Updated: Cambridge Woman Bicyclist, 27, Dies After Accident in Inman Square

Posted June 23, 2016 9:37 PM ET; Last updated June 27, 2016 8:22 PM ET

Amanda Phillips, 27, died June 23 after her bike collided with a landscaping truck on Cambridge Street in Inman Square. 
Courtesy photo/Diesel Cafe

[Updated June 27, 2016 8:22 PM ET]
[From article]
Amanda Phillips, an employee of Diesel Café in Somerville and a nursing student at MGH Institute of Health Professions, rode her bike off the sidewalk onto Cambridge Street near Antrim Street around 12:17 p.m. June 23, when she was struck by an open door of a Jeep and pushed into the travel lane where she collided with a moving dump truck, investigators said.
She was transported to Mass. General Hospital, where she was pronounced dead later that evening, according to Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan.
“Yesterday a tragic bicycle accident claimed an irreplaceable part of our collective hearts, as well as a person that was as genuine and kind as they come,” read a Diesel Café post on June 24. “It is with unbearably heavy hearts that we say goodbye to our dear friend and co-worker Amanda, who left this world too soon.”
Describing the tragedy as one of the “saddest times Diesel has ever experienced,” the café posted a photo of Phillips, thanking the community for the outpouring of love.
Several customers and friends reacted to Phillips’ death in the comment section, calling her a sweet, thoughtful and intelligent woman.
“I have been a daily customer for eight years, and she has been among the kindest people I've been lucky enough to see every day,” wrote Peter Wannemacher. “I am so sad and so sorry for her Diesel family and her loved ones. We will all miss her very much.”
[. . .]
Linda Sands, who lived in the same house as Phillips, said she will miss hearing Phillips walk down the stairs in the morning to walk her dog, “Scutchie.”
“Amanda always has that beautiful smile, always offering to help me with anything I may need,” wrote Sands. “I feel like she was just too good for this earth as this just can't have happened to such a beautiful young girl. My brother and his family and my husband and I are deeply crushed about her loss.”
http://cambridge.wickedlocal.com/news/20160627/too-good-for-this-earth-memorial-grows-for-cambridge-woman-killed-on-bicycle

'Too good for this earth:' Memorial grows for Cambridge woman killed on bicycle
By Amy Saltzman
Cambridge Chronicle
Posted Jun. 27, 2016 at 11:07 AM
CAMBRIDGE Chronicle

* * *


Scene of fatal bicycle accident near Inman Square, Cambridge, MA

[Posted June 23, 2016 9:37 PM ET] 

[From article]
A bicyclist who was struck by a vehicle in Cambridge’s Inman Square Thursday afternoon has died.
The cyclist, 27-year-old Amanda Phillips, was struck by a landscaping truck at the intersection of Hampshire and Cambridge Street at about 12:15 p.m. She was taken to Mass. General Hospital where she was later pronounced dead.
Witnesses said the woman on the bike either swerved to avoid the door of an SUV or was hit by it, and was then knocked into the path of the truck.
One man said the intersection has long been a problem.
“It was a problem intersection for decades. Now we have all these bicyclists in it and it’s worse,” a man told WBZ-TV’s Christina Hager.
Cambridge’s Traffic, Parking & Transportation Department held a public meeting Wednesday night to discuss safety at the Inman Square intersection. According to a presentation given at that meeting, there were 69 crashes in that intersection during a five-year period from 2008 to 2012, including 15 bicycle-involved crashes.
The meeting outlined some suggestions for changing traffic patterns to address the issues. But long-time resident Jack Walsh is not convinced they can solve the problem.
“The plans they have won’t do much,” Walsh told WBZ NewsRadio 1030’s Lana Jones Thursday. “It’s too many cars, too many bicycles, too many people trying to cross the street.”
Cambridge Street was closed from the square to Fayette Street Thursday afternoon, as a Massachusetts State Police accident reconstruction team investigated the crash.
The intersection reopened around 5 p.m.

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2016/06/23/cambridge-cyclist-crash-inman-square/

Bicyclist Dies After Being Struck By Truck In Cambridge

June 23, 2016 8:35 PM
CBS News Boston MA

* * *

http://cambridge.wickedlocal.com/news/20160623/bicyclist-critically-injured-in-inman-square-crash-in-cambridge

Bicyclist critically injured in Inman Square crash in Cambridge
By Amy Saltzman
Cambridge (at) wickedlocal.com
Posted Jun. 23, 2016 at 2:01 PM
Updated at 5:22 PM
CAMBRIDGE Chronicle

Taxpayer Funded Arms Sold on Middle East Black Market Meant For Syrian Rebels

The funeral in Rimoun, Jordan, for Anwar Abu Zaid, a police captain who was killed after he attacked a police training center in November. American and Jordanian officials said they believed that the weapons he used had been meant for a program to train Syrian rebels. 

Credit Nasser Nasser/Associated Press

The White House chapter of the Spending Other People's Money Society, uses taxpayer funds to supply criminals in the Middle East. It is what the previous Attorney General, Eric "White people are cowards" Holder did, sending taxpayer purchased automatic weapons to Mexican drug cartels, who used them to kill Americans. Does anyone suspect an enemy spy is running the White House? 

[From article]
Weapons shipped into Jordan by the Central Intelligence Agency and Saudi Arabia intended for Syrian rebels have been systematically stolen by Jordanian intelligence operatives and sold to arms merchants on the black market, according to American and Jordanian officials.
Some of the stolen weapons were used in a shooting in November that killed two Americans and three others at a police training facility in Amman, F.B.I. officials believe after months of investigating the attack, according to people familiar with the investigation.
The existence of the weapons theft, which ended only months ago after complaints by the American and Saudi governments, is being reported for the first time after a joint investigation by The New York Times and Al Jazeera. The theft, involving millions of dollars of weapons, highlights the messy, unplanned consequences of programs to arm and train rebels — the kind of program the C.I.A. and Pentagon have conducted for decades — even after the Obama administration had hoped to keep the training program in Jordan under tight control.
The Jordanian officers who were part of the scheme reaped a windfall from the weapons sales, using the money to buy expensive SUVs, iPhones and other luxury items, Jordanian officials said.
The theft and resale of the arms — including Kalashnikov assault rifles, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades — have led to a flood of new weapons available on the black arms market. Investigators do not know what became of most of them, but a disparate collection of groups, including criminal networks and rural Jordanian tribes, use the arms bazaars to build their arsenals. Weapons smugglers also buy weapons in the arms bazaars to ship outside the country.
The F.B.I. investigation into the Amman shooting, run by the bureau’s Washington field office, is continuing. But American and Jordanian officials said the investigators believed that the weapons a Jordanian police captain, Anwar Abu Zaid, used to gun down two American contractors, two Jordanians and one South African had originally arrived in Jordan intended for the Syrian rebel-training program.
The officials said this finding had come from tracing the serial numbers of the weapons.
Mohammad H. al-Momani, Jordan’s minister of state for media affairs, said allegations that Jordanian intelligence officers had been involved in any weapons thefts were “absolutely incorrect.”
“Weapons of our security institutions are concretely tracked, with the highest discipline,” he said. He called the powerful Jordanian intelligence service, known as the General Intelligence Directorate, or G.I.D., “a world-class, reputable institution known for its professional conduct and high degree of cooperation among security agencies.” In Jordan, the head of the G.I.D. is considered the second most important man after the king.
[. . .]
The training program, which in 2013 began directly arming the rebels under the code name Timber Sycamore, is run by the C.I.A. and several Arab intelligence services and aimed at building up forces opposing PresidentBashar al-Assad of Syria. The United States and Saudi Arabia are the biggest contributors, with the Saudis contributing both weapons and large sums of money, and with C.I.A. paramilitary operatives taking the lead in training the rebels to use Kalashnikovs, mortars, antitank guided missiles and other weapons.
The existence of the program is classified, as are all details about its budget. American officials say that the C.I.A. has trained thousands of rebels in the past three years, and that the fighters made substantial advances on the battlefield against Syrian government forces until Russian military forces — launched last year in support of Mr. Assad — compelled them to retreat.
The training program is based in Jordan because of the country’s proximity to the Syrian battlefields. From the beginning, the C.I.A. and the Arab intelligence agencies relied on Jordanian security services to transport the weapons, many bought in bulk in the Balkans and elsewhere around Eastern Europe.
The program is separate from one that the Pentagon set up to train rebels to combat Islamic State fighters, rather than the Syrian military. That program was shut down after it managed to train only a handful of Syrian rebels.
Jordanian and American officials described the weapons theft and subsequent investigation on the condition of anonymity because the Syrian rebel training is classified in the United States and is a government secret in Jordan.
[. . .]
Jordanian officials who described the operation said it had been run by a group of G.I.D. logistics officers with direct access to the weapons once they reached Jordan. The officers regularly siphoned truckloads of the weapons from the stocks, before delivering the rest of the weapons to designated drop-off points.
Then the officers sold the weapons at several large arms markets in Jordan. The main arms bazaars in Jordan are in Ma’an, in the southern part of the country; in Sahab, outside Amman; and in the Jordan Valley.Continue reading the main story
It is unclear whether the current head of the G.I.D., Gen. Faisal al-Shoubaki, had knowledge of the theft of the C.I.A. and Saudi weapons. But several Jordanian intelligence officials said senior officers inside the service had knowledge of the weapons scheme and provided cover for the lower-ranking officers.

[. . .]
Word that the weapons intended for the rebels were being bought and sold on the black market leaked into Jordan government circles last year, when arms dealers began bragging to their customers that they had large stocks of American- and Saudi-provided weapons.
Jordanian intelligence operatives monitoring the arms market — operatives not involved in the weapons-diversion scheme — began sending reports to headquarters about a proliferation of weapons in the market and of the boasts of the arms dealers.
After the Americans and Saudis complained about the theft, investigators at the G.I.D. arrested several dozen officers involved in the scheme, among them a lieutenant colonel running the operation. They were ultimately released from detention and fired from the service, but were allowed to keep their pensions and money they gained from the scheme, according to Jordanian officials.
[. . .]
In 2009, a Jordanian doctor — brought to the C.I.A. by a G.I.D. officer after the doctor said he had penetrated Al Qaeda’s leadership — turned out to be a double agent and blew himself up at a remote base in Afghanistan. Seven C.I.A. employees, as well as the G.I.D. officer, were killed in the attack.
Two recent heads of the service, also known as the Mukhabarat, have been sent to prison on charges including embezzlement, money laundering and bank fraud. One of them, Gen. Samih Battikhi, ran the G.I.D. from 1995 to 2000 and was convicted of being part of a scheme to obtain bank loans of around $600 million for fake government contracts and pocketing about $25 million. He was sentenced to eight years in prison, but the sentence was eventually reduced to four years that were served in his villa in the seaside town of Aqaba.
Gen. Mohammad al-Dahabi, who ran the service from 2005 to 2008, was later convicted of stealing millions of dollars that G.I.D. officers had seized from Iraqi citizens crossing into Jordan in the years after the American invasion of Iraq in 2003. His trial showed that he had also arranged for money to be smuggled in private cars from Iraq into Jordan and had been involved in sellingJordanian citizenship to Iraqi businessmen. He was sentenced to 13 years in prison and fined tens of millions of dollars.
[. . .]
By late 2013, the C.I.A. was working directly with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other nations to arm and train small groups of rebels and send them across the border into Syria.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/27/world/middleeast/cia-arms-for-syrian-rebels-supplied-black-market-officials-say.html?_r=0

C.I.A. Arms for Syrian Rebels Supplied Black Market, Officials Say
By MARK MAZZETTI and ALI YOUNES

JUNE 26, 2016

UN Military Vehicles Seen On Virginia Highways

[Posted comment]

Bobby Elrod  June 26, 2016
They're built at the BAE Systems plant in York, PA. From there they carried down I-81 to I-77, and then I-95 towards the port of Savannah to be shipped overseas.

[From article]
What were United Nations vehicles doing in Virginia on Friday?
That’s what motorists were left to wonder when they saw UN tactical vehicles — with bulletproof glass — on a flatbed truck and rolling down Interstate 81.
Jeff Stern posted several photos of Facebook and added the description, “Can’t begin to tell you how many of these I passed today on 81 near Lexington, VA. Interesting times ahead!”“Tactical Vehicles, with bullet proof glass? What ever could those be for, and why are UN vehicles here, in THIS country?!” Fernando Johnson questioned, while Vincent Sammons noted, “They are sealed against gas too.”

http://www.theamericanmirror.com/photos-un-tactical-vehicles-seen-rolling-virginia-interstate/

PHOTOS: UN military vehicles seen rolling down Virginia interstate
JUNE 26, 2016
BY OLAF EKBERG

Iceland Elects History Professor President, in Anti Establishment Vote

President elect Gudni Johannesson (L) speaks next to his wife Eliza Reid at an election party in Reykjavik, on June 25, 2016 

(AFP Photo/Halldor Kolbeins)

[From article]

History professor Gudni Johannesson won Iceland's presidential election after riding a wave of anti-establishment sentiment, final results showed Sunday, although the vote was eclipsed by the country's eagerly-anticipated Euro football match.
The political newcomer, who won with 39.1 percent of votes, was trailed by businesswoman Halla Tomasdottir, also without party affiliation, who took 29.4 percent, according to results announced on public television channel RUV.
Johannesson only decided to run for the presidency after the so-called Panama Papers leak in April which detailed offshore accounts and implicated several senior Icelandic politicians, including the prime minister who was forced to resign.
Throughout the campaign, Johannesson emphasised his non-partisan vision of the presidency, and vowed to restore faith in the political system after years of public anger toward politicians over scandals and financial woes.
The victory was especially sweet for the history professor and political commentator, who has never held public office and has no party affiliation, as he celebrated his 48th birthday Sunday.
David Oddsson, a former conservative prime minister who had been Johannesson's closest rival throughout most of the campaign, garnered just 13 percent of votes.
"The representative of the old era... has been rejected, people are looking to the future," University of Akureyri political science professor Gretar Eythorsson told AFP.
The president in Iceland holds a largely ceremonial position. More important legislative elections are due in the autumn.
[. . .]
Britain's vote to leave the European Union also headlined the news on the eve of the election in Iceland, which itself had applied for EU membership in 2009 after suffering a devastating financial crisis in 2008, but abandoned the bid six years later.
Like most of Iceland's voters, Johannesson is opposed to EU membership.
In a final debate on Friday, he said Brexit changes "much for the better for us Icelanders," suggesting the European Economic Area agreement that non-EU members Norway and Iceland have with the EU could play a more important role with Britain on board.
[. . .]
Current president Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, 73, is stepping down after five straight terms spanning 20 years.
"I think we will see a different kind of president. Johannesson is not likely to be as political as Grimsson sometimes was," Eythorsson said.
Grimsson is the only Icelandic president to have exercised his right to veto bills in parliament, doing so three times over two decades.
Johannesson was until recently known to Icelanders as one of the country's most prominent political commentators from the University of Iceland.
In a nation basking in a strong economy, low unemployment and robust purchasing power, Johannesson's views are generally seen as moderate and centrist.
Casting his ballot Saturday, Johannesson told AFP he was satisfied he had "managed to present to the people my vision of the presidency".
[. . .]
Turnout in the election was also higher than in the last vote four years ago, at nearly 76 percent.
Johannesson officially takes over the post on August 1.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/johannesson-leads-icelands-presidential-vote-partial-result-000003789.html?ref=gs

Political novice wins Iceland presidency with 39 percent
Haukur Holm
June 26, 2016

Sanford, FL Mayor Carjacked; City of George Zimmerman-Trayvon Martin Encounter

Sanford Mayor Jeff Triplett in 2012.
(REUTERS/Steve Nesius)

[From article]
The mayor of a central Florida city was carjacked while standing outside his home, according to police who said Sunday they were hunting for a third suspect.
The incident unfolded in Sanford. The city made headlines in 2012 after George Zimmerman shot and killed Trayvon Martin at a gated community there.
Mayor Jeff Triplett was outside around 2:15 a.m. Saturday when three men approached, pointed a gun at him and stole his car keys, police said. They told reporters the suspects also stole Triplett's wallet before driving off in his Mercedes.
Triplett gave a detailed description of the suspects to police and 18-year-old Jermine Jacques Horne and a 17-year-old were arrested a short time later.

George Zimmerman is seen at left in his April 11, 2012, booking photo after being charged with second-degree murder in the killing of Trayvon Martin.
(AP)

The third suspect has not been caught, police said. It was not immediately known if either suspect had a lawyer.
Police eventually found the mayor's damaged car, Fox 35 reported.
Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer in February 2012, said he was defending himself when he killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. The case sparked protests and a national debate about race relations. A jury acquitted Zimmerman of murder charges the next year, and the Justice Department later decided not to prosecute Zimmerman on civil rights charges.
Triplett said, "Being a victim of a crime is unnerving, yet it was reassuring to witness both speed and diligence from the Sanford Police Department."
Sanford is about 25 miles northeast of Orlando.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/06/26/mayor-carjacked-at-gunpoint-in-city-where-trayvon-martin-was-killed.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+foxnews%2Fmost-popular+%28Internal+-+Most+Popular+Content%29

Mayor carjacked at gunpoint in city where Trayvon Martin was killed
Published June 26, 2016

FoxNews.com

Cambridge, MA Gentleman, 49, Shot Dead

[From article]
One person was killed early Saturday morning after being shot in Cambridge.
Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said that Anthony Clay, 49, was shot around 12:15 a.m. on Saturday outside a Harvard Street building.

Clay was transported to Massachusetts General Hospital but did not survive.
During an early evening news conference, Ryan called the shooting an “open and active homicide investigation.

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2016/06/25/cambridge-shooting-homicide-harvard-street/

One Dead In Cambridge Shooting
June 25, 2016 6:09 PM
CBS News Boston MA

* * *

[From article]
By Amy Saltzman
Cambridge (at ) wickedlocal.com
Posted Jun. 25, 2016 at 11:14 AM
Updated at 11:19 AM
A 49-year-old Cambridge man was shot and killed in The Port early this morning, according to police.
Anthony Clay was found by officers suffering from a gunshot wound outside 140 Harvard St. around 12:18 a.m. June 25. Clay was transported to Mass. General Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

http://cambridge.wickedlocal.com/news/20160625/breaking-cambridge-man-shot-killed-in-port

BREAKING: Cambridge man shot, killed in The Port
By Amy Saltzman
Cambridge (at) wickedlocal.com
Posted Jun. 25, 2016 at 11:14 AM
Updated at 11:19 AM
Cambridge Chronicle

* * *
[From article]
Cambridge police announced a fatal shooting occurred on Harvard Street in Cambridge early Saturday morning.
Just after midnight Saturday, authorities found Anthony Clay, 49, suffering from a gunshot wound. Clay was transported to Massachusetts General Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
This is an open and active homicide investigation being conducted by the Cambridge Police Department and Massachusetts State Police assigned to the Middlesex District Attorney's Office.

http://www.necn.com/news/new-england/Police-Fatal-Shooting-on-Harvard-Street-in-Cambridge-Mass--384378141.html

Shooting Leaves Man Dead in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Anyone with information is encouraged to call the authorities
NECN News
June 25, 2016

Updated: Two Ranking NYPD Officers Arrested For Conspiring To Close Lincoln Tunnel In Exchange For Prostitutes and Travel

Posted June 21, 2016 9:10 PM ET; Last updated June 25, 2016 5:32 PM ET


Grant (pictured leaving court on Monday) accepted a two-night stay at a hotel in Rome worth more than $1,000, contracting work in his home worth about $12,000 and jewelry, the court papers state.

[Updated June 25, 2016 5:32 PM ET]
[From article]
A high-end prostitute received $10,000 to accompany a high-ranking NYPD officer and one of his detective friends on a trip to Las Vegas, federal authorities said.
The woman, who was named Candi according to DNA Info, was hired to accompany Deputy Inspector James Grant, his friend, two businessmen and two other people during a Super Bowl weekend getaway in 2013, the indictment states.
One of the businessmen, according to the document, was Jeremy Reichberg, of Brooklyn, who now faces corruption charges along with Grant and NYPD Deputy Chief Michael Harrington.
Reichberg and another businessman spent more than $100,000 bribing NYPD officers in exchange for favors, US Attorney Preet Bharara said Monday.
Candi, a high-end prostitute, took off in the private jet with Grant, Reichberg and businessman Jona Rechnitz, who has pleaded guilty in the case and is now cooperating with authorities in the investigation, from Teterboro Airport in New Jersey, DNA Info reported.
The group left on February 2, 2014 to and returned on February 4 on the private jet, which cost $57,000 according to the indictment.
Candi told investigators that Grant and others had 'taken advantage of her services during the trip' and slept in Grant's room, the document states.
Reichberg had offered to take Grant to Las Vegas for a Super Bowl weekend a month prior, authorities said.
Authorities arrested Grant, 43, Harrington, 50 and Reichberg, 42, on Monday. All three now face one count of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud, which carries a maximum term of 20 years in prison.


Meanwhile authorities said Harrington (pictured on Monday) accepted tens of thousands of dollars worth of private security work, hotel rooms in Chicago worth more than $6,000, and dinners worth thousands of dollars.

Reichberg and Rechnitz 'engineered a scheme to provide lavish benefits to high-ranking members of the NYPD' between 2012 and 2015, the US Attorney’s Office said.
Other gifts included a two-night stay at a hotel in Rome for Grant worth more than $1,000, contracting work in his home worth about $12,000 and jewelry, the court papers state.
Meanwhile authorities said Harrington accepted tens of thousands of dollars worth of private security work for a company he helped manage unofficially, hotel rooms in Chicago for him and his family worth more than $6,000, and dinners worth thousands of dollars.
In exchange, the indictment says, Grant and Harrington arranged police escorts for the two businessmen, diverted police resources to investigate their private matters and helped them get VIP access to parades and other events in New York City.
Grant helped the two men avoid tickets after being pulled over by officers by giving them cards, authorities said.
He also helped Reichberg to obtain a gun license from the NYPD and tried to do the same for Rechnitz, the US Attorney's Office said.
NYPD Sergeant David Villanueva was also arrested on Monday and charged with receiving cash bribes to expedite and approve gun licenses.
Authorities also unveiled the guilty plea of officer Richard Ochetal, who has pleaded guilty to accepting bribes in exchange for the approval of gun license applications and is now cooperating with investigation.
Both Reichberg and Rechnitz have contributed heavily to Mayor de Blasio's campaign.
The mayor hasn't been implicated in any wrongdoing.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3653678/High-end-prostitute-called-Candi-received-10-000-accompany-NYPD-officers-fundraisers-Bill-Blasio-private-jet-Super-Bowl-weekend-Las-Vegas.html

High-end prostitute called Candi 'received $10,000 to accompany NYPD officers and de Blasio donors on a private jet for a Super Bowl weekend in Las Vegas'
The prostitute was hired to spend the trip with Deputy Inspector James Grant, a detective friend and two businessmen in 2013, authorities said
Grant and others 'took advantage of her services', according to indictment
The jet cost $59,000 and Candi slept in Grant's room, the document states
Grant, businessman Jeremy Reichberg and NYPD Deputy Chief Michael Harrington are now facing corruption charges
Reichberg and another businessman spent more than $100,000 bribing NYPD officers in exchange for favors, US Attorney Preet Bharara said

By CLEMENCE MICHALLON FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 23:44 EST, 21 June 2016 | UPDATED: 02:10 EST, 22 June 2016


* * *

[Posted June 21, 2016 9:10 PM ET]


Jeremy Reichberg

Photo: Reuters

[From article]

Cops shut down a lane in the Lincoln Tunnel so a visiting businessman could be escorted through it at the behest of a major de Blasio fundraiser, federal prosecutors charged Monday.
The outrageous move was revealed as part of damning criminal indictments unveiled Monday against four NYPD officers and the shady “fixer’’who allegedly arranged it.
The stunning arrests marked the first time cops have been charged in the sweeping 3½-year corruption investigation rocking the department and Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office, which is being probed for its fundraising.

Jona Rechnitz
Photo: Baruch Ezagui/collive.com

Federal prosecutors allege that the civilian behind the closure, Borough Park businessman Jeremy Reichberg, and his pal, real estate investor Jona Rechnitz, spent more than $100,000 on police bribes between 2012 and 2015.
“They got, in effect, a private police force for themselves and their friends — effectively they got cops on call,” Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara said.
The criminal indictments alleged that in one instance, “Reichberg, using his connections in local law enforcement agencies, was able to arrange for the closure of a lane in the Lincoln Tunnel and a police escort down that lane for a businessman visiting the United States.”
It was unclear when the shutdown occurred, but law enforcement sources said the request did not go through official channels and there was no documentation of it, suggesting it could have been orchestrated in the middle of the night.
Bharara said the busted NYPD officials accepted bribes that included costly trips and romps with a prostitute.
Deputy Chief Michael Harrington, Deputy Inspector James Grant and Sgt. David Villanueva were all arrested at their homes at 6 a.m., prosecutors said.
A fourth cop, Officer Richard Ochetal, had already pleaded guilty to accepting bribes in exchange for expediting gun permit applications, according to court papers.
“It is a heartbreaking thing,’’ Bharara said at a press conference announcing the charges. “An officer who betrays his badge betrays every honorable officer.’’
The damning criminal indictments reveal just how influential Reichberg and Rechnitz became through their department connections.
With Rechnitz’s help, Reichberg arranged free “flights, hotel rooms, prostitutes, expensive meals, home improvements, and prime seats to sporting events, among other things,” for the cops, court documents say.
In exchange, Grant and Harrington arranged police escorts for the businessmen, handled their personal business disputes, gave them VIP access to events such as New Year’s Eve and the Marathon and provided them with NYPD cards that got them out of traffic tickets, prosecutors allege.
Reichberg was even caught on an early 2015 wiretap indicating that his NYPD connections were so tight that he “was dispensing advice on promotions to members of the NYPD and taking steps to facilitate promotions.’’

http://nypost.com/2016/06/20/shady-businessman-bribed-cops-to-close-lincoln-tunnel-lane-feds/

Shady businessman bribed cops to close Lincoln Tunnel lane: feds
By Jamie Schram, Shawn Cohen, Kaja Whitehouse and Danika Fears
New York Post
June 20, 2016 | 11:03pm

Effects of UK Vote To Leave European Union

Treatment of those who voted to leave the EU sounds like the way that Cambridge, MA residents and politicians act toward critics and those who disagree with their extremist policies. 

[Comment rom Douglas Mayfield graduate of Harvard University]
The EU is run by appointed bureaucrats who do not have to face the public or be elected. In my view, the people who voted to leave the EU are sick of rule by fiat. If members of Parliament don't get this, let's hope the Brits kick them out, too.

[From article]
For a long time, Britons who wanted their country to leave the European Union were regarded almost as mentally ill by those who wanted it to stay. The leavers didn’t have an opinion; they had a pathology. Since one doesn’t argue with pathology, it wasn’t necessary for the remainers to answer the leavers with more than sneers and derision.
Even after the vote, the attitude persists. Those who voted to leave are described as, ipso facto, small-minded, xenophobic, and fearful of the future. Those who voted to stay are described as, ipso facto, open-minded, cosmopolitan, and forward-looking. The BBC itself suggested as much on its website. In short, the desire to leave was a return to the insularity that resulted in the famous—though apocryphal—newspaper headline: fog in the channel: continent cut off.
If insularity is indeed on the rise, it is affecting increasing numbers of Europeans. According to the latest polls, nearly a half of the Italians and Dutch want their countries to leave. Discontent with the Union is also widespread in other countries. The French have a poorer opinion of the European Union than do the British, but because the French believe it to be reformable, fewer want to leave. Before the vote, the danger of Brexit to the integrity of the European Union was described in the French media in pathological terms, as a possible “contagion,” rather than merely an example to be followed
[. . .]



The vote might also lead to a unification of Ireland, for the Northern Irish also voted to remain in Europe. Sinn Fein has already called for a referendum on unification. Such unification would be a great blessing for England, but not necessarily for Ireland.
One possible reason for the success of the Brexit campaign was President Obama’s ill-conceived intervention, when he threatened that if Britain voted to leave the Union, it would have to go to the “back of the queue” as far as any trade agreements are concerned. This sounded like bullying, and was not well-received by much of the British population, which had already been subjected to quite a lot of such bullying from others. If I were an American, I shouldn’t have been pleased with it either, for Obama spoke not as a president with a few months left in office, but as a president-for-life, or at least one with the right to decide his successor’s policy.
[. . .]



Among the many subjects not properly discussed during the campaign was whether large and fundamental political changes should be made based on 50 percent-plus-one of the votes cast in a single plebiscite. The House of Commons is not constitutionally bound by the results, and most members of Parliament support remaining in the European Union. They could argue, not without plausibility, that a vote representing no more than three-eighths of the total electorate isn’t quite the groundswell of opinion that should be required for fundamental change. If they acted on this argument, however, violence might erupt.

http://www.city-journal.org/html/brexits-complicated-aftermath-14590.html

Brexit’s Complicated Aftermath
What comes next? Nobody really knows.
Theodore Dalrymple
June 24, 2016

CAIR Must Stand Trial For RICO Fraud Complaint, U.S. Court of Appeals Orders

[From article]

The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) will stand trial on charges of fraud and cover up for alleged crimes perpetrated against hundreds of victims, according to a new ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.



The case against CAIR National was originally dismissed by a federal judge but unanimously overturned by the appellate court. Two cases are involved in the suit, which the appellate court consolidated into one, since both cases involve racketeering, a federal RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) crime.
The lawsuits claim that CAIR National was aware that Morris Days, the “Resident Attorney” and “Manager for Civil Rights” at the now defunct CAIR-Maryland/Virginia chapter in Herndon, Virginia, was in fact not an attorney and that he failed to provide legal services for clients who came to CAIR for legal representation.



Moreover, the suits claim, CAIR knew of this fraud and purposefully conspired with Days to keep the CAIR clients from discovering that their legal matters were being mishandled or not handled at all. In addition, the complaints allege that, according to CAIR’s own internal documents, there were hundreds of victims of the fraud scheme.
While the original federal judge in the case ruled that Days and CAIR’s Virginia chapter were liable for fraud, he concluded that CAIR National was not responsible for Days’ conduct. The appeals court, however, found that, upon a review of the evidence, there was a direct relationship between CAIR National and Days.



David Yerushalmi, senior counsel for the plaintiffs in the case and co-founder of the American Freedom Law Center, remarked, “CAIR engaged in a massive criminal fraud in which literally hundreds of CAIR clients have been victimized.
[. . .]



The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has a history of Islamist extremism including links to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. The U.S. Justice Department labeled CAIR an “unindicted co-conspirator” in a Hamas-financing trial and listed CAIR as a U.S. Muslim Brotherhood entity.
CAIR was also listed by the Justice Department as a part of the Brotherhood’s covert “Palestine Committee” to support Hamas in the United States.
In addition, CAIR was officially designated a terrorist organization on by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on November 15, 2014. 

https://www.clarionproject.org/news/cair-stand-trial-massive-fraud-0#

CAIR to Stand Trial for Massive Fraud
The Council on American Islamic Relations is now charged with fraud and cover up perpetrated against hundreds of victims.
Wed, June 22, 2016

United Kingdom Votes To Leave European Union. White House, Hillary Clinton On Wrong Side of History

73 percent of eligible voters voted. Ireland and Scotland voted to remain. England and Wales voted to leave. 

Leave 51.9%
VOTES 17,410,742 VOTES

RemainVote share
48.1%
VOTES16,141,241 VOTES


http://www.bbc.com/news/politics/eu_referendum/results

Brexit Upends Global Markets as Stocks, Pound Plunge; Yen Soars
James Regan
Sofia Horta E Costa
June 24, 2016

* * *

[From article]
British voters chose to “leave” the European Union on Thursday, defying the polls — and President Barack Obama, who had urged Britain to “remain” in the EU. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had also urged Britain to stay in the EU. Only Donald Trump had backed the campaign to leave.
Republican strategists had panned Trump’s decision to travel to the UK in the midst of campaign turmoil, and in the wake of his blistering attack on Hillary Clinton earlier this week.
Now, however, it looks like a risk that paid off handsomely, in the currency of foreign policy credibility.
[. . .]

Trump, who happens to be in Scotland to open a golf resort, promised in May that leaving the EU would not put Britain at the “back of the queue,” and said: “I think if I were from Britain I would probably want to go back to a different system.” He reiterated that support last week, telling the Sunday Times: “I would personally be more inclined to leave, for a lot of reasons like having a lot less bureaucracy. … But I am not a British citizen. This is just my opinion.”

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/06/23/brexit-britain-votes-trump-hillary-obama/

Brexit: Britain Votes with Trump, against Hillary, Obama

by JOEL B. POLLAK

23 Jun 2016

White New Orleans Policeman Shot Dead By Black Gentleman On Probation With Gun

Deputy Assistant David Michel Jr. (above) of the Jefferson Parish sheriff's office was shot dead Wednesday. Jerman Neveaux (right) has been arrested on charges of first degree murder and assault, the sheriff's office says.



[From article]

A 19-year-old walking down a busy commercial strip of a New Orleans suburb Wednesday in the middle of the afternoon shot and killed a deputy after the officer tried to search him, the sheriff said Wednesday, labelling the shooting 'a cold-blooded murder'.
Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand described the deadly shooting that swiftly unfolded after Detective David F. Michel Jr., 50, tried to search Jerman Neveaux.
The sheriff said the officer had noticed Neveaux walking behind another person who appeared to be nervous, so he pulled over.
Michel approached Neveaux and placed him up against the police vehicle so he could search him, Normand said.
But Neveaux flipped around, 'went chest to chest' with the officer, pulled out a gun and — reaching over Michel's shoulder — shot him in the back.
'As Detective Michel fell to the ground, he fired two more shots at point-blank range into the back of Detective Michel,' Normand said.
The officer was able to get on the radio and say he'd been shot, Normand said.
As Michel was brought to a hospital in New Orleans where he later died, officers flooded the area, using dogs and helicopters to search for the suspect.
Normand said police were able to find the suspect, who was going through the backyards of houses in the nearby area.
Geralisha Henderson lived in one of those houses. She said she went to her back door Wednesday to make sure it was locked after police combing her street said they were searching for a suspect.
When she went to the back door, she saw what appeared to be a young man dressed in jeans and T-shirt hiding in the back of the yard. Frightened, she went to the street and waved for a police officer to come.
When she went to the back door to peek outside again, she said the suspect was much closer to the house. The suspect saw her and asked to be let in, she said.
'He was telling me "Open the door, let me in,"' she said. 'He looked scared.'
She said she did not see a gun. At that the point, several officers rushed in and detained him in the backyard. Henderson's mother, Alicia, said an officer later came back to the house and told her the man was the suspect they were looking for.
Normand said five witnesses identified Neveaux as the shooter, and authorities found the gun on him and have been able to match it forensically to the shooting.
A spokesman for the sheriff's office, John Fortunato, said he has been arrested on charges of first degree murder and assault.
The suspect admitted shooting the officer and said he was on probation for another offense and didn't want the officer to find the gun and arrest him, Normand said.
The sheriff also said his office is investigating a video that was brought to their attention by a local media outlet that shows Neveaux's arrest.
Normand, who said he saw the video minutes before the news conference, said it shows Neveaux '...being struck by our officers while attempting to gain control of Neveaux.' He said Neveaux was still armed at that time.
Neveaux, who was taken to the hospital for treatment after his arrest, had an orbital fracture and scrapes and cuts, Normand said.
A coroner's 'first glance' indicated Michel was struck three times in the back, a WWLTV reporter tweeted.
The shooting happened outside a Dunkin' Donuts on Manhattan Boulevard near Ascot Road.
Manhattan Boulevard is a heavy thoroughfare in the area known as the West Bank, across the Mississippi River from New Orleans.
[. . .]
Deputy Chief Craig Taffaro, who commands the parish's operations division, said Michel was a cheerful man who loved his job.
[. . .]
He said Michel's father was en route to New Orleans. 'I spoke with his dad," Taffaro said, "And he said, 'As difficult as this is, he's doing what he loved to doI guess that sums it up.'
Michel was assigned to the street crimes unit, which targets drug sales and criminal activity in 17 high-crime areas around the parish, Taffaro said. Michel was in a black unmarked car and dressed in plain clothes with sheriff markings.
Michel joined the sheriff's office in 2007 and was transferred to the street crimes unit in 2015, Fortunato said.
It was the year's second shooting of a Jefferson officer.
Another member of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office, Stephen Arnold, was shot and wounded in January during a drug raid on a house in the Lower 9th Ward section of New Orleans.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3655020/Sheriffs-deputy-shot-killed-suburban-New-Orleans.html

REVEALED: Deputy killed in Louisiana was shot three times in the back as sheriff calls his death 'cold-blooded murder'
A Jefferson Parish sheriff's deputy was killed in broad daylight Wednesday
Fallen deputy was identified as David Michel Jr. of the street crimes unit
Deputy was shot after stopping 19-year-old Jerman Neveaux
Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand said Neveaux flipped around, 'went chest to chest' with the officer, pulled out a gun and shot him
Sheriff's office says Neveaux has been arrested on charges of first degree murder and assault
By ANTON NILSSON FOR DAILYMAIL.COM and ASSOCIATED PRESS
PUBLISHED: 14:04 EST, 22 June 2016 | UPDATED: 02:57 EST, 23 June 2016

Supreme Court Of the United States Rules Against Lawless White House Plan To Ban Deporting Illegal Aliens

Lawyers, clients and court watchers stream down the front steps after arguments at the US Supreme Court.
Photo: Reuters

[From article]
A tie vote by the Supreme Court is blocking President Barack Obama’s immigration plan that sought to shield millions living in the U.S. illegally from deportation.
The justices’ one-sentence opinion on Thursday effectively kills the plan for the duration of Obama’s presidency.
A tie vote sets no national precedent but leaves in place the ruling by the lower court. In this case, the federal appeals court in New Orleans said the Obama administration lacked the authority to shield up to 4 million immigrants from deportation and make them eligible for work permits without approval from Congress.
Texas led 26 Republican-dominated states in challenging the program Obama announced in November 2014. Congressional Republicans also backed the states’ lawsuit.

http://nypost.com/2016/06/23/supreme-court-kills-obamas-immigration-plan/

Supreme Court kills Obama’s immigration plan
By Associated Press
New York Post
June 23, 2016 | 10:53am

Updated: Pennsylvania Team Arrested At Holland Tunnel On Way To Rescue Drug Addicts

Posted June 22, 2016 8:39 PM ET; Last updated June 23, 2016 9:00 PM ET

Three people have been arrested outside a New York City tunnel after police found this huge cache of weapons in their vehicle. The collection included rifles, ballistic vests and a camouflage helmet.

[Updated June 23, 2016 9:00 PM ET]
[From article]
This is the tragic young mother-of-two whose fatal heroin overdose sparked the bungled rescue mission that ended in the arrest of three heavily armed Pennsylvania 'drug vigilantes'.
Sierra Schmitt, 20 - mom to four-year-old twin boys - was found dead in bed on Monday morning after she visited New York City to do drugs and party.
Close friend Jenea Patterson, 17, woke up next to Schmitt's body and made a panicked call to her former youth counselor, Kimberly Arendt - one of three self-styled heroin crusaders who set off to try to save her in a monster truck laden with guns.
Arendt, 29, was arrested near the New Jersey side of the Holland Tunnel on Tuesday along with John Cramsey, 50, and Dean Smith, 53, after cops pulled them over for a cracked windscreen and found a huge cache of firearms and ammo.

Kimberly Arendt (left), John Cramsey (center) and Dean Smith (right), appearing in Hudson County Court, New Jersey, via video link following their arrest outside New York's Holland Tunnel on Tuesday, were taken into custody as they drove to New York to rescue Patterson after she called Arendt in panic.

The trio - part of a group called 'Enough is Enough' that claims to save heroin-addled kids from pushers - were held on Wednesday on $75,000 cash bail after they were charged with weapons offences and possessing marijuana and drug paraphernalia.

But in an exclusive interview with Daily Mail Online, Schmitt's mother Mandy Powell, 38, sprung to their defense, saying: 'These guys shouldn't be in jail - they are heroes not criminals.
'To do that for somebody else's child, I give them all the credit in the world. I just wish they could have got to my daughter in time.'


Schmitt's mother Mandy Powell, 38, sprung to the trio's defense, saying they should not be in jail and said she wished they got to her daughter sooner.

Powell had particular praise for ringleader Cramsey - a shooting range boss who lost his 20-year-old daughter Alexandria in February from an overdose of Fentanyl and heroin.
'He's right - enough is enough,' said Powell, a married rest area worker who raised Schmitt in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. 'We've both lost a daughter and someone has to get on top of this.
'I'd never heard of any of them until their names came up on the news but they have my full support. I'd like to meet them and thank them for trying to make a difference.'
Schmitt and Patterson are believed to have headed to Brooklyn's Bedford–Stuyvesant neighborhood to meet two men for a weekend of drinking and hard partying.
It is believed that Schmitt was injected with a 'hotshot' - a strong dose of heroin that rendered her unconscious.
'As far as I know they were with two gentlemen,' said Powell, who said she was still trying to piece together the fateful events after speaking to police, the coroner, and exchanging messages with Patterson.
[. . .]
'Jenea told me the two guys made them shoot up,' she added. 'Sierra passed out and one of the guys apparently said: "We're not gonna have much fun with her".
Powell said her daughter went off the rails and turned to drugs and alcohol after losing custody of her twins.
'She loved them as much as any mom could. But she was too young, too immature, and she couldn't cope,' she said.
'After she lost them she started getting wild and going out. She was partying, drinking alcohol - she gave me a run for my money, that's for sure.
'She was hanging out with the wrong people and ended up going to New York more and more because of the fast-paced life.
'She started changing, she got angrier, more demanding - but she would still call me faithfully every day. She was still my loving daughter.
'Sierra never kept anything from me and about half a year ago she told me she used heroin. She had been clean for a month - and then this happened.
'She was outgoing, she loved everyone, but she was too trusting. I just need to know what happened in that room.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3657030/Mother-20-year-old-heroin-overdose-sparked-rescue-ended-arrest-three-heavily-armed-drug-vigilantes-jumps-defend-trio-heroes-not-criminals.html

EXCLUSIVE: 'I just wish they could have got to my daughter in time': Mother of 20-year-old whose heroin overdose sparked a rescue attempt that ended in the arrest of three armed 'drug vigilantes' defends the trio as 'heroes, not criminals'
Sierra Schmitt, 20 - mom to four-year-old twin boys - was found dead in bed next to close friend Jenea Patterson, 17, on Monday morning
Schmitt and Patterson had visited New York City to do drugs and party
When Patterson found Schmitt's body, she called her former youth counselor, Kimberly Arendt
Arendt was one of three self-styled heroin crusaders who set off to try to save her in a monster truck laden with guns and were later arrested
Arendt, 29, was arrested near the New Jersey side of the Holland Tunnel on Tuesday along with John Cramsey, 50, and Dean Smith, 53
The trio is part of a group called 'Enough is Enough' that claims to save heroin-addled kids from pushers
Schmitt's mother Mandy Powell, 38, sprung to their defense, saying: 'These guys shouldn't be in jail - they are heroes not criminals'
By BEN ASHFORD IN WILKES-BARRE, PENNSYLVANIA, FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 15:58 EST, 23 June 2016 | UPDATED: 18:37 EST, 23 June 2016

* * *

[Posted June 22, 2016 8:39 PM ET]
[From article]

The gun range owner who was arrested alongside two others outside of a New York City tunnel with a cache of weapons turned into a self-styled vigilante after tragically losing his 20-year-old daughter to a heroin overdose this year.
John Cramsey, 50, who runs Higher Ground Tactical in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, was with Dean Smith, 52, and 29-year-old Kimberly Arendt when they were pulled over outside the Holland Tunnel on Tuesday.
Authorities first stopped the group for a cracked windshield, before multiple loaded guns, rifles, knives, ballistic vests and a camouflage helmet were discovered.
When questioned, they described themselves as self-styled vigilantes, according to reports, and were on their way to a Brooklyn hotel where they wanted to 'extract' a teenager from a bad situation that possibly involved heroin.
The trio was detained on the four-month anniversary of the day Cramsey's daughter, Alexandria 'Lexii' Cramsey, died of a heroin and fentanyl overdose.
The 20-year-old girl, who passed away on February 21, was found with her boyfriend, Marquillis Calhoun, who was also dead inside of a Pennsylvania house.


They were detained on the four-month anniversary of the day Cramsey's daughter, Alexandria 'Lexii' Cramsey (pictured), died of a heroin overdose.


Following her death, the father consistently shared posts about it on Facebook and the battle against the drug.
In a post from February, he described himself as 'an addict' for his late-daughter, who worked as a professional model with three agencies in Atlanta, Philadelphia and Mexico.
'Now, I want to personally address the confusion of why we proudly display the 'SHOOT YOUR LOCAL HEROIN DEALER' decals,' Cramsey wrote. 'Who are you to judge me for my opinion.'
'Grow up and either get involved...or get out of here!' he added.
Cramsey also spoke in an interview not long after her death about visiting the place where she died in Allentown.
Just before he was arrested on Tuesday, Cramsey wrote on Facebook: 'I'm currently 11 miles outside of Brooklyn New York and going to a hotel to extract a 16 year old girl who went up there to Party with a few friends.
'One of those friends she went up there with will not be returning.
'This young lady from Wilkes Barre is scared and wants to come home. Last night she woke to find her friends body next to her in the same bed were her friend died of another heroin overdose.
'The Child named [censored] and she is from the Wilkes Barre area.
'A Facebook message to the Mother and the Brother with no response yet. I'm bringing her out of NY today and anybody else in that hotel that wants to go home too.'
Cramsey is believed to have tried to make similar rescues in the past few months.


Cramsey is believed to have made similar 'rescues' in recent months.

A picture of the fluorescent Dodge truck believed to be involved shows it covered with logos for the gun range. A sign in the back window reads: 'We The People'.
When Daily Mail Online reached Higher Ground Tactical by phone, they said they had heard something about the arrest but couldn't comment any further.
Around 2,000 rounds of ammunition were also discovered inside, according to reports.
One of the gun clips had 'Merica' written on and another had 'United We Stand'.
The Joint Terrorism Task Force is assisting in the investigation.
They said there was 'no nexus to terrorism,' according to NBC New York.
Law enforcement sources said they were 'gun authorities.'
Authorities believe the suspects were in possession of the firearms as part of criminal activity, likely heroin related.
Drugs were also found in the vehicle along with the guns, according to one law enforcement official.
One of the suspects allegedly told officers they were on their way to Queens.
A source initially told CBS New York they were going to shoot a rival dealer.
suspects reportedly said they wanted to save a friend who is on heroin and being held against her will in Brooklyn.
Police are still working to verify their story and the investigation is ongoing.
The Holland Tunnel carries Interstate 78 under the Hudson River and connects Jersey City with Manhattan.
It is one of the busiest commuter routes into New York City.
More than 34million vehicles use it every year.
A Port Authority spokesman told Daily Mail Online: 'Astute Port Authority Police work led to the stoppage of a vehicle on the New Jersey side of the Holland Tunnel this morning, leading to the arrest of three individuals from the state of Pennsylvania on a variety of charges related to illegal possession of guns and ammunition.
'At this time, the investigation is continuing, but the agency does not believe the incident is terrorism-related
'At about 07.40 hours a motor vehicle was stopped by Port Authority Police at the Holland Tunnel, NJ Toll Plaza for an equipment violation (cracked windshield).
'Multiple weapons (Rifles and handguns) some loaded. Under arrest are 2 males in their 50's and a female in her 20's. Charges are pending.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3653362/Trio-stopped-Holland-Tunnel-huge-cache-weapons-self-styled-vigilantes-seeking-revenge-teen-s-heroin-death-heading-free-girl-force-drug-den.html

Revealed: How tragic heroin overdose of model daughter, aged 20, prompted her father to become a self-styled vigilante who attempts to rescue others from the drug
John Cramsey, 50, the owner of Higher Ground Tactical, was arrested
Was driving from Pennsylvania with Dean Smith and Kimberly Arendt
They were heading to pick up another girl in a drug den when they were stopped by officers before reaching the tunnel
Were initially pulled over in New Jersey for a cracked windshield
However cops found a huge collection of weapons and armor inside
Cramsey wrote on Facebook earlier that he was going to 'extract' a girl
Claimed a 16-year-old was from Pennsylvania was scared in Brooklyn
He started fighting against heroin after his daughter died four months ago from an overdose with her boyfriend
By WILLS ROBINSON and REGINA F. GRAHAM FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 16:58 EST, 21 June 2016 | UPDATED: 12:17 EST, 22 June 2016

German Police Shoot Dead Gentleman With Long Gun Who Took Hostages in Theater

[From article]

A masked gunman took hostages at a cinema in western Germany on Thursday before police stormed the complex and shot him dead, police said.
No other people were injured, a police spokesman said.
The attacker, who carried a rifle or "long gun", acted alone and appeared to be a "disturbed man", the interior minister of Hesse state, Peter Beuth, told the regional parliament.
Police have not identified the man or established his motive, spokesman Bernd Hochstaedter said, adding that nothing immediately pointed to him having a militant background.
German television showed pictures of heavily-armed police, wearing helmets and body armour, storming the Kinopolis complex in Viernheim, south of Frankfurt, and a couple fleeing the building.
Cinema employee Guri Blakaj told Reuters the gunman, who was aged about 18 to 25 and about 1.7 metres tall, entered the cinema at around 3 p.m. and told workers to go into an office.
He then went into a cinema theatre. Blakaj, who said there were about six staff and 30 cinemagoers in the building, then heard shots fired.
Police special forces stormed the building and shot the gunman.
[. . .]
Some 300 police officers and special forces were involved in the operation.

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/armed-man-opens-fire-german-cinema-complex-50-143855941.html

Gunman takes hostages in German cinema, is shot dead by police
By Ralf Banser
June 23, 2016



* * *


The gunman barricaded himself inside the cinema.

(stock photo)

[From article]

A terrified worker at a German cinema has revealed how he mistook a gunman for a film fan wearing a costume before he opened fire and took them hostage.
Guri Blakaj initially dismissed the masked man who stormed the Kinopolis cinema complex in Viernheim, Western Germany, at about 3pm on Thursday carrying a gun and ammunition belt.
He believed the man he saw standing 'by the popcorn stand' to be a customer wearing a costume, complete with the belt of cartridges draped across his shoulder.
But then Blakaj, who was working the till at the time, realised it was 'something more serious'.
As his colleagues were told to lie down, Blakaj was ordered to close the doors to the cinema.
All the while, the gunman held his weapon to his head.
Blakaj, who was told to go and sit in his office after shutting the doors, said the man also shot at a colleague but didn't hit him.
'He seemed very confused, and was relatively young,' Blakaj said, adding he had asked if the man wanted money, to which he responded he didn't.
The assailant then went into one of the theatres. Blakaj, who said there were about six workers and 30 cinema-goers in the building, then heard shots fired. Other reports suggest there were about four shots fired in total.
Almir H., 16, said he was one of the hostages taken by the man in the cinema. He claimed he was locked in a toilet and said, in broken German: 'Lie down in here if you love your life.'
Police special forces later stormed the building and shot him the masked man.
Bild newspaper reported that a suicide vest and a hand grenade were found near the body of the dead man, although police have not confirmed this. Authorities have said, however, that the man was mentally disturbed and not linked with any terrorist group.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3656518/Gunman-opens-fire-German-cinema.html

'I saw German cinema shooter at the popcorn counter but thought he was a fan in costume until he opened fire': Witness describes terrifying ordeal after gunman let off tear gas and took hostages
Masked gunman opened fire at the Kinopolis cinema complex
Suspect was seen entering the cinema wearing a mask and munition belt
As people ran screaming he unleashed tear gas
Police received call saying there was a man 'armed with a long gun'
The cinema is located in the town of Viernheim, in Western Germany
By FLORA DRURY and SARAH DEAN FOR MAILONLINE and ALLAN HALL IN BERLINJune 23, 2016

Street Violence in Paris After Soccer Matches. Woman Tourist Beaten By Mob

Drunken English fans were also captured hurling bottles at police and other fans during the violent clashes in the Old Port district of Marseille earlier this month.

[From article]
A young woman screamed helplessly as she was set upon by a violent gang in the centre of tourist Paris today.
She was repeatedly punched and kicked in the head and upper body as around 15 mainly men surrounded her, knocking her to the ground.
The terrifying attack, which was captured on video, took place within sight of Notre Dame Cathedral, and less than half-a-mile from the Louvre museum.
Police were nowhere to be seen, as the savagery continued until the early hours of this morning, with others reporting muggings and gratuitous assaults.
Another video obtained by Mail Online shows a man who was knocked unconscious by another gang staggering away from the scene of the crime with a head wound.[. . .]
‘Gangs of youths had the freedom of the streets to attack and steal from anyone they wanted. Paris is no longer a safe tourist city – it’s like a warzone.’
It all took place during the 35th annual ‘Fete de la Musique’ (Music Party), an event that is meant to be celebration of the arts, with hundreds of thousands taking to the street.
Anne Hidalgo, the Socialist mayor of Paris, and President Francois Hollande are among those who regularly show off the event as a ‘celebration of Paris life’.
Manuel Valls, the Prime Minister, even said this year’s Party was ‘the best response to terrorism’, arguing that people should go out and enjoy themselves, in defiance of threats of violence.
But the attack on the woman – who has not been identified – paints a very different picture.
She was with a group of friends who attended a rap gig on a street close to Rue de Rivoli, the equivalent of London’s Oxford Street in Paris.


A gang of Marseille youths launched an unprovoked attack on England supporters earlier this month. A chair was thrown through the air as violence overshadow England's opening match of the Euro 2016 tournament.

A crowd of some 1,000 people congregated outside a Caribbean restaurant, where giant speakers and a small stage were set up.
But trouble started almost immediately, when a man was set upon by a gang early in the evening, and knocked unconscious.
Video shows him being helped up by other members of the crowd, before he staggers away with a head wound.
The ugly atmosphere grew, as revelers openly smoked cannabis, and drank bottles of beer from nearby supermarkets.
There is a police station close next to Les Halles shopping centre, next door to where the attacks happened, but not a single officer appeared to deal with the trouble.[. . .]
Police at the Les Halles station today said they ‘knew absolutely nothing’ about the gang attack, and urged ‘witnesses to come forward’.
The mob violence is particularly embarrassing for Mr Hollande and Ms Hidalgo, who have pledged to make Paris a safe city again, following the attack by Islamic State suicide bombers brandishing Kalashnikovs.
Many of their attacks took place in exactly the same kind of streets as where the violence happened last night and this morning.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3654246/Mob-violence-lawless-Paris-Terrifying-video-shows-woman-tourist-viciously-attacked-marauding-youths-city-deserted-police-despite-state-emergency-Euros-rampage.html

EXCLUSIVE: Mob violence in lawless Paris: Terrifying video shows 'woman tourist' viciously attacked by marauding youths in city deserted by police despite 'state of emergency' and Euros rampage
Young woman viciously beaten 'within sight of Notre Dame' in Paris
Bloodcurdling screams and horrific attack caught on witnesses camera
Extended attack not attended by police despite police station next door
Paris is 'like a warzone,’ a witness told MailOnline who said he was terrified
By PETER ALLEN IN PARIS FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 09:40 EST, 22 June 2016 | UPDATED: 12:40 EST, 22 June 2016

Is Immigration Making The United States A Better Place To Live? Are Mass Murders By Immigrants Improving The Nation?

Except for her suggestion that mental illness causes violence Coulter accurately describes media and politicians misguided priorities.

[From article]
With the media frantically hiding the content of Donald Trump’s terrorism speech from last week, he should respond to every question with the central point of that speech: How does this kind of immigration make our country better? How does it make the country safer?
Trump: Show me how our immigration policies are good for the people who already live here.
Media: Tell us why you fired Corey Lewandowski!
Trump: Tell me how our immigration policies are making the country safer for the people who already live here.
Media: How are you going to match Hillary’s corporate fundraising?
Trump: How are our immigration policies helping the people who already live here?
Sooner or later people will say, “That’s a good question — why is this necessary?”
When the Third World immigrants admitted under Sen. Teddy Kennedy’s 1965 Immigration Act — as well as their children — commit mass murder, the government and media tell us it’s a gun problem. Or it’s “our” culture. Or it’s “homophobia.” Or we have to keep admitting millions of Muslims because otherwise the ones already here will REALLY hate us.
How did we get in the position where we’re screwed if we’re not in the good graces of the Muslim community? Maybe we should stop doing that.



As any competent health professional will tell you, prevention is always better than a cure. No one says, Go ahead and have sex with that syphilitic whore — we’ve got a cure! You don’t need to worry about a leaky roof — we’ve got mops!
They know that’s not a good argument, which is why the media refuse to tell you what Trump actually said in his terrorism speech.
Like defendants with a losing case being forced to cough up bits of discovery, it took the FBI a week to release a redacted transcript of the Orlando shooter’s 911 call pledging allegiance to ISIS. Even then, the first version came from George Orwell’s Ministry of Truth: “I pledge allegiance to (omitted), may God protect him (in Arabic), on behalf of (omitted).”
[. . .]
Could we look at mass murders from the last decade?
Those include:
2016: Orlando, Florida, second-generation Afghan immigrant Omar Mateen — 49 dead;
2015: San Bernardino, California, first- and second-generation Pakistani immigrants Tashfeen Malik and Syed Farook — 14 dead;
2015: Chattanooga, Tennessee, Kuwaiti immigrant Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez — 5 dead;
2014: Isla Vista, California, half-Malaysian immigrant from England, Elliot Rodger — 6 dead;
2013: The Boston Marathon, Chechen immigrants Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev — 4 dead;
2009: Fort Hood, Texas, Palestinian second-generation immigrant Nidal Hasan — 13 dead;
2009: Binghamton, New York, Vietnamese immigrant Jiverly Wong — 13 dead;
2007: Virginia Tech, South Korean immigrant Seung-Hui Cho — 32 dead.
In the same time period, about a half-dozen mass murders were committed by American white men in their own country, where — despite Teddy Kennedy’s best efforts — they far outnumber Vietnamese, Pakistanis and Afghans.



All the American shooters were visible nut cases who never should have been let out of a straitjacket. Their psychotic episodes wouldn’t even count as mass shootings if committed by immigrants. Pakistani Naveed Haq’s 2006 mass shooting at the Seattle Jewish Federation, for example, isn’t generally included on lists of terrorist attacks because, according to his parents, he had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and was on lithium.
[. . .]
Teddy Kennedy swore up and down that his 1965 Immigration Act would preserve America’s traditional “ethnic mix” and would not “inundate” our country with people from “deprived nations.”
In fact, his law brought in the poorest of the poor, from the most dysfunctional cultures in the world, and effected the most dramatic demographic transformation of any nation in all of human history.

http://humanevents.com/2016/06/23/how-does-immigration-reduce-mass-shootings/?utm_source=coulterdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl

How Does Immigration Reduce Mass Shootings?

Ann Coulter

Thursday Jun 23, 2016 10:30 AM

Connecticut Researcher Says LED Lighting May Be Harmful To Humans

While governments are adopting the low-energy lighting in an effort to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions, there are concerns some lights may be too bright and may even be emitting the wrong type of light.

[From article]
The warm yellow glow of street lamps are being replaced by the cold white light of LEDs throughout the world in an attempt to save energy.
But this comes at a cost, with doctors warning they could be damaging our health by impacting our sleep and vision.
The American Medical Association this month adopted new guidance which aims to reduce the potentially harmful health effects from ‘improper’ LED lighting.
The guidance aims to help local governments across the US choose LED street lighting which minimises harm to the environment and human health.
‘Despite the energy efficiency benefits, some LED lights are harmful when used as street lighting,’ said Dr Maya Babu, an AMA board member, in a statement.
Medical experts believe that white LEDs may be emitting too much blue light, which may have impacts on vision and sleep.
According to the AMA, blue-rich LED lighting may disrupt sleep by suppressing melatonin, interfering with the body’s circadian rhythm – the body’s natural 24-hour cycle – which can disrupt sleep.
The association claims the impact of white LED lamps may be five times that of conventional street lamps.
Writing for The Conversation, Professor Richard Stevens from the University of Connecticut, said the new guidance mainly affected lighting at night and affected the ‘colour temperature’ – a measure of the blue, green, yellow and red in a light source – of no more than 3,000 Kelvin.
Higher ratings indicate more blue light and a brighter white light.
Professor Stevens wrote: ‘A white LED at CT 4,000K or 5,000K contains a high level of short-wavelength blue light; this has been the choice for a number of cities that have recently retrofitted their street lighting such as Seattle and New York.’
These values are far higher than compared with an incandescent bulb, which may have a colour temperature of 2,400K.
The AMA has also highlighted the potential of LED street lamps to cause glare and recommend reducing the blue wavelengths.
Regions across the UK are rolling out LED street lighting in a bid to cut energy consumption.
The rollout has already begun with hundreds of thousands of street lamps starting the conversion to LED.

[. . .]
Trials of LED street lamps by Transport for London reported a largely positive response, but also recorded instances of people being dazzled by lights.
MailOnline contacted the British Medical Association for comment, but the organisation said it currently had no official policy position on LED lighting and no immediate plans to issue guidance.
Professor Stevens said: 'There is almost never a completely satisfactory solution to a complex problem.
'We must have lighting at night, not only in our homes and businesses, but also outdoors on our streets.
'The need for energy efficiency is serious, but so too is minimizing human risk from bad lighting, both due to glare and to circadian disruption.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3654275/Are-LED-street-lights-damaging-health-Doctors-warn-bright-lamps-cause-sleep-problems.html

Are LED street lights damaging YOUR health? Doctors warn the bright lamps could cause sleep problems
LED lighting is being adopted in the US and UK to reduce energy
There are concerns LEDs may be too bright or emit the wrong type of light
Medical experts believe that white LEDs may be emitting too much blue light, which may have impacts on vision and sleep
By RYAN O'HARE FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 07:58 EST, 22 June 2016 | UPDATED: 08:06 EST, 22 June 2016

Tennessee Congressional Candidate Wants To Make America White Again

[From article]

An independent candidate for Congress has posted a campaign sign in Tennessee that says “Make America White Again.”
Rick Tyler, who is running as an independent, says he put the sign up along US Highway 411 near Benton. He told WRCB-TV that he doesn’t hate “people of color,” but wants to return to an earlier time “when there were no break-ins; no violent crime; no mass immigration.”
He also posted a sign with an image of the White House surrounded by Confederate flags.
Tyler is one of three independent candidates running for the seat now held by Chuck Fleischmann, a Republican, who faces both Republican and Democratic contenders.
The primary election is Aug. 4.

http://nypost.com/2016/06/22/a-candidate-for-congress-wants-to-make-america-white-again/

A candidate for Congress wants to ‘Make America White Again’
By Associated Press
New York Post
June 22, 2016 | 2:24pm

Idaho Politicians and Police Try To Cover-Up Sex Attack On Disabled Five Year Old, By Three Muslim Migrants

[From article]

Something wicked happened in Idaho's rural Magic Valley. The evil has been compounded by politicians, media and special interest groups doing their damnedest to suppress the story and quell a righteous citizen rebellion.



On June 7, a brief news item appeared on local Twin Falls, Idaho-based KMVT about a "reported sexual assault that possibly occurred near the Fawnbrook Apartments" five days earlier. Unconfirmed accounts of the alleged crime on conservative-leaning websites, plus reports from area members of anti-jihad activist Brigitte Gabriel's Act for America group and longtime watchdog Ann Corcoran's Refugee Resettlement Watch blog, culminated in coverage on the powerhouse Drudge Report.
The social media groundswell, untethered from the constraints of political correctness, forced government authorities to respond.



Police and the local prosecutor's office grudgingly confirmed that an investigation had begun into the incident. The victim: A mentally disabled 5-year-old girl. The alleged perpetrators: Three boys, ages 7, 10 and 14, from Sudanese and Iraqi immigrant families (predominantly Muslim) who have been in the country for less than two years -- all but confirming that they are refugees.
What happened? The case is under seal because it involves minors, but prosecutor Grant Loebs said there is videotape of the alleged sexual assault (a fact which local activists first divulged). Two of the boys are in custody. It's not clear what happened to the third.
Here's the sickening thing: The people who should have been asking tough questions -- like, you know, mainstream journalists -- have spent more time attacking local whistleblowers and bloggers than they have spent demanding answers and holding public officials accountable.
Why? Consider the backdrop. Residents in Twin Falls have been worried about the impact of an increasing influx of refugees, many from jihad-coddling countries, over the past several years. Their concerns about crime, welfare, health care, and schools echo those of communities across the country who are bearing the coercive brunt of Beltway bleeding hearts' refugee resettlement policies enacted in a shroud of secrecy.



Members of the Twin Falls City Council smugly likened refugee resettlement critics to "white supremacists." Regional newspapers including the Idaho Statesman and the Spokane Spokesman-Review rushed to discredit the on-scene reporting of internet writers such as Leo Hohmann, who had interviewed a witness to the crime for World Net Daily.
"Jolene Payne, an 89-year-old retired nurse who lives at the complex" told Hohmann that she spotted one of the boys "taking pictures with a camera" outside the apartment complex's laundry room. She went inside and found the 5-year-old naked with two of the younger boys naked standing over her. "The worst thing was the way they peed all over her clothes," she recounted.
Pro-mass immigration advocates may not like the sources of some of the original reporting that forced the case into the sunlight, but the watchdogs got more right than wrong. These critics now have Twin Falls' political leaders sputtering to cover their backsides and police brass defending themselves against explosive charges that they dragged their feet.
Instead, the "professional journalists" dwelt on a few early factual errors about whether the boys were from Syria and whether a knife was used -- and filled their dismissive articles with "can't we all just get along" propaganda from refugee resettlement advocates and contractors with vested financial interests in the game.



The callousness of local officials and indifference of local and national media reminds me very much of an international incident that went viral on YouTube earlier this year in the eastern German town of Bad Schlema -- located in a region overrun by Muslim refugees.
A concerned grandfather whose granddaughter under the age of 10 was sexually harassed by Muslim migrants protested to mayor Jens Muller. In response to his plea for help, Muller told the elderly man to direct his family to "not walk in areas" where refugees would be.
"Just don't provoke them and don't walk in those areas."
The grandfather lamented at the public meeting: "You're not allowed to walk in your own city anymore."
To which the jaded mayor replied: "This is the way it is."
Thank goodness there are Americans still fighting against the collective shrug of sovereignty surrender. Louder, please.

http://townhall.com/columnists/michellemalkin/2016/06/22/horror-and-hushup-in-twin-falls-idaho-n2181979

Horror and Hush-Up in Twin Falls, Idaho
Michelle Malkin
Posted: Jun 22, 2016 12:01 AM

* * *

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/06/22/idaho-town-torn-by-alleged-rape-fear-refugees.html

Idaho town torn by alleged rape, fear of refugees
By Hollie McKay 

Published June 22, 2016