Tag Archives: Minnesota

Minnesota officer charged with manslaughter in death of black motorist US

Diamond Reynolds, girlfriend of Philando Castile, weeps as people gather to protest the fatal shooting of Castile by Minneapolis area police during a traffic stop on Wednesday, in St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S.,

By Rory Carroll

(Reuters) – A Minnesota police officer was charged with second-degree manslaughter on Wednesday for the fatal shooting of a black motorist that sparked outrage when the moments that followed were broadcast on social media.

St. Anthony police officer Jeronimo Yanez broke the law when he shot and killed Philando Castile in Falcon Heights, a St. Paul suburb, during a traffic stop, Ramsey County Attorney John Choi told reporters. Yanez’s attorney could not immediately be reached for comment.

The prosecutor said Yanez feared that Castile was reaching for a gun he had just calmly said he had in his possession, moments before being shot seven times by the officer.

A moaning Castile’s final words after being shot were, “I wasn’t reaching for it,” according to Choi, who said the conversation was picked up by a microphone Yanez was wearing.

Starting about 40 seconds after the shooting, Castile’s girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, who was sitting in the vehicle’s passenger seat, streamed images of a bloody Castile on Facebook live, and the recording went viral on social media.

The incident began a little after 9 p.m. local time on July 6, when Yanez pulled Castile over on suspicion of involvement of a robbery, Choi said. Castile had no involvement in the robbery, he added.

Castile then, in a non-threatening manner, told the officer about the firearm he was carrying, according to Choi.

Yanez interrupted and replied, “OK,” and placed his hand on his gun, then said, “OK, don’t reach for it then.”

Castile tried to respond but was interrupted by Yanez, who said, “Don’t pull it out.”

Castile and Reynolds both responded that he was not pulling the gun out.

Yanez then screamed, “Don’t pull it out,” drew his own gun, and fired seven shots in rapid succession.

When officers and paramedics were moving Castile, they found a 40-caliber semiautomatic handgun in his right front pocket that had a loaded magazine but no round in chamber.

At the hospital, Castile’s wallet contained a driver’s license and his permit to carry a pistol.

“I have given officer Yanez every benefit of the doubt on his use of deadly force,” Choi said during a press conference on Wednesday.

“But I cannot allow the death of a motorist who was lawfully carrying a firearm under these facts and circumstances to go unaccounted for.”

Yanez has also been charged with two felony counts of dangerous discharge of a firearm that endangered the safety of Reynolds and her four-year-old daughter, who was also in the car at the time.

Asked why he did not charge Yanez with more serious offense, Choi said this was the “highest, most provable offense” beyond a reasonable doubt based on the facts of the case.

Choi said he met with Castile’s family on Tuesday night and informed them of the charges against Yanez.

“The family is pleased with that recommendation because we know what type of charges could be brought about by the statutes of Minnesota laws,” Castile’s mother, Valerie Castile, told reporters. “We’re here in solidarity, my family and I, to support that decision.”

She also called for peace as the legal process continues.

Castile was remembered as a gentle man who was so smart he was considered over-qualified for his cafeteria supervisor job at a Minnesota public school, where kids loved him, according to friends, family and others who knew him.

Because the case is ongoing, Choi said he would not release the video and audio from the squad car.

Yanez will make his first appearance in criminal court on Friday afternoon in Ramsay County Law Enforcement Center.

(Reporting by Rory Carroll; Editing by Alan Crosby and Steve Orlofsky)

Motive sought in fatal shooting at Washington state mall after arrest

Authorities at the Cascade Mall

(Reuters) – Investigators were working to determine what led a gunman to open fire and kill five people in a department store at a Washington state mall, police said on Sunday after arresting a 20-year-old suspect in the deadly rampage.

Police took Turkish-born Arcan Cetin into custody on Saturday evening in Oak Harbor, about 30 miles (48 km) southwest of Burlington where the shooting occurred on Friday night.

Cetin’s demeanor when apprehended was “zombie like,” police said at a news conference. He was unarmed and did not run from officers, they said.

A motive for the rampage remains unclear and Cetin, who is due to appear in court on Monday, has not been charged.

The FBI said while they had no indication the attack was a “terrorism act,” it could not rule out that possibility.

Cetin, who police said is a legal, permanent resident of the United States, is accused of opening fire in the cosmetics section of a Macy’s department store at Cascade Mall, killing four women and a man.

Surveillance video showed the suspect entering the mall without a rifle but he was later spotted on video in the store brandishing a weapon, police said. The rifle was recovered at the mall.

The attack followed a series of violent outbursts at shopping centers across the United States, including the stabbing of nine people at a Minnesota center last weekend.

It comes at a time of heightened tensions in the United States after a succession of seemingly random attacks in public places, ranging from a gay night club in Orlando, Florida, to a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado.

Investigators planned to search Cetin’s Oak Harbor residence, vehicle and interview witnesses on Sunday to collect evidence and “build as good as a case as you can,” said Sergeant Mark Francis, a spokesman for the Washington State Police.

Police have reports that Cetin’s ex-girlfriend worked at the Macy’s, Francis said. The possible connection was under investigation.

Cetin has a criminal record that includes three domestic violence charges in which his stepfather was the victim, the Seattle Times reported, citing court records.

He also was arrested for drunken driving and barred by a judge in December from possessing a firearm, the newspaper reported without providing details. Reuters was unable to confirm the reports.

Police did not identify the victims but local media said they ranged in age from mid-teens to mid-90s, and included a mother and her daughter. The Skagit County Coroner’s Office said it planned to release information about shooting victims on Monday.

(Reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco and Laila Kearney in New York; Editing by Louise Heavens and Bill Trott)

U.S. probing Afghan-born bomber’s motive, foreign travel

A still image captured from a video from WABC television shows a conscious man believed to be New York bombing suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami being loaded into an ambulance after a shoot-out with police in New Jersey

By Joseph Ax and Mica Rosenberg

LINDEN, N.J. (Reuters) – U.S. investigators were looking on Tuesday for clues to why an Afghanistan-born man might have planted bombs around the New York area over the weekend, including whether the suspect had accomplices or was radicalized overseas.

Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28, was arrested on Monday in Linden, New Jersey, after a gun battle with police. They were summoned by a neighborhood bar owner who thought the bearded man sleeping against his closed tavern’s front door in pouring rain resembled the bombing suspect.

Rahami and two police officers were wounded in the exchange of gunfire.

The events put New York on edge and fueled the debate about U.S. security seven weeks before the presidential election, with candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton clashing once again on Monday.

Rahami was suspected of a spate of weekend bombings, including a blast in New York’s crowded Chelsea neighborhood that wounded 29 people, and two in suburban New Jersey that caused no injuries.

He lived with his family above the First American Fried Chicken restaurant in Elizabeth, New Jersey.

The suspect’s foreign trips were coming under scrutiny, with U.S. media reporting that he had traveled to Pakistan and his native Afghanistan multiple times. Police were looking into whether he was radicalized during that time.

U.S. security sources have confirmed that Rahami underwent secondary screening after returning from foreign travel in recent years and passed on every occasion.

Travelers coming from Afghanistan and Pakistan, which both have a strong Taliban presence, are routinely required to undergo secondary screening.

“There could have been a more intensive holding and screening in that situation,” U.S. Senator Angus King, an independent from Maine, told CNN. “The problem is what happened next didn’t really go into any depth.”

Rahami’s wife left the United States a few days before the bombings, CNN reported on Tuesday, citing a law enforcement source.

‘ACT OF TERROR’

Authorities did not offer any immediate information on the possible motives of Rahami, whom Union County prosecutors charged with five counts of attempted murder in the first degree and two second-degree weapons charges.

He was in critical but stable condition as a result of his wounds, and police had not yet been able to interview him in depth, New York Police Department Commissioner James O’Neill said on Tuesday.

O’Neill, who was sworn in as commissioner on Monday, said he was encouraged that officers found Rahami hiding alone.

“It’s a good sign that we found him in a doorway,” O’Neill told CBS “This Morning.” “Hopefully that means he had nowhere to go.”

More charges were expected to be brought against Rahami in federal court. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio called the Saturday night bombing “an act of terror.”

Rahami is also suspected of planting a bomb that exploded on the New Jersey shore on Saturday, a device found near the New York blast, and up to six more devices found near the Elizabeth train station on Sunday night.

All of the people injured in Saturday night’s blast have been released from hospitals.The bombings and subsequent manhunt prompted even greater security in New York. The largest U.S. city was already on high alert for a gathering of world leaders at the United Nations in New York for the annual General Assembly this week. An additional 1,000 officers were deployed.

The blasts, the manhunt and an apparently unrelated stabbing attack in Minnesota over the weekend created tensions similar to those that followed other recent attacks, such as the mass shootings in Orlando and San Bernardino, California.

The Minnesota attacker was described a “soldier of the Islamic State,” the militant group’s news agency said.

Rahami had not previously been identified as dangerous, but Elizabeth police knew of his family because of late-night noise and crowd complaints at its halal chicken restaurant.

(Additional reporting by Mark Hosenball, Julia Edwards, Susan Heavey and Doina Chiacu in Washington; Roberta Rampton, Hilary Russ and Daniel Trotta in New York, Roselle Chen in Linden, New Jersey, Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee and Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles.; Writing by Scott Malone; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)

Robot detonates New Jersey device in latest bomb discovery

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo survey the site of an explosion which occurred Saturday night in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York,

By Daniel Trotta

NEW YORK, Sept 19 (Reuters) – Five potential bombs were discovered overnight near a New Jersey station, one of which blew up on Monday as a bomb squad robot tried to disable it, after a weekend of attacks and security alerts in the United States.

The devices were found late on Sunday, a day after a pressure-cooker bomb packed with shrapnel exploded in New York City’s Chelsea district, wounding 29 people, and a pipe bomb went off along the route of a New Jersey charity run without hurting anyone. Also on Saturday, a man armed with a knife wounded nine people at a Minnesota shopping mall.

Investigators were probing possible links between the attacks, which came as world leaders begin converging on New York for the annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday.

While officials described the weekend bombs and the Minnesota attack as deliberate, criminal acts and said they were investigating them as potential acts of terrorism, they stopped short of characterizing the motivation behind any of them until more evidence is uncovered.

In the latest incident, five potential explosive devices were found in a backpack left in a trash can near a train
station and a bar in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Mayor Christian Bollwage told reporters.

After cordoning off the area, a bomb squad used a robot to cut a wire to try to disable the device,but inadvertently set off an explosion, he said.

No one was hurt, but Bollwage said: “I can imagine that if all five of them went off at the same time, that the loss of life could have been enormous if there was an event going on.”

The incident took place less than 15 miles (24 km) southwest of Manhattan.

Two men discovered the backpack and reported it to police after they saw “wires and a pipe” in the package, Bollwage said.

No suspects were immediately identified in the New York and New Jersey attacks or the latest incident in Elizabeth.

SECONDARY DEVICE

A similar, unexploded device to the one that went off in Chelsea on Saturday was found a few blocks away later that night. CNN reported that police had reviewed surveillance video showing a man leaving both devices earlier that day.

No international militant group has said it was behind the the New York blast. But New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the act of blowing up a bomb in a crowded area of Manhattan “is
obviously an act of terrorism.”

A pair of Massachusetts brothers used pressure-cooker bombs to kill three people and wound more than 260 in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing.

The Islamic State militant group quickly claimed responsibility for the Minnesota attack by a man who police said made references to Allah and asked at least one person if he or
she was Muslim before assaulting the individual. An off-duty police officer fatally shot the assailant.

Police did not immediately identify the Minnesota attacker, citing an ongoing investigation.

No immediate connections were established between the Minnesota attack and the bombings in New York and New Jersey.

Some 135 heads of state or government are expected to attend this week’s event at the United Nations, and city officials said they had bolstered an already heavy security force with 1,000 more uniformed police officers and National Guard members.

‘CRUDE’ DEVICES

Federal Bureau of Investigation experts have examined remnants of the Chelsea device, the second one found nearby, and the pipe bomb that blew up at the charity race in Seaside Park, New Jersey, some 80 miles (130 km) south of New York City.

“The crudity of the devices in all three cases certainly doesn’t point to any group that’s been developing (improvised explosive devices) for years,” said a U.S. official involved in the investigation who requested anonymity to discuss the inquiry.

The official added that the apparent low level of planning had some investigators concerned the blasts were just a test of New York’s security.

“That’s what worries us: Was this some kind of test run, not just of the devices, but also of the surveillance in New York and the response?” the official said.

The United States has experienced a series of deadly attacks over the past year by gunmen inspired by Islamic State, which has been fighting a long civil war in Syria. A man who claimed allegiance to the group fatally shot 49 people at an Orlando, Florida, nightclub in June, just over six months after a married couple massacred 14 in San Bernardino, California.

The FBI considers the Minnesota episode a “potential act of terrorism,” Richard Thornton, FBI special agent in charge of the agency’s Minneapolis division, told a news conference on Sunday.

Amaq, the news agency affiliated with Islamic State, issued a statement on Sunday calling the attacker “a soldier of the Islamic State.” It was not immediately possible to verify that
assertion.

(Additional reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles, Eric
M. Johnson in Seattle, Mark Hosenball and John Walcott in
Washington and Robert MacMillan in New York; Editing by Mark
Trevelyan)

California, Minnesota Health Officials Warn of Norovirus Outbreaks

Public health officials in California and Minnesota are warning about norovirus outbreaks, cautioning that the intestinal disease could sicken lots of people in those states this winter.

The California Department of Public Health announced last week that there had been 32 confirmed outbreaks of the disease since October, a number that greatly exceeds the total reported in the same window last year. Hundreds likely fell ill from the disease, officials said.

In Minnesota, the state Department of Health cautioned that the arrival of a new strain of the disease could cause some additional norovirus illnesses this winter. The department said it has investigated at least 20 outbreaks of the GII.17 Kawasaki strain since September. The strain is the same one that spurred many outbreaks in Asia last winter, officials said in a news release.

“Every few years, a new strain of norovirus emerges and causes many illnesses,” Amy Saupe, a foodborne disease epidemiologist with the department, said in a statement. “We don’t know yet if this new strain will lead to an increase in the number of outbreaks reported, but it could.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), norovirus is the top cause of stomach flu in the United States. The highly contagious virus sickens between 19 million and 21 million people, hospitalizes 56,000 to 71,000 and kills between 570 and 800 every year. Common symptoms include fever, diarrhea and vomiting. Most people recover within 1 to 3 days.

People get norovirus from eating tainted food or touching contaminated surfaces, making it relatively easy for the disease to spread in places like schools, daycares and nursing homes.

The Boston Globe reported a sick employee came to a Chipotle restaurant in the city earlier this month and 136 people — including some Boston College students — fell ill. There were some initial fears that outbreak was linked to an E. Coli outbreak at Chipotle restaurants in nine states, but the paper reported health officials ultimately determined that norovirus was at fault.

The CDC and other public health officials say proper disinfection, hand hygiene and food-handling techniques are vitally important to help prevent norovirus from spreading.

“One of the most important things you can do to avoid norovirus and other illnesses this holiday season is to wash your hands frequently with soap and running water for at least 20 seconds,” Dr. Karen Smith, the director of the California Department of Public Health, said in a statement. “This is especially important after using the bathroom, changing diapers, and before preparing or eating food. Hand sanitizers are not effective against norovirus.”

Minnesota Teen Dies from Brain Eating Amoeba

A 14-year-old Minnesota boy is the nation’s second confirmed 2015 death from a brain eating amoeba.

The family of Hunter Boutain, who died Thursday at University of Minnesota Medical Center, said that it’s likely he caught Naegleria fowleri while swimming at Lake Minnewaska in Pope County, Minnesota.

“Hunter’s condition deteriorated throughout the night and he was declared brain dead this morning. Hunter died surrounded by his family. It is a deeply emotional time for all us. We ask for privacy and prayers as we remember our beloved Hunter,” family spokesman Bryan Boutain said in a statement.

“I thank you all for praying for Hunter,” the teen’s brother Lee Boutain posted on Facebook. “The Lord didn’t want him to stay on earth. As much as I am hurt I know I can’t love him as much as God.”

Hunter’s death is the third in Minnesota from the amoeba.  Officials are concerned because the two previous cases, one in 2010 and one in 2012, happened in smaller lakes and in much warmer conditions than where Hunter was believed to have contracted the parasite.

As previously reported, a 21-year-old California woman died in late June from the amoeba after officials say she caught the amoeba “on private land.”

Only three people are known to have survived an infection with Naegleria fowleri.

Minnesota Declares State of Emergency Over Bird Flu

Minnesota has declared a state of emergency because of a strain of avian flu that has led to the elimination of 7.3 million birds.  It’s the second state to declare the emergency over the bird flu following Wisconsin.

The highly infectious strain of H5N2 bird flu has been found in 46 different Minnesota farms in 16 counties.  The disease has hit around 2.6 million birds.

State health officials are rushing doses of Tamiflu to farm workers or anyone else who has been in contact with the infected birds.  As of April 24th, no humans have been confirmed to have been infected with the H5N2 strain.

“There’s no reason for anybody in the state of Minnesota to be concerned about their own health,” Governor Mark Dayton said at a press conference on Thursday after declaring the state of emergency.

The H5N2 strain is so deadly to birds that an entirely infected flock will die within 48 hours.

Two bird flu strains have been discovered in the United States this year. The H5N2 strain is in Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington and Wisconsin. It has also been identified on farms in Ontario, Canada.  The other strain, H5N8, was found in California and Idaho.

The top U.S. egg producing state, Iowa, reported the virus in a farm that has 3.8 million hens.

Six Arrested In Plot To Join ISIS

Six men have been arrested in connection with a plot to travel to Syria to become members of the terrorist group ISIS.

While all six men are residents of Minnesota, two were arrested in San Diego.  The other four were arrested in Minneapolis.  The men are Somalis in their late teens or early 20s.

Federal officials identified the six men as Zacharia Abdurahman, 19, Adnan Farah, 19, Hanad Musse, 19, Guled Omar, 20, Abdirahman Daud, 21, and Mohamed Abdihamid Farah, 21.

“These were not confused young men,”Minnesota U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger stated during a press conference on Monday. “These are focused young men who were intent on joining a terrorist organization by any means possible.”

The men had connections to another Minnesota man who was indicted in February on terror charges after he tried to head to Syria.

“This is a very serious issue,”Somali activist Omar Jamal told the International Business Times. “We as a community are concerned about losing our kids to ISIS.”

FBI director James Comey said that every state has people like the ones arrested in Minnesota.

“Those people exist in every state,”he outlined. “I have homegrown violent extremist investigations in every single state. Until a few weeks ago there was 49 states. Alaska had none, which I couldn’t quite figure out. But Alaska has now joined the group, so we have investigations of people in various stages of radicalizing in all 50 states.”

Islamists Call For Attacks On American Malls

A video released by an Al-Qaeda affiliate is calling for attacks on malls in the United States and other parts of the western world.

Al-Shabaab release the video Saturday citing three malls:  The Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota; West Edmonton Mall in Alberta, Canada; Oxford Street shopping area in London, England.

The terror group, which was behind the deadly Westgate Mall attack in Nairobi, Kenya in 2013, showed images of that assault at the start of the clip before issuing a call.

“If just a handful of mujahedeen fighters could bring Kenya to a complete standstill for nearly a week then imagine what a dedicated mujahedeen in the West could do to the American or Jewish-owned shopping centers across the world?” he asks. “What if such an attack were to occur in the Mall of America in Minnesota? Or the West Edmonton Mall in Canada? Or in London’s Oxford Street?”

“What would be the implications of such an attack? One could only imagine. And all it takes is a man with firm determination,” he continues. “So hurry up, hasten towards Heaven and do not hesitate.”

The Mall of America announced they have increased security in response to the video.  The Department of Homeland Security said they are aware of the video and they’re taking steps to analyze the footage.

Jeh Johnson, head of Homeland Security, said people shopping need to be careful.

“If anyone is planning to go to the Mall of America today, they’ve got to be particularly careful,” he said. “There will be enhanced security there, but public vigilance, public awareness and public caution in situations like this is particularly important, and it’s the environment we’re in, frankly.”

Islamic State Terrorist Had Top Airport Clearance

A Fox television station in Minnesota has discovered a shocking and potentially earth-shattering discovery about a member of the Islamic extremist group ISIS.

A member of that extremist group had top security clearance at the Minneapolis airport.

Abdirahmaan Muhumed, who recently died while fighting with the terrorist group, had full access to the airport, tarmac and all the aircraft that entered or left the airport for ten years.

KMSP reports that Muhumed, who leaves behind nine children, reportedly only worked the one job at the airport and experts say on his salary alone it would have been impossible to provide for his family.  An investigation is underway to find out when he was first approached to work with Islamic terrorist groups.

Authorities now say that as many as 15 men and one woman have fled the Minneapolis area to fight with ISIS in Iraq and Syria.

“We are in your state, we are in your cities, we are in your streets,” ISIS said in a statement directed at the United States.