Suspect in UVA student's death had previous arrest By the CNN Wire Staff

(News Today) - The suspect in the killing of a University of Virginia student was arrested in a 2008 incident in which he threatened a police officer and was shocked with a stun gun, according to a police statement.

George Huguely, 22, was arrested hours after a roommate found Yeardly Love's body in her off-campus apartment in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Monday morning.

Huguely, who was also a UVA student until resigning after his arrest, and Love played on the men's and women's lacrosse teams, respectively.

CNN affiliate WDBJ got a police statement recounting an encounter between an intoxicated Huguely and Lexington, Virginia, Police Officer R.L. Moss.

Affidavit: Lacrosse player killed in fight after breakup

According to the statement, Moss came across Huguely as he stumbled into traffic outside of a fraternity house at Washington and Lee University in Lexington.

After ignoring the officer's calls to stop, Huguely was approached by Moss who, after speaking with Huguely, decided to arrest him for public drunkenness, the statement says.

At that point, Huguely started making threats, including death threats, against the officer, according to the statement.

"He became more aggressive, more physical towards me, started to calling me several other terms that I'm not going to state now," she told WDBJ.

Moss got into a brief "tussle" with Huguely before resorting to her stun gun to get him under control, the statement says.

At a court hearing the next month, Moss wrote she was surprised to learn that Huguely was so intoxicated that he didn't remember being shocked with the stun gun or threatening the police officer.

Court records show that Huguely pleaded guilty to resisting arrest and public intoxication, WDBJ reported. He was given a suspended jail sentence and a fine.

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Arizona students speak out on immigration law

Tucson, Arizona (News Terupdate) - It's the week before finals at the University of Arizona in Tucson, and all over campus, students are hunched over books and laptops under the shelter of immense palm trees and sprawled out on the cement benches lining the campus' long, grassy mall, the anticipation palpable.

Elsewhere, in the Cesar Chavez Building, graduate student Francisco Baires sits in a windowless office that could have been a closet in a previous life, immersed in a different kind of work: He is sending a statement condemning Arizona's new anti-illegal immigration law to the media and other opponents of Senate Bill 1070.

"As students, we have a responsibility to fight this law through action and to raise our voices so those in power hear us," he said. "The time has come for us to stop talking about it and be about it."

Baires is one of many student activists in Arizona and across the country leading the charge to kill SB 1070 before it takes effect this summer.

The law requires immigrants to carry their alien registration documents at all times and requires police to question people if there is reason to suspect they're in the United States illegally. It also targets those who hire illegal immigrant day laborers or knowingly transport them.

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The letter, which Baires and his cohorts are circulating as a petition, sums up the sentiments of many students.

The 12 students of various ethnicities who spoke with CNN said they did not support the bill, citing concerns that the law would promote racial profiling and foster an environment of fear and paranoia among Hispanics, whether they are in the country legally or not.

"We believe that it is a law based in fear and racism. The law targets not only immigrants, but all Latinos (even those who are U.S. citizens) as well as any U.S. citizen who may associate with members of either group," the letter states. "We want to halt the prejudicial momentum of Arizona's legislators and keep the campus of the University of Arizona a free, safe place for persons of all races, backgrounds and ethnicities."

The students' views are also a microcosm of the broader opposition nationwide to the bill, which Gov. Jan Brewer signed into law Friday, citing concerns over crime and the failure of the federal government to regulate immigration. Dozens of protests have been staged nationwide, including in Tucson, where hundreds gathered outside the state capitol as the bill was being signed.

What will Arizona immigration law do?

"It was incredible to see that the vast majority of those assembled were young people, some as young as high school," professor Roberto Rodriguez said. "To many of them, who may have parents who are illegal or have relatives that live in Mexico, this is more than just a law; this is personal. This is a threat to their families. This could tear them apart."

Students have been at the forefront of the major social movements of the past century, but the advent of social networking tools such as Facebook and Twitter allows them to organize at a faster and more efficient rate.

"The Internet really helps us reach a wide audience with the most up-to-date information," said student coordinator Jessica Mejia, one of many who helped organize the protest at the capitol. "Now that the bill has passed, this is just the beginning."

iReport: Share your thoughts on immigration policy

Some critics of the bill are threatening legal action; others are pledging to boycott travel and business in Arizona unless they overturn the legislation. At the University of Arizona this week, resistance took the form of Immigration Awareness Week, a series of programs and information sessions organized by Mejia and others that included meetings on how the law works and an open forum for students to share their struggles with immigration.

"In my community, everyone has a sense of persecution. We're living in a constant state of fear," said Hector Gonzalez, 21, a Mexican-born U.S. citizen whose family lives in Phoenix. "The law is instilling fear and limiting people from going out and doing chores, which will eventually have a direct economic impact on the community, too."

Even students who support immigration reform called the law ill-conceived.

"I can see how something needs to be done about illegal immigration, but this is taking it too far," said Nick Lunn, a 21-year-old film major. "They say there won't be racial profiling, but I don't see how you can look past it."

Supporters of the bill point to language stating that officers cannot stop someone solely based on race, ethnicity and country of origin.

Read the full text of Senate Bill 1070 (PDF)

But student body representative Tyler Quillin said the word "solely" leaves the door open for race to be among the reasons that influences an officer's decision to detain someone.

"I see a definite separation, a disjoint between Latinos and law enforcement," Quillin said. "Like they said on 'Saturday Night Live,' there's nothing more Nazi than 'Can I see your papers?' "

People also worry that the law will further marginalize undocumented immigrants by discouraging them from reporting crimes, accidents or injuries.

"It really worries me that this will increase public health issues and make them worse for women and children who might too scared of being deported to go to the hospital or to police if something happens to them," said Grecia Ramirez, a public health major. "It really scares me to think about the long-term implications of this bill."

Ramirez and other students said they planned to continue attending protests such as the one Baires and his collaborators are setting up Wednesday, when they plan to present their petition to the school's president to sign.

"We want him to publicly state his support for our position in a show of solidarity," he said. "We need to come together to fight this. There's strength in numbers."

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Royal wedding called off amid cheating claims

(News Terupdate) - Sweden's Princess Madeleine has called off her planned wedding to Jonas Bergstrom, the Swedish Royal Court announced following media reports that Bergstrom had sex with a college student during their engagement.

"After having thought it through thoroughly, the Princess Madeleine and Mr. Jonas Bergstrom have made the decision to go their separate ways," the court statement said.

The couple asked for "peace and quiet in this difficult situation. The extreme coverage by the press is not making this situation any easier for them," said the court statement, which was released Saturday.

Princess Madeleine Therese Amelie Josephine, 27, is the youngest child of Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia. Her older sister, Crown Princess Victoria, is due to marry gym owner Daniel Westling in June.

The split follows weeks of intense media coverage of the Swedish royal family, speculating on the state of the couple's relationship.

"I think it is great that we can now avoid all those speculations in the press about them that we have had over the last week. This has certainly cleared the air," said Elisabeth Tarras-Wahlberg, the former head of press at the royal court and now the royal commentator for CNN affiliate Swedish TV4.

"It felt like the end of a road where they had to turn one way or the other, and now they have chosen their path," Tarras-Wahlberg said in an interview with TV4.

Princess Madeleine and Bergstrom met through mutual friends in 1999 and became a couple during the summer of 2002, according to Swedish media reports. Madeleine said in an interview that it was love at first sight, and Bergstrom said he "fell in love with her blue eyes and wonderful laughter," Swedish daily Expressen wrote.

But through the years, Swedish press has been full of speculations about the ups and downs in the couple's relationship. According to the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet, there were reports of Bergstrom living a wild party life at Stockholm's exclusive nightclubs as early as 2005, fueling reports their relationship was on the rocks.

But Bergstrom proposed to Madeleine in June on the Italian island of Capri. After King Carl XVI Gustaf gave his approval -- and the Swedish government subsequently signed off on their engagement as required by law -- the couple announced their engagement to the public on August 11.

But just as quickly as the engagement was announced, something happened.

The couple last appeared together in public at the Nobel dinner in Stockholm in December 2009. Over the past few weeks, Swedish press has covered the couple's potential problems with an intensity never seen before.

The first public admittance that something was not right came when Queen Silvia told Aftonbladet on April 13 that her youngest daughter's wedding would not happen this year as planned. She told the paper that there was too much going on with the preparations for the Crown Princess' wedding and that Madeleine deserved peace and quiet around her own wedding.

Then, on Wednesday, Norwegian magazine Se og Hor published an interview with Norwegian handball star Tora Uppstrom Berg in which she claimed she had been intimate with Bergstrom at the Swedish ski resort Are last year. She told the magazine that he called himself Jacob Bernstrom, and that it wasn't until she called his cell phone a few days later that she realized who he was.

According to Aftonbladet, Berg is studying photography at Art University College in Bournemouth. The paper reported that Berg had planned to hide in England when the interview was published, but because of the ash cloud from the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull, she was stuck in Norway when the news broke.

The Swedish media continued to speculate on the couple's problems, writing that the two had seen a couples counselor and outlining what they called Bergstrom's "double life" -- by day, a respected lawyer and fiance; at night, partying with Stockholm's elite.

Tarras-Wahlberg said the decision was likely Madeleine's.

"I don't think anyone has pushed them into this decision. Madeleine is a decisive individual, and she knows what she wants, but of course this decision has been taken during discussions together with the rest of the royal family," Tarras-Wahlberg said.

"I think it is a good thing that they were able to get this cleared away before Victoria's wedding, since with the speed of the media today, by that time there will be plenty of other wonderful things to talk about so that this will only be somewhere in the background," Tarras-Wahlberg said.

The Swedish royal family may not be used to the intensity of the media over recent weeks, but in 2003 they successfully sued two German magazines after they published false information about the crown princess, according to Swedish Radio.

After the worldwide publication of the interview with Bergstrom's alleged lover, Berg told Norwegian newspaper VG that she regrets having made the affair public.

"I could never imagine the enormous consequences this would have," she told the newspaper.

In a press release sent to several newspapers in the region, Berg's family said she had been naive, and that she had received 12.500 Norwegian Kroner for the interview. The press release, published in its entirety in Expressen, said that no further money had been accepted. At the bottom, the press release was signed, "Tora with family."

The Swedish monarchy has been under fire lately, and not just because of the princess' problems.

In a recent study by Gothenburg University, published in Svenska Dagbladet, 22 percent of all Swedes want to abolish the monarchy, up from 15 percent six years ago. The Swedish writer Goran Hagg recently proposed in an interview with TV4 that the king should be elected in a public vote.

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California college's student president stabbed; hate crime alleged

(News Terupdate) - The student body president of California State University, Chico, was recovering Monday from stab wounds suffered in what police believe was a hate crime, officials said.

Joseph Igbineweka, who was born in Nigeria, was stabbed early Sunday while walking in a Chico neighborhood near the college where mostly students reside, Chico police Sgt. Rob Merrifield said.

Igbineweka passed two men who began to make racial slurs, Merrifield said. He ignored them and continued to walk, but they followed him and continued to yell at him.

Igbineweka eventually turned around, and one of the men struck him, Merrifield said. He fought back, but the man pulled a pocket knife and stabbed him at least four times, in the neck, chest, stomach and arm, according to Merrifield. The attacker fled on foot.

Several police officers were in the area and were alerted to the situation, Merrifield said. An officer found Igbineweka and was able to get a description of the attacker and alert other officers in the area.

A suspect, 19-year-old Barry Sayavong, was found and arrested a few blocks away, Merrifield said. Sayavong, of Chico, is facing charges of attempted murder and a hate crime, according to Merrifield.

Igbineweka was hospitalized Monday but is expected to recover, Merrifield said. His worst injury was a deep gash on his arm.

Igbineweka was in stable condition, said Joe Wills, spokesman for the university, which is commonly known as Chico State.

"While violent crimes happen in this and other communities, this is very disturbing," Wills said. "Lots of people know Joe." The student body president is akin to a public figure in Chico, a university town of about 100,000 people, he said.

Igbineweka "is very well known in the local community," Wills said. "This is a hate crime and a very big deal."

Wills said the mood on campus "is one of shock and sadness and concern for Joe."

"And also there is looking forward to what people can do so that these kinds of crimes aren't repeated," Wills said.

"Today, our thoughts are with Joseph hoping for his full recovery," said a statement from Chico Mayor Ann Schwab and university President Paul Zingg. "We, and several others, have visited with him. ... He is in good spirits considering what he has been through."

Igbineweka "is looking forward to getting back on campus and looking for solutions to reduce violence in the community," Wills said. "He is motivated to stay active."

Igbineweka moved to the United States at the age of 15, and is from Richmond, California, Wills said.

The attack "is an assault on the values of civility and respect for other people that both Chico State and the city of Chico work so hard to ensure," Schwab and Zingg said in their statement. "We choose not to be defined by hate-filled and criminal acts."

"From his hospital bed, Joseph urges us to 'continue the conversation' around violence and prejudice," the two said. "We assure Joseph we will do that."

An open forum was set for Monday afternoon for anyone wishing to address the incident and discuss efforts for the community to move forward, they said.

Source : CNN

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