New York cop who claimed fellow officers were sending her threatening texts arrested for allegedly sending them herself



A female police officer in upstate New York accused her fellow officers of barraging her with threatening text messages, including invitations to kill herself. It appears that 36-year-old Emily Hirshowitz of the Ossining Police Department might be her own worst enemy.

Hirshowitz was charged Wednesday with three felony counts of first-degree filing a false instrument and four misdemeanor counts of third-degree falsely reporting an incident, reported the Journal News.

"There's a lot of mystery and confusion surrounding the allegations in this case and we'll evaluate as we learn more," said Paul DerOhannesian, the Albany criminal defense lawyer representing Hirshowitz.

Hirshowitz, on the force since 2016 and a police officer with the New Rochelle department two years prior, claimed in a report to the Westchester District Attorney's Office in White Plains in May 2022 that she had been the target of harassing text messages from multiple unknown numbers.

According to court documents, she claimed "that a fellow police officer or multiple police officers at my department are involved."

In July and August, Hirshowitz provided investigators with screenshots of additional text messages she claimed to have received, which were laden with obscene and abusive language, some urging her to commit suicide.

The Journal News indicated that village and police officials reached out to the WDAO on numerous occasions, expressing concern about the "increasingly threatening content" ostensibly being directed Hirshowitz's way.

The mounting pressure apparently prompted investigators to double down on their probe even after Hirshowitz — whom the OPD previously indicated "doesn't particularly care for publicity" — told them on Aug. 12 that she no longer wanted to pursue the complaint.

Fear over the purported harassment campaign snowballed, such that on Aug. 23, OPD Chief Kevin Sylvester held a mandatory meeting for those on the force as well as the mayor and other village officials to discuss the text messages.

Greater attention brought greater scrutiny of the offending messages, which investigators began to suspect may have been sent by Hirshowitz in the first place.

The New York Post reported that by October, investigators obtained a search warrant for the officer's phone and Apple iCloud account. They soon determined that she was the likely culprit behind the messages and that several of the phone numbers linked to the damning messages were under her control.

Hirshowitz would thus have allegedly known that her complaints filed with the district attorney's office contained false information.

The 36-year-old has been suspended with pay and is due to appear at the White Plains City Court on July 12.

While alleged victim and aggressor may soon face justice together, the criminal complaint indicated Hirshowitz could have had an accomplice, noting that a different individual known to the WDAO possibly sent some of the texts captured on three of the screenshots Hirshowitz gave to police on July 1, 2022.

Although a second suspect has not been charged or named in the case, Michael Santangelo, a lawyer for Louis Rinaldi, the former Ossining police officer who resigned last year after facing unrelated disciplinary charges, noted his client was a focus of the investigation, reported the Journal News.

The Journal News indicated the WDAO, the OPD, and Mayor Rika Levin had yet to respond to requests for comment.

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Prosecutors indicate that Bills punter whose life was ruined over rape accusation went home long before incident allegedly occurred



A pro football player accused of rape had his career upended and life ruined over something prosecutors now indicate he could not possibly have done.

Matt Araiza was a top punter in the NFL whose record-breaking NCAA career secured him the nickname "Punt God." Last summer, Araiza was accused along with two San Diego State University football players of gang-raping a 17-year-old at an off-campus party in 2021.

The Los Angeles Times reported that Araiza was accused of having sex with the minor outside the home and then bringing her inside, where she was allegedly repeatedly raped for over an hour.

While the then-high school senior reported slipping in and out of consciousness, she claimed to remember moments of various men violating her.

A civil lawsuit was filed in August 2022 accusing Araiza, Zavier Leonard, and Nowlin Ewaliko of taking part in the alleged rape.

At the time, Araiza's lawyer, Kerry Armstrong, said the complaint was "a shakedown because he's now with the Buffalo Bills," stressing that there was "no doubt" Araiza was innocent.

Notwithstanding the punter's profession of innocence, the accusation marked the end of Araiza's career.

The Buffalo Bills, who had recently drafted him, cut him loose just days after the suit was filed amid media outrage.

"We have released Punter Matt Araiza," the NFL team said in a statement. "This afternoon, we decided that releasing Matt Araiza was the best thing to do. Our culture in Buffalo is more important than winning football games."

General manager Brandon Beane and coach Sean McDermott addressed the matter at a press conference, calling it "tough" for everyone involved, reported ABC News.

"It's been tough. And you know, we sympathize with this whole situation, all the parties involved, this young woman, what she went through, you know, you really feel bad for that whole situation. And, you know, ultimately this is a legal situation. We don't know, you know, all the facts," said Beane.

Araiza's lawyer Armstrong released a statement following the Bills' decision, writing, "I have not talked to Matt about this yet, but I sent him a text. I am sure he is very upset and disappointed that his career with the Bills ended not because he played poorly, but because of false allegations leveled against him by a young lady and her attorney. I hope he is back in the NFL soon. He deserves to be, as he is the hardest-working 22-year-old I know."

The 22-year-old punter said, "The facts of the incident are not what they are portrayed in the lawsuit or in the press. I look forward to quickly setting the record straight."

Yahoo Sports reported that the San Diego Police looked into the matter for nearly 10 months before forwarding the case to the San Diego District Attorney's Office without a recommendation for prosecution.

Following a 124-day investigation of their own, prosecutors announced on Dec. 7, 2022, that they would not press any criminal charges.

This week, Yahoo Sports provided detail concerning a newly revealed 200-plus page transcript of a 100-minute meeting in which San Diego Deputy District Attorney Trisha Amador explained the matter to the accuser and her attorneys.

In the explanation, the SDDA concluded Araiza could not have led the girl into the alleged rape because he had left the home at 12:30 a.m., at least an hour before the incident supposedly occurred.

"He wasn’t even at the party any more," said Amador. "All I know is that at that point, suspect Araiza is gone from the party."

Extra to highlighting how Araiza was not even present, the prosecutors explained to the accuser that it was unclear whether a gang rape had even occurred in the first place, as intermittent video recordings of the incident raised the possibility she may have just had consensual sex with the other men.

"In looking at the videos on the sex tape, I absolutely cannot prove any forcible sexual assault based upon what happened," said Amador.

The timestamped video evidence also reportedly substantiated witness claims that Araiza was not present.

According to additional witness interviews, the accuser and some high school friends "let themselves in through a back gate" and joined the party, telling people they were 18.

"A witness who was in the house gave a statement saying that at — at least one point in the party, that you made a statement telling people at the party you were 18," Amador told the accuser. "Another witness at the party, a different one, says that they specifically heard you say you were 18."

Amador indicated that the sexual encounter the accuser had earlier in the night with Araiza — who may have been led to believe she was 18 — appears to have been consensual.

"The witnesses say … that shortly after you arrived at the party, you left and came back shortly thereafter," said Amador. "And you told [a friend], 'I just had sex.' ... You didn’t appear unhappy. You appeared to be having fun and that the encounter on the side of the house with Matt, suspect Araiza, was consensual."

Amador further explained to the accuser that another witness explained that around that time, "You were approaching men at the party saying, 'I want you to [expletive] me and if you don’t [expletive] me you’re a [expletive].'"

In the lead-up to the alleged rape, Amador also indicated the accuser was not intoxicated as the civil suit otherwise suggests.

The accuser's attorney released a statement obtained by Outkick, writing, "Team Araiza continues to litigate the case in the media because they know the information they’re leaking has no relevance whatsoever to the lawsuit. Matt Araiza will dress up in a suit and tie for tv crews at a meaningless court hearing, but he won’t speak to the media like Jane Doe has and will continue to do."

Yahoo Sports indicated that Araiza, whose life was ruined by the apparently dubious accusations, hopes the NFL may consider bringing him back, even though the civil suit remains active.

Following the revelation that Araiza may be a man traduced, Dave Portnoy tweeted, "This is crazy. Guys life was ruined on rape accusations that he has always denied and now it comes out he wasn't even at the party when the alleged crime took place. The acquittal should be as loud if not louder than the accusations.'

Conservative commentator Mat Walsh responded, "False rape accusers should receive the same penalty that we give to rapists. Instead, in the vast majority of cases, they receive no penalty at all and are free to move on like nothing happened. It's unconscionable."

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Left-wing Rolling Stone writer who called Buffalo shooter a 'mainstream Republican' falsely implied — as a fact-checker — that a disabled vet is a Nazi



Rolling Stone on Sunday published a now-trending political commentary piece titled, "The Buffalo Shooter Isn’t a ‘Lone Wolf.’ He’s a Mainstream Republican."

In the op-ed, unabashed left-wing writer Talia Lavin declares that aspects of accused shooter Payton Gendron's supposed manifesto unite him "with the mainstream of the Republican party" in that both are pining for "the dream of a white nation."

I wrote for @RollingStone about how the Buffalo shooter's ideology is at the white hot core of the modern mainstream GOP:https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/buffalo-shooter-white-supremacist-great-replacement-donald-trump-1353509/\u00a0\u2026
— Talia Lavin (@Talia Lavin) 1652638162

"The Republican Party caters chiefly now to those who claim that to be born the wrong color is an act of genocide, and act with appropriate fervor," she writes in her concluding paragraph for the left-wing magazine.

Oops

Well, folks also may be interested in recalling that Lavin — while a fact-checker, of all things, for the New Yorker in 2018 — falsely implied that a disabled veteran is a Nazi. Lavin resigned from the New Yorker on the heels of that faux pas.

Not to worry, though. Less than a year after that, New York University hired Lavin as an adjunct journalism professor.

Megyn Kelly also picked up on Lavin's curious past:

This is the same \u201creporter\u201d whose journalism class (how to report on the \u201cfar right\u201d) was cancelled by NYU after only 2 students signed up & who was forced out at the N. Yorker after falsely accusing an ICE agent of having a Nazi tattoo. She worked at Media Matters too. \u2018Natch.https://twitter.com/swordsjew/status/1525901165627678722\u00a0\u2026
— Megyn Kelly (@Megyn Kelly) 1652713310

By the fall of 2020, Lavin penned "Culture Warlords: My Journey into the Dark Web of White Supremacy," in which she "takes an immersive dive into white supremacy's explosive online presence, exploring the undercurrents of propaganda, racism, misogyny, and history that led us to where we are now."

So, a Rolling Stone piece about the how the Buffalo mass killing supposedly is a mirror image of what she previously has written about? Probably par for the course.

"Transphobia. Forced births. Gerrymandering. Anti-immigrant sentiment. And murder," Lavin also tweeted in regard to her Rolling Stone piece. "They're all part of the right's overweening politic of violent white demographic panic."

How are folks reacting to Lavin's latest piece?

As you might expect, Levin experienced some pushback in the wake of her Rolling Stone commentary article:

The media is branding the Buffalo mass shooter as a "mainstream Republican" when he literally called himself an authoritarian leftist who was "deep into communist ideology" from a young agehttps://notthebee.com/article/the-media-is-attempting-to-brand-the-buffalo-mass-shooter-as-a-mainstream-republican-when-he-literally-called-himself-an-authoritarian-leftist\u00a0\u2026
— Not the Bee (@Not the Bee) 1652714311

Ben Shapiro on Monday tweeted his take on the growing noise over the shooter's mention of the "Great Replacement Theory," which Lavin goes over in her piece:

The conflation of the Great Replacement Theory with skepticism about illegal immigration or concerns about the cultural assimilation of immigrants is a sham designed to lump in white supremacism with mainstream political concerns. And it's a perfectly obvious sham.
— Ben Shapiro (@Ben Shapiro) 1652700344

Another Twitter user wrote, "We all know who is hung up on race. The left. Everything is about race. Everything viewed through a race filter. Democrats have moved little from their KKK past, and project their BS on to everyone else."

Hate hoax: School said 'person of color' created Instagram account from which racist messages were sent to students, police reports reveal



Police last month told TheBlaze that a white high school student who said she was falsely accused of sending racist messages was not a suspect in the headline-grabbing incident — which the superintendent of White Bear Lake Area Schools in Minnesota had referred to as a "hoax."

Now it turns out — according to police reports obtained through a public records request by the College Fix — the school had stated that a "person of color" created the Instagram account from which the racist messages were sent.

Previously all that officials were willing to say was that the responsible party is a female juvenile, which clouded the origin of the racist messages that spurred a student walkout and protests and a lot of fear and hate and false accusations.

What's the background?

White Bear Lake Area High School students walked out of school on the morning of April 9 in protest over racist threats sent to several black students from an anonymous Instagram account, the Pioneer Press reported, which added that the messages contained death threats and repeated use of the N-word.

The paper reported in a follow-up story that a female student soon took responsibility for sending the messages, and Superintendent Wayne Kazmierczak said in a letter that the messages were "a hoax sent under false pretense." He added that the student "poses no threat to students of color," the Pioneer Press said.

But the paper said Kazmierczak soon penned a separate letter saying he regretted using the word "hoax" and didn't mean to "minimize the impact that racism or racist acts has on students and families who have been marginalized throughout history and in White Bear Lake Area Schools."

The superintendent also said he would recommend expulsion for the culprit due to violation of the district's bullying and harassment policies, the Pioneer Press added.

At the time police would not comment on the race of the student responsible for the messages, and the school district did not respond to TheBlaze's inquires about the race of the student behind the messages.

But Ellen Hiniker, White Bear Lake's city manager, had said in a statement — which appears to have been taken down but still can be viewed at the Internet Archive — that the "juvenile female" who created the anonymous Instagram account did so "to raise awareness of social and racial injustice due to past incidents that occurred at school."

"It has not yet been determined whether additional individuals contributed to the content of the postings associated with this account," Hiniker added in the statement. "Although the investigation is ongoing, it is important that the information we have at this time be shared to help ease fears associated with this particular incident."

White student said she was falsely accused

As the mystery deepened regarding the identity — and specifically the race — of the individual behind the racist messages, a white student told The Daily Wire she was falsely accused of the act.

Avery Severson, a sophomore at the high school, told the outlet that a black student accused her of sending the racist messages. The Daily Wire said the accusing student, Precious Boahen, shared a screenshot of the messages with the caption, "I bet you a billion bucks this is Avery Severson or one of her friends all mad because they can't have their Turning Point club at school."

More from the outlet:

Severson said that over the past year she has been stonewalled by her school administration in an effort to create a Turning Point USA club. In contrast, Boahen was able to create a black student affinity group with relative ease. Boahen accused Severson of being jealous of her ability to successfully kickstart a club. [...]

Severson told The Daily Wire that she was in a driver's education class on Wednesday, April 7, when the conversations were posted to social media. She denied the accusations and said she would never have made such abhorrent comments. [...]

The Severson family met with White Bear Lake High School administrators who encouraged Severson to remain silent about the situation. Classmates, Severson says, took her silence on the matter as an admission of guilt and threatened her. Severson was escorted to and from classes until April 12.

The outlet said Boahen publicly posted an email she sent to White Bear Lake administrators threatening to spill the story to the media and take legal action.

"If swift and sweeping action is not taken, I will be contacting news outlets to let the public know how [the administration] really operates in this city, and I will be looking for legal action as well," Boahen wrote, according to the Daily Wire.

With that, the high school launched an investigation, the outlet said.

But while White Bear Lake police would not comment on the race of the student responsible for the racist messages, police did confirm to TheBlaze that Severson was not a suspect.

Here's Severson recounting her ordeal to Fox News:

A new revelation

However, police reports obtained through a public records request by the College Fix indicate that the school had stated a "person of color" created the Instagram account from which the racist messages were sent.

The police reports go into detail regarding the investigation, which attempted — through tech forensics and search warrants — to get to the bottom of the identity of the person or persons responsible for sending the racist messages.

And while no names are revealed in the reports, more than one student interviewed by police expressed surprise that the school stated the Instagram account from which the racist messages were sent was created by a "person of color."

For instance, the report notes — in reference to one student interviewed — that "she was baffled by the statement from her school that claimed it was a juvenile person of color who had created the account."

The report also says — in reference to a second student interviewed — that "she also said she was very confused by the statement from the school about the account creator being a person of color."

Police determined where the Instagram account was created after matching the IP address and interviewed a third student who lives at the residence in question. The report said she admitted to creating the account but wouldn't admit to sending the racist messages or reveal the names of others who may have sent the messages who were physically with her at the time as she didn't want to be labeled a "snitch." This was after she initially indicated she knew who was behind the racist messages, police said.

No charges are being pursued in the case, the police report added.

Police say white HS student who claimed she was falsely accused of sending racist messages is not a suspect — and superintendent called incident a 'hoax'



Police in White Bear Lake, Minnesota, on Friday told TheBlaze that a white high school student who made national headlines this week claiming she was falsely accused of sending racist messages is not a suspect in the incident, which the district superintendent earlier called a "hoax."

What's the background?

White Bear Lake Area High School students walked out of school last Friday morning in protest over racist threats sent to several black students from an anonymous Instagram account, the Pioneer Press reported, which added that the messages contained death threats and repeated use of the N-word.

The paper reported in a follow-up story that a female student took responsibility Monday for sending the messages, and Superintendent Wayne Kazmierczak said in a letter that the messages were "a hoax sent under false pretense." He added that the student "poses no threat to students of color," the Pioneer Press said.

In addition, the paper said Kazmierczak wrote in separate letter Wednesday that he regretted using the word "hoax" and didn't mean to "minimize the impact that racism or racist acts has on students and families who have been marginalized throughout history and in White Bear Lake Area Schools."

The superintendent also said he would recommend expulsion for the culprit due to violation of the district's bullying and harassment policies, the Pioneer Press added.

Police would not comment on the race of the student responsible for the messages, and the school district has not responded to TheBlaze's inquires about the race of the student behind the messages.

Ellen Hiniker, White Bear Lake's city manager, said in a Wednesday statement that the "juvenile female" who created the anonymous Instagram account did so "to raise awareness of social and racial injustice due to past incidents that occurred at school."

"It has not yet been determined whether additional individuals contributed to the content of the postings associated with this account," Hiniker added. "Although the investigation is ongoing, it is important that the information we have at this time be shared to help ease fears associated with this particular incident."

White student says she was falsely accused

Amid speculation about the race of the student responsible for the messages, a white student told The Daily Wire that she was falsely accused of the act.

Avery Severson, a sophomore at the high school, told the outlet that a black student accused her of sending the racist messages. The Daily Wire said the accusing student, Precious Boahen, shared a screenshot of the messages with the caption, "I bet you a billion bucks this is Avery Severson or one of her friends all mad because they can't have their Turning Point club at school."

More from the outlet:

Severson said that over the past year she has been stonewalled by her school administration in an effort to create a Turning Point USA club. In contrast, Boahen was able to create a black student affinity group with relative ease. Boahen accused Severson of being jealous of her ability to successfully kickstart a club. [...]

Severson told The Daily Wire that she was in a driver's education class on Wednesday, April 7, when the conversations were posted to social media. She denied the accusations and said she would never have made such abhorrent comments. [...]

The Severson family met with White Bear Lake High School administrators who encouraged Severson to remain silent about the situation. Classmates, Severson says, took her silence on the matter as an admission of guilt and threatened her. Severson was escorted to and from classes until April 12.

The outlet said Boahen publicly posted an email she sent to White Bear Lake administrators threatening to spill the story to the media and take legal action.

"If swift and sweeping action is not taken, I will be contacting news outlets to let the public know how [the administration] really operates in this city, and I will be looking for legal action as well," Boahen wrote, according to the Daily Wire.

With that, the high school launched an investigation, the outlet said.

Severson added to the Daily Wire that she's afraid the "hoax" has destroyed her reputation among her peers and could upend her future political ambitions.

"This experience has been extremely hurtful, not only because I believe all racism is wrong, but because I was believed to be guilty with no evidence pointing to me," Severson told the outlet. "This has left me feeling unsafe at school as well as in my community. I feel this has hurt my reputation and could damage my future political goals."

The impact of the incident also has been heightened due to protests this week over the fatal shooting a Daunte Wright by police in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, as well as the ongoing murder trial of former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd.

Here is Severson recounting her ordeal to Fox News: