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Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Yahoo
Chicago police officer -- mom to young daughter -- gunned down while on duty
A 36-year-old police officer who was a mother to a young daughter and four-year veteran of the Chicago Police Department has been shot and killed while on duty in Chicago, police said. The incident occurred at approximately 9:50 p.m. on Thursday night when Chicago Police Department officers assigned to the 6th (Gresham) District Tactical Team were on patrol when they attempted to conduct an investigatory stop on a male suspect in the 8200 block of S. Drexel Avenue, according to a statement from the Chicago Police Department. MORE: US Border Patrol tactical unit deployed to help manhunt for escaped Arkansas inmate Officers approached the suspect, but the individual immediately fled on foot into a nearby building, police said. Law enforcement subsequently pursued the suspect into the building but were confronted by another individual who was armed inside of the residence which the suspect fled to, authorities continued. 'The armed offender fled the residence and was taken into custody,' police said. 'An officer sustained a gunshot wound and was taken to an area hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries.' MORE: US Marshals arrest Dominican man wanted in quadruple homicide, including victims aged 2 and 4 The police officer who died has not yet been named but Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said said she was a 36-year-old female officer who had been with the department for four years at the 6th District and was a mother to a young daughter. "She lost her life tragically doing the job that she loved and that was one of the things that her mother said, she loved her job and the way that she worked, it was evident that she did love her job and she wanted to make Chicago a better place,' Snelling said during a press conference. 'She wanted to make it safer." MORE: Climber falls over 3,000 feet to his death off tallest mountain in North America MORE: 3 plane crash survivors plucked from Atlantic Ocean at night after plane goes down off Florida coast Mayor Brandon Johnson said the entire city is mourning the loss of this officer. "This young woman served honorably and courageously. I am calling on the entire city of Chicago to keep this officer's family in your prayers along with our entire police department," Mayor Johnson said. "Her young, energetic bold approach toward keeping us safe is the memory that we will honor." An additional officer sustained an injury to the wrist and was taken to the hospital in fair condition, police said, but no other injuries were reported. MORE: 61-year-old man survives being pinned down by 700-pound boulder for 3 hours in Alaska creek Three firearms were located on the scene and multiple people were taken into custody, police said. Overall, between Jan. 1 and April 30, 16 police officers in the United States have been feloniously killed in the line of duty and firearms were used in 75% of those incidents, according to statistics compiled by the U.S. Department of Justice. The leading circumstances surrounding officers' deaths included activities related to responses to unlawful or suspicious activities, pursuits and traffic stops, according to the Justice Department. MORE: Tourists at beach house find human remains dating back 200 years Accidental law enforcement deaths, however, have decreased 68.2% when comparing the first four months of 2024 (22 deaths) with those of 2025 (7 deaths), with the leading causes of accidental deaths in 2025 being motor vehicle crashes and officers struck by vehicle. The investigation into the death of the 36-year-old officer is currently ongoing. Chicago police officer -- mom to young daughter -- gunned down while on duty originally appeared on
NDTV
29-05-2025
- NDTV
Human Traffickers, Responsible For Death Of Indian Family In Blizzard, Jailed
Washington: Two human traffickers were sentenced Wednesday for their roles in a smuggling operation that resulted in the 2022 deaths of four Indian nationals, including a three-year-old and an 11-year-old, the US Department of Justice said. Harshkumar Ramanlal Patel, 29, was sentenced to over 10 years in prison for organizing logistics and co-conspirator Steve Anthony Shand, 50, was sentenced to over six years for picking up migrants in the United States. A jury convicted the duo for their work in a "large-scale human smuggling operation that brought Indian nationals to Canada on fraudulent student visas and then smuggled them into the United States," justice officials said. In January 2022, amid severe weather, Patel and Shand attempted to smuggle 11 Indian nationals from Canada into the United States on foot, the DOJ said, adding the recorded wind chill temperature was -37.8 degrees Celsius (-36 degrees Fahrenheit). A US Border Patrol agent found Shand's van stuck in the Minnesota snow, where Shand claimed there were no other people stranded out in the cold. But five more people emerged from the fields, including one who was airlifted to a hospital for lifesaving care. Shand was arrested along with two migrants. But the family of four was not found until the Royal Canadian Mounted Police found their frozen bodies in an isolated area in Canada. "The boy was wrapped in a blanket with his father's frozen glove covering his face," the DOJ said. "Every time I think about this case I think about this family -- including two beautiful little children -- who the defendants left to freeze to death in a blizzard," said Acting US Attorney Lisa D. Kirkpatrick.
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Business Standard
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Business Standard
Trump moves to end protections for immigrant children in federal custody
The Trump administration filed a motion on Thursday to end a policy cornerstone that since the 1990s has offered protections to child migrants in federal custody, in a move that likely will be challenged by advocates. The protections in place, known as the Flores Settlement, largely limit to 72 hours the amount of time that child migrants travelling alone or with family and detained by the US Border Patrol can be kept in US Customs and Border Protection custody. They also ensure the children are kept in safe and sanitary conditions. The Flores settlement is named for a Salvadoran girl, Jenny Flores, whose lawsuit alleging widespread mistreatment of children in custody in the 1980s prompted special oversight. This is the second time the federal government under Trump has attempted to end the policy. In August 2019, the first Trump administration asked a judge to dissolve the agreement. Its motion eventually was struck down in December 2020 by the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals. Under the Biden administration, oversight protections for child migrants were lifted for the US Department of Health and Human Services after new guidelines were put in place last year. The Department of Homeland Security is still beholden to the agreement, including Customs and Border Protection, which detains and processes children after their arrival in the US with or without their parents. Children then are usually released with their families or sent to a shelter operated by HHS, though processing times often go up when the number of people entering increases in a short time period. Even with the agreement in place, there have been instances where the federal government failed to provide adequate conditions for children, as in a case in Texas where nearly 300 children had to be moved from a Border Patrol facility following reports they were receiving inadequate food, water and sanitation. Court-appointed monitors provide oversight of the agreement and report noncompliant facilities to Chief US District Judge Dolly M. Gee of the Central District of California. CBP was set to resume its own oversight but in January a federal judge ruled it was not ready and extended the use of court-appointed monitors for another 18 months.
Boston Globe
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
‘Who's going to milk the cows?': Vt. farmers, migrant workers fear Trump crackdown could cripple dairy farms
'All the dairy farmers who voted for Trump were under the impression they weren't going to come on farms and take our guys,' said Machia, 37. 'It's happening more than we'd like. It's scaring the farming community and we're like, 'This wasn't supposed to happen.'' Farm owners and workers alike in this agricultural region near the Canadian border have been on edge in the month since US Border Patrol officers detained eight Mexican men on Vermont's largest dairy operation, Pleasant Valley Farms, about 20 miles east of Machia's barns. Two weeks before that, another Mexican national, Arbey Lopez-Lopez, was detained while bringing groceries to workers at Pleasant Valley, according to his attorney. Four of the men have since been deported. Within the past week, immigration judges in Massachusetts have ordered two released on bond, including Lopez-Lopez. The others are in detention in Texas, their lawyer says. Advertisement Last month, US Border Patrol officers detained eight Mexican men at Pleasant Valley Farms, Vermont's largest dairy operation. Paul Heintz for The Boston Globe Federal immigration authorities say they are not targeting Vermont's Advertisement The enforcement actions have only added to the list of woes Vermont dairy farmers were already experiencing: unstable milk prices, rising costs due to tariffs, the threat of avian flu, and the lingering effects of two major floods and a global pandemic. 'Migrant workers are essential to the dairy industry in Vermont, New England, and the nation,' said Vermont Secretary of Agriculture Anson Tebbetts. The recent law enforcement actions have created 'tremendous anxiety' for everyone in the industry, he said. 'I think our farmers are concerned about the well-being of their workers. That's foremost,' Tebbetts said. 'They're also concerned if (the workforce) was to go away, who's going to do the work? Who's going to milk the cows?' One of the more than 700 cows at Machia & Sons Dairy in Sheldon, Vt. Paul Heintz for The Boston Globe Though relatively few immigrants call Vermont home, they play an essential role in the state's dairy industry as farms have consolidated, requiring more hired help, while economic pressures have kept wages low. Since 2013, about half of the state's dairy farms have gone out of business, 'The workload on these farms is intense,' said Jackie Folsom, a former dairy farmer and president of the Vermont Farm Bureau. 'And we are not able to find locals who want to work on farms anymore.' According to the University of Vermont, 94 percent of dairies in the state that hire outside help employ migrant labor. That amounts to an estimated 750 to 850 workers, mostly from Mexico, plus 150 partners and children. Advertisement Though another 500 farmworkers, mostly from Jamaica, obtain seasonal agricultural visas to work legally in Vermont apple orchards, berry farms, and elsewhere, there is no applicable visa for year-round operations such as dairy. 'To replace your whole milking crew every 10 months is not a thing,' Machia says. 'It takes months to train these guys up. It wouldn't work.' Machia employs around 25 people year-round, including 11 migrants. Like many Vermont farmers, he said he's careful to follow the law and asks each worker for documentation required by the state and federal governments. It's not his responsibility to verify the accuracy of the paperwork. After the arrests on April 21 at Pleasant Valley, federal officials said they were not seeking out undocumented workers. Rather, according to US Customs and Border Protection spokesperson Ryan Brissette, the officers were responding to a tip from a concerned citizen that two people carrying backpacks had emerged from the woods onto the farm, which is less than three miles from the Canadian border. After one fled, the officers searched the property and detained the other men, Brissette said. 'Claims that this was a raid targeting farm workers (are) false,' said Hilton Beckham, assistant commissioner of US Customs and Border Protection, adding it 'was not a special operation or a worksite enforcement operation.' Regardless, the result is the same, according to Brett Stokes, an attorney who represents the eight Pleasant Valley workers. Though none had criminal records and most had family in the area, he said, they have been rushed through removal proceedings and given little opportunity to defend themselves. Advertisement 'No matter what your position on immigration is, these are folks who were working, paying their taxes, and providing an essential service to an essential industry in the state of Vermont,' said Stokes, who runs the Center for Justice Reform Clinic at Vermont Law and Graduate School. Amanda St. Pierre, a co-owner of Pleasant Valley, declined to comment, other than to say her family was focused on supporting its employees and maintaining its operations. According to Will Lambek, an organizer for the Vermont advocacy group Migrant Justice, the enforcement actions go well beyond Pleasant Valley. 'We've seen a vast increase in the calls we're getting about people getting detained in Vermont,' he said. 'Most of these stories don't make headlines. They're not publicized. And most of them end in deportation.' That's led many migrant workers to hunker down and avoid leaving their farms — particularly those closest to Canada, where Border Patrol officers have expanded authority and are a frequent presence on the road and in town. Dan Baker, a research professor at the University of Vermont, said his surveys of dairy workers show they already faced serious stress due to social isolation and fear of deportation, among other factors. 'And this was prior to the current immigration crackdown,' he said. 'What those detentions did was remind everyone to be scared and to feel vulnerable.' On a farm not far from the Canadian border, one undocumented worker told the Globe he was going into town less frequently to avoid taking unnecessary risks. He asked to be identified only by his nickname, Chepe. Advertisement 'Everything they're doing is just about trying to instill fear in the community,' Chepe said through an interpreter, sitting in the living room of the trailer where he lives. 'It's all about trying to make us afraid.' Like many migrant dairy workers, Chepe works 12 hours a day, six days a week, beginning at 4 a.m. He said he left Mexico eight years ago in search of financial stability and sends money home to his children, whom he hasn't seen since. Chepe has become an organizer with Migrant Justice and credits it with improving working conditions on his farm. It's also helped Vermont enact policies such as making it easier for noncitizens to obtain driver's licenses, restricting collaboration with federal immigration authorities, and providing COVID relief funds for immigrants. Chepe said he had been feeling safer and more secure in the US — until Trump was elected again. 'Now it's like going back to the dark ages,' he said. Despite the risks of leaving the farm, Chepe attended two protests recently in the Burlington area — advocating for the release of the Pleasant Valley workers and for better working conditions. 'I think it's crucial that we're united right now, all together, fighting against an oppressive system that's trying to instill fear in us,' he said. 'We need to keep raising our voices and fighting for our rights.' Despite his misgivings about the immigration crackdown, Dustin Machia says he doesn't regret voting for Trump. 'I'd still do it again. I like a lot of his policies,' Machia said. 'I feel he's more for the rural people like us, the middle-class type person.' Advertisement
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Lord Buffalo Drummer Yamal Said Detained By US Border Patrol Agents, Band Cancels Tour
The post Lord Buffalo Drummer Yamal Said Detained By US Border Patrol Agents, Band Cancels Tour appeared first on Consequence. Lord Buffalo, the psychedelic rock group from Austin, Texas, has revealed that their drummer, Yamal Said, was 'forcibly removed' from a flight by United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) earlier this week. As a result, the band has canceled their European tour, which was set to begin this week on May 15th. In a since-deleted Instagram post (via Austin Chronicle), Lord Buffalo claimed that Said was 'forcibly removed from our flight to Europe by Customs and Border Patrol' at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport on Monday, May 12th. The band added that their drummer has yet to be released by CBP, however, he has acquired 'the legal representation he needs.' 'We are currently working with an immigration lawyer to find out more information and to attempt to secure his release,' they continued. Later, the band posted an update expressing gratitude for continued support: 'We have been asked by our drummer's family and his legal team to respect their privacy while this situation evolves… We'll share updates from the family when we can.' For its part, a CBP spokesperson denied that Said was removed from the flight for immigration reasons, instead telling KUT News that the action was due to an active arrest warrant issued by local authorities for allegedly violating a protective order. Said, a Mexican citizen and lawful US permanent resident, had previously shared in an interview with VoyageAustin that his family moved to the United States in the 1980s after a major earthquake. 'My family was looking to make a change and the relatively flat lands of central Texas must have been appealing after what we had just experienced.' The Austin band was set to tour Europe with Swedish band Orsak:Oslo, who are still going ahead with the tour solo. 'We're devastated by the situation Lord Buffalo and their drummer Yamal have been forced into,' they wrote on Facebook. 'No one should be pulled off a plane and jailed for simply trying to travel and make art with their band. We won't pretend to understand the full complexity of the situation, but this should not happen anywhere.' Lord Buffalo aren't the only musicians facing difficulties in traveling internationally this year. Recently, Canadian trans musician Bells Larsen had to cancel his US tour because 'US Immigration now only recognizes identification that corresponds with one's assigned sex at birth.' FKA twigs faced setbacks for her 'Eusexua Tour' after not completing visa paperwork on time, rescheduling several US tour dates multiple times. In March, UK Subs revealed they were denied entry to the United States, with bassist Alvin Gibbs surmising that his negative statements surrounding the Trump administration might have contributed to his detainment: 'I can't help but wonder whether my frequent, and less than flattering, public comments regarding their president and his administration played a role — or perhaps I'm simply succumbing to paranoia,' he said. Last year, Lord Buffalo released Holus Bolus via Blues Funeral Recordings. Popular Posts First Look at Nicolas Cage and Christian Bale in Madden Movie Drummer Chris Adler Opens Up on What Led to Firing from Lamb of God Morris, Alligator in Happy Gilmore, Dead at Over 80 Years Old Jazz Pianist Matthew Shipp Derides André 3000's New Piano Project: "Complete and Utter Crap" Say It in Ghor: How Andor Brought a Brand New Language to Star Wars Billy Strings Announces Fall 2025 US Tour Dates Subscribe to Consequence's email digest and get the latest breaking news in music, film, and television, tour updates, access to exclusive giveaways, and more straight to your inbox.
