Attack on trans teen being investigated as ‘possible hate crime’
(NEW YORK) — A trans teenager was allegedly assaulted by a large group of teens in Massachusetts, and police are investigating it as a possible hate crime.
Jayden Tkaczyk, 16, had been at an outdoor party in a wooded area in Gloucester Friday night when the alleged incident occurred.
His attorney, Craig Rourke, told ABC News the assailants “stomped on his head” and “called him the f-slur” during the attack.
“We view this as a hate crime,” Rourke said. “The motives of the perpetrators seem pretty clear in their own words.”
Jayden suffered a broken orbital, permanent nerve damage, a black eye and bruising to the legs and torso, Rourke said, and was treated at a hospital for his injuries. He has since been released.
The Gloucester Police Department said in a press release that the “parties involved in this incident are known to one another.”
A detective trained in civil rights investigations had been assigned to lead the case, police said, and a spokesperson for the department confirmed to ABC News the incident is “being investigated as a possible hate crime.”
“The investigation remains ongoing and no determination has been made at this stage,” the police spokesperson said.
The teen has previously faced bullying for being trans, Rourke said.
Jayden, who attends a local vocational high school, joined the Gloucester High School football team last year but quit after only a few practices because the “bullying got so severe,” according to Rourke.
Jayden told Boston ABC affiliate WCVB-TV the attack began in “a blink of an eye.”
“One second I was having fun, and the next second I was on the ground getting my face stomped and beat up,” Jayden said.
“They were just saying the f-slur over and over and over and over as they were punching me and stomping me,” he added.
His mother, Jasmine Tkaczyk, told WCVB she was “really, really angry” over the incident.
“Seeing the condition he was in, this has always been my worst fear as a mom of a trans teen,” she said.
The Essex County District Attorney’s Office told ABC News they were “aware of the serious allegations of an assault on a Gloucester teenager by other teens.”
“The office is working in conjunction with the Gloucester Police Department on this active and ongoing investigation involving juvenile parties and as such we are unable to provide further commentary at this time,” they added.
Gloucester Public Schools Superintendent Ben Lummis said in a statement that district and school leadership “understands the gravity of the recent allegations and are handling them with the highest level of concern.”
The school district is “actively cooperating” with the police investigation, Lummis said.
“We are very early in what is likely to be a complicated investigation,” Lummis said. “All decisions going forward will be based on the outcome of this thorough investigation.”
Lummis said there were “many rumors and contradictory information circulating on social media” about the incident, and urged students and families “to give the police and the schools time to do methodical and accurate investigations.”
Gloucester Police Chief Edward Conley said they were “treating these allegations with the utmost seriousness.”
“We ask the public to allow the investigation to proceed without rushing to judgment,” Conley said.
(MILWAUKEE) — Four hotel workers were charged with felony murder in connection with the death of D’Vontaye Mitchell, a Black man who was seen on video being pinned down outside of a Milwaukee hotel during what his family said was a mental health episode.
The Milwaukee District Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday it has filed a felony murder charge against four individuals related to Mitchell’s death on June 30 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Milwaukee.
“These charges are based on an extensive review of the evidence collected by the Milwaukee Police Department, the autopsy conducted and the report produced by the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office, and information received from members of the community,” the Milwaukee District Attorney’s Office said in a statement.
Arrest warrants have been issued for the four individuals charged in the case, the district attorney’s office said. They were identified in the criminal complaint as Todd Alan Erickson, a security guard; Devin W. Johnson-Carson, a front desk agent; Brandon Ladaniel Turner a security guard who was off-duty at the time; and Herbert T. Williamson, a bellman. ABC News has reached out to them for comment.
The Milwaukee County medical examiner ruled Mitchell’s death was a homicide, the result of restraint asphyxia and toxic effects of cocaine and methamphetamine. People gathered outside the Milwaukee District Attorney’s Office on Monday to demand charges be filed in his death.
The criminal complaint references security footage from the hotel that it stated “captured much of the incident leading up to” Mitchell’s death.
Mitchell, 43, “appears to be [in] a frantic manner” while running across the hotel lobby and is then seen running out of a gift shop toward the women’s bathroom, according to the complaint.
The complaint alleges that after dragging Mitchell through the hotel lobby doors to the driveway, Turner struck Mitchell repeatedly with his fist. Johnson-Carson is also accused of striking Mitchell with a fist and Erickson of kicking him in the torso.
“Complainant notes that throughout the video, [Mitchell’s] behavior is erratic and confusing, and he engages in continuous physical resistance against the men described above. But [Mitchell] does not instigate any violence or display any obviously aggressive or threatening behavior while on the hotel premises,” the complaint stated.
The complaint then alleges that the four men restrained Mitchell while he was lying face down for approximately eight to nine minutes until police and emergency responders arrived. At one point Erickson “appears to strike” Mitchell with a collapsible baton, the complaint stated.
“Towards the end of that time period, [Mitchell] has stopped showing movement or resistance or other signs of life,” the complaint stated.
The complaint also referenced a Facebook video of the incident that it stated “shows loud breathing and gasps while [Mitchell] is saying he is sorry.”
Erickson, who was the on-duty security manager that day, told police that Mitchell “was very strong and kept resisting them” and at one point attempted to bite him, according to the complaint.
“Erickson stated that he did not do anything to intentionally harm or kill” Mitchell, the complaint stated.
Williamson, who had been employed as a bellman for a month and a half at the time of the incident, told police that he saw Mitchell “being very forceful with the security guards” and was “very aggressive,” according to the complaint.
He told police that Mitchell “kept struggling and asking what did he do wrong” while being pinned down, according to the complaint.
“Williamson stated that he got off [Mitchell], and Williamson stated that he thought [Mitchell] was still responsive. However, ‘the next thing you know, I realized he was unconscious,'” the complaint stated.
Turner told police that he saw Mitchell “begging and harassing a guest” and admitted to punching Mitchell “several times,” according to the complaint.
Johnson-Carson, who had been working at the front desk for about two months at the time of the incident, told police that he “remembers [Mitchell ] stating something about breathing” and saw Erickson check Mitchell’s pulse a few times, according to the complaint.
Johnson-Carson told police that he “never saw anyone strangle [Mitchell] and that neither he nor the other four staff members ever state that they believed that [Mitchell] was not breathing during the time he was face first on the ground,” the complaint stated.
The four workers were terminated based on their actions, according to Aimbridge Hospitality, the hotel management firm that employed them.
“We are continuing to do everything we can to support law enforcement with their ongoing investigation of this tragedy, and will continue our own investigation,” Aimbridge Hospitality said in the statement to ABC News.
After news of the charges broke, a spokesperson for Aimbridge Hospitality said they will continue to cooperate.
“Our hearts are with Mr. Mitchell’s family and loved ones as this case moves forward. We have cooperated fully with law enforcement in their investigation into this tragic incident and will continue to cooperate with the district attorney,” the statement read.
Ben Crump, an attorney for the family, called the charges a “significant step towards justice.”
“The evidence, including security footage and witness statements, paints a disturbing picture of a man in distress who was met with excessive and lethal force,” Crump said in a statement. “The fact that D’Vontaye was held face down on the pavement for eight to nine minutes — just like George Floyd — is a sobering reminder of the urgent need for accountability and justice.”
Mitchell’s widow, Deasia Harmon, told reporters Tuesday that she is “grateful” for the charges, though she expressed frustration at the length of the investigation.
“I just want everyone to be held accountable,” she said. “I’m trying to get his story out there, to let his voice be heard through me, for my family, and for his family. We all want justice for him. It’s something they should have done from the beginning.”
Local family attorney William Sulton said in a statement to ABC News, the incident shouldn’t have happened.
“While we agree that the employees should be charged with murder, we are mindful of the fact that this would not have happened without Mr. Mitchell’s family’s hiring lawyers to investigate the murder,” Sulton said in the statement.
“The family should not have had to wait 37 days for charges when the murder was captured on video. We ask that the public continue to support the family through this difficult time,” his statement concluded.
(NEW YORK) — Longtime Defense Department researcher Luis “Lue” Elizondo has become well-known for reporting the existence of UFOs (unidentified flying objects), now known as unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs).
In his new book, “Imminent: Inside the Pentagon’s Hunt for UFOs,” which is available now, former Pentagon insider Elizondo invites the reader into this hidden world.
He joined ABC News’ Stephanie Ramos to discuss why he decided to write the book, government secrecy around UAPs, official comments on these phenomena and some of his own unusual experiences.
ABC NEWS: Unidentified flying objects have fueled decades of speculation and conspiracy theories. In his new book, “Imminent: Inside the Pentagon’s Hunt for UFOs,” longtime Defense Department researcher Lue Elizondo, the former head of the Pentagon program responsible for the investigation of UFOs, now known as unidentified anomalous phenomena, reveals long hidden truths with profound implications for not only national security, but our understanding of the universe.
Joining us now is Lue Elizondo. Thank you so much for joining us. Really appreciate it. So “Imminent” tells the story of your courageous fight to make public what the government knows and doesn’t know about UAPs. What made you want to write about this?
ELIZONDO: Yeah, well, I wanted to be able to tell the American public my experiences and what the government has been doing for a very long time, not just when I was in the program, but for decades about the government’s interest in UFOs or now what we call UAP. You’re absolutely right, unidentified anomalous phenomenon. The fact is, they’re real and they are a national security issue for this country.
ABC NEWS: And it’s so interesting because many, many years ago I worked at the Pentagon for ABC, and I remember getting a tour of some of the hallways and, and somebody said “Oh, that’s where they study UFOs, UAPs. But it’s top secret.” Like that’s all they would say. So there’s this secrecy approach to all of this, right?
You write in your book, “While there are valid reasons for secrecy around some aspects of UAPs. I do not think humanity should be kept in the dark about the fundamental fact that we are not the only intelligent life in the universe.” So why do you think the United States government and other major governments have taken a secrecy approach to UAPs?
ELIZONDO: Sure. I think if we look at this, temporally speaking, the U.S. government, when we started really looking at this, was at the height of the Cold War. And you had this contentious relationship at best with then-Soviet Union.
And what we didn’t want to do was necessarily tip our hand to any information, perhaps, that we’ve gleaned from UAP or UFOs and, certainly, perhaps any information gaps or maybe information that we don’t know about the UFOs. So that’s one reason. And then I think the other reason is that governments inherently are responsible for ensuring the protection of their people, their citizens.
ABC NEWS: So Lue, for those who may be skeptical and are thinking “Nope, there’s no such thing as UFOs, it’s non-existent.” And you’re here to tell us that there is fact and research that they do exist.
ELIZONDO: Let’s not forget, Stephanie, that we’ve had already a former director of national intelligence, a former director of the CIA, and even a former president of the United States all come out on the record and say “Yeah, looks like these things are real.”
Our very best, most sophisticated technology is picking these things up. We also have eyewitness testimony from our trained observers, our combat pilots. And then you’ve also got the radar data all basically substantiating the same event at the same time, at the same place, under the same circumstances.
ABC NEWS: And so much technology that’s been analyzed and researched. Now, let’s talk about your own personal experience. You mentioned in this book that UAPs have appeared both in and around your home. How did these personal experiences influence your views on UAP and what exactly did you see?
ELIZONDO: Yeah, sure. So first of all, let me preface. We’re not sure if they are actually UAP-related. What we do know is that a lot of people that were in the program that I was in also had very similar encounters while they were in the program.
So not before or not after, but during the time that we were researching these UAP and from our experience, when I say ours, I mean my families and even our neighbors, witnessed some of these – are these luminous green balls of light. Very diffuse in nature. No hard edges. That would just seem to kind of peruse the house and go down the hall and go through a wall.
I know it sounds rather bizarre. And look, there are absolutely possible natural explanations, right? You could say ball lightning or Saint Elmo’s fire or some sort of plasma static charge in the air. But the bottom line is, it was very bizarre. It was witnessed by not only my family, but again, neighbors and other individuals who were part of our effort, and the government, also experienced, very, very similar encounters at their residences.
ABC NEWS: Absolutely fascinating. Thank you so much Lue, for sharing your experience and for documenting what you know and what you think we should all know in your book, “Imminent: Inside the Pentagon’s Hunt for UFOs,” which is available now to purchase. Thanks Lue.
(ATLANTA) — Two workers were killed and one was seriously injured in what officials termed a “possible explosion” at Delta Air Lines’ Atlanta Technical Operations Maintenance facility at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, according to Delta TechOps and first responders.
Delta TechOps said the Tuesday morning accident took place at its wheel and brake shop.
Responders to the “possible explosion” found “three Delta employees on the floor,” and the medics said they tried to control “major bleeding,” according to the Atlanta Fire and Rescue Department’s incident report.
An employee reported hearing an explosion and seeing workers fleeing, the incident report said.
“I realized they were running to get help. I walked toward where the explosion occurred and saw a body lying face down, not moving, with blood all around,” the worker told officials, according to the incident report.
Delta said the accident involved a tire and components within the tire. The wheel was not attached to an airplane or near an airplane at the time of the accident, according to Delta.
The incident had no impact on airport operations, according to airport officials.
Delta said it’s “working with local authorities and conducting a full investigation to determine what happened.”
The airline added it’s “heartbroken” and “grateful for the quick action of first responders and medical teams on site.”
The workers killed in the incident were identified as Mirko Marweg, 58, and Luis Aldarondo, 37, according to the Clayton County Medical Examiner’s Office,
“We are extending our full support to their families at this difficult time and conducting an investigation to determine what happened,” John Laughter, executive vice president, chief of operations and president of Delta TechOps, said in a statement. “This news is heartbreaking for all of us. [Employee assistance program] resources will be onsite at the [Atlanta Technical Operations Maintenance facility] to support our teams as long as needed.”
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said, “I offer my deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of the deceased Delta employees. My thoughts are also with those who were injured, and I hope for their swift and full recovery.”
Atlanta airport officials also offered their condolences.