United Airlines employee allegedly called actress a ‘shining monkey’
A United Airlines employee repeatedly shouted racial slurs at an actress in view of other customers, calling her a “shining monkey,” according to the woman’s attorneys and court documents.
The actress, Cacilie Hughes, was returning home to Houston on Feb. 26 after a speaking engagement on women’s empowerment at a university in Michigan when she encountered a United Airlines employee named Carmella Davano while waiting for her luggage to arrive, according to attorneys Benjamin Crump and Jasmine Rand.
Hughes, 31, then asked Davano for a “refund code,” prompting the woman to erupt at United’s terminal inside George Bush Intercontinental Airport and call her a “monkey” and a “shining monkey,” Hughes told the New York Times.
“I was humiliated,” Hughes told the newspaper. “I was crying and I was the only black woman in the area.”
Crump and Rand, who are holding a press conference Tuesday on the alleged incident, said in a news release Monday that Davano also told Hughes to stop looking at her with her “monkey face.” Other passengers at the terminal witnessed the exchange and tried to intervene, but were unsuccessful.
Hughes then asked another United employee to call police, a request that was denied, leading her to contact authorities herself. Davano was later criminally charged with disorderly conduct for using a racial slur, Crump and Rand said.
Court documents obtained by the New York Times show that the misdemeanor charge was filed against Davano, who could not be reached for comment, one month after Houston police issued her a citation for profane and abusive language in a public space.
The outlet reports that two witnesses also told responding officers that they heard Davano direct the slurs toward Hughes, who appeared in 2015’s “Focus” alongside actor Will Smith. She’s also the vice president of the Big Sister Little Sister Mentoring Program, according to the nonprofit group’s website.
Davano could not be reached for comment Tuesday. She has not returned to work for United since the alleged incident, according to a statement from the airline obtained by The Post.
“At United, we proudly hold ourselves to the highest standards of professionalism and have zero tolerance for discrimination of any kind,” the statement reads. “We have withheld the employee from service since the night of the incident pending an internal investigation. Upon conclusion of the investigation, we will take any and all appropriate corrective action up to and including termination.”
Crump and Rand said the incident is the latest example of a “companywide pattern of racial discrimination” by United Airlines, citing a Nigerian woman’s lawsuit alleging that she was kicked off a flight last year after a white passenger said she smelled.
The attorneys also referenced Eric Murdock, a former NBA point guard who sued the airline for $10 million in December for kicking him out of an exit row before allowing a white passenger to take his seat.
“Racial slurs like ‘shining monkey’ should be relics of history, not resurrected to fuel the fire of racism faced by so many African Americans in today’s society and condoned on United Airlines flights,” Crump and Rand’s joint statement read.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/04/23/united-airlines-employee-allegedly-called-actress-a-shining-monkey/
Men notice woman eating alone, invite her to join them in touching act of kindness
OXFORD, Ala. — A beautiful gesture at an Alabama restaurant has gone viral.
A man named Jamario Howard posted on Facebook that he and two of his friends went to eat at a restaurant in Oxford last week when he noticed a woman sitting alone.
Jamario wrote, “My exact thoughts was ‘dang I’d hate to have to eat alone.’”
That’s when he decided to do something about it. Jamario said he walked up to the woman and asked if he could sit with her. She said yes, and as they started talking, he learned she lost her husband, and their 60th anniversary was the next day. “I instantly gave my condolences and asked her to come eat with us, which she was excited to do,” Jamario wrote.
“The point in this is always be kind and be nice to people. You never know what they are going through. This woman changed my outlook on life and how i look at other people. Everyone has a story so do not judge!” he continued. Jamario ended his Facebook post with an important reminder for people to go see their moms and grandparents. “They miss you!!” he said.
His Facebook post has been shared more than 30k times and has thousands of comments from people who love what he did. One person wrote, “Faith in humanity restored.” Another said, “Your mommas should be proud of the young men they have raised!”
T.I. posts bail for 23 nonviolent Georgia offenders for Easter
LITHONIA, Ga. — Rapper T.I., a Georgia church and VH1’s “Love and Hip Hop” personality Scrapp Deleon came together to post bail for 23 nonviolent offenders who would have spent Easter behind bars.
News outlets report the “Bail Out” program extends beyond the weekend, with each offender being connected to a mentor and possibly given funds for college savings. The New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia says the church set out to raise $40,000 at the start of Lent, but donations topped $120,000 about a month later.
The program targeted people in DeKalb, Fulton, Gwinnett and Rockdale counties. Senior church pastor Jamal Bryant says this was a way for the church be more outspoken when it comes to prison reform.
via: https://pix11.com/2019/04/23/rapper-t-i-posts-bail-for-23-nonviolent-georgia-offenders-for-easter/
Twin boys found in ‘cages’ bolted to the wall inside California home
MODOC, Calif. – The parents of two small children who were found trapped inside makeshift cages bolted to the wall of a Northern California home have been arrested, authorities said Monday.
The grim discovery was made while deputies served a search warrant at a residence in the 3000 block of C/R 101, according to a news release from the Modoc County Sheriff’s Office.
The warrant was obtained after shell casings were found on the property when a CHP officer visited to sign off on a correctable citation, television station KRCR in Redding reported.
Authorities had no idea there were children in the home when they went to search it, Sheriff Tex Dowdy said, according to the station.
Both kids were found in two separate modified cribs, one stacked on top of the other. The cribs were “secured to the wall like dog crates,” the release read.
The twin boys are believed to be about 22 months old, KRCR reported.
A search of the home also uncovered three firearms, ammunition, suspected methamphetamine and evidence of a butane honey oil lab, according to the release.
It’s still being investigated why the boys had been locked up, but Dowdy told the station he suspected “it was a way to keep them away from the other items that were located within the residence.”
Ramon Alberto Zendejas, 25, and his girlfriend Mercadies Irene Williams, also 25, were both arrested and face several charges, according to the release.
Zendejas was booked on suspicion of being a prohibited person in possession of firearms, a prohibited person in possession of ammunition, possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and child endangerment, sheriff’s officials said.
Williams was booked on suspicion of being a prohibited person in possession of firearms, a prohibited person in possession of ammunition and child endangerment.
They are each being held on $10,000 bail.
The two children have been taken into the care of Modoc County Child Protective Services, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
via: https://pix11.com/2019/04/23/twin-boys-found-in-cages-bolted-to-the-wall-inside-california-home/
Deputy on leave for homophobic comment over teen’s suicide
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama deputy has been put on administrative leave for posting a homophobic comment on a Facebook post about a gay teen who killed himself.
Al.com reports Madison County Deputy Jeff Graves wrote the comment Sunday on a WZDX-TV Facebook post about the death of 15-year-old Nigel Shelby, who killed himself last week. His family says he was bullied for his sexuality.
Graves wrote “Liberty Guns Bible Trump BBQ That’s my kind of LGBTQ movement.” He said LGBTQ people are offensive and shouldn’t be accepted. Graves has deleted his comment.
Belle’s Smokin’ BBQ in northern Kentucky offers shirts with a nearly identical slogan : “I support LGBTQ: Liberty, Guns, Bible, Trump, BBQ.”
Sheriff Kevin Turner says an internal investigation will be conducted. Graves didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Woman says nephew was beaten by employee of mental health group home
NORTH ST. LOUIS (KMOV.com) – A North City woman is looking for answers after she says her 25-year-old nephew was beaten outside of a mental health group home.
Michelle Lyle said her nephew, Daymond Logan, battles schizophrenia and has stayed overnight at Hopewell Center’s group home on Chamberlain Avenue for two months. On April 11, she said she received a call that Logan was badly beaten and in the hospital.
“He was in a neck brace, two black eyes, broken nose, he was covered in bruises,” said Lyle.
Logan said it started around 7:30 p.m., when he got home from the mall an hour late for curfew. Following a verbal argument with an employee, Logan said he packed a bag and walked out.
“I made it to about the sidewalk before another argument escalated,” said Logan.
He said an employee hit him upwards of 15 times before he walked to the Gas Mart off Delmar and Goodfellow to call 911.
“I didn’t fight back, I couldn’t because of how aggressive was,” said Logan.
Two days after the incident, Lyle went to the group home to gather Logan’s belongings. She said other staff members had no idea what had happened. Lyle said her nephew has a concussion and may possibly need surgery on his nose.
Since the incident, Lyle said Hopewell Center has tried to arrange a meeting with her to discuss her nephew’s case.
News 4 reached out to the center multiple times but is still waiting to hear back. St. Louis City police confirm they are investigating.
Woman says ex boyfriend hid in her attic for 3 weeks before attacking her
PITTSBURGH, Pa. (CNN) — A woman suspected for weeks someone had been entering her home while she was away.
She tried to ignore it, but soon found out her ex-boyfriend had been living in her attic.
The Pittsburgh woman (whose name is being withheld to protect her) had an order of protection against the man.
But she starting seeing signs around her home that something was wrong.
First it was the toilet seat in her bathroom.
Then it was a blanket in an odd place.
“I knew that blanket had not been there before. I knew it. But what could i do? I already had the PFA against him. I can’t call the police and say there’s a blanket in my basement.”
Then on Saturday night, she found her ex, Cary Cocuzzi, standing in the middle of her bedroom.
He attacked her, but she fought him off and ran outside.
Neighbors called 9-1-1 and he was arrested.
“I had an intuition about it, but I ignored it. I brushed it aside. I didn’t want to seem paranoid or, you know, you never think this will happen to you but I should have trusted my instinct because I was right,” she said.
Police say Cocuzzi told them he has been homeless several times in the past two years.
The woman says she’s just thankful her two daughters weren’t home during the attack.
Couple get 7 years in prison each for enslaving Guinean girl; forced her to work without pay in their home as a housekeeper, cook and nanny
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — A suburban Fort Worth couple has been sentenced to seven years in federal prison each for enslaving a Guinean woman for 16 years.
A federal judge in Fort Worth, Texas, sentenced Mohamed Touré and Denise Cros-Touré each to two seven-year terms and one five-year term, all sentences to be served concurrently. The 58-year-old Southlake, Texas, couple must also serve three years of supervised released upon completion of their prison terms and pay their victim $288,000 in restitution. They also will be deported to Guinea.
The couple and defense attorneys are exploring an appeal, said Scott Palmer, attorney for Cros-Touré.
Trial evidence showed the Tourés brought the girl, then aged at least 5 years but perhaps as old as 13, from her rural Guinean village in 2000. They forced her to work without pay in their home as a housekeeper, cook and nanny until she fled and alerted authorities.
The Tourés are the son and daughter-in-law of the late Guinean President Ahmed Sekou Touré, who helped lead Guinea to independence from French rule in 1958. Sekou Toure was the country’s first president, a role he held until his death in 1984.
The Tourés were convicted in January, and prosecutors had sought the full 20-year prison sentences allowed by law. However, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Conner tempered the sentence request.
“Forced labor trafficking cases are notoriously difficult to prosecute — in part because victims are often afraid to speak out,” said U.S. Attorney Erin Nealy Cox. “It took tremendous courage for this young woman to share her story at trial.”
However, Palmer said the judge’s decision to temper the sentence suggests the trial judge did not believe the pair were as evil as portrayed by prosecutors.
“I think he saw through the exaggerations and lies of the prosecution,” he said.
Lawsuit says pregnant woman was mistreated at STL Co. Jail; she was later diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer
CLAYTON, Mo. (KMOV.com) – For 39 days last fall, attorney Chelsea Merta says her client Adrianna Thurman sat in jail on a civil matter.
“How can a jail lose somebody in the system for so long,” Merta said.
Merta told News 4 Thurman was arrested after not showing up to a court for a hearing she was unaware of.
Thurman’s ex-boyfriend, Merta says, had been stalking her, demanding a paternity test for Thurman’s two kids. She says he is not the father.
“Who gets locked up on a paternity test issue first of all, but who gets ordered to take a paternity test for a man they know is not their child’s father,” said Merta.
In a lawsuit filed in April, Merta says the court system dropped the ball. When Thurman was arrested, the judge signed a document stating Thurman was not allowed to bond out of jail. The suit says Thurman was not told of her rights.
“Caseworkers would not speak with her,” said Merta.
Thurman was seven months pregnant at the time. The lawsuit says Thurman was treated rudely by the staff.
She also claims the jail would not let her see a doctor for weeks, even after complaining about back pain. She eventually saw a doctor and Merta claims a blood test was taken.
When Thurman finally spoke with a caseworker, she was told her case had “slipped through the cracks because staff was untrained and unaware of how to handle inmates on civil warrants”.
Documents say Thurman was eight months pregnant when she released from jail on November 9, but she went into labor prematurely.
At that point, Merta says it was discovered Thurman had stage 4 breast cancer that had spread to her spine.
“That blood panel test that the jail did should have revealed that to jail medical staff,” said Merta.
News 4 reached out to county leaders for a comment and is waiting to hear back.
Social media influencer plotted to take internet domain at gunpoint
The plan was like a bad movie script – complete with an attacker in a puzzling outfit and a backup weapon.
The intruder entered a victim’s home in Iowa carrying a cell phone, a stolen gun and a Taser. On his head was pantyhose and a hat, along with dark sunglasses to mask his eyes, court documents show.
But things did not go as planned.
Now, Rossi Lorathio Adams II could face two decades in prison. A jury found him guilty Thursday of hiring the intruder to break into the house in Cedar Rapids in 2017 to force the transfer of an internet domain at gunpoint, according to the US Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of Iowa.
Threats and gun emojis
Adams, 26, founded a social media company called “State Snaps” four years ago. The company operates on various social media platforms, including Snapchat, Instagram and Twitter, court documents said.
“At one time, Adams had over a million followers on his social media sites, which mostly contained images and videos of young adults engaged in crude behavior, drunkenness and nudity,” court documents said.
His followers often used the slogan “Do it for state” when posting videos and images. So, Adams tried to purchase the internet domain “doitforstate.com” from a Cedar Rapids resident who owned it, court records said. But the owner did not want to part with it.
“Between 2015 and 2017, Adams repeatedly tried to obtain ‘doitforstate.com,’ but the owner of the domain would not sell it. Adams also threatened one of the domain owner’s friends with gun emojis after the friend used the domain to promote concerts,” court records show.
Then he had an idea: Why not take it by force?
Cousin sentenced to 20 years
In June 2017, Adams enlisted his cousin to break into the domain owner’s home and force him to transfer it. The cousin drove to the domain owner’s house and provided a demand note, which contained instructions for transferring the domain to Adams, court records show.
After entering the home, the intruder grabbed the victim’s arm and ordered him to connect his computer to the internet.
He put the firearm against the victim’s head and ordered him to follow the instructions. “Fearing for his life, the victim quickly turned to move the gun away from his head. The victim then managed to gain control of the gun,” court records show.
The victim shot the intruder multiple times and called the police.
The intruder, Adams’ cousin Sherman Hopkins Jr., was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year.
Now it’s Adams’ turn. He will remain in custody pending sentencing. He faces a maximum 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release.