run for Their Lives, said that some chapters have long relied on protection from local police or private security but that it's "really the individual group leader's decision how and when they want to use security." And while some local chapters have paused to "recompose themselves and give themselves space to heal" after the Boulder attack, others have said, "We won't stop; we're going to be right back out there next week," Weiss said. 'We obviously keep reiterating to our group leaders that safety is the No. 1 priority,' she said. Although clearly frightened by what she witnessed, attack survivor Lisa Turnquist, 66, said she won't be deterred from speaking out against Hamas and on behalf of the Israeli hostages. "This is when we have to get up and we have to stand out and push back," said Turnquist, who spoke to a reporter outside the historic Boulder County Courthouse, where the attack happened. "We just want the hostages home." A dozen people were injured Sunday, eight of whom remain hospitalized, authorities said. Initial calls to police reported people "being set on fire," and officers found multiple victims with burns and other injuries, Boulder's police chief told reporters. Egyptian national Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, has been charged with attempted murder and a hate crime, among other offenses. The attack happened just 11 days after two Israeli Embassy workers were gunned down outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington. In both the Boulder and the Washington attacks, the attackers are alleged to have yelled the same thing: 'Free Palestine.' Security experts who spoke with NBC News questioned how the man in Boulder was able to allegedly launch such an attack downtown even amid heightened awareness after the Washington killings. Higgins said his security clients include several major Jewish organizations. And ever since the killings of Israeli Embassy workers Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim on May 22, they have been adding extra layers of security, he said. 'Given what's going on out there and the agitation out there, my recommendation is that there should be an elevated level of security at all Gaza protests,' Higgins said. Run for Their Lives has been holding regular demonstrations outside the county courthouse on Pearl Street since Hamas launched a bloody surprise attack on Israel and took 250 hostages. That spawned an Israeli invasion of Gaza that has left more than 54,000 people dead, many of them women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Michael Alcazar, a former hostage negotiator with the New York Police Department who also teaches at John Jay, said Pearl Street is a soft target for a terrorist attack. He said the attacker was able to approach the demonstrators because they didn't appear to be protected. 'The police chief dropped the ball not having a uniform presence over there,' Alcazar said. 'Is the police chief not aware of what's going in the world?' The Boulder Police Department didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. The Anti-Defamation League said it had been in contact with local law enforcement in Boulder. 'We feel at ADL like many across the country feel, which is just vulnerability and both sadness and anger at the violence that we've seen,' said Oren Segal, the Anti-Defamation League's senior vice president for counterextremism and intelligence. 'This is a wake-up call — not just for the Jewish community." The FBI also said in a statement that "our goal is always to get ahead of any threats." "We have long warned that lone actors or small groups of conspirators present a great challenge to law enforcement because there may not be a lot of clues about their intentions," it said. An affidavit alleged that Soliman, a married father of five, had been planning the attack for over a year and was waiting for one of his daughters to graduate before he set his alleged plan into motion. It didn't specify where his daughter was graduating from. Soliman told investigators during his arrest interview that he researched how to make Molotov cocktails on YouTube, according to the affidavit. It alleged that he was also unrepentant about the attack, saying he would do it again to stop Israel from taking over 'our land,' referring to the Palestinian territories. Elias Rodriguez, the Chicagoan charged with the deaths of Lischinsky and Milgrim, was also motivated by the Gaza war, authorities said. He told police when he was arrested, 'I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza,' according to court records and published reports. In his first comments since the attack, President Donald Trump condemned the "horrific" incident Monday on Truth Social. Earlier, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller sought to shift blame onto the Biden administration for allowing Soliman in the country. 'He was granted a tourist visa by the Biden Administration and then he illegally overstayed that visa,' Miller said Sunday on X. 'In response, the Biden Administration gave him a work permit.' Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, amplified that on X, saying that Soliman "is illegally in our country" and that he applied for asylum in September 2022. McLaughlin later told NBC News that Soliman's asylum claim was pending and that while his visa had expired, he hadn't yet exhausted all legal routes to stay in the United States. Deon J. Hampton reported from Boulder, Alicia Victoria Lozano reported from Los Angeles and Elizabeth Chuck and Corky Siemaszko from New York City. This article was originally published on
NBC News
03-06-2025
- Politics
- NBC News
Lone wolf attacks in Boulder and D.C. highlight the difficulties in securing public spaces
OULDER, Colo. — Once again, the war in Gaza has come home to America. A man using what police called a "makeshift flamethrower" launched a gruesome attack on demonstrators in Boulder on Sunday, raising questions about why security wasn't stronger in the wake of an earlier attack in Washington, D.C. Run for Their Lives, the organization behind the long-standing demonstration that advocated for the return of Israeli hostages, had anticipated that its members would have safety concerns. The group offered principles to make the events safer, including "don't protest," "be polite and peaceful" and "don't disturb your neighbors." "Focus on humanity," the guidance on its website says. "This is about innocent children, women, the elderly, and other civilians being held by terrorists—not about the war." The Boulder chapter of Run for Their Lives has been holding regular demonstrations demanding that Hamas release the hostages seized during the terrorist attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Kyle and Elizabeth Shorter, who live in a Denver suburb and were taking their wedding pictures in Boulder when the attack happened, said the Run for Their Lives demonstrators had become fixtures on the street. 'Every time we've come up here the past couple of years, they've always been here,' said Elizabeth Shorter, 26. 'They've never been aggressive or chanting, just simply walking.' And that, an expert said, could make them harder to protect from a terrorist. 'Usually, there is a regular detail assigned to protect protesters,' said Brian Higgins, who teaches at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City and runs a security consulting firm called Group 77. 'But it's not uncommon for a mindset to set in that, as time goes on and nothing out of the ordinary happens, that there's no need to be on high alert.' Higgins, who said he wasn't aware of what security measures Boulder police had in place Sunday, was taken aback by video that showed the attacker threatening people before police intervened. 'That shouldn't have happened,' Higgins said. 'That raises questions for me about how much security there was at this protest.' Police Chief Stephen Redfearn said his department is aware of events taking place later in the month and will plan to provide additional security coverage. 'We want to ensure that people feel comfortable and safe in this community,' he told reporters on Monday. Shira Weiss, global coordinator for Run for Their Lives, said that some chapters have long relied on protection from local police or private security but that it's "really the individual group leader's decision how and when they want to use security." And while some local chapters have paused to "recompose themselves and give themselves space to heal" after the Boulder attack, others have said, "We won't stop; we're going to be right back out there next week," Weiss said. 'We obviously keep reiterating to our group leaders that safety is the No. 1 priority,' she said. Although clearly frightened by what she witnessed, attack survivor Lisa Turnquist, 66, said she won't be deterred from speaking out against Hamas and on behalf of the Israeli hostages. "This is when we have to get up and we have to stand out and push back," said Turnquist, who spoke to a reporter outside the historic Boulder County Courthouse, where the attack happened. "We just want the hostages home." A dozen people were injured Sunday, eight of whom remain hospitalized, authorities said. Initial calls to police reported people "being set on fire," and officers found multiple victims with burns and other injuries, Boulder's police chief told reporters. Egyptian national Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, has been charged with attempted murder and a hate crime, among other offenses. The attack happened just 11 days after two Israeli Embassy workers were gunned down outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington. In both the Boulder and the Washington attacks, the attackers are alleged to have yelled the same thing: 'Free Palestine.' Security experts who spoke with NBC News questioned how the man in Boulder was able to allegedly launch such an attack downtown even amid heightened awareness after the Washington killings. Higgins said his security clients include several major Jewish organizations. And ever since the killings of Israeli Embassy workers Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim on May 22, they have been adding extra layers of security, he said. 'Given what's going on out there and the agitation out there, my recommendation is that there should be an elevated level of security at all Gaza protests,' Higgins said. Run for Their Lives has been holding regular demonstrations outside the county courthouse on Pearl Street since Hamas launched a bloody surprise attack on Israel and took 250 hostages. That spawned an Israeli invasion of Gaza that has left more than 54,000 people dead, many of them women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Michael Alcazar, a former hostage negotiator with the New York Police Department who also teaches at John Jay, said Pearl Street is a soft target for a terrorist attack. He said the attacker was able to approach the demonstrators because they didn't appear to be protected. 'The police chief dropped the ball not having a uniform presence over there,' Alcazar said. 'Is the police chief not aware of what's going in the world?' The Boulder Police Department didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. The Anti-Defamation League said it had been in contact with local law enforcement in Boulder. 'We feel at ADL like many across the country feel, which is just vulnerability and both sadness and anger at the violence that we've seen,' said Oren Segal, the Anti-Defamation League's senior vice president for counterextremism and intelligence. 'This is a wake-up call — not just for the Jewish community." The FBI also said in a statement that "our goal is always to get ahead of any threats." "We have long warned that lone actors or small groups of conspirators present a great challenge to law enforcement because there may not be a lot of clues about their intentions," it said. An affidavit alleged that Soliman, a married father of five, had been planning the attack for over a year and was waiting for one of his daughters to graduate before he set his alleged plan into motion. It didn't specify where his daughter was graduating from. Soliman told investigators during his arrest interview that he researched how to make Molotov cocktails on YouTube, according to the affidavit. It alleged that he was also unrepentant about the attack, saying he would do it again to stop Israel from taking over 'our land,' referring to the Palestinian territories. Elias Rodriguez, the Chicagoan charged with the deaths of Lischinsky and Milgrim, was also motivated by the Gaza war, authorities said. He told police when he was arrested, ' I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza,' according to court records and published reports. In his first comments since the attack, President Donald Trump condemned the "horrific" incident Monday on Truth Social. Earlier, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller sought to shift blame onto the Biden administration for allowing Soliman in the country. 'He was granted a tourist visa by the Biden Administration and then he illegally overstayed that visa,' Miller said Sunday on X. 'In response, the Biden Administration gave him a work permit.' Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, amplified that on X, saying that Soliman "is illegally in our country" and that he applied for asylum in September 2022. McLaughlin later told NBC News that Soliman's asylum claim was pending and that while his visa had expired, he hadn't yet exhausted all legal routes to stay in the United States. y.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Virgin Islands' Thomas Marra Featured in Exclusive In-Depth Interview
Thomas Marra Shares His Inspiring Journey from the Gridiron to the Recording Studio in a Candid New Interview U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS / / May 20, 2025 / Acclaimed music producer, songwriter, and entrepreneur Thomas Marra is the subject of a compelling new online feature. The in-depth interview explores Marra's remarkable transformation from a standout collegiate athlete to a sought-after music producer whose work spans country music, film, and television. Known for licensing his emotionally rich compositions to hit series like Love is Blind on Netflix, Thomas opens up about his creative process, entrepreneurial mindset, and the values that drive his multifaceted career. Raised in Levittown, New York, and a Magna Cum Laude graduate of John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Marra's story highlights the power of pursuing passion over predictability. Beyond the studio, the feature also touches on his ongoing philanthropic efforts, including over a decade of support for Big Brothers Big Sisters and youth education programs in high-risk communities. The interview positions Thomas Marra as a fresh and authentic voice in modern music production-someone whose blend of discipline, heart, and originality continues to resonate with artists and audiences alike. Read the full feature at the website here. About Thomas Marra:Thomas Marra is a New York-born music producer and songwriter known for his cinematic approach to country music and his work across television and streaming platforms. He runs his own production company and is committed to creating music with meaning while giving back to his community. Contact: info@. SOURCE: Thomas Marra View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
What makes smoke black versus white?
Beginning on May 7, billions of people around they world will have their eyes fixed upon a single chimney. As per tradition, the 135 cardinal-electors gathering at the Vatican's Sistine Chapel to select the next pope will use smoke signals to tell the world whether or not they have come to a decision. Black smoke indicates that votes have been cast, but no candidate has received the two-thirds majority required to be elected pope. White smoke means that a new pope has been selected. The color of smoke is also a key element to watch during a fire. Smoke's hue can tell firefighters critical details about the properties of the fire itself and be used to better understand it's behavior–and save lives. 'When reading smoke, the color matters,' Glenn Corbett, a fire protection engineer and associate professor of fire science at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City tells Popular Science. 'It tells you what is burning.' [ Related: Pope Francis' Climate Change Epiphany. ] Black smoke tends to be present if heavy fuels are being burned, such as during an oil spill or vehicle fire. It can also mean that plenty of synthetic materials burning, which can signal that the fumes are particularly toxic. 'When you see a lot of black smoke, you can guarantee that there's a lot of carbon involved,' says Corbett. 'That's what gives you the black, opaqueness to a smoke. When you have particular types of fires where the smoke is really black, it's really powerful in the sense that it's ripping out of the building at a very fast rate.' During the two-day-long conclave in 2013, a mixture of potassium perchlorate, anthracene (a component in coal tar), and sulfur was used to make the black smoke. This smoke signal system is also relatively new, in Catholic Church-terms. According to historian Frederic Baumgartner, the tradition only goes back to 1903. Cardinals in 2013 also did not burn the ballots themselves to create the smoke seen from the chimney–which has been done in the past. When the chimney atop the Sistine Chapel spouts white smoke, it means that the Catholic Church officially has a new pope. White smoke tends to be a sign that a fire is creating gas or water vapor. It could be an indicator that a fire is either just starting to burn or dying out. 'The key ingredients are what oxidizers [are] in there. Oxidizers accelerate the combustion process,' says Corbett. 'If you introduce oxygen into a fire, it accelerates it exponentially. That's the key about an oxidizer. It speeds up the process and you get better combustion because of it.' In pre-2013 conclaves, the smoke color was a little bit harder to differentiate. The conclave that elected the late Pope Francis used a combination of potassium chlorate, lactose, and chloroform resin to create white smoke, which appears to have solved the visibility problem. Smoke itself is deadly and smoke inhalation is the leading cause of injury and death during fires. It is the byproduct produced when a material is burned, but not completely consumed by the fire. The three big components of smoke are aerosols, gases (like carbon monoxide), and particulates. Firefighters have to learn to 'read' smoke, in order to interpret what the fire is doing from as safe a distance as possible. This way, fire chiefs and incident safety officers can make the best decisions possible about when and where to send in their crew. 'We use color of smoke, velocity of smoke or how quickly it is being pumped out of a building, and angriness of smoke, to tell us what we're going into,' says Corbett. Angry smoke typically occurs before a flashover–a very rapid and often violent phase of fire development. The contents of an enclosed space can all ignite at the same time due to intense heat build-up. Monitoring the smoke's anger can help keep firefighters out of harm's way. 'We [also] use colors also to establish if we're controlling a fire,' says Corbett. 'We watch the colors of smoke, which might relate back to the conclave because we're [also] watching the color.' According to America–a monthly magazine published by the Jesuits of the United States–just after 7 p.m. local time on May 7 isthe best time to be in St. Peter's Square or tune into any livestreams. During the following days, 10:30 a.m., noon, 5:30 p.m., and just after 7 p.m. are also potential chances to see the smoke in real time. 'Predicting when the smoke will rise from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel is not an exact science, ' writes Cindy Wooden of Catholic News Service. 'The time needed for the cardinals' prayers, discussions and vote counting can vary.' This story is part of Popular Science's Ask Us Anything series, where we answer your most outlandish, mind-burning questions, from the ordinary to the off-the-wall. Have something you've always wanted to know? Ask us.
Wall Street Journal
28-04-2025
- Wall Street Journal
‘Back From the Brink' Review: When Gotham Was Reborn
The old consensus still reigns throughout much of progressive academia: Police can't do much to deter crime as long as its 'root causes' go unaddressed. Before a city can bring order to its streets and subways, this view holds, it's necessary first to address poverty, inequality and racism. But is it? Peter Moskos, who teaches at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, thinks not. In his ably assembled oral history, 'Back From the Brink,' Mr. Moskos shows how Gotham went, in the space of a few years, from one of the most dangerous big cities in America to one of the safest. That transformation wasn't chiefly the result of underlying structural improvements, Mr. Moskos explains. It came about—as faithful readers of this newspaper's editorial page will know—largely as a consequence of proactive policing. The book begins in the mid-1970s, when New York was a byword for blight and dysfunction. 'We were not a crime-fighting organization,' laments Louis Anemone, who rose to become one of the New York Police Department's top cops. About the only thing that could derail a cop's career in those years was a misconduct allegation or a contretemps with the police union. Officers learned to keep their heads down and their mouths shut, even as crime rates soared. No one held them accountable for perpetually high levels of crime. By the end of the 1980s, the sediment of failure had been accumulating in New York for decades. Some of the testimonials of human misery recorded by Mr. Moskos make for uneasy reading. 'I saw things . . . that nobody should ever see,' says a Port Authority Bus Terminal manager. Jeff Marshall, a Port Authority cop, recalled a mendicant known, unkindly, as Snakeman. 'He had no legs,' Mr. Marshall explains. 'He would drag himself' around 'and panhandle . . . I think they eventually got him a wheelchair at one time. But somebody stole the wheelchair . . . When I left in '93, he was still slithering along the floor.' Then, in the final decade of the past century, New York experienced the greatest drop in violent crime the city ever recorded. In 1990, Bill Bratton took over the demoralized Transit Police. The city's subways were dangerous and notoriously unpleasant—'the longest horizontal urinal in New York City,' one officer recalls. Mr. Bratton was fortunate to encounter Jack Maple, a lieutenant who had barely finished high school yet went on to become one of the era's most successful anatomists of modern policing. Maple died in 2001, at 48. He was a complicated man who had a mammoth personality and a penchant for quotable anecdotes. Maple's reminiscences are among the many that make 'Back From the Brink' a delightful read.
