“Colorado Movie Theater Shooting: 71 Victims The Largest Mass Shooting”

Taken from: http://gma.yahoo.com/colorado-batman-movie-shooting-suspect-phd-student-085940589–abc-news-topstories.html

July 20, 2012

Twelve people were killed and 59 were injured in Aurora, Colo., during a sold-out midnight premier of the new Batman movie “The Dark Knight Rises” when 24-year-old James Holmes unloaded four weapons’ full of ammunition into the unsuspecting crowd.

The number of casualties makes the incident the largest mass shooting in U.S. history.

Holmes, a graduate student at a nearby college with a clean arrest record, entered the movie auditorium wearing a ballistics helmet, bullet-proof vest, bullet-proof leggings, gas mask and gloves. He detonated multiple smoke bombs, and then began firing at viewers in the sold-out auditorium, police said today.

Bullets from the spree tore through the theater and into adjoining theaters, where at least one other person was struck and injured. Ten members of “The Dark Knight Rises” audience were killed in theater, while two others died later at area hospitals. Numerous patrons were in critical condition at six local hospitals, the Aurora police said this afternoon.

Authorities began removing bodies this afternoon, according to affiliate ABC7 Eyewitness News.

Holmes was apprehended within minutes of the 12:39 a.m. shooting at his car behind the theater, where police found him in full riot gear and carrying three weapons, including a AR-15 assault rifle, which can hold upwards of 100 rounds, a Remington 12 gauge shot gun, and a .40 Glock handgun. A fourth handgun was found in the vehicle. Agents from the federal bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms are tracing the weapons.

According to police sources, Holmes told the officers arresting him that he was “The Joker,” referring to the villain in the second installment of the Batman movie trilogy, “The Dark Knight.” He also warned police that he had booby-trapped his apartment, leading officers to evacuate the Aurora apartment building.

Police Chief Dan Oates said today that police and bomb squads have found a large number of explosive devices and trip wires at Holmes’ apartment and have not yet decided how to proceed without setting off explosions. ”The pictures we have from inside the apartment are pretty disturbing considering how elaborate the apartment is booby trapped,” police said outside of the apartment complex today. The “flammable and explosive” materials could have blown up Holmes’ apartment building and the ones near it, police said. The apartment complex is home exclusively to University of Colorado Medical Center students, patients, and staff members, residents tell ABC News.

Moviegoer Christopher Ramos today recalled the real-life horror of the midnight premiere of the latest Batman movie, “The Dark Knight Rises,” in Aurora, Colo., as a gunman decked in riot gear set off smoke bombs and opened fire on the unsuspecting audience. ”People were running everywhere, running on top of me, like kicking me, jumping over me. And there were bodies on the ground,” Ramos said. “I froze up. I was scared. I honestly thought I was going to die. The image in our heads is stuck in there. I still have the ticket right here and honestly, I’m never going to forget this night at all. Because it was the first time I saw something that was real. Like a real-life nightmare that was there, not dreaming of,” Ramos told ABC News today.

Witnesses in the movie theater said Holmes saw smoke and heard gunshots that they thought were part of the movie until they saw Holmes standing in front of the screen, after entering from an emergency exit. Holmes methodically stalked the aisles of the theater, shooting people at random, as panicked movie-watchers in the packed auditorium tried to escape, witnesses said.

At one point the shooter exited the theater only to wait outside the doors and pick off patrons as they tried to exit, witness Jennifer Seeger told “Good Afternoon America.” ”You just smelled smoke and you just kept hearing it, you just heard bam bam bam, non-stop. The gunman never had to reload. Shots just kept going, kept going, kept going,” one witness told ABC News.

“I’m with coworkers and we’re on the floor praying to God we don’t get shot, and the gunshots continue on and on, and when the sound finally stopped, we started to get up and people were just bleeding,” another theatergoer said.

The suspected shooter will face his first court appearance next week, according to district attorney Carol Chambers.

Holmes, originally of San Diego, moved to Aurora to pursue his Ph.D. at the University of Colorado medical center, living just blocks from the hospital in an apartment that police say is now laced with explosives and being searched by HazMat teams. Federal law enforcement sources tell ABC News that Holmes bought a ticket to the movie, slipped out of the theater once it began and propped open the emergency exit before gathering his weapons and gear and coming back into the theater. Once inside, he opened fire.

A San Diego woman identifying herself as James Holmes’s mother spoke briefly with ABC News this morning. She had awoken unaware of the news of the shooting and had not been contacted by authorities. She immediately expressed concern that her son may have been involved. ”You have the right person,” she said. ”I need to call the police,” she added. “I need to fly out to Colorado.” The woman and her husband later released a statement saying their “hearts go out to those who involved in this tragedy and to the families and friends of those involved. We are still trying to process this information and we appreciate that people will respect our privacy.”

The highly-anticipated third installment of the Batman trilogy opened to packed auditoriums around the country at midnight showings on Friday morning, and features a villain named Bane who wears a bulletproof vest and gas mask. Trailers for the movie show explosions at public events including a football game. Though many moviegoers dressed in costume to attend the opening night screening, police have made no statements about any connection between the gunman’s motives and the movie.

Police in New York have intensified security around showings of the film throughout the five boroughs today, with Police Commissioner Ray Kelley saying that “as a precaution against copycats and to raise the comfort levels among movie patrons in the wake of the horrendous shooting in Colorado, the New York City Police Department is providing coverage at theaters where the ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ is playing.”

The Paris premiere of the movie has been cancelled in the wake of the shootings. “Warner Bros. and the filmmakers are deeply saddened to learn about this shocking incident. We extend our sincere sympathies to the families and loved ones of the victims at this tragic time,” the movie’s producers said in a statement.

Witnesses watching movies in theaters next to the one where the shooting took place said bullets tore through the theater walls and they heard screaming. ”The suspect throws tear gas in the air, and as the tear gas appears he started shooting,” said Lamar Lane, who was watching the midnight showing of the movie with his brother. “It was very hard to breathe. I told my brother to take cover. It took awhile. I started seeing flashes and screaming, I just saw blood and people yelling and a quick glimpse of the guy who had a gas mask on. I was pushed out. There was chaos, we started running.”

One witness said she saw people dropping to the ground after the gunshots began. ”We were maybe 20 or 30 minutes into the movie and all you hear, first you smell smoke, everybody thought it was fireworks or something like that, and then you just see people dropping and the gunshots are constant,” witness Christ Jones told ABC’s Denver affiliate KMGH. “I heard at least 20 to 30 rounds within that minute or two.”

A man who talked to a couple who was inside the theater told ABC News, “They got up and they started to run through the emergency exit, and that when she turned around, she said all she saw was the guy slowly making his way up the stairs and just firing at people, just picking random people,” he said. “The gunshots continued to go on and on and then after we didn’t hear anything…we finally got up and there was people bleeding, there was people obviously may have been actually dead or anything, and we just ran up out of there, there was chaos everywhere.”

Witnesses and victims were taken to Gateway High School for questioning.

Hundreds of police and FBI agents are involved in the investigation. A senior official who is monitoring the situation in Washington said that early guidance based on the early snapshot of this man’s background indicated that this act does not appear to be linked to radical terrorism or anything related to Islamic terrorism.

Dr. Comilla Sasson, at the University of Colorado Hospital where many of the victims were taken, said they are currently operating on nine critical patients and have treated 22 in all. She called the hospital “an absolutely terrifying scene all night.” ”The good news is that the 3-month-old has actually been discharged home and is in the care of their parents

In a statement, President Obama said, “Michelle and I are shocked and saddened by the horrific and tragic shooting in Colorado. Federal and local law enforcement are still responding, and my administration will do everything that we can to support the people of Aurora in this extraordinarily difficult time. We are committed to bringing whoever was responsible to justice, ensuring the safety of our people, and caring for those who have been wounded.”

“U.S. Muslims sue to stop NYPD spying program”

Taken from: http://www.arabamericannews.com/news/index.php?mod=article&cat=Community&article=5706

June 8, 2012

Eight American Muslims have filed a federal lawsuit to put an end to a post-9/11 surveillance program run by the New York Police Department. The lawsuit follows a New Jersey Attorney General probe saying the NYPD had done nothing wrong.

The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Newark Wednesday by Muslim Advocates, a group who has taken up the New Jersey Muslims’ cause. The suit claims that identifying as Muslim does not constitute “a legitimate criterion” for law-enforcement officials to target individuals for surveillance. ”This case is critical to protecting the civil rights of American Muslims and all Americans,” Muslim Advocates legal director Glen Katon said.

New Jersey Representative Rush Holt called the lawsuit “a thoughtful, sensible step toward bringing law enforcement practices back into line with constitutional protections and the standards of good policing.”

It is the first such legal action to directly challenge the NYPD for spying on Muslims following the attacks of September 11, 2001. An Associated Press investigation last year uncovered a systematic surveillance program that put entire Muslim neighborhoods under a watchful eye, recording the every move of their residents. Undercover police infiltrated dozens of mosques and student groups while investigating scores more in New York City and neighboring New Jersey.

Records showed that police paid special attention to grocery stores that carried halal or kosher food products, eavesdropped on Muslim-owned stores, cafes and hair salons, placed mosques under surveillance during Friday prayers, and even went so far as to photograph an elementary school for Muslim girls. While New Jersey lawmakers were up in arms upon learning of the intrusive spying program, after a three month review, the state’s attorney found there was no legal means to stop the NYPD from carrying out their practice of targeting mosques, business and student groups for surveillance.

Both NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly and the city’s mayor Michael Bloomberg have supported the spying program, saying the information is obtained within departmental guidelines which are within constitutional bounds. Kelly further stated that the 2001 attacks showed that the city could not rely solely on the federal government to provide for its security.

As it is, the program operates with limited oversight. The New York City Council claims it isn’t qualified to supervise intelligence operations, while Congress says the NYPD is out of its jurisdiction despite the billions in federal largesse the city receives each year.

Lawmakers and civil rights groups have urged the Justice Department to investigate the NYPD’s practices. A Justice Department spokeswoman said those requests were currently under review.

But Farhana Khera, executive director of Muslim Advocates, said state and federal stonewalling made the lawsuit inevitable. ”With New York officials refusing to look into the NYPD’s abuses, the New Jersey Attorney General saying his hands are tied, and the U.S. Department of Justice dragging its heels, this lawsuit is the victims’ last resort for justice to prevail. What makes America great is that everyone is treated equally under the law. These plaintiffs are ordinary citizens going about their lives who law enforcement spied on simply because of their faith,” she added.

“N.Y. Mom Fired After Donating Kidney to Help Her Boss”

Taken from: http://gma.yahoo.com/n-y-mom-fired-donating-kidney-help-her-162333834–abc-news-health.html

April 23, 2012

A New York Long Island woman said she was fired after she donated a kidney to help save the life of her boss.

Debbie Stevens, a 47-year-old divorced mother of two, filed a formal complaint with the New York State Human Rights Commission last Friday, claiming her boss used her for her organ then fired her “after the woman got what she wanted.” Stevens’ boss, 61-year-old Jackie Brucia, is one of the West Islip controllers for Atlantic Automotive Group, a billion-dollar dealership operator. Brucia hired Stevens in January 2009 as an assistant.

“She just started treating me horribly, viciously, inhumanly after the surgery,” Stevens told ABCNews.com. “It was almost like she hired me just to get my kidney.” Although Stevens turned out to be less than a perfect kidney match for Brucia, Stevens donated her organ to an out-of-state stranger so that Brucia could move up on the organ donor list.

Stevens left the company in June 2010 to move to Florida. She returned to New York in September to visit her daughter, and decided to stop in at the dealership, according to the complaint. It was during this visit that Brucia told Stevens of her need for a kidney transplant. ”She said she had a possible donor, a friend or something,” Stevens said. “But I told her if anything happened that I’d be willing to donate my kidney. She kind of jokingly replied, ‘You never know, I may have to take you up on that one day.’”

A few months later, Stevens moved back to Long Island and asked Brucia if she had any job openings. Brucia hired her within weeks.

Then, in January 2011, Stevens said her boss called her into her office and asked if she was serious about donating her kidney. ”I said, ‘Yeah, sure. This isn’t a joking matter,’” Stevens said. “I did not do it for job security. I didn’t do it to get a raise. I did it because it’s who I am. ”I didn’t want her to die,” Stevens said.

When tests revealed that Stevens was not the best match, doctors agreed to let her give her kidney to someone in Missouri, which gave Brucia a higher place on the organ donor list.

Stevens underwent surgery on Aug. 10, 2011. She said doctors hit a nerve in her leg, causing her discomfort and digestive problems.

She returned to work four weeks later, and said that’s when the problems began. ”I don’t have words strong enough or large enough to describe her treatment of me,” Stevens said. “Screaming at me about things I never did, carrying on to the point where she wouldn’t even let me leave my desk. It was constant, constant screaming.” Stevens said she was demoted and moved to a car dealership 50 miles from her home. She said the mental stress got even worse, with her supervisor calling her an “actress.” ”It got so bad that I’d start to tear up at times,” Stevens said.

After consulting a psychiatrist for her mental stress, Stevens’ hired attorneys who sent a letter to Atlantic Automotive Group.

Stevens was fired within a week.

When reached by ABC News, AAG referred all calls about the case to Jackie Brucia, Stevens’ supervisor, who could not be reached for comment, at either the car dealership or her home. It is not known whether Brucia has legal representation at this time.

Stevens’ attorney, civil rights lawyer Lenard Leeds, said he planned to file a discrimination lawsuit against AAG, and would likely seek millions of dollars in compensation. ”Our ultimate goal is to bring this before federal court,” Leeds said. “We’re alleging they discriminated against her for her disability and they retaliated against her when she complained about the harassment.”

Leeds said the damages sought will be for Stevens’ lost pay, psychological and physical well being. ”I have no comment on her. I’m just going walk ahead and live my life,” Stevens said.

“Members of New York Legislature Wear Hoodies to Legislative Session”

Inspiring and powerful images.

Taken from: http://www.colorlines.com/archives/2012/03/members_of_new_york_legislature_wear_hoodies_to_legislative_session_photos.html

March 26, 2012

New York State Senator Eric Adams and his colleagues honored Trayvon Martin on Monday by wearing hoodies to the March 26, 2012 Senate legislative session in Albany.

The images below were uploaded to Facebook by Senator Eric Adams.

“Papa John’s Apologizes For Racial Slur Customer’s Receipt Refers To Her As ‘Lady Chinky Eyes’”

Taken from: http://www.wsoctv.com/news/30162103/detail.html

January 8, 2012

Papa John’s Pizza fired a cashier at one of its New York restaurants and apologized to an Asian-American customer for a receipt that identified her as “lady chinky eyes.”

“We were extremely concerned to learn of the receipt issued in New York,” the company said in a statement posted on its Facebook page Saturday.

Minhee Cho, a communications manager at non-profit investigative journalism group ProPublica, posted a photo of the receipt on her Twitter account Saturday morning and by the afternoon it was picked up by a local newspaper. Along with the receipt, Cho tweeted “just FYI my name isn’t ‘lady chinky eyes.’” The receipt had been viewed online almost 200,000 times by Sunday afternoon, according to the counter on the Twitpic page.

Cho did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment, but her boss did. ”This blew up far beyond Minhee’s expectations,” ProPublica spokesman Mike Webb said in an e-mail. “She has reporters coming to her apartment and that’s annoying. So she wants it to blow over and she has nothing more to say.”

Cho was a customer Friday night at the Papa John’s on Broadway in Manhattan’s Hamilton Heights neighborhood, according to the receipt.

“This act goes against our company values, and we’ve confirmed with the franchisee that this matter was addressed immediately and that the employee is being terminated,” the pizza company said. “We are truly sorry for this customer’s experience.”

“8 Charged in Death of Fellow Solider, US Army Says”

Taken from: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/22/us/8-charged-in-death-of-fellow-soldier-us-army-says.html?pagewanted=all

December 21, 2011

One night in October, an Army private named Danny Chen apparently angered his fellow soldiers by forgetting to turn off the water heater after taking a shower at his outpost in Afghanistan, his family said.

Pvt. Danny Chen was found shot to death in Afghanistan on Oct. 3. Soldiers are accused of hazing him into suicide.

In the relatives’ account, the soldiers pulled Private Chen out of bed and dragged him across the floor; they forced him to crawl on the ground while they pelted him with rocks and taunted him with ethnic slurs. Finally, the family said, they ordered him to do pull-ups with a mouthful of water — while forbidding him from spitting it out.

It was the culmination of what the family called a campaign of hazing against Private Chen, 19, who was born in Chinatown in Manhattan, the son of Chinese immigrants. Hours later, he was found dead in a guard tower, from what a military statement on Wednesday called “an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound” to the head.

On Wednesday, the American military announced that the Army had charged eight soldiers in Private Chen’s battalion in connection with the death.

It was an extraordinary development in a case that has stirred intense reactions in the Asian population in New York and elsewhere and provoked debate over what some experts say is the somewhat ambivalent relationship between the Asian population and the United States military.

The authorities have not publicized much information about the circumstances of the death. Family members said they had gleaned bits of information about the hazing in private briefings with American military officials. But the array of charges announced — the most serious of which were manslaughter and negligent homicide — suggested that military prosecutors believed that the soldiers’ actions drove Private Chen to commit suicide.

Private Chen’s relatives and friends said they welcomed the announcement of the charges, as did Asian-American advocacy groups, which have been pressing the Army to conduct a transparent investigation into the death and to improve the treatment of Asians in the armed forces. “It’s of some comfort and relief to learn that the Army has taken this seriously,” Private Chen’s mother, Su Zhen Chen, said through an interpreter at a news conference in Chinatown. Private Chen was her only child. Private Chen’s parents — his father has worked as a chef in Chinese restaurants, and his mother as a seamstress — live in an East Village housing project.

Private Chen was deployed to Afghanistan in August after completing basic training in April.

In a journal he kept while in basic training and in letters, Private Chen mentioned that other soldiers teased him because of his ethnicity. “Everyone here jokingly makes fun of me for being Asian,” he said in one letter to his parents. In another letter two days later, he wrote, “People crack jokes about Chinese people all the time; I’m running out of jokes to come back at them.”

At a news conference on Wednesday, a Pentagon spokesman would not discuss details about the case, but he acknowledged that hazing, while against the rules of the military, occasionally occurred among its members. He insisted that the armed forces had a zero-tolerance policy toward it. “We treat each other with respect and dignity, or we go home,” the spokesman, Capt. John Kirby, said. “There’s a justice system in place to deal with it. And that’s what we’re seeing here in the case of Private Chen.”

The accused soldiers, all members of a unit based in Fort Wainwright, Alaska, included an officer and seven enlisted soldiers, the military said in a statement. Lawyers for the eight could not be reached for comment on the Army’s charges.

The case is among very few from the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts in which American soldiers have been implicated in the deaths of fellow soldiers.

In October, several Marines were ordered court-martialed for their roles in the death of an Asian-American Marine, Lance Cpl. Harry Lew, from California, who killed himself in April in Afghanistan after being subjected to what military prosecutors said was hazing.

Until Wednesday, the military had said little publicly about the investigation into Private Chen’s death, and in the vacuum of information, suspicion flourished among relatives, friends and advocates in the Asian-American community over whether American military investigators were planning to whitewash the inquiry.

But military officials insisted all along that they were conducting a thorough investigation and that its integrity depended on the tight control of information.

Sgt. First Class Alan G. Davis, a spokesman for the military’s headquarters in southern Afghanistan, said Wednesday that there had been two investigations into Private Chen’s death: one conducted by the regional command, which resulted in the charges, and one by the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division, which is continuing.

The eight suspects, who have not been formally detained, are still stationed in Afghanistan, though on a different base and under increased supervision, another military spokesman, Lt. Col. Dave Connolly, said.

Private Chen’s relatives and advocates for the family said the charges caught them by surprise. “I didn’t think the case would move this fast,” said Wellington Chen, executive director of the Chinatown Partnership Local Development Corporation. Reaching for a Chinese aphorism, he added, “You cannot wrap a fire with paper: the truth will come out.” “We are cautiously optimistic about today’s news,” he said, adding that the authorities “have to create an atmosphere in which Asian-Americans feel safe.”

Elizabeth R. OuYang, president of the New York chapter of OCA, a civil rights group that has been working with the family, vowed to continue pressing military officials on the case. She has helped keep the matter in the public eye by organizing a prayer vigil and a march in memory of Private Chen. She has also met at the Pentagon with Army officials to emphasize the importance of the case and to demand measures to improve the treatment of Asians in the military.

The eight charged in the case are members of the 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division. Five of the soldiers — Staff Sgt. Andrew J. Van Bockel, Sgt. Adam M. Holcomb, Sgt. Jeffrey T. Hurst, Specialist Thomas P. Curtis and Specialist Ryan J. Offutt — were accused of involuntary manslaughter, negligent homicide and assault consummated by battery, among other crimes, the military said.

First Lt. Daniel J. Schwartz, the only officer among the eight defendants, was charged with dereliction of duty, the statement said. Sgt. Travis F. Carden was charged with assault and maltreatment, and Staff Sgt. Blaine G. Dugas was charged with dereliction of duty and making a false statement, the statement said.

“Two more surrender, making 20 arrests in SAT/ACT scandal”

Taken from: http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/28/us/sat-act-cheating/index.html?hpt=ju_t3

November 28, 2011

Two more students surrendered Monday, making the grand total 20 arrests in an SAT/ACT scandal, according to the Nassau County, New York, district attorney’s office. The scandal involved students who paid others to take the tests for them. Five “test takers,” and 15 “payers” have been charged in a standardized testing scandal that spans across Long Island, John Byrne, communication director to the Nassau County District Attorney, said.

Michael Pomerantz, 18, a “test taker” who received a 1710 on an SAT exam he took for another student, surrendered at 7 a.m. Monday, Byrne said. Another student “payer,” whose identity is concealed because of age, also surrendered Monday and will face misdemeanor charges. Pomerantz faces charges identical to the three “test takers” who surrendered last week.

Those students include George Trane, who attends State University of New York Stony Brook, who earned a 29 and a 28 on ACT exams he took for two students. The highest composite score of an ACT exam is 36 points. Joshua Chefec of Tulane University in New Orleans earned a 31 on the ACT exam for one student. Adam Justin of Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, received a 1920 out of 2400 on an SAT exam he took for another student. Samuel Eshaghoff, the fifth test taker, arrested on September 27, was enrolled at Emory University in Atlanta at the time. They are all charged with scheming to defraud in the first degree, criminal impersonation in the second degree, and falsifying business records in the first degree.

More arrests are possible, but the district attorney is now focused on suggesting procedures to enhance test security and to ensure that Educational Testing Service, which administers the SAT, and ACT report confirmed instances of cheating. Both the ETS and ACT said last week that they are cooperating, and will continue to cooperate with the district attorney’s office. ETS is conducting a review of test-security protocols with the intent to update security procedures. ACT announced it would incorporate additional security enhancements for upcoming exams.

“How much crazier can Black Friday get?”

Taken from: http://news.yahoo.com/much-crazier-black-friday-221456950.html

November 27, 2011

Pepper-sprayed customers, smash-and-grab looters and bloody scenes in the shopping aisles. How did Black Friday devolve into this?

As reports of shopping-related violence rolled in this week from Los Angeles to New York, experts say a volatile mix of desperate retailers and cutthroat marketing has hyped the traditional post-Thanksgiving sales to increasingly frenzied levels. With stores opening earlier, bargain-obsessed shoppers often are sleep-deprived and short-tempered. Arriving in darkness, they also find themselves vulnerable to savvy parking-lot muggers.

Add in the online-coupon phenomenon, which feeds the psychological hunger for finding impossible bargains, and you’ve got a recipe for trouble, said Theresa Williams, a marketing professor at Indiana University. ”These are people who should know better and have enough stuff already,” Williams said. “What’s going to be next year, everybody getting Tasered?”

Across the country on Thursday and Friday, there were signs that tensions had ratcheted up a notch or two, with violence resulting in several instances.

A woman turned herself in to police after allegedly pepper-spraying 20 other customers at a Los Angeles-area Walmart on Thursday in what investigators said was an attempt to get at a crate of Xbox video game consoles. In Kinston, N.C., a security guard also pepper-sprayed customers seeking electronics before the start of a midnight sale.

In New York, crowds reportedly looted a clothing store in Soho. At a Walmart near Phoenix, a man was bloodied while being subdued by police officer on suspicion of shoplifting a video game. There was a shooting outside a store in San Leandro, Calif., shots fired at a mall in Fayetteville, N.C. and a stabbing outside a store in Sacramento, N.Y.

“The difference this year is that instead of a nice sweater you need a bullet proof vest and goggles,” said Betty Thomas, 52, who was shopping Saturday with her sisters and a niece at Crabtree Valley Mall in Raleigh, N.C.

The wave of violence revived memories of the 2008 Black Friday stampede that killed an employee and put a pregnant woman in the hospital at a Walmart on New York’s Long Island. Walmart spokesman Greg Rossiter said Black Friday 2011 was safe at most of its nearly 4,000 U.S. stores despite “a few unfortunate incidents.”

Black Friday — named that because it puts retailers “in the black” — has become more intense as companies compete for customers in a weak economy, said Jacob Jacoby, an expert on consumer behavior at New York University. The idea of luring in customers with a few “doorbuster” deals has long been a staple of the post-Thanksgiving sales. But now stores are opening earlier, and those deals are getting more extreme, he said. ”There’s an awful lot of psychology going on here,” Jacoby said. “There’s the notion of scarcity — when something’s scarce it’s more valued. And a resource that can be very scarce is time: If you don’t get there in time, it’s going to be gone.”

There’s also a new factor, Williams said: the rise of coupon websites like Groupon and LivingSocial, the online equivalents of doorbusters that usually deliver a single, one-day offer with savings of up to 80 percent on museum tickets, photo portraits, yoga classes and the like. The services encourage impulse buying and an obsession with bargains, Williams said, while also getting businesses hooked on quick infusions of customers. ”The whole notion of getting a deal, that’s all we’ve seen for the last two years,” Williams said. “It’s about stimulating consumers’ quick reactions. How do we get their attention quickly? How do we create cash flow for today?”

To grab customers first, some stores are opening late on Thanksgiving Day, turning bargain-hunting from an early-morning activity into an all-night slog, said Ed Fox, a marketing professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Midnight shopping puts everyone on edge and also makes shoppers targets for muggers, he said. In fact, robbery appeared to be the motive behind the shooting in San Leandro, about 15 miles east of San Francisco. Police said robbers shot a victim as he was walking to a car with his purchases around 1:45 a.m. on Friday. ”There are so many hours now where people are shopping in the darkness that it provides cover for people who are going to try to steal or rob those who are out in numbers,” Fox said.

The violence has prompted some analysts to wonder if the sales are worth it, and what solutions might work.

In a New York Times column this week, economist Robert Frank proposed slapping a 6 percent sales tax on purchases between 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving and 6 a.m. on Friday in an attempt to stop the “arms race” of earlier and earlier sales.

Small retailers, meanwhile, are pushing so-called Small Business Saturday to woo customers who are turned off by the Black Friday crush. President Barack Obama even joined in, going book shopping on Saturday at a small bookstore a few blocks from the White House. ”A lot of retailers, independent retailers, are making the conscious decision to not work those crazy hours,” said Patricia Norins, a retail consultant for American Express.

Next up is Cyber Monday, when online retailers put their wares on sale. But on Saturday many shoppers said they still prefer buying at the big stores, despite the frenzy. Thomas said she likes the time with her sisters and the hustle of the mall too much to stay home and just shop online. To her, the more pressing problem was that the Thanksgiving weekend sales didn’t seem very good. ”If I’m going to get shot, at least let me get a good deal,” Thomas said.

“Wrongly convicted Bozella wins pro boxing bout”

Taken from: http://sports.yahoo.com/box/news?slug=ki-bozella_boxing_victory101511

October 15, 2011

LOS ANGELES – Dewey Bozella won’t win a world championship, but not many boxing champions get a telephone call from President Obama, either.

The 52-year-old, who was falsely imprisoned for 26 years for a 1977 murder he did not commit, made his professional boxing debut a successful one, outpointing Larry Hopkins on Saturday at the Staples Center in a four-round cruiserweight bout.

The cavernous arena was only about a third full when he fought, but the majority of those who were in the building roared their approval in the waning seconds of the bout as it was clear that Bozella was going to come out on top.

Bozella won what he plans on making his only pro bout by scores of 39-36, 38-37 and 38-36. His opponent was gasping for air as the bout ended. Hopkins had spit out his mouthpiece five times in the fourth round in an effort to catch his breath. Just before the bell, Hopkins spit out the mouthpiece, caught it in his boxing glove and was cracked on the chin by a Bozella right hand.

“This is one of the greatest experiences of my life,” Bozella said.

Bozella was only 18 when he was arrested in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., in 1977 for the brutal murder of 92-year-old Emma Crapser. He was released four months later for a lack of evidence, but was re-arrested in 1983 and was convicted of murder. But Bozella always maintained his innocence and even declined a plea deal in 1990 that would have gotten him out of prison for time served when his first conviction was overturned. “I’m not a murderer,” Bozella said. Turning down the deal, he had to spend 19 more years at the Sing Sing Correctional Facility in Ossining, N.Y., where he became the prison’s light heavyweight boxing champion. He was a model prisoner who earned his high school equivalency diploma, as well as a bachelor’s degree from Mercy College and a master’s from the New York Theological Seminary.

On Thursday, after significant media coverage about his story, Bozella said Obama called to congratulate him and wish him luck. Bozella had trained for years with the hope he’d be released and be able to compete for a world title. That wasn’t to be, but he managed to become one of the rare professional fighters to retire undefeated. “It’s my dream come true,” Bozella said. “I used to sleep in my cell and dream about this happening.” Bozella was in the kind of shape that most 52-year-old men can only dream about. He had a muscular chest and a flat stomach and was clearly in better shape than Hopkins, who was flabby around the middle and gasping for breath only minutes into the bout.

Bozella ate a big overhand right in the first, which all three judges gave to Hopkins. But Bozella got busier as the fight went on, outlanding Hopkins by a better than 2-to-1 margin. According to CompuBox, Bozella landed 48 of 208 punches, while Hopkins was just 20 of 132. Bozella went to the body hard in the second round and several times, seemed to bother Hopkins with his shots to the midsection. Hopkins tired visibly in the third and Bozella, stunningly, picked up the pace. He pushed Hopkins back to the ropes and connected repeatedly with clean, hard shots. By the fourth round, Bozella had captured the crowd, which was rooting him on like it was a movie. The fans were standing and cheering as he poured it on at the end. “I didn’t want to leave it in the hands of the judges,” Bozella said.

Bozella plans to open a gym in Newburgh, N.Y., dubbed “The Murder Capitol of New York” by New York magazine, to help at-risk youth. His boxing career is over, but it ended with the kind of flair that few do. It won’t quite make up for losing half his life for a crime he didn’t commit, but it clearly meant a lot to him. And for once in boxing, the story of the old guy had a happy ending.

“Regents Plan Push for Aid to Illegal Immigrants”

Taken from: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/15/nyregion/new-york-regents-plan-a-push-for-the-dream-act.html?_r=1&hpw

October 14, 2011

When they vote on their legislative agenda on Tuesday, New York State’s top education officials will focus for the first time on the contentious topic of illegal immigration.

The agenda, proposed by the state education commissioner, John B. King Jr., to the Board of Regents, has as a top priority a proposal to push Congress to pass legislation that would provide a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants who go to college. Included in that legislation, known as the Dream Act, is a provision that would give students who are in the country illegally access to tuition assistance at city and state universities. The agenda is expected to be approved.

The lobbying effort would thrust the State Education Department into the heart of a highly politicized debate that has divided communities for years and spawned a hodgepodge of state regulations in response to the federal government’s inaction on reforming the country’s immigration laws. New York already allows illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition rates at state universities. Gov. Rick Perry of Texas signed a similar measure into law in 2001; controversy surrounding it has threatened to derail his effort to gain the Republican presidential nomination.

In an interview, Dr. King said that the Regents’ strategy on the Dream Act would address one of the most significant roadblocks faced by an estimated 345,000 illegal immigrants who attend public schools in New York. By providing help with tuition and with residency documents, the federal law would allow those who graduate from college to strive for more than the menial jobs they must often accept because of their status. “It’s about making sure that students are able to fulfill their aspirations after they graduate from high school, which is something that’s currently not available to those who happen to be undocumented,” Dr. King said. In addition, he said, “it aligns perfectly with our college-and-career readiness goals.” Dr. King said that lobbying Congress would be the “first step” in a campaign that could progress to asking the State Legislature to do what California did just a few days ago: offer state-financed scholarships and aid to illegal immigrants attending state universities.

For now, the plan is to write to and visit the members of Congress from New York, as well as legislators from other states who could play decisive roles in the Dream Act’s passage. The bill, first introduced in 2000, has yet to gain enough support for passage. It would create a path to citizenship for certain young illegal immigrants who came to the United States as children, completed two years of college or military service and met other requirements, like passing a criminal background check.

For the past several months, Dr. King and the Board of Regents’ chancellor, Merryl H. Tisch, have taken an interest in addressing the needs of the state’s immigrant students, most of whom go to school in New York City. “These people are going to be citizens of this country some day, and we need to prepare them for a life of independence,” Dr. Tisch said.

On Wednesday, Dr. King announced an agreement to improve the services offered in city schools to students who are still learning English, like more access to certified teachers and to the language lessons to which they are legally entitled.

Chung-Wha Hong, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition, an advocacy group, said the Regents’ agenda was a natural evolution of a process begun years ago to refine the state’s policies regarding students who are not proficient in English. “It really brings the focus back to what the issue is about,” she said. “It’s about education, and it’s about our children.”

Some critics of immigration reform criticized the Regents’ plan as going too far. “This amounts to a much broader amnesty than the New York State Board of Regents wants to portray it,” said Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation of American Immigration Reform, which has called for reducing the levels of illegal immigration.

But Daniela Alulema, a board member of the New York State Youth Leadership Council, a supporter of access to higher education for illegal immigrants, said she hoped the Regents would eventually throw their support behind a version of the Dream Act introduced in the State Legislature in March. Among other things, the bill would give illegal immigrants access to tuition assistance and driver’s licenses, a provision that crumbled under intense criticism in 2007, after it was proposed by Gov. Eliot Spitzer. Ms. Alulema has pinned her hopes on state action. “The truth is, it’s very hard for something to happen in Congress because of the climate there now,” she said.

“Alleged Racial Discrimination in Bronx Apartment Rentals Revealed”

Taken from: http://www.newsjunkyjournal.com/alleged-racial-discrimination-in-bronx-apartment-rentals-revealed/2521321/

October 11, 2011

A Bronx landlord of a Riverdale building is being sued by the Justice Department for race discrimination, a civil rights violation in New York. Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara filed the civil rights violation lawsuit (Case # 11-06713) against the landlord, management company and superintendent for allegedly discriminating against African-Americans seeking apartments. The lawsuit claims they offered apartments to whites but not to African-Americans. The race discrimination lawsuit was filed in Manhattan federal court.

According to the civil rights violation complaint, Loventhal Silver Riverdale LLC, Goodman Management Co. and superintendent Jesus Velasco had “engaged in conduct constituting illegal discrimination” since at least April of 2009.

The civil rights violation lawsuit also charges the operators of the building with violating the Fair Housing Act (FHA). “There are a number of reasons a landlord can legitimately reject a tenant, including a bad credit report or an unstable employment history. However, landlords can’t treat tenants or potential tenants differently because of a personal characteristic or feature like race or disability,” said New York civil rights violation lawyer David Perecman, founder of The Perecman Firm, one of New York’s civil rights violation law firms.

As New York civil rights violation lawyers understand, the federal Fair Housing Act makes it illegal for a landlord to refuse an apartment or house rental application based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability and familial status.

In addition, New York has anti-discrimination laws that are stronger than the FHA. For example, New York civil rights laws make it illegal to refuse to rent to persons based upon characteristics such as marital status and sexual orientation. “It is hard to fathom that in this day and age, there are still landlords who engage in race discrimination,” Bharara said, adding “illegal discrimination will not be tolerated.”

According to the New York Daily News, Loventhal, Goodman and Velasco were caught after African-American and white “testers” were sent to the building to inquire about empty apartments. As reported by CBS New York, four teams of testers visited the building, posing as would-be renters. In all cases the African-Americans were allegedly discouraged and whites were helped. As reported by the New York Daily News, Velasco refused to give a black tester a rental application on April 8, 2009, but a short while later provided a white tester with an application, according to the New York race discrimination lawsuit. On May 8 and Nov. 18, 2009, Velasco steered away African-American testers while offering apartments to white testers at discounts, according to the civil rights violation lawsuit.

The New York discrimination lawsuit seeks an injunction against the defendants’ discriminatory practices, as well as monetary damages for victims of discrimination and a civil penalty against the defendants. “This civil rights violation lawsuit should strongly remind other landlords that they will be held accountable if they engage in or enable others to engage in discrimination against prospective tenants in New York,” civil rights violation lawyer Perecman said.

The civil rights violation case is being handled by the Office’s Civil Rights Unit.

If a person suspects that he or she has been treated unfairly because of his or her race, they should contact an experienced New York civil rights violation lawyer. Lawyers at The Perecman Firm are knowledgeable of New York state, New York City and federal legislation that protects people of all races, ethnicities, and gender.

The expert civil rights violation lawyers at The Perecman Firm handle all types of workplace discrimination and employment discrimination claims.