Paradise News

Tag: Americas

  • Judicial Watch: Federal Court Hearing Set for FBI’s Records on Hunter Biden Gun Scandal – FBI Refuses to Divulge Number of Records Due to ‘Ongoing Criminal Investigation’

    (Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch today announced that a federal court hearing is scheduled for Friday, October 13 in its Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit for records regarding the gun owned by Hunter Biden that reportedly was thrown in a trash can behind a Delaware grocery store. The FBI is refusing to disclose basic information about the records because it alleges doing so would interfere with the criminal prosecution of Hunter Biden.  

    The court hearing, before Judge Jia M. Cobb of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, is set for October 13, 2023, at 10 a.m. ET.

     In an August 2023 joint status report to the court, the FBI claims it has completed a search for records responsive to Judicial Watch’s FOIA request and is “currently processing” the records but added that its “position is that the number of potentially responsive records is exempt from disclosure … as this case relates to an ongoing criminal investigation.”

     Judicial Watch filed the lawsuit after the FBI withheld records in response to a January 30, 2023, FOIA request (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:23-cv-00920)). Judicial Watch is asking for:

    All records, including investigative reports, telephone logs, witness statements, memoranda, and firearms purchase documentation, related to the reported purchase, possession, and disposal of a firearm owned by Hunter Biden discarded in a Delaware trash receptacle circa October 2018.

    All records of communications of FBI officials regarding the reported purchase, possession, and disposal of the firearm.

    Judicial Watch argues that the Hunter Biden gun case “is indisputably of significant public intertest:”

    It is also time sensitive. [Judicial Watch] has asked and Defendant has refused to provide the number of potentially responsive records that needs to be processed in this case. Without this number, Plaintiff cannot evaluate – let alone agree to – a processing time of 120 days. In addition, because it appears as though Defendant will be providing [Judicial Watch] with a “no number, no list” response at the end of the 120 days, it could be more efficient and economical for the parties to simply commence summary judgment briefing and for Defendant to file its opening brief in 60 days.

    “The FBI unlawfully hid records about its Hunter Biden cover-up and now is using the compromised prosecution of Hunter Biden as an after-the-fact justification for its cover-up,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “It is simply remarkable that the Biden administration is invoking privileges – that are usually used to protect national security information – to hide details of the FBI’s clean-up operation about Hunter’s mishandling of his gun.”

    In February 2023, from a separate lawsuit, Judicial Watch released records from the United States Secret Service that implicate the FBI in the unusual action of helping Hunter Biden.

    In response to a February 24, 2021, email inquiry from Politico reporter Ben Schreckinger regarding the Secret Service’s involvement in the investigation of the Hunter Biden gun incident, the Communications Department asked for “more information or documentation.” Schreckinger responded: “Sure thing. Agents visited StarQuest Shooters & Survival Supply and asked to take possession of the paperwork Hunter had filled out to purchase a gun there. The FBI also had some involvement in the investigation.”

    In October 2020, The Blaze reported that in October 2018, Hunter Biden’s handgun was taken by Hallie Biden, the widow of then-presidential nominee Joe Biden’s son Beau. In 2021, Politico reported:

    Hallie took Hunter’s gun and threw it in a trash can behind a grocery store, only to return later to find it gone.

    Delaware police began investigating, concerned that the trash can was across from a high school and that the missing gun could be used in a crime, according to law enforcement officials and a copy of the police report obtained by POLITICO.

    But a curious thing happened at the time: Secret Service agents approached the owner of the store where Hunter bought the gun and asked to take the paperwork involving the sale, according to two people, one of whom has firsthand knowledge of the episode and the other was briefed by a Secret Service agent after the fact.

    Judicial Watch has multiple federal lawsuits focused on Biden family corruption.

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  • Connecticut woman allegedly walked into police station and opened fire

    BRISTOL, Conn. (TCD) — Officials arrested a 51-year-old former state employee accused of opening fire in the lobby of a police station last week.

    According to a news release from the Connecticut Inspector General’s Office, on Thursday, Oct. 5, at approximately 11:30 p.m., Suzanne Laprise went into the Bristol Police Department lobby at 131 North Main St. She reportedly banged on the lobby desk office windows with a handgun, but no one was behind them at the time.

    Laprise then allegedly opened fire into the windows, but the rounds did not puncture the bulletproof glass.

    The Inspector General’s Office said police tried negotiating with Laprise, but she fired additional rounds at officers. In response, an officer returned fire, but the bulletproof glass stopped the rounds. No one was injured during the exchange.

    After Laprise placed the handgun down, officers entered the lobby, activated an electronic defense weapon, and arrested her.

    According to the Inspector General’s Office, Laprise underwent evaluation at Bristol Hospital, after which she was released and transported back to the Bristol Police Department.

    Police said Lapris was charged with criminal attempt/murder with special circumstance, illegal discharge of firearm, illegal carry of firearms under the influence of drug/alcohol, criminal use of weapon, violation of pistol permit requirements, illegal possession of large capacity magazine, first-degree criminal mischief, first-degree reckless endangerment, and second-degree breach of peace.

    According to Connecticut Public Radio, her bond was initially set at $3 million but was lowered to $1 million. She will remain in custody until she is scheduled to appear in court Oct. 17.

    Laprise reportedly worked for a state agency that assists developmentally disabled people and is a mother of three adults, including one son with Down syndrome.

    On Oct. 6, police said the lobby was closed for walk-in complaints due to repairs and maintenance.

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  • Woman found burned alive in Austin with lighter and butcher knife nearby

    AUSTIN, Texas (TCD) — A homicide investigation is underway after officials found the body of a woman who they believe was burned alive.

    According to a news release from the Austin Police Department, on Friday, Sept. 29, at around 5:08 a.m., the Austin Fire Department responded to the 6300 block of Mesa Drive in reference to a fire, where they found 33-year-old Melissa Davis deceased with apparent signs of body trauma.

    A search warrant obtained by KXAN-TV alleges the fire spanned a 10-foot area, and firefighters discovered Davis’ body consumed by flames. Officers reportedly detected an odor of accelerant near the body, which was in a small grassy area adjacent to a fence.

    KXAN reports that a detective uncovered a new lighter on the ground, and a K-9 detected the scent of gasoline or diesel. The K-9 also found a butcher knife near the site of the accelerant odor.

    According to the warrant as cited by KXAN, officials suspect that “the knife was placed with the decedent in an attempt to destroy the evidence with the fire.”

    During an autopsy, medical examiners uncovered evidence indicating that Davis was possibly burned alive.

    According to one of Davis’ family members who spoke with police, Davis allegedly planned to have her phone repaired at the Apple Store, and they last saw her the day before the fire.

    Detectives noted that Davis’ phone was not found at the fire scene, but they believe she had it with her before her death, KXAN reports. Police believe Davis’ cellphone data will assist in identifying a suspect.

    On Oct. 6, police posted a news release stating that detectives are searching for a blue 2016 Toyota 4Runner in connection with the case, but officials didn’t release any further details. The investigation is ongoing.

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  • Texas man sentenced for slashing his romantic partner’s neck, killing him

    GALVESTON, Texas (TCD) — A judge sentenced a man to 55 years behind bars for killing his roommate and romantic partner, then fleeing the state.

    Galveston County court records show Christian Hickman-Staudt, 26, was handed the sentence Oct. 5 after a jury convicted him of first-degree murder for the death of 55-year-old Donald Eugene Heard. His attorneys have already filed an appeal.

    According to League City Police, on July 30, 2020, officers responded to the 100 block of Briarwood Court after a woman called 911 to report she discovered her son dead in the residence. Police went inside and determined the victim “had been deceased for several days.”

    Heard sustained a fatal knife wound to his neck.

    During their investigation, detectives learned Heard and Hickman-Staudt were in a relationship and Hickman-Staudt was at the home a few days before Heard’s mother found him dead. Three days after the discovery, Hickman-Staudt contacted his mother, Frances Hickman, and asked her pick him up because he and Heard had gotten into a fight.

    League City Police said Hickman-Staudt fled to Minnesota following the killing, which led to police issuing a warrant for his arrest. Hickman-Staudt’s mother was arrested in October 2020 for tampering with evidence because she allegedly “destroyed evidence related to the crime.”

    Court documents show Hickman concealed a backpack with evidence inside.

    Hickman-Staudt was eventually apprehended Oct. 27, 2021, in Hennepin County, Minnesota, and extradited back to Texas.

    KRIV-TV reports Hickman-Staudt told investigators he didn’t kill Heard. Rather, he claimed some people broke in and committed the crime. Police, however, discovered Hickman-Staudt’s DNA on a knife inside.

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  • Fla. man accused of holding woman, child hostage and killing cousin over family dispute

    ESCAMBIA COUNTY, Fla. (TCD) — A 26-year-old man accused of holding a woman and child hostage allegedly killed his cousin in a separate case.

    According to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, on Oct. 6, a female victim informed deputies that Jerry Foster, an armed suspect, held her and a child hostage at a home in the 900 block of Bremen Avenue, threatening to kill them.

    The next day, she managed to escape and reported the incident to the Sheriff’s Office, revealing that the child remained at the residence with Foster.

    The SWAT team, Hostage Negotiations Unit, and Drone Unit responded to the home, and Foster eventually exited with the child. Following a brief standoff, authorities apprehended Foster.

    The child was unharmed.

    According to an arrest report obtained by WEAR-TV, Foster now stands accused of fatally shooting his 38-year-old cousin, Jarvis Johnson, in early September.

    On Sept. 9, officials found Johnson dead with multiple gunshot wounds to his head and arm in a front yard on Emerald Avenue in the Oakcrest neighborhood.

    Johnson’s family members reportedly identified Foster as a person of interest, and he was seen in the area approximately 30 to 45 minutes following the shooting.

    According to the report as cited by WEAR, “Family advised that there was a history of violence between the two stemming from a family dispute.”

    Foster allegedly shot Johnson in the hand in May and threatened to kill him.

    During a search of Johnson’s cellphone, WEAR reports that he knew “Foster was trying to kill him, but he did not fear death.”

    Earlier this month, a witness reportedly told officials that Foster confessed to killing Johnson and said he shot him in the chest before going back and shooting him in the head.

    Foster allegedly buried the gun following the shooting and then unearthed it several weeks later.

    According to WEAR, when deputies apprehended Foster in connection with the hostage case, he was in possession of the gun they believed he had used in Johnson’s fatal shooting.

    Foster remains held in the Escambia County Jail on charges of homicide, kidnap — false imprisonment, aggravated assault, larceny, and obstructing justice.

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  • Oklahoma man arrested in Mexico after allegedly killing his wife 6 years ago

    TULSA, Okla. (TCD) — An Oklahoma man accused of killing his estranged wife in 2017 was taken into custody in Mexico following a years-long search.

    According to the Tulsa Police Department, on June 22, 2017, Jose Gomez-Baca allegedly fatally shot 26-year-old Elizabeth Rodriguez while sitting in a car outside their home. Police quickly identified Gomez-Baca as the primary suspect and charged him with first-degree murder.

    Tulsa World reports that Gomez-Baca allegedly ambushed Rodriguez and caught her by surprise as she arrived in the car with family.

    Gomez-Baca had reported Rodriguez as missing before the alleged attack.

    Rodriguez’s brother told Tulsa World that she was looking into separating from Gomez-Baca at the time.

    Following his estranged wife’s death, Gomez-Baca fled to Mexico, and officials arrested him on June 27 in Tecomán, Colima.

    He was extradited back to the United States and booked into the Tulsa County Jail on Oct. 10. He remains held without bond.

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  • Former NFL player arrested for allegedly killing mother who was found dead near a creek

    MAYWOOD, Ill. (TCD) — A former professional football player who was initially believed to be missing was arrested at the U.S.-Mexico border this week on suspicion of killing his mother in a Chicago suburb.

    On Sept. 16, relatives reported Sergio Brown and Myrtle Brown missing to the Maywood Police Department after not hearing from them. Maywood Police said officers searched the home where both Sergio and Myrtle Brown lived and then found her body near a creek close by. The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office determined Myrtle Brown died from “multiple injuries assault.”

    The Associated Press reports Brown allegedly shared videos on Instagram in the days following his mother’s death, though he allegedly said her killing was “fake news” and that he was on vacation in Mexico.

    He reportedly said, “Fake news, fake news, fake news. It has to be the FBI.”

    In another video, Brown reportedly alluded to “Finding Nemo” and recited, “Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming.”

    The Associated Press says police did not immediately confirm whether the Instagram videos were authentic.

    The Maywood Police Department announced Brown was arrested at the border Oct. 10 while reentering the United States through San Diego. Officials from the San Diego Police Department Threat Management Unit and other law enforcement agencies took him into custody on a charge of first-degree murder.

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  • Reno man sentenced for abusing his 2-week-old son to death

    RENO, Nev. (TCD) — A 28-year-old man will be required to spend at least two decades in prison for killing his newborn son, who died from abuse-related injuries.

    The Washoe County District Attorney’s Office announced Monday, Oct. 9, that Craig Melzo was sentenced to 50 years in prison with the possibility of parole after 20 years following a first-degree murder conviction.

    On April 3, 2020, the Reno Police Department received a call about a 2-week-old boy who was having trouble breathing. Medics transported the newborn, Zayden, to a hospital and testing revealed he was suffering from multiple brain bleeds and retinal hemorrhaging, which revealed he had “significant trauma.”

    Zayden died from his injuries four days later on April 7.

    Medical officials “determined that the abusive head trauma that Zayden suffered was the result of child abuse,” leading police to believe Melzo “was responsible for his son’s death.”

    According to the district attorney’s office, prosecutors called on medical experts to testify, who said the “internal damage done to Zayden was some of the worst they had ever seen in their careers.”

    Deputy District Attorney Nicole Hicks argued at the trial Zayden suffered “extreme and catastrophic trauma,” which she said should have sent Melzo to life in prison without parole. The judge, however, sided with Melzo’s attorneys who said the jury should decide the sentencing requirements.

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  • Bill Gates Stuns Audience by Denying There’s a ‘Climate Crisis’

    Bill Gates, who is worth an estimated $7 billion, recently seemed to backtrack on some of his prior statements about climate change.

    “There’s a lot of climate exaggeration,” said Gates at a recent event. “The climate is not the end of the planet. So the planet is going to be fine.”

    Gates made the remark at the Earthshot Prize Innovation Summit, which was also attended by billionaire Michael Bloomberg and British Prince William.

    A few days later, at a New York Times event, he made a similarly climate-related remark. As Gates put it, “there are effects on humanity, the planet less so,” and “no temperate country is going to become uninhabitable.”

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    Gates added at the NY Times event that if world leaders are going to implement climate polices, it cannot be achieved by using “brute force.”

    “If you try to do climate brute force, you will get people who say, ‘I like climate but I don’t want to bear that cost and reduce my standard of living,’” Gates remarked. “Without innovation, it’s unlikely, particularly in middle-income countries, that the brute force approach will be successful.”

    He did not provide specifics, but he did call for increased support from both political parties for legislation addressing climate change.

    “You can’t have a climate policy that when one party is in charge goes full speed ahead and stops cold,” he said. “These are 30-year investments in steel factories.”

    “It’s pretty clear we’re not going to go to extreme scenarios,” he added. “Emissions will peak and then start to go down. They won’t go down as fast as we want them to and so the temperature will continue to rise and once the temperature has risen it doesn’t go down very quickly, unless you do massive carbon removal.”

    Furthermore, Mr. Gates claimed in the NY Times event that he is “the person who’s doing the most on climate in terms of the innovation and in how we can square multiple goals,” implying that he is an authority on climate change issues because of the money he has donated to the cause.

    Among Mr. Gates’s previous climate-related warnings was a prediction that by 2020, climate change would be responsible for more human deaths and suffering than the current COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, he remarked that “as awful as this pandemic is, climate change could be worse,” adding that international leaders must “accelerate our efforts now” to “avoid a climate disaster.”

    Mr. Gates is also the largest private owner of farmland in the United States, having amassed a vast portfolio of agricultural property over the past few years. Mr. Gates has said that conventional farming methods have a negative impact on the environment, and he has advocated for the use of synthetic or plant-based meat as a solution to this problem.

    The Nobel Laureate in Physics, John Clauser, has recently cast doubt on the accuracy of climate models by claiming that scientists have neglected a crucial factor. Nearly 1,600 scientists, including him, signed a pledge denying the existence of a “climate emergency” and noting that evidence from Earth’s past demonstrates that the climate has always been shifting, with or without human influence.

    “In addition, [climate models] ignore the fact that enriching the atmosphere with CO2 is beneficial,” their declaration said.

    In addition, they said that mainstream scientists create a “popular narrative” that is actually a “corruption of science that threatens the world’s economy and the well-being of billions of people.”

    “Misguided climate science has metastasized into massive shock-journalistic pseudoscience. In turn, the pseudoscience has become a scapegoat for a wide variety of other unrelated ills,” it added. “It has been promoted and extended by similarly misguided business marketing agents, politicians, journalists, government agencies, and environmentalists. In my opinion, there is no real climate crisis.”

    “There is, however, a very real problem with providing a decent standard of living to the world’s large population and an associated energy crisis. The latter is being unnecessarily exacerbated by what, in my opinion, is incorrect climate science.”

    Before that, two well-known scientists from MIT and Princeton University had forewarned of impending EPA measures to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. Their August testimony stated that the rules “will be disastrous for the country, for no scientifically justifiable reason.”

    “The unscientific method of analysis, relying on consensus, peer review, government opinion, models that do not work, cherry-picking data and omitting voluminous contradictory data, is commonly employed in these studies and by the EPA in the Proposed Rule,” William Happer, professor emeritus in physics at Princeton University, and Richard Lindzen, professor emeritus of atmospheric science at MIT, wrote. “None of the studies provides scientific knowledge, and thus none provides any scientific support for the Proposed Rule.”

    Dr. Judith Curry, another prominent climate scientist who was once in the alarmist camp, as reversed herself and has refuted that there is a global “climate emergency.”

    Curry reveals how the 2009 ClimateGate scandal opened her eyes about how Academia was policing the climate crisis narrative.

    In an interview with famed independent journalist John Stossel, Dr. Curry revealed how she changed her position drastically after educating herself on the broader picture of the climate change issue and the influence of radical groups and anti-capitalists exploiting it to push a political agenda.

    It’s no wonder that the New York Times turned the comments off on the Bill Gates interview. The tide is turning against the radical groups’ climate crisis narrative.

    The post Bill Gates Stuns Audience by Denying There’s a ‘Climate Crisis’ first appeared on Becker News.

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  • Wash. man accused of killing neighbor because he was throwing rocks, making too much noise

    BLAINE, Wash. (TCD) — A 76-year-old man allegedly shot and killed his neighbor amid an ongoing dispute about making too much noise.

    According to a news release, on Wednesday, Oct. 4, at approximately 4 p.m., Whatcom County deputies and Blaine Police Department officers were dispatched to a home off California Trail Road after a 911 caller reported that Wayne Mahar had shot his neighbor.

    A neighbor reportedly heard the gunshots, went outside, and saw Mahar on his porch holding a firearm. The neighbor told officials she saw the victim lying on his driveway and asked Mahar if he shot the man, to which he replied, “Yeah.”

    At the scene, deputies found the victim and performed CPR but were unsuccessful.

    Officials arrested Mahar without incident.

    The Sheriff’s Office learned Mahar had allegedly “threatened to kill the victim because he was throwing rocks at his house and making too much noise.”

    The statement said Mahar “claimed the victim was an ‘a–hole’ who deserved to be dead.”

    Mahar also confessed that he wished to kill his neighbor but failed to provide any alleged threats or other previous types of harassment that the victim allegedly made toward him.

    According to KING-TV, Mahar told officials he consumed one shot of alcohol on the day of the shooting. His blood alcohol level was .189, which is more than two times Washington’s legal limit.

    Mahar was booked into the Whatcom County Jail on a charge of first-degree murder. He remains held on $2 million bond.

    Mahar had previously threatened to kill his neighbor, KING reports. On Nov. 17, 2022, Mahar reportedly made a noise complaint against the victim. Mahar allegedly told officials he wanted to kill the victim, but authorities told him to let the Sheriff’s Office to deal with the issue.

    A day before the victim’s shooting death, Mahar allegedly threatened to kill the victim again.

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