(DENVER) — Authorities in Colorado are investigating a “suspicious, powdery substance” found in a ballot mailed to the Adams County elections office in what officials say “appears to be an attempt to disrupt the elections process.”
Hazmat units, paramedics, firefighters and other law enforcement agencies were called to the county offices after the ballot was received Wednesday, and initial testing of the substance was negative for explosives, biological agents and narcotics, Adams County clerk Josh Zygielbaum said Thursday.
But Zygielbaum said the powder contained a “concerning, unknown chemical,” so samples have been sent for further testing.
FBI officials in Denver confirmed Thursday that they are supporting local law enforcement in the investigation.
“It really drives home what we’ve been concerned with, but we’ve got great plans in place and will ensure that the election goes off without a hitch,” Zygielbaum told ABC News. “And even if we have individuals who are going to try to disrupt the process, we will work around them to make sure it gets done.”
“The voter’s anonymity is protected and their constitutional right to vote is in place,” Zygielbaum said. “Should it be determined safe, we will move forward with processing this ballot.”
The incident comes as election officials across the country continue to see a rise in threats and harassment with the approach of Election Day.
Zygielbaum told ABC News in May that he wears a bulletproof vest to work — one of the many safety measures he says he’s been forced to take as the state has emerged as a battleground in the shadowy world of election conspiracy theories.
Appearing this week on an episode of ABC News’ Impact x Nightline, Zygielbaum was asked by ABC News’ Terry Moran what that says about the state of the country.
“It says that our democracy isn’t as healthy as it should be right now,” he replied.
(TULSA, Okla.) — Forensic scientists have uncovered 24 additional unmarked graves in an Oklahoma cemetery, three of them containing child-sized coffins, as part an effort to identify victims of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, officials said.
The unmarked burial sites were discovered in Tulsa’s Oaklawn Cemetery after excavations resumed there on Oct. 26, according to city officials who authorized the investigation.
The latest discovery was made Tuesday in the graveyard just southeast of downtown Tulsa, officials said.
“Three additional child-sized burials were discovered…in the southern block (of the cemetery),” the city said in a news release.
Twenty-one other burial sites were unearthed in the western section of the cemetery since the new excavation got underway last week, according to the city’s statement.
Four of the graves are being excavated by hand to determine if the remains should be exhumed for further analysis.
Remains from one of the graves were found in a simple coffin and exhumed on Tuesday to be analyzed in an on-site lab.
“Experts continue to be narrowly focused on which graves will be exhumed and have determined that no child-sized burial will be,” the city’s statement reads.
This is the second excavation to occur at the cemetery. An excavation last year uncovered 19 unmarked burial sites, officials said.
Historians suspect that 75 to 300 people, most of them Black, were killed in the Tulsa Race Massacre, which the Oklahoma Historical Society calls “the single worst incident of racial violence in American history.” The Oklahoma Bureau of Vital Statistics officially recorded 36 deaths.
Following World War I, Tulsa was known for its affluent African American residents and black-owned businesses in an area called the Greenwood District, which was also referred to as “Black Wall Street.”
White mobs attacked Black residents in the neighborhood and burned down more than 1,000 homes and businesses during two days of riots that broke out between May 31 and June 1, 1921, prompted by allegations that a 19-year-old Black shoe shiner assaulted a white female elevator operator.
In 2018, Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum announced the city would reexamine the unmarked graves identified in a 2001 state commissioned report. In addition to Oaklawn Cemetery, the city has designated three other potential areas to excavate, including a park in northwest Tulsa near the Arkansas River and the Rolling Oaks Memorial Gardens cemetery.
(UVALDE, Texas) — Emilia “Amy” Marin watched a briefing on the Robb Elementary school shooting on May 27, three days after the rampage that killed 19 students and two teachers.
She listened live as Col. Steven McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, told dozens of reporters and millions of viewers watching live that a “teacher” had propped the door open with a rock, allowing the shooter to enter the school through a door that was supposed to lock automatically.
“He’s lying. That’s a lie,” Marin said to her daughter, who was watching with her.
Though unnamed at the time, Marin was the woman McCraw was talking about. Marin was an afterschool program coordinator at the time of the Robb shooting.
Months later, Marin is still waiting to hear how and why the false accusation was broadcast to the nation.
“Nobody is going to point the finger at me because I know what I did,” Marin told ABC News correspondent John Quiñones. “I knew what I did from day one.”
Three days later, DPS retracted that statement, but that was not until after many in the community had blamed Marin for the attack. In the months since, community members and state politicians have criticized DPS for that mistake.
“They’re either incompetent or they are dishonest,” said Don Flanary, Marin’s lawyer, about the department. “Neither is acceptable.”
DPS has not offered an explanation on how the error was made or the route it took to reach McCraw. DPS officials declined to respond to questions for this report about the origin of the mistake and have referred ABC News to the agency’s prior statements and apology.
In a previous statement to ABC News, DPS spokesman Travis Considine explained: “At the outset of the investigation, DPS reported that an unnamed teacher at Robb Elementary School used a rock to prop open the door that the shooter used to enter the school building. It was later determined that the same teacher removed the rock from the doorway prior to the arrival of the shooter, and closed the door, unaware that the door was unlocked.”
Considine said, “DPS corrected this error in public announcements and testimony and apologizes to the teacher and her family for the additional grief this has caused to an already horrific situation.”
McCraw testified during a state Public Safety Commission hearing last week. “At the time, that’s exactly the information that we had. It was wrong,” he said. “I take responsibility for it.”
Security camera footage obtained by ABC News shows Marin placing the rock in the doorway only to return and kick it away a few minutes later. She closed the door behind her.
“If you’re an investigator, you’re sitting there watching that video and you saw me walk out,” Marin told ABC News. “Why didn’t you sit there and watch the whole video to see if I ran back in?”
“Obviously I should have apologized a lot sooner,” McCraw said at that public safety meeting. “I did say the teacher pushed the rock or put placed the rock in the door. I said that on that Friday and didn’t correct it until the next week.”
During last week’s hearing, state Sen. Roland Gutierrez, who represents Uvalde, said Marin was deeply traumatized by the assertion that her actions gave a killer access to Robb Elementary.
“She was haunted by this in her own hometown,” Gutierrez told ABC news.
“And that happened because (DPS) defamed her,” he said. “They defamed her.”
Gutierrez told the commission that the explanation of a simple mistake was unconvincing and hard to believe because, in the first days after the school shooting, he said he personally watched as a team of DPS investigators reviewed surveillance camera footage closely.
In an interview with ABC News, Gutierrez elaborated, saying he watched 10 troopers in their signature DPS cowboy hats closely examining video captured that day. Though he couldn’t say exactly which videos he saw them reviewing, he watched as they scrutinized the footage, repeatedly rewinding, fast-forwarding and slowing portions of video. He said the detailed analysis of the evidence that he witnessed contradicts the information McCraw was given prior to the briefing Marin watched with her daughter on May 27.
“It defies logic that these people didn’t know the truth as to what Amy Marin did or didn’t do,” Gutierrez said. “When they accused Amy Marin, they knew that she absolutely did the right thing and yet they let her feel the pain of that accusation for five days, and she will never be the same.”
Marin told ABC News that an FBI agent and a Texas Ranger interviewed her before McCraw went on television with his inaccurate statements about her actions. She told the officers at that time what happened on the day of the shooting, including her shutting the door behind her.
“They had the video and the FBI and Rangers had already interviewed her and confirmed with her that she kicked the rock out,” said Flanary. “It doesn’t make sense.”
Jesse Rizo, the uncle of Jackie Cazares who was among the students killed at Robb, confronted McCraw at the hearing.
“Your officers either lied to you or you painted a picture that was favorable to your department,” Rizo said to McCraw.
Marin has decided to take action in the wake of this tragedy and has filed suit against the manufacturer of the gun used in the Robb shooting. She is also considering other legal options.
It is expected that substantial additional information about the probe will be revealed once the criminal investigation is completed by the end of 2022.
Uvalde:365 is a continuing ABC News series reported from Uvalde and focused on the Texas community and how it forges on in the shadow of tragedy.
(SAN FRANCISCO) — Paul Pelosi has been released from the hospital, six days after being attacked in his home.
Paul Pelosi, 82, was struck at least twice with the hammer, sources told ABC News, after an intruder broke into Nancy and Paul Pelosi’s San Francisco home on Oct. 28.
He underwent surgery following the assault to repair a skull fracture and “serious injuries” to his right arm and hands and is expected to make a full recovery, the speaker’s spokesperson said.
Nancy Pelosi confirmed in a statement issued Thursday that her husband is now home, “surrounded by his family who request privacy.”
“Paul is grateful to the 911 operator, emergency responders, trauma care team, ICU staff, and the entire [Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital] medical staff for their excellent and compassionate life-saving treatment he received after the violent assault in our home,” Nancy Pelosi said in the statement.
“Paul remains under doctors’ care as he continues to progress on a long recovery process and convalescence,” she added.
During a press conference earlier this week, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins described the attack as “politically motivated.”
“What is clear based on the evidence thus far is that this house and the speaker herself were specifically targets,” Jenkins said.
A suspect in the attack, 42-year-old David Depape, now faces multiple state and federal charges in connection with the incident.
According to the federal complaint, DePape allegedly used a hammer to break into the Pelosi residence just before 2 a.m. local time. He then went upstairs, where Paul Pelosi was asleep, and demanded to talk to “Nancy,” according to the complaint.
Nancy Pelosi was in Washington, D.C., with her protective detail at the time, according to the Capitol Police.
Paul Pelosi was able to call 911 after telling DePape he needed to use the bathroom, according to the complaint.
Two police officers arrived minutes later and entered the home, encountering DePape and Paul Pelosi struggling over a hammer, police said.
The officers told the men to drop the hammer, at which time DePape allegedly swung it, striking Paul Pelosi in the head. The officers immediately restrained and disarmed DePape, police said.
The officers later secured a second hammer, a roll of tape, white rope, zip ties as well as a pair of rubber and cloth gloves from the crime scene, according to the complaint.
DePape allegedly later told officers “that he was going to hold Nancy hostage and talk to her,” according to the complaint.
The suspect also allegedly told investigators that he intended to break Nancy Pelosi’s kneecaps if she didn’t tell him the “truth” about “lies told by the Democratic Party,” according to the complaint.
DePape pleaded not guilty to state charges, including attempted murder, residential burglary and assault with a deadly weapon, during an arraignment on Tuesday.
He has been ordered held without bail and a preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Friday. He has yet to be arraigned on federal charges of assault and attempted kidnapping.
(NEW YORK) — A man is accused of posing as a Stanford University student and living in at least five different dorms on campus for nearly a year, the university’s newspaper, The Stanford Daily, reported.
William Curry allegedly presented himself as a Stanford student on various social media profiles, including Instagram and a dating app.
“He had a whole Instagram page that many of my friends had already followed, that said he was Stanford class of ’25 … that he transferred from Duke,” student Kacey Logan said.
“He certainly was not a person who was just making do on Stanford’s campus, living off of the excesses,” Theo Baker, a writer at The Stanford Daily, told ABC News. “He was a part of this community. He was living alongside people and very much interacting with them on a day-to-day basis.”
Stanford told ABC News that Curry was cited for violating the law and removed from campus in December 2021. But according to the Daily, he returned several times, each time with a new story.
Stanford said, despite attempts to cite him for trespass, they weren’t able to locate Curry until last week. Curry was caught living in the basement of Stanford’s Crothers Hall last week and was issued a “stay away” order.
When asked by The Stanford Daily what he was doing on campus, Curry said he was “living the normal Stanford life, you know, socializing, you know, meeting people, as you do in college.”
Stanford told ABC News some staff members in dorms where Curry was seen were notified. But Stanford didn’t have a broad communication system in place, which allowed him to move to other locations.
Stanford told ABC News in a statement, “While Stanford has protocols and policies in place to prevent non-students from entering and living in our residences, the unique aspects of this case and Mr. Curry’s persistence and ability to ingratiate himself with our student community have made it clear that gaps exist in those protocols.”
Stanford said it’s reviewing its procedures.
The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office is reviewing the case, but no charges have been filed.
(AKRON, Ohio) — The eight officers who fatally shot Jayland Walker, the 25-year-old Black man killed during an attempted traffic stop in Akron, Ohio, have been reinstated, according to the Akron Police Department.
Some community leaders are opposing the move, saying it will lead to “the erosion of any trust remaining between the community and police.”
The officers remain under investigation by their own department as well as the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, authorities said.
The officers were on paid administrative leave following the fatal shooting. According to ABC affiliate WEWS-TV, they were brought back on duty because to a staffing “crisis” at the department, Akron Police Chief Steve Mylett said. According to the department, the officers are on administrative duty and will not be in uniform or on patrol.
“I recognize that this decision will have an impact. And there may be some community concern, but I didn’t take this decision lightly,” Mylett told the local station. “And I think this decision is in the best interests of the citizens and businesses of Akron.”
Bishop Joey Johnson, a pastor at The House of the Lord, said that the move to reinstate the officers will cause a lot of pain in a city that’s still healing. He was one of 43 community activists and religious leaders who penned a letter dated Oct. 21 to the chief about their frustrations regarding his choice to move forward with reinstating the officers.
“The family is hurting. They’re in grieving. They are traumatized,” said Johnson. “Bringing people back before the investigation is done seems like it is bringing more pain,” Johnson said.
Mylett did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment. But on Oct. 25, he released a response letter to the Akron community, saying the decision was not made “in haste,” that he still thinks it was “the correct decision given the public safety challenges of the entire community” and stands by the decision “and his commitment to build a stronger Akron.”
The chief told the Akron Beacon Journal that he was disappointed by the letter, saying he had a “consensus” from community leaders to move forward with the reinstatement.
While community leaders figure out what next steps to take in their fight for “love and justice,” Johnson said they’re focused on being able to “move toward unity … with all parties.”
“Our priority is being able to help our community, particularly when the verdict comes out,” said Johnson. “The family is hurting. They’re in grieving. They are traumatized.”
The Walker family applauded religious leaders for their letter, and slammed Mylett for returning the officers to the department.
“It is the very definition of hypocrisy for Chief Mylett to claim, as he has previously, that his department is working hard to build trust among Akron’s minority communities, and then make a callous decision like this that fosters further distrust of the Akron Police Department among this population, while jeopardizing the legitimacy of BCI’s investigation,” read a statement from the family’s legal team.
Walker was unarmed when he was fatally shot by police on June 27 after a traffic stop turned into a pursuit. He was running away when eight officers opened fire on him, body camera footage released by the city showed.
As officers pursued Walker, officials said a flash of light seen in body camera footage appeared to be the muzzle flash of a gun coming from the driver’s side of Walker’s car.
In a second body camera video, officers are heard radioing that a shot was being fired from Walker’s car.
Later in the pursuit, Walker slowed down and jumped out of the passenger side door before it came to a full stop, according to the footage. As Walker ran away from police, several officers simultaneously fired several bullets, fatally shooting him, body camera footage released by the city showed.
He was unarmed when he was shot, but a gun was found in his car by officials.
Walker had 46 gunshot wounds on his body, according to an autopsy report conducted by the Summit County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Walker also had injuries to his face, heart, both lungs, liver, spleen, left kidney, intestines, pelvis, iliac artery and several bones in his legs, to chief medical examiner Lisa Kohler.
His manner of death has been ruled homicide and the toxicology report showed no use of drugs nor alcohol by Walker at the time of the incident.
“The family is devastated by the findings of the report and still await a public apology from the police department,” the Walker family’s legal team said in a statement to ABC News.
(SAN FRANCISCO) — Paul Pelosi has been released from the hospital, two sources familiar with the matter told ABC News, six days after being attacked in his home.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — A 43-year-old woman said she was raped while jogging along Manhattan’s West Side Highway Thursday morning, according to police.
The woman told authorities she was jogging near Pier 45 when, at about 5:30 a.m., a man grabbed her from behind, choked her and knocked her to the ground, the New York Police Department said.
She said he raped her, stole her wallet and phone and then fled on foot, according to police.
The victim flagged down another jogger who dialed 911, police said.
She was taken to a hospital in stable condition, police said.
Police announced the arrest of 29-year-old Carl Phanor on Thursday in connection with the jogger’s rape. Phanor has also been charged in the March 27 rape of a different woman in a nearly identical location. Additionally, police said Phanor has been charged in a third incident, an attack on a woman on the East Side of Manhattan. He is facing charges of sexually motivated robbery, robbery, grand larceny, strangulation, predatory sexual assault and criminal sex act.
Police said Phanor is undomiciled.
Law enforcement sources told ABC News earlier that a suspect was apprehended after police said he used the victim’s credit card at a Target in Midtown Manhattan.
Gabrielle Sumkin, who identified herself as the jogger who called 911, told ABC News she was on her usual running route when she noticed the victim, who she said appeared to be in distress. She said the victim had blood on her arm and elbows and was covering her eyes with her hand.
The 23-year-old said the victim could barely speak. Sumkin said, while she was on the phone with 911, the woman kept repeating, “I need help.”
She said she didn’t want to press the woman about what happened, and said she left the scene once first responders arrived. Sumkin said it wasn’t until news reports came out that she learned the woman had been raped.
Sumkin said she was sickened when she found out, and excused herself from work to go on a walk and cry.
“It’s disgusting. I’m a staunch feminist. I support women,” she said. “People who commit crimes like that are at the absolute bottom of my list.”
(NEW YORK) — The FBI on Thursday said it has “received credible information of a broad threat” to New Jersey synagogues.
In a tweet, the FBI urged people to “stay alert” and “take all security precautions to protect your community and facility.”
The threat, which originated online, was not specific to any one synagogue, law enforcement sources told ABC News.
The nature of the threat was not immediately clear, but law enforcement sources said it was not a bomb threat.
“Law enforcement will be increasing patrols in sensitive areas,” New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said in a statement. “Some of these patrols will be in marked vehicles and others will not — but please do not be alarmed if you observe an increase in police presence as we are taking these steps in an abundance of caution.”
Platkin also urged residents “to be extra vigilant” and report any suspicious activity to the police.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy tweeted that he’s in touch with the FBI, the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office and the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness.
“We are closely monitoring the situation and are working with local law enforcement to ensure that all houses of worship are protected,” the governor said.
The New York Police Department said it’s aware of the FBI’s alert.
“In an abundance of caution, the NYPD’s Intelligence and Counterterrorism Bureaus are working diligently alongside the Joint Terrorism Task Force and the FBI to ensure the safety and well-being of every area that encompasses our Jewish citizens and synagogues here in New York City and the Tri-State area,” the department tweeted.
(HOUSTON) — At least three people were shot in Houston on Wednesday during what police described as a human smuggling operation.
Officers from the Houston Police Department were dispatched to an IHOP restaurant on West Sam Houston Parkway in the Westchase neighborhood of the Texas metropolis at around 11:30 a.m. local time, after receiving at 911 call about a shooting. Upon arrival, the officers found two men — one of whom had been shot in the arm — who “told them that they had escaped from a human smuggling situation at a nearby hotel,” according to Houston Police Commander Jonathan Halliday.
“While speaking to the victims, they told us that the shooting happened earlier in the morning approximately two hours west of here, in the greater San Antonio area, but the exact location is not known,” Halliday said during a press conference Wednesday. “We believe they were being smuggled and they were brought to this area after the shooting occurred.”
The pair had escaped the hotel room and ran to the nearby IHOP, where they called 911 for help. They were both taken to a local hospital, though only one was wounded, according to Halliday.
Two other men, who also escaped after being shot in the arm and leg, fled the scene and later showed up at a local hospital for treatment, but it was not immediately clear how they got there, Halliday said.
All three gunshot victims — each of them male and approximately 30 to 40 years old — were hospitalized in stable condition and are expected to survive. There were initial reports of a fourth gunshot victim, but so far police have been unable to confirm that information or locate the individual, according to Halliday.
“We continue to check hospitals for anyone else that might be connected to this incident,” he told reporters. “At this point, we believe one of the three people shot may possibly be one of our suspects but final determination hasn’t been made yet.”
Officers stopped two vehicles that were leaving the hotel and detained the occupants — a total of nine people, all adult males, according to Halliday, who added that “we’re not sure which of them are victims and which are possible suspects at this time.”
Police believe the victims were being held in the hotel room since they were brought there sometime on Wednesday morning. Officers cleared the room, with no one else found inside, according to Halliday.
The identities of all those involved have not been released and Halliday said their nationalities were not yet known.
“I don’t know where they were coming from or where they were going,” he told reporters.
No charges had been filed as of Wednesday, but Halliday noted that the investigation is still in the “very early” stages.
Halliday said there is “no public safety threat” and that police are not actively searching for any additional suspects at this time.
Investigators from the Houston Police Department remain at the scene, while agents from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security were en route Wednesday, according to Halliday.
“We’ll be interviewing all the parties detained with our HPD detectives, with the Homeland Security agents to try and, you know, figure everything out, determine who’s suspects, who are victims and get them the appropriate resources,” he added.
