The U.S. attorney’s office for Eastern Washington had no comment on whether additional charges might be sought.

Matthew Ryan Buquet, 37, was arrested Wednesday.

A grand jury indictment accused him of mailing a death threat to U.S. District Judge Fred Van Sickle in Spokane on May 14.

The indictment did not mention ricin, but the FBI made the link in a news release late Wednesday, saying analysis showed the letter sent to the judge contained “active ricin toxin.”

Full Article

Californians Doug and Catherine Snodgrass are suing their son’s high school for allowing undercover police officers to set up the 17-year-old special-needs student for a drug arrest.

In a video segment on ABC News, they say they were “thrilled” when their son — who has Asperger’s and other disabilities and struggled to make friends — appeared to have instantly made a friend named Daniel.

“He suddenly had this friend who was texting him around the clock,” Doug Snodgrass told ABC News. His son had just recently enrolled at Chaparral High School.

“Daniel,” however, was an undercover cop with the Temecula Police Department who “hounded” the teenager to sell him his prescription medication. When he refused, the undercover cop gave him $20 to buy him weed, and he complied — not realizing the guy he wanted to befriend wanted him behind bars.

Full Article

The nightmarish ordeal was shocking for her single mother, Marie Wilmot, who always encouraged Kiera and her twin sister, Kayla, to follow their passions.

“The initial phone call was terrifying,” Marie told ABC News. “Time will help I hope, it was devastating for me as a mother.”

While school officials debate whether Kiera will return to Bartow High School, the Wilmot family received an unexpected surprise.

The explosion struck a chord with 18-year NASA veteran Homer Hickam, a former lead astronaut training manager for Spacelab, and later for the International Space Station.

In the late 1950s, Hickam had a brush with law enforcement for allegedly starting a forest fire. State police came to his high school and led him and his friends away in handcuffs, but his high school physics professor and school principal came to the rescue, clearing him of wrongdoing.

Back then, schools did not have zero tolerance rules. Kids could make their mistakes without the threat of a criminal record, or serving time in jail.

Full Article

The Department of Homeland Security spearheaded the investigation that targeted mostly kiosks in the Walden Galleria and Boulevard Mall. Agents hauled bags and boxes out of the Boulevard Mall after stripping three kiosks of their merchandise.

Jim Spero, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Buffalo office of Homeland Security, says the sale of counterfeit goods – in Buffalo and beyond – poses a major security threat.

“When you purchase counterfeit goods, when you sell counterfeit goods, you don’t know who you’re dealing with. You don’t know what kind of criminal activity you’re supporting,” Spero said. “It’s actually organized crime that is behind the distribution of these goods. It could be terrorists as well.”

Full Article

A “thank you” might be in order if you find a massive leak of a company’s sensitive customer records on the Internet and raise alarm so the problem can be fixed. But that’s not how it always goes down, as a team of investigative reporters for the Scripps News Service recently found out the hard way.

Jennifer Mills-Westley, 60, was stabbed and decapitated while shopping on the Avenida Juan Carlos in the resort of Los Cristianos on 13 May 2011. Mills-Westley, originally from Norwich, had been living on the Spanish island after retiring from her job as a road safety officer with Norfolk county council.

Full Article

NYT (video)

WASHINGTON — A sergeant first class on the staff of the United States Military Academy at West Point has been accused of videotaping female cadets without their consent, sometimes when they were undressed in the bathroom or the shower, according to Army officials.

The Army is contacting about a dozen women to alert them that their privacy may have been violated by the suspect, identified as Sgt. First Class Michael McClendon, and to offer support or counseling, officials said.

The allegations at West Point, the nation’s oldest and most prestigious military academy, come in the midst of growing outrage in Congress, at the Pentagon and from President Obama over reports of sexual harassment and assault in the armed services. They also come as the Army has begun integrating women into combat positions, bringing added demands for fair and equal treatment of those in uniform.

The revelations are especially startling at West Point, which has had problems with sexual assault but also has many progressive faculty members and prides itself on having an environment of discipline and respect. Women have been enrolled at the two-century-old institution, on a commanding bank of the Hudson River in upstate New York, for nearly 40 years.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, who is to deliver the commencement address at West Point on Saturday, was briefed on the case Wednesday morning. Pentagon officials described him as “concerned and disturbed” by the allegations.

Sergeant McClendon, of Blakely, Ga., faces charges under four articles of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, for indecent acts, dereliction in the performance of duty, cruelty and maltreatment, and actions prejudicial to good order and discipline. Sergeant McClendon, who had been assigned to the academy since 2009, was transferred to Fort Drum, N.Y., before charges were filed on May 14, Army officials said.

During his tenure at West Point, Sergeant McClendon served as a tactical noncommissioned officer, a position described in academy personnel documents as a staff adviser “responsible for the health, welfare and discipline” of a company of 125 cadets. The person in the position is expected to “assist each cadet in balancing and integrating the requirements of physical, military, academic and moral-ethical programs.”

The student body at West Point numbers about 4,500 cadets. Slightly more than 15 percent are female, and senior Army officials pledged immediate action to try to regain their trust.

“The Army is committed to ensuring the safety and welfare of our cadets at the Military Academy at West Point — as well as all soldiers throughout our Army,” Gen. John F. Campbell, the Army vice chief of staff, said on Wednesday. “Once notified of the violation, a full investigation was launched, followed by swift action to correct the problem. Our cadets must be confident that issues such as these are handled quickly and decisively, and that our system will hold those responsible accountable.”

Officials said some of the videos were taken in the showers or the bathrooms, and some elsewhere on campus. Documents in the case indicate that in some instances Sergeant McClendon entered women’s bathroom and shower areas without knocking.

The number of sexual assaults reported at the military’s service academies has been steadily rising in recent years. In the 2011-12 academic year, there were 80 reports of sexual assault, compared with 65 in 2010-11 and 25 in 2008-9. The Defense Department is required by Congress to track sexual assault reports at the military academies.

The Army made no announcement of the charges against Sergeant McClendon, but it provided details after The New York Times learned of the inquiry from people with ties to West Point who said they were alarmed by the allegations and wanted to learn of the academy’s plans to investigate and prevent future violations.

George Wright, an Army spokesman, said the service and West Point would “rebuild trust” through their response. He said the Army was committed to “providing the full range of support to those whose privacy was violated,” as well as “keeping them updated on the case.”

“The Army will ensure the military justice system works through to its proper conclusion,” Mr. Wright said.

According to military service records, Sergeant McClendon joined the Army in 1990 and trained as a combat engineer. He deployed to Iraq from 2004 to 2005 and from 2007 to 2009 and was awarded a Bronze Star.

In recent weeks, allegations of sexual harassment and assault against women in the military have prompted vows from the Pentagon’s highest officials that they will confront the problem.

“It is time we take on the fight against sexual assault and sexual harassment as our primary mission,” Gen. Ray Odierno, the Army chief of staff, wrote in a message to all of his service personnel last week. “It is up to every one of us, civilian and soldier, general officer to private, to solve this problem within our ranks.”

These acts, General Odierno wrote, “violate everything our Army stands for.”

“They are contrary to our Army values,” he added, “and they must not be tolerated.”

Mr. Obama last week summoned the Pentagon’s senior leaders to the White House, telling them that the levels of sexual assault across the armed services were a disgrace that undermined the trust essential for the military to carry out its mission.

At the White House on Wednesday, Jay Carney, Mr. Obama’s press secretary, said the president had “zero tolerance for sexual assault in the military.”

“Those who participate in it dishonor the uniform they wear,” Mr. Carney said, and “those who are victims of it and who wear the uniform should know that the commander in chief has their backs.”

Video: The Legacy of Tailhook

 Retro Report: Military sexual assault is not a new phenomenon. A second look at the Tailhook scandal in 1991 reveals what happened then. And what it all means now.

MIAMI BEACH (CBSMiami) – Sun, sand, music and heightened security pretty much sums up Memorial Day Weekend on South Beach.

The Miami Beach Police Department is currently preparing for the annual holiday weekend party, commonly referred to as Urban Beach Week, by beefing up security as much as possible.

“Prevention is key,” said Detective Vivian Hernandez.

Prevention takes a lot of planning, which started not long after last year’s festivities ended.

Cameras, both mobile and stationary, have been installed throughout the city. Ready to be deployed throughout the city of Miami Beach are a total of 62 light towers, twelve visual messaging boards and three watch towers.

Roughly 400 officers per shift from multiple agencies will pack the streets of Miami Beach.

In addition to extra bikes and ATVs, the Police Department has a new vehicle on loan referred to as an LTV.

CBS 4 News had the exclusive first look at this 140-thousand dollar light tactical all-terrain vehicle, similar to the ones used in the military.

“This is the only one of its kind,” an officer explained to CBS 4′s Lauren Pastrana. “There’s no other vehicle like this on the market at this time.”

But instead of war zones overseas, cops will use it to protect the city of Miami Beach, as well as its residents and visitors.

“A dark beach at night, I would compare it to a dark alley in a big city,” said the officer.

The camera uses infrared technology to detect heat signatures on the beach, so even in the dead of night, officers can see people on a small screen mounted inside the vehicle.

“We could easily pick up a heat signature on this camera close to 3/4 of a mile away,” the officer explained.

In a tech truck about a mile from the heart of the action, another network of surveillance cameras can be viewed on one giant screen.

Eighteen cameras placed throughout the city, in partnership with the Miami-Dade Police Department, will help alert officers if trouble occurs.

“When a crowd develops, people watching those cameras can let the officers know, ‘Hey, please respond to that area. Make sure everybody is safe. Make sure nothing is developing or becoming a problem’.”

The goal is to avoid chaos, like the incident that occurred two years ago when officers shot and killed a man they claim was driving erratically on Collins Avenue, by preventing it.

The family of the driver, Raymond Herisse, filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against the police department.

In 2012, cops called the holiday weekend’s event a big success, and are hoping to build-on those improvements in 2013.

“We take every year into account to make the next year a lot better,” Det. Hernandez said.

Police will use license plate readers on the causeways to quickly scan for stolen vehicles or owners with outstanding felony warrants.

In addition, a massive DUI checkpoint is planned for the MacArthur Causeway heading into the beach on Friday night.

Also, Ocean Drive will be closed to vehicle traffic and a traffic loop will be in effect between Collins Ave. and Washington Ave.

Mohammed Saleem, who used a walking stick, was stabbed three times in the back as he returned home from prayers at his local mosque in Small Heath, Birmingham, on Monday night.

The blows were struck with such violence they penetrated to the front of his body.

The father of seven also had no defensive wounds in what has been described as a swift, vicious and cowardly attack by the man leading the murder investigation, Detective Superintendent Mark Payne of West Midlands police.

Officers want to trace a white man, aged 25-32, of medium height and build, spotted on CCTV footage running near the scene of the attack around the time it happened, just before 10.30pm.

Full Article