Berkshire Community CollegeBY: ARIELLE MITROPOULOS, ABC NEWS
(PITTSFIELD, Mass.) — Over this past year, world-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma has been working to provide comfort and support to those who may be struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Saturday, he transformed a Massachusetts vaccination clinic into a temporary concert hall, in a moment that residents called a symbolic representation of “the light at the end of the tunnel.”
Ma, 65, received his second shot, alongside his wife, Jill Hornor, at Berkshire Community College in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, on Saturday.
When he arrived at the clinic carrying his cello, the nurse who gave him his vaccine asked whether he would be willing to use his 15-minute observation period to offer a short concert to those in the waiting area.
The famed cellist was “delighted,” Richard Hall of the Berkshire COVID-19 Vaccine Collaborative, told ABC News, as he wanted to “give something back to the community.”
Donning a cap and T-shirt, Ma sat masked and socially distanced from others as he played an array of classical selections, including Franz Schubert’s “Ave Maria” and Johann Sebastian Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, Prélude.
“I think that everyone there was touched just listening to him play,” Hall said.
Berkshire County, Massachusetts, is known for its arts community, and after a year in which the arts have been largely silenced, “it was quite special to just listen to him play the cello,” Hall said.
A year ago, when the pandemic began, Ma began an online series titled “#SongsOfComfort,” in an effort to offer solace and ease anxieties “in the face of fear and isolation.”
“In these days of anxiety, I wanted to find a way to continue to share some of the music that gives me comfort,” Ma wrote on Twitter, exactly a year before he received his second shot.
His social media project, which started as short, self-shot videos filmed from home, soon expanded into a worldwide effort that has reached more than 18 million people, according Ma’s website.
In December, Ma and pianist Kathryn Stott released an album titled “Songs of Comfort and Hope.”
“Songs are little time capsules of emotions: they can contain long-lost dreams and desires, and feelings of great spirit, optimism, and unity,” Ma and Stott wrote in announcing the album. “Songs bring a sense of community, identity, and purpose, crossing boundaries and binding us together in thanks, consolation, and encouragement.”
(HILLTOWN TOWNSHIP, Penn.) — A Pennsylvania mother allegedly sent deepfake photos and video of her teenage daughter’s cheerleading rivals depicting them naked, drinking and smoking to their coaches in a bid to get them kicked off the team, the Hilltown Township Police Department said.
Raffaela Spone, 50, allegedly sent the manipulated photos and video to at least three of her daughter’s teammates and their coaches on the cheerleading team, the Victory Vipers, in Chalfont, Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub’s office said, according to the The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Spone also anonymously sent messages to the victims urging them to kill themselves, according to the paper’s report of the district attorney’s charges.
The Hilltown Township Police Department confirmed the report to ABC News. The Bucks County District Attorney’s Office did not immediately reply to ABC News’ request for comment.
Spone was arrested on March 4 and is charged with three counts of cyber harassment of a child and three counts of harassment, according to Hilltown Township police. An attorney for Spone could not be immediately identified.
There’s no indication that her high school-aged daughter knew what her mother was doing, the report said citing court records.
One victim’s parents contacted Hilltown Township police in July saying the girl received harassing text messages from an anonymous number, per The Philadelphia Inquirer’s reporting.
The girl and her coaches were sent photos that appeared to depict her naked, drinking and smoking a vape pen, according to police. Her parents told police because they feared the videos could lead to her daughter being kicked off the team, the paper reported.
Two more families came forward saying their daughters received similar messages, according to the Inquirer. Those victims were sent photos of themselves in bikinis, according to the report.
Police determined the videos were deepfakes — digitally altered images that appear to be authentic. The images were created by mapping the girls’ social media photos onto other images, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
In the investigation, police traced the phone numbers the girls received harassing messages from, which led them to a website that sells numbers to telemarketers.
They followed the data to an IP address, police said, which showed activity from within Spone’s Chalfont home.
Detectives searched Spone’s smartphone and found evidence linking her to the numbers used to send the harassing texts and images, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
Victory Vipers told ABC News they cooperated with the police investigation, have a “very strict anti-bullying policy” and “all athletes involved, are no longer apart of our program.”
“Victory Vipers has always promoted a family environment and we are sorry for all individuals involved. We have very well-established policies, and a very strict anti-bullying policy in our program,” coaches Mark McTague & Kelly Cramer said. “When this incident came to our attention last year we immediately initiated our own internal investigation and took the appropriate action at the time. This incident happened outside of our gym.”
Daniel Prude/Courtesy of the Prude familyBy MEREDITH DELISO, ABC News
(ROCHESTER, N.Y.) — An independent investigation into the city of Rochester’s response to the death of Daniel Prude nearly one year ago determined that officials “suppressed” information and lied.
Prude, 41, was restrained by Rochester police officers in March 2020 during a mental health emergency. His death a week later, of complications from asphyxia after he was taken off life support, was ruled a homicide by the the Monroe County medical examiner.
The incident became widely known after his family released body-worn camera footage of the arrest in September that showed Prude appearing to go unconscious while he is being pinned to the ground, sparking protests and calls for reform. Former Rochester Police Chief La’Ron Singletary was fired amid criticism over the handling of Prude’s death, and the seven officers involved in the arrest were suspended.
According to the independent investigation, which was commissioned by Rochester’s city council and released Friday, Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren lied at a Sept. 2 press conference when she said she didn’t learn of the arrest until August. She spoke with Singletary about it on March 23, the day it happened, according to the report.
The investigation also determined that Singletary “disclosed but consistently deemphasized the role of police restraints in the death of Daniel Prude, and his statements did not capture the disturbing tenor of the entire encounter.”
“Chief Singletary’s characterization of the Prude arrest likely impacted how the city officials he informed of the matter viewed what had occurred,” the report stated.
Senior police department officials expressed concerns about releasing the footage in June, according to the report, due to ongoing protests against the police killing of fellow unarmed Black man, George Floyd, in Minneapolis the prior month.
Investigators also found that city counsel “actively discouraged” the mayor from publicly disclosing the arrest in early August, after she first saw the body camera footage, “citing reasons that were factually incorrect, legally without basis, or both.”
ABC News reached out to the mayor’s office, city counsel and Singletary’s attorney for comment.
In a statement to Rochester ABC affiliate WHAM, Warren said, “I welcome today’s report because it allows our community to move forward.”
She pointed to reforms in the wake of Prude’s death, including the creation of Person In Crisis teams, changing the city’s Freedom of Information Law and body-worn camera processes and “calling for the right to fire officers for cause.”
In comments to WHAM, Carrie Cohen, counsel to the city of Rochester during the independent investigation, challenged the report’s finding that Warren made untrue statements to the public.
“At all times, Mayor Warren spoke based on the facts known to her at the time and to the extent those facts were misleading in any way, that is a direct result of the misleading way in which former Chief Singletary relayed information to the Mayor,” Cohen said.
Cohen also charged that Singletary “intentionally obscured” information on the case provided to city officials.
“It is most notable that the City Council’s Special Counsel did not find any evidence that any city employee, outside of former Police Chief Singletary, acted with ill-intent to hide or cover-up the circumstances related to the death of Mr. Prude or to intentionally deceive the public in any way,” she said.
Malik Evans, a city councilman and mayoral candidate, said the investigation does “little to restore confidence” in government.
“The report makes clear that this tragedy was compounded by the fact information related to Daniel Prude’s death was not handled in an open and transparent manner,” he said in a statement. “I share the community’s frustration that there was almost a five-month delay before they and all City Council Members received any information on this tragedy.”
The delay in the release of the video resulted in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office implementing a new policy in which body camera footage will now be released earlier in the investigation process.
The Rochester Police Department is conducting an internal investigation of the case. The officers involved in the incident remain on leave pending its outcome.
Last month, a grand jury declined to bring criminal charges against any of the officers.
In announcing the grand jury vote, James’ office released a comprehensive report on its investigation into Prude’s death “to provide maximum transparency into the case.”
Earlier this week, attorneys for Prude’s five children filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Rochester and at least six police officers.
“His family sought help from the Rochester police, and that was a mistake — a fatal mistake,” the complaint stated. “Instead of providing him with care and assistance, officers of the Rochester Police Department cruelly abused him, mocked him, and killed him.”
Lawyers representing several of the suspended officers have said they were following their mandated training.
Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty ImagesBy EMILY SHAPIRO and WHITNEY LLOYD, ABC News
(MINNEAPOLIS) — A $27 million settlement to the family of George Floyd has been unanimously approved by Minneapolis’ City Council.
Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, died after being arrested on May 25, 2020. Video showed white police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on the back of Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes while Floyd repeatedly cried out, “I can’t breathe.”
Attorney Ben Crump said in a statement Friday, “George Floyd’s horrific death, witnessed by millions of people around the world, unleashed a deep longing and undeniable demand for justice and change. That the largest pre-trial settlement in a wrongful death case ever would be for the life of a Black man sends a powerful message that Black lives do matter and police brutality against people of color must end.”
The settlement is for the civil lawsuit brought against the city of Minneapolis and the four officers involved with Floyd’s death.
His brother, Rodney Floyd, called the settlement “a necessary step for all of us to begin to get some closure.”
“George’s legacy for those who loved him will always be his spirit of optimism that things can get better, and we hope this agreement does just that — that it makes things a little better in Minneapolis and holds up a light for communities around the country,” Rodney Floyd said in a statement.
George Floyd’s sister, Bridgett Floyd, said she is “pleased that this part of our tragic journey to justice for my brother George is resolved.”
“Our family suffered an irreplaceable loss May 25 when George’s life was senselessly taken by a Minneapolis police officer.,” she said in a statement. “While we will never get our beloved George back, we will continue to work tirelessly to make this world a better, and safer, place for all.”
The settlement will likely ensure that George Floyd’s young daughter, Gianna Floyd, “is taken care of for the rest of her life,” NAACP president and CEO Derrick Johnson said in a statement. “But the acts of Minneapolis Police Department nearly a year ago will ensure that she will have to do so without the loving embrace of her father.”
Part of the settlement — $500,000 — will be directed to enhance the business district in the area where Floyd died.
In September, the Minneapolis City Council unanimously voted to rename the intersection of 38th Street and Chicago Avenue, near the spot of Floyd’s fatal arrest, “George Floyd Square.”
George Floyd’s death sparked protests in Minneapolis and across the nation.
Chauvin’s trial is now underway. This week, a judge reinstated a third-degree murder charge. Chauvin, 44, also has been charged with second-degree unintentional murder and second-degree manslaughter. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
As of Friday afternoon, seven out of 14 jurors had been seated.
Opening arguments in the case are scheduled to begin March 29.
Chauvin’s case is being tried separately from the other three former officers charged in connection with Floyd’s death.
drnadig/iStockBy ALEXANDER MALLIN and MICHELLE STODDART, ABC News
(WASHINGTON) — The Justice Department expects to charge at least 100 more still-unidentified individuals connected to the Jan. 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol, federal prosecutors revealed in a court filing Friday.
They also describe the investigation as likely “one of the largest” investigations and prosecutions in U.S. history.
Facing an unprecedented and continuously growing caseload in the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington, D.C., prosecutors in the government’s conspiracy case against members of the Oath Keepers militia group outlined the investigation’s scope as they requested a judge delay scheduling a trial in the case for at least 60 more days.
“The investigation and prosecution of the Capitol Attack will likely be one of the largest in American history, both in terms of the number of defendants prosecuted and the nature and volume of the evidence,” the filing states. “Over 300 individuals have been charged in connection with the Capitol Attack. The investigation continues and the government expects that at least one hundred additional individuals will be charged.”
A Justice Department official said earlier this week approximately 316 individuals have been charged but the department has still only unsealed roughly 290 cases as of Friday — meaning multiple cases remain unsealed as agents try and track down individuals to arrest them.
Prosecutors say that at least 900 search warrants have been executed in almost all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Investigators have accumulated more than 15,000 hours of surveillance and body-camera footage, and their evidence includes roughly 1,600 electronic devices, 210,000 tips from the public, 80,000 reports and 93,000 attachments related to law enforcement interviews of suspects and witnesses.
“As the Capitol Attack investigation is still on-going, the number of defendants charged and the volume of potentially discoverable materials will only continue to grow,” the filing states.
As many cases move into the discovery phase, the Justice Department says it is working in consultation with the Federal Public Defender’s office to develop a comprehensive plan for managing all of the evidence that defendants will expect them to produce relevant to government’s prosecutions.
Berkshire Community CollegeBY: ARIELLE MITROPOULOS, ABC NEWS
