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Gunman arrested as California parole officer is fatally shot in his Oakland office in front of horrified colleagues
Gunman arrested as California parole officer is fatally shot in his Oakland office in front of horrified colleagues

Daily Mail​

time4 days ago

  • Daily Mail​

Gunman arrested as California parole officer is fatally shot in his Oakland office in front of horrified colleagues

A California parole agent was fatally shot in the line of duty after an assailant stormed his office in Oakland. Joshua Lemont Byrd, aged 40, died when his attacker stormed the Division of Adult Parole Operations office at around 12.50 pm on Thursday. The suspect then fled from the building but was later detained by officers from Oakland Police Department (OPD). The suspect was identified as Bryan Keith Hall, 48, who was recently paroled from prison, according to Fox KTVU. Hall had a conviction for assault with a deadly weapon for stabbing a man in the neck on Lakeshore in a case handled by OPD and the Alameda County District Attorney's Office. Father-of-three Byrd was transported to Highland Hospital, where he tragically died. On Thursday, OPD officers, Alameda County Sheriff's Office, CHP, and state patrol assembled outside the hospital when Byrd's body (shielded by an American flag) was carried out and placed into a coroner's vehicle. California Governor Gavin Newsom and Acting Governor Eleni Kounalakis said in a statement: 'This is a heartbreaking loss. Agent Byrd served with integrity and courage - and we're forever grateful. 'We are keeping his family in our prayers and we join the men and women of CDCR [California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation] in mourning this tragedy.' Byrd left behind a wife and three children, and a GoFundMe account was set up to support his family members and loved ones. Byrd's partner Hugh Soloman explained on the page: 'Byrd was a great guy and officer. He was very dependable and cared for all. He was a Navy veteran before he joined CDCR and Parole.' 'The purpose of the donation is to help the family in the uncertain and tragic time. The honor box will show his family how much he was loved and honored.' The motive of the shooting remained unclear and was not yet released. Byrd's death's the first line-of-duty loss for CDCR since 2018.

The cost of conscience: I lost friends for defending Palestinians
The cost of conscience: I lost friends for defending Palestinians

Al Jazeera

time28-05-2025

  • General
  • Al Jazeera

The cost of conscience: I lost friends for defending Palestinians

I have written a lot about the heart-piercing trials and tragedies of Palestinians for a long time. I have treated every word of every column that has appeared on this page, devoted to Palestine's precarious fate and the indefatigable souls who refuse to abandon it, as an obligation and a duty. It is the obligation and duty of writers – who are privileged to reach so many people in so many places – to expose injustice and give pointed expression to gratuitous suffering. I have made it plain throughout: Here I stand. Not because I am the all-knowing arbiter of right from wrong – any honest writer is aware of how exhausting and foolish that can be – but because I am obliged to tell the truth clearly and, if need be, repeatedly. I consider ending what has happened and continues to happen to Palestinians to be the moral imperative of this awful, disfiguring hour. It requires a response since silence often translates – consciously or by neglect – into consent and complicity. Each of us who shares this sense of obligation and duty responds in our own way. Some make speeches in parliaments. Some lock arms in demonstrations. Some go to Gaza and the occupied West Bank to ease, as best they can, the pervasive misery and despair. I write. Writing in defence of Palestinians – of their humanity, dignity, and rights – is not meant, nor can it be dismissed, as a polemical provocation. For me, it is an act of conscience. I do not write to mollify. I refuse to qualify what has happened and is happening to Palestinians as 'complex' to provide readers with a convenient and comfortable ethical exit ramp. Occupation is not complex. Oppression is not complex. Apartheid is not complex. Genocide is not complex. It is cruel. It is wrong. It must yield to decency. Writing about Palestinians in this blunt, uncompromising way invites all sorts of replies from all sorts of quarters. Some readers praise your 'courage'. Some thank you for 'speaking' for them, for not flinching, for naming names. Some readers urge you to continue to write, despite the risks and recriminations. Much less charitably, some readers call you ugly names. Some wish you and your family misfortune and harm. Some readers try, and fail, to get you fired. All you can do as a writer is to keep writing, regardless of the reaction – whether kind or unkind, thoughtful or thoughtless – or the consequences, intended or not. Still, one of the casualties of writing about Palestinians can be the loss of the reassuring constancy and tender pleasure of valued friendships. I suppose I am not alone on this sad score. Students, teachers, academics, artists, and so many others have been exiled, charged, or even jailed for refusing to ignore or sanitise the horror we see day after dreadful day. In this context, my travails, while stinging and disconcerting, are modest in comparison. Departed friends, however dear, are, it seems, the price for candour that unsettles. Those friendships, built over decades through sometimes happy, sometimes sad experiences and shared confidences, have evaporated in an instant. I understood that this rupture could happen. I did not fear it. I accepted it. Yet, when it did happen, it pricked. It was abrupt. Phone calls went to voice mail. Emails went unanswered. Inevitably, the absence and quiet grew until they became an unmistakable verdict. So, I did not ask for explanations. That would, I reasoned, be futile. A door had been slammed shut and bolted. Friends I admired and respected. Friends I laughed with, trusted, whose counsel I sought and who sought mine. Gone. I wish them and their loved ones well. I will miss their wise ear and, from time to time, their helping hand. Some of them are Jewish, some are not. I do not begrudge their choice. They have exercised their prerogative to decide who can and cannot be called a friend. I once met their litmus test – the one we all have. Now, I have failed it. I know that some of my former friends have deep ties to Israel. Some have family who live there. Some may be grieving, too, worried over what comes next. I do not ignore their fear or uncertainty. I do not deny their right to safety. This is where, I suspect, we confront the unspoken cause of the irreversible divide. Israel's security cannot be achieved at the expense of Palestine's freedom and sovereignty. That is not peace, let alone the elusive 'co-existence'. It is domination – brutal and unforgiving. This kind of loss, profound and lasting, gives way to clarity born from rejection. It sharpens your appreciation of loyalty and authenticity in relationships. Perhaps the people I thought I knew, I did not know at all. And perhaps the people who thought they knew me, did not know me at all. There is a reckoning under way. Like most reckonings, big or small, near or distant, it can be messy and painful. We are trying to navigate a pitiless world that, on the disagreeable whole, punishes dissent and rewards compliance. To those friends who have opted for distance, I say this: I am convinced that you believe what you're doing is right and just. So am I. I write not to wound. I write to insist. I insist that Palestinian lives matter. I insist that Palestinians cannot be erased by edict, force, and intimidation. I insist that mourning should not be a daily ritual for any people. I insist that justice cannot be selective and humanity must be universal. I insist that Palestinian children rediscover the fullness of life beyond occupation, terror, and grief. I insist that Palestinian children, like our children, have the chance, again, to play, to learn, and to thrive. I insist that the killing lust that has gripped a nation like a fever that will not break, has to be broken. Too much damage has been done. Can we agree on that? When I have stopped writing, the account will show that in this obscene moment of slaughter and starvation, I was not among the silent. It will find me – for better or worse – on the record. The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial stance.

Wartime star Dame Vera Lynn would want young people to help others
Wartime star Dame Vera Lynn would want young people to help others

The Independent

time08-05-2025

  • General
  • The Independent

Wartime star Dame Vera Lynn would want young people to help others

The daughter of forces sweetheart Dame Vera Lynn has stressed the importance of 'duty' for young people and said her mother would have thought it is 'very important' they help others. Dame Vera lifted troops' spirits with concerts in Egypt, India and Burma during the war in which she sang songs including The White Cliffs Of Dover and We'll Meet Again, which were heard at the Westminster Abbey service on Thursday. She died in 2020 aged 103, having had a celebrated career as a singer and entertainer that spanned more than 90 years. Her daughter Virginia Lewis-Jones was at the VE Day 80th anniversary party at the Royal Albert Hall when she spoke to the PA news agency. Asked about lessons for the younger generation, Ms Lewis-Jones told PA: 'I think that if they can learn that duty is very important, that if you can do anything to help anybody please do so. 'It doesn't matter if it's Gertrude next door who needs her shopping done or whatever, but it's very, very important for the young people to help other people as much as possible'. That is what her mother 'would have thought, and that's what I think as well', she added. The Royal Albert Hall party, presented by the SSAFA Armed Forces charity in association with the Daily Mail, heard music from the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra as well as a performance from Strictly Come Dancing star Nadiya Bychkova. Ms Lewis-Jones told PA: 'Obviously this is an extremely, extremely important day – it should always be remembered. 'Especially for the young people to remember what people sacrificed for them for today, and the freedoms that we've got now are purely due to the people that not only fought, and did a lot of other things in the background of the war, but also afterwards.' She added: '80th anniversary, you know there won't be a lot of veterans left for the next 10 years so it's a very, very important day and my mother would have reiterated that and said how important that was. 'She was very keen on young people to be able to appreciate what happened during and after the war as well.' Dame Vera worked with many charities to ensure people were aware of the events before, during and after the Second World War, Ms Lewis-Jones added. She is currently fundraising for a memorial to her mother to be installed near the White Cliffs of Dover. It will also pay tribute to other artists who travelled the world boosting moral by entertaining troops and families. Dame Vera was born March 20 1917 and started singing in working men's clubs at seven years old. During the war she captured the hearts of the nation with her uplifting musical performances and recordings. In 2017, aged 100, Dame Vera became the oldest living artist to be in the UK's album chart top 10.

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