Month: March 2026

By Jesse Zanger

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    BROOKLYN, New York (WCBS) — The NYPD is investigating a hate crime at a Brooklyn mosque.

The incident took place at 4:30 a.m. March 9 at the Islamic Mission of America on State Street near Clinton Street in Brooklyn Heights.

The New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said a man hurled pages of the Quran and smeared feces on the door of the mosque.

Police released video of a man they’re looking for. He’s shown wearing a black skullcap, black facemask on his chin, red sweatshirt and red sweatpants, and sneakers.

“This reported act of attempted desecration is deeply disturbing and reflects a blatant act of hate targeting a house of worship. We commend law enforcement authorities for investigating this incident as a hate crime and urge a swift and thorough investigation to hold the perpetrator accountable. No community should have to fear harassment or attack because of their religious beliefs,” CAIR-NY executive director Afaf Nasher said.

In its most recent civil rights report, CAIR says complaints of anti-Muslim bias and discrimination have increased nationwide. Just last week, the NYPD and FBI said they’d disrupted a plot to firebomb the home of a Palestinian activist.

Anyone with any information is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). You can also submit a tip via their website or via DM on X, @NYPDTips. All calls are kept confidential.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Randy Wimbley

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    DETROIT (WXYZ) — A man pulled a gun and pointed it at a pastor officiating a funeral service on Detroit’s west side Saturday.

The incident happened at New McFall Brothers Funeral Home. Pastor Darthanian Nichols asked the crowd gathered at the casket to take their seats to prevent a fire hazard. A man mourning his younger brother refused and drew a weapon.

“In my mind, I braced myself for the worst case scenario, which would be to be shot,” Nichols said. “Even as he pointed the gun, I don’t believe he was trying to point it. I think it was just more so his emotions, and he was talking with the gun in his hand.”

Nichols prioritized de-escalation during the confrontation.

“I say, hey, I know you’re feeling a lot, and he looks down at me, um, uses some swear words and tells me, I don’t believe in the God that you believe in, and I will put hands on you. I said, OK, and I walked away,” Nichols said.

Michael Kemp, president of New McFall Brothers Funeral Home, was at the front desk when the man pulled the gun near the podium.

“So it happened right over at around the podium right there,” Kemp said.

“People were running everywhere. There were, there were people running from the back of the funeral home,” Kemp said. “I think that we’ve always came to funerals to help people out, because in our community, a grief shared is a grief diminished. When we put violence in that you’re destroying someone’s last chance to say goodbye.”

Police arrested the man near the funeral home shortly after the incident. No one was hurt. The service was moved to Woodlawn Cemetery. Officers took four other people into custody later that day.

The Detroit Police Department is working to prevent similar incidents.

“So we’ve been partnering with our CVI groups, engaging our community, trying to identify some of these funerals that are going to be high risk or even ones at moderate risk. Kind of partner with them to help facilitate a culture of accountability for those who would take guns in there, and also just getting the message out there, we can’t have guns be our default method of conflict resolution,” Captain John Stewart said.

“The deceased’s sister is a member of my church. I’ve buried the grandmother, I’ve buried the grandfather. So I have seen this family, you know, in times past. I know that pressing charges will probably mean I lose a member. I know not pressing charges says to people that this is okay,” Nichols said.

Nichols shared a message for the man who pulled the gun.

“There are people that care even though you may not believe it. There are other ways to get to the desired ending result than the path that you’ve chosen, and it is not in my heart to see anything happen to you. But it is really my heart’s desire that you get help, whatever help that looks like,” Nichols said.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. WXYZ’s editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Nick Lentz

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    Minnesota (WCCO) — A federal lawsuit filed on Monday alleges the video game “Assassin’s Creed Valhalla” triggered psychosis in a man at a Minnesota mental health facility who then fatally attacked a Minnesota National Guard veteran, according to court records.

Abshir Mohamed Hussein filed the lawsuit as trustee for the next of kin of Abdirashi Hussein, who court records said was killed on New Year’s Eve in 2023. It names the Minnesota Department of Human Services, which at the time oversaw the Forensic Mental Health Program in St. Peter, and five staff members employed by the state agency during that period.

According to the complaint, Abdirashi Hussein had a “history of significant mental illness” and was brought involuntarily to the Forensic Mental Health Program in 2020. He was moved to the facility’s North Campus in 2022 where he would be roommates with David Otey. The North Campus is considered an “unsecure” part of the facility and houses people who have made “sufficient progress to be on track to be transitioned back to the community.”

In January 2018, Otey was “in a delusional state and responding to internal stimuli” when he fatally stabbed his sister, the lawsuit said. He was found not guilty by reason of mental illness the next year, according to the court document, and in 2020, was committed as mentally ill and dangerous to the facility.

Otey in September 2022 was making “significant progress” in his treatment and moved to the North Campus, the lawsuit said. From November 2022 through December 2023, Otey was identified as having “signature risk signs,” including isolating, expressing delusional thinking and becoming irritable.

According to the court document, Otey was approved for pass-eligible status in September 2023, allowing him to temporarily leave the facility for trips into the community. Court records show members of his family, in fear of their safety, filed for harassment restraining orders. The filings, the complaint said, caused Otey’s anxiety to increase, and made him lose sleep and miss work at the campus.

On the night Abdirashi Hussein was killed, Otey was playing “Assassin’s Creed Valhalla” in the activity room, the complaint said. The game’s main character wields a weapon to “bludgeon and murder” other characters in a “life-like manner.”

The lawsuit said that policy from the state prohibits patients at the facility from playing “criminogenic-themed video games,” including first-person shooter games. The North Campus allegedly had an activity room with a gaming console that had games with violent themes.

“As he was playing ‘Assassin’s Creed Valhalla,’ Otey later reported that he heard his ex-wife’s maiden name, which was similar to Hussein’s last name,” the lawsuit said.

Otey became disoriented and confused, according to the complaint. He then walked into the room he shared with Abdirashi Hussein and heard a voice in his head tell him, “Hey, grab that guitar.”

Otey grabbed a guitar and “swung it like an ax,” repeatedly hitting Abdirashi Hussein, the lawsuit said. He then choked Abdirashi Hussein with the guitar strap and went to the front desk of the North Campus, where he told staff members they should go check on his roommate.

According to the complaint, Otey was taken to Nicollet County Jail, where he continued to show psychotic and aggressive behaviors. He was charged with one count each of second-degree murder and second-degree assault. In June 2024, a judge found him not guilty by reason of mental illness.

The lawsuit said the staff members named in the court document failed to stop him from playing the video game and that three of them violated the 14th Amendment, which says states should not “deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

The staff members knew Otey posed a substantial risk of serious harm to other residents and “failed to take reasonable measures to protect” Abdirashi Hussein, according to the complaint, which also claims wrongful death through negligence.

Minnesota Direct Care and Treatments is the agency that runs the facility. It said it’s reviewing the lawsuit. CEO Marshal Smith said in a statement to WCCO: “The loss of Abdi Hussein was a terrible tragedy that left his friends, family, and partners in treatment heartbroken. Our thoughts and sympathies are with his closest loved ones.”

Abshir Mohamed Hussin is asking the court to award him at least $1 million in compensation.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Bri Buckley

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    MIAMI, Florida (WFOR) — After nearly seven years of waiting, Chevon Byfield finally has a new heart.

“I couldn’t believe it. I’m not going to lie to you—even now, I’m still in disbelief,” Byfield said.

Ten years ago, Byfield was diagnosed with heart failure and told he had only a few months to live. But a second opinion at Memorial Regional Hospital led to a second chance.

“This is a Cinderella story, if you want to be honest, and I hope it helps people,” he said.

Since 2019, a heart pump known as an LVAD (left ventricular assist device) kept Byfield alive while he waited for a transplant.

“Unfortunately for him, it was time to get him transplanted because he was running out of time,” said Dr. Jose Garcia, Byfield’s surgeon.

Garcia explained that Byfield’s case was extremely rare. Most patients wait only weeks or months for a transplant once they’re admitted to the hospital. Byfield, however, faced three major obstacles: his large size, his common blood type O, and a build-up of significant antibodies in his bloodstream, developed after multiple infections and hospitalizations.

All told, Byfield estimates he spent nearly three of the past six years inside Memorial Regional, where the staff became like family. He even set a record for the longest wait for a transplant across all six of Memorial’s hospitals.

Despite his setbacks, Byfield found ways to give back—volunteering to help EMS teams learn how to treat patients with heart pumps and mentoring others with similar diagnoses.

“If you’ve been in here as long as I have and seen the things I’ve seen, there’s nothing I can do to repay these people,” Byfield said. “I’m truly happy to help others because that’s the only way I feel I can give back—and I still feel like it’s not enough.”

“We often have him speak with patients who are unsure about getting an LVAD or what life with the device is like,” Dr. Garcia added. “There’s no better person to talk to them than someone who’s lived with it for over six years.”

Byfield’s positivity remained contagious, even through hardship.

“It’s never over. As long as you can fight and have a support system—your doctors, your family—it’s never over. Sometimes, in the darkness, we can’t see that; we only see the battles we’re facing. I am very fortunate,” he said.

Now, Byfield hopes his journey inspires others while offering this important reminder:

“Don’t take your health for granted. Get your checkups, go to the doctor. Sometimes we feel like we’re invincible, but we don’t realize how much a little checkup or a doctor’s visit can matter.”

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Courtney Cole

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    BOSTON, Massachusetts (WBZ) — When she isn’t turning pirouettes in class, you’ll find Boston Ballet’s Sage Humphries on her laptop, completing work in a different type of class at Northeastern University.

The second soloist is one of the dancers taking advantage of the company’s partnership with the university, which gives the dancers the chance to earn a degree while working full-time.

Humphries said, “I’m doing something every single day. I am chipping away at the work every single day. I’m reading something, I’m writing something, I’m managing group projects.”

The California native is now pursuing her master’s degree in organizational leadership.

She hopes to stay with the company after stepping off the stage.

“We go through so much in these four walls and I think that it’s important to have leaders who are representative of that experience and have lived it and can respond to the unique challenges in this day and age that the dancers are facing,” Humphries said.

Retired Boston Ballet dancer Isaac Akiba explained, “You have to begin thinking about the end of your career when you begin your career, because it’s so short.”

During his career, he spent nine years earning his degree at Northeastern. Now, he’s working as a realtor.

“It has given me skills to be able to have a vision for myself, for my future. So I can say, I could lead a team later, or I could start my own brokerage,” Akiba said.

Ari Schaaff, the Academic Advisor & Partnership Liaison at Northeastern, said, “Because their professional career is so demanding, they kind of have to build school in around it. The flexibility is really key.”

Humphries says it’s all a balancing act, telling us, “My laptop just comes with me everywhere I go and anytime that I’m free I just pull it open and read a little something here, do a little typing here and manage the schedule and try to work with my peers and coordinate things. I take a lot of calls with my full stage makeup on. I am sometimes rushing to do an assignment right before I go on stage.”

Schaaff said that experience on stage can benefit the dancers in other fields.

“They just have to figure out the language to transfer those skills,” Schaff said. “It’s not that they don’t have the skills to move into a different career field. They just need to be able to learn how to talk about it. “

“I love ballet, and it’s obviously my first love and my passion,” said Humphries, “but I found something in school here that I’m equally passionate about.”

The partnership with Northeastern provides an 80 percent scholarship to Boston Ballet dancers who have been with the company for at least one year. Between 12 and 17 dancers are enrolled in the program each semester, and they take almost every class entirely online.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By WBZ News Staff

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    BOSTON, Massachusetts (WBZ) — A 71-year-old Swansea, Massachusetts school bus driver has been fired for allegedly urinating inside the bus with students on board Monday morning.

Investigators say the bus driver, whose name was not released, was on the way to Hoyle Elementary School when he pulled over and told students to move to the back of the bus.

“The driver then allegedly relieved himself while sitting in the driver’s seat,” according to a press release from Swansea Public Schools and police. “Through the investigation, it is currently believed that no students on the bus witnessed the driver’s actions.”

The driver then completed the trip and dropped students off at school. An investigation was launched after some students reported the unusual behavior to their teachers. So far, no charges have been filed against the driver.

There were 12 Pre-K to Grade 2 students on the bus at the time. All their parents have been notified.

The Swansea Police Department is investigating and school officials filed a report with the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families.

“This is a matter we take extremely seriously,” Swansea Public Schools Superintendent Scott Holcomb and Police Chief Mark Foley said in a statement. “This type of behavior in the presence of children, especially young children, is unacceptable, and we will continue to look into the incident.”

The driver is an employee of Amaral Bus Company, which provides transportation services to Swansea Public Schools. The district is reviewing its relationship with the company after the incident.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.