Wanted man streams own arrest in Daytona on Facebook Live

A man wanted in Marion County for violation of probation was arrested in Daytona Beach after Volusia County deputies were notified that he was streaming on Facebook Live. Both the man’s live broadcast and a deputy’s body cam captured the arrest. The 25-year-old could be seen as he streamed video of himself on Facebook as he drove to Jet Ski rental facility, rented a watercraft, and was about to get on it when deputies and a Daytona Beach Shores Public Safety officer approached and arrested him. Deputies said they had been advised he was known to be armed with a handgun with an extended magazine. When they searched his vehicle, deputies found a silver Taurus G2c handgun with one round chambered and 24 rounds in an extended magazine, a black Taurus G2c handgun with one round chambered and 23 rounds in an extended magazine, and an extra magazine with six rounds, the release said. They also found a bag of powder which tested presumptive positive for Fentanyl, two bags of marijuana, and an undisclosed amount of money, the release said. He was charged with three counts of possession of a weapon/ammunition by a convicted felon, trafficking in Fentanyl and possession of narcotics paraphernalia. He was being held without bail at the Volusia County Branch Jail awaiting extradition back to Marion County for violation of probation on obstructing justice/harassing in a felony proceeding. (FHN)

Teacher who had sex with student begs judge for castration rather than prison

A former Pensacola teacher who pleaded guilty last year to an array of sex offenses involving students begged the judge on Wednesday to consider castration rather than sentence him to prison. The 32-year-old man made the unusual request to Circuit Court Judge at his sentencing hearing recently. “My actions were despicable to say the least,” he said. “I do believe that punishment is necessary, and I am requesting chemical castration not only as a punishment but as an act of solidarity to show how sorry I am for everything. If your honor is so inclined, I am even willing to undergo physical castration if that way I can stay home and raise my daughter.” The judge did not respond to man’s request and instead sentenced him to 12 years in state prison, followed by 15 years of probation. The man was arrested three separate times last year after allegations arose that he coerced a student into sending him an inappropriate video, that he had sex with an underage student and that he had sexually assaulted an 18-year-old former student. The allegations against him resulted in five criminal cases based on the claims of four victims. (Pensacola News Journal)

5 paintball attacks on mail carriers in DC, Maryland

Five U.S. Postal Service mail carriers were hit with paintball pellets in an apparent string of attacks late Saturday afternoon in D.C. and Maryland. Several carriers suffered minor injuries. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the law enforcement division of the Postal Service, said a $50,000 reward is being offered for help in solving the crimes. Investigators said the two suspects were driving a silver or gray four-door sedan with temporary license plates. One suspect was described as an African-American man in his 20s, between 5’10” and 6 feet tall, with a slim build, dreadlocks or braids. The other suspect was described only as a slim African-American man. The assaults were committed within a three-hour span. Police offered no possible motive for the attack. Anyone who sees the suspects are asked not to approach them, but to call the Postal Inspection Service at 1-877-876-2455. Information will be kept confidential. (WTOP)

Parrot ‘who heard victim’s last words’ to give evidence in rape and murder trial

The comments of a parrot may be used in an upcoming rape and murder trial. The 46-year-old female victim was raped and then killed in the city of San Fernando, Argentina in December 2018. At the end of the month a police officer was guarding the crime scene when they heard a parrot say “Ay, no, Por favour, soltame!” (“No, please, let me go”). The police believe the parrot was repeating its owner’s last words as she was allegedly beaten and raped by two housemates. The parrot was also mentioned by a neighbor who heard it saying “why did you beat me” as one of the arrested suspects fled the house. The Head Prosecutor has reportedly included the parrot’s ‘testimony’ in the case file. An autopsy showed that the victim has been beaten, raped and strangled to death,. Her body was found naked and lying on its back on a mattress on the floor. The woman rented a room to three men in the same house. Two of the Housemates have been arrested in connection with the homicide. The third housemate was also arrested, but he reportedly has an alibi for the time of the alleged murder. The trial’s start date is currently unknown. (Mirror)

Angry Neighbor Allegedly Uses Expanding Foam To Silence Mustang’s Noisy Exhaust

In a Facebook post, a man uploaded a picture of his car’s exhaust system apparently filled with Great Stuff foam. The post was accompanied by a letter allegedly written by an angry neighbor. It reads “I finally found you! You want our attention, you don’t want our attention. You have 14 days to fix the mufflers or put the stock [exhaust] back on.” It then threatened “Don’t egg us on, you will only regret it. We encourage you to call the police [or] install video [cameras], nothing will work.” It then finished by saying “Fix your muffler!” While you can’t take things on the internet at face value, the man insisted the incident happened and replied to a comment suggesting he filed a police report. He also said “I hope someone gets covid and dies a slow painful death over this.” That’s going a bit too far, but damaging someone’s vehicle is obviously illegal and uncalled for. However, a number of people can probably sympathize with the alleged neighbor. (Car Scoops)

Turtle smashes through driver’s windshield

A Georgia woman was so shocked, she actually thought it was some kind of alien at first. Suddenly, her brother was covered in glass and the turtle was stuck halfway through the windshield. She says the impact sounded like a loud boom. “I’m not gonna lie, I thought it was an alien, because the legs dropped out…and that freaked me out,” she said. The turtle lost one of its legs in the accident and she believes another driver hit it, causing it to fly backwards towards their car. No one was seriously hurt and her windshield is back in one piece, but she says the incident taught her a lesson. “It lets you know how quick something can happen,” she said. Unfortunately, after the turtle was taken to a wildlife center, it succumbed to its injuries. (WSAV)

The Mysterious Anomaly Weakening Earth’s Magnetic Field Seems to Be Splitting

New satellite data from the European Space Agency (ESA) reveal that the mysterious anomaly weakening Earth’s magnetic field continues to evolve, with the most recent observations showing we could soon be dealing with more than one of these strange phenomena. The South Atlantic Anomaly is a vast expanse of reduced magnetic intensity in Earth’s magnetic field, extending all the way from South America to southwest Africa. At present, there’s nothing to be alarmed about, according to the ESA. They believe the most significant effects right now are largely limited to technical malfunctions on board satellites and spacecraft, which can be exposed to a greater amount of charged particles in low-Earth orbit as they pass through the South Atlantic Anomaly in the skies above South America and the South Atlantic Ocean. (European Space Agency)

Mysterious lock picker opens parks across Paris at night

A mysterious man known only by the name “Jose” has become a cult figure to many across Paris. He has been unlocking some of Paris’ closed gardens and opening them up to the public in the middle of the night. In Paris many public parks are still closed day and night due to lingering lockdown measures in the most affected regions by the coronavirus pandemic in France — much to the displeasure of the city’s inhabitants. Paris police received a heavy backlash last week after they cleared the lawns of Les Invalides park in central Paris where groups of people were sitting on grass and picnicking. The parks which the stealthy “Jose” targets are mostly located in Paris’s lower-income neighborhoods. Paris’s mayor has been pleading with the government for the reopening of Parisian parks and gardens, along with 24 mayors of the Seine-Saint-Denis suburb who demanded in an open letter to the Prime Minister the reopening of the department’s large parks and green spaces. The government, however, has refused calls to do so for the time being. But as temperatures have hit a balmy 86 degrees this week, “Jose” has been giving a little bit more oxygen to joggers and kids who would brave the lockdown law. Two handwritten posters hanging from the railings of the Parc de Belleville said “Thank you, Jose!” (ABC News)

Semi-Naked Los Angeles Woman Goes Shopping in Bikini Made of Masks to Protest Against Lockdown

A performance artist, who describes herself as “priestess of Isis”, is facing a lot of criticism on social media after she went out shopping dressed in nothing but a bikini made of surgical masks, at Trader Joe’s in Los Angeles. The woman was protesting against the lockdown restrictions imposed in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. She posted her pictures on Facebook, posing outside the supermarket with only a couple of blue-colored surgical masks to hide her modesty. She placed the surgical masks on her ankles and eyes, but left her mouth uncovered. Terming her stunt as the new “AbNormal”, Sal wrote: “Abnormal Becoming the New Normal. She blindly obeyed. My new #artivism since last time I was behind the camera with my super Artivist siSTAR. If the MASKS work, WHY the 6 feet? If the 6 feet works, WHY the Masks?” The performance artist revealed that the authorities at the supermarket called the police on her because she wasn’t wearing a mask across her mouth. In her post, she endorsed the theory that suggests the coronavirus is a hoax, “created to erode freedoms by forcing people to wear masks in public and maintain a six-foot distance from each other”. (New York Post)

Woman accused of posting notes on homes targeting Asian Americans

Police in San Leandro, California say a woman has been arrested on suspicion of posting handwritten messages at several homes, targeting Asian Americans and suggesting that those not native to the United States should leave the country immediately. Officers responded after receiving reports of notes containing “insensitive messages towards minorities” taped to five homes. “If you are a woman or man and was born in other country, return, go back to your land immediately, fast, with urgency,” the note said. It ended with “One American, white, brave, that serves the Nation or USA is going to live here.” One resident gave the officers images captured on his doorbell security camera of a 52-year-old woman taping the note, and the officers soon found her carrying a backpack containing copies of the same notes in the area soon after, the statement said. She was arrested “for these inappropriate messages that instilled fear and intimidation upon those residents.” She was taken to Alameda County jail and booked for investigation of committing a hate crime. She was issued a citation and released from custody and will have to appear in court, date yet set. California has set bail at $0 for low-level crimes and misdemeanors in an effort to keep jails empty during the COVID-19 pandemic. (NBC News)

FBI asks those exposed to child porn in hacked Zoom meetings to come forward

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is asking people participating in virtual Zoom meetings which were hacked with child sexual abuse material to come forward. The FBI has received more than 240 reports of such incidents across the country. The incidents are happening in Zoom meetings which were not properly secured, with many people advertising their Zoom meetings on social media. “The FBI considers this activity to be a violent crime, as every time child sexual abuse material is viewed, the depicted child is re-victimized. Furthermore, anyone who inadvertently sees child sexual abuse material depicted during a virtual event is potentially a victim as well,” a spokesman said. The bureau is asking people who may have been exposed to child pornography during a virtual meeting to fill out this short questionnaire online. (Federal Bureau of Investigations)

Google deletes millions of negative TikTok reviews

Google has deleted millions of negative TikTok reviews from its Play store after the app’s rating fell from 4.5 to 1.2 stars overnight. The video-sharing platform was inundated with one-star reviews after an Indian creator posted a spoof video of an acid attack. The man has apologized, and TikTok has deleted copies of his clip. But Google intervened after it determined that critics had set up fake accounts to amplify their protests. Even so, the move has had limited effect, and TikTok’s rating remains below two stars on the official Android marketplace. The video in question had appeared to show the man threatening a woman who had decided to leave him. In the clip, he threw liquid at the woman’s face. It was water, but the next scene showed the woman’s face covered in make-up that resembled the scars and bruising that acid might cause. “As per the policy, we do not allow content that risks the safety of others, promotes physical harm, or glorifies violence against women,” a spokesman for TikTok said. “The behaviour in question violates our guidelines and we have taken down content, suspended the account, and are working with law enforcement agencies as appropriate.” The man later said that: “As a social media influencer, I realise my responsibility and apologise to anyone who was offended by the video.” After TikTok became embroiled in the backlash, Google removed more than 5 million of its recent one-star reviews but left many others active. A spokesman for Google said it had taken “corrective action”. (BBC)

Scary northeast Minneapolis ice cream truck has heavy metal, no ice cream

If you happen to be in northeast Minneapolis, standing in the right place at the right time, you might be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of a shiny black ice cream truck trundling toward you. However, this is no ordinary ice cream vehicle. Sure, it’s playing that familiar, twinkly little jingle all the other trucks play, but it’s also blaring heavy metal music out the windows and it’s covered in heavy metal logos stuck onto Popsicle sticks. And as this devilish black truck approaches, you’ll notice one other thing. It’s not stopping. As it zips away, leaving you standing on the sidewalk with your money in your hand, you might catch a glimpse of the driver and the truck’s name is Hell General. The only things the truck dispenses are metal music and disappointment. And it’s made him somewhat of a celebrity in Northeast. Some people think this gambit is the funniest thing they’ve ever heard of. Others still think he should just pony up and bring a cooler full of frozen goodies sometime. He has no intention of ever, ever doing this, though he has considered doling out popsicle sticks wrapped up in a small package of air. Even when people get mad, Peterson says he tries to remain friendly. He returns the middle finger with a peace sign. He tells screamers to have a good day. There’s no need to get upset over losing ice cream you never had coming in the first place. And this, he says, is all in good fun. (City Pages)

Friday Blasts In With:

• Heat Awareness Day (Last Friday)
• International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers
• Learn About Composting Day
• Mike, The Headless Chicken Day
• Put A Pillow On Your Fridge Day
• Shavuot