(WASHINGTON) — The Justice Department has announced charges against an Ohio man accused of making threats against a local reproductive health services clinic.
Newly unsealed charging documents allege Carlos Manuel Rodriquez Brime, 25, of making two separate threats via telephone to the Your Choice Healthcare facility in Columbus on April 11.
“My girlfriend is a patient there and I’m going to bring the heat. If she kills my baby, I’m going to kill her,” Brime allegedly said in the first call.
A little over two hours later, Brime called again and made a bomb threat, saying, “My organization will be bringing a bomb to your facility. I suggest you close your doors.”
Brime was charged with one count of violating the FACE Act, which makes it a crime to threaten anyone receiving or providing reproductive health services.
In recent weeks, the Justice Department has vowed aggressive enforcement of the FACE Act in Texas against anyone who levies threats against those seeking abortions or reproductive health clinic workers, after the state’s restrictive law banning most abortions took effect earlier this month.
Brime is also charged with two other counts making threatening statements and making a bomb threat. If convicted, he faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, according to the DOJ.
He was arrested Thursday and ordered to remain detained pending further legal proceedings. He has not yet entered a plea in his case and his arraignment is scheduled for next Thursday.
A public defender listed as representing Brime did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News.
Faith No More was supposed to perform with System of a Down at several shows in Los Angeles next month, but earlier this week, those shows were canceled as frontman Mike Patton works through some mental health issues.
SOAD’s Serj Tankian says he’s bummed that the two acts won’t get to perform together, but Patton’s health comes first.
Speaking to Billboard, Tankian said that it’s “really sad” that Faith No More won’t be joining them, and adds, “Mike is a friend of mine and I’ve reached out to him and his manager. I just hope he’s O.K. I love him dearly. I know he’s influenced so many artists and bands, including ours.”
“It would’ve been great to play together, but the important thing is health and the important thing is everyone’s O.K., and we can always find time to play together again,” Tankian notes.
In a statement, Patton explained that he has “issues that were exacerbated by the pandemic that are challenging me right now.”
When he’s not collaborating with seemingly every artist under the sun, Elton John is speaking out various topical issues, and one of them in particular really has him riled up.
Elton has been complaining for months that since “Brexit” — when the U.K. left the European Union — touring in Europe is now extremely difficult for British musicians, because they have to get special permits and visas, which are very costly. Elton has taken part in hearings on the issue, but now, he’s decided to go straight to the top.
In the new episode of his Rocket Hour Apple Music show, Elton says he’s requested a meeting with British prime minister Boris Johnson, but admits, “I’ve yet to hear back from him.”
“I’m on the warpath to try to get this sorted out,” Elton declares. “What has happened is that it’s impossible for young artists financially to pay for visas, negotiate their way through all of the red tape that’s necessary for going to Europe. It’s financially impossible for them to do so.”
Recalling how important is was to him personally to get to perform in Germany at age 17, Elton says, “It’s so imperative for young artists to have that opportunity to do that. It makes them grow as songwriters, as artists, and as human beings. And it’s their right to be able to tour wherever they want to…so, at the moment they can’t, but we’re going to try and fix it.”
The legendary star continues, “I’m going to fight for this, and we’re going to continue to try and fight for this because it’s a desperate thing that’s holding young artists back,” adding, “It breaks my heart that these people are being held back by these ridiculous Brexit rules.”
The full episode will stream Saturday on Apple Music 1.
Drake Bell took to Instagram Friday to explain his guilty plea in June for improper conduct with an underage girl.
The 35-year-old former Drake & Josh star also wanted to address what he called, “entirely false” reports regarding his plea, for which he was sentenced in July to two years probation and community service.
Bell, whose birth name is Jared Drake Bell, was indicted in May on charges stemming from an interaction with a then-15-year-old girl in December of 2017. He initially entered a not guilty plea before deciding to take a deal, pleading guilty to attempted endangering children, a fourth-degree felony, and disseminating matter harmful to juveniles, a first-degree misdemeanor.
In his post, Bell explained, “I didn’t get arrested, I didn’t go to jail,” and for that matter he didn’t change his name and move to Mexico, he said in the Spanish-subtitled post. Bell maintains, “I responded to a fan whose age I didn’t know, and when I became aware of their age, all conversation and communication stopped.”
The alleged victim, “continued to come to shows and pay for meet and greets,” Bell said, maintaining he didn’t know this was the same person he’d cut off.
Bell maintains that while his behavior was “reckless and irresponsible,” he wanted to make clear, “there were no sexual images, nothing physical” between he and his accuser. “I was not charged with the disseminating of photographs or…anything like that. This is strictly over text messages.”
“It’s not me telling you that the claims are false, but the state of Ohio,” Bell added. “If these claims were remotely true…I would not be here at home with my wife and my son.”
Bell’s statements sync with what his attorneys claimed at sentencing.
(WASHINGTON) — Federal advisers on Friday voted 18-0 in favor of recommending Pfizer booster shots for anyone over 65 or anyone who is at high risk of severe disease from COVID-19. However, the panel declined to recommend boosters for all Americans as young as 16 who took the Pfizer vaccine more than six months ago.
If the Food and Drug Administrations agrees with the plan, which is likely, it’s possible that booster shots would roll out as early as next week to these populations. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would weigh in first though with more specific recommendations on who exactly should take the third shots.
Members of the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee scrutinized new data from Israel and questioned whether boosters are really necessary, particularly among younger populations.
The largest sticking point was the lack of data on the effect boosters could have on young people, particularly because 16- and 17-year-olds weren’t included in the trial. Myocarditis, a heart inflammation condition, occurred mostly in young men, though very rarely, after their second mRNA dose, so members wanted to see more data on the effects of a third shot.
While many Americans have already opted for third shots, with doctors allowing them as an “off-label” practice, it’s up to federal regulators to decide how the vaccines are labeled and administered.
The debate has become unusually charged, in part because of White House involvement. President Joe Biden said he would only act on rolling out boosters if the FDA and CDC agreed. But his public pronouncement that the rollout would begin as early as Monday suggested the decision was a foregone conclusion, leading to accusations by some scientists that the Biden administration was pressuring independent regulators.
Following FDA approval, the CDC will determine who exactly should get a booster. After that CDC recommendation is made, booster shots would be available through any of the nation’s 40,000 pharmacies, doctors offices and other sites already offering the Pfizer vaccine.
The CDC has said vaccines still offer extraordinary protection against hospitalization and death, with more than 90% of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 being unvaccinated. At Friday’s FDA briefing, a CDC official said vaccine effectiveness against hospitalization in adults age 75 and older remained at about 88% through July.
But there were other signs that immunity waned with time.
A new Israeli study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found 11.3-fold lower rates of infection and 19.5-fold lower rates of severe COVID-19 among people older than 60 who got a booster dose. Also, an Israel Ministry of Health analysis estimated approximately 10-fold improved protection against infection and severe COVID-19 among people who got a booster.
Sharon Alroy-Preis, head of public health services at Israel’s Health Ministry, said Israel became concerned when it saw cases of fully vaccinated residents infecting other members of their households and – at times — winding up hospitalized.
“We definitely see that cases that are vaccinated — doubly vaccinated — that are no longer fresh” six months from their second dose, Alroy-Preis said. These vaccinated cases “are infecting other people. It’s obviously less than non vaccinated. But we’re seeing that, especially in their household.”
ABC News’ Sony Salzman contributed to this report.
Law & Order: SVU co-star Demore Barnes, who played Deputy Chief Christian Garland on the long-running series, says he was just as surprised as his fans were about news he won’t be returning for season 23.
Neither Barns nor Jamie Gray Hyder, who played Detective Kat Tamin, will be seen in SVU‘s upcoming season, which kicks off Thursday.
In an Instagram post, in which he acknowledged that, “it’s almost every actor’s…right of passage just to appear in even one episode of SVU,” Barnes addressed his followers regarding the development.
“While I know you were happy that I was here, and that I’m happy that I was here, I also know you’re sad and surprised and I am too. I don’t totally know why this happened.”
Barnes said he was “so very proud” to portray his character, the first Black person to hold the position of deputy chief of the sex crimes unit. He also heaped praised on the cast and crew, particularly star and executive producer Mariska Hargitay, who he says “spearheaded” his path to series regular.
Referencing series creator Dick Wolf‘s company, which he also thanked in his post, Barnes said, “I hope that Wolf Entertainment’s leadership, in giving me [the] opportunity [to] amplify vital voice and story, will result in many studios continuing to open doors of opportunities for others to do the same. This must continue.”
He closed with, “Chief Garland and I would not have it any other way.”
Sam Smith and Summer Walker add a heartfelt touch to “You Will Be Found” for the Dear Evan Hansen soundtrack.
Sam’s signature falsetto voice shines on the uplifting lyrics, while Summer provides gentle harmonies. The chorus proclaims, “So let the sun come streaming in/’Cause you’ll reach up and you’ll rise again/Lift your head and look around/You will be found.”
The beloved song comes at the end of Act I of the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical,which has been adapted into a film starring Ben Platt, reprising his role as the titular character. It also stars Julianne Moore, Amy Adams and others.
Dear Evan Hansen is set for release on September 24, the same day as its soundtrack.
Gabby Barrett just released the official video for “Footprints on the Moon.” The song, from her freshman Goldmine album, was written by Gabby, along with Zach Kale and Jon Nite.
“A lot of people were very negative through school, anywhere and everywhere that I went, and it was difficult,” Gabby explains to CMT of the inspiration for the song. “I wish I had a song to listen to at the time that I was going through that, and so for anybody else that is going through it, I wanted to release it for them to help them in any way.”
Gabby and her husband, Cade Foehner, who met while both competing on Season 16 of American Idol, both appear in the video. They welcomed their first child, daughter Baylah May, in January.
Gabby was recently named one of the five 2021 CMT Artists of the Year. The ceremony will be held on Wednesday, October 13.
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After more than 30 years in show business, Cedric the Entertainer wants to do more than just make people laugh.
The five-time NAACP Image Award winner is hosting the 2021 Emmy Awards Sunday night, and he says more Blacks need to follow in his footsteps.
“The industry hasn’t changed much,” he tells The Hollywood Reporter. “I mean, someone just told me that I’m only the second solo African American host of the Emmys. That’s ridiculous. Out of all these years, it’s been Bryant Gumbel and me.”
At 57 years old, Cedric is revered in the comic world, and the veteran wants to use his position to make a difference.
“I noticed, with the platforms that I have, this idea of leadership — a lot of people come to me to try to get things done,” he says. “I don’t know when I became this kind of OG godfather, especially when it comes to Black comedians, but I want to evoke change.”
Cedric continues, “I want things to happen in this business. And I do have a voice, so I will use it to see if I can make a change.”
Cedric is the star and one of the executive producers of the CBS sitcom The Neighborhood. He’s determined to make sure the show reflects his view of society.
“I’m making sure the show has a voice, making sure the episodes aren’t limiting and putting us in a box,” he says. “We can talk about the subjects that we want to. I can do it with a TV show, and I can do it in life. That’s probably the greatest thing that I learned about myself in the last year.”
The 73rd Emmy Awards airs live this Sunday, September 19, at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on CBS.
The idea of ’80s crooner Rick Astley, of “Never Gonna Give You Up” fame, singing a song by The Smiths is hard to imagine, but it actually happened — and former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr has weighed in on the performance. Let’s just say that, unlike the promise he makes in his song lyrics, Astley has, indeed, let Marr down.
This week, Astley and the U.K. band Blossoms performed The Smiths’ classic “This Charming Man” in London. Marr responded on Friday by retweeting the video of the performance and noting, “This is both funny and horrible at the same time.“
When one fan asked how Astley and Blossoms got approval for the cover, Marr replied, “Well, I met The Blossoms a few weeks ago and they elected to not mention it. Nice.“
When another fan suggested that the legendary guitarist should be flattered, he responded, “I’ve got no problem with tribute bands or with anyone doing anyone’s songs good or bad. I’ve got no problem with Rick Astley. There’s a back story. That’s that.”
Unfortunately, Marr didn’t reveal what the “back story” was.
Meanwhile, Astley and Blossoms are playing two Smiths tribute shows in the U.K. in October. Blossoms shared a video of themselves rehearsing another classic, “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now,” with Astley on vocals.
Some fans are loving the collaboration, with a few petitioning for a new version of The Smiths with Astley replacing the now-problematic-yet-iconic Morrissey on lead vocals.
Meanwhile, Marr will release a solo album called Fever Dreams Pts 1-4. As previously reported, the record is made up of four different EPs, the first of which arrives October 15. Next year, he’ll tour with The Killers.
