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Homophobe With ‘Hundreds’ of Rounds Threatened NYC LGBTQ Pride Parade: ‘Make 2016 Pulse Shooting Look Like a Cakewalk’

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An anti-LGBTQ extremist with “hundreds” of rounds of ammunition, two loaded shotguns, and two stun guns was arrested Monday by agents of the FBI and the New York Joint Terrorism Task Force after threatening the NYC Pride Parade, wanting to “make the 2016 Orlando Pulse Nightclub shooting look like a cakewalk.”

But it wasn’t just NYC Pride he was allegedly targeting.

NBC News reports “Robert Fehring, 74, was charged with mailing dozens of letters threatening to assault, shoot and bomb LGBTQ-affiliated individuals, organizations and businesses, including New York City’s annual Pride festival.”

Fehring allegedly also had photographs from a Long Island, New York pride parade in his Bayport, New York home. He was “charged with mailing dozens of letters threatening to assault, shoot and bomb LGBTQ-affiliated individuals, organizations and businesses, including New York City’s annual Pride festival.”

Agents last month executed a search warrant and also found a “stamped envelope addressed to an LGBTQ-affiliated attorney containing the remains of a dead bird, federal prosecutors said.”

The criminal complaint also states that since 2013, Fehring “has sent organizations and businesses associated with the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning (‘LGBTQ+’) community, as well as government agencies, numerous letters via the USPS in which he has threatened violence, including through the use of firearms and explosives.”

[Caution: Disturbing language below.]

A May 2021 letter to the head of an NYC LGBTQ organization reads:

The following month a letter addressed to a Sag Harbor, NY LGBTQ organization read:

A third letter contained a photograph apparently of one of the people he was targeting at the Eisenhower Pride event, saying in part:

“[W]e were right there you fudge-packing, scum-sucking, disgusting, fucking animal…FREAK!!! They couldn’t get
a shot off at you, slithering around the back stage area like a snake. Too many cops. Very disappointed. But your time has come. . . . They are out to KILL you….and your boyfriend. You are being watched. No matter how long it takes, you will be taken out….high-powered bullet….bomb…..knife…. whatever it takes.”

And still another letter included this:

“As alleged, the defendant’s hate-filled invective and threats of violence directed at members of the LGBTQ+ community have no place in our society and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” stated United States Attorney Breon Peace.  “This Office is firmly committed to protecting the civil rights of all members of every community in this district, including the LGBTQ+ community and other minority communities.”

Image by Studio Sarah Lou via Flickr and a CC license

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CRIME

Linda Sun Arrested By FBI, Accused of Working for China and Blocking Taiwan Access to NY Gov

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Linda Sun, New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s former deputy chief of staff, was arrested Tuesday morning on charges that she was acting as an unregistered agent on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party.

Sun and her husband, Chris Hu, had their home raided in July by the FBI, though any information about why was kept sealed until Tuesday. Sun is accused of being an unregistered Chinese agent, and using her position to promote Chinese interests, as well as alien smuggling and visa fraud, according to CNN.

She allegedly blocked Taiwanese delegations from being able to access New York officials, while setting up meetings with Chinese delegations and the state government. Sun also worked on certain public statements from politicians in order to make them more in line with the CCP’s views, according to the Associated Press.

Hu faces charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering and bank fraud, as well as a misuse of identification, the AP reported. Hu is a businessman who owns and operates several businesses, including a Queens liquor store, Golden Capital Group LLC, Medical Supplies USA LLC and a seafood import/export business called Foodie Fisherman LLC, according to the New York Times and Gothamist.

READ MORE: Trump Took Millions From China, Saudi Arabia, Other Foreign Governments While President: Report

Sun and Hu received business opportunities in China, along with other perks including luxury goods, event tickets, a job for one of Sun’s relatives and Nanjing-style salted ducks for Sun’s parents, according to ABC News.

“The illicit scheme enriched the defendant’s family to the tune of millions of dollars,” United States Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement.

Sun was fired by Hochul’s office in March 2023 after her office found “evidence of misconduct,” Hochul’s press secretary, Avi Small, told CNN.

Sun had been working in the New York state government since 2012, when she was hired by Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration as a liaison to the Asian American and Pacific Islander community, according to Politico.

 

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CRIME

Texas Senator Says More Uvalde Cops Need To Face Criminal Charges Over Shooting

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pete-arredondo-democratic-donation-party-affiliation-biden-beto-uvalde-shooting

After two Uvalde cops were charged over their botched response to the mass shooting at Robb Elementary, a Texas state senator says more officers should be charged.

Former Police Chief Pete Arredondo and then-officer Adrian Gonzalez were charged on felony counts of child endangerment, according to the San Antonio Express-News. The May 24, 2022 shooting was Texas’ worst; 19 children and two teachers were killed.

Uvalde cops were criticised for not stopping the shooting earlier, particularly when camera footage was released showing officers standing in a hallway while the shooting continued.

READ MORE: Listen: Uvalde School Massacre Was God’s Plan Says Texas AG Ken Paxton – ‘Life Is Short’

Democratic Texas State Senator Roland Gutierrez  said that the charges against Arredondo and Gonzalez were not enough. Gutierrez represents District 19, which includes Uvalde.

“If they’re going to indict those two officers, they need to indict the 13 DPS troopers in that hallway,” Gutierrez told the Express-News. “That’s very disturbing to me.”

Almost 400 law enforcement officers had responded to the shooting, the Express-News reported, including 28 officers from the Uvalde PD.

During the shooting, Arredondo and Gonzales were among the first officers to enter the building in the first few minutes of the incident. The incident started at 11:29 a.m., when the shooter crashed near a funeral home, fired on the employees, then entered onto the school campus, according to the official timeline from the Uvalde Police’s internal investigation.

At 11:30, police were dispatched; the shooter entered the building at 11:33 and started firing. At 11:35, four officers, including Gonzalez and Arredondo, entered the building. Approximately a minute later, officers opened the unlocked door to the classroom, and were fired upon and injured. At 11:38 a.m., Arredondo ordered the officers to retreat.

At 11:55 a.m., as the shooting continued, Arredondo ordered police to clear the rooms surrounding the classrooms and start to negotiate with the shooter. Police finally entered the classroom nearly an hour later, at 12:50 p.m., and took down the shooter. During this wait, Arredondo was waiting for someone to bring him keys to the door, mistakenly thinking the classroom was locked.

Police inaction during a school shooting is sadly not uncommon. In 2018, former officer Scot Peterson was acquitted for not acting to stop the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Footage showed Peterson was on the scene, but was standing outside the building as the shooting continued.

A federal judge also dismissed a lawsuit against Broward County officials including the sheriff for not protecting the students at the school. The judge ruled that though the 14th Amendment requires police to protect those in custody, there is no police duty to protect people not in custody, according to CNN.

In that shooting, 14 students and three teachers were killed; another 17 victims were wounded.

 

 

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CRIME

Seattle Police Didn’t Provide Access to Lawyers 96% of the Time: Report

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The Seattle Police Department violated the law and didn’t give people under 18 access to a lawyer when it was supposed to 96% of the time, according to a new report released Friday by the city’s Office of the Inspector General.

The OIG audited the Seattle Police Department on its compliance with two laws, a city-level law called the MiChance Dunlap-Gittens Ordinance and a similar state law, RCW 13.40.740. The laws require police give those under 18 years old access to a public defender before the youth waives their right to remain silent. Police also must provide attorney access when requesting consent for a search, according to the OIG.

The OIG examined 89 arrests and found 50 cases where the laws applied. In those cases, access to an attorney was only provided twice. The OIG broke the interactions into four categories: Custodial Interrogation, which made up half of the cases; Consent to Search, 3 cases; Detained and Questioned, 7 cases; and Arrested, No Evidence of Questioning, 15 cases. Both of the instances where attorney access was provided were in this last category.

READ MORE: DOJ Report Says Louisville Police Needlessly Use Tasers & Dogs on Civilians

In an appendix, the OIG laid out eight recommendations, including updating the Seattle Police Department’s policy manual, requiring officers to “make a good faith effort” to check the age of the person detained, and to perform regular internal audits on whether or not the law is being followed by officers.

SPD’s chief operating officer, Brian Maxey, said it was sometimes difficult to determine if someone is legally a minor, according to the Times, but admitted that “in some instances there are clear gaps in officers’ understanding of the laws and inconsistencies in practice.”

The law is named for MiChance Dunlap-Gittens, a high school senior shot in 2017 following a botched sting operation. King County sheriff’s detectives investigating a homicide attempted to create a sting to catch a suspect. Dunlap-Gitten was killed when he attempted to flee. The suspect the detectives were after also fled, but was caught by a SWAT team that night, according to the Seattle Times. However, neither teenager was involved at all in the homicide under investigation.

Dunlap-Gittens’ death led to a $2.5 million ruling against King County in 2020. In addition to the victim’s family receiving the money, the sheriff at the time apologized and promised to make her officers wear body cameras and use dash cameras, according to the Times. Shortly following the settlement, the Seattle City Council passed the ordinance. A similar ordinance also went before the King County Council. A year later, RCW 13.40.740 passed the State Legislature.

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