Man takes gas, lighters into NYC church
NEW YORK -- A college philosophy teacher arrested after entering St. Patrick's Cathedral carrying two cans of gasoline, lighter fluid and butane lighters had also been arrested at a New Jersey cathedral this week and had booked a Thursday flight to Rome, the New York Police Department said.
Marc Lamparello, 37, is facing charges including attempted arson and reckless endangerment after his arrest Wednesday night at the New York City landmark, said John Miller, the New York Police Department's deputy commissioner of intelligence and counterterrorism. Miller stressed that there "doesn't appear to be any connection to any terrorist group or any terrorist-related intent here."
Lamparello remained in police custody Thursday and had not been arraigned.
Miller said surveillance camera footage showed Lamparello circling St. Patrick's several times in a minivan well over an hour before he parked outside the cathedral on Fifth Avenue, walked around the area, returned to his vehicle, and retrieved the gasoline and lighter fluid.
When he entered the church, he was confronted by a security officer, who notified counterterrorism officers standing outside.
Lamparello is a philosophy instructor who has taught at New York City's Lehman and Brooklyn colleges and Seton Hall University in New Jersey.
Baltimore mayor, 5 on staff on paid leave
BALTIMORE -- Baltimore's mayor and five of her staff members are now on paid leave amid a scandal over book sales.
Mayor Catherine Pugh went on leave April 1, saying she needed time off to recover from pneumonia. She's also facing intense scrutiny over the sale of her children's books to entities that do business with the city.
Pugh's biggest customer, the University of Maryland Medical System, whose board of directors she sat on for nearly 20 years, paid her $500,000 for 100,000 copies. She returned her most recent payment of $100,000. Health care provider Kaiser Permanente also spent roughly $100,000 on Pugh's books after she became mayor, when the company was seeking a contract with the city.
The city isn't saying why five members of her staff, including Pugh's chief of staff and director of government relations, have been placed on leave.
Acting Mayor Bernard C. "Jack" Young told the Baltimore Sun newspaper that he hasn't fired anyone. He also said can't discuss personnel decisions, but wants to "provide stability and continuity of government."
Puerto Rico population drops 129,848
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- New U.S. Census Bureau data shows Puerto Rico lost nearly 4 percent of its population after Hurricane Maria -- the greatest population drop in the recorded history of the island, according to one demographer.
Data released Thursday shows the U.S. territory's population dropped by 129,848 people between July 2017 and July 2018. The hurricane struck two months into that period, in September 2017. The population loss was due to both deaths and people moving away, although emigration accounted for most of the drop. The heaviest population drops occurred in metropolitan areas such as the capital of San Juan, the city of Ponce and surrounding areas.
"It's the largest population drop seen in a single year ever registered in Puerto Rico," demographer Raul Figueroa said.
The census numbers show there were 6,449 more deaths than births during the 12 months in question, a normal figure, even though there were several thousand more deaths than normal in the months immediately following the hurricane.
Many Puerto Ricans left for Florida and New York, home to communities of people from the territory.
The San Juan area lost 81,087 people, a 3.9 percent drop, in the 12 months covered by the Census Bureau report.
Canadian gets life in Michigan attack
FLINT, Mich. -- A Canadian man convicted of terrorism for nearly killing a Michigan police officer while yelling "God is great" in Arabic was sentenced to life in prison on Thursday, after boldly declaring that he only regretted not having a machine gun during the knife attack.
Amor Ftouhi's statements stunned U.S. District Judge Matthew Leitman, who said the remarks "persuaded me beyond any shadow of a doubt" that a life term was appropriate for the 51-year-old Ftouhi.
Ftouhi drove 1,000 miles from Montreal to the airport in Flint, Mich., where he repeatedly stabbed Lt. Jeff Neville in the neck in June 2017.
Investigators said Ftouhi, convicted in November of terrorism and two other crimes, wanted to take Neville's gun and start shooting people at Bishop Airport.
"Do I regret what I did? Never," Ftouhi told the judge inside a federal courtroom in Flint. "I regret I didn't get that machine gun. I regret I didn't kill that cop."
Ftouhi said he felt discrimination in Canada because he wasn't a white Christian. He said western countries and Arabic countries should be cursed if they "don't rule according to Allah."
Neville, who has since retired, survived the attack but has lost feeling on the right side of his face.
-- Compiled by Democrat-Gazette staff from wire reports
A Section on 04/19/2019