Gun-toting frat bros pose in front of Emmett Till memorial, may face federal charges
Three fraternity brothers at the University of Mississippi have been suspended by chapter officials — and are possibly facing federal charges — for taking a photo in front of a bullet-riddled sign honoring slain civil rights icon Emmett Till while holding a shotgun and AR-15 semi-automatic rifle.
“The photo is on Instagram with hundreds of ‘likes,’ and no one said a thing,” says a complaint filed with the UM Office of Student Conduct.
The Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting, which is a member of the ProPublica Local Reporting Network, reviewed the complaint and obtained a copy of the picture in question, which was taken earlier this year.
Ole Miss student and Kappa Alpha Order member Ben LeClere posted it on his private page in March and is reportedly the one holding a shotgun.
Two of his fraternity brothers, John Lowe and another young man who has yet to be identified, can be seen posing alongside him — the latter of whom is toting the AR-15.
A fourth person, said to be the photographer, may have also been with the trio, the complaint says.
KA officials reportedly suspended LeClere, Lowe and the other man on Wednesday after the photo was brought to their attention by the Center for Investigative Reporting.
“The photo is inappropriate, insensitive and unacceptable. It does not represent our chapter,” said Taylor Anderson, president of Ole Miss’ Kappa Alpha Order, in an email to the center. “We have and will continue to be in communication with our national organization and the University.”
US Attorney Chad Lamar, of the Northern District of Mississippi in Oxford, was also shown the image and chose to refer it to the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division for further investigation.
“We will be working with them closely,” he said Thursday.
Ole Miss officials condemned the students’ actions, calling the photo “offensive and hurtful.” They claimed to have received a copy of it back in March, which they forwarded and referred to university police — who then gave it to the FBI.
University spokesman Rod Guajardo told the Center for Investigative Reporting that the FBI decided to not investigate the incident because the picture “did not pose a specific threat.”
He pointed out how while the image may be “offensive,” it’s not a violation of the Ole Miss code of conduct — since it was taken off campus and not at a university-affiliated event.
However, the school “stands ready to assist the fraternity with educational opportunities for those members and the chapter,” Guajardo said.
The Emmett Till sign that was captured in the photo has been targeted several times since being erected in 2008.
Vandals reportedly threw the first site marker into the nearby Tallahatchie River — where Till’s body was dumped after his 1955 lynching. The second was shot up repeatedly, with officials estimating that it got blasted more than 315 times before finally being removed and replaced in 2016.
The third and most recent sign, which was captured in the IG photo, had to be taken down last week after being riddled once again with bullet holes. It’s unclear if LeClere, Lowe and the other young man were responsible.
The fraternity brothers are just the latest Ole Miss students to come under fire for incidents involving civil rights icons.
A trio of Sigma Phi Epsilon members got hit with federal charges several years ago after they placed a noose around the neck of a James Meredith statue, along with a Confederate flag.
Meredith was the first known black student to attend Ole Miss.
One of the fraternity members pleaded guilty and received six months in prison for “using a threat to intimidate African American students and employees because of their race or color,” according to the Center for Investigative Reporting.
All of them wound up withdrawing from the university. The school’s Sigma Phi chapter was later shuttered following an internal investigation.
“Hazing, underage drinking, alcohol abuse and failure to comply with the university and fraternity’s codes of conduct” were the reasons given as to why the fraternity’s national headquarters was closing the chapter.
Photo Credit: Instagram/Mississippi Center For Investigative Reporting
Texas school district to begin drug testing students as young as 12
AMARILLO, Texas (AP) — A school district in the Texas Panhandle will begin drug testing students as young as 12 years old who are interested in playing sports or participating in other extracurricular activities.
Testing will begin with the resumption of classes next month at Bushland Independent School District and will be required of students in grades seven through 12 who play in the band, sit on the student council, assemble a yearbook, play chess or participate in other clubs. Students who receive a permit to park at the high school also will be subjected to testing.
The district does not have a drug problem or growing epidemic, district Assistant Superintendent Angie Watson said Wednesday, but the purpose is to keep students safe and “deter them from doing anything that would harm them.”
“There isn’t an apparent drug problem,” Watson said, “but that isn’t to say that kids across the nation are not being introduced to drugs and getting into drugs. We’re just trying to be proactive. We’re giving them a reason to not do that.”
The school board a few months ago gave the OK for the development of a policy and then district officials released it to the public last week, Watson said. There are about 700 students in grades seven through 12 in the district, which is just west of Amarillo. Either saliva swabs or urine samples from those students involved in extracurricular activities will be tested.
Administrators will check for seven substances — including alcohol, marijuana, heroin and opioids — and Watson said funds were set aside in the school budget this year to cover costs. Some students also will be subjected to random follow-up testing to ensure they’re adhering to the policy.The Key to an Effective Procedure Room DesignFunction, efficiency and versatility are key to a seamless room design and procedure zone. Discover the technology that brings it all together.Ad By MidmarkSee More
A school district in Nebraska took the unusual step last month of adding nicotine to the list of drugs to be randomly tested. The move by Fairbury Public Schools drew criticism from the American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska.
Several districts in Texas have drug testing in place. The U.S. Supreme Court in 2002 broadened the authority of public schools to test children for illegal drugs by allowing for the inclusion of middle and high school students participating in extracurricular programs, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Testing had previously been allowed only for student athletes.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Missouri man charged after firing 115 shots in his backyard while intoxicated
OVERLAND, Mo. (KMOV.com) — An Overland man was charged after shooting 115 rounds into trees in his backyard while intoxicated, police said.
On Wednesday, Overland police officers responded to a call of shots fired in a residential neighborhood in the 10400 block of Canter Way Drive. Upon arrival, officers heard constant gunfire and surrounded the resident they believed the gunshots were coming from.
Joseph Manley, 56, exited the house and admitted he was shooting his guns into the trees in his backyard and he had been drinking alcohol. Wild Acres Park is behind his backyard.
Officers revealed he used three different types of guns; an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, a FNH semi-automatic handgun and a 12-gauge shotgun.
Court documents say Manley fired a total of 115 rounds and a breathalyzer revealed his blood alcohol content was .148.
Manley was charged with three counts of unlawful use of weapon while intoxicated on Thursday. We customize. You could save $782.Our customized coverage could save you $782 on auto and home insurance. Get a free quote in minutes today.Ad By Liberty Mutual InsuranceSee More
Police said Manley is considered dangerous as he fired over 100 rounds in a residential neighborhood.
Manley is being held at the St. Louis County Jail.
Photo Credit: St. Louis County Justice Services
26-year-old man admits to posing as 17year old basketball player, groping girl
DALLAS — A 26-year-old man was sentenced to probation Tuesday after pleading guilty to posing as a 17-year-old student so he could play basketball at a Dallas high school and groping a 14-year-old girl.
Under a deal with Dallas County prosecutors, Sidney Gilstrap-Portley received six years’ probation for indecency with a child and record tampering .
Authorities say Gilstrap-Portley claimed to be a Hurricane Harvey evacuee and exploited a Dallas school district policy for disaster victims.
Gilstrap-Portley had played basketball for North Mesquite High School in a Dallas suburb before graduating in 2011. He then played one season at Dallas Christian College.
Dallas school district officials say Gilstrap-Portley posed as 17-year-old Rashun Richardson. He first enrolled at Skyline High School before eventually shifting to Hillcrest High School, where he starred in the Hillcrest Panthers 11-10 season in 2017-18 and was voted a district offensive player of the year by the district’s high school coaches.
He also dated the 14-year-old girl while pretending to be a student.
Gilstrap-Portley’s cover was blown in May 2018 after one of his former North Mesquite coaches recognized him when he played in a tournament the month before.
The explosive revelation made national headlines and rated coverage in such publications as Esquire and Sports Illustrated.
In a television interview after Gilstrap-Portley’s exposure, his father said his son, who had a fiancée and a young child, wanted to reboot his life.
“He made errors. There was no ill-intent,” Sidney Portley told WFAA-TV in Dallas. “We apologize for that happening. It was mis-channeled determination. His passion is basketball. He tried to push ‘rewind’ in his life.”
Photo Credit: AP
Dr. Angela Williams posed as patient to pick up prescription drugs
A Missouri doctor posed as a patient to pick up pain pills she prescribed for other people, federal prosecutors said.
Dr. Angela K. Williams, 34, of Florissant, was indicted Thursday on two felony counts of fraudulently obtaining narcotic opioid prescription drugs, the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri announced Tuesday.
Prosecutors said the drug-seeking doc used her own prescription pad to get her hands on strong opioid narcotics, such as hydrocodone and oxycodone, which are generally used to treat pain, but can be highly addictive if abused.
After writing the bogus prescriptions, Williams then posed as patients at pharmacies where she picked up the potent pain pills, prosecutors said.
Williams, who specializes in internal medicine, also used another doctor’s prescription pad and name, as well as the physician’s Drug Enforcement Administration number, to write additional prescriptions to herself, according to prosecutors.
If convicted, Williams faces up to four years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each count.
Williams’ attorney did not return a request for comment, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. Williams also faces similar charges in St. Louis County Circuit Court, stemming from allegations in Florissant last year, according to the newspaper.
Photo Credit: Police Handout
Man with over 70 convictions throws coffee on baby days after release from jail
A Seattle man was arrested over the weekend and accused of throwing coffee on a baby — just two days after he’d been released from jail after serving eight months for randomly punching a man.
Q13 Fox reported that the suspect, Francisco Calderon, has been convicted more than 70 times, and 14 of those convictions were on assault charges.
The station, citing witnesses, reported that Calderon was behaving erratically before the alleged attack near Seattle’s Westlake Park. Witnesses said the baby’s father tackled Calderon and held him down until police arrived.
KOMO reported late Tuesday that Calderon was being held on a misdemeanor charge, not on a felony charge of assaulting a child.
“Mr. Calderon is being released without conditions on the felony charge,” King County District Court Judge Anne Harper said. “He has been filed in Seattle Municipal Court on a misdemeanor charge … he remains detained but not on the felony. That is by decision of King County Prosecutor’s Office and Seattle City Attorney.”
Calderon received a yearlong jail sentence for his previous attack after Municipal Court Judge Ed McKenna rejected a plea deal agreed to by the prosecutor and public defender that would have sentenced Calderon to 30 days in jail and a treatment program. After that case, Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes and Director of Public Defense Anita Khandwlwal called for McKenna’s resignation, citing “our shared concern that you are disregarding your duty to act with impartiality and integrity.”
“Our concerns are based on your repeated comments regarding the sentencing recommendations made by prosecutors, the role of defense counsel, and problems you perceive in the criminal legal system, as well as your conduct during the sentencing of Francisco Calderon,” the letter said.
McKenna declined to step down, writing in response: “I was elected to this position by my peers and enjoy continued support from the bench. The court, as the judicial branch of City government, is a separate branch and independently elected and should act free of outside influence. An independent, fair and impartial judiciary is imperative to preserving principles of justice and rule of law.”
Fox News’ Tyler Olson contributed to this report.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Missouri Teen Alleges She Was Raped in Middle School Bathroom, Says District Blamed Her for Assault
A teenager who reported she was raped at a suburban Kansas City, Missouri, middle school is alleging in a lawsuit that the school district blamed her in the attack.
The Kansas City Star reports that the lawsuit filed this month says an assistant principal at Bernard Campbell Middle School told the girl’s mother that her daughter got “herself raped” and accused her of disobeying the school’s policy against public displays of affection.
The suit says the assault happened December 2017 in a boy’s bathroom, and that the attacker had been suspended after being accused of sexually assaulting another student at school weeks earlier.
Lee’s Summit police say officers investigated, but prosecutors declined to file charges.
An attorney for the Lee’s Summit R-7 School District says he can’t comment on pending litigation.
Photo Credit: google maps
Juul Went Into Ninth-Grade Classroom, Called E-Cigarettes ‘Totally Safe’: Teens Testify to Congress
A Juul representative repeatedly told a ninth-grade classroom that the company’s e-cigarette was “totally safe” before showing underage students the device, according to two teenagers who testified under oath to Congress on Wednesday.
The comments came at the first of two hearings organized by the House Oversight Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy to “examine [Juul’s] responsibility for the youth nicotine addiction epidemic.” Company executives, including Juul’s co-founder, will testify on Thursday.
One of the teens who testified on Wednesday, 17-year-old Caleb Mintz, said a Juul representative spoke to his class as part a “mental health [and] addiction seminar” where teachers were asked to leave the room.
The representative mentioned his connection to Juul, Mintz said, and the comments on e-cigarette safety were met with a “sigh of relief” among his classmates who were already vaping.
‘Very disturbing behavior, to say the least’
In a statement, Juul said the presentation was part of a “short-lived Education and Youth Prevention Program which was ended in September 2018 after its purpose — to educate youth on the dangers of nicotine addiction — was clearly misconstrued.”
But experts say that Juul itself contributed to epidemic-levels of vaping among teens, in part by raising nicotine levels and triggering an “arms race” of the addictive chemical.
“I believe the presenter was sending mixed messages by saying Juul was ‘totally safe’ and following up every totally safe statement with ‘but we don’t want you as customers,’ ” said Mintz. “I believe that the presenter was playing on the rebellious side of teens,” he added, “where when teens are told not to do something, they are more likely to do it.”
Mintz’s friend, 16-year-old Phillip Fuhrman, testified that he was addicted to Juul at the time of the incident, which occurred in April 2018. The two boys spoke with the Juul representative after the presentation concluded, they said, and Mintz asked what he should do if he had a friend addicted to nicotine.
Democratic Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, chairman of the House Oversight Subcommittee, asked Fuhrman, “When Caleb [Mintz] asked the presenter what he should do if he had a friend that was addicted to nicotine, was Caleb referring to you?”
“He was,” Fuhrman testified. “Since Caleb was not specific on what kind of nicotine he was addicted to, whether it was an e-cigarette or cigarettes, the speaker thought that he was talking about cigarettes, and he said that he should mention Juul to his friend.”
The product was “a safer alternative than smoking cigarettes and it would be better for the kid to use that,” the Juul representative allegedly said, according to Fuhrman. “He didn’t use it but he did take it out and show it to us,” Fuhrman added.
Krishnamoorthi sighed before calling the company’s actions “very disturbing behavior, to say the least.” He summarized the testimony, saying “a person connected to Juul pulled out a Juul device to demonstrate its safety to teenagers and then lied about the product being quote-unquote totally safe.”
The Juul representative also “mentioned that the FDA was about to come out and say that Juul was 99% safer than cigarettes, and he said that that would happen very soon, and that it was in FDA approval while the talk was going on,” according to Fuhrman.
In the year since the incident, Juul has not received FDA approval as a smoking cessation device.
‘Under the guise of education’
Phillip’s mother, Dorian Fuhrman, testified that after her son started to vape, he “changed kind of overnight. He started spending a lot of time in his room in the dark. He became moody. We had a very contentious relationship.”
She worked with Mintz’s mother, Meredith Berkman, to start a group called Parents Against Vaping E-cigarettes after the classroom incident.
Berkman testified that “Juul sent a representative to talk to our kids about its product under the guise of education.” She said an outside group had organized the presentation at her son’s school, but “the school had no idea that the outside group had brought a Juul representative into the school.”
She said she believes the outside group “was naive, definitely, but in good faith.” Berkman said she called the group and a staffer answered the phone. Berkman testified that the staffer, when asked about the presentation, said she had been researching anti-Juul education and came across the name of Juul employee listed online as the company’s youth prevention coordinator.
When reached by the staffer, the Juul employee said she had “the perfect person” and sent the Juul representative into the school, according to Berkman.
‘Human guinea pigs for the Juul experiment’
Later in Wednesday’s hearing, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a Democrat, told Berkman that “as a mother, I can sense your frustration. … I just want you to know you have the truth on your side. And just be stronger for that.”
Democratic Rep. Ayanna Pressley later echoed those comments, telling Berkman that “we thank you for your fierceness and your advocacy.”
“If we don’t take action now,” Berkman said in the hearing, “we face an entire generation of kids addicted to nicotine, who are human guinea pigs for the Juul experiment overall.”
Also at the hearing was public health analyst Rae O’Leary, who represented the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. She said Juul “targeted American Indians by exploiting tribal sovereignty, which will eventually negatively impact American Indian youth.”
She recounted a visit by Juul representatives earlier this year in which they offered the tribal council a “switching program” and free starter kits as part of an implied harm reduction effort and public health study. The tribe was “unfairly exploited,” O’Leary said.
Republican Rep. Michael Cloud said at the hearing that e-cigarettes may have a role in smoking cessation, but said “we do need to be clear about one thing. No one wants kids to use tobacco, no one wants kids vaping, and no one wants vaping companies to target children with advertisements.”
Pressley said that “many of Juul’s tactics seem to be right out of the Big Tobacco playbook,” pointing out that for decades, tobacco companies targeted black communities, especially with menthol cigarettes.
“It’s extremely disturbing,” she said. “We’ve been here before. We don’t need a bunch of studies. The only studies we need are the millions of casualties that are behind us and that we run the risk of seeing ahead of us.”
Photo Credit: Getty Images
3 Teens Arrested in Caught-on-Video Beating of Screaming Girl With Special Needs in Chicago
Three teenage girls have been charged in Chicago in the beating of a 15-year-old special needs girl that was recorded on cellphone video and shared online.
Police said during a news conference Thursday that two of the girls are charged with aggravated battery and one is charged with mob action. The girls are 13, 14 and 15.
The video shows people beating the girl as she screams. The girl waives her arms as she tries to fend off her attackers, then falls to the ground, crying, as people nearby laugh.
The video was shared online by a person who wrote that she was a friend of the girl.
She was treated at a hospital and released. Police declined to discuss Thursday whether the girl had been sexually assaulted in a separate incident.
Photo Credit: ktla.com
Dog kept under bed for 2 years is ‘most appalling’ neglect case
RICHMOND, Va. – The Richmond SPCA has rehabilitated a dog found living in one of the worst neglect situations the organization has seen in decades.
The 7-year-old poodle nicknamed Lionheart was surrendered back in April.
“The owner told us he had Lionheart under a bed for 2 years and had only kind of just put food under the bed,” Richmond SPCA CEO Robin Robertson Starr told WTVR. “Lionheart had been completely been without any human attention and affection for a considerable amount of time.”
The dog’s fur was severely matted and could barely walk, stand or eat.
“When I first looked at Lionheart in the kennel run when he first arrived, I literally could not tell which was the front or the back,” Starr explained.
Starr considered Lionheart’s past one of the worst neglect cases in her 22 years with the SPCA.
“We immediately took Lionheart into our care, and our dedicated team got to work. Not knowing his body condition and overall health, our veterinary team worked quickly to relieve Lionheart of his painful mats and address his medical conditions that had mounted over years of neglect,” a Richmond SPCA blog post read. “It took several hours for our staff to remove pounds of matted fur that had amassed on his tiny body.”
Starr said it took a team of veterinarians and caregivers about two months for the poodle to be ready for adoption.
Bill Brown and his wife recently adopted the dog, which they renamed Cody.
“He was really skinny when we got him because they had to shave him to clean him up,” Brown explained.
Cody now lives a happy life with the Brown’s in a Brandermill retirement community.
“It’s unbelievable how someone can treat something so lovable, so cute and so smart,” Brown stated. “We were shocked to find out his background to tell the truth.”
Starr said the poodle’s story is a perfect example of a dog’s ability to bounce back despite a neglectful past.
“Dogs are remarkably resilient creatures and have the capacity to keep loving humans,” she explained. “They seem to always be willing to give humans another chance.”
via: https://pix11.com/2019/07/25/dog-kept-under-bed-for-2-years-is-most-appalling-neglect-case/
Photo Credit: pix11.com