Streets surrounding the U.S. Capitol and congressional office buildings were locked down, with a heavy police presence, on Friday, a Reuters eyewitness said, while Capitol police said they were responding to reports that a motorist had tried to run down two officers. Capitol police said they were responding to reports that someone rammed a vehicle into two officers and a suspect was in custody. Dozens of police cars, marked and unmarked, raced toward the Capitol building.
Candace Chrzan was set to graduate from Mount Zion High School in Carroll County, Georgia. She had already picked up her cap and gown, family and friends said.
Jill Biden, who is known for her love of practical jokes, gave journalists an April Fools' Day Surprise to remember on a flight back to the White House from California. During meal service on Thursday, a flight attendant wearing a airline costume an a dark wig with a “Jasmine” name tag passed out ice cream bars. The First Lady later returned, whipped off the wig and shouted “April Fools'” as she revealed her identity, according to a report from reporters onboard Executive One Foxtrot. Members of the media were fooled - but so were members of the former school teacher’s staff.
A senior member Rep. Matt Gaetz's staff resigned Friday amid a widening scandal relating to allegations of sex trafficking and an inappropriate relationship with a minor.
GoFundMeThe death of a 13-year-old boy, who dreamed of joining the police but was gunned down by a cop in an “armed confrontation” this week, has horrified the crime-weary city of Chicago, prompting demands for answers from the mayor down.The Cook County Medical Examiner confirmed to The Daily Beast that Adam Toledo died of a gunshot wound to the chest on Monday. His death, which occurred after a confrontation with Chicago police in Little Village, has been classified as a homicide.The boy’s family, community leaders, and even Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot are demanding police release the body-camera videos of the incident. The officer involved in the shooting has been put on desk duty for at least 30 days pending an investigation.“Adam was a seventh-grade student at [Gary Elementary] School, enjoyed sports, and was a good kid. He did not deserve to die the way he did,” the Toledo family said in a Friday statement.Cops Now Say UVA Grad Slain by Police Was ‘Brandishing a Handgun’The family said Adam was killed “due to the unreasonable conduct of a Chicago Police Officer” and they would “seek justice for this reprehensible crime.” The added that they were only notified of Adam’s death two days after he was killed.“We are confident that the Chicago Police Department and the Civilian Office of Police Accountability will conduct a thorough investigation, that there will be transparency, and that Toledo Family will find out the truth of what happened to Adam.”Police said the incident began at around 2:35 a.m. on Monday when officers responded to a call of “multiple shots fired in the 200 block of S. Sawyer.” When they arrived, they found two males—later identified as Toledo and 21-year-old Ruben Roman Jr. —“in a nearby alley” and at least one was armed. Police said the armed person ran from the scene, prompting officers to start a foot pursuit that ended in an “armed confrontation.”“The officer fired his weapon striking the offender in the chest,” a Chicago Police Department spokesperson said in a statement. “A weapon was recovered and the offender was pronounced deceased on scene.”Officers observed two subjects in a nearby alley, one subject fled on foot which resulted in an armed confrontation. One subject shot and killed. 2nd subject in custody. Gun recovered on scene. COPA investigating. #ChicagoPolice pic.twitter.com/bn7o2deAGS— Tom Ahern (@TomAhernCPD) March 29, 2021 Police said Roman was taken into custody and charged with misdemeanor resisting or obstructing a peace officer. According to court records, Roman pleaded guilty in 2019 to possessing an illegal gun and was sentenced to probation.In a Thursday interview with the Chicago Sun-Times, the teenager’s mother, Elizabeth Toledo, said she last saw her son the day before the shooting when they attended a memorial service for a relative. She said she didn’t know what prompted the incident and she “just wants answers about what really happened.”“I haven’t heard from cops since yesterday when they knocked on my door,” she said on Thursday.The mother-of-four said her son was “always happy,” loved animals, and had a dream of joining the police.“He wanted to be a cop when he grew up,” Toledo said. “And next thing you know, a cop took his life.”Monday’s tragic shooting comes as Chicago battles a siege of homicides and shootings. According to the Chicago Tribune, 134 people have been killed this year alone, which is higher than the same period in 2020. Last year had already been the worst year for gun-related homicides on record, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office.Amid outrage of Toledo’s death, Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown released a statement on Thursday, calling it a “tragedy” and insisting he adamantly wanted to release body-cam footage.“My greatest fear as the Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department has been a deadly encounter between one of our own and a juvenile especially given the recent rise in violent crimes involving juveniles throughout our city,” Brown said. “Unfortunately, this fear became a reality earlier this week. Any loss of life is tragic, especially when it involves youth. On behalf of the entire Chicago Police Department, I extend my condolences to the family of the juvenile.”The shooting is being investigated by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability. On Thursday, however, COPA released a statement saying the bodycam footage can’t be released without a court order because of the Juvenile Court Act, which prohibits them sharing videos of minor victims.They said they’re “making every effort and researching all legal avenues that will allow for the public release of all video materials,” noting they are in contact with the Toledo family and will allow them to review all the footage.Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot took to Twitter on Thursday to urge for the release of the footage, adding that she “can only imagine the incredible pain this boy’s parents are experiencing at this moment.”“Because his family and the public will undoubtedly have many questions, we must release any relevant videos as soon as possible,” Lightfoot said, noting that it is among “the most complex cases that COPA investigates” and “transparency and speed are crucial.”“We must ask ourselves how our social safety net failed this boy leading to the tragic events in the early hours of Monday morning,” she said.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
Ghislaine Maxwell has so far unsuccessfully argued that her detention in a Brooklyn jail is harsh, harmful to her health and hinders her ability to adequately prepare for her trial scheduled for July. In her latest bid to be released on bail, the former girlfriend and alleged accomplice of deceased financier Jeffrey Epstein says that her confinement is also sexist.
Babar Azam's century set up Pakistan's three-wicket victory over South Africa in the first one-day international on Friday, although the tourists still needed to scramble a run off the final ball to win. The Pakistan captain hit 103 off 104 balls and his team was cruising at 186-1 at SuperSport Park after South Africa scored 273-6 in its 50 overs. Azam's dismissal sparked a slump as Pakistan lost four wickets for 17 runs, all of them to fast bowler Anrich Nortje.
When India's government last month asked refiners to speed up diversification and reduce dependence on the Middle East - days after OPEC+ said it would maintain production cuts - it sent a message about its clout and foreshadowed changes to the world's energy maps. It was a move that had been in the works for years, fuelled by repeated comments from Indian Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who in 2015 called oil purchases a "weapon" for his country. When the Organisation of Oil Exporting Countries and Major Producers (OPEC+) extended the production cuts into April, India unsheathed that weapon.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio lashed out Thursday at Delta and Coca-Cola for daring — finally — to speak out against the restrictive Georgia law that makes it harder for people to vote. In a Twitter video, he criticized the two high-profile Georgia companies for ties to China and tried to get a “woke corporate hypocrites” hashtag trending.
Advice to new GOP lawmakers went "through the ears of most of them, especially the ones who didn't have brains that got in the way," Boehner wrote.
NBCThis post contains spoilers for Law & Order: SVU and Law & Order: Organized Crime.Reunited, and it feels so... well, not good, really. On Thursday night, Law & Order finally reunited NBC’s most beloved platonic couple: After a decade apart, Mariska Hargitay’s Olivia Benson and Christopher Meloni’s Elliot Stabler are back on the case. Unfortunately, it took the death of Stabler’s wife, Kathy, at the hands of a mysterious, high-level criminal to make it happen.Thursday marks the premiere of Meloni’s new Law & Order spinoff, Organized Crime. Given the magnitude of Benson and Stabler’s (Babe-ler’s?) reunion, it should come as no surprise that NBC blew the event up into a crossover event with SVU—which opened on Kathy Stabler being wheeled into an ambulance as a stunned Olivia looked on. Apparently, despite the fact that the Stablers have been living overseas, they’ve become a bombing target here in the U.S. Maybe it has something to do with Elliot’s new job?As Stabler explains, he went on a walkabout for a few years after his departure from the NYPD; he began working private security and eventually, he wound up working as an international liaison handling terrorism, sex-trafficking, and organized crime. He came to New York to testify on a case, and Kathy had tagged along. Apparently, the police placard in their rental car tipped off the bomber.Kathy initially survived the attack, but later died in the hospital of a ruptured spleen. Benson and her team are able to track down the suspected bomber, but soon enough he, too, is found dead in his cell from an overdose. The explosive appears to have been an international design.Life After ‘SVU’: Christopher Meloni on ‘They Came Together,’ Stabler, and His Famous BehindSadly for Kathy, her brush with death is mostly just a plot device to bring Benson and Stabler together (and, of course, launch Stabler’s new standalone TV gig). Benson volunteers to lead the bombing investigation, and allows her old partner to accompany her during the first interrogation, where they question a QAnon devotee. It quickly becomes clear, however, that the perpetrator in this case is someone far more sophisticated.A lot has changed since last time Stabler appeared onscreen. In his latter seasons, especially, Meloni’s character became known for his hot temper and propensity for bending the rules—qualities that have not aged well in light of recent discussions of how cop procedurals have promoted harmful ideas about policing. So as Stabler made his grand return, viewers also got a healthy dose of hand-wringing about how “good” or “bad” of a cop he might be now. “Don’t tell me, ‘We don’t do it that way anymore, please,’” Stabler tells Benson at one point. “I’ve been living out of New York, not under a rock.” Vouching for his former colleague to a newer peer, Finn insists, “End of the day, he’s a good cop.”Eventually, Stabler loses his cool over the questions: “I’m pretty sick of people judging me for who I was 12 years ago,” he says. “I was a good cop then, I’m a good cop now.”As Ayanna Bell, the organized crime officer in charge of hunting down the criminal element responsible for his wife’s apparent murderer, shoots back, “Guys who came up when you did, you guys never think you need to change your ways.”But the chief order of business in hour one of this crossover event, naturally, was addressing the distance that’s festered between Stabler and Benson in their decade apart.It’s been 10 years since Benson and Stabler worked a case together. Meloni’s last episode, the Season 12 finale, ended with Stabler shooting the daughter of a rape victim, who’d open fire in the NYPD precinct with a gun she’d purchased off the street. In subsequent episodes, Benson learned her longtime partner had resigned. The two have not spoken since.“Are you sorry for leaving, or are you sorry for walking—for not giving me the courtesy of telling me?” Benson asks. “You were the single most important person in my life. And you just... disappeared.”“I know,” Elliot replies. “I was afraid. If I heard your voice, I wouldn’t have been able to leave.”Stabler and Benson’s partnership was always, erm, shall we say... intense? That fact came up Thursday night as well, as newer squad members, including Amanda Rollins, hint at the ambiguous “thing” the pair notoriously shared. Stabler seems curious when Finn mentions Olivia’s romantic relationships, and tries to glean some information out of his old colleague—only to be told he’ll need to ask himself.At the risk of sounding crass about poor Kathy’s death, her tragic fate does prompt one, yes, very crass question: Are we finally, after all these years, going to see Stabler and Benson kiss? Pretty please?Right now, however, Stabler obviously has bigger fish to fry. Kathy’s murder case is officially out of Benson’s jurisdiction, although that’s no guarantee she’ll stand down. Stabler’s youngest son, Eli, is shattered over his mother’s death and despondent that the family will not be returning to Rome. (Sadly, NBC apparently does not have the funds to give us Law & Order Takes Tuscany.) Stabler himself, meanwhile, has already begun grilling international criminals and chasing down leads, continually referring back to a smuggling case he’d been working in Puglia. Turns out, medical supplies have become a lucrative source of money for organized crime rings during COVID times. At the root of all this, it seems, is Freddie (Dylan McDermott)—the son of a notorious mob boss named Sinatra (yes, Sinatra) whose goons were also behind the Puglia PPE smuggling. Freddie, who also goes by the name Richard Wheatley, enjoys an upper-crust existence, painting himself as a legitimate businessman. Even Sinatra seemed ready to rat his son out to Stabler—but unfortunately, Freddie got to him first and executed him on the Wonder Wheel in Coney Island. Now, the chase is afoot. It seems likely that this case will consume a good portion of Organized Crime’s premiere season, or at least provide its early narrative backbone. But once the fog clears and the gavel inevitably falls, there will be time for other, longer-simmering questions—including, yes, whether after all these years, fans might finally get to see Benson and Stabler reconcile and, eventually, smooch. For now, however, we’ll have to wait and see.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
The 58-year-old is accused of using fake landscaping and home improvement companies to orchestrate the fraud.
A suspect has been taken into custody.
A Texas mom is charged with capital murder in the death of her 6-year-old son.
ESPN has spoken with prominent commentators Dan Orlovsky and Kirk Herbstreit, according to a source, in the wake of Orlovsky’s eyebrow-raising comments about criticism he has heard about Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields, and Herbstreit’s decision to publicly admonish Orlovsky for those remarks.
The train, an express travelling from Taipei to Taitung carrying many tourists at the start of a long weekend, came off the rails north of Hualien in eastern Taiwan, the fire department said.Images of the crash scene show carriages inside the tunnel ripped apart from the impact, while others crumpled, hindering rescuers reaching passengers.The train was full, carrying around 350 people, the fire department said.Between 80 to 100 people were evacuated from the first four carriages of the train, while carriages five to eight have "deformed" and are hard to gain access to, it added.
Donald Trump Jr. and his girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle are now Florida home owners.
While apple cider vinegar won't help you shed substantial pounds, it could assist with weight loss coupled with a healthy diet and exercise program.
Ford's new Mustang Mach-E accounted for nearly all of Tesla's market-share losses in February, and on Thursday Ford released new sales figures.
A train in Taiwan has derailed inside a tunnel killing dozens of people.Around 70 passengers are still trapped and 40 others have been taken to hospital, in what is Taiwan's worst rail disaster in at least four decades.The train had been travelling from Taipei to Taitung when it apparently hit a truck and came off the rails north of Hualien.Images of the crash scene show carriages inside the tunnel ripped apart from the impact.Taiwan's fire department said there had been some 350 people on board the train.Many of them were reported to have been standing because it was so full.More than 80 people have been evacuated from the first four carriages, but the others are harder to reach.The accident happened at the start of the long weekend for the traditional Tomb Sweeping Day.The last major train derailment in Taiwan was in 2018, which left 18 people dead.
