By RADHIKA VISWANATHAN

It’s not everyday you see people wearing orange jumpsuits lining the walls of Grand Central Station’s main terminal. It’s even more rare to hear them singing in chorus.

On Thursday afternoon, protesters from human’s rights organizations such as Amnesty International, Witness Against Torture, World Can’t Wait donned faux prison apparel in opposition to President Trump’s executive order to keep the controversial prison open.

“A lot of people were brought [to Guantánamo Bay] who were innocent of any wrongdoing or hostility towards the United States,” said Jeremy Varon, a member of Witness Against Torture and one of the organizers of the protest. “The government claims the right to indefinitely detain people without charge or trial, which we think is illegal and unconstitutional.”

Trump referred to his executive order during his State of the Union speech on Tuesday night, in which he said Defense Secretary James Mattis would “re-examine our military detention policy and to keep open the detention facilities in Guantánamo Bay.”

Several human’s rights organizations have condemned this decision, and most notably, the Center for Constitutional Rights has issued a lawsuit against the policy. The arguments against keeping the prison open are two-fold: that there is no administrative process by which prisoners can be released or given their due process, and that the decision is based in unconstitutional prejudice and racism.

“Trump’s policy is rooted in racism and Islamophobia, much like the Muslim Ban,” Varon said. “This is a cheap and cynical way to look like a tough guy while running roughshod over the rule of law.”

The primary purpose of the protest was to bring awareness of the human’s rights abuses happening at the prison. Currently, 41 men are imprisoned, 26 of whom have not been charged nor had a trial. In addition, five of the prisoners have already been cleared for release by the US government.

“In the case of Guantánamo, most people don’t even know what’s happening there,” said Stephanie Rugoff part of the organization World Can’t Wait. “Most people in this country really do not like Trump, do not like his policies. I think if we can continue to get huge numbers out, like the women’s march, we could create policy change. That’s my optimism.”

As the protesters marched around the station, they were mostly ignored and derided, eliciting several “Boos” and “F- you’s!” from commuters who had to maneuver around the crowd. One onlooker approached a protester, called her a vulgar name and said, “I’m proud to be a white man.”

Another bystander rolled her eyes, saying, “Yeah, just let all the terrorists out.”

Varon said that Gitmo was not necessary for national security, as many believe. “Credible terror suspects can be effectively held in federal prisons and tried by normal processes,” he said. “The majority of men who have been held there have been guilty of nothing. Feel ashamed that your country tortured innocent people.”

As the protesters walked through the various terminals, their voices rang in unified song: “We’re gonna build a nation that don’t torture no one. But it’s gonna take courage for that change to come.”

Photo by Radhika Viswanathan

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By DYLAN CAMPBELL

A South Carolina mother of two was sentenced on Thursday to time served of just one day for making false statements to acquire firearms as a link in a gun trafficking chain that a prosecutor said could be connected to the death of a New York City police officer.

Alexis Morris, 35, was one of eight persons indicted in Brooklyn Supreme Court as participants in a gun trafficking system bringing weapons from South Carolina to New York, a route nicknamed “the Iron Pipeline” for the number of guns transported along the route. Morris bought her gun in Morris, South Carolina, the same town that, according to the prosecutor, a gun that killed a police officer was traced to.

“What you did wasn’t severe. It was extremely severe because you enabled Mr. Clark and Mr. Grant to bring guns into New York,” said Judge Pamela K. Chen, referring to Morris’s co-defendants. “Those guns ended up in the hands of gang members.”

Curtis Clark, 22, was sentenced to 45 months, almost 4 years, for unlawful transport and sold guns to the “Brooklyn Customer,” according to court documents.  Jonathan Grant, 22, was sentenced to 3 years for recruiting six women to buy guns for Clark.

The sentencing came after Morris plead guilty and accepted a plea deal, reducing her total offense level. She faced the judge, shaking after being flown in from South Carolina. When the judge asked if she was ok, Morris said she was still nervous after her first flight.

The defendant expressed contrition.

“I would like to say I apologize for being up caught up in all this,” Morris said when asked if she had comment. “Honestly, it was just being a follower.”

The judge pressed her to consider the consequences of what she did. When the judge asked how the event has changed her she said, “It just made me want to do better. To be to myself. Not to be a follower.”

Judge Chen said that despite the seriousness of the crime, the defendant’s clean record before this event, her having children to care for and her “minor or minimal role” in the gun trafficking scheme played a role in her decision.

“Try to stay out of trouble and take care of your family,” said the judge.

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By KURTIS RATTAY

Manhattan Judge Ellen Biben sentenced inmate Tommy Davis to eight years in state prison and five years of probation on Thursday for his role in a conspiracy to smuggle drugs, cellphones and tools into the Manhattan Detention Complex with the help of relatives and a correctional officer.

Wearing the standard tan jumpsuit, tight-fitted brown kufi CAP and handcuffs, Davis seemed unfazed by the eight-year sentence. In addition to the sentence, he received a concurrent three-and-a-half years for promoting prison contraband.

Davis, correction officer Patricia Howard, Davis’s sister Velver Jean Davis and niece Khalilah Mattocks conspired to smuggle cocaine, marijuana, lighters, pliers and tobacco into the Lower Manhattan facility, said the DA’s office.

Davis—who was jailed for attempted murder—would fill requests for contraband from fellow inmates, said Manhattan DA Cyrus R. Vance, Jr..

“Officer Howard, who maintained unfettered access throughout the facility, would then smuggle the goods inside to Tommy Davis for distribution into the MDC,” Vance said. “The inmates on the inside would collect their drugs and contraband often at several times their street value. While one buys a packet of cigarettes for $12 today on the street, it would cost $100 in the facility.”

The arrest and indictments were the result of a months-long investigation by the Manhattan DA’s  Public Corruption Unit and the Department of Investigation.

This criminal indictment “further demonstrates the very real dangers created when corrupt correction officers join league with the inmates they are guarding,” said DOI Commissioner Mark Peters. “The correction officers who choose to engage in this illegal conduct are a driving force in sophisticated, underground contraband rings, and they compromise the safety of their colleagues and the jail system.”

Posing as Davis’s associate, an undercover investigator requested a package containing contraband including cellphones be delivered to the detention facility. The investigator used the Find-My-iPhone feature to track the package from Mattocks to Howard to the jail where Howard was arrested. The investigation also used court-authorized wiretaps.

Howard—who had nearly 20 years of experience in corrections—was arrested with a red shopping bag holding nine grams of cocaine, three ounces of marijuana, four cellphones and other illegal contraband. She received a fee of $500 to $1,000 for every delivery of contraband, said prosecutors.

Following the investigation, sweeps of the Manhattan Detention Complex turned up 25 grams of marijuana, a scale, a cellphone hidden in a light fixture and a rope made of 64 bedsheets. Three other prisoners were charged with contraband possession. Patricia Howard’s badge and $800. It is from a DA’s press conference announcing the smuggling charges on 6-18-15.

Photo shows Howard’s badge and $800.

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By JASMINE PERALTA & RYAN THAXTON

Rosedale Queens resident Mercedez Diaz found some unexpected visitors in her front yard Thursday morning after one police officer shot at a pair of pit bulls, injuring one, and followed them to Diaz’s address. 

This occurred when police responded to a 911 call of two loose dogs attacking a man just outside of Brookville Park around 6 a.m.. Upon exiting the patrol car on Brookville Blvd. both dogs charged one of two officers, whose names were not released.

One officer fired a round at the dogs, hitting one in the leg. A blood trail could be seen where the hit dog then ran across Brookville Boulevard. and down 145 Ave., stopping in front of Diaz’s house. 

“There was blood everywhere,” said Diaz, who described the stench of the blood as “overwhelming” as she hosed down the pavement. She recalled hearing the shot as she was getting ready to go to work before daybreak. “I looked out my window and saw a police officer with a flashlight and then I saw whimpering in front of my house full of blood.”

The two dogs were taken in by Animal Care Centers of NYC where the wounded dog was expected to recover. All that was left of the incident was the blood splatter and Diaz using one and a half gallons of Lysol to wash it away.

Authorities were not immediately able to identify the dogs’ owner.

The homeowner who first reported the two dogs was not available for comment.

Photo of Ms. Diaz cleaning blood stains by Jasmine Peralta

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By BRIAN MORENO

The Association of Legal Aid Attorneys and other advocacy groups on Thursday urged the Office of Court Administration and Chief Judge Janet DiFlore to ban Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from collaborating with New York Court staff or entering court property.

The rally was promoted after a rise of ICE presence in courthouses throughout in New York City in the last year, especially in Brooklyn.

A specific incident occurred last week when ICE agents in Brooklyn Criminal Court arrested Genaro Rojas Hernandez, an undocumented immigrant and a client of Legal Aid Society. Attorneys associated with Legal Aid Society stormed out of the courthouse in protest against the presence of ICE agents in the courts.

“We hope to raise awareness around the fact, ICE, are taking community members from court,” said Legal Aid attorney Rage Kidvai. “The community members we’ve seen taken are without criminal records, trying to fight their case, fighting allegations against them. This practice actually makes [immigrants] neighborhoods and community unsafe.”

ICE’s policies do not consider courthouse to be sensitive locations.

Many undocumented immigrants who are victims of violence and hate crimes, witnesses of a crime,  accused of crimes, etcetera, shun courthouses because they fear the presence of ICE and possible deportation.

“We cannot allow this president and his agents to disrupt the judicial system, a key pillar to our democracy, said Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito of the New York City Council. “Discouraging folks going to court to seek justice greatly undermines our public safety.”

Photo by Brian Moreno

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By TATYANA BELLAMY-WALKER

Two-time Olympic Silver Medalist, Hilary Knight says she isn’t worried about Russia’s exit from this year’s winter olympics — for Team Visa she says, it brings them closer to taking home a win for the states.  

“I’m just focused on the U.S. and what we can do to bring back the gold medal to the United States,” the ice hockey star told the Brooklyn News Service. “It’s interesting as a competitor. I just want to go out there and compete.”

Just days after the International Olympics Committee (IOC) banned Russia from the 2018 winter Olympics in South Korea for a state-backed doping program, some of Team Visa’s top athletes gathered at Root NYC in the Flatiron District, for a panel about wearable payment devices including pins and stickers.  

The five Team Visa sponsored athletes included the Nigerian Women’s bobsled team, who “broke the internet” with their GoFundMe account to raise money for the journey to South Korea,  and USA skiing team member Maggie Voisin.

Akuoma Omeoga, a brakemen for the bobsled team dodged questions related to Russia but said, “It’s always important to shed light on Nigeria and the continent of Africa.”

Omeoga added, “Visa swept us under their wing. The financial backing along with the familial support has been outstanding.”

Team Visa will head to the 2018 Winter Olympics Games on February 9.

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By MARLENE GOMEZ & JAMIE DELIZ

Puerto Rico isn’t getting the continued help it needs from FEMA and the Mayor of San Juan isn’t backing down!

This determination was crystal clear as San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz-Soto visited Brooklyn College Thursday to boost awareness and aid to the Caribbean island following the recent devastation caused by Hurricane Maria.

The mayor said she recently received word that as of December 15, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Army Reservists would “pull out” of Puerto Rico because the island was in the “process of stabilization” 10 weeks after the hurricane hit.

FEMA reportedly has provided more than $230 million to assist families and $464 million for rebuilding infrastructures. Yet, Puerto Rico’s debt exceeds $70 billion, which may take years to recover and pay off.

Cruz who walked around at times holding back tears as she spoke about the state of the island, advocated that the debt be cleared. “What you knew before was no more.” Cruz said. “This was about saving lives, nothing else.” She added, “You cannot rebuild, you have to transform.”

Earlier Cruz had said that about 166.4 million pounds of trash was picked up in San Juan, which includes the 87.7 million pounds of debris and vegetation.

In San Juan, also according to Cruz, 218,778 out of 350,000 people were fed with the the help of The Hispanic Federation, providing some 217,000 pounds of food.

While improvements are being made, some Puerto Ricans are still living in the dark.

“As of today, about 90 percent of the people have water,” said Cruz. “Those that do not have water, don’t have water because there’s no electricity. There’s about 50-60 percent of generation of electricity, which does not mean that people have power at their homes. It means that electricity’s been generated, that we have a renewed capacity, but it does not mean that it’s being distributed.”

Most of the hospitals in Puerto Rico are still running on generators, but it can not withstand “weeks and weeks and weeks of 24 hours a day,” said Cruz. In most cases, many doctors have to operate using the light from their cellular phones, while also having to pump, by hand, the “lungs of their patients.”

Also present was New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, a native of Puerto Rico who has visited the island three times since Hurricane Maria hit. Her mother still resides there.

“I come here to also challenge each and every one of us, that we make a long-term commitment to the future of Puerto Rico,” said Mark-Viverito. “Our ability to organize, and push back,  and demand that this government and this administration  do what is right by Puerto Rico, because this administration and this country owes a lot to Puerto Rico.”

The San Juan mayor walked around with students relating ideas of how they could help the island. Then she ate a Nathan’s hot dog on a campus bench, saying she had been eating Spam for weeks.

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By AHMED JALLOW

In a case that Turkish president Reccip Tayyip Erdogan has condemned as a continuation of a coup attempt against him that took place last year, the key witness, Reza Zarrab, in Manhattan Federal Court testimony on Thursday, said Erdogan personally ordered two banks to participate in the elaborate scheme that helped Iran evade U.S sanctions.

Zarrab, 34, a Turkish-Iranian gold trader, is cooperating with U.S. prosecutors as part of a plea deal for taking part in a billion-dollar scheme to evade the sanctions.

The allegations about Erdogan, though brief, revealed the extent to which the Turkish president himself was involved in the scheme and marked the first time he has been implicated.

Zarrab testified that in 2012, a senior Turkish official told him that Erdogan— who was prime minster at the time— and another official, the treasury minister, had given orders for the two banks “to start doing this trade.”

This information, Zarrab testified, was relayed to him by then-economic minister, Zafer Caglayan, who said Erdogan directed Ziraat Bank and VakifBank, to take part in the scheme.

Zarrab also testified that he had paid bribes to the general manager of Halkbank, Sulayman Aslan —whom he said was a major player in the scheme— but had never bribed the defendant, Mehmet Hakam Atilla, the deputy manager of Halkbank.

The trial is putting a further dent into an already strained relationship between the the U.S and Turkey.

In September, Turkish president Erdogan, who had deemed the investigation “as a step against the Turkish Republic,” raised the matter with President Trump.

Erdogan reportedly gave a statement on Thursday before Zarrab’s testimony saying, “We did not breach the sanctions.”

“Whatever the verdict is, we did the right thing,” he said at a closed meeting with his deputies, according to reports. “We have never made commitments to the U.S. on our energy ties with Iran.”

“The world is not only about the U.S.,” he said. We also have a trade and energy relations with Iran.”

Both the defendant, Atilla, and Zarrab dressed in civilian clothes on Thursday after Judge Richard M. Berman gave them permission to do so —they had been in prison suits the previous day.

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