
Today in History: Deadly Walmart shooting in El Paso
In 1775, 250 years ago, General George Washington convened a war council with his top generals in Cambridge. Washington and the others were stunned to learn how desperate the rebel forces were for gunpowder. He had thought they had 450 or so casks; there were only about 38. 'The General was so struck, that he did not utter a word for half an hour,' General John Sullivan wrote to the New Hampshire Committee of Safety.
In 1852, in America's first intercollegiate sporting event, Harvard rowed past Yale to win the first Harvard-Yale Regatta.
In 1916, Irish-born British diplomat Roger Casement, a strong advocate of independence for Ireland, was hanged for treason.
In 1936, Jesse Owens of the United States won the first of his four gold medals at the Berlin Olympics as he took the 100-meter sprint.
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In 1972, the U.S. Senate ratified the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union.
In 1977, the Tandy Corporation introduced the TRS-80, one of the first widely-available home computers.
In 1981, U.S. air traffic controllers went on strike, seeking pay and workplace improvements (two days later, President Ronald Reagan fired the 11,345 striking union members and barred them from federal employment).
In 2004, the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty opened to visitors for the first time since the 9/11 attacks.
In 2018, Las Vegas police said they were closing their investigation into the Oct. 1, 2017, shooting that left 58 people dead at a country music festival without a definitive answer for why Stephen Paddock unleashed gunfire from a hotel suite onto the concert crowd.
In 2019, a gunman opened fire at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas, resulting in the deaths of 23 people; after surrendering, the gunman told detectives he targeted 'Mexicans' and had outlined the plot in a screed published online shortly before the attack.
In 2021, New York's state attorney general said an investigation into Gov. Andrew Cuomo found that he had sexually harassed multiple current and former state government employees; the report brought increased pressure on Cuomo to resign, including pressure from President Joe Biden and other Democrats.
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New York Post
17 minutes ago
- New York Post
British mom sexually ‘violated' by parasailing operator while mid-air in Tunisia
A British mother of three was sexually assaulted mid-air while parasailing in Africa, according to a report. Michelle Wilson, 52, said she was strapped into a harness with a parasail operator when he pressed himself against her and groped her while they soared through the sky off the beach in Sousse, Tunisia. 'I could feel the back of my bikini bottoms being pulled, and he was pulling the strap,' she told The Sun. 'He must have been tightening the harness to get me closer. A British mom on vacation in Tunisia said she was groped while parasailing. 'His legs straddled around me, he had one hand up on the parachute, the other wasn't. Then I felt him touch my leg.' 'He was groping me and moving back and forth into me and talking to me in Arabic,' Wilson said. 'I felt him pressing against me. I kept arching my back. I felt violated and dirty and was scared. He was only a young lad, maybe around 20.' She originally planned to take the ride with a friend but was told it was too windy and that she and her pal would have to go separately accompanied by an operator. The friend 'had a great time with no problems,' Wilson said. Wilson said that as soon as she was back on the ground, she burst into tears and reported the incident to local police. She said the incident ruined her vacation. The tourist said she reported the operator as soon as she got on the ground, but he ruined her vacation. 'As women you expect a bit of banter from men in these countries, but this wasn't banter, it was a sexual assault,' she said. Wilson spent $8,000 for the trip to Tunisia wither her 17-year-old daughter, her friend and her 16-year-old twin sons. She believes the man has since been arrested. British authorities and Wilson's insurance company are assisting in the case, she said. EasyJet, with whom Wilson booked the trip, are looking into the assault as well.

Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
8 including an Irish missionary are missing after gunmen storm a Haiti orphanage
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Eight people including an Irish missionary and a 3-year-old child remained missing Monday after gunmen stormed an orphanage in Haiti, the latest attack in an area controlled by a powerful collection of armed gangs. Authorities scrambled to relocate dozens of children and staff from the Saint-Hélène orphanage run by Nos Petits Frères et Sœurs, an international charity with offices in Mexico and France. The orphanage cares for more than 240 children, according to its website. Among those kidnapped early Sunday was Gena Heraty, an Irish missionary who has worked in Haiti for 30 years and oversaw the orphanage. She was assaulted in 2013 when suspects broke into the orphanage and killed her colleague, according to Irish media. Sunday marked the latest high-profile kidnapping involving a foreign missionary. In 2021, the 400 Mawozo gang kidnapped 17 missionaries, including five children, from a U.S. -based organization in Ganthier, east of the capital, Port-au-Prince. The majority were held captive for 61 days. Sunday's kidnapping occurred in Kenscoff, a once peaceful community in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area. The doors to the orphanage remained closed on Monday as Haiti's Institute of Social Welfare and Research worked with UNICEF to identify sites where children and employees could be relocated. No one has claimed responsibility for the kidnappings in an area controlled by a gang federation known as ' Viv Ansanm.' The U.S. this year designated it as a foreign terrorist organization. Simon Harris, Ireland's deputy prime minister, said in a statement that the kidnappings of Heraty and the others were 'deeply worrying," and called for their immediate release. In a past interview with the Irish Independent newspaper, Heraty recalled being threatened to death when suspects broke into the orphanage in 2013. 'They were quite aggressive. One had a hammer, one had a gun,' she said. Heraty said her colleague was killed with a hammer after he rushed to help her and others. 'The last place you would expect a violent death to happen in Haiti would be in a house with special-needs people," she said. "Life is just not fair. We know that. We just have to accept it.' At least 175 people in Haiti were reported kidnapped from April to the end of June of this year, with 37% of those cases occurring in Port-au-Prince. The United Nations said a majority of those kidnappings were blamed on the Grand Ravine and Village de Dieu gangs, which form part of the Viv Ansanm federation. Pierre-richard Luxama And Dánica Coto, The Associated Press


Boston Globe
an hour ago
- Boston Globe
Immigrant police officers have made our communities stronger
Get The Gavel A weekly SCOTUS explainer newsletter by columnist Kimberly Atkins Stohr. Enter Email Sign Up NYPD pallbearers carry the casket of slain NYPD officer Didarul Islam during his funeral at Parkchester Jame Masjid on July 31, 2025 in the Parkchester neighborhood of the Bronx borough in New York City. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Advertisement Generations of immigrants have embraced that mission. As Chuck Wexler, head of the Police Executive Research Forum, a Washington-based think tank, That melting pot mentality has also been good for law enforcement. As Wexler also noted, 'Officer Islam is part of a long history of immigrants improving American communities through policing.' Advertisement In policing, diversity is not a curse; it is a positive force. For example, More recently, Wexler's post cites other examples in police departments around the country where immigrants contribute greatly to the communities they serve. Some, like Islam, died in the line of duty. When tragedy strikes, the police officer is a hero. Their country of origin is important only because it shows the starting point of an officer's life and how much they were willing to risk in service to their new country — everything. We live in a time of great suspicion and hostility toward immigrants in every walk of life. Police are on the frontlines, caught between the actions of masked federal agents who snatch people off the streets and the communities whose trust they need in order to do their job. Advertisement Police, he said, are totally supportive of a focus on violent offenders who are here illegally — however, trust with immigrant communities is threatened when you arrest those who have been working here for 20 years, at a wide range of jobs that make them an integral part of their cities and towns. With that comes concern people will be afraid to come forward to either report crime or serve as witnesses. Today's domestic violence incident could be tomorrow's homicide. Wexler believes it is the job of Congress to come up with a solution. 'Instead of comprehensive immigration reform, it has been left to ICE and police to do what Congress isn't able to do,' he told me. Police should not be feared by immigrants who have committed no crime other than coming to this country. Nor should it take the death of a police officer for people to value the promise of immigrants who come here seeking a better life, like Islam and his family. But it does. Advertisement We should never forget that we are a country of proud immigrants — some of whom, like Islam, die in service to that country. Thousands of members of the NYPD and other law enforcement agencies attended the funeral of Officer Didarul Islam on July 31, 2025, who was killed during a mass shooting while working a private security detail assignment in midtown Manhattan. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Joan Vennochi is a Globe columnist. She can be reached at