Southwest
New Mexico police chief claims he had constitutional right to leave his body cam off after crash: report
A police chief in New Mexico told investigators he intentionally left his body camera off after he crashed into another driver earlier this year, citing his Fifth Amendment right against self incrimination, according to a new internal investigation.
“It blew my mind because it’s so preposterous,” lawyer and former Albuquerque police officer Tom Grover told KOAT last Friday.
Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina ran a red light on Feb. 17, 2024, after someone fired a shot near his pickup truck. He hit and seriously injured another driver, but did not turn on his body camera, violating department policy, according to an internal investigation. (City of Albuquerque)
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Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina and his wife were in an unmarked police pickup truck the morning of Feb. 17, heading to a press conference. Medina had stopped at a red light when he said two people started fighting on the sidewalk next to his truck, according to the report. Then one of the individuals pulled out a gun and fired a shot, Medina said after the incident.
Surveillance video shows Medina accelerating across the busy intersection, through the red light. His pickup darted between two cars and then T-boned a Mustang. The other driver was hospitalized with severe injuries, including eight broken ribs, a broken collarbone, a broken shoulder blade, a collapsed lung and multiple cuts, KOAT reported in March.
Medina powered his body camera on “to prove he had it with him,” the recently-released Internal Affairs report notes. But he told investigators he “intentionally and purposefully did not record the interaction of the crash because he was invoking his 5th Amendment right not to self-incriminate.”
Grover compared that admission to a “nuclear bomb.”
“The notion that he has a Fifth Amendment right would suggest that he’s in custody,” Grover told KOAT. “He’s not in custody. He’s at work.”
An excerpt from the Internal Affairs investigation into Medina’s Feb. 17, 2024, crash. (Albuquerque Police Department IA Professional Standards)
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Albuquerque Police Department rules do not allow officers to avoid recording “mandatory recording incidents based on the fact that the evidence captured on that video may be used in a subsequent criminal investigation,” the investigation notes.
Medina accepted and signed two letters of reprimand in July — one for unsafe driving in a department-issued vehicle and one for failing to record the incident.
KOAT legal analyst John Day told the outlet Medina’s actions may violate state law.
New Mexico statute requires activation of a body-worn camera “whenever a peace officer is responding to a call for service or at the initiation of any other law enforcement or investigative encounter between a peace officer and a member of the public.”
It also prohibits “deactivation of a body-worn camera until the conclusion of a law enforcement or investigative encounter.”
The Albuquerque Police Department did not respond to a request for comment on the Internal Affairs report Monday.
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A 23-year-old man from Long Beach is in custody following a deadly hit-and-run crash in Riverside County Saturday.
The crash happened around 8:09 a.m. near the intersection of Dinah Shore Drive and George Montgomery Way in the city of Rancho Mirage, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.
Deputies responded and found one of the involved drivers, 57-year-old Teresa Bowlin of Cathedral City, dead at the scene. The other driver, Tyler Conant of Long Beach, ran from the scene of the crash, according to the sheriff’s department.
“During the investigation, it was determined that Conant was under the influence of alcohol [at the time of the crash],” the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said.
Conant was arrested and booked into the John Benoit Detention Center for murder and felony hit-and-run.
The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information about the crash is asked to contact Deputy Bret Meservey at (760) 836-1600.
Long Beach will hold a pride festival this weekend after the one they originally had scheduled was canceled.
Long Beach city officials said the celebration was nixed after the nonprofit that organizes it, Long Beach Pride, failed to submit the required information for an event permit.
It was supposed to start on Friday and last through Sunday.
“Despite continued collaboration and multiple deadline notices, the City did not receive the required documentation needed to complete safety reviews, inspect critical event infrastructure, such as the stage, electrical systems and tent, and emergency exiting plans to ensure compliance with public safety standards,” the city of Long Beach said in a statement. “With event programming scheduled to begin on May 15 at 5 p.m. with Teen Pride and essential information still outstanding, there is no longer sufficient time to safely permit the festival this year.”
Officials noted that they were working to see if a “shortened event” could be held this weekend, and indeed, an agreement was reached to stage a one-day gathering on Sunday.
Billed as “Canceled? Never Heard of Her!” and emceed by comedian and drag queen Jewels, it will still bring the city’s LGBTQ community together after Sunday morning’s Long Beach Pride Parade, which was not canceled.
“Long Beach Pride weekend is a culmination of celebrations put on by our community, including our many vibrant restaurants, bars and businesses, and that will never change,” Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson said in a press release issued late Saturday night. “Along with the Pride Parade, we are proud to join the party with this new event that reaffirms what this City has always stood for: that every person belongs here.”
“The festival may have been canceled, but Long Beach drag artists don’t cancel joy,” added Jewels Long Beach.
The one-day “Canceled? Never Heard of Her!” festival will take place at Bixby Park from noon to 7 p.m. Sunday. A free event, it will include music by several performers and a drag show.
More information can be found here.
Los Angeles, Ca
L.A. Jewish institution among targets of foiled terrorist attack, U.S. officials say
A Jewish institution in Los Angeles was among the locations targeted in a recently foiled terrorism plot, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton announced this week.
The thwarted terrorist attacks were the result of the recent arrest of Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, an Iraqi national and senior member of Kata’ib Hizballah, U.S. officials said.
“Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, a commander for the terrorist organization, Kata’ib Hizballah, faces serious charges for his role in numerous attacks against U.S. interests across the globe, including his efforts to kill on U.S. soil,” Clayton said. “As alleged, for years, Al-Saadi committed himself to furthering the terrorist goals of Kata’ib Hizballah and the IRGC, two terrorist organizations dedicated to harming the United States and its allies.”
Al-Saadi recently attempted to carry out attacks in the U.S., officials said, including attacks at Jewish cultural places of interest in New York, Los Angeles and Scottsdale, Ariz.
“Al-Saadi attempted to disrupt American society through intimidation and violence,” a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office reads. “… Those who engage in or support terrorism against Americans and on U.S. soil should take note: the whole of the federal government is committed to dismantling terrorist organizations and bringing their members to justice.”
In a three-month period, Al-Saadi allegedly directed 18 terrorist attacks throughout Europe, including bombings, arson, and assaults targeting American citizens and points of interest. Prior to his arrest, national security officials say he was planning similar attacks on U.S. soil. Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said that Al-Saadi “presented a serious threat to our national security.”
The European attacks included the bombing of the Bank of New York Mellon, an American bank, in Amsterdam on March 15. On April 29, two Jewish men, one of whom was a dual U.S.-British citizen, were stabbed and seriously injured in London.
In 2020, Al-Saadi took to social media, calling for others to attack and kill Americans in retribution for the deaths of Iranian military officer Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi military commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, U.S. officials said. In more recent months, Al-Saadi allegedly used social media to encourage the killing of Americans and Jews to further the terrorist goals of Kata’ib Hizballah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
“In or about February 2026, for example, AL-SAADI posted on one of his social media accounts a message in Arabic, which read in part, ‘Do not abandon the blood of your Imam of the time, oh Shiites of Iraq. Kill everyone who supports America and Israel. Do not leave any of them remaining. Civil and military targets, as well as voices of discord, kill them everywhere.’” U.S. officials said.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch confirmed that one of the U.S. targets was a Manhattan synagogue. On April 3, Al-Saadi allegedly spoke to an undercover law enforcement officer whom Al-Saadi believed could carry out attacks in the U.S. That same day, Al-Saadi allegedly texted the undercover officers photographs and maps showing the exact location of a prominent Jewish synagogue in New York City.
Officials have not said what specific locations in L.A. and Arizona were targeted by the terrorist group.
Al-Saadi now faces numerous charges for these crimes in U.S. court. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison.
The case is under investigation by the FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, which is comprised of investigators and analysts from the FBI, the NYPD, the FBI Washington Field Office, Counterterrorism Division, and more than 50 other federal, state, and local agencies. Investigators also received help from the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, Counterterrorism Section, the Office of International Affairs of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
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