Category: Security

A 65-year-old American woman reportedly traveled to Mexico for cosmetic surgery; however, when she awoke from her surgery, she discovered that she had received unwanted breast implants and a Brazilian butt lift procedure.

According to News Nation, 65-year-old Kimberly McCormick traveled to Mexico for cosmetic surgery after having a positive surgery six years prior at the same facility, when she received a breast lift and had excess skin removed following the loss of 150 pounds. Unfortunately, this time, McCormick’s surgery resulted in her body being “disfigured” and a massive $75,000 in expected medical bills.

“I called my daughter bawling because I had woken up with huge breasts,” McCormick said. The 65-year-old told News Nation that instead of receiving the surgery procedures that she had agreed to, she woke up to an unwanted Brazilian butt lift and unwanted breast implants. McCormick also claimed that part of her lung collapsed as a result of the unwanted procedures.

A video shared by Collin Rugg, co-owner of Trending Politics, shows an interview with McCormick where she outlined the horrifying experience and shared the health complications that she is now struggling with as a result of the unwanted surgeries.

NEW: A 65-year old American woman traveled to Mexico to get a skin-tightening surgery but woke up to breast implants and a Brazilian Butt Lift instead.

Kimberly McCormick is fuming after she is left with $75,000 in expected bills after a Mexico plastic surgery center performed… pic.twitter.com/G6PRPnPb3L

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) November 20, 2023

Misty Ann McCormick, Kimberly McCormick’s daughter, described the condition her mother was in when she was able to see her after the botched surgery. She told News Nation that her mother’s lips were blue, her fingers were turning blue, and her oxygen monitor was not attached properly. 

Misty McCormick claimed that she was assaulted, threatened, and kicked out of the hospital by individuals with machine guns who claimed to belong to the Tijuana police when she attempted to intervene in the situation.

“I was manhandled, beaten with machine guns, kicked in my ribs, kicked between my legs, thrown out of the hospital physically,” she said. “I have a giant wound on the back of my head from getting hit with the butt of the machine gun.”

READ MORE: Army doctor accused in massive sexual assault case

Kimberly McCormick also told News Nation that a hospital representative extorted her for money by threatening imprisonment in Mexico if she did not provide payment.

The McCormick family is currently raising money through a GoFundMe page to help with the unexpected medical bills, as the cost of fixing the surgery is estimated to be at least $75,000.

News Nation also noted that the family has continued to face difficulties in the United States, as the San Diego police reportedly dismissed the family’s claims and told the family to contact the Tijuana police in Mexico.

“We were laughed at by the San Diego police, who told me to call the Tijuana police,” Misty Ann McCormick said.

In the video interview posted on X, Fox 13 reported that the family claimed they were also filing a report with the FBI.

According to News Nation, McCormick’s story represents one of the potential dangers of the medical tourism industry, which encompasses individuals who travel to other countries to receive medical care at potentially cheaper costs. News Nation reported that the surgery McCormick originally wanted only cost $13,000 in Mexico, while the same surgery would cost over $50,000 in the United States.

U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg recently ruled that a lawsuit against Georgia’s use of electronic voting machines must go to a non-jury trial in January.

According to 11 Alive News, the federal judge’s ruling will require Georgia’s secretary of state to defend the state’s utilization of electronic voting prior to the upcoming presidential primary election in the state. The lawsuit questions whether Georgia’s current system of computerized voting is safe or whether it is vulnerable to potential hacking incidents.

According to The Associated Press, Totenberg’s recent 135-page ruling stems from a lawsuit that was originally filed by activists in Georgia who want the state to use paper ballots instead of electronic voting machines.

The Associated Press reported that the lawsuit was first filed in 2017 against touchscreen voting machines that the state had used for roughly 15 years. The lawsuit was later altered to challenge the new election system the state purchased in 2019, claiming that the new electronic system was vulnerable.

While the state had requested that the judge rule against the lawsuit before the case went to trial, Totenberg said there were “material facts in dispute” that would require a trial. As a result, the federal judge scheduled a bench trial for the case that will begin on Jan. 9. Totenberg also encouraged both parties to work together to resolve the matter.

READ MORE: DOJ request to jail Trump rejected by D.C. judge

“The Court cannot wave a magic wand in this case to address the varied challenges to our democracy and election system in recent years, including those presented in this case,” she stated. “But reasonable, timely discussion and compromise in this case, coupled with prompt, informed legislative action, might certainly make a difference that benefits the parties and the public.”

According to 11 Alive News, critics of Georgia’s electronic voting machines have alleged a security breach in Georgia’s Coffee County that was recorded on a surveillance video that showed unauthorized individuals scanning and copying secure voting software and distributing some of the information online.

Totenberg wrote that the “2021 Coffee County election equipment breach … presents a substantial risk that … votes will not be counted as cast.”

Critics have argued that incidents such as the one documented in Georgia’s Coffee County can result in invalid markings on electronic voting machines. In Totenberg’s ruling requiring Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office to take part in January’s civil trial, Totenberg wrote that the “defendants fail to identify a single cybersecurity expert who endorses the current configuration of Georgia’s (ballot marking device) system.”

Regardless of the end result of the January trial in Georgia, Totenberg made it clear that the court “does not have the legal authority” to fulfill the “broadest relief” request that the plaintiffs have made in the case.

“Even if Plaintiffs prevail on their substantive claims, the Court cannot order the Georgia legislature to pass legislation creating a paper ballot voting system or judicially impose a statewide paper ballot system as injunctive relief in this case,” Totenberg said.

Nevertheless, Totenberg explained that if the plaintiffs emerge victorious at the January trial, there are “pragmatic, sound remedial policy measures” that could either be ordered by the court or agreed upon by both parties involved.

In the sub-zero, snow-laden Himalayas, batches of bags of blood, plasma and platelets were flown by a drone over multiple 20km trips in a high-altitude drone delivery trial in October.

In less than seven minutes, the drone covered what would have been an hour’s journey by road in challenging terrain.

“We wanted to check whether the blood was usable after transferring it using the drone,” said scientist Sumit Aggarwal, a programme officer at the division of epidemiology and communicable diseases at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a state research institute.

It was. Besides blood components, the drone also transported essential medicine between Keylong, the administrative centre of Lahaul and Spiti district in the state of Himachal Pradesh, and remote areas such as Tholang district.

The successful two-week trial was part of a series undertaken by the ICMR to test drone deliveries under different climatic and geographical conditions, as India seeks to become a multi-sectoral drone hub by 2030.

In May, when temperatures crossed 40 deg C, scientists tested blood deliveries by drones in the vicinity of India’s capital city New Delhi.

Plans are now being drawn up for organ transport, among other trials, including the delivery of sputum samples for tuberculosis testing in a tribal area in the southern state of Telangana to cut down diagnostic delays.

“It (drone delivery) will support our health outreach,” Dr Aggarwal told The Straits Times.

He noted that drones were being used in healthcare in some African countries like Rwanda to transport medicine.

“But we in India, we have to generate evidence in the Indian context,” he added.

India aims to become a hub for drone manufacturing and use by 2030.

Drones, which are currently manufactured or assembled in India with parts sourced from countries like China, are used in policing, agriculture and defence, including manning India’s porous borders in a bid to curb illegal activities such as smuggling and trafficking.

In agriculture, drones are widely used to spray crops with pesticide and to monitor farmlands.

In the healthcare sector, the use of drones came into prominence during Covid-19, when they delivered vaccines and other medicine to remote areas in north-eastern India.

Since then, diagnostic labs and other research institutes across the country have also been experimenting with drone use.

Since September, Indian multinational pharmaceutical company Cipla has carried out more than 80 flights, sending critical medicine for cardiac, respiratory and other essential chronic therapies from its stockist in the city of Mandi — located in the Himalayas in Himachal Pradesh — to pharmacies, hospitals and doctors in remote areas in districts like Hamirpur up to 95km away.

A journey from Mandi that would take three hours through winding roads wrapped around mountains takes about 20 minutes via drone, Cipla said.

“This has ensured the prompt delivery of medicine to remote chemists and clinics, significantly reducing the risk of delays, temperature fluctuations for cold-chain products and accidents on the state’s hilly terrains,” said a spokesperson.

The company, which partnered Skye Air Mobility for drone deliveries, is next planning to introduce drone use in northern Uttarakhand state and in districts in the North Eastern Region.

Those in the drone business and scientists said the cost of using drones is equal to, if not less than, costs incurred through conventional transport in remote areas.

“Drones are in a nascent stage of technology. They are not yet very commercially viable for health systems to use for now,” said Dr Rutuja Patil, a biotechnologist and public health researcher at the KEM Hospital Research Centre in the western city of Pune.

“I have come across multiple trials, but none of those solutions became commercially viable,” she added.

Drones could be a solution for getting emergency supplies to remote areas, she said. But in areas where there are established logistics systems and transport networks, drones’ relatively higher costs will hinder their uptake.

In 2021, Dr Patil led a trial to use battery-powered drones to deliver essential medical items to community health centres in rural regions of the western state of Maharashtra, which has a strong transport network.

It cost 15,000 rupees (S$240) to deliver 2kg to 3kg by drone — far higher than the 3,000 to 4,000 rupees it costs for much heavier parcels delivered by road.

Other challenges include operating drones in highly populated areas.

In December 2022, the Delhi Metro shut down its services at the Jasola Vihar station for an hour after a pharmaceutical firm’s drone carrying blood vials fell onto the tracks.

Despite the potential for such mishaps, the Indian government has continued to move towards facilitating the use of drones across multiple sectors.

It expects the drone services industry, which includes operations and logistics, to grow to more than 300 billion rupees and create 10,000 jobs over the next three years.

The government in 2021 cut down regulation and rules from more than three dozen approvals to just four, while dividing the country into three colour zones — green, yellow and red — based on the presence of airports, military installations and ports in the vicinity.

In green areas, no permission is necessary to operate a drone up to a maximum height of 122m from sea level, while in yellow zones permission is required and in red zones only the government can operate a drone.

Companies operating drones are upbeat about their use in the healthcare sector, saying costs will continue to come down as drone technology advances and usage becomes more widespread.

“Skye Air has developed a seamless integration system with healthcare facilities. This allows for real-time tracking of the drone’s journey, ensuring that healthcare providers have full visibility into the delivery process,” said Skye Air Mobility founder and chief executive Ankit Kumar.

He noted that drones were environmentally more sustainable in remote areas.

“This level of transparency not only builds trust but also allows for immediate action in case of any unforeseen circumstances.”

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(c) 2023 the Asia News Network

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

A United States Army soldier, who recently separated from the service, spoke out against the Biden administration and claimed he was ordered pay for military gear that he was forced to leave behind during the chaotic and deadly Afghanistan withdrawal in 2021.

According to Newsweek, the former soldier shared his story Monday on TikTok, claiming that it was the official gear turn-in day after completing roughly four years of active duty service in the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division. The soldier, who is known as “Brock” on TikTok, said the gear turn-in process made him want to “holler,” “scream,” and “yell.”

While the soldier’s initial TikTok video had been removed from the social media platform by Tuesday morning, the video remained on other platforms, including a post on X, formerly Twitter, by the conservative account “Libs of TikTok.”

“Two years ago, my unit was deployed to Afghanistan for the Afghanistan withdrawal,” the soldier stated in the video. “We spent a few weeks over there. It was hectic, it was chaotic, it was disgusting, and it made me very disappointed in our government. Today, I’m reminded how disappointed I am in our government.”

Wow! Soldier leaving the army blasts the Biden admin and the state of the military. Claims he’s being charged close to $4,000 for gear he was INSTRUCTED to leave in Afghanistan during Biden’s disastrous withdrawal. pic.twitter.com/bzfjYd21EN

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) November 20, 2023

“They want to charge me $500 to $1,000 for gear I was ordered to leave in Afghanistan two years ago because as the last two birds were sitting on the tarmac ready to leave, there wasn’t any room for extra gear, extra weight,” the soldier continued. “Therefore, we were told to leave it. Some lower-level dudes, including myself, were like, ‘No, this stuff is expensive. I’m not leaving this. I’m gonna get charged for this when it’s time to leave.’”

While the former soldier claimed that his superiors assured him that he would not be charged for the abandoned gear in Afghanistan, he said the Army had still charged him personally for the missing gear, which he said cost somewhere between $500 and $1,000.

READ MORE: U.S. military weapons from Afghanistan may have been used to kill Americans in Israel: Report

As he continued his story, the former soldier blasted the Biden administration for giving millions of dollars to the Taliban, providing billions of dollars in military aid to Ukraine, canceling billions of dollars of student debt, and giving “stupid stimulus checks” to U.S. citizens, while refusing to cover “$500 to $1,000 for a dude that left gear in Afghanistan.”

“The government is so stinking backward right now, man,” he said. “This administration’s last priority is the American people, and inside of the American people, their last priority is their soldiers, their airmen, their Marines, their Navy.”

The former soldier shared that while he initially thought his gear turn-in day would be “bittersweet,” the “sad” way the military handled his case resulted in him being “happy to separate” from the military under the Biden administration.

“I’m very excited to stop serving my government and just getting started serving my country,” he said.

At the end of the video, the former soldier displayed a sheet of paper with the total cost of his military gear, various items, and services totaling $3,561.26.

The former soldier expressed his gratitude for anyone who would be willing to help him raise the funds necessary to cover the cost of his final gear turn-in, explaining that he was humbling himself for the sake of his family.

This article was originally published by Radio Free Asia and is reprinted with permission.

Film director and dissident artist Guo Zhenming, known for his work commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen massacre, has been placed under a travel ban after being invited to a screening of his latest film in Singapore.

Authorities in the southwestern province of Yunnan, where Guo is currently based, cut the corner from his passport in May, and refused to accept an application for a new passport from him, he told Radio Free Asia in a recent interview.

Guo traveled to Beijing last month in a bid to apply again from there, but his application was rejected due to a “restriction” placed on him by authorities in Yunnan’s Lijiang city, he was told.

Last December, authorities in nearby Dali placed Guo under 15 days’ administrative detention for “picking quarrels and stirring up trouble,” a charge frequently used to target peaceful critics of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, after he made some comments about the “white paper” movement.

The incident is likely one reason for the travel ban, Guo said.

Another was an online signature campaign he signed supporting women’s rights in the wake of the scandal of the woman found chained by the neck in the eastern province of Jiangsu.

“The first thing was the woman in chains … I and [fellow artist] Yan Zhengxue launched a campaign at home and overseas in April and May last year … calling for the protection of women’s rights, which made a big impact at the time,” Guo said.

“Then, the white paper movement happened while I was in Dali, and I made some comments in WeChat Moments,” he said. “On Dec. 4, 2022, I was arrested by the Dali municipal police, who held me in administrative detention for 15 days in a separate cell.”

Obstruction

Former 1989 activist Ji Feng said Guo’s support for his sick friend and dissident sculptor Yan Zhengxue had also angered the authorities.

“When I went to visit with Yan Zhengxue, the main fundraiser was Guo,” Ji said.

“I was picked up by the Guizhou police on Sept. 25, and he was placed under the travel ban on Sept. 27,” he said.

“I was the one who had him travel from Yunnan to Beijing to visit Yan Zhengxue,” he said.

Guo said he has faced various forms of obstruction from government departments ever since his detention, however.

“After I got out, the Dali municipal police department refused to show me the administrative penalty notice or the administrative detention certificate,” Guo said. “They said it was a state secret. “

“What I later got was a detention certificate issued to me by the detention center, proving that I had been released,” he said.

He said officials at the Gucheng district branch of the Lijiang police department, where he lives, then proceeded to clip the corner of his passport, invalidating it.

Guo, who hails from the central province of Hunan, but who has lived in Beijing and Yunnan for much of his adult life, recently had his film “Tedious Days and Nights” accepted by the Singapore International Film Festival.

“I was going to attend the world premiere [of my film] at the … Singapore International Film Festival on Dec. 4, so I was eager to apply for a passport so I could leave the country,” he said.

“But the Lijiang municipal police department refuses to accept my passport application, saying that I am suspected of being a threat to national political security,” he said. “I’m banned from leaving the country.”

‘Filth, irreverence and melancholy’

An officer who answered the phone at the Exit-Entry Administration Bureau of the Lijiang municipal police department declined to discuss Guo’s case when contacted by Radio Free Asia for comment on Nov. 14.

“We don’t know,” the officer said. Asked which department was in charge of Guo’s case, the officer said: “I don’t know that either.”

Repeated calls to the Entry-Exit Detachment and Supervisory Branch of the Gucheng district police department rang unanswered during office hours on Nov. 14.

“Tedious Days and Nights” tells the story of poet Zeng Dekuang, who returns to the former industrial town of Coal Dam after 30 years of wandering to find the place in disrepair “much like the promise of his youth that has dimmed in middle age,” according to the publicity material on the festival website.

“Rather than resist time’s decay, Zeng and his old friends drift into it with abandon and return to their basest of impulses, sometimes with comedic failure, but mostly in drunkenness,” the synopsis reads.

“In Tedious Days and Nights, the Tiananmen Square massacre continues to haunt a lost generation of Chinese artists,” it says. 

“As the men frolic about ruins, this documentary enacts a passive resistance equivalent to the tang ping (lying flat) movement of Chinese youths today … with equal parts filth, irreverence and melancholy.”

The entry in the Singapore International Film Festival Guide for the Dec. 4 screening of the film advertises “Q&A with film-maker,” an event that Guo will now be unable to attend. 

Navy veteran Kenneth Joseph Owen Thomas was sentenced to almost five years in prison during a federal court hearing on Thursday for his participation in the January 6 Capitol storming.

According to Military.com, Thomas, age 41, received a sentence of four years and ten months in prison, followed by three years of probation. Additionally, U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich ruled that Thomas would be required to pay a $20,000 fine and $2,000 in restitution.

While the jury acquitted Thomas on two counts, including the obstruction of a congressional proceeding, and remained deadlocked on two other counts, Thomas was found guilty on seven charges, including disorderly conduct and assault against police officers.

Military.com reported that Thomas was recorded attacking police officers both physically and verbally as the officers attempted to prevent Jan. 6 protesters from entering the U.S. Capitol during the certification process of the 2020 presidential election.

Thomas was in Washington, D.C., with his wife and child on Jan. 6. While he sent his wife and child to safety away from the protest, he testified in court that he told them, “I can go and help … That’s what the military trains you to do, is you go towards the danger and provide any sort of aid that you can.”

However, prosecutors claimed that Thomas was heard shouting, “Police stand down” and “This is our house” during the Jan. 6 protest. Video footage from the protest also showed Thomas punching police officers and participating in the riot.

READ MORE: Ray Epps facing DOJ criminal charges for Jan 6 Capitol Storming, attorney says

Thomas’ defense attorneys stated in a sentencing memo that the Navy veteran was “brutally aware of the seriousness of his conduct” and that the veteran was taking “full and complete responsibility for his actions.”

The memo also claimed that none of the police officers that Thomas came into contact with “reported any physical pain or injuries attributed to Mr. Thomas.”

After Thomas was arrested, the Navy veteran informed his probation officer of his former military service; however, a sentencing memo provided by federal prosecutors claimed that Thomas misled his probation officer regarding his military service.

Records shared with Military.com reveal that Thomas enlisted in the Navy in June of 2000. Thomas served for three years, ending his military service as an E-2 apprentice airman in October 2003.

Military.com reported that Thomas’ only duty station was Strike Fighter Squadron 213 in Oceana, Virginia. Thomas was also awarded two Sea Service Deployment Ribbons, which Military.com said indicates that he was deployed at sea for at least three months on two separate occasions.

Contrary to his military service records, Thomas published a fundraising campaign page, calling himself “a Navy veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom [Afghanistan] & Operation Iraqi Freedom [Iraq].”

Prosecutors claimed in a court filing, “Thomas actively misled the probation officer during his presentence interview, particularly regarding his dismissal from the Navy.”

According to prosecutors, Thomas claimed that he had received one “non-judicial punishment for an unspecified offense,” despite actually receiving three non-judicial punishments and eventually being dismissed for his “misconduct.”

According to the court filing, Thomas was punished for making “provoking speech and gestures” toward a fellow Navy member, using marijuana and methamphetamines, and being absent without the military’s permission. After being discharged from the military, Thomas also was convicted of domestic battery and felony burglary.

Court filings show that Thomas used his position as a Jan. 6 defendant and former military member to raise “over $77,607 in charitable contributions.” The Thomas’ GiveSendGo campaign page currently shows that the veteran raised more than $80,000 in funds.

In a significant move to bolster its defense capabilities, Japan is set to acquire 400 Tomahawk missiles following the Pentagon’s approval of a $2.35 billion deal. This decision marks a crucial step in Japan’s efforts to enhance its military readiness amid evolving global security challenges.

The U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency, in its recent announcement, emphasized the strategic importance of the sale.

“The proposed sale will improve Japan’s capability to meet current and future threats by providing a long-range, conventional surface-to-surface missile with significant standoff range that can neutralize growing threats. Japan will have no difficulty absorbing these articles into its armed forces,” the agency stated.

Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara, addressing a news conference, highlighted the deal’s significance. The defense minister noted that the acquisition of the missiles “will contribute to strengthening stand-off defense capabilities of our country.”

The advanced missiles, manufactured by Raytheon Technologies, are capable of striking targets up to 1,000 miles away. The missiles are a key component of the U.S. Navy’s arsenal and can be launched from Aegis destroyers operated by the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force.

READ MORE: Pentagon secretly sending foreign country more weapons: Report

According to Stars and Stripes, Japan’s defense spending this fiscal year amounts to $51.4 billion, reflecting the nation’s prioritization of its military strength. The Tomahawk missile purchase, initially planned for 2026, has been expedited to 2025 in response to what Japan’s Defense Ministry has described as a security environment in the region that is becoming increasingly severe.

Japan’s expected purchase of the 400 Tomahawk missiles comes amid regional tensions, with China possessing over 1,900 ballistic missiles capable of reaching Japan, as stated in a 2022 Pentagon report. Furthermore, North Korea’s recent surge in ballistic missile testing, with 21 missiles launched over 14 days of testing, adds to the urgency of enhancing Japan’s defensive capabilities, according to Stars and Stripes.

However, the Tomahawk sale has drawn criticism from North Korea, with a defense ministry official warning of heightened regional tensions and potential arms race escalation. The official, as reported by Japanese public broadcaster NHK, labeled the missiles as “lethal war equipment” and vowed to strengthen North Korea’s deterrence in response.

Japan’s decision to proceed with the Tomahawk missile purchase represents a strategic move to secure its national defense in an increasingly complex geopolitical landscape, reinforcing its position as a key player in maintaining regional stability.

This news article was partially created with the assistance of artificial intelligence and edited and fact-checked by a human editor.

Authorities have identified the shooter who killed a 63-year-old guard at New Hampshire State Hospital in Concord on Friday as John Madore, a 33-year-old man they described as transient.

Investigators say Madore used a 9 mm pistol when he shot and killed Bradley Haas, of Franklin, New Hampshire, a state Department of Safety Security Officer working at the hospital’s front lobby entrance around 3:30 p.m. Friday.

Speaking to reporters Saturday, officials did not release the name of the state trooper who immediately responded to the scene, shooting and killing Madore, who they said most recently stayed at a hotel on the Seacoast after spending time in the Concord metro area.

“Make no mistake, if not for the heroics and sacrifice of Bradley Haas, the bravery of the New Hampshire Hospital staff, the unflinching response of New Hampshire State Police, this tragedy could have been much, much worse,” Gov. Chris Sununu said.

“New Hampshire owes a debt of gratitude to them all,” he added.

Haas had been a guard at the hospital since 2019, Attorney General John Formella said. Formella did not divulge what the role entailed but mentioned Haas was unarmed.

Madore had yet to go through a metal detector and “other obstacles” to gain access to the hospital before he started firing, Formella said. The state trooper who shot and killed the suspect contained the incident within the lobby.

“Law enforcement is always prepared to respond to an incident like this,” Formella said. “In this case, this situation was tragic, but there was an armed law enforcement officer at the scene prepared to respond immediately, and as we’ve said, that response saved a lot of lives.”

Autopsies for the shooter and victim are being conducted by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, and results will be released once authorities have them, Formella said. Anyone with information about Madore or the incident is asked to call the State Police Major Crime Unit, he said.

“Beyond that, we are still gathering facts and information,” Formella said. “We will work to gather additional information about Mr. Madore, and why he did this and what led up to this tragic incident yesterday.”

State Police received a call about the shooting at 3:38 p.m., Col. Mark Hall said, adding that while CPR and other life-saving measures were performed at the scene, Haas succumbed to his injuries.

Additional state troopers, including a SWAT team, responded to sweep and secure the facility and surrounding area outside the campus, Hall said. Authorities during the sweep discovered a U-Haul rental truck running in the parking lot that appeared suspicious but did not pose a public safety threat, he said.

“However, located within the U-Haul were several items of concern, including an AR-style rifle, a tactical vest and several magazines of ammunition,” Hall said. “The investigation into the shooting including any determinations regarding the suspect’s motives remains ongoing.”

Other responders included other members of the State Police, Concord Police officers, State Complex Police officers and deputies with the Merrimack County Sheriff’s Office as well as members of the Concord Fire Department.

Haas worked as a young man as a military police officer for the U.S. Army for three years before then serving in the Franklin Police Department for 28 years, Formella said. He started as a patrol officer before rising to chief of the department, he said.

“Chief Haas was already a hero when he walked into work yesterday given his service to our country, to our state and to his community,” Formella said. “But he will now be remembered forever as a man who died protecting patients, staff and visitors at New Hampshire Hospital.”

Mental health resources are being provided to hospital staffers, and a call center has been set up for patients, families and staff at 603-271-3004, said Lori Weaver, commissioner of the state Department of Health and Human Services.

Most aspects of the hospital are running as normal, but visitation has been disrupted, Weaver said. Officials are actively working to “reestablish” the visitor entrance, she said.

“Our New Hampshire Hospital staff have not wavered for one moment,” Weaver said. “They have demonstrated courage and skill as the incident unfolded, following the protocols for an emergency of this type. They have delivered skilled and compassionate care without interruption.”

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© 2023 MediaNews Group, Inc

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

A union representing Los Angeles County sheriff deputies recently elected to its board of directors a veteran lawman who has a controversial tattoo and was involved in two fatal shootings that cost the county $4 million in legal payouts, sparking concern among oversight officials and justice advocates.

Incoming Assn. of Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs board member Jason Zabala previously described his tattoo under oath, saying it depicted a skeleton in a cowboy hat with a smoking rifle and the number 140. He called the stark combination of imagery a “station tattoo,” but others described it as the symbol of a deputy gang known as the Regulators.

Zabala has previously denied being part of the group, saying that the number simply meant he was the 140th person to get that same design, and describing the tattoo as a proud mark of camaraderie among fellow deputies. This week he did not respond to a request for comment.

Union president Richard Pippin defended Zabala in an emailed statement Thursday, calling him a “family oriented guy with a big heart” who has dedicated his life to helping others.

Still, advocates — such as James Nelson, campaign and program manager for the community coalition Dignity and Power Now — worried Zabala’s election would not bode well for the department’s efforts to rein in deputy gangs and gang tattoos.

“It’s a bad sign,” Nelson said. “It isn’t the sheriff that runs the department — it’s the unions.”

For decades, the Sheriff’s Department has been plagued by gangs of deputies running roughshod over certain stations and floors of the jail. The groups are known by monikers such as the Executioners, the Vikings and the Regulators, and their members often bear the same sequentially numbered tattoos.

During his swearing-in ceremony nearly a year ago, Sheriff Robert Luna spoke of the need to “eliminate deputy gangs” from the department. Though he created a new office to do that, the department has not yet settled on a policy banning gangs or gang tattoos.

One hurdle to clear before implementing any sweeping new policy is the back-and-forth of the bargaining process with labor leaders, including ALADS.

“We’ve been hearing that the reason we can’t move forward with passing an anti-gang policy — which is the first step in making good on the pledge to get rid of them — is because the sheriff has to negotiate with ALADS,” said Sean Kennedy, who chairs the Civilian Oversight Commission.

“Those sessions are taking much longer than we anticipated,” Kennedy said. “And then, when we hear that he’ll be meeting and conferring with an organization with a tattooed Regulator on the board of directors, it makes everyone believe that we’re engaged in a futile process.”

Pippin disputed that, saying the election outcome “will not change” the organization’s mission and values when it comes to the bargaining process.

“We remain committed to working with the department and the county to achieve the best possible outcomes, not only for our members, but also for members of the communities they serve,” he said.

He did not address the nature or significance of Zabala’s tattoo.

County records show Zabala first started working for the Sheriff’s Department in 2002. Nine years later, he was involved in an on-duty crash that left a woman with spinal injuries. The case settled for $80,000 before trial, according to the news site Knock LA.

Then in 2013, Zabala and his partner stopped a man riding a bicycle and ended up shooting him as he lay face down in his backyard. Prosecutors said the man — Terry Laffitte — had been resisting, so they deemed the shooting lawful. After Laffitte’s family filed suit, the county settled the case for $1.5 million.

The year after that, Zabala was involved in the killing of Johnny Martinez, a 28-year-old man with schizophrenia who was shot 36 times by deputies outside his Vermont Knolls home. Prosecutors also deemed that shooting justified, though in 2018 a civil lawsuit on behalf of the Martinez family ended with a hefty $2.5 million settlement.

It was the 2013 shooting that brought Zabala’s ink to the fore. In connection with the civil lawsuit, Zabala was deposed three times in 2015 and 2016 and asked to describe his tattoo.

Over the course of those depositions he offered additional details about the ink, including that in addition to a smoking gun, the skeleton is holding a “memorial stone” with “CEN” — for Century Station — written on it, along with the Roman numerals XXI. According to Kennedy, those are all key elements of a Regulators’ tattoo.

“The tombstone in the background with the letters for Century Station is some of the main iconography for the Regulators,” he told The Times.

In Zabala’s tattoo, there are also flames along the bottom of the tattoo along with the words “Beati Pacifici,” which he said under oath translates to “Blessed are the Peacemakers.” The entire tattoo is 5 to 6 inches high, on the lower part of his left leg.

At the time, Zabala said in depositions that the Old West style of his tattoo honored the Sheriff’s Department’s founding in 1850 and that skeletons are “an icon of the peace officer.” A Loyola Marymount University report later described Zabala’s ink as “Regulators tattoo #140.”

The district attorney’s office later investigated whether Zabala committed perjury when he described the significance of the number 140 on his tattoo.

Ultimately prosecutors declined to pursue the case, saying it wasn’t clear that Zabala committed perjury. Even if he did lie about his tattoo, they said, it would not have made a difference in the outcome of the case.

“It is unlikely that a false statement about one aspect of one tattoo, among several, would probably influence the outcome of the wrongful death lawsuit,” prosecutors wrote.

When lawyers for the county agreed to settle the lawsuit in 2017, records show they told a Sheriff’s Department investigator that the allegation of perjury was a factor in their decision.

In this year’s union election, Zabala was one of eight candidates for four open seats. He will be sworn in to the seven-member board at Friday morning’s meeting, along with Julian Stern, John Perez and Tony Meraz.

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© 2023 Los Angeles Times

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

West Coast fishing groups filed a federal lawsuit earlier this month against 13 of the largest tire manufacturers in the U.S., alleging the companies are illegally killing or harming endangered salmon and oceangoing trout by the use of toxic chemicals in their products.

The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco alleges that the tire-makers violated the U.S. Endangered Species Act through the discharge of 6PPD-quinone, a chemical derived from a preservative that helps tires last longer. The chemical has been linked to mortality in coho salmon returning to Puget Sound streams and, the groups allege, is harming Chinook and steelhead.

The Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations and the Institute for Fisheries Resources’ complaint outlines two dozen endangered populations of salmonids along the West Coast that have been impacted by the chemical.

In 2020, researchers revealed that the toxic chemical was the culprit behind the deaths of coho in about 40% of the Puget Sound area. The study found it kills 40% to 90% of coho returning to some urban streams before they spawn.

Toxic concentrations of the chemical have been confirmed in watersheds in San Francisco, Seattle and Los Angeles. The National Marine Fisheries Service has identified stormwater runoff as a significant factor contributing to the decline of each of the 24 populations the complaint identifies. The stormwater runoff contains 6PPD-quinone.

Symptoms of acute poisoning among coho salmon have been described in urban streams since the late 1980s. Today, California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control has linked a 70% decline in coho in the San Francisco Bay Area between the 1960s and 1990s to the use of the chemical in tires.

These declines related to the chemical, coupled with climate change, and habitat loss related to the damming, diking and channeling of rivers and streams for farming, electricity, drinking water and other human uses, have led to conservation closures of tribal, commercial and recreational fisheries along the West Coast.

The complaint comes on the heels of the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision to review the use of the chemical in tires. The Port Gamble S’Klallam and Puyallup tribes and Yurok Tribe, of northern California, asked the agency this year to prohibit the toxic chemical’s use.

“We could not sit idle while 6PPD kills the fish that sustain us,” Joseph L. James, chair of the Yurok Tribe, told The Associated Press. “This lethal toxin has no business in any salmon-bearing watershed.”

The states of Washington, Oregon, Vermont, Rhode Island and Connecticut also wrote the EPA, citing the chemical’s threat to their waters and fisheries. Washington state has already begun researching safer alternatives to the chemical and developing methods to test and monitor for the chemicals in the environment.

The EPA granting the petition and recognizing that the chemical poses an unreasonable risk to salmon underscores the need to hold tire companies accountable in the interim for the harm they’re causing threatened and endangered salmon and steelhead species, said Elizabeth Forsyth, senior attorney for Earthjustice.

“In urban areas, highly urban areas — California’s Central Valley, the Puget Sound area, et cetera — the urban runoff contains a brew of toxic chemicals,” said Glen Spain, the executive director for the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations and the Institute for Fisheries Resources.

“It turns out one of the most toxic is 6PPD-q,” Spain said. “The industry has known about this problem for a long time, but they haven’t done anything about it, which is why we are bringing the suit.”

The U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association said in a statement it is aware of the lawsuit filed by Earthjustice, but as a matter of policy, the association does not comment on ongoing litigation.

“Our members continue to research and develop alternative tire materials that ensure tire performance and do not compromise safety, consistent with our industry’s commitment to sustainability and respect for the environment,” the statement said.

In the early 2000s, scientists began receiving reports of coho in Seattle-area streams, such as Longfellow and Thornton creeks, behaving erratically: swimming at the surface, gasping for air, and tumbling back down the streams, said Nat Scholz of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle.

About a decade later, researchers zeroed in on the link between stormwater runoff and coho mortality. And in 2020, they found it was 6PPD-quinone causing coho to die before they spawn in their natal streams.

“The coho were telling us that there was some chemical, an emerging contaminant,” Scholz said. “That then led us to this big forensic investigation to find 6PPD-quinone.”

In West Seattle’s Longfellow Creek, Edward Kolodziej, an associate professor at the University of Washington, Tacoma, and a co-author on the 2020 paper, saw coho fighting for life.

“You’re watching them gasp. They really should breathe in and out the same way that we breathe in and out — chest rises and falls — and in this type of mortality, they stop breathing correctly.”

It’s really sad to see, Kolodziej said. It was motivating.

The chemical is believed to be the second most toxic compound to aquatic organisms.

The chemical is also acutely toxic to both rainbow and steelhead trout, the lawsuit states, and Chinook salmon are also vulnerable to 6PPD-quinone exposure.

When exposed to untreated stormwater runoff, Chinook suffer up to 13% mortality and generally died within one to two days, according to research cited in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit aims to push tire manufacturers to use safer chemical alternatives or to file for a permit for the incidental killing of endangered salmon and fund stormwater cleanup initiatives.

“We’re a nation that put a man on the moon. We figured out how to take lead out of gasoline and still have our cars run,” Forsyth said. “It would astound me that we couldn’t make a tire that doesn’t kill up to 100% of coho salmon returning to their natal streams.”

While stormwater treatment can help reduce toxic concentrations of the chemical in streams, the vast majority of stormwater isn’t treated, Kolodziej said.

“We can’t get to a point where we can clean up our watersheds with treatment only,” Kolodziej said. “You need to dilute or treat that water by around 25-fold before coho salmon start to survive. So you need to remove at least 95% of the 6PPD-quinone runoff before it becomes safe for fish.”

The defendants named in the lawsuit are: Bridgestone Americas, Inc.; Continental Tire the Americas, LLC; Giti Tire (USA), Ltd.; The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co.; Cooper Tire & Rubber Co.; Hankook Tire America Corp.; Kumho Tire U.S.A., Inc.; Michelin North America, Inc.; Nokian Tyres; Pirelli Tire North America; Sumitomo Rubber North America, Inc.; Toyo Tire Holdings of Americas, Inc.; and Yokohama Tire Corp.

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© 2023 The Seattle Times

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