3 teens wrongly
held, deputies say
The Associated Press
VENTURA, Calif. -- The Los Angeles County sheriff's office said three teens who are Black were wrongly detained at a Target store in Westlake Village during a grand theft investigation.
A 17-year-old and two 16-year-olds from Thousand Oaks were walking home Jan. 17 after attending church with friends when they decided to stop at Target to buy snacks, the Ventura County Star reported. They said they became victims of racial profiling by Target staff and county deputies.
One of the boys told the newspaper that he and his friends were unaware there was a shoplifting incident while they were in the store, where thieves smashed through the glass in the electronics section and stole smartphones.
"We were being followed in the store by an employee who told us, 'Hey, I can't have you guys loitering,'" he said. He said the group decided to leave but found the exit barricaded with shopping carts.
The teen said Target security staff did not let them leave despite other visitors exiting.
Three deputies arrived and detained the teens at the front of the store, including handcuffing one and putting him in a police vehicle for up to 20 minutes before releasing him. Authorities later said they were identified as the suspects by the store's loss prevention officers.
Capt. Sal "Chuck" Becerra said in a statement on social media Friday that the teens were released and an internal investigation found no evidence of excessive force.
Target issued a statement saying the company has apologized to the teenagers, fired one of the security team members involved and will require the store's employees to retake security and racial bias training.
The mother of the teen who was handcuffed has retained attorney Toni Jaramilla to file a lawsuit alleging a violation of her son's civil rights. She disputes the deputies' account determining excessive force was not used.
"The way they were detained was very aggressive and beyond necessary for the situation," Jaramilla said.
Slaying suspect's
contacts limited
The Associated Press
KENOSHA, Wis. -- An 18-year-old Illinois teen charged with fatally shooting two people during a protest in southeastern Wisconsin last year is prohibited from associating with known white supremacists under a judge's recently modified bail conditions.
Kyle Rittenhouse was 17 during the Aug. 25 demonstration in Kenosha, Wis., as hundreds of people were protesting the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man. Rittenhouse has been charged with multiple counts, including reckless and intentional homicide, endangerment and being a minor in possession of a firearm.
Prosecutors allege Rittenhouse, who is white, left his home in Antioch, Ill., and traveled to Kenosha to answer a call for militia to protect businesses. Kenosha was in the throes of several nights of chaotic street demonstrations after a white officer shot Blake in the back during a domestic disturbance, leaving him paralyzed.
Rittenhouse opened fire with an assault-style rifle during the protest, killing Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber and wounding Gaige Grosskreutz, authorities said. Rittenhouse has pleaded innocent to all counts and argues he fired in self-defense. Conservatives have rallied around him, generating enough money to make his $2 million cash bail.
According to online court records, a Wisconsin judge modified Rittenhouse's conditions of release Friday to specify he "shall not knowingly have conduct with any person or group of persons known to harm, threaten, harass or menace others on the basis of their race, beliefs on the subject of religion, color, national origin, or gender."
He is also barred from possessing or consuming alcohol and from having firearms.
Prosecutors requested the modifications after Rittenhouse was seen drinking at a bar in the southeastern Wisconsin city of Mount Pleasant, about 25 miles south of Milwaukee, this month. The legal drinking age is 21, but Rittenhouse could legally drink alcohol in Wisconsin because he was with his mother.
According to WMTV, prosecutors wrote in their request that Rittenhouse also posed for a photo with two men outside Pudgy's Pub as they made the "OK" sign with their hands, a symbol used by white supremacists. Prosecutors also said five men at the tavern serenaded Rittenhouse with a song that has become the anthem of the Proud Boys, a neo-fascist group.