Detroit police search for arsonist after explosion destroys cars
(DETROIT) — The Detroit Police Department is seeking public help in their search for an arson suspect who burned four vehicles and damaged two others late last week.
Authorities released a video of the incident on Aug. 15, which occurred at around 1:45 p.m. in a post office parking lot on Harper Ave, near the intersection with Morang Ave. on the east side of the city.
In the footage, a hooded man can be seen breaking the window of a white 2018 Chevy Traverse in the parking lot, before pouring accelerant inside. The suspect then lit the fuel, with the subsequent explosion throwing him backwards against another vehicle. The suspect fell to the floor and then ran from the scene.
“The suspect is described as a heavy set male,” read the appeal from the Detroit Police Department published on Monday. “He was last seen wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt with a white shirt underneath, and blue jeans. Six vehicles were damaged and four vehicles were burned as a result of this incident.”
Authorities are offering a $500 reward related to the case.
(MILWAUKEE, Wis.) — People gathered outside the Milwaukee District Attorney’s Office on Monday to demand charges be filed against four hotel security guards involved in the death of a Black man that was ruled a homicide.
“D.A. Chisholm, all we want you to do is your job, that’s all we want,” Naisha Mitchell, D’Vontaye Mitchell’s sister, said during the morning rally.
“You told us you were waiting on the autopsy results before you made your next move. Those results came back last week. In my opinion, you should have been at these people’s houses the same day they came out,” she continued.
The demands come days after the Milwaukee County medical examiner ruled Mitchell’s death was a homicide, the result of restraint asphyxia and toxic effects of cocaine and methamphetamine.
“The medical examiner’s report confirms the obvious here, which was that, you know, D’Vontaye Mitchell was murdered outside of the Hyatt Hotel in Milwaukee by Aimbridge Hospitality employees,” William Sulton, one of the attorneys representing Mitchell’s family, told ABC News.
On Friday, Sulton released newly obtained surveillance video that showed the moments leading up to Mitchell’s death.
“It broke my heart. I didn’t know what to feel. I didn’t know how to feel. If it broke something inside of me because it was so brutal and just what they did to him. It’s unbelievable,” DeAsia Harmon, Mitchell’s wife, told ABC News in an interview after seeing the surveillance videos.
On June 30, Mitchell, 43, showed up to the Milwaukee Hyatt Regency hotel acting frantically, running into the hotel’s gift shop and women’s bathroom, surveillance video showed. Mitchell’s family has said he was having a mental health episode.
The newly released surveillance video shows one security guard dragging Mitchell through the lobby doors before another security guard joins him and starts punching Mitchell while he is still on the ground. A hotel employee then grabs a broom and starts striking Mitchell. The security guards continue to punch Mitchell before he is pinned to the ground for more than 8 minutes, the video, reviewed by ABC News, shows.
“What these videos demonstrate is that he was brutally beaten to death,” Sulton said, adding Mitchell’s family expects the District Attorney’s Office will now charge the security guards.
“We were fortunate in this case to have onlookers who had cell phone video footage, which allowed us to prove that Mr. Mitchell was murdered,” Sulton said, adding that “there are still items that need to be investigated. There’s still evidence that needs to be collected.”
On July 12, the Milwaukee Police Department (MPD) released a statement saying they had initiated a death investigation the day of the incident, referring felony murder charges with the underlying charge of battery to the District Attorney’s Office on July 5. MPD said the investigation was ongoing and declined further comment.
Aimbridge Hospitality, the hotel management firm that employed the security guards, told ABC News in a new statement they had terminated the guards after reviewing their actions, which were in violation of their policies and procedures. The security guards involved in the incident have not been identified.
“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
Harmon, Mitchell’s wife, said she was devastated to learn the circumstances of her husband’s death. “I didn’t know what to think. I didn’t know what to feel. I just knew that a part of me was going. A part of me was gone. My daughter just lost her father. And it’s still not real to me,” Harmon said.
“He was a gentle giant. He was loving and caring, and he was smart and funny and very talented. He was a wonderful father, wonderful husband, great friend, brother, cousin, son, all across the board. Everybody who’s ever come in contact with him loved him,” Harmon said.
The Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
“I want the law to actually mean something. I want his life to mean something. It meant something to me. It meant something to my daughter. It meant something to his entire family. So for me, I want everyone involved, everyone involved to go to jail,” Harmon said.
(WASHINGTON) — The FBI has been able to gain extensive analysis on the mindset of the suspected shooter who carried out the July 13 assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, officials said Wednesday, but it has so far been unable to establish a clear motive.
In a media call Wednesday afternoon, the FBI said it has conducted nearly 1,000 interviews, served numerous search warrants, issued dozens of subpoenas and analyzed hundreds of hours of video footage as part of its investigation into the shooting.
As part of their investigation, officials said, they’ve found that Thomas Matthew Crooks engaged in a “sustained, detailed effort” to plan an attack on some kind of major event, but when the Trump rally was announced, he became “hyperfocused” on it as a “target of opportunity.”
In addition to a previously revealed online search conducted by Crooks on July 6 that stated, “How far was [Lee Harvey] Oswald from [John F.] Kennedy,” officials said he also searched “Where will Trump speak from at Butler Farm Show?” as well as “Butler Farm Show podium” and “Butler Farm Show photos.”
In the 30 days prior to the attack, Crooks reportedly conducted “more than 60 searches related to former President Trump and President Biden,” the FBI said.
Through a review of Crooks’ online activity dating back to 2019, investigators said they’ve also found he had conducted multiple searches related to explosive devices including, “How to make a bomb from fertilizer” and “How remote detonators work.”
The FBI released a picture in tandem with its briefing Wednesday showing an improvised explosive device it has said was found inside Crooks’ vehicle. The FBI said that after an analysis of the device, it determined the components were all purchased legally and “readily available online.”
Officials also provided an update to the timeline of the actions leading up to the moments of the shooting. According to video obtained from a local business, Crooks first climbed onto the roof of the AGR complex at 6:05 p.m. and traversed a series of rooftops before allegedly firing eight rounds at 6:11 p.m., officials said, meaning he was on the rooftop for a total of six minutes before he allegedly began firing and then was killed by a Secret Service countersniper.
(LOS ANGELES) — Former President Donald Trump’s election interference case resumes Thursday after months of delays, with a hearing in front of the federal judge overseeing the case.
The hearing comes a week after special counsel Jack Smith filed a superseding indictment that revised the original Jan. 6 charges to reflect the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark ruling that Trump is entitled to immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts undertaken while in office.
Here’s how the news is developing:
Trump is set to plead not guilty
At his expected arraignment at today’s hearing, Donald Trump has directed his attorneys to plead not guilty on his behalf to charges in the superseding indictment brought by special counsel Jack Smith.
Trump is not expected to appear at the hearing in person, after waiving his right to be present in a filing earlier this week.
The hearing in the case was scheduled before Smith filed the superseding indictment.