NY AG vows quick release of footage
Letitia James promises to expedite process in cases of alleged police misconduct that her office investigates.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — New York Attorney General Letitia James promised Sunday to expedite the release of body-camera footage in cases of alleged police misconduct that her office investigates.
Speaking in Rochester, which has been in turmoil since the footage of Daniel Prude’s fatal encounter with police was released more than five months after his death, James said her office “will be proactively releasing footage to the public on our own.”
“This is footage we obtain as part of investigations conducted by our special prosecutions unit,” James said. “Up until now, the release of footage has been up to the discretion of local authorities. But this process has caused confusion, delays, and has hampered transparency in a system that should be as open as possible.”
It was unclear how many cases would be affected by the policy, since the attorney general’s office does not review all footage of police interactions with the public.
James spoke in Rochester after meeting with family members of Prude, a Black man who died several days after police put a hood over his head and pressed his face into the pavement March 23. There have been nightly protests since Prude’s family released video of the fatal encounter earlier this month. James announced Sept. 5 that she would empanel a grand jury to investigate his death.
James said she also met with leaders of the protests, and she indicated that her office may investigate allegations of excessive force by police patrolling the protests, as she did following New York City protests over the May 25 death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police.
James said protesters who believe they have witnessed police brutality should contact her office’s civil rights bureau “so that we can determine whether or not we will seek jurisdiction in investigating the activities between Rochester protesters and the Rochester Police Department.”
Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren fired police Chief La’Ron Singletary and suspended her top lawyer and communications director in the aftermath of the death of Prude.
Seven officers who were present during the encounter with Prude were suspended without pay.
Arrest in ricin case: A woman suspected of sending an envelope containing the poison ricin, which was addressed to White House, has been arrested at New York-Canada border, three law enforcement officials said Sunday.
The letter had been intercepted last week before it reached the White House.
The woman was taken into custody by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers near Buffalo, New York, and is expected to face federal charges, the officials said. Her name was not released.
The letter addressed to the White House appeared to have originated in Canada, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police have said. It was intercepted at a government facility that screens mail addressed to the White House and President Donald Trump and a preliminary investigation indicated it tested positive for ricin, according to the officials.
The officials were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Afghan airstrikes: Government airstrikes in northern Afghanistan killed 24 civilians and wounded six others, witnesses said Sunday.
The two witnesses contacted by The Associated Press said most of those killed in Saturday ’s airstrikes, which struck the village of Sayed Ramazan in northern Kunduz province, were civilians. The Khanabad district in the province where the village is located is Taliban-controlled.
The Afghan Defense Ministry, however, said the airstrikes killed 30 Taliban fighters, but added an investigation was being made into claims that civilians were among those killed.
The airstrikes come as Taliban and government-appointed negotiators are meeting for the first time in Qatar to discuss the future of Afghanistan and an end to decades of war and conflict.
U.N. on Iran sanctions: Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says the United Nations will not support reimposing sanctions on Iran as the United States is demanding until he gets a green light from the Security Council.
The U.N. chief said in a letter to the council president obtained Sunday by the AP that “there would appear to be uncertainty” on whether or not U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo triggered the “snapback” mechanism in the Security Council resolution that enshrined the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six major powers.
The Trump administration declared Saturday that all U.N. sanctions against Iran have been restored, a move most of the rest of the world rejects as illegal and is likely to ignore. The U.S. announcement is certain to cause controversy during the U.N.’s annual high-level meetings of the General Assembly starting Monday, which is being held mainly virtually this year because of the pandemic.
Plot againt US? Bahrain broke up a plot by militants backed by Iran to launch attacks on diplomats and foreigners in the island nation home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, Saudi state television and local media reported Sunday, days after the kingdom normalized relations with Israel.
Details about the claimed plot remained scarce Sunday night as Bahrain’s Interior Ministry and its state media did not publicly acknowledge the arrests. Bahraini government officials did not respond to a request for comment.
However, it comes as tensions between Iran and the U.S. remain high after the Trump administration claimed to have reinvoked all U.N. sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear program — something disputed by other world powers. The militants reportedly sought revenge for the U.S. drone strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani in January, something long threatened by his colleagues in Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.
Deposition delay: The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee says the committee is scheduled to depose a Department of Homeland Security whistleblower Friday, pushing the closed-door testimony back four days due to a dispute with the Trump administration over his appearance. A subpoena may be necessary, Rep. Adam Schiff, DCalif., said.
Brian Murphy said in a complaint this month that he was pressured by more senior officials to suppress facts in intelligence reports about Russian interference and other matters. He has indicated that he wants to tell his story to Congress, but his lawyer said last week that he cannot appear until he resolves issues with the department over access to information.
In a statement Sunday, Schiff said that the department has refused to authorize security clearances for Murphy’s lawyers and also is blocking Murphy from reviewing “relevant classified documents” before the deposition.