Transgender Volleyball Player Allowed To Compete On Women’s Team, Court Rules
'All San Jose State University student-athletes are eligible'
Thug who punched San Jose mayor's security officer named; he also had warrant for resisting arrest with violence in Georgia
The male who punched a security officer for Democrat San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan while a local TV news station camera was rolling Tuesday evening has been identified.
San Jose Police said the suspect — 35-year-old Wesley Pollard — was in custody at Elmwood Correctional Facility in Milpitas with a bail of $26,000, KRON-TV reported.
Police added that Pollard was booked for resisting an arrest with violence and for battery of an officer, the station said.
Turns out Pollard also had a warrant for his arrest out of Georgia — also for resisting arrest with violence, KRON reported.
Pollard is scheduled to appear in court at noon Friday, the station said.
What went down?
A KRON-TV camera recorded the entire two-minute fight — as well as what preceded it — since the station was interviewing the mayor on South 1st Street at the time.
The station said Mahan was in the area for a restaurant opening, and a male was seen in the interview video walking past the mayor on his right.
KRON said the pedestrian then approached the mayor’s security officer, and the pair got in a verbal exchange while Mahan let the pedestrian know he was in the middle of an interview.
"Oh, you're doin' an interview?" the pedestrian — on camera again to the mayor's right — asked Mahan.
"I'm talkin' on the phone," the pedestrian said, this time presumably to Mahan's security officer. "You got a problem?"
KRON said the pedestrian then told the security officer — who's also a San Jose police officer — to "mind your (explicit) business." The pedestrian also told the security officer, “I was going to do what the (explicit) I was going to do right before you walked up to me,” the station reported.
Soon, the pedestrian walked forward and off camera, and apparently physical contact was made between him and the security officer. The pedestrian also was heard saying he'll "smack" the security officer.
KRON said the pedestrian appeared to land a right-hand punch to the security officer’s head. Here's video of that punch and a handful of seconds that follow:
— (@)
The battle between the pedestrian and the security officer went on for a while. This screenshot from the fight includes arrows pointing (left to right) at the security officer, the pedestrian, and the mayor.
KRON's video shows a handful of bystanders finally entering the fray and helping the security officer get the pedestrian under control.
San Jose police officers eventually detained the pedestrian, the station said.
San Jose's acting Chief of Police Paul Joseph told KTVU-TV the unidentified security officer was repeatedly punched in the face, hospitalized overnight, and released.
Joseph also stated that the video of the altercation does not show the security officer attempting to identify himself and trying to deescalate things, the station said.
Still, Joseph added to KTVU that police will review the case to determine if the security officer complied with the law regarding his use of force.
Suspect who fought San Jose mayor's security detail identified youtu.be
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FCC’s Digital Discrimination Order Turns Internet Expansion Into An ‘Equity’ Ploy
The rules will hinder industry leaders from developing and deploying new technologies that could transform internet access.A Christian student athletic club was thrown off campus in California because of its traditional stance on marriage. Members fought back and won.
A Christian student athletic club in California was denigrated, protested, then thrown off campus in 2019 on account of its traditional views on marriage. When the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and student leaders' requests to have their club reinstated fell on deaf ears, they took legal action with the help of the religious liberty group Becket and the Christian Legal Society.
In a major upset for LGBT activists and other cultural imperialists in the San Jose Unified School District, a federal court delivered the evangelical FCA a decisive win Wednesday, ordering the reinstatement of its chapter at Pioneer High School.
Rigo Lopez, the local FCA leader for Bay Area schools, responded to the victory for religious liberty, stating, "FCA is excited to be able to get back to serving our campuses. ... Our FCA teams have long enjoyed strong relationships with teachers and students in the past, and we are looking forward to that again."
Daniel Blomberg, vice president and senior counsel at Becket, said, "This is a huge win for these brave kids, who persevered through adversity and never took their eye off the ball: equal access with integrity."
"Today’s ruling ensures religious students are again treated fairly in San Jose and throughout California," added Blomberg.
No room for Christian beliefs
The Fellowship of Christian Athletes student club, founded in 1954, seeks to "lead every coach and athlete into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ and His church."
Despite meeting at San Jose Unified School District schools in California for over a decade without incident, the group was thrown off campus after a single social studies teacher at Pioneer High School denounced the organization during class time, claiming its views on marriage were "bulls***."
Peter Glasser, the teacher in question, had learned that while all students were welcome to participate in FCA events and to join its ranks, chapter leaders were required to affirm the group's statements of faith and sexual purity, reported the Washington Examiner.
Among the statements of faith, listed on the FCA's website, are the declarations that: the Bible is the word of God; there is "only one God who eternally exists in three persons"; Jesus Christ is God; and "acceptance of Jesus Christ and the corresponding renewal of the Holy Spirit is the only path to salvation."
The sexual purity statement required that leaders affirm that "sexual intimacy is to be expressed only within the context of marriage," defined as "exclusively the union of one man and one woman."
According to court documents, in April 2019, Glasser obtained these statements, posted them on the whiteboard in his first period class, and appended a note to them which read, "I am deeply saddened that a club on Pioneer's campus asks its members to affirm these statements. How do you feel?"
Extra to inviting criticism of Christian students' beliefs by other students, Glasser, who reportedly suggested the FCA's beliefs were tantamount to harassment, pressed principal Herb Espiritu to take action.
A school leadership committee, which included Glasser, met on April 30, 2019, determining the FCA's "pledge" clashed with the "core values" of the high school.
Espiritu brought the decision to the attention of SJUSD administrators, then two days later informed the student leaders of the Pioneer FCA that the district had stripped the group of its approval.
Within weeks, all three FCA student clubs in the district had been labeled as "discriminatory" and similarly booted off campus whilst identitarian groups, LGBT activist groups, and even the Satanic Temple Club remained unscathed, notwithstanding their own dogmatic views and rules.
Battle in the courts
Two students filed a lawsuit in April 2020, seeking to restore the club's equal access to meet on campus. A district court shut them down. They nevertheless persevered and appealed the decision.
On Aug. 29, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled in the Christian students' favor, concluding that the "plaintiffs [were] likely to succeed on their Free Exercise claims alleging that the defendants have selectively enforced their non-discrimination polices."
Accordingly, the Ninth Circuit Court reversed the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California's earlier denial of the FCA's motion for a preliminary injunction and directed the district court to order the group's reinstatement.
The San Jose Unified School District did not handle the decision well.
Rather than accept that it could no longer flout the First Amendment and the Equal Access Act by way of discriminating against the FCA's religious leadership standards, it shut down all student groups for the fall 2022 semester and appealed the decision.
Christian virtue prevails
On Jan. 18, 2023, the the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to hear the case before a panel of eleven federal judges.
In a 9-2 decision issued Wednesday, the court killed perhaps the SJUSD's last hope of boxing out the Christian group, ruling that the FCA and other such clubs do not have to surrender on matters of faith to enjoy equal access to campus.
"The District, rather than treating (the Fellowship of Christian Athletes) like comparable secular student groups whose membership was limited based on criteria including sex, race, ethnicity and gender identity, penalized it based on its religious beliefs," said the ruling.
The court stressed that "[i]ndividual preferences based on certain characteristics and criteria serve important purposes for these groups"; that just as the "Senior Women club" can have all-female members and various honor clubs can require benchmarks pertaining to members' moral character, "it makes equal sense that a religious group be allowed to require that its leaders agree with the group's most fundamental beliefs."
In her opinion, Judge Consuelo María Callahan noted that while anti-discrimination policies "serve worthy causes ... those policies may not themselves be utilized in a manner that transgresses or supersedes the government's constitutional commitment to be steadfastly neutral to religion."
Accordingly, "[u]nder the First Amendment's protection of free exercise of religion and free speech, the government may not 'single out' religious groups 'for special disfavor' compared to similar secular groups," wrote Callahan.
Judge Danielle J. Forrest called the SJUSD's treatment of FCA student members "shocking and fundamentally at odds with bedrock principles that have guided our Republic since the beginning."
Concerning the FCA's win Wednesday, Steve McFarland, director of the Christian Legal Society's Center for Law and Religious Freedom, said, "Public schools should respect every student's religious beliefs and treat every student with dignity. ... We are grateful the court has reaffirmed this foundational right of every student."
2022 FCA Presentationyoutu.be
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Police nab suspects after massive storage facility fire; seize 38,000 pounds of illegal fireworks, drugs, gun
Authorities have seized 38,000 pounds of illegal fireworks and arrested two suspects in connection with a massive storage facility fire in Silicon Valley, according to the San Jose Police Department.
Anthony Dasilva, 45, and Nathaniel Valassis, 25, were arrested on suspicion of distribution and sale of illegal fireworks and "various crimes" Thursday after SJPD detectives executed multiple search warrants in connection with the June 14 blaze.
"The large amount of fireworks stored in the unit caused the entire building to catch fire resulting in everything stored inside to be completely lost and unsalvageable," SAPD said in a statement.
Audible explosions were coming from the building when the fire near Monterey Highway was reported at about 6:05 p.m., San Jose Fire Department public information manager Jake Pisani told the Mercury News. The two-alarm blaze was upgraded to a three-alarm around 7:45 p.m.
The 40-50 units in the two-story storage facility building were a total loss, and multiple surrounding buildings and units sustained serious damage from fire, smoke, and water, San Jose Fire Department Battalion Chief Brad Cloutier told KGO-TV.
San Jose Fire Department's arson investigators and SJPD's Assaults Unit began their investigation into the Blossom Hill Road storage facility fire June 16. They discovered multiple storage units that contained fireworks in addition to those found immediately after the fire.
Detectives procured multiple search warrants for both residences and storage units which they executed "throughout several days and multiple operations."
SJPD's Covert Response Unit arrested Dasilva and Valassis in San Jose June 29. The pair were arrested for "various crimes" and booked into jail.
In addition to the 38,000 pounds of illegal fireworks, officials also seized over 13 ounces of methamphetamine for sale, over 200 grams of cocaine for sale, marijuana for sale, approximately $4,800 in cash, and a semi-automatic firearm.
Photographs of the storage facility aftermath and seized items below were provided by the SJPD. The photographs include multiple plastic bags with what appear to be illicit substances, what appears to be a small elettronic scale, three piles of cash, a firearm, the interior of a storage unit, and the charred remains of storage facility contents.
Authorities say their investigation is ongoing.
Watch coverage from KGO-TV below of the destruction of a storage facility in San Jose believed to have resulted from illegal fireworks igniting inside a storage unit.
California police union executive director ran international fentanyl operation, used office to distribute drugs: Feds
A California police union executive director used her office to distribute drugs, according to a federal criminal complaint.
Joanne Marian Segovia, 64, has been the executive director of the San Jose Police Officers' Association since 2003. On Wednesday, Segovia was charged with attempting to unlawfully import valeryl fentanyl from overseas. Segovia was allegedly exposed by a Homeland Security investigation into an illegal drug network operating in the San Francisco Bay area.
Segovia had been running an international fentanyl operation out of her home and her office, according to federal officials. Segovia was accused of using her personal and office computers to order thousands of illegal pills to distribute across the country.
The federal criminal complaint said Segovia sent a package to a woman in North Carolina and used the UPS account of the San Jose Police Officers’ Association to ship the controlled substances.
Between October 2015 and January 2023, Segovia had at least 61 shipments of drugs mailed to her home. The drugs were shipped from China, Hungary, India, and Singapore. The shipments of synthetic opioids were labeled with descriptions such as “Wedding Party Favors,” “Gift Makeup,” "Clock," or “Chocolate and Sweets.”
The Northern District of California U.S. Attorney's Office said in a press release, "But between July 2019 and January 2023, officials intercepted and opened five of these shipments and found that they contained thousands of pills of controlled substances, including the synthetic opioids Tramadol and Tapentadol. Certain parcels were valued at thousands of dollars’ worth of drugs."
Segovia allegedly utilized encrypted WhatsApp communications to purchase and coordinate the transportation of the illegal pills. The California police union executive director exchanged hundreds of WhatsApp messages with someone using a phone with a country code from India, according to federal officials. WhatsApp messages purportedly had photos of shipping labels and payment receipts.
On May 2, 2022, Segovia allegedly wrote, "I'm so sorry, I’m on a business trip because we had 2 officers that got shot! I should be home tomorrow night so ill get them shopped as soon as I can."
Despite being interviewed by federal investigators in February 2023, Segovia allegedly continued to run her international drug operation.
Federal agents seized a shipment of valeryl fentanyl from China that was addressed to Segovia on March 14, 2023, according to United States Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey and Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Tatum King. Segovia allegedly blamed her housekeeper for the package of valeryl fentanyl.
San Jose Police Officers' Association president Sean Pritchard described Segovia as the "grandma of the POA."
"This is not the person we’ve known, the person who has worked with fallen officers’ families, organized fundraisers for officers’ kids — just not who we’ve known over a decade," Pritchard told KNTV.
Segovia faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a possible fine of as much as $250,000.
Segovia is scheduled to make her first court appearance on March 31.
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CA police union exec charged with attempt to import, sell valeryl fentanyl, officials say www.youtube.com
Tech CEO arrested in the 1992 murder of Bay Area computer engineer
John Kevin Woodward, the president and CEO of Readytech, has been charged with the 1992 murder of Laurie Houts, and this time, authorities are hoping to secure a conviction.
Back in 1992, Houts was found strangled to death in her car at a garbage dump in Mountain View, California, about a mile from Adobe Systems in San Jose, where she worked as a computer engineer. When police arrived at the scene, they found a rope still tied around her neck and her footprints on the interior of the windshield, evidence that she had struggled against her attacker. She was just 25 years old.
Woodward immediately became a suspect in the crime. At the time, he was the roommate of Houts' boyfriend, who has not been named in news reports. According to Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen, Woodward "was openly jealous of Houts, because he developed an unrequited romantic attachment to his roommate, her boyfriend."
Woodward had no alibi, and when the boyfriend confronted Woodward about whether he'd killed Houts, with police listening in on their conversation, Woodward dodged the question and instead asked how much investigators knew. Woodward was eventually arrested and charged with Houts' murder.
However, the first trial resulted in a hung jury. Woodward was then tried again, and once again, the jury could not agree on a verdict. Though police found Woodward's prints on the outside of Houts' vehicle, they had no forensic evidence at the time that placed him inside the vehicle. The judge in the second trial determined that prosecutors would need to uncover new evidence if they wanted to try Woodward a third time. Shortly thereafter, Woodward moved to the Netherlands, where he has been living since 1996.
Until now. Police arrested Woodward, now 58, at JFK airport in New York City last Saturday because they recently unearthed the "new evidence" required for a third trial. Using what Rosen called "new developments in forensic science technology," the county crime lab was able to find evidence in 2021 that linked Woodward to the rope used to strangle Houts. Rosen did not elaborate on the exact nature of the new evidence.
Whatever it is, it was enough to convince Dutch law enforcement agencies to cooperate in the investigation. In less than 24 hours, the Dutch Ministry of Justice and the U.S. Department of Justice obtained a warrant, allowing Dutch authorities to seize computers and USB drives from Woodward's residence. He is currently in custody in NYC, awaiting extradition to California.
"This case is the culmination of incredible determination by our detectives over the decades and with phenomenal teamwork with our agency partners here in Santa Clara County and in New York," said Mountain View Police Chief Chris Hsiung in a statement. "I am honored that our agency finally gets to give hope to Laurie's family that they can see a successful prosecution carried out. It bears repeating – we do not give up on justice for victims, no matter what."
Readytech offers online learning software and tools to corporate trainers and schools alike. It was founded in 1993, just one year after Houts' death.
Woman interferes with arrest of robbery suspect who escapes. Cops wrestle woman to ground, arrest her — and now she's looking to talk to a lawyer.
After a woman interfered in the arrest of a robbery suspect in San Jose, the suspect managed to escape from cops — and with that, police turned on the woman, wrestling her to the ground and arresting her.
And believe it or not, the woman says she's filing a complaint against police and will speak to an attorney.
What are the details?
Police said an organized retail crime mob had just robbed the Macy's at the Oakridge Mall on Saturday night, but two store security guards detained one of the suspects, KNTV-TV reported.
However, investigators told the station other suspects returned and "violently" beat up one of the guards, according to Sgt. Christian Camarillo of the San Jose Police Department, who said they "pulled her hair" and "punched her" and "kicked her in the head."
'Heartbroken' bystander helps crook
But after arriving officers handcuffed the robbery suspect, a "heartbroken" woman identified as Abeer Hamed decided to get involved, KNTV said.
“You just see two cops running toward him like crazy," Hamed recounted to the station, adding that police "just pushed him to the glass and throw him to the ground, like really slammed him hard. For me seeing this as a mother, I was like heartbroken.”
Cellphone video shows officers repeatedly telling Hamed to back off, KNTV said.
And while cops began dealing with Hamed, police said the robbery suspect got away.
One might say she paid for the decision.
“He slammed me really hard to the ground," Hamed told KNTV of the officer who went after her while she showed her bruised face to a video camera — along with her scraped elbow that she said "really hurts badly, too."
Police spokesman Camarillo didn't seem sympathetic, as he told the station "that female who inserted herself in that situation was subsequently arrested for aiding the escape of a person who was lawfully detained by a police officer, assault on an officer, and delaying an officer as well."
Hamed, 43, also allegedly resisted by swinging an arm at an officer, police told KPIX-TV, which added that Hamed was booked into Santa Clara County Jail.
Filing complaint? Talking to lawyer?
Despite what certainly appears to be an obvious error in judgment, Hamed told KNTV she's planning to file a complaint and talk to a lawyer.
Police told the station they welcome the scrutiny — and Camarillo emphasized how serious Hamed's actions were: “It took one person inserting themselves into this situation that allowed a suspect to escape."
He added to KGO-TV that "arresting this one suspect could've helped our investigation to identify the rest of these folks. That didn't happen, obviously, because this one person interfered with this arrest. We still don't understand what caused this person to go over there and interfere. If somebody sees something that they don't agree with or thinks is excessive, there's mechanisms for that, right? We have our internal affairs department, we have our internal police auditor. Please, please do not insert yourself into one of these arrest situations."
Reporter admits 'no California law or proposed reform' would have stopped San Jose shooter. Democrats insist on more gun control anyway.
Tragedy struck in San Jose, California, Wednesday morning when a public transit employee opened fire on co-workers at a downtown rail yard killing nine people before taking his own life.
The lone suspect, 57-year-old Samuel Cassidy, an employee of the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, reportedly used multiple firearms to carry out the heinous attack and may have planted explosives at his home with the intent to harm others.
Immediately following news of the attack, Democratic media figures and politicians alike — including President Joe Biden and California Gov. Gavin Newsom — predictably called for the passage of new gun laws to curb the spate of gun violence.
However, it doesn't appear that any progressive gun control measures would have been effective in preventing the attack, at least according to Demian Bulwa, director of news at the San Francisco Chronicle.
Bulwa made the assessment in a tweet posted Thursday morning after Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith informed the public that Cassidy had used two semiautomatic handguns in the attack.
"The VTA killer carried 2 pistols and several ammo magazines that can be switched out in seconds," Bulwa tweeted.
"In other words, there may be no California law or proposed reform — assault-rifle ban, large-magazine ban, gun-show loophole — that would have prevented this," he assessed.
Nevertheless, even while admitting he was "still awaiting many of the details" about the incident, Biden re-upped his call for Congress to pass stricter gun laws.
"I have the solemn duty of yet again of ordering the flag to be lowered at half-staff, just weeks after doing so following the mass shootings at spas in and around Atlanta; in a grocery store in Boulder, Colorado; at a home in Rock Hill, South Carolina; and at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis, Indiana," the president said in a statement Wednesday.
"Enough," he added. "Once again, I urge Congress to take immediate action and heed the call of the American people, including the vast majority of gun owners, to help end this epidemic of gun violence in America. Every life that is taken by a bullet pierces the soul of our nation. We can, and we must, do more."
Gov. Newsom also joined the chorus calling for more gun control.
"What the hell is going on in the United States of America?" he asked during a Wednesday press conference. "When are we going to come to grips with this? When are we going to put down our arms — literally and figuratively — our politics, stale rhetoric, finger pointing, all the hand wringing, consternation that produces nothing except more fury and frustration ... over and over and over again."
Nine dead, including suspect, in shooting at San Jose rail yard
Nine people including the suspected gunman are dead after a transit worker opened fire on colleagues at a rail yard in San Jose, California, on Wednesday.
Authorities say the lone suspect, Samuel Cassidy, took his own life at the scene.
What are the details?
NBC News reported that calls of shots fired began around 6:30 a.m. at Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authorities facility, and law enforcement rushed to respond.
"When the shots were still being fired, our teams, with San Jose PD, are entering the building while shots were still going off," Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith told reporters. "We attempted rescues. We have some very brave officers and deputies."
Sources told ABC News that Cassidy, a VTA employee, had multiple weapons with him in the massacre, and is believed to have taken his own life after murdering eight people. Multiple VTA employees were among the victims, and one survivor is in critical condition.
The Washington Post reported that according to one official, Cassidy "apparently set his home on fire before going to the rail-yard facility and opening fire."
Deputy Russell Davis told reporters that a sheriff's office bomb squad remained at the VTA facility hours after the murders, explaining, "We received information that there are explosive devices that are located inside the building. We're trying to clear out every room, every crevice of that building."
"We're so sorry this event happened," VTA Board of Directors chairperson Glenn Hendricks said during a press conference. "We will do everything we can to help people get through this."
"It's just very difficult for everyone to be able to try to wrap their heads around and understand what has happened," he said, before praising VTA employees.
"These folks were heroes during COVID-19, the buses never stopped running, VTA didn't stop running," Hendricks added. "They just kept at work, and now we're really calling on them to be heroes a second time to survive such a terrible, terrible tragedy."
Karine Jean-Pierre, White House principal deputy press secretary, said during a briefing that the Biden administration "is monitoring the situation, and our hearts go out to the victims and their families."
"We still don't have all the details," Jean-Pierre said, "but what is clear, as the president has said, is that we are suffering from an epidemic of gun violence in this country, both in mass shootings and in the lives that are being taken in daily gun violence that doesn't make national headlines."
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