Ex-NYPD commissioner accuses NYC mayor of 'character assassination' in $10 million defamation claim
After that lawsuit was filed, Adams privately told members of a nonprofit business advocacy group at a meeting that he'd fired Donlon, 71, from his brief stint as commissioner last fall because he was rapidly deteriorating mentally, according to attendees. Donlon cited news reports about those comments in his legal claim. The department's former top spokesperson, Tarik Sheppard, who was also named in Donlon's lawsuit, told reporters that his former boss was 'going through some cognitive issues and believed there was this conspiracy against him.'
'Their comments amounted to a defamatory public character assassination intended to weaponize mental health to silence a whistleblower,' Donlon's attorney, John Scola, said Monday. Donlon, a former FBI official, was appointed by Adams in September to lead a department reeling from overlapping federal investigations and high-level resignations. He was replaced by the current commissioner, Jessica Tisch, in November. During his short tenure, federal authorities searched Donlon's home for decades-old documents that he said were unrelated to his work at the department. He has not been publicly accused of wrongdoing in connection with that search.
In his short time as commissioner, Donlon said he uncovered systemic corruption by members of the mayor's inner circle, including a scheme to reward unqualified loyalists with lucrative promotions in exchange for political favors. In his lawsuit, Donlon accused Sheppard of misappropriating the commissioner's rubber stamp signature to give himself a raise, then threatening to kill Donlon when confronted about it. Sheppard, who left the department in May, has denied that allegation.
Inquiries to City Hall about the defamation claim were not immediately returned. In a statement last week, a spokesperson for Adams, Kayla Mamelak Altus, described Donlon's claims as 'absurd.' 'These are baseless accusations from a disgruntled former employee who – when given the opportunity to lead the greatest police department in the world – proved himself to be ineffective,' she said. The defamation claim adds to a recent spate of litigation brought by police officials against Adams, focusing scrutiny on his leadership as he seeks re-election on a platform emphasizing managerial competence and public safety.
Earlier this month, four high-ranking former NYPD officials brought separate lawsuits accusing Adams and his deputies of allowing rampant corruption and cronyism within the police department. In response to those suits, a spokesperson for Adams said the administration holds all city employees – including leadership at the NYPD – to the highest standards.
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Al Arabiya
5 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Michigan led on safe water after flint, but mobile home parks are stubborn rough spot
After the Flint water crisis, Michigan became a national leader on safe drinking water, requiring the removal of lead pipes and the reduction of harmful forever chemicals years before the federal government acted. But the state has a blind spot when it comes to the hundreds of thousands of people who live in its mobile home parks. Regulators say they have little power to enforce the rules in the state's estimated 100 or more unlicensed parks when owners fail to provide safe water. The problem is compounded by private equity firms that have been buying up parks over the past two decades and now control about 1 in every 6 parks in Michigan–among the highest rates in the country, according to the Private Equity Stakeholder Project, a group that advocates against such purchases. Officials say it can be a struggle to even contact those park owners, let alone get them to comply with regulations. 'With private equity moving into this space, the goal these companies seem to have is to return the absolute highest return they can to investors, even if that means providing inadequate service or engaging in exploitative practices or unsafe practices for the residents,' said state Sen. John Cherry, a Democrat who sponsored legislation to strengthen enforcement in the communities. But the state doesn't attempt to track unlicensed parks. And an industry spokesperson said Michigan officials–particularly law enforcement–have the power to do more if they choose. Rare pursuit of an unlicensed mobile home park: At North Morris Estates, where Theo Gantos lives outside Flint, conditions got so bad that the state refused to renew the park's license to operate. Water often flowed weakly from the tap because the wells that service the park didn't produce enough, Gantos said. Sometimes the water was discolored. It could stain laundry and destroy appliances. He installed a multistage filter system just to be able to use it. Eventually, local law enforcement investigated. In March, the owner pleaded guilty to a criminal charge for operating without a license, agreeing to pay a fine and sell the park. That might not have happened if Gantos had not been so pugnacious. He spent years battling Homes of America, an affiliate of private equity group Alden Global Capital that local prosecutors said owns North Morris. That included filing a public records request for emails on officials' handling of problems at his park, pushing regulators to enforce rules, and speaking out to media over what he calls 'blight' conditions. 'These guys, they don't care,' Gantos said about complying with the rules. Representatives of North Morris and Homes of America, including an attorney who appeared for the park in legal proceedings, did not respond to messages seeking comment. The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, called LARA, has the authority to inspect and investigate complaints at licensed mobile home parks. But it's typically fallen to law enforcement to pursue criminal charges against unlicensed parks. The North Morris conviction for operating without a license is likely the first such under the state's mobile home law that has been on the books since 1987, the county prosecutor said. John Lindley, president and CEO of the industry group Michigan Manufactured Housing Association, said the rarity of such cases is evidence that state and local law enforcement are choosing not to enforce the rules. 'This whole notion that 'There's nothing we can do about this.' Clearly there is, or that prosecution wouldn't have taken place,' Lindley said. 'Not having the authority to go after communities that don't have a license is completely different from choosing not to go after those. And what we've seen so far with both the state and local units of government is they've elected not to.' Shutting down a park is a bad option: Mobile home parks without a license are essentially operating unregulated, Cherry said. One of the state's few options is to shut down a park, a rarely used last resort that can mean throwing people out of their homes. Mobile home parks have long been an important affordable housing option. But that affordability is fading. A study by Lending Tree, a lending marketplace, found new mobile home sale prices rose more than 50 percent nationally from 2018 to 2023–new single-family home price averages by contrast rose 38 percent over that period. Last year, LARA supported legislation that would have given the department more power to penalize unlicensed parks, force parks to provide owner contact information, and limit rent increases. That failed. This year, Democratic Sen. Jeff Irwin has proposed a narrower law that would give state drinking water officials more power to make sure water in all mobile home parks is drinkable. Right now, they only have direct authority over parks that provide their own water. But it's common for parks to take city water from a pipe connecting to the nearby town. That water is usually safe when it reaches the park, but if the park's water pipes crack or fail, water protections won't apply on the private property. That keeps officials from stepping in and forcing change except in limited situations when there's a public health threat. It can leave residents unsure where to turn when the owner refuses to fix problems. 'We take those issues very seriously,' said Eric Oswald, director of the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy's drinking water and environmental health division. He said they try to work with licensing officials to ensure water is safe, though the problem is 'I'm not resourced for that.' The Michigan Manufactured Housing Association opposed last year's legislation, arguing it would make mobile homes less affordable. The group says it supports extending water protections to within parks as called for in this year's legislation. It passed the state Senate in late June and is now in the GOP-controlled House.
Arab News
5 hours ago
- Arab News
Muslim leaders increase security after vandalism reports at Texas and California mosques
TEXAS: After a spate of vandalism reports involving graffiti at a few mosques in Texas and California, Muslim leaders there have stepped up existing efforts to keep their sacred spaces and community members safe. The incidents and subsequent hypervigilance add to what many American Muslims say has already been a charged climate amid the fallout in the US from the Israel-Hamas war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and devastated Gaza. The war started in October 2023 with a deadly attack by Hamas on Israel. 'The past two years have been extremely difficult for American Muslims,' said Edward Ahmed Mitchell, national deputy director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization. A constant stream of images showing the death, destruction and ongoing starvation in Gaza has taken a toll, said Mitchell, as has a rise in anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian bigotry in the US Tomorrow, @CAIRAustin and leaders from the three mosques vandalized last week will hold a press conference condemning the attacks and inviting the public to a community gathering of solidarity on Thursday at Nueces Mosque. Press Conference Tuesday, May 27 | 11 AM CST … — CAIR National (@CAIRNational) May 26, 2025 He pointed to one of the most egregious examples of that bigotry: After the war started, an Illinois man killed a 6-year-old Palestinian American Muslim boy and wounded his mother in a hate-crime attack. Worry and frustration The recent vandalism reports have left some worried and frustrated — but not entirely surprised. 'Since October 2023, we've definitely seen rise in Islamophobia,' said Rawand Abdelghani, who is on the board of directors of Nueces Mosque, one of the affected mosques in Austin, Texas. 'Anti-Palestinian, anti-immigrant, all of that rhetoric that's being said … it has contributed to things like this happening.' Nueces security footage showed someone, their face partially covered, spray-painting what appears to be Star of David symbols at the property. CAIR Austin said similar incidents were reported at two other Austin mosques. They all seemingly happened on the same night in May, in what the group described as part of 'a disturbing pattern of hate-motivated incidents.' It called for increased security patrols and protective measures. Shaimaa Zayan, CAIR Austin operations manager, called them an intimidation attempt. Less than two weeks earlier, someone had spray-painted graffiti at the Islamic Center of Southern California, including the Star of David on an outer wall there, center spokesperson Omar Ricci said. 'In light of what's going on within Palestine and the genocide in Gaza, it felt like an attack,' said Ricci, who's also a reserve Los Angeles Police Department officer. Some specifics remained unresolved. The LAPD said it opened a vandalism/hate crime investigation and added extra patrols, but added it has neither a suspect nor a motive and noted that nonreligious spaces were also targeted. The Austin Police Department did not respond to Associated Press inquiries. Nueces had already increased its security camera use following three incidents last year, including someone throwing rocks at the mosque, Abdelghani said. After the May vandalism, it also added overnight security, she added. Nueces serves many university students and is considered a 'home away from home,' Abdelghani said. It's where they learn about their faith, meet other Muslims and find refuge, including during tense times, like when some students got arrested amid campus protests last year, she added. CAIR says that in 2024, its offices nationwide received 8,658 complaints, the highest number it has recorded since its first civil rights report in 1996. It listed employment discrimination as the most common in 2024. The group says last year, US Muslims, along with others of different backgrounds, 'were targeted due to their anti-genocide … viewpoints.' Referencing former President Joe Biden, the CAIR report said that for 'the second year in a row, the Biden-backed Gaza genocide drove a wave of Islamophobia in the United States.' Israel has strongly rejected allegations it's committing genocide in Gaza, where its war with Hamas has killed more than 59,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials. The initial Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, killed some 1,200 people, while about 250 were abducted. Tensions in multiple spaces The war has fueled tensions in myriad US settings. After it started, Muslim and Jewish civil rights groups reported a surge of harassment, bias and physical assaults reports against their community members. Pew Research Center in February 2024 found that 70 percent of US Muslims and nearly 90 percent of US Jews surveyed say they felt an increase in discrimination against their respective communities since the war began. More recently, leaders of US Jewish institutions have called for more help with security after a firebomb attack in Colorado on demonstrators showing support for Israeli hostages in Gaza that left one person killed and others injured, as well as a fatal shooting of two Israeli Embassy staffers outside a Jewish museum in Washington, D.C. Politically, the conflict loomed over last year's presidential election, leaving many pro-Palestinian US voters feeling ignored by their own government's support for Israel. It has roiled campuses and sparked debates over free speech and where political rhetoric crosses into harassment and discrimination. There've been bitter disagreements, including among some Jewish Americans, about exactly what the definition of antisemitism should cover, and whether certain criticism of Israeli policies and Zionism should be included. That debate further intensified as President Donald Trump's administration sought to deport some foreign-born pro-Palestinian campus activists. The Islamic Center of Southern California has been targeted before, including vandalism in 2023 and separate threats that authorities said in 2016 were made by a man who was found with multiple weapons in his home. Incidents like the latest one cause concern, Ricci said. 'People see that it's not going to take very much to spark something in the city,' he said. 'There's a lot of emotion. There's a lot of passion' on both the pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli sides. Salam Al-Marayati, president of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, said 'if people think they can get away with graffiti, then the next step is to firebomb a mosque or even go attack worshippers.' Opening doors and receiving support Al-Marayati and others praised how many have shown support for the affected Muslim communities. 'The best preparation is what we did in Los Angeles and that's to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our allies and be there for one another,' he said. In Texas, a gathering at Nueces brought together neighbors and others, including Christians and Jews, to paint over the vandalism, clean up the property and garden, Zayan said. 'It was beautiful,' she said. 'It's really important to open your doors and open your heart and invite people and to rebuild this trust and connection,' she said. 'For non-Muslims, it was a great opportunity for them to show their love and support. They really wanted to do something.'
Al Arabiya
14 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Lori Vallow Daybell stoked tensions with judge in her Arizona murder conspiracy trials
Moments before the Idaho mother with doomsday beliefs was given two more life sentences in prison, she complained about jail conditions and the legal system, saying the rules of evidence do not allow two sides of the story. Judge Justin Beresky abruptly interrupted, saying: 'Actually, they do.' It was a moment that further highlighted the tension between Lori Vallow Daybell, who represented herself in two murder conspiracy cases in Arizona, and Beresky, who pulled no punches when the time came for him to address the court. Beresky said Vallow Daybell was not truthful when she claimed she was prevented from telling her side of the story and was unable to get a fair trial. The media attention she craved, he said, will fade into obscurity now that her trials are over. 'The amount of contemplation, calculation, planning, and manipulation that went into these crimes is unparalleled in my career,' said Beresky, who has been a Maricopa County Superior Court judge since 2017 and has presided over other high-profile cases. Friday's sentencing ended the legal saga of Vallow Daybell, 51, who will likely spend no time in an Arizona prison because she already was serving three life sentences in Idaho for killing her two youngest children and conspiring to kill a romantic rival. In Arizona, she was convicted of conspiring to kill her estranged husband Charles Vallow and her niece's ex-husband Brandon Boudreaux. Charles Vallow was fatally shot, while Boudreaux survived. Vallow Daybell maintained that she did nothing wrong and said the string of deaths were simply tragedies. She turned to her own religious beliefs in saying she believes she is among servants who Jesus is sending into prison to become warriors and who ultimately will be released to serve him. Beresky implied that she got the meaning wrong when she referenced a verse about prisoners going free. 'That is a verse about people that accept Jesus can be in prison and they will go free when they die and go to heaven, but it will take an act of God for you to go free,' the judge said. 'In short, you should never be released from prison.' Vallow Daybell's trials in Phoenix were infused with her religious beliefs, including that people in her life were possessed by evil spirits. She routinely sparred with Beresky, occasionally leaning over to consult with her advisory counsel. Charles Vallow's sister Kay Woodcock praised the judge's demeanor outside the courtroom. 'I don't think we could have had a better judge,' she said. 'He is a better man than a lot of people putting up with her like he did.' Mel McDonald, a retired Maricopa County judge who was not involved in the trials but watched them, said Beresky did an exceptional job of maintaining courtroom decorum and demonstrated extraordinary patience despite obstructive tactics from Vallow Daybell. 'He gives her latitude,' McDonald said. 'But he doesn't let her run wild.' Last month during the trial over the conspiracy to kill Boudreaux, Vallow Daybell falsely accused Beresky of yelling at her after he explained that her efforts to introduce favorable evidence about her character could open the door to jurors hearing about her convictions in Idaho and for Vallow's death. 'You don't need to talk to me that way,' Vallow Daybell said. 'Take her out,' Beresky told a security officer who led her from the courtroom. In defending herself, Vallow Daybell struggled with legal matters that most lawyers consider routine, such as lining up witnesses to testify. She insisted on exercising her speedy trial rights and rejected the judge's offer for later dates, yet complained about not having enough time to prepare. She also tried to get Beresky removed from the case, arguing that he was biased against her. In another moment emblematic of the tensions between judge and defendant, Beresky expressed skepticism during jury selection for her second Arizona trial when she claimed she was too sick to move forward. The proceedings were postponed for the day, but the trial continued with Beresky later saying there was no objective evidence to support her claims.
