Month: June 2023

A fire truck carrying Denver Nuggets players struck and injured a police officer amid a celebratory parade for the team’s first NBA championship on Thursday, about an hour before two people were injured during a shooting just blocks away.

The fire truck was carrying Nuggets players Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, as well as the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy. They were moved to another truck to take them the last few blocks of the parade route. Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas identified the injured officer during a news conference as Justin Dodge, a sergeant assigned to the SWAT division and someone whom he called a “very decorated officer.” Thomas told reporters the officer was trying to protect event-goers who made their way in front of the fire truck, and “had to step kind of closer to the vehicle and the fire truck began to roll up the back of his left leg, trapping him underneath the vehicle.” The officer was rescued from underneath the truck and was taken to a hospital with a lower leg injury. He was undergoing surgery and remains in serious, but stable condition.

In a separate incident that occurred an hour after the police officer’s injury, authorities say that two people were shot at the end of the parade and rally. The shooting occurred after the parade and festivities at Curtis Street and 17th Street, the Denver Police Department said. Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas told reporters during a news conference that gunman shot two males in a targeted incident. Investigators believe the shooting was not related to the event. Authorities have an image of a suspect, who remains unidentified and was not in police custody, officials said.

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock said of the shooting: “Shame on them for once again marring what had been otherwise a pretty successful event for the entire state of Colorado,” adding that upwards of one million people attended Thursday’s parade and rally.

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Royal Canadian Mounted Police confirmed that at least 15 people were killed and at least 10 injured in a “mass casualty collision” that occurred Thursday on a highway in Canada. The crash occurred around 11:40 a.m. local time on the Trans-Canada Highway between a semi-trailer truck and a bus near the town of Carberry in southwestern Manitoba, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The semi-trailer was traveling eastbound on Highway 1 when it struck the bus, which was traveling southbound on Highway 5, as the bus crossed the eastbound lanes, police said.

Superintendent Rob Lasson, officer in charge of major crime services for Manitoba, told reporters during a press briefing Thursday evening that it “immediately it became apparent that this was a mass casualty situation.” Assistant Commissioner Rob Hill said that the bus was carrying 25 people, the majority of whom were seniors. Ten were transported to the hospital with various injuries; and authorities were waiting to confirm the identities of those killed. Both drivers survived the crash and are in the hospital, authorities said.

Officer Lasson said that the incident will be investigated fully; and the head of the truck company involved in the crash, Day & Ross, said they will fully cooperate with the investigation, sharing in a statement: “All of us at Day & Ross are heartbroken by the tragic news out of Manitoba this afternoon. The thoughts of the entire Day & Ross team are with those who have lost loved ones in this terrible incident, and we are holding out hope that those injured will recover.”

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted: The news from Carberry, Manitoba is incredibly tragic. I’m sending my deepest condolences to those who lost loved ones today, and I’m keeping the injured in my thoughts. I cannot imagine the pain those affected are feeling – but Canadians are here for you.”

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A federal jury on Monday found in favor of former Starbucks regional director Shannon Phillips, who sued the company for wrongfully firing her, claiming she was terminated for being White. Phillips, who worked for Starbucks for about 13 years and managed a region of stores in the area, was fired after the arrest of two Black men at a Philadelphia Starbucks in April 2018.

The New Jersey jury returned a verdict of $25.6 million, including $25 million for punitive damages and $600,000 in compensatory damages. The jury ruled unanimously after a six-day trial, the lawyers said, noting that Phillips will also be seeking back and front pay.

Phillips was fired in 2018 in the wake of two Black men getting arrested after sitting at a table at the Starbucks Spruce Street location in Philadelphia to wait for a business associate. The men settled their case against Starbucks for an undisclosed sum and also settled with the city of Philadelphia. After those arrests in 2018, Starbucks closed all 8,000 Starbuck’s U.S. locations for racial-bias training.

Phillips’ attorney said she was a scapegoat for the company to show action was being taken over the arrest of the two men. Phillips said in court documents that Starbucks “took steps to punish White employees who had not been involved in the arrests, but who worked in and around the city of Philadelphia, in an effort to convince the community that it had properly responded to the incident.” Phillips alleged: “I was terminated because I am White. If I was Black, I would not have been terminated. I was terminated because I complained of and objected to race discrimination.”

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On Wednesday, grand jurors indicted Daniel Penny in the death of Jordan Neely, while occurred while both men were riding the subway in New York City.

Penny, a 24-year-old Marine veteran, was indicted on a second-degree manslaughter charge in the May 1 confrontation with Neely, a homeless man known subway busker who often performed as Michael Jackson. Penny and Neely were on an F train in Manhattan when Neely began engaging in “somewhat aggressive speech,” and allegedly telling passengers that “he was hungry, he was thirsty, that he didn’t care about anything, he didn’t care about going to jail, he didn’t care that he gets a big life sentence.” A portion of the confrontation was recorded by witnesses, which appeared to show Penny putting Neely in a chokehold on the train’s floor. Neely was unconscious when first responders reached him at the Broadway-Lafayette Street/Bleecker Street Station, before he was pronounced dead at a hospital. The city’s medical examiner said Neely died from “compression of neck (chokehold)” and declared his manner of death a homicide.

Neely’s family said the he struggled with his mental health for years, specially in the years since his mother was murdered in 2007. Penny, a white man, said in a videotaped statement on Sunday that he acted to protect himself and other passengers when he confronted Neely, who was Black: “I didn’t see a Black man threatening passengers. I saw a man threatening passengers.”

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Former President Donald Trump was arrested and arraigned at a federal courthouse in Miami on Tuesday afternoon, where he pleaded not guilty to 37 felony counts related to the mishandling of national security information and obstruction of justice. Trump arrived at the federal courthouse via motorcade around 2 p.m along with his aide and co-defendant Walt Nauta. He was placed under arrest by federal authorities once inside and fingerprinted. The 37 felony counts that Trump faces include charges of willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding a document or record, corruptly concealing a document or record, concealing a document in a federal investigation, scheme to conceal and making false statements.

The event marked the first time a former president has been arraigned on federal crimes. Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, entered Trump’s plea of not guilty during the proceedings. Trump was determined not to be flight risks and was released without bond. Unlike Trump’s arraignment in April on criminal charges in New York, U.S. Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman declined journalists’ request to allow still photography and live audio transmission of the hearing. The district court’s chief judge also barred journalists from bringing any electronic devices, including cellphones or recorders, into the courthouse.

The arrest and arraignment of Trump leads to the next phase of the Justice Department probe into Trump’s retention and mishandling of classified national security information after he left office. It’s unclear whether Trump’s case will go to trial before the 2024 presidential election, and sources say that Trump’s legal team is expected to file a number of pre-trial motions that could delay the trials by months or even more than a year.

Trump is the current front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination and has vowed not to drop out of the race. If Trump is the Republican nominee and is subsequently elected president, he could pardon himself or appoint a friendly attorney general to dismiss the case. Trump posted on Truth Social shortly before heading to the Miami courthouse Tuesday, “ONE OF THE SADDEST DAYS IN THE HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY. WE ARE A NATION IN DECLINE!!!”  and later wrote, “ON MY WAY TO COURTHOUSE. WITCH HUNT!!! MAGA.”

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Authorities confirmed on Tuesday that at least 10 people were injured after an overnight shooting in an area of Denver where basketball fans were celebrating the Nuggets’ NBA championship title.  The shooting unfolded as celebrations were underway after the Nuggets won their first NBA championship with a 94-89 victory against the Miami Heat. According to surveillance footage played at a press conference Tuesday, officers monitoring the areas heard gunshots and rushed toward the sound.  A total of 10 people were taken to Denver Health, four of which required emergency surgery. All patients appeared to be in fair condition as of Tuesday afternoon.

According to Denver Police Major Crimes Division Commander Matt Clark, one of the suspects – 22-year-old Ricardo Vasquez – was chased by officers on foot and taken into custody. Vasquez was found with a firearm and suspected fentanyl pills, and suffered a non-life threatening gunshot wound.  A second suspect, 33-year-old Raoul Jones, was arrested in connection with the investigation. Clark said: “We’re still working to understand the motive that ultimately led to the shooting. In this case there appears to be a drug nexus for this.” Clark said that three other firearms were found following the shooting, but additional forensic work will be required to see which guns were fired. At least 20 rounds were found by police at the scene. Vasquez is being held on charges of possession of a weapon by a previous offender and possession of a controlled substance, while Jones is being held on a charge of possession of a weapon by a previous offender.

Denver Chief of Police Ron Thomas said Tuesday that authorities do not believe the violence was related to the celebration, rather, “There does appear to be a collection of individuals who are engaged in some fashion at some point in time and you begin to see an altercation. And I think at the tail end of that altercation is where shots were exchanged … I think, you know, the two elephants in the room that I think it’s important to address is that there’s far too many guns that are in our communities today. We have a tremendous problem with fentanyl in our community today.”

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