Virginia Peninsula Community College President Towuanna Porter Brannon has been at the helm for just two and a half years. Yet, she’s made quite an impact.

Brannon came on board in 2021, replacing Interim President Gregory T. DeCinque. One of Brannon’s first accomplishments was helping change the name from Thomas Nelson Community College.

In 2019, the college was preparing a new strategic plan along with new branding initiatives, she said. In the summer of 2020, following the death of George Floyd, then Virginia community college system Chancellor Glenn DuBois asked community college presidents to evaluate the names that adorned their colleges and facilities.

“I arrived in January 2021, and our faculty had completed extensive research into the college’s namesake, Thomas Nelson. Additionally, surveys and town halls were conducted to include key stakeholders in consideration of a potential name change. The college board considered three potential names and ultimately chose a name that represented the region we serve, Virginia Peninsula Community College,” she said.

While some data sets consider Virginia Peninsula Community College’s enrollment low with nearly 9,000 students in its academic credit courses, they don’t consider noncredit and industry certifications. VPCC also has a robust set of noncredit workforce development courses and programs that are not included in that student count.

In that same year, the college served 2,678 students in its noncredit programs and courses, bringing total students served in the year up over 11,500, said Steven Felker, director of institutional research and effectiveness, using 2021-22 data. Enrollment had declined from more than 9,600 students in the 2020-21 academic year, and final reporting for the 2022-23 academic year is still ongoing.

Overall college enrollment started to decline in 2012, Felker said. The persistent declines were in part attributed to a rapidly improving economy followed by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, he added.

And so, Virginia Peninsula Community College is focused on meeting students where they are.

“We are big on short-term certifications. Not everyone wants to go to school for years, but they still want a skilled profession,” Brannon said. “We have many programs where they can get training and be working in that position in two months. Our focus is on addressing the workforce shortage by offering skilled trades. The skilled trade center at the Williamsburg campus is one way we are addressing it. The 16-week programs can transform a life.”

In addition to determining a student’s career path, Brannon said it is important to figure a student’s limitations such as economic constraints, child care and transportation issues.

“Tuition is not the only cost of an education,” she said. For instance, it can take two hours for a student to take public transportation from Southeast Newport News to the main campus.

The Southeast Center, operated by VPCC, offers specific degree and certificate programs with in-person and hybrid classwork. Newport News is the largest city in the school’s service area. When enrollment declined, the college held listening sessions last year under the direction of Keisha Samuels, interim dean of community partnerships and chair of the college’s human services program.

Brannon’s understanding of disadvantaged student challenges comes from her own experiences growing up on a limited income in the Bronx, New York. She said the help she received shaped her views.

“I am here because people made an investment in me. When you invest in someone, you are investing in business; you are investing in your community,” she said.

To introduce VPCC to children, Brannon said they are working with community organizations including Hampton Roads Community Action Program, Boys and Girls Clubs, the Girl Scouts and probation officers.

In addition to attracting students, retaining them is equally important, she said. For instance, a program called The Barber Shop helps Black men with coaching, weekly meetings and a monthly excursion such as a theater performance.

The military community is also a focus. Last academic year, about 25% of the credit students indicated a military affiliation, including active-duty, veteran, military spouse or military dependent. Brannon said meeting their educational needs benefits the community.

The college also offers high school seniors an opportunity to earn college credit before they graduate high school.

Looking into the future, Brannon wants to increase mental health help.

“The pandemic caused many young people long-term anxiety,” she said. “They were not mature enough to make sense of it.”

GOLF

Incoming William & Mary freshman Preston Burton won the 71st Virginia State Golf Association Junior Stroke Play Championship at the Boar’s Head Resort in his hometown of Charlottesville. Yorktown’s Brandon Sipe, a rising ninth-grader, was the runner-up, four strokes behind.

Burton, a Charlottesville High graduate, played the last four holes in even-par in miserable conditions Thursday to finish at 9-under 204 with a 1-under 70. The rain wasn’t much of a factor until the last holes.

Chesapeake’s Xander Goboy, a Catholic High star, equaled the day’s best round with a 67 to finish third at 209. He was the 16-18 age-division winner, and Sipe was the 15-and-under victor.

BASEBALL

Pilots fall at Wilmington, face long odds to reach playoffs

The Peninsula Pilots fell to .500 with a 6-4 loss Thursday night to Wilmington before 1,732 fans in southeastern North Carolina and saw their hopes of reaching the Coastal Plain League playoffs take a severe hit.

The Morehead City Marlins (32-14, 16-6) clinched the East Division second-half championship, adding to the first-half title they had won. So the other East playoff team will be decided by who has the best overall record, and the Pilots (23-23, 14-8) trail Wilson (25-21) and Wilmington (22-21) entering the season’s final weekend.

The Pilots need to win their final two games and get lots of help to advance. Peninsula is set to play at Holly Springs on Friday night before its home finale at 7 p.m. Saturday against the Martinsville Mustangs.

The Sharks went ahead 4-2 with a two-run fourth and remained ahead.

Stephen DiTomaso, the No. 9 batter in Wilmington’s order, was 3 for 4 with two runs. Luke Nowak also had three hits, and Cam Burgess had two hits and two RBIs for the Sharks.

Chris Martinez, Justin Starke and Ethan Ott each had two of the Pilots’ nine hits. Ott belted a homer in the eighth, but it was Peninsula’s only extra-base hit.

Pilots starter Brian Ereu yielded eight hits and four earned runs in three innings for the loss. Wilmington used five pitchers.

Wednesday night, four Peninsula pitchers combined to throw a four-hitter as the Pilots handled Tri-City 6-1 before 3,120 at War Memorial Stadium in Hampton.

The Pilots led 2-1 before pulling away with a four-run eighth inning.

Walker Fuller pitched the first four innings against the Chili Peppers, giving up two hits, four walks and a run while striking out four.

Antonio Velasquez walked the only batter he faced, but winner Olvis Genao pitched three shutout innings before Michael Caldon threw two hitless innings to complete the triumph.

In the first inning, Randolph-Macon’s Hunter Cole, a Granby High graduate, singled, stole two bases and scored on an error to put the Pilots ahead 1-0. In the second, Ryan Dooley singled, advanced on Cole Stanford’s single and scored on Marc Cisco’s sacrifice fly.

Alex Christie’s single scored Avery Neaves in the fourth for Tri-City’s only run. But Justin Starke’s two-run single put the Pilots ahead 4-1, and Dooley’s RBI single and Trey Morgan’s sacrifice fly boosted the margin to 6-1.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Two area natives on Wuerffel watch list

A pair of players from Hampton Roads — Old Dominion junior cornerback/kick returner LaMareon James and Coastal Carolina running back CJ Beasley — were among the 110 players named to the preseason 110-player Wuerffel Trophy watch list.

The Wuerffel Trophy is known as “College Football’s Premier Award for Community Service.” It is presented each February and named after 1996 Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Danny Wuerffel of Florida. It is awarded to the FBS player who best combines exemplary community service with athletic and academic achievement.

James, an Indian River High product, and Beasley, a Maury High graduate, are joined by Virginia defensive end Chico Bennett Jr., Virginia Tech linebacker Matt Johnson, James Madison kicker Camden Wise and Liberty graduate student/offensive lineman X’Zauvea Gadlin, among many others.

Bennett and Johnson are among 16 ACC players on the list.

Tribe players make Buchanan Award list

William & Mary All-America linebacker John Pius and All-America defensive end Nate Lynn were among 35 players selected to the watch list for the Buck Buchanan Award, which annually goes to the FCS’ top defensive player. Also among the 35 were New Hampshire lineman Josiah Silver, a Phoebus High graduate, and Richmond linebacker Tristan Wheeler.

COLLEGE MEN’S LACROSSE

Captains’ Thomas gains promotion

Zach Thomas received a promotion to Christopher Newport’s assistant head coach after being on the Captains’ staff since 2013. CNU, whose head coach is Mikey Thompson, is 127-46 with two NCAA Division III semifinal appearances and five weeks ranked No. 1 in the coaches’ poll since Thomas’ arrival.

Thomas played for Roanoke College, was an assistant there before coming to CNU and made the Maroons’ hall of fame in 2022.

MORE COLLEGES

VCU extends athletic director’s contract

VCU has finalized an extension to the contract for athletic director Ed McLaughlin, a university spokesperson confirmed to the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Neither financial details nor the length of the deal were released by the school. But VCU Athletics shared a statement from McLaughlin, who is currently in Greece with the men’s basketball team and has been the Rams’ AD since July 2012.

“I deeply appreciate that (VCU President Michael) Rao, the Board of Visitors and Karol Gray trust in my leadership so much to finalize this extension,” McLaughlin said.

“We have created much success together and have many more good days ahead of us with exciting major projects and championships to win. Most importantly, our work has changed the lives of hundreds of student-athletes on our campus and countless folks throughout the Central Virginia area.”

HORSE RACING

Boyce registers three victories in one day

Forest Boyce rode three winners Thursday at Colonial Downs, including one in the day’s fourth race.That’s when Eagle Point Farm’s Chickahominy won a $75,000 maiden special-weight race for Virginia-restricted horses. The 4-year-old filly was making just her second lifetime start.

In the seventh race, Boyce was aboard King Vega, which finished in a dead heat with Commander.Wednesday, Beautiful Gorgeous closed the card by winning the $75,000 Virginia-restricted maiden special-weight race. The winner, ridden by Mychel Sanchez, owned by Clarke Ohrstrom and trained by Laird George, paid $50.20 on a $2 bet.

Follow along for live updates of Donald Trump’s appearance in federal court Thursday after he was indicted by the Justice Department for his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. It’s the third criminal case brought against the former president as he seeks to reclaim the White House.

— Here’s a breakdown of the sprawling election indictment

— Trump lawyer hints at a First Amendment defense in the Jan. 6 case

— Republicans are remaining silent about the latest charges against Trump

— The judge assigned to Trump’s case is a tough punisher of Capitol rioters

— Here’s where the various cases involving Trump stand

Trump said it was a “very sad day for America” after pleading not guilty in Washington’s federal court to charges that he conspired to overturn the 2020 election.

Trump addressed the proceedings in a brief statement on a drizzly tarmac before he boarded his plane back to New Jersey, characterizing the case as a “persecution” designed to hurt his 2024 presidential campaign.

“We can’t let this happen in America,” Trump said.

Trump pleaded not guilty to four federal counts, including conspiracy to defraud the United States. He is accused of brazenly conspiring with allies to spread falsehoods and concoct schemes intended to overturn his election loss to President Joe Biden.

Trump has left Washington’s federal courthouse after pleading not guilty to federal conspiracy charges alleging a plot to overturn the 2020 election in a bid to cling to power.

Trump entered his plea in the same courthouse where more than 1,000 of his supporters have been charged with federal crimes for their participation in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol that halted the certification of Joe Biden’s victory.

He was released on conditions, including that he he not have contact about the case with any witnesses unless attorneys are present.

“If you fail to comply with any conditions of your release, a warrant may be issued for your arrest,” Magistrate Judge Moxila A. Upadhyaya told him.

Trump’s face appeared set and serious, and he occasionally wrote on a paper in front of him throughout the hearing. As it drew to a close, Trump thanked the judge before leaving the courtroom through the same door that he entered.

Special counsel Jack Smith sat in the front row of the courtroom gallery, about 15 feet from Trump’s seat at the defense table with his lawyers. They didn’t appear to make any obvious eye contact before or during the hearing.

The complications of Trump not being allowed to discuss the case with potential witnesses was underscored by the entourage that traveled with him to Washington on Thursday. He was accompanied by top campaign aides including Boris Epshteyn, a longtime adviser who was part of the efforts to overturn the election results by organizing fake electors.

The next hearing in Trump’s 2020 election conspiracy case has been set for Aug. 28, just days after the first debate in the 2024 Republican presidential primary.

The hearing set for later this month will be the first one in front of U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who will oversee the case brought by special counsel Jack Smith. Trump appeared before a magistrate judge for his first court appearance Thursday, where he pleaded not guilty.

Magistrate Judge Moxila Upadhyaya said Chutkan is willing to waive Trump’s appearance at the hearing so he doesn’t have to attend. The judge is expected to set a trial date then.

An Aug. 28 hearing would fall just five days after the first Republican presidential debate will be held in Milwaukee. Although Trump has repeatedly suggested he will not participate — saying he sees little benefit in appearing alongside lower-polling rivals — he has not explicitly ruled it out.

Trump pleaded not guilty Thursday to federal conspiracy charges accusing him of plotting to subvert the will of voters and overturn his 2020 election loss.

Before entering his plea, Trump answered basic questions from the judge and was informed of the charges against him and the potential penalties. The most serious charges call for up to 20 years in prison.

Trump appeared before a magistrate judge in Washington’s federal courthouse two days after being indicted on four felony counts by special counsel Jack Smith. The charges mark the first effort to try to hold Trump criminally responsible for his efforts to block the transfer of power on Jan. 6, 2021.

Trump, the 2024 Republican presidential primary front-runner, is facing charges including conspiracy to defraud the United States and obstruct Congress’ certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s victory.

It comes nearly two months after Trump pleaded not guilty to dozens of federal felony counts accusing him of hoarding classified documents and thwarting government efforts to retrieve them.

Trump says he is innocent, and his legal team has characterized the latest case as an attack on his right to free speech.

Trump has entered the courtroom where he will appear before a federal judge on charges accusing him of plotting to overturn his 2020 election defeat.

Trump, wearing a suit and red tie, sat at the defense table and chatted with his lawyers while waiting for the hearing to begin in Washington’s federal courthouse. At one point, he scribbled notes on a piece of paper in front of him and handed it to his lawyer.

He’s charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States and other crimes.

Special counsel Jack Smith is sitting in the courtroom’s front row.

Three police officers who defended the U.S. Capitol against violent rioters on Jan. 6, 2021, are at the courthouse for Donald Trump’s hearing Thursday.

Daniel Hodges and Aquilino Gonnell were injured, and Harry Dunn was chased by violent protesters. Hodges was a District of Columbia police officer, and Dunn and Gonnell worked for the U.S. Capitol police, tasked with protecting the Capitol and the lawmakers inside.

“All I have wanted from day one is accountability,” Dunn said in a statement released by his lawyer after he went into the federal courthouse in Washington, D.C.

Trump is appearing before a federal judge to surrender on charges that he plotted to overturn his 2020 defeat in the election.

Trump has arrived at the federal courthouse in Washington to surrender to authorities on charges that he plotted to overturn his 2020 defeat in the presidential election.

Trump’s motorcade made its way through D.C.’s crowded roads, using lights and sirens — a journey documented in wall-to-wall cable coverage once again — and onlookers flanked the streets as the former president arrived at the courthouse.

The early front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination will appear before a magistrate judge on charges including conspiracy to defraud the United States. The courthouse sits within sight of the U.S. Capitol that his supporters attacked on Jan. 6, 2021, to stop Congress from certifying Democrat Joe Biden’s election victory.

It’s the third criminal case filed against Trump this year, but the first to try to hold him criminally responsible for his efforts to cling to power in the weeks between his election loss and the Capitol attack that stunned the world as it unfolded live on TV.

Trump has said he did nothing wrong and has accused special counsel Jack Smith of trying to thwart his chances of returning to the White House in 2024.

Trump’s plane has landed in the Washington area before he heads to the courthouse to surrender to authorities and face a judge on federal charges alleging a plot to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss

Trump is expected to make his initial appearance before a magistrate judge Thursday two days after being charged in the case brought by special counsel Jack Smith.

Trump has denied all charges. Before taking off, Trump took to social media to again criticize the case as politically motivated and repeat his baseless claim that the 2020 election was “crooked.”

By MARÍA VERZA and VALERIE GONZÁLEZ (Associated Press)

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican authorities said Thursday that a Honduran migrant identified one of the two bodies recovered from the Rio Grande as her son.

But the 20-year-old Honduran man was not the body found near a floating barrier that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott had installed in the river, across from Eagle Pass, Texas.

Mexico’s Foreign Relations Department said a body recovered about 3 miles upriver from the buoys was tentatively identified as the Honduran man by his mother, but the body was badly decomposed and fingerprint tests would be needed for confirmation.

The department said the mother, who is at a migrant shelter in Piedras Negras, the Mexican border town across from Eagle Pass, said she recognized the tattoos on the body as her son’s.

It said there was still no word on the identity of the second person whose body was found in the river near the buoys. The department said no identification had been found on the body, and nobody had come forward to report the victim.

The Coahuila state prosecutor’s office is working to positively identify the bodies and determine the cause of death.

The department reported the first body found along the buoys between Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras on Wednesday evening, and immediately connected it to the risks Mexico had warned of before the barrier was installed.

Mexico said the Texas Department of Public Safety had advised its consulate of the body along the floating barrier. But it was unclear if that was the body that ultimately ended up lodged against the buoys by the force of the river.

“Preliminary information suggests this individual drowned upstream from the marine barrier and floated into the buoys,” said Steve McCraw, the DPS director. “There are personnel posted at the marine barrier at all times in case any migrants try to cross.”

Mexico and others have warned about the risks posed by the bright orange, wrecking ball-sized buoys put on the Rio Grande in an effort to make it more difficult for migrants to cross to the U.S. The Foreign Relations Department also contends the barrier violates treaties regarding the use of the river and Mexico’s sovereignty.

“We made clear our concern about the impact on migrants’ safety and human rights that these state policies would have,” the department said in its statement Wednesday night.

Andrew Mahaleris, spokesman for Abbott, said in a statement Thursday that “the Mexican government is flat-out wrong.” He said preliminary information indicates the person drowned before coming near the barriers.

He said the Texas Department of Public Safety previously reported to U.S. immigration agents that there was a body floating upstream from the barriers in the Rio Grande.

Mahaleris said Texas officers monitor the barriers and have not observed anyone attempting to cross since they were installed. “Unfortunately, drownings in the Rio Grande by people attempting to cross illegally are all too common,” he said.

The barrier was installed in July, and stretches roughly the length of three soccer fields. It is designed to make it more difficult for migrants to climb over or swim under the barrier.

The U.S. Justice Department is suing Abbott over the floating barrier. The lawsuit asks a court to force Texas to remove it. The Biden administration says the barrier raises humanitarian and environmental concerns.

The buoys are the latest escalation of Texas’ border security operation that also includes installing razor-wire fencing and arresting migrants on trespassing charges.

Migrant drownings occur regularly on the Rio Grande. Over the Fourth of July weekend, before the buoys were installed, four people, including an infant, drowned in the river near Eagle Pass.

Isabel Turcios, a nun who runs the Casa del Migrante shelter in Piedras Negras, said migrants continue crossing the river there even though authorities put razor wire under the bridge connecting the two countries and the buoy barrier a little farther downstream.

She said they typically cross under the bridge where the river is more shallow and then walk downstream to an opening in the razor wire. She said she didn’t know if people still tried to cross where the buoys were installed downriver.

“Tons of migrants are still arriving,” Turcios said. “Last night some 200 people slept (at the shelter). This morning 50 more have entered the shelter.”

She said many migrants decide to cross because they feel it takes too long for U.S. authorities to process applications to enter the U.S. legally.

She said her shelter was receiving a lot of Venezuelans, in many cases mothers with children, who stop only briefly to bathe, rest and then try to cross the river.

___

González reported from McAllen, Texas. Associated Press writer Acacia Coronado in Austin, Texas, contributed to this report.

By FARNOUSH AMIRI and STEPHEN GROVES (Associated Press)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Focusing on the Bidens rather than Donald Trump’s federal court appearance, House Republicans released a transcript Thursday of their interview with Hunter Biden’s former business associate detailing overseas financial dealings by the president’s son.

The more than five-hour closed-door interview with Devon Archer by the House Oversight Committee, released hours before Trump’s appearance to face a third list of charges, provides fresh insight into how President Joe Biden’s youngest son used his relationship with his father, who was then vice president, to court foreign investors. Archer said Hunter Biden was using the “illusion of access” in Washington.

Republicans on the panel hope to use their work to prod impeachment proceedings against the president. However, though pressed repeatedly, Archer offered no tangible evidence that Joe Biden’s role in his son’s work was more than saying hello during their daily family calls.

“You know, Hunter spoke to his dad every day, right?” Archer said to committee members and staff on Monday. “And so in certain circumstances, when you’re in — you know, if his dad calls him at dinner and he picks up the phone, then there’s a conversation.”

He added, “And the, you know, the conversation is generally about the weather and, you know, what it’s like in Norway or Paris or wherever he may be.”

Release of the more than 140-page transcript is the start of what is expected to be a long and tangled Republican-led probe into Hunter Biden’s business dealings as he hopscotched the globe using what critics call the illusion of proximity to power to fund a lavish lifestyle for himself and his associates. Three committees are looking at Hunter Biden so far, and Republicans are pushing ahead on several lines of inquiry.

Archer testified that over the span of their decade-long business relationship, Hunter Biden put his father on the phone around 20 times while in the company of associates but “never once spoke about any business dealings.”

At one point, Archer was asked point blank: “Are you aware of any wrongdoing by Vice President Biden?”

He responded, “No, I’m not aware of any.”

Overall, the transcript portrays the president’s son as capitalizing on his father’s name, but not necessarily promising or delivering any influence that would rise to a questionable level or approach wrongdoing.

Still, Republicans have long seen Archer, who served with Hunter Biden on the board of the Ukrainian gas company Burisma, as a key witness in their search to directly connect the president to his son’s various international business transactions.

Rep. James Comer, Republican chair of Oversight Committee, issued a subpoena to Archer in June, saying he “played a significant role in the Biden family’s business deals abroad, including but not limited to China, Russia, and Ukraine.” He said Archer’s testimony would be critical to the committee’s investigation.

And while there was no evidence directly tying Hunter Biden’s financial dealings to his father, Archer’s testimony raised new questions about the ways in which the 53-year-old used the “Biden brand” to build his multimillion dollar international businesses.

“He was getting paid a lot of money, and I think, you know, he wanted to show value,” Archer testified, adding the younger Biden was not “overt” about his relationship with his father.

“But I think he would — you know, given the brand, I think he would look to, you know, to get the leverage from it,” Archer said, adding, “I think it’s more defensive, you know, defensive leverage that, that the value is there in his work.”

Asked what value he brought to Burisma, Archer replied, “The value that Hunter Biden brought to it was having — you know, there was — the theoretical was corporate governance, but obviously, given the brand, that was a large part of the value. I don’t think it was the sole value, but I do think that was a key component of the value.”

Rep. Andy Biggs, a Republican member of the Oversight Committee who attended the interview, portrayed the testimony about the “Biden brand” as implicating the the president directly. “I think we should do an impeachment inquiry,” the Arizona lawmaker told reporters as he exited the interview Monday.

Comer agreed, saying in a statement Thursday that Archer’s testimony confirmed, “Joe Biden was ‘the brand’ that his son sold around the world to enrich the Biden family.” When pushed on it later, Archer clarified that “the brand” that brought Hunter Biden value with international clients was the broader, Washington access, which included his previous lobbying work.

“D.C. was the brand,” he testified to a line of questioning by Biggs.

Nonetheless, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy recently said Republicans may need to launch an impeachment inquir y to dig deeper.

But the top Democrat on the Oversight panel, Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, said the transcript proves “once again” that Republicans cannot produce any evidence of wrongdoing by President Biden.

He called the effort a “desperate effort to distract from Donald Trump’s third indictment and the overwhelming evidence of his persistent efforts to undermine American democracy.”

By ANDREW SELSKY and GENE JOHNSON (Associated Press)

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — He called it “Operation Take Over,” with a list that included a chilling reminder to go after women who wouldn’t be missed to avoid “any kind of an investigation,” according to the FBI.

Accompanying the bullet-point notes was a sketch of an apparent dungeon, to be built with cinder blocks, foam insulation and waterproof concrete.

Police found the legal pad with the notes in the southern Oregon home of a man who is now a suspect in sexual assaults around the country. Also in the home: a cinder block cell where police say the man, Negasi Zuberi, held a woman he had allegedly kidnapped in Seattle until she escaped by pounding at the door with bloodied hands.

Court and police records show Zuberi, 29, had been on law enforcement’s radar before — for alleged offenses such as assaulting the mother of their children, punching someone in the face and being a bad tenant whose landlord sought to evict him.

The FBI set up a website asking possible victims to come forward. The site says the FBI’s investigation has extended to states where Zuberi, who used several aliases, including Sakima, previously resided since August 2016. Those states could include California, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Utah, Florida, New York, New Jersey, Alabama and Nevada, the site says.

“Sakima has several different methods to gain control of his victims, including drugging their drinks, pretending to be a police officer, and soliciting the services of sex workers and then violently sexually assaulting them,” the FBI said on the website. “Some of the encounters may have been filmed to make it appear as if the assault was consensual.”

In the Seattle kidnapping on July 15, Zuberi solicited a woman for prostitution in an area known for sex work and afterward posed as an undercover police officer, the FBI said Wednesday. He handcuffed her, put her in leg irons and drove to Klamath Falls, Oregon, stopping to rape her on the way, according to court documents. After the woman escaped, Zuberi fled but was arrested by state police in Reno, Nevada, the next afternoon, the FBI said.

Zuberi is married and has at least one child, but the FBI did not say whether they were living in the Klamath Falls home and declined to answer questions about them.

Zuberi did not follow item No. 1 in the “Operation Take Over” plan that police found in the house — a reminder to leave his phone at home, authorities say. FBI Special Agent Travis Gluesenkamp said in an affidavit that GPS location data from Zuberi’s cellphone showed he was in Seattle on July 15. Both his phone and the woman’s phone also traveled from Seattle to Klamath Falls that day, Gluesenkamp said.

Zuberi is now behind bars in Nevada, waiting to be extradited to Oregon, where he is charged in federal court with interstate kidnapping and transporting an individual across state lines with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.

The case has rattled Klamath Falls, a town of 22,000 residents that is close to the California border and known for bird watching, golfing and fishing.

“I think a lot of people are shocked that something like this happened in our community,” Klamath Falls Police Capt. Rob Reynolds, who is working on the case, said Thursday.

Reynolds said authorities “have reason to believe that there’s prior victims from several states,” but would not disclose details, citing the ongoing investigation.

Since authorities announced the case against Zuberi in a news conference in Portland, Oregon, on Wednesday, some proceedings against him have emerged in court and municipal records.

In 2020, he was accused of attacking and threatening to kill a woman and the children she shares with him, NBC News reported. The woman’s petition seeking a restraining order against Justin Kouassi, one of his known aliases, was filed that year in Contra Costa County, California.

“He physically attacks me, he hits me, he brakes and throws things, he screams at the kids and me,” the woman wrote. “We get woken up every night from him being drunk and loud and scares us.”

It’s unclear whether the restraining order was issued.

Zuberi recently lived in Vancouver, Washington, where court records show the landlord sought to evict him.

Landlord Abishek Kandar said in a text message that Zuberi didn’t pay rent for six months, illegally sublet the home, bred puppies, damaged the property and threatened neighbors.

“He is a horrible person,” Kandar said. “He deserves to be in jail.”

According to court records in Colorado, a man with one of Zuberi’s alleged aliases, Justin Kouassi, was accused of punching a person in the face in Denver last year. An arrest warrant was issued for Kouassi, court records show, but Denver police do not have any record of Zuberi or anyone with one of his aliases being arrested. There is still an active warrant out for him.

Heather Fraley, a lawyer with the federal public defender’s office in Las Vegas who was listed as Zuberi’s attorney, declined to comment Wednesday. Zuberi’s public defender in Oregon, Devin Huseby, on Thursday also declined to comment.

Transferring Zuberi from Nevada can take several weeks, said Kevin Sonoff, a spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office in Oregon. Zuberi could face up to life in prison if convicted of the federal charges in Oregon.

After arriving in Klamath Falls on July 15, Zuberi put the woman in the makeshift cell in the garage and said he was leaving to do paperwork, according to the criminal complaint.

The woman “briefly slept and awoke to the realization that she would likely die if she did not attempt to escape,” the complaint says.

She managed to break some of the door’s welded joints, creating a small opening that she climbed through, Reynolds said.

After the woman escaped and flagged down a passing motorist, police came to the house and found the handwritten notes, with plans for an apparent dungeon buried 100 feet (30 meters) below ground.

___

Johnson reported from Seattle. Associated Press writer Thomas Peipert in Denver, Colorado; Claire Rush in Portland, Oregon; and Rebecca Boone in Boise, Idaho, contributed.

By SAM MEDNICK (Associated Press)

NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — International pressure mounted Thursday against leaders of the coup in Niger as the American secretary of state said the United States “stands very much” in support of West African leaders who have threatened to use force to restore the nation’s democracy, and Senegal offered troops to help.

As hundreds of anti-French protesters rallied in the Nigerien capital in support of the ruling junta, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken offered general support for the regional bloc known as ECOWAS, though he did not specifically refer to its threat of military action. Blinken told reporters in New York that the U.S. believes the bloc’s efforts to reinstate toppled President Mohamed Bazoum are “important, strong and have our support.”

Senegal’s foreign affairs minister said her country would participate in a military intervention if ECOWAS decides to act. “Senegalese soldiers have to go … these coups d’état must be stopped,” Aissata Tall Sall said.

Meanwhile, Niger’s military leaders sought to exploit anti-Western sentiment to shore up their takeover. The junta suspended broadcaster RFI and France 24 television from broadcasting in the country, according to the French foreign affairs ministry. The suspensions were part of the junta’s “authoritarian repression,” the ministry wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

Last week’s coup toppled Bazoum, whose ascendency was Niger’s first peaceful, democratic transfer of power since independence from France in 1960. The coup stirred strident anti-French sentiment and raised questions about the future of the fight against extremism in Africa’s Sahel region, where Russia and Western countries have vied for influence.

The coup has been condemned by Western countries and the ECOWAS bloc, which has threatened to forcibly remove the junta if it does not hand back power to Bazoum. As tensions have grown in the capital of Niamey and the region, many European countries have moved to evacuate their citizens.

At Thursday’s protest organized by the junta and civil society groups on Niger’s independence day, protesters pumped their fists in the air and chanted support for neighboring countries where militaries have also taken power in recent years. Some waved Russian flags, and one man brandished a Russian and Nigerien flag sewn together.

“For more than 13 years, the Nigerien people have suffered injustices,” protester Moctar Abdou Issa said. The junta “will get us out of this, God willing … they will free the Nigerien people.”

“We’re sick of the French,” he added.

It remains unclear whether a majority of the population supports the coup, and in many parts of the capital, people went about their lives as normal Thursday.

U.S. President Joe Biden used the occasion of Niger’s independence day to call for Bazoum to be released and democracy restored.

“The Nigerien people have the right to choose their leaders. They have expressed their will through free and fair elections — and that must be respected,” he said in a statement.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the administration was still focused on diplomacy.

“We still believe there’s time and space for that. The window is not going to be open forever,” Kirby said.

In an address to the nation on Wednesday, the new military ruler, Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani, lashed out at those who have condemned the coup and called on the population to be ready to defend the nation. He said harsh sanctions imposed last week by ECOWAS were illegal, unfair and inhuman.

ECOWAS has set a deadline of Sunday for the junta to reinstate Bazoum, who remains under house arrest.

In an opinion piece in The Washington Post, Bazoum described himself as a hostage who was one among hundreds of citizens arbitrarily arrested. He said his nation’s security situation was improving before the coup but was now at risk because Niger would lose foreign aid and terrorist groups would take advantage of its instability.

“In our hour of need, I call on the U.S. government and the entire international community to help us restore our constitutional order,” Bazoum wrote in the piece posted online late Thursday.

After the deadline set by ECOWAS expires, the bloc is expected to decide by consensus on the next step as recommended by its defense chiefs.

At a bloc meeting in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, Brig. Gen. Tukur Ismaila Gusau, a Nigeria defense spokesman, said the defense chiefs have been asked to come up with a military solution, which they hope will be “the last option.”

The bloc’s sanctions include halting energy transactions with Niger, which gets up to 90% of its power from neighboring Nigeria, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency.

France has 1,500 soldiers in Niger who conduct joint operations with its military against jihadis linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group. The United States and other European countries have helped train Niger’s troops.

Niger was seen as the West’s last reliable partner in the region, but some in the country see Russia and its Wagner mercenary group, which operates in a handful of African countries, as a powerful alternative.

The new junta has not said whether it intends to ally with Moscow or stick with Niger’s Western partners, but that question has become central to the unfolding political crisis. Neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso — both ruled by juntas — have turned toward Moscow.

Ahead of Thursday’s demonstration, the French Embassy in Niamey asked Niger’s government to ensure the security of its premises after it was attacked by protesters and a door was set on fire.

The president of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu, dispatched two delegations Thursday to deal with Niger’s crisis.

A group from ECOWAS headed by former Nigerian head of state Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar was on its way to Niger. A second group led by Ambassador Babagana Kingibe went to engage with the leaders of Libya and Algeria, said Ajuri Ngelale, special adviser to the president.

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Associated Press writers Zane Irwin in Dakar, Senegal; John Leicester in Paris; Toussaint N’Gotta in Abidjan, Ivory Coast; and Edith Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.

By MICHAEL GOLDBERG and EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS (Associated Press)

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Six former Mississippi police officers, including some calling themselves “The Goon Squad,” pleaded guilty Thursday to a racist assault on two Black men that ended with an officer shooting one man in the mouth.

The officers, who are all white, entered a house without a warrant on Jan. 24, assaulting the men with a sex toy and using stun guns and other objects to abuse them over a roughly 90-minute period, court documents show. After one victim was shot and wounded in a “mock execution” that went awry, documents say the officers conspired to plant and tamper with evidence instead of providing medical aid.

The Justice Department launched its civil rights probe in February. The Mississippi attorney general’s office announced Thursday it had filed state charges against the six former officers, including assault, conspiracy and obstruction of justice.

Five former Rankin County Sheriff’s Department employees pleaded guilty, including Christian Dedmon, Hunter Elward, Brett McAlpin, Jeffrey Middleton and Daniel Opdyke. Joshua Hartfield, a former Richland police officer who was off duty when he participated in the raid, also pleaded guilty.

Dedmon, Elward and Opdyke also pleaded guilty to three federal felony offenses for a separate incident on Dec. 4. Prosecutors said Dedmon beat a white man, used a Taser on him and fired a gun near his head to coerce a confession, while Elward and Opdyke failed to intervene.

“The defendants in this case tortured and inflicted unspeakable harm on their victims,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said, adding they “egregiously violated the civil rights of citizens who they were supposed to protect.”

The civil rights charges come after an investigation by The Associated Press linked the deputies to at least four violent encounters with Black men since 2019 that left two dead and another with lasting injuries.

U.S. law enforcement brutality has come under increased scrutiny following the 2020 killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police and the January beating death of Tyre Nichols after a traffic stop in Memphis, Tennessee.

Kristen Clarke, who heads the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said the Mississippi officers “caused harm to the entire community who feel that they can’t trust the police officers who are supposed to serve them.”

Court documents say the officers took on the Goon Squad nickname “because of their willingness to use excessive force and not to report it.”

The victims, Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker, filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Rankin County in June seeking $400 million in damages. The victims are identified in documents only by their initials, but Jenkins and Parker have discussed the episode publicly.

The former officers, shackled at their wrists and feet, walked into the courthouse with family members and federal marshals took all six into custody. The defense attorneys did not comment on their clients’ behavior during the court appearance.

“They became the criminals they swore to protect us from,” U.S. Attorney Darren LaMarca said. “Now, they’ll be treated as the criminals as they are.”

U.S. District Judge Tom Lee said the men will be sentenced in mid-November. Dedmon and Elward each face a maximum sentence of 120 years plus life in prison and $2.75 million in fines. Hartfield faces a possible sentence of 80 years and $1.5 million, McAlpin faces 90 years and $1.75 million, Middleton faces 80 years and $1.5 million, and Opdyke could be sentenced to 100 years with a $2 million fine.

The men are scheduled to plead guilty to the state charges on Aug. 14, said Mary-Helen Wall, a deputy state attorney general.

The officers initially went to the home in Braxton because a white neighbor complained Black people were staying with a white woman who owned the house. The documents say Parker was a longtime friend of the homeowner and was helping care for her.

Officers used racist slurs against the two men during the raid and “warned them to stay out of Rankin County and go back to Jackson or ‘their side’ of the Pearl River — areas with higher concentrations of Black residents,” the documents say.

Elward shoved a gun into Jenkins’ mouth and fired, court documents say. The bullet lacerated Jenkins’ tongue and broke his jaw before exiting his neck.

Before the raid, the officers agreed to enter without a warrant if they could avoid being spotted by the home’s security cameras. They also planned to use excessive force but not to cause visible injuries to the men’s faces so there would be “no bad mugshots,” the documents say.

The deputies threw eggs on the handcuffed victims and forced them to lie on their backs while pouring milk, alcohol and chocolate syrup down their mouths. They forced the men to strip naked and shower to remove the evidence.

The officers also repeatedly electrocuted the victims with stun guns to compare whether the sheriff’s department or police department weapons were more powerful. One deputy, Middleton, offered to plant an unregistered firearm at the scene.

Court documents identified Opdyke and Dedmon as the suspects who assaulted the two men with the sex toy.

Despite recurring instances of police corruption and brutality, most officers are doing their jobs properly, said Keith Taylor, a criminal justice professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a former New York City police officer.

“In this situation, you have, of course, racism and just the inhumanity that exhibited itself in officers’ behavior,” Taylor said.

Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey announced on June 27 that five deputies involved in the episode had been fired or resigned. Hartfield was later revealed to be the sixth officer and also was fired.

Bailey on Thursday said he first learned everything that happened to Jenkins and Parker when he read unsealed court documents.

“This is the most horrible incident of police brutality I’ve learned of over my whole career, and I’m ashamed it happened at this department,” Bailey said.

Malik Shabazz, an attorney representing Jenkins and Parker, thanked the Justice Department in a statement Thursday from Black Lawyers for Justice.

“These guilty pleas are historic for justice against rogue police torture in Rankin County and all over America,” Shabazz said. “Today is truly historic for Mississippi and for civil and human rights in America.”

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Michael Goldberg is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow him at @mikergoldberg.

By LOLITA C. BALDOR and JON GAMBRELL (Associated Press)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.S. military is considering putting armed personnel on commercial ships traveling through the Strait of Hormuz, in what would be an unheard of action aimed at stopping Iran from seizing and harassing civilian vessels, American officials told The Associated Press on Thursday.

Since 2019, Iran has seized a series of ships in the strait, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, as part of its efforts to pressure the West over negotiations regarding its collapsed nuclear deal with world powers. Putting U.S. troops on commercial ships could further deter Iran from seizing vessels — or escalate tensions further.

The contemplated move also would represent an extraordinary commitment in the Mideast by U.S. forces as the Pentagon tries to focus on Russia and China. America didn’t even take the step during the so-called “Tanker War,” which culminated with the U.S. Navy and Iran fighting a one-day naval battle in 1988 that was the Navy’s largest since World War II.

While officials offered few details of the plan, it comes as thousands of Marines and sailors on both the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan and the USS Carter Hall, a landing ship, are on their way to the Persian Gulf. Those Marines and sailors could provide the backbone for any armed guard mission in the strait, through which 20% of the world’s crude oil passes.

Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not respond to a request for comment from AP about the U.S. proposal. Hours later, however, Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency acknowledged the proposal, citing this AP report.

Five U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the proposal, acknowledged its broad details. The officials stressed no final decision had been made and that discussions continue between U.S. military officials and America’s Gulf Arab allies in the region.

Officials said the Marines and Navy sailors would provide the security only at the request of the ships involved. One official described the process as complex, saying any deployment likely also would require approval of the country under which the ship is flagged and the country under which the owner is registered. So far, that has yet to happen and it might not for some time, the official said.

At the Pentagon, Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder was asked about the plans and would only say that he has no announcements to make on the matter. More broadly, however, he noted that additional ships, aircraft and Marines have been deployed to the Gulf region, making it easier to respond more quickly to any Iranian provocations.

That effort by U.S. and partners, he said, is aimed at ensuring “the Strait of Hormuz remains open, there’s freedom of navigation, and that we’re deterring any type of malign activity.”

And White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, speaking to reporters, underscored the importance of the strait and U.S. concerns about Iranian harassment of vessels there.

“The Strait of Hormuz is a vital seaway that has a huge impact on seaborne trade around the world,” Kirby said. “It’s a critical chokepoint in the maritime world. And we have seen threats by Iran to affect that chokepoint.”

Earlier Thursday, Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, the head of the Navy’s Mideast-based 5th Fleet, met with the head of the Gulf Cooperation Council. The six-nation bloc includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

While a statement from the GCC about the meeting did not hint at the proposal, it did say that Cooper and officials discussed “strengthening GCC-U.S. cooperation and working with international and regional partners.”

The Bataan and Carter Hall left Norfolk, Virginia, on July 10 on a mission the Pentagon described as being “in response to recent attempts by Iran to threaten the free flow of commerce in the Strait of Hormuz and its surrounding waters.” The ships made a port visit earlier this week at Souda Bay, Greece, drawing closer to the Mideast, according to photographs released by the Navy.

Already, the U.S. has sent A-10 Thunderbolt II warplanes, F-16 and F-35 fighters, as well as the destroyer USS Thomas Hudner, and other warships to the region over Iran’s actions at sea.

The deployment has captured Iran’s attention, with its chief diplomat telling neighboring nations that the region doesn’t need “foreigners” providing security. On Wednesday, Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard launched a surprise military drill on disputed islands in the Persian Gulf, with swarms of small fast boats, paratroopers and missile units taking part.

The renewed hostilities come as Iran now enriches uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels after the collapse of its 2015 nuclear deal. International inspectors also believe it has enough enriched uranium for “several” nuclear bombs if it chose to build them. Iran maintains its program is for peaceful purposes, and U.S. intelligence agencies assess Tehran is not pursuing an atomic bomb.

The U.S. also has pursued ships across the world believed to be carrying sanctioned Iranian oil. Oil industry worries over another seizure by Iran likely has left a ship allegedly carrying Iranian oil stranded off Texas as no company has yet to unload it.

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Baldor reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Tara Copp and Aamer Madhani in Washington contributed to this report.

By KIM TONG-HYUNG (Associated Press)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean police are chasing the suspect in a stabbing attack at a high school in the central city of Daejeon.

Cho Byeong-tae, an official at the Daejeon metropolitan police department, said the attack at Songchon High School left at least one teacher hurt. He did not identify the victim or share details about the victim’s health status.

The attack came a day after 14 people were wounded in the city of Seongnam, after a man rammed a car into the sidewalk and then got out of a car and started stabbing people inside a shopping mall.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS ALERT. AP’s previous story is below A man rammed a car onto a sidewalk Thursday in South Korea, then stepped out of the vehicle and began stabbing people at a shopping mall. Authorities said at least 14 people were wounded in the country’s second mass stabbing in a month.

At least five people were hurt by the car, and nine others were stabbed in the attacks that occurred in a crowded leisure district near a subway station in the city of Seongnam, according to Yoon Sung-hyun, an official from the southern Gyeonggi provincial police department.

Authorities arrested a 22-year-old suspect at the scene and were questioning him. Police did not identify the man or offer any immediate information about a potential motive.

According to Park Gyeong-won, an official at Gyeonggi’s Bundang district police station, the suspect during police interviews talked incoherently and said he was being stalked by an unspecified source. The suspect’s family told police he had a history of mental illness.

While the suspect had purchased the two knives he used in the stabbings from a different shopping mall on Wednesday, there isn’t clear evidence he planned the attacks in advance, Park said.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday called for closer monitoring of social media to detect threats, deploying more law enforcement officers for prevention and equipping them with better suppression gear, according to Seoul’s presidential office.

An official at Gyeonggi’s provincial fire department, Ha Dong-geun, said at least two of those who were wounded after the suspect drove the car onto the sidewalk were hospitalized in critical condition. Among the nine who were stabbed, eight were being treated for injuries seen as serious.

Photos from the scene showed forensic units examining the halls of the AK Plaza, where the stabbings took place. A white Kia hatchback with a broken front window and ruptured front tire could be seen on a sidewalk near the subway station.

South Korea’s Kyunghyang Shinmun newspaper published a video on its website that it said was sent by a witness. The footage showed a man wearing sunglasses and a black hoodie walking up the mall’s escalator with an object in his hand.

A witness named Hwang Hee-woon told YTN television that he “heard a sound from the first floor that seemed like a scream, so customers and shop workers were gathering on the rails of the second-floor near the escalator to see what was happening below.”

“Suddenly, someone told us the person who committed the crime was coming up to the second floor, so we ran away in panic,” he said. He ended up hiding inside a refrigerated storage room with some mall employees.

Last month, a knife-wielding man stabbed at least four pedestrians on a street in the capital, Seoul, killing one person.

The National Police Agency held an online meeting Thursday with regional police chiefs to discuss ways to deal with stabbings and other attacks against random targets. Officials discussed increasing nighttime patrols in leisure districts and other crowded areas and strengthening security camera surveillance, according to the agency.