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Seeing double standard, 5th Circuit judge resigns from judicial group over threats statement

homesafetytechpros — Wed, 19 Mar 2025 08:14:13 +0000

Judiciary

Seeing double standard, 5th Circuit judge resigns from judicial group over threats statement

March 11, 2025, 3:32 pm CDT

Judge James C. Ho of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at New Orleans announced his resignation from the Federal Judges Association on Saturday. (Photo from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at New Orleans)

A federal appeals judge has said he has resigned from the Federal Judges Association because it issued a statement against recent judicial threats but apparently said nothing in defense of conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices.

Judge James C. Ho of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at New Orleans announced his resignation at an event by the Federalist Society, a conservative group, on Saturday, report Bloomberg Law, Reuters and Law.com.

The March 5 statement by the Federal Judges Association said judges must be permitted to do their jobs without fear of violence or intimidation.

The Federal Judges Association statement said the group appreciates Chief Justice John Roberts and others who have “commented recently on the rise in criticism, threats and violence aimed at members of the judiciary. Irresponsible rhetoric shrouded in disinformation undermines the public’s confidence that our justice system can fulfill its constitutional duties.”

The group made the statement amid impeachment threats and criticism regarding judges who have ruled against the Trump administration.

“Did we see these statements in 2024 or 2023 or 2022? From what I can tell, no,” Ho said. “You can’t say that you’re in favor of judicial independence only when it comes to decisions that you like. That’s not protecting the judiciary. That’s politicizing the judiciary.”

Ho mentioned the 2022 arrest of a man armed with a gun and zip ties near the home of Justice Brett Kavanaugh and criticism of Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Samuel Alito.

Ho is an appointee of President Donald Trump during his first term. He previously announced that he is boycotting the hiring of clerks from law schools that he thinks have mishandled student protests or stifled conservative views.

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Cop was ‘double agent’ with Proud Boys around Jan. 6: Feds

homesafetytechpros — Wed, 04 Dec 2024 11:13:07 +0000

Left: Washington Metropolitan Police Department Lt. Shane Lamond departs federal court after pleading not guilty to obstruction of justice and other charges, May 19, 2023, in Washington (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File). Right: Enrique Tarrio and the Proud Boys demonstrate near Freedom Plaza during the Million Maga March protest regarding election results on November 14, 2020 in Washington D.C. (Chris Tuite/imageSPACE/MediaPunch /IPX).

A Washington, D.C., police officer worked as a “double agent” ahead of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, once tipping off the head of the Proud Boys about his impending arrest for burning a Black Lives Matter flag, prosecutors reportedly said Monday during opening statements at his trial.

Former D.C. Metro Police Department Lt. Shane Lamond also kept in close contact with Proud Boys leader Henry “Enrique” Tarrio in the lead-up to the Jan. 6 riot that interrupted the certification of Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 presidential election, prosecutors allege. Lamond is charged with obstruction of justice and three counts of making false statements to police about his conversations with Tarrio, who is now serving a 22-year prison sentence for his role in organizing the riot. Lamond is undergoing a bench trial on the charges in front of U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson.

“Lamond leaked sensitive police information to a criminal suspect, and lied about it to investigators,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua Rothstein told Berman, according to The Washington Post. “The evidence will show that the defendant was a Proud Boys sympathizer. The defendant became a double agent.”

Per the March 2023 indictment, Lamond was the head of MPD’s intelligence branch that monitored upcoming protests and rallies in D.C. when he and Tarrio started communicating regularly using the encrypted messaging app Telegram.

After Joe Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 presidential election, Lamond allegedly sent a text message to Tarrio that said “Hey brother, sad, sad news today. You guys planning anything?” Lamond also allegedly tipped Tarrio off that law enforcement had been hearing chatter of Proud Boys saying they were “mobilizing” and planning on “taking back the country.” Lamond also allegedly kept Tarrio apprised of cops possibly shutting down a bar that was a Proud Boys hangout.

Tarrio and the Proud Boys held a rally on Dec. 12, 2020. That night, Tarrio stole a Black Lives Matter banner, burned it and later boasted about the feat on social media. Prosecutors said Tarrio and Lamond were in “regular contact” after the incident and spoke about the investigation. Tarrio allegedly spoke with fellow Proud Boys members about his “contact” with MPD. Lamond told Tarrio that cops were trying to obtain a warrant for his arrest, cops say.

On Jan. 4, 2021, Tarrio was flying from Florida to D.C. when Lamond allegedly changed his settings on Telegram so that messages would delete 10 seconds after being opened. Prosecutors believe the now disgraced cop told the Proud Boys leader that there had been a warrant signed for his arrest and that he would be taken into custody once in D.C. Lamond continued messaging Tarrio before and after the Jan. 6 riots about the police investigation, prosecutors said.

Lamond allegedly told Tarrio “Of course I can’t say it officially, but personally I support you all and don’t want to see your group’s reputation dragged through the mud.”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office began investigating Lamond’s association with the Proud Boys in June 2021. Prosecutors claim Lamond lied about the way he communicated with Tarrio and denied feeding Tarrio confidential information about the banner burning investigation.

During Monday’s opening statements, Lamond’s attorney Ana Jara said describing her client as a Proud Boys sympathizer is “simply not true” and that prosecutors have “cherry-picked” messages between him and Tarrio. Lamond was simply working a source as a law enforcement officer, she said.

“Context matters, especially in conversations,” Jara said, according to The Associated Press.

The trial is expected to last three days.

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Magnet fisherman helps convict man in double murder

homesafetytechpros — Wed, 20 Nov 2024 13:34:50 +0000

Left: Bud and June Runion (Facebook). Right: Ronnie “Jay” Towns (Towns: WAGA/YouTube).

Prosecutors in Georgia scored a murder conviction thanks in part to a magnet fisherman’s discovery of a gun and victim IDs in a river nearly a decade after a double homicide.

Ronnie “Jay” Towns, 38, pleaded guilty to two counts of murder on Monday, and a judge sentenced him to two consecutive life sentences in prison, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. In January 2015, he tricked 69-year-old Bud Runion and his 66-year-old wife, June Runion, into making the three-hour drive from their Cobb County home to Telfair County to buy a 1966 Ford Mustang after seeing an ad on Craig’s List. But there was no car, and it was just a ruse to rob and murder them.

During Monday’s sentencing hearing, one of Runions’ daughters made a victim impact statement. She spoke of her parents’ generosity: They gave away scores of bicycles to children at Christmas time and during a winter storm not long before their deaths, they picked up stranded strangers and drove them home, the AJC reported.

“That’s who my parents were,” Brittany Patterson reportedly said. “That’s who we lost. My parents were not random people from Cobb County. They proudly served God and the community.”

Towns hardly acknowledged the victims’ family and did not address the court, per the AJC.

Law&Crime previously reported that on April 14, a magnet fisherman was searching for items in Horse Creek on Old Prison Camp Road in McRae-Helena when he reeled in a .22 caliber rifle, the GBI said in a press release. Two days later, the same person continued to magnet fish in the same area and found a bag containing driver’s licenses, credit cards belonging to the Runions and their phone.

The discoveries led to GBI executing a search warrant at a home about 4 miles away on Webb Cemetery Road on April 17 and a second one two days later. Agents reportedly recovered evidence from both searches, which will be submitted to the crime lab for further analysis. The press release did not say how the discoveries by the magnet fisherman led them to the house.

Atlanta’s WSB-TV reported that family members of the Runions first became concerned about the couple’s safety when they didn’t show up to babysit their grandchildren. The family reported them missing, and four days later, cops found their SUV and their bodies in a pond in Telfair County. Detectives learned the couple and Towns talked on the phone before their disappearance.

While cops arrested Towns not long after the murders, the case took so long because the original indictment was tossed, which led to appeals and another indictment in 2020, Macon CBS affiliate WMAZ reported. Then, the pandemic hit, causing more delays.

According to their obituaries, the Runions were married for 38 years. Bud Runion founded Forever Grateful Ministries.

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‘ChiefsAholic’ admits to leading double life as bank robber

homesafetytechpros — Thu, 29 Feb 2024 09:21:13 +0000

Xavier Babudar, aka “ChiefsAholic,” faces bank robbery charges. (Mug shot from Tulsa County Sheriff, wolf fan costume photo from New York Post)

The man known as the Kansas City Chiefs superfan “ChiefsAholic” admitted to leading a double life as a prolific ski-mask-wearing bank robber who won a $100,000 Super Bowl bet while he was a fugitive.

Xaviar Michael Babudar, 29, pleaded guilty to charges of bank robbery, money laundering and transporting stolen property across state lines. Babudar admitted he committed, or tried to commit, 11 robberies at banks and credit unions, two of them while on the run. He was ordered to pay at least $532,675 in restitution and forfeit property, including an autographed painting of Mahomes that the FBI recovered.

“His violent crime spree across the Midwest and beyond traumatized bank employees and victimized financial institutions in seven states,” said U.S. Attorney Teresa Moore in a news release. “The defendant tried to conceal hundreds of thousands of dollars in stolen cash by using it to gamble online and at casinos, but the odds caught up with him. With today’s conviction, he will be held accountable for the full scope of his criminal conduct, including his attempt to flee from justice.”

The first heist he admitted to was when he stole $70,000 from a Great Western Bank in Clive, Iowa, on March 2, 2022. He handed the teller a note demanding money and indicating he had a gun.

On April 28, 2022, he stole $170,860 from the First National Bank of Omaha in Nebraska. Police recovered $163,560 from that case.

At the First Class Community Credit Union in Des Moines, Iowa, on July 13, 2022, he jumped over the counter armed with a silver and black gun and demanded employees open the vault. He got $303,845 that day.

He took the money to Missouri, laundered it through area casinos, and deposited it into his bank account, prosecutors said.

At the Tennessee Credit Union in Nashville on Nov. 17, 2022, he hopped the counter, pressed his gun against a teller’s body and demanded to be taken to the vault. Employees complied with his demands. He told the employees if he was given a dye pack, he would “come back and put a bullet in your head,” prosecutors said.

While fleeing, he left behind a hat that authorities recovered and found DNA that matched DNA from a glove he left behind in an earlier robbery. A few days after the heist in Nashville, Babudar bought $20,000 in chips from a local casino with some of the cash.

Babudar tried to rob the Wings Financial Credit Union in Savage, Minnesota, on Nov. 29, 2022, but decided not to, as the vault only held small bills. The same day, he tried again at the Royal Credit Union in Apple Valley, Minnesota, but they, too, carried small bills. But he made up for it the next day when he got $25,000 from First Interstate Bank in Clive, Iowa. He went back to the place he first robbed in March, but then his luck started to run out.

He entered the vestibule at the Pinnacle Bank in Papillon, Nebraska, on Dec. 15, 2022, but couldn’t open the doors.

He was arrested the following day when he robbed the Tulsa Teachers Federal Credit Union.

When authorities found him, he had a large bag with $139,500 in $100 increments and $10,750 in $50 increments for $150,250. A search of his 2019 Mazda 3 turned up goggles and gloves. Investigators also found sports betslips, totaling $24,000 and credit union deposit letters for $20,000 and $50,000, authorities said.

During his spree, he won two big bets at the Argosy Casino in Illinois — that Mahomes would win Most Valuable Player at Super Bowl LVII and that the Chiefs would win the Super Bowl. After the Chiefs beat the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35 on Feb. 13, 2023, and Mahomes won MVP, the casino mailed Babudar a $100,000 check in March.

Days after receiving that check, Babudar, who had been released from custody on bond after his arrest in Oklahoma, cut his ankle monitor, fled that state and used his gambling winnings to purchase a vehicle in Henderson, Nevada.

While on the run, he robbed two more banks, one in Sparks, Nevada, and another in El Dorado Hills, California, before he was rearrested in Sacramento on July 7.

He faces up to 50 years in federal prison without parole. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for July 10.

Law&Crime’s David Harris contributed to this report.

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Teen bailed out for $1M after double shooting, charged again

homesafetytechpros — Wed, 27 Dec 2023 23:30:46 +0000

Connor Hilton booking photo Galveston County Sheriffs Office (Texas)

A few days before 17-year-old Connor Hilton posted $1 million bail and walked out of jail for allegedly shooting one fellow teenager in Texas and critically wounding another, he posted a video of himself on social media rapping, “you better run or you ’bout to meet my gun.”

The double shooting, according to statements from the Friendswood Police Department reviewed by Law&Crime, happened on Dec. 23 at around 9 p.m. in a suburban neighborhood outside of Houston. When police arrived on the scene, they said Hilton, 17, had allegedly shot two individuals, Ethan Riley, 18, and a 19-year-old victim who has not yet been identified by police.

Both Riley and the other victim were sent to a local hospital to be treated for their injuries.

On Dec. 24, Hilton was charged with two counts of aggravated assault with bodily injury and booked into the Galveston County Jail. His bond was set at $1 million and he posted it by midday, local ABC affiliate KTRK first reported.

But once one of his victims, Ethan Riley, 18, died in the hospital, District Attorney Jack Roady upgraded the charges to murder, arrest records reviewed by Law&Crime show.

Though Hilton spent Christmas Day with his family, by that evening, police had rearrested him on the more serious murder charge. He remains in jail and it does not appear a new bond has been issued. Other terms are also unclear at this time.

When his bond conditions were first set, notably they did not include GPS monitoring nor any other conditions aimed at “extra security for the community given the violent actions of Hilton,” the Friendswood Police Department noted on Facebook.

Details of what motivated Hilton to allegedly shoot Riley and the other man is unclear, though there seemed to be a disturbing precursor to events on Hilton’s social media according to KTRK. The outlet found an Instagram video where Hilton recorded himself rapping the lyrics “you better run or you ’bout to meet my gun.”

Though Hilton is 17, he is likely to be tried as an adult in Texas given the severity of the charge.

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