Vandals destroy viewfinder for colorblind visitors allowing them to see fall foliage at national park
NPS
(NEW YORK) — Vandals have destroyed a specialized viewfinder that allowed colorblind visitors to see the vibrant fall foliage in Tennessee, officials said.
The incident took place sometime during the night on Sept. 21 when officials from the National Park Service said that vandals not only destroyed the specialized viewfinder located in the Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area in Oneida, Tennessee, but also managed to rip “a large hole in the floor of the overlook balcony that has been temporarily repaired but will have to be completely replaced later this autumn,” according a statement from the National Park Service released on Monday regarding the incident.
“Individuals with protanopia and protanomaly — more commonly known as red-green color blindness — are not able to fully observe the effect of nature’s transition from deep green to brilliant shades of red, orange and gold,” officials said. “The viewfinder featured lenses for alleviating red-green color deficiencies, enabling visitors with color blindness to see the foliage just as it appears to people with typical vision.”
The National Park Service had partnered with the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development to install the specially-equipped viewfinder at Big South Fork’s East Rim Overlook, a popular overlook that offers impressive views of the Big South Fork River gorge.
“The National Park Service strives to provide opportunities for people to enjoy their park to the greatest extent possible,” said Superintendent Niki Stephanie Nicholas. “But thanks to an act of sheer, wanton vandalism, visitors with color blindness will no longer be able to experience the joy of seeing the majestic fall colors of this beautiful landscape.”
Anyone with information concerning this incident is encouraged to contact the NPS at 423-215-9740 or leave a confidential message on the Resource Protection Tip Line at 423-569-7301.
(MEMPHIS, Tenn.) — A former officer who pleaded guilty to charges connected to the death of Tyre Nichols became emotional during his testimony Tuesday in the federal trial of three ex-Memphis police officers charged in connection with the January 2023 beating death of Nichols.
“I wish I would’ve stopped the punches. It hurts to watch. It hurts inside so much,” said Desmond Mills Jr., who cried during his testimony, according to WATN, the ABC affiliate in Memphis covering the case in the courtroom. “It felt bad every time the picture is on the screen to know I’m a part of that. I made his child fatherless. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I know ‘sorry’ won’t bring him back, but I pray his child has everything he needs growing up.”
Mills struggled to speak after watching body camera video in court of Nichols being struck, according to WATN. Mills admitted to using his baton to hit Nichols three times.
“I was angry because I just [pepper] sprayed myself in the face,” Mills said, according to WATN. “I didn’t give him a chance to give me his hands.”
Justin Smith, Demetrius Haley and Tadarrius Bean were charged on Sept. 12, 2023, with violating Nichols’ civil rights through excessive use of force, unlawful assault, failing to intervene in the assault and failing to render medical aid. These charges carry a maximum penalty of life in prison, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The officers have pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Mills and Emmitt Martin III, the two other officers who were also charged in this case, have pleaded guilty to some of the federal charges.
Mills pleaded guilty to two of the four counts in the indictment — excessive force and failing to intervene, as well as conspiring to cover up his use of unlawful force, according to the DOJ. The government said it will recommend a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison, based on the terms of Mills’ plea agreement.
Martin pleaded guilty to excessive force and failure to intervene, as well as conspiracy to witness tamper, according to court records. The other two charges will be dropped at sentencing, which has been scheduled for Dec. 5, according to the court records.
When Mills was asked by the prosecution what threat Nichols posed during the officers’ encounter with Nichols as shown in the court through body camera footage, the ex-officer answered, “None,” according to WATN.
Mills claimed that he wanted to leave the Memphis Police Department (MPD) by the time Bean joined the SCORPION unit, the MPD’s former crime suppression unit, which has since been disbanded, because he didn’t like the structure of the team, his former colleagues were inexperienced and the culture of the team was “go, go, go,” according to WATN.
“I just pulled the spray out and I sprayed Mr. Nichols,” Mills, who claimed Smith and Bean were already punching Nichols when he arrived on scene, said, according to WATN. “I failed to assess and analyze … just started spraying.”
Mills could be heard on body camera footage played in the court threatening to pepper-spray Nichols as the Memphis resident called out for his mother, according to WATN.
“I thought it would help and get handcuffs on him,” Mills said, according to WATN.
Mills said Martin and Haley were hostile toward citizens and he didn’t like what he saw, according to WATN. The ex-officer claimed their aggressive approaches resulted in them filing several response to resistance forms, which officers are required to fill out to explain their use of force while on the job.
Mills claimed Haley would come to work “amped up” from his pre-workouts, according to WATN. He said he talked to Haley about his inconsistent use of his body camera video, to which Haley allegedly told him, “F— that sh–.”
Mills said that Haley kicked a handcuffed suspect in the face the day before the Nichols’ encounter and didn’t report it, according to WATN.
“I was going to go along and hide it with the rest of the team,” said Mills, who also didn’t report Haley’s use of force, according to WATN.
The response to resistance form lists Mills as using chemical spray, but not Haley kicking the suspect, according to WATN.
Mills claimed Smith, who’s also on trial, told the unit that they needed to check on Martin’s mental state after he returned to work after being hit by a car on the job, according to WATN.
In court testimony last week, Martin, who was the first to spot Nichols, claimed that he was hit by a car in November 2022 and returned to work Jan. 3, 2023, according to WATN. Martin said he was scared, angry, eager to show he could still do the job and wanted revenge for being struck by a vehicle.
“I wanted some kind of revenge. I was seeing red,” Martin said, according to WATN
Body-camera footage shows that Nichols fled after police pulled him over on Jan. 7, 2023, for allegedly driving recklessly, then shocked him with a Taser and pepper-sprayed him.
Officers allegedly then beat Nichols minutes later after tracking him down. After the police encounter, Nichols was transferred to the hospital in critical condition.
Nichols, 29, died in the hospital on Jan. 10, 2023. Footage shows the officers walking around, talking to each other as Nichols was injured and sitting on the ground.
Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis said she has been unable to substantiate that Nichols was driving recklessly. The incident triggered protests and calls for police reform.
The prosecution told ABC News earlier this month that they will not have any statements until after the trial. The defense attorneys did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
After the police encounter, Nichols was transferred to the hospital in critical condition. The medical examiner’s official autopsy report for Nichols showed he “died of brain injuries from blunt force trauma,” the district attorney’s office told Nichols’ family in May 2023.
The five former officers charged in this case were all members of the Memphis Police Department SCORPION unit — a crime suppression unit that was disbanded after Nichols’ death. All of the officers were fired for violating MPD policies.
“It was ugly,” Mills said when asked by the prosecution why he didn’t tell his supervisor the truth about the Nichols encounter, according to WATN. “So, we didn’t tell lieutenant.”
ABC News’ Deena Zaru and Sabina Ghebremedhin contributed to this report.
(LOS ANGELES) — Human-amplified climate change is making it more likely that extreme heat to lasts longer into fall, as record-breaking temperatures for the month of October blanket much of the western U.S.
An unprecedented late season heat wave is in effect in the West, with October temperatures broken in major cities, several of which are still experiencing triple-digit heat.
On Tuesday, Palm Springs reached 117 degrees Fahrenheit; Phoenix hit 113 degrees while Tucson got up to 105 degrees.
Elsewhere in California, San Jose broke its daily record at 100 degrees; Oakland reached 96 degrees; Napa hit a daily record at 99 degrees; and downtown San Francisco reached 94 degrees, the hottest October temperature in the city in two years.
Some regions are expected to experience even hotter conditions on Wednesday. Heat alerts have been issued throughout California, Arizona and Nevada. Excessive heat warnings are also in place for San Francisco, Las Vegas and Phoenix, and a heat advisory has been issued in Los Angeles.
The geographic range of the record heat is expected to expand eastward, including Colorado, where Denver could reach a record-high of 90 degrees.
If Denver reaches the 90s, it will be the latest 90-degree temperature ever recorded in the city, records show.
The record heat is expected to last into the weekend for most of the West.
Fire danger is also high from California to Montana due to the dry, hot and windy conditions.
Human-amplified climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme heat events, according to climate scientists.
The average number of heat waves that major U.S. cities experience each year has doubled since the 1980s, according to the federal government’s Fifth National Climate Assessment, released last November.
The record-breaking temperature for the month of October set in Palm Springs and Phoenix on Monday were made at least five times more likely by human-amplified climate change, according to Climate Central’s Climate Shift Index.
Global warming is also helping fuel extreme heat that persists well into the fall season.
Fall nights have warmed by 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit, on average, from 1970 to 2023 in 212 U.S. cities, according to a Climate Central analysis.
Fall warming is widespread across the contiguous U.S., and most intense in the Southwest, according to a Climate Central analysis.
ABC News’ Matthew Glasser and Daniel Peck contributed to this report.
(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.
