Colorado
Man accused of attacking TV reporter, saying ‘This is Trump’s America now’
DENVER (AP) — A Colorado man is facing possible bias-motivated charges for allegedly attacking a television news reporter after demanding to know whether he was a citizen, saying “This is Trump’s America now,” according to court documents.
Patrick Thomas Egan, 39, was arrested Dec. 18 in Grand Junction, Colorado, after police say he followed KKCO/KJCT reporter Ja’Ronn Alex’s vehicle for around 40 miles (64 kilometers) from the Delta area. Alex told police that he believed he had been followed and attacked because he is Pacific Islander.
After arriving in Grand Junction, Egan, who was driving a taxi, pulled up next to Alex at a stoplight and, according to an arrest affidavit, said something to the effect of: “Are you even a U.S. citizen? This is Trump’s America now! I’m a Marine and I took an oath to protect this country from people like you!”
Alex, who had been out reporting, then drove back to his news station in the city. After he got out of his vehicle, Egan chased Alex as he ran toward the station’s door and demanded to see his identification, according to the document laying out police’s evidence in the case. Egan then tackled Alex, put him in a headlock and “began to strangle him,” the affidavit said. Coworkers who ran out to help and witnesses told police that Alex appeared to be losing his ability to breathe during the attack, which was partially captured on surveillance video, according to the document.
According to the station’s website, Alex is a native of Detroit. KKCO/ KJCT reported that he was driving a news vehicle at the time.
Egan was arrested on suspicion of bias-motivated crimes, second degree assault and harassment. He is scheduled to appear in court Thursday to learn whether prosecutors have filed formal charges against him.
Egan’s lawyer, Ruth Swift, was out of the office Friday and did not return a telephone message seeking comment.
KKCO/KJCT vice president and general manager Stacey Stewart said the station could not comment beyond what it has reported on the attack.
Oklahoma
AG dismisses assault charge against officer who slammed 71-year-old man to the ground
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma’s Republican attorney general dismissed a felony assault charge Friday against a police officer who slammed a 71-year-old man to the ground, breaking his neck, during an argument over a traffic ticket.
Gentner Drummond announced that he had intervened in the case and dismissed the aggravated assault and battery charge against Oklahoma City Police Sgt. Joseph Gibson, 28.
Oklahoma County District Attorney Vicki Behenna charged Gibson this month after body-worn camera video released by police showed Gibson throwing Lich Vu to the ground after Vu touched Gibson during the argument following a non-injury traffic accident Oct. 27.
“As attorney general, I will not permit Oklahoma police officers to face criminal prosecution for conduct adhering to their training,” Drummond said in a statement. “While the outcome of this incident is unquestionably devastating for Mr. Vu and his family, I do not believe the officer exhibited criminal intent.”
Prosecutors said Vu suffered a brain bleed and a broken neck and eye socket.
Behenna said in a statement that she was “surprised and disappointed that Attorney General Gentner Drummond took this case away from my office and the citizens of Oklahoma County.”
She said previously that after evaluating the case, prosecutors determined Gibson’s actions were an unreasonable use of force.
Drummond said Vu should not have touched Gibson during the argument.
“No individual is allowed to hit or push an officer, regardless of whether he or she doesn’t understand English well or comes from a different culture,” Drummond said. “The simple truth is, this unfortunate incident never would have occurred if Mr. Vu had kept his hands to himself.”
The use of force prompted outrage in Oklahoma City’s Vietnamese community, particularly since the video shows Vu had difficulty communicating with Gibson during the interaction and appeared not to understand what the officer was telling him.
Gibson’s attorney, former Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter, said Drummond’s decision to drop the charge was “well reasoned and correct.”
Mark Nelson, president of the Oklahoma City Fraternal Order of Police, said no officer wants to see someone injured and he hopes Vu makes a swift and full recovery.
“However, our members often have to make split-second decisions, and they cannot control the outcome of every situation,” Nelson said in a statement. “Unfortunately, when someone resists law enforcement, they increase the risk of harm to themselves or others.”
New York
Judge signals that contempt hearing for Rudy Giuliani over his assets might not go well for him
NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge is signaling that Rudy Giuliani’s contempt hearing next Friday might not end so well for the former New York City mayor and onetime personal lawyer for President-elect Donald Trump as two Georgia election poll workers try to collect a $148 million defamation award they won against him.
Judge Lewis J. Liman in Manhattan issued an order Friday in which he was dismissive of what he described as attempts by Giuliani and his lawyer to dodge providing information to the election workers’ lawyers.
And he said the litigants should be ready at the contempt hearing to explain why he should not grant a request by lawyers for the two election workers that he make adverse inferences from evidence in the case that would put Giuliani’s Palm Beach, Florida, condominium in danger of being surrendered to satisfy the defamation award.
The judge also said he may rule on the contempt request at the hearing.
Giuliani has maintained that the Palm Beach property is his personal residence now and should be shielded from the judgment. He faces a Jan. 16 trial before Liman over the disposition of his Florida residence and World Series rings.
Lawyers for the election workers filed the contempt request after saying Giuliani had failed to turn over a lease to his Manhattan apartment, a Mercedes, various watches and jewelry, a signed Joe DiMaggio shirt and other baseball momentos. The judge ordered Giuliani to turn over the items in October.
Giuliani’s lawyers have predicted that Giuliani will eventually win custody of the items on appeal. A request for comment was sent to a lawyer for Giuliani, who was supposed to be deposed on Friday.
The contempt hearing follows a contentious November hearing in which Giuliani, a former federal prosecutor, became angry at the judge and said Liman was treating him unfairly.
Giuliani was found liable last year for defaming the two Georgia poll workers by falsely accusing them of tampering with ballots during the 2020 presidential election.
The women said they faced death threats after Giuliani falsely claimed they sneaked in ballots in suitcases, counted ballots multiple times and tampered with voting machines.
Rhode Island
Man admits to setting fires at predominantly Black church
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A Rhode Island man has admitted to using gasoline to set several fires around the exterior of a predominantly Black church earlier this year, according to a federal plea agreement.
Prosecutors said Kevin Colantonio set several fires around the exterior of the Shiloh Gospel Temple early Feb. 11 in North Providence after purchasing a lighter and gasoline.
The building was vacant at the time and the fires were quickly extinguished by members of the North Providence Police and Fire departments, investigators said. The fires caused property damage.
A lawyer representing Colantonio declined to comment.
Without the quick action of first responders who arrived at the church at about 12:12 a.m. following reports of an individual trying to set fires, the damage to the house of worship would have been catastrophic, investigators said at the time.
Zachary Cunha, U.S. Attorney for the District of Rhode Island, said at the time of Colantonio’s arrest that a search of his home turned up notebooks and writings that included phrases like “burn churches down to the ground,” “hunt them down,” and “gun everyone down who isn’t white.”
The plea agreement, which was filed in federal court last week, states that Colantonio intentionally targeted the church because of the “actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, and/or ethnicity of the congregants.”
Most of the Pentecostal congregation, which has been established for about 35 years, is Black and African American, according to investigators.
No injuries were reported.
Colantonio faces four counts: obstruction of the free exercise of religious beliefs; malicious damage by means of fire; and two counts of assault on a federal officer.
If served consecutively, Colantonio faces 56 years in prison, with a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years, a fine of $1 million and three years of supervised release.
A change of plea hearing is scheduled for Jan. 7.
North Carolina
Federal prison supervisor convicted after instructing physical punishment
BUTNER, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina federal prison supervisor has been convicted after investigators say he instructed a correctional officer to physically punish a man incarcerated at the institution by beating him.
Daniel Mitchell, a former Federal Bureau of Prisons lieutenant, pleaded guilty earlier this week to a felony charge of conspiring to violate civil rights, according to a U.S. Department of Justice statement.
“Corrections officers work in dangerous environments with limited resources and deserve our respect and gratitude,” U.S. Attorney Michael F. Easley Jr. said in a statement. “But officers acting outside the law to injure an inmate erodes the rule of law, violates civil rights and puts other officers’ lives in jeopardy.”
An attorney who represented Mitchell declined to comment Saturday.
The beating happened at the Federal Correctional Institute Butner Medium II in the special housing unit in Granville County, which Mitchell supervised, authorities said. The prison houses more than 1,600 people, according to its website.
A correctional officer reported to Mitchell on Dec. 8, 2021, that the incarcerated man had exposed himself and “engaged in a sexual act” in front of her while she was doing rounds in the unit, investigators said. Mitchell then began discussing with another correctional officer about how to punish the man.
Neither the man nor the two correctional officers were named by the U.S. Department of Justice or court documents from the case. The department did not indicate whether the conspiring officer also faced charges.
Normally, the prison’s misconduct discipline process involves a writeup for violations. The writeup is then delivered to the person, which is referred to as “counseling,” according to court records.
Mitchell and the conspiring officer agreed traditional punishment methods wouldn’t work for the man, investigators said. While giving instructions, Mitchell allegedly told the officer to “teach (the man) a lesson” and “tune” him up — phrasing they both understood as physical punishment, according to court documents. He also ordered the officer to “stay away from (the man’s) face” while punishing him, authorities said.
The man was taken to another cell where the officer hit and kicked him until other correctional officers intervened, the department said. The man later had a medical emergency involving spasms after the beating aggravated his preexisting back condition, investigators said.
An eyewitness officer reported the beating, which prompted an investigation from the U.S. Justice Department’s Officer of Inspector General. Mitchell and the conspiring officer both admitted to investigators that they planned to physically punish the inmate as disciplinary action, authorities said.
Mitchell’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for late March, where he faces up to 10 years in prison.
Man accused of attacking TV reporter, saying ‘This is Trump’s America now’
DENVER (AP) — A Colorado man is facing possible bias-motivated charges for allegedly attacking a television news reporter after demanding to know whether he was a citizen, saying “This is Trump’s America now,” according to court documents.
Patrick Thomas Egan, 39, was arrested Dec. 18 in Grand Junction, Colorado, after police say he followed KKCO/KJCT reporter Ja’Ronn Alex’s vehicle for around 40 miles (64 kilometers) from the Delta area. Alex told police that he believed he had been followed and attacked because he is Pacific Islander.
After arriving in Grand Junction, Egan, who was driving a taxi, pulled up next to Alex at a stoplight and, according to an arrest affidavit, said something to the effect of: “Are you even a U.S. citizen? This is Trump’s America now! I’m a Marine and I took an oath to protect this country from people like you!”
Alex, who had been out reporting, then drove back to his news station in the city. After he got out of his vehicle, Egan chased Alex as he ran toward the station’s door and demanded to see his identification, according to the document laying out police’s evidence in the case. Egan then tackled Alex, put him in a headlock and “began to strangle him,” the affidavit said. Coworkers who ran out to help and witnesses told police that Alex appeared to be losing his ability to breathe during the attack, which was partially captured on surveillance video, according to the document.
According to the station’s website, Alex is a native of Detroit. KKCO/ KJCT reported that he was driving a news vehicle at the time.
Egan was arrested on suspicion of bias-motivated crimes, second degree assault and harassment. He is scheduled to appear in court Thursday to learn whether prosecutors have filed formal charges against him.
Egan’s lawyer, Ruth Swift, was out of the office Friday and did not return a telephone message seeking comment.
KKCO/KJCT vice president and general manager Stacey Stewart said the station could not comment beyond what it has reported on the attack.
Oklahoma
AG dismisses assault charge against officer who slammed 71-year-old man to the ground
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma’s Republican attorney general dismissed a felony assault charge Friday against a police officer who slammed a 71-year-old man to the ground, breaking his neck, during an argument over a traffic ticket.
Gentner Drummond announced that he had intervened in the case and dismissed the aggravated assault and battery charge against Oklahoma City Police Sgt. Joseph Gibson, 28.
Oklahoma County District Attorney Vicki Behenna charged Gibson this month after body-worn camera video released by police showed Gibson throwing Lich Vu to the ground after Vu touched Gibson during the argument following a non-injury traffic accident Oct. 27.
“As attorney general, I will not permit Oklahoma police officers to face criminal prosecution for conduct adhering to their training,” Drummond said in a statement. “While the outcome of this incident is unquestionably devastating for Mr. Vu and his family, I do not believe the officer exhibited criminal intent.”
Prosecutors said Vu suffered a brain bleed and a broken neck and eye socket.
Behenna said in a statement that she was “surprised and disappointed that Attorney General Gentner Drummond took this case away from my office and the citizens of Oklahoma County.”
She said previously that after evaluating the case, prosecutors determined Gibson’s actions were an unreasonable use of force.
Drummond said Vu should not have touched Gibson during the argument.
“No individual is allowed to hit or push an officer, regardless of whether he or she doesn’t understand English well or comes from a different culture,” Drummond said. “The simple truth is, this unfortunate incident never would have occurred if Mr. Vu had kept his hands to himself.”
The use of force prompted outrage in Oklahoma City’s Vietnamese community, particularly since the video shows Vu had difficulty communicating with Gibson during the interaction and appeared not to understand what the officer was telling him.
Gibson’s attorney, former Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter, said Drummond’s decision to drop the charge was “well reasoned and correct.”
Mark Nelson, president of the Oklahoma City Fraternal Order of Police, said no officer wants to see someone injured and he hopes Vu makes a swift and full recovery.
“However, our members often have to make split-second decisions, and they cannot control the outcome of every situation,” Nelson said in a statement. “Unfortunately, when someone resists law enforcement, they increase the risk of harm to themselves or others.”
New York
Judge signals that contempt hearing for Rudy Giuliani over his assets might not go well for him
NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge is signaling that Rudy Giuliani’s contempt hearing next Friday might not end so well for the former New York City mayor and onetime personal lawyer for President-elect Donald Trump as two Georgia election poll workers try to collect a $148 million defamation award they won against him.
Judge Lewis J. Liman in Manhattan issued an order Friday in which he was dismissive of what he described as attempts by Giuliani and his lawyer to dodge providing information to the election workers’ lawyers.
And he said the litigants should be ready at the contempt hearing to explain why he should not grant a request by lawyers for the two election workers that he make adverse inferences from evidence in the case that would put Giuliani’s Palm Beach, Florida, condominium in danger of being surrendered to satisfy the defamation award.
The judge also said he may rule on the contempt request at the hearing.
Giuliani has maintained that the Palm Beach property is his personal residence now and should be shielded from the judgment. He faces a Jan. 16 trial before Liman over the disposition of his Florida residence and World Series rings.
Lawyers for the election workers filed the contempt request after saying Giuliani had failed to turn over a lease to his Manhattan apartment, a Mercedes, various watches and jewelry, a signed Joe DiMaggio shirt and other baseball momentos. The judge ordered Giuliani to turn over the items in October.
Giuliani’s lawyers have predicted that Giuliani will eventually win custody of the items on appeal. A request for comment was sent to a lawyer for Giuliani, who was supposed to be deposed on Friday.
The contempt hearing follows a contentious November hearing in which Giuliani, a former federal prosecutor, became angry at the judge and said Liman was treating him unfairly.
Giuliani was found liable last year for defaming the two Georgia poll workers by falsely accusing them of tampering with ballots during the 2020 presidential election.
The women said they faced death threats after Giuliani falsely claimed they sneaked in ballots in suitcases, counted ballots multiple times and tampered with voting machines.
Rhode Island
Man admits to setting fires at predominantly Black church
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A Rhode Island man has admitted to using gasoline to set several fires around the exterior of a predominantly Black church earlier this year, according to a federal plea agreement.
Prosecutors said Kevin Colantonio set several fires around the exterior of the Shiloh Gospel Temple early Feb. 11 in North Providence after purchasing a lighter and gasoline.
The building was vacant at the time and the fires were quickly extinguished by members of the North Providence Police and Fire departments, investigators said. The fires caused property damage.
A lawyer representing Colantonio declined to comment.
Without the quick action of first responders who arrived at the church at about 12:12 a.m. following reports of an individual trying to set fires, the damage to the house of worship would have been catastrophic, investigators said at the time.
Zachary Cunha, U.S. Attorney for the District of Rhode Island, said at the time of Colantonio’s arrest that a search of his home turned up notebooks and writings that included phrases like “burn churches down to the ground,” “hunt them down,” and “gun everyone down who isn’t white.”
The plea agreement, which was filed in federal court last week, states that Colantonio intentionally targeted the church because of the “actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, and/or ethnicity of the congregants.”
Most of the Pentecostal congregation, which has been established for about 35 years, is Black and African American, according to investigators.
No injuries were reported.
Colantonio faces four counts: obstruction of the free exercise of religious beliefs; malicious damage by means of fire; and two counts of assault on a federal officer.
If served consecutively, Colantonio faces 56 years in prison, with a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years, a fine of $1 million and three years of supervised release.
A change of plea hearing is scheduled for Jan. 7.
North Carolina
Federal prison supervisor convicted after instructing physical punishment
BUTNER, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina federal prison supervisor has been convicted after investigators say he instructed a correctional officer to physically punish a man incarcerated at the institution by beating him.
Daniel Mitchell, a former Federal Bureau of Prisons lieutenant, pleaded guilty earlier this week to a felony charge of conspiring to violate civil rights, according to a U.S. Department of Justice statement.
“Corrections officers work in dangerous environments with limited resources and deserve our respect and gratitude,” U.S. Attorney Michael F. Easley Jr. said in a statement. “But officers acting outside the law to injure an inmate erodes the rule of law, violates civil rights and puts other officers’ lives in jeopardy.”
An attorney who represented Mitchell declined to comment Saturday.
The beating happened at the Federal Correctional Institute Butner Medium II in the special housing unit in Granville County, which Mitchell supervised, authorities said. The prison houses more than 1,600 people, according to its website.
A correctional officer reported to Mitchell on Dec. 8, 2021, that the incarcerated man had exposed himself and “engaged in a sexual act” in front of her while she was doing rounds in the unit, investigators said. Mitchell then began discussing with another correctional officer about how to punish the man.
Neither the man nor the two correctional officers were named by the U.S. Department of Justice or court documents from the case. The department did not indicate whether the conspiring officer also faced charges.
Normally, the prison’s misconduct discipline process involves a writeup for violations. The writeup is then delivered to the person, which is referred to as “counseling,” according to court records.
Mitchell and the conspiring officer agreed traditional punishment methods wouldn’t work for the man, investigators said. While giving instructions, Mitchell allegedly told the officer to “teach (the man) a lesson” and “tune” him up — phrasing they both understood as physical punishment, according to court documents. He also ordered the officer to “stay away from (the man’s) face” while punishing him, authorities said.
The man was taken to another cell where the officer hit and kicked him until other correctional officers intervened, the department said. The man later had a medical emergency involving spasms after the beating aggravated his preexisting back condition, investigators said.
An eyewitness officer reported the beating, which prompted an investigation from the U.S. Justice Department’s Officer of Inspector General. Mitchell and the conspiring officer both admitted to investigators that they planned to physically punish the inmate as disciplinary action, authorities said.
Mitchell’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for late March, where he faces up to 10 years in prison.
