Daily Archives: September 5, 2023

By Becca Tucker

The animals seized from Noahs Park in Goshen, N.Y., nearly a year ago are missing despite an overdue judges order that they be returned.

They havent showed up, Rebecca Vives, co-owner of the embattled animal sanctuary, said Aug. 15. I dont even know where they are.

The case against the Noahs Park owners is closed. The court dismissed the criminal animal neglect charges against Diana McGowan on July 17, granting the defendants motion to dismiss based on numerous problems with the investigation and ensuing trial process.

Vives case previously had been dismissed for failure to provide a speedy trial.

Three weeks later, Vives and Diana McGowan, the other co-owner, had not heard a thing.

The dozens of animals impounded from the 7.3-acre property include miniature horses and a donkey, pigs, sheep, chickens, ducks, peacocks, a Sebastopol goose and guinea hens. Vives and McGowan each received a ticket on the day of the confiscation charging failure to provide food and water.

The whole thing has been extremely confusing, said Vives, 83. We dont have any animals to show, and thats ruining it because this is how we made our living.

Equally in the dark is the person who is supposed to be rounding up the animals, Eugene Hecht, the Hudson Valley SPCAs humane law enforcement chief.

I know nothing about it, he said. I didnt get any letter or anything else. As far as I know, neither did the SPCA. They would have called me.

We dont even have their animals, he added.

Stephen Mullkoff, the lawyer representing the Noahs Park owners pro bono, said, They can say they know nothing about it all they want, but I paid for a process server to go out there and hand-deliver it to them.

I think what is really going on is they dont have the animals, he said. Well find out soon enough.

The judges July 25 order was delivered by hand to the kennel manager, Matt, at the Hudson Valley SPCA in New Windsor on July 31 in the afternoon, according to a notarized affidavit of service from Jason Westrick of Orange Paper Placers, a licensed process server in Goshen. (Matt refused to give his last name, per the affidavit.)

I dont know who they think they are that they can defy an order from a judge, Mullkoff said. Ive been admitted (to the bar) over two decades; Ive never seen where someone just deliberately defies a judges order.

Hecht maintained that he never saw the subpoena and declined this reporters offer to scan the judges order and email it to him.

Ill get it from the D.A., Ill get it from whoever, he said.

The Hudson Valley Humane Society - the nonprofit with whom Hecht is affiliated and acts as secretary, according to IRS filings - referred the matter back to Hecht.

Thats really nothing to do with us, said the woman who answered the phone at the humane society.

Thats a humane law enforcement case, she said, confirming that Hecht was the person to call. The SPCA did not respond to an emailed request for comment.

The Hudson Valley SPCA did not respond to an emailed request for comment by press time.

Hecht, 81, requested the search warrant and seizure order last year after he investigated Noahs Park based on an anonymous tip. Accompanied by Goshen Town Police, he spearheaded the confiscation of dozens of animals on a Sunday morning in September, and his signature is on the ticket issued to each of the women that day.

Hecht created his position years ago, seeing a need while doing volunteer work for the Hudson Valley Humane Society, he said.

He carries a gun in the line of duty and in certain cases involving animal welfare, he has more power than the police, he said.

Hecht has an old felony conviction for vehicle fraud and declined to discuss how he is paid.

They never keep us or any other law enforcement agency posted on whats going on unless they need us for some reason or have a question, he said, referring to the Orange County District Attorneys office, to whom he referred this reporters inquiries. The D.A.s office did not return multiple calls by press time.

After their animals were confiscated, Vives and McGowan were not told where they were taken, except by this reporter.

Pets Alive, an animal shelter in Middletown that accompanied the seizure mission and provided the transport vehicles, boarded the larger animals, including sheep, two miniature horses and a miniature donkey. The pigs were emergency housed at Pets Alive, then taken to Two by Two Animal Haven in Pleasant Valley in Dutchess County, Becky Tegze, executive director of Pets Alive, said in September.

The smaller animals, such as the chickens and guinea hens, were taken to a farm in Clintondale, Ulster County, N.Y., Hecht said in September. Now he says all of the animals were taken to Pets Alive.

Pets Alive took all the animals. We didnt distribute anything. Pets Alive took all the animals, Hecht said Aug. 15.

Pets Alive did not respond to an inquiry by press time.

Freckles, an elderly spotted miniature donkey with a chronic condition called Cushings disease, is the most prominent member of the seized menagerie. He was the main attraction at Noahs Park for about 12 years, grazing alongside toddlers in photos, featured in Make-a-Wish events and appearing onstage in a Nativity scene.

After the donkeys seizure, he featured in Pets Alives fundraising material, until he was adopted in July.

An earlier post by the shelter said Freckles must have been struck in the past because he flinched when his caregivers pet him, a tenuous allegation that the elderly Noahs Park owners find saddening and absurd.

Vives had given up rights to Freckles shortly after his confiscation with the hope that the donkeys previous owner, Arty Pisacano of Long Island, could readopt him. Pisacano was eager to do that, said Vives, until he learned he would have to pay for the animals boarding and vet bills for the week the donkey had been in custody.

They wanted $600 for a week and vet bills too. Then all of a sudden, it came to $1,000. He said they were jerking him around, they kept raising the price, said Vives.

He struck gold and is home with our amazing ferrier (sic) and overall wonderful person, Cheyenne. Happy life, Freck! You deserve it so much, Pets Alive wrote on Facebook on July 5.

Vives only knew of the adoption because shed been keeping tabs on Freckles on Facebook, she said.

The case against the Noahs Park owners is over, but another case begins. Mullkoff is filing a motion for contempt against Hecht and the Hudson Valley SPCA in town court, seeking up to 30 days of incarceration and reimbursement of his clients additional legal fees. Theyll have to come to court and explain to Judge Brady why they didnt know anything about this order when they were served by a duly licensed process server in New York.

The lawyer also is pondering taking the case to the next level: filing a companion case in federal court seeking damages for the missing animals and arguing that the search violated the Noahs Park owners Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable search and seizure.

In federal court, the cronyism that plagues local courts ceases to be a factor, he said. You can actually get things accomplished easier because people follow the law.

Mullkoff and his wife, both lawyers and animal lovers, drove up from New York City in time to see the end of the seizure. They arrived at Noahs Park just in time for Mullkoff to stop Hecht from confiscating the largest of the animals: a Highland cow that looked healthy to Mullkoff.

The seizure was based on a search warrant that was unaccompanied by any affidavit of probable cause or anything to support the signing of that warrant and the subsequent seizure, he said. The public policy around that is to protect everyone, right? So people like Hecht cant just go around and search peoples homes because he feels like it.

See original here:
Where are the Noah's Park animals? - The Pike County Courier

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) Friday marks one week since a deadly shooting at an Oklahoma County football game.

Earlier this week, police arrested a 15-year-old for the shooting that killed 16-year-old Cordea Carter during the game between Choctaw High School and Del City High School in Choctaw, according to Choctaw Police Chief Kelly Marshall.

A teenage girl was also shot in the chaos, along with 43-year-old Demetrize Carter, who was shot in the chest by an off-duty Del City Police Officer working security at the game.

Carter remains hospitalized with a gunshot wound to his chest.

The Oklahoma County Sheriffs Office said it is currently investigating the shooting by the officer, though officials have not yet discussed the case publicly.

Ill live with it: Balloon release for Midwest City student killed in Choctaw Shooting

However, in an exclusive interview Friday from the mans hospital room, an attorney for Mr. Carter said he believes the man was targeted.

He was breaking up this fight when an officer approached him. He put his hands up and he even said the words, dont shoot. Im here to help, said Billy Clark, Managing Attorney for The Clark Law Firm, based in Dallas, Texas.

Clark said thats when Carter was shot in the chest.

The bullet that ripped through his body caused life-altering injuries, including his intestines, pancreatic tail and his left kidney.

Were not even talking about the psychological part [of the recovery] that hes going to endure, said Clark.

Officials said the officer who fired the gun perceived a threat, but no other details have been released.

Choctaw Chief of Police provides update to deadly high school football game shooting

Clark says what happened was a complete violation of Mr. Carters civil rights.

He was trying to do the right thing when he was shot [and] targeted, Carter said.

Accidents happen, we get that. But when it involves an officer who has more training than we do with firearms, more training with de-escalation than we doyou dont shoot at someone thats not a threat, he continued, saying the shooting incident was a violation of Carters civil rights.

Its a complete violation of his civil rights, complete violation of the Fourth Amendment (which protects people from from unreasonable searches and seizures by the government), the Fourteenth Amendment (providing equal protection under the law), his individual rights, his constitutional rights, he said.

While next steps are still being determined, Clark said the family is focused on recovery.

[Demetrize] is not in good shape but hes in good spirits because he does believe in God, said Clark.

Weve got a long road ahead and you best believe were going to get justice, he added.

An investigation into the shootings is ongoing.

Police want to hear from anyone with first-hand information from that night: (405) 769 3821.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City.

Read the original here:
His hands were up: Attorney for football game shooting victim says civil rights violated - Yahoo News

BROOKLYN, N.Y. New York City voters explained why they are supporting Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., over President Biden.

Fox News Digital caught up with voters attending Kennedys Brooklyn town hall on Wednesday where the Democratic presidential candidate spoke on several issues.

One voter, Rayyan Ahmed, said he is supporting Kennedy because he believes the Democratic challenger is going to unify the nation.

I really feel that, right now, what our nation lacks is unity, Ahmed said. I feel like Kennedy, what hes going to do is hes going to unify the nation.

RFK JR. ONCE AGAIN CHALLENGES BIDEN: IF HES IN GOOD SHAPE HE SHOULD DEBATE ME

Some of his ideas are of traditional fiscal conservative people, and some are Democratic ideas, but its the good of both, he continued. The good of the Republican Party and the good of the Democrat Party.

And thats what we need, Ahmed said, adding that he believes Kennedy carries on the last name of his family.

Another voter, Wallie Wolfgruber, said she is very excited about Kennedys candidacy, and hopes that he will bring more unity and peace to America and the world.

After all this separation, just to be able to be tolerant again, tolerant of each others different opinions, Wolfgruber, who said she was originally from Germany but is a U.S. citizen, told Fox News Digital. The right to have an opinion and to express it is so basic in a democracy, and I feel it kind of going away.

Im also very disturbed about the war still going on in Europe, and in this day and age why cant we talk? Why cant we believe in the possibility we can solve problems by talking with each other? Wolfgruber continued, adding that very few people benefit from making a profit off military action.

War is never, never a good thing. People die. Our children die, she said, adding, I think it could have been over already if we had different leadership, like Kennedy.

Kennedy addressed a crowd of about 800 people gathered in a Brooklyn warehouse Wednesday, speaking on a number of topics, including immigration, inflation, the housing market and ending the war in Ukraine.

Im running against two presidents who both served one term and essentially are gaslighting the American people by telling them that they produced a wave of prosperity for this country. They are running on that record, Kennedy said, garnering applause.

These traumas my uncles death, my fathers death, Malcom X, Martin Luther King, Vietnam War itself, 9/11 and ultimately the COVID crisis, these series of traumas, all of them played this role in pushing us farther and farther down the road Eisenhower warned us against the military industrial complex, Kennedy told a cheering audience. And now over the past 20 years, weve spent $8 trillion on useless wars, and were now in another one in Ukraine that could have easier been avoided. It could have easily been settled.

RAMASWAMY MOCKS MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNORS CHANGE IN ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION STANCE

Big Anthony, a Marine and New York City voter, told Fox News Digital that at this stage of his life, he wants to make the country a better place for all Americans.

Not just certain people who get certain rights, Big Anthony said. We have no rights anymore. Our freedom of speech has been taken away the First, Second, and Fourth Amendment has been trampled upon.

The way theyve treated us like were a bunch of morons, he continued. The man running the country and the people behind him are evil.

We could ask a hundred questions: what happened to the pipeline? Why are we making all our senior citizens not live right? Why are we destroying the schools? he said. Look, I have nothing against peoples sexual preferences, but why are we telling 3- and 4-year-old kids, Are you a boy or are you a girl?'

Its insanity! he added. Have we lost our minds?

In addition to seeing Kennedy, Big Anthony told Fox News Digital he came out to support U.S. Senate candidate Diane Sare, an independent hoping to challenge incumbent Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., in 2024.

Fox News Digital spoke to Sare about why she is aligning herself with Kennedy.

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I think we really need maverick voices, I suspect the Democratic Party will really try to crush and destroy him, as they did with Bernie Sanders, and as they did with Tulsi [Gabbard], Sare told Fox News Digital of Kennedy. I dont know whats gonna happen. I would hope he ends up running as an independent ultimately.

I think the nation is weary of war, which is probably why Kennedy is the leading Democratic candidate and Trump is the Republican candidate. she said. I think the number one issue is avoiding thermonuclear war. I think were much closer than people realize. I dont think the Biden administration has a clue what theyre doing. Theyre unbelievably arrogant and ignorant.

GET THE LATEST UPDATES FROM THE 2024 CAMPAIGN TRAIL, EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS AND MORE ON OUR FOX NEWS DIGITAL ELECTION HUB

Excerpt from:
NYC voters explain why theyre voting for RFK Jr. over Biden: Going ... - 1330 WFIN

Nick Cooper stands in the security line amid a sea of people with parking tickets and moving violations. He has an 8 a.m. hearing at the Houston Municipal Court about a citation he received this year for distributing food to unhoused people outside of the Central Houston Library branch downtown. Cooper is one of many volunteers with Food Not Bombs Houston (FNBH) who is facing trial after the City of Houston began enforcing a decade-old ordinance that makes the groups food distributionwhich has been occurring at the site for about 20 yearsillegal.

Houston Police officers have issued at least 63 citations to volunteers around the Central Library branch since Mayor Sylvester Turner declared the ordinance an enforcement priority earlier this year, according to a spokesperson for the municipal courts. The timing seemed strange to volunteersthe ordinance banning food-sharing had been in effect since 2012. The citations, issued for conduct[ing] a food service event without consent of property owner carry potential fines ranging from $254 (if volunteers dont contest the tickets) to as much as $2,000. Rather than eating the fines, volunteers have been opting for jury trials. The ultimate goal is to overturn the ordinance itself.

This is an unconstitutional law. It prevents freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. It is part of our groups mission to share food in publicnot in church parking lots or anything like that, Cooper told the Texas Observer over the phone in the days before his hearing. This isnt just a question of us getting out of some individual ticket. The law itself has to be overturned but meanwhile, weve got to deal with all these municipal lawsuits. Theyre going to be a pain in the ass, and we have to fight each one individually.

This isnt just a question of us getting out of some individual ticket. The law itself has to be overturned.

On the Food Not Bombs Houston website, a raised fist holding a carrot makes up the groups logo. Underneath the image, in capital letters, it states: NO GOVERNMENT FUNDING / BUREAUCRACY / PERMISSION!

In July, FNBH volunteer Phillip Picone was the first to go through a trial after being ticketed under the ordinance. A jury found him not guilty in July. But the city has shown no signs of backing down.

Cooper, a white man in his mid-50s, is bulkier than usual today. His two-year-old daughter is strapped to his chest, and hes carrying a large backpack full of baby snacks, milk bottles, picture books, andas a last resorta tablet loaded with child-friendly content. Both the baby and the bag have to come off before Cooper is allowed to walk through the metal detector.

After security, Cooper arrives at Courtroom 1, where hes scheduled to appear before Judge Leigh Saint-Germain, a no-nonsense woman who holds promptness in high regard. More than 20 other people sit on the benches in her courtroom, there to face their own potential fines. Cooper doesnt spend much time in the courtroomfilled with light wood benches with the judge and court reporter enshrined behind plexiglass. Cooper and I are allowed to sit in the hallway to reduce any disruptions from his wide-eyed toddler.

Cooper has been with Houstons Food Not Bombs since the beginning. He moved to Houston from New York City to attend Rice University, graduating in 1991. Hes now a full-time musician. His band, Free Radicals, has an eclectic sound: Their nine albums range from jazz to funk to cumbia. They play live at breakdance competitions, street protests, weddings, and funerals. The bands anti-war message is in step with the mission of Food Not Bombs, a national nonhierarchical group that uses food distribution to spread the organizations international mission statement: With over a billion people going hungry each day, how can we spend another dollar on war?

While Cooper and his fellow volunteers sit through the slog of municipal court dates, some have taken the issue to federal court.

In March, 44-year-old Food Not Bombs Houston volunteer Benjamin Franklin Craft-Rendon filed a federal complaint against the City of Houston after police cited him on March 1. He claimed the ordinance violates freedoms of speech, association, assembly, religion, due process, and equal protection. The lawsuit states that because Food Not Bombs shares food with anyone, without restriction to communicate its message that our society can end hunger and poverty if we redirect our collective resources from the military and war, that the group does not serve food as a charity, but instead as an expression of and to further their political message.

The group does not serve food as a charity, but instead as an expression of and to further their political message.

The lawsuit was voluntarily dismissed in May at Craft-Rendons request.

A separate federal suit remains pending in the U.S. Southern District of Texas. Phillip Picone, the first volunteer to have a citation go to trial, sued Houston Police Officer Adam Ancira on March 31 after the officer ticketed him on March 3. Picone later amended his complaint to include the City of Houston as a defendant.

In this suit, Picone alleges violations of his First and Fourth Amendment rights. On the ticket Picone received, the violation was listed as conduct[ing] a food service event (feed homeless) without consent of prop owner. In court filings, the city is arguing the suit should be dismissed because both the city and the officer have immunity.

Plaintiffs freedom to share food and associate with the hungry by exercising his Catholic faith can be conducted at any time with the permission and approval of the property owner at 61 Riesner Street, attorneys for the city said in their motion to dismiss.

But in the suit, Picone argues that the citys narrow allowance for public spaces where food-sharing can occur, on a lot that also houses the Houston Police Department, has clear drawbacks.

Many of those experiencing poverty or homelessness often seek to avoid interactions with the police due to stigma attached to the former group and the devastating consequences of even a small ticket or short detention, the lawsuit says. [D]ue to this justified aversionmany Houston citizens experiencing poverty or homelessness prefer FNBHs location at the Library Plaza.

The suit is set to be sent to jury trial in November 2024.

Three Houston Police officers sit on the benches outside the courtroom near us. Theyre the officers who ticketed Cooper, as well as most of the other volunteers found in violation of the ordinance. The officers talk with Cooper about fatherhood and Coopers band, Free Radicals, which has played at some of Food Not Bombs events. Yall were pretty good, one officer says.

Sergeant Jeff Richard is in charge of the Downtown Differential Response Team, which consists of five officers. The team has become the engine behind the enforcement of the ordinance at the behest of Richards superiors, but Richard was sure to tell Cooper, Its not personal.

Richards team is specializedthe officers handle the Central Business District downtown, an area that includes the Central Library branch. They handle enforcement of things that fall outside of the regular patrols purview. Richard notes that there is a whole lot of stuff out there that happens thats a violation of city ordinances. Officers are out there explicitly to enforce this ordinance because of orders from on high.

We are up against a bunch of rich people who dont want to see homeless people anywhere near their stuff.

Cooper says blaming the police for the enforcement takes the onus off the decision-makers: I dont know why were only focusing on the cops. There is real estate behind this. This is the mayor behind this. These are library bureaucrats behind this. We are up against a bunch of rich people who dont want to see homeless people anywhere near their stuff.

At one point, the judge calls Cooper in. She admonishes him for having his child and says if it happens again, hell be held in contemptwhich could mean three days in jail and a $100 fine. She schedules him for a jury trial in October.

This whole dance is over a Class C misdemeanor, Cooper says. Its strange all these resources are going to it.

When the food-sharing ordinance was passed in 2012, Mayor Annise Parker published a fact sheet to the citys website in an effort to clarify misinformation about the program.

The ordinance established a program that allowed individuals or organizations to register with the city in order to share foodprovided they undergo food safety training with the health department, among other requirements. This appeared to gel with the stated aim to improve the quality, quantity and distribution of food for the homeless through training and coordination. The program would centralize scheduling and require food safety measures.

But the program was completely optionalthe only real requirement was property owner consent. And heres where it gets tricky: Mayor Parker designated the Central Houston Public Library Plaza as an approved charitable food service location for Food Not Bombs, per the statement on the website. It is unclear if, when, and why this explicit permission was revoked. Officials in the mayors office did not return requests for clarification.

The former mayor pointed out another goal in her 2012 letter: to reduce the disproportionate environmental impact of food service operations on public and private property. This, some volunteers say, is likely the crux of the reason for the ordinances enhanced enforcement this year.

Libraries across Texas are often the most reliable source of air conditioning and water for residents during the hottest months of the year. But the relationship between the Houston library and unhoused residents has long been strained. In 2005, the city council passed regulations that targeted homeless residents and attempted to deter the use of the library as a safe haven. According to the mayor at the time, residents had been complaining about abuse of the library.

Today, the Houston Public Library faces a modern crisis. Its hemorrhaging employees due to its toxic environment, according to a recent report by Houston Landing. And echoes of the early-2000s ethos were clear earlier this month, when Houston City Attorney Arturo Michel told the Houston Chronicle, There have been complaints and incidents regarding the congregation of the homeless around the library, even during off hours.

Earlier this year, city officials from the Houston Health Department posted placards outside of the Downtown Library stating that residents had until 7 p.m. on Friday, February 24, to comply with the charitable food-sharing rules.

We knew that something was coming that was different from what had happened in the past, Cooper said. He noted that city officials had threatened to enforce the ordinance in the past, but they had backed down after public backlash.

But now, the City of Houston is taking dramatic steps to address purported discomfort, even if it means dismantling safety measures and longstanding services for homeless residents.

When Coopers attorney Remington Alessi and his intern Leobardo Elizondo arrive at the municipal courthouse that morning, they come bearing a new motion to quash.

The motion cited a strikingly similar case from 2021, one that involved Food Not Bombs volunteers in Fort Lauderdale, Florida In that case, the city had enacted an ordinance requiring volunteers to obtain permission from the city in order to distribute food and other supplies to people in public parks. The 11th Circuit Court determined that the ordinance was unconstitutional because it required city permission without having clear standards for how that permission would be granted. The courts decision relied on a decades-old Supreme Court decision, Shuttlesworth v. City of Birmingham, which took aim at the citys attempt to quash civil rights protests by denying permits for the sake of public welfare, decency, or even convenience.

Alessi said the motion is somewhat unorthodox in municipal court.

These judges dont necessarily want to rule on constitutional issues, he said. Its a weird sort of legal thing. Theres a tendency for judges to try and find ways to not rule on civil rights issues, but instead to go find other less political reasons to rule on things. But to me, were basically inviting the judges to be on the right side of history.

Politics and morals aside, Elizondo chimes in, the law is clear.

See the rest here:
Houston Food Not Bombs in Court over Feeding the Unhoused - The Texas Observer