The NYPD is releasing body-worn camera footage from an officer-involved shooting that occurred on April 11, 2026, in the confines of Transit District 4 in the Midtown South Precinct.
The video includes available evidence leading up to the incident as well as during the incident. The NYPD is releasing this video for clear viewing of the totality of the incident.
Under the leadership of President Donald J. Trump and Secretary Markwayne Mullin, DHS and FEMA are working with federal, state and local law enforcement to investigate fraud and hold offenders accountable.
Consistent with this commitment, the DHS Office of the General Counsel and the FEMA Office of Chief Counsel have indefinitely suspended former Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of South Florida, her brother Edwin Cherfilus and multiple associates and affiliated entities following a federal indictment alleging they misappropriated approximately $5.7 million in disaster funds and used the proceeds for personal enrichment and illegal campaign contributions.
In this case, FEMA provided disaster funding to the State of Florida through the Public Assistance program to support the state-led COVID-19 vaccination efforts.
“Former Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick abused Americans’ trust in the most egregious way possible. She manipulated the COVID-19 crisis to funnel over $5 million dollars of FEMA relief funds to her and her family members,” said James Percival, DHS General Counsel. “This is outright fraud. That’s exactly what a federal grand jury and the U.S. House of Representatives found. I am proud that my office is taking the first step to ensure she is held accountable and American taxpayers’ money is protected from further misuse.”
These actions are in alignment with President Trump’s Executive Order establishing the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, led by Vice President JD Vance, which directs federal agencies to combat fraud, waste and abuse in federal benefit programs, restore integrity to taxpayer-funded safety‑net programs and ensure that benefits go only to eligible Americans.
The overpayment and subsequent misuse of funds were identified through a combination of state-level reconciliation, FEMA’s closeout process, and a federal investigation led by the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Public Integrity Unit. FEMA’s Office of the Chief Security Officer and Public Assistance program staff worked closely with the DOJ to explain FEMA’s funding processes to help trace the flow of funds and support the government’s efforts to protect taxpayers.
Members of the public who suspect disaster fraud related to FEMA programs are encouraged to report by emailing StopFEMAFraud@fema.dhs.gov. Timely reporting helps protect disaster survivors, strengthens program integrity and supports the administration’s efforts to safeguard taxpayer dollars.
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, announced today that CARSEN MANSFIELD was sentenced to six years in prison by U.S. District Judge Cathy Seibel for receipt and distribution of child pornography and extortionate interstate communications. MANSFIELD previously pled guilty to one count of receiving and distributing child sex abuse material and one count of extortionate interstate communications.
“Carsen Mansfield didn’t just traffic in sexually explicit images and videos of children—he threatened them to create more,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “In a city where kids are online every day, that kind of conduct is especially dangerous, and we will go after anyone who uses the internet to prey on them. New Yorkers want their children protected from this heinous conduct and we’re listening.”
According to the Information, plea agreement, other public court filings, and statements made in court:
On August 1, 2024, MANSFIELD, while in Newburgh, New York, communicated with an individual (“Individual-1”) on X (then Twitter). MANSFIELD used the X username “expogirlsss.” MANSFIELD and Individual-1 discussed exchanging sexually explicit content with each other. The defendant said, “[b]et and is there anything you’d like to trade in return? Or just take a look?” Individual-1 replied, “just take a look and if I like I’ll maybee trade.” The defendant replied, “[o]kay, I’ll send some tonight.”
MANSFIELD then sent Individual-1 approximately 2 videos. One of the videos is of a topless woman on her knees with a penis in her mouth (“Adult-1”). MANSFIELD described Adult-1 as his “sister.”[1]
Individual-1 then messaged MANSFIELD, “u expose ppl?” MANSFIELD replied, “[y]eah I do, but upon request.” MANSFIELD then sent Individual-1 approximately 7 additional videos and 5 images, one of which was a sexually explicit video of a minor, Minor Victim-1, fully naked and masturbating (“Video-1”). MANSFIELD then messaged Individual-1, “[u] got anything for me or nah? I was really hoping for at least a lil sum.” MANSFIELD had originally received the video of Minor Victim-1 on SnapChat from Minor Victim-1. Minor Victim-1 confirmed that MANSFIELD shared the video without her consent.
On or about August 4, 2024, MANSFIELD, while in Newburgh, New York, communicated with Minor Victim-2, who was located in Michigan, on Discord. MANSFIELD used the Discord username “nonme45.#0.” The defendant sent Minor Victim-2 a series of sexually explicit photographs (the “Minor Victim-2 Photos”). At the time that the Minor Victim-2 Photos were taken, Minor Victim-2 was 14 years old.
After sending Minor Victim-2 the Minor Victim-2 Photos, MANSFIELD then demanded that Minor Victim-2 send him additional sexually explicit material. MANSFIELD threatened that if Minor Victim-2 did not send him additional content, then he would release nude photos of Minor Vicitm-2. MANSFIELD stated, “[w]ell I have these pictures and if you don’t send me more I’m going to send them to your friends and family.” He added, “[y]our my slut now [and] failure to make me happy will end up exposed to your friends and family.” Minor Victim-2 told MANSFIELD that she was not going to send him pictures and asked him to delete them. MANSFIELD replied that he was “gonna pay you to make some stuff for me while I had these pics,” and “[b]ut if you don’t wanna do stuff I’ll just post everything it’s fine.” Minor Victim-2 asked MANSFIELD why he was threatening her. MANSFIELD replied, “I love power, and tbh most of the time I do this to sisters of people to get videos of them sucking off their brothers but you are an exception.”
In addition to the prison term, MANSFIELD, 24, of Newburgh, New York, was sentenced to five years of supervised release.
Mr. Clayton praised the efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Hudson Valley Safe Streets Task Force, Detroit Field Office, as well as the Town of Newburgh Police Department.
[1] Adult-1, who is not MANSFIELD’s sister, confirmed that MANSFIELD shared the video without her consent.
Kamron Jasmane Fountain, 22, of Pensacola, Florida, has been indicted in federal court on three counts of distribution of fentanyl and one count possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, fentanyl, and marijuana. John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida, announced the charges.
Fountain appeared before United States Magistrate Judge Hope T. Cannon for his initial appearance at the United States Courthouse in Pensacola, Florida. Trial is scheduled for June 22, 2026, at 8:30 am in Pensacola before District Court Judge M. Casey Rodgers.
If convicted, Fountain faces up to 20 years’ imprisonment for each drug distribution count and at least 10 years and up to life imprisonment on the possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, fentanyl, and marijuana count.
This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.
An indictment is merely an allegation by a grand jury that a defendant has committed a violation of federal criminal law and is not evidence of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial, during which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.
The last member of a transnational Colombian robbery crew in Miami was sentenced today to 57 months in prison for his role in a series of robberies of and thefts from jewelry couriers that targeted high-end retailers and resulted in losses exceeding $5 million. Leroy Ortega, also known as “el Enano,” 43, of Miami, was the last of 11 defendants to be sentenced as part of a series of indictments targeting a South American theft group operating in the Southern District of Florida.
The 11 defendants were each convicted as part of Operation Boujee Bandits, an investigation of a Colombian South American theft group targeting jewelry salespersons in South Florida and elsewhere. The investigation resulted in three indictments and an information that charged robberies and money laundering activity from September 2019 to July 2021.
According to court documents, Ortega was part of a group that forcefully took jewelry and other property from victims they believed were in the business of buying and selling jewelry throughout South Florida. To commit the robberies, defendants rented vehicles using false identification documents to follow jewelry salespersons from the International Jewelry Exchanges or the Seybold Jewelry Building. They would then rob victims of the jewelry that they were transporting, sometimes brandishing a knife-like weapon to ensure victims’ compliance.
Ortega admitted that he committed two robberies. On Oct. 16, 2019, Ortega and his co-defendants identified a person they believed was carrying a case of jewelry. In fact, the victim was not a jewelry courier but rather a professional photographer who had been photographing jewelry. Following the victim to a shopping center, co-defendant Allan Lucas, 33, of Miami, pushed the photographer and Ortega grabbed the photographer’s case, which contained photography equipment and a computer. The photographer chased Ortega and Lucas to their get-away car. When the photographer tried to open the car door to get his case back, Ortega reversed the car, causing injury as the photographer was thrown to the ground.
Then, on Nov. 7, 2019, Ortega and his co-conspirators, including defendants Andres Barahona Poveda, 51, a national of Colombia, and Edwin Castillo, 45, of Pembroke Pines, robbed a jewelry salesman of approximately $125,000 of assorted jewelry. Ortega and his co-conspirators followed the salesman to his business in Miami Beach. As the salesman sat in the vehicle, Ortega approached and smashed the salesman’s windows while another co-conspirator took the salesman’s backpack containing the jewelry. When the salesman tried to exit the vehicle, Ortega held the salesman’s door shut trapping him inside the vehicle. To conduct the robbery, defendant Carlos Morales, 47, of Miami rented a vehicle using a fraudulent Venezuelan driver’s license.
Ortega pleaded guilty to Hobbs Act robbery conspiracy and two counts of Hobbs Act robbery.
Defendants convicted under this operation, in addition to Ortega, include:
Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida made the announcement.
The FBI Tampa Field Office is leading the investigation of the case with valuable assistance from the FBI Miami Field Office, Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office, Miami-Dade Police Department, Miami Beach Police Department, Tampa Police Department, Boca Raton Police Department, Palm Beach Sherriff’s Office, Boynton Beach Police Department, Fort Pierce Police Department, and the Jewelry Security Alliance. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and the Criminal Division’s Office of Judicial Attaché in Bogotá, Colombia, provided significant assistance.
New York Attorney General Letitia James today announced that opioid manufacturer Purdue Pharma (Purdue) has shut down and ceased operations as part of a bankruptcy plan secured by Attorney General James, a bipartisan coalition of 54 other attorneys general, and other stakeholders. A new public benefit corporation, Knoa Pharma, LLC (Knoa Pharma), will begin operating in its place today and will be overseen by independent directors and trustees who have no association with Purdue. Knoa Pharma will be entirely owned by the Knoa Foundation, a newly established nonprofit. All members of the Sackler family, who fueled the opioid crisis through their ownership and operation of Purdue, are barred from selling opioids in the United States and will not have any involvement in the new company. Knoa Pharma will manufacture medications, including opioid products, safely and responsibly to address public health needs. It will be subject to strict oversight by an independent monitor and will be barred from lobbying and advertising its opioid products. After operating expenses, Knoa Pharma’s excess revenue will be dispersed to state, local, and tribal governments and to the Knoa Foundation in support of opioid abatement.
“Under the Sacklers’ control, Purdue developed, manufactured, and then misleadingly marketed its deadly opioids, destroying lives and communities across the country,” said Attorney General James. “This company that put profits over people for decades is now shut down forever. In its place, Knoa Pharma will provide resources to communities to combat the opioid crisis. While nothing will ever fully repair the damage done and lives lost to the opioid crisis, ending Purdue’s operations is an important step towards justice.”
The end of Purdue is part of a $7.4 billion settlement with members of the Sackler family secured by Attorney General James and a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general and other parties. In the first payment, Purdue will pay approximately $900 million and the Sacklers will pay $1.5 billion. The Sacklers will then pay $500 million in May of 2027, an additional $500 million in May of 2028, and $400 million in May of 2029. The settlement will deliver funding directly to communities across the country over the next 15 years to support opioid addiction treatment, prevention, and recovery programs and ends the Sacklers’ control of Purdue. On April 28, Purdue was sentenced in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey on criminal charges for its role in fueling the opioid crisis.
Beginning today, Knoa Pharma will take over operations of Purdue’s assets. The company will be overseen by a board of trustees that includes leaders in public health, drug policy, and philanthropy, and a board of directors that includes experts in pharmaceuticals, corporate governance, and compliance. Knoa Pharma will be barred from marketing its opioid products, lobbying, and using opioid sales metrics for compensation by a court-ordered injunction. Former Montana Attorney General and Governor Steve Bullock will continue to serve as an independent monitor of the company, ensuring it complies with the court’s injunction.
Bold Investments and Improved Coordination are Connecting Individuals with Community Supports and Services After They Leave Emergency Care
Governor Issues Proclamation; Directs State Buildings and Landmarks Illuminated in Green on May 1 to Raise Awareness and Reduce Stigma
Governor Kathy Hochul today recognized May as Mental Health Awareness Month by highlighting the state’s robust efforts to connect individuals with expanded community-based mental health support to aid their recovery once they are discharged from psychiatric care at hospitals, emergency departments and comprehensive psychiatric emergency programs. Governor Hochul also issued a proclamation highlighting programs funded by the roughly $2 billion invested into strengthening the state’s system of care since she launched her landmark mental health initiative in 2023.
“Our bold investments in mental health care are helping to stop the revolving door of care and ensuring that all New Yorkers can access the individualized, person-centered support they can rely on to recover safely within their community,” Governor Hochul said. “During Mental Health Awareness Month, we are highlighting the teams now helping New Yorkers living with mental illness to make these often life-changing connections, the work we are doing to help healthcare providers understand new admission and discharge regulations, and the support they can tap to avoid unnecessary emergency visits.”
New York was ranked first nationally in ‘The State of Mental Health in America,’ a report released by Mental Health America in September that was based on 17 indicators measuring the prevalence of mental illness and access to care. In February, the organization presented Governor Hochul with the 2026 Governor’s Leadership Award, recognizing the ‘significant and sustained investments’ that have strengthened mental health systems across the state’s continuum of care.
Among this work was a concerted effort by the state to ensure New Yorkers receiving behavioral health treatment at hospitals, emergency rooms and comprehensive psychiatric emergency programs were properly screened on admission and then provide them connections to services upon discharge. New regulations promulgated by the state Office of Mental Health and Department of Health standardized admission and discharge criteria, requiring facilities to schedule follow-up appointments, screen for suicide risk and coordinate details with care managers before a patient leaves psychiatric care.
In advance of the regulations taking effect in August, OMH created the Office of Hospital Care and Community Transitions to partner with hospitals to help them find gaps in service, share information within the mental health care system, and build stronger relationships among providers. Since being established last year, this new unit has met with 95 article 28 and article 31 hospitals – nearly all the facilities in the state – and partnered with the Health Department to issue comprehensive guidance in January to help them navigate the new admission and discharge regulations.
Under Governor Hochul’s mental health initiative, the state has invested more than $47 million to establish Critical Time Intervention teams, which provide care management services and support to individuals who are at high risk of being readmitted for emergency treatment after discharge. Teams partner with hospitals and collaborate in aftercare planning to support high-needs individuals transitioning from inpatient care back to the community.
There are now more than 30 teams operational statewide, with others under development. These teams are successfully linking individuals who are at high risk of requiring emergency care to needed services. In the first month of receiving CTI services, 83 percent of adults are linked to outpatient mental health services and 73 percent are linked to primary care services after hospitalization.
OMH has also expanded Intensive and Sustained Engagement teams, which use a voluntary, peer-led engagement approach to provide support services for individuals with complex needs who have difficulty connecting with traditional forms of mental health care. There are now five teams providing services in the New York City area, as well as Westchester, Orange, Sullivan, Rockland, Putnam, Monroe, Nassau, and Suffolk counties, with a sixth expected to come online this summer to serve Albany, Schenectady, and Rensselaer counties.
In addition, the state is now expanding the hospital-based Peer Bridgers program, which uses individuals with lived experience to engage patients receiving behavioral health treatment to help them successfully manage crucial transitions in care and become included within the community of their choosing. OMH now supports peer bridgers at Article 28 hospitals in Rochester, Utica and in Queens, while also providing technical assistance to support this initiative.
In conjunction with Mental Health Awareness Month, OMH also posted the latest installment of Recovery Stories, a continuing video series featuring New Yorkers describing in their own words their experiences with mental health issues and their journey to recovery, and a message to New Yorkers from Commissioner Sullivan. Governor Hochul also issued a proclamation outlining some of the many initiatives underway to strengthen the state’s mental health care system and ensure all New Yorkers have access to support.
In addition, Governor Hochul directed that 15 state buildings and landmarks be illuminated in green – the color that has come to symbolize mental health awareness — at dusk tonight, Friday, May 1. This includes:
Good morning. Happy Friday. Thank you, Reverend Doctor Waterman, for welcoming us at Antioch — and for the wisdom and grace you have shared with your congregation and with Bed-Stuy for more than a decade. Thank you, Dr. Bailey, for bringing us together.
It is lovely to be back at AACEO with you. I have been here before as an Assembly Member, as a candidate for office, and I am so proud to be here today as your mayor. I know that my mayoralty is at times described in the language of firsts. And yet while it may be true, I do so with the humility that it is only possible because of the many other firsts that came before. When I think of those, I think of a great New Yorker — Mayor David Dinkins. Thirty-seven years ago this fall, our city stood on the precipice of history.
New York City was on the verge of electing its first Black mayor. I know that David Dinkins is a hero for many of you. He is for me too. And in moments where it feels lonely being the Democratic Socialist Mayor of the greatest city in the world, I draw comfort from the knowledge that in this, I followed him. But we know Mayor Dinkins’ election was hardly inevitable. Vast forces were organizing to stop his progress — to foster suspicion and division, to undermine the coalitions powering his rise. In that moment, three men — Reverend Doctor Gardener Taylor, Al Vann, and Reverend Herbert Daughtry — came together to bring the city together.
AACEO was created not only to help get David Dinkins elected — but out of a shared belief in New York City. A belief that we are stronger united. A belief in a city that can fulfill its potential. A belief in government’s ability to deliver not for itself, but for working people. Over the 37 years since, our city has changed. Neighborhoods look different. Sports teams play in new stadiums. Coffee costs more. Over just the last 20 of those 37 years, we have watched as more than 200,000 Black New Yorkers have been forced to leave our city — because they can no longer afford life in the city they helped build. And yet, no matter how much has changed, AACEO has remained — a rock for those searching for wisdom, a resource to those it serves, a place where belief not only has a home but where belief expands what is deemed possible.
When I think of your work, I think of what Mayor Dinkins said to the people of this city in 1989 after winning that election. “You,” he said, “voted for your hopes and not your fears.” Hope over fear. It takes belief to make that choice — because make no mistake, it is a choice, and a difficult one at that. I am in a room full of people who make that choice every day. Each morning, often long before the sun has broken the horizon, you wake up and decide to dedicate your energy to organizing and uplifting others. What is that choice if not an expression of hope? When you visit the hospital to hold the hand of a mother weeping for her child stolen by gun violence, when you accompany a frightened immigrant to 26 Federal Plaza, when you counsel a family that can hardly afford the costs of today, let alone those that will come tomorrow — what is that choice if not an expression of hope, an expression of belief in New York City?
Standing before you today, I think of a hymn that echoes so often across our city on Sunday mornings: “I want to walk worthy, my calling to fulfill. Please order my steps Lord, and I’ll do Your blessed will. The world is ever changing, but You are still the same; if You order my steps, I’ll praise Your name.”
Just like all of you, I want to walk worthy. Not just worthy of those who voted for me, those who believe in my politics, those who feel at home in the movement we have built. I want to walk worthy of those who feel alone in a world and a city that is ever changing. Those left behind and betrayed by government. Those who hear gunshots outside their windows and those who cannot afford the bus fare or the rent. I want to walk worthy of every New Yorker — and I know that I cannot do so alone.
It is only by coming together, by believing together, that we can build a city worthy of those who call it home. Since taking office four months ago today, City Hall has sought to do exactly that. We have placed working people at the heart of our work. On day eight of our administration, we secured a historic $1.2 billion-dollar partnership with Governor Hochul to make 3K universal and deliver free childcare for two-year-olds for the first time in our city’s history. Too many families have been forced to reckon with impossible choices as they wonder how they will be able to afford the most joyful moment in their lives — the arrival of a child. When we expanded childcare access, we began in places like Brownsville — because we want these resources to reach those who need it most. We have fought for those New Yorkers to be able to stay in their homes with the creation of a new Office of Deed Theft Prevention — because the promise of dignity and stability that a home accords should not be so easily broken.
Black New Yorkers have had to work so hard to build generational wealth. We will not sit idly by and watch as it is stolen. We have fought for the New Yorkers targeted by the tax lien sale, so often forced out of this city by a predatory system that publishes the names of homeowners behind on their bills and prompts debt collectors to arrive at their doors. We have made the decision to pause the tax lien sale for six months because there are far better and more equitable paths towards stability.
We have strived to use the power that government holds to improve the city that New Yorkers live in. We have paved more than 130,000 potholes, taken down thousands of feet of scaffolding, and will replace more than 6,700 catch basins. And we have worked to keep New Yorkers safe in our city — because you cannot walk worthy if you cannot walk safely. Since taking office, murders have hit record lows. We have taken more than 1,000 guns off our streets. The NYPD and our crisis management system have worked together to put us on pace for the lowest levels of shootings in our history. And yet I know that too many in this room are in mourning — that too many of your congregations sit heavy with grief, that too many of your communities have holes in the shape of young lives cruelly robbed by the scourge of gun violence.
The progress we have achieved is only a reminder of how much more there is to be done — and how the crises of gun violence and mental health demand renewed ambition and commitment. We intend to deliver that with our new Office of Community Safety — and we intend to deliver it by working with each of you. And as we witness federal attacks on the right to the franchise, as those with great power seek to undo the progress won by the titans of the Civil Rights Movement, who marched in the rain, who marched alone, who marched even when set upon by fire hoses and those wielding billy clubs, we will chart a different course. We will ensure that our city remains a place where every New Yorker has a voice — where democracy is strengthened and expanded, not weakened and eroded. I will close with this.
Here today, I feel a great sense of responsibility — the same that I know you feel each day. It is not just the responsibility of leadership. It is not just the responsibility of fulfilling the trust that New Yorkers have placed in each of us. It is the responsibility of walking worthy of those who look to us for guidance, and it is the responsibility of walking worthy of the great New Yorkers who came before — and the visions they held for our city.
One of those men was Reverend Doctor Gardner Taylor. In moments where the path ahead feels daunting, or the obstacles impossible to overcome, I think of a sermon he gave. He said: “One day, the things that plague us will be no more and we shall walk in the glorious freedom of the Sons of God. I look for that day — when sickness and sorrow and pain will be felt and feared no more. I look for that day when men’s dislikes will be behind them. I look for that day when all of God’s children will walk together.”
Let us look for and deliver that day, together. Let us make it easier to believe, together. Let us walk together, my friends — and let us walk worthy of this city we are so fortunate to serve. Thank you.
