***Update*** Bomb throwers to be released on bond against wishes of federal prosecutors.
One of the lawyers charged with hurling Molotov cocktails at a police cruiser is a 32-year-old Princeton educated lawyer and his partner in (alleged) crime is a 31-year-old “human rights” lawyer and activist who worked on refugee issues in Turkey.
Accused Molotov cocktail hurler is Ivy League-educated lawyer, community board member
A Ivy League-educated lawyer and member of a Brooklyn community board was among those arrested for hurling a Molotov cocktail at a marked NYPD vehicle amid George Floyd protests, it was revealed Sunday.
Colinford Mattis, 32, was allegedly behind the wheel of a tan minivan as his passenger, fellow attorney Urooj Rahman, allegedly hurled the incendiary at an empty NYPD vehicle outside the 88th Precinct station house in Fort Greene early on Saturday.
Mattis, a graduate of Princeton University and New York University law school, is an associate at corporate Manhattan firm Pryor Cashman.
[….]
Rahman, 31, meanwhile, is also registered as an attorney in New York state, who was admitted to the bar in June 2019 after graduating from Fordham University School of Law. It was not immediately clear on Sunday whether she was affiliated with any law firm.
It’s unclear how she and Mattis know each other.
The Brooklyn residents are federally charged with causing damage by fire and explosives to a police vehicle, during demonstrations over the death of George Floyd.
Thanks to a reader for a tip! I bet there is so much more to be learned about this pair.
Urooj Rahman’15 worked with the Refugee Solidarity Network (RSN) and Refugee Rights Turkey (RTT), which, through their legal work, assist and empower refugees fleeing Turkey. Urooj provided direct services to asylum-seekers at the Center for Refugee Rights in Istanbul. As a foreign lawyer in Turkey, she lent her legal assistance mostly to non-Syrians going through the UNHCR refugee status determination procedure. She also served several months in New York with RSN, using her direct service experience to inform her contribution to international advocacy and awareness-raising initiatives.
I’ll try to come back to this story, but after being away, and then due to a storm losing internet service for days, I’ve got a lot of catching up to do!
This story gave me a laugh (I know it is a serious issue)! However, I can’t help chuckling about the Open Borders Dems who all of a sudden are becoming tribal about their people in their states. Civil liberties be damned!
Not sure how this fits into Frauds and Crooks, but what the heck, I’ll archive it in my ‘Politicians as frauds’ category.
Rhode Island Police to Hunt Down New Yorkers Seeking Refuge
Governor Raimondo: We are going to find you!
Rhode Island police began stopping cars with New York plates Friday. On Saturday, the National Guard will help them conduct house-to-house searches to find people who traveled from New York and demand 14 days of self-quarantine.
“Right now we have a pinpointed risk,” Governor Gina Raimondo said. “That risk is called New York City.”
[….]
Rhode Island has just over 200 [cases of COVID-19 at the time this story was posted—ed], and it has begun an aggressive campaign to keep the virus out and New Yorkers contained, over objections from civil liberties advocates.
This is Judge Judy’s home in tony Newport, RI.
Raimondo, a Democrat, said she had consulted lawyers and said while she couldn’t close the border, she felt confident she could enforce a quarantine.
Many New Yorkers have summer houses in Rhode Island, especially in tony Newport, and the governor said the authorities would be checking there.
“Yesterday I announced and today I reiterated: Anyone coming to Rhode Island in any way from New York must be quarantined,” the governor said. “By order. Will be enforced. Enforceable by law.”
Brentwood woman sentenced to 13 years in prison for aiding ISIS
A Brentwood woman was sentenced Friday to 13 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to a charge of providing more than $150,000 in financial support to the ISIS terrorist organization.
Zoobia Shahnaz, 29, was in addition sentenced to 10 years of supervised release by U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert in Central Islip.
Judge Joanna Seybert said when she handed down the stiff sentence that the defendant could have found a “more peaceable” organization to work with if she really wanted to help refugees. BTW, I could not find a photo of Shahnaz so had to settle for the judge.
Shahnaz, a U.S. citizen born in Pakistan and a lab technician at a Manhattan hospital, obtained more than $85,000 of the money through a number of fraud schemes and passed the funds on to ISIS in a further complex manner, according to officials.
She was arrested in July 2017 at Kennedy Airport while attempting to board a flight to Turkey, where she intended to illegally enter Syria to join ISIS, officials have said.
Eastern District federal prosecutor Artie McConnell argued for a stiff sentence saying ISIS could have used that money to create massive destruction and death, noting that terrorist attacks around the world have been perpetrated with devices whose ingredients cost as little as $600.
Defense attorney Steven Zissou said before and after the sentencing that his client’s “only goal was to help the suffering of Syrian refugees,” after she had witnessed the carnage in Syria at refugee camps where she had volunteered.
Zissou said the average sentence of someone in his client’s position had been 11 years, with as little 4 years.
Seybert said she was leery of imposing a low sentence, saying that Shahnaz was a highly intelligent person who implemented a complex scheme. The judge noted the defendant came from a loving family and could have worked for much more peaceable organizations.
[….]
“Today, the defendant learned the consequences of seeking to join ISIS and funneling thousands of dollars into the terrorist organization’s coffers,” stated Eastern District U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue. “There is no higher priority of the Department of Justice and this Office than protecting our country from those who support violent, hate-filled terrorist organizations.”
Who knew taking care of the homeless could be so lucrative!
Longtime readers know that one of the reasons I keep doing what I do, writing blog posts like this as my charity work, is that I want taxpayers to understand that gobs of their hard-earned money (tax dollars!) is flowing to non-profit groups masquerading as charities.
The non-profit gets to pretend it is doing good work (sometimes under a cloak of religious zeal) and all the while those leading the fake charities are reaping rewards beyond your wildest imagination.
Refugee Resettlement Watch is loaded with information on this topic, but thanks to reader Brad for sending me this news from the New York Postabout the NYC homelessness ‘industry.’
How NYC’s homeless ‘charities’ cash in — ruthlessly
It was a good hour into his State of the City speech Thursday before Mayor Bill de Blasio addressed homelessness — though he didn’t say much about it. “It’s what we have to do,” he averred. “We have to end homelessness as we know it.”
You’d think this was de Blasio’s inaugural statement on the topic, as though he hasn’t been mayor for six years, presiding over record numbers of homeless people living in shelters, on the streets and in the subways. But de Blasio does in fact have a clear track record on homelessness; it’s just so dismal — so tainted by waste and scandal — that it’s no surprise he doesn’t want to dwell on it.
Spending has skyrocketed across the board since de Blasio took over City Hall, but no government expenditures have soared as fast as homeless services, which more than doubled since 2014, from $1 billion to $2.1 billion.
[….]
Turns out that an increasing amount of the city’s homeless budget goes to service providers — the groups that run shelters and intake centers, conduct outreach and offer specialized treatment to people on the street. Yet given the enormous demand for shelter, numerous regulations on services and difficulties dealing with the city, it’s hard to find top-quality, scrupulously ethical providers.
At the same time, with more than a billion dollars a year flowing to this sector, the city can’t seem to ensure that standards are met, while well-positioned insiders — call them nonprofiteers — soak up public money.
Indeed, the system has been working great, if you are on the receiving end of the money stream. If you are a homeless or needy person, not so much.
After some horror stories about Children’s Community Services, opinion writer Seth Barron continued:
CCS isn’t the only bad actor in the city’s social-service industrial complex. Bronx-based powerhouse Acacia Networks — which has taken in close to a billion dollars in city funding since 2010 — garnered attention after a grisly murder in one of its Upper West Side shelters.
Scandal rocked Maria del Carmen Arroyo’s term in elected office. Here with Michael Bloomberg (right) who promotes the idea of immigrants adding to the US economy. I guess he means people like Ms. Arroyo!
This came on the heels of a revelation that Acacia executives had unreported ties to the security firm it hired to monitor its facilities and ensure the safety of the residents; insiders may also have proprietary ties to other vendors, too. Acacia “cluster sites,” which also house homeless families, have hundreds of outstanding violations.
Yet the organization is politically connected — former Bronx Council Member Maria del Carmen Arroyo left her elected post for a cool quarter-million salary as an Acacia VP, though that’s peanuts compared to the $800,000 stipend pulled down by CEO Raul Russi.
This is pretty outrageous—how did this whole gang of international crooks even gain entry to the US in the first place? And, why are we never given any information about which of our many ways of gaining entry was exploited?
From Chile, not the usual Mexican or Central American gang either!
Police: 3 members of Chilean burglary crew strike homes in Nassau
(Don’t miss the news clip where authorities suggest they may have taken advantage of new bond laws.)
Three people were arrested Tuesday in connection to numerous home burglaries in Nassau County.
Police say the suspects arrested were part of a burglary organization from Chile.
Police arrested Boneek Alexander Quintero-Baeza, 32, Alexandra Ivonne Pizarro-Blanche, 23, and Levy Frank Maury Brugman, 23, at a residence in College Point, Queens. Police say all three are from Chile and were taken into custody after authorities received tips about a burglary in Hewlett Harbor.
According to police, Quintero-Baeza broke into the Hewlett Harbor home in September and stole $25,000 in cash, designer bags and jewelry. Quintero-Baeza and Brugman also committed a burglary in New Jersey and had been released without bond. [Imagine that, an arrest of foreign nationals for burglary and they were released!—ed]
Prosecutors said in court that Quintero-Baeza has a long criminal record of burglaries in Spain and Argentina. [And, we let him in!—ed]
[….]
Authorities say they recovered jewelry, hand bags, electronic devices and clothing believed to have been taken from homes. Police say multiple identifications were recovered and are believed to be aliases for the defendants allowing them to operate within the United States.
Police say a fourth suspect, Bryan Maldonado, is still at large. Police believe Maldonado is the ring leader and say he is also from Chile.
Nassau police believe the Chileans may be part of a larger criminal operation that stretches across the U.S. They say detectives are now working with federal authorities.
