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Nevada man charged with hate crime admits in police interview that he mentioned ‘hanging tree’

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RENO, Nev. (AP) — A Nevada man charged with a hate crime admitted he mentioned a “hanging tree” during a verbal argument with a Black man collecting signatures for a proposed recall measure southeast of Reno, in keeping with an indictment unsealed Thursday.

Gary Miller, 74, his wife and their adult daughter were arrested Wednesday on misdemeanor charges. They posted bail hours later and were released from the Storey County Jail, court documents show.

The encounter, which the black man, Ricky Johnson, began recording after making a comment a few “hanging tree,” turned heated, with either side shouting obscenities at a classic automobile show in Virginia City, a Wild West tourist spot. Early in the video, Johnson demands that Miller repeat what he said off camera.

Miller didn’t say this, but later told a sheriff’s investigator that he had told Miller earlier that “there’s a hanging tree at the end of the road that you can hang yourself from,” in keeping with an affidavit included with the criminal grievance. At one point in the recording, Johnson asks Miller where the tree is positioned, and Miller replies, “in your backyard.”

The Aug. 2 comments were met with immediate criticism from local and state officials.

The arrests of Miller, his wife and daughter on Wednesday were met with swift praise from Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, who’s black.

“The public outcry was heard loud and clear, and steps were taken to hold these individuals accountable for their racist and unlawful actions,” Ford said.

Miller faces charges of disturbing the peace and noise violations, the latter of which incorporates a sentencing enhancement because authorities say Miller’s actions were motivated by race, in keeping with a grievance filed by Storey County District Attorney Anne M. Langer.

Miller’s wife, Janis Miller, who’s seen in the video leading Johnson out onto the road, is charged with one count of battery. Miller’s adult daughter, Tiffany Miller, is charged with obstructing or delaying a police officer.

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It is unclear whether any of the Millers have a lawyer who could speak on their behalf. Each declined a public defender’s request Wednesday. Neither Langer’s office nor the sheriff’s office knew if the Millers had legal representation.

Most of the fees against them carry a maximum sentence of six months in prison if convicted. Messages to a phone number and email address listed in public records for Gary Miller weren’t immediately returned Thursday.

Johnson, who lives outside Houston, was hired by a Texas-based company to collect signatures. He told The Associated Press earlier this week that an Aug. 2 meeting with Gary Miller turned heated when Miller called him a racial slur shortly before the taping began.

Johnson didn’t reply to multiple requests for extra comment from the AP via email, text message and voicemail.

Miller told the investigating deputy that Johnson began yelling at him and “going crazy” when he told him he was going to vote for Trump, in keeping with the documents. Miller said he then told Johnson “there was a hanging tree at the end of the road and to go there.”

Deputy Jacob Smiley asked Miller to make clear his words, and Miller said he “grew up in a different time,” the documents say.

Miller didn’t address the racial slur in the police interview or say so in the video.

In a handwritten statement to the sheriff’s office, Miller accused Johnson of attempting to “draw a crowd and escalate the situation” and later threatening him and his wife with phone calls “at all hours of the night.”

Undersheriff Eric Kern said the sheriff’s office is investigating a minimum of one act of vandalism at a neighborhood business and several other threats against businesses and business owners in the community consequently of the video. The office didn’t immediately reply to a request late Thursday evening asking whether any of those threats were directed on the Millers.

This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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Sean “Diddy” Combs faces five new sexual assault trials

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Several more plaintiffs got here forward this week accusing rap mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs of sexual abuse. On November 19, three men and two women filed separate complaints against the Bad Boy Records founder through Tony Buzbee, a lawyer who previously said he would represent greater than 100 clients accusing Combs of misconduct.

“For years, Combs and his companies have engaged in a persistent and pervasive pattern of violence against women, men and minors,” the entire complaints read: in keeping with People magazine. “This abuse was at times verbal, emotional, physical and sexual. As part of his pattern of molestation, Combs manipulated both men and women into participating in highly orchestrated performances of sexual activity, with both prostitutes and unsuspecting partygoers.”

The new plaintiffs include an unidentified man who claims the rapper sexually assaulted him when he was 39 years old. At a house party in New York in 2022, the plaintiff alleged that he was given a drink that left him feeling disoriented and uncontrolled. his body, which ultimately caused him to lose consciousness.

Lawyers for Sean

When he regained consciousness, he recalls being in a “dark bedroom with black walls, on a bed with black sheets”, where he realized that Combs was “sodomizing him”. The plaintiff claims he fought with the rapper before leaving the party.

Other male plaintiffs, including an unnamed former actor, remember feeling disoriented, passing out and waking up as Combs sexually assaulted them. With allegations dating back to 2001, all five complaints said Combs’ alleged abuse was “shockingly typical” since the star believed he was “above the law.”

“That said, Mr. Combs vehemently and categorically denies as false and defamatory any claim that he sexually abused anyone, including minors,” attorney Erica Wolff added in a press release. “He looks forward to proving his innocence and defending himself in court where the truth will be determined by evidence, not speculation.”

Combs is currently in federal custody awaiting trial on criminal charges including sex trafficking and racketeering. The star’s trial is scheduled to happen in May 2025.

Prosecutors say Sean

This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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Founder of an AI Tech startup accused of fraud and combining numbers with investors

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Joanna Smith-Griffin, 33, CEO of startup AllHere Education, Inc. dealing with AI education accused of defrauding investors.

The Southern District of New York prosecuted Smith-Griffin securities fraud, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. The grand jury indictment alleged that Smith-Griffin lied concerning the education platform’s funds and posed as a financial consultant to supply false information to investors. While acting as a financial consultant for AllHere Education, Smith-Griffin is accused of falsifying the corporate’s financial records mislead potential investors and inflate the worth of her company and its revenues.

AllHere Education is an AI-powered learning platform utilized in primary and secondary schools. Smith-Griffin has had little success integrating the K-12 platform into individual school districts in California and Georgia. However, the principal didn’t secure long-term contracts with school districts. She used these short-term partnerships to misrepresent to investors the reach and financial success of AllHere Education.

Smith-Griffin told potential AllHere investors that AllHere generated about $3.7 million in revenue in 2020, about $2.5 million in money and has major school district customers similar to New York City Department of Education (“NYC DOE”) and Atlanta Public Schools. In fact, AllHere generated roughly $11,000 in revenue in 2020, had roughly $494,000 in money, and had no contracts with many of the clients it represented, including the NYC DOE and Atlanta Public Schools.

Smith-Griffin continued to boost capital to support the startup, raising one other $10 million in funding. When the corporate collapsed financially, Smith-Griffin allegedly used the money injection to pay for an extravagant three-day wedding in Florida and a residence in North Carolina.

FBI Deputy Director James E. Dennehy commented on Smith-Griffin’s decision to prioritize her personal aspirations over the needs of an educational platform.

“Her alleged actions impacted the potential to improve the learning environment in core school districts by selfishly prioritizing personal expenses,” he said.

Smith-Griffin faces a compulsory two years in prison for the identity theft charge and a maximum of 20 years for every fraud charge. AllHere Education is currently in Chapter 7 bankruptcy.


This article was originally published on : www.blackenterprise.com
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Prosecutors say Sean “Diddy” Combs is trying to obstruct justice by heading to prison

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NEW YORK (AP) — Sean “Diddy” Combs was trying to reach potential witnesses and influence public opinion while in prison in a bid to influence potential jurors in an upcoming sex trafficking trial, prosecutors said in a court filing during which they urged a judge to deny his latest bail request.

The government charges were filed Friday evening in federal court in Manhattan, which opposed the music mogul’s latest offer of $50 million bail. A bail hearing is scheduled for next week.

Prosecutors wrote that a review of recorded phone calls Combs made while in prison shows that he asked relations to contact potential victims and witnesses and urged them to create a “narrative” to influence the jury pool. They say he also encouraged the use of promoting strategies to influence public opinion.

“The defendant has demonstrated time and time again – even while in custody – that he’ll flagrantly and repeatedly disregard the foundations so as to improperly influence the consequence of his case. In other words, the defendant has demonstrated that he can’t be trusted to abide by the terms and conditions,” prosecutors wrote in a press release containing redactions.

Prosecutors wrote that from his behavior it might be inferred that Combs wanted to blackmail victims and witnesses into remaining silent or providing testimony helpful to his defense.

Combs’ lawyers didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Whoopi Goldberg says she can't afford to take a break from work

Prosecutors said Combs, 55, began breaking the foundations almost immediately after being taken into custody Metropolitan Prison Center in Brooklyn after his September arrest.

He pleaded not guilty to the costs brought against him he abused and molested women for years with the assistance of a network of collaborators and employees, while silencing victims through blackmail and violence, including kidnapping, arson and physical beatings.

Two judges found he was a danger to the community and a flight risk.

His lawyers recently filed a 3rd bail application after rejecting two previous attempts, including a $50 million bail offer.

In their motion, they cited modified circumstances, including latest evidence, that they believed justified Combs’ release so he could higher prepare for his May 5 trial.

However, prosecutors said defense lawyers created the most recent bail proposal based on evidence provided to them by prosecutors, and the brand new material was already known to defense lawyers after they submitted previous bail applications.

In their presentation to the judge, prosecutors said Combs’ behavior in prison shows he must remain locked up.

Mary J. Blige and Giuseppe Zanotti announce a new release from their boot collaboration

For example, they said, Combs asked relations to plan and execute a social media campaign around his birthday “with the intent of influencing a potential jury in this criminal proceeding.”

He encouraged his children to post a video on their social media accounts of them gathering to have a good time his birthday, he added.

He then monitored statistics on the jail, including audience engagement, and “explicitly discussed with the family how to ensure the film would have the desired impact on potential jury members in this case,” they said.

The government also alleged that Combs made clear in other conversations that he intended to anonymously publish information that he believed would help him defend against the costs.

“Defendant’s efforts to impede the fairness of these proceedings also include his persistent efforts to contact potential witnesses, including victims of violence, who could provide strong testimony against him,” prosecutors wrote.

This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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