Department Of Justices

Looking for Saturday plans? Stop by the Lebanon Hispanic Multicultural Festival from 2:00 - 7:00PM on S 8th Street for music, food and more! This event is hosted by Juntos de Lebanon.

ESCAPED MURDERER DANELO CAVALCANTE HAS BEEN TAKEN INTO CUSTODY AND IS ALIVE

Danelo Cavalcante had been on the run since he broke out of the Chester County Prison on Aug. 31.

EAST NANTMEAL TWP., Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- Escaped murderer Danelo Cavalcante has been taken into custody and is alive following a 14-day search, Pennsylvania State Police said.

He was captured just before 8:15 a.m. Wednesday in northern Chester County, Action News has learned.

Cavalcante was found in a field within the perimeter by tactical teams using thermal technology and police K9s, sources said. He was found hiding under a pile of logs.

Searchers waited until sunrise for safety reasons to move in on the location of the thermal hit, sources said.

He was wearing a gray Eagles sweatshirt when he was captured by The Border Patrol Tactical Unit. It is not yet known where he obtained the clothing.

Sources said Cavalcante was bitten by a K9 while he was taken into custody.

He was transferred to Pennsylvania State Police Avondale Barracks where he arrived at 9:47 a.m.

"The capture of Cavalcante ends the nightmare of the past two weeks, and we thank every single law enforcement official at the regional, state and federal level that was out in all weather conditions, all day and night - as well as everyone in the incident command center, our County Department of Emergency Services and County Sheriff's Office - for their immense efforts," Chester County Commissioners Marian Moskowitz, Josh Maxwell and Michelle Kichline said in a statement.

Cavalcante escaped from the Chester County jail in southeastern Pennsylvania on Aug. 31 by crab-walking up between two walls that were topped with razor wire, then jumping from the roof and dashing away. He had been awaiting transfer to state prison after being sentenced days earlier for fatally stabbing his girlfriend, and is wanted in connection with another killing in Brazil.

Authorities said over the weekend that Cavalcante had slipped out of the initial search area, shaved and changed his clothing, stole a vehicle to travel miles to seek aid from former co-workers in the northern part of the county, and then abandoned the vehicle, at least in part because it was low on fuel.

Authorities have declined to say how they think Cavalcante slipped out of the first search area, and officials have pushed back against questions about whether they blew a chance to catch him.

Then, late Monday, a motorist alerted police to a man matching Cavalcante's description crouching in the darkness along a line of trees near a road in northern Chester County. Police found footprints and tracked them to the prison shoes identical to those Cavalcante had been wearing. A pair of work boots was reported stolen from a porch nearby.

State police said they believe he was looking for a place to hide when he saw an open garage. There, he stole a .22-caliber rifle and ammunition, and fled when the homeowner who was in the garage drew a pistol and shot at him several times, state police said.

"He didn't, I believe, recognize that the owner was in there. And I think he was probably looking for a place to hide, ran for that garage, saw the firearm, grabbed that, encountered the homeowner and fled with the firearm," Lt. Col. George Bivens said Tuesday.

That led hundreds of law enforcement personnel to search an area of about 8 to 10 square miles near South Coventry Township, roughly 30 miles northwest (50 kilometers) of Philadelphia.

Cavalcante's escape was big news in Brazil, where prosecutors in Tocantins state say he is accused of "double qualified homicide" in the 2017 slaying of Válter Júnior Moreira dos Reis in the municipality of Figueiropolis, which authorities say was over a debt the victim owed him in connection with repair of a vehicle.

Pennsylvania authorities even broadcast a recording of Cavalcante's mother speaking in Portuguese imploring him to surrender peacefully.

Cavalcante received a life sentence in Pennsylvania in August for killing his ex-girlfriend, Deborah Brandao, in front of her children in 2021. Prosecutors say he murdered her to stop her from telling police he was wanted in the Brazil killing. He had been arrested in Virginia after Brandao's killing, and authorities say they believe he was trying to return to Brazil.

The prison tower guard on duty when Cavalcante escaped was fired. The escape went undetected for more than an hour until guards took a headcount.

On September 11, 2001, a series of coordinated terrorist attacks shook the United States. Nineteen hijackers, associated with the extremist group Al-Qaeda, commandeered four commercial airplanes:

1. American Airlines Flight 11 was crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City at 8:46 AM.
2. United Airlines Flight 175 struck the South Tower of the World Trade Center at 9:03 AM.

These attacks resulted in the collapse of both towers, causing widespread devastation and the loss of nearly 3,000 lives.

3. American Airlines Flight 77 was flown into the Pentagon, the U.S. Department of Defense's headquarters, in Arlington, Virginia, at 9:37 AM.

4. United Airlines Flight 93, which was also hijacked, crashed into a field in Pennsylvania at 10:03 AM. This plane's passengers bravely fought back against the hijackers, preventing further destruction.

The events of 9/11 were a profound tragedy, prompting immediate and significant changes in U.S. and global security measures. The attacks led to the War on Terror, the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security, and increased airport security measures. The memory of 9/11 continues to have a lasting impact on the world, serving as a reminder of the importance of international cooperation against terrorism and the resilience of the human spirit in the face of adversity.

The South Tower (Full Episode) | 9/11 One Day in America 9/11: One Day in America won the News and Documentary Emmy Award for Outstanding Historical Documentary at the 43rd News and Documentary Emmy Awards in 2022....

DOJ accuses Minneapolis Police Department, city of using excessive force, racial discrimination

Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Friday that a Justice Department investigation into the conduct of the Minneapolis Police Department and the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota, following the May 2020 death of George Floyd has uncovered evidence of the use of excessive force and racial discrimination.

Garland said there is "reasonable cause to believe that the MPD and the city of Minneapolis engaged in a pattern or practice of conduct that violates the First and Fourth Amendments of the United States Constitution."

“We found that MPD and the city of Minneapolis engages in a pattern or practice of using excessive force, unlawfully discriminating against Black or Native American people in enforcement activities, violating the rights of people engaged in protective speech, and discriminating against people with behavioral disabilities when responding to them in crisis," Garland said.

The Justice Department's "pattern or practice" investigation into the Minneapolis Police Department was launched in April 2021, a day after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of second-degree murder in the death of George Floyd in the Minnesota city on May 25, 2020.

On Friday, Garland said, "As I told Goerge Floyd’s family this morning, his death has had an irrevocable impact on the Minneapolis community, on our county, and on the world. His loss is still felt deeply by those who loved and knew him and by many who did not. George Floyd should be alive today."

During the federal investigation, "[w]e observed many MPD officers who did their difficult work with professionalism, courage, and respect," Garland said, but he added that the "patterns and practices we observed made what happen to George Floyd possible."

"A review found numerous incidents in which MPD officers responded to a person’s statement that they ‘could not breathe’ with a version of ‘you can breathe, you are talking right now,'" Garland said.

He added that investigators also found multiple instances of Chauvin using excessive force on others before he killed Floyd. During those instances, MPD officers stood by and did not stop Chauvin, according to Garland.

The attorney general also said the Justice Department found that MPD "often uses excessive force often when no force is necessary, including unjust deadly force and unreasonable use of tasers," and that "MPD officers discharged fi****ms at people without assessing whether the person presents any threat, let alone a threat that would justify deadly force."

He cited a 2017 case in which an unarmed woman – who had called 911 to report a possible sexual assault in a nearby alley – was shot and killed by an officer who said she had "spooked him."

Garland said data also shows MPD stopped Black and Native American people "nearly six times more often than White people in situations that did not result in arrest or citation, given their shares of the population."

He said in one instance, it was discovered that after MPD officers stopped a car carrying four Somali-American teens, one officer told the teens, "Do you remember what happened in 'Black Hawk Down,' when we killed a bunch of your folk? I’m proud of that. We didn’t finish the job over there, if we had, you guys wouldn’t be over here right now."

"Such conduct is deeply disturbing and it erodes the community's trust in law enforcement," he said.

Garland commended the Minneapolis Police Department and city leaders for implementing some reforms already, such as prohibiting all types of neck restraints and banning no-knock search warrants.

"But as the report outlines there is more work to be done. The Justice Department is recommending 28 remedial measures that provide a starting framework to improve public safety, build community trust and comply with the Constitution and federal law," he said. "The city of Minneapolis and MPD have signed an agreement in principle with the Department of Justice. This agreement commits the city and MPD to work with the Justice Department, the community, police officers, and other stakeholders to address the problems that we have identified."

"This agreement commits all parties… to negotiate a legally-binding consent decree with an independent monitor," Garland said.

Mayor Jacob Frey told reporters after Garland spoke that he is "optimistic over the next several years that Minneapolis will be the city the nation looks to for constitutional and trustworthy policing," adding that "we have the power here to affect lasting change, to affect generational change, and we embrace that."