May 20, 2021

Texas family out for revenge over vandalism, kill the wrong man - he drove the same type of car

Police in Texas say four members of one family murdered an innocent man in a case of mistaken identity. The four were on the lookout for someone who had been vandalizing their property, and investigators say they chased the wrong man in their Houston-area neighborhood, reports KTRK.

Those accused are Joe Argueta, 19; his mother, Florinda, 39; his father, Luis, 45; and his uncle Margarito Alcantar, 29.

The victim is 29-year-old Eddie Clark III, who lived in the neighborhood and apparently drove the same type of car as the vandal, per the Katy Times. The family says that for weeks, someone had been damaging their home and vehicles, and they suspected a friend of the younger Argueta's former girlfriend. The vandal drove a black Dodge Charger, the Arguetas told investigators.

On Monday night, Clark drove his dark-colored Charger down their street, and the four family members gave chase in two separate vehicles. Police say Joe Argueta fired repeatedly at Clark's vehicle before it crashed into a tree. Clark got out and ran but collapsed, having been fatally shot, per the Washington Post.

"Seems like a tragic case of mistaken identity," wrote Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez in a Facebook post. All four face murder charges. “This is an example of taking the law into your hands,” a judge told Joe Argueta in a court appearance, per KTRK. “Any other harm or destruction to your own residence or home, repeatedly or otherwise, it doesn’t justify taking the law into your own hands and then mistaking the person.”

https://www.newser.com/story/306397/sheriff-man-killed-in-tragic-case-of-mistaken-identity.html?utm_source=part&utm_medium=uol&utm_campaign=rss_top

Deputies located Florinda and her son, Joe, at the scene. Florinda stated that she had filed multiple reports with HCSO regarding a person or persons damaging their home and vehicles. She indicated that the suspect was a teenage Hispanic male friend of her son’s former girlfriend that they suspected was responsible for the damage. In those reports, a black Dodge Charger was listed as the possible suspect vehicle. The Arguetas said that at about 11:30 p.m., Joe had spotted what he believed was the suspect vehicle driving in the neighborhood and the family had blocked in Clark’s gray Challenger with their own vehicles. Luis, armed with a pistol, and Alcantar, carrying a baseball bat, then approached the vehicle to confront the driver.

When Clark attempted to flee, Luis fired at the vehicle, striking it multiple times according to the HCSO press release. Clark was found by deputies outside of the vehicle and was found to have been shot. He was treated by Cy-Fair EMS at the scene and then sent via Life Flight to Memorial Hermann Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Clark was not known by the Arguetas and HCSO has received no indications that he was involved in the ongoing dispute between the family and Joe’s ex-girlfriend’s acquaintances.

Luis and Alcantar fled the scene before law enforcement’s arrival. Florinda was questioned at the scene and then released. Joe was arrested at the scene and transported to HCSO offices where he spoke with HCSO Homicide Unit investigators and provided a statement.

Joe Argueta is currently in custody and being held on $50,000 bond with a court date set for Thursday, May 20. Luis Argueta, Margarito Alcantar and Florinda Argueta remain at large and are wanted for murder after a review of nearby surveillance camera footage and witness statements led investigators to seek charges against them.

http://www.katytimes.com/stories/four-family-members-charged-in-murder-of-katy-area-man,3724

May 19, 2021

Montana Tribes Confront an Epidemic of Violence Against Indigenous Women

Montana Tribes Confront an Epidemic of Violence Against Indigenous Women
“What if that were my daughter…my sister…my cousins?”

Two years ago, on a February evening, Ellie Bundy attended a tribal working group in Arlee, Montana, on the Flathead Indian Reservation. Surrounded by local and tribal law enforcement, tribal members and families, Bundy listened as people told stories about loved ones or community members who had gone missing. “What if that were my daughter?” Bundy said. “We say that a lot, but really, what if it were my daughter? What if it were my sister? What if it were my cousins? It is a visual you just can’t get out of your head.” The meeting was one of four hosted by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes to encourage discussion and come up with local community responses to the epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous people.

Bundy is now a councilwoman for the Salish and Kootenai, as well as the presiding officer of the Montana Missing Indigenous Persons Task Force. For the past five months, she and other tribal officials have participated in a series of working groups with federal, state and local law enforcement and community organizations. On April 1, at a press conference at the tribal headquarters in Pablo, Montana, the Salish and Kootenai joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Montana and the Federal Bureau of Investigation in announcing the completion of the first Tribal Community Response Plan to the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous people.



As the first plan of its kind to be developed, it will serve as a model that tribal governments across Indian Country can adapt to meet their own specific needs. It marks a critical milestone in the effort to resolve the crisis, something that advocates say must be led by tribal nations and supported by the federal government. The new plan comes at a unique time nationally, after the passage of federal legislation including Savanna’s Act and renewing the Violence Against Women Act, coupled with executive-branch initiatives, such as Interior Secretary Deb Haaland’s new unit in the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which was created specifically to investigate crimes involving missing and murdered Indigenous people.

As of April, in Montana, there were 166 active missing persons cases. Indigenous people account for 48 of these, or about 29 percent, despite comprising only 6 percent of the state’s population. But prosecuting crimes involving acts of violence—including murder, rape and kidnapping—committed against Indigenous people is difficult. More than 96 percent of such crimes are committed by non-Indigenous people, but because of the complex web of federal, state and tribal laws and jurisdictions, tribes have long lacked the authority to prosecute non-Indigenous perpetrators who commit crimes on tribal land. Instead, it’s up to federal prosecutors, who often decline to prosecute: In 2017, 37 percent of the cases presented to federal prosecutors in Indian Country were declined. This leaves many Indigenous victims and survivors faced with a wide disparity in justice.

https://www.motherjones.com/crime-justice/2021/05/montana-tribes-salish-kootenai-violence-against-indigenous-women/

May 19, 2021

People run as skyscraper wobbles despite good weather and no earthquake

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/18/panic-as-300m-high-tall-skyscraper-wobbles-in-china

Panic as 300-metre-high skyscraper wobbles in China
SEG Plaza in Shenzhen, one of country’s tallest buildings, evacuated after it inexplicably starts shaking

The SEG Plaza in Shenzhen was evacuated after it started shaking on Tuesday.

People flee in panic as 300-metre skyscraper wobbles in China – video
Agence France-Presse



One of China’s tallest skyscrapers was evacuated on Tuesday after it began to shake, sending panicked shoppers scampering to safety.

The near 300 metre (980ft) high SEG Plaza in Shenzhen, southern China, inexplicably began to shake at around 1pm, prompting an evacuation of people inside while pedestrians looked on open-mouthed.

The building was closed by 2.40pm, according to local media reports.

Completed in 2000, the tower is home to a major electronics market as well as various offices in the centre of one of China’s fastest-growing cities.

https://twitter.com/The_Melvis/status/1394973448728977409?s=19

May 19, 2021

Poll: New Jerseyans on another Christie presidential run: No thanks

An overwhelming majority of Chris Christie’s former New Jersey constituents think he would not make a good president, and just one in 10 say they’d like to see him run again, according to a Monmouth University poll released Tuesday.

The poll comes as Christie, a Republican who served two terms as governor of New Jersey, teases a 2024 presidential run through media appearances and allies’ anonymous leaks to the media.


“Christie left a lasting impression on the state. Nearly every New Jerseyan still has an opinion of him. The problem is those opinions tend to be fairly negative,” Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute, said in a statement that accompanied the poll results.

https://www.politico.com/states/new-jersey/story/2021/05/18/new-jerseyans-on-another-christie-presidential-run-no-thanks-1382813

May 19, 2021

Deputy Zachary Wester found guilty of planting drugs at traffic stops.. guy lost custody of kid

A Florida ex-cop was convicted Tuesday of planting drugs at three different traffic stops.

Zachary Wester, 28, was found guilty on 19 of 67 counts, the Tallahassee Democrat reported. He had been charged with planting drugs at 12 different stops but was only convicted in connection to three.

Wester was a deputy with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office from 2016 until 2018, when he was fired amid the drug-planting investigation. Prosecutors dropped 119 cases in the panhandle county after his 2019 arrest.

A jury convicted Wester in the cases of Teresa Odom, Joshua Emanuel and Steven Vann, according to the Democrat. During Odom’s arrest, Wester was seen on body-cam footage carrying a baggie to her truck.

https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/ny-florida-cop-convicted-planting-drugs-zachary-wester-20210518-r6yfwt6vaffw5prfvwddyobyku-story.html


Wester was suspended in 2018, and cops found drugs and paraphernalia packaged in his patrol car while investigating, the Democrat reported. Wester claimed he found the drugs hours before his suspension, but prosecutors noted he didn’t report the score.



-------------

The state presented a dozen people as victims. One of them, Benjamin Bowling, lost custody of his daughter because the defendant arrested him, authorities said. Body cam footage in one instance showed Wester palming an item–meth–while beginning to search the vehicle of another victim Teresa Odom, authorities said.

Wester was only convicted on three of the cases: Odom’s, that of Steven Vann, and that of Joshua Emmanuel. Guilty counts covered charges of racketeering, official misconduct, perjury, fabricating evidence, possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, and false imprisonment.


https://lawandcrime.com/live-trials/live-trials-current/zachary-wester/fired-deputy-zachary-wester-guilty-of-planting-drugs-on-people-during-traffic-stops-but-only-in-3-cases/
Lead prosecutor Tom Williams suggested at trial that Wester targeted specific people to plant drugs on, according to the Democrat.

May 19, 2021

cop mistakenly fires live shotgun rather than bean bag round at mental health situation

May 18, 2021

Meet the Four Kinds of People Holding Us Back From Full Vaccination

In the United States overall...

8% are Watchful. They’re waiting to see what happens next.

9% are Cost-Anxious. They want the vaccine but can’t afford the time or cost.

4% are System Distrusters. They feel the health care system doesn’t treat them fairly.

14% are Covid Skeptics. They don’t believe the threat.


Covid Skeptics are at the far end of the spectrum as the least likely to get vaccinated. The primary barrier for people in this group are their specific, deeply held beliefs about Covid-19. Everyone in this group believes at least one conspiracy theory related to the pandemic, whether it’s that microchips are implanted with the Covid vaccine; Covid-19 has been exploited by the government to control people; or that the pandemic was caused by a ring of people who secretly manipulate world events.

We found Covid Skeptics are common in Arkansas, North Dakota and Nevada. Considering that 84 percent of this group believe that the government is exploiting Covid-19 to control people, leaders of vaccination campaigns should consider tapping nonpolitical figures to mobilize this group. Doctors are trusted by 50 percent of this group, while scientists are trusted by 32 percent. They could also use religious leaders, who may resonate best with 9 percent of group members who say the vaccine goes against their religious beliefs.

The key to engaging this group will be to avoid trying to debunk what they believe; rather, experts need to listen, acknowledge how they feel and then share the facts. Our research finds that emphasizing that vaccination is their own, personal choice — one that can help them protect friends and family members — can also work.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/05/18/opinion/covid-19-vaccine-hesitancy.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage

May 18, 2021

charged! man whose gender reveal explosion was felt across two states

A New Hampshire man has been charged after a blast from a gender reveal that used 80lbs of explosives sparked fears of an earthquake when it shook towns across state lines.



Anthony Spinelli was charged on Monday with disorderly conduct following the gender reveal party for a baby boy in Kingston, a town not far from the Massachusetts border, last month.

Police in Kingston had received a flurry of 911 calls from terrified homeowners following the loud explosion on April 20.

The explosive is sold over the counter for use in firearms practice.

Police said at the time that the person responsible for buying and setting off the explosives had turned themselves into police.

Spinelli, whose name was not released at the time, has now been charged with causing public alarm under New Hampshire's disorderly conduct law.

It was not immediately clear if Spinelli is the father-to-be.


Police said the family believed the quarry would be the safest spot to blow up the material and were said to have had permission from the quarry owners to be there.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9593263/Man-charged-gender-reveal-blast-rocked-nearby-towns.html

May 18, 2021

Tennessee bridge inspector and team fail to notice big ass crack...fired, might be prosecuted

In 2019 and 2020, the same inspector led teams checking the condition of a bridge that spans the Mississippi River, connecting Arkansas and Tennessee. Both times, the teams failed to notice a crack that has now shut down the bridge for repairs, the New York Times reports.

There's no mystery, Arkansas transportation officials said. "He didn't see it," said Lorie Tudor, the department's director. "But the reason he didn't see it is because he wasn’t following proper protocol." His job was to check "every inch of the beam,"

Tudor said. A reexamination of drone video footage showed the beam was cracking in May 2019, before that year's inspection. On Monday, the inspector, who'd been on the job for 15 years, was fired. The results of the state's investigation have been forwarded to federal officials for possible criminal prosecution, per the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

https://www.newser.com/story/306311/inspector-fired-for-cutting-corners-on-bridge-inspection.html?utm_source=part&utm_medium=uol&utm_campaign=rss_top


The unidentified employee, who has worked at the department for approximately 15 years, was placed on leave Friday after a review last week of drone video from May 2019 confirmed the existence of the crack before the bridge superstructure and substructure inspections were conducted in September 2019 and September 2020.

He was fired on Monday morning after an investigation that lasted throughout the weekend, said Lorie Tudor, the department director. The preliminary results of the investigation, which is continuing, have been referred to federal authorities for potential criminal charges, she said.

"From our investigation, we have determined that the same employee who conducted the inspection in both 2019 and 2020 failed to carry out his responsibilities correctly," Tudor said at the briefing. "This is unacceptable and this employee has been terminated as of this morning."



https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2021/may/18/state-fires-inspector-over-i-40-bridge-crack/

May 18, 2021

Former Child Star Ricky Schroder Roasted On Twitter For Harassing Costco Workers about masks

https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2021/05/17/ricky-schroder-apologizes-costco-confrontation-mxp-vpx.cnn

Former child star apologizes after confronting Costco employee

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ricky-schroder-costco_n_60a1cd54e4b063dcceab1871

Former Child Star Ricky Schroder Roasted On Twitter For Harassing Costco Workers
The actor rambled about masks in a bizarre video that was posted online.

https://twitter.com/davenewworld_2/status/1393932542147977217