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After a tragedy, a mother wants to soften the rooms where police interview victims

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After a tragedy, a mother wants to soften the rooms where police interview victims

Project Beloved created one of its soft interview rooms at Missouri’s Kansas City Police Department for investigators to interview victims of sexual assault.

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Kansas City Police Department

Tracy Matheson’s mission for the past several years grew out of a parent’s worst nightmare.

Molly Jane, Matheson’s 22-year-old daughter, was raped and murdered in her Fort Worth, Texas-area apartment on April 10, 2017. Her killer, Reginald Kimbro, went on to murder a second woman, Megan Getrum, 36, just days later.

Kimbro was sentenced to multiple life sentences for those murders and additional sexual assaults in 2022.

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Since her daughter’s death, Matheson has channeled her pain into her nonprofit, Project Beloved: The Molly Jane Mission, an organization dedicated to advocating for sexual assault victims. The group’s name was inspired by Molly Jane Matheson’s wrist tattoo that said “Beloved.”

Tracy Matheson said justice was eventually done in her daughter’s case, but she was left feeling like there was more to do. “I have to do something. I can’t stay quiet,” she said.

Tracy Matheson and her daughter Molly Jane Matheson (right) in an earlier photo. Matheson founded Project Beloved: The Molly Jane Mission in her daughter's memory.

Tracy Matheson and her daughter Molly Jane Matheson (right) in a November 2016 photo. Matheson founded Project Beloved: The Molly Jane Mission in her daughter’s memory.

Project Beloved: The Molly Jane Mission Facebook


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Project Beloved: The Molly Jane Mission Facebook

She immersed herself in books and studies to learn about sexual assault, how it’s addressed in the criminal justice system and the emotional and physical impact of trauma tied to an assault.

Using this knowledge, Project Beloved developed one of its biggest initiatives: renovating police interview rooms from their harshly lit, cold atmosphere to become as comfortable and stress-free as possible.

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It’s a way for investigators to become trauma-informed — acting in a way that anticipates how trauma survivors might respond differently after an assault, for example, and to prevent acting in a way that could re-harm them.

Project Beloved has now worked with more than 100 law enforcement agencies in big cities and small rural towns across the nation to create soft interview rooms. The rooms are to be used to interview victims of sexual assault or other forms of trauma and are renovated to create a comfortable, safe environment as victims retell their harrowing experiences to investigators.

The renovation costs, which are around $2,500 to $3,000, are covered by Project Beloved thanks to donations to the organization and the work can take just a couple of hours to complete.

Since the organization started this initiative momentum continues to grow, with a waiting list now stretching into 2025, Matheson says.

“This needs to happen in Kansas City”

Last month, Missouri’s Kansas City Police Department became the state’s first agency to remodel a formerly stiff and uninviting room (used for both victims and suspects) into a soft interview room to solely serve victims of sexual assault.

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The department’s Sgt. Tiffany Davis came across Matheson’s story and her efforts with Project Beloved on a Dateline episode. She and another officer decided: “This needs to happen in Kansas City.”

The room now has blankets, lamps, a nice rug and three chairs — a conscious decision by investigators.

“He or she can choose whatever chair they want. Whatever one’s gonna make them comfortable,” Davis said. “And that’s kind of the beginning of allowing them to have their power back.”

On the walls of each room renovated by the project are framed pictures of nature scenes taken by Getrum, who was an amateur photographer, Matheson said.

“We put three of her photographs up in each of our rooms,” she said. “It’s a way to weave Megan’s story with ours and make sure that people know these rooms come at a very high cost.”

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The rooms go beyond providing comfortable chairs and soft lighting. They can make a big difference in victims being able to provide potentially crucial information to police during an investigation, said Matheson and Cortney Fisher, a lecturer at the University of Maryland, College Park focusing on trauma and victimology.

“It’s very difficult for a survivor of trauma to recount coherently and consistently a chronological account of what happened. What they smelled, what they heard, what they tasted, what they felt. And it’s not super accessible, particularly as they are under stress,” Fisher said.

These rooms ideally give victims a space that reduces stress so they can better recount the events and details to investigators in a way that will help police and lead to a prosecution, she said.

The Kansas City Police Department used to interview victims as well as suspects in the same room.

The Kansas City Police Department used to interview victims as well as suspects in the same room.

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Kansas City Police Department

How does trauma impact victims?

Trauma “doesn’t look the same from one person to the next,” Matheson said. ”For so long, we have misunderstood and made the wrong conclusion about victims of sexual assault. And we’ve said, ‘Oh, they’re lying. It didn’t happen, because they’re not acting in a way that we think that they should.’ When in fact, we don’t understand trauma.”

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This is something she feels very deeply. Before Kimbro was caught, he had been reported by multiple women for assault and yet remained free, Matheson said.

“He had been investigated multiple times for raping and strangling women in Texas. But the system failed,” she said.

Tracy Matheson says the work of Project Beloved: The Molly Jane Mission to renovate law enforcement interview rooms to be trauma informed now has a waitlist stretching into 2025.

Tracy Matheson says the work of Project Beloved to renovate law enforcement interview rooms has a waiting list stretching into 2025.

Project Beloved: The Molly Jane Mission’s Facebook


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Project Beloved: The Molly Jane Mission’s Facebook

New research in the past 10 years has shown how trauma affects victims’ brains, Fisher said. That impact can include even how a victim remembers details up to weeks after the traumatic event.

Any effort by police, like these soft interview rooms, “that takes the victim’s trauma into account is a great step,” Fisher said.

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She says that while the rooms address the physical space, training police not to re-traumatize victims during the interviews is even more important.

Davis, the police sergeant, said Kansas City’s effort to be more thoughtful toward victims experiencing trauma goes beyond these rooms.

“Being trauma-informed, especially when it comes to survivors of sexual assault is so important,” she said. “We have to, as a law enforcement entity, realize that it’s a different kind of victim.”

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Map: 2.3-Magnitude Earthquake Reported North of New York City

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Map: 2.3-Magnitude Earthquake Reported North of New York City

Note: Map shows the area with a shake intensity of 3 or greater, which U.S.G.S. defines as “weak,” though the earthquake may be felt outside the areas shown.  All times on the map are Eastern. The New York Times

A minor, 2.3-magnitude earthquake struck about 12 miles north of New York City on Tuesday, according to the United States Geological Survey.

The temblor happened at 10:17 a.m. Eastern in Sleepy Hollow, N.Y., data from the agency shows.

The Westchester County emergency services department said in a statement that it had not received any reports of damage.

As seismologists review available data, they may revise the earthquake’s reported magnitude. Additional information collected about the earthquake may also prompt U.S.G.S. scientists to update the shake-severity map.

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Source: United States Geological Survey | Notes: Shaking categories are based on the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale. When aftershock data is available, the corresponding maps and charts include earthquakes within 100 miles and seven days of the initial quake. All times above are Eastern. Shake data is as of Tuesday, March 10 at 10:30 a.m. Eastern. Aftershocks data is as of Tuesday, March 10 at 2:18 p.m. Eastern.

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Ed Martin, outspoken Justice Department lawyer, is formally accused of ethical violations | CNN Politics

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Ed Martin, outspoken Justice Department lawyer, is formally accused of ethical violations | CNN Politics

Ed Martin, an outspoken Trump administration official, is facing attorney discipline proceedings in Washington, DC, for a letter he sent to Georgetown Law about its diversity programs, the district’s professional conduct investigator announced on Tuesday.

Martin is formally accused of violating his ethical codes as an attorney for telling Georgetown Law’s dean last year that his Justice Department office wouldn’t hire students because of the school’s diversity, inclusion and equity initiatives programs, according to the filing from Hamilton Fox, the disciplinary counsel for DC who acts as a quasi-prosecutor on attorney discipline matters.

Unlike unsolicited complaints, Fox’s formal disciplinary complaint kicks off professional conduct proceedings for Martin in which he will need to respond and could be sanctioned or ultimately lose his law license.

Fox’s announcement on Tuesday marks the first major bar discipline proceeding against a high-profile administration official or attorney supporting President Donald Trump during Trump’s second term. Several Trump lawyers faced disciplinary proceedings after the efforts to overturn Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election, including Rudy Giuliani, who lost his law license.

“Acting in his official capacity and speaking on behalf of the government, he used coercion to punish or suppress a disfavored viewpoint, the teaching and promotion of ‘DEI,’” Fox wrote in the complaint. “He demanded that Georgetown Law relinquish its free speech and religious rights in order to continue to obtain a benefit, employment opportunities for its students.”

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Martin was removed from the top prosecutor job in DC after senators made clear he would not be confirmed to the role, but has remained at the Justice Department in several roles, including as pardon attorney.

“Mr. Martin knew or should have known that, as a government official, his conduct violated the First and Fifth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States,” Fox wrote.

Martin is being represented by a Justice Department attorney, a source told CNN.

A spokesperson for DOJ attacked Fox’s complaint. “The DC bar’s attempt to target and punish those serving President Trump while refusing to investigate or act against actual ethical violations that were committed by Biden and Obama administration attorneys is a clear indication of this partisan organization’s agenda,” DOJ said.

Martin had sent the letter to Georgetown Law while serving temporarily as US attorney for DC, a prominent Justice Department position, and told the school his federal prosecutors’ office wouldn’t hire Georgetown’s law school students. It came at a time when the Trump administration was beginning to crack down on universities for their DEI efforts.

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In his letter, Martin claimed a whistleblower told him that the school was teaching and promoting DEI.

Martin also violated attorney ethics rules by contacting judges of the DC court directly, Fox alleged, rather than going through official channels, once he was informed he was under investigation for his professional conduct. The DC Court of Appeals ultimately signs off on attorney discipline findings.

Early last year, Fox’s office had formally asked Martin to respond to a complaint it received by a retired judge regarding the Georgetown letter.

Martin instead wrote to the judges on the DC court complaining about Fox.

“In that letter, he stated that he would not be responding to Disciplinary Counsel’s inquiry, complained about Disciplinary Counsel’s ‘uneven behavior,’ and requested a ‘face-to-face meeting with all of you to discuss this matter and find a way forward,’” Fox wrote.

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“He copied the White House Counsel ‘for informational purposes because of the importance of getting this issue addressed,’” Fox said.

The top judge in the DC courts told Martin the court wouldn’t meet with him about the disciplinary matter and that he would need to follow procedure.

With Fox’s complaint, there will now be several steps ahead of bar discipline authorities looking at Martin’s action, and Fox didn’t specify how Martin should be reprimanded or punished if the discipline boards and the court ultimately determine he violated his ethical codes.

Spokespeople for the Justice Department didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on Tuesday morning.

In recent days, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced her office would have a more powerful role in reviewing attorney discipline complaints against Justice Department attorneys, potentially setting up an approach that could keep the department at odds with the bar on behalf of DOJ attorneys facing their own individual disciplinary proceedings.

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CNN’s Paula Reid contributed to this report.

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Europe and Asia battle for LNG as Iran war chokes supply

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Europe and Asia battle for LNG as Iran war chokes supply

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Asian and European buyers are battling to source liquefied natural gas after the war in the Middle East choked off shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, blocking a fifth of global supplies.

In an indication of the intensifying contest for LNG since the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran, a handful of gas carriers have abruptly changed course while sailing to Europe and swung towards Asia instead, according to ship monitoring data analysed by the FT.

Countries across Asia are highly dependent on oil and gas sent through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway where shipping has slowed to a near standstill.

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Most of the LNG produced in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates is ordinarily shipped through the strait to Asia, and Asian LNG prices surged almost immediately after war broke out, creating an incentive to divert US gas to the region.

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Taiwan, South Korea and Japan are among the countries that need to source LNG to make up for supplies they will not receive from the Gulf, said Massimo Di Odoardo, head of gas and LNG analysis at consultancy Wood Mackenzie.

Taiwan relied on Qatar for more than 30 per cent of its gas consumption in 2025, according to Citigroup, while for South Korea and Japan the figures were 15 per cent and 5 per cent respectively. Asia typically uses more gas than Europe in the hotter summer months because of more air-conditioning use, creating urgency for Asian utilities to secure cargoes.

The vast majority of LNG is sold under long-term contracts rather than on the spot market, but some buyers are able to change the final destination of their purchases and some sellers are willing to break contracts if prices rise high enough.

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By Thursday, surging European gas prices and rocketing shipping rates had swung the balance back against diversion of US LNG to Asia, according to data company Spark Commodities.

The decision on where to send gas carriers can depend on the relative levels of the European gas price, Asia’s JKM benchmark for LNG and shipping rates.

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For European buyers, the battle with Asia for LNG supplies is eerily familiar to the situation four years ago after Russia slashed pipeline natural gas flows to the continent following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Competition for spare cargoes then pushed prices to record levels.

On Monday, European gas prices reached as high as €69.50 per megawatt hour, more than double their level before the Iran conflict began. Even so, prices are still far from the €342 per megawatt hour reached in 2022.

JKM gas prices also more than doubled since the start of the war to $24.80 per 1mn British thermal units by Monday, equivalent to €73.10/MWh.

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European buyers have learnt from their experience in 2022. “Europe has more weapons at its disposal in this extreme price scenario to try and fight,” said Alex Kerr, a partner at law firm Baker Botts.

Buyers had started putting clauses in contracts to say that suppliers would face much higher penalties if they diverted cargoes for commercial gain, Kerr said.

There is also much more LNG on the market now that is not committed to set destinations, largely because of new projects starting in the US.

While producers such as Qatar impose strict rules on where its LNG can be sent, almost all US exports are allowed to sail wherever buyers want. Several analysts said there had also been an increase in the willingness of some producers to break contracts for financial advantage.

This makes diversions more likely, while the reluctance of some European buyers to sign long-term supply contracts before the outbreak of war this month could prove costly.

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Expectations of a global supply glut convinced some European buyers that it would be cheaper to wait until later in the year to sign supply deals.

Wood Mackenzie’s Di Odoardo said the buyers had also held off on LNG purchases because new EU legislation on methane emissions made it unclear whether they could incur penalties in the future.

The risk of prices rising as Europe and Asia fight for available cargoes is increasing every day the Strait of Hormuz stays almost closed.

Gas is more difficult to store and to carry in tankers than oil, making its markets more vulnerable to shortages and price shocks.

“The longer the Strait remains shut, the greater the risk that the shipping disruption turns into a genuine gas shortage, as tankers cannot load and facilities have limited storage,” said consultancy Oxford Economics in a research note.

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Additional reporting by Harry Dempsey in Tokyo. Data visualisation by Jana Tauschinski

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