Pennsylvania
Transgender runner sues NCAA and Swarthmore College for removal from track team
Long-distance runner Evie Parts has sued the NCAA and Swarthmore College as well as members of its athletic department, saying they illegally removed her from the track team because she is a transgender athlete.
Parts’ lawsuit said the NCAA’s ban on transgender athletes in women’s sports did not have legal grounds because it’s not a governmental organization and therefore does not have jurisdiction over Pennsylvania state law or the Title IX federal statute.
She was removed from the team on Feb. 6, the day the NCAA issued its new policy on transgender athletes.
Swarthmore men’s and women’s track coach Peter Carroll, athletic director Brad Koch and athletics officials Christina Epps-Chiazor and Valerie Gomez also were named in the lawsuit. According to the complaint, they sent Parts into “such a depressive state that she engaged in self-harm and in one moment told a friend that she wanted to kill herself.”
“We stand by the allegations in the complaint,” said Susie Cirilli, an attorney who along with co-counsel Spector, Gadon, Rosen and Vinci, represents Parts. “As stated in the complaint, the NCAA is a private organization that issued a bigoted policy. Swarthmore College chose to follow that policy and disregard federal and state law.”
Swarthmore issued a statement that it “deeply values our transgender community members.”
“We recognize that this is an especially difficult and painful time for members of the transgender community, including student-athletes,” the school said. “We worked to support Evie Parts in a time of rapidly evolving guidance, while balancing the ability for other members of the women’s track team to compete in NCAA events.”
The NCAA changed its participation policy for transgender athletes to limit competition in women’s sports to athletes assigned female at birth. That change came a day after President Donald Trump signed an executive order intended to ban transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports.
Pennsylvania’s state Senate approved a bill by a 32-18 margin on May 6 to ban transgender athletes from competing in women’s and girls’ sports at the collegiate and K-12 levels. The state’s Democratic-controlled House of Representatives isn’t expected to vote on the bill.
Parts joined the Swarthmore track team in fall 2020 before then taking off the following four winter and spring seasons. She went back to the Division III team in 2023 to compete in the indoor and outdoor track seasons and in cross country.
When the NCAA issued its ban, the lawsuit states, Parts was told by Epps-Chiazor and Gomez that she could compete with the men’s team or as an unattached athlete. She would only receive medical treatment, the complaint says, if she competed on the men’s team.
According to the lawsuit, Carroll and his staff were not allowed to coach Parts, she could not travel with the team, was not allowed to receive per diem or food and had to pay her way into meets. Parts also couldn’t wear a Swarthmore uniform.
Swarthmore “fully reinstated” Parts on April 11, the lawsuit says, and she competed on the women’s team until graduating in May.
In July, a transgender woman sued Princeton University claiming she was illegally removed shortly before her race in a school-hosted track meet in May due to her gender identity. Sadie Schreiner, who had transitioned during high school, had previously run for Division III Rochester Institute of Technology but was set to compete as an athlete unattached to any school or club in the Larry Ellis Invitational. That complaint seeks unspecified damages for a “humiliating, dehumanizing and dignity-stripping ordeal” in front of family and friends.
Tennessee
Ex-officer gets probation after allegedly taking part in an adult video while on duty
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A former Nashville police officer has been sentenced to probation on a charge of felony official misconduct after law enforcement officials say he allegedly participated in an adult video while on duty.
According to court documents filed Thursday, Sean Herman entered a “best interest” plea in Nashville criminal court for one count. A second count was dismissed.
Herman, 35, faces one year of supervised probation. The best interest plea means that a defendant pleads guilty while maintaining factual innocence of the crime.
Additionally, he was granted judicial diversion, which means that certain eligible defendants who successfully finish probation under the judge’s conditions will have their cases dismissed. They can also then request that charges be expunged from their record.
According to the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, Herman was fired in May 2024 after detectives with the Specialized Investigations Divisions discovered the video and identified him while wearing his MNPD uniform. He was arrested and charged with the two counts that June.
Officials say Herman can be seen taking part in a mock traffic stop in the video that was posted on OnlyFans, a site where fans pay creators for their photos and videos. The skit allegedly included Herman groping the female driver.
An MNPD press release says that the video was made April 26, 2024, in a warehouse parking lot while Herman was on duty as a patrol officer.
In August 2024, a state board indefinitely suspended Herman of his certification to be a law enforcement officer in Tennessee, with the understanding that he could argue to be reinstated once the criminal case is closed.
Washington
Thieves grab $2 million in jewelry in Seattle heist that took less than 2 minutes
SEATTLE (AP) — Smash-and-grab thieves in Seattle made off with an estimated $2 million in diamonds, luxury watches, gold and other items in a daring midday jewelry store robbery that took just about 90 seconds, police said Friday.
Video from the West Seattle store’s surveillance cameras shows four masked suspects shattering the locked glass front door with hammers and then ransacking six display cases Thursday.
One display held around $750,000 worth in Rolex watches, police said in a statement, and another had an emerald necklace valued at $125,000.
A masked suspect threatened workers with bear spray and a Taser, police said, but no one was injured.
Josh Menashe, vice president of the family-owned store said workers finished cleaning up the broken glass and were working on a full inventory of the losses.
Police said they responded to the robbery but the suspects had already fled in a getaway car and eluded a search of the area.
Transgender runner sues NCAA and Swarthmore College for removal from track team
Long-distance runner Evie Parts has sued the NCAA and Swarthmore College as well as members of its athletic department, saying they illegally removed her from the track team because she is a transgender athlete.
Parts’ lawsuit said the NCAA’s ban on transgender athletes in women’s sports did not have legal grounds because it’s not a governmental organization and therefore does not have jurisdiction over Pennsylvania state law or the Title IX federal statute.
She was removed from the team on Feb. 6, the day the NCAA issued its new policy on transgender athletes.
Swarthmore men’s and women’s track coach Peter Carroll, athletic director Brad Koch and athletics officials Christina Epps-Chiazor and Valerie Gomez also were named in the lawsuit. According to the complaint, they sent Parts into “such a depressive state that she engaged in self-harm and in one moment told a friend that she wanted to kill herself.”
“We stand by the allegations in the complaint,” said Susie Cirilli, an attorney who along with co-counsel Spector, Gadon, Rosen and Vinci, represents Parts. “As stated in the complaint, the NCAA is a private organization that issued a bigoted policy. Swarthmore College chose to follow that policy and disregard federal and state law.”
Swarthmore issued a statement that it “deeply values our transgender community members.”
“We recognize that this is an especially difficult and painful time for members of the transgender community, including student-athletes,” the school said. “We worked to support Evie Parts in a time of rapidly evolving guidance, while balancing the ability for other members of the women’s track team to compete in NCAA events.”
The NCAA changed its participation policy for transgender athletes to limit competition in women’s sports to athletes assigned female at birth. That change came a day after President Donald Trump signed an executive order intended to ban transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports.
Pennsylvania’s state Senate approved a bill by a 32-18 margin on May 6 to ban transgender athletes from competing in women’s and girls’ sports at the collegiate and K-12 levels. The state’s Democratic-controlled House of Representatives isn’t expected to vote on the bill.
Parts joined the Swarthmore track team in fall 2020 before then taking off the following four winter and spring seasons. She went back to the Division III team in 2023 to compete in the indoor and outdoor track seasons and in cross country.
When the NCAA issued its ban, the lawsuit states, Parts was told by Epps-Chiazor and Gomez that she could compete with the men’s team or as an unattached athlete. She would only receive medical treatment, the complaint says, if she competed on the men’s team.
According to the lawsuit, Carroll and his staff were not allowed to coach Parts, she could not travel with the team, was not allowed to receive per diem or food and had to pay her way into meets. Parts also couldn’t wear a Swarthmore uniform.
Swarthmore “fully reinstated” Parts on April 11, the lawsuit says, and she competed on the women’s team until graduating in May.
In July, a transgender woman sued Princeton University claiming she was illegally removed shortly before her race in a school-hosted track meet in May due to her gender identity. Sadie Schreiner, who had transitioned during high school, had previously run for Division III Rochester Institute of Technology but was set to compete as an athlete unattached to any school or club in the Larry Ellis Invitational. That complaint seeks unspecified damages for a “humiliating, dehumanizing and dignity-stripping ordeal” in front of family and friends.
Tennessee
Ex-officer gets probation after allegedly taking part in an adult video while on duty
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A former Nashville police officer has been sentenced to probation on a charge of felony official misconduct after law enforcement officials say he allegedly participated in an adult video while on duty.
According to court documents filed Thursday, Sean Herman entered a “best interest” plea in Nashville criminal court for one count. A second count was dismissed.
Herman, 35, faces one year of supervised probation. The best interest plea means that a defendant pleads guilty while maintaining factual innocence of the crime.
Additionally, he was granted judicial diversion, which means that certain eligible defendants who successfully finish probation under the judge’s conditions will have their cases dismissed. They can also then request that charges be expunged from their record.
According to the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, Herman was fired in May 2024 after detectives with the Specialized Investigations Divisions discovered the video and identified him while wearing his MNPD uniform. He was arrested and charged with the two counts that June.
Officials say Herman can be seen taking part in a mock traffic stop in the video that was posted on OnlyFans, a site where fans pay creators for their photos and videos. The skit allegedly included Herman groping the female driver.
An MNPD press release says that the video was made April 26, 2024, in a warehouse parking lot while Herman was on duty as a patrol officer.
In August 2024, a state board indefinitely suspended Herman of his certification to be a law enforcement officer in Tennessee, with the understanding that he could argue to be reinstated once the criminal case is closed.
Washington
Thieves grab $2 million in jewelry in Seattle heist that took less than 2 minutes
SEATTLE (AP) — Smash-and-grab thieves in Seattle made off with an estimated $2 million in diamonds, luxury watches, gold and other items in a daring midday jewelry store robbery that took just about 90 seconds, police said Friday.
Video from the West Seattle store’s surveillance cameras shows four masked suspects shattering the locked glass front door with hammers and then ransacking six display cases Thursday.
One display held around $750,000 worth in Rolex watches, police said in a statement, and another had an emerald necklace valued at $125,000.
A masked suspect threatened workers with bear spray and a Taser, police said, but no one was injured.
Josh Menashe, vice president of the family-owned store said workers finished cleaning up the broken glass and were working on a full inventory of the losses.
Police said they responded to the robbery but the suspects had already fled in a getaway car and eluded a search of the area.
