Tag: alabama

Man arrested with body armor and a suitcase filled with ammunition after threatening multiple synagogues, officials say

In the latest antisemitic incident to rock a community, threatened attacks on synagogues in Alabama and surrounding states were thwarted when a person was arrested with a suitcase full of ammunition, body armor and other items, officials said Tuesday.

The FBI and other agencies were notified of “credible threats of violence” against the places of worship and a suspect was eventually identified and arrested Tuesday, according to a Facebook post from the Clarke County Sheriff’s Office.

A search of the suspect’s home yielded weapons, the suitcase filled with ammunition, body armor and “other items related to the plans of violence,” the office said.

The arrest comes as antisemitic sentiment and attacks have surged globally. A car ramming and stabbing attack outside a synagogue left two dead in Manchester, England, earlier this month, less than two weeks after a late-night fire was set at a synagogue in Florida. Antisemitic incidents in the US rose in 2024 for the fourth year in a row, reaching their highest level since the Anti-Defamation League started tracking them, according to an annual audit from the organization.

It is unclear how the latest threats were made. The suspect was identified as Jeremy Wayne Shoemaker, the Facebook post said. He is 33, according to Choctaw County Sheriff Scott Lolley.

Keep reading

Father and Son Arrested for Attempting to Smuggle Over 300 Firearms to Mexico

Two men from Alabama have been charged with trafficking more than 300 weapons with ammunition and magazines, announced Attorney General Pamela Bondi and U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.

Emilio Ramirez Cortes, 48, a Mexican citizen who legally resides in the United States, and his son, Edgar Emilio Ramirez Diaz, have made their initial appearances in Laredo federal court and will remain in custody pending a detention hearing set for Oct. 31.

Both are charged with smuggling firearms, ammunition, magazines and other firearms accessories as well as trafficking of firearms.

“Disrupting the illegal flow of weapons into Mexico is a key part of our whole-of-government approach to dismantling the cartels,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “This significant seizure represents our commitment to protecting Americans from brutal cartel violence.”

On Oct. 23, two vehicles appeared to be driving in tandem and approached the Juarez-Lincoln Port of Entry in Laredo, according to the complaint. 

The charges allege Ramirez Diaz was driving a Chevrolet Tahoe with Alabama license plates followed by his father in a Chevrolet Silverado with Mexican license plates. Both vehicles were allegedly hauling enclosed white box utility trailers.

“Those that illegally traffic guns to Mexico empower cartels to terrorize the innocent,” said Ganjei. “This seizure of an immense quantity of firearms illustrates the Southern District of Texas’s full-spectrum approach to fighting the cartels. We will attack every facet of their operations until they are wiped off the face of the earth.”

Keep reading

“Harsh Measures”? – President Trump Announces Space Command Will Move From Colorado Springs to Huntsville, Alabama

Last month, President Donald Trump took to Truth to announce “harsh measures” in response to the persecution of former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, who is serving a nine-year sentence in Colorado prison for making a forensic image of voting systems in her custody prior to a “Trusted Build” conducted by the Colorado Secretary of State’s office.

In his post to Truth Social, President Trump called Peters “a brave and innocent Patriot who has been tortured by Crooked Colorado politicians” and claiming that she did nothing wrong “except catching the Democrats cheat in the Election.”

According to Ashe Epp of the Colorado Free Press, Space Command employed 1,700 people in Colorado Springs and contributed around $1 billion annually to the local economy via direct spending, employee salaries, and patronage of local businesses by Space Command employees.

Colorado Springs is home to over 150 space, aerospace, and defense companies and is home to five major military installations with a significant Department of Defense presence, however, Huntsville, too, has a large presence surrounding the Redstone Arsenal, which serves as a major center for missile, rocket, and space systems development and testing, according to Army Technology.

“Rocket City” is home to NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, Lockheed Martin, Northrup Grumman, BAE Systems, General Dynamics, and several other military industrial complex companies.

According to the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the aerospace and defense industry accounts for 44% of the total economy with 111,000 employees in the region.

Keep reading

HORROR: 3-Year-Old Boy Dies in Hot Car While with Child Services — Government Took Him From Father, Then Left Him to Die

A horrifying failure of state “oversight” led to the death of a 3-year-old boy after he was abandoned for five hours inside a sweltering vehicle by a child welfare contractor hired by the Alabama Department of Human Resources (DHR).

Ke’Torrius “KJ” Starks Jr. was taken from his family and placed into the care of a foster system that was supposed to protect him.

He was picked up from daycare at 9:00 a.m. for a court-ordered supervised visit with his biological father, which ended at 11:30 a.m., according to People.

Instead of returning him to daycare, he was allegedly abandoned in a hot car for five hours while a DHR contract worker ran errands for herself—including picking up food for her family and shopping at a tobacco store, according to the family’s attorney.

The incident took place Tuesday in Birmingham as temperatures soared above 100 degrees.

The heat index reached 108°F, meaning the temperature inside the vehicle likely exceeded a deadly 150°F, according to attorney Courtney French.

More from People:

French says that the worker, who was employed to do transport through Covenant Services Inc., went Tuesday morning to pick KJ up from a child care center to bring him for a supervised visit with his dad.

Afterward, however, the worker did not bring the boy back to his center and instead decided “to run numerous personal errands with KJ still in a car seat in the back,” French claims. The stops including getting food and going to a tobacco shop.

The employee then went home but KJ was left in the car, according to French.

“The safety net that should have been in place to protect KJ and others like him is what caused his death,” French says. “So the very system that is in place for his protection was the system that led to his death — and that’s what’s so tragic about this.”

DHR says, “A child in DHR custody was being transported by a contract provider,” and confirmed the provider has fired the employee—yet refuses to disclose identity, safety protocols, or any meaningful accountability, citing confidentiality laws.

Keep reading

Federal Judge Sanctions Alabama Lawyers for Submitting Fake AI‑Generated Case Citations, Highlighting Systemic, Ongoing AI Problems Making up Facts

OpenAI founder Sam Altman says that soon, everything everywhere will start using Artificial Intelligence and Large Language Models for entire professions, causing them to “disappear.”

Meanwhile, people actually using these services, including attorneys in Alabama, are being sanctioned for the pervasive AI/LLM flaw of ‘hallucinating’ fake citations and fake references.

A federal judge in Birmingham, Alabama, Judge Anna Manasco, issued formal sanctions this week against three attorneys from the law firm Butler Snow after they submitted legal filings containing fabricated case citations generated by ChatGPT.

Manasco, appointed to the court by President Trump, described the citations as “completely made up” and removed the attorneys from the case.

The filings were part of a lawsuit brought by an inmate who alleged repeated stabbings at the William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility. Manasco referred the case to the Alabama State Bar and ordered the attorneys to share the sanctions order with all current and future clients, as well as all opposing counsel and courts where they are actively involved.

Even the attorneys overseeing the ones who made the mistake of using ChatGPT were also sanctioned. The supervisors claimed they ‘skimmed’ the filings and did not notice the fabricated legal authorities used to support their written arguments.

The lawsuit centers on claims by inmate Frankie Johnson, who alleges that prison officials failed to prevent multiple assaults despite prior warnings. Johnson is housed at Donaldson Correctional Facility, one of the state’s most overcrowded and violent prisons. The firm representing the Alabama Department of Corrections, Butler Snow, filed motions in the case that included five legal citations meant to support its arguments on scheduling and discovery disputes. Upon review, none of the referenced decisions existed.

News in the past month also suggests that, when measured, heavy AI/LLM reliance stunts the cognitive growth in its users, effectively making them dumber.

The judge investigated the filings further in this case and determined that the cases cited had never been published, logged, or recorded in any known legal database. They were simply made up out of thin air.

Keep reading

Authorities: 7 arrested after at least 10 kids, some as young as 2, sexually tortured with shock collars in Alabama sex-trafficking ring

Seven people have been arrested after at least 10 children, as young as 2 years old, were held captive in an Alabama storm bunker for three years and sexually tortured through the use of tools like animal shock collars as part of a sex-trafficking ring.

According to Bibb County Sheriff Jody Wade, seven suspects have been arrested as part of the roundup of the ring, including three family members and two mothers whose children were also trapped and abused in the basement.

“I know God’s forgiveness is boundless, but if there is a limit, we’ve reached it,” Wade said. 

The suspects have been identified as Rebecca Brewer, 29, Sara Louise Terrell, 41, Ricky Terrell, 44, Dalton Terrell, 21, William Chase McElroy, 21, Andres Velazquez-Trejo, 29, and Timothy St. John, 23. 

All of the suspects are currently facing a list of charges ranging from sodomy and rape to sexual torture and human trafficking.

According to investigators, all the suspects played a specific role in the ring. 

Bibb County Assistant District Attorney Bryan Jones said Velazquez-Trejo would allegedly drug the victims by putting a white powder in their drinks before bringing in clients who would pay up to $1,000 to have sex with them. 

He continued stating that the children would be tied up during the act, often to the limited furniture in the room, including a grimy mattress, a chair, and a support pole.

Jones said that two of the victims were forced to perform sexual acts on each other and told authorities that McElroy was the one who had both taught them the process and performed it on them himself. 

According to public court documents, Sara Louise Terrell allegedly placed animal shock collars on the children, which the suspects would use on the victim’s genitals as a form of punishment and self-serving sexual gratification.

Wade stated that the victims included both her children and Velazquez-Trejo and Brewer’s three children. Brewer also has a fourth child from a separate relationship.

Authorities stated that it is unclear how many children belonging to Sara Louise Terrell were involved, or who their fathers were.

Court records stated that other suspects arrested were allegedly responsible for selling and purchasing the children, and Velazquez-Trejo would additionally sell nude pictures of the victims.

Keep reading

Alabama Judge Will Hear Lawsuit From Parents Over State’s Medical Marijuana Delays

A judge will hold a hearing later this month in a lawsuit filed by parents of children potentially eligible to receive medical cannabis under Alabama’s long-delayed program.

The five parents—Dustin Chandler, Cristina Cain, Catherine Hall, Megan Jackson and Kari Forsyth—want the court to require the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission (AMCC) to establish a patient registry for medical cannabis, citing delays in access to the program.

“Plaintiffs also bring this petition in their individual capacities because they have suffered specific injuries as a result of the Commissioner’s failure to establish the patient and caregiver registry and seek to vindicate their own private rights,” the parents claimed in the lawsuit. The are also suing “in the name of the State of Alabama to uphold the Compassion Act’s requirement.”

The commission argued in a motion to dismiss filed in May that the lawsuit lacks standing and asks the AMCC to take steps already taken or beyond its control.

“The Commission applauds the early advocacy of those among the Petitioners who supported passage of the [Compassion Act]. Regretfully, it appears the Petitioners have been misinformed about the status of the Patient Registry and why it has not yet been populated with the names of eligible patients,” counsel for AMCC wrote in the motion.

The plaintiffs said in their filing that each child “has a condition that is treatable with medical cannabis” but does not provide any further details.

The AMCC states in the motion that a patient registry has, in fact, been established and is being maintained at a significant expense. But according to the motion to dismiss, no patients are currently registered because physicians cannot be certified until certain licensing requirements for cultivators, processors, transporters and dispensaries are met.

According to the AMCC’s filing, rules established by the Alabama Board of Medical Examiners (BME) dictate that physician certification is dependent on issuing at least one license in each of the licensing categories, or to one integrated facility.

Keep reading

‘Snooping Around’: Government Officials Under Fire for Bypassing State Constitution

‘It makes it very dangerous when you’re hunting with rifles and people aren’t wearing colors that make them easy to see.’

A court is being asked to act against state officials who bypass the requirements of their own state constitution.

The situation is that while the Alabama Constitution “makes it clear that if the government wants to come searching on your property, they need a warrant based on probable cause,” agents from the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources simply cite a statute to ignore that requirement.

The Institute for Justice now is working with three Alabama residents to sue over the practice that has agents invading and searching private property not only without a warrant, but without consent.

The plaintiffs are Killen residents Dalton Boley and Regina Williams and Muscle Shoals resident Dale Liles, who all took action after facing “multiple” privacy intrusions by game wardens.

None ever has been charged with hunting violations, “yet game wardens have snooped around on their properties without warrants on multiple occasions. That’s because of an Alabama statute that allows game wardens to ‘enter upon any land … in the performance of their duty.’ Whether it’s a posted field or residential yard, the statute gives wardens broad power to roam around private property without any warrant,” the IJ said.

But, IJ lawyer Suranjan Sen explained, “The Alabama Constitution makes it clear that if the government wants to come searching on your property, they need a warrant based on probable cause, and game wardens are not exempt from the Constitution.”

Williams owns 10 acres in Killen and had used it for decades, but as she aged she gave her neighbor, Boley, and his family permission to use it.

Then the game wardens arrived.

Keep reading

Alabama Governor Faces Contrasting Calls To Sign Or Veto Hemp Regulation Bill On Her Desk

A bill aimed at regulating consumable hemp products has landed on Gov. Kay Ivey’s (R) desk, but its future is uncertain.

HB 445, sponsored by Rep. Andy Whitt (R-Harvest), would establish regulations for consumable hemp products in Alabama, but the bill’s language and potential consequences have led the hemp industry to suggest the possibility of litigation and led to uncertainty among lawmakers, business owners, patients and lobbyists.

“It is my hope that the governor signs the bill this week. I think it’s a good piece of legislation. I think it’s a bipartisan piece of legislation, and certainly, we have to get the guardrails up on this industry,” Whitt said in a phone interview Tuesday.

Key provisions of the bill include:

  • Testing and labeling requirements for all consumable hemp products.
  • Caps of 10 milligrams per individually wrapped product, with a cap of 40 milligrams per package.
  • Authorization for the Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) Board to license retailers of these products.
  • Restrictions on retail establishments selling hemp products.
  • Prohibition of sales to minors.
  • Prohibition of smokable hemp products and restrictions on online sales and direct delivery.
  • Imposition of an excise tax on consumable hemp products.

The bill defines “consumable hemp product” broadly as any finished product intended for human or animal consumption that contains any part of the hemp plant or its derivatives, but explicitly bans smokable hemp products and certain psychoactive cannabinoids.

Keep reading

Grand jury recommends Alabama police department be ‘immediately abolished’

An Alabama grand jury has recommended that a city’s police department be “immediately abolished,” finding there is a “rampant culture of corruption,” officials said Wednesday while announcing the indictment of five of the agency’s officers, including its police chief.

Five Hanceville police officers were arrested and charged amid a probe into the department, Cullman County District Attorney Champ Crocker said. The spouse of one of the officers was also charged, he said.

“This is a sad day for law enforcement, but at the same time, it is a good day for the rule of law,” Crocker said during a press briefing on Wednesday.

Crocker provided limited details on the case. Though the investigation encompassed the department’s evidence room and the death of a Hanceville dispatcher, 49-year-old Christopher Michael Willingham, who was found dead from a toxic drug combination at work, officials said.

The Cullman County grand jury found that the Hanceville Police Department has “failed to account for, preserve and maintain evidence and in doing so has failed crime victims and the public at large,” making the evidence “unusable,” Crocker said.

The grand jury further found that Willingham’s death was “the direct result of the Hanceville Police Department’s negligence, lack of procedure, general incompetence and disregard for human life,” Crocker said.

Keep reading