(NEW YORK) — Disgraced attorney Michael Avenatti was convicted Friday of stealing from the client that helped him flirt with fame.
He was found guilty of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft after he surreptitiously diverted $300,000 that rightfully belonged to Stormy Daniels, the pornographic performer who hired Avenatti to represent her in litigation against former President Trump.
Avenatti had pleaded not guilty and argued the evidence against him was insufficient but the jury sided with federal prosecutors who said Avenatti convinced Daniels her book publisher was late with payments owed to her for her memoir, “Full Disclosure,” when he already had the money in an account he controlled. He will be sentenced on May 24.
“The defendant was a lawyer who stole from his own client. She thought he was her advocate, but he betrayed her,” assistant U.S. attorney Robert Sobelman said. “He told lies to cover it all up, lies he told to try to get away with it.”
The jury deliberated over three days and twice, before rendering a verdict, indicated it was having trouble. A few hours after deliberations began, the jury sent a note saying, “We are unable to come to a consensus on Count One. What are our next steps?”
A subsequent note indicated a single juror “is refusing to look at evidence and is acting on a feeling.” In both instances the judge ordered the jury to keep trying.
Avenatti, who represented himself during the trial, argued he was entitled to a portion of Daniels’ book advance even though she paid him an agreed-upon retainer of $100.
“Ms. Daniels was about to embark on a fight against the president of the United States, the most powerful person on the planet. And the evidence shows that I agreed to take on that fight for Ms. Daniels. But I didn’t agree to do it for free,” Avenatti said.
At one point during trial Avenatti cross-examined his former client about her belief in the paranormal in an attempt to attack her credibility.
“She claims to have the ability to talk to the dead. She claims to have a doll who talks, plays the piano, and calls her mommy,” Avenatti said. “Does this sound like someone the government should be using as their star witness in a criminal case?”
The remark during closing statements drew a sustained objection and a response during the government’s rebuttal.
“I don’t know what you all believe, whether you think it’s kooky to believe in the paranormal, whether you believe it’s weird, whether you have beliefs in the paranormal. No idea. What matters here has nothing to do with that. It has nothing to do with that at all. She can believe whatever she wants and still be stolen from, from the defendant, and still deserves not to be,” assistant U.S. attorney Matthew Podolsky said.
Daniels became a household name after she received $130,000 in hush money from Trump’s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen. She said the payment was meant to keep her quiet about an alleged affair she said she had with Trump, who has denied it.
Daniels’ attorney Clark Brewster released a statement following the jury’s verdict, saying, “Stormy is relieved this nightmare is over. The text communications between Stormy and Mr. Avenatti in real time was overwhelming proof of his deceit and embezzlement. The forgery of her name and his concealed directive to wire the money to him was irrefutable. Still, Mr. Avenatti possessed the uncanny ability to steadfastly deny the crimes and persuade others he was entitled to the embezzled funds. Stormy is pleased that the justice system worked.”
Avenatti’s conviction is his second in recent months. He was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison for extorting Nike and he faces a retrial in California on charges that he cheated clients other than Daniels.
(WASHINGTON) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.7 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 894,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
About 63.9% of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Feb 04, 5:01 pm
CDC director greenlights full approval for Moderna vaccine
CDC Director Rochelle Walensky has given the greenlight on full approval for Moderna’s vaccine for all adults, which was the last step in the process for the vaccine to move from an emergency use authorization to a permanent approval.
Walensky’s ruling came after the CDC’s advisory committee voted unanimously Friday to give the Moderna vaccine full approval.
It has been nearly a year since Moderna received emergency use authorization.
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos, Cheyenne Haslett
Feb 04, 4:55 pm
US surpasses 900,000 deaths
The U.S. has surpassed 900,000 confirmed COVID-19-related deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
The death toll currently stands at 900,334.
The U.S. has had over 76 million COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began.
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Feb 04, 2:56 pm
9% of ICU beds free in Oklahoma, health care workers ‘1 patient away from an emotional breakdown’
In Oklahoma, where just 9% of ICU beds are available statewide, for health care workers “every day is just filled with nonstop suffering,” a nurse told ABC News.
“I just pray I don’t have to zip up another body bag, I don’t have to call someone and let them know that their loved one’s not coming home,” Kelly Hale, a nurse at Mercy Hospital Oklahoma City, told ABC News. “We’re all just one patient away from an emotional breakdown.”
“The majority of our patients are unvaccinated which adds just a whole other level of difficulty for us,” Hale said.
She continued, “No one really knows how many tears I shed. Not my family, not my friends. I really want them to know.”
“Just please be nice if you know someone in the health care field that’s going through this,” Hale said. “Just reach out see if they’re okay.”
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Feb 04, 2:09 pm
Deaths at highest point in nearly 1 year
The daily death average in the U.S. now stands at more than 2,400 — the highest daily death average in nearly one year and nearly double the average from one month ago.
But cases are continuing to fall with all but three states reporting declining or plateauing case rates. Washington state is seeing an increase in cases while Maine and Montana are reporting cases at a plateau, according to federal data.
Hospitalizations are also dropping nationwide. About 120,000 COVID-19-positive patients are currently in U.S. hospitals. Fifteen days ago, there were 160,000 patients, according to federal data.
However it’s still not clear how many of these patients were admitted to the hospital for COVID-19 and how many people coincidentally tested positive for the virus after they were admitted for other reasons.
Nearly 62 million eligible Americans remain completely unvaccinated.
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Feb 04, 1:39 pm
Study: Odds of testing positive 83% lower if wearing N95/KN95 compared to no mask
A new study from the California Department of Public Health found that your odds of testing positive for COVID-19 are 83% lower if wearing an N95 or KN95 mask while indoors compared to no mask.
The odds of testing positive are 66% lower if wearing a surgical mask compared to no mask, and 56% lower if wearing a cloth mask compared to no mask, the study found.
This study, however, was conducted prior to the more contagious variants and did not inquire about additional infection control behaviors such as social distancing.
-ABC News’ Sony Salzman, Aiya Aboubakr, Nitya Rajeshuni
Feb 03, 12:37 pm
US death rate on the rise
The U.S. is now reporting an average of over 2,300 COVID-19-related fatalities each day — the highest daily death average in nearly one year, according to federal data.
In the last week alone, the nation’s daily death average has increased by more than 31%.
Overall, however, the nation’s average is still significantly lower than last winter, when the U.S. peaked at about 3,400 deaths per day.
Meanwhile, the U.S. case rate continues to drop rapidly, according to federal data (deaths are a lagging indicator compared to cases). The nation is now reporting an average of 415,000 new cases each day — nearly half the average from the nation’s omicron peak in mid-January.
But case rates still remain extremely high, with 99% of U.S. counties reporting high transmission.
Alaska currently leads the nation in new cases per capita, followed by Washington and North Dakota.
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Feb 03, 11:05 am
Airlines ask White House to remove pre-departure testing for vaccinated international travelers
More than 25 trade groups representing the travel and aviation industry — including all major U.S. airlines — are asking the White House to remove pre-departure testing requirements for vaccinated international travelers coming to the U.S.
“Clearly COVID is widespread throughout the U.S. and attempts to control its importation via air travel under today’s circumstances are unlikely to change that fact,” the groups said. “No new threatening variants appear to be imminent, but if they were, pre-departure testing could be easily reinstituted.”
The letter also says the requirement is a leading factor for Americans choosing not to travel internationally out of fear they won’t be able to return to the U.S. on schedule.
-ABC News’ Sam Sweeney
Feb 03, 9:46 am
Medicare to start paying for at-home COVID-19 tests
Medicare will cover the cost of at-home COVID-19 testing kits starting this spring, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced Thursday.
It will be the first time that Medicare has covered an over-the-counter test at no cost to beneficiaries. The new initiative will enable payment from Medicare directly to participating pharmacies and retailers to allow beneficiaries to pick up the at-home testing kits for free, according to CMS, a federal agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that administers the Medicare health insurance program and works in partnership with state governments to administer the Medicaid assistance program.
CMS said it “anticipates that this option will be available to people with Medicare in the early spring.”
Last month, the U.S. government began requiring health insurers to pay for at-home COVID-19 tests. But that directive did not initially extend to Medicare, which provides health insurance coverage for Americans ages 65 and up, as well as some younger individuals with disabilities.
Feb 02, 4:49 pm
White House prepping to send out COVID-19 vaccines for kids under 5
Vaccines will be made available to the 18 million kids between the ages of 6 months and 5 years “in short order” if they’re authorized and recommended by FDA and CDC later this month, White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients said at Wednesday’s White House briefing.
“We’ve already secured ample doses and the necessary needles and supplies specially made for kids in this age group. Following FDA authorization, we would immediately begin packing and shipping doses to states and health care providers,” Zients said. “And in short order following CDC recommendations, parents will be able to get their kids under 5 vaccinated.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to the White House, said parents should feel confident that the FDA would only approve the vaccine if it was effective and safe.
“We are anticipating that we will get a good efficacy signal for the use of vaccines in children under 5 years old,” he said, adding, “But let’s wait for the FDA determination and, ultimately, the CDC recommendation.”
Pfizer and BioNTech on Tuesday asked the FDA for emergency use authorization for their COVID-19 vaccine for children under 5. Pfizer and BioNTech said they’ve submitted data for two doses but expect the vaccine to be a three-dose series, and that the data for the third dose will be provided in the coming months.
The FDA’s advisory committee will meet on Feb. 15 to review the Pfizer vaccine for use in children under the age of 5. The advisory committee is an independent group whose vote is nonbinding, but the FDA takes it into consideration when making a final decision.
The vaccine would then need to be authorized by the FDA. The CDC advisory committee would then need to meet for recommendations, and it would also need to be approved by CDC director Rochelle Walensky.
-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett
Feb 02, 4:05 pm
More than 100,000 Americans have died from COVID since Thanksgiving
Since Thanksgiving, there have been more than 100,000 confirmed COVID-19-related deaths in the U.S., according to federal data.
The U.S. is reporting an average of nearly 2,300 new COVID-19-related deaths each day, the federal data show.
However, the nation’s death toll remains significantly lower than last winter when the U.S. peaked at about 3,400 deaths per day.
About 126,000 Americans with COVID-19 are currently in hospitals — down from 160,000 patients at the nation’s peak 13 days ago.
But 14 states are struggling with ICU capacities of 15% or less: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Texas.
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Feb 02, 3:10 pm
US Army will ‘immediately’ discharge unvaccinated soldiers
The U.S. Army “will immediately begin separating Soldiers from the service who refuse to be vaccinated,” the Army announced in a press release.
“Army readiness depends on Soldiers who are prepared to train, deploy, fight and win our nation’s wars,” Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth said. “Unvaccinated Soldiers present risk to the force and jeopardize readiness. We will begin involuntary separation proceedings for Soldiers who refuse the vaccine order and are not pending a final decision on an exemption.”
The Army was the last of the military services to say it would remove service members who didn’t comply with the Secretary of Defense’s mandatory vaccination order. In the fall, the Army issued temporary guidance that soldiers who didn’t get vaccinated would be “flagged” so they would lose a command, not be promoted or would only remain until their contracts expired.
Under the earlier flagging policy, six commanders were removed from command, and 3,073 soldiers received reprimands. Wednesday’s announcement begins the discharge process for those 3,073 soldiers.
According to Army statistics, 96% of the Army’s approximately 475,000 soldiers are fully vaccinated, and 97% have received at least one dose.
(NEW YORK) — It has been nearly two years since Patricia Dowd, a 57-year-old San Jose resident, died of the coronavirus, in early February 2020. Although the virus would soon change the global landscape, upending our world, at the time, most Americans were still unaware of the mysterious disease spreading across Wuhan, China.
It would ultimately take more than two months for Dowd’s death to be determined as COVID-19-related – the first known American fatality, in what would soon become hundreds of thousands of more people succumbing from the infection.
Since Dowd’s death, more than 900,000 other Americans have perished from the virus, according to newly updated data on Friday from Johns Hopkins University.
“This new horrific milestone suggests our march to the unthinkable million mark is all but certain,” said John Brownstein, Ph.D., an epidemiologist at Boston Children’s Hospital and an ABC News contributor.
Although the nation is not losing as many Americans as it did last winter, the U.S. is still reporting more than 2,300 new COVID-19-related deaths each day, marking the highest daily death average in nearly a year.
Many experts believe that the current COVID-19 death count could already be greatly undercounted, due to inconsistent reporting by states and localities, and the exclusion of excess deaths, a measure of how many lives have been lost beyond what would be expected if the pandemic had not occurred.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, since Feb. 1, 2020, there have been more than 1 million excess deaths.
David Dowdy, an infectious disease epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, explained that all these deaths may not be directly related to COVID-19, but some may be excess deaths from opioid overdoses, cardiovascular diseases or other illnesses, which which could have been indirectly related to the pandemic, because of reduced access to care.
“I think it’s fair to say that over 1 million Americans would still be alive today if not for the pandemic,” Dowdy said.
15.7% of the globe’s COVID-19 deaths
No nation has reported more people lost to the virus than the U.S. Although, on a per-capita basis, the U.S. ranks 19th for COVID-19 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, the nation has still reported approximately 15.7% of the world’s COVID-19-related deaths.
Americans in every state, city and town have felt the personal impact and ripple effect of the virus.
An analysis tracking the extensive reach of COVID-19 loss of kin with a bereavement multiplier, published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, estimated that 8.1 million family members may be grieving the loss of a loved one due to the virus.
The staggering number of deaths due to COVID-19 is now higher than the number of Americans who died of heart disease or cancer in 2020, and about the same as the population of Columbus, Ohio.
The number of Americans lost to COVID-19 also continues to dwarf the number of those lost due to influenza. Between Oct. 1, 2021, and Jan. 22, 2022, the CDC estimated that there have been around 1,200 to 3,500 flu deaths. Comparatively, in the same time frame, more than 150,000 Americans have reportedly died from COVID-19.
Racial and ethnic minorities in the country have also faced increased risk of testing positive, requiring hospitalization and dying from COVID-19. According to federal data, adjusted for age and population, the likelihood of death because of COVID-19 for Black, Asian, Latino and Native American people is one to two times higher than white people.
More than 400,000 Americans lost in the last year
In the early days of the pandemic, former President Donald Trump predicted that the U.S. COVID-19 death toll would be “substantially” lower than the initial forecasts suggested.
“The minimum number was 100,000 lives, and I think we’ll be substantially under that number. … So we’ll see what it ends up being, but it looks like we’re headed to a number substantially below 100,000,” Trump said in April 2020.
Less than a year after the former president made his proclamation, more than 500,000 Americans had died.
Although in the months that followed, the U.S. would record another 100,000 deaths, COVID-19 declined to record low levels, leaving many Americans feeling optimistic that a return to normalcy was around the corner.
“The bottom line is: the virus is on the run, and America’s coming back,” President Joe Biden said during a speech following the Fourth of July in 2021.
However, the delta variant, and subsequently the omicron variant, would prove otherwise, ultimately resulting in the loss of 300,000 more Americans since last summer.
Tens of millions of eligible Americans still unvaccinated
As the omicron surge continues to wane, many Americans are eager for a return to normalcy. Though the U.S. is still reporting an average of 415,000 new COVID-19 cases every day, the highest of any viral wave, the average has declined by nearly half from the wave’s peak in mid-January, when the country was reporting more than 800,000 cases each day.
However, many health officials urge caution, reigniting the nation’s recurring debate on when it is safe for cities and towns to lift COVID-19 restrictions and mitigation efforts.
“While so much of the country has decided that the pandemic is over, continued high transmission of the virus in most communities suggests the virus is not over with us. Despite all the innovations in vaccines, treatments and testing, we have still yet to get a handle on reducing severe outcomes from infection,” Brownstein said.
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky offered a similar message on Wednesday, telling reporters during a COVID-19 briefing that although it is good news that new cases are falling, hospitalization levels are still quite high, leaving many health care facilities overwhelmed.
“We really do have to look at our hospitalization rates, and our death rates, to look to when it’s time to lift some of these mitigation efforts. We will continue to reevaluate, and we know people are anxious,” she said.
Nationwide, more than 120,000 COVID-19-positive Americans are still hospitalized. Though down from the peak of more than 160,000 patients hospitalized at one time in January, front-line workers say the pressure on the health care system is still immense.
“Every day is just filled with nonstop suffering. We feel like failures. I recently overheard a co-worker saying if this young girl doesn’t make it, I don’t think I can keep doing this job. And I think that’s just the atmosphere that we work in every single day. We’re all just one patient away from an emotional breakdown,” said Kelli Hale, a nurse at Mercy Hospital in Oklahoma City.
According to health care workers, the majority of those who are becoming severely ill are the unvaccinated.
Nationwide, just under 62 million eligible Americans remain completely unvaccinated, and 84 million Americans — about half of those eligible — remain without a booster shot, according to federal data.
“It is tragic that, almost a year since vaccines have become widely available to the public, we continue to see thousands die each day of what is now a vaccine-preventable disease. I am devastated for the families of the people who died,” Helen Chu, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Washington in Seattle, told ABC News.
In November, unvaccinated adults had a four times greater risk of testing positive for COVID-19, and a 15 times greater risk of dying from COVID-19, compared to vaccinated individuals, according to federal data pulled from 28 states and jurisdictions.
Additionally, unvaccinated adults had a 13 times greater risk of testing positive for COVID-19 and a 68 times greater risk of dying from it, as compared to fully vaccinated individuals with a booster.
Experts stress that the need for more Americans to get vaccinated remains urgent, particularly given the poignant reminder of thousands still dying every day.
“Of course we should consider off-ramps of public health interventions but we should continue to let the data drive decisions,” Brownstein said. “At over 2,300 deaths a day, we are still nowhere close to managing this virus.”
(NEW YORK) — Thirty-three states from Texas to Maine are on alert Friday morning for snow, ice, bitter cold and flooding as a massive winter storm continues its push east.
With 5,210 flights canceled Thursday nationwide, including over 1,400 in Dallas, the day marked the highest number of weather-related cancellations since March 14, 2017.
Over 310,000 customers are without power Friday morning across Tennessee, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Texas and Kentucky.
The monster storm brought more than 1 foot of snow from Missouri to western New York over the last 36 hours, bringing roads to a standstill.
Indianapolis recorded a record daily snowfall Thursday with 7.3 inches.
The storm brought 1.7 inches of snow to Dallas — more than the city usually sees in an entire year.
The storm even brought freezing rain down to Texas’ Gulf Coast. Police in Houston are urging drivers to stay off the roads due to ice, and Houston schools are closed Friday.
Texans are still feeling the freeze Friday morning with the wind chill — what temperature it feels like — hitting about 8 degrees in Dallas, 7 degrees in Austin and 1 degree in Lubbock.
On Friday morning, the heavy snow and ice are pummeling the inland Northeast from New York state to Maine. An additional 6 inches of snow is possible in New England.
As temperatures drop Friday morning, icy conditions will develop along the Interstate-95 corridor from New Jersey to New York City to Boston. And the temperatures will continue to plummet for the Northeast Friday night, so whatever rain or freezing rain falls will freeze on any untreated roads.
The storm moves out of the Northeast Friday night. But those in the Northeast will wake up to freezing temperatures Saturday, with the wind chill forecast to plunge to 4 degrees in Boston, 6 degrees in New York City and 12 degrees in Washington, D.C.
(WASHINGTON) — A lawsuit filed Wednesday against the District of Columbia alleges its police department keeps a “watchlist” of critics and stalls or denies requests for public information from those on it.
Amy Phillips, a criminal defense lawyer and “outspoken critic” of the Metropolitan Police Department, filed the lawsuit after, she said, a former employee alerted her to the alleged existence of the watchlist and her presence on it. Phillips said in the lawsuit that she is on the alleged list because she requested information that embarrassed MPD and that she intends to continue.
The lawsuit claims the alleged list is a “constitutional violation” and discriminates against requestors of public information on the basis of the “content and viewpoint of prior or anticipated speech,” according to the court filing.
Phillips is requesting the court require the District to stop the use of any watchlist policy and establish a way to ensure continued compliance. She is also asking for attorney’s fees and damages of $1.
“This lawsuit is important because MPD is trying to silence critics of police at a crucial moment in American history where people like me are trying to hold them to account,” Charlie Gerstein, Phillips’ lawyer, said in an interview with ABC News.
If someone on the alleged list submits a request to MPD under the D.C. Freedom of Information Act, it is “set aside for special review by high-ranking officials, including the Chief of Police,” the lawsuit alleges.
People are allegedly put on this list after publicly criticizing the MPD or when requesting information that could be embarrassing to the MPD or its officers, according to the lawsuit.
“Once on the list, the requesters face hurdles that the general public avoids: They may be charged money for public information that others get for free, they may have their requests delayed, or they may have their requests denied outright,” the lawsuit alleges.
In the lawsuit, Phillips said her allegedly being on the list amounts to a violation of her First Amendment rights.
Inspector Vendette Parker, a former FOIA officer for MPD, reportedly alerted Phillips to the existence of the “unofficial, unwritten policy,” the lawsuit states. Parker was reportedly told on her first day of work that the watchlist was created in an effort to prevent then-Police Chief Peter Newsham from being “blindsided” by reporters with questions regarding records they received, the lawsuit says.
According to an estimate from Parker cited in the lawsuit, the “MPD delayed, denied or improperly altered approximately 20 requests pursuant to the watchlist policy” between 2017 and the end of 2019.
“[Parker] also said that she would flag for attention any request that came from a reporter. So that, we think, has to be a lot more, but at the moment we’re not sure,” Gerstein said. “We look forward to learning more in the process of litigating this case.”
Every week, Parker was required to notify Newsham and LeeAnn Turner, the chief operating officer of MPD, of requests that “may lead to criticism of the department, specifically those originating from news reporters or people known to be critical of the department, or those containing requests for information with the potential to embarrass the department,” according to the lawsuit.
Parker would then have a weekly meeting with Turner in which she was instructed how to process the requests, the lawsuit alleges.
“Proposed responsive documents were to be presented to Turner in hard-copy form because, Turner said, she did not want to generate more records that would be subject to disclosure,” the lawsuit says.
According to the lawsuit, those on the alleged list — including reporters, advisory neighborhood commissioners and criminal defense lawyers — always at least experienced a delay in their requests “while the department prepares for any criticism that may result.”
According to former colleagues of Parker, the lawsuit alleges, current Chief of Police Robert Contee has not ended or suspended the policy.
Phillips said she filed at least eight requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act between 2018 and 2021, including requests for information about the MPD’s disciplinary reviews of officers, Newsham’s use of “zero-tolerance policing,” and “policies governing MPD’s specialized units, including the Gun Recovery Unit, Narcotics and Special Investigations Division, and Crime Suppression Teams.”
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser told reporters she hadn’t read the lawsuit and couldn’t directly comment on it, but said she is taking the accusation seriously, noting “all FOIA requests should be handled as expeditiously as possible.”
“I’m never going to try to stop anybody’s First Amendment right,” she added.
Hugh Carew, a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police Department, told ABC News it hadn’t been formally served with the lawsuit but wouldn’t discuss specific allegations due to the pending litigation.
“We do acknowledge the serious nature of the claims. Transparency with our community partners is necessary to maintaining trust and agency accountability,” Carew said. “A thorough review of the assertions will be completed and appropriately acted upon.”
(WASHINGTON) — The Federal Aviation Administration is sounding the alarm over a staggering increase in laser strikes against aircraft in the United States.
Laser strikes occur when people on the ground shine lasers toward aircraft in order to distract them. This can cause temporary blindness for pilots.
“It could dazzle a pilot’s eyes,” Ganyard told ABC News. “It’s essentially a single piloted airplane until the person whose eyes were dazzled comes back to normal and there’s always the chance that it can be caused permanent damage.”
Laser strikes on planes reached record numbers in 2021, according to new data from the FAA.
The agency received 9,723 reports of laser strikes last year — the highest number ever recorded.
“It’s distracting, and usually it happens when planes are close to the ground. That’s the last time you really want anybody flying a plane to be distracted,” Col. Steve Ganyard, an ABC News contributor, said.
Laser strikes have been on the rise in recent years — the FAA reported 6,852 incidents in 2020, 6,136 incidents in 2019 and 5,663 incidents in 2018.
“Many types of high-powered lasers can completely incapacitate pilots, many of whom are flying planes with hundreds of passengers,” the agency said.
Last year, there were 47 injuries related to the laser strikes, the FAA said.
Lasers used can be easily purchased in stores or online by civilians.
Intentionally aiming lasers at aircraft violates federal law. Individuals may face up to $11,000 in civil penalties per violation and up to $30,800 for multiple incidents. Violators can also face criminal penalties from federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.
“The FAA continues to educate the public about the hazards of laser strikes because they pose such a serious threat to the safety of the pilot, the passengers and everyone in the vicinity of the aircraft,” FAA Administrator Steve Dickson said in a release.
The agency issued $120,000 in fines for laser strikes last year.
(BRIDGEPORT, Conn.) — A Bridgeport, Connecticut, chapter of the NAACP is demanding the Department of Justice investigate the Bridgeport Police Department over the cases of two Black women, Lauren Smith-Fields and Brenda Lee Rawls, who were both found dead in their homes.
The demand comes after two Bridgeport police detectives assigned to both cases, were placed on administrative leave pending an investigation by the police department’s internal affairs office.
The detectives were disciplined due to a “lack of sensitivity to the public and failure to follow police policy” in the handling of the two cases, according to a statement from Bridgeport Mayor Joseph P. Ganim on Jan. 30.
Rawls was found dead and alone in her home on Dec. 12, 2021. The cause and manner of death are still undetermined, according to the Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
Smith-Fields was found dead in her apartment that same day, shortly after being with a man she had met on a dating app.
The Connecticut chief medical examiner’s office found that Smith-Fields’ cause of death was “acute intoxication due to the combined effects of fentanyl, promethazine, hydroxyzine and alcohol.” The medical examiner ruled the manner of death an “accident.”
The families of Smith-Fields, 23, and Rawls, 53, claim Bridgeport police failed to notify them of the deaths and say they learned of the deaths from others.
During a virtual press conference on Wednesday, Bridgeport NAACP president Rev. D. Stanley Lord recommended new training, revised hiring practices, community input and oversight, and more in order to address criticisms of “insensitivity” and “prejudicial” treatment toward “Blacks and other citizens of color” from the department.
“The operation within the Bridgeport Police Department seems to be a constant disarray and dysfunction,” Lord said.
He added, “Recent actions by uniformed officers and detectives have cast a shadow on the performance of the department publicly and has made clear that there is a great need for diversity in its staff, its leadership, and decision-making practices.”
Lord reported that African Americans make up less than 15% of the Bridgeport Police Department. BPD confirmed the statistic.
However, Black Americans make up 35% of the city’s population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
In a statement to ABC News from the city of Bridgeport, BPD said it “serves its residents and all members of our community regardless of race, ethnicity, gender or religion. Members of the Bridgeport Police Department are hired and promoted based upon a competitive Civil Service exam process.”
The families of Smith-Fields and Rawls have continued to call for proper investigations into their deaths following the mayor’s announcement. The cases have been reassigned and are still under active investigation.
“It is an unacceptable failure if policies were not followed,” Ganim said in his statement. “To the families, friends and all who care about the human decency that should be shown in these situations in this case by members of the Bridgeport Police Department, I am very sorry.”
The Bridgeport police union called the mayor’s decision to place the officers on leave “regrettable.”
“We caution against a rush to judgment until we have all the facts surrounding this case,” said Sgt. Brad Seely, the union president, in a statement obtained by ABC-affiliate WTNH. “We will file grievances over the placement of Dets. Llanos and Cronin on administrative leave to restore them back to full duty status.”
Seely cited staff shortages in calling for the return of the two detectives.
The union also extended “sympathy and sorrow to the families and friends of Lauren Smith-Fields and Brenda Rawls, whose untimely deaths have brought unimaginable pain.”
(ATLANTA) — Gregory McMichael, the retired Georgia police officer convicted in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, informed a federal court Thursday evening that he has withdrawn his plans to plead guilty to federal hate crime charges connected to Arbery’s death after a federal judge this week rejected the terms of a plea agreement reached with the Justice Department.
Counsel for McMichael, the father of Travis McMichael, who shot Arbery in February 2020 three times at close range, informed U.S. District Court Judge Lisa Wood in a filing that they are now ready for him to stand trial on the federal hate crimes charges next week.
It is still not clear whether Travis McMichael similarly plans to withdraw his plans to plead guilty after the hearing earlier this week when Wood said she could not accept the terms of the plea agreement reached between the DOJ and the McMichaels, which would have constrained her ability to determine their sentence.
Wood told the men she wanted an answer by Friday.
If Travis McMichael also decides to withdraw his pleas, they will go to trial next week with their co-defendant William “Roddie” Bryan, who was not offered the same plea deal.
Gregory McMichael, 66, a retired Georgia police officer and his 36-year-old son were convicted of state murder charges last year along with Bryan, 52, and were all sentenced to life in prison, the McMichaels without the possibility of parole.
Friday’s decision by the McMichaels comes just days after Wood rejected a plea deal in which federal prosecutors guaranteed the men would be able to serve the first 30 years of confinement in federal prison.
During a hearing on Monday in U.S. District Court in Brunswick, Georgia, Wood said she felt “uncomfortable” approving a plea deal that locked her into giving the McMichaels a three-decade sentence in a federal penitentiary. She noted that the case was in its early stages and said, “I can’t say that 360 months is the precise, fair sentence in this case.”
Wood’s decision came on the heels of Arbery’s parents, Wanda Cooper-Jones and Marcus Arbery, giving impassioned statements in court. They asked the judge to deny the men their wish to go to federal prison, which is safer and better funded than most state prisons, according to legal experts.
“Granting these men their preferred conditions of confinement would defeat me,” Cooper-Jones told Wood. “It gives them one last chance to spit in my face after murdering my son.”
At Monday’s hearing, assistant U.S. attorney Tara Lyons said Travis and Gregory McMichael agreed to plead guilty to count one of a multi-count indictment alleging they interfered with Arbery’s right to enjoy the use of a public road he was jogging on “because of Arbery’s race and color.” Lyons said the agreement called for other charges to be dismissed, including attempted kidnapping and discharging a firearm during a violent crime.
The agreement also called for the McMichaels to waive their right to appeal in both the federal and state cases.
Arbery, 25, was fatally shot on Feb. 23, 2020, after the McMichaels saw him jogging in their Satilla Shores neighborhood near Brunswick, Georgia. They said they assumed Arbery was a burglar, armed themselves and chased him in their pickup truck. The McMichaels’ neighbor, Bryan, joined the pursuit, blocking the victim’s escape path with his truck.
Bryan also used his cellphone to record Travis McMichael fatally shooting Arbery with a shotgun, video that became integral to their state murder convictions.
(CHICAGO) — Chicago is bracing for massive protests over the prison release of former city police officer Jason Van Dyke, who was convicted of murder in the 2014 line-of-duty shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald.
The 43-year-old Van Dyke was let go from the custody of the Illinois Department of Corrections Thursday morning, sources told ABC Chicago station WLS. His release came after he served half of a six-year, nine-month sentence he was given in 2019.
In anticipation of Van Dyke’s release, Chicago police and city officials met with business leaders on Wednesday for a security briefing and Mayor Lori Lightfoot attempted to allay fears in a statement she issued Thursday morning.
“I understand why this continues to feel like a miscarriage of justice, especially when many Black and brown men get sentenced to so much more prison time for having committed far lesser crimes,” Lightfoot said. “It’s these distortions in the criminal justice system, historically, that have made it so hard to build trust.”
Lightfoot noted that Van Dyke was the first Chicago police officer in more than a half century to be convicted of a crime committed in the line of duty.
“While I know this moment is disappointing, it should not prevent us from seeing the significant progress Van Dyke’s prosecution and conviction represent,” she said.
Demonstrators are expected to gather Thursday afternoon at Federal Plaza in Chicago in hopes of delivering a letter to U.S. Attorney John Lausch requesting federal civil rights charges be brought against Van Dyke.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson and members of his Rainbow PUSH Coalition, are expected to join Black Lives Matter Chicago protesters and Father Michael Pfleger, the Catholic priest and Chicago activist, at Thursday’s protest.
More demonstrations are being planned for Friday, officials said.
On Tuesday, Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, both Democrats from Illinois, issued a joint letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland requesting a briefing on a federal investigation into the McDonald murder case. The senators said the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois has refused to say whether the federal investigation launched in April 2015 was still ongoing or closed.
McDonald was killed on Oct. 20, 2014. Police dashcam video of the shooting played at Van Dyke’s trial showed McDonald was armed with a knife but did not appear to be moving toward the police officers following him when Van Dyke responded and opened fire on the teen 16 times in a span of 15 seconds.
Van Dyke testified at his 2018 trial that he believed McDonald was coming at him with a knife. An autopsy showed McDonald had a small amount of the hallucinogenic drug PCP in his system when he died.
The Cook County Circuit Court jury found Van Dyke guilty on charges of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm, one for each shot he fired at McDonald.
Four Chicago police officers were subsequently fired over their alleged cover-up of McDonald’s killing after an investigation found they made false statements to investigators about the shooting.
Van Dyke was initially sent to a state prison to serve his sentence, but after he was beaten by fellow inmates in his cell he was transferred to a federal prison in 2019.
(OROVILLE, Calif.) — A shooting inside a Greyhound bus on Wednesday killed one person and injured four others, including an 11-year-old girl, according to police.
Police said a dispute on the bus led the suspect to shoot his gun while the bus was parked at an Am/Pm convenience store in Oroville, California, around 7:30 p.m. local time. Four victims were transported to local hospitals. A fifth victim was pronounced dead on the scene despite lifesaving measures, according to police.
The 11-year-old victim is currently in stable condition, according to police. The other victims include a 25-year-old woman who is pregnant and in critical condition, a 30-year-old male who is in stable condition and expected to be released from the hospital and a 32-year-old male who sustained multiple gunshot wounds and is in critical condition, according to police.
Police identified the suspect as 21-year-old Asaahdi Elijah Coleman from Sacramento. He has a juvenile criminal record, according to the district attorney.
Witnesses told police more than 10 shots were fired. Police were able to locate 12 nine-millimeter expanded casings.
The suspect fled the bus when police arrived and ran through a shopping complex and into a Walmart. The suspect was “acting bizarrely,” according to 911 calls coming from inside the Walmart. Police said the suspect had gotten into another altercation with a customer.
He was acting erratically and had removed his clothes, according to police.
Police encountered the suspect at the front of the Walmart and took him into custody without using force. The suspect was brought to Butte County Jail and the firearm was recovered, according to police.
Police do not believe there are any suspects at large.
“The witnesses who were on the bus have been transported and they are being interviewed,” Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said during a news conference on Wednesday.
