Tag Archives: Ohio

Curbs on excessive force proposed for Cleveland police

Police officer at Republican convention

By Kim Palmer

CLEVELAND (Reuters) – Cleveland police would face new limits on the use of force under proposals issued on Thursday by a group charged with monitoring the city’s police department, after a U.S. Justice Department report highlighted abuses by some of its officers.

The report came just weeks after Tamir Rice, aged 12, was shot and killed by a rookie Cleveland police officer in November 2014, triggering national outrage over another case involving a young African-American who died at the hands of police.

Rice was shot after a 911 caller reported someone waving a gun outside a city recreation center. Investigators later determined he had been in possession of a replica-type gun that shot pellets, not bullets.

Changes proposed by the Cleveland Police Monitoring Team – a group of 17 national experts and community activists – include a requirement that officers use de-escalation tactics before resorting to force, such as creating distance from the threat involved.

Officers would also be required to provide medical aid, rather than just request aid, for anyone injured after the use of force. Cleveland officers were roundly criticized for waiting eight minutes before providing first aid to the wounded Rice, who died a day after he was shot.

Cleveland police did not carry first-aid kits at the time of Rice’s death, a policy that has changed since then.

Officers would also be barred from using chokeholds or force against suspects already handcuffed under the monitoring team’s proposals, and prohibited from putting themselves in harm’s way in a manner that might then require the use of deadly force.

A Cleveland police officer who was in the path of an oncoming vehicle, after a high-speed car chase in 2013, shot the first in a barrage of 137 rounds fired by 13 officers that killed the man and woman in the car.

The proposals from the Cleveland Police Monitoring Team are still subject to public comment this month. If approved by a judge and federal officials, they would take effect sometime early next year, according to Matthew Barge, the oversight consent decree monitor.

(Reporting by Kim Palmer; Editing by Ben Klayman and Tom Brown)

New Black Panther Party says to carry arms in Cleveland if legal

Demonstrator and member of New Black Panthers Party

By Ned Parker

(Reuters) – The New Black Panther Party, a “black power” movement, will carry firearms for self-defense during demonstrations in Cleveland ahead of next week’s Republican convention if allowed under Ohio law, the group’s chairman said.

The plan by the group could add to security headaches for the Ohio city after last week’s killing of five police officers in Dallas by a U.S. army veteran who had been drawn to black separatist ideology, including on Facebook, before hatching his plan to target white police officers.

Several other groups, including some supporters of presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, have said they will carry weapons in Cleveland, leading to concerns about rival groups being armed in close proximity.

“If it is an open state to carry, we will exercise our second amendment rights because there are other groups threatening to be there that are threatening to do harm to us,” Hashim Nzinga, chairman of the New Black Panther Party, told Reuters in an interview.

“If that state allows us to bear arms, the Panthers and the others who can legally bear arms will bear arms.”

Nzinga condemned the Dallas shootings as a “massacre” and said his group played no role in the attack.

Police in Dallas, where Texas’s “open carry” law allows civilians to carry guns in public, said seeing multiple people carrying rifles led them initially to believe they were under attack by multiple shooters.

Officials in Ohio have said it will be legal for protesters to carry weapons at demonstrations outside the convention under that state’s gun laws.

Eric Pucillo, vice president of Ohio Carry Inc., a non-partisan firearms rights, education and advocacy group, said he supports the rights of others to carry firearms close to the convention site.

“As long as they’re abiding by the law, I see no issue with it,” he said.

“VIRULENTLY RACIST”

Nzinga said he expected “a couple hundred” members of the New Black Panther Party to join a black unity rally that is scheduled to begin on Thursday. Nzinga said he and the Panthers plan to leave Cleveland on Sunday, the day before the convention officially opens.

His group plans to join a “black unity” convention in Cleveland that will hold a series of protest events in the city from this Thursday through at least Sunday.

“We are there to protect… (the black unity) event. We are not trying to do anything else,” he said. “We are going to carry out some of  these great legal rights we have — to assemble, to protest and (to exercise) freedom of speech.”

“Black Power” groups promote defense against racial oppression, with some advocating for the establishment of black social institutions and a self-sufficient economy.

The New Black Panther Party became active in 1990 and has long espoused black separatist ideology. Founding members of the 1960s Black Panther Party have denounced the New Black Panther Party as racist, but Nzinga says his movement does include original Black Panther members.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, a hate group watchdog, describes the New Black Panther Party as “a virulently racist and anti-Semitic organization whose leaders have encouraged violence against whites, Jews and law enforcement officers.”

But the center said the group has not been found to have actually carried out any violent attacks.

Nzinga complained that his group is regularly demonized. “When we use our rights, the police want to take it away from us and they can’t,” he said. “We protect our community and they make us the villain.”

Law enforcement officials say the New Black Panther Party and other black militant groups have not been implicated in any attacks against police since the 2014 police killing of an unarmed black teenager in Ferguson, Missouri. They also say the groups played no roles in last week’s attack in Dallas.

Nzinga says his group has grown amid racial tensions in the wake of a series of police killings of black men in the past two years. The Southern Poverty Law Center says the number of black militant chapters around the country grew from 113 to 180 in 2015.

The center says there are 892 hate groups total nationwide and at least 998, anti-government “patriot groups.” It says white hate groups, such as the Aryan Brotherhood, have a much longer track record of carrying out violent attacks than black extremist groups.

(Reporting By Ned Parker; additional reporting by Daniel Trotta.; Editing by David Rohde and Stuart Grudgings)

Brother of Ohio pastor shot dead during service charged with murder

CLEVELAND (Reuters) – The brother of an Ohio pastor shot and killed during a Sunday church service has been charged with aggravated murder and felonious assault, prosecutors said on Tuesday.

Daniel Gregory Schooler, 68, was charged in the death of Reverend William B. Schooler, 70, at St. Peter’s Missionary Baptist Church in Dayton, the Montgomery County prosecutor’s office said. He faces a possible sentence of life without parole if convicted.

Dayton police said they did not know the motive for the shooting, which they said occurred inside a church office during the service.

Schooler was charged with one count of aggravated murder, two counts of murder and felonious assault and with having weapons while under disability, said Greg Flannagan, a spokesman for the prosecutor’s office.

Schooler has previously been convicted twice of felonious assault with a deadly weapon, Flannagan said. He is in custody at the Montgomery County Jail in downtown Dayton.

Flannagan said the case would be presented to the Montgomery County grand jury at a future date.

(Reporting by Kim Palmer, Editing by Ben Klayman)

Four students wounded in shooting at Ohio high school

(Reuters) – Four students were wounded on Monday after a shooting at a high school in southwest Ohio, and one suspect was in custody, according to officials.

Details were not immediately available, but two students at Madison Jr/Sr High School in the city of Middletown were shot and taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries, school district and Butler County sheriff’s officials said on Twitter.

Two more students were hurt, but sheriff’s officials said it was unclear how. Local media reports said they were wounded by shrapnel.

The shooting suspect is a 14-year-old student, who ran from the scene and was caught, sheriff’s officials said. Officials did not identify the student, but local reports said that an eighth grader had brought a gun to school.

“All students are safe at this time,” the district said on its website and on Facebook. Local schools were placed on lockdown and students were dismissed early.

Middletown, Ohio is located about 23 miles southwest of Dayton and 38 miles north of Cincinnati.

(Reporting by Suzannah Gonzales and Justin Madden; Editing by Bernadette Baum)

Ohio pastor fatally shot during church services, brother a suspect

(Reuters) – An Ohio pastor was shot and killed as he was conducting church services on Sunday morning, with the suspected gunman being his brother, police said.

The pastor, identified by the Montgomery County Coroner Office as William Schooler, 70, was leading services when he was shot, said Dayton police Sergeant Mike Williams.

Dispatch reports show the shooter was believed to be Schooler’s brother, Williams said.

Local NBC affiliate WCMH-TV reported that witnesses said Schooler was headed back to the pulpit after stepping aside while the choir sang, when his brother followed him and shot him.

The television station reported that the brother, Daniel Schooler, 68, was arrested at the scene.

Reuters was not immediately able to confirm the arrest of Schooler. Williams said police were not yet releasing additional details of the incident.

The Montgomery County Coroner Office said William Schooler was pronounced dead on Sunday afternoon and that an autopsy would be conducted on Monday.

(Reporting by Sharon Bernstein in Sacramento, Calif.; Editing by Peter Cooney)

Man Says Power of Prayer Saved Him During Robbery

It’s all in the power of prayer.

That’s the statement of 21-year-old Shaquille Hairston after an attempted robbery turned into something remarkable.

Hairston had just finished his shift at a Cleveland hotel when he stepped off a bus at 3 a.m. near the border of Cleveland and Euclid.  A man was waiting in the dark for him just past the bus stop.

“He stopped me. He said ‘Aye bruh’ and I turned around and he pulled out a gun and said ‘gimme everything you got,” Hairston told Fox 8 Cleveland he told the robber.  “I told him, I was like, I don’t have anything. I really don’t have anything and he took the gun; he swung and he hit me in my head really hard and I had a bump right here on my head.”

Hairston said he began to pray out loud as he handed over his wallet and phone.  He believed that if this was his last moment on Earth, he wanted to go out praising God and wake up with Him in heaven.

Then he prayed for the robber.  And the robber’s family.

Then he invited the robber to church.

The robber, shaken by Hairston’s faith, apologized for robbing him and gave back the wallet and cell phone.

“He said ‘man, you’re like really blessed’ and I said ‘no, you’re blessed’ and I said ‘I’ll be praying for you and your family; and then he was like ‘ok’ and he shook my hand and he went about his way,” Hairston said.

Hairston is praying the robber will come to church.

Cleveland Browns Sign Youngest Player in NFL History

The average age of an NFL player took a huge dip on Tuesday when the Cleveland Browns signed 9-year-old Dylan Sutcliffe to a one-day contract.

“We’re excited to add another quality player to our roster as we prepare for the 2015 season,” said General Manager Ray Farmer. “When we first connected with Dylan, it was clear he was a competitor who had all of the right attributes to be a contributor to our team.”

“Dylan is definitely a young man who has all of the ‘Play Like a Brown’ traits, particularly through his passion, toughness and relentlessness.” said Head Coach Mike Pettine. “We look forward to seeing him bring that energy to practice this afternoon.”

Dylan was receiving a gift from the Make-A-Wish foundation.  Dylan has ataxia telangiectasia (A-T), a immunodeficiency disease that impacts a number of different organs.  His brother Sean also has the disease.

“Day-to-day, they just require a lot more attention,” said Dylan’s father, Derek. “Helping them eat, helping them get dressed, helping them go to the bathroom. Anytime they have to get up out of a chair and walk somewhere.”

The team brought Dylan to their practice complex in a limo, gave him a tour of the facility and a locker with his own #7 jersey.  No player on the team this season wears #7 so he’ll be a unique member of the club.

Dylan’s favorite player is defensive lineman Phil Taylor, who took Dylan under his wing during practice.  At the end of the day, Taylor lifted Dylan from his wheelchair and held him in the air while the team gathered around and did the Browns cheer.

Muslim Schoolgirl Who Found Jesus Risked Life To Read Bible

While most 12-year-olds were worried about social structures at school, their social media presence or just the awkwardness of becoming a teenager, Rifqa Bary was living in constant fear.

Because this young Muslim girl had found Jesus.

Bary moved to America when she was 8-years-old from Sri Lanka after two tragic incidents.  The first, she was blinded in one eye accidentally by her brother.  The second, she was intimately abused by a family member.  Eventually, the family made their way to Ohio.

She said that she was immediately faced with a life of shame because in Muslim culture victims are shamed.

“In our culture in America, when someone is abused it is the one that is abusing that is punished and there are consequences. Yet, in my Islamic culture, the victim is the one where the shame is put on them,” Bary explained. “I use this quote, I was half seen as a ‘blind picture of imperfection.’ So in my family, they were really serious about maintaining our family image, and so we moved completely to run from the shame that could potentially harm our family.”

She said she was considering ending her life.

Then a friend at school introduced her to Christianity and invited her to church.  She discovered Jesus and the true meaning of love.

But she had to hide her new faith in Christ.

“… When my parents would go to sleep I would stay up in the bathroom and read, and so there was a serious feeling of threat that I felt,” she shared.

But it didn’t stop her going deeper into Jesus.

“It was love,” said Bary. “That is the distinction that I can see even today, years later. In Islam, from what I experienced, there was fear and a lot of anger. You obey Allah because you are afraid of being punished. And as a Christian we obey because we love God.”

“I would do it all again because it has made me who I am and I have a greater sense of compassion,” she said. “… I love my family and I desperately want them to see and experience the freedom and mercy I have found in Jesus, and I forgive them.”

Ex-Boxing Champion’s Mansion To Become Church

At one point, it was a spectacle of boxing trophies, lavish parties and even a few tigers roaming around the ground.

Now, the former mansion of legendary boxer Mike Tyson is being turned into a church after the landowner who bought the mansion at auction donated it to a local church.

The building in Southington, Ohio was built with gold-plated furnishings and even a jacuzzi room with mirrored ceilings.  The mansion still has many of the extravagant touches but has been abandoned since the boxer went bankrupt and was forced to sell almost all of his possessions.

The mansion was given to Living Word Sanctuary that plans to have the building converted to a ministry center by the end of the year.  They’ve even invited Mike Tyson to come and attend the first service in the building when it’s ready to go.

“How we stumbled upon the place was really God’s grace because we had no intentions of looking…,”said Pastor Nick Dejacimo of Living Word.  The church plans to have Vacation Bible Schools and nature events at the grounds along with weekly worship services and Bible studies.

The church is currently meeting inside a YMCA in Warren, Ohio.

Botulism Outbreak at Church Potluck Leaves One Dead

One person is dead and over 20 sickened after an outbreak of botulism at a Lancaster, Ohio church’s potluck dinner.

The Ohio Department of Health confirmed that each of the victims of the botulism had attended the potluck.

Fairfield Medical Center identified the first case of botulism on Tuesday morning and had several cases soon follow the initial patient.  Most of the sick are middle-aged but there were no details released about the person who died from the illness.

Pastor Bill Pitts of Cross Pointe Free Will Baptist church said the potluck was aimed at building fellowship among members.  The church provided meat and drink and everyone in attendance was encouraged to bring a covered side dish.

“Our main emphasis, right now, is for everyone to pray,” he said. “These are people that we love and work with. [I’m] just calling out for a lot of people to pray for them if they would.”

Hospital officials say at least five victims are being treated by intensive care units.

Botulism is caused by a nerve toxin produced by certain bacteria.  The disease is rare but very life threatening.