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New Haven Man Accused of Stealing Vehicle from Relative

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Hamden police have arrested a New Haven man accused of stealing his relative’s car.

According to police, the suspect, identified as Edwin Landron, 41, forced his way into a female relative’s home on Feb. 9, pushed her to the ground, then stole her vehicle.

The victim did not need medical attention, police said.

On Feb. 28 police arrested Landron. He was charged with first-degree burglary, third-degree larceny, and disorderly conduct. He was held on a $10,000 bond.



Photo Credit: Hamden Police Department

$120K Worth of Cocaine Delivered to Middletown Home

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Middletown police seized thousands of dollars’ worth of cocaine and made an arrest after a resident reported a suspicious package was delivered to her home.

According to an arraignment report, a resident arrived in the police department’s lobby Thursday around 11:30 a.m. with a package she said had been delivered to her home by the United States Postal Service. The woman said the package was addressed to her and the return address was that of her deceased brother, so she became suspicious and opened the package.

When she opened it she found a black lockbox containing three rectangular parcels that looked like bricks of drugs.

Police seized the package and tested the bricks, which were determined to be cocaine. The total value of the cocaine was estimated to be between $111,000 and $120,000, police said.

The woman told police she’s told her neighbor, identified as 27-year-old Jasmine Delgado, to use her address to have a package of children’s clothes delivered from Puerto Rico.

The complainant left and within minutes contacted police to let them know that Delgado had called asking if her package had been delivered.

Police met with Delgado, who claimed she had been waiting for a package of children’s clothes and had no idea it had cocaine in it.

Delgado was arrested and charged with criminal attempt to possess narcotics, and criminal attempt to possess narcotics with intent to sell.

She was held on a $500,000 bond and is expected to appear in court on Friday.



Photo Credit: Getty Images

Americans Earning Over $200K Buy This Vehicle Most: Study

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The most popular vehicle for Americans making more than $200,000 isn't a luxury car from Porsche, Lexus or Tesla, NBC News reported.

It's actually the Ford F-150 pickup truck, according to a new study by the consumer research firm MaritzCX.

"Whenever we add something, buyers tell us they'd like something even more expensive," said Ford Truck Group Marketing Manager Doug Scott.

More than two million full-size pickup trucks, which includes commercial and heavier-duty trucks, accounted for 12 percent of the record 17.5 million new vehicles sold in the U.S. last year, according to industry sales data.



Photo Credit: Getty Images

CT Agencies Celebrate National Consumer Protection Week

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Coming up next week is National Consumer Protection Week, and the state Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) is joining the Connecticut Better Business Bureau to teach consumers different ways to protect themselves from growing marketplace threats and criminal activity.

The weeklong event runs March 5-11 and includes topics such as online safety, weight loss & health clubs, charities, consumer protection for military families, home improvement, common scams in the immigrant community, and retail warnings. 

“This week is a great opportunity for consumers to take a few minutes to protect themselves, learn more about the market, and start to create the habits that will allow them to be smart consumers all year round,” said Consumer Protection Commissioner Jonathan A. Harris in a release.

DCP and the Connecticut Better Business Bureau suggest that consumers do three easy tasks that can prevent fraud and identity theft.

First, consumers should shred documents with private information that are no longer needed. Second, they should organize important paperwork regarding warranties, guarantees, or contracts and keep them in a safe place. Third, the DCP urges consumers to secure their online passwords, by having different passwords on every account and adding security questions.

"We have to be more vigilant than ever before, and National Consumer Protection Week is all about understanding these issues, protecting ourselves and our families, and knowing our rights when there is a problem,” said Connecticut Better Business Bureau Executive Communications Director, Howard Schwartz.

Visit DCP on Facebook or Twitter. 

Visit CT Better Business Bureau on Facebook or Twitter.



Photo Credit: CT BBB/ CT DCP

CCSU Student Dies After 4-Story Fall from Hartford Roof

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An 18-year-old Central Connecticut State University student has died after falling from the roof of the building that houses The Angry Bull Saloon on Allyn Street in Hartford.

According to Hartford Police Deputy Chief Brian Foley, police received a 9-1-1 call at 12:30 a.m. saying a woman had fallen off the four-story building and was injured.

When emergency crews arrived, they found the teen in a narrow alley between two buildings. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

The victim has been identified as Taylor Lavoie, of East Granby. Her family has been notified.

Investigators initially said they suspected the victim was drinking before the fall, but will wait for the medical examiner to confirm how much, if any, alcohol was in her system.

Officials said Lavoie came with friends, also underage, using CT Fastrak and at some point the group was in the bar before the teen went onto the roof. It is unclear how many others were on the roof with her.

The bar is on the bottom floor of the building but the roof can be accessed from warehouse space above the bar, according to police officials. Foley said it appeared there was a lock on the hatch to the roof that had been broken at some point. He described the roof as “treacherous” and said it did not look like commonly used space.

“By the time you get to the top stairway there’s bird feathers, pigeon feathers. It’s extremely dusty,” Foley said.

Investigators are calling the death "untimely" and have not determined what caused the teen to fall to her death. Hartford Police Major Crimes detectives are investigating.

“All indications at this point are that it is accidental. We don’t having anything to believe otherwise at this point. However, we are keeping all options open,” Foley told NBC Connecticut.

An investigation involving the State Liquor Commission is also underway because the victim was underage.

The liquor commission had officers at the bar earlier in the week to investigate other issues.

"We've been in a lot of the bars around here. It's not uncommon but it is uncommon for the officers who went in there. It wasn't like a liquor commission inspection so it indicates to me there may have been some issues there," Foley said.

Police said the owner of the bar has been cooperative and the business will be allowed to reopen Friday.

Editor's note: Police initially said the victim suffered a five-story fall, but the building is actually four stories. This article has been updated to reflect that information.



Photo Credit: NBC Connecticut

Judge: Unconstitutional for Miami-Dade to Hold Inmates for ICE

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It is unconstitutional for Miami-Dade county to hold inmates in jail beyond the time they would otherwise be released at the request of federal immigration authorities, a Florida judge ruled Friday morning.

The ruling by Circuit Judge Milton Hirsch was a rebuke of Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Giminez's decision to allow county jails to hold immigrants awaiting deportation by federal agents, citing concerns about losing federal money.

Federal agents have up to 48 hours to pick up an undocumented immigrant being held in a county jail.

The county's policy was challenged by 45-year-old James LaCroix, a Haitian national ordered deported after being convicted of felony charges of habitually driving without a valid license.

Hirsch noted that the practice "gives rise to two inequities," forcing the Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Department to house inmates "in whom neither the state nor the county has any ongoing interest" and resulting in the "continued incarceration" of individuals who haven't been charged with any crime.

Hirsch argued in his decision that the policy violates the 10th Amendment's limits on federal power over states.

The 10th amendment is "a source of frustration to those who dream of wielding power in unprecedented ways or to unprecedented degrees. But America was not made for those who dream of power," Hirsch wrote. "America was made for those with power to dream."

On Tuesday, Judge Hirsch sentenced LaCroix to the five weeks he'd already served in jail, but he was not released because Immigration and Customs Enforcement asked the county to hold him pursuant to a deportation order.

Attorneys representing LaCroix filed a writ of habeus corpus demanding his release, but he was picked up by immigration agents Wednesday before Hirsch could hear arguments on Thursday.

Since LaCroix is already in federal custody, the state judge's ruling will have no effect on his detention pending deportation, according to his attorney Philip Reizenstein.

Still, in ordering county attorneys to respond to the writ by Thursday, Hirsch said his ruling would not be moot because LaCroix raised an "issue capable of repetition."

Miami-Dade County said Friday morning it would appeal the decision with the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.

"This is a federal issue,"  Giminez said in a statement following the ruling. "Now, the judge does what he does, but I've already spoken to our county attorney and our county attorney does not feel that he has standing so it depends on the ruling and if the ruling goes against what we're doing then we'll appeal it to the court of appeals right away."

The county has received at least 52 requests for so-called ICE holds since the county reversed its years-old policy to not honor them, unless the federal government paid for the additional costs of incarceration.

After President Donald Trump threatened to withhold federal funds from so-called sancutary cities that offer protections for immigrants living in the country illegally or decline to cooperate with with federal immigration authorities.

In his decision, Hirsch said the threat of withholding federal funds from the county a constitutional bridge too far.

"Coercion achieved by financial starvation is no less effective than coercion achieved at sword's point. The former may take a little longer than the latter; but it may be more painful, too," he wrote.

But Hirsch's decision did not explicitly order Miami-Dade jails to stop honoring requests from federal immigration authorities to hold undocumented immigrants for deportation. For the moment, Friday's ruling creates legal precedent only in Judge Hirch's courtroom. 



Photo Credit: Miami-Dade Corrections

Man Arrested in Threats Against ADL, 7 Other Jewish Centers

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A man allegedly waging an intense campaign of harassment against a former lover was responsible for bomb threats against the Anti-Defamation League and some Jewish centers around the country, authorities said Friday.

Thirty-year-old Juan Thompson, a former journalist fired last year for allegedly making up quotes and sources, was arrested in St. Louis in connection with multiple threats against Jewish centers, including some in the tri-state area. 

But additional sources told NBC News Thompson is not believed to be the person behind the series of threats targeting Jewish community centers across the nation in recent months. 

There have been five such waves of threats this year, forcing dozens of evacuations in more than 30 states. No injuries have been reported in any of the cases and no devices have been found. The FBI is assisting in that probe.

In total, authorities have been looking into more than 120 bomb threats called into nearly 100 JCC schools, child care and other similar facilities.  

Thompson is considered a "copycat," the sources said. A criminal complaint filed in federal court in Manhattan indicated that Thompson was trying to "harass and intimidate" an unnamed victim with whom he had a relationship. 

He allegedly made at least eight of the threats -- some in the victim's name, and some in his own name, as part of a purported campaign to smear the victim. Thompson allegedly went to extreme lengths to do so, including sending hoax faxes to the woman's employer last year alleging she had made anti-Semitic statements on social media, according to the complaint. 

He was allegedly behind a threat to the national ADL headquarters in Manhattan last week. According to the FBI complaint, the emailed threat named the woman and said she was "behind the bomb threats against the jews. She lives in nyc and is making more bomb threats tomorrow." The next day, the ADL received a phone call claiming a bomb was in its headquarters.

He also claimed she was responsible for placing a bomb in a Jewish center in Dallas, and he also emailed a JCC in San Diego saying she wanted to "kill as many Jews asap."

An anonymous threat emailed to a JCC in Manhattan earlier in February included Thompson's own name. It said he "put two bombs in the office of the Jewish center today. He wants to create Jewish newtown tomorrow," the complaint. "Newtown" apparently refers to the December 2012 massacre at a Connecticut school that claimed the lives of 26 people, including 20 children.

The FBI complaint quotes Thompson’s Twitter account as saying on Feb. 24, “Know any good lawyers? Need to stop this nasty/racist #whitegirl I dated who sent a bomb threat in my name & wants me to be raped in jail.” 

The exact same tweet on the same date appears on the Twitter account @JuanMThompson. That same account sent a number of other tweets in late February that match the FBI complaint word for word. 

Juan Thompson wrote for online publication The Intercept from late 2014 until early 2016, when he was fired for fabricating sources and quotes in his articles, according to Betsy Reed, editor-in-chief. 

In a statement Friday, Reed said everyone at The Intercept was "horrified" to learn of Thompson's arrest in the bomb threats case.

"These actions are heinous and should be fully investigated and prosecuted," Reed said. "We have no information about the charges against Thompson other than what is included in the criminal complaint."  

Thompson is charged with one count of cyberstalking, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, in connection with the case. He is expected to be arraigned in federal court in Missouri later Friday. 

His mother, Yolanda Thompson, said from her home in St. Louis Friday that she hadn't seen her son in weeks. She tearfully described him as a "good man," and declined to comment further on his arrest. 

Information on an attorney for him wasn't immediately available. 

"Today, we have charged Juan Thompson with allegedly stalking a former romantic interest by, among other things, making bomb threats in her name to Jewish Community Centers and to the Anti-Defamation League," U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara said. "Threats of violence targeting people and places based on religion or race – whatever the motivation – are unacceptable, un-American, and criminal."

NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill thanked local and federal law enforcement for a collaborative effort. 

"The defendant allegedly caused havoc, expending hundreds of hours of police and law enforcement resources to respond and investigate these threats," O'Neill said. "We will continue to pursue those who peddle fear, making false claims about serious crimes."

The arrest comes amid an alarming increase in anti-Semitic hate crimes in New York City and across the nation. NYPD officials said earlier this week such bias reports are up 94 percent year over year in the city. Other states have reported an increase as well.

In a statement Friday, Mayor de Blasio called on all Americans to protect the foundational values of this country.

“We must not be indifferent to the rising tide of hate crimes we’re seeing in New York City and nationwide," the mayor said. "When you attack someone because of who they are, how they worship or who they love, you are attacking our democracy."

In New Jersey Friday, Gov. Christie ordered increased patrols at houses of worship, faith-based institutions, community centers and cemeteries throughout the state in response to the uptick in threats.  


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Berlin Student Sent Threatening Message with Racial Slur: PD

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A Berlin High School student was arrested after being accused of sending a threatening message containing a racial slur to another student, according to Berlin police.

Police said the incident occurred on Feb. 23. According to police, surveillance video shows the accused student walk by another student in a common area of the school when an “air drop” message was received.

Air drop is an Apple iOS7 feature where a cell phone or other internet connected device uses a Wi-Fi network to deliver a message or file to other nearby devices.

Authorities are unsure if the student who received the message was the intended target. Anyone within a certain radius with an air drop enabled device can receive the message.

The suspect, who was not identified due to age, was arrested on Tuesday and charged with first-degree threatening and second-degree harassment.

NBC Connecticut has reached out to Berlin Public Schools but has yet to hear back. 


CREC Cancels Construction of New School, Will Close Another

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The Capitol Region Education Council (CREC) has announced it has canceled construction of a new facility planned in Bloomfield and will merge an existing facility in Hartford with a school in New Britain.

The council cited Connecticut’s fiscal crisis as the reason for the changes.

The CREC Two Rivers Magnet High School, which was planned for Bloomfield, will not open. The existing Two Rivers High School in Hartford will close and students will merge into the CREC Academy of Science and Innovation in New Britain, effective starting next school year.

District officials said CREC Two Rivers Principal Robert McCain will assume the role of principal at the CREC Academy of Science and Innovation.

“We had to make a tough choice during a very tough budget season. Although consolidating the two schools is not the road we envisioned, it is the most-cost effective way of addressing these budgetary challenges without hurting the quality of education that CREC proudly provides,” said CREC Executive Director Greg J. Florio in a release.



Photo Credit: Getty Images

Notre Dame Students Polarized Over Pence Speech to Graduates

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Notre Dame senior Xitlaly Estrada got a call after the presidential election from her mother, who immigrated to the United States from Mexico in the early 90s.

Crying, Irma Estrada told her daughter she couldn’t believe Donald Trump, a man who had used so much anti-Mexico rhetoric on the campaign trail, would soon be the leader of the free world.

Following the announcement that Trump's Vice President Mike Pence will deliver this year's commencement address at Notre Dame, Estrada and her friends believe their big day will be compromised by values that contradict their own.

“A lot of us are concerned for our families’ comfort,” said Estrada, the president of the Latino Student Alliance. 

She and other LSA members, many of them first-generation Americans, worry that their guests will feel unwelcome at a ceremony honoring an administration that has degraded their Hispanic identities. 

“Regardless of who is speaking, this is mine,” Estrada said of her graduation. “But I think it’s a particularly hard moment for my parents.”

In the past, the newly elected commander in chief has often delivered the keynote speech at Notre Dame’s May graduation and received an honorary degree. Four of the last six presidents have made the trip to South Bend, Indiana, during their first year in office.

But after students circulated a petition signed by thousands from the Notre Dame community denouncing the possibility of Trump as speaker, and held several protests, the college sidestepped tradition and asked Indiana's former governor to take the podium.

Notre Dame spokesman Paul Browne declined to comment on whether Trump was invited to the May 21 ceremony or if he'll visit the campus in the future. Browne said he expects Pence will be "warmly welcomed," The Associated Press reported.

"But that doesn't mean we won't receive complaints from people who would have preferred someone else," Browne continued. "We typically do."

As for Pence, "It is fitting that in the 175th year of our founding on Indiana soil that Notre Dame recognize a native son who served our state and now the nation with quiet earnestness, moral conviction and a dedication to the common good characteristic of true statesmen,” university President Rev. John Jenkins said in a statement.

In a groupchat with her peers, Natalie Thomas, president of the Black Student Association, has noticed people complaining that the administration circumvented calls from the student body to not extend an invitation to Trump by bringing Pence instead. For some, Trump and Pence are one and the same because of the views they collectively represent. 

Pat Crane, president of Notre Dame College Republicans, said it's a shame that Trump won’t be on the platform during commencement. But he added that he's honored to play host to the first-in-line, whom he called “a wonderful man, a man of God.”

Crane organized “Pizza with Pence” last year, a small gathering with the then-governor and his Republican base at the university.

“It was a great experience for everyone involved,” Crane said.

He expects the vice president’s address in May to unify the student body and give them hope.

"We’re a Catholic institution speaking to Catholic values,” he said, and he believes everyone at Notre Dame will stand in solidarity with Pence on issues like abortion rights and job security.

When asked if Estrada’s concern for her parents’ comfort wasn't valid, he said, “Right.” Neither Trump nor Pence has claimed the president will deport minority American citizens, Crane said, so as long as attendees are in the country legally, he didn’t understand why they’d have a problem with Pence’s address.

“Whatever they can take out of that speech to bring us together, that’s going to be way more valuable than having some random other person speak at our graduation,” he added.

But Jessica Pedroza, vice-president of the Student Coalition for Immigration Advocacy at Notre Dame, doesn't see the speech as a means to unify her peers.

“I think it’s already dividing the class of 2017,” she said. 

“I would have been disappointed if Trump had been invited,” she added. “I’m equally disappointed that Pence is invited because he doesn’t represent the values of Notre Dame.”

She called the vice president’s upcoming appearance “a slap in the face.”

A lesbian herself, Thomas brought up Pence's anti-LGBTQ track record. She called his policies "offensive" and said “they definitely don’t advocate for equality."

Estrada believes the Trump administration is “anti-Catholic in respect to human dignity,” and specifically targeted Pence as “anti-woman.” She cited his alleged support of conversion therapy for members of the LGBTQ community and his attempt to reject Syrian refugees in Indiana as reasons for why she saw him as unfit to stand in front of the class of 2017. A Pence spokesman has said he does not support conversion therapy.

Over four years at Notre Dame, “I’ve been taught to value human dignity, to value the love of the other, the love of the stranger,” Estrada said. “Having a commencement speaker that is diametrically opposed to everything I am and everything I stand for is very heartbreaking.”

Though Pence is the first vice president to give Notre Dame’s keynote speech, he is not a pioneer in stirring controversy on the campus.

President Barack Obama faced protests in 2009 when he received an honorary degree from the Catholic university despite his pro-choice stance. Joe Biden also faced some pushback when he was awarded the Laetare Medal in 2016, alongside former House Speaker John Boehner.

Crane, with the college Republicans, said that by presenting Biden with the Laetare Medal despite his support of LGBTQ and abortion rights, “that hurts every single person who attends Mass every single week,” including Biden, a practicing Catholic.

But Estrada said that when students protested Biden, “policies were very much at the forefront,” whereas undergraduate reactions to a Trump surrogate at commencement are driven more by personal fears.

“I think that some students on campus feel unsafe because of the rhetoric of the Trump administration, and subsequently Mike Pence,” she explained.

Pedroza agreed that comparing Pence to Democratic leaders like Obama was a false equivalency. Unlike past administrations, “Trump and Pence have run a campaign based on hate and fear against certain communities,” she said. 

“Giving Pence an honorary degree minimizes what it means, to a large body of students, to be a part of the Notre Dame community,” Pedroza added.

Because of the keynote speaker, Thomas said that, among other forms of protest, some members of the graduating class are boycotting commencement. But she will still attend to celebrate her own achievements, if not those of the vice president.

"We’ve earned it after working arduously at Notre Dame for four years,” Thomas said.

A spokesperson for Pence did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 



Photo Credit: John Minchillo/AP

Jackie's Lost Letters Reveal Heartbreak of Post-JFK Love

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A trove of letters discovered in January have provided a glimpse into a story of unrequited love between Jackie Kennedy and a British ambassador in the years after John F. Kennedy's assassination, the "Today" show reported.

Letters belonging to British aristocrat David Ormsby-Gore detailing his relationship with Jackie tell the story of his heartbreak after she rejected his marriage proposal in 1968, five years after JFK's death.

The letters are expected to fetch nearly $190,000 in an upcoming auction of items from his estate by Bonham's of London, whose proceeds will be used by his son to restore the family home.



Photo Credit: Getty
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Student Behind Muslim Internment-Style Flyers Speaks Out

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The University of California, San Diego student behind the controversial Japanese internment-style flyers calling for the removal of Muslims in San Diego County told NBC 7 that the entire incident was a big misunderstanding.

The student, who wished to remain anonymous, claimed responsibility for the posters, which follows the same formatting of Internment Notices that signaled the roundup of thousands of Japanese Americans during World War II. The posters were uncovered Wednesday night in at least two residential halls. 

The student told NBC 7 that he is Japanese-American, a key piece of context that got lost in the stunt.

His grandparents were forced to live in one of the 10 internment camps that were built because he believes not enough people voiced opposition. 

He said the flyers were in no way anti-Muslim and were intended to serve as a warning for what could happen under the new administration, noting that he wanted to start a conversation about Muslims in America.

"Actually, I do kind of find the extent to which people are angry kind of comforting, because it means they care," the student said. "And it means that history probably won't be repeated, but again, this went farther than I wanted it to."

He said most people saw the posters and had an immediate reaction, but many missed the red writing at the bottom: messages of solidarity from the Japanese.

The UCSD Triton Newspaper first alerted NBC 7 to the story. The posters caused quite a stir inside Argo Hall, a residential hall in Revelle College.

In part, the poster read: 

"All Muslim persons, both alien and non-alien, will be evacuated from the above designated area by 12:00 o'clock noon Wednesday, April 8, 2017. No Muslim person will be permitted to enter or leave the above described area after 8:00 a.m., Thursday, April 2, 2017, without obtaining special permission from the Provost Marshal at the Civil Control Station..."

Students who spoke to NBC 7 on Thursday said they were initially outraged at the flyers and the tone it took about the Japanese internment.

One student, Kalpa Semasinghe, said the poster made him feel "disgusted."

When Semasinghe read the red print at the bottom, and learned that a Japanese-American had posted the sign, he said his attitude changed. 

The President of the Muslim Student Association on campus said that he felt "a lot more calm" about the posters once he understood the creator's intention. 

"Now I understand that the person who posted it did it with good intent," Tarek Gouda, president of the Muslim Student Association said. "I do think there could have been more communication maybe with the Muslim and Japanese students on campus."

UC San Diego has a history of racial unrest. In 2010, the Compton Cookout party that mocked Black History month drew backlash and sparked protests on campus. In two other incidents in the following weeks, a noose was found hanging in a campus library and a KKK-style hood was placed on a statue outside the main campus library.

The incident comes amid a spike of hate crimes and other hate-related cases in the U.S. in recent months.

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the number of hate groups rose from 892 in 2015 to 917 in 2016. The number of anti-Muslim hate groups saw the greatest rise, increasing to 101 from 34 in 2015, according to the annual census of hate groups by the SPLC. The increase in anti-Muslim hate crimes coincided with the increase of these hate groups, the report said.

The student behind the posters said overall, he thinks the flyers were a failure, but told me one of the goals of the project was to get people fired up. 

He just did not account for how fired up they would actually be. 



Photo Credit: NBC 7

Woman With Terminal Cancer Seeks New Love for Husband

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Amy Krouse Rosenthal has a love story many only dream of, but as her story nears a heartbreaking end, she’s hoping to start the first chapter of another book for her beloved husband.

In an op-ed published in the New York Times Friday, Krouse Rosenthal revealed that her battle with ovarian cancer has left her with likely only days to live – and only a few cherished moments left with her husband and children.

“I have been married to the most extraordinary man for 26 years,” she wrote. “I was planning on at least another 26 together.”

Krouse Rosenthal had gone to the emergency room in September 2015 thinking she may have appendicitis, but she walked out with a very different diagnosis.

“So many plans instantly went poof,” she wrote. “No trip with my husband and parents to South Africa. No reason, now, to apply for the Harvard Loeb Fellowship. No dream tour of Asia with my mother. No writers’ residencies at those wonderful schools in India, Vancouver, Jakarta. No wonder the word cancer and cancel look so similar.”

Krouse Rosenthal’s love story with her husband Jason Brian Rosenthal began in 1989, when the couple was set up on a blind date in Chicago.

“By the end of dinner, I knew I wanted to marry him,” she wrote. “Jason? He knew a year later.”

But 26 years, three children and a cancer diagnosis later, Krouse Rosenthal knew her love story with Jason could soon come to an end. Her op-ed was part a tribute to their endless love, and part a plea to whoever might someday fill the void she’ll leave behind.

“I have never been on Tinder, Bumble or eHarmony, but I’m going to create a general profile for Jason right here, based on my experience of coexisting in the same house with him for, like, 9,490 days,” she wrote. “First, the basics: He is 5-foot-10, 160 pounds, with salt-and-pepper hair and hazel eyes.”

She goes on to say that Jason is a “sharp dresser,” “uncannily handy,” a good cook, a music lover, a painter, a traveler and more.

“Here is the kind of man Jason is: He showed up at our first pregnancy ultrasound with flowers,” she wrote. “This is a man who, because he is always up early, surprises me every Sunday morning by making some kind of oddball smiley face out of items near the coffeepot: a spoon, a mug, a banana. This is a man who emerges from the minimart or gas station and says, ‘Give me your palm.’ And, voilà, a colorful gumball appears. (He knows I love all the flavors but white.)”

It is at this point, Krouse Rosenthal expects women can now “swipe right” on the man she loves, adding that her husband is also “incredibly handsome.”

“I’m going to miss looking at that face of his,” she wrote.

While Krouse Rosenthal notes that she yearns for more time with her “prince” and her children, she may only have a few days left to live – and she’s not wasting them.

“So why I am doing this? I am wrapping this up on Valentine’s Day, and the most genuine, non-vase-oriented gift I can hope for is that the right person reads this, finds Jason, and another love story begins,” she wrote. “I’ll leave this intentional empty space below as a way of giving you two the fresh start you deserve.”

Several empty lines later, she ended her letter by simply writing, "With all my love, Amy."



Photo Credit: Getty Images/RooM RF

Guatemalan Man Charged with Sexually Assaulting Toddler

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Stamford police have arrested a Guatemalan man in the country illegally who is accused of sexually assaulting a toddler, according to police.

According to police, Douglas Hus-Flores, 19, was arrested and charged with first-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor.

The investigation began when the toddler was taken to Stamford Hospital after complaining of pain to her mother. The child was bleeding and had unspecified injuries.

Police said that doctors determined the injuries were likely caused by sexual assault. The child was taken to Yale-New Haven Hospital for further treatment.

An immigration detainer was placed on Hus-Flores and he is being held on a $250,000 bond. He was arraigned Thursday and is next scheduled to appear in court on April 4.



Photo Credit: Stamford Police Department

Darien Liquor Store Burglarized Three Times Since December

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Darien police are investigating after a local liquor store suffered its third burglary since December.

Frate’s Wines & Liquors at 1937 Post Road has been burglarized multiple times in the past few months, police said.

Police said the same person is suspected in all three crimes. The most recent incident happened on Feb. 21 around 3:45 a.m.

The suspect entered the business by smashing the front window with a rock. The suspect takes cash drawers from the register then flees the scene.

The suspect is described as male with a heavy build, large nose and rough facial features in his late 30s to middle 40s. He was driving a dark-colored sedan with what appear to be dark alloy rims on surveillance video.

Anyone with information is asked to call Darien police at 203-662-5330.



Photo Credit: Darien Police Department

Man Charged After Abandoning Dog in East Haven: Police

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East Haven police have arrested a man accused of abandoning a dog next to a dumpster near a local apartment complex.

On Jan. 10 police were called to investigate after a dog was found in a crate by the Breezewood Condominiums at 130 Coe Avenue. The animal was left without food water or any protection from the elements, police said.

Authorities posted photos of the dog and were contacted by someone who recognized the animal and identified him as “Menace.”

Police said when they located Menace’s owner, 28-year-old Michael Giano, of Branford, he admitted to abandoning Menace at the apartment complex. He said he left Menace because the dog was too aggressive.

Giano was charged with cruelty to animals, failure to vaccinate and failure to comply with ownership requirements. He is scheduled to appear in court on March 17.

The East Haven Animal Control officer said that Menace would have been accepted at the animal shelter if Giano had wanted to surrender him, no questions asked. Menace remains at the shelter and is undergoing training in the hopes that he will one day be adoptable.



Photo Credit: East Haven Police Department
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1 Dead After Car Plunges Into Thames River in Groton

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Emergency crews pulled a body from a car that plunged into the Thames River in Groton on Friday.

It happened at 169 Thames Street, which is behind Puffins restaurant.

The U.S. Coast Guard responded to the scene, along with dive teams and emergency crews from Groton, Mystic, and security from Electric Boat.

The person who died has not yet been identified.



Photo Credit: NBC Connecticut

Bar's Liquor License Suspended After Woman Falls off Roof

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The Angry Bull Saloon in Hartford has voluntarily suspended their liquor license amid an investigation into the untimely death of a Central Connecticut State University student who fell from the building’s roof after visiting the bar, according to the Department of Consumer Protection.

DCP officials said the owner of the bar voluntarily surrended the license for suspension after a meeting with the agency.

Angry Bull’s permit is suspended until March 24. In that time period DCP and Hartford police will investigate security measures and policies at the business. The bar will be closed to the public during that time.

Hartford police said 18-year-old Taylor Lavoie was a patron of the bar before she fell four stories from the roof of the building to her death shortly after midnight on Friday. Police are looking into whether or not alcohol was a factor in her death and await further information from the Chief Medical Examiner.

Police said Lavoie accessed the roof of the building through the bar.

The State Liquor Commission became involved in the investigation because Lavoie was underage.

Hartford police said the commission had officers at the bar earlier in the week to investigate other issues. Police said the owner of the bar has been cooperative with both investigations. 

Wilton Police Investigate Connected Bank Robberies

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Wilton Police Department has an ongoing investigation for two bank robberies that may be linked to the same suspect.

On Feb. 22, a male described as 5’10” and in his 20s with a duffle bag approached the main door of People’s United Bank in Southport, police said.

Police said that the male, who was wearing a face mask with gloves, yelled to an employee who had just locked the door. After the employee told the male that the bank was closed, he fled the scene and headed southbound in a green 1997 Honda Accord with the license 477 ZVD.

 

The vehicle was purchased in Stratford on Feb. 21 for $380, after it was listed on Letgo, police said. A Stamford address was written on the bill of sale.

Police interviewed the seller of the Honda, who described that the person who purchased the vehicle was a male with a thin build who in his 20s and has braids in his hair. The seller said that one of the men texted him stating that he was coming from Wilton and had a young son whose grandmother was supposedly asked to watch the son during that time, police stated. It is unclear if this person is connected to the robbery.

On Feb. 24, the suspect who appeared in Southport also robbed Fairfield County Bank, operating the same green Honda with Connecticut license plates. The vehicle was recovered a short distance away through a rear access road.

Wilton Police Department asks that anyone with information please contact Det. Kip Tarrant at Kip.Tarrant@WILTONCT.org or (203) 834-6260 or Det. Bernie Kelley at the Fairfield Police Department bkelley@fairfieldct.org or (203) 254-4840.



Photo Credit: Wilton Police Department
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State Police Pursue Suspect Through Multiple Towns

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Connecticut State police have arrested a suspect accused of leading troopers on a pursuit through several towns while driving a stolen vehicle.

According to police, Peter Smith, 45, was driving a vehicle that was reported stolen out of Norwich. When troopers tried to stop the vehicle, Smith took off, driving state roads for 26 miles through Colchester, Marlborough, Hebron then back into Colchester.

Troopers eventually surrounded the vehicle, at which point Smith rammed two cruisers, police said. He was eventually stopped on Route 354 south near the Salem town line.

No injuries were reported and the damage to the cruisers was minor, police said.

Smith faces multiple charges including first-degree larceny, interfering with an officer, assault on public safety personnel, drinking while operating vehicle, reckless endangerment, criminal mischief. He was held on a $100,000 bond.

Smith is also a suspect in a Norwich robbery and Norwich police have their own charges pending.



Photo Credit: NBC Connecticut
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