by Associate Editor: Christina Maldonado

The brutal death of Bakari Henderson was captured on a hazy security tape that is at a Greek island bar, which also showed a couple of young men taking photos with a woman. Abruptly, one of the young men slaps the taller man; the taller man did not respond instantly, but he soon threw a punch to the man who slapped him. A fight is generally between two people, but others started joining the two while each began throwing their punches, and the commotion moves out from the frame of the camera.

There are two other security cameras that show Henderson walking backwards from the men down the street, keeping his eyes on them. He attempts to kick one of them, but he ends up being tackled to the ground, kicked, and punched by approximately ten other people. Henderson died on the street of a Greek resort, in the town of Laganas on the Island of Zakynthos in 2017 in the month of July. Henderson received 33 blows and kicks to his head and his body, according to a 55 page indictment. The blows and kicks happen in a long period of 11 seconds.

The parents, Jill and Phil Henderson cannot fathom why their son, a 22-year-old from Austin, Texas, was ramshackled to his death by a mob in a foreign country. They hopefully seek the answers that they’re looking for in the underway murder trial in Greece. The witnesses called in for court will be one of the resources the court and family can count on to reveal what really happened in the silent security tapes.

One of the Henderson’s representative lawyers said, “The parents of the victim are looking for justice.. But they are also looking for answers as to how they lost their child in just 11 seconds in the most brutal manner.”

Nine of the ten people were charged with the involvement of the murder; six of them are charged with first-degree murder while others were charged with smaller crimes. Graduating from the University of Arizona a few months ago with a business degree, Henderson was planning a clothing line, so he was working on a photoshoot with his friends in Greece.  

The trial began September 21st of this year and the Hendersons are represented by three lawyers, which is led by a lawyer from Athens, Andreas Patsis.

https://www.google.com/amp/www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-greece-bakari-henderson-20180926-story.html%3foutputType=amp

​

by Associate Editor: Christina Maldonado '19

*The article may consist of sensitive material that viewers may find disturbing.
*The teenage girl's identity is not stated.

In Beni Mellal, Morocco, 12 men are accused of abducting, raping, and torturing a 17-year-old girl, which brought a disagreement in the public opinion in Morocco at their first court appearance Thursday.

The girl says she was kidnapped in Oulad ayad--a town in central Morocco-- in mid-June and was held for two months. Her kidnappers were a group of men who continuously raped her and forced her to consume drugs and alcohol. The girl woke up to discover her right arm and hand, her legs, and the back of her neck littered with crude tattoos, which included a swastika, a naked woman, and the name of one of the men. She said she had no memory of anyone injecting ink under her skin because she was such in a chemical haze.

In a telephone interview with The New York Times, Youssef Chehbi--the girl's lawyer-- said, “She was sequestered, taped, tortured and tattooed by a gang of 14 to 15 guys, who also traded her body for cigarettes, drugs, and money.”

Making the case public, the girl went against her family's will and went to the police with her story. The defendants and the girl are from the same area and many of their families know each other, so her actions became a fierce contested national topic.

Rights activists are in favor of the girl's case. They created a petition to raise money while others question the girl's character and credibility. Those people who question her say that she willingly went with the men, she already had tattoos before the alleged abduction, she tattooed herself, or that she burned her own skin with cigarettes.

The defendants ranged from the age of 18 to 28. The New York Times reviewed the police document-- one that is not yet public-- and most of the men admitted having sex with the girl, but stated it was consensual. The act the defendants claimed is still a crime under Moroccan law because the girl is under the age of 18.

Mr. Chehbi said that the girl was heading to her aunt's house in mid-June while two young men on a motorcycle approached her; one of the men drew a knife, while the other told her to come with them, and the men took turns raping her(before more men arrived and joined) at a large, dense olive grove.

The girl was returned alive to her family August 17th, under the conditions that the family does not go to the police. The girl went to the police to days later anyways.

This is not the only case against women that caused a public outrage in Morocco in the previous years. Amina Filali, 16, killed herself in 2012 by swallowing rat poison after allegedly being forced to marry her rapist. Khadija Souidi, 16, died in 2016 after setting herself on fire--while pregnant--when the men she had accused of gang raping her threatened to release photos of the ordeal. Nassima Al Horr, 16, hung herself in 2017 after the men she said had raped her was acquitted. A video of a 24-year-old woman being sexually assaulted by several men on bus rocked Morocco that took place in  August 2017. The video appeared on social media, which displayed the perpetrators molesting the woman and tearing off her clothes while laughing, while the other passengers looked on.

Women are seen less than a human being but rather as a sexual object they can take advantage of. They need protection and justice. The laws are missing portions in regarding women's safety and it needs to be addressed. Women should not fear their lives on a daily basis and they should not take their own lives when their courts did them wrong.


https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/06/world/africa/morocco-teenager-gang-rape.html

​

by Associate Editor: Christina Maldonado 19'

For weeks, police have been looking for Mollie Tibbetts, a college student who went jogging near a farm country in a small Iowa town last month and never returned home.

On Tuesday, August 22, investigators were hit with a devastating break on their case, which was after a mass number of tips, interviews, prayers, and a reward fund of donations. A body was found buried beneath a farm’s cornstock outside of town. The body was believed to be the body of Ms. Tibbetts.

The President and other people of the community are turning this horrific murder into political news by saying the fault is on the country’s corrupted immigration system.

Cristhian Rivera, 24,  was charged with first-degree murder of Mollie Tibbets. Rivera is originally from Mexico and is an undocumented immigrant. Rivera worked on a farm owned by a prominent Republican family. Kim Reynolds, Iowa’s Republican governor, released a statement regarding the incident, which said she was “angry that a broken immigration system allowed a predator like this to live in our community.”

President Trump and conservatives swiftly jumped to the idea that our immigration system is flawed; they claim that these problems are what Mr. Trump has long warned the people about.
To drag the idea of the country's flawed immigration system, the White House posted a video, via Twitter, of different emotional accounts of people who had family members who were killed by immigrants that entered the country illegally.

President Trump is notorious for his criticized policy, which separated families who crossed the US-Mexico border illegally. On Wednesday, Mr. Trump ironically said, “Mollie Tibbetts, an incredible young woman, is now permanently separated from her family,” in a Twitter message. The President also wrote, “A person came in from Mexico illegally and killed her. We need the wall, we need our immigration laws changed, we need our border laws changed, we need Republicans to do it because the Democrats aren’t going to do it.”

The case of Mollie Tibbett’s may have been solved, but the country has turned this young woman’s murder case into an immigration debate. The family did not mention Mr. Rivera’s immigration status, but said “Our hearts are broken. On behalf of Mollie’s entire family, we thank all of those from around the world who have sent their thoughts and prayers for our girl.”



https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/22/us/mollie-tibbetts-cristhian-rivera.html

https://www.thedailybeast.com/mollie-tibbetts-family-releases-statement-our-hearts-are-broken

​

by Christina Maldonado '19

​​Marian Antoinette Patterson, a doctor from Valdosta, Georgia has been accused of threatening to slit the throats of her employees and patients.

The doctor damaged the wall with a reflex hammer, and was throwing water on employees.  Lowndes County Sheriff, Ashley Paulk told news outlets that Marian Antoinette Patterson was charged with three accounts of terroristic threats and one account of false imprisonment. Patterson turned herself in, but was released from jail on bond.

On the twenty-first of February, the family doctor yelled at employee in her office in Valdosta. Repeatedly, the doctor threatened the people that she would “slit their throats” accordingly to a license suspension order from the Georgia Composite Medical Board.

Patterson also threatened to cut one of her employee’s head off, roll it down a hallway and then she’d call the employee’s children, so that they are able to see it. Patients were told that their throats would be slit, and an employee would die if any one of them tried to contact the authorities.

The board had been advised that she appeared to be “under the influence” while at the practices several times. This suspended her license on the fifth of March. It is unclear if Patterson has a lawyer.

Christina Maldonado 19’

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/doctor-accused-of-threats-to-slit-workers-patients-throats/2018/04/29/31d29652-4c28-11e8-85c1-9326c4511033_story.html

​

by Sydney Teran

Dear Ambush! staff and editors,

I am very proud of all the work you guys have put into this newspaper. I'm also proud to have known each of you because you all come with your own individuality which you managed to affiliate into your stories, and the projects we have done this year. My favorite would be the Photo Journalism project because i got to see parts of who you guys are through your pictures. Your culture, art, and everything in between. You have been patient and spent long hours researching, interviewing and to my editors, publishing. Thank you for the hard work and dedication you have had, and I hope you continue to write and support Ambush!. You each made this paper what it is now, and now the senior and I pass it on to you.  Continue to follow the stories you believe deserve to be heard. I wish you all the very best.  I love you guys!

by Christina Maldonado '19

On April 12th, two black men were arrested while waiting inside of the Center City Starbucks downtown in Philadelphia. Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson arrived at Starbucks for a business meeting, and asked to use the restroom, but they were told that they could not, because they were not paying customers. A woman came by to see if the men wanted to purchase any drinks, but they told her that they had their water bottles, and that they’re waiting for their meeting.  Two minutes after the men arrived, the manager called the police to report that “two gentlemen in my cafe that are refusing to make a purchase or leave.”
Soon, the Philadelphia police would arrive. Robinson said that when he saw police arrive, he thought, “They can’t be here for us.” There was a cellphone video that had been viewed more than 11 million times; it displayed at least six Philadelphia Police Department officers standing above the two seated black men.The men arrived at 4:35PM for a 4:45 meeting.  Andrew Yaffe arrived to tell the police that the two men were waiting for him, but the police did not take it. Robinson said that they were not read any rights or were not told why they were arrested. The Police arrested the men for trespassing and creating a disturbance. The men were escorted out, but released the next day with no charges filed.
Police Commissioner Richard Ross, a black man said, “These officers did absolutely nothing wrong. They followed policy; they did what they were supposed to do. They were professional in all their dealings with these gentlemen...And instead, they got the opposite back.” Ross said police arrested the men after they refused three requests to leave.”Robinson said, “I understand that rules are rules, but what’s right is right, and what’s wrong is wrong..That’s in any situation, whether there’s race involved or anything.”
On the 17th, Starbucks announced that 8,000 U.S stores would be closed for an afternoon next month for racial-bias training for 150,000 employees.



https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/news/business/wp/2018/04/19/they-cant-be-here-for-us-black-men-arrested-at-starbucks-tell-their-story-for-the-first-time/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2018/04/14/starbucks-apologizes-after-employee-calls-police-on-black-men-waiting-at-a-table/?utm_term=.5fb4a79eea84​

by Christina Maldonado '19

by Jocelyn Sung '18

These past few weeks have truly been something extraordinary. You see all these different students from schools across the country uniting under a shared cause. You see them transformed into student activists overnight. You see them fighting against the older opposition without basic high school diplomas or fancy college degrees.

It’s genuinely awe-inspiring. A staggering amount of people has always thought of teenagers as these rebellious, hormonal individuals. We’re too young to make important decisions. We’re too unruly to be considered proper members of society. It’s stereotypical. It’s condescending. And frankly? It’s getting old.

Haven’t these student activists proved nothing? Haven’t the innocents who have been unnecessarily slaughtered in these horrifying shootings proved nothing? Why is it that some of the adults of this society—and unfortunately, some of our own peers—keep telling us teenagers to sit down and be quiet? Why are our voices not being taken seriously? There are so many questions and so few answers.

I wanted to be a part of something that mattered. I wanted to do my part in attempting to make a difference. So I did. Or I tried to.

A majority of my classmates think of me as the quiet girl in class. I won’t argue with them. I contribute when I’m called on, but I stay silent otherwise. I do my best on my schoolwork in the hopes that I’ll be able to do my best later on in life. But despite my shy tendencies, I decided gun control was something I wanted—no, needed-- to advocate for. It’s too important for me to just stand back like I usually do.

In a letter I addressed to Principal Romero, I asked for his permission for GHS students to participate in the nationwide protest on March 14th. I wrote this:

“Mr. Romero, we understand that it is ultimately up to the district to decide if they will allow GMCS to participate in this protest or not. We are asking for your permission, and if you are willing to give it, we ask that you help bring our cause up to them. You might have a larger impact from your position as principal of Gallup High.

“We are not simply high school students as of now; we are young adults, respectfully asking to do our part in making a difference in this nation. Please, assist us.”

A week later, and I still hadn’t heard back from Romero. I was walking to my seventh hour after being released from NMSBA testing on Tuesday when I passed him in the hallway. I stopped him and asked what happened to my request, but he looked like he didn’t know what I was talking about. He asked me when it would be, how we would be handling it, who would be participating, and so on. They were all questions I already addressed in my letter.

He nodded after I repeated the information. “Meet me in the office at 10am tomorrow,” he said. “We’ll decide what to do from there.”

I relayed the encounter to a group chat on Snapchat, which was composed of a few of my classmates. While they agreed that it was strange, they said they would meet me in the office a few minutes before ten.

The next morning, the day of the protest, I was waiting in my second hour class. I already asked my English teacher for permission to participate, and she gave me the green light. I was beginning to gather my things when a sudden noise startled me. The fire alarm had unexpectedly gone off.

Everyone in my class shared perplexed expressions. A moment later, a woman spoke through the school announcement system. She confirmed that this wasn’t a drill and asked us to proceed to the exits. People started flooding toward the doors.

For a few minutes, I actually believed that the alarm was a response to something serious. But standing on the sun-warmed asphalt of the track outside the school, I paid a bit more attention to my surroundings. I realized that it wasn’t, for the following reasons:

Across the lot, the students of Chief Manuelito were standing on their football field. If this was something related to our building, Chief was far away enough to where it wouldn’t affect them.
Students were playing football and blasting music on their phones. If this was a serious, life-or-death matter, wouldn’t the teachers be making sure everyone was accounted for? Wouldn’t they be chastising us for messing around?

A teacher was standing a yard or two away from me, so I couldn’t help but overhear a conversation she was having with her students; “Do you guys know why they’re doing this? It’s obviously to stop you guys from marching out.” As the seventeen minutes ticked by, this became more and more apparent. It couldn’t have been a coincidence.

The alarm went off three minutes before the protest began. Everyone started walking back into the building five minutes after it ended.
Later, I would find out that the entire school district went through the same alarm. Chief Manuelito, Central High, Miyamura, etc.
A teacher told me it was because they were investigating a supposed gas leak. If that’s what it was, why would every single school in the district pull the fire alarm at the same time? Would a gas leak at Gallup High really affect Miyamura, which is miles away?
My younger brother, who’s a student at Chief, said that his principal told him the fire alarm went off for the actual protest itself.

The story doesn’t add up. Let’s say I give them the benefit of the doubt and believe that the fire alarm was set off for the sake of the protest. I would still be deeply upset about it either way. That would mean it was most likely a planned event, and the fact that none of us were notified about it is infuriating. We spent those seventeen minutes fuming about it instead of protesting. It was subtly taking away our most fundamental right: using our voices to protest a problem we see in society.

I wish they had told us no. I wish they had threatened us with suspensions. I wish they had outright prevented us from participating. Because then? Then I still would have had a choice. My classmates would have had a choice. We could have stood up for what we believe is important, what we believe is right. Then, it wouldn’t have been so disrespectful to both us, and the hundreds of innocents who have died in mass shootings.

I understand why they might have chosen this route. Perhaps they were trying to allow us to protest without offending the beliefs of other students and faculty members. Perhaps they wanted to make sure no one completely ditched by using the protest as an excuse. There could be a lot of reasons, but what is absolutely infuriating was that they felt like they didn’t have to discuss it with us. Is it because an entire week wasn’t enough time to track us down in class? Or is it because in the eyes of this society, we will always be viewed as nothing more than a bunch of pesky kids?

by Christina Maldonado '19

East Africa is expected to have a piece of land break off from the continent, but that's not expected until ten million years from now. But today, there is an issue regarding the surrounding area of Kenya’s Rift Valley. According to Face2Face Africa, the heavy rains and seismic activity is causing a giant, tearing gap in Kenya's Rift Valley.

The large rearing in the ground appeared on March 19 with the crack measuring at about 50 feet wide and several miles in length; however, the crack is growing more, lengthwise.

The rift has been reported that it was created due to the fact that Africa stands on plate tectonics and the most unstable ground on the continent. Most of Africa is on the African plate while eastern Africa lies on the Somali Plate, and when these two meet, it is known as the Eastern African Rift, which stretches out to 1,800 miles.

Perez Diaz, a postdoctoral researcher at the Fault Dynamics Research Group at Royal Holloway, University of London mentioned that the two plates (commonly known as the Nubian Plate and the Somali Plate) are beginning to split in two due to their tectonic plates.

However, the crack is not fully continuous, because it is filled with “bridges" of soil, there are no signs of clear escarpments, and the land on either side of the crack is flat. This evidence shows that the rift was caused by “sudden erosion”. Also, there has been no reports by the authorities in Kenya regarding earthquakes.

Africa will split at a rate of less than 1cm/year, but the cause is not from newly forming tectonic plates. 

www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/national/health-science/a-huge-crack-provides-evidence-that-africa-is-slowly-splitting-into-two/2018/04/06/0b9a5144-3749-11e8-acd5-35eac230e514_story.html

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/science/blog/2018/apr/06/africa-is-slowly-splitting-in-two-but-this-crack-in-kenya-rift-valley-has-little-to-do-with-it

by Christina Maldonado '19

The Sinclair Broadcasting Group has given the public a different outlook upon journalist. Last month, a variety of news stations across the United States had their anchors read identical speeches on air, which was constructed by the Sinclair Broadcasting Group. Sinclair Broadcasting group is not as well known as Fox News’s News Corp. or CNN’s Turner Broadcasting System, but the company owns the largest amount of local television stations in the country. It has 193 stations with in 81 broadcast marketing that is stretched from coast or coast.

The speech also included a warning regarding fake news , promised to report fairly and accurately; the news stations also asked their viewers to visit their website and comment “if you believe our coverage is unfair.”

Many viewers may have noticed that reporters were reading the same script, but the video director of Deadspin, Timothy Burke was suspicious. Mr. Burke had read a report last month from CNN, and it included quotes from local station anchors who were “uncomfortable” with the speech. Burke tracked down the stations and discovered when each had aired, he referred it to as a “forced read.”

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer published a copy of the speech last week, and reported that employees at a local news station at KOMO were “unhappy” about the script. On March 7th, CNN reported that the senior vice president of news Sinclair, Scott Livingston had read “almost the exact same speech” for a segment that went out a year ago.

The broadcast areas of Sinclair stations voted for Trump over Hillary Clinton by a 19-point margin, according to an analysis of the company’s markets by The Washington Post’s Philip Bump. President Trump tweeted about Sinclair, “ Do funny to watch Fake News Networks, among the most dishonest groups of people I have ever dealt with, criticize Sinclair Broadcasting for being biased. Sinclair is far superior to CNN and even more Fake NBC, which is a total joke.”

​

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/02/business/media/sinclair-news-anchors-script.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/style/wp/2018/04/02/get-to-know-sinclair-broadcast-group-the-conservative-local-news-giant-with-a-growing-reach/?utm_term=.6d5919e3c50c