Ahmaud Arbery killing: US Top Authorities Weighing Hate Crime Charges

The state authorities are not yet visible to investigate the killing of Arbery as a hate crime as Georgia does not have a hate crime law.

The United States Department of Justice is weighing up on either to file a hate crime charges against the whites who shot dead Ahmaud Arbery, an unarmed black man who was shot while jogging in the small coastal town of Brunswick, Georgia.

"The Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, the FBI, and the US Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia have been supportive and will continue fully to support and participate in the state investigation. 

We are carefully assessing all the evidences to determine whether federal hate crimes charges are appropriate," Kupec said in a statement.

State authorities were unable to investigate the killing as a hate crime as Georgia is one of four states without a hate crime law. 

Outrage over Arbery's death came through last week after a viral video of the alleged murder, which took place on February 23, surfaced. 

The video shows Arbery running at a jogging pace on the left side of a road with a truck parked on the road ahead of him. One white man is inside the pick-up truck's bed, while the other is standing beside the driver's open door.

The runner crosses the road to pass the pick-up truck on the passenger side, then crosses back in front of the truck. A gunshot sounds, and the video shows the runner grappling with a man in the street over what appears to be a shotgun or rifle.

A second shot is heard, and the runner can be seen punching the man. A third shot is fired at point-blank range. The runner staggers a few feet and falls face down.

Authorities asked the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) to look into the case last week after the video emerged. 

The GBI arrested and charged father and son, Gregory and Travis McMichael, with murder and aggravated assault. 

The father and son told police they thought Arbery matched the appearance of a burglary suspect who they said had been recorded on a surveillance camera some time before, according to the Glynn County police report filed after the shooting.

Arbery's mother, Wanda Cooper Jones, has said she thinks her 25-year-old son, a former high school football player, was just jogging in the neighbourhood before he was killed.

Meanwhile, a man identifying himself as the person who recorded the mobile phone video of the shooting said he had received death threats.

William "Roddie" Bryan is identified as a witness in the police report taken after Arbery's shooting. He appears to be mentioned in a single sentence of the report, which says Gregory McMichael told an officer that "'Roddy' attempted to block [Arbery] which was unsuccessful."

"I had nothing to do with it. I'm trying to get my life back to normal, and it's been smeared for the last week," Bryan told WJAX-TV in an interview that aired Monday. "I was told I was a witness, and I'm not sure what I am, other than receiving a bunch of threats."

Bryan has not been charged in the case. The TV station reported Bryan would not discuss his involvement in the events that led to Arbery's death.

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Man Shot Dead At Early Hours While Jogging

The relatives of a black man who was shot while jogging in southeast Georgia by white men who chased him believing he was a burglar said Thursday they're discouraged by the lack of charges in the case.

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Couples Arrested In Lagos For Faking Maid Suicide

A middle-aged woman Nene Steve, has been arrested by the Lagos State Police Command Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (CID) for allegedly killing her maid, Joy Aboel.

It was alleged that She mercilessly beat Joy to death and then hung her to the ceiling to make it look like a suicide.

Commenting on the incident that occurred at 18, Ogundola Street in Bariga, Joy’s brother, Philips Ejeh, told newsmen that’ 

“The deceased was an indigene of Benue State brought to Lagos through an agent.

“She started working with her (Nene) as a maid in January 2020. She reported that her boss refused to pay her and anytime she asked for her salary, she would start beating her.

“She was making an attempt to leave, but due to the lockdown, she remained there until Sunday when her boss claimed she stole Indomie noodles. This led to serious  beating and her master hung her to death.

“The madam said Joy hung herself. How can someone hang herself and her legs will be on the ground? My sister engaged herself for the job to be able to further her education.

“The case was reported to the State CID. The police have deposited her body for autopsy. She (Nene) killed Joy because she didn’t want to pay her salary. The good people of Nigeria should come to our help.”

Police Public Relations Officer in Lagos, DSP Bala Elkana, said Nene and her husband were at Bariga Police Station to report that their maid committed suicide.

Elkana recalled that when detectives visited the scene and saw the position of the rope with which Joy allegedly hung herself, they suspected a foul play.

“Police moved on with their investigation and found a lot of signs of violence on her body, showing that she was tortured before she put the rope on her neck.

“If it were to be ordinary suicide, how come wound and signs of beating are all over her body?,” he wondered.

Elkana confirmed that the corpse had been deposited in the morgue for autopsy, while the matter is currently being handled by the State CID operatives in Panti, Yaba.

The couple have been arrested and will be charged to court after investigation is completed, the Police spokesman added.

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British Based Nigerian Nurse Jailed in Britain Over Human Trafficking

The National Agency has supported the Prohibition of Trafficking in the name of Ms Julie Okah-Donli. The Director General has described the conviction of the British-based Nigerian nurse, Ms Josephine Iyamu, as good omen to the fight against human trafficking.

The Head of Press and Public Relations of NAPTIP, Mrs Stella Nezan, quoted Okah-Donli’s reacting in a statement in Abuja.

The statement noted that Iyamu was convicted by the Birmingham Crown Court for human trafficking.

She quoted the NAPTIP boss saying that conviction is the beginning of the renewed determination by the agency to bring all foreign-based human traffickers to justice irrespective of their location around the world.

According to her, Okah–Donli in collaboration with other foreign partners and law enforcement agencies will continue to smoke out suspected human traffickers and make them to face justice just like their counterparts in Nigeria.

The News Agency of Nigeria recalls that operatives of NAPTIP and National Crimes Agency (NCA) had during a joint operation tagged “Operation REDROOT”, arrested Iyamu under the joint counter-trafficking project called Joint Border Task Force (JBTF).

It said with the latest development, Iyamu had become the first person to be convicted under new modern slavery laws, after being found guilty of trafficking five Nigerian women to Germany to work as prostitutes.

She said that Iyamu was prosecuted under the Modern Slavery Act involving victims who had no connection to the UK but had been victimised by a British national.

“Jurors were told the 51-year-old Liberia-born British citizen forced the women to swear oaths to hand over money to her during `juju’ ceremonies.

“These included forcing women to eat chicken hearts, drink blood containing worms, and have powder rubbed into cuts.

“Iyamu, formerly of Bermondsey in London, then arranged for the women to be trafficked across the Mediterranean, with one being told to pay a bill of 37,000 Euro (about 32,700 dollars),” the statement read in part.

PUNCH

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Mother Shoots Son During Argument

A 66 year old mother has been arrested for allegedly shooting her son. She claimed he left before she was able to have the last word during their argument, worldwideweirdnews.com has reported.

Priscilla Ethridge, 66, was arrested for allegedly shooting her adult son after saying: “I’ll be damned if I let him have the last word,” following an argument.

According to police in Florida, United States, Ethridge and her 46-year-old son were arguing over a cell phone. The son left his mother’s home and drove away on his bicycle. However, his mother was furious because she was not able to have the last word. She got into her car and pulled up next to her son before opening fire on him.

Luckily, the man survived and the woman was arrested on charges of aggravated assault with a firearm.

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30 Junior Students Gang Raped During Cult Initiations In Enugu

10 JSS1 students and 14-15 JSS2 -JSS3 students respectively have been arrested by the anti-cultism squad of Enugu State Police Command. The cult belonging to the Viron Queens or White Angels confraternities, Sun reports.

Enugu State Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Danmallam, revealed that the operation was carried out after the Command received a tip-off that students of several Enugu secondary schools are in heinous crimes.

According to Danmallam, the Command received a 30-name list of JSS students who were allegedly raped and initiated into cult groups.

Some of the students arrested were identified as Naomi Peace,15, Ruth Nwoke, 14, Chibuogu Adaeze, 15 and Ujunwa Ede, 14. Others were Chiemerie Olisakure, 15, Akalisi Chisom, 14 and Ogbu Ebere, 14.

The trio of Edeh, Peace and Nwoke told Saturday Sun they were introduced to the cult by a friend and at their initiation in 2017, were raped each by 5 different boys.

Another victim, Adaeze, claimed “We didn’t know they put drugs in the drinks they gave us. From there, we were initiated and raped by six boys.” Olisakure also added: “We were threatened not to tell anybody.

The irony is that at the closing hour of the school, three of the same boys who initiated us would come with bike and take us away to have sex with us. After that, they give us N1,500, as transport fare.”

Chisom, also raped by five boys, said the incident took place at a friend’s party in a hotel. She further alleged, “Some of our teachers know that we are members of Viron Queen Confraternity.

We don’t respect our male and female teachers. Some of them used the advantage to sleep with us because we don’t want them to tell our parents.” Some of them also confessed to indulging in cigarette smoking and drinking beer at parties or clubs.

The Commissioner of Police, Danmallam, said the police are still investigating the case. The next phase of action, he added, is detectives going after those who raped and initiated the girls.

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Retired Inspector, 18 Others Arrested Over Child Molestation

The Jigawa Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense said it has arrested 19 persons, including a retired police inspector for allegedly molesting a 13-year-old child.

The corps’ spokesman in the state, SC Adamu Shehu, confirmed the arrest to the News Agency of Nigeria in Dutse on Saturday.

Shehu said the said the suspects were arrested on Thursday at about 4 p.m., in Kiyawa village, in Kiyawa local government area of the state.

READ ALSO: 20 hospitalised as police invade Osun poly

He explained that the arrest followed a complaint received by men of the command from the victim’s brother-in-law.

“A complaint was lodged by the brother-in-law of a 13-year-old girl at our Divisional office in Kiyawa LGA, on Thursday at about 4 p.m., that his sister in-law, who is an orphan and living with her mother, was being molested.

“Our officers immediately swung into action and started investigating the matter, and in the process were able to arrest 19 people aged between 25 and 60, including a retired police inspector,” he said.

“The young girl, who is a street hawker, told us that some of the men took advantage of her while selling porridge popularly known as “Kunu”, by giving her extra money and others by making unfulfilled promises,” he said.

The spokesman added that three of the suspects have confessed to have committed the crime while the rest denied it.

According to him, three of the suspects, who confessed to committing the the offence, have already been arraigned before a Chief Magistrate Court in Dutse and were remanded in prison.

He added that rest are still being investigated while the girl was taken to the hospital for medical tests and care.

SOURCE: PUNCH

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Brazilian Police Seize Tonnes Of Cannabis

The Police in South America, Brazil on Saturday seized two tons of cannabis being transported in a refrigerated truck near the southeastern town of Pirai.

The Civil Police in Rio de Janeiro state confirmed the operation, first reported by the G1 news site in a statement, adding that assault rifles were recovered but not state the exact amount of drugs seized.

However, a police captain interviewed by G1 spoke of “at least two tonnes” of drugs.

Both drugs and arms had been secreted within the body of the truck.

The city of Rio de Janeiro, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) from Pirai, is a center of the illicit drug trade in Brazil, with powerful gangs of narcotraffickers controlling some of the city’s poorest neighborhoods.

In late February, President Michel Temer put the army in charge of public security in Rio state, in an attempt to quell an upsurge of street crime and drug-related violence.

SOURCE: PUNCH

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Offa Robbery Crime: Policemen Accept N400,000 Bribery From The Underworld Men Before Operation – Report

According to the report, the owner of Xontec Hotel on Igosun Road, Offa, where the suspects stayed before hitting the banks, Kadir Surajudeen, had reported to the police that there were suspicious people lodging there before the operation

Policemen attached to the Divisional Police Station in Offa, Kwara State have been accused of collecting N400,000 bribe from the robbers who hit five banks in the town, killing nine policemen and eight civilians in the process, Vanguard newspaper is reporting.
According to the report, the owner of Xontec Hotel on Igosun Road, Offa, where the suspects stayed before hitting the banks, Kadir Surajudeen, had reported to the police that there were suspicious people lodging there before the operation.
Surajudeen was said to have told the Divisional Police Officer of the discovery of some incriminating materials as the robbers checked into the hotel.
The DPO and the Divisional Crime Officer were said to have sent some officers to the hotel.
Vanguard said it learnt that instead of arresting the suspects, the policemen negotiated with them and were offered N400,000.
On their return to the station, they reportedly told the DPO and DCO that those Surajudeen reported were Yahoo boys and not robbers.
Vanguard quoted a source as having told it: “It was not surprising that the robbers visited the police station the following day and killed about nine policemen in retaliation for collecting N400,000 from them.”
Surajudeen, who has since been arraigned for harbouring the armed robbers alongside some of his state has challenged the DPO and DCO in Offa to deny if he did not informe them about the development.
In a related development, Vanguard said the robbers were arrested through the tracking of mobile phones the robbers collected from their victims.
Vanguard said it gathered that after the robbery operation, the suspects took away the handsets of the victims, which they later gave out to their girlfriends.
Officials of the robbed banks were also said to have given the Police all handsets found within their premises after the robbery.
Vanguard said the interrogation of the girlfriends with whom the phones were found led to the arrest of the suspects in Ibadan, Oyo State; Lagos State; and Abeokuta, Ogun State.
It said further checks revealed that the suspects had been in and out of jail several times and that they regrouped for that operation.

SOURCES: EAGLE ONLINE

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Man disappears after wife gives birth to premature triplets in Lagos

A man took to his heel after hearing that his wife, Ijeoma Uzoma gave birth to triplets in a private hospital in Bariga, Lagos.

The babies were delivered prematurely at Tolu Crescent Medical Centre at Ajileye Street, Bariga.

On hearing that the babies required immediate medical attention, their father was said to have disappeared into thin air.

The younger sister to the newly mother simply identified as Joy has contacted the council chairman for assistance.

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23 year old Accused Of Having a Sexual Relationship With a Teen Student

A Texas world history teacher is accused of having a sexual relationship with a former male student after the two met at a restaurant, authorities said.

Michelle Schiffer, 23, of Houston, allegedly had sexual intercourse with one of her former students, now 16, in July after the two met up at a local Chick-fil-A restaurant, court documents stated.

The alleged improper relationship was reported by an anonymous student to Cheryl Henry, principal of Cypress-Springs High School where Schiffer taught.

Authorities said Schiffer admitted to meeting the student at the restaurant before they went to a friend’s apartment to have sex, Click 2 Houston reported.

Schiffer also allegedly admitted she and the student smoked marijuana in her vehicle.

The student was 15 years old at the time of the alleged incidents.

Schiffer has been charged with improper relationship with a student and sexual assault of a child. She is out on $30,000 bond.

In a statement, the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District said Schiffer was immediately removed from campus and placed on administrative leave once they learned of the allegations.

“We will continue to protect our students and not tolerate relationships of an inappropriate nature,” the statement said.

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Climber Kills Himself a Day After Girlfriend Dies

A skilled mountain climber killed himself on Sunday, just one day after his girlfriend died in an avalanche in Montana came crashing down as the pair skied together.

Hayden Kennedy, of Colorado, was found dead Sunday at a residence in Bozeman, Montana.

His death came one day after his girlfriend, 23-year-old Inge Perkins, was killed when the pair triggered an avalanche while skiing on Imp Peak.

Kennedy was also buried in the avalanche but managed to pull himself free, CBS News reported.

Kennedy never called 911 to report the slide, and instead left a note with “incredibly clear directions for where to find her,” Doug Chabot, of the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center, told Outside Magazine.

"Hayden survived the avalanche but not the unbearable loss of his partner in life," his parents wrote in a statement Tuesday.

The 27 year old's death comes just two weeks after he wrote a blogpost about his devastation at the multiple deaths of friends who were fellow climbers.

"Over the last few years, however, as I’ve watched too many friends go to the mountains only to never return, I've realized something painful," Kennedy wrote in the "Evening Sends" blog. "It's not just the memorable summits and crux moves that are fleeting. Friends and climbing partners are fleeting, too.

"This is the painful reality of our sport, and I'm unsure what to make of it. Climbing is either a beautiful gift or a curse," he continued.

Kennedy went on to talk about how he’d climbed a “big-wall route in Mexico,” with two friends who have since died.

“There’s no easy way to say this, but half that team is now dead,” Kennedy wrote. “Justin [Griffin] died in Nepal in 2015.

And Kyle [Dempster], along with his partner, Scott Adamson, vanished while climbing on a remote peak in north Pakistan a year later.

I think about Kyle and Justin all the time. Their absence from this world is felt by so many who are left in a wake of confusion, anger, and frustration.”

Kennedy, who was named the “best young climber on the planet” by Elevation Outdoors in 2014, had recently moved to Bozeman to get his EMT certification while his girlfriend studied at Montana State University.

The climber was well-known for climbing the Southeast Ridge in Patagonia’s Cerro Torre in 2012 and removing many of the bolts placed there more than four decades earlier by Italian climber Cesare Maestri, the Associated Press reported.

Kennedy, who began climbing in his early teens, and his climbing partner were later arrested, according to reports.

Kennedy’s father, Michael Kennedy, was also an accomplished mountain climber.

“He chose to end his life,” Michael Kennedy wrote on Facebook after his son’s death. “Myself and his mother Julie sorrowfully respect his decision.”

#CULLED FROM YAHOO

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22-year-old Woman Shot Dead By Police Officer

A 22-year-old woman who was shot and killed by police after crashing into an officer with her car was an aspiring lawyer, her relatives have said.

Cariann Hithon had been celebrating her birthday when she crashed her black BMW into three vehicles in Miami.

As a crowd gathered around her car, Ms Hithon sped forwards, knocking one Florida police officer to the ground before another quickly fired three shots at her.
Her car then swerved across the road and crashed.

Ms Hithon was taken to a nearby hospital where she died of her wounds.

The police officer she hit, David Cajuso, has been released from hospital and is recovering at home, the Miami Beach police department said.

According to the Miami Herald, investigators believe Ms Hithon and her friend, who got out of the car before she accelerated, had been drinking heavily.

In social media footage of the shooting, one bystander can be heard saying the driver was "drunk as sh**."

Cary Hithon said his daughter's actions were "out of character."

He told CBS Miami the aspiring lawyer "wanted to make a difference in the lives of people who weren't as fortunate as her."

She had recently transferred from Hampton University in Virginia to Temple University in Philadelphia and was expected to graduate with a degree in political sciences.

Prosecutors have opened an inquiry into whether police acted lawfully in shooting and killing Ms Hithon.

#CULLED: Yahoo

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Employee Accused of Murdering 71 Coworkers

A meat packing plant in texas is being investigated by local authorities as one of their employees is suspected of murdering a tragic 71 coworkers during his 17 years at the slaughterhouse, reports the Dallas Telegraph.

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Babysitter Taken To Hospital After Forcing Baby Into Her Vagina

An old woman in her early-thirty was admitted to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center after a 14 month old toddler she has babysitting got stuck in her vaginal cavity.

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Gang Star Dies in Prison After Smuggling M-16 Into Anus

A Los Angeles Latino gang member who tried to smuggle drugs and an M-16 into prison after he was arrested this week has died of his injuries reports the Los Angeles Chronicle.

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Teenage Boy Impersonates as Female, Confessed To Have Slept With Over 1000 Men

A teenage boy who impersonate as a female prostitute popularly known as Jennifer Kpaakpa in Makurdi, on Thurdsay confessed to have slept with over 1000 men in the past five years.

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Doctor Who Ordered Unnecessary Heart Surgery Jailed for 20 years

A cardiologist who ordered patients to undergo unnecessary open heart surgery and performed risky tests and procedures in order to reap fraudulent payments from Medicare and private insurers has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison.

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Los Angeles and New York Differ in Their Responses to a Terrorism Threat

New York City reviewed the warning and dismissed it as a hoax, but officials here abruptly shut down all public schools, upending the lives of parents, students and teachers.

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Father of Paris attacker would 'have killed' son if he knew of plot

The father of the third gunman in the attack on the Bataclan concert hall in Paris said Wednesday he would "have killed" his son had he known what he was planning.

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