Tag: new york

New York Man Arrested After Being Shot in His Own Home

Long Island, New York, isn’t the most gun-friendly place in the world, but some people have guns there. Shocking, I know, but it’s true.

Still, when you have a gun, either in an anti-gun state or not, it’s imperative that you handle it safely. It’s also imperative that if you hand that gun to someone who doesn’t know how to handle it safely, you instruct them immediately.

For one guy, though, it was a rough time because he didn’t.

It seems that you can get arrested for being shot with your own gun.

Geonard Wade allegedly handed a shotgun to a 15-year-old family member at a home when the weapon accidentally discharged, shooting Wade in the arm on March 7 at 7:40 p.m. He was transported to Stony  Brook University Hospital for treatment of serious but not life-threatening injuries. The teenager was not injured and was released into the custody of family on scene.  

Wade was charged with reckless endangerment.

While I can’t find a definitive answer as of this writing, it looks like the charges stem from handing a gun to the teenager, particularly inside the home.

However, this could have been avoided.

Yes, Wade could have just not handed the kid the gun. He could have also checked to make sure the chamber was empty, then insisted the kid do the same. This is just basic gun handling, and it looks like absolutely no one did so. 

There’s also the fact that Wade, if he were versed on the Four Rules, should have insisted the gun not be pointed at anyone at any time. That clearly didn’t happen, nor did the insistence that booger hooks remain off the bang switch.

Wade is likely to recover, at the wound was to his arm and didn’t hit anything vital, apparently. That’s good news. I’m sure he won’t do that again.

Then again, it looks like he’s looking at felony charges, as this was apparently reckless endangerment in the first degree, which is a Class D felony in New York.

So he got shot with his own gun in his own house, apparently, and now he’s looking at losing his gun rights on top of everything else.

On the one hand, stupid should hurt, and it should hurt badly. This most definitely qualifies.

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NYC medical examiner hesitated on ruling Epstein’s death a suicide due to so many ‘people wanting to kill’ him

The medical examiner who performed an autopsy on Jeffrey Epstein waited to rule his death a suicide because so many people wanted him dead. 

Dr Kristin Roman’s thoughts on the autopsy came to light after Epstein’s brother hired  Dr Michael Baden, who claimed the billionaire pedophile’s death needs to be reinvestigated as a homicide.

Roman delayed her ruling of suicide in an effort of ‘being thorough,’ a newly-released interview with the Department of Justice revealed. 

She told the DOJ for their investigation into Epstein’s death that the financier’s infamy was the reason the held off on her decision.

‘If he had been a less high-profile person who there weren’t people wanting to kill, I would have probably called it a hanging on the day of autopsy,’ Roman said, in an interview conducted in May of 2022.

‘It was pretty clear cut,’ she said, claiming the death was a suicide. 

She came to her conclusion being able to look at photographs from his cell at the Metropolitan Detention Center following her delay.

However, she was not allowed to speak to any correction officers or visit the cell. She claims that this was not a factor in her decision.

‘It would have been more for completeness rather than a big factor in making the determination.’

‘Was he fully hanging? Where was he hanging? That kind of stuff,’ Roman said of what she was trying to find out. 

Baden said in February that he is unconvinced by the conclusion of the New York Medical Examiner’s Office that the American millionaire took his own life while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

He reiterated to Business Insider on Friday that he believes it was a homicide. While the doctor did not carry out the post-mortem himself, he was present during the examination and acted as an observer on behalf of Epstein’s family.

Where Roman and Baden disagree is on a series of fractures in Epstein’s neck which Roman said supports a suicide and are not the breaks you would see on someone who had been strangled. 

Baden, however, said that he’s only seen three fractures in a suicide by hanging in his 25 years working for the city as a medical examiner or in his decades working for the state overseeing prison deaths. 

‘That doesn’t mean it can never happen, but it sure as hell is very rare if it happens,’ he said.

One advantage Roman had was being able to see the nooses found in Epstein’s cell, which Baden did not get to see. 

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Parents of alleged ISIS-loving NYC bomb thrower own $2.5M Pennsylvania home, are naturalized citizens from Afghanistan

The parents of one of the alleged ISIS-loving wannabe terrorists who tried to detonate an IED near Gracie Mansion own a gorgeous, $2.25 million home – a sign they seized the American Dream after arriving from Afghanistan decades ago, The Post has learned.

Alleged teen bomber Ibrahim Kayumi’s family home is a 5,800-square-foot manse with six bedrooms and five bathrooms in scenic Newtown, Pennsylvania, records show.

Kayumi, 19, and his friend Emir Balat, 18, traveled from the blissful enclave of McMansions in Bucks County to the Big Apple, where they allegedly hurled homemade bombs at a racist agitator’s anti-Muslim protest outside the mayoral residence on the Upper East Side Saturday, according to police and prosecutors.

The stunning attempted bombing – which NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said was being investigated as an act of “ISIS-inspired terrorism” – shocked Kayumi’s neighbors.

“This is not the kind of place you think of when you think Islamic terror,” one neighbor, Kathy, said Monday. “This is Americana, here. It’s middle class, but in the best way.

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FBI Launches Terrorism Probe as Bombs at New York City Counter-Protest Reported to Have Deadly TATP Explosive Favored by Islamist Terrorists

The two homemade bombs that failed to detonate at a counter-protest against an anti-Islam demonstration in New York City on Saturday contained the deadly explosive TATP (triacetone triperoxide), aka “Mother of Satan,” that is favored by Islamist terrorists, according to reports. The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force has reportedly taken the lead in the investigation. (Previous TGP article.)

One bomb was thrown at an anti-Islam rally held at Gracie Mansion, official home to New York City’s first Muslim mayor, Zohran Mamdani, that was led by controversial J6er Jake Lang. One suspect reportedly yelled “Allahu akbar” when the bomb was thrown. The second bomb was dropped after being ignited by a fleeing suspect.

Neither of the bombs, which reportedly contained nuts and bolts, went off–saving countless lives. New York City police ran to the danger and secured the bombs. (A third suspected device is being investigated after being found several blocks away from Gracie Mansion on Sunday.)

Two men from Pennsylvania, Emir Bala, 18, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, were arrested at the scene in connection to the attempted bombings. The New York Post reported the men are “self-radicalized” supporters of ISIS and confessed to the bombing. Both men reportedly had recently traveled to the Middle East.

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NYC update: Violent black parolee sets innocent man on fire. He has 131 prior arrests…

Some crime stories are disturbing. Others are infuriating. And then there are the ones that make you stop and ask “How on earth is this person still on the streets?” And then you realize, oh, it’s a Dem-run city; that’s why.

The latest story of Dems being soft on crime comes out of New York City, where a black man accused of setting someone on fire in Penn Station wasn’t some unknown guy who suddenly snapped. According to police, he was really, really well known to the system.

In fact, he had 131 prior arrests.

Yes, you read that correctly. One hundred and thirty-one.

It’s hard to find the words to even discuss this absurdity. But here it goes… a system that allows someone to cycle through arrest after arrest – 131 times – without being permanently removed from society is a system that protects criminals, not innocent people.

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This Bill in New York State Would Protect Lawyers From AI Competition

If you’re a New Yorker in trouble with the law, it might soon be impossible for you to consult your favorite chatbot for legal advice.

Last week, the New York state Senate Internet and Technology Committee unanimously passed Senate Bill S7263. The bill would hold AI companies liable specifically for harm caused by chatbots performing tasks that, if carried out by a human, would constitute unauthorized practice of a licensed profession, such as providing medical diagnoses or legal counsel.

The bill would also require chatbot deployers, such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and xAI, to “provide clear, conspicuous and explicit notice to users that they are interacting with an artificial intelligence chatbot program.” However, doing so does not allow these companies to disclaim responsibility for the outputs of their chatbots.

Sen. Kristen Gonzalez (D–Queens) introduced the bill last May alongside six others included in the Internet and Technology Committee’s AI legislative package. Gonzalez, who chairs the committee, described the package as “tackl[ing] the urgent need to protect the workforce from their companies’ use of AI.” Despite this comment, Gonzalez frames the bill as protecting the public, not workers.

In the bill’s justification section, Gonzalez cites a warning from the American Psychological Association to the Federal Trade Commission that chatbot therapists could drive vulnerable people to harm themselves or others. While Gonzalez highlights the possible risk of using chatbots for psychological therapy, she conveniently ignores studies that have found that companion chatbot use is associated with substantial reductions in anxiety, depression, and loneliness.

S7263, as currently written, would not just apply to the licensed professions of psychology and mental health services, but to medicine, veterinary medicine, dentistry, physical therapy, pharmacy, nursing, podiatry, optometry, engineering, architecture, and social work as well. 

Taylor Barkley, director of public policy at the Abundance Institute, tells Reason the ban is “shortsighted at best and protectionist at worst.” While “these are all professions and services that require accuracy and accountability…AI systems increase quality and lower cost in all these areas.”

S7263 would also hold chatbot deployers liable for chatbots that practice or appear as attorney-at-law, which not only includes representing clients and handling formal legal matters, but also merely offering legal advice.

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Former New York D.A.R.E. officer admits to selling drugs while in uniform in squad car

A former New York state police officer who also served as a cop for the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program, admitted to selling drugs while on duty. 

Michael Tapscott pleaded guilty in Ontario County Court to 40 drug-related charges, Rochester First reported. 

He resigned from the Geneva Police Department last year after he was accused of selling Adderall, a Schedule 2 controlled substance, to someone at a used car dealership while on duty and in his squad car.

Tapscott, a 13-year veteran of the police force, also served as an instructor with D.A.R.E., known for its mission to keep kids off drugs.

Four other former officers were charged in connection with Tapscott. 

An investigation into Tapscott began in April 2025 when Ontario County Sheriff’s Office received a tip that a uniformed officer sold drugs while driving a marked patrol vehicle, the Syracuse.com reported. 

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A trial seeks to tie Iranian paramilitary to alleged assassination plot in US

While the U.S. fights a widening war in Iran, American prosecutors are airing claims that Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard was entangled in a foiled 2024 assassination plot that eyed then-candidate Donald Trump as a possible target.

The alleged scheme is at the center of a criminal trial that started in a federal court in New York last week, days before the Mideast combat that now looms in the background.

“This trial is happening in interesting times,” Judge Eric Komitee told lawyers this week in the case of Asif Merchant, a Pakistani national accused of trying to hire hit men to kill a U.S. politician. Merchant didn’t name a target but searched online for Trump rally locations, according to prosecutors, who introduced evidence Tuesday that Merchant’s laptop contained photos of both Trump and then-President Joe Biden at a time when they were rivals for the presidency.

An FBI agent testified Tuesday that Merchant told her he had a Revolutionary Guard “handler” and believed the handler would help bankroll the plan. Merchant’s lawyer suggested the purported statements might not be accurate.

Merchant, 47, has pleaded not guilty to attempted terrorism and other charges. His attorneys say prosecutors are trying to wedge evidence into a narrative that doesn’t fit.

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Zohran Mamdani Has Already Broken His Promise to Be Transparent

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has come under fire for using the encrypted messaging app Signal to communicate with elected officials while conducting government business.

On the campaign trail, Mamdani repeatedly promised his administration would be transparent. Yet, a Politico report revealed that the mayor used Signal from a personal phone number to communicate with elected officials and political strategists. In at least one of these exchanges, he discussed official city business.

Three people with knowledge of the matter told POLITICO that as mayor Mamdani has used the encrypted messaging app to communicate with fellow elected officials and political advisers. In at least one instance, he’s discussed government business over the app, according to one of those people, who like the others, was granted anonymity to discuss the sensitive issue.

POLITICO independently confirmed that Mamdani’s Signal account, registered to his personal cell phone number, remains active.

Norman Siegel, a veteran First Amendment lawyer who previously helmed the New York Civil Liberties Union, said mayors should never use Signal to communicate with other government officials as a rule of thumb — and that there’s another particularly important reason why Mamdani himself should avoid the app.

“With our new mayor, so much of what he’s articulating is a breath of fresh air,” Siegel said. ”I would urge him to not engage in Signal or similar kinds of applications that basically are meant to hide information and prevent the public from knowing the inner workings of government.”

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Snow Shovelers Answered the Mayor’s Call, But Payday May Not Arrive Until Spring

New Yorkers flocked to sanitation garages this week to answer the call for emergency snow shovelers. But those winter laborers may not have realized that they likely won’t get paid for that work until spring.

Several emergency snow shovelers who worked during January’s big storm have not been paid a month afterwards, they told THE CITY. And others who worked this week said payment information was unclear or not discussed.

Dan Bennette, a 38-year-old lifelong Queens resident from South Ozone Park who began working as a snow shoveler on Jan. 26, told THE CITY that he has not yet been paid.

“They just informed us that at the end of the season, when everything is finished, that’s when they’ll cut us a check,” Benette said. “Some people have the assumption that we would be paid weekly or bi-weekly.”

Joshua Goodman, a spokesperson for the sanitation department, said people who responded to the call for shovelers and worked this week may be paid in two weeks, but this is not guaranteed. Last year, it took between four and six weeks to pay workers, he said. On the city’s 311’s website, information about emergency snow shoveling work says payment could take up to 12 weeks. 

For Bennette, he’s staying patient. The newlywed and aviation operations worker has been unemployed for about eight months — the longest he’s ever gone without a paycheck. So he welcomed the opportunity to work in the snow.

“This will get me up out of the house, off the couch and going out and being a productive person in society,” he said. 

Others he worked with were not as easy-going about the pay wait. Bennett recalled that when a fellow shoveler this week learned DSNY would not pay until March, he stood up and walked out of the garage.

Yasmine, who spoke to THE CITY this week, said her son shoveled for the city after snowfall on Dec. 14 and had to wait until the beginning of February to get paid. When DSNY called him in January and again this week asking if he wanted to work, he said no both times. Instead, he shovelled private houses and driveways and got paid the same day. 

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