Tag: crime

Minnesota Liberal Politician Who Campaigned to ‘Dismantle the Police Department’ Falls Victim to Carjacking and Assault – Now Calls for Tougher Juvenile Penalties

Shivanthi Sathanandan, a vice chair of the Minnesota DFL Party and a vocal advocate for defunding the police, has found herself on the receiving end of the crime she once believed could be solved through social programs.

Sathanandan, who is of Indian and Sri Lankan descent, was violently carjacked and assaulted in her own driveway in broad daylight, as her young children looked on in horror. Sathanandan, who is now calling for tougher penalties for juvenile offenders, thanked the police officers who responded to her emergency.

In a detailed Facebook post that included a graphic image of her face after the incident, Sathanandan wrote, “You could have been reading the obituary for me and my children today. But instead, I’m here. To write this. Look at my face. These criminals will not win. We need to take back our city. And this will not be the last you hear from me about this.”

The deeply unsettling event occurred at the Minneapolis home of Sathanandan and involved four young men, all armed. Sathanandan suffered a broken leg, lacerations on her head, and extensive bruising. Her children and neighbors were threatened at gunpoint during the incident.

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Chilling never-before-seen sketches by BTK serial killer showing girls bound and gagged with nooses around their necks are released by cops as they hunt for clues in case of missing girl

Chilling never-before-scene sketches by the BTK serial killer have shown girls gagged with nooses around their neck.

Cops released the images as they step up the investigation into a slew of unsolved murders which they suspect Dennis Rader may have been involved in.

Rader, known as the BTK killer, ‘Bind, Torture, Kill’ went on a murderous two decade killing spree during 1970s to the 1990s, including two children in Kansas. He pleaded guilty to ten murders and is currently serving ten consecutive life sentences.

The images released by the Osage County Sheriff’s Office this week were first recovered after Rader’s arrest in February 2005, but in January, an investigation was opened into other evidence that was discovered by Wichita Police, including, writings and sketches that officials believe may be a possible link to several unsolved cases in the area.

Though there were hundreds of sketches recovered, Osage County Sheriff Eddie Virden told CNN that a ‘few rare color images’ may depict more crimes committed by Rader.

The digital images obtained exclusively by the news outlet show eerie pictures of three different female victims gagged – some have a noose around their neck with their arms and legs bound. Each are wearing a short garment and have a terrifying expression on their faces. 

Investigators believe all three victims are being held captive in a barn.

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“Black Lives Don’t Seem To Matter When Taken By Black Lives”: Maher, Rogan Go Off

Joe Rogan and ‘old school Democrat’ Bill Maher have had it with progressive policies towards crime and policing, and the hypocrisy over ‘black lives’ when blacks are killing each other.

“Murders have been happening way out of control in Chicago among the African-American Community for far too long and not really reported in the same way they should be,” lamented Maher in an episode of the Joe Rogan Experience which aired on Saturday, adding “It’s amazing how black lives don’t seem to matter when they’re taken by black lives,” pointing to the MSM’s asymmetric reporting.

“Their idea was like go in arrest the big kingpins and then we’ll clean up the city. It didn’t work at all.“

Maher then asks ‘where are the leaders of the community? The people who have such cache among those young African American men, to say ‘cut it out! What the fuck are you doing to each other?’

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Man killed by Aurora officer was being robbed: police

A man killed by Aurora Police this week was being robbed when he pulled a gun on another man, triggering the police encounter that led to this death, the department said on Friday.

Police have said officers, who observed the bus-stop dispute on surveillance cameras, went to the scene early Wednesday morning after seeing the man pull a gun on someone. But in a Friday update, the department said someone was trying to steal the man’s backpack.

It was around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday at a bus stop in the Del Mar Parkway neighborhood. Officers were watching a camera overlooking the area near East Colfax Avenue and Havana Street when they spotted the dispute, police said.

“Officers immediately responded when they observed one of those men produce a firearm and point it at the other man. Officers arrived at the intersection and aired they were in contact with the armed man. Moments later, the officers aired shots had been fired. Only one officer discharged his firearm,” the Friday release reads.

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Stop Publishing Mug Shots—Even Donald Trump’s

What may become the most famous mug shot in history is slated to be taken tonight. You’d be forgiven for forgetting why such images are taken in the first place.

That amnesia might be particularly pronounced after the last 24 hours, as a slew of defendants in the Georgia indictment related to allegations that former President Donald Trump and company conspired to overturn the results of the 2020 election have surrendered in Fulton County, Georgia.

Their mug shots have been the center of intense media attention, news articles, commentary, and online mockery, which is odd when considering what a mug shot is, or, rather, what it’s supposed to be: a banal step executed by law enforcement as a record-keeping measure post-arrest.

The fascination with these defendants’ mug shots is a (perhaps counterintuitive) reminder of why the media should decline to publish such photos and why governments should limit their release. That these defendants are in many ways unsympathetic does not change the principle of the matter: that mug shots are not taken to humiliate a defendant before they’ve been convicted of a crime. The events of this week serve as a reminder, however, that that’s the function they serve in wider society.

That’s not to say that the defendants in the Georgia indictment should be held to a different standard than other criminal defendants. It’s the standard itself that needs to change, which will benefit the people who are much less powerful and who stand to lose much more by having their faces splashed across the press before they’ve had a chance to state their case.

It’s an effort that several states across the country have undertaken in various ways. Last year, Louisiana passed a law hamstringing law enforcement’s ability to release certain mug shots pre-conviction for nonviolent crimes, with several exceptions in place for more serious crimes and if the person in question is deemed a fugitive. “Though society may be accustomed to mugshots, the time has come for us to question their social value,” wrote state Rep. Royce Duplessis (D–New Orleans), who filed the legislation, in an op-ed for The Advocate. Several states—including Arkansas, Florida, Montana, New York, and California—have implemented various guardrails against the unfettered access to and publication of mug shots, and the sky is yet to fall.

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LOS ANGELES COMMITS ANOTHER $1 BILLION TO LAPD DESPITE FALLING VIOLENT CRIME

The Los Angeles City Council approved a contract with the Los Angeles Police Department’s union on Wednesday containing salary increases, increased healthcare pay, and bonuses that will cost the city an additional $994 million over the next four years.

The 12-3 vote followed an outpouring of opposition from Angelenos, who argued during public comment that the police have more than enough funding. Many pleaded with councilmembers to instead invest in other city services, like housing and infrastructure. Councilmembers who voted against the proposal voiced agreement with their constituents.

“When we allocate so much of our city money to just one department, we starve all of our other departments of the money, personnel, and resources that they need to serve Angelenos,” said councilmember Eunisses Hernandez at a press conference before the hearing. Hernandez voted no on the proposal, alongside councilmembers Hugo Soto-Martinez and Nithya Raman.

“It is unclear exactly how the city will pay for nearly $1 billion in salary increases over the next four years, despite the fact that we already allocated a quarter of our city’s general fund to the LAPD,” Hernandez added.

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The family of a pregnant Colorado woman fatally shot by police sues the officers

The family of a pregnant Colorado woman fatally shot by an Arvada police officer after she was mistaken for a shoplifter said in a lawsuit that the killing was “patently unreasonable.”

The family of Destinee Thompson, 27, of Denver, is seeking unspecified damages in the suit filed against four officers and a sergeant Tuesday, two years after Thompson was killed as she tried to drive away from officers who had surrounded her car.

She was leaving an Arvada motel on Aug. 17, 2021, when several officers approached her, saying they were looking for a Latina who had brandished a knife as she was stealing a cart full of merchandise from a Target store, according to the suit, filed in District Court in Denver County.

The actual suspect, who also had stolen items from the store two days previously, had a chest tattoo, she was wearing a white tank top, and she allegedly had gone to the motel, the suit says.

Thompson, who was wearing a white tank top but did not have a chest tattoo, was leaving the motel to eat lunch as officers arrived, the document says.

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DC council member calls for National Guard’s help as city grapples with escalating violence

On Tuesday afternoon, Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White held a news conference in Southeast by the scene of Saturday’s mass shooting on Good Hope Road.

White called on the entire community to help stop the surge in violence that has led to a 28% increase in homicides in the District. 

While he said it’s only a “piece” of the puzzle, the council member said he supports possibly calling in the National Guard to help patrol the streets. 

White disputed the acting police chief’s comments she made after the mass shooting, saying the neighborhood is now a “warzone,” and residents are hearing gunfire at all times of the day.

So far this year, 161 lives have been lost, compared to 126 this time last year, according to police records. 

This weekend alone, D.C. police confirmed 11 people had been killed from Friday to Sunday.

“We’re tired of this sh-t,” Councilmember White said passionately. “Enough is enough. And excuse my language, but I want to be frank with the young men and young ladies we serve. It’s not okay for you to load up 30, 40, 50 – 120 rounds in a gun and shoot up our community.”

White told reporters that he did speak with someone from the National Guard to find out exactly what they would need in an official request. Those details include a very clear definition of how many members, what they’d be doing, and the length of time.

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Florida diving team finds 32 cars submerged in a Doral lake on their mission to solve 40 missing persons cold cases

Divers in Florida have uncovered a total of 32 cars submerged in a lake that are expected to be linked to criminal cold cases.  

Ken Fleming and Doug Bishop said that they stumbled upon the vehicles, which were most likely dumped during criminal activities, in their bid to help solve missing person cases in Doral, near Miami International Airport. 

The volunteer divers are now working with Miami-Dade County to remove all the vehicles from the murky water near Northwest 87th Avenue and 13th Terrace – before they start to look into any potential cold cases connections. 

Videos captured underwater show the divers looking inside the abandoned vehicles during their excavations on Sunday.

Fleming told 7News: ‘When we discover a spot like this with multiple vehicles, it pretty much indicates that a crime where they’re disposing the vehicles and hiding them from law enforcement.’ 

The volunteers use sonar technology after doing their research on where clues on missing people cases might located. 

He added: ‘We have a giant database of our own that we extract.

‘We have 40 that we’re targeting right now of folks that disappeared, anywhere from two or three months ago to 30, 40 years ago.’

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Global investigation leads to child sex abuse operation that charged 19 men, removed 13 Australian children from harm

The murder of two FBI agents in the United States during a child sexual abuse investigation has led to charges against 19 men and 13 children being removed from harm in Australia.

Australian Federal Police (AFP) has revealed details of the joint FBI operation targeting child abuse material on the dark web.

The investigation dates back to February 2021 when FBI agents Daniel Alfin and Laura Schwartzenberger were gunned down as they served a search warrant on a paedophile computer programmer who was distributing child sexual abuse material in Florida.

The programmer, David Lee Huber, was thought to have watched the agents through a doorbell camera before shooting them through the unopened door and then killing himself.

Three other agents were injured in the shooting.

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