Tag: police brutality

4 Baltimore Police officers will not face charges after San Francisco investigation

San Francisco prosecutors declined to bring charges against four Baltimore Police officers who have been under investigation in the California cityafter a woman says she reported a sexual assault that took place there.

The officers, including the commander of the Eastern District, have been suspended with pay and assigned to administrative duties by the Baltimore Police Department since November of last year while the Special Victims Unit of the San Francisco Police Department investigated. The San Francisco District Attorney’s Office told The Banner this week that the evidence in the case was deemed insufficient to file charges.

“Although the San Francisco Police had probable cause to submit an arrest warrant for review in this case, after careful review of all of the evidence gathered, we do not believe we can meet our higher burden of proof,” the office said in a statement, adding that it would reevaluate if additional evidence emerged.

The accuser, a 39-year-old California woman, contacted the Banner saying she was frustrated with the outcomein a case she says dates to September 2024. She also shed light on the circumstances that she said led her to contact police.

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34 dogs rescued in suspected dogfighting operation; sheriff’s deputy, 3 others charged

Authorities in South Carolina rescued 34 dogs from what investigators describe as a suspected dogfighting operation spanning two residential properties.

The rescue marks the latest crackdown on organized animal cruelty in the state.

34 dogs rescued in dogfighting operation

Big picture view:

Agents with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) executed search and seizure warrants early April 28, uncovering dogs tethered on heavy chains, many in dire physical condition. 

Responders from Humane World for Animals arrived in heavy rain to assist with veterinary triage, documentation and the removal of the animals.

Investigators described a grim scene: many dogs were chained so tightly they could not reach shelter from the weather. Many of the dogs bore visible signs of abuse consistent with dogfighting. One dog, nicknamed “Denali” by responders, had open wounds on her chest and shoulder from apparent dog bites. Another, “Fuji,” showed severe scarring, ear injuries and lesions along his neck and back. Several dogs were missing parts of their ears or lips, and some suffered raw, infected skin around their necks.

What they’re saying:

“The scars covering their bodies, and the ground worn beneath their chains told a story of a painful, lonely past. The sense of relief and hope was palpable as we freed each dog and carried them to safety,” Janell Gregory, the South Carolina state director at Humane World for Animals, said in a statement.

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Mamdani Condemns NYPD Officers After Chaotic Arrest Video Goes Viral

New York City Democratic Mayor Zohran Mamdani condemned two NYPD officers after a chaotic arrest video out of Brooklyn went viral online.

The footage showed a violent struggle between two officers and a suspect inside a liquor store.

The incident occurred on Tuesday at a store in Brooklyn, according to a report from WNYW.

A source told the outlet that the officers were attempting to arrest a man they suspected of being involved in a drug deal.

The situation escalated quickly when the man repeatedly resisted arrest.

Video from the scene showed officers repeatedly punching the suspect in an effort to get him to the ground.

The lengthy video ended with the suspect being escorted out of the store in handcuffs.

The NYPD has since placed both officers on modified duty.

New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch confirmed the move during a news conference on Wednesday.

She said the department’s Internal Affairs Bureau is reviewing the incident.

Tisch added that more information will be released as the investigation unfolds.

Mamdani, a socialist who supported the “defund the police” movement, weighed in on the video.

He shared the footage and issued a sharp condemnation of the officers, presumably without having all the facts.

“The violence used by NYPD officers in this video is extremely disturbing and unacceptable,” Mamdani wrote.

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Los Angeles Teen Blinded in One Eye by DHS Agent at ‘No Kings’ Rally, Attorney Says

An 18-year-old college freshman was blinded in his right eye by a federal agent during the Los Angeles “No Kings” protest on March 28. 

Tucker Collins, who is studying astronautical engineering with a minor in cinematic arts at the University of Southern California, was documenting the rally protesting policies implemented under President Donald Trump near the Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigration detainees are held. Video of the incident shared by Collins’ attorney, V. James DeSimone, shows a crowd of people separated from agents by a tall black fence surrounding the facility. Collins can be seen holding his phone and filming near the back of the group before abruptly falling to the ground. Blood streams from his right eye as bystanders come to his aid. He was helped by a nurse present at the protest, DeSimone told CNN, and later taken to the hospital.

In the video, DeSimone accuses Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents of unlawfully shooting Collins with “a less-lethal launcher…shooting directly into his head” while exercising his First Amendment rights. The strike caused irreparable damage to Collins’ eye and fractured bones in his eye socket, DeSimone told CNN. Collins’ eye had to be surgically removed. 

In a statement made to the Los Angeles Times, a DHS spokesperson claimed that agents “followed their training and used the minimum amount of force necessary to protect themselves, the public, and federal property” after a group of 1,000 protestors “threw rocks, bottles, and cement blocks at officers.” The agency said seven warnings were given before crowd control measures were used. “The First Amendment protects speech and peaceful assembly—not rioting,” the spokesperson continued. 

Under DHS use-of-force guidelines, while agents may be authorized to use less-lethal weapons, such as pepperballs and rubber bullets, using such a device is considered deadly force when “it carries a substantial risk of causing death or serious bodily injury,” such as “strik[ing] the neck or head.” Deadly force is only permissible when “the [officer] has a reasonable belief that the subject of force poses an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury to the [officer] or to another person.” 

Even with this guideline in place, a federal court in California issued a preliminary injunction last September prohibiting DHS agents from, in part, “using crowd control weapons,” including less-lethal weapons, “on members of the press, legal observers, and protesters who are not themselves posing a threat of imminent harm to a law enforcement officer or another person.” The order was a result of a lawsuit in which DHS agents were accused of using excessive force and suppressing First Amendment-protected activities when officers shot less-lethal weapons at people protesting the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement tactics in Southern California last summer. 

In this case, Collins “was not threatening anyone. He wasn’t attacking anyone,” DeSimone told The Guardian. “DHS officers took out his eye and they did it despite a federal injunction that plainly forbids firing these weapons at people’s heads,” he continued. 

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2 ex-NYPD cops sentenced for sexually assaulting passed-out woman, as survivor details trauma: ‘I feel nothing but anger and rage’

Two former NYPD cops were sentenced to probation for sexually assaulting an incapacitated woman after a night out at a Bronx bar — as the survivor of the heinous crime urged others to report their stories, no matter the title of their assailant.

Julio Alcantara-Santiago, 40, and Christian Garcia, 32, were sentenced on Friday at Bronx Supreme Criminal Court after taking a plea agreement for the assault that unfolded on July 9, 2023.

Alcantara-Santiago appeared nervous in an orange blazer and pinstriped pants as he was sentenced to six years of sex offender probation.

Garcia sported a two-piece navy suit and glasses as he accepted one year of probation and was ordered to complete a behavioral treatment program.

On the night of June 8, 2023, the unidentified woman went out with co-workers at Zona De Cuba lounge in Grand Concourse, according to a victim impact statement she read aloud to the courtroom.

After going up to a rooftop area of the establishment and having some drinks, the next thing she recalled was waking up to being sexually assaulted by two men in a stranger’s home.

“The next thing I remember is slightly waking up in someone’s home. And then what hurts more is that I see two men over me and feel hands in certain parts of my body,” she said.

“I start to make movement so that the men can stop. I’m terrified and scared that if I say something or if they notice that I’m awake while they’re doing certain things, they will harm me or even kill me,” she told the courtroom.

She said she continued to lie there and fell asleep, and woke up the next morning, realizing she was still in the strange apartment near the lounge.

After desperately calling her sister and best friend for help, she escaped the home and decided to go to a local Bronx hospital to be evaluated. There, she was given a rape kit and spoke to multiple police officers, the victim said.

The two officers were arrested in April 2024 after surveillance footage helped connect them to the crime. Both cops were suspended without pay, the NYPD said at the time.

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Innocent Man Sues for Over $60,000 After Police Blew Up His Business. A Court Says He’s Entitled to Nothing.

The Takings Clause of the 5th Amendment “was designed to bar Government from forcing some people alone to bear public burdens,” the Supreme Court said in Armstrong v. United States, “which, in all fairness and justice, should be borne by the public as a whole.” That was just over 65 years ago.

It is, unfortunately, not living up to that promise.

For the latest example, we can look to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, which ruled last month that an innocent man whose business was destroyed by Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers in pursuit of a fugitive is not entitled to compensation for damages under the Takings Clause. This is despite the law’s pledge that the government provide “just compensation” when it usurps private property for a public use.

In August of 2022, an armed fugitive threw Carlos Pena out of his North Hollywood printing shop and barricaded himself inside it. Over the course of 13 hours, a SWAT team with the LAPD launched more than 30 rounds of tear gas canisters through the walls, door, roof, and windows. After the standoff, police discovered the suspect had managed to escape. But Pena was left with a husk of what his store once was, the inside ravaged and equipment ruined, saddling him with over $60,000 in damages, according to his lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles.

It’s a suit Pena did not want to file, having repeatedly reached out to the government to recoup his losses before going to court. The city ignored him. Pena, meanwhile, was hemorrhaging income, resigned to working out of his garage at a much-reduced capacity with a single printer he purchased after the raid.

The recent ruling on Pena’s claim joins a burgeoning pile of case law wading through this exact scenario. Each decision ultimately grapples with a version of a core question: Does the Takings Clause cease to apply in some sense when property is destroyed via “police power”?

Different circuits have come to varying conclusions. The 9th Circuit, for its part, declined to answer if a categorical exception exists. But the court did conclude that there is no taking “when law enforcement officers destroy private property while acting reasonably in the necessary defense of public safety” (emphasis mine). The judges said that doomed Pena’s claim.

Their decision references a ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, which in 2023 considered a similar case: Police mutilated a woman’s Texas house in pursuit of a fugitive who had locked himself inside her attic. Because law enforcement destroyed Vicki Baker’s home “by necessity during an active emergency,” the court ruled, it did not constitute a taking under the U.S. Constitution.

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Trump-Appointed Judge Threatens Government With Contempt After ICE Detains Illegal Immigrant in Filthy Long Island Facility

A federal judge appointed by President Trump has delivered a blistering condemnation of U.S. immigration authorities, going so far as to threaten the government with contempt of court.

U.S. District Judge Gary Brown, appointed to the bench by Trump in 2019, issued a 24-page ruling excoriating the Department of Homeland Security for what he described as “putrid and cramped” conditions under which Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained an illegal immigrant on Long Island.

Brown warned that ICE could face contempt of court after repeatedly ignoring judicial orders and holding a detainee overnight in a cramped, filthy holding cell never designed for long-term confinement.

The case centers on Erron Anthony Clarke, a Jamaican national, who entered the United States legally in 2018 on an H-2B work visa. After overstaying the visa, which is illegal, Clarke married a U.S. citizen in 2023 and applied for permanent residency earlier this year.

Clarke was detained by ICE on December 5, along with eight other men, who were confined for days at a time in a small “hold room” at the Central Islip Federal Courthouse.

That cell, Judge Brown noted, was designed to hold one person briefly, not to warehouse nine men for days on end.

The conditions described were:

  • No beds, bunks, or mattresses
  • Detainees forced to sleep on a filthy concrete floor
  • An open toilet in the center of the room with no privacy
  • No showers, soap, toothbrushes, or clean clothing
  • Lights left on 24 hours a day
  • Freezing temperatures at night, with outside lows near 21 degrees

Judge Brown noted that the facility was explicitly barred by deed from housing detainees overnight. On December 11, Brown ruled Clarke’s detention violated due process and ordered his immediate release.

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Former Athens police officer indicted for bestiality and exploitation

Former Athens-Clarke County Police Officer Amber Nicole Ferguson has been indicted on charges of production and attempted production of child sexual abuse material, possession of child sexual abuse material involving a minor under the age of 12, and production of obscene material. 

“Sexual predators who prey upon children or sexually abuse animals for the purpose of disseminating images of the abuse face significant prison time if convicted in federal court,” said U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg.  “To protect the community and its most vulnerable members, my office will aggressively prosecute anyone who commits such crimes.” 

“The actions alleged in this indictment represent a profound betrayal of the trust and responsibility placed in law enforcement officers. Those who are sworn to protect our communities—especially our children—must be held to the highest standards, said Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Georgia and Alabama Steven N. Schrank. “Homeland Security Investigations is committed to ensuring that individuals who exploit their positions to harm the most vulnerable will be brought to justice.”

“Few crimes are as vile as those committed against children. When the offender is someone who swore an oath to protect the public and uphold the law, it is an even deeper violation. We remain unwavering in our commitment to working alongside our partners to safeguard our most vulnerable and bring offenders, regardless of their title our authority, to justice,” said Chris Hosey, Director, Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

According to U.S. Attorney Hertzberg, the charges, and other information presented in court: After a family member of the two minors reported suspicions to the Commerce Police Department, an investigation led to the discovery of child sexual abuse material on Ferguson’s phone.  As the investigation continued, images involving horse and dog bestiality allegedly possessed by Ferguson were discovered as well. The indictment alleges that Ferguson produced the bestiality images and child sex abuse material.

Amber Nicole Ferguson, 34, of Commerce, Ga., was arraigned on December 4, 2025, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Anna W. Howard.  She was indicted by a federal grand jury on December 2, 2025.  Members of the public are reminded that the indictment only contains charges.  The defendant is presumed innocent of the charges, and it will be the government’s burden to prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.

If convicted of production or attempted production of child sex abuse material, Ferguson would face at least 15 years in prison.  In determining the actual sentence, the Court will consider the United States Sentencing Guidelines, which are not binding but provide appropriate sentencing ranges for most offenders.

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2 Denver deputy sheriffs arrested, accused of assault on at-risk adult

A sheriff deputy and sergeant in Denver were arrested by the Denver Police Department on Thursday and face charges for third-degree assault of an at-risk adult.

The Denver Sheriff Department said in a press release that Sheriff Deputy Jason Gentempo, who was assigned to the Downtown Detention Center, and Deputy Sheriff Sergeant Carla Gentempo, who was assigned to the Administration Division, were placed on investigatory leave on Thursday.

The charge for third-degree assault of an at-risk adult is a class six felony.

The sheriff’s office said the Office of the Independent Monitor was notified, and the Public Integrity Division opened an investigation.

Police told FOX31 on Friday that Carla and Jason Gentempo were both released on a PR bond.

Affidavit: Alleged assault of man in wheelchair

FOX31 obtained the arrest affidavit for Jason Gentempo on Friday.

According to the affidavit, the victim, a paraplegic man, reported that he was assaulted by two off-duty Denver officers, one male and one female, on Oct. 17.

The victim said he put his dog inside before the off-duty law enforcement officers punched him in the head with a closed fist, kicked him in the chest and stomped on his phone.

The hits knocked the victim out of his wheelchair, and he fell back and hit his head. He said the suspects then took off in a white truck they had left running on the street.

The victim gave investigators the surveillance footage from his porch camera, which the affidavit said showed the victim, his dog and another person exit his ground-floor apartment to the porch. The video also showed a woman get out of the driver’s seat and a man get out of the passenger’s seat of a white truck near the victim’s porch.

According to the affidavit, the victim is seen putting his dog back inside the apartment and as he turned back toward the people on the porch, the white female from the truck hit him in the face with a closed fist and kicked him in the chest. The white man from the truck then struck the man as he was falling backward out of his chair, out of the camera view. The man from the truck then kicked the victim’s phone and stomped on it. The suspects then left the scene.

The victim identified both Carla and Jason Gentempo in photos and by name, according to the affidavit, and said they were the suspects who assaulted him.

The Denver Police Department confirmed to FOX31 that this case is related to another case in which a police officer is accused of not filing proper reports and not submitting evidence after responding to an alleged assault.

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Canada spent nearly $1M killing ostriches, but full cost remains hidden

The federal government has now admitted that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the RCMP spent over $900,000 on the agency’s mission to slaughter more than 300 healthy ostriches at Universal Ostrich Farms in Edgewood, B.C.

The numbers were revealed through an order paper question filed by Conservative MP Scott Anderson after months of stonewalling from Ottawa.

Despite Anderson pointedly requesting a complete accounting of all federal dollars spent, the amount the CFIA and RCMP did disclose is merely a glimpse into what was likely millions of tax dollars spent on lengthy court battles to avoid testing the birds to prove their health, and a nearly 50-day occupation of the farm with RCMP deployed at full force.

Nevertheless, for the farmers whose livelihoods and the healthy prehistoric creatures that were wiped out in the kill mission, the totals that have been revealed only add salt to the wounds.

The CFIA alone admits to $444,000, including $9,000 on feed that the farmers would have been happy to provide had they not been barred from caring for their birds weeks before the “cull.”

More than $72,000 was spent on portable toilets and hand-wash stations, and over $32,000 on unspecified “specialized equipment.”

It also paid $100,000 for private security at three of its offices.

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