April 2024. Blues Vol 40 No. 4

gunshot wound and is

gunshot wound and is expected to recover. Adams was arrested and charged with attempted homicide of a law enforcement officer, according to the release. MAN ON TERROR WATCH LIST INVOLVED IN STANDOFF WITH SHERIFF’S OFFICE IN NORTH CAROLINA GATES COUNTY, N.C. – A man later identified as an illegal immigrant on a terror watch list was involved in a four-hour standoff with law enforcement authorities in North Carolina last week, according to multiple reports. Awet Hagos held deputies and troopers at bay for about four-hours last Monday. He is a citizen of the African nation of Eritrea who entered America illegally after a stay in Haiti, The Western Journal reported. Hagos, 32, was arrested on March 11. He has been in the North Carolina area for the past six months illegally, according to officials. Once Hagos’ fingerprints were checked, federal authorities reportedly discovered that he was on the terrorist watch list, reported Fox News. A representative for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said Hagos “entered the United States as a non immigrant in 2016 and violated terms of admission,” according to the News & Observer. On March 11 at about 6:40 p.m., deputies with the Gates County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to a convenience store regarding a report of a part-time employee firing a gun Terror Watch Suspect & Illegal Immigrant, Awet Hagos outside the business, according to Sheriff Ray Campbell, the Roanoke-Chowan News Herald reported. “Upon arrival, the deputies and a Trooper with the North Carolina State Highway Patrol attempted to take the suspect into custody,” Sheriff Campbell said. “However, the suspect became extremely combative and at one point attempted to disarm a deputy of their firearm. The suspect then fled into a small camper located adjacent to the business,” the sheriff said. “At first we believed he was still inside the camper, but thanks to the Ahoskie Police, their drone, that has an infrared camera, spotted him attempting to crawl out from underneath a home next door,” Campbell said. “That allowed us to focus our attention there and we were able to get him to come out.” Nevertheless, the standoff lasted about four hours before the man surrendered, according to authorities. Following Hagos’ arrest, he was charged with three counts of assault on a government official, three counts of resisting a public officer and carrying a concealed weapon. He was booked into jail and held on a 0,000 bond. North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson was unhappy that local law enforcement officials had to deal with a “violent illegal immigrant,” the Carolina Journal reported. As a result, the gubernatorial candidate sent a letter to President Joe Biden seeking answers and challenging the president’s border policy. “This incident raises a number of serious questions that deserve to be addressed urgently,” the letter read, according to Fox News. “I called on President Biden to give immediate answers,” Robinson said “How did Hagos enter the United States? How did Hagos get to North Carolina? Did he travel by air, interstate, or rail? Are there other places that he’s been in our state that he’s traveled to or through, and should those areas be on alert?” Robinson’s letter is largely symbolic since he notes that even elected officials in Washington, D.C. cannot get answers from the president. “The silence from the Biden administration on this situation is not an isolated incident,” he said. 82 The Blues - April ‘24

“Not even our elected officials in Congress or the Senate have been able to get any answers from him.” WASH. MAN SENTENCED FOR SELLING LOW-QUALITY BODY ARMOR TO LAW ENFORCEMENT AND THE MILITARY By Alexis Weisend The Columbian, Vancouver, Wash. VANCOUVER, WA. — A Vancouver man was sentenced Tuesday to a year and a day in federal prison for intentionally selling low-quality ballistic protective equipment produced in China to dozens of domestic law enforcement agencies and the U.S. military. Jeffrey Meining, 42, operated a ballistic equipment business from 2016 to 2022 called BulletProof-IT, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon. He sold equipment, including helmets, body armor and shields to state, local and federal agencies that included law enforcement agencies, fire departments and the military. He told buyers the products were from the United States when they were actually from China. For instance, Meining purchased 600 helmets from a Chinese company in 2017 for about ,000 and sold them for ,000 to a reseller. That reseller sold them to the U.S. Department of State for 7,994, according to the news release. Meining also lied about safety testing, the news release said, claiming his products met certain safety standards. However, he did not test them to meet the Jeffrey Meining sold low-quality ballistic vest produced in China advertised levels, or he altered reports to reflect inaccurate results, court records show. Customers relied on Meining’s false statements and falsified product testing results when deciding to purchase his products, the news release said. Meining was charged with wire fraud in November 2022. On March 23, 2023, he pleaded guilty to the single charge. After serving time in prison, Meining will have three years of supervised release. “In the shadow of deceit, Jeffrey Meining orchestrated a scheme of betrayal, defrauding not only law enforcement agencies but the very fabric of trust woven into our nation’s armor,” said Robert Hammer, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations Seattle Field Office. CHICAGO SUES GLOCK OVER CONVERSIONS TO MACHINE GUNS Associated Press CHICAGO, IL. — The city of Chicago sued Glock Inc. on Tuesday, alleging the handgun manufacturer is facilitating the proliferation of illegal machine guns that can fire as many as 1,200 rounds per minute on the streets of the city. The lawsuit alleges Glock unreasonably endangers Chicagoans by manufacturing and selling semiautomatic pistols that can easily be converted to illegal machine guns with an auto sear — a cheap, small device commonly known as a “Glock switch.” The switches are the size of a quarter and are easily purchased illegally online for around or manufactured at home using a 3D printer. The complaint filed in Cook County Circuit Court is the first to use Illinois’s new Firearms Industry Responsibility Act, passed and signed into law in 2023 to hold gun companies accountable for conduct that endangers the public. The lawsuit states police in Chicago have recovered over 1,100 Glocks that have been converted into illegal machine guns in the last two years in connection with homicides, assaults, kidnappings, carjackings and other crimes. The lawsuit alleges that Glock The Blues - April ‘24 83