The number of publicly disclosed sex-crime investigations targeting disgraced Hollywood studio head Harvey Weinstein has risen to six following media reports that the Beverly Hills Police Department has opened an investigation of its own, while the New York Police Department has opened a second investigation.
Investigations involving the LAPD, Scotland Yard, and FBI were reported last month. In addition to investigating harassment allegations against Weinstein, the Beverly Hills Police Department is also investigating similar allegations involving director James Toback. The department said in a press release Tuesday night that they have received multiple complaints about both the movie mogul Weinstein and the director Toback and are investigating the alleged improprieties. According to a running tally maintained by the LA Times. Toback has been accused of harassment and abuse by more 200 women. Meanwhile, more than 80 women who have accused Weinstein of harassment, groping or rape dating back to the 1970s.
Actresses Asia Argento, Rose McGowan, Lucia Evans and Lysette Anthony have all publicly stated that they were raped or forced to perform a sex act by Weinstein. In Los Angeles, police are investigating an Italian model-actress’ accusations of being forced by Weinstein to have sex with him in her hotel room in 2013.
British police are investigating 11 allegations of sexual assaults against Weinstein that span several decades, sources said Tuesday.
Authorities said the alleged attacks involved seven women and that nine were reported to have occurred on British soil. Three women have stepped forward within the last week, British police said, including one who claimed she was attacked in the early 1990s.
ABC News was first to report that the NYPD has two active cases involving Weinstein.
The alleged victims are Lucia Evans, the actress who previously told the New Yorker Weinstein exposed himself and physically forced her to perform oral sex on him, and another woman who wasn’t named. Importantly, neither case is subject to New York’s statute of limitations.
However, the NYPD reportedly isn’t investigating allegations made by Annabella Sciorra, the actress who went public to the New Yorker saying Weinstein raped her in her apartment in the 1990s.
As part of the ongoing investigation, NYPD detectives traveled in the last two weeks to Montreal to interview a witness, the department said. Detectives have also considered, but have not yet traveled elsewhere, including to Los Angeles. The department"s travels and assistance to departments in other jurisdictions must be connected to the New York City cases.
ABC reports the NYPD and Manhattan DA’s office have received multiple calls to their sex crimes hotlines concerning the disgraced producer. The vast majority of accusations have involved alleged groping or forcible sexual conduct, which are subject to strict statute of limitations and cannot be prosecuted today.
Meanwhile, as Weinstein moves ahead with efforts to sue his former company for terminating him, the New York Post is reporting The Weinstein Company’s talks to obtain a $35 million lifeline from Fortress Investment Group have stalled amid concerns about the flailing Hollywood studio’s finances.
The chances of a deal getting done have recently slid to “roughly 50 percent,” a source told the Post. Bloomberg had reported last week that the financing was imminent.
It was also reported last week that Colony Capital, led by Trump adviser Thomas Barrick Jr., had backed out of plans to purchase the Weinstein Co’s major assets after providing it with a temporary cash infusion.
While the Post cautions that the situation involving Fortress is still fluid, without the money, the company could soon be forced into bankruptcy.
An 18-year-old man was arrested by British police in the city of Dover in connection with Friday"s rush hout "terrorist" bombing of a London subway train, calling the arrest “significant” but warned that the country’s threat level remained at its highest, "critical" point.
“We have made a significant arrest in our investigation this morning. Although we are pleased with the progress made, this investigation continues and the threat level remains at critical,” Deputy Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu, Senior National Coordinator for Counter Terrorism Policing, said.
It was unclear if the man arrested was the person believed responsible for the attack, which has been classified as terrorism. Late on Friday, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the improvised bomb attack via its news agency, Amaq, saying it was carried out by a “detachment.” There was no independent indication of the group’s role. In another separate statement, Islamic State said it had deployed several explosives but only one detonated. That too couldn’t be independently verified.
The man was arrested in the port area of the city, a major hub for ferry transport between the U.K. and France. Authorities have been urgently tracking down leads in the attack, searching through security camera footage and other information.
“The 18-year-old man was arrested by Kent Police in the port area of Dover this morning, Saturday, 16 September, under section 41 of the Terrorism Act,” police said in a statement. The man remains in custody at a local police station. He will be transferred to a south London police station in due course.”
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Basu added trhat “this arrest will lead to more activity from our officers. For strong investigative reasons we will not give any more details on the man we arrested at this stage.” He gave no further details on the arrest “for strong investigative reasons.” “Although we are pleased with the progress made, this investigation continues and the threat level remains at critical,” he said.
According to the Guardian, investigators believe the suspect may have been in the port area of Dover to try and board a ferry to leave Britain.
Islamic State are believed to have identified security at Dover and on the ferries as weak, and have used the port in Kent to get people in and out of Britain previously.
In the Friday morning bombing, a homemade device partially exploded on a train at the Parsons Green station in West London, injuring 29 people and sending people screaming in panic. A photo posted on social media showed personal belongings and a bucket with an item on fire inside on the floor of a train carriage. Police have spoken to 45 witnesses and have received 77 images and videos from the public, Mr. Basu said.
The improvised explosive device, which partially detonated at around 8:20am on Friday, was believed by police and the security services to have been intended to kill. It was detonated by a timer. The timing device used was not a mobile phone, which has been used in previous terrorist attacks to trigger a bomb. The device at Parsons Green contained fairy lights, which may have been used as an initiator, to set off the main explosive charge.
As reported previously, late on Friday, Theresa May said the threat of a terrorist attack in the country had been raised to critical, the highest level on a five-rung scale. Mrs. May said the change in the threat level means security officials’ assessment was “that a further attack may be imminent.” The last time the threat assessment was raised to such a level was in May, when police suspected the suicide bomber who killed 22 people at a pop concert in the northwestern British city of Manchester may have had an accomplice. Police reduced its terrorism-threat level back to severe less than a week after the attack after making arrests.
Police have stepped up security in the wake of the attack and extra armed officers were deployed.
“There will be an increased police presence across London today and over this weekend, including additional armed officers. They are there to keep us safe,” London Mayor Sadiq Khan said. “London will never be intimidated by terrorism. We will always defeat those who seek to harm us and destroy our way of life,” he said.
Update 1: After hearing from her former chief of staff earlier, British Prime Minister Theresa May has also now weighed in on Trump"s tweets from this morning which have largely been interpreted as a criticism of the UK"s security services for failing to prevent today"s terrorist attack in London.
"I never think it"s helpful for anybody to speculate on what is an ongoing investigation."
Forward to the 2:25 mark for the relevant comments (or click here):
Meanwhile, according to Bloomberg, May relayed a similar message to President Trump directly after he called the Prime Minister earlier this morning to relay his condolences.
Theresa May complained directly to Donald Trump after the U.S. president said on Twitter that the people behind a Friday bombing in London were known to British police, according to a U.K. government official familiar with the conversation.
Trump called the British prime minister to offer his condolences over the attack on a subway train, which injured 22 people. May told the U.S. leader she was unhappy with his initial response, the official said on condition of anonymity.
This isn’t the first time May has protested to Trump. Earlier this year, the premier was in a political and diplomatic bind after U.S. media reported leaked details of a British police investigation into the Manchester bomb attack that killed 22 people.
* * *
Following this morning"s "terrorist incident" in London (which we covered here), Trump tweeted out the following messages once again branding the attackers as "losers" and calling on governments around the world to be more "proactive."
"Another attack in London by a loser terrorist. These are sick and demented people who were in the sights of Scotland Yard. Must be proactive!"
"Loser terrorists must be dealt with in a much tougher manner.The internet is their main recruitment tool which we must cut off & use better!"
Another attack in London by a loser terrorist.These are sick and demented people who were in the sights of Scotland Yard. Must be proactive!
Of course, almost every Trump tweet manages to spark outrage among some group or another and these were no exception.
As Bloomberg points out, British Prime Minister Theresa May"s former chief of staff was among the first to share his "outrage" over Trump"s tweets which revealed that not only were the terrorists behind today"s attacks "losers" but they were also under surveillance by "Scotland Yard."
"True or not - and I"m sure he doesn"t know - this is so unhelpful from leader of our ally and intelligence partner."
True or not - and I"m sure he doesn"t know - this is so unhelpful from leader of our ally and intelligence partner. https://t.co/ZndrTXFrAX
And former Conservative lawmaker Ben Howlett was quick to follow.
"It is highly unhelpful/dangerous and inappropriate for an ally to make announcements that share intelligence and undermine investigations."
It is highly unhelpful/dangerous and inappropriate for an ally to make announcements that share intelligence and undermine investigations https://t.co/rHcrE8oUNz
Of course, it"s unclear whether Trump"s tweet was based on an official security breifing or a media clip from Fox News but it"s better to launch a political attack first and ask questions later.
Aren"t you glad to have that giant ocean between you and the nutjobs in Europe?
Three men mowed people down and exited their clowncar on the London Bridge and began knifing people to death -- screaming "this is for Allah" -- and the British media is reporting this as a "team" of lone wolves committing a rather crude, yet heinous, act of terror on the British people. The fellow in the beginning of this clip was rather impressed by the "rapid" response by the British police, only taking 8 fucking minutes to arrive at the scene, where 6 people were murdered, 30 injured.
Multiculturalism is necessary, so that banks can issue credit cards and student loans. Anyone who views this attack as some sort of depraved Islamic orgy of human sacrifice isn"t seeing the profit opportunity of having these pavement apes man factory machinery and bankrupt themselves under a mountain of 35% yielding plastic card bank debt.
"Multiple" casualties after two terrorist attacks took place in London on Saturday night; police have responded to attacks on London Bridge and Borough Market
At least two people have been killed amid confirmed knife attacks, gunfire, at least 20 injured.
The attacks started when a white van drove into Pedestrians on London Bridge around 10:30pm on Saturday.
A BBC eyewitness saw three men stabbing people indiscriminately, shouting "this is for Allah".
"I saw a man with a large blade": witnesses describe the attack after the van attack.
There have been multiple reports of rapid gunfire in what one witness described as “Westminster all over again”.
BBC reports that two attackers were gunned down, and believed killed, by armed police. One was seen with canisters strapped to his body.
Another 3 attackers thought to still be on the run, the BBC adds.
Theresa May and the Met Police have declared the attacks are being treated as acts of terror
* * *
Update 8:54pm. The Telegraph has shown the following picture distributed on social media showing a man lying on the ground who appears to have canisters strapped to him. It was taken in the Borough Market area.
The BBC earlier tonight reported an unnamed eyewitness, a security guard who works across multiple bars and pubs in Borough Market, claiming to have seen a man with a canister strapped to his abdomen. Stressing that the reports were unverified, the news channel claims the man saw the attackers after receiving a call from a colleague in another bar who said people had been stabbed.
The eyewitness described people running away screaming from three men, one wearing a red and black top. He claimed one man had a canister taped to his abdomen. The man and his colleagues tried to throw chairs at the three attackers, who were going in and out of different bars, before helping to evacuate the area
* * *
Update 8:40 pm. BBC reports that two attackers are believed to have been gunned down - believed killed - by armed police, The Sun says citing witnesses. Another three attackers are thought to still be on the run, the newspaper adds.
* * *
Update 8:33 pm. An eyewitness on London Bridge, told the BBC he saw three men stabbing people indiscriminately, shouting "this is for Allah".
"I saw these three Muslim guys run up and started stabbing this girl. They attacked her and stabbed another guy. They started running up the road, stabbed the bouncer at the Tavern. "I was throwing bottles at them, pint glasses, stools, chairs, but I was defenceless.
"They were running up saying "this is for Allah"."
"They stabbed this girl maybe ten, 15 times. She was saying "help me, help me"." He claimed he had hit one of the attackers on the back of the head by throwing things at him, and was chased, but escaped unharmed.
John Stokes, London bus tour guide, said he counted eight people lying in the road or pavement receiving medical treatment on London Bridge.
He had arrived on the scene with a bus full of tourists moments after the attack, initially thinking it was a one-off traffic accident before seeing the number of casualties. After the police arrived, he said, an office banged on the bus door and told everyone on the bus to run towards Monument. "All the tourists on our bus ran for their lives," he said.
Witness calls into BBC with London "attack" account: Suspects "were shouting this is for Allah." pic.twitter.com/PhyvxzFHdq
Update 8:30 pm.Eyewitness: "About 50 police were pointing guns at us"
Describing the attack at Borough Market, Kumi de Costa tells BBC what she saw:
"The cab driver turned into the market and we got stuck right in the middle of the shooting we were in a one-way street and couldn’t turn around. There were loads of shots being fired. Two people were on the floor behind the church with two or three people leaning over them. About 50 police were pointing guns at us - the cab driver had the laser pointed right at them, our hands were up, we were trying to get out so they shooed us away.
"A man was coming out of the restaurant, he had a napkin on his neck with blood pouring out, there was another man lying on the floor. I don’t know if he was in the recovery position or dead. We weaved through little side streets where the police were telling us to go to Blackfriars Bridge and we could see people looking over the side; people had maybe jumped over the bridge. A couple of times we had to lie down on the floor of the cab because of the shooting around us."
* * *
Update 8:27 pm. According to the deputy digital news editor for The Sun there have been explosions outside The Sun"f office.
"Following updates from our police and security officials, I can confirm that the terrible incident in London is being treated as a potential act of terrorism"
"This is a fast moving investigation. I want to express my huge gratitude to the police and emergency services who are on th scene, our thoughts are with those who are caught up in these dreaful events."
May"s declaration confirms that this is the UK"s third terror incident in less than three months.
* * *
Update: 7:35
President Donald Trump has tweeted twice since the incident, which began about an hour and a half ago when a white van drove into pedestrians on London Bridge. The president has signaled that "we need to be smart, vigilant and tough. We need the courts to give us back our rights. We need the Travel Ban as an extra level of safety!"
We need to be smart, vigilant and tough. We need the courts to give us back our rights. We need the Travel Ban as an extra level of safety!
Separately, Theresa May, who has been campaigning in the General Election, was returning to Downing Street to receive further briefings from security officials.
According to the Telegraph, May will chair a Cobra meeting about tonight"s incidents first thing on Sunday morning. It is understood that the Prime Minister was in her Maidenhead constituency when she was alerted to the news. So-called Cobra meetings are named after Cabinet Office Briefing Room A, where crisis response meetings are held. They usually include the Prime Minister and senior cabinet ministers as well as intelligence and security officials. May held two Cobra meetings in one day less than two weeks ago on the day of the Manchester bombing.
Meanwhile, armed police have evacuated the Shard, the Globe and businesses in a mile radius of the scene.
* * *
Update 6:55 p m
BBC reports that multiple people have been killed in the various incidents in London, with Telegraph reporting that according to Police sources at least two people have been killed in the London Bridge area.
* * *
Update: 6:42 pm
According to a BBC reporter at the scene, police are now searching for three possibly armed suspects. According to Sky News, citing Scotland Yard, there has been a third separate incident in the Vauxhall region in South London. The BBC also adds that it can confirm earlier reports of gunshots being fired. Reports suggest it may have been more than one incident:
A van hitting people at London Bridge and three people then jumping out of the vehicle and attacking members of the public;
A separate incident at Borough Market
Police have now said they are responding to a third incident in Vauxhall
It is understood that police are looking for three suspects who may be armed.
Officers are now responding to an incident in the #Vauxhall area. 3/3
Separately, an eyewitness told LBC radio what he saw tonight. The taxi driver said: "A van came from London Bridge itself, went between the traffic light system and rammed it towards the steps. It knocked loads of people down.
"Then three men got out with long blades, 12 inches long and went randomly along Borough High Street stabbing people at random."
* * *
Update: 6:33pm
Sean Spicer confirms that the president is being kept informed about the incident.
National security team has briefed @POTUS on situation at #LondonBridge and will continue to provide updates
Additionally, according to police there has been a second incident at Borough Market, as police are now dealing with two separate incidents, London Bridge and Borough Market.
* * *
Original
In what appears to be a repeat of the deadly March 22 terrorist attack on Westminster Bridge in London, on Saturday night a white van rammed into as many as 15-20 pedestrians as "several people mowed down" on London Bridge in central London in what has been dubbed a "major incident." The incident happened at 10.30pm on Saturday. According to preliminary reports there have been at least 6 victims, and a cab driver on the bridge has reported he saw a stabbing man. About five people were being treated for injuries after the vehicle mounted the pavement and hit them, she said.
Scotland Yard reports that in addition to the car ramming, London police say they have also responded to an incident at Borough Market; armed officers at scene. It is unclear if the two incidents are releated.
Several eyewitness accounts have emerged which suggest there have been multiple casualties, with bodies strewn across the pavement. Others reports that several people are receiving emergency treatment after being stabbed. One woman told the Sun; "We had to run there was loads of shooting".
Armed police on Borough High Street
BBC reporter Holly Jones, who was on the bridge at the time of the incident, said the white van was driven by a male driver and was "probably travelling at about 50 miles an hour - veered of the road into the crowds of people who were walking along the pavement," she told BBC News.". The van, which was travelling from the direction of central London, headed towards the south side of the river.
Armed Police officers on London Bridge
According to Will Heaven, managing editor of the Spectator, a man crashed into people on the bridgge, "then there was stabbing attack." Heaven also notes that "it seemed south side of London Bridge epicenter of what seems a terrorist attack. We have been escorted by police from bridge." He adds that "what I saw: injured pedestrians, first responders, armed police, people running north. What I heard of: stabbings, injured."
According to Sky News, "all the information points in the direction of another terrorist attack."
So far there has been no official statement from the Metropolitan Police other than a Twitter message posted at 10.28pm which stated: "We are dealing with an incident on #LondonBridge, when we have more information we will update this twitter feed”.
We are dealing with an incident on #LondonBridge, when we have more information we will update this twitter feed.
