Thursday marked the third consecutive day of demonstrations since violence erupted in Baltimore Monday night in response to the death of Freddie Gray. BuzzFeed News’ Joel Anderson and Albert Samaha are reporting from Baltimore.
They are using the hashtag #BaltimoreLootCrew and old photos to “paint African Americans in a bad light.” BuzzFeed News talked to some of the trolls behind the stunt.
The racist group ColorCabal has been using social media in an attempt to make people think old photos represent looters in Baltimore.
For those who are unfamiliar, 8chan and 4chan are open message boards that often stage large-scale and highly offensive or destructive internet pranks and “cyberterrorism,” including the misogynist GamerGate.
This is a not-to-be-missed show.
Tim Orr / AP
The U.S. Coast Guard in Traverse City has posted stunning pictures of the wrecks to its Facebook page.
The malnourished sea lion, named Rubbish, was spotted early Thursday on a sidewalk in the city’s Marina District and is now at a rescue and rehab center.
Rubbish was trapped under a parked vehicle in the Marina District on Divisadero Street shortly before 7 a.m. Thursday. Officials said the sea lion was malnourished and appeared to have lost weight since his first rescue and rehabilitation earlier this year.
Rubbish was caught by a net and ushered into a large crate before being transported to the Marine Mammal Center, which has been inundated by stranded, malnourished sea lion pups this year.
Marci Johnson, a Baltimore public defender, said the detained women used slices of bread for pillows while cramped in cold cells with limited drinking water. The Maryland Department of Corrections declined to comment on the alleged conditions.
Baltimore police officers detain a demonstrator following clashes with police, after the funeral of Freddie Gray.
Jose Luis Magana / AP
A Baltimore public defender who visited women arrested during Monday night's riots said they were being held in ill-equipped cramped, cold cells, forcing some of them to use slices of bread as pillows.
Marci Johnson, an attorney with the Office of the Public Defender, on Wednesday interviewed women being held in Baltimore's Central Booking and Intake Facility.
Up to 15 women were packed in cells that measured about 10-by-10 feet, with one sink, one toilet, and no pillows or blankets. Three times a day they were given four slices of bread, a piece of cheese, and a bag of cookies to eat, Johnson said.
"They were saving some of their bread and using it as pillows so they would have something to lay their heads on instead of a filthy concrete floor," Johnson told BuzzFeed News. "The conditions these women were being held in was shocking."
By Wednesday, 101 of the 234 demonstrators who were arrested Monday had been released from custody.
Johnson said most were held without being formally charged or having a bail hearing, which concerned the public defender because according to Maryland state law, people who are arrested must appear in court within 24 hours.
"The vast majority of the people we saw had been incarcerated for well over 24 hours," Johnson said.
Maryland Department of Corrections spokesman Gerard Shields said his agency had no comment about the alleged conditions. Baltimore City State's Attorney's Office did not return calls for comment.
Police detain a man after a march to City Hall for Freddie Gray.
Alex Brandon / AP
The detained women were also instructed not to drink water from the sink because it was bad, Johnson said. They sometimes received juice, but water was scarce because guards had to periodically wheel in a water cooler, she added.
Many had not seen a doctor or received required medication, Johnson said.
The women Johnson saw ranged in ages and background. Some were in high school, others were in their 40s. There were white women alongside black women, college graduates together with people with only a GED.
Some of the women began to cry when Johnson spoke with them.
"They had children at home and no one knew where they were," Johnson said. "Other women cried because they were so happy to talk to anyone."
Johnson said there could've been 8th Amendment violations because of the "deplorable conditions" the women were held in.
The Pretrial Justice Institute, an organization advocating for pretrial reform, said it was unconstitutional and inhumane to hold protestors without charges while imposing exorbitant bonds.
"Arrests, arbitrary bond amounts and pretrial detention should never be used as weapon against communities, even in moments of tension," the group said in a statement.
A Facebook post from Wednesday detailing what Johnson saw at the jail took off with more than 11,339 shares as of Thursday afternoon.
"I'm glad people are paying attention," Johnson said. "The outpouring and reposting has just been amazing and restored my faith in humanity."
Jean Nidetch, who founded Weight Watchers in 1963, died Wednesday at her Florida home.
Jean Nidetch at her home in Parkland, Fla. in 2011.
Alan Diaz / AP
Jean Nidetch, founder of the global weight-loss company, Weight Watchers, died at her Florida home on Wednesday. She was 91.
The concept for Weight Watchers was hatched in 1961 when Nidetch, who described herself as an “overweight housewife obsessed with cookies,” was 38 and weighed more than 200 pounds. She decided to shed the pounds and enlisted a group of six friends who also wanted to lose weight to meet in her living room in Queens, New York and provide each other with moral support.
Nidetch had always struggled with her weight and experimented with countless “fad diets.” She even tried a 10-week diet at an obesity clinic but could not stop eating Mallomars, chocolate-covered marshmallow cookies, The New York Times reported.
It wasn't until a neighbor mistook her for being pregnant in 1961, that Nidetch finally decided to do something about her weight.
Within two months, 40 women were meeting weekly at Nidetch's home to chart their weight-loss and help to keep each other accountable, according to an obit on the Weight Watchers website.
She wound up losing 72 pounds and in 1963 launched Weight Watchers. Today the company holds 36,000 meetings each week and operates in about 30 countries.
In 1968, the company went public and 10 years later was sold to the H.J. Heinz company for $71.2 million, The New York Times reported. Nidetch continued to be the international face of the company until 1984.
She wrote three books, established a couple of university scholarship programs and in her later years she continued as a consultant to the company she founded.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg proclaimed March 25, 2013, as “Weight Watchers Founder Celebration Day” to honor Nidetch.
An analysis by a right-leaning public-policy group found that millionaire baseball players were sometimes denied entry into the U.S. because of problems with their visas, according to a report first released to BuzzFeed News. The report’s author said it’s indicative of how complicated the immigration system is.
Former Cleveland Indians' Jose Lopez was delayed in Venezuela for three weeks because of problems with his visa.
Paul Sancya / AP
A man working in the U.S. on a visa was temporarily delayed entry into the country because he changed employers without filling out a form. Another had to stay in Venezuela three weeks due to “visa issues.” And in one instance a United States senator had to intervene after a Japanese man was denied entry due to paperwork delays at the Department of Homeland Security.
These men could easily be one of hundreds of immigrants navigating the United States immigration system, but in this case they were professional baseball players who couldn't start the season or spring training because of issues with their visas.
A report released first to BuzzFeed News from the American Action Forum, a DC-based right-leaning public-policy institute, compiled instances of professional baseball players having trouble entering the U.S. along with statistics on the P-1 Visa, the permit that these athletes broadly fall under.
Players who had problems with their visas include former Cleveland Indians player José López, Kendrys Morales of the Kansas City Royals, former Washington Nationals All-Star closer Rafael Soriano and New York Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka. Kendry Flores of the Miami Marlins; Juan Sandoval of the Tampa Bay Rays; Alex Colome of the Rays; and Dian Toscano, who signed a four-year $6 million contract with the Atlanta Braves, also had issues.
The analysis found that more than 24,000 athletes or musicians were denied P-1 visas from 2009 to 2013, a 27.4% increase from the previous five-year period. The denial rate began to decrease in 2011 to about 17% from 18% the previous year. The rate was at about 15% in 2012 and 2013.
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately return calls for comment.
The American Action Forum
Sam Batkins, director of regulatory policy at the American Action Forum and the report's author, said annually there are about 2,000 applications for Alien Employment Certification, forms needed to get a visa.
The issues these players faced were temporary, unlike many other immigrants seeking a work permit, Batkins said, however they were indicative of how difficult it is to apply for a visa.
“Part of the reasons why we have 11 million undocumented immigrants is because the immigration system is incredibly complicated and expensive,” Batkins said.
It doesn't matter if you're a millionaire or have the support of billionaire team owners, you can still run into complications, Batkins said.
Not everyone can have their visa expedited by New York Senator Charles Schumer, Batkins said. In 2014 Masahiro Tanaka, who had signed a seven-year $155 million contract with the Yankees, nearly missed spring training because of paperwork delays at the Department of Homeland Security, the New York Daily News Reported.
“For millions of other qualified and highly-skilled immigrants, the story rarely leads to a happy ending,” Batkins wrote in his analysis.
The 65-year-old woman from Maui died Wednesday after she was apparently bitten by a shark while snorkeling.
Dumps, where the shark attack took place, is about a mile from Big Beach at Makena State Park on Maui.
A 65-year-old woman who was found Wednesday floating about 200 yards offshore with injuries consistent with a shark bite died, according to a Maui County statement.
The Maui woman was found floating facedown in the ocean shortly before 9 a.m. in a popular surf spot known as Dumps near Makena State Park. She was pulled out of the water by other snorkelers.
The woman had lost her arm and had other injuries to her upper torso that were consistent with a shark bite, officials said. Firefighters and paramedics began lifesaving efforts on the beach, but the woman did not survive.
The woman, who was not identified, had been snorkeling with two friends, but separated from them at some point before the attack, the county statement said. No one reported seeing the shark attack.
Other swimmers were immediately helped out of the waters by local crews. The Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) subsequently closed the waters on South Maui from La Perouse Bay to Big Beach in Makena State Park.
DLNR officials are also posting shark warnings on the beach and said the waters will be closed until noon local time on Thursday, when they will reassess the situation, according to a statement.
The incident is the third fatal shark attack in Maui waters off Makena in less than two years, the Star Advertiser reported.
BuzzFeed News has reached out to the Maui County Fire Department and the DLNR for more information.
The basketball team reportedly fired their social media manager after tweeting two emojis during the Dallas Mavericks game. Some Rockets fans, though, want him back.
Baltimore Police officers arrest a man on Monday.
Drew Angerer / Getty Images
Confusion ruled Baltimore’s jails and courts on Wednesday as the system struggled to handle the cases of nearly all of the 235 protesters arrested during Monday night’s violent demonstrations.
The arrested demonstrators were packed, unshowered, into small cells in Baltimore's central booking facilities and waited until Wednesday morning to appear before a judge, public defenders told BuzzFeed News. The court system was shuttered on Tuesday because of the protests.
"If you are going to make mass arrests, the rest of the criminal justice system needs to be ready to handle the cases," Deputy Public Defender Natalie Finegar told BuzzFeed News. She said 40 lawyers from Baltimore's Office of the Public Defender were sent to the jails in response to the arrests.
On Wednesday, dozens of defendants were given bail reviews at the John R. Hargrove Sr. Courthouse — the only one of the city’s four courts that didn’t remain closed. As one defendant after another appeared via a video monitor — they were sitting at jail facilities about six miles away — their defense attorneys struggled to get Judge Kathleen Sweeney to give each case individualized attention.
Many who appeared were given bail offers that defense lawyers said were very costly when compared to the charges, a situation that Finegar said was not uncommon in Baltimore.
In one case, a 26-year-old father of two facing a misdemeanor burglary charge became emotional after Judge Sweeney declined to reduce his bail below $35,000 bond or $500 cash. He said he needed to provide for his family and could not do so from jail.
“I was just walking down the street, and I saw people running from the police,” the defendant said on the video monitor, ignoring the protests of his lawyer, who had asked him to remain silent. “They were hitting people, so I ran, because I was scared for my life.”
The defendant, becoming increasingly agitated, went on to say that he hadn’t been at the address where the police said that he had looted. Judge Sweeney advised him that everything he was saying was being recorded and could be used against him in trial.
Shane Smith was arrested near Kim Liquor's, which was being looted on Monday night. He was charged with burglary in the fourth degree, a misdemeanor. The laborer, who has a high school diploma, lives with his girlfriend, and has no prior convictions, was not participating, and wasn’t caught with any property, his lawyer Josh Insley argued.
"Gawking is not a crime," Insley said. Judge Sweeney kept a court commissioner's previous offer of $5,000 bail.
In another case, a defendant charged with rioting and other offenses was given a $500,000 bail, The Guardian reported.
The arrests came during protests demanding justice for Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old unarmed black man who who died under mysterious circumstances in police custody earlier in April. Authorities said crowds looted several businesses and set fire to nearly 150 cars. Riot police swept the city and brought 201 adults and 34 juveniles to the city's main detention facilities.
There, according to Maryland law, the defendants should immediately get a copy of the charges filed against them, the public defender's office said. Within 24 hours, they should be brought before a court commissioner for an initial bail hearing. Shortly afterward, those who can't make bail should appear before a judge, who reviews their case and decides whether to change the conditions for their release or keep them incarcerated pending trial.
But very little of that appears to have happened for most of the defendants, according to four public defenders and two private defense attorneys who are representing some of those arrested.
(Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, Captain Eric Kowalczyk of the Baltimore Police Department said that the police had up to 48 hours to charge defendants before being forced to release them. Finegar told BuzzFeed News that this is simply not true and that Kowalczyk “needs to crack open a book and freshen up on the law.”)
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan said in a letter to the city’s courts that he was suspending the law requiring prosecutors to bring defendants before a judicial officer within 24 hours as part of a state-of-emergency decree. “It is our opinion that the governor does not have the authority to do that,” Finegar said. “He has authority over state agencies, but the courts are not an agency.” Hogan’s spokesperson didn’t return a request for comment.
Finegar told BuzzFeed News that her office was planning to file habeas corpus petitions asking for the immediate release of 68 of the 111 defendants who have not yet been charged. She said that those arrested on Monday were staying in overcrowded cells holding as many as 20 people. She added that many defendants had gone 18 hours without food, and that several had not received medical care despite having been injured during arrest.
There were conflicting accounts of how many of those arrested had seen a judge and how many had been released.
At least 111 remained in jail on Wednesday evening without charges, according to officials with the public defender’s office. Many more were told of the accusations against them long after the 24 hours required by law, those officials said. Rochelle Ritchie, a spokesperson for the state's attorney, told BuzzFeed News that some defendants were charged in court on Tuesday, and that 101 were released on Wednesday.
Jerome Bivens, a private defense attorney who represented two of the people arrested on Monday, told BuzzFeed News that the delays were inexcusable for many of the defendants given the charges that will likely be filed against them.
“Even if you are not being charged with rioting, they are lumping everyone together,” Bivens said. “Every case should be taken individually, because when you generalize, that’s guilt by association.”
Cautioning that she did not have a complete list of charges — and that police have not yet charged many defendants at all — Finegar said that after reviewing dozens of cases she had “anecdotal” evidence that the majority of the defendants would be charged with misdemeanors such as burglary and disorderly conduct.
“Some folks are only being charged with simple assault,” Finegar said. “That’s a whole other circumstance than rioting. They are lumping everybody together and trying to portray everyone who was arrested that night as unreasonable folks, when in fact the vast majority of them are not being charged with serious crimes.”
Legal experts at the University of Maryland’s law school said court officials and prosecutors should be cautious about potential violations of due process.
“We should be as concerned with adherence to process as we are to methodically investigating the police officers and their responsibility for Freddie Gray’s death,” said Renée M. Hutchins, a professor at the Carey School of Law. “Sitting in jail for days, with no indication of what charges are against you, should not be something we are seeing in the American criminal justice system.”
LINK: More Than 100 Baltimore Protesters Arrested Monday Have Been Released
LINK: Demonstrations Continue In Baltimore And Other Cities
LINK: Freddie Gray’s Old Baltimore Neighborhood Prepares For The Worst
Two moose munch on shrubs in East Anchorage, Alaska in 2014.
Mark Thiessen / AP
Three men were charged Wednesday with wanton waste of big game and other crimes for fatally stabbing a young moose in Anchorage, Alaska, police said.
Several witnesses reported seeing three men allegedly harassing a yearling moose along a bike trail near the Russian Jack golf course at around 7:20 p.m. Tuesday, police said.
The witnesses say they observed the three men jumping on the moose, kicking it, and stabbing it with a large knife, police said in a news release.
By the time officers arrived, the moose was dead. It had “several lacerations and large tufts of hair pulled from its body,” police said.
Officers found the three suspects nearby, allegedly with blood on their clothes. A police dog named Diesel arrived at the scene, and about an hour later found several knives that police believe were used to stab the moose.
Johnathan Candelario, 25, James Galloway, 28, and Nick Johnston, 33, were arrested and each charged with cruelty to animals and tampering with evidence — both felonies — as well as wanton waste of big game, a misdemeanor. They remained in custody pending appearances in court.
A local charity collected the moose's remains.
Their grandparents really left them a handful.
WTSP / Via usatoday.com
The Lopezes took the box around to local antique stores who appraised the objects as “gruesome and authentic,” USA Today reported.
The map is of the Tampa region as it existed in the 1930s, while the coins were said to be Portuguese and Spanish and, along with the ring, from the 18th century.
Eve and Ernesto Lopez.
WTSP
“The equality enjoyed by the spouses must produce new fruit; equal opportunities in the workplace [and] a new valuing of motherhood and fatherhood,” he said Wednesday morning.
“As Christians, we must become more demanding…[by] supporting with decision the right to equal retribution for equal work,” he said. “Disparity is a pure scandal.”
Alessandra Tarantino / AP
“The equality enjoyed by the spouses must produce new fruit, ” Vatican Radio reported the pope saying. “Equal opportunities in the workplace, a new valuing of motherhood and fatherhood, and a greater appreciation for the openness of families to those most in need.”
Franco Origlia / Getty Images
Pedro Hernandez is accused of killing the 6-year-old in New York City in 1979.
Keith Bedford / Reuters
The New York City jury has been deliberating since April 15.
The judge then told them to keep trying to reach a consensus. The decision was criticized by Hernandez's defense attorneys, who said the case should be ruled a mistrial.
“Any charge to them at this point, even sending a note in to them saying, 'Would you like to try harder?' is inherently coercive,” lawyer Alice Fontier told the AP. “We believe that a mistrial is warranted, and any further proceedings after that are over the strenuous objections of the defense.”
Patz vanished on May 25, 1979 while walking to school. His body has never been found. His case made national headlines and he became the first missing child ever featured on a milk carton.
Hernandez then confessed to the crime, and jurors were shown videos of four confessions he gave to authorities, according to NY1.
Five people also testified he had told them he had killed someone.
However, prosecutors have no physical evidence linking Hernandez to the crime, the AP reported.
Defense attorneys argued that Hernandez suffers from mental illness and pointed to differences between his statements as evidence, according to NY1.
Pool New / Reuters
LINK: Long-Lost Evidence In Etan Patz Case Found In Police Station
Following the unrest in Baltimore, the public wasn’t allowed into Camden Yards for Wednesday’s Orioles and White Sox game, a first in Major League Baseball history. Weird, almost haunting images of the teams playing to empty seats and fans cheering from behind closed gates.
Eric Thayer / Reuters
Patrick Semansky / AP
Gail Burton / AP
Gail Burton / AP
Baltimore attorney Stephen Beatty tweeted that Joseph Kent was arrested and that he is “ok and safe.”
CNN footage shows Kent standing with his hands in the air around 10:40 p.m. The video shows a number of law enforcement officers surrounding Kent, as a National Guard humvee comes into the shot and blocks the camera. The moment officers swarm him can be seen at the 0:34 mark.
“They drove the vehicle up and when it got close enough to create a wedge they ran out an grabbed him, pinned him against that and arrested him,” CNN anchor Chris Cuomo said.
Kent, 21, is a Morgan State University student known in Baltimore as vocal activist. He helped organize Baltimore's protests against the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, according to City Paper
Andrew Burton / Getty Images
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Matt Rourke / AP
Adrees Latif / Reuters
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Evan Vucci / AP
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Jae C. Hong / AP
Toya Graham told local reporters she didn’t want her son to be another Freddie Gray.
Aaron Slator, an AT&T executive who became the subject of a $100-million discrimination lawsuit, was fired by the company Tuesday.
Aaron Slator.
Imeh Akpanudosen / Getty Images
AT&T confirmed to BuzzFeed News Tuesday that it has fired Aaron Slator, an executive who is now the subject of a $100-million discrimination lawsuit for allegedly using his work phone to send a racist image.
In a statement, AT&T said it had terminated Slator, president of content and ad sales, and regretted not doing so sooner. The statement added that “there is no place for demeaning behavior within AT&T.”
On Monday, Knoyme King, a 50-year-old black woman who worked under Slator at AT&T, filed a $100-million lawsuit against the executive, CEO Randall Stephenson, and others at the company.
The lawsuit alleges that Slator sent a racist meme to a friend on a work phone and embarked on a campaign to harass her after the offensive content was discovered.
Afp / Getty Images
King alleges a former assistant discovered the meme showing a dancing black child with the words “It's Friday N***as” on Slator's phone in a message he sent to a friend, writing “oldie but a goodie.”
King said that she reported the meme to AT&T officials, but nothing was done, according to TMZ.
The 50-year-old woman, who 30-year employee of the company, also said she was subsequently harassed by Slator and held back from promotions.
King's lawyer, Skip Miller, told the Associated Press on Tuesday that the legal case would continue, alleging that racism permeates AT&T's corporate culture.
He claimed that the offensive meme was known to the company's board over a year ago.
AT&T is facing another lawsuit for $10 billion from National Association of African-American Owned Media and Byron Allen's Entertainment Studios that alleges the company discriminated against black media companies.
According to a statement from the New York County Lawyers' Association, the plaintiffs in the $10-billion lawsuit are seeking to amend their case based on the evidence brought forward in King's lawsuit.
