Tag: new york

P’Nut The Squirrel’s Owners Sue New York For $10M After Raid, Decapitation

The owners P’Nut – a beloved squirrel that was seized and euthanized by the state of New York are suing for $10 million in damages over the death of their pets, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday in New York Court of Claims.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation staged a five-hour raid on the home of Mark Luongo after an anonymous complaint was lodged against the P’nuts Freedom Farm, where internet sensation Peanut the squirrel was taken into custody along with his sidekick, Fred the raccoon – before the state euthanized both animals ‘in order to test for rabies.’

DEC officials claimed that P’Nut but an agent through thick leather gloves during the raid, necessitating both the squirrel and raccoon be decapitated and tested for rabies. The state later admitted that both tests were negative, and have never apologized nor returned the bodies of the pets. 

According to court documents, P’Nut and Fred’s execution were “not due to a fear of rabies,” but a “senseless act of violence” and “obscene demonstration of government abuse.” 

This lawsuit comes on top of a previous suit filed by Longo and Bittner on June 27 in Chemung County Supreme Court against the City of Elmira and 36 individuals from various levels of state and local office – and seeks unspecified damages via jury trial. 

The couple claims they’ve suffered emotional trauma and financial losses since losing their star squirrel – who had appeared all over social media (including OnlyFans !?), according to both lawsuits. 

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Manslaughter, Arson, Hate Crimes — See All The Crimes Suspects In New York Now Get Released For Under Bail Reform

As New York celebrates the start of 2020, a host of new laws are taking effect at midnight — including one releasing scores of potentially dangerous suspects from jail and back onto city streets.

New York’s bail reform law eliminates pretrial detention and cash bail for the vast majority of misdemeanor and non-violent felony cases. Hundreds of offenses such as stalking, grand larceny, assault as a hate crime, and second degree manslaughter will no longer be eligible for bail or pretrial detention.

“They eliminated bail but they never put in the safeguard we need of allowing a judge to assess dangerousness and the result is we’ve got some glaring loopholes that will go into effect,” Mark Peters warned.

CBS2’s Urban Affairs Expert says this sets New York apart from other states, such as New Jersey, which have also eliminated cash bail.

“So someone can walk up to someone on the street punch them in the face and if they haven’t done lasting physical injury there’s no bail available… they’ll be let out that day they can go punch someone the next day,” Peters added.

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Drag Queen Show for Kids Advocacy Group Cancelled After Community Backlash

Local complaints have prompted a child-focused charity in New York to ditch a drag event for kids set for next Sunday – and its cancelled drag queen host is not happy.

The Child Advocacy Center of Greater Rochester, a nonprofit “dedicated to giving children a voice and putting an end to abuse,” announced last week it would not hold its “all-ages,” “drag bingo” fundraiser.

Its scheduled cohost, drag queen “Mrs. Kasha Davis,” in reality a man named Ed Popil, took to a Rochester news station and said the cancellation was giving into “hate.”

Popil described his comments in a phone call to Mary Whittier, the charity’s chief executive officer, when she informed him the event was off.

He told the ABC affiliate, WHAM:

I said on that call, well, then we’re letting hate win. Because pretty much on a daily basis, unfortunately, as a drag artist, as a performer, especially when I do story hour, and most recently I was at a Pride festival, and I brought the kids up and we’re dancing, and then when you look at the comments, the hateful, negative, angry comments were plentiful.

Even after the cancellation, which included a formal, obsequious statement by the nonprofit that apologized to “our LGBTQ+ partners, allies, and supporters,” critics continued to pounce.

“Inclusion of LGBTQ should have NOTHING to do with a non profit whose ‘supposed’ mission is to advocate for our communities most traumatized youth. NOTHING!!,” a New Yorker named Michele Fischette wrote on the group’s Facebook page. “Why is this even a thing? Wildly inappropriate…”

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DOJ Launches Grand Jury Investigation into Letitia James’ Prosecution Of Trump

The Department of Justice has launched two new investigations into New York Attorney General Letitia James and her office over her allegedly malicious targeting of political enemies.

The U.S. attorney in Albany, Daniel Hanlon, issued two subpoenas to James, the first one related to her office’s civil fraud case against President Trump, the New York Times reported.

The Justice Department reportedly believes her prosecution of Trump violated his Constitutional rights.

The second subpoena is related to her office’s long-running effort to dissolve the National Rifle Association (NRA), according to the Times.

Attorney General Pam Bondi has signed off on the probes, and a there is a grand jury underway in New York’s state capital Albany, Fox News reported Friday.

“The DOJ Is going after James because she took then former president Donald Trump to court ‘simply because she didn’t like him and campaigned on getting him,’” Fox reported. The Justice Department reportedly believes James violated Trump’s First Amendment rights dealing with free speech.

James had accused Trump of inflating his net worth to get a good deal on loans and other financial benefits.

Trump-hating Judge Engoron ruled in her favor and ordered the Trump Organization to pay a $454 million bond, prompting George Washington University law Professor Jonathan Turley to call it “absurdly out of line with not just the purpose of the law but the facts of the case.”

A New York Appeals Court later reduced Trump’s bond to $175 million, which he paid on March 31, 2024.

Trump fumed against Engoron and James on Truth Social after he paid the bond.

“He is a whacked out nut job who just made up a number out of thin air, just like he did on the value of Mar-a-Lago,” Trump said.

“Businesses won’t enter New York because of this decision, and many are fleeing. Think of it – I had to pay an enormous sum for the right to Appeal the ridiculous decision of a CROOKED Judge and A.G. This is Election Interference, and it all comes directly from Joe Biden and the White House. An attack, along with ALL OF THE OTHERS, on his political opponent, ME!”

After the 2024 election, James refused to drop the case, reasoning that presidents are not protected by immunity in civil cases.

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NYPD on MANHUNT for WNBA sex-toy throwing suspect in Beavis and Butthead shirt

Police are looking for a man who threw a lime-green sex toy during a WNBA New York Liberty home game, narrowly missing a 12-year-old girl, according to the NYPD.

The incident happened Tuesday at Barclays Center during the Liberty’s matchup against the Dallas Wings. Security footage released by Crime Stoppers shows the suspect wearing a “Beavis and Butthead” T-shirt, a red and black hat, black shorts, and displaying tattoos on both arms.

Witnesses said the object was launched from a higher row in section 116, where the girl was seated with her mother. “The object was thrown from someone much higher up but definitely in the same section,” a fan in the area told the New York Post. “When it landed, the girl started screaming/freaking out (understandably) for like 30 [seconds] and got the attention of most people within the surrounding rows.”

The sex toy did not make it to the court but instead landed near a mother and her child. Barclays Center staff removed it quickly, and the game continued. The Liberty went on to defeat the Wings 85–76.

This was one of two WNBA games that night where a similar incident occurred. In Los Angeles, Indiana Fever player Sophie Cunningham was struck by a green sex toy during a game against the Sparks.

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Chaotic NYC ‘Safe’ Injection-Sites Put On Notice By Trump

Democrats fully own the crime and chaos plaguing major cities, after decades of failed progressive experiments that have only backfired spectacularly, transforming some parts of America’s largest metropolitan areas into lawless, crime-ridden no-go zones. 

There’s an urgent need for course correction and to restore law and order in major cities run by rogue Democratic leaders whose failed social justice policies (influenced by leftist billionaires and their NGOs), like defunding the police and “safe” injection sites, have only fueled more crime, chaos, and disorder on the streets. 

President Trump’s “Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets” executive order, issued late last month, has put these taxpayer-funded safe injection sites on notice.

Safe injection sites, such as those run by nonprofit OnPoint NYC in East Harlem and Washington Heights, supervise illegal drug use under the guise of harm reduction.

A clear legal precedent was set in 2019 under President Trump’s first term via the Department of Justice that successfully blocked a proposed safe injection site in Philadelphia under the Controlled Substances Act. The Third Circuit upheld the decision, and the Supreme Court let it stand. That ruling could now be used against NYC’s injection sites if the Manhattan U.S. Attorney chooses to follow Philadelphia’s lead. 

Trump’s new order calls on the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to ensure that none of its “discretionary grants” indirectly fund such sites, which have been causing significant problems at the local level.

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NYC to shut down last migrant hotel after shelling out $170 million to crime-ridden shelter

It’s the end of an error.

New York City’s last-standing — and most notorious — migrant hotel will soon stop housing illegal border crossers, The Post has learned.

The once-four-star Row NYC hotel on Eighth Avenue in Midtown was repurposed in October 2022, so its 1,331 rooms could be used as a shelter while the Big Apple dealt with the crippling migrant crisis, but Mayor Eric Adams confirmed the city’s $5.13 million-a-month contract with the hotel won’t be renewed in April.

The deal has allowed the hotel — which is owned by Boston-based real estate titan Rockpoint Group — to already rake in more than $170 million.

It’s unclear what the future holds for the establishment, which once charged $414 to $435 per weeknight for standard rooms before becoming a shelter. Reps for the company did not return messages.

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‘Defund The Police’ NYC Mayoral Candidate Zohran Mamdani Has Already Spent $33,000 on Private Security

Like many Democrats running for office, New York City mayoral candidate Mohran Zamdani is a glaring hypocrite.

Mamdani, a self-described socialist and New York state assemblyman who won the Democratic nomination back in June, has poured tens of thousands of dollars into hiring a private security firm for his personal protection.

Campaign finance records reviewed by Fox News show that in June and July alone, Mamdani’s team made three separate payments to Advanced Security & Investigations, each ranging from roughly $8,000 to $13,000.

In total, the campaign shelled out $33,495 over the two-month period.

The firm openly promotes itself as a “proud employer” of New York Police Department (NYPD) officers, despite Mamdani’s long-term support for defunding the police.

Back in 2020 at the height of the Black Lives Matter riots across the country, Mamdani described NYPD as “racist, anti-queer and a major threat to public safety.”

”NO to fake cuts – defund the police,” he wrotea the time.

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Prosecutors in Mangione Case Respond to Claim They’re Lying

Manhattan prosecutors have denied claims from murder suspect Luigi Mangione’s defense team that they lied on a subpoena to access his medical records illegally, Business Insider first reported on Friday.

The defense alleges prosecutors “were plainly lying to get the materials as soon as possible,” defense attorneys Karen Friedman Agnifilo, Marc Agnifilo, and Jacob Kaplan said in a filing when the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office obtained 120 pages of private data from Aetna without their or the court’s knowledge, and that prosecutors fabricated a court date months in advance for the subpoena.

In May, Mangione pleaded not guilty to federal murder charges in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthCare CEO Brian Thompson. Prosecutors formally declared their intent to seek the death penalty if convicted. 

Thompson, a 50-year-old father of two, was shot to death just before 7 a.m. Eastern Time last Dec. 4 outside the New York Hilton Midtown. Fingerprints recovered from a water bottle and a Kind nutrition bar near the crime scene have been matched to Mangione’s, according to police. Authorities also say that have linked bullet shells to a 3D printed ghost gun Mangione had in his possession when he was arrested.                                            

Assistant District Attorney Joel Seidemann told Judge Gregory Carro that Aetna released medical information beyond the scope of the subpoena.

“Aetna erroneously sent us materials,” he wrote. “Like Aetna, the defense then erred, compounding Aetna’s mistake. Defense counsel sent the People an email attaching the entire Aetna file she now complains about.”

“The People issued a valid subpoena to Aetna for an appropriately limited set of relevant information,” Seidemann wrote. “Through no fault of the People, Aetna seemingly provided materials outside of the scope of the subpoena. The People then properly identified the error and notified the Court and the defense and deleted our copy of said materials.”

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New York rep wants more ‘migrants’ in Brooklyn ‘just for redistricting purposes’

Rep. Yvette D. Clarke, serving New York’s 9th District in Brooklyn, NY, has said that she would like to see more immigrants into her area “just for redistricting purposes.” Redistricting is an emerging political fight ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

“I’m from Brooklyn, New York,” Clarke said on a Zoom call. “We have a diaspora that can absorb a significant number of these migrants, and that, you know, when I hear colleagues talk about, you know, the doors of the inn being closed, no room. In the end, I’m saying, you know, I need more people in my district, but just for redistricting purposes, and those members could clearly fit here.”

New York joins Texas and California in undertaking redistricting efforts. President Donald Trump has called on Texas to redo its districts to remake some of their districts as GOP majority, saying this could be a gain of 5 seats. The Texas legislature began a special session on Monday to undertake that project.

California Governor Gavin Newsom countered that proposal by saying that he would redo California’s districts. California, however, has an independent commission in the state to create districts, per the state’s constitution.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has also said that “all options” are on the table to win back the House in 2026, including redistricting. “All options are on the table when it comes to winning back control of the House,” he said.

Former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke said that with regard to redistricting across the country. “We have to be absolutely ruthless about getting back in power,” he said. “So yes, in California, in Illinois, in New York, wherever we have the trifecta of power, we have to use that to its absolute extent. And then the last thing: this may end up biting Republicans in the ass. You have the possibility that they will disperse Republican voters to make up these three or four or five new congressional districts and put those districts in play.”

The population of District 9 in New York is about 771,000, which is greater than the population of two states and the District of Columbia. Brooklyn at large has a population of 2.6 million people, which is larger than the populations of 16 states. By recent estimates, there are nearly 600,000 illegal immigrants in New York City, with the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens holding the bulk of that population.

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