Month: January 2024

Harvard University President Claudine Gay resigned Tuesday amid plagiarism accusations, as well as the backlash over her response to anti-Semitism on campus. Gay said she is resigning to allow the Harvard community to navigate the controversy “with a focus on the institution rather than any individual.”

Gay wrote in her resignation letter Tuesday: “It is with a heavy heart but a deep love for Harvard that I write to share that I will be stepping down as president. My deep sense of connection to Harvard and its people has made it all the more painful to witness the tensions and divisions that have riven our community in recent months, weakening the bonds of trust and reciprocity that should be our sources of strength and support in times of crisis. Amidst all of this, it has been distressing to have doubt cast on my commitments to confronting hate and to upholding scholarly rigor — two bedrock values that are fundamental to who I am — and frightening to be subjected to personal attacks and threats fueled by racial animus.”

Gay’s resignation follows a complaint reported by the Washington Free Beacon detailing six new accusations of plagiarism in Gay’s scholarly work, bringing the total to nearly 50. Alan M. Garber, the university provost, will serve as interim president during the search for a replacement for Gay, who according to The Harvard Crimson served the shortest presidency in the university’s history (Gay’s tenure began in July). Gay will resume her faculty position at Harvard.

Further controversy arose surrounding Gay after criticism that she, and the university, failed to forcefully condemn the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas. Gay faced investigations by the Harvard Corp. and the U.S. House of Representatives after her Dec. 5 testimony before the House Education and the Workforce Committee related to antisemitism on campus, and received backlash for appearing to evade questions about antisemitism and whether students would be disciplined for calling for the genocide of Jews.

A statement from Harvard’s governing board read: “While President Gay has acknowledged missteps and has taken responsibility for them, it is also true that she has shown remarkable resilience in the face of deeply personal and sustained attacks. While some of this has played out in the public domain, much of it has taken the form of repugnant and in some cases racist vitriol directed at her through disgraceful emails and phone calls. We condemn such attacks in the strongest possible terms.”

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Police in Rochester, New York say there is no evidence of terrorism in the New Year’s Day crash that killed two people and injured several more after a concert in Rochester, New York. The suspect, 25-year-old Michael Avery of the Syracuse area, died Monday night from injuries sustained in the crash, officials said.  Avery’s SUV was stashed with gas canisters when he sped toward the pedestrians, and collided with another car.

The crash happened shortly before 1 a.m. as police officers were directing traffic after a concert by the band “moe” at the Kodak Center theater complex. At 12:52 a.m., Avery drove his Ford Expedition on West Ridge Road toward where police officers were stopping traffic to allow pedestrians to cross, however “at this time, Avery sped up, crossed into the oncoming lane of traffic and appears to have intentionally been driving towards the pedestrian crossing.” Avery crashed into the Outlander, sending both vehicles “through a group of pedestrians that were in the crosswalk.” The two passengers in the Outlander were killed and the driver suffered non-life-threatening injuries, according to police. The collision also caused an explosion and a large blaze that took the fire department more than an hour to extinguish.

In an update on Tuesday, Rochester Police Chief David M. Smith said that they have spoken with Avery’s family and they believed he “may have been suffering from possible undiagnosed mental health issues,” but said that “we have not recovered any information that his actions were motivated by any form of political or social biases,” adding that they believe that Avery acted alone. Avery’s motive is not clear and police urge the public to come forward with information. The FBI Buffalo Field Office confirmed they are assisting the Rochester Police Department in the investigation.

Police say that Avery had traveled to Rochester in his personal vehicle on or about Dec. 27 and checked into the WoodSpring Suites in Greece, a suburb of Rochester. Two days later, he rented a Ford Expedition from a car rental agency at the Rochester airport and left his personal car in the airport parking garage. Between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Dec. 30, he made “at least half a dozen purchases of gasoline and gas containers at different locations” throughout Monroe and Ontario counties.

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A Colorado woman suspected of killing two of her young children and injuring a third made an initial court appearance Monday in London, United Kingdom, where she had been arrested over the weekend. Singler disappeared after Colorado police were preparing to arrest her in connection with the deaths of her 9-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son, who were found slain Dec. 19 during what was initially reported as a burglary.

Singler, who had minor injuries, as well as her 11-year-old daughter was hospitalized for several days before being released; she was later named in an arrest warrant that alleged she committed murder, attempted murder, child abuse and assault. According to Colorado Springs police, Singler was last seen Dec. 23.

Colorado Springs police confirmed that authorities in the U.K. took 35-year-old Kimberlee Singler into custody without incident: “Detectives with the Colorado Springs Police Department’s homicide unit continue to work closely with multiple law enforcement agencies in pursuing the ongoing investigation.” Police in the U.K. arrested Singler on Saturday in the Kensington section of London.

On Monday, Singler made an initial appearance in Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London; she has a Jan. 29 hearing scheduled on whether she should be extradited to the United States to face two counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted murder, three counts of child abuse and one count of assault.

The suspect and her estranged husband have been locked in a contentious, yearslong divorce case, according to court records.

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Police confirmed that one woman was killed and four people were wounded in a Los Angeles County shooting in the early morning of New Year’s Day.  KABC-TV reports that officers from the Hawthorne Police Department responded to a shooting report around 12:30 a.m. Monday, January 1st.   Hawthorne is part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area in southwestern Los Angeles County.

Hawthorne police reported that one male victim suffering gunshot wounds was transported to a hospital from the scene, which took place near a shopping mall on Crenshaw Boulevard and Rosecrans Avenue. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said the other four victims arrived at area hospitals by other means, with one adult female victim later pronounced dead. Of the other victims, one was listed in critical condition and three were listed as stable

There were no arrests made in connection with the shooting, which remains under investigation by the sheriff’s department.

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