Boston police fatally shot a man Tuesday that was part of a terrorism investigation.
An official with the U.S. Joint Terrorism Task Force says the slain man was part of a terror investigation involving Islamist extremists who were under surveillance and tracking. The man was shot after coming toward police and federal agents with a military-style knife.
Boston Police Commissioner William Evans said the man was specifically under investigation for threats against police officers. Details on those threats were not released to the media.
“Unfortunately, he came at the officers and, you know, they do what they were trained to do and, unfortunately, they had to take a life,” Evans said.
The suspect died at an area hospital.
Two officers who were involved in the incident were examined for stress at the hospital but did not suffer any physical injuries.
The shooting is still under official investigation.
On the heels of riots in Baltimore and the arrest and charges against six police officers in the death of Freddie Gray, the mayor has asked the federal government to carry out an investigation of the police department.
Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said that the police had a “fractured” relationship with the community. The declaration comes after the Obama administration’s new attorney general visited the city and held a private meeting with Blake.
“The attorney general is actively considering that option in light of what she heard from law enforcement, city officials, and community, faith and youth leaders in Baltimore yesterday,” Justice Department spokeswoman Dena Iverson said.
A spokesman for Baltimore City Council President Jack Young said that Mr. Young has been calling for an investigation since October. The requested investigation is similar to the one in Ferguson, Missouri after the Michael Brown incident.
In the first five years of their term, the Justice Department has started investigations into over 20 police departments, more than double the amount of the previous term.
Five law enforcement agencies were found to have had no violations. Cities that have faced similar investigations include New Orleans and Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Violent black youths stormed out of a funeral for Freddie Gray, the man who died while in Baltimore police custody, and launched a series of violent attacks on police.
The attacks involved throwing rocks and bricks at officers and setting several police vehicles on fire.
Police spokesman Capt. Eric Kowalczyk said that seven officers were injured as a result of attacks from protesters including one who is unresponsive and in critical condition. Several of the wounded officers are suffering from broken bones due to the projectiles thrown at them.
WMAR Baltimore is reporting that many of the rioters appear to be youths between 14 and 18 years old. Religious leaders in the region are calling on their followers to find out where their children are and to take them home, especially if they are part of the protests.
Rev. Jamal H. Bryant, who delivered the eulogy for Gray, told CNN that the city was in a “code red crisis.” He said that men from the Nation of Islam are planning to build a “human wall” to stop the bomb from coming downtown in an attempt to stem the violence.
City Council President Jack Young posted on Facebook pleading with the community to stop their actions.
“The World is watching us to see if we do what took place in 1968,” he said, referring to riots that crippled the city. “We literally destroyed our neighborhood and business. We never really recovered from that.”
Downtown businesses closed early and evacuated their staff after reports indicated the rioters were attempting to head downtown with their violence.
A CVS Pharmacy on W. North Avenue was overrun by protesters who completely looted and destroyed the store. WMAR-TV showed men sitting in the street going through bags of prescription drugs and a van that was loaded with stolen personal hygiene products.
The family of Freddie Gray had asked at the funeral for no protests following the service.
Two police officers were shot early Thursday morning outside the Ferguson, Missouri police department.
Police described the attack as “an ambush” and that either officer could have been easily killed in the attack. One officer was hit in the face below the right eye and the other officer was hit in the shoulder. Both are expected to recover with any long-term damage.
However, St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar focused on the fact the officers could have been killed.
“We could have buried two police officers next week over this,” he said.
Belmar said the shots came from about 120 yards away and were clearly aimed at the police.
“This is really an ambush,” he said. “You are basically defenseless. It is hard to guard against.”
Witnesses say there was no warning before the attack.
“I saw the officer go down and the other police officers drew their guns while other officers dragged the injured officer away,” protester Marciay Pitchford said. “All of a sudden everybody started running or dropping to the ground.”
The crowd was protesting following the announcement that the police chief of Ferguson was resigning after a Justice Department report regarding problems within the Ferguson P.D.
Police have surrounded a supermarket in Paris, as the BBC’s Stephen Sackur reports.
A gunman has seized hostages at a kosher supermarket in Paris as police in northern France have cornered the two Charlie Hebdo massacre suspects.
A police officer told the BBC that two people were killed after a gunman believed to be the killer of a policewoman in Montrouge entered the supermarket near Porte de Vincennes.
Source: BBC News – BBC News: Charlie Hebdo hunt: Double hostage crisis in France
A Massachusetts woman is under arrest after she vandalized a church and then tried to attack police with a metal crucifix in the same place a church’s nativity scene was vandalized.
The crucifix had been donated after a nearby church was vandalized when a baby Jesus was stolen from their nativity scene and replaced with a severed pig’s head.
Amarellis Cermeno of Haverhill, 54, was arrested on charges including “assault with a deadly weapon, malicious destruction of property and destruction of a place of worship.”
Police were called to La Iglesia Biblica Bautista around 3 p.m. Tuesday after someone had written “666” in large numbers in 15 different places on the church building. Police found Cermeno nearby carrying a large metal crucifix that she used to attack police.
She is being held without bail. She is undergoing mental health evaluations.
A Massachusetts church was in shock Christmas Day to find that someone had stolen the baby Jesus from their nativity scene and replaced it with the severed head of a pig.
Police say that the vandals struck the nativity scene outside Scared Hearts Church in Haverhill, Massachusetts during the early morning hours of Christmas.
Police are investigating the incident on what they called a “busy, well lit street.”
Brenda Burns, a resident of Haverhill, took the baby Jesus from her family’s nativity scene and went to the church to replace the stolen one.
In addition to the stolen Jesus in Haverhill, a second Jesus was stolen in nearby Greenfield. That baby Jesus was imported from Italy and worth over $3,000. The thieves also caused significant damage to the manger in the display.
A man who was protesting and seeking revenge for Michael Brown and Eric Garner ambushed two police officers in their cruiser on Saturday, shooting them before killing himself after he was trapped in a subway.
Ismaaiyl Abdulla Brinsley walked up from behind the cruiser containing Officers Wenjin Liu and Raphael Ramos, dropped into a shooting stance at the passenger side window and opened fire. The officers did not even have time to pull their weapons before they were fatally struck.
NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton told reporters at a press conference that the gunman had shot his ex-girlfriend in Baltimore in the morning before driving to New York.
Brinsley had posted online that he was going to be “putting wings on pigs” today. He added “They take 1 of ours. Let’s take 2 of theirs. #ShootThePolice #RIPEricGardner #RIPMikeBrown”
His last post said “This may be my final post. I’m putting pigs in a blanket.”
Baltimore police were alerted by the ex-girlfriend’s mother of the murderer’s intentions but the message did not reach the NYPD until after the killing.
A Florida city who has been harassing pro-life protesters is being taken to court by two women threatened with loitering citations for their protest.
The American Center for Law and Justice says they are representing Judith Minihan and JoAnn O’Connell in a federal suit. The women hold protests and plead with women seeking to kill their children through abortion at the Fort Myers Women’s Health Center.
“When individuals who are driving into the medical office complex stop to speak with Plaintiffs, Plaintiffs will generally hand them literature and speak with them about abortion-related topics, including information about the possible emotional and physical effects of abortion, nearby maternity homes, local and national helplines, and fetal development,” the ACLJ wrote in their complaint.
The women take care to stand on the public sidewalk while they are there and do not block pedestrians from entering the abortionist. However, police have taken to harassing the women.
“Defendant Officer Conticelli stated that he would enforce the loitering ordinance against them if they (1) stood in one spot on the public sidewalk in front of the medical office complex and abortion clinic and did not keep walking on that public sidewalk, (2) approached any vehicles entering or leaving the medical office complex and abortion clinic to hand out literature or speak with the occupants of the vehicle, or (3) blocked vehicular traffic entering or leaving the medical office complex and abortion clinic by handing out literature or talking to the people in vehicles,” the complaint reads.
The women handed the officer a consent decree from a previous lawsuit with the city that said they would not interfere with their pro-life activities but the police continued their threats necessitating the current suit.
The city’s attorney said they would be reviewing the situation.
A federal judge in Mississippi has denied a request against the Jackson, Mississippi police department, which has been harassing pro-life Christians.
Police have been targeting Christians who are protesting outside the state’s last abortion facility for harassment.
“[Our] request that pro-life advocates receive injunctive relief from harassment by the City of Jackson, Mississippi Police Department was denied by the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi Jackson Division,” wrote Tom Ciesielka of the Life Legal Defense Foundation. “Despite hours of supportive testimony and a long and well documented history of police misconduct, Judge Carlton Reeves denied a preliminary injunction prohibiting the city police from further persecution of peaceful pro-life protesters.”
The police have been arresting the Christians for the most minor of accusations. For example, Christians have been arrested if a sign they were carrying touched the ground, with the police claiming that because it touched the ground they were “obstructing a public sidewalk.”
“We are very concerned about the potential for police mistreatment of our clients as this case awaits its day in court,” added Life Legal Defense Foundation Executive Director and President Dana Cody in response to the court’s denial of a preliminary injunction. “It is very disappointing that the district court did not acknowledge that a police department that is already behaving with impunity might perceive this as an opportunity to continue illegal harassment of private citizens exercising their constitutionally protected freedoms.”
