Friday, November 15, 2013

!!UPDATE!! Homeowner in Renisha McBride's killing charged with second-degree murder !!UPDATE!!




YOU CAN READ THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE
BELOW THIS POST

The man who shot and killed Renisha McBride, a 19-year-old woman standing at his front door, has been convicted of murder.
Theodore Wafer was found guilty of second-degree murder and manslaughter on Thursday, according to the Associated Press. He could face up to life in prison when he is sentenced on Aug. 21. [UPDATE: The sentencing date has been moved to Aug. 20 according to a spokeswoman for prosecutor Kym Worthy.]
Wafer shot McBride through the screen door of his home outside of Detroit last November. The case was racially charged: McBride was a black teenager killed by a white man less than four months after George Zimmerman was acquitted of second-degree murder and manslaughter after shooting and killing Trayvon Martin.
“Her life mattered and we showed that,” Monica McBride, her mother, told the Detroit Free Press on Thursday.
In a news conference after the verdict was announced, McBride’s parents said they supported it:
McBride knocked on Wafer’s door after crashing her car not far from his house in the early hours of Nov. 2. (Tests show she was intoxicated at the time.)
Victim Renisha McBride's mother and father are seen in court after the verdict was read. (credit: Marie Osborne/WWJ)Wafer, testifying earlier this week in the trial, said he grabbed his 12-gauge shotgun because he feared for his life. He said he “just reacted,” according to the New York Times. (Earlier, he had told police that the shooting was accidental.)
Wafer fired through the screen door and hit McBride in the face. He was charged with second-degree murder nearly two weeks later. The jury delivered the guilty verdict on Thursday, the second day of deliberations, following a trial that began last month.




ORIGINAL POST
A homeowner has been charged with second-degree murder in the shooting of an unarmed woman on a suburban Detroit porch earlier this month.
Renisha McBride, 19, was killed on Nov. 2 in Dearborn Heights, Mich., when she went to a 54-year-old Theodore Paul Wafer's porch seeking help after a car crash, according to authorities.
On Friday, hours after the Wayne County prosecutor announced three charges against Wafer — the most serious of which was murder in the second degree — Wafer turned himself in and was arraigned.
Wearing a T-shirt and jeans, Wafer said little at his court appearance. Bond was set at $250,000.
 "These are the appropriate charges and he did not act in lawful self-defense," Wayne County prosecutor Kym Worthy said at a press conference earlier.

!!UPDATE!! Another Shooting of an Unarmed Black Teen (Renisha McBride) !!UPDATE!!


YOU CAN READ THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE
BELOW THIS POST

The man who shot and killed Renisha McBride, a 19-year-old woman standing at his front door, has been convicted of murder.
Theodore Wafer was found guilty of second-degree murder and manslaughter on Thursday, according to the Associated Press. He could face up to life in prison when he is sentenced on Aug. 21. [UPDATE: The sentencing date has been moved to Aug. 20 according to a spokeswoman for prosecutor Kym Worthy.]
Wafer shot McBride through the screen door of his home outside of Detroit last November. The case was racially charged: McBride was a black teenager killed by a white man less than four months after George Zimmerman was acquitted of second-degree murder and manslaughter after shooting and killing Trayvon Martin.
“Her life mattered and we showed that,” Monica McBride, her mother, told the Detroit Free Press on Thursday.
In a news conference after the verdict was announced, McBride’s parents said they supported it:
McBride knocked on Wafer’s door after crashing her car not far from his house in the early hours of Nov. 2. (Tests show she was intoxicated at the time.)
Victim Renisha McBride's mother and father are seen in court after the verdict was read. (credit: Marie Osborne/WWJ)Wafer, testifying earlier this week in the trial, said he grabbed his 12-gauge shotgun because he feared for his life. He said he “just reacted,” according to the New York Times. (Earlier, he had told police that the shooting was accidental.)
Wafer fired through the screen door and hit McBride in the face. He was charged with second-degree murder nearly two weeks later. The jury delivered the guilty verdict on Thursday, the second day of deliberations, following a trial that began last month.




ORIGINAL POST

Shortly before 1 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 2, a young woman, just a year out of high school, crashed the car she was driving along a residential street on Detroit’s west side.

The woman, Renisha Marie McBride, 19, had veered into a parked car. As people emerged from their houses, she appeared disoriented and troubled, some witnesses said, walking off into the darkness before returning for a time, then walking off again. Someone heard her say she wanted to go home.
Several hours later and six blocks away, just outside the Detroit city limits in this mostly white suburb, Ms. McBride, who was black, was dead on the front porch of a stranger’s home, a shotgun blast to her face.
In the days since, the death has stirred long-simmering racial tensions between mostly black Detroit and its whiter suburbs and provoked comparisons to other racially charged cases around the country. Protesters held a vigil outside the house where she died, whose owner has not been publicly identified. The authorities say he thought Ms. McBride, who tests have shown was intoxicated, was trying to break in.

Anguished family members and friends, wearing shirts with messages like “Justice for Nisha,” say they believe that Ms. McBride was merely seeking help at random homes after the crash, and they were troubled that the man who shot her had not been arrested. 

The attorney representing the family of a Detroit teenager who was shot and killed while apparently seeking help after a car accident says the girl was injured and may have wandered a Dearborn Heights neighborhood for as long as an hour before arriving on the porch of the man who shot her.
According to attorney Gerald Thurswell, McBride hit a parked car and "sustained bruises and lacerations" late Nov. 1 or early Nov. 2. Thurswell said that he spoke with people at a home near the scene of the accident who told him they came outside to help McBride and found her bleeding from the head.
"She kept telling them, 'I want to go home, I want to go home,'" he said.
Thurswell said that the neighbor went into her home to call 911, and when she came back outside and saw McBride was gone, got in her car to look for her - but couldn't track her down. Thurswell said McBride, whose cell phone was apparently dead, likely wandered the neighborhood for about an hour.
"She knocked on several doors and no one answered," said Thurswell.
The one man who did come to the door, apparently came armed with a shotgun. McBride was shot in the face and died on the man's front porch.

Police have said the man, who has not been identified but is reportedly 54-years-old, told them he thought McBride was trying to break into his home and that the shotgun fired accidentally. Wayne County prosecutor Kym Worthy reportedly asked the Dearborn Heights police to continue investigating the case before deciding whether to press charges against the man.
Cheryl Carpenter, the attorney representing the homeowner, told The Detroit News that the shooting was "justified."
"I'm confident when the evidence comes it will show that my client was justified and acted as a reasonable person would who was in fear for his life," Carpenter said.
Thurswell said that explanation sounds implausible.
"If he was in fear for his safety he could have called 911," he said. "He decided to open the door, go out on the porch and put a shotgun in her face...It's pretty hard for it to be an accident: your finger is on the trigger and the shotgun is in her face."
Thurswell said that he has confidence that police and prosecutors will thoroughly investigate the case and file "appropriate charges."
"We don't want a rush to judgment," he told Crimesider.
Thurswell said that McBride graduated from Southfield High School in 2012 and was working full-time at an auto plant and living at home with her mother at the time of her death.

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Young Black Cheerleader Breaks Guinness Handspring World Record (VIDEO)

Atlanta high school cheerleader Mikayla Clark broke the Guinness World Record for most consecutive back handsprings on Friday when she completed 44 in a row at Westlake High School's homecoming game.

Clark, 16, has been cheering since age 4, and has been practicing since the beginning of the football season to beat the record. She also cheers with the Georgia All Stars Competition Squad.

"I'm very proud of her," said her coach, Ashley Clark.


Mikayla, a junior, expects to receive her official Guinness World Records certificate this week for breaking the previous record of 36 back handsprings. 



Wednesday, October 9, 2013

San Francisco MUNI Bus Riders Are Oblivious To Man With Gun (Security video footage showed the gunman pull out the .45-caliber pistol, raise it and point it across the aisle...)

  A man flashed a gun several times on a crowded commuter train in San Francisco, but passengers were so absorbed in their phones and tablets they didn't notice until he randomly shot and killed a university student, authorities said.
Security video footage showed the gunman pull out the .45-caliber pistol, raise it and point it across the aisle before putting it back against his side, authorities told the media in a story on Monday.
  The man drew the gun several more times and once wiped his nose with the hand holding the weapon.
  "These weren't concealed movements — the gun is very clear," District Attorney George Gascon said. "These people are in very close proximity with him, and nobody sees this. They're just so engrossed, texting and reading and whatnot. They're completely oblivious of their surroundings."
Authorities declined a request by The Associated Press for the surveillance footage, citing an ongoing investigation.
San Francisco police officials say people who pay too much attention to digital technology are also vulnerable to theft.
  "Oftentimes when you interview people who get their phones stolen, when you ask them to describe where the person came from, what he was wearing, they have no idea," said police Chief Greg Suhr.

Photo: San Francisco Police Department
Suspect Nikhom Thephakaysone from a surveillance video on a MUNI train in San Francisco.
Transit shooting: Suspect Nikhom Thephakaysone from a surveillance video on a MUNI train in San Francisco. 
  Nikhom Thephakaysone, 30, has pleaded not guilty to charges
including murder in the Sept. 23 attack on Justin Valdez, 20, a student at San Francisco State University who was shot in the back of the head as he left the train.
  Thephakaysone also has been charged with assault with a semi-automatic handgun. Prosecutors said he stuck a handgun in another man's back earlier the same night he shot Valdez as he looked for a victim.
  He did not pull the trigger and went on the hunt again for a victim for more than an hour, at one point waving a gun outside a Thai restaurant, Assistant District Attorney Scot Clark has said.
He was also charged with illegally possessing an assault weapon after police said they seized two such rifles, combat knives and razors at his home.
  Police said he was carrying $20,000 in cash when he was arrested.

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Ariel Castro has reportedly killed himself in prison


BREAKING NEWS; Ariel Castro has reportedly killed himself in prison!

Meet Matthew ‘Neno’ Best, the Unpopular Rapper Behind NYC’s Massive Gun Bust

Rapper Neno Best named in one of the biggest drug busts in NYC history


This week, the NYPD and Mayor Bloomberg announced what they called the largest gun bust in New York City history, including the seizure of 254 firearms and the arrest of nineteen people in a 552-count indictment. Although Brooklyn's Matthew "Neno" Best was charged with just one count of conspiracy, he earned a shout-out at the press conference for allegedly selling guns out of his "makeshift" Ocean Hill recording studio and bragging about the crimes on Instagram. His social-media presence, investigators said, led them to the man accused of being at the center of the gun-smuggling ring, Omole Adedji. But Best left behind quite the Internet trail, which shows he was not exactly excelling at his other chosen craft.


As the rapper Neno Best, he put out two mixtapes still available on DatPiff, Need No Introduction (149 listens) and Zombie Island (175 listens).
On Facebook (bio: "every thing i say is real and from the heart"), Best's page had just 51 "likes," and now features some disappointed fans:

Nineteen people were arrested and 254 guns recovered in what Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly are calling the largest gun seizure in New York City history. "There is no doubt that the seizure of these guns has saved lives," said Bloomberg this morning at the press conference, using the photo op to plug the police department's controversial stop-and-frisk tactics. In this case, it wasn't street stops but buys made by an undercover NYPD officer — 45 over the last year — that led to the 552-count indictment for illegal sales totaling nearly $160,000.
The weapons coming from North and South Carolina to the city included .22-caliber pistols and seven assault weapons, such as a "full automatic Cobray 9mm machine gun with a 30-round high-capacity magazine, three Intertec 9 assault pistols with flash suppressors and high-capacity magazines holding 30 or more rounds, a SCCY Industries 9mm handgun and a Norinco SKS 7.62 x 39 mm assault rifle," according to the city. The haul looks something like this:

Among the defendants are 26-year-old Brooklyn man and aspiring rapper Matthew Best, who conducted deals at an Oceal Hill recording studio, and Earl Campbell, of South Carolina, who brought guns to the city via Chinatown bus. The full indictment contains some creative nicknames for the accused:
 Investigators also stumbled upon his YouTube and Instagram accounts only to find him bragging about his unlawful business with his friend Omole Adedji.
According to the New York Post, the weapons were displayed proudly on tables draped in blue tablecloths during a press conference held by Mayor Bloomberg. Police noted that 36 of the guns had previously been reported stolen.

A lot of people are hesitant to even include alcohol in their Instagram pictures, but Brooklyn-based rapper Matthew “Neno” Best isn’t afraid to filter anything, including images of illegal firearms and the stacks of cash he made selling them. The result was more than just 48+ likes (nice!), but the largest firearms bust in the Gotham’s history.
It’s unclear how the NYPD took note of the wannabe rapper’s illicit photos (while his Instagram has since been deactivated, his Facebook page only has 71 likes), but following their crack investigative work, they sent cops undercover and witnessed the rapper and his cohorts engage in firearms sales.
As a result, The NYPD arrested 19 people, including the rapper, and obtained 254 firearms, according to NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.


 Boasting and hip hop go hand in hand, but in the case of Neno Best, it backfired in a major way. As you may have heard, NYPD picked up the rapper on Monday and called his arrest one of the biggest gun busts in NYC history after catching wind of his (now inactive) Instagram account that boasted of money, guns and much more. In all, the arrest netted more than 250 firearms, some of which were reported stolen. Best was part of a sting that netted the arrest of nineteen in total:
Those busted included two gun runners who oversaw the pair of loosely organized rings and sold their illicit goods through the same city dealer, officials said. One of the men, Walter Walker, used a rap studio at 1991 Atlantic Ave. in the Ocean Hill section of Brooklyn as his home base in the city. The undercover police operation had been dubbed "Up on the Hill.''
...[NYPD Commissioner Ray] Kelly also said that last year "detectives learned through an unrelated undercover narcotics investigation that guns were being sold in the Ocean Hill community of Brooklyn."
Above the Country Kitchen restaurant on Atlantic and Saratoga avenues, within the 81st Precinct, they discovered a 26-year-old aspiring rapper, Mathew Best, who lived on Saratoga Avenue. He also used a unit in the same building as a recording studio. -[NY Post]

Thursday, July 11, 2013

STOP HATIN' ON MY DAWG!! (Someone leaving poisoned food for San Francisco dogs)

Someone is leaving poisoned meatballs for San Francisco dogs...
If you're a dog owner in San Francisco, don't let your pet eat anything it finds on the street. Police are asking for the public's help tracking down a horrible, no good excuse for a human being who is dropping poisoned meatballs laced with rat poison in public areas. Hundreds of the tainted meatballs have been found in several neighborhoods, where residents are helpfully collecting them before dogs can eat them. A 7-year-old dachshund named Oskar had a seizure after eating one of the meatballs and remains in a critical but stable condition, though his vets say they're "optimistic" he'll recover. Anyone with information about this cruel crime should contact San Francisco police.