officer

The National Crime Agency (NCA) will take over an investigation into allegations that South Yorkshire Police officers sexually abused children in Rotherham.

The BBC reported in July on how five women who were exploited by grooming gangs as children have said they were also abused by police officers in the town in the 1990s to early 2000s.

South Yorkshire Police initially said it would look at the claims, but subsequently faced calls to be removed from the investigation in the interests of transparency.

The NCA said it would ensure “victims remain at the heart of this investigation”.

Three former police officers have so far been arrested in connection with the allegations.

Assistant Chief Constable Hayley Barnett said the force had requested that the NCA take over the investigation.

She said: “Concerns around the mode of investigation have put the force, and not the victim survivors, at the centre of the narrative, and this fails to align with a truly victim-centred investigation.

“I am also mindful there is a chance that some victim survivors may be suffering in silence and unwilling to make a report as a result of SYP’s involvement.”

Prof Alexis Jay, who led the landmark 2014 report which exposed the scale of the scandal, had told the BBC she was “shocked” the force was investigating its own former officers.

The Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp had also called for a separate body to lead the probe, saying there could be no “conflicts of interest”.

Switalskis, the solicitors representing survivors, welcomed the development as a “step in the right direction”.

An 18-year-old man has been arrested after the sex toy he allegedly threw during a WNBA game in Phoenix hit a man and possibly a young girl sitting in front of him.

It is one of at least five recent incidents of such objects being thrown by fans at a WNBA game and the second so far to result in an arrest.

Waddell, Ariz., resident Kaden Lopez was booked on suspicion of one felony count for public display of obscene materials and two misdemeanor counts for assault and disorderly conduct. He appeared in court Wednesday and was released on his own recognizance, with his next court appearance scheduled for Aug. 21.

According to a probable cause statement filed by the arresting officer from the Phoenix Police Dept. and viewed by The Times, Lopez was attending the Mercury’s game against the Connecticut Sun at PHX Arena on Tuesday when he “threw a green dildo towards the seats in front of him.”

The statement initially indicates that the object allegedly struck an “adult male victim as well as the victims 9 year old niece.” The document later states that the “male victim” told officers that the object hit him on the back and “then fell to the ground next to them.”

Lopez then attempted to leave the arena, the statement reads, but an arena volunteer who witnessed the alleged incident followed him, tackled him and waited for authorities to arrive.

According to the statement, Lopez told the arresting officers that he bought the toy the previous day to take with him to the game but had not intended for it to “hit anyone” or “fall next to a child.”

“Lopez stated he was very sorry, that it was just a stupid prank that was trending on social media,” the statement added.

The trend of throwing sex toys — seemingly always colored green — at WNBA games appears to have started July 29, when one of the objects was tossed onto the court while the Golden State Valkyries played the Atlanta Dream at Gateway Center Arena. The WNBA announced Saturday that “the subject involved in the incident in Atlanta has been arrested.”

According to an ESPN report, 23-year-old Delbert Carver was arrested on Saturday by College Park, Ga., police in connection with that incident. Carver allegedly told police that the stunt was meant as a joke to go viral.

Court records show that Carver faces counts of criminal trespass, disorderly conduct and public indecency. He was released on bond for an undisclosed amount on Sunday and was scheduled to appear in court the following day.

On Aug. 1, a sex toy was tossed under the basket during a game between the Valkyries and the Chicago Sky. Then, during the Sparks’ win over the Indiana Fever at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday, another such object landed in the paint near Fever guard Sophie Cunningham with 2:05 remaining in the first half.

A fan video also appears to show one of the objects being thrown toward the court and nearly hitting a child while the Dallas Wings played the New York Liberty at Barclays Center on Tuesday.

According to a USA Today report Thursday, a cryptocurrency group is claiming responsibility for some of the incidents, although it says neither Lopez nor Carver is affiliated with the group. The “pranks” are part of a protest against the “toxic” environment in the crypto world, according to the report, and more such stunts have allegedly been planned.

The WNBA declined to comment for this article and instead referred The Times to a statement it released Saturday.

“The safety and well-being of everyone in our arenas is a top priority for our league,” the league stated. “Objects of any kind thrown onto the court or in the seating area can pose a safety risk for players, game officials, and fans. In line with WNBA Arena Security Standards, any fan who intentionally throws an object onto the court will be immediately ejected and face a minimum one-year ban in addition to being subject to arrest and prosecution by local authorities.”

July 31 (UPI) — New York’s police commissioner promoted slain officer Didarul Islam to detective during his funeral at a Bronx mosque on Thursday morning.

Thousands of police officers, local officials and mourners lined the street outside the Parkchester Jame Masjid mosque in the Bronx to honor Islam.

“Look at all the NYPD officers here and outside this mosque and across this city who stand with you,” New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch told Islam’s family while speaking at the funeral.

“I am so heartbroken for you and your family,” Tisch said.

“As we scan the sea of blue, you will notice they look a whole lot like Didarul,” she continued.

“They wear his uniform, his shield [and] his collar brass,” Tisch said.

“They carry on his purpose and are sworn to finish the work he started,” she added, “and they will be there for you, always.”

Tisch then promoted Islam to detective-first grade, which is an NYPD tradition.

Islam, 36, was among four people who were killed by Las Vegas resident Shane Tamura during a mass shooting at an office building at 345 Park Ave. in New York City on Monday.

Tamura was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams, Gov. Kathy Hochul and state Attorney General Letitia James were among elected officials who attended the funeral.

The funeral service started at 10 a.m. EDT, followed by prayer services at noon.

A “solid wall of blue” stood in a downpour as the hearse carrying Islam’s body from the mosque following the funeral service.

Islam’s body afterward was transferred to his family for a private burial service.

Islam had served on the NYPD for four years, was a father of two, and he and his wife were expecting the arrival of a third child.

Adams and Tisch visited the NYPD’s 47th Precinct station house on Wednesday to attend its morning roll call and talk with police officers.

Adams also visited with Islam’s family on Wednesday night.

The attacker was armed with an AR-style rifle when he opened fire inside a skyscraper at 345 Park Avenue, Midtown Manhattan.

At least four people, including a New York City police officer, have been killed in a shooting inside a Midtown Manhattan office tower that houses major financial institutions and the headquarters of the National Football League, US media reports.

The shooting took place at about 6pm local time (22:00 GMT) on Monday at 345 Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, with police arriving at the scene within minutes, according to local media reports.

The suspected shooter, tentatively identified as a 27-year-old man from Las Vegas, was also found dead at the scene, CNN reported. The US network said authorities believe he died from a self-inflicted injury, citing multiple law enforcement sources.

The New York Post, citing unnamed police sources, reported that the gunman was wearing a bullet-resistant vest and was armed with an AR-style rifle when he opened fire inside the skyscraper. He had reportedly barricaded himself inside the building, possibly on the 32nd floor.

CNN said police shared a photo of the suspect walking into the building carrying the rifle. Preliminary checks of the suspect’s background did not show a significant criminal history, the report added, citing officials.

New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the situation has been “contained” and that the “lone shooter has been neutralised”.

New York Mayor Eric Adams said in a video message on X that there were “multiple injuries” in the shooting.

The skyscraper at 345 Park Avenue is home to several major firms, including Blackstone – the world’s largest hedge fund – KPMG, Deutsche Bank and the headquarters of the National Football League (NFL). It is located near Rockefeller Centre, just a few blocks south of Central Park.

Three killed in Reno casino shooting

Separately, earlier on Monday, an attacker armed with a pistol opened fire outside a casino in Reno, Nevada, killing three people and critically wounding two others, before being shot and seriously injured by police, authorities said.

The shooting occurred just before 7:30am local time (00:30 GMT) at the valet station in the car park of the Grand Sierra Resort, a high-rise casino and hotel complex in Nevada’s third-largest city, according to police.

The suspect, whose identity has not been released, was described only as an adult male.

Police believe the victims were targeted at random.

As a Christian who smuggled Bibles into my home country of Iran, I became a target of the country’s Islamist regime, which imprisons and sometimes kills those who invite Muslims to convert. After living under house arrest for two years, I fled as a refugee and was ultimately resettled to the United States.

I experienced true religious freedom for the first time in my life in this country, of which I am now a proud, grateful citizen — and that’s why I am shocked by the ways that my government is now treating my Iranian congregants, who have been detained by masked officers, separated from their families and threatened with deportation to a country that would kill them for their Christian faith. What I have witnessed gives me flashbacks to Tehran, and I believe that America must be better.

Two families who are a part of the Farsi-speaking evangelical congregation that I pastor in Los Angeles have been detained in recent weeks. First, a couple and their 3-year-old daughter, who are in the process of seeking asylum because they fear persecution if they were returned to Iran. They were detained at their court hearing in downtown Los Angeles on June 23. The entire family is now being held in South Texas.

The next day, I received a call from a woman in my church. Like me, she had been forced to flee Iran for Turkey when her involvement in Iran’s underground churches was exposed.

When the woman and her husband found themselves in a desperate situation in Turkey last year, they were not offered the option to fly to the U.S. as resettled refugees as I had been in 2010. Instead, they flew to South America, made a treacherous journey north and waited in Mexico for an appointment they reserved on a U.S. government app, CBP One, to be able to explain their situation to officers of the U.S. government.

Once lawfully allowed in with provisional humanitarian status, they found our church — where they could be baptized and publicly profess their faith in Jesus — and legal help to begin their asylum request. They received their work authorization documents and found jobs. Their first asylum hearing in immigration court was scheduled for this September.

When President Trump returned to office, however, his administration both suspended all refugee resettlement and canceled humanitarian parole for those who had been allowed to enter via the CBP One app. Many parolees received menacing letters instructing them to self-deport or face prosecution, fines or deportation. But these letters also noted that these instructions did not apply to those who had “otherwise obtained a lawful basis to remain,” such as a pending asylum application.

That’s why I was so shocked to receive a call from the woman in my congregation informing me that her husband had been detained by masked immigration officers on the street, just a few blocks from our church. I rushed over and began to film the shocking scene: First he was detained by masked officers, and then she was. I asked if they had a judicial warrant, but if they did, they would not show me. The woman experienced a panic attack and was taken to a hospital but discharged into ICE custody; she is now hours away in a detention center in California. Her husband is in a detention center in Texas.

It’s not just these two families who are affected. My community of Iranian Christians is terrified of being detained and deported back to Iran, where they fear being killed for their faith. Some have lost jobs because they fear leaving their homes. Others lost jobs because their work authorization, tied to humanitarian parole, was abruptly terminated.

I believe that America is better than this. This behavior reminds me disturbingly of what I fled in Iran. But I know that most Americans do not support this, nor do most fellow evangelical Christians: Many evangelicals voted for Trump because he pledged to protect persecuted Christians — not to deport them. While most evangelicals want those convicted of violent crimes detained, one-quarter or less of us say that about other immigrants, and 7 in 10 believe the U.S. has a moral responsibility to receive refugees. I have been overwhelmed by the support of English- and Spanish-speaking sister congregations of our church, by the outreach of Christians from across the country and by a recent biblically rooted statement of many California evangelical leaders.

Now, Congress has passed legislation to exponentially increase the funding for detaining and deporting immigrants. Trump’s administration has been clear that anyone in the country unlawfully — including more than a million who were here lawfully until his administration abruptly canceled their status — is at risk of deportation. According to a recent study by the Center for the Study of Global Christianity, 80% of those vulnerable to deportation are Christians; some, like those in my church, would likely face death if deported to their home countries.

I hope and pray Trump will reverse course on these policies, going after those who genuinely present a public safety threat but having mercy on others, especially those who fled persecution on account of their faith. And until he does make that policy shift, I plead with Congress to pass real immigration reforms that would halt these horrifying detentions and deportations.

Ara Torosian is a pastor at Cornerstone West Los Angeles.

TURNBERRY, Scotland — It may not be typical golf attire, but one of the most ubiquitous outfits seen on President Trump’s golf course Friday ahead of his visit was the reflective yellow vest worn by Scottish police.

The standard issue garb that is far removed from the traditional Turnberry tartan was highly visible on the dunes, the beaches and the grass as thousands of officers secured the course in advance of protests planned during the president’s visit to two of his Scottish golf resorts.

Trump was expected to arrive Friday evening to a mix of respect and ridicule.

His visit requires a major police operation that will cost Scottish taxpayers millions of pounds as protests are planned over the weekend. The union representing officers is concerned they are already overworked and will be diverted from their normal duties, and some residents are not happy about the cost.

“Why isn’t he paying for it himself? He’s coming for golf, isn’t he?” said Merle Fertuson, a solo protester in Edinburgh holding a hand-drawn cardboard sign that featured a foolishly grinning Trump likeness in a tuxedo. “It’s got nothing whatsoever to do with public money, either U.S. or U.K.”

Policing for Trump’s four-day visit to the U.K. in 2018 cost more than $19 million, according to Freedom of Information figures. That included more than $4 million spent for his two-day golf trip to Turnberry, the historic course and hotel in southwest Scotland that he bought in 2014.

Police Scotland would not discuss how many officers were being deployed for operational reasons and only said the costs would be “considerable.”

“The visit will require a significant police operation using local, national and specialist resources from across Police Scotland, supported by colleagues from other U.K. police forces as part of mutual aid arrangements,” Assistant Chief Constable Emma Bond said.

Scottish First Minister John Swinney said the visit would not be detrimental to policing.

“It’s nonsensical to say it won’t impact it,” said David Kennedy, general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation, the officers’ union.

Kennedy said he expects about 5,000 officers to take part in the operation.

He said a force reduction in recent years has police working 12-hour shifts. Communities that are understaffed will be left behind with even fewer officers during Trump’s visit.

“We want the president of the United States to be able to come to Scotland. That’s not what this is about,” Kennedy said. “It’s the current state of the police service and the numbers we have causes great difficulty.”

The Stop Trump Scotland group has planned demonstrations Saturday in Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dumfries. The group encouraged people to “show Trump exactly what we think of him in Scotland.”

Trump should receive a much warmer welcome from U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who is expected to meet with him during the visit. Swinney, the left-leaning head of Scottish government and former Trump critic, also plans to meet with the president.

Ha and Melley write for the Associated Press. Melley reported from London. Will Weissert contributed to this report from Edinburgh.

July 25 (UPI) — One of three Ohio police officers shot in what authorities described as an ambush earlier this week has died.

The Lorain County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement Thursday that officer Phillip Wagner, 35, “gave his life in service to his community, a sacrifice that words can never fully honor.”

“He was not only a dedicated officer, but a husband, father, son, brother and friend,” the sheriff’s office said. “His impact reached far beyond the badge, and his absence will be deeply felt by all who knew and served alongside him.”

Wagner and fellow officer Peter Gale, 51, had picked up pizza and were each in their individual cop cars, parked side by side, eating in an undeveloped industrial park in the northeastern Ohio city of Lorain, located on the coast of Lake Erie, when the gunman opened fire on them.

A third officer, officer Brent Payne, 47, who arrived on the scene was also shot.

The suspect, identified Thursday as 28-year-old Michael Joseph Parker, was killed in return fire.

Authorities said Wagner and Payne were shot multiple times, while Gale suffered a gunshot wound to the hand.

Wagner succumbed to his injuries Thursday, the Lorain Police Department said, while Payne was listed in critical condition.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine ordered all U.S. and Ohio flags to be flown at half-staff on all public buildings and grounds “in honor of the life and service” of Wagner, his office said in a statement, with the order to remain in effect until his funeral.

“I am devastated by this senseless attack on law enforcement,” Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said in a statement.

“I share this community’s grief at the loss of a hero and join in their prayers for the injured officers to make a swift recovery.”

Reality TV star Duane “Dog the Bounty Hunter” Chapman and his family are mourning the recent loss of one of their own.

Anthony, the reality TV star’s teenage step-grandson died on Saturday evening after he was allegedly accidentally shot by his father, Gregory Zecca — Chapman’s stepson — in Naples, Fla., The Times has confirmed. He was 13.

A spokesperson for the Collier County Sheriff’s Office told The Times on Monday that it is investigating the alleged shooting. Officers received a call about a shooting incident at an apartment on Sumter Grove Way in southern Florida at around 8:08 p.m., the spokesperson said, adding “this was an isolated incident.” No arrest has been made in connection to the incident, People reported.

According to the incident report reviewed by The Times on Monday, parts of it redacted, the responding officer heard screaming on the dispatch call. First responders arrived at the apartment and the victim — whose name was not revealed — was pronounced dead before 8:30 p.m.

In a statement shared to TMZ, which first reported on the alleged shooting, Chapman and his wife, Francie Chapman, confirmed Anthony’s death.

“We are grieving as a family over this incomprehensible tragic accident and we grieve the loss of our beloved grandson, Anthony,” the statement said. The couple also requested privacy as they grieved their loved one.

The Times did not hear back immediately from the 72-year-old reality star or his wife on Monday.

Chapman, best known for his long-running A&E reality TV show “Dog the Bounty Hunter,” married Francie Chapman (née Frane) two years after wife Beth Chapman died in 2021 following a battle with cancer.

He has been married six times and has a total of 13 children from those marriages. Zecca, 38, is Francie Chapman’s son from a previous relationship.

A judge in the US state of Kentucky has sentenced a police officer involved in the 2020 shooting death of Breonna Taylor to 33 months for violating her civil rights.

The sentencing of officer Brett Hankison was announced on Monday at the Louisville court and represents a repudiation to prosecutors, who had requested he receive a one-day sentence.

US District Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings sentenced Hankison at a hearing on Monday afternoon. She said that no prison time “is not appropriate” for Hankison and that she was “startled” that more people had not been injured in the raid.

Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency room technician, was killed in her apartment in the early hours of March 13, 2020, after police executed a so-called no-knock warrant, attempting to storm Taylor’s apartment unannounced, based on faulty evidence that her apartment was involved in a drug operation.

Thinking they were experiencing a home invasion, her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, fired one shot at the suspected intruders. Police responded with approximately 22 shots, some of which went into a neighbour’s apartment, endangering a pregnant woman, her partner and five-year-old son.

A federal jury in November 2024 found Hankison responsible for using excessive force in violation of Taylor’s civil rights.

But last week, Department of Justice lawyers asked that Hankison be given a one-day sentence, plus three years of supervised release, arguing that a lengthy sentence would be “unjust”. Hankison shot 10 bullets into the apartment, though the shots he fired did not hit her.

Death was a catalyst for calls for racial justice

Taylor’s death, along with the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis at the hands of a white police officer, led to racial justice protests across the United States over the treatment of people of colour by police departments.

During former President Joe Biden’s administration, the Justice Department brought criminal civil rights charges against the officers involved in both Taylor and Floyd’s deaths.

Hankison was convicted by a federal jury in November 2024 of one count of violating Taylor’s civil rights, after the first attempt to prosecute him ended with a mistrial.

He was separately acquitted on state charges in 2022.

The Justice Department’s sentencing memo for Hankison downplayed his role in the raid at Taylor’s home, saying he “did not shoot Ms. Taylor and is not otherwise responsible for her death”. The memo was notable because it was not signed by any of the career prosecutors – those who were not political appointees – who had tried the case. It was submitted on July 16 by Harmeet Dhillon, a political appointee by Trump to lead the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, and her counsel, Robert Keenan.

Keenan previously worked as a federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, where he argued that a local deputy sheriff convicted of civil rights violations, Trevor Kirk, should have his conviction on the felony counts struck and should not serve prison time.

The efforts to strike the felony conviction led several prosecutors on the case to resign in protest, according to media reports and a person familiar with the matter.

The department’s sentencing recommendation in the Hankison case marks the latest effort by the Trump administration to put the brakes on the department’s police accountability work. Earlier this year, Dhillon nixed plans to enter into a court-approved settlement with the Louisville Police Department, and rescinded the Civil Rights Division’s prior findings of widespread civil rights abuses against people of colour.

Lawyers for Taylor’s family called the department’s sentencing recommendation for Hankison an insult, and urged the judge to “deliver true justice” for her.

On Monday, the Louisville Metro Police Department arrested four people in front of the court, who it said were “creating confrontation, kicking vehicles, or otherwise creating an unsafe environment”. Authorities did not list the charges those arrested would face.

“We understand this case caused pain and damaged trust between our department and the community,” a police statement said. “We particularly respect and value the 1st Amendment. However, what we saw today in front of the courthouse in the street was not safe, acceptable or legal.”

A pre-sentencing report by the US Probation Office said that Hankison should face 135 to 168 months imprisonment on the excessive force conviction, according to the sentencing memo. But federal prosecutors said multiple factors, including that Hankison’s two other trials ended with no convictions, should greatly reduce the potential punishment.

The brother of late NFL star and U.S. Army Ranger Pat Tillman is being held in custody in connection with a vehicle driven into a Northern California post office.

The San Jose Police Department said in an email to The Times on Monday that 44-year-old resident Richard Tillman was booked on charges of arson after he allegedly drove a car into the Almaden Valley Station Post Office at around 3 a.m. Sunday and caused the box lobby area to catch fire.

The fire was extinguished and no injuries were reported.

According to to the Santa Clara County Sheriff Office’s inmate locator, Richard Tillman is being held on a $60,000 bond and has a court hearing scheduled for Wednesday.

“The motive and circumstances are still under investigation,” the SJPD said.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service, which is leading the investigation, said in a statement emailed to The Times that it is looking into the incident “as a potentially intentional act.”

NBC Bay Area reported that the suspect told officers on the scene that he is Pat Tillman’s brother. The station also reports that the suspect live-streamed the incident on social media.

A third Tillman brother, Kevin, released a statement Monday.

“Our family is aware that my brother Richard has been arrested. First and foremost, we are relieved that no one was physically harmed,” Kevin Tillman stated. “We have limited information at this time but we are in communication with local authorities and are providing as much background and context as we can.

“To be clear, it’s no secret that Richard has been battling severe mental health issues for many years. He has been livestreaming, what I’ll call, his altered self on social media for anyone to witness. Unfortunately, securing the proper care and support for him has proven incredibly difficult — or rather, impossible. As a result, none of this is as shocking as it should be.”

In the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, Pat Tillman famously walked away from a three-year, $3.6-million contract offer from the Arizona Cardinals to enlist in the Army, along with Kevin.

On April 22, 2004, Pat Tillman was killed by friendly fire in the province of Khost, Afghanistan. Richard Tillman spoke at his brother’s public memorial service on May 4, 2004, at the San Jose Municipal Rose Garden.

Last week, the San Francisco Chronicle reports, Richard Tillman had posted an 11-minute video onto YouTube in which he stated he would “take down the system,” including the U.S. government. His YouTube channel has since been removed, the Chronicle reports, but previously contained several videos “posted in recent months documenting his own apparent unraveling.”

NEW YORK — An off-duty U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer was shot in a Manhattan park after an apparent robbery gone wrong, New York City police and federal officials said Sunday.

The 42-year-old officer was in stable condition after the Saturday attack and is expected to survive. A spokesperson for the New York Police Department said there was no indication the shooting was politically motivated.

The agent, who was not in uniform, was sitting in a park beneath the George Washington Bridge when he was approached by a man riding on the back of a moped, who shot him in the face and arm, police said. The off-duty officer returned fire as the moped sped off.

No arrests had been made as of Sunday afternoon, according to a police spokesperson.

The Department of Homeland Security shared video online of the two men on a moped, alleging the shooter was caught entering the country illegally in 2023 but released.

The NYPD spokesperson said they had no information about the source of that claim.

In a social media post Sunday afternoon, President Trump seized on the shooting, alleging it was evidence of Democrats’ failures to secure the border. “The CBP Officer bravely fought off his attacker, despite his wounds, demonstrating enormous Skill and Courage,” he wrote.

The shooting comes as federal officials say there has been a surge of attacks on agents carrying out Trump’s mass deportation agenda.

Enforcement officers involved in the crackdown often cover their faces, which critics say spreads fear and panic across communities and imperils citizens as well as immigrants without legal status. The Trump administration defends masking, which it says is needed to avoid harassment of agents in public and online.

On Sunday, the acting director of U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, Todd Lyons, said he would allow agents to continue covering their faces, which he called a safety measure “If that’s a tool that the men and women of ICE that keeps themselves and their families safe, then I will allow it,” he said.

BEAVERTON, Ore. — Parents at a preschool in a Portland suburb are reeling after immigration officers arrested a father in front of the school during morning drop-off hours, breaking his car window to detain him in front of children, families and staffers.

“I feel like a day care, which is where young children are taken care of, should be a safe place,” Natalie Berning said after dropping off her daughter at the Montessori in Beaverton on Friday morning. “Not only is it traumatizing for the family, it’s traumatizing for all the other children as well.”

Mahdi Khanbabazadeh, a 38-year-old chiropractor and citizen of Iran, was initially pulled over by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers while driving his child to the school Tuesday. After asking whether he could drop off the child first, he continued driving and called his wife to tell her what happened, according to his wife, who spoke on condition of anonymity out of privacy concerns for her and her child.

His wife rushed to the school, took their child from his car and brought him inside. Khanbabazadeh stayed in the vehicle in the parking lot and asked whether he could move somewhere not on school grounds out of consideration for the children and families, his wife said. He pulled out of the lot and onto the street and began to open the car door to step out when agents broke the window and took him into custody, according to his wife.

Kellie Burns, who has two children attending the preschool, said her husband was there and heard the glass shatter.

“More than anything we want to express how unnecessarily violent and inhumane this was,” she said. “Everyone felt helpless. Everyone was scared.”

ICE said it detained Khanbabazadeh because he overstayed his visa, which his wife disputes.

“Officers attempted to arrest Khanbabazadeh during a traffic stop when he requested permission to drop his child off at daycare,” ICE said in a statement. “Officers allowed him to proceed to the daycare parking lot where he stopped cooperating, resisted arrest and refused to exit his vehicle, resulting in ICE officers making entry by breaking one of the windows to complete the arrest.”

Immigration officials have dramatically ramped up arrests across the country since May. Shortly after President Trump took office in January, his administration lifted restrictions on making immigration arrests at schools, healthcare facilities and places of worship, stirring fears about going to places once considered safe spaces.

After U.S. military strikes on Iran in June, officials trumpeted immigration arrests of Iranians, some of whom settled in the United States long ago.

Khanbabazadeh’s wife said he has always maintained lawful status. After he arrived on a valid student visa and they subsequently married, she said, they submitted all required paperwork to adjust his status and were waiting for a final decision following their green card interview months ago.

Khanbabazadeh is being held at the ICE detention facility in Tacoma, Wash., she said.

Guidepost Global Education, which oversees the Montessori school, called the incident “deeply upsetting.”

“We understand that this incident raises broader questions about how law enforcement actions intersect with school environments,” Chief Executive Maris Mendes said in a statement. “It is not lost on us how frightening and confusing this experience may have been for those involved — especially for the young children who may have witnessed it while arriving at school with their parents.”

Parents said they want to support the family and teachers.

“We know it’s happening across the country, of course, but no one is prepared for their preschool … to deal with it,” Burns said. “It’s really been a nightmare.”

Rush writes for the Associated Press.

Police in Cincinnati arrested at least 13 people, including two journalists, after demonstrators protesting the immigration detention of a former hospital chaplain blocked a two-lane bridge carrying traffic over the Ohio River.

A reporter and a photography intern who were arrested while covering the protest for CityBeat, a Cincinnati news and entertainment outlet, were among those arraigned Friday morning in a Kentucky court.

Other journalists reporting on protests around the U.S. have been arrested and injured this year. More than two dozen were hurt or roughed up while covering protests against immigration raids in Los Angeles.

A Spanish-language journalist was arrested in June while covering a “No Kings” protest against President Trump near Atlanta. Police initially charged Mario Guevara, a native of El Salvador, with unlawful assembly, obstruction of police and being a pedestrian on or along the roadway.

A prosecutor dropped the charges, but Guevara had already been turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and is being held in a south Georgia immigration detention center. His lawyers say he has been authorized to work and remain in the country, but ICE is trying to deport him.

Video from the demonstration in Cincinnati on Thursday night shows several tense moments, including when an officer punches a protester several times as police wrestle him to the ground.

Earlier, a black SUV drove slowly onto the Roebling Bridge while protesters walked along the roadway that connects Cincinnati with Covington, Ky. Another video shows a person in a neon-colored vest pushing against the SUV.

Police in Covington said those arrested had refused to comply with orders to disperse. The department said in a statement that officers who initially attempted to talk with the protest’s organizer were threatened and met with hostility.

Among the charges filed against those arrested were rioting, failing to disperse, obstructing emergency responders, criminal mischief and disorderly conduct.

Reporter Madeline Fening and photo intern Lucas Griffith were charged with felony rioting and several other charges, said Ashley Moor, the editor in chief of CityBeat.

A judge on Friday set a $2,500 bond for each of those arrested.

The arrests happened during a protest in support of Ayman Soliman, an Egyptian immigrant who worked as a chaplain at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. He was detained last week after he showed up for a routine check-in with ICE officials at its office near Cincinnati.

Protesters met in downtown Cincinnati on Thursday in support of Soliman, then walked across the bridge carrying a banner that read, “Build Bridges Not Walls.”

Covington police said that “while the department supports the public’s right to peaceful assembly and expression, threatening officers and blocking critical infrastructure, such as a major bridge, presents a danger to all involved.”

Seewer writes for the Associated Press. AP reporters Kate Brumback in Atlanta and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed to this report.

A 22-year-old man was charged Thursday with killing an “American Idol” music supervisor and her musician husband who walked into their Encino home during a burglary.

Raymond Boodarian is accused of fatally shooting Robin Kaye and her husband, Tom DeLuca, on July 10. Los Angeles police did not find their bodies until four days later, when officers were sent to the home for a welfare check.

Boodarian is charged with two counts of murder with enhancements for allegedly killing the couple during the commission of a robbery, intentionally using a firearm, and committing multiple murders. He is also charged with burglary.

During an initial court appearance in Van Nuys on Thursday afternoon, Boodarian was ordered to remain in jail. His arraignment was delayed until Aug. 20.

If convicted, Boodarian would face either life without parole or execution if prosecutors seek the death penalty.

According to police, officers visited the Encino home around the time Boodarian was believed to be inside.

The Los Angeles Police Department responded to a report of a possible break-in at 4 p.m. July 10 and determined that nothing appeared out of place at the couple’s residence, Lt. Guy Golan said.

Officers reported that the property was locked and no one responded inside, while a police helicopter from overhead reported not seeing anything suspicious.

Kaye and DeLuca’s bodies were discovered Monday when officers responded to a welfare check at the couple’s homes in the 4700 block of White Oak Avenue. The following day, officers with a joint LAPD-FBI task force arrested Boodarian.

According to police, Kaye, an “American Idol” music supervisor and her rock musician husband, DeLuca, were returning to their $4.5-million Encino home when they came upon Booderian.

Booderian allegedly shot Kaye and DeLuca multiple times then ran off, locking the door behind him. Though the couple’s house was well fortified, police said, the suspect had managed to get in through an unlocked door.

According to Golan, the department received a call at 4 p.m. the day the couple was killed and the caller described seeing a person climbing over a fence into the property. Golan said officers went to the home, but did not get any response and saw nothing out of place, and a helicopter was flown over the property because it was difficult to access.

By then, the couple had been killed, LAPD officials said. Boodarian left after about half an hour, police said.

The delay in finding Kaye and DeLuca’s bodies bore similarities to two other homicides in the Valley where police were called the location and did not immediately find a victim and left the scene.

Menashe Hidra’s body was found April 26 inside his fifth-floor Valley Village apartment after an assailant broke into a neighboring unit, jumped from the balcony to his unit and attacked him, investigators said.

Three days before, neighbors had called 911 and reported hearing shouting and a struggle coming from the apartment. Officers responded to those calls, knocked on the door and left without finding anything.

Erick Escamilla, 27, was charged with the killing, along with an unrelated homicide from 2022.

The same day that Hidra’s body was discovered, police found the body of Aleksandre Modebadze, who was beaten to death inside his Woodland Hills home.

In that case, a woman inside the home called LAPD about 12:30 a.m. and reported three people had broken into her home and were beating her significant other before the call suddenly cut out, according to law enforcement sources. The 911 operator tried to call back multiple times without success.

Shortly before 1 a.m., officers arrived at the home but no one answered the door, there was no noise coming from inside the home, and the blinds were down, the sources told The Times.

Modebadze was later found by officers badly beaten with a traumatic head injury and died of his injuries. Authorities arrested suspects hours after the attack.

In this Encino case, Golan said the department would investigate why the couple, who were both 70, were not found earlier and whether the officers involved acted appropriately. LAPD officials said the front door of the home was not visible from the outside during the initial response.

According to court records, Boodarian was charged in three instances of misdemeanor battery last year. Those charges were ultimately dropped a series of hearings related to his mental competency and a conservatorship investigation.

A federal judge has granted a temporary restraining order that blocks Los Angeles police officers from using rubber projectiles and other so-called less-lethal munitions against reporters covering protests against the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

In a ruling made public Friday, U.S. District Judge Hernán D. Vera said a coalition of press rights organization successfully argued that a court injunction was necessary to protect journalists and others exercising their 1st Amendment rights.

The Los Angeles Press Club and investigative reporting network Status Coup filed suit last month to “force the LAPD to respect the constitutional and statutory rights of journalists engaged in reporting on these protests and inevitable protests to come.” The lawsuit challenged the “continuing abuse” by police of members of the media covering the demonstrations.

Vera’s order bars the department from using less-lethal munitions and other crowd-control tools such chemical irritants and flash-bang grenades “against journalists who are not posing a threat of imminent harm to an officer or another person.”

“On some occasions, LAPD officers purportedly targeted individuals who were clearly identifiable as members of the press,” Vera wrote.

The judge cited a June 8 incident at a demonstration downtown where an Australian reporter named Lauren Tomasi was wrapping up a report on live TV, dozens of feet away from a line of officers.

“No protesters are visible near her,” Vera wrote. “Despite this, an LAPD officer appears to aim at Tomasi, hitting her leg with a rubber bullet.”

The judge ruled that the LAPD cannot prohibit a journalist from entering or remaining in protest areas that have been closed off to the public while “gathering, receiving, or processing information.”

The order also forbids intentionally “assaulting, interfering with, or obstructing any journalist who is gathering, receiving, or processing information for communication to the public.”

Free press advocates who brought the suit praised the judge’s decision.

“The press weren’t accidentally hurt at the immigration protests; they were deliberately hurt,” said attorney Carol Sobel. “It’s astonishing to me that we are at the same point with LAPD over and over again.”

City lawyers could challenge the order before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell has said he’s “very concerned” by instances of journalists being targeted by police munitions and vowed each incident would be investigated. He said he did not believe officers were aiming at reporters with less-lethal weapons.

“It is a target-specific munition,” he told reporters at a press briefing. “That’s not to say that it always hits the intended target, particularly in a dynamic situation.”

Vera’s order says that if the LAPD detains or arrests a person who identifies themselves as a journalist, that person may contact a supervisor and challenge their detention. The order also required the LAPD to report back to the court with details of officers being informed of the new rules. The judge set a preliminary injunction hearing for July 24, in which both sides will argue the merits of the case.

The lawsuit accuses the LAPD of flouting state laws passed in the wake of the 2020 protests over the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis, when journalists were detained and injured by the LAPD while covering the unrest.

Apart from journalists, scores of protesters allege LAPD projectiles left them with severe bruises, lacerations and serious injuries.

Under the restrictions ordered by the judge Friday, police can target individuals with 40-millimeter rounds “only when the officer reasonably believes that a suspect is violently resisting arrest or poses an immediate threat of violence or physical harm.” Officers are also barred from targeting people in the head, torso and groin areas.

Times staff Writer Libor Jany contributed to this report.

July 11 (UPI) — A retired lieutenant colonel of the U.S. Army has pleaded guilty to transmitting classified national defense information concerning Russia’s war in Ukraine via a foreign dating app to a person claiming to be a woman living in the war-torn country.

The Justice Department said David Slater, 64, of Nebraska pleaded guilty Thursday and faces up to 10 years’ imprisonment, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000 on Oct. 8 when he is scheduled for sentencing.

“David Slater failed in his duty to protect this information by willingly sharing national defense information with an unknown online personality despite having years of military experience that should have caused him to be suspicious of that person’s motives,” U.S. Attorney Lesley Woods of the District of Nebraska said in a statement.

According to federal prosecutors, after retiring from the Army, Slater was hired as a civilian employee of the U.S. Air Force assigned to the U.S. Strategic Command at Offutt Air Force Base and held a Top Secret security clearance from August 2021 to April 2022.

Court documents state that in his position, Slater attended top-secret classified briefings on the Russia-Ukraine war and conspired to transmit information he learned over an unnamed foreign dating app to a person who claimed to be a woman living in Ukraine.

The purported woman called Slater her “secret informant lover” and her “secret agent” and asked him to send her sensitive classified information.

The quantity and the frequency with which information was exchanged was not revealed, but the Justice Department did confirm that “Slater did, in fact, transmit classified national defense information to her, including regarding military targets and Russian military capabilities relating to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota state Sen. John Hoffman, who was shot nine times by a gunman posing as a police officer who authorities say went on to kill another lawmaker, is out of the hospital and is now recovering in a transitional care unit, his family said.

“John has been moved to a rehab facility, but still has a long road to recovery ahead,” the family said in a statement Monday night.

The family released a photo showing a smiling Hoffman giving a thumbs-up while standing with a suitcase on rollers, ready to leave the hospital.

Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were awakened around 2 a.m. on June 14 by a man pounding on the door of their home in the Minneapolis suburb of Champlin who said he was a police officer. According to an FBI agent’s affidavit, security video showed the suspect, Vance Boelter, at the door wearing a black tactical vest and holding a flashlight. He was wearing a flesh-colored mask that covered his entire head.

Yvette Hoffman told investigators they opened the door, and when they spotted the mask, they realized that the man was not a police officer. He then said something like “this is a robbery.” The senator then lunged at the gunman and was shot nine times. Yvette Hoffman was hit eight times before she could shut the door. Their adult daughter, Hope, was there but was not injured and called 911.

Boelter is accused of going to the homes of two other lawmakers in a vehicle altered to resemble a squad car, without making contact with them, before going to the home of former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, in nearby Brooklyn Park. He allegedly killed both of them and wounded their dog so seriously that he had to be euthanized.

The chief federal prosecutor for Minnesota has called the lawmaker’s killing an assassination.

Yvette Hoffman was released from the hospital a few days after the attacks. Former President Biden visited the senator in the hospital when he was in town for the Hortmans’ funeral.

Boelter, who remains jailed without bail, is charged in federal and state court with murder and attempted murder. At a hearing Thursday, Boelter said he was “looking forward to the facts about the 14th coming out.”

Prosecutors have declined to speculate on a motive. Friends have described him as an evangelical Christian with politically conservative views.

It will be up to Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi to decide whether to seek the federal death penalty. Minnesota abolished its state death penalty in 1911.

Karnowski writes for the Associated Press.

San Francisco 49ers defensive back Deommodore Lenoir was arrested Thursday afternoon in South Los Angeles. He was charged with delaying and resisting a peace officer, a misdemeanor.

Another man, apparently a companion of Lenoir’s, was arrested for possession of a concealed firearm in a vehicle, which is a felony.

According to the Los Angeles Police Department, the incident occurred around 5:30 p.m. on the 4500 block of South Wilton Place. Officers spotted 25-year-old Marcus Cunningham “frantically reaching” into a gray Cadillac Escalade. He then “locked the vehicle and walked away, appearing to conceal contraband.”

Cunningham threw the keys behind a gate when approached by officers, the LAPD told The Times via email, then “Lenoir retrieved the keys, refused to give them back, and passed them to an unknown male who fled.”

After additional officers located the keys on a nearby porch, the police opened the car and found “a loaded semi-automatic firearm in the center compartment, a loaded Glock in an open compartment and narcotics,” the LAPD said.

According to the L.A. County Sheriff Department’s inmate information center, Lenoir was released on his own recognizance at 1:18 a.m. Friday and is due to appear in L.A. Superior Court on July 25. No release or court information was available for Cunningham.

The 49ers released a statement Friday saying that they’re aware of the matter and “are in the process of gathering further information.”

Lenoir, a former standout at Los Angeles Salesian High who played four seasons at Oregon, was selected by the 49ers in the fifth round of the 2021 draft. He signed a five-year, $88-million contract extension before the 2024 season.

The images are jarring. Across the country, federal law enforcement officers in plain clothes and wearing ski masks and balaclavas are seizing and detaining protesters, students and even elected officials. These scenes evoke images of government thugs in violent regimes disappearing opponents.

This is not how policing should look in a democratic society. Which is why everyone — regardless of political affiliation or stance on immigration enforcement — should support bills being introduced in Congress to address this growing problem. Three pieces of legislation — under consideration or expected soon — would prohibit masking by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, including one Thursday from Reps. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) and Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.) and one expected Friday from Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.). These are obvious, common-sense measures that shouldn’t need to be codified into law — but given the reality today, and what’s being done on streets across the country, they clearly do.

In the United States, those tasked with enforcing the law are public servants, answerable to the people through their elected representatives. Wearing uniforms and insignia, and publicly identifying themselves, are what make clear an officer’s authority and enable public accountability.

That is why U.S. policing agencies generally have policies requiring officers to wear a badge or other identifier that includes their name or another unique mark, like a badge number. That is why — not so long ago — one of us wrote a letter on behalf of the Justice Department to the police chief in Ferguson, Mo., to ensure that officers were readily identifiable during protests. This letter was sent by the federal government, in the middle of the federal civil rights investigation of the Ferguson Police Department, because ensuring this “basic component of transparency and accountability” was deemed too important to hold off raising until the end of the investigation. Exceptions have long been made for scenarios such as undercover work — but it has long been understood that, as a general rule, American law enforcement officers will identify themselves and show their faces.

This foundational democratic norm is now at risk. In February, masked ICE officers in riot gear raided an apartment complex in Denver, one of the first times Americans saw agents hide their faces on the job. In March, the practice came to widespread attention when Tufts University doctoral student Rumeysa Ozturk was snatched by plainclothes ICE officers, one of them masked, while walking down a street in Somerville, Mass. Throughout the spring, bystanders captured videos of masked or plainclothes ICE enforcement actions from coast to coast, in small towns and big cities.

ICE says it allows this so officers can protect themselves from being recognized and harassed or even assaulted. ICE’s arguments just won’t wash. Its claims about how many officers have been assaulted are subject to serious question. Even if they were not, though, masked law enforcement is simply unacceptable.

At the most basic level, masked, anonymous officers present a safety concern for both the individuals being arrested and the agents. People are understandably far more likely to disregard instructions or even fight back when they think they’re being abducted by someone who is not a law enforcement officer. If the goal is to obtain compliance, masks are counterproductive. It’s far safer to encourage cooperation by appealing to one’s authority as a law enforcement officer — which almost always works.

Related, there is a very real and growing threat of law enforcement impersonation. There has been a disturbing uptick in reported incidents of “ICE impersonations,” in which private individuals dress as ICE or law enforcement officials to exploit the trust and authority invested in law enforcement. Just this month, the assailant in the recent assassination of a Minnesota lawmaker was posing as a police officer. Other examples are abounding across the country. As Princeton University noted in a recent advisory, when law enforcement officers are not clearly identifying themselves, it becomes even easier for impostors to pose as law enforcement. Replicas of ICE jackets have become a bestseller on Amazon.

Most fundamentally, masked detentions undermine law enforcement legitimacy. Government agencies’ legitimacy is essential for effective policing, and legitimacy requires transparency and accountability. When officers hide their identities, it sends the clear message that they do not value those principles, and in fact view them as a threat.

Federal law currently requires certain clear accountability measures by federal immigration enforcement officials, including that officers must identify themselves as officers and state that the person under arrest is, in fact, under arrest as well as the reason. That should sound familiar and be a relief to those of us who are grateful not to live in a secret police state.

But those words are cold comfort if you are confronted by someone in street clothes and a ski mask — with no way to know if they are who they say or whom to hold accountable if they violate your rights.

ICE officials cannot be allowed to continue to enforce our laws while concealing their identities. Transparency and accountability are what separate democracy from authoritarianism and legitimate law enforcement from the secret police in antidemocratic regimes. The images we are seeing are unrecognizable for the United States, and should not be tolerable for anyone.

Barry Friedman is a professor of law at New York University and author of “Unwarranted: Policing Without Permission.” Christy Lopez is a professor from practice at Georgetown University School of Law. She led the police practices unit in the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice from 2010-2017.