Florida
Prosecutor says teen suspect in Halloween fatal shootings will be charged as adult
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A 17-year-old suspect in a shooting that killed two people and wounded seven others during a Halloween celebration that drew 75,000 revelers to the streets of downtown Orlando, Florida, last week has been charged as an adult, a prosecutor said Monday.
Jaylen Edgar was charged as an adult with two second-degree murder charges and a count of attempted murder, though the case will be presented before a grand jury, which could decide to up the charges to first-degree murder, said State Attorney Andrew Bain.
“This decision was not made lightly, and only after reviewing all the available evidence,” Bain said at a news conference in Orlando.
Edgar is accused of opening fire during a Halloween street celebration that drew tens of thousands of costumed revelers to downtown Orlando’s bar and restaurant district early Friday. Besides the two men who were killed, an additional seven people were wounded and a woman was trampled as people fled in terror, according to the Orlando Police Department.
One of the Halloween celebrants killed and another who was injured were students at the University of Central Florida in Orlando.
Edgar was tackled at the scene by some of the 100 police officers who were patrolling downtown Orlando.
Among the factors that went into the decision to charge Edgar as an adult were “the brazen nature of the crime” and the fact that multiple people were shot, the prosecutor said.
“To shoot into a massive crowd like that shows a total disregard for life and the only recourse is to charge the defendant as an adult because it fits the egregious nature of the crime,” Bain said.
“This was a blatant execution in the middle of our streets, and so that’s something that we can’t have in our community.”
There was no online court docket for Edgar so it couldn’t be determined if he had an attorney. Moreover, the case originated in juvenile court, where records are not public. An email to the Orange County Public Defender’s office seeking information was not immediately returned Monday.
Bain wouldn’t disclose whether authorities knew of a motive and said detectives were still determining how he obtained the handgun.
The Halloween celebration, which is one of the biggest events in downtown Orlando each year, took place about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from Orlando’s tourist district, and it primarily attracts central Florida residents.
In response to the shootings, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer last Friday issued a local state of emergency for the downtown entertainment area. Under the weeklong order, alcohol sales will end at midnight, and a curfew will be enforced from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m.
During past Halloween celebrations, police would close off downtown streets and use dogs to screen for weapons as people walked past entry points, but they stopped doing that after Florida lawmakers passed a permit-less concealed carry law in 2023.
Iowa
Teen gets life in prison for fatal drive-by shooting near a school
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Another Iowa teenager was sentenced Monday to life in prison for a fatal 2022 drive-by shooting near Des Moines East High School.
Alex Santiago Perdomo, 17, pleaded guilty last year to first-degree murder. He was 15 at the time of the shooting, according to the Polk County prosecutor, who said Perdomo will have a chance at parole. His public defense attorneys did not immediately respond to calls seeking comment Monday.
Police say Perdomo was among 10 teens ages 14 to 18 armed with at least six guns who drove in multiple vehicles to a neighborhood near East High School, only a half mile from the Iowa Capitol. The specifics of their plan aren’t clear, but police say the teens were out to settle a grudge and fired on Jose Lopez, his sister, one of her friends and two other teens standing on a sidewalk nearby.
The gunfire hit Lopez, his sister and their friend, killing Lopez and seriously wounding the girls.
Perdomo is the second teenager in the group to receive a life sentence after pleading guilty to first-degree murder. A third teen who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder will be sentenced next year, after he turns 18, prosecutors said.
Four others who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder received sentences ranging from 20 to 70 years in prison. One member of the group who pleaded guilty to providing a pistol or revolver to a person under 21 received a suspended sentence of four years.
The other two remaining defendants were sentenced to 20 years in prison on various other charges.
New York
Trio charged with hate crimes linked to pro-Palestinian vandalism
NEW YORK (AP) — Three people have been indicted on hate crimes charges in connection with red paint that was smeared on the homes of Brooklyn Museum officials during a wave of pro-Palestinian protests this summer, prosecutors announced Monday.
Taylor Pelton, Samuel Seligson and Gabriel Schubiner, all of New York, face a range of charges including making a terroristic threat as a hate crime, criminal mischief as a hate crime, making graffiti, possession of graffiti instruments and conspiracy.
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said the three — along with others who have not yet been arrested — specifically targeted members of the museum’s board of directors with Jewish-sounding names in the early morning hours of June 12.
Among the homes vandalized were those of the museum’s director, Anne Pasternak, its president and chief operating officer, Kimberly Trueblood, and board chair Barbara Vogelstein.
“These defendants allegedly targeted museum board members with threats and anti-Semitic graffiti based on their perceived heritage,” Gonzalez said in a statement. “These actions are not protests; they are hate crimes.”
Using red paint, the vandals scrawled phrases such as “Brooklyn Museum, blood on your hands” and hung banners with the names of the board members, along with phrases including “blood on your hands, war crimes, funds genocide” and “White Supremacist Zionist,” according to prosecutors.
The banners also included red handprints, anarchy symbols and inverted red triangles that prosecutors said are associated with Hamas, which carried out the Oct. 7, 2023, surprise attack on southern Israel that sparked the ongoing war in Gaza.
Prosecutors say the group spray-painted security cameras so they couldn’t be identified as they defaced the properties, but were captured in other surveillance video carrying supplies to and from Pelton’s vehicle.
They also said a stencil found at one of the locations had a fingerprint covered in red paint that was identified as Schubiner’s.
Schubiner, who is 36 years old and lives in Brooklyn, was arraigned Monday and released without bail. Seligson, 32, also of Brooklyn, and Pelton, 28, of Queens, are expected to be arraigned next week.
Schubiner and Pelton are each charged with 25 counts, whereas Seligson faces 17, according to prosecutors. The most serious charge the three face is making a terroristic threat as a hate crime.
Lawyers for the three didn’t immediately respond to Monday emails seeking comment.
Seligson’s attorney, Leena Widdi, has said her client is an independent videographer and was acting in his capacity as a credentialed member of the media. She described the hate crime charges as an “appalling” overreach by law enforcement officials.
Pelton’s attorney, Moira Meltzer-Cohen, has criticized the arrest as an example of the “increasing trend of characterizing Palestine solidarity actions as hate crimes.”
Hundreds of protesters marched on the Brooklyn Museum in May, briefly setting up tents in the lobby and unfurling a “Free Palestine” banner from the roof before police moved in to make dozens of arrests. Organizers of that demonstration said the museum was “deeply invested in and complicit” in Israel’s military actions in Gaza through its leadership, trustees, corporate sponsors and donors — a claim museum officials have denied.
California
State sues LA suburb for temporary ban of homeless shelters
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California filed a lawsuit against a Los Angeles suburb on Monday, alleging the city’s recent moratorium on homeless shelters and temporary housing violates the state’s fair housing and anti-discrimination laws.
The lawsuit is part of an ongoing effort by Gov. Gavin Newsom to push back against what he sees as local resistance and defiance of state laws in the face of California’s desperate need for new housing. The crisis has prompted a surge in the homeless population in the nation’s most populous state.
Norwalk, a city of 100,000 people some 15 miles (24 kilometers) southeast of Los Angeles, becomes the latest city to face legal actions from the state over housing policies. That came after the city council voted in September to extend its temporary ban on new homeless shelters and emergency housing.
City councilmembers in a recent statement said Norwalk has done its fair share to address the homeless crisis but previous state programs, including one that puts homeless people in motel rooms, have led to public safety concerns. The moratorium, which remains in effect until next year, already has blocked a plan by the County of Los Angeles in September to move homeless people into a hotel in the city.
The lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court argues that the city violated half a dozen housing laws by enacting such a moratorium. It is asking the court to halt the city’s law.
“Our message is clear, our message is consistent.” Attorney General Rob Bonta said Monday. “If local governments attempt to skirt state housing laws, if they refuse to do the bare minimum to address the dire lack of affordable and accessible housing in California, we will hold them accountable.”
Monday’s lawsuit comes after Newsom publicly blasted Norwalk and urged local elected officials to reconsider the policy. The state in September warned the city of potential legal action and last month revoked the city’s housing plan, effectively disqualifying it from receiving state funding for homeless and housing programs. Bonta said state officials also met with the city last week but to no avail.
“The Norwalk City Council’s failure to reverse this ban, despite knowing it is unlawful, is inexcusable,” Newsom said in a statement Monday. “No community should turn its back on its residents in need.”
The city mayor and a city spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to emails seeking comment about the lawsuit.
California has ramped up enforcement of state housing laws in the last few years. It sued at least two cities last year for rejecting affordable housing projects and homes for homeless people.
Last month, Newsom also signed a package of 32 housing bills to make it easier for the state to go after local cities that defy housing laws.
The lawsuit will likely escalate the conflict between the state and local governments over how many housing projects cities should approve, and how fast they should build them. California needs to build 2.5 million homes by 2030 to keep up with demand, according to the California Department of Housing and Community Development. But the state only averages about 100,000 new homes per year, including only 10,000 affordable units.
The Democratic governor, who has ambitions on the national stage, has made housing and homelessness a top priority as California’s leader. His administration has spent roughly $40 billion to help build affordable housing and $27 billion in homelessness solutions. Earlier this summer, he started to pressure local governments to clean up encampments that have lined up the streets and crowded business’ entrances, going as far as threatening to withhold state funding next year if he doesn’t see results.
Prosecutor says teen suspect in Halloween fatal shootings will be charged as adult
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A 17-year-old suspect in a shooting that killed two people and wounded seven others during a Halloween celebration that drew 75,000 revelers to the streets of downtown Orlando, Florida, last week has been charged as an adult, a prosecutor said Monday.
Jaylen Edgar was charged as an adult with two second-degree murder charges and a count of attempted murder, though the case will be presented before a grand jury, which could decide to up the charges to first-degree murder, said State Attorney Andrew Bain.
“This decision was not made lightly, and only after reviewing all the available evidence,” Bain said at a news conference in Orlando.
Edgar is accused of opening fire during a Halloween street celebration that drew tens of thousands of costumed revelers to downtown Orlando’s bar and restaurant district early Friday. Besides the two men who were killed, an additional seven people were wounded and a woman was trampled as people fled in terror, according to the Orlando Police Department.
One of the Halloween celebrants killed and another who was injured were students at the University of Central Florida in Orlando.
Edgar was tackled at the scene by some of the 100 police officers who were patrolling downtown Orlando.
Among the factors that went into the decision to charge Edgar as an adult were “the brazen nature of the crime” and the fact that multiple people were shot, the prosecutor said.
“To shoot into a massive crowd like that shows a total disregard for life and the only recourse is to charge the defendant as an adult because it fits the egregious nature of the crime,” Bain said.
“This was a blatant execution in the middle of our streets, and so that’s something that we can’t have in our community.”
There was no online court docket for Edgar so it couldn’t be determined if he had an attorney. Moreover, the case originated in juvenile court, where records are not public. An email to the Orange County Public Defender’s office seeking information was not immediately returned Monday.
Bain wouldn’t disclose whether authorities knew of a motive and said detectives were still determining how he obtained the handgun.
The Halloween celebration, which is one of the biggest events in downtown Orlando each year, took place about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from Orlando’s tourist district, and it primarily attracts central Florida residents.
In response to the shootings, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer last Friday issued a local state of emergency for the downtown entertainment area. Under the weeklong order, alcohol sales will end at midnight, and a curfew will be enforced from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m.
During past Halloween celebrations, police would close off downtown streets and use dogs to screen for weapons as people walked past entry points, but they stopped doing that after Florida lawmakers passed a permit-less concealed carry law in 2023.
Iowa
Teen gets life in prison for fatal drive-by shooting near a school
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Another Iowa teenager was sentenced Monday to life in prison for a fatal 2022 drive-by shooting near Des Moines East High School.
Alex Santiago Perdomo, 17, pleaded guilty last year to first-degree murder. He was 15 at the time of the shooting, according to the Polk County prosecutor, who said Perdomo will have a chance at parole. His public defense attorneys did not immediately respond to calls seeking comment Monday.
Police say Perdomo was among 10 teens ages 14 to 18 armed with at least six guns who drove in multiple vehicles to a neighborhood near East High School, only a half mile from the Iowa Capitol. The specifics of their plan aren’t clear, but police say the teens were out to settle a grudge and fired on Jose Lopez, his sister, one of her friends and two other teens standing on a sidewalk nearby.
The gunfire hit Lopez, his sister and their friend, killing Lopez and seriously wounding the girls.
Perdomo is the second teenager in the group to receive a life sentence after pleading guilty to first-degree murder. A third teen who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder will be sentenced next year, after he turns 18, prosecutors said.
Four others who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder received sentences ranging from 20 to 70 years in prison. One member of the group who pleaded guilty to providing a pistol or revolver to a person under 21 received a suspended sentence of four years.
The other two remaining defendants were sentenced to 20 years in prison on various other charges.
New York
Trio charged with hate crimes linked to pro-Palestinian vandalism
NEW YORK (AP) — Three people have been indicted on hate crimes charges in connection with red paint that was smeared on the homes of Brooklyn Museum officials during a wave of pro-Palestinian protests this summer, prosecutors announced Monday.
Taylor Pelton, Samuel Seligson and Gabriel Schubiner, all of New York, face a range of charges including making a terroristic threat as a hate crime, criminal mischief as a hate crime, making graffiti, possession of graffiti instruments and conspiracy.
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said the three — along with others who have not yet been arrested — specifically targeted members of the museum’s board of directors with Jewish-sounding names in the early morning hours of June 12.
Among the homes vandalized were those of the museum’s director, Anne Pasternak, its president and chief operating officer, Kimberly Trueblood, and board chair Barbara Vogelstein.
“These defendants allegedly targeted museum board members with threats and anti-Semitic graffiti based on their perceived heritage,” Gonzalez said in a statement. “These actions are not protests; they are hate crimes.”
Using red paint, the vandals scrawled phrases such as “Brooklyn Museum, blood on your hands” and hung banners with the names of the board members, along with phrases including “blood on your hands, war crimes, funds genocide” and “White Supremacist Zionist,” according to prosecutors.
The banners also included red handprints, anarchy symbols and inverted red triangles that prosecutors said are associated with Hamas, which carried out the Oct. 7, 2023, surprise attack on southern Israel that sparked the ongoing war in Gaza.
Prosecutors say the group spray-painted security cameras so they couldn’t be identified as they defaced the properties, but were captured in other surveillance video carrying supplies to and from Pelton’s vehicle.
They also said a stencil found at one of the locations had a fingerprint covered in red paint that was identified as Schubiner’s.
Schubiner, who is 36 years old and lives in Brooklyn, was arraigned Monday and released without bail. Seligson, 32, also of Brooklyn, and Pelton, 28, of Queens, are expected to be arraigned next week.
Schubiner and Pelton are each charged with 25 counts, whereas Seligson faces 17, according to prosecutors. The most serious charge the three face is making a terroristic threat as a hate crime.
Lawyers for the three didn’t immediately respond to Monday emails seeking comment.
Seligson’s attorney, Leena Widdi, has said her client is an independent videographer and was acting in his capacity as a credentialed member of the media. She described the hate crime charges as an “appalling” overreach by law enforcement officials.
Pelton’s attorney, Moira Meltzer-Cohen, has criticized the arrest as an example of the “increasing trend of characterizing Palestine solidarity actions as hate crimes.”
Hundreds of protesters marched on the Brooklyn Museum in May, briefly setting up tents in the lobby and unfurling a “Free Palestine” banner from the roof before police moved in to make dozens of arrests. Organizers of that demonstration said the museum was “deeply invested in and complicit” in Israel’s military actions in Gaza through its leadership, trustees, corporate sponsors and donors — a claim museum officials have denied.
California
State sues LA suburb for temporary ban of homeless shelters
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California filed a lawsuit against a Los Angeles suburb on Monday, alleging the city’s recent moratorium on homeless shelters and temporary housing violates the state’s fair housing and anti-discrimination laws.
The lawsuit is part of an ongoing effort by Gov. Gavin Newsom to push back against what he sees as local resistance and defiance of state laws in the face of California’s desperate need for new housing. The crisis has prompted a surge in the homeless population in the nation’s most populous state.
Norwalk, a city of 100,000 people some 15 miles (24 kilometers) southeast of Los Angeles, becomes the latest city to face legal actions from the state over housing policies. That came after the city council voted in September to extend its temporary ban on new homeless shelters and emergency housing.
City councilmembers in a recent statement said Norwalk has done its fair share to address the homeless crisis but previous state programs, including one that puts homeless people in motel rooms, have led to public safety concerns. The moratorium, which remains in effect until next year, already has blocked a plan by the County of Los Angeles in September to move homeless people into a hotel in the city.
The lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court argues that the city violated half a dozen housing laws by enacting such a moratorium. It is asking the court to halt the city’s law.
“Our message is clear, our message is consistent.” Attorney General Rob Bonta said Monday. “If local governments attempt to skirt state housing laws, if they refuse to do the bare minimum to address the dire lack of affordable and accessible housing in California, we will hold them accountable.”
Monday’s lawsuit comes after Newsom publicly blasted Norwalk and urged local elected officials to reconsider the policy. The state in September warned the city of potential legal action and last month revoked the city’s housing plan, effectively disqualifying it from receiving state funding for homeless and housing programs. Bonta said state officials also met with the city last week but to no avail.
“The Norwalk City Council’s failure to reverse this ban, despite knowing it is unlawful, is inexcusable,” Newsom said in a statement Monday. “No community should turn its back on its residents in need.”
The city mayor and a city spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to emails seeking comment about the lawsuit.
California has ramped up enforcement of state housing laws in the last few years. It sued at least two cities last year for rejecting affordable housing projects and homes for homeless people.
Last month, Newsom also signed a package of 32 housing bills to make it easier for the state to go after local cities that defy housing laws.
The lawsuit will likely escalate the conflict between the state and local governments over how many housing projects cities should approve, and how fast they should build them. California needs to build 2.5 million homes by 2030 to keep up with demand, according to the California Department of Housing and Community Development. But the state only averages about 100,000 new homes per year, including only 10,000 affordable units.
The Democratic governor, who has ambitions on the national stage, has made housing and homelessness a top priority as California’s leader. His administration has spent roughly $40 billion to help build affordable housing and $27 billion in homelessness solutions. Earlier this summer, he started to pressure local governments to clean up encampments that have lined up the streets and crowded business’ entrances, going as far as threatening to withhold state funding next year if he doesn’t see results.
