Thug who beat elderly woman so badly that she can't walk, speak, or recognize her husband of more than 50 years is sentenced

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A 35-year-old male who nearly two years ago used a cane to beat an elderly woman so brutally that she can't walk, speak, or recognize her husband of more than half a century was sentenced to eight years in prison last week.

What are the details?

Alexander Adams on February 23, 2022, approached John Hopkins, 78, and his wife — 79-year-old Claudia Hopkins — outside a supermarket in Washington, D.C., and asked them for five dollars, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

When John Hopkins gave Adams one dollar, Adams hollered, “That is not enough!” and punched John Hopkins, who fell to the ground, the DOJ said.

With that, Adam began beating Claudia Hopkins with her husband’s wooden cane, hitting her head and body, after which she fell backward and hit her head on the concrete, officials said.

Claudia Hopkins suffered numerous injuries, including a concussion, a brain bleed, swelling on the brain, and an altered mental state and cognitive deficits, officials said, adding that she "will likely never recover."

Adams has been in custody since February 24, 2022, officials said, adding that he pleaded guilty last December. He was sentenced Friday on two counts of aggravated assault of a senior citizen to 96 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release, officials said.

According to WRC-TV, the prosecutor said Adams had 32 contacts with the judicial system over the years — including 11 assaults and 13 convictions. The judge called Adams extraordinarily dangerous, the station added.

'I have lost my wife forever'

WRC said that before the attack, John and Claudia Hopkins had an active social life. Now she is bedridden in a nursing home and can no longer walk, speak, or recognize her husband of more than 50 years, the station said.

“She is incapable of talking, she cannot walk, she has a feeding tube,” John Hopkins told WRC. “I have lost my wife forever.”

Image source: YouTube screenshot

He added to the station, “I feel haunted; I feel emotionally haunted. I feel anguished. It has given me anxiety, and I realize I am depressed. And I fear that it will last me for the rest of my life.”

WRC reported that the day after the attack, Adams’ father told the station that his son had physically attacked him as well, breaking his hip. Tom Adams also told WRC that his son is bipolar and becomes violent when he doesn’t take his medication.

In court, Alexander Adams apologized for what he did, the station said.

“It’s the city’s and the United States government’s responsibility to protect its citizens, and we suffered that neglect,” John Hopkins told WRC.

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'Give me your f***ing purse!': One day after Christmas, an elderly married couple is assaulted, robbed at gunpoint on busy street in broad daylight



On the day after Christmas, a married couple in their seventies was assaulted and robbed at gunpoint on a busy street in broad daylight in the Chinatown neighborhood of Oakland, California — and it was all caught on video.

What are the details?

KGO-TV reported that the couple had just left a friend's jewelry shop on Franklin Street when a man drew a gun.

"Give me your f***ing purse!" the armed man hollered, according to station anchor Dion Lim, who later spoke to the husband.

While trying to back away from the armed attacker, the man and woman both fell to the ground, and the armed attacker pulled the woman's purse from her and ran off to a getaway car.

\u2026a man approaches, pulls a gun. \n\nMr. H said the man \u201csaid give me your f**king purse!\u201d then pushed Mrs. H to the ground took her purse & ran off. They\u2019re physically OK. \n\nThe guy almost got hit by a car while escaping & ran to a nearby getaway vehicle. (2/3) #StopAAPIHatepic.twitter.com/CJDsQfXpTd
— Dion Lim (@Dion Lim) 1641100500

The couple is physically OK, Lim reported on Twitter.

'More police presence'

Carl Chan, president of the Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce, told KGO that crime was down in the neighborhood before the holidays, but he will lobby for more law enforcement protection: "Not only are we needing more police presence in the community, we need to install additional cameras and license plate readers because it has proven successful in many cities."

'Broken society'

The male victim in the attack told the station that Oakland feels like "a broken society" in the wake of COVID and that he and his wife sustained some bruises but "fortunately ... have no broken bones or anything serious. Mentally we are really scared."

The male victim added to the station that he doesn't believe defunding the police is a good idea and is grateful his four children are nearby and can deliver groceries and help with errands.

Black Lives Matter militants charged after viral video shows them harassing elderly diners: 'F*** the white people'



Three Black Lives Matter militants were charged after a viral video showed them harassing elderly diners outside a Pittsburgh restaurant over Labor Day weekend.

What are the details?

Monique Craft, 35, Kenneth McDowell, 33, and Shawn Green, 24 — who also goes by Lorenzo Rulli — were charged by summons with multiple misdemeanors Monday in connection with the Sept. 5 incident outside the Sienna Mercato restaurant, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.

Craft is charged with theft, conspiracy, and simple trespass; McDowell is charged with possessing instruments of crime, conspiracy, harassment, and two counts of disorderly conduct; and Green faces charges of disorderly conduct, conspiracy, criminal mischief, and simple trespass, the paper said.

According to a criminal complaint, McDowell used a megaphone to scream obscenities at diners sitting outside the restaurant, WPXI-TV reported.

Image source: Facebook video screenshot via Grace Harvey

The complaint added that Green swore at diners, specifically an elderly couple, and gave them the middle finger, the station said. Video shows Green telling the couple, "F*** the white people that built the system set against mine — you old dick!" He then issues a theatrical laugh at them as others join in.

The complaint also said Green walked up to the front of the restaurant and screamed into an open window, WPXI reported.

Image source: Facebook video screenshot via Grace Harvey

Police said Craft approached a table and drank a diner's beverage, the Post-Gazette said. Video shows it's the same table occupied by the elderly couple Green was harassing, and they simply watch Craft drink the beer, after which she sets the glass back on the table.

Image source: Facebook video screenshot via Grace Harvey

Another protester swipes a glass off a table, causing it to shatter on the ground, the paper said.

In a separate video at the scene, it appears McDowell shoves his megaphone into the head of a man holding a bicycle in the street:

Image source: Facebook video screenshot via Grace Harvey

The man holding the bike swats back at McDowell:

Image source: Facebook video screenshot via Grace Harvey

And then a third man bashes a skateboard over the head of the man holding the bike:

Image source: Facebook video screenshot via Grace Harvey

Here are the clips. (Content warning: Language):

But Craft told the Post-Gazette there's much more to what happened that day.

More from the paper:

Craft said the videos show only one side of the story and that there were three men from outside the protest who were screaming "blue lives matter" — in support of police — at the protesters. When some protesters began to confront them, one man began swinging a bike at people.

According to Craft's account, a man began grabbing Craft's hair and placed his hand on Craft's chest, saying he was trying to stop her from engaging with another man.

When the confrontation ended, Craft said, a man in the restaurant began condemning the protesters' actions. The woman who was with him offered Craft to come over, have a beer and talk about the situation.

Green noted in an earlier Post-Gazette story that "we were talking to people that were talking to us. The beer that was consumed was an offer. The glass that fell was a mistake."

He added to the paper that people in the restaurant were cheering on the protesters and that "the reason I engaged the individual man and his wife is because ... her husband called me 'an embarrassment' and 'disgusting.'"

Related incident at a McDonald's

McDowell also was identified as the individual caught on video getting aggressive with a McDonald's manager that same day, WPXI reported.

The video shows a man with a bullhorn harassing the manager and others chanting with him. The manager appears frustrated and tries to get them to leave, but they continue to pester him. At one point the man with the bullhorn challenges the manager to a fight.

The video was circulated on social media by a Twitter user who tried to frame the heated incident as the fault of the manager. (Content warning: Language):

The manager(Ed) @ this McD’s was upset that the protest was in front of the store. The crowd agreed to go in and gi… https://t.co/T5ncNyrmdI
— Ed Thompson (@Ed Thompson)1599370860.0

Trump calls militants 'thugs!'

Several days after the incidents, President Donald Trump called the militants "thugs."

....And because of weak and pathetic Democrat leadership, this thuggery is happening in other Democrat run cities a… https://t.co/yObH7uCypB
— Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump)1599564028.0