Suspect in Walmart stabbing to receive terror charge
A 42-year-old man is being charged with multiple counts including an act of terrorism after a mass stabbing at a Walmart in Michigan.
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CBC
2 hours ago
- CBC
Second man pleads guilty in Edmonton 'Project Gaslight' arson and extortion plot
Social Sharing Another man has admitted he was part of a criminal conspiracy targeting successful South Asian home builders in Edmonton with extortion, arson and drive-by shootings. Manav Singh Heer, 20, pleaded guilty to arson, extortion and conspiring to commit extortion on Friday, about a year after he was among several others arrested in the Edmonton Police Service "Project Gaslight" investigation. Heer admitted he was involved in arsons at homes owned by four local developers, as well as an incident where he shot an airsoft gun at a car where a private security guard was watching over one of the developer's homes. He is the second person to plead guilty in the extortion scheme, which began in fall 2023 and continued into early 2024, with local home builders facing demands for cash, violent threats and torched properties. Another young man pleaded guilty earlier this year, admitting he was a "middle manager" in the conspiracy, directing lower-level members, including Heer, about arson targets and reporting progress to higher-ups. Three others, 21-year-old Parminder Singh, 20-year-old Gurkaran Singh and a youth who was 17 when he was arrested and can't be identified, are still before the courts. The charges they face have not been proven. Alleged ringleader Maninder Dhaliwal is also facing charges, but he's in Dubai, where he allegedly orchestrated the scheme from abroad. Court heard Friday that he is still the subject of an extradition request to send him back to Canada from the United Arab Emirates. Arson involvement The details of Heer's role in the extortion plot were laid out in an extensive agreed statement of facts read in court by Crown prosecutor Breena Smith. Heer was aware of threats against the home builders and demands for money, as well as shootings committed as part of the scheme. In committing the arsons, "He was being paid by the syndicate for his work and he was knowingly doing these things at the direction of or for the benefit of the syndicate," Smith said. One local business owner began receiving threatening messages, which didn't come from Heer, in October 2023. Court heard that a caller claimed to be a member of the Brothers Keepers gang and demanded $500,000, saying he "must have the money as he had a nice home and cars." He subsequently received threats that his whole family would be killed and his house would be burned, with the caller describing the car sitting in his driveway and recounting "intimate details" of his life that seemed to be the result of surveillance. After a drive-by shooting at his home where Parminder Singh was arrested, the developer received a text that said, "You want to play this stupid game? You call the cops, let's see how long you survive." Heer was one of the people who set fire to one of the home builder's properties a few weeks later, in the early morning of Nov. 6, 2023. He was involved in a subsequent attempted arson in Leduc where he and two others were chased off by a private security guard. And he was then part of an attack on a security guard's car where he shot and shattered the rear window of the vehicle as the guard drove away. Other developers were targeted in the months that followed, with Heer admitting he was directly involved in some of the arsons, and had advance knowledge of others where he didn't participate. According to the agreed facts, in one arson associated with the extortion plot in December 2023, the fire jumped to two neighbouring properties in the Cy Becker neighbourhood. Two adults and three children had to be evacuated from one of the homes. A firefighter at the scene searching a house for occupants fell two storeys to the basement when the floor gave way. Court heard he was seriously injured and couldn't work for several weeks. Cellphone, surveillance evidence Police gathered evidence of Heer's involvement in the scheme from a wiretap, recorded Edmonton Remand Centre calls and material discovered on Heer's cellphone. In some cases, other alleged members of the conspiracy filmed the process of setting the homes on fire, and shared it with others in the group. According to the agreed facts, in one group text, Heer said he was paid a little more than $1,000 for one of the arsons, and he continued to do it for the money. In another group chat titled "Not Criminals," Heer and other members of the group talked about creating more "arson teams," getting guns and identifying more home builder targets. WATCH | Extortions orchestrated from India, EPS says: Police say Edmonton area extortions targeting home builders orchestrated from India 2 years ago Edmonton police are investigating 27 events in an ongoing extortion, arson and firearms series affecting the South Asian community in the region. An estimated $9 million in property damage has been reported from the arson and shootings. A list of addresses associated with one developer was found in a note on Heer's cellphone, titled with fire emojis, and police found addresses where arsons took place searched and saved on his phone. Police also discovered a web browser searches for home builders that were targeted as well as the phrase, "How much jail time facing for arsons." Heer was caught several times on surveillance video in the area of arsons, often wearing a "distinctive" pair of red and white striped Nike sneakers that were seized after his arrest. On Friday, Heer additionally pleaded guilty to a dangerous driving offence that took place within the same period as the Project Gaslight crimes on Nov. 25, 2023. Court heard that Heer was driving his father's vehicle on James Mowatt Trail S.W., a road with a speed limit of 60 km/h, at 160km/h. A woman driving with her seven-year-old son in the backseat was attempting to make a left turn in the intersection when Heer crashed into the car, with an EPS investigation finding the impact came at a speed of 124 to 137 km/h. The woman and her son were both injured and taken to hospital, where the boy became unresponsive. Court heard that he underwent emergency neurosurgery, but he was left with a severe traumatic brain injury. According to agreed facts read in that case, he's no longer ambulatory, and lost his vision and likely also his hearing. He will likely require full-time care for the rest of his life. Heer's defence lawyer, Rahul Nanda, has requested a psychological assessment ahead of a sentencing date, which will be scheduled later.
CTV News
2 hours ago
- CTV News
Appeals court keeps order blocking Trump administration from indiscriminate immigration sweeps
People wait outside of Glass House Farms, a day after an immigration raid on the facility, Friday, July 11, 2025, in Camarillo, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File) LOS ANGELES — A federal appeals court ruled Friday night to uphold a lower court's temporary order blocking the Trump administration from conducting indiscriminate immigration stops and arrests in Southern California. A three-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held a hearing Monday afternoon at which the federal government asked the court to overturn a temporary restraining order issued July 12 by Judge Maame E. Frimpong, arguing it hindered their enforcement of immigration law. Immigrant advocacy groups filed suit last month accusing President Donald Trump's administration of systematically targeting brown-skinned people in Southern California during the administration's crackdown on illegal immigration. The lawsuit included three detained immigrants and two U.S. citizens as plaintiffs. In her order, Frimpong said there was a 'mountain of evidence' that federal immigration enforcement tactics were violating the Constitution. She wrote the government cannot use factors such as apparent race or ethnicity, speaking Spanish or English with an accent, presence at a location such as a tow yard or car wash, or someone's occupation as the only basis for reasonable suspicion to detain someone. The appeals court panel agreed and questioned the government's need to oppose an order preventing them from violating the constitution. 'If, as Defendants suggest, they are not conducting stops that lack reasonable suspicion, they can hardly claim to be irreparably harmed by an injunction aimed at preventing a subset of stops not supported by reasonable suspicion,' the judges wrote. A hearing for a preliminary injunction, which would be a more substantial court order as the lawsuit proceeds, is scheduled for September. The Los Angeles region has been a battleground with the Trump administration over its aggressive immigration strategy that spurred protests and the deployment of the National Guards and Marines for several weeks. Federal agents have rounded up immigrants without legal status to be in the U.S. from Home Depots, car washes, bus stops, and farms, many who have lived in the country for decades. Among the plaintiffs is Los Angeles resident Brian Gavidia, who was shown in a video taken by a friend June 13 being seized by federal agents as he yells, 'I was born here in the states, East LA bro!' They want to 'send us back to a world where a U.S. citizen ... can be grabbed, slammed against a fence and have his phone and ID taken from him just because he was working at a tow yard in a Latino neighborhood,' American Civil Liberties Union attorney Mohammad Tajsar told the court Monday. The federal government argued that it hadn't been given enough time to collect and present evidence in the lawsuit, given that it was filed shortly before the July 4 holiday and a hearing was held the following week. 'It's a very serious thing to say that multiple federal government agencies have a policy of violating the Constitution,' attorney Jacob Roth said. He also argued that the lower court's order was too broad, and that immigrant advocates did not present enough evidence to prove that the government had an official policy of stopping people without reasonable suspicion. He referred to the four factors of race, language, presence at a location, and occupation that were listed in the temporary restraining order, saying the court should not be able to ban the government from using them at all. He also argued that the order was unclear on what exactly is permissible under law. 'Legally, I think it's appropriate to use the factors for reasonable suspicion,' Roth said The judges sharply questioned the government over their arguments. 'No one has suggested that you cannot consider these factors at all,' Judge Jennifer Sung said. However, those factors alone only form a 'broad profile' and don't satisfy the reasonable suspicion standard to stop someone, she said. Sung, a Biden appointee, said that in an area like Los Angeles, where Latinos make up as much as half the population, those factors 'cannot possibly weed out those who have undocumented status and those who have documented legal status.' She also asked: 'What is the harm to being told not to do something that you claim you're already not doing?' Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called the Friday night decision a 'victory for the rule of law' and said the city will protect residents from the 'racial profiling and other illegal tactics' used by federal agents. Jaimie Ding, The Associated Press
CTV News
3 hours ago
- CTV News
A Tunisian musician was detained in LA after living in US for a decade. His doctor wife speaks out
Dr. Wafaa Alrashid, centre, whose husband, Rami Othmane, a Tunisian musician, is detained at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility, holds a sign during a rally outside the facility in Los Angeles Friday, July 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) LOS ANGELES — Dr. Wafaa Alrashid noticed fewer of her patients were showing up for their appointments at the Los Angeles area hospital where she works as immigration raids spread fear among the Latino population she serves. The Utah-born chief medical officer at Huntington Hospital understood their fear on a personal level. Her husband Rami Othmane, a Tunisian singer and classical musician, began carrying a receipt of his pending green card application around with him. Over the past few months, immigration agents have arrested hundreds of people in Southern California, prompting protests against the federal raids and the subsequent deployment of the U.S. National Guard and Marines. Despite living in the U.S. for a decade as one of thousands of residents married to U.S. citizens, he was swept up in the crackdown. On July 13, Othmane was stopped while driving to a grocery store in Pasadena. He quickly pulled out his paperwork to show federal immigration agents. 'They didn't care, they said, 'Please step out of the car,'' Alrashid recalled hearing the officers say as she watched her husband's arrest in horror over FaceTime. Alrashid immediately jumped in her car and followed her phone to his location. She arrived just in time to see the outline of his head in the back of a vehicle driving away. 'That was probably the worst day of my life,' she said. The Trump administration's crackdown on illegal immigration has ensnared not only immigrants without legal status but legal permanent residents like Othmane who has green cards. Some U.S. citizens have even been arrested. Meanwhile, many asylum-seekers who have regular check-in appointments are being arrested in the hallways outside courtrooms as the White House works toward its promise of mass deportations. Alrashid said her husband has been in the U.S. since 2015 and overstayed his visa, but his deportation order was dismissed in 2020. They wed in March 2025 and immediately filed for a green card. After his arrest, he was taken to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in downtown Los Angeles where he was held in a freezing cold room with 'no beds, no pillows, no blankets, no soap, no toothbrushes and toothpaste, and when you're in a room with people, the bathroom's open,' she said. The Department of Homeland Security in an emailed statement noted the expiration of his tourist visa but did not address the dismissal of the deportation order in 2020 nor his pending green card application. The agency denied any allegations of mistreatment, and said 'ensuring the safety, security, and well-being of individuals in our custody is a top priority at ICE.' Alrashid said for years her husband has performed classical Arabic music across Southern California. They first met when he was singing at a restaurant. 'He's the kindest person,' Alrashid said, adding that he gave a sweater she brought him to a fellow detainee and to give others privacy, he built a makeshift barrier around the open toilet using trash bags. 'He's brought a lot to the community, a lot of people love his music,' she said. More than a week after his arrest, fellow musicians, immigration advocates and activists joined Alrashid in a rally outside the facility. A few of his colleagues performed classical Arabic music, drumming loud enough that they hoped the detainees inside could hear them. Los Jornaleros del Norte musicians, who often play Spanish-language music at rallies, also were there. 'In Latin American culture, the serenade — to bring music to people — is an act of love and kindness. But in this moment, bringing music to people who are in captivity is also an act of resistance," said Pablo Alvarado, co-executive director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network. Leading up to the rally, Alrashid was worried because she hadn't received her daily call from her husband and was told she couldn't visit him that day at the detention facility. She finally heard from him that evening. Othmane told her over the phone he was now at an immigration detention facility in Arizona, and that his left leg was swollen. 'They should ultrasound your leg, don't take a risk,' she said. Alrashid hopes to get her husband out on bail while his case is being processed. They had a procedural hearing on Thursday where the judge verified his immigration status, and have a bail bond hearing scheduled for Tuesday. Until then, she'll continue waiting for his next phone call. Jaimie Ding, The Associated Press
