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Harlem rallies to close smoke shop where fatal shooting occurred

Members of the Harlem community gathered on Tuesday evening to demand that the smoke shop where a gruesome execution-style shooting occurred be closed.

HARLEM – The NYPD has arrested a man in connection with two separate murders over the Easter weekend in Harlem.

According to police, Messiah Nantwi, 21, is charged with two counts of murder, along with one count of criminal possession of a weapon.

Nantwi is allegedly the gunman seen in a shocking video shooting another man in the head inside a smoke shop at 125th Street and Malcolm X Boulevard on Sunday evening.

In the video, police say Nantwi can be seen pulling out a gun and shooting the victim, 36-year-old Brandon Brunson in the head, before shooting him in the head again while he is lying on the ground. 

A still from a surveillance video allegedly showing Messiah Nantwi shooting and killing Brandon Brunson.

Nantwi was also wanted in connection to an earlier incident on Saturday around 4:40 p.m. when police said Jaylen Duncan, 19, was shot in the head near Madison Avenue and E. 132nd St. He was taken to Harlem Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

On Tuesday, Harlem's residents gathered outside the smoke shop where Bunsen was killed to demand that it be shut down.

"You never know when the next shooting is going to occur, and that's no way for any community to live and operate," said Shatic Mitchell, District Manager of Community Boar 10.

"The only thing this place has brought is violence. It brings opportunity for death, it brings opportunity for proliferation of drugs, and situations like this where it brings that level of negativity. It can't exist here," said Lermond Mayes, Chief of Staff to Assembly Member Inez Dickens.

The arrest for the two murders came amid a violent weekend, where five murders in total took place in the span of less than 42 hours across three New York City boroughs. Sunday afternoon (Coney Island) Around 2:12 p.m., police said Kristian Vargas, 23, of Brooklyn, was stabbed in the torso at the intersection of West 23 Street and Mermaid Avenue in Coney Island. Vargas was transported to NYU Langone Hospital Brooklyn, where he was pronounced dead.

Coney Island fatal stabbing. (Citizen App) Saturday afternoon (Brooklyn)

“Hes a great person. I consider him like a grandfather.” Victor Santiago Police said Ramon Cintron, 83, was found stabbed to death around 2:20 p.m. inside an apartment in Wyckoff Garden, a NYCHA complex in Boerum Hill. Police shared a poster of a man identified as Joevani Vale,who they believe may be connected to the attack.

"He’s a great person," Victor Santiago, the manager of a nearby grocery store where he bought scratch-off tickets, said of Cintron. "I consider him like a grandfather." Saturday morning (Queens) Police found Jevaughn Jeminson, 23, of Florida, shot multiple times in the torso just after 2 a.m. near Selover Road and Merrick Boulevard in Saint Albans. He was transported to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Police have not made any arrests in the three other murders.

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Entertainment

Russell Brand charged with rape and sexual assault

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Russell Brand charged with rape and sexual assault

Russell Brand has been charged with rape and two counts of sexual assault between 1999 and 2005.

The Metropolitan Police say the 50-year-old comedian, actor and author has also been charged with one count of oral rape and one count of indecent assault.

The charges relate to four women.

He is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday 2 May.

Police have said Brand is accused of raping a woman in the Bournemouth area in 1999 and indecently assaulting a woman in the Westminster area of London in 2001.

He is also accused of orally raping and sexually assaulting a woman in Westminster in 2004.

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Ashna Hurynag discusses Russell Brand’s charges

The fourth charge alleges that a woman was sexually assaulted in Westminster between 2004 and 2005.

Police began investigating Brand, from Oxfordshire, in September 2023 after receiving a number of allegations.

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The comedian has denied the accusations and said he has “never engaged in non-consensual activity”.

He added in a video on X: “Of course, I am now going to have the opportunity to defend these charges in court, and I’m incredibly grateful for that.”

Metropolitan Police Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy, who is leading the investigation, said: “The women who have made reports continue to receive support from specially trained officers.

“The Met’s investigation remains open and detectives ask anyone who has been affected by this case, or anyone who has any information, to come forward and speak with police.”

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Sports

O’s Henderson off IL; will make ’25 debut vs. KC

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O's Henderson off IL; will make '25 debut vs. KC

Baltimore Orioles All-Star shortstop Gunnar Henderson was activated from the 10-day injured list and will make his season debut Friday night against the Kansas City Royals.

Henderson has been sidelined with a right intercostal strain and missed the first seven games of the big league campaign.

The 23-year-old Henderson will lead off and play shortstop against the host Royals.

Henderson was injured during a spring training game Feb. 27. He was fourth in American League MVP voting last season when he batted .281 and racked up career bests of 37 homers and 92 RBIs.

Henderson completed a five-game rehab stint at Triple-A Norfolk on Wednesday. He batted .263 (5-for-19) with two homers and four RBIs and played four games at shortstop and one as the designated hitter. He did commit three errors.

“I think everybody’s looking forward to having Gunnar back on the team,” Baltimore manager Brandon Hyde said Thursday. “The rehab went really, really well. I talked to him a couple days ago, he feels great swinging the bat. The timing came, especially the last few days. He just had to get out there and get some reps defensively and get some games in, and it all went well.”

Baltimore optioned outfielder Dylan Carlson to Triple-A Norfolk to open up a roster spot. The 26-year-old was 0-for-4 with a run and RBI in two games this season.

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Politics

‘Will the PM side with parents or tech bros?’: Labour peer demands action on children’s smartphone safety

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'Will the PM side with parents or tech bros?': Labour peer demands action on children's smartphone safety

Sir Keir Starmer needs to choose between parents who want stronger action to tackle harmful content on children’s phones, or the “tech bros” who are resisting changes to their platforms, Baroness Harriet Harman has said.

Speaking to Beth Rigby on Sky News’ Electoral Dysfunction podcast, the Labour peer noted that the prime minister met with the creators of hit Netflix drama Adolescence to discuss safety on social media, but she questioned if he is going to take action to “stop the tech companies allowing this sort of stuff” on their platforms where children can access it.

Sir Keir hosted a roundtable on Monday with Adolescence co-writer Jack Thorne and producer Jo Johnson to discuss issues raised in the series, which centres on a 13-year-old boy arrested for the murder of a young girl, and the rise of incel culture.

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The aim was to discuss how to prevent young boys being dragged into a “whirlpool of hatred and misogyny”, and the prime minister said the four-part series raises questions about how to keep young people safe from technology.

Sir Keir has backed calls for the four-part drama to be shown in all schools across the country, but Baroness Harman questioned what is going to be achieved by having young people simply watch the show.

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Sir Keir Starmer held a roundtable with the creators of the Adolescence TV drama.

“Two questions were raised [for me],” she said. ” Firstly – after they’ve watched it, what is going to be the discussion afterwards?

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“And secondly, is he going to act to stop the tech companies allowing this sort of stuff to go online into smartphones without protection of children?

“Because if the tech companies wanted to do this, they could actually protect children. They can do everything they want with their tech.”

She acknowledged there are “very big public policy challenges” in this area, but added of the prime minister: “Is he going to side with parents who are terrified and want this content off their children’s phones, or is he going to accept the tech bros’ resistance to having to make changes?”

Harriet Harman said the government should impose time limits on inquiries
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Baroness Harriet Harman

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Can parliament keep up?

The Labour peer backed the Conservative Party’s call for a ban on smartphones in schools to be mandated from Westminster, saying it would “enable all schools not to have a discussion with their parents or to battle it out, but just to say, this is the ruling” from central government, which Ofsted would then enforce.

“I’m sensitive to the idea that we shouldn’t constantly be telling schools what to do,” she continued. “And they’ve got a lot of common sense and a lot of professional experience, and they should have as much autonomy as possible.

“But perhaps it’s easier for them if it’s done top down.”

Baroness Harman also questioned the speed with which parliament is actually able to legislate to deal with the very rapid development of new technologies, and posits that it could “change its processes to be able to legislate in real time”.

She suggested that a “powerful select committee” of MPs could be established to do that, because “otherwise we talk about it, and then we’re not able to legislate for 10 years – by which time that problem has really set in, and we’ve got a whole load more problems”.

On the podcast, the trio also discussed the 10% tariffs imposed on the UK by Donald Trump and the government’s efforts to strike a trade deal with the US to mitigate the impact of the levy.

The government has refused to rule out scrapping the Digital Services Tax, a 2% levy on tech giants’ revenues in the UK, as part of the negotiations with the Trump administration – a move Baroness Harman said would be “very heartbreaking”.

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