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Category: Justice

  • MIL-OSI: Marquette National Corporation Increases Quarterly Dividend 10.7 Percent and Announces a Common Stock Repurchase Program

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    CHICAGO, Jan. 24, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Marquette National Corporation (OTCQX: MNAT) today announced that its Board of Directors declared a cash dividend of $0.31 per share, an increase of 10.7% from the previous quarter dividend rate. The dividend will be payable on April 1, 2025 to shareholders of record on March 14, 2025. As of December 31, 2024, Marquette had 4,367,477 shares issued and outstanding.

    The Company also announced that its Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of up to $1,000,000 of its outstanding common stock at prevailing market prices through open market or negotiated transactions. The repurchase program is authorized to last through December 31, 2025.

    Marquette National Corporation is a diversified bank holding company with total assets of $2.2 billion. The Company’s banking subsidiary, Marquette Bank, is a full-service, community bank that serves the financial needs of communities in Chicagoland, offering an extensive line of financial solutions, including retail banking, real estate lending, trust, insurance, investments, wealth management and business banking to consumers and commercial customers. Marquette Bank has 20 branches located in: Chicago, Bolingbrook, Bridgeview, Evergreen Park, Hickory Hills, Lemont, New Lenox, Oak Forest, Oak Lawn, Orland Park, Summit and Tinley Park, Illinois. For more information visit: https://emarquettebank.com

    Special Note Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
    This document contains, and future oral and written statements of the Company and its management may contain, forward-looking statements with respect to the financial condition, results of operations, plans, objectives, future performance and business of the Company. Forward-looking statements, which may be based upon beliefs, expectations and assumptions of the Company’s management and on information currently available to management, are generally identifiable by the use of words such as “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “intend,” “estimate,” “may,” “will,” “would,” “could,” “should” or other similar expressions. A number of factors, many of which are beyond the ability of the Company to control or predict, could cause actual results to differ materially from those in its forward-looking statements. These factors include, among others, the following: (i) the strength of the local, state, national and international economies (including the effects of inflationary pressures and supply chain constraints); (ii) the economic impact of any future terrorist threats and attacks, widespread disease or pandemics, acts of war or other threats thereof (including the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Russian invasion of Ukraine), or other adverse external events that could cause economic deterioration or instability in credit markets, and the response of the local, state and national governments to any such adverse external events; (iii) changes in accounting policies and practices, as may be adopted by state and federal regulatory agencies, the Financial Accounting Standards Board or the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board; (iv) changes in local, state and federal laws, regulations and governmental policies concerning the Company’s general business as a result of the upcoming 2024 presidential election or any changes in response to failures of other banks; (v) changes in interest rates and prepayment rates of the Company’s assets (including the impact of the significant rate increases by the Federal Reserve since 2022); (vi) increased competition in the financial services sector (including from non-bank competitors such as credit unions and “fintech” companies) and the inability to attract new customers; (vii) changes in technology and the ability to develop and maintain secure and reliable electronic systems; (viii) the loss of key executives or employees; (ix) changes in consumer spending; (x) unexpected outcomes of existing or new litigation involving the Company; (xi) the economic impact of exceptional weather occurrences such as tornadoes, floods and blizzards; (xii) fluctuations in the value of securities held in our securities portfolio; (xiii) concentrations within our loan portfolio, large loans to certain borrowers, and large deposits from certain clients; (xiv) the concentration of large deposits from certain clients who have balances above current Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation insurance limits and may withdraw deposits to diversity their exposure; (xv) the level of non-performing assets on our balance sheets; (xvi) interruptions involving our information technology and communications systems or third-party servicers; (xvii) breaches or failures of our information security controls or cybersecurity-related incidents, and (xviii) the ability of the Company to manage the risks associated with the foregoing as well as anticipated.. These risks and uncertainties should be considered in evaluating forward-looking statements and undue reliance should not be placed on such statements. Additionally, all statements in this document, including forward-looking statements, speak only as of the date they are made, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update any statement in light of new information or future events.

    The MIL Network –

    January 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Security: Met officer charged with sexually assaulting three men and a woman

    Source: United Kingdom London Metropolitan Police

    A serving Met officer has been charged with committing sexual offences against three men and a woman. He was suspended from duty in December 2022.

    Police Sergeant Lee Symons, attached to the West Area Command Unit, will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Monday, 27 January.

    PS Symons was charged on 23 December 2024, with assault by penetration and five counts of sexual assault (by touching). These offences are alleged to have taken place on dates between 2012 and 2018 against the same man.

    PS Symons was also charged on 23 December with five further counts of sexual assault by touching on dates between 2009 and 2021. Three of these counts relate to alleged offences against a man, the remaining two counts relate to alleged offences against another man and a woman.

    All of the offences are alleged to have taken place against people known to him.

    MIL Security OSI –

    January 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Interdepartmental working group on festival arrangements releases latest information on cross-boundary passenger traffic estimation and arrangements for Chinese New Year festive period

    Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

    Interdepartmental working group on festival arrangements releases latest information on cross-boundary passenger traffic estimation and arrangements for Chinese New Year festive period
    Interdepartmental working group on festival arrangements releases latest information on cross-boundary passenger traffic estimation and arrangements for Chinese New Year festive period
    ******************************************************************************************

         The interdepartmental working group on festival arrangements, led by the Chief Secretary for Administration, released the following information today (January 24) on the estimated visitor flow and arrangements for the upcoming Chinese New Year festive period.           During the upcoming Chinese New Year festive period (from January 28 to February 4), the Immigration Department (ImmD), in consultation with the Shenzhen General Station of Exit and Entry Frontier Inspection and other Mainland authorities, estimates that around 7.34 million passengers (including Hong Kong residents and visitors) will pass through land boundary control points. The ImmD estimates that the passenger traffic at the Lo Wu Control Point, the Lok Ma Chau Spur Line Control Point and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Control Point will be heavy, with a daily average forecast of about 205 000, 190 000 and 146 000 passengers respectively.           To cope with the anticipated heavy traffic during the festive period, the ImmD has minimised leave for frontline officers for flexible deployment, and operation of extra clearance counters and kiosks. Additional security guards will also be deployed to provide crowd management support.           Furthermore, the ImmD, the Hong Kong Police Force, the Customs and Excise Department and the MTR Corporation Limited will set up a joint command centre at the Lo Wu Control Point to make necessary arrangements. The ImmD will also establish close communication with Mainland authorities, including the Shenzhen General Station of Exit and Entry Frontier Inspection. To ensure a smooth passenger traffic flow, passenger conditions will be closely monitored and appropriate traffic diversion plans will be adopted when necessary.           To avoid congestion and a longer than usual waiting time for immigration clearance, the ImmD advises all land boundary passengers to plan in advance, avoid making their journeys during busy periods and keep track of radio and TV broadcasts on traffic conditions at various control points. The busy times at boundary control points are available on the website of the ImmD at http://www.immd.gov.hk. Furthermore, passengers may also check the estimated waiting times at each land boundary control point at any time or place via the Immigration Mobile Application (ImmD Mobile App). They can then plan their trips effectively and save time queuing at control points. The ImmD Mobile App can be downloaded free of charge from the Apple App Store (supports iOS version 12.0 or above), Google Play (supports Android version 8.0 or above), Huawei AppGallery (supports Android version 8.0 or above) and the APK file available on the ImmD website. Passengers can download the ImmD Mobile App by scanning the QR code (see Annex) or via the ImmD website, http://www.immd.gov.hk. In addition, information on public transport services to and from various control points is available on the Transport Department website at http://www.td.gov.hk.           For travellers making journeys to the Mainland, the ImmD reminds them to carry their proof of identity and valid travel documents for crossing the boundary. Hong Kong residents should also check the validity of their Home Visit Permits. Non-permanent residents must carry their valid smart identity card as well as their Document of Identity for Visa Purposes or valid travel document.           Holders of the acknowledgement receipt issued due to reported loss or replacement of their Hong Kong identity cards, or children under 11 years old who hold Hong Kong identity cards, should carry a valid travel document or Re-entry Permit.           About 700 e-Channels have been installed at various control points. The Contactless e-Channel service is available at all control points now. All eligible Hong Kong residents, after enrolment, can generate an encrypted QR code through the Contactless e-Channel mobile application to enter the e-Channel, and then verify their identity with the facial verification technology for automated immigration clearance.           In addition, all control points have introduced self-service departures for visitors to Hong Kong (Smart Departure) which provides greater travel convenience for visitors. The service employs facial recognition technology for identity verification, which allows eligible visitors holding electronic travel documents to perform self-service departure clearance through Smart Departure e-Channels without prior enrolment.           Hong Kong residents who require assistance while travelling outside Hong Kong may call the 24-hour hotline of the Assistance to Hong Kong Residents Unit of the ImmD at (852) 1868, call the 1868 hotline using network data or use the 1868 Chatbot via the ImmD Mobile App, send a message to 1868 WhatsApp assistance hotline or 1868 WeChat assistance hotline or submit the Online Assistance Request Form,           The interdepartmental working group on festival arrangements is tasked with holistically co-ordinating and steering the preparatory work of various government departments for welcoming visitors to Hong Kong during the Chinese New Year holidays, as well as strengthening information dissemination to enable the public and visitors to plan their itineraries according to the latest situation.

     
    Ends/Friday, January 24, 2025Issued at HKT 20:18

    NNNN

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

    January 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Security: Columbia Man Indicted on Sex Trafficking and Child Sexual Abuse Material Charges Involving 11 Victims

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    COLUMBIA, S.C. — A federal grand jury in Columbia returned a 22-count indictment against defendant Leon-Bobby Jones-Hubbard, 31, of Columbia, charging him with sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion; two counts of sex trafficking of a minor; nine counts of production and attempted production of child sexual abuse materials; nine counts of coercion and enticement of a minor into illegal sexual conduct; and one count of distribution of child sexual abuse material.

    The indictment alleges that from at least June 2023 to present, Jones-Hubbard used social media platforms including Facebook to target, recruit, and exploit 10 minor victims who ranged from 5 to 16 years old and were located in Arkansas, Michigan, Alabama, Wisconsin, and Texas. The indictment further alleges the defendant paid money through Cash App, PayPal, and Meta Pay to induce and entice minors into illegal sexual conduct, including sex trafficking and the production of child sexual abuse material.

    An adult with a severe developmental disorder was also targeted and exploited, according to the indictment, by Jones-Hubbard using an intermediary to coerce the victim into sex acts through physical restraint, physical force, and violence in exchange for money.

    Jones-Hubbard faces a penalty of up to life in prison. He also faces mandatory minimum penalties of 15 years, 10 years, and five years in prison on various counts charged.  He faces fines of up to $250,0o0 per count, a special assessment of $5,000 per count, mandatory restitution payable to any victims who suffered loss in connection with criminal conduct, court-ordered supervision of life to follow any term of imprisonment, and federal and state sex offender registration requirements.

    Jones-Hubbard was arraigned in federal court on Jan. 23 and was ordered detained pending a detention hearing before United States Magistrate Judge Paige J. Gossett on Jan. 28 at 2:30 p.m.

    This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the U.S. Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals, who sexually exploit children, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc.

    This case was investigated by the FBI Columbia Field Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elliott B. Daniels and E. Elizabeth Major are prosecuting the case.

    U.S. Attorney Adair F. Boroughs stated that all charges in the indictment are merely accusations and that defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

    ###

    MIL Security OSI –

    January 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Proud and safe – a new action plan for equal rights and opportunities for LGBTIQ people

    Source: Government of Sweden

    The Government is announcing a new action plan for an inclusive and equal society. The action plan aims to further strengthen efforts to support rights and opportunities for LGBTIQ people by consolidating, supplementing and mobilising these efforts.

    “LGBTIQ people must be able to live lives in which their rights and identities are fully respected. Although progress has been made, sadly we see that challenges such as discrimination, threats, hatred and violence remain. These are things we will never accept,” says Minister for Gender Equality and Working Life Paulina Brandberg.

    ”All LGBTIQ people have the right to safety and security. It is especially important that we ensure that young LGBTIQ people have the right to a safe and secure upbringing, free from discrimination, violence and other violations. This action plan is an extraordinarily important tool in our continued efforts to gaurantee equal rights and opportunities for all,” says Minsiter for Social Services Camilla Waltersson Grönvall.

    “The Government is continuing its long-term, systematic and strategic work for LGBTIQ rights and freedoms. With the new action plan, we are taking the next steps in our efforts to ensure that everyone can be who they are and love who they want,” says Minister for Public Administration Erik Slottner.

    The new action plan complements the existing strategy for equal rights and opportunities regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, and the efforts will be stepped up with concrete measures until 2027 . 

    Eight focus areas and new strategic agencies

    The following focus areas are considered to be of continued vital importance in efforts to support rights and opportunities for LGBTIQ people: violence, discrimination and other violations; health, health care and social services; working life; young LGBTIQ people; older LGBTIQ people; private and family life; civil society; and cultural life.  

    The new action plan includes goals for each focus area based on various policy areas. To ensure a consolidated, structured and long-term approach to measures within the focus areas, a number of government agencies have been designated as strategic LGBTIQ agencies. These are the Ombudsman for Children in Sweden, the Public Health Agency of Sweden, the Forum for Living History, the Swedish Gender Equality Agency, the Swedish Migration Agency, the Family Law and Parenthood Support Authority, the Swedish Agency for Youth and Civil Society, the Swedish Police Authority, the National Board of Health and Welfare, the Swedish Arts Council, and the Swedish National Agency for Education. 

    The Government has also designated the Swedish Work Environment Authority and the Swedish Agency for Work Environment Expertise as strategic agencies for the working life focus area, which had previously lacked strategic agencies. 

    The Government will also task the Swedish Defence Research Agency with surveying the prevalence of LGBTIQ hostility in digital environments and spreading knowledge compiled within the framework of the assignment. 

    The Public Health Agency of Sweden will be given an expanded assignment to coordinate, support and follow up the work of the LGBTIQ strategic agencies.

    MIL OSI Europe News –

    January 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: London ETO supports Year of Snake screenings at British Film Institute (with photos)

    Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

    London ETO supports Year of Snake screenings at British Film Institute (with photos)
    London ETO supports Year of Snake screenings at British Film Institute (with photos)
    ************************************************************************************

         The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, London (London ETO) partnered with Focus Hong Kong to celebrate the Year of the Snake with a curated selection of Hong Kong films at the British Film Institute (BFI) Southbank in London from January 23 to 26 (London time).     The Director-General of the London ETO, Mr Gilford Law, remarked that the office is committed to supporting initiatives that showcase the vibrancy and creativity of Hong Kong’s film industry on the international stage. “The Government will continue to strengthen support to Hong Kong film industry through the Film Development Fund, increase the exposure of the Hong Kong film industry globally, and leverage the cultural influence of films to strengthen tourism promotion and attract more visitors to Hong Kong,” Mr Law added.      The Focus Hong Kong Chinese New Year programme showcases three films at the BFI, namely, the UK Premiere of “True Love, for Once in My Life”, “All Shall be Well” and “Shanghai Blues (4K Restoration)”. 

     
    Ends/Friday, January 24, 2025Issued at HKT 21:40

    NNNN

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

    January 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI USA: ERO Houston repatriates accused child rapist to Mexico who has illegally entered US 4 times

    Source: US Immigration and Customs Enforcement

    HOUSTON — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations Houston, with assistance from ERO Mexico and the Security Alliance for Fugitive Enforcement Task Force, repatriated Nestor Flores Encarnacion, a 58-year-old undocumented alien, to his home country of Mexico Jan. 23. Flores has illegally entered the U.S. four times and is wanted in Veracruz, Mexico, for rape of a child.

    ICE deportation officers transported Flores from the Montgomery Processing Center in Conroe, Texas, to the Juarez-Lincoln Bridge in Laredo, Texas, and he was transferred into the custody of Mexican authorities.

    “This foreign fugitive brazenly entered the U.S. in violation of our nation’s laws on four separate occasions to evade prosecution in Mexico for allegedly raping a child,” said ERO Houston Field Office Director Bret A. Bradford. “Dangerous foreign fugitives and criminal aliens who are accused of, or have committed, heinous crimes like sexually assaulting a child will find no safe haven in Southeast Texas. Our immigration officers work tirelessly to successfully locate and apprehend undocumented aliens in the Houston area who threaten public safety, national security, and border security, and will not rest until they’re repatriated to their country of origin and no longer a threat to the community.”

    Flores illegally entered the U.S. Feb. 16, 2002, near Roma, Texas. The U.S. Border Patrol apprehended Flores and voluntarily returned him to Mexico Feb. 17, 2002. Flores illegally re-entered the U.S. on Feb. 20, 2002, and Feb. 22, 2002. On both occasions, he was arrested by Border Patrol officers and voluntarily returned to Mexico the same day.

    Flores illegally entered the U.S. for a fourth time on an unknown date and at an unknown location. ERO Houston deportation officers successfully apprehended Flores Aug. 23, 2024, at a residence in Houston after receiving an alert indicating that he was potentially illegally residing in the Houston area and wanted in Mexico for rape of a child. Flores was placed into immigration proceedings and granted a voluntary departure under safeguards by an immigration judge with the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review Dec. 19, 2024.

    The Security Alliance for Fugitive Enforcement Program is a fugitive enforcement and information sharing partnership that was created in 2012 to better use subject information derived from local in-country investigative resources and leads to locate, apprehend, detain, and remove individuals residing in the U.S. illegally who were subject to foreign arrest warrants. The SAFE Program operates under the respective host nation’s Assistant Attaché for Removal, which constructs a SAFE task force composed of relevant foreign law enforcement agencies, immigration authorities, attorneys general, and national identification repositories – as well as other regional, national, state, and local government agencies. The managing assistant attaché ensures that each task force member complies with SAFE policies and standards consistent with the program’s standard operating procedures. Once established, the assistant attaché led SAFE task force generates new leads and vets existing SAFE fugitive referrals for ERO action.

    ERO is one of ICE’s three operational directorates and is the principal federal law enforcement authority in charge of domestic immigration enforcement. ERO’s mission is to protect the homeland through the arrest and removal of those who undermine the safety of U.S. communities and the integrity of U.S. immigration laws, and its primary areas of focus are interior enforcement operations, management of the agency’s detained and non-detained populations, and repatriation of noncitizens who have received final orders of removal. ERO’s workforce consists of more than 7,700 law enforcement and non-law enforcement support personnel across 25 domestic field offices and 208 locations nationwide, 30 overseas postings, and multiple temporary duty travel assignments along the border.

    Members of the public who have information about foreign fugitives are urged to contact ICE by calling the ICE Tip Line at 1 (866) 347-2423 or internationally at 001-1802-872-6199. They can also file a tip online by completing ICE’s online tip form.

    For more news and information on how ERO Houston carries out its immigration enforcement mission in Southeast Texas follow us on X, formerly known as Twitter, @EROHouston.

    MIL OSI USA News –

    January 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI: First Federal Savings Bank and ICBA Provide Tips to Safeguard Sensitive Information During Data Privacy Week Jan 24-28

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    EVANSVILLE, Ind., Jan. 24, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — In recognition of Data Privacy Week, First Federal Savings Bank and the Independent Community Bankers of America® (ICBA) are reminding customers to take steps to safeguard their sensitive data and shield against financial losses in the event of a compromise or data breach. The global average cost of a data breach in 2024 was $4.88 million, a 10 percent increase over 2023 and the highest ever recorded.

    “While there’s no fool-proof method to safeguard sensitive data, at First Federal Savings Bank, we believe that an important step in the fight against such attacks is arming customers with the proper protocols to reduce their exposure,” said Christy McBride, Chief Operations Officer & Information Security Officer, EVP. “As a community bank, First Federal Savings Bank uses sophisticated technology and monitoring techniques, intricate firewalls, and other methods to secure customer data. Additionally, we maintain stringent privacy policies and educate employees to treat confidential information with the utmost care.”

    Reducing Your Risk
    As a consumer you also can help minimize your risk by:

    • Restricting use of public wi-fi and computers—These networks may be convenient but are not as secure. If you make purchases while away from your home or work network, use a virtual private network or mobile hotspot.
    • Limiting disclosed information—Never respond to requests for personal information such as your banking ID, account number, username, or password, even if they appear to originate from your bank, government agencies or officials, or companies with which you have a relationship.
    • Taking advantage of security features—Update your computer security software and apply software updates to your computer system, mobile devices, web browsers, and operating system regularly to defend against viruses, malware, and other online threats.
    • Monitoring account activity—Carefully review bank statements, card transactions, and check your credit report regularly for unusual or unexplained charges, unknown accounts in your name, or unexpected denials on your card and report any suspicious activity to your bank immediately.
    • Protecting each account with a unique, complex password—Use numbers and symbols at least 12 characters long along with using a password manager. Use multifactor authentication for accounts that allow it.

    Responding to a Data Breach
    In the unfortunate event of a data breach, to minimize your risk:

    • Consider a security freeze on your credit report to restrict credit file access.
    • Set up a fraud alert, which directs banks to verify your identity before opening a new account, issuing an additional card, or increasing the credit limit on an existing account.
    • Shred documents with personal or sensitive information and change your passwords.
    • Report stolen finances or identities and other cybercrime to the Internet Crime Complaint Center and to your local law enforcement and/or state attorney general.

    Learn more about how to protect your digital life by visiting the Stay Safe Online website and spreading the word on social media with the hashtag #BeCyberSmart.

    About First Federal Savings Bank Member FDIC

    First Federal Savings Bank was established on Evansville, Indiana’s Westside in 1904. A community bank offering eight locations in Posey, Vanderburgh, Warrick, and Henderson County. First Federal Savings Bank is also proud to offer Home Building Savings Bank locations in Daviess and Pike County.

    About ICBA

    The Independent Community Bankers of America® has one mission: to create and promote an environment where community banks flourish. We power the potential of the nation’s community banks through effective advocacy, education, and innovation.

    As local and trusted sources of credit, America’s community banks leverage their relationship-based business model and innovative offerings to channel deposits into the neighborhoods they serve, creating jobs, fostering economic prosperity, and fueling their customers’ financial goals and dreams. For more information, visit ICBA’s website at icba.org.

    The MIL Network –

    January 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Global: Seizure of Sally Mann’s photographs in Texas revives old debates about obscenity and freedom of expression

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Amy Werbel, Professor of the History of Art, Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT)

    Photographer Sally Mann poses with her dog in 2004. Michael Williamson/The Washington Post via Getty Images

    Four photographs by celebrated artist Sally Mann were recently removed from the walls of an exhibition at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth at the behest of local Republican officials, who claimed they constituted child pornography. The Fort Worth Police Department is now investigating the allegation.

    Those photographs – taken more than 30 years ago – feature Mann’s children posing in the nude on the family’s isolated farm in rural Virginia. They were included in an exhibition titled “Diaries of Home,” which also featured images by renowned photographers LaToya Ruby Frazier, Nan Goldin and Catherine Opie, among others.

    One of the seized photographs depicts her son’s naked torso dripping with a melted popsicle, suggesting the innocence and messiness of childhood. In another, Mann’s naked daughter tiptoes across a tabletop, evoking both her strength and vulnerability.

    For decades, these works have elicited admiration and, yes, condemnation.

    I’m an art historian, and my most recent book documents the rise of art censorship following passage of the nation’s first federal anti-obscenity law in 1873, which became known as the Comstock Act after its chief lobbyist, the Christian evangelical activist Anthony Comstock.

    Today, the Comstock Act is in the news mostly because it prohibits abortion medication, which was considered a form of obscenity alongside erotic images, sculptures and sex toys. But in the law’s early years, it was used to confiscate vast quantities of art and literature deemed lewd, obscene or erotic. Though this form of censorship has since been deemed unconstitutional by various U.S. Supreme Court decisions, debates over what constitutes obscenity, child pornography and artistic expression persist.

    To me, the events surrounding the removal of Mann’s photographs echo those of a censorious past.

    Evangelical underpinnings

    Throughout Comstock’s career, evangelical Christians served as the most fervent supporters of his work; they were behind the creation of the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice, which funded his investigations.

    Anthony Comstock.
    Bettmann/Getty Images

    Comstock’s censorship campaigns varied. Sometimes he went after nude drawings, paintings and sculptures. But even relatively tame photographs of actresses wearing tights attracted his ire.

    In Fort Worth, objections originated from local Christian activists and organizations. Chief among them was the Danbury Institute, which penned an open letter to the Fort Worth museum, accusing Mann’s photographs of “normalizing pedophilia” and the exhibition more generally of “promoting “the breakdown of the God-ordained definition of family” through its depiction of LGBTQ parents. In its mission statement, the institute declares that “Scripture is authoritative, inerrant, infallible, and sufficient.”

    Comstock similarly believed that “God’s Law” ought to be the guiding standard for American jurisprudence. To justify seizing and destroying an enormous array of images and objects during his 43-year career, Comstock often claimed to be battling Satan.

    His efforts were broadly popular when it came to the sexually explicit images that tended to circulate in bars and saloons. But he eventually ran afoul of Americans’ more liberal and pluralistic attitudes when he targeted art and popular culture.

    Courts expand freedom of expression

    Over the course of the 20th century, the Comstock Act lost most of its teeth.

    Judges and juries increasingly upheld civil liberties claims in cases concerning freedom of expression, vastly expanding the scope of the First Amendment.

    In 1973, the Supreme Court established the current three-part “test” for obscenity. The final prong of that test dictates that a work is not obscene if it has “serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.”

    In my view, there’s no credible claim that Mann’s long-celebrated photographs do not have serious artistic value.

    Following the removal of Mann’s photographs, arts advocates were quick to point out that the seized images are featured on prominent museum websites around the country. The National Coalition against Censorship and Artists at Risk organization issued strong statements in support of the exhibition of Mann’s photographs.

    Sally Mann’s ‘Holding the Weasel’ on display at a Sotheby’s press preview in 2008.
    Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images

    The Fort Worth sheriff’s office, which is holding the images, is reportedly evaluating whether they violate Texas’ child pornography statute. But because Mann’s photographs do not depict any sexual acts, the only phrase in this state law that could be deemed relevant is “lewd exhibition,” with “lewd” defined as an intent to stimulate sexual desire.

    Here, context is key. As one critic of the removal of Mann’s works pointed out, “Most everyone reading this can easily make a distinction between going to a museum and opening Pornhub.”

    By selectively removing a few of Mann’s photographs from the exhibition and suggesting they may be child pornography, Texas officials stripped them of their context as works of art. In doing so, they introduced the photographs to an audience that would never have seen them in an art museum but that now may search for them online with prurient intent.

    Once again, I can’t help but see a connection to Comstock’s crusades. His efforts backfired, to a degree, in that the targets of his ire, from student drawings of nude models to birth control literature, ended up getting more publicity than they otherwise would have.

    Curators also play a role

    Despite legal protections, curators are still sensitive to how works of art may offend viewers and have developed a set of practices to accommodate these sensitivities.

    Three years ago, I interviewed curators and directors in academic art museums and galleries across the country as a fellow at the University of California National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement.

    My research focused on how museum professionals deal with the exhibition of potentially controversial artwork. They spoke to me about a variety of best practices. For example, prominently displayed content warnings allow viewers to choose to opt in or avoid the exhibition altogether. Thoughtful placement of the works and supplemental commentary add more context and provoke thought and discussion.

    Fort Worth’s Modern Art Museum, where Mann’s photographs were displayed.
    Michael Barera, CC BY-SA

    The curators of “Diaries of Home” clearly followed these best practices.

    They stated the objective of their exhibition: to “examine conceptions of home in all their complexity,” and to feature the perspectives of women, LGBTQ and nonbinary artists and subjects. A content warning was visible to audiences before they entered the gallery: “This exhibition features mature themes that may be sensitive for some viewers.” Museum staff provided wall labels, tours and artist discussions.

    These contributions situate the exhibited artworks within a broader conversation about families in America today, which are diverse in makeup, in definition and in lifestyle.

    In other words, they show how these are serious, thoughtful works of art.

    Although I can’t imagine any sort of successful criminal prosecution will take place, I do think damage has been done. This may have been a goal from the start.

    Threatening legal action undoubtedly has a chilling effect. The Modern Art Museum in Fort Worth must grapple with a potential loss of donors. It takes time, money and effort to respond to official and public critics.

    In Comstock’s era, civil liberties activists, artists and arts organizations rose to the challenge of defending their freedom of speech.

    Those who value artistic expression today will have to follow in their footsteps.

    Amy Werbel receives funding from the State University of New York and the UC National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement.

    – ref. Seizure of Sally Mann’s photographs in Texas revives old debates about obscenity and freedom of expression – https://theconversation.com/seizure-of-sally-manns-photographs-in-texas-revives-old-debates-about-obscenity-and-freedom-of-expression-247321

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

    January 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Global: Harvard expands its definition of antisemitism – when does criticism of Israel cross a line?

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Joshua Shanes, Professor of Jewish Studies, College of Charleston

    Harvard has adopted a broader definition of antisemitism. Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

    As part of Harvard University’s agreement in response to two federal lawsuits filed by Jewish students alleging antisemitic discrimination, it will adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, or IHRA, “working definition” of antisemitism.

    This is a definition favored by many Jewish community leaders and politicians because its broad language can be applied to most anti-Israel rhetoric. This includes Kenneth Marcus, who served as assistant secretary of education during the first Trump administration and represented the students as chairman of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law.

    In contrast, many scholars prefer either the competing Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism or the definition offered by the Nexus Task Force, a committee of experts led by the Bard Center for the Study of Hate. I am a member of the Nexus group and also helped compose its 2024 “Campus Guide to Identifying Antisemitism.”

    The controversy over this move indicates that many well-intentioned people still struggle to understand what exactly constitutes antisemitism and when anti-Israel rhetoric crosses the line.

    As a scholar of modern Jewish history, I offer this primer that helps answer this question.

    History of antisemitism

    There has been a sharp increase in antisemitism around the world since the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre by Hamas and Israel’s subsequent military attacks in the Gaza Strip.

    Anti-Jewish animosity dates to antiquity. The early Christian church attacked Jews, whom it blamed for crucifying Christ, and claimed to replace them as God’s chosen people. The Gospel of John in the New Testament accused Jews of being Satan’s children, while others called them demons intent on sacrificing the souls of men.

    Medieval Christians added other myths, such as the blood libel – the lie that Jews ritually murdered Christian children for their blood. Other myths accused them of poisoning wells or desecrating the consecrated host of the Eucharist to reenact the murder of Christ; some even claimed that Jews had inhuman biology such as horns or that they suckled at the teats of pigs.

    Such lies led to violent persecution of Jews over many centuries.

    Modern antisemitism

    In the 19th century, these myths were supplanted by the additional element of race – the claim that Jewishness was immutable and could not be changed via conversion. Though this idea first appeared in 15th-century Spain, it was deeply connected to the rise of modern nationalism.

    Nineteenth-century ethno-nationalists rejected the idea of a political nation united in a social contract with each other. They began imagining the nation as a biological community linked by common descent in which Jews might be tolerated but could never truly belong.

    Finally, in 1879, the German journalist Wilhelm Marr pushed the term “antisemitism” to reflect that his anti-Jewish ideology was based on race, not religion. Marr imagined the Jews as a foreign, “semitic” race, referring to the language group that includes Hebrew. The term has since persisted to mean specifically anti-Jewish hostility or prejudice.

    The myth of a Jewish conspiracy

    Modern antisemitism built on those premodern foundations, which never completely disappeared, but was fundamentally different. It emerged as part of the new politics of the democratic modern era.

    Antisemitism became the core platform of new political parties, which used it to unite otherwise opposing groups, such as shopkeepers and farmers, anxious about the modernizing world. In other words, it was not merely prejudice; it was a worldview that explained the entire world to its believers by blaming all of its faults on this scapegoat.

    Unlike earlier anti-Jewish hatred, this was less about religion and more about political and social issues. Antisemites believed the conspiracy theory that Jews all over the world controlled the levers of government, media and banking, and that defeating them would solve society’s problems.

    Thus, one of the most important features of modern antisemitic mythology was the belief that Jews constituted a single, malevolent group, with one mind, organized for the purpose of conquering and destroying the world.

    Negative traits attributed to Jews

    Antisemitic books and cartoons often used claws or tentacles to symbolize the “international Jew,” a shadowy figure they blamed for leading a global conspiracy, strangling and destroying society. Others depicted him as a puppet master running the world.

    In the late 19th century, Edmond Rothschild, head of the most famous Jewish banking family, was villainized as the symbol of international Jewish wealth and nefarious power. Today, the billionaire liberal philanthropist George Soros is often portrayed in similar ways.

    This myth that Jews constitute an international creature plotting to harm the nation has inspired massacres of Jews since the 19th century, beginning with the Russian pogroms of 1881 and leading up to the Holocaust.

    More recently, in 2018, Robert Bowers murdered 11 Jews at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh because he was convinced that Jews, collectively under the guidance of Soros, were working to destroy America by facilitating the mass migration of nonwhite people into the country.

    Modern antisemites ascribe many immutable negative traits to Jews, but two are particularly widespread. First, Jews are said to be ruthless misers who care more about their allegedly ill-gotten wealth than the interests of their countries. Second, Jews’ loyalty to their countries is considered suspect because they are said to constitute a foreign element.

    Since Israel’s establishment in 1948, this hatred has focused on the accusation that Jews’ primary loyalty is to Israel, not the countries they live in.

    Antisemitism and anti-Zionism

    In recent years, the relationship between antisemitism and anti-Zionism has taken on renewed importance. Zionism has many factions but roughly refers to the modern political movement that argues Jews constitute a nation and have a right to self-determination in that land.

    Some activists claim that anti-Zionism – ideological opposition to Zionism – is inherently antisemitic because they equate it with denying Jews the right to self-determination and therefore equality.

    Others feel that there needs to be a clearer separation between anti-Zionism and antisemitism. They argue that equating anti-Zionism with antisemitism leads to silencing criticism of Israel’s structural mistreatment of Palestinians.

    Zionism in practice has meant the achievement of a flourishing safe haven for Jews, but it has also led to dislocation or inequality for millions of Palestinians, including refugees, West Bank Palestinians who still live under military rule, and even Palestinian citizens of Israel who face legal and social discrimination. Anti-Zionism opposes this, and critics argue that it should not be labeled antisemitic unless it taps into those antisemitic myths or otherwise calls for violence or inequality for Jews.

    This debate is evident in these competing definitions of antisemitism. Remarkably, the three main definitions tend to agree on the nature of antisemitism except regarding the relationship of anti-Israel rhetoric to antisemitism. The IHRA definition, which is by design vague and open to interpretation, allows for a wider swath of anti-Israel activism to be labeled antisemitic than the others.

    The Jerusalem Declaration, in contrast, understands rhetoric to have “crossed the line” only when it engages in antisemitic mythology, blames diaspora Jews for the actions of the Israeli state, or calls for the oppression of Jews in Israel. IHRA defenders use that definition to label a call for binational democracy – meaning citizenship for West Bank Palestinians – to be antisemitic. Likewise, they label boycotts, even of West Bank settlements that most of the world considers illegal, to be antisemitic. The Jerusalem Declaration does not.

    In other words, the key to identifying whether anti-Israel discourse has masked antisemitism is to see evidence of antisemitic mythology. For example, if Israel is described as leading an international conspiracy, or if it holds the key to solving global problems, all three definitions agree this is antisemitic.

    Equally, if Jews or Jewish institutions are held responsible for Israeli actions or are expected to take a stand one way or another regarding them, again all three definitions agree that this crosses the line because it is based on the myth of a global Jewish conspiracy.

    Identity and pride

    Critically, for many Jews living in other countries, Zionism is not primarily a political argument about the state of Israel. It instead constitutes a sense of Jewish identity and pride, even a religious identity. In contrast, many protests against Israel and Zionism are focused not on ideology but on the Israeli government and its real or alleged actions.

    This disconnect can lead to confusion if protests conflate Jews with Israel just because they are Zionist, which is antisemitic. On the other hand, Jews sometimes take protests against Israel in defense of Palestinian rights to be attacks on their Zionist identity and thus antisemitic, when they are not. There are certainly gray areas, but in general, calls for Palestinian equality, I believe, are legitimate even when they upset people with Zionist identities.

    Harvard’s statement captures this distinction. It posted a statement that, “For many Jewish people, Zionism is a part of their Jewish identity,” and added that Jews who subscribe to this identity must not be excluded from campus events on that basis.

    This does not mean that Jews are protected from hearing contrary views, any more than they are protected from hearing Christian preachers on campus or professors who teach secular views of the Bible. It means that they cannot be excluded based only on those beliefs.

    This does not, however, require an adoption of the IHRA definition of antisemitism, which goes much further. Many advocates of the IHRA definition use it to label political calls for Palestinian equality as antisemitic, as well as accusations against Israel that they consider wrong or unfair.

    Harvard’s adoption of the IHRA definition, accordingly, would mean that any speech that calls for full equality for Palestinians risks academic and legal sanction, even without any material discrimination against Jewish students. It is thus opposed by students who advocate for Palestinian rights as well as supporters of free speech more generally.

    Editor’s note: This is an updated version of an article first published on Jan. 29, 2024

    Joshua Shanes does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Harvard expands its definition of antisemitism – when does criticism of Israel cross a line? – https://theconversation.com/harvard-expands-its-definition-of-antisemitism-when-does-criticism-of-israel-cross-a-line-248199

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

    January 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Global: President Trump promises to make government efficient − and he’ll run into the same roadblocks as Presidents Taft, Roosevelt, Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, Carter, Reagan, Clinton and Bush, among others

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Jennifer Selin, Associate Professor of Law, Arizona State University

    President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House on Jan. 20, 2025. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

    As President Donald Trump issued a slew of executive orders and directives on his first day of his second administration, he explained his actions by saying, “It’s all about common sense.”

    For over a century, presidents have pursued initiatives to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of government, couching those efforts in language similar to Trump’s.

    Many of these, like Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, which he appointed billionaire Elon Musk to run, have been designed to capitalize on the expertise of people outside of government. The idea often cited as inspiration for these efforts: The private sector knows how to be efficient and nimble and strives for excellence; government doesn’t.

    But government, and government service, is about providing something that the private sector can’t. And outsiders often don’t think about the accountability requirements that the laws and Constitution of the United States impose on government workers and agencies.

    Congress, though, can help address these problems and check inappropriate proposals. It can also stand in the way of reform.

    Charles E. Merriam, left, and Louis Brownlow, members of the President’s Reorganization Committee, leave the White House after discussing government reorganization with President Franklin D. Roosevelt on Sept. 23, 1938.
    Harris & Ewing, photographer, Library of Congress

    Proposing reform is nothing new

    Perhaps the most famous group to work with a president on improving government was President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Committee on Administrative Management, established in 1936.

    That group, commonly referred to as the Brownlow Committee, noted that while critics predicted Roosevelt would bring “decay, destruction, and death of democracy,” the executive branch – and the president who sat atop it – was one of the “very greatest” contributions to modern democracy.

    The committee argued that the president was unable to do his job because the executive branch was badly organized, federal employees lacked skills and character, and the budget process needed reform. So it proposed a series of changes designed to increase presidential power over government to enhance performance. Congress went along with some of these proposals, giving the president more staff and authority to reorganize the executive branch.

    Since then, almost every president has put together similar recommendations. For example, Presidents Harry S. Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed former President Herbert Hoover to lead advisory commissions designed to recommend changes to the federal government. President Jimmy Carter launched a series of government improvement projects, and President George W. Bush even created scorecards to rank agencies according to their performance.

    In his first term, Trump issued a mandate for reform to reorganize government for the 21st century.

    This time around, Trump has taken executive actions to freeze government hiring, create a new entity to promote government efficiency, and give him the ability to fire high-ranking administrators who influence policy.

    Most presidential proposals generally fail to come to fruition. But they often spark conversations in Congress and the media about executive power, the effectiveness of federal programs, and what government can do better.

    Most presidents have tried the same thing

    Historically, most presidents and their advisers – and indeed most scholars – have agreed that government bureaucracy is not designed in ways that promote efficiency. But that is intentional: Stanford political scientist Terry Moe has written that “American public bureaucracy is not designed to be effective. The bureaucracy arises out of politics, and its design reflects the interests, strategies, and compromises of those who exercise political power.”

    A common presidential response to this practical reality is to propose government changes that make it look more like the private sector. In 1982, President Ronald Reagan brought together 161 corporate executives overseen by industrialist J. Peter Grace to make recommendations to eliminate government waste and inefficiency, based on their experiences leading successful corporations.

    In 1993, President Bill Clinton authorized Vice President Al Gore to launch an effort to reinvent the federal government into one that worked better and cost less.

    The Clinton administration created teams in every major federal agency, modeled after the private sector’s efficiency standards, to move government “From Red Tape to Results,” as the title of the administration’s plan said.

    An introductory page from the 1993 National Performance Review executive summary, commissioned by the Clinton administration.
    CIA.gov

    Presidential attempts to make government look and work more like people think the private sector works often include adjustments to the terms of federal employment to reward employees who excel at their jobs.

    In 1905, for example, President Theodore Roosevelt established a Committee on Department Methods to examine how the federal government could recruit and retain highly qualified employees. One hundred years later, federal agencies still experienced challenges](https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-03-2.pdf) related to hiring and retaining people who could effectively achieve agency missions.

    President Bill Clinton applauds as Vice President Al Gore speaks at a press conference on March 3, 1994, at which Gore gave Clinton a report of the National Performance Review.
    Paul J. Richards/AFP via Getty Images

    So why haven’t these plans worked?

    At least the past five presidents have faced problems in making long-term changes to government.

    In part, this is because government reorganizations and operational reforms like those contemplated by Trump require Congress to make adjustments to the laws of the United States, or at least give the president and federal agencies the money required to invest in changes.

    Consider, for example, presidential proposals to invest in new technologies, which are a large part of Trump and Musk’s plans to improve government efficiency. Since at least 1910, when President William Howard Taft established a Commission on Economy and Efficiency to address the “unnecessarily complicated and expensive” way the federal government handled and distributed government documents, presidents have recommended centralizing authority to mandate federal agencies’ use of new technologies to make government more efficient.

    But transforming government through technology requires money, people and time. Presidential plans for government-wide change are contingent upon the degree to which federal agencies can successfully implement them.

    To sidestep these problems, some presidents have proposed that the government work with the private sector. For example, Trump announced a joint venture with technology companies to invest in the government’s artificial intelligence infrastructure.

    Yet as I have found in my previous research, government investment in new technology first requires an assessment of agencies’ current technological skills and the impact technology will have on agency functions, including those related to governmental transparency, accountability and constitutional due process. It’s not enough to go out and buy software that tech giants recommend agencies acquire.

    The things that government agencies do, such as regulating the economy, promoting national security and protecting the environment, are incredibly complicated. It’s often hard to see their impact right away.

    Recognizing this, Congress has designed a complex set of laws to prevent political interference with federal employees, who tend to look at problems long term. For example, as I have found in my work with Paul Verkuil, former chairman of the Administrative Conference of the United States, Congress intentionally writes laws that require certain government positions to be held by experts who can work in their jobs without worrying about politics.

    Congress also writes the laws the federal employees administer, oversees federal programs and decides how much money to appropriate to those programs each year.

    So by design, anything labeled a “presidential commission on modernizing/fixing/refocusing government” tells only part of the story and sets out an impossible task. The president can’t make it happen alone. Nor can Elon Musk.

    Jennifer L. Selin has received funding and/or support for her research on the executive branch from the Administrative Conference of the United States. The views in this piece are those of the author and do not represent the position of the Administrative Conference or the federal government.

    – ref. President Trump promises to make government efficient − and he’ll run into the same roadblocks as Presidents Taft, Roosevelt, Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, Carter, Reagan, Clinton and Bush, among others – https://theconversation.com/president-trump-promises-to-make-government-efficient-and-hell-run-into-the-same-roadblocks-as-presidents-taft-roosevelt-roosevelt-truman-eisenhower-carter-reagan-clinton-and-bush-among-others-247957

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

    January 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Global: US Supreme Court is unabashedly liberal − in its writing style

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Jill Barton, Professor and Director of Legal Writing, University of Miami

    The current Supreme Court has upended historic precedent on abortion protections and drawn scrutiny for ethics conflicts, while its docket remains packed with high-profile cases set to dominate headlines in the months ahead.

    Yet one of its lesser-known departures from the past lies in its approach to punctuation.

    Justice Neil Gorsuch boldly departed from court tradition in 2017 with his first Supreme Court opinion. In 11 pages, he used 15 contractions. He even used one in the first paragraph: “That’s the nub of the dispute now before us,” he casually stated.

    Gorsuch’s predecessor, the late Justice Antonin Scalia, was known as a gifted, dramatic writer. Scalia thought that contractions – combining two words with an apostrophe into a shorter form, such as “don’t” in place of “do not” – were “intellectually abominable.”

    Gorsuch’s strikingly informal phrasing signaled a shift toward a more modern, conversational writing style by all nine justices.

    While the court’s politics have veered right, the justices’ prose has arguably shifted left, becoming more liberal and accessible. Today’s Supreme Court unanimously and actively embraces a progressive writing style, rebelling against old-school grammar rules, according to my study of 10,000 pages of opinions from the past decade.

    Twitter touts #GorsuchStyle

    The first opinion assigned to new justices is usually a slog. In a kind of hazing tradition, they are typically assigned to write on a tedious legal issue that easily wins unanimous agreement.

    Gorsuch used his short opinion on the dry topic of debt collection to declare a more colloquial style. In Henson v. Santander, the Harvard Law graduate spoke directly to readers, using “you” and variations of that personal pronoun 17 times, something his colleagues rarely did. Gorsuch wrote with apparent nonchalance, calling a debt collector “the repo man.”

    Journalists and court watchers took notice, brewing an online conversation about #GorsuchStyle.

    Now, most of the justices use contractions. Arguing that creativity would be stifled in a copyright infringement case, Justice Elena Kagan insisted: “And there’s the rub. (Yes, that’s mostly Shakespeare.).”

    Hey, you − I’m talking to you

    While Gorsuch might have sharpened the quill of the court’s writing revolution, all nine justices now write more casually to reach an increasingly savvy public. A few justices even drop oh-so-casual exclamation marks in their opinions.

    “The majority huffs that ‘nobody disputes’ various of these ‘points of law,’” Kagan decried in a 2021 dissent against a decision curtailing voting rights. “Excellent! I only wish the majority would take them to heart.”

    In its 2023-24 term, my research finds, the justices appealed to readers using “you” and variations of it nearly 300 times in their 60 opinions – up 40% from five years ago.

    “A police officer can seize your car if he claims it is connected
    to a crime committed by someone else,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor told readers, dissenting in a 2024 seizure case.

    Deploying both “you” and a contraction, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson recently quipped in a 2024 criminal bribery decision: “But you don’t have to take my word for that.”

    Given that many good writers – lawyers, academics and journalists among them – avoid personal pronouns as a matter of style, the justices’ new direction shows a surprising lack of formality.

    The writing style of the justices today starkly contrasts that of their predecessors, who commonly used dense wording and labyrinthine sentences. Take this 1944 line from Justice Robert H. Jackson, whom several justices name as the writer they admire most:

    “But here is an attempt to make an otherwise innocent act a crime merely because this prisoner is the son of parents as to whom he had no choice, and belongs to a race from which there is no way to resign.”

    His writing feels lyrical and powerful but is in no way playful or personal.

    Chief Justice John Roberts, known for his rhetorical prowess, has long lamented that the media must summarize and translate the court’s lengthy opinions for the public. In 2017, he praised the monumental desegregation decision, Brown v. Board of Education, for its brevity.

    At just 10 pages, Roberts said, newspapers “had to publish the whole thing so that people could read it. They didn’t get to say, ‘Oh, this is what this means.’”

    Good, clear writing has power

    The court’s embrace of a more accessible writing style comes as its own popularity is plummeting. While 80% of Americans viewed the court favorably in the mid-1990s, only about 50% do now.

    The 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade was particularly controversial, inciting two years of protests by abortion-rights supporters and a national argument over reproductive rights. But even conservative critics decried the court’s July 2024 decision to broaden presidential immunity in Trump v. United States as “a mess” and an “incoherent” “embarrassment.”

    Protesters opposing the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade gather in Washington, D.C., on June 24, 2024.
    Aashish Kiphayet/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

    Roberts, who began his career as a young lawyer in the Reagan administration, has earned a reputation for taking a measured, long-term approach to avoid controversy, and he strives to unify the justices in consensus. The first few opinions of the 2024-2025 term, including the decision to ban TikTok, were unanimous – as are roughly 50% of the court’s decisions, though these tend to address less contentious issues.

    But leaks of draft opinions and memos about the justices’ confidential deliberations paint a picture of a storied institution in disarray. Scrutiny of the Supreme Court is mounting, and critics, including former President Joe Biden, have called for a binding ethics code and term limits.

    For the Roberts Court, the challenge ahead lies in securing its legitimacy among a deeply polarized American public. The justices making their opinions more approachable may be a small gesture in that direction.

    “The thing about the Supreme Court that I think is so magnificent is that the justices get to actually explain their votes,” Jackson told NPR on Sept. 4, 2024. “We are the one branch of government in which that is the standard.”

    Can clear, powerful arguments presented in plain, straightforward language help rebuild trust in the institution? The justices’ subtle shift toward modernizing their writing suggests they believe it might.

    Jill Barton does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. US Supreme Court is unabashedly liberal − in its writing style – https://theconversation.com/us-supreme-court-is-unabashedly-liberal-in-its-writing-style-245503

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

    January 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Global: Reproductive health care faces legal and surveillance challenges post-Roe – new research offers guidance

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Nora McDonald, Assistant Professor of Information Technology, George Mason University

    Providers play a central role in reproductive health privacy. FG Trade/iStock via Getty Images

    Long before Roe v. Wade was overturned, reproductive justice advocates had been sounding the alarm about the increasing number of women subjected to criminal investigation for suspected abortion, stillbirth or miscarriage. These cases were often initiated by health care providers and bolstered by state laws used to prosecute women for having abortions.

    Newer laws, however, incentivize people outside of health care, including friends and family members, to report someone they suspect of having an abortion or helping someone else with an abortion. Coupled with the unprecedented access that authorities now have to digital information, these laws create new avenues for prosecution.

    In the post-Roe era, people capable of pregnancy face growing threats. Health care providers, family, friends, information on personal devices and virtually any activity that can be observed or recorded pose privacy risks that can lead to prosecution. I study online privacy. This vast scope for potential surveillance and privacy intrusion is a key focus of the research my colleagues and I conduct.

    In a recent paper, we surveyed reproductive health care providers about their privacy and security practices. We used the results to map the path of a hypothetical “Jane” to illustrate how people can identify privacy risks in their own situations. This choose-your-adventure approach helps readers navigate the potential legal, digital and personal challenges involved in accessing reproductive health care – and reveals the grim stakes.

    Privacy protections

    Historically, health care providers who opposed abortion have been the primary sources for reporting patients suspected of seeking abortions. While they remain a significant threat, additional risks to patient privacy have emerged. For example, state laws increasingly compel providers to hand over medical records.

    This circumvents new Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act protections meant to shield protected reproductive health information from use in investigations when people seek abortions in states where the procedure is legal. Authorities might also be able to access records across state lines where abortion is legal – for example, when different electronic health record systems can share data.

    It is also possible that, in the future, electronic health records could be seized across state lines. Last year, in a letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 19 state attorneys general protested the new federal data privacy rules. Texas followed up with a lawsuit against the Biden administration over the rule.

    Even so-called shield laws adopted by some states meant to protect people seeking abortions from record seizures have loopholes.

    Under the Biden administration, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services added a privacy rule to protect reproducitve health data.

    Privacy vulnerabilities

    Despite some protections offered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, additional gaps in safeguarding reproductive health information persist. Data captured outside medical portals, such as from apps or pharmacy transactions, often falls outside the federal law’s scope.

    It’s important to note that apps that capture consumer reproductive health data, like period trackers, do not necessarily pose a greater risk than informants. But the dystopian potential of governments reaching into personal intimate data, and the simplicity of the remedy – deleting an app – draw disproportionate attention.

    While it’s not entirely clear whether period trackers are definitively good or bad from a digital privacy perspective, they do offer potential benefits, such as helping people prevent unwanted pregnancies and thus avoid prosecution.

    Once reported to authorities, activities conducted on personal devices – browsing history, purchases, location data, and messages with friends or family – can become evidence in prosecutions. Authorities have shown a willingness to subpoena records from social media platforms, and they frequently access personal devices.

    Additionally, laws that incentivize family, friends and partners to report suspected abortions create a threat of surveillance from intimate associates. These dynamics are exacerbated by new laws that criminalize “trafficking” minors – transporting them across state lines – for abortion services.

    Providers’ role protecting privacy

    In our research, my colleagues and I found that reproductive health care providers can play a critical role in guiding patients on adopting privacy strategies and helping them navigate an increasingly complex landscape of privacy threats. Clinics are trusted spaces for affordable, progressive care that often shield patients from judgment or harm.

    Based on our interviews with reproductive health care providers, the protocols they use to manage communications, billing and other aspects of patient interactions have proved effective at protecting privacy, especially for vulnerable populations like minors or people with abusive partners. However, people seeking abortions face more nuanced threats. Providers tend to overlook digital risks and threats of prosecution tied to patients’ devices and records.

    This gap in awareness leaves patients without critical guidance for protecting their privacy. Our initial research conducted in the aftermath of the Dobbs decision revealed that people capable of pregnancy express profound concerns about reproductive privacy, yet often feel inadequately prepared to navigate its complexities.

    Findings from our forthcoming research suggest that many patients take extensive precautions, yet it’s not clear how effectively they can prioritize their digital strategies. At the same time, these people place significant trust in their reproductive health care providers, especially because they often deem existing guidance on privacy untrustworthy or insufficient.

    Although providers may currently be less attuned to the newer privacy risks, they could play a crucial role in addressing them. By incorporating digital privacy and threat modeling into their care, providers can help patients navigate a complex landscape of threats in an environment of pervasive surveillance.

    Nora McDonald does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Reproductive health care faces legal and surveillance challenges post-Roe – new research offers guidance – https://theconversation.com/reproductive-health-care-faces-legal-and-surveillance-challenges-post-roe-new-research-offers-guidance-246869

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

    January 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Video: Governments, Rewired | World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2025

    Source: World Economic Forum (video statements)

    Governments are under pressure to modernize as outdated systems strain to meet the needs of an increasingly digital society – a $10 trillion opportunity. Cutting-edge technologies can transform public services and enhance citizen engagement.

    Given current fiscal tightening and high levels of debt, how can governments leapfrog the investment challenge, shifting from bureaucracy to agility?

    Speakers: Achim Steiner, Ngaire Woods, Tony Blair, Maryam Al Hammadi, Thomas Siebel, Cina Lawson

    The 55th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum will provide a crucial space to focus on the fundamental principles driving trust, including transparency, consistency and accountability.

    This Annual Meeting will welcome over 100 governments, all major international organizations, 1000 Forum’s Partners, as well as civil society leaders, experts, youth representatives, social entrepreneurs, and news outlets.

    The World Economic Forum is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation. The Forum engages the foremost political, business, cultural and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. We believe that progress happens by bringing together people from all walks of life who have the drive and the influence to make positive change.

    World Economic Forum Website ► http://www.weforum.org/
    Facebook ► https://www.facebook.com/worldeconomicforum/
    YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/wef
    Instagram ► https://www.instagram.com/worldeconomicforum/
    X ► https://twitter.com/wef
    LinkedIn ► https://www.linkedin.com/company/world-economic-forum
    TikTok ► https://www.tiktok.com/@worldeconomicforum
    Flipboard ► https://flipboard.com/@WEF

    #Davos2025 #WorldEconomicForum #wef25

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcwaoOSM_ac

    MIL OSI Video –

    January 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI: Adoption of Drones-as-a-Service Industry Explodes Along Rising Revenue Opportunities in the Billions

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    PALM BEACH, Fla., Jan. 24, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — FN Media Group News Commentary – The drone market size continues to expand as the drone services industry evolves, offering a diverse range of services for both remotely controlled and autonomously flown drones. This industry integrates software-controlled flight plans into drones’ embedded systems, making it a critical component in sectors like agriculture, insurance, construction, marine, aviation, oil & gas, mining, and infrastructure. The demand for these services, which includes tasks such as search and rescue, package delivery, industrial inspections, imaging, and healthcare supply distribution to remote areas, significantly contributes to the growing drone market size. A study from MarketsAndMarkets said the Global Drone Services Market Size, which was valued at USD 17.0 billion in 2023, is estimated to reach USD 57.8 billion by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 27.7% during the forecast period. The report said: “In terms of market segmentation, drone services are categorized by the type of service provided, including platform services (further divided into flight piloting and operation, data analysis, and data processing), maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO), and simulation and training. The application-based segmentation encompasses inspection and monitoring, mapping and surveying, spraying and seeding, filming and photography, transport and delivery, as well as security, search, and rescue. The industry-based segmentation covers a wide spectrum of sectors, including construction and infrastructure, agriculture, utility, oil & gas, mining, defense and law enforcement, media and entertainment scientific research, insurance, aviation, marine, healthcare and social assistance, and transportation, logistics, and warehousing. These industries rely heavily on drones for functions like inspection, monitoring, and photography, further driving the drone market size.” Active Companies in the markets today include ZenaTech, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZENA), Safe Pro Group Inc. (NASDAQ: SPAI), EHang Holdings Limited (NASDAQ: EH), Unusual Machines, Inc. (NYSE: UMAC), Ondas Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: ONDS).

    MarketsAndMarkets continued: “Furthermore, the market is categorized by solution type into end-to-end solutions, which encompass all platform services like piloting and operations, data analytics, and data processing. Point solutions are specific to piloting or data processing for applications such as surveying, inspection, and monitoring. North America is expected to hold the largest share of the drone market size within the drone services industry, as these services continue to replace legacy solutions in commercial sectors.”

    ZenaTech (NASDAQ:ZENA) Announces Listing of its Common Shares on the Mexican Stock Exchange – ZenaTech, Inc. (FSE: 49Q) (BMV: ZENA) (“ZenaTech”), a technology company specializing in AI (Artificial Intelligence) drone, Drone-as-a-Service (DaaS), enterprise SaaS and Quantum Computing solutions, announces that it its common shares are approved for listing and trading on the BMV: Bolsa Mexicana de Valores (Mexican Stock Exchange). The shares trade under the symbol “ZENA” on its International Quotation System (SIC), effective January 23, 2025.

    “As we continue to expand our business into new geographical markets, this additional listing on the Mexican Stock Exchange not only broadens our international exposure but provides increased liquidity for our shareholders. We look forward to sharing our story with Mexican investors as we continue to drive value for our shareholders,” said CEO Shaun Passley, Ph.D.

    In Additional ZENA News – ZenaTech Inc.’s (NASDAQ:ZENA) Acquires KJM Land Surveying LLC, a Second Acquisition to Accelerate Drone Innovation in Land Surveys and Establish a Southeast Base for its Drone as a Service Business – ZenaTech, a technology company specializing in AI (Artificial Intelligence) drone, Drone-as-a-Service (DaaS), enterprise SaaS and Quantum Computing solutions, announces that it has acquired KJM Land Surveying LLC, a well-established Pensacola Florida land survey engineering company with a long history and roster of repeat customers. This is ZenaTech’s second acquisition as part of a larger roll-up strategy to disrupt the land survey industry by accelerating the use of drones for speed, accuracy and innovation benefits. The acquisition will also form the base of the Southeast US region of its national Drone as a Service or DaaS business which utilizes drone solutions from its subsidiary company ZenaDrone.

    “Closing this second acquisition is another step in our Drone as a Service or DaaS strategy, establishing a Southeast base with an experienced team and customer relationships, which adds to our Northwest base and national rollout. We have the opportunity to significantly disrupt the land survey business at scale using drone technologies. We view our DaaS business model as similar as to how Uber disrupted the taxi industry,” said CEO Shaun Passley, Ph.D. “This acquisition, as well as the 20 others we have identified, have the potential to add accretive revenue over the short term as well as the long term.”

    The US Surveying and Mapping Services industry is estimated at $10.3 billion according to Business Research Insights, growing at least 3% annually. Remotely piloted drones with an array of sensors and cameras, LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), and GPS systems for capturing high-resolution pictures and data are revolutionizing the land survey industry gathering aerial data across expansive terrains in a matter of hours instead of weeks or months using traditional methods.   Continued… Read this full release by visiting: https://www.financialnewsmedia.com/news-zena/

    Other recent developments in the drone technology industry include:

    EHang Holdings Limited (NASDAQ: EH), the world’s leading Urban Air Mobility (“UAM”) technology platform company, recently announced the launch of its Exhibition (Experience) Center in Shenzhen’s Luohu Sports and Leisure Park. It is the world’s first EH216-S takeoff and landing site featuring a fully automated vertical lift vertiport. It also marks a new smart infrastructure in Shenzhen dedicated to the commercial operations of the EH216-S pilotless passenger-carrying aerial vehicle, establishing a groundbreaking model for electric vertical takeoff and landing (“eVTOL”) aircraft operations in urban areas.

    The Luohu UAM Center, designed by EHang, boasts an automated three-dimensional vertical lift vertiport. This innovative facility reduces labor costs and optimizes space usage through its automated operations. The Luohu UAM Center, spanning approximately 753 square meters, has brought this advanced design to life. The first floor is dedicated to a hangar and boarding area, providing passengers with a seamless and comfortable experience. The integrated takeoff and landing pad with the hangar enables rapid charging, thereby streamlining flight operations. During the launch ceremony on January 21, an EH216-S aircraft was lifted from the first to the second floor by the vertical lift platform. It then took to the skies, completing a lap over the Luohu Sports and Leisure Park before landing smoothly, marking its first flight at the Luohu UAM Center. The demonstration received widespread acclaim from attendees.

    Safe Pro Group Inc. (NASDAQ: SPAI) recently announced that its ballistics protection unit, Safe-Pro USA LLC (Safe-Pro USA) will be exhibiting at the upcoming SHOT Show 2025. The event is scheduled to take place from January 21-24, 2025, at the Venetian Expo and Caesars Forum in Las Vegas, Nevada. Safe-Pro USA will be exhibiting in the Palazzo Ballroom at booth #55939 on January 22nd and 23rd.

    The Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade ShowSM (SHOT Show®) is one of the largest of its kind events for target shooting, hunting, outdoor recreation and law enforcement. The annual event, attracting more than 55,000 industry professionals from around the world, serves as a premier platform to showcase new products, engage in educational sessions, and forge valuable connections. At SHOT Show 2025, Safe-Pro USA will be displaying an array of new ballistic protective solutions designed for law enforcement. Highlighted by its ultra-lightweight and ultra-thin “305 PRO” hard armor plate, Safe-Pro USA will also display newly developed high-performance ballistic plates and vests compliant with the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) latest ballistic standard, NIJ 0101.07, all designed to offer enhanced protection for law enforcement and first responders against high-power rifle threats such as AR-15s and AK-47s.

    Ondas Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: ONDS) recently announced that its Ondas Autonomous Systems Inc. (“OAS”) business unit’s Airobotics subsidiary has received a purchase order for its Iron Drone Raider from a major defense company. The order includes the integration and testing of new features required for defending from additional ground threats.

    “The Iron Drone Raider is a high performing, modular platform with AI-driven navigation and operating capabilities tailored to the most demanding defense requirements,” said Eric Brock, Chairman and CEO of Ondas. “Indeed, this versatility is allowing for expanded applications further expanding the potential market size for our Iron Drone platform. These new use cases meet an additional need identified by a governmental customer with the required performance and cost parameters. Securing this platform expansion highlights the exceptional talent and experience of our Airobotics team and the confidence our defense partners and customers have in Ondas.”

    During the third quarter of 2024, OAS secured several initial orders in the defense market, totaling approximately $14.4 million, which included several purchase orders totaling $9.0 million from a major government military customer for the Iron Drone Raider system. The Iron Drone Raider systems are being deployed as a core element of a multi-layered homeland security infrastructure to protect critical locations, assets and populations from the threat of hostile drones.

    Unusual Machines, Inc. (NYSE American: UMAC), a leading innovator in drone technology with a current focus on U.S. based manufacturing and marketing of drone parts recently announced the release of the Rotor Riot Brave 55A ESC and its addition to the Blue UAS Framework. This product addresses the critical need for non-Chinese, NDAA-compliant components in the U.S. drone industry. Unusual machines now has two drone components placed on the Blue UAS Framework.

    The Blue UAS Framework is a program established by the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) to provide the Department of Defense and other government entities with trusted, secure drone components that meet rigorous cybersecurity, performance, and regulatory standards. Products listed on the framework ensure compliance with federal requirements, such as the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), reducing risks associated with foreign-made or unverified components. Inclusion in the Blue UAS Framework underscores Unusual Machines’ commitment to supplying reliable solutions for government and defense applications.

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    DISCLAIMER:  FN Media Group LLC (FNM), which owns and operates FinancialNewsMedia.com and MarketNewsUpdates.com, is a third party publisher and news dissemination service provider, which disseminates electronic information through multiple online media channels.  FNM is NOT affiliated in any manner with any company mentioned herein.  FNM and its affiliated companies are a news dissemination solutions provider and are NOT a registered broker/dealer/analyst/adviser, holds no investment licenses and may NOT sell, offer to sell or offer to buy any security.  FNM’s market updates, news alerts and corporate profiles are NOT a solicitation or recommendation to buy, sell or hold securities.  The material in this release is intended to be strictly informational and is NEVER to be construed or interpreted as research material.  All readers are strongly urged to perform research and due diligence on their own and consult a licensed financial professional before considering any level of investing in stocks.  All material included herein is republished content and details which were previously disseminated by the companies mentioned in this release.  FNM is not liable for any investment decisions by its readers or subscribers.  Investors are cautioned that they may lose all or a portion of their investment when investing in stocks.  For current services performed FNM has been compensated fifty four hundred dollars for news coverage of the current press releases issued by ZenaTech, Inc. by the Company.  FNM HOLDS NO SHARES OF ANY COMPANY NAMED IN THIS RELEASE.

    This release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended and such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. “Forward-looking statements” describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies and are generally preceded by words such as “may”, “future”, “plan” or “planned”, “will” or “should”, “expected,” “anticipates”, “draft”, “eventually” or “projected”. You are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events, or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, including the risks that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, and other risks identified in a company’s annual report on Form 10-K or 10-KSB and other filings made by such company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You should consider these factors in evaluating the forward-looking statements included herein, and not place undue reliance on such statements. The forward-looking statements in this release are made as of the date hereof and FNM undertakes no obligation to update such statements.

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    SOURCE: FN Media Group

    The MIL Network –

    January 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Security: Second man charged with murder in Tottenham

    Source: United Kingdom London Metropolitan Police

    A second man has been charged with murder following a fatal stabbing in Tottenham last year.

    Okechukwu Iweha, 46, died after being stabbed in Worcester Avenue, N17 on 7 April 2024. His family have been updated with this development.

    Devon Brown – 29 (19.02.95) of no fixed abode was arrested on suspicion of murder, manslaughter, possession of a knife/pointed blade and perverting the course of justice after arriving at Heathrow Airport on Friday, 24 January following his extradition from the United States.

    He will appear in custody at Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court on Saturday, 25 January.

    Previously, Leandro Kaienga – 28 (11.04.96) of no fixed abode was charged with murder and possession of a bladed article (knife). He is remanded in custody ahead of a trial at Wood Green Crown Court which is currently scheduled to commence on 24 February.

    MIL Security OSI –

    January 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI USA: Budd Reintroduces Bill to Deport Migrants Who Assault Cops

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Ted Budd (R-North Carolina)
    Washington, D.C. — Today, Senator Ted Budd (R-NC) reintroduced the Protect Our Law Enforcement with Immigration Control and Enforcement (POLICE) Act of 2025.
    The historic passage of the Laken Riley Act included an amendment requiring U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain an illegal alien who assaults law enforcement.
    The POLICE Act would further strengthen federal law by explicitly making assault of a law enforcement officer, firefighter, or other first responder a deportable offense.  
    Senator Budd led the POLICE Act in the 118th Congress and twice pushed for it to be passed in the Senate. Both times he was blocked by the former Democrat Senate majority.
    The bill is co-sponsored by Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC), Steve Daines (R-MT), Katie Britt (R-AL), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Eric Schmitt (R-MO), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), James Lankford (R-OK), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Jim Justice (R-WV), and Tim Sheehy (R-MT). 
    The House bill, H.R. 31, is led by Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-NY).
    Sen. Budd said in a statement:
    “One of the best ways we can support law enforcement officers, and protect the public, is by deporting dangerous people who do them harm. If a migrant commits the crime of assaulting an officer or other first responder, they should be subject to immediate deportation. Our lawmakers must always back the men and women who protect and serve our communities. We must act on this vital proposal.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

    January 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Security: Wisconsin Man Pleads Guilty to ‘Swatting’ Scheme That Took Over Ring Doorbell Cameras to Livestream Police Response

    Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (b)

    LOS ANGELES – A Wisconsin man pleaded guilty today to participating in a one-week nationwide “swatting” spree that gained access to Ring home security door cameras, placed bogus emergency phone calls designed to elicit an armed police response, then livestreamed the events on social media, sometimes while taunting responding police officers in communities such as West Covina and Oxnard.

    Kya Christian Nelson, 23, of Racine, Wisconsin, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and two counts of unauthorized access to a protected computer to obtain information.

    Nelson, who is doing time in a Kentucky state prison after being convicted in an unrelated case, has been in federal custody since August 2024.

    “Swatting puts innocent lives in danger,” said Acting United States Attorney Joseph T. McNally. “Today’s guilty plea demonstrates that individuals who engage in this dangerous conduct will be held accountable through federal prosecutions.”

    “The defendant’s malicious actions traumatized his victims and put their lives – and the lives of responding officers – at risk,” said Akil Davis, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI Los Angeles Field Office. “Swatting hoaxes drain crucial law enforcement resources at the expense of taxpayers and diverts police officers from responding to actual crisis situations. This case is a good reminder for security doorbell users that it’s important to practice strict cyber hygiene by using difficult passwords and by employing two-factor authentication.”

    According to his plea agreement, from November 7, 2020, to November 13, 2020, Nelson and co-conspirators gained access to home security door cameras sold by Ring LLC, a Santa Monica-based home security technology company. Nelson acquired without authorization the username and password information for Yahoo! email accounts belonging to victims throughout the United States.

    The conspirators then determined whether the owner of each compromised Yahoo! account also had a Ring account using the same email address and password that could control associated internet-connected Ring doorbell camera devices. Using that information, they identified and gathered additional information about their victims.

    Then, the conspirators placed false emergency reports or telephone calls to local law enforcement in the areas where the victims lived. These reports or calls were intended to elicit an emergency police response to the victim’s residence. The conspirators then accessed without authorization the victims’ Ring devices and transmitted the audio and video from those devices on social media during the police response. They also taunted responding police officers and victims through the Ring devices during several of the incidents.

    For example, on November 8, 2020, Nelson and a co-conspirator accessed without authorization Yahoo! and Ring accounts belonging to a victim in West Covina. A hoax telephone call was placed to the West Covina Police Department purporting to originate from the victim’s residence and posing as a minor child reporting her parents drinking and shooting guns inside the residence. The caller claimed that her parents had multiple firearms and had fired approximately seven gunshots inside the house. Based on this hoax call, West Covina Police Department officers made an emergency response to the house and cleared the residents from the home at gunpoint.

    During the police response, Nelson accessed the Ring doorbell camera located at the West Covina residence and used it to verbally threaten and taunt the police officers who responded to the reported incident.

    In another incident, on November 11, 2020, Nelson illegally possessed the Yahoo! and Ring login credentials of a victim living in Oxnard. Nelson then used those credentials to access the victim’s Ring account. Nelson or a co-conspirator made a hoax call to the Oxnard Police Department purporting to be coming from inside the victim’s home.

    The caller told the police that they were a child whose father was wielding a handgun inside the residence. Nelson made a second hoax call to Oxnard Police to report hearing shots fired at the victim’s residence. Based on these hoax calls, Oxnard Police officers made an emergency response to the house and cleared the residents from the home at gunpoint.

    Nelson accessed the Ring doorbell camera located at the Oxnard residence and used it to threaten and taunt the police officers who had responded to the reported incident.

    United States District Judge John A. Kronstadt scheduled a May 1 sentencing hearing, at which time Nelson will face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for each count.

    One of Nelson’s indicted co-conspirators, James Thomas Andrew McCarty, 22, of Kayenta, Arizona, was sentenced in June 2024 to seven years in federal prison both for his role in this case, and on additional charges in the District of Arizona. In connection with the Ring swatting incidents, McCarty pleaded guilty to the same conspiracy as Nelson.

    McCarty further admitted to illegally accessing a victim’s Ring camera in Florida and making a call to the North Port Florida Police Department, in which he purported to be the victim’s husband who had just killed her, was holding a hostage, and had rigged explosives at the residence. McCarty then livestreamed the law enforcement response and posted a message on social media taking credit for the swatting incident and stating that he thought it was amusing.

    The FBI investigated this matter.

    Assistant United States Attorney Khaldoun Shobaki of the Cyber and Intellectual Property Crimes Section is prosecuting this case.

    MIL Security OSI –

    January 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Security: Four SoCal Residents Found Guilty of Participating in an Armed Robbery and Carjacking at Car Repair Shop in San Bernardino County

    Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (b)

    RIVERSIDE, California – Three San Gabriel Valley residents and one San Bernardino County man have been found guilty by a jury of participating in an armed robbery and carjacking of a car repair business last year in Bloomington in which one victim was pistol-whipped into near unconsciousness, the Justice Department announced today.

    At the conclusion of a 13-day trial, a federal jury on late Wednesday returned a guilty verdict on all counts against the following defendants:

    • Marcos Guerrero, 49, of Glendora;
    • Elijah Gafare, 35, of West Covina;
    • Cinthia Leal, 39, of Glendora; and
    • Vincent Solarez, 58, of Upland.

    All four defendants were found guilty of one count of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery (Hobbs Act), one count of Hobbs Act robbery, and one count of carjacking.

    Guerrero, Gafare, and Leal also were found guilty of witness tampering and using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of and in relation to a crime of violence. Guerrero further was found guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.

    “Violent crime tears at the fabric of our communities,” said Acting United States Attorney Joseph T. McNally. “The verdict reached in this case highlights our office’s ongoing efforts to root out and punish criminals who use guns to harm innocent people.”

    According to evidence presented at trial, Guerrero, Gafare, Leal, and Solarez participated in an armed robbery of a car repair shop in Bloomington in the early morning hours of March 12, 2024. During the robbery, two of the defendants brandished firearms and one of the defendants pistol-whipped one of the victims into near unconsciousness.

    The defendants kept the victims hostage and threatened to kill them if the victims did not hand over cash, their car, and if they ever called law enforcement. In total, defendants stole several thousand dollars in cash and the business surveillance system, in addition to the victim’s car and other property.

    Law enforcement tracked the defendants down and arrested them in May and June of 2024.

    On May 30, 2024, Guerrero illegally possessed a .45-caliber firearm and dozens of rounds of ammunition. He is not permitted to possess firearms and ammunition because his criminal history includes convictions in San Bernardino County Superior Court for home invasion robbery, first-degree residential burglary, false imprisonment by violence, possession of a firearm by a felon, and evading a police officer.

    United States District Judge Jesus G. Bernal scheduled an April 21 sentencing hearing, at which Guerrero, Gafare, and Leal will face a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years in federal prison and a statutory maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

    Solarez will face a statutory maximum sentence of 65 years in federal prison.

    The FBI Inland Violent Crimes Suppression Task Force and the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department investigated this matter.

    Assistant United States Attorneys Joshua J. Lee and Neil P. Thakor of the General Crimes Section, and Tritia L. Yuen of the Riverside Branch Office, are prosecuting this case.

    MIL Security OSI –

    January 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Boost for swifter justice as legal aid consultation launches

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Vulnerable people at risk of unfair eviction or homelessness could benefit from a £20 million a year boost in legal aid as a consultation is launched today.

    • Consultation launched on additional £20 million a year increase to help rebuild legal aid sector

    • First major funding boost for civil legal aid since 1996 to help those facing homelessness

    • Increase also earmarked for immigration work to help reduce the asylum backlog

    Vulnerable people, including those who are at risk of unfair eviction or being pushed into homelessness, could benefit from a £20 million a year boost in legal aid as a consultation is launched today (Friday, 24 January) as part of the Government’s Plan for Change.

    This would represent the first meaningful increase in civil legal aid fees in almost 30 years which, once fully implemented, will improve access to legal advice for people if they face unfair housing battles or are at risk of losing their home.

    The investment, which represents a minimum 10 percent increase in fees, will also support lawyers who provide advice to victims of modern slavery and trafficking as well as speeding up asylum processing. This will help the Government to deliver commitments on reducing the asylum backlog and ending hotel use and ensure that the most vulnerable are better able to navigate a complex legal system and get swifter access to justice.

    Justice Minister, Sarah Sackman KC, said:

    Today’s launch marks a crucial step towards rebuilding the legal aid sector which has been left neglected for years.

    A key part of our Plan for Change is ensuring the legal aid sector is on a sustainable footing. These proposals will make a real difference to helping support quicker access to justice for those who need it most.

    Today’s consultation on the fee uplift marks an early step in the Government’s response to the evidence gathered as part of the Review of Civil Legal Aid. This demonstrated that both the housing and immigration sectors are under particularly acute pressure.

    In total, the proposals would increase the spend on fees in the housing sector by 24 percent and for immigration and asylum work by 30 percent.

    In addition to the fee proposals, the consultation is seeking further evidence from civil legal aid providers on improving access to remote legal advice. Fees for other civil legal aid categories will remain under consideration.

    Last month the Government also committed to a consultation on uplifting fees for criminal legal aid for solicitors, having already provided a £24 million increase in fees for solicitors who work in police stations and youth courts.

    Further Information:

    • The Government has launched a consultation on increasing legal aid fees for those working in the housing (housing and debt) and immigration (immigration and asylum) sectors, proposing to increase fees to a rate in the region of £65/£69 per hour (non-London/London), or provide a 10% uplift, whichever is higher. Fixed fees will be uplifted by the same percentage as the increase in the underlying hourly rate for that work. This will be implemented in 2025-26 with costs scaling up to £20m at steady state. This will increase overall spend by 24% for housing and 30% for immigration.

    • The Government has also published five of the remaining reports from the Review of Civil Legal Aid: these are the Call for Evidence Summary; User Experience Literature Review; two Data Publications – Deep Dive reports for Housing and Immigration; and the Overarching Report. This evidence has informed the consultation and will continue to shape future policy direction.

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    Updates to this page

    Published 24 January 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

    January 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Security: Philadelphia Man Sentenced to Three Years in Prison for House Burglary on the Choctaw Indian Reservation

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    Jackson, MS – A Philadelphia man was sentenced to three years in federal prison for burglarizing a home in the Tucker community of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians Reservation.

    According to court documents, Sherente Tubby, 23, burglarized the home of a tribal member in December of 2021.  Tubby was indicted by a federal grand jury in March of 2022, and pled guilty in September of 2024.  He was sentenced on January 14, 2025.

    Acting U.S. Attorney Patrick Lemon and Special Agent in Charge Robert Eikhoff of the Federal Bureau of Investigation made the announcement.  

    The Choctaw Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the case.

    Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kevin J. Payne and Brian K. Burns prosecuted the case.

    This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN), a nationwide initiative that was launched in 2001 and works to reduce violent crime and gun violence.  It’s a collaboration between federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial law enforcement, prosecutors, and community leaders.  PSN is coordinated by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices in the 94 federal judicial districts throughout the 50 states and U.S. territories.  For more information about Project Safe Neighborhood, please visit http://www.psn.gov.

    MIL Security OSI –

    January 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Security: Repeat Offender Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography Charges

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    BOSTON – A registered sex offender has pleaded guilty in federal court in Worcester to child pornography charges.

    Corey Bouchard, 34, of Douglas, pleaded guilty to a one-count Information charging him with accessing with intent to view child pornography. U.S. District Court Judge Margaret R. Guzman scheduled sentencing for May 7, 2025 in Worcester. Bouchard was charged by complaint in April 2024.  

    During a November 2023 search of Bouchard’s home, a cache file was found on Bouchard’s cell phone, which contained approximately 72 videos depicting child pornography. The file names of approximately 56 of those videos matched the file names from media files shared by others to Kik messenger group chats that Bouchard was in. Bouchard admitted to accessing child pornography with the intent to view it.

    Bouchard has a prior state conviction for possession of child pornography and is a registered sex offender. The charge of access with intent to view child pornography provides for a sentence of a minimum of 10 years in prison and up to 20 years in prison, a minimum of five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of $250,000, an assessment of $5,000, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3014, and assessment of up to $17,000, a mandatory special assessment of $100, restation, and forfeiture. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

    United States Leah B. Foley; Michael J. Krol, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New England; and Colonel Geoffrey D. Noble, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the Uxbridge and Douglas Police Departments. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kaitlin J. Brown of the Worcester Branch Office is prosecuting the case.

    This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.
     

    MIL Security OSI –

    January 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Global: Donald Trump is firing out presidential pardons and warnings of retribution. What happens next?

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Adam Quinn, Associate Professor in American and International Politics, University of Birmingham

    Donald Trump has now pardoned or commuted the sentences of around 1,500 January 6 protesters, including those who were convicted of crimes against police officers relating to the riot at the US Capitol.

    But use of the presidential pardon in the last few days was not restricted to the incoming president. On his last day in office, outgoing president Joe Biden signed a number of pre-emptive pardons in an effort, he suggested, to shield people from possible “retribution” at Trump’s hands.

    This included not just members of the House committee that investigated the Capitol riot, but also Anthony Fauci, former chief medical advisor to the president during the COVID pandemic, and Gen. Mark Milley, who retired in 2023 after four years as the nation’s most senior military officer, and whom Trump has previously suggested would have been executed for treason in a previous era.

    In December, Biden granted his son Hunter a sweeping pardon, and he extended the same to several other relatives in the final minutes of his presidency. In an accompanying statement he said: “Even when individuals have done nothing wrong — and in fact have done the right thing — and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage reputations and finances.”

    Such pardons may be greeted with ambivalence by some recipients. One person who received a pardon was Adam Schiff, now a US Senator and previously a House member who both served on the Jan 6 committee and was lead prosecutor in Trump’s first impeachment. He had previously declared he did not want such a pardon because, first, it was unnecessary since he had done nothing wrong, and, second, it set a bad precedent. We may find out in the months and years ahead whether he was right on either count.

    So how did we get here?

    A year ago, Trump faced a daunting obstacle course of criminal cases. Among them, he faced trial in New York for falsifying business records. Federal prosecutors had indicted him for trying to steal the 2020 election, and for illegally holding onto classified documents after his presidency ended. He also faced state-level election subversion charges in Georgia.

    By the time of his inauguration, however, his legal problems had been almost entirely resolved. He was convicted on the New York charges, but his punishment, an unconditional discharge, is a slap on the wrist. The greatest symbol of Trump’s victory over legal threats, however, is the shelving of the two federal cases against him. Both cases have now been dismissed at the request of the Justice Department because its policy prevents a criminal case against a sitting president. Even if this were not the case, as head of the executive branch Trump would have authority to order them dropped.



    Read more:
    Nixon’s official acts against his enemies list led to a bipartisan impeachment effort

    Trump enters a second term freer of personal legal jeopardy than he has been in years. He is convinced that the cases against him represented a weaponisation of the criminal justice system by his political opponents. Now restored to the highest office, there are widespread fears that he may wield federal power to retaliate against those he believes have wronged him.

    In the run-up to the election he spoke often about “retribution” against “the enemy within”. An NPR investigation of Trump’s rallies and social media posts since 2022 found more than 100 instances of his explicitly or implicitly threatening to “investigate, prosecute, jail or otherwise punish his perceived opponents”.

    He has repeated that he “would have every right” to go after those he believes have waged “lawfare” against him over the last several years.

    If he does decide to try, it is less likely than during his first term that top officials will block or dissuade him. Trump’s current nominee for attorney general, former Florida attorney general Pam Bondi, was part of his defence team during his 2020 impeachment, then an active supporter of his campaign to overturn the 2020 election. During her Senate confirmation hearing she refused to say that she would defy pressure from Trump, but she did say that “politics will not play a part” in deciding who to investigate. Few will have felt completely reassured.

    Even more concerningly, Christopher Wray, director of the FBI, the leading national criminal investigative agency, has resigned before the usual duration of his tenure, after Trump declared he intended to replace him with Kash Patel. Patel, more than any other senior Trump nominee, has spent his career at the heart of the post-2016 Maga movement. He held junior roles late in the first Trump administration, but in the years since he has advocated using criminal and civil prosecution to root out “conspirators” among journalists and government officials.

    Patel even published a book containing a list of “Members of the Executive Branch Deep State” (including both Democrats and Republican appointees), seen by some as an “enemies list”. This is an appointment that some believe suggests restraint is unlikely.



    Read more:
    Trump’s election interference case may be closed, but it still matters for America’s future

    The January 6 rioters and plotters were among the first beneficiaries of the transfer of power. While campaigning Trump had portrayed them as martyrs to his cause and pledged pardons. He made good on that promise on day one by pardoning or commuting sentences. He also ordered the Justice Department to dismiss all pending indictments.

    It remains to be seen what approach the new president will take toward those who have worked prominently against him. He had previously said that some who served on the Congressional committee investigating the attack on the Capitol ““should go to jail”, often singling out former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney, who also received a pre-emptive pardon from Biden. Trump has also suggested that Biden should have issued a pardon for himself.

    It is doubtful that targeted investigations could ultimately produce criminal convictions without some plausible case. For the time being at least, US courts and the jury system retain sufficient independence that blatantly groundless and malicious prosecutions would struggle to get that far against targets with the resources to defend themselves.

    But as previous federal probes have illustrated – such as those into the Clintons – even an investigation that ultimately stops short of bringing charges against its top targets can last years, impose significant legal expenses on those embroiled in it, and inflict stress and distraction.

    The aim of this kind of action may be to instil a climate of anticipatory fear in which outspoken criticism in the future seems, to most, more trouble than it is worth. The US is not there yet. But it is closer to such a state than it has been in any of our lifetimes.

    Adam Quinn has previously received research funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Charles Koch Foundation (CKF)

    – ref. Donald Trump is firing out presidential pardons and warnings of retribution. What happens next? – https://theconversation.com/donald-trump-is-firing-out-presidential-pardons-and-warnings-of-retribution-what-happens-next-247646

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

    January 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI USA: Welch on Trump’s January 6th Pardons: “Their actions should be condemned by each of us and by our President. Those actions should not be condoned with pardons.” 

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont)

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) yesterday delivered remarks from theSenate Floor about President Donald Trump’s pardons of insurrectionists, who onJanuary 6th 2021 used violence in an attempt to stop the peacefultransfer of power. President Trump issued pardons for nearly 1,600 January 6th defendantsand commuted the sentences of 14 dangerous criminals in his first week oftaking office. 
    Watch Senator Welch’s remarks here: 

    Key quotes from Senator Welch’s speech: 
    “In the United States we believe in the peaceful transfer of power. In the United States we believe that the people—not elected politicians—decide who is their president.  
    “And both of those principles have served our democracy very well—through thick and thin, through strife and turmoil—for the past 248 years.  
    “Both of those principles were challenged on January 6th, 2021. A mob that was incited by then-President Trump attacked the Capitol for the explicit purpose of using violence to overturn the peaceful transfer of power. They were trying to intimidate elected politicians to substitute their judgment, their preferred candidate for president, instead of acknowledging the will of the people that they represented.  
    “But our democracy endured—that is the very good news. And, in testament to that, we just witnessed a renewal of America’s commitment to the peaceful transfer of power with the inauguration of Donald Trump as our 47th President.  
    “However, I must speak today, sadly, about one of the first actions of President Trump. And that, of course, is pardoning 1,600 people and commuting sentences of 14 very dangerous criminals who were involved in that violent attack on January 6th. Speaking for myself, I condemn that action by President Trump.” 
    ■■■ 
    “I was there that day—many of us were. I was in the Gallery of the House of Representatives. It’s a day I won’t forget but America will never forget. It’s had a deep impact on our country, the citizens, the folks who work here, and that honorable tradition of the peaceful transfer of power.  
    “I was very amazed and proud to see officers, men and women, who withstood this assault. More than 150 officers from the U.S. Capitol Police and the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department were injured that day. Five officers died in the aftermath.   
    “There was severe damage to this Senate Chamber, the House Chamber, the office buildings, the Capitol Rotunda—where we just had another inauguration only a few days ago. Blood, feces, glass, and other debris from the mob’s attack was everywhere—at a cost of close to $3 million.”  
    ■■■ 
    “How is it that one of the first acts of our president, who wants to be “unifier,” was to pardon people who acted with such violence, such anger, and such contempt?  
    “President Trump has tried to erase this attack and re-write the history of what happened on January 6th. He has called the insurrectionists, including those who fought with the police, ‘patriots’ and ‘hostages’. They were neither.” 
    ■■■ 
    “These pardons are disrespectful. They’re also dangerous. They’re disrespectful to the men and women who served, who suffered the violence, and are living with the consequences. And they’re dangerous to the law enforcement who serve us every day. The pardons validate the violence of the mob and dishonor the service of those who protect us.  
    “Unconscionable and appalling actions of January 6th should be repudiated by every Member of Congress. Whatever differences we have, it is vital that those differences be resolved at the ballot box and that the will of the people be respected.  
    “No citizen, however passionate they may be about their political beliefs, no matter how disappointed they may be at the outcome of an election, is justified in attacking the men and women of the Capitol Police. Their actions should be condemned by each of us and by our President. Those actions should not be condoned with pardons.” 
    ■■■ 

    MIL OSI USA News –

    January 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Large-scale stress test held at Kai Tak Sports Park (with photos)

    Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

         The Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) conducted a large-scale stress test at the Kai Tak Sports Park (KTSP) tonight (January 24) to test the operation and capability of the three venues and the supporting facilities in the vicinity during events with maximum attendance, with a view to ensuring the smooth operation of the KTSP upon its official commissioning in the first quarter of this year.

         Co-ordinated by the Exercise Team of the HKPF, the stress test covered five specific testing and evaluation areas, namely security screening and ticket checks; venue signage and designated seating arrangements; inter-agency co-ordination in response to emergencies; various crowd management measures; and passenger flow management by public transport operators.
     
         Over 60 000 participants simulated crowd flow during the test. A number of bureaux, departments and organisations, namely the HKPF, the Fire Services Department, the Transport Department, the Civil Aid Service, the Auxiliary Medical Service, the MTR Corporation Limited and the KTSP Limited, also participated in the stress test.
     
         The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Chan Kwok-ki, inspected the stress test. He said that, thanks to the close collaboration of all parties, the exercise was conducted in a smooth manner. The anticipated effects and test objectives were achieved with satisfactory results.
     
         He added that during the stress test, the arrangements for participants entering and leaving the venue, as well as public transportation, became more refined and orderly. All units were able to respond promptly to deal with simulated emergencies.
     
         Mr Chan expressed gratitude to various government departments, the KTSP Limited and public transport operators for their preparation and co-ordination work. He also thanked the personnel involved in the test, including civil servants from 77 bureaux and departments, community members, and residents of the Kai Tak area, for their full support and co-operation.
     
         He said he believes that the KTSP will become a new landmark in Hong Kong, welcoming audiences from all over the world to enjoy exciting events and activities together with Hong Kong citizens.
     
         In future test events and stress tests co-ordinated by the Exercise Team, the “Red Team” concept will continue to be applied to identify vulnerable areas, working in concert with relevant bureaux, departments and organisations to continuously review and enhance various aspects, with a view to ensuring full preparedness for the official commissioning of the KTSP.
                          

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

    January 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Remarks by CS at media session after stress test at Kai Tak Sports Park

    Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

         The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Chan Kwok-ki; the Secretary for the Civil Service, Mrs Ingrid Yeung; the Secretary for Transport and Logistics, Ms Mable Chan; the Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Miss Rosanna Law; and the Exercise Director of Inter-departmental Task Group on Test and Drills and Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations), Mr Chow Yat-ming, met the media after the stress test at the Kai Tak Sports Park this evening (January 24). Following are the remarks of the media session:
     
    Reporter: Can you confirm that the Kai Tak Sports Park will open officially on March 1? What can we expect to see at the opening ceremony? This is the first time such a large crowd disperse at the same time and we observed that sometimes the paths were quite packed. Are there any concerns about the potential bottleneck or crowd crush and how can we prevent that? Thank you.
     
    Chief Secretary for Administration: We will have many stress tests in the future, as I just told you that we have two large scale stress tests in the future. So up to now, depending on the results of the tests, I think we cannot confirm the official opening day of the Kai Tak Sports Park. But once when everything is ready, we will make an announcement as soon as possible. Today, the dispersal is very smooth, I would say, and I really don’t see any bottleneck actually, because the situation, I would say, is far better than my expectation.
     
    (Please also refer to the Chinese version of the remarks.)

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

    January 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Security: Murder investigation launched following stabbing in Putney

    Source: United Kingdom London Metropolitan Police

    A murder investigation has been launched following the death of a 75-year-old man in Putney.

    On Friday, 24 January at 03:36hrs police were called to an address in Deodar Road, SW15 following reports of a stabbing.

    Officers attended the scene alongside the London Ambulance Service who treated a man for stab injuries.

    Sadly, despite the emergency services best efforts, he was pronounced dead on scene.

    His next of kin have been made aware although we currently await formal identification. They are currently being supported by specialist officers.

    A special post-mortem examination is due to take place today.

    A 30-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder, he remains in police custody. It is believed he was known to the victim.

    Detective Superintendent Amanda Mawhinney from the South West Command Unit which covers Putney said: “We are currently supporting the family of a man who was sadly killed in the early hours of this morning.

    “I am aware that people in the community may feel shocked following this – we believe this to be an isolated incident and there is no wider threat to the public.

    “Although we have made significant progress by making an arrest, I would like to make it clear that our investigation does not stop here. We need the local community to help us understand what happened in the early hours of this morning.

    “We are appealing for anyone who was in the area at around 3am and that saw or heard anything unusual to contact us as soon as possible.

    “You may notice a higher police presence within the area today whilst we carry out our enquiries. A scene is in place as well as road closures. If you feel the need to raise anything with our officers, then please feel free to speak with them whilst they are in the area.”

    Enquiries remain ongoing.

    Anyone with information which could assist with the investigation is asked to call 101 stating CAD721/24JAN. Alternatively you can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or by submitting an online form.

    MIL Security OSI –

    January 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Response to Storm Éowyn

    Source: Scottish Government

    Severe weather and disruption expected to continue. 

    First Minister John Swinney has asked people to continue to follow Police Scotland advice not to travel during the red weather warning and to be mindful that dangerous conditions will persist for the rest of the evening while the amber warning remains in place. 

    It follows a meeting of the Scottish Government’s Resilience Room (SGoRR), which is co-ordinating the response to the damage and disruption caused by Storm Éowyn in Scotland. 

    SGoRR was updated on the current impacts, including: 

    • Currently around 100,000 households without power 
    • Severe transport disruption with rail, bus, flight, ferry and tram cancellations as well as road closures across the network 
    • 92% of the school estate in Scotland is closed 
    • Cancellation of non-urgent medical appointments 

    The First Minister said utility companies are working at pace to restore power as quickly as possible, however as conditions remain too dangerous for recovery teams to operate fully, welfare provisions are in place to support the most vulnerable. Members of the public are also being urged to plan ahead and continue to follow safety advice in the coming days, including checking for the latest road conditions, Scotrail services and public transport advice which are all expected to experience continued disruption.   

    First Minister John Swinney said: 

    “Storm Éowyn is an exceptional weather event and is causing significant impacts across Scotland, with multiple reports of fallen trees and blown over vehicles. What the Met Office predicted has come our way, with gusts of 100mph winds reported. 

    “I want to thank members of the public for largely following Police Scotland’s advice not to travel. However, this storm is not over yet. Even once the red weather warning expires, severe weather warnings for wind, snow and ice remain in place across much of the country tonight and into tomorrow morning. 

    “A high level of vigilance is still required. There are still too many lorries on the road and I urge all HGVs to follow Police Scotland advice not to travel during the red weather warning. 

    “We are also seeing reports of multiple power outages across Scotland and expect these to continue over the course of the day. It will take time to recover power and transport services across the country, as conditions still remain too dangerous for recovery teams to operate.  

    “Utilities companies are focused on supporting their most vulnerable customers and I’d encourage everyone to please look out for each other and take extra care during this time.” 

    Assistant Chief Constable Mark Sutherland, who is leading the multi-agency response to Storm Eowyn, said:

    “We have seen significant disruption across the country, particularly in the areas affected by the red weather warning. First and foremost, our thoughts are with those who have been injured and those impacted by the weather.

    “The high winds are forecast to continue, with Amber warnings in place into this evening and tomorrow morning.

    “It is concerning that there has been a large number of HGVs on the road. We have responded to 11 incidents so far where HGVs have overturned due to high winds and I want to reiterate the advice that you should not travel in or to areas under the red weather warning. Additionally, I would urge the public to avoid travelling in areas affected by the Amber warning and consider delaying your travel until conditions improve. We don’t ask you to do this lightly and we make this ask with public safety at the forefront of decision-making.

    “Roads are likely to be affected by debris for some time to come and motorists should drive with caution when it is safe to return to the roads.”

    Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Head of Operations Deputy Assistant Chief Officer Garry Mackay said:

    “Our Operations Control rooms are experiencing an extremely high number of 999 calls at the moment. Please only dial 999 and ask for us where there is an immediate risk of harm.

    “For fallen trees or obstacles that do not pose an immediate risk to the public or property, we are asking the public to please contact your local authority.”

    Background  

    SGoRR was attended by the Deputy First Minister, and Cabinet Secretaries for Health; Education; Transport; Justice; Rural Affairs and Islands; and Net Zero and Energy. They were joined by representatives from the Met Office, Police Scotland, Transport Scotland, SEPA, transport and utilities companies and resilience partners. 

    The latest Met Office weather warnings are available on the Met Office website.  

    Flood alerts are issued by the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency and can be viewed on their website.   

    Advice on preparing for severe weather can be found on the Ready Scotland website.   

    Follow Traffic Scotland for the most up-to-date information on the trunk roads throughout the warning periods, via their website, social media channels and radio broadcasts. Updates on ScotRail services and road conditions are available online. 

    To report a power cut or damage to electricity power lines or substations call the SP Networks national Freephone number 105. More information on what to do during a storm can also be found on SP Energy Website. 

    During a power cut firefighters can be called to fires started by candles or portable heaters. For advice on how to stay safe during a power cut visit Scottish Fire and Rescue Website.  

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

    January 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI USA: Attorney General James’ Office of Special Investigation Issues Notification of Investigative Findings Regarding Investigation into the Death of Bashe McDaniel

    Source: US State of New York

    January 24, 2025

    NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James’ Office of Special Investigation (OSI) is today issuing a Notification of Investigative Findings regarding the investigation into the death of Bashe McDaniel, who died on December 29, 2023 after an encounter with members of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Police in Queens. Upon completion of the investigation into Mr. McDaniel’s death, OSI has concluded that a prosecutor would not be able to disprove beyond a reasonable doubt at trial that the officers’ use of deadly physical force was justified under the law. A final Investigation Report will follow.

    About the Incident
    On December 29, 2023 at 10:20 p.m. two MTA officers shot and killed Mr. McDaniel in front of 91-04 Sutphin Boulevard in Queens after Mr. McDaniel fired a round from a gun he had in his waistband area while the officers were attempting to handcuff him. A firearm was recovered from Mr. McDaniel and recovered ballistics evidence showed that Mr. McDaniel fired at least one shot.

    The two MTA officers were searching for an individual on Sutphin Boulevard in Queens following a report of an alleged sexual assault. The officers spotted Mr. McDaniel, who appeared to match a photograph they had of him, and attempted to arrest him. Mr. McDaniel resisted being handcuffed, and he and the officers fell to the ground, where, during the struggle, Mr. McDaniel’s firearm discharged and struck him in the abdomen. The officers discharged their service weapons in response, striking Mr. McDaniel.

    Incident Video and Evidence Photos
    The incident was captured on the officers’ body-worn cameras.

    Pursuant to New York State Executive Law Section 70-b, OSI assesses every incident reported to it where a police officer or a peace officer, including a corrections officer, may have caused the death of a person by an act or omission. Under the law, the officer may be on-duty or off-duty, and the decedent may be armed or unarmed. Also, the decedent may or may not be in custody or incarcerated. If OSI’s assessment indicates an officer may have caused the death, OSI proceeds to conduct a full investigation of the incident.

    In cases where the evidence and legal analysis are clear and the investigation is complete, OSI may issue a Notification of Investigative Findings announcing the conclusion of the investigation. In such cases, OSI will issue the final Investigation Report, as required by law, at a later date.

    MIL OSI USA News –

    January 25, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Security: Maryland Man Convicted in $20M Insurance Fraud Scheme

    Source: United States Attorneys General 1

    A federal jury convicted a Maryland man yesterday for conspiracy to commit insurance fraud, money laundering, filing false tax returns and identity theft.

    According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, James Wilson, of Owings Mills, conspired with others to defraud insurance companies by obtaining over 30 life insurance policies for applicants by mispresenting their health, wealth and existing life insurance coverage. The total death benefits from these policies exceeded $20 million.

    Wilson also conspired to defraud individual investors to obtain funds that he then used to pay premiums on fraudulently-obtained life insurance policies. To conceal the fraud, Wilson transferred the fraud through multiple bank accounts, including accounts in the name of trusts. Wilson filed false individual income tax returns for 2018 and 2019, which concealed approximately $5.7 million and $2 million respectively of fraud proceeds.

    Wilson is scheduled to be sentenced on May 1. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each count of conspiracy, wire fraud, mail fraud and money laundering; and a maximum penalty of three years in prison for each count of filing a false tax return. Wilson also faces a maximum penalty of two years in prison for each count of aggravated identity theft. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

    Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Karen E. Kelly of the Justice Department’s Tax Division, U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron for the District of Maryland and Special Agent in Charge Kareem A. Carter of IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI)’s Washington, D.C. Field Office made the announcement.

    IRS-CI investigated the case, with assistance from the Maryland Insurance Administration and Maryland Attorney General.

    Trial Attorneys Shawn Noud and Richard Kelley of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew Phelps and Philip Motsay for the District of Maryland are prosecuting the case.

    MIL Security OSI –

    January 25, 2025
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