Victims Of The Charleston Tragedy

This appeared on Facebook so I can’t verify that it’s 100% accurate but I think it’s important to put a face on this senseless act of violence.

Those who lost their lives at Emanuel AME Church are:
• Cynthia Hurd, 54, a manager with the Charleston County Public Library system.

• Ethel Lance, 70, a retiree who recently worked as a church janitor

• Rev. Clementa Pinckney, 41, a South Carolina state senator and pastor at the church

• Susie Jackson, 87, a longtime member of the church

• Depayne Middleton Doctor, 49, former Charleston County community development director

• Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, a church pastor, speech therapist and a high school girls’ track coach

• Myra Thompson, 59, a pastor at the church

• Rev. Daniel Simmons, Sr., 74, another pastor at the church

• Tywanza Sanders, 26, a 2014 graduate of Allen University, where Pinckney was also an alum.

Remember their names. And remember the 5-year-old that survived because her grandmother instructed her to play dead.

Charleston Shooter Captured

The FBI has announced that the Charleston shooter has been captured and is in police custody.  Dylann Roof was captured in Shelby, NC according to news sources.  He is accused of killing 9 people, including the church’s Pastor Sen. Clementa Pinckney, during a prayer service at historic Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC Wednesday night.  The shooting is being classified as a hate crime, which is a federal offense.

Gay-Assault Suspect Is Suspended From Hospital Job

KATHRYN KNOTT thinks “jazz flute is for little fairy boys,” #gay is #ew and whiskey is awesome.

Those Twitter musings are part of what may cost her a job at Lansdale Hospital, according to a statement from Abington Health System.

Knott, 24, of Southampton, Bucks County, was suspended yesterday from her position as an emergency-room technician at the hospital, where she has worked since May 2011.

Hours before she was suspended, Knott and two other suspects in an attack on two gay men near Rittenhouse Square allegedly fueled by homophobia turned themselves in to police to face charges of aggravated and simple assault, recklessly endangering another person and criminal conspiracy.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20140925_Gay-assault_suspect_is_suspended_from_hospital_job.html#FvU6rALU3RJFAb2i.99

D.A.: Three To Be Charged In Center City Attack

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Philadelphia County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The District Attorney’s Office today approved arrest warrants for three suspects in the Sept. 11 attack on a gay couple near Rittenhouse Square.

Philip Williams, 24, Kevin Harrigan, 26, and Katherine Knott, 24, will be charged with two counts of aggravated assault and related offenses in the incident, District Attorney Seth Williams said.

All three reside in Bucks County.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/dncrime/DA-Three-to-be-charged-in-Center-City-attack.html#fE36qMxkaKpdqW1x.99

Amish Sect Leader Mullet Sentenced To 15 Years In Beard Attacks

CLEVELAND — The leader of a breakaway Amish community in which 16 people were convicted in hair- and beard-cutting attacks was sentenced today to 15 years in prison.

“Sadly, I consider you a danger to the community because of the control that you possess over others,” U.S. District Judge Dan Polster told Samuel Mullet Sr., 67.

Mullet was convicted under a federal hate crimes law. He spoke in court today for the first time since he was charged.

“My goal in life has always been to help the underdog,” he said. “That’s been my goal all my life and now I get pushed up to where I’m at. If somebody needs to be punished for this and I’m a cult leader, then I want to take the punishment for everybody.”

He didn’t get his wish.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/region/amish-sect-leader-mullet-ready-to-take-the-punishment-for-everybody-in-beard-attacks-673950/#ixzz2KLSUqvAU

Former Rutgers Student Convicted In Webcam Suicide Case

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A former Rutgers University student accused of using a webcam to spy on his gay roommate’s love life was convicted of invasion of privacy and anti-gay intimidation Friday in a case that exploded into the headlines when the victim threw himself to his death off a bridge.

Dharun Ravi, 20, shook his head slightly after hearing the guilty verdicts on all 15 counts against him.

He could get several years in prison — and could be deported to his native India, even though he has lived legally in the U.S. since he was a little boy — for an act that cast a spotlight on teen suicide and anti-gay bullying and illustrated the Internet’s potential for tormenting others.

Prosecutors said Ravi set up a webcam in his dorm room in September 2010 and captured roommate Tyler Clementi kissing another man, then tweeted about it and excitedly tried to catch Clementi in the act again two days later. A half-dozen students were believed to have seen the live video of the kissing.

Read more: http://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/mc-rutgers-suicide-verdict-20120316,0,208244.story

Shenandoah Men Guilty Of Federal Hate Crime In Beating Death Of Immigrant

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Two Schuylkill County men were found guilty of federal hate crimes in the beating death of a Mexican immigrant, Luis Ramirez. Brandon Piekarsky (18) and Derrick Donchak (20), both of Shenandoah, were convicted by a jury in Scranton.  Donchak was also convicted of two other counts relating to a cover-up plot with Shenandoah Police.  At the time ol the 2008 beating, the accused were high school football players.

Both men were taken away in handcuffs and ordered held until their January 24th sentencing.  They were acquitted of more serious charges by a jury in Pottsville.

Two Shenandoah police officers will go on trial early next year for their role in the attempted cover-up.