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Soldier’s assault suit against officers can proceed to trial

NORFOLK, Va. — A US Army lieutenant who was pepper-sprayed, struck and handcuffed during a traffic stop in Virginia can present his claims of false imprisonment and assault and battery to a jury, a federal judge has ruled.

But the summary judgment Tuesday said federal immunity shield laws the two officers involved from facing Caron Nazario’s claims that they violated the Black and Hispanic soldier’s constitutional protections against excessive force and unreasonable seizure, as well as his right to free speech by allegedly threatening him with arrest if I have complained about their behavior.

US District Judge Roderick C. Young also ruled that the officer who initially pulled Nazario over is liable for illegally searching for a gun in the soldier’s SUV in violation of the US Constitution and Virginia law, leaving the question of damages on that point up to a jury. Nazario had a concealed carry permit.

The December 2020 traffic stop of the uniformed military officer in the small town of Windsor drew national attention and outrage after Nazario sued in April 2021, citing police body camera images and his cellphone video of the encounter. He was never charged with a crime.

Nazario had been driving home in the dark from his duty station when Officer Daniel Crocker radioed that he was attempting to stop a vehicle with no rear license plate and tinted windows, the lawsuit says. Body camera video later showed that a temporary tag was taped to the inside of the rear window.

“It appeared to Lt. Nazario that there was no good location in the immediate vicinity to stop safely. So, for the benefit of the officer’s safety and his own, Lt. Nazario continued slowly down US 460,” the lawsuit says. Nazario drove below the posted speed limit for less than a mile until he reached the well-lit parking lot of a BP gas station, it says.

Crocker said the driver was “eluding police” and he considered it a “high-risk traffic stop,” according to a report cited in the lawsuit. Another officer, Joe Gutierrez, was driving by and joined him.

The lawsuit says both officers escalated the situation by immediately pointing their guns at Nazario and trying to pull him out of the vehicle while he kept his hands in the air. Gutierrez pepper-sprayed Nazario multiple times as the officers yelled for him to get out.

At one point, Nazario said he was afraid to get out, to which Gutierrez replied: “You should be.”

When Nazario did get out and ask for a supervisor, Gutierrez responded with “knee-strikes” to his legs, knocking him to the ground, where the two officers struck him multiple times and then handcuffed and interrogated him, the lawsuit says.

Officer Gutierrez was later fired for failing to follow department policy during the stop. A special prosecutor concluded late last month that Gutierrez should not be criminally charged under Virginia law, but should be investigated by the US Justice Department for potential civil rights violations.

The federal judge ruled Tuesday that the officers had likely caused Nazario to pull over for an improperly displayed license plate, and to charge him with eluding police as well as obstruction of justice and failure to obey when he refused to exit the vehicle.

The judge also wrote that Nazario’s claims under the US Constitution of unlawful seizure and excessive force present questions about the officers’ conduct that could be put before a jury. But Young threw out the allegations under the federal doctrine of qualified immunity, which balances accountability with the need to shield officials who reasonably perform their jobs.

For example, the judge wrote that there is not a “clearly established right prohibiting the aiming of firearms, the use of threats or the use of OC spray against a suspect who has repeatedly refused to comply with lawful commands to exit a vehicle.”

The allegation that Nazario’s free speech was violated was also tossed under the federal immunity doctrine.

However, Young said Nazario’s claims under state law, false imprisonment and assault and battery, can move forward. The judge wrote that Virginia law “only provides local officials immunity from suits alleging negligence.”

Explaining his summary judgment on Crocker’s search for the gun, Young wrote that “the firearm was not relevant evidence for the crimes of eluding or obstruction of justice.” However, he said Nazario’s claims that Gutierrez knew about the search and failed to intervene could proceed Gutierrez has argued that he knew nothing about the search.

Jessica Ann Swauger, an attorney listed for Gutierrez, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Jonathan Arthur, one of the attorneys representing Nazario, said the judge’s ruling is a victory even though three of the federal claims were tossed.

“Whether it’s under federal law or whether it’s under state law, the jury is going to speak,” Arthur said. “And we hope that the jury is going to stand up and say that this behavior will not be tolerated.”

Anne C. Lahren, an attorney for Crocker, said the remaining questions are “classic” issues for a jury, rarely decided at this stage in a civil suit. She also noted that the judge found the stop itself and the officers’ ensuing commands to be lawful.

“Lt. Nazario’s own actions gave rise to the unfortunate, but lawful, escalation of force …,” Lahren wrote. “Had Lt. Nazario simply followed the lawful commands of the officers from the outset of the traffic stop, none of this would have been necessary.”

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3 dead in shooting at Florida Narcotics Anonymous meeting

EDGEWATER, Fla. — A man went into a Narcotics Anonymous meeting in Florida and fatally shot his ex-girlfriend and her friend before turning the gun on himself, police said Tuesday.

Quinton Hunter brandished the gun shortly after entering the Monday night meeting, Edgewater police Chief Joseph Mahoney said during a news conference Tuesday. About 20 other participants safely fled and called police, he said.

Erica Hoffman and Ian Greenfield were already dead when officers arrived, the chief said. At some point after the shooting, Hunter began recording a Facebook Live which showed him wearing goggles and breathing heavily.

“It appears from the timeline we have that he had already shot Mr. Greenfield and had fired several other shots before he went live,” the chief said. “But he didn’t make any comments, he didn’t communicate with us. Just heavy breathing. It was very strange.”

Officers sought to make contact with the suspect to negotiate before a SWAT team breached the building and found the gunman and the two others dead inside, the post said.

Hunter had a violent criminal history, the chief said. He also said investigators are still trying to figure out the relationship between Greenfield and Hoffman, and that Hunter may have been motivated by jealousy.

The meeting was held in the offices of Be The Bridge, a nonprofit organization that helps the homeless and others get a fresh start in life.

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North Carolina sheriff stocking schools with AR-15 rifles

MARSHALL, N.C. — When schools in one North Carolina county reopen later this month, new security measures will include stocking AR-15 rifles for school resource officers to use in the event of an active shooter.

Spurred by the elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that left 19 children and two teachers dead in May, school officials and Madison County Sheriff Buddy Harwood have placed one of the semiautomatic rifles in each of the county’s six schools. Each of the guns will be locked inside a safe, Harwood said.

The North Carolina school district and sheriff’s office are collaborating to enhance security after the Uvalde shooting revealed systemic failures and “egregiously poor decision-making,” resulting in more than an hour of chaos before the gunman was finally confronted and killed by law enforcement, according to to a report written by an investigative committee of the Texas House of Representatives.

“Those officers were in that building for so long, and that suspect was able to infiltrate that building and injure and kill so many kids,” Harwood told the Asheville Citizen Times. “I just want to make sure my deputies are prepared in the event that happens.”

The idea of ​​having AR-15s in schools does not sit well with Dorothy Espelage, a UNC Chapel Hill professor in the School of Education who has conducted decades of study and research on school safety and student well-being.

“What’s going to happen is we’re going to have accidents with these guns,” Espelage told WLOS-TV. Just the presence of an SRO increases violence in the schools. There’s more arrests of kids. Why is it that they have to have these AR-15s? It doesn’t make any sense.”

Madison County Schools Superintendent Will Hoffman said school administrators have been meeting regularly with local law enforcement officials, including Harwood, to discuss the updated safety measures.

Harwood said the county’s school resource officers have been training with instructors from Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College.

Harwood said the safes where the AR-15s will be kept will also hold ammunition and breaching tools for barricaded doors.

“We’ll have those tools to be able to breach that door if needed. I do not want to have to run back out to the car to grab an AR, because that’s time wasted. Hopefully we’ll never need it, but I want my guys to be as prepared as prepared can be,” he said.

Schools are scheduled to reopen Aug. 22, according to the Madison County Schools website.

While the optics of school resource officers potentially handling AR-15s in schools may be discomforting to some, Harwood said he believes it is a necessary response.

“I hate that we’ve come to a place in our nation where I’ve got to put a safe in our schools, and lock that safe up for my deputies to be able to acquire an AR-15. But, we can shut it off and say it won’t happen in Madison County, but we never know,” Harwood said.

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Alabama town disbands police department over racist text

VINCENT, Ala. — A racist text message sent by a police officer has prompted officials in a small Alabama town to disband their police department and fire the police chief and assistant chief.

Vincent Mayor James Latimore on Thursday confirmed that Police Chief James Srygley and Assistant Chief John L. Goss had been dismissed, al.com reported.

The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office on Friday condemned the two officers’ actions and said it stands with the city “in providing emergency law enforcement related service to the citizens (of Vincent) at this time.”

In the message, which recently surfaced on social media, someone identified as “752″ texts: “What do y’all call a pregnant slave?” An unidentified recipient responds twice: “?” and “??”

“752″ answers: “BOGO Buy one, get one free”

“This has turned this community apart. It doesn’t matter what color we are as long as we do right by people,” City Councilman Corey Abrams said during Thursday’s council meeting.

On Tuesday, Latimore said “appropriate action has been taken” against the officer alleged to have sent the text, though at the time he would not name the person or anyone involved.

The city’s website lists three people in its department: Srygley, Goss and Officer Lee Carden.

During the council meeting, Latimore announced he had suspended the chief and assistant chief, and the council voted to end the agency. Latimer said Carden turned in his resignation via text message just hours after the city council voted to dissolve the department.

Located in central Alabama, southeast of Birmingham, Vincent has a population of just under 2,000 people. It’s located in Shelby, St. Clair, and Talladega counties.

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Sandy Hook dad says Alex Jones made his life a ‘living hell’

AUSTIN, Texas– The father of a 6-year-old killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting testified Tuesday that conspiracy theorist Alex Jones made his life a “living hell” by pushing claims that the murders were a hoax.

In more than an hour of emotional testimony during which he often fought back tears, Neil Heslin said he has endured online abuse, anonymous phone calls and harassment on the street.

“What was said about me and Sandy Hook itself resonates around the world,” Heslin said. “As time went on, I truly realized how dangerous it was. … My life has been threatened. I fear for my life, I fear for my safety.”

Heslin said his home and car have been shot at, and his attorneys said Monday that the family had an “encounter” in Austin since the trial started and have been in isolation under security.

Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, the parents of 6-year-old Jesse Lewis, have sued Jones and his media company Free Speech Systems over the harassment and threats they and other parents say they have endured for years because of Jones and his Infowars website. Jones claimed the 2012 attack that killed 20 first-graders and six staffers at the Connecticut school was a hoax or faked.

Heslin and Lewis are seeking at least $150 million in the case.

“Today is very important to me and it’s been a long time coming… to face Alex Jones for what he said and did to me. To restore the honor and legacy of my son,” Heslin said.

Heslin also said that while he doesn’t know if the Sandy Hook hoax theory originated with Jones, it was Jones who “lit the match and started the fire” with an online platform and broadcast that reached millions worldwide.

Heslin told the jury about holding his son with a bullet hole through his head, even describing the extent of the damage to his son’s body. A key segment of the case is a 2017 Infowars broadcast that said Heslin holding his son didn’t happen.

An apology from Jones wouldn’t be good enough at this point, he said.

“Alex started this fight,” Heslin said, “and I’ll finish this fight.”

Jones wasn’t in court during Heslin’s testimony, to move the father called “cowardly.” Jones has skipped much of the testimony during the two-week trial and had a cadre of bodyguards in the courtroom when he did attend. Tuesday was the last scheduled day for testimony and Jones was expected to take the stand as the only witness in his defense of him.

Scarlett Lewis was also called to the stand Tuesday.

Heslin and Lewis suffer from a form of post-traumatic stress disorder that comes from constant trauma, similar to that endured by soldiers in war zones or child abuse victims, a forensic psychologist who studied their cases and met with them testified Monday.

Jones has portrayed the lawsuit against him as an attack on his First Amendment rights.

At stake in the trial is how much Jones will pay. The parents have asked the jury to award $150 million in compensation for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The jury will then consider whether Jones and his company will pay punitive damages.

The trial is just one of several Jones faces.

Courts in Texas and Connecticut have already found Jones liable for defamation for his portrayal of the Sandy Hook massacre as a hoax involving actors aimed at increasing gun control. In both states, judges issued default judgments against Jones without trials because he failed to respond to court orders and turn over documents.

Jones has already tried to protect Free Speech Systems financially. The company filed for federal bankruptcy protection last week. Sandy Hook families have separately sued Jones over his financial claims from him, arguing that the company is trying to protect millions owned by Jones and his family from him through shell entities.

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University instructor charged in shooting death of student

CARROLTON, Ga. — A university instructor in Georgia has been charged with killing an 18-year-old student who was fatally shot while sitting in a car.

The Carrollton Police Department said in a news release that Richard Sigman, 47, is charged with murder and aggravated assault for the shooting death of Anna Jones, 18. Police said they believe Jones was killed when Sigman shot into a parked car following an argument with a man at a pizza restaurant. The shooting happened shortly after midnight Saturday.

Police said a man told security that Sigman had threatened to shoot him during an argument, and security then asked Sigman to leave. Investigators believe when Sigman left, he walked to the parking deck and started shooting into a parked vehicle, hitting Jones. Friends drove Jones to a hospital where she was pronounced dead, police said.

It is not immediately clear if Sigman has a lawyer to speak on his behalf.

The University of West Georgia told news outlets in a statement that Sigman’s employment has been terminated. A current course catalog listed Sigman as a lecturer in business administration.

The university said Jones was a student at the university.

“On behalf of the university, we wish to convey our deepest condolences to Anna’s family and many friends. We know this news is difficult to process and affects many members of our university community. We ask that you keep Anna’s family, friends, and all who have been touched by this tragedy in your thoughts during this tremendously difficult time,” University of West Georgia President Dr. Brendan Kelly said in the statement.

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