College student Tyler Gilreath dies from COVID complications after resisting vaccine

By Edward Era Barbacena

An unvaccinated 20-year-old WHITE sophomore student at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington died from COVID-19 complications this week after repeatedly resisting to get the shot, his distraught mother said.

Tyler Gilreath tested positive for the illness on Aug. 20 — just three days after moving onto campus — and he later developed a debilitating sinus infection that spread to his brain, the student’s mom, Tamra Demello told the News & Observer.

After three weeks of battling serious sickness, and multiple operations, Gilreath was taken off life support on Monday after doctors informed the family he wasn’t going to make it.

“I am devastated beyond belief,” Demello wrote in a Facebook post announcing the tragic news.

Demello wrote that she “cajoled, encouraged, threatened, and nagged” her son to get vaccinated.

He kept refusing, insisting he wouldn’t get sick as a healthy 20-year-old, the mother said.

But Gilreath finally caved to his mother’s pressure, promising to get the jab once he settled in at college, his mother said.

“He didn’t get the chance,” the heartbroken mother wrote.

Like many other relatives of COVID-19 victims, Demello is now sounding the alarm in hope of changing the minds of other young people that share her son’s reluctance with the vaccine.

“We’re just hoping if we can just convince these young people who think they’re invincible, you know, that this active, healthy, not ever really sick kid — if this can happen to him from those complications, that it can happen to them too,” Demello told the News & Observer.

Gilreath was an organ donor and doctors on Monday harvested his heart, liver, kidneys and pancreas, the report said.

“We’re very thankful that he’ll live on. He would’ve been just really happy to have at least helped somebody else,” Demello told the newspaper.

 

‘Typhoon may intensify as it enters PHILIPPINE AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY 

By Edward Era Barbacena

MANILA, Philippines — A typhoon with international name Mindulle may continue to intensify as it moves closer to the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR), according to the state weather bureau.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said the typhoon, which would be named Lannie once it enters PAR, may reach a peak intensity of 185 to195 kilometers per hour today.

The trough of the typhoon will bring isolated rains over Metro Manila and the rest of the country.

PAGASA said partly cloudy to cloudy skies would be caused by the trough of the typhoon aside from localized thunderstorms.

Mindulle was monitored at 1,420 kilometers east of extreme Northern Luzon as of 3 p.m. yesterday.

The typhoon slightly intensified with maximum sustained winds of 165 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 205 kph yesterday.

PAGASA said the typhoon was unlikely to directly affect the weather condition in the country even as it was expected to enter the country between last night and this morning.

PAGASA said Mindulle would cause moderate to rough seas due to swells over the seaboards of extreme Northern Luzon and the northern and eastern seaboards of Luzon, which is risky for small seacraft.

The typhoon was forecast to leave PAR tonight.

PAGASA said up to three tropical cyclones may enter the country next month while five to eight could be expected until the end of the year.

 

Alexandra Souverneva initially claimed that she was hiking to reach the Canadian border when the fire started on September 22, 2021.

‘Shaman’ charged with starting California wildfire after allegedly boiling bear urine

By Edward Era Barbacena

A California “shaman” charged with starting a wildfire that is threatening thousands of homes claimed it started by accident — while she was boiling bear urine to drink, according to local reports.

Alexandra Souverneva, 30, faces up to nine years in prison for allegedly sparking the Fawn Fire, which has destroyed 41 homes and 90 smaller structures and is threatening 2,340 others, officials have said. She has pleaded not guilty.

She is now being eyed for possibly starting other fires across the Golden State, according to the Redding Record-Searchlight.

As the fire in Shasta County raged on Wednesday, Souverneva claimed she’d been hiking and trying to get to Canada, according to documents obtained by the outlet.

She told forest officials that she was thirsty and had come across a puddle of what she believed to be bear urine — and tried to make a fire to boil it, according to documents obtained by the outlet.

She found it was “too wet for the fire to start,” so she downed the water that she thought was animal urine and continued on her way, the report said.

Souverneva eventually got trapped in the brush amid the inferno and had to call the fire department to help her, according to the report.

She was asked to empty her pockets and fanny pack — which had CO2 cartridges, a cigarette lighter and an item “containing a green, leafy substance she admitted to smoking that day,” according to Cal Fire officer Matt Alexander.

Workers at a nearby quarry reported seeing a woman toss two small CO2 cartridges that matched the ones found in her bag on the same day the Fawn Fire ignited, Alexander said in court documents.

On her LinkedIn, Souverneva lists “shaman” as her current occupation and indicates that she was a doctoral student at SUNY’s New York College of Environmental Sciences and Forestry.

An attorney for Souverneva told her initial court hearing that she’d made statements to law enforcement that indicated a possible mental health crisis “or something to do with drug abuse.”

“She is also under suspicion for starting other fires,” said the attorney, who was not identified by the paper.

Alexander said in a report that “there is a high possibility she is responsible” for a fire the previous evening, too.

“It is my experience that arsonists … will light multiple fires in a short timeframe,” Alexander said, according to the paper.

At a press conference, Shasta County District Attorney Stephanie Bridgett said Souverneva had contact with law enforcement in connection to arson “in our county and other counties as well” but did not elaborate.

Shasta County Sheriff Michael L. Johnson broke news of the arrest to angry residents who’d been displaced or had their homes destroyed, the Mercury News said.

“It is difficult to grasp when disaster like this is, apparently, not a natural disaster. But we have a suspect,” Johnson told them.

 

3 white Missouri officers who let police dog bite Black man face calls for charges

White Americans are becoming more uncivilized and savages towards the people of color

By Edward Era Barbacena

The FBI has launched an investigation into a Missouri police department after viral video surfaced showing a detained black man repeatedly being bitten by a police dog. It was very infuriating to watch and how UNCIVILIZED these white Americans cops while doing their jobs. 

St. Louis-area racial injustice activists on Friday called for the firing and prosecution of three white police officers after cellphone video showed them allowing a police dog to repeatedly bite a Black man during an arrest.

St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell said he is investigating the incident that happened Monday in Woodson Terrace, but has declined further comment. Police have declined comment except for a press release posted on Facebook.

About 20 racial injustice activists, at a news conference outside Woodson Terrace police headquarters, vowed to pressure Bell and city leaders to act quickly.

“We were outraged by the vile and despicable behavior of the Woodson Terrace police officers,” activist Zaki Baruti, who compared it to the use of dogs to attack civil rights protesters in the South in the 1960s.

Another activist, the Rev. Darryl Gray, called the officers’ actions “reprehensible and inexcusable.”

Officers were called Monday morning to a report that a man had broken into a business. Police wrote on Facebook that the man appeared to be on drugs and threatened officers. The posting said the man was warned the dog would be used if he continued to resist arrest.

Cellphone video from an onlooker shows the dog biting the man’s foot as he yells out in pain. The dog’s handler holds it by a leash but allows the biting to go on for about 30 seconds.

After the officer pulls off the dog, the man appears to take a step to run but stumbles, and the dog lunges at him again, biting a leg for another 30 seconds until the officer stops the animal.

The man was treated and released at a hospital.

The disturbing footage shows the suspect with his hands on a squad car when the canine is released and begins biting his foot Monday in the St. Louis County city of Woodson Terrace.

After several seconds, two officers take the man to the ground, with the dog still chomping on his right foot, the clip shows. The man then tries to stand up but is taken down by the dog again.

The cops then appear to handcuff the suspect.

“Don’t let the dog bite him,” a woman is heard yelling at the cops on the video. “Are you serious? Oh my God. You let him bite him.”

Oklahoma dad beats up pastor he accused of molesting his son

Michael Coghill is charged with lewd/indecent
 acts to a child in Oklahoma City

 

Oklahoma dad beats up pastor he accused of molesting his son

The hypocrisy at its finest

By Edward Era Barbacena

A father in Oklahoma brutally beat a local white pastor after allegedly catching him in the act of molesting his 9-year-old son.

Michael Coghill, 33, was arrested Wednesday by Oklahoma police on a child sex complaint after the victim’s parents told cops they caught him in the act, according to News9 in Oklahoma City.

The child told his parents Coghill jogged by his bus stop several times and touched him in a way that made him feel uncomfortable.

So on Wednesday the boy’s father waited in his car to see if Coghill would return.

“While he was watching the school bus stop, our suspect ran by him, ran past the bus stop where the children were waiting. Turned around, came back and stopped where he touched the child,” Sgt. Dillon Quirk with the Oklahoma City Police Department said.

Coghill was a pastor at Lakehoma Church of Christ
 in Oklahoma.

Coghill (left) was a pastor at Lakehoma Church of
Christ. The church revealed that they had ran a
background check on Coghill and he had not
previous assaults

The dad ran after Coghill and tackled him to the ground, reportedly fracturing his skull and cracking his left orbital socket.

Lakehoma Church of Christ released a statement condemning Coghill’s actions and saying he has been ‘relieved from his duties.’

Coghill’s profile has since been removed from the church’s website. 

“There’s hardly any words that are camera appropriate,” witness Lisa Ward said. “It’s just sickening.”

Lisa Ward’s daughters wait at the same bus stop where a 9-year-old boy reported he was inappropriately touched by Coghill.

According to the police report, Coghill lives in a community nearby and residents said he is a minister at a church in Mustang.

“I just thought he was a runner in the neighborhood,” Ward said.  

“He knew the time he would be there every day,” Ward said. “That was the hardest part, the most disgusting part.”  

Police are asking if anyone else has information that could help the investigation to let them know.

“If we have more victims, we encourage them if they know something, say something. Come forward,” Quirk said.

The Lakehoma Church of Christ where Coghill was listed on the website as a minister, issued the following statement:

“We were heartbroken to learn of the incident involving one of our adult ministers, and our hearts go out to the child and family involved. We were shocked at this news as he had a clean background check, and we have received no reports or claims against him during his tenure. Church leadership has no tolerance for any type of abuse and is meeting tonight to discuss next steps. We will cooperate with authorities as needed.”

Coghill is currently being held in the Oklahoma County Detention Center on one complaint of lewd acts to a child.

 

Taliban hang dead body in Afghan city’s main square.

The Taliban executed a man for kidnapping in public without any trial.

By Edward Era Barbacena

Kabul - A young Taliban fighter patrols the streets of Kabul on the back of a pick-up truck.

Oliver Weiken / Avalon

The Taliban strung up a dead man in a public square in Western Afghanistan after authorities claimed he had been executed by police.

The man was one of four killed by authorities after allegedly taking part in a kidnapping, the Associated Press reported.

Four bodies were brought to the town center in Herat, but Taliban officials decided to string up the dead men’s bodies in different places, said Wazir Ahmad Seddiqi, who runs a pharmacy in the Herat square.

Ziaulhaq Jalali, a local district police chief in Herat, said the four men were shot dead by Taliban security forces during a rescue mission to thwart the kidnapping. He added that a Taliban fighter and civilian has been wounded.

The public display comes just hours after the Taliban’s top cop, Mullah Nooruddin Turabi, announced the country would be returning to Quran-era religious punishments like executions and limb amputations. During the Taliban’s previous stint, they famously held public executions in the country’s stadiums

 

Racist homeless white American pauper Michael Orlando Vivona

OC Homeless Man Gets Added Anti-Asian Hate Crime Charges

The white savage American pauper and a homeless miserable man was previously charged with anti-Asian hate crimes for allegedly attacking an elderly couple in a park in Orange.

By Edward Era Barbacena

ORANGE COUNTY, CA — Orange County prosecutors Friday added a hate crime charge to the case against a 26-year-old transient previously charged with anti- Asian hate crimes for allegedly attacking an elderly couple in a park in Orange.

Michael Orlando Vivona, 26, was charged in April with two felony counts each of inflicting injury on an elder adult and violation of civil rights with violent injury, along with sentence-enhancing hate crime allegations.

Now Vivona faces an additional misdemeanor count of violation of civil rights for allegedly harassing U.S. Olympic karate athlete Sakura Kokumai as she was training at Grijalva Park, 358, N. Prospect St., on April 1.

Vivona pleaded not guilty April 20 at his arraignment on the charges filed in April.

Vivona is accused of walking up to a couple of Korean descent about 7:35 p.m. April 18 at Grijalva Park and punching the pair without provocation, according to Sgt. Phil McMullin of the Orange Police Department.

The 79-year-old man and his 80-year-old wife "take a walk there almost six times a week," McMullin said in April. "And, unprovoked, this (suspect) just walks up and punches them in the face."

Multiple other people at the park, who were playing basketball at the time the couple was attacked, recognized Vivona for yelling at Kokumai as she was training at the park on April 1, McMullin said.

"They recognized him from the previous attack on Sakura Kokumai and surrounded him," McMullin said. "There was an officer right there across the street and we arrested him."

Vivona, who has been living out of his car, did not say anything before his alleged attack on the couple, but under questioning by police "made statements that gave us enough information to determine the attacks are racially motivated," McMullin said.

The male victim who was punched in the face also cut his knee when he fell and was treated by paramedics at the scene, McMullin said. Neither he nor his wife needed to be taken to a hospital, the sergeant said.

Vivona pleaded guilty in April 2018 to a misdemeanor count of disobeying a domestic relations court order and was placed on three years of formal probation. He has had probation revoked three times, according to court records.

 

Brian Laundrie search: Woman in Canada snaps photo of ‘flustered’ look-alike

By  Edward Era Barbacena

A flight attendant has posted a photo she snapped of a “flustered” man she said looked strikingly similar to Gabby Petito’s missing boyfriend, Brian Laundrie, outside a hotel in Canada, according to a report.

The woman said on TikTok that she spotted the man on Monday as he walked out of the hotel in Toronto where she was staying, the Sun reported.

The man — who appeared “flustered” — then got into a car and drove off with another man, the woman said on TikTok using the handle CW Lynn, according to the news outlet.

She shared a photo she snapped of the balding man with prominent facial hair who wore a face mask around his chin — and then notified hotel staff about his likeness to Laundrie, who has been named a person of interest in Petito’s death.

The Long Island native’s death has been ruled a homicide and the FBI has announced that it is seeking Laundrie on an arrest warrant in connection to her death.

TikTok user @clynn shared a photo of a man who
resembles Brian Laundrie at a hotel in Toronto.

Laundrie was charged with one count of use of unauthorized access devices — a Capital One debit card, which he allegedly used about three days after Petito was last seen alive.

The woman notified hotel staff of the man’s
likeness to Laundrie

The flight attendant said a worker at the hotel, which she did not identify, told her that the mystery man “didn’t know where he was going and he had the wrong hotel.”

The woman posted the image alongside one from Laundrie’s Instagram page.

“I’m not sure if this looks like him or if I just fell too far down the rabbit hole,” the woman said.

“You can see the dip in his mustache and the ears are bent down [in her photo], but my ears bend down when I wear a face mask,” added the woman, the latest among many online sleuths to offer tips, clues and theories about the sensational case.

“It looked so much like him — it made me feel really nauseous because I’ve never seen him in person, like many of you haven’t, and this is exactly how I imagined he would look,” she said, according to the Sun.

“I did inform the hotel [that she thought it was Laundrie] and the employees at the hotel didn’t have any idea about the case, which was concerning,” she added.

Brian Laundrie has been missing since Sept. 17
while the body of Gabby Petito, Laundrie’s
girlfriend, was discovered on Sept. 19.

Brian Laundrie’s parents were spotted entering
their Florida residence on Thursday afternoon.

The TikTok user said she sent the image to local news outlets and also reported her encounter with the man to the FBI. The Post has reached out to the FBI.

The woman has since apparently made her account private.

Laundrie was reported missing by his parents on Sept. 17 after returning home to North Port, Florida, on Sept. 1 — without Petito — following their weeks-long cross-country trip

 

Sabina Nessa, one of four sisters, lived in London and taught in Catford. She had previously worked helping non-English speakers develop their language skills.  She was walking home when she was killed

38 year old man arrested for the murder of Sabina Nessa

By Edward Era Barbacena

London-A 38-year-old WHITE man has been arrested on suspicion of the murder of Sabina Nessa in south-east London, the Metropolitan Police said.

Ms Nessa's body was found by a member of the public in Cator Park in Kidbrooke.

Officers believe the 28-year-old teacher was attacked shortly after leaving her home in Astell Road at about 20:30 BST on Friday.

The force has also released a CCTV image of a man they are searching for.

A white man was captured on CCTV walking in Pegler Square

The image shows a figure of a person walking through nearby Pegler Square. An image of a car it is believed he had access to has also been released.

The arrested man was held at an address in Lewisham and remains in custody.

Police said a post-mortem examination carried out on Monday was inconclusive.

Another man in his 40s who was held on suspicion of murder the day after Ms Nessa's body was found was later released under further investigation.

Ms Nessa was attacked as she walked to meet a friend at The Depot bar at about 20:30 BST last Friday.

Her body was found the next day near a walkway in the park.

Speaking about the CCTV image appeal, Det Ch Insp Neil John said: "We would ask anyone - especially those in Kidbrooke and the wider area of Lewisham and Greenwich - to take a careful look at these images to check whether you know who this man is or have seen him over recent days.

"Any information as to his identity or whereabouts could be vital for our investigation so we are asking you to share this image far and wide to ensure as many people as possible see it."

Ms Nessa's family previously said they had been left "devastated" by her killing, describing the 28-year-old as the "kindest, sweetest girl you could meet".

A vigil is due to be held in Ms Nessa's memory on Friday evening.

It has been organised by a Kidbrooke community group with the support of Reclaim the Streets, which held a vigil for murder victim Sarah Everard in Clapham Common that ended in mass arrests.

Police said they would be part of the gathering.

 

Advocates call for hate crime charges after white woman Alexandra Lynn Farr calls ‘visibly Muslim woman’ a ‘terrorist’

By Edward Era Barbacens

I’m sure we’ve all heard the horror stories about Spirit Airlines, which are primarily known for their cheap but often unpleasant flights. In this case, though, the story isn’t about the inconveniences of flying with Spirit; it deals with the issues of flying while Muslim.

While the phrase is often associated with security and service staff mistreating Muslim travelers, a Muslim woman was harassed and mistreated by another traveler in this incident. After intervening when a white woman who was identified as Alexandra Lynn Farr harassed another passenger of color, a "visibly Muslim woman" wearing an Islamic headscarf was harassed by the same woman. Identified as Aicha Toure, the hijab-wearing woman was called a "Muslim terrorist” for asking the white woman to stop cursing and intimidating an elderly South Asian woman, the Detroit Free Press reported.

"During the flight, the white woman reportedly initiated altercations with minority crew members on the flight, and upon landing in Detroit began harassing and intimidating an older woman who looked to be of South Asian descent,"  the Michigan Chapter of the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said in a news release.

"Whe Farr  realized Toure and others were recording her Islamophobic comments, she allegedly struck Toure with her fist before crew members of Spirit were able to intervene," the release read. CAIR representatives noted that the woman was belligerent.

Members of the flight crew eventually stepped in, and Wayne County Airport Authority confirmed it had responded to an assault on the plane and took a suspect into custody.

"After a preliminary investigation, it appears there was a misunderstanding between two women. A third woman intervened in an effort to help and was assaulted," the local police agency said.

"Airport police took the suspect into custody and cited her for assault and disorderly conduct."

The woman was arrested on Sept. 11 following a flight from Atlanta. Advocates with CAIR want the woman charged under Michigan’s ethnic intimidation law for allegedly assaulting the Muslim woman on board to Detroit. The law carries a felony with a max sentence of two years and a fine of $5,000.

"We call for the suspect who allegedly spewed anti-Muslim rhetoric during the assault to be charged to the full extent of the law," CAIR-MI Executive Director Dawud Walid said in a statement. "Swift arrests along with strong prosecutions must be instituted to deter future acts of anti-Muslim hate crimes."

Alexandra Lynn Farr, 39, is shown in a video arraignment before 34th District Magistrate Alan Hindman on Friday, Sept. 17, 2021.

Walid noted the incident was clearly a hate crime because the assault was motivated by Toure’s "identity as a visibly Muslim woman." While a video of the incident was not posted, the organization posted a screenshot of the woman.

"The alleged actions of this individual are reprehensible, and she clearly targeted religious and racial minorities for her violent words and actions," Amy Doukoure, a CAIR-MI attorney, said.

"Michigan’s Ethnic intimidation law was created to protect people like Ms. Toure from being assaulted after being called a Muslim terrorist while traveling on the 20th anniversary of 9/11."

In response to the incident, Spirit issued a statement confirming it did not tolerate the behavior and would be banning the woman from further flights.

"At Spirit, we want each of our Guests to feel safe, welcome, and respected. We do not tolerate discrimination or harassment of any kind. A passenger on one of our flights arriving in Detroit chose to use appalling language toward one of our Guests. That kind of language has no place on our planes—or anywhere else—and she is no longer welcome on any of our flights. We thank our crew for taking control of the situation until law enforcement arrived, and we thank the Wayne County Airport Police for removing her."

On the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, the incident is one of many that Muslim Americans, especially in Michigan, have reported in the past two decades.

Additionally, it is not the first incident in which CAIR has been involved with Spirit Airlines.

​​According to the Baltimore Sun, in 2015, CAIR asked Spirit Airlines to apologize to four passengers who were removed from a flight out of the Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. While the airline denied race and religion played a role, the passengers were removed after a witness reported "suspicious activity" to the flight crew—despite having no concrete evidence or explanation for what was deemed “suspicious.”

 

Professor charged with hate crime after spitting on Black woman in front of her 7-year-old daughter

Disgusting! Some Americans with light/white skin have become the most repulsive uncivilized pigs.

By Edward Era Barbacena

In yet another example of how difficult it is to be a Black person in America just trying to sit in your car and wait for your mother, a Chicago-based professor has been charged with a felony hate crime after an alleged assault on a Black woman in front of her 7-year-old daughter.

An American 'WHITE' Alberto Friedmann, 53, was arrested on Sept. 7 after allegedly spitting on and hurling racial slurs at the mother-daughter duo while they waited for the woman’s mother outside a suburban Chicago Jewel-Osco grocery store, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The incident began when Friedmann, a neuro kinesiology professor at the National University of Health Sciences, started “honking and yelling” at the woman as he sat in his Jaguar behind her car. The woman reportedly told police she heard Friedmann use a racial slur as he shouted at her to “Move your f***ing car.” 

The woman signaled for Friedmann to drive around her, but he instead got out of his car to confront her. She attempted to get out of hers as well, but he pushed the door closed and then spat in her face, court records said. He allegedly told the woman he spit “because he does not like Black people,” Assistant State’s Attorney Lindsay Ruedig said. The woman’s mother witnessed the incident and the store’s surveillance cameras captured footage, although it was not made clear in court what exactly was seen or heard in the video.  

When the woman finally did exit her car to get his license plate number, he accelerated his car,  “nearly striking her” and then hitting her rear driver’s side bumper. Police were called and Friedmann admitted to spitting at the woman at the time of his arrest. But in court, his attorney, John McNamara, denied all allegations of racial statements during the attack, according to the Chicago Tribune.

“My client vehemently denies using any racial language. It’s our position that it’s fabricated that he used any such language. He’s a minority himself. He’s a child of immigrants,” McNamara told the judge. “This is completely outside of his nature.”  

According to his LinkedIn profile, Friedmann has a doctorate in kinesiology and exercise science and neurology from the University of Missouri and a master’s degree in kinesiology and exercise science from Southern Illinois University. According to the Chicago Tribune, Friedmann suffers from Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a genetic condition that causes a person’s limbs to be overly flexible, as well as early-onset Parkinson’s disease. He’s also a full-time caregiver to his ailing wife. 

In a statement to NBC Chicago, the National University of Health Sciences confirmed that Friedmann has been suspended from his position while his case is under investigation. “We take allegations of misconduct seriously, and therefore have suspended Alberto Friedmann pending the results of a university investigation,” the school said. 

Despite the trauma he inevitably inflicted on the woman (and her daughter), the judge ordered Friedmann released on $2,500 bail and barred him from contacting the woman or any witnesses. 

This case is just one more in a long and burgeoning list of racially based hate crimes across the nation. 

The FBI's annual Hate Crime Statistics Act (HCSA) report says there were 7,314 hate crimes in 2019, up from 7,120 the year before—and the highest number since 7,783 were recorded in 2008.

"The latest rise in hate crime signals a new brutal landscape, where targeted attacks against rotating victim groups not only result in spikes but increases are also being driven by a more widely dispersed rise in the most violent offenses," Brian Levin, executive director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University told VOA News.

It’s always disturbing, although not surprising to Black Americans, to read about incidents such as these, particularly in cities as seemingly progressive as Chicago. But as Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., famously told reporters during protests in the city in 1966: “I have never seen, even in Mississippi and Alabama, mobs as hateful as I’ve seen here in Chicago.” 

Friedmann is due back in court Wednesday.

 

Man escapes from La Plata County Jail, is arrested in Animas River. Jonah Barrett-Lesko led police on chase outside jail days before his sentencing.

Colorado man accused of raping a horse flees jail, is now promptly returned

By Edward Era Barbacena

A white man who was accused of having sex with a horse escaped jail Tuesday — but only made it less than a mile before he was caught and landed back behind bars.

Jonah Barrett-Lesko, 25, was captured by police in the Animas River in Durango about 25 minutes after he escaped from the La Plata County Jail, police told The Durango Herald. 

He was first discovered missing when police received a phone call about a man in a jumpsuit running near Office Depot, police told the paper.

About 20 minutes later, Durango Police Chief Bob Brammer just happened to be driving by the area when he spotted Barrett-Lesko, now in just his boxers having removed his uniform, running along the river, which is just under a mile from the jail.

“That’s what really attracted my attention to him because you don’t see half-naked people running through the woods in their boxer shorts,” Brammer told The Herald.

The chief said he and another officer pursued Barrett-Lesko several times back and forth across the river before more officers arrived and were able to surround him. He was arrested without a struggle.

Barrett-Lesko first made headlines when he was caught on camera allegedly having sexual intercourse with a horse at the La Plata County fairgrounds in the middle of the night on June 17.

The animal cruelty charges were dropped as part of a plea deal, and he had been locked up on trespassing charges in connection to several burglaries when he was discovered missing from the recreation yard Tuesday afternoon, according to KRQE.

According to police, Barrett-Lesko had been in the rec yard alone at the time of his escape. He was able to get over the wall, police told the Durango Herald.

“There’s a video of him going up the wall, and then using his feet on one side and back on the other side,” Sheriff’s Office Lt. Pat Downs Downs told the paper. “… It appears he got out of some small hole in the upper fenced-in area of the old rec yard.”

Barrett-Lesko is expected to be charged with felony escape.

 

Shane O'Neal died from coronavirus just minutes before his grandchild was born.

Unvaxxed Florida man dies of COVID minutes before his grandchild is born

By Edward Era Barbacena

An unvaccinated Florida man died from COVID-19 minutes before he became a grandfather, a report said.

Shane O’Neal, 40, died on Sept. 3 just 19 minutes before his daughter Kylie Dean gave birth to a son in the Jacksonville area, USA Today reported.

Dean was in labor when she got the call her father wasn’t going to make it.

“I broke down and was literally sobbing,” Dean told the newspaper. “And my family and friends are standing at my window, watching me just literally break.”

O’Neal was planning to get vaccinated before he tested positive for the coronavirus last month, Dean told First Coast News in an interview while her dad was intubated. He hadn’t had any “underlying health conditions” but ended up in the hospital a week later, she said.

“To know him is simply to love him,” Dean said. “He’s a people person … He’s just a good, home-grown man.”

The family was trying to locate a life-sustaining ECMO machine, the report said.

The family was trying to locate a life-sustaining ECMO machine, the report said.

Dean, an ICU nurse, already sees her father in newborn Preston, she told USA Today. Her father used to signal “I love you” in sign language and the baby sometimes seems to be making the same gesture, she said.

“I don’t know if it’s a coincidence, but it always brings me back to my dad when I see it,” she told the paper.

About 70 percent of eligible Floridians have been vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the latest data from the state Department of Health.

In the week ending Sept. 16, there were more than 75,000 positive cases and 384 deaths related to the pandemic, according to department figures. More than 51,000 have died in the Sunshine State related to the virus, data show.

 

NJ high school arts teacher accused of sexually assaulting student

By Edward Era Barbacena

A New Jersey high school arts white teacher was arrested last week after allegedly sexually assaulting a student and providing the victim with drugs, prosecutors said.

Christine Knudsen, 44, a teacher at Fair Lawn High School, allegedly engaged in a sexual relationship with the student in September 2018, according to court records obtained by NJ.com.

The teacher is also accused of consuming controlled substances with the student, according to the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office.

Prosecutors were tipped off to Knudsen’s alleged behavior last Tuesday.

By Thursday, authorities arrested the teacher and charged her with sexual assault and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child.

“We do not understand there to be any allegations of current misconduct,” Fair Lawn Schools Superintendent Nicholas Norcia said in a letter to parents after Knudsen’s arrest, NJ.com reported.

“Law enforcement has made clear that it does not consider any current students at risk of harm, in any way,” the letter continued.

 

Outrage led to murder because of mask

A German man shot a cashier after when asked to wear mask

By Edward Era Barbacena

Germany reacted with shock and outrage on Tuesday after a 20-year-old gas station worker was shot dead by a customer angry about being asked to put on a mask while buying beer.

The killing on Saturday evening in the western town of Idar-Oberstein is believed to be the first in Germany linked to the government's coronavirus rules.

The row started when the cashier, a student, told the customer who was white to put on a face mask, as required in all German shops. After a brief argument, the man left.

The suspect then returned about an hour and a half later, this time wearing a mask. But as he brought his six-pack of beer to the till, he took off the mask and another discussion ensued.

"The perpetrator then pulled out a revolver and shot him straight in the head," prosecutor Kai Fuhrmann told reporters on Monday.

The suspect, a 49-year-old German man, walked to a police station the following day to turn himself in. He was arrested and has confessed to the murder.

He told police he felt "cornered" by the coronavirus measures, which he perceived as an "ever-growing infringement on his rights" and he had seen "no other way out," Fuhrmann said.

Flowers are placed in front of a gas station in Idar-Oberstein, Germany, Sept. 21, 2021.

Idar-Oberstein mayor Frank Fruehauf called it "an unfathomable, terrible act," and residents have laid flowers and candles outside the petrol station.

The murder comes just days before Germans head to the polls for a general election on September 26 that will see Chancellor Angela Merkel bow out after 16 years.

Finance Minister Olaf Scholz from the center-left Social Democrats, the current frontrunner to succeed Merkel, said he was "shocked" by the murder of someone who only wanted "to protect himself and others."

"As a society, we must resolutely stand up to hatred," he tweeted.

Annalena Baerbock, the Green party's candidate for the chancellery, said she was "shaken" by the murder and "very concerned" about growing radicalisation in the anti-mask community.

Paul Ziemiak, general secretary of Merkel's CDU party, said the victim was "practically executed" in an act that showed "an inconceivable level of radicalization."

'Growing aggressiveness'

The Tagesspiegel newspaper said far-right chat groups on Telegram were applauding the murder, with one user writing "Here we go!!!" while others posted thumbs-up emojis.

Germany has seen repeated protests from anti-mask demonstrators throughout the pandemic, some of them attracting tens of thousands of people.

The "Querdenker" (Lateral Thinkers) movement has emerged as the loudest voice against the government's coronavirus curbs and regulations. Its marches have drawn a wide mix of people, including vaccine sceptics, neo-Nazis and members of Germany's far-right AfD party.

Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said the "hatred and incitement" of Querdenker "divides our community and kills people." "They have no place in our society," he wrote on Twitter.

Germany's domestic intelligence agency announced in April that it would start monitoring leading Querdenker figures over concerns they were trying to undermine the state and had ties to right-wing extremism.

Stephan Kramer, head of the domestic intelligence agency in the eastern state of Thuringia, told Germany's RND media group he was saddened but not surprised by the killing.

"The escalation of right-wing conspiracy fantasies among aggressive and violence-prone citizens has been obvious for months," he said.

"The growing aggressiveness is palpable in everyday life." — Agence France-Presse

 

Domestic terrorist leader  gets 53 years in Minnesota mosque bombing

By Edward Era Barbacena

The leader of an Illinois anti-government militia group who authorities say masterminded the 2017 bombing of a Minnesota mosque was sentenced Monday to 53 years in prison for an attack that terrified the mosque’s community.

Emily Claire Hari, who was charged, tried and convicted as Michael Hari and recently said she is transgender, faced a mandatory minimum of 30 years for the attack on Dar al-Farooq Islamic Center in Bloomington. Defense attorneys asked for the minimum, but prosecutors sought life, saying Hari hasn’t taken responsibility for the attack.

No one was hurt in the bombing, but more than a dozen members of the mosque community gave victim impact statements Monday about the trauma it left behind. U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank said evidence clearly showed Hari’s intent was to “scare, intimidate and terrorize individuals of Muslim faith.”

“Diversity is the strength of this country,” Frank said. “Anyone who doesn’t understand that doesn’t understand the constitutional promise of this country that brings a lot of people here.”

“Anything less than 636 months would (be) disrespect to the law,” the judge added.

Hari made a brief statement before she was sentenced, saying, “For how blessed my first 47 years of life were, I can’t complain about what the last three have looked like ... considering my blessed and fortunate and happy life, I can’t ask the judge for anything further.”

She also said the victims who testified during Monday’s hearing have been through a “traumatic ordeal” and she wished them “God’s richest blessings in Christ Jesus.”

Frank said he was prepared to recommend Hari go to a women’s prison, but said the Bureau of Prisons would decide.

Hari was convicted in December on five counts, including damaging property because of its religious character and obstructing the free exercise of religious beliefs.

Members of the mosque asked the judge on Monday to impose a life sentence, describing their shock and terror at the attack. Some were afraid to pray there afterward and have not returned. Mothers were scared to bring their kids to the mosque, which also serves as a charter school and community center.

“I felt really scared because I was going to start school in the same building soon and we lived like six blocks away from the mosque,” said Idris Yusuf, who was 9 when the bombing happened. “I was scared because if these people could do this to our mosque, what’s stopping them from coming to Muslim people’s homes too?”

Afterward, community members said they saw 53 years as justice for an attack that has rattled worshippers for more than four years.

“We were looking for life (in prison), but this is something we can settle for today,” said Khalid Omar, a community organizer and Dar Al Farooq worshipper.

Several men were gathered at Dar al-Farooq for early morning prayers on Aug. 5, 2017, when a pipe bomb was thrown through the window of an imam’s office. A seven-month investigation led authorities to Clarence, Illinois, a rural community about 120 miles (190 kilometers) south of Chicago, where Hari and co-defendants Michael McWhorter and Joe Morris lived.

Authorities say Hari, 50, led a group called the White Rabbits that included McWhorter, Morris and others and that Hari came up with the plan to attack the mosque. Prosecutors said at trial that she was motivated by hatred for Muslims, citing excerpts from Hari’s manifesto known as The White Rabbit Handbook.

McWhorter and Morris, who portrayed Hari as a father figure, each pleaded guilty to five counts and testified against her. They are awaiting sentencing.

It wasn’t initially clear how the White Rabbits became aware of Dar al-Farooq, but the mosque was in headlines in the years before the attack: Some young people from Minnesota who traveled to Syria to join the Islamic State group had worshipped there. Mosque leaders were never accused of any wrongdoing. Hari’s attorneys wrote in court filings that she was a victim of online misinformation about the mosque.

Assistant federal defender Shannon Elkins also said gender dysphoria fueled Hari’s “inner conflict,” saying she wanted to transition but knew she would be ostracized, so she formed a “rag-tag group of freedom fighters or militia men” and “secretly looked up ‘sex change,’ ‘transgender surgery,’ and ‘post-op transgender’ on the internet.”

Prosecutors said gender dysphoria is not an excuse and said using it “to deflect guilt is offensive.”

Prosecutors asked for several sentencing enhancements, arguing the bombing was a hate crime led by Hari. They also say Hari committed obstruction when she tried to escape from custody during her transfer from Illinois to Minnesota for trial in February 2019. Hari denied trying to flee.

Hari, a former sheriff’s deputy and self-described entrepreneur and watermelon farmer, self-published books including essays on religion, and has floated ideas for a border wall with Mexico. She gained attention on the “Dr. Phil” talk show after she fled to the Central American nation of Belize in the early 2000s during a custody dispute. She was convicted of child abduction and sentenced to probation.

Before her 2018 arrest in the mosque bombing, she used the screen name “Illinois Patriot” to post more than a dozen videos to YouTube, most of them anti-government monologues.

Hari, McWhorter and Morris were also charged in a failed November 2017 attack on an abortion clinic in Champaign, Illinois. Plea agreements for McWhorter and Morris say the men participated in an armed home invasion in Indiana, and the armed robberies or attempted armed robberies of two Walmart stores in Illinois.

 

Christopher Cella first targeted a 52-year-old man at a Latin grocery store and lured him to an abandoned construction site where he allegedly attacked him.

A serial assailant arrested for allegedly targeting, attacking Hispanic victims in Long Island: cops

If the victims were not able to scape the wrath of this insane white man; this may be a case of serial killing.

By Edward Era Barbacena

A sociopath white man from Long Island has been busted in an alleged hate crime spree in which he lured Hispanic victims to remote locations before attacking them, authorities said.

Christopher Cella, 19, of Selden, first targeted a 52-year-old man around 8:15 a.m. Friday near La Placita, a grocery store selling mostly Latin American fare, on Horseblock Road in Farmingville, cops said. 

He brought his victim to an abandoned construction site on Blue Point Road, where he attacked him, according to police. Cops did not provide any details on that assault. 

Cella allegedly left the construction site and drove about a mile to a 7-Eleven on North Ocean Avenue in Farmingville where he picked up a 60-year-old man about 45 minutes later. 

He drove the victim to the Blue Ridge Condominium Complex on Granny Road in Medford, where he choked the man, police said. 

The victim was able to escape his attacker, police said. 

Cella returned to the 7-Eleven around 8 a.m. Saturday, where he picked up a 47-year-old man and attempted to bring him to an unknown location, cops said. 

But the victim became suspicious and was able to bolt from the vehicle, police said.

He was held overnight at Suffolk County’s Sixth Precinct and is scheduled to be arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip on Monday.

 

A rainbow is seen by the Bridger-Teton National Forest where Gabby Petito's apparent remains were discovered.

Rainbow appears near where Gabby Petito’s apparent remains found

By Edward Era Barbacena

A rainbow appeared in the sky over Wyoming on Sunday near where Gabby Petito’s apparent remains were found — at about the same time another one of the colorful displays formed over the Florida search area for her boyfriend.

The Wyoming rainbow, which was posted to Twitter by Fox News, was seen near Bridger-Teton National Forest shortly after the body believed to be that of the missing 22-year-old woman was discovered by search crews.

The FBI announced the findings that were “consistent” with Petito’s description and said the identity of the remains will be confirmed forensically.

As news was breaking about the discovery of the body, another rainbow was seen over Carlton Reserve — the sprawling Sarasota County, Fl. green space where authorities are searching for Petito’s 23-year-old boyfriend Brian Laundrie.

Last week, Laundrie was named as a person of interest in the disappearance of Petito, who was last seen in late August as the pair were supposed to be touring national parks out west in a van.

Laundrie returned to his Florida home without his girlfriend on Sept. 1 and has not cooperated with authorities in the case. The boyfriend was last seen Tuesday after telling his parents he was going for a hike in the 25,000-acre preserve.

The search for Laundrie continued on Sunday until it was suspended for the day shortly before 6 p.m.

 

Body found at Wyoming search site fits Gabby Petito's description

Such horrific evil that a white man is capable of

By Edward Era Barbacena

-A body has been found in Wyoming in the same area where officials are searching for Gabby Petito. There is no confirmation yet on the identity but officials said the body does fit the description of Gabby Petito. 

Fox News confirms the coroner arrived this afternoon in the Bridger-Teton National Forest in Moose, Wyoming, where agents have been looking for the missing Florida woman.  Ten minutes later, K-9 search teams began leaving the area.

The location of the find - in Spread Creek Dispersed Camping Area, in the Bridger-Teton National Forest - can be seen on the map above. An autopsy is due Tuesday,

The FBI held a news conference from Grand Teton National Park with law enforcement from the National Park Service.  Authorities said the investigation is still ongoing, noting that the body has yet to be 100% positively identified. 

Authorities on Sunday discovered a body at Grand Teton National Park in Moosey, Wyoming, where a search for missing Petito is underway.

"Earlier today, human remains were discovered consistent with the description of Gabrielle "Gabby" Petito. Full forensic identification has not been completed," FBI agent Charles Jones.  "The cause of death has not been determined at this time."

An autopsy for the body believed to be that of Petito has been scheduled for Tuesday, according to the Teton County Coroner's Office.

Petito, 22, vanished in August while traveling across the country with her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie, 23. He returned home without her and has been named a person of interest.

Laundrie has since disappeared himself.  Multiple law enforcement agencies have spent the weekend combing the swampy Carlton Preserve in Venice, Florida. Laundrie’s parents picked up his car there on Tuesday, then reported him missing late Friday.

So far, search teams have not found anything in the 25,000-acre preserve. The Sarasota County Sheriff's Office mobile command center was spotted leaving the scene Sunday afternoon.

Last week, body camera video released by Utah police shows their encounter with Petito and Laundrie on August 12.  Petito sat in the back of a patrol vehicle on the side of a Utah road while Brian remained outside their camper van as law enforcement officials sorted out what transpired after a witness called police reporting a possible domestic violence situation. Police talked with them for over an hour and resulted in the two being separated after a physical encounter occurred between the couple earlier in the day. 

Officers observed scratches on Brian's face and arms. During the body camera video, Gabby also told officers she had no intent to harm Brian.

"What were you intending to do?" an officer is heard asking in the body camera video. "What was the reason behind the slapping?"

"I was trying to get him to stop [telling] me to calm down," Gabby says while in tears. 

"Well, it doesn’t sound to me that she attempted to injure him," the officer says. No charges were filed.

 

Gabby Petito’s family: ‘Abandoned’ van spotted near Grand Teton 2 days after last contact

By Edward Era Barbacena

Gabby Petito’s converted white van was spotted last month near Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming — two days after the missing Long Island native was last heard from, her family says.

Footage of the 2012 Ford Transit was spotted on Aug. 27 by travel bloggers Jenn and Kyle Bethune and posted to their YouTube Sunday.

“We came across a white van that had Florida plates,” Jenn Bethune said. “A small white van. We were going to stop and say hi because we’re from Florida too, but the van was completely dark. There was nobody there, so we decided to continue on our way.”

The couple, who are documenting their family’s travels across the country, said the van seemed “abandoned.”

The Bethunes said they saw the van around 6 or 6:30 p.m. parked off to the side, and later traveled back on the road and saw it again

“It’s kind of freaky for a late Saturday evening,” Kyle Bethune said. “But we just kind of had a brain fart, ‘Oh, there’s that van.'”

“We were going to stop and say hi because we’re from Florida too, but the van was completely dark,” YouTuber Jenn Bethune said

The Bethunes’ video is only one of several sightings reported to authorities, who have asked for the public’s help to determine where Petito could be.

Petito, 22, vanished last month while on a cross-country trip with her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie, who also went missing after returning home to their home in Florida.

She last spoke to her on FaceTime on Aug. 25.

Petito’s family said they and the FBI were aware of the Bethune’s video.

Jenn and Kyle Bethune were documenting their family’s travels across the country and said the van seemed “abandoned.”

“We believe this is the van for multiple reasons,” the kin wrote Sunday on the “Find Gabby” Facebook page. “Please do not clog up the tip line with the same video. This is in the hands of the right people. Thank you so much, this is exactly why we are asking people to review older photos and video. #FindGabby”

Among the other reported sightings was by traveler Shannon Baker, who told KST-TV that she and her husband were driving through the Jenny Lake area of Grand Teton on Aug. 25 when they saw the van around 5 p.m.

“I’m sure of it,” Baker told KST. “It had the black ladder on the back and the two black rooftops on top, the two bars, and we made the comment that would be the perfect little camper to go around in.”

It wasn’t until last week, when they saw reports of Petito going missing, that they realized that was the same vehicle.

“I said, ‘Oh my god!’ That’s the same van we saw,” Baker said. “Without a doubt, on my husband’s life, I know for a fact that was their van.”

Authorities have been poring over hundreds of tips and searching large swaths of Wyoming and Utah since Petito was reported missing Sept. 11 and news of her disappearance went viral.

“All those little pieces can be little pieces of the puzzle to helps us figure out where Gabby is,” St. Clayton Platt of the Teton County Sheriff’s Office told KST.

Jenn and Kyle Bethune’s video is only one of several sightings reported to authorities.

Petito, 22, last spoke to her mom, Nichole Schmidt, on Aug. 25, and later mysteriously vanished — while her Laundrie, 23, returned to their home in Florida alone Sept. 1.

Meanwhile, Laundrie, who lawyered up and refused to talk to investigators, is now the subject of another massive search after disappearing last week from the North Port, Florida, home he shared with Petito and his parents.

Laundrie’s parents told police their son went off for a hike in the vast Carlton Reserve near their home on Tuesday and never returned

Anti-vaxxers Tristan (left) and Dusty Graham died of COVID-19 weeks apart.

 

Unvaccinated Alabama social media influencer couple died of Covid-19 weeks apart

By Edward Era Barbacena

An Alabama couple known on YouTube for reselling vintage items and their staunch anti-vaccine stance have both died from COVID-19, relatives said.

Dusty and Tristan Graham, better known as the “Alabama Pickers,” died from the virus less than a month apart. The pair from Huntsville ran a since-deleted YouTube channel sharing tips on how to resell vintage items, antiques and collectibles

Dusty died Thursday, more than three weeks after his wife “passed suddenly in her sleep” due to coronavirus complications on Aug. 25, according to an online fundraiser set up by their children.

“Unfortunately Dusty and Tristan have both passed away,” wrote the couple’s daughter, Windsor Graham. “Thank you for all the kind words and helping us during this difficult time.”

Weeks earlier, Dusty announced his wife’s death — and also revealed he was in an ICU bed “battling it out” against the virus himself.

One of the last videos posted by the couple on their deleted channel was reposted elsewhere on the video-sharing site, AL.com reported. In the 90-minute clip, showing the couple as they drove, Dusty made his anti-vaccine stance abundantly clear while discussing local mask mandates.

“Still haven’t gotten the you know what,” Dusty said on the clip before mimicking a syringe jab. “Still not planning on getting it.”

“But if you want to, bully for you,” Tristan said, agreeing with her husband’s take.

Dusty said he had his “own passport” while referring to his birth certificate and the Constitution, which he claimed allowed him to travel wherever he wanted without trouble.

“I think this will be all behind us in a couple years,” Dusty continued. “Then they’ll be like ‘You don’t need that anymore.’”

Dusty added that he had survived without a vaccine for a year and knew friends who contracted the virus. Two of their children did as well, according to the couple, who had more than 1,200 followers on eBay, where they sold their vintage finds.

Tristan, meanwhile, said on the clip she had survived bone cancer.

“We will dig through garages, estates, and closets,” the husband-and-wife team’s bio read. “All to bring the BEST antiques, collectibles, and unusual Items to market.”

Source:. NY Post