All posts tagged "Militaryveterans"

NEW YORK — A U.S. Army veteran who violently assaulted several Asian women in an April 2022 hate crime rampage throughout Manhattan was sentenced to 1 1/3 to 4 years in state prison on Monday. During a violent spree lasting nearly three hours, Steven Zajonc, 30, spewed racist insults when he punched, elbowed and shoved seven women of Asian descent aged 19 to 57 in the Midtown, Nolita and Greenwich Village neighborhoods, ambushing some from behind. At his Manhattan Supreme Court sentencing, Assistant District Attorney Neil Greenwell said Zajonc systematically picked out Asian women to attack as......

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- More than 50 years after Steve Reed left Vietnam, he is still on patrol. At 76, the Army veteran of a long-range reconnaissance patrol unit and retired Sacramento police officer finds his targets as part of his routine: at a car wash, in the grocery store, at the dentist’s office. And once he’s found a military veteran, his interrogation begins. Where did you serve? Do you have any health problems? Are you getting any Veterans Administration benefits? And, if not, can I help? “I wear my Vietnam hat, and that’s a brotherhood, and immediately I get contacts all the time,” R......

WASHINGTON -- When it was Rep. Mark Alford’s time to speak in the House Committee on Small Business this May, the freshman Missouri Republican said there was a problem when it came to helping veterans start businesses. “While the Small Business Administration has programs helping veterans, they’re not always utilized,” Alford said. “And we need to find out why that is and how do we change them so they are utilized.” Rep. Sharice Davids, a Kansas Democrat, felt similarly. She sponsored a bill in 2019 that cleared the House of Representatives, but failed to pass the Senate. And she was looking f......

NEW YORK — Daniel Penny, whose chokehold killed Jordan Neely as he threatened and menaced subway passengers on an F train, issued a statement through his lawyers Friday suggesting he acted in self defense. “When Mr. Neely began aggressively threatening Daniel Penny and the other passengers, Daniel, with the help of others, acted to protect themselves, until help arrived,” said the statement from his lawyers. “Daniel never intended to harm Mr. Neely and could not have foreseen his untimely death.” The medical examiner's office has ruled Neely’s death a homicide, but no charges have been filed. ......

NEW YORK -- Outrage is mounting over the death of a homeless, mentally disturbed Michael Jackson impersonator who died on a Manhattan subway train in a caught-on-camera clash with a U.S. Marine who put him in a chokehold. Friends and elected officials decried the death of Jordan Neely on Wednesday, insisting the homeless busker didn’t deserve to die. Neely, 30, was a familiar sight around town, performing in Times Square and on subways as Michael Jackson. “NYC is not Gotham,” city Comptroller Brad Lander tweeted. “We must not become a city where a mentally ill human being can be choked to deat......

Supporters across the country are expressing their gratitude to the Army veteran who restrained the alleged shooter at a Colorado Springs LGBTQ club by buying beer, T-shirts and hoodies from his business. Richard M. Fierro, 45, has been lauded for springing to action during the shooting at Club Q that killed five and injured 18 last Saturday. Fierro, a decorated Army veteran, was attending a drag show at the club with friends and family when the gunman opened fire with an AR-15 style rifle. Fierro and other patrons, including one who used her high heels as a weapon, charged the shooter. Fierro......