Tag: crime

Mexico’s First Openly Gay Mayor Slain in Guadalajara as World Cup Highlights More Than 135,000 Disappearances and more Journalist Killings

Mexico’s hosting of the 2026 FIFA World Cup was meant to showcase national pride, soccer passion, and cultural unity before a global audience. Instead, the tournament has unfolded against the backdrop of some of the country’s deepest crises: cartel violence, forced disappearances, killings of public officials and journalists, and protests by families searching for missing loved ones.

The July 7 killing of Benjamín Medrano Quezada, Mexico’s first openly gay mayor, brought those realities into even sharper focus.

Medrano, 59, was shot and killed in Guadalajara, Jalisco, after leaving an ice cream shop in the Santa Elena de la Cruz neighborhood. According to authorities, gunmen riding a motorcycle opened fire multiple times, striking him in the head and face.

Medrano served as mayor of Fresnillo, Zacatecas—one of Mexico’s largest municipalities and a strategic corridor for drug trafficking—from 2013 to 2015 before later serving as a federal deputy. He made history as one of Mexico’s first openly gay mayors and was also known as a singer, businessman, and owner of a gay bar in Fresnillo.

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How a Member of a Powerful Utah Family Escaped a Federal Trafficking Investigation and Reinvented Himself as an Instagram Influencer

Former Utah County Attorney David Leavitt has outrun accusations of an illegal adoption and ritualistic child abuse after attorneys within US Homeland Security Investigations shuttered an investigation into his actions.

In an exclusive interview with The Last American Vagabond, a former Homeland Security Investigations analyst reveals how he was targeted by the US government for pursuing an investigation into a powerful Utah politician following a controversial adoption of a Native American baby.

The analyst said that he and his colleague were sidelined after attempting to subpoena the Mormon Church’s internal hotline for reporting sexual abuse as part of their investigation. The federal government would eventually turn its focus to him after he questioned why charges had not been filed, despite an admission of guilt by the suspect.

“They spent $2 million investigating, and they couldn’t even arrest me. They got into my phone, my iCloud, and still couldn’t find anything to arrest me on,” the analyst told The Last American Vagabond (TLAV) over the phone. “This was under Biden… signed off on by Secretary Mayorkas.”

Alejandro Mayorkas served as the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security under former US President Joe Biden.

The analyst requested anonymity to speak freely on his role in the investigation. TLAV has independently verified the claims made by him.

Ritualistic Child Sexual Abuse

This saga begins with the Utah County Sheriff’s Office (UCSO) May 31, 2022, announcement that an investigation into “ritualistic child sexual abuse and child sex trafficking” in Utah County had begun in April 2021.

The UCSO statement noted that “multiple county and federal agencies are investigating reports of ritualistic child sexual abuse from as far back as 1990.” The investigation subsequently discovered previous reports alleging “similar forms of ritualistic sexual abuse and trafficking” that occurred in Utah County, Juab County, and Sanpete County during the time between 1990 and 2010.

In September 2022, former therapist David Hamblin was the first suspect to be arrested and charged by the UCSO for multiple first-degree felony sexual offenses against a child. He was booked for three counts of sodomy of a child, one count of rape of a child, two counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, and one misdemeanor count of lewdness involving a child. His ex-wife, Roselle Stevenson, was later arrested on similar charges.

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Ex-Obama press secretary fired after allegedly swiping credit cards from colleagues to fund kratom habit

A former Barack Obama press secretary was fired from his chief communications role in Minneapolis after allegedly stealing cash and credit cards from city employees to fuel his habit for kratom — a natural drug used to treat opioid withdrawal.

Adam Fetcher, 42, was canned from his role as Chief Communications Officer (CCO) for the City of Minneapolis after just a year on the job amid a police investigation into internal workplace theft and fraud, as well as claims of substance abuse, the Minnesota Star Tribune reported.

Fetcher, who made nearly $200,000 a year, is accused of stealing cash and credit cards out of the desks and purses of three fellow city hall employees, racking up hundreds of dollars in fraudulent charges at tobacco stores, reported the Star Tribune, citing sources familiar with the investigation.

Security surveillance footage reportedly shows Fetcher using one of the stolen cards to buy $481 of kratom — a herbal supplement often used to manage opioid withdrawal symptoms — at a south Minneapolis smoke shop, reported the outlet.

Under state law, card fraud of that amount would qualify as a felony-level offense if prosecutors decide to charge Fetcher.

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Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer Pardons Albanian Refugee Facing Deportation Years After Murder Conviction

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer just pardoned an Albanian refugee who was convicted of murder and served a measly four year sentence back in 1978.

He was actually placed on a list for removal by the Biden administration but Whitmer just stepped in and granted the pardon, ending the removal process.

Of course, the glaring question is why this person has been allowed to stay in the U.S. for so many years despite a murder conviction. Shouldn’t that warrant an instant one-way ticket out of the country?

The Midwesterner reports:

Gretchen Whitmer pardons Albanian refugee facing deportation for murder conviction

An Albanian refugee convicted of murder in Michigan will likely avoid deportation following a recent pardon by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Whitmer granted Deda Malota Margilaj, 74, a full pardon on July 2, 50 years after he was convicted of second-degree murder for shooting and killing a man at a Detroit gas station in 1975.

President Joe Biden’s administration placed Margilaj in removal proceedings based on the 1978 conviction, but Whitmer’s pardon erases that basis and allows for the termination of the removal proceedings, according to the Perlumutter Center for Legal Justice that represented Margilaj.

“Now more than ever, this case demonstrates the power of executive clemency to correct the lifelong collateral consequences of decades-old convictions,” said Joshua Dubin, Executive Director of the Perlmutter Center for Legal Justice. “Thanks to Governor Whitmer, Mr. Margilaj will be able to do what he enjoys the most ⎯ spend time with his family and friends, free of the fear that has limited his life for so many decades.”

Margilaj came to the U.S. alone as a refugee from Albania at 17 years old, and later started a business in Detroit. In 1975, he was charged with second-degree murder after shooting a man in defense of his brother, who was shot by the victim, according to the Perlmutter Center.

Some people are saying that the pardon doesn’t even matter.

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SoCal Education Leaders Stole Nearly $20M From Schools; Report

A new report has revealed that a pair of Southern California school leaders separately stole nearly $20 million from their schools in order to fund lavish personal lifestyles.

According to The New York Post, the report was co-authored by the State Financial Officers Foundation, a watchdog made up of state treasurers and auditors, and OpenTheBooks, a nonprofit focused on transparency in government spending.

The cases of the two Southern California educators were among the most expensive examples of K-12 education fraud documented nationwide.

Jorge Armando Contreras, the former fiscal services director for the Magnolia Elementary School District in Orange County, was charged with altering school checks over several years to funnel $16.7 million into his personal accounts.

Contreras was spending the money on everything from a luxury home and a BMW to designer clothes and pricey tequila and federal investigators found stacks of cash stuffed into a mini-fridge and luxury designer bags at his home.

He was sentenced to nearly six years in federal prison in 2024 and order to pay $16.7 million in restitution to the Magnolia School District in Orange County.

Another case highlighted in the report revealed that Janis Bucknor, the head of the Community Preparatory Academy charter school in Los Angeles, stole more than $3 million in taxpayer funds to cover travel, restaurants, shopping and private school tuition for her children.

Bucknor also pleaded guilty to spending more than $220,600 on Disney cruise line vacations, theme park admissions, and other Disney-related expenses.

According to prosecutors, Bucknor admitted in 2020 to stealing the funds, and was sentenced to three years’ probation and ordered to pay $2.5 million in restitution.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, State Financial Officers Foundation CEO OJ Oleka said:

All fraud is harmful, but defrauding education dollars meant to help kids learn and succeed is especially hideous. The findings in this report should alarm every family, teacher, and civic leader.

The California cases were part of nearly 90 cases identified by a coalition of auditors over the past six years involving embezzlement, phony invoices, inflated enrollment, bid-rigging and kickbacks, among other crimes.

The report follows the Trump administration’s promise to crack down on government waste, with Vice President JD Vance leading a nationwide “War on Fraud” that has raised new questions about oversight of federal education spending.

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Illegal Alien from Guyana Arrested for Firebombing Two New York City Churches – “Yeah, I F**king Firebombed Them!”

A 36-year-old illegal alien was arrested after throwing improvised explosives at two churches in Queens, New York, on Wednesday night.

Yogesh Sayrange is a Guyanese citizen who is considered “unauthorized” in the US because his childhood arrival protection expired.

Surveillance footage from one of the churches shows three individuals outside the Iglesia Bautista El Mesias church when the man, dressed in a dark hoodie and pants, appears to throw a Molotov cocktail at the building.

The three bystanders got back into their car and left the scene as the man walked off in another direction.

A fourth bystander is seen throwing his arms up as he walks by.

Another firebombing occurred at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

The suspect, identified as Yogesh Sayrange, is believed by police to be involved in a third incident as well.

Per ABC 7:

The suspect is accused of throwing an incendiary device at the front door of the Iglesia Bautista El Mesias church on 75th Street in Ozone Park just after 11:35 p.m. on Wednesday.

Investigators say the Molotov cocktail bounced off the door and exploded on the ground, causing no damage to the building.

Police say the suspect then traveled to a Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses on 78th Street in Woodhaven, where he allegedly threw a second Molotov cocktail. That device also bounced off the door and exploded on the ground without damaging the building.

A third incident was then discovered at 76-9 Rockaway Boulevard in Cypress Hills. There was no damage to that building.

Authorities later located and arrested the 36-year-old suspect. Police say they recovered two additional Molotov cocktails from his bag at the time of his arrest.

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How Flock Cameras Wrongly Tracked Me for Days Over ‘Stolen’ Plates and Sent Police After Me

Are you armed?!” the police officer screamed. “Get out of the car!”

On an otherwise normal Sunday afternoon in late June, I’d decided to take the $155,000 Range Rover I was testing that week out to run some errands with my wife. Little did I know that choice would complete a technological chain linking surveillance cameras, AI, and law enforcement that led to me and my wife being surrounded by police, hands on their guns, in a Kohl’s parking lot in suburban Minnesota.

After dropping off our Amazon returns, we’d just gotten back in the Range Rover and reversed maybe two feet out of the spot when four cop cars came flying out of nowhere and boxed us in. The officers jumped out and started shouting. It’s a situation that can quickly and frequently turn bad, so as unprepared as I was, I followed their orders, got out with my hands up, and tried to figure out what the hell was happening.

Eventually, after a tense hour, I did. The Plymouth Police Department had been tracking me for days using Flock license plate cameras, waiting for the right moment to strike, because they thought I’d stolen the Range Rover. And the reason I was ID’d as a dangerous car thief was a simple data error made 2,000 miles away in California, creating an edge case within an edge case that Flock’s AI camera network was unable to handle.

We now live in a surveillance state where cameras mounted on stoplights are tracking our cars, our devices, our pets, and even us. This is just the beginning; next, these cameras could be put in motion using our kids’ school buses. Whether you’ve actually stolen a car or are just rolling down the road having done nothing wrong, like me, once these systems have you in their crosshairs, there’s pretty much only one way it can go. Welcome to the future. It’s scary out there.

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Corrupt Illinois Democrat State Rep and County Clerk Husband INDICTED In Mass NGO Kickback and Fraud Scheme — Just Weeks After Daughter Busted For COVID Fraud

Another corrupt Illinois Democrat family caught with their hands in the till.

Urbana Democrat State Representative Carol Ammons and her husband, Champaign County Clerk Aaron Ammons, were indicted Tuesday by a federal grand jury on multiple felony counts including wire fraud, false statements, and conspiracy to obstruct justice.

The indictment lays out a brazen scheme where Ammons allegedly used her campaign committee, Friends of Carol Ammons, to issue overpayments and then took cash kickbacks disguised as “gifts.”

At the same time, she used her position as a state lawmaker to steer massive state grants to friendly nonprofits that then put her daughter Titianna Ammons on the payroll, WCIA reported.

According to the federal indictment:

  • Carol Ammons allegedly caused campaign funds to be paid to herself and family members through excess checks and then received cash kickbacks to hide the scheme. She also falsely reported expenditures to the Illinois State Board of Elections.
  • She helped secure over $1.6 million in state grants for nonprofits including:
    • Bridgewater Sullivan Community Life Center ($612,000 grant) — where daughter Titianna was paid more than $60,000 as Program Director (Ammons even helped draft her employment contract).
    • Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center (over $1 million in grants) — where Titianna was paid nearly $10,000 as a digital marketing coordinator.
    • Another grant to Hood Vote that also funneled money to the daughter.

Prosecutors say Ammons and her daughter received financial benefits in excess of $100,000 through this web of campaign misuse and grant steering between 2017 and roughly 2023.

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Justice Department Vows Criminal Action Against States that Allow Noncitizens to Vote

The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Tuesday threatened states that allow noncitizens to remain on state voter rolls or vote in elections.

The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division sent letters to election officials across all 50 states, asking the state officials how they intend to comply with federal law to ensure that noncitizens do not vote. The DOJ gave every state five days to respond to the Department’s demands.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon wrote in the letters to state elections officials, “Any election officer, including the chief election officer of the state, who knowingly retains noncitizens on the state’s [state voter registration list] or facilitates noncitizens in receiving and casting ballots could be subject to criminal liability.”

She noted that it is a crime for two or more people to coordinate to deprive Americans of their constitutional rights.

“We encourage you to contact us to discuss what steps your state should take to maintain clean voter lists as required by law,” she continued.

The Justice Department sent their letters to the state elections officials as President Donald Trump has demanded that the Senate passes the SAVE America Act, a bill that would require Americans to show proof of citizenship in person to register to vote. He has vowed not to sign other bills into law unless the Senate passes his election integrity bill. “The Department sent these letters to all 50 states and the District of Columbia, asking for voluntary compliance in a timely manner with their obligations under federal law to ensure only citizens vote in federal elections,” a Justice Department spokesperson said.

Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes said in a statement that “the suggestion that Arizona election officials are failing to do their jobs is simply not supported by the facts.”

“It is insulting to insinuate that the good people at our county recorders’ offices across the state are not doing their jobs correctly,” the Arizona Democrat continued. “Arizona election officials have always worked to ensure that only eligible citizens are registered to vote, and we will continue following Arizona law — not directions that come from political rhetoric or intimidation.”

Breitbart News’s Katherine Hamilton reported about how one case out of Alabama points to how noncitizens vote in American elections.

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Illegal Alien from Mexico Fatally Shot After Trying to Run Over ICE Agent in Houston – DHS Responds

An illegal alien from Mexico was fatally shot after trying to run over an ICE agent in Houston, Texas, on Tuesday.

According to reports, ICE officers conducted a traffic stop around 6:50 am when the illegal alien, identified as Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, tried to evade law enforcement.

Lorenzo Salgado Araujo rammed an ICE vehicle, refused to follow multiple verbal commands and attempted to run over an ICE agent before he was fatally shot.

The illegal was transported to a local hospital where he died from his injuries.

This is the second time this month that an illegal alien has tried ramming a vehicle into law enforcement officials this month.

Click 2 Houston reported:

An undocumented immigrant was shot and killed Tuesday morning in east Houston by an ICE agent during an attempted arrest, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The man has been identified as Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican national who was in the U.S. illegally, according to ICE.

According to the agency, at about 6:50 a.m., ICE agents attempted a traffic stop in the 6800 block of Canal Street as part of a “targeted enforcement operation to arrest an illegal alien.”

Officials said Araujo attempted to flee the scene.

ICE said Araujo rammed an ICE law enforcement vehicle, refused multiple verbal commands and used his vehicle in an attempt to run over an ICE agent. The agent then fired his weapon in self-defense, according to ICE.

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