Tag: new york

Migrant Charged with Murder for Lighting Sleeping Woman on Fire Chain Smoked Synthetic Drug, Shelter Roommate Claims

The Guatemalan migrant who shocked the world by lighting a sleeping woman on fire in a New York City subway chained smoked the synthetic drug K2, according to his homeless shelter roommate.

Sebastian Zapeta, 33, was arrested on Sunday after being spotted by high school students on the subway. He has been charged with first and second-degree murder, as well as arson.

Raymond Robinson, who slept next to Zapeta at the shelter, told the New York Post that the migrant was a heavy drinker who “bugged out” when smoking the K2.

“He said, ‘I’m going out to make my normal run,’ then the next thing I hear what he did on the news,” said Robinson.

Robinson said the accused murderer smoked about $30 worth of the drug per day.

“He smoked K2, drank and bugged out,” Robinson said. “He would bug out and talk to himself when he was high, but he never harmed nobody or himself. When he wasn’t high he’d talk like we’re talking regular.”

Zapeta told police that he was so drunk that he does not remember lighting the woman on fire.

“The migrants mainly get up in the morning, leave and come back drunk,” Robinson said. “He would come back drunk most days.”

The woman was asleep on the train as she was lit on fire by the suspect at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue subway station around 7:30 a.m. on Sunday.

As she was engulfed in flames, Zapeta sat calmly on a bench and watched as she died.

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Waste of the Day: Ineligible New Yorkers on Medicaid Cost $20 Billion

An estimated 3 million New Yorkers on Medicaid or the state-run Essential Plan don’t have incomes low enough to be using the programs, according to a new report from the nonprofit Empire Center for Public Policy.

Key facts: New York is projected to spend $113 billion on the two programs in 2025, but one-third of enrollees should not be eligible.

Data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that only 5.5 million New Yorkers had incomes low enough to qualify for coverage last year. But there were 8.5 million people using the state’s health insurance.

That’s especially surprising given that the Essential Plan — established under the Affordable Care Act in 2015 — allows families living at 250% above the poverty level to enroll. No other plan in the U.S. is that generous, according to the Empire Center.

The average nondisabled adult costs the programs $6,600 to cover. At that rate, the Empire Center estimates taxpayers spend $20 billion each year to cover the 3 million people who should not qualify. The expense is split between the state and federal government.

Roughly 44% of New Yorkers use either Medicaid or the Essential Plan, including 60% of those in New York City. No other state has more than 37% enrollment in similar plans, the Empire Center found.

In the last 10 years, 3.7 million new people signed up for the two plans. But the number of uninsured people in New York only dropped by 1.2 million, “a sign that most new sign-ups were people who otherwise would have been insured elsewhere,” the Empire Center said.

New York spends 28% of its budget on health insurance each year.

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Tone Deaf NY Gov. Kathy Hochul’s Grotesque Timing: Praises “Safety” of Subway on Same Day Guatemalan Migrant Allegedly Sets Sleeping Woman on Fire

The Gateway Pundit reported on a horrific incident captured on video of a man sitting on a bench and watching as a woman he lit on fire inside a New York City subway train as she burned to death.

The woman was asleep on the train as she was lit on fire by the suspect at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue subway station around 7:30 a.m. on Sunday.

According to The New York Post, A Guatemalan migrant has been arrested for the henious crime.

A Guatemalan migrant has been arrested for allegedly lighting a sleeping subway rider on fire in Brooklyn on Sunday morning — then watching as his innocent victim burned to death in what the police commissioner called “one of the most depraved crimes one person could possibly commit.”

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Officials said the 33-year-old suspect came to the US in 2018 from Guatemala. His legal status wasn’t immediately clear Sunday night.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D), in yet another case of tone deaf timing, took to social media the same day to brag about the safety of New York’s subway.

On Sunday morning, Hochul shared on X, “In March, I took action to make our subways safer for the millions of people who take the trains each day.   Since deploying the @NationalGuardNY to support @NYPDnews and @MTA safety efforts and adding cameras to all subway cars, crime is going down, and ridership is going up.”

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Top-ranking NYPD officer abruptly resigns amid sexual misconduct allegations

The top uniformed police officer in the New York Police Department has resigned amid allegations he demanded sex from a subordinate in exchange for opportunities to earn extra pay.

Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch accepted the resignation of Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey Friday night, effective immediately, according to an emailed statement from the department Saturday.

John Chell, the department’s chief of patrol, will take over as interim chief of department and Philip Rivera will assume Chell’s duties as the head of the patrol division, the department said.

The department declined to comment on the allegations against Maddrey other than to say it “takes all allegations of sexual misconduct seriously and will thoroughly investigate this matter.”

A lawyer for his accuser, Lt. Quathisha Epps, said the move was overdue.

“This should have been done a long time ago,” attorney Eric Sanders said by phone Saturday. “This has been years in the making, this kind of behavior. This is not shock for anyone who understands how things work in this department.”

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Sex educator clowns and BDSM classical music: How New York City arts group wasted $800K of taxpayer’s money

Taxpayer-funded woke art events, including erotic poetry readings, ‘sex educator clowns’, a BDSM-classical music mashup, and performances in aid of prison abolition, have got a New York government watchdog hot and bothered.

Nonprofit ‘good governance’ group One City Rising (OCR) has sparked a fight with the New York City Council by writing a letter demanding a review of $787,000 taxpayer funds given to an organization putting on the controversial art acts.

The spat is a microcosm of a culture war raging in the US – one side fearing they are under attack from prudish busybodies policing free expression, the other claiming government institutions are feeding ‘woke’ propaganda.

Last year the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs gave $130,000, one of its biggest cultural development grants, to the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC), a group founded in 1973 to promote the arts in the Big Apple.

LMCC also received $657,600 in New York state government funds in 2023, records show.

One City Rising said there are ‘significant questions about appropriateness, oversight, and fiscal responsibility’ of the cash handouts, which they say are being used ‘for purposes that taxpayers might find objectionable’, in a December 18 letter to NYC Commissioner Laurie Cumbo.

The letter highlighted taxpayer-funded events, including a BDSM-themed ‘concert series celebrating queer identity through classical music and the aesthetics of the Leather subculture’ and a show by a self-described professional clown teaching sex education.

It also pointed to a series of ‘socially-conscious musical works’ by Black and Pink, a group ‘dedicated to abolishing the criminal punishment system and liberating LGBTQIA2S+ people,’ as well as ‘raising money for bail funds across the country.’

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Five-Time Deported Child Sex Predator Released Back to NYC Streets

A Mexican child sex predator who has been removed from the U.S. on five prior occasions was arrested again after being released by New York City authorities.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced the latest apprehension of 36-year-old Raymond Rojas Basilio, a Mexican national with a shocking criminal record dating back more than two decades.

During a 4-day stretch in 2002, Rojas Basilio was caught by U.S. Border Patrol on three separate occasions after he made illegal entries near Douglas, Arizona.

Rojas Basilio voluntarily returned to Mexico following each interception.

“U.S. Customs and Border Protection encountered Rojas Jan. 6, 2012, at Dennis DeConcini Port of Entry in Nogales, Arizona, when he applied for admission to the U.S. Rojas presented an Arizona Driver’s License and U.S Birth Certificate which CBP determined to be fraudulent. CBP processed Rojas, served him a notice and order of expedited removal and verified his departure to Mexico on the same date,” ICE explained in a press release.

Five days later, the Mexican pulled a similar stunt at Morley Gate Port of Entry in Nogales, Arizona, and was sent back to his home country by U.S. authorities.

Rojas Basilio then illegally crossed the border at an unknown date and time, making him one of millions of ‘gotaways’ lurking across the country.

On Aug. 28, 2023, Rojas Basilio was arrested by the New York Police Department and charged with first-degree sexual abuse with an individual less than 11 years old.

He was then released back to the streets with a future court date.

On Sept. 20, 2024, Rojas Basilio was convicted of forcible touching of the intimate parts of another person.

On Nov. 11, he was sentenced to just 60 days incarceration, six years probation, and ordered to register as a sex offender.

On Dec. 17, Rojas Basilio was arrested at his residence in Queens by officers with ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) New York City.

He is currently in ICE custody amid pending removal proceedings.

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George Mason University Student Charged With Planning ‘Mass Casualty Attack’ Against Jews in New York

A student at George Mason University was arrested this week over claims he was planning a “mass casualty attack” on the Consulate General of Israel in New York, according to court records.

Abdullah Ezzeldin Taha Mohamed Hassan, an Egyptian national who is only 18, allegedly operated several social media accounts that were promoting “radical and terrorist-leaning behavior.”

While the accounts were run anonymously, investigators managed to trace it back to Hassan using his provided email address, phone number and IP address.

According to prosecutors, Hassan regularly posted about “revering Osama bin Laden and Ayman Al Zawahiri” and operated “several pro-ISIS and al Qaeda accounts that promoted violence against Jews.”

After developing an obsession with terrorism, Hassan eventually began the process of planning a “mass casualty attack at the Consulate General of Israel using an explosive device and rifle.”

Hassan discussed his plan in great detail with an FBI informant he believed to be an admirer of his ideological mission.

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Juan Merchan Ignores Supreme Court, Constitution In Shameful, Latest Court Order That Further Erodes The Integrity Of New York’s Legal System

This past week, Juan Merchan continued his relentless assault on the Constitution and Country by openly defying the Supreme Court’s precedent, which reaffirmed and strengthened the doctrine of presidential immunity, from this past year’s Trump decision.

In denying President Trump’s motion to dismiss the case, Merchan has only prolonged the lawfare against him, further deepening the wound to New York’s legal system in the process.

The Merchan case – which the mainstream press has (improperly) called the “hush money case” (ignoring that hush money payments are not illegal, and have never been illegal, by a public official or private citizen in the history of American law) has been a complete mockery of justice from its inception.

As extensively documented previously in this newsletter, even before the trial, Merchan has been disregarding all legal norms, procedures, and rules – in the pursuit of a twisted, monomaniacal vendetta against a presidential candidate and now president-elect of the United States.

He ignored due process of law – and the regulations governing evidence and professional ethics – by bringing this case, which implicated federal issues that were already cleared by the Federal Election Commission, in state court.

Second, he denied President Trump’s attorneys their right to move to dismiss evidence – and the theory of the case – on Immunity (and other privileges, like attorney client and executive privilege) grounds.

President Trump’s attorneys had to navigate a legal landmine, including pending oral arguments for the Supreme Court’s Immunity decision, which commenced during the course of the Merchan trial.

The ultimate outcome on that Immunity case was not known until after the trial had ended. The Trump decision was officially handed down by the Supreme Court in early July; the Merchan trial wrapped up in late May.

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Mayor Adams Drops Truth Bomb About How Luigi Mangione Was Radicalized, and Dems Won’t Like It

It’s been nearly two weeks since UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed in midtown Manhattan. Thankfully, his alleged killer, Luigi Mangione, 26, was captured after someone recognized him at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pa.

While the evidence all appears to confirm Mangione is the killer, in a lot of ways, it just doesn’t make sense why this kid, who grew up privileged and went to an Ivy League school and everything, would be driven to murder.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has something to say on that issue that the Democrats won’t be happy about. Adams bluntly described a disturbing trend he’s witnessed among young people in America. Speaking candidly about the radicalization of youth, he addressed the troubling case of Mangione, drawing a direct line between the shooter’s upbringing and the toxic influence of the education system that led to his violent actions.

Adams was quick to point out that Mangione’s background doesn’t fit the typical profile of someone prone to radicalization. “Ivy League, grew up in an affluent household,” he said, emphasizing the disconnect between the shooter’s privileged life and his eventual descent into hatred. 

“His manifesto clearly is showing some signs of hating,” Adams continued, underscoring that even those with seemingly ideal circumstances can be consumed by a dangerous ideology.

The mayor then turned his focus to the broader problem at hand: the radicalization of America’s youth. “Our children are being radicalized,” Adams stated, “I said this over and over again, and everybody’s like, you know, ‘What are you talking about, Eric?’” His frustration with the lack of attention to the issue was clear, but his message was undeniable. This isn’t just a fringe problem; it’s becoming a mainstream crisis.

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Federal Officials Will Deploy High-Tech System To New York After Drones Shut Down Airport, Governor Says

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that the federal government will send a “a state-of-the-art drone detection system” to her state after a number of drone sightings across New York and New Jersey in recent days.

While she did not elaborate on the system that will be deployed, it “will support state and federal law enforcement in their investigations,” she said in a statement on the morning of Dec. 15.

“I am grateful for the support, but we need more. Congress must pass a law that will give us the power to deal directly with the drones,” the governor wrote on social media platform X around the same time. She urged Congress to pass the Counter-UAS Authority Security, Safety, and Reauthorization Act that will give states “the authority and resources required to respond to circumstances like we face today.”

It’s not clear whether the federal government sent a similar system to New Jersey, where most of the drone sightings have occurred, or in other states. Over the weekend, swarms of drones were spotted in other states along the East Coast, including Maryland.

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