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Michigan officers face investigation over violent arrest

INKSTER, Mich. (AP) — A pastor leading a protest Wednesday outside a Detroit-area police department threatened to shut down the city until white officers are fired for the bloody arrest of a black man who was pulled from his car and repeatedly punched in the head.

The march in Inkster came a day after TV station WDIV aired police dashcam video of the Jan. 28 arrest of Floyd Dent, 57. In it, an officer punches Dent many times in the head while another officer tries to handcuff the motorist, who is on the ground. Dent's face and shirt were bloodied.

Police say Dent disregarded stop signs and refused to pull over, then resisted arrest and threatened them. They also say they found a bag of crack cocaine in his car.

Dent, who said he spent three days in the hospital with broken ribs, blood on his brain and other injuries, told reporters at a news conference that he was defending himself as an officer was "nearly choking me to death."

"I wasn't resisting arrest," he said. "When someone is beating your face, you're going to protect yourself."

Hours earlier, Rev. Charles Williams II and about 50 protesters were told to leave the police department because they were blocking the door. Inkster Police Chief Vicki Yost met them outside and said Michigan State Police would investigate the arrest. She told The Associated Press the department also was conducting an internal probe.

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An emotional Floyd Dent tells his story about his alleged beating by Inkster police in January to me …

"I understand your concern," Yost told Williams. "Again, we're going to let the investigation play out. ... We're going to act accordingly. We're not hiding from this."

Both Dent and Williams say the officers should be fired. Yost told The Associated Press that one is on "administrative duty" but declined to elaborate.

"We will shut Inkster down until we get justice," said Williams, who added that the video "made me sick."

In the police report released by defense attorney Greg Rohl, Inkster officer William Melendez wrote that he was patrolling for "narcotics activity" when he saw Dent's Cadillac pull into a hotel parking lot. He wrote that Dent went into a hotel room for a few minutes, came out and pulled away.

Melendez said in the report that he turned on his lights after Dent failed to use a proper turn signal and disregarded a stop sign. He said Dent failed to stop for some distance. When Dent pulled over, Melendez said he approached the car with his weapon out and raised it when he thought Dent, who was unarmed, was reaching for a weapon.

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An emotional Floyd Dent tells his story about his alleged beating by Inkster police in January to me …

An auxiliary officer pulled Dent to the ground and Melendez put the motorist in a hold and punched him in the face after Melendez said Dent bit him on the arm; Dent denies biting Melendez. Another officer used a stun gun three times to subdue Dent, the report said.

A judge has dismissed charges of fleeing and resisting police, but Dent still faces a drug charge. He says he was visiting a friend, and that the officers planted the drugs in his car. He also said he was tested at the hospital and was "clean" of alcohol or drugs.

In 2004, Melendez and seven other Detroit officers were acquitted of lying, falsifying reports and planting evidence. Federal prosecutors had accused him and another officer of being the "masterminds" of a conspiracy to "run roughshod over the civil rights of the victims."

Inkster, population 25,000, is 73 percent black.

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Karoub reported from Novi, Michigan. Associated Press writer Ed White contributed to this report.

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Report: DEA agents involved in "sex parties"

By Lindsay Dunsmuir

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents had alleged "sex parties" with prostitutes over several years, said a report published on Thursday and stemming from a review of allegations of misconduct by several DEA agents in Colombia.

The alleged parties were funded by local drug cartels, said the report by the Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General, an agency internal watchdog.

The report raised concerns about inadequate reporting of allegations of misconduct and sexual harassment by several law enforcement agencies, including the DEA, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Marshals Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

Among the DEA allegations, 10 agents - an assistant regional director and nine special agents - had the alleged sex parties "at government-leased headquarters," and three of the special agents "were provided money, expensive gifts, and weapons from drug cartel members," according to the report.

After investigation, seven of the agents admitted attending the parties, and were suspended for between two and 10 days.

One special agent was cleared of all wrongdoing, the report said. None of the agents was named in the report.

The inspector general said it investigated allegations of sexual harassment and sexual misconduct between October 2008 and September 2012. The Office of the Inspector General declined to confirm where the alleged "sex parties" took place.

The DEA declined to comment.

The report cited "repeated allegations of DEA Special Agents ... patronizing prostitutes and frequenting a brothel while in an overseas posting."

It came in the wake of a prostitution scandal involving Secret Service agents in Cartagena, Colombia, in 2012 that damaged the agency's straitlaced reputation.

Where there was alleged high-risk sexual misdeeds, security agency personnel often were not told "until long after they occurred or were never informed, even though such behavior presents significant security risks," the report said.

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz called the allegations regarding the DEA agents "stunning" and urged action.

Inspectors also criticized the FBI and DEA for initially refusing to provide unredacted information requested, and then providing information that was "still incomplete."

Department of Justice spokesman Patrick Rodenbush said the department is already working with the agencies "to ensure a zero tolerance policy on sexual harassment and misconduct is enforced and that incidents are properly reported."

(Reporting by Lindsay Dunsmuir, Jeff Mason and Emily Stephenson; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Jonathan Oatis)

The FBI has arrested two men -- one of them a current member of the Illinois National Guard -- for allegedly trying to join ISIS, the brutal terrorist group wreaking havoc in Syriaand Iraq, authorities said.

Army National Guard Specialist Hasan Edmonds, 22, was arrested at ChicagoMidway International Airport as he was trying to fly to Egypt, according to authorities. His cousin, Jonas Edmonds, 29, was arrested at his home.

Both men are from Aurora, Illinois, and will be appearing in federal court later today.

Few Arrests of Americans Who Fought In Syria or Iraq

ISIS: 3 New York Men Arrested in Alleged Plot to Join Terror Group, Feds Say

Hasan Edmonds first came onto the FBI’s radar in late 2014 as he hatched a plan to join ISIS overseas while Jonas Edmonds launched an attack inside the United States, according to the Justice Department.

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US National Guardsman and His Cousin Arrested for Trying to Join ISIS, Authorities Say (ABC News)

This comes a week after a former U.S. Air Force veteran was indicted by federal authorities for allegedly trying to join ISIS.

Tairod Nathan Webster Pugh, 47, who is fromNew Jersey but had been living overseas for years, was secretly arrested two months ago after being deported back to the United States.

On his laptop, FBI agents allegedly discovered more than 180 jihadist propaganda videos and noticed he had been conducting online searches for such phrases as "borders controlled by Islamic state," "kobani border crossing," and "who controls kobani."

Last month, three New York City men were arrested on charges they allegedly conspired to join ISIS but also expressed willingness to carry out attacks on the terror group's behalf in the United States. The men had planned to travel to the Middle East and had also pledged to launch attacks in this country, including one on President Obama or planting a bomb in Coney Island, Brooklyn, federal officials said.

Over the past 18 months, about 30 people have been charged with joining terrorist groups in Syria and Iraq or trying to do so.

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Raw: Saudi Airstrikes Target Yemen Rebel Bases

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — The turmoil in Yemen grew into a regional conflict Thursday, with Saudi Arabia and its allies bombing Shiite rebels allied with Iran, while Egyptian officials said a ground assault will follow the airstrikes.

Iran denounced the Saudi-led air campaign, saying it "considers this action a dangerous step," and oil prices jumped in New York and London after the offensive.

The military action turned impoverished and chaotic Yemen into a new front in the rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Yemen's U.S.-backed President Abed-Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who fled the country Wednesday as the rebels known as Houthis advanced on his stronghold in the southern port of Aden, reappeared Thursday. He arrived by plane in Saudi Arabia's capital of Riyadh, Saudi state TV reported.

Starting before dawn, Saudi warplanes pounded an air base, military bases and anti-aircraft positions in the capital of Sanaa and flattened a number of homes near the airport, killing at least 18 civilians, including six children. Another round followed in the evening, again rocking the city.

Rebel leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi angrily accused the United States, Saudi Arabia and Israel of launching a "criminal, unjust, brutal and sinful" campaign aimed at invading and occupying Yemen.

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People search for survivors under the rubble of houses destroyed by Saudi airstrikes near Sanaa Airp …

"Yemenis won't accept such humiliation," he said in a televised speech Thursday night, calling the Saudis "stupid" and "evil."

The Houthis, who have taken over much of the country, mobilized thousands of supporters to protest the airstrikes, with one speaker lashing out at the Saudi-led coalition and warning that Yemen "will be the tomb" of the aggressors.

Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the U.S. Adel al-Jubeir said at a news conference in Washington on Thursday that Iran has been a major backer of the Houthis, with Revolutionary Guard officers and operatives from the Iran-backed Lebanese militia Hezbollah on the ground advising the rebels.

White House spokesman Eric Schultz told reporters on Air Force One en route to Alabama that President Barack Obama had authorized logistical and intelligence support for the strikes, but that the U.S. is not joining with direct military action.

In the air assault codenamed "Operation Decisive Storm," Saudi Arabia deployed some 100 fighter jets, 150,000 soldiers and other navy units, Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya TV reported. Also involved were aircraft from the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, Morocco, Sudan and Egypt, though it was not clear which carried out actual strikes.

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Map locates Aden, Yemen, and shows areas of al Houthi control; 2c x 2 inches; 46.5 mm x 76 mm; with …

Once the airstrikes have weakened the rebels and their allies in the military forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, a ground invasion of Yemen is planned by Egyptian Saudi and other forces.

The assault will come from Saudi Arabia and by landings on Yemen's coasts along the Red and Arabian seas, according to three Egyptian military and security officials.

Three to five Egyptian troop carriers are stationed offshore, they said, although the number of troops was not specified, and the timing of the operation was not given.

The aim is not to occupy Yemen but to weaken the Houthis and their allies until they enter negotiations for power-sharing, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk about the plans with the press.

Egypt is "prepared for participation with naval, air and ground forces if necessary," Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri said at a gathering of Arab foreign ministers preparing for a weekend summit in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

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People search for survivors under the rubble of houses destroyed by Saudi airstrikes near Sanaa Airp …

Saudi Arabia and fellow Sunni-led allies in the Gulf and the Middle East view the Houthi takeover as an attempt by Iran to establish a proxy on the kingdom's southern border. Iran and the Houthis deny that Tehran arms the rebel movement, though it says it provides diplomatic and humanitarian support.

The Saudis and their Gulf allies on Thursday asked members of the United Nations Security Council for a resolution that would impose an arms embargo on the rebels and impose financial sanctions on individual members.

The dramatic escalation of the conflict underscores the political complexities for Washington in the Middle East:

— A traditional ally of Saudi Arabia, the U.S. is trying to negotiate a nuclear deal with Iran by the end of the month.

— In Iraq, the U.S. and Iran are implicitly on the same side — helping the Shiite-led Baghdad government battle the Sunni extremists of the Islamic State group, although Tehran and Washington are avoiding any actual contact.

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A Houthi Shiite fighter stand guard as people search for survivors under the rubble of houses destro …

— In Yemen, the U.S. is backing Gulf Arab states against the Shiite rebels allied to Iran. At the same time, the al-Qaida branch in the country — the target of a U.S. drone campaign — is also fighting the Shiite rebels.

Iran condemned the airstrikes that left "innocent Yemenis wounded and dead, and considers this action a dangerous step," said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham. "This invasion will bear no result but expansion of terrorism and extremism throughout the whole region."

Yemen plays a crucial geographic role in the world's oil supply, with tankers that go through the Suez Canal having to navigate around the country. The turmoil caused the price of benchmark U.S. crude to jump $2.22, closing at $51.43 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils, rose $2.71 to $59.19 a barrel in London.

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain said their action aimed to "protect" Yemenis from Houthis who are "a tool in the hands of foreign powers."

In recent months, the Houthis have swept out of their northern strongholds to take over Sanaa and much of the north.

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People flee after a gunfire on a street in the southern port city of Aden, Yemen, Wednesday, March 2 …

The Houthis have succeeded in their advance with help from Saleh, the autocrat who ruled Yemen for more than 30 years until he was ousted after a 2011 Arab Spring popular uprising. He remained in the country, enjoying the loyalty of some of the strongest military units, which undermined Hadi. Those units are now fighting alongside the Houthis.

The airstrikes appeared to give new spirit to military units and militiamen loyal to Hadi. In Aden, pro-Hadi militiamen battled in two districts with Houthi fighters backed by Saleh's forces. Bodies of slain fighters were seen in the streets, as shops closed and residents sheltered in their houses, witnesses said.

Houthis lashed out in Sanaa as their fighters stormed the offices of at least three TV stations and an independent newspaper they consider close to their opponents. Among them was the Qatari-owned Al-Jazeera TV station, which reported that militiamen stormed its office, broke surveillance cameras and damaged equipment.

Hadi had hoped to cling to power with the backing of some police and military units and allied militiamen. But as the Houthis and their allies bore down on Aden, Hadi fled, according to security officials.

A Yemeni security official said Hadi had gone by boat Wednesday to the Yemeni port of al-Mukalla in the western province of Hadramawt, where he spent the night. He drove over the border into Oman the next day and was flown to Riyadh. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.

Hadi is expected to attend an Arab summit in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Saturday. Foreign ministers preparing for the meeting agreed on a draft program to create a new joint Arab defense force to intervene in regional crises, including possibly Yemen. The Egyptian security and military officials said the force is planned to include some 40,000 men backed by jet fighters, warships and light armor.

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Hendawi reported from Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. Sarah el Deeb and Maggie Michael contributed to this report from Cairo, Egypt.

By Mary Wisniewski

(Reuters) - Indiana Governor Mike Pence on Thursday signed into law a controversial religious freedom bill that could allow businesses and individuals to deny services to gays, in a move that prompted protests from some business leaders.

Supporters of the bill, which was passed overwhelmingly by both chambers of the Republican-controlled state legislature, say it will keep the government from forcing business owners to act against strongly held religious beliefs. Opponents say it is discriminatory and broader than other state religious freedom laws.

Social conservatives have pushed for such laws following court rulings legalizing same-sex marriage and anticipating a U.S. Supreme Court ruling this year on whether states can ban same-sex marriage.

“The Constitution of the United States and the Indiana Constitution both provide strong recognition of the freedom of religion but today, many people of faith feel their religious liberty is under attack by government action," Pence said in a statement after signing the bill.

Legal experts say the Religious Freedom Restoration Act sets a legal standard that will allow people of all faiths to bring religious freedom claims, but opinions differ over its impact.

Salesforce Inc Chief Executive Officer Marc Benioff said on Twitter that his San Francisco-based company would cancel programs that require travel to Indiana.

San Francisco Mayor Edwin Lee condemned the law and barred city employees from traveling to Indiana at government expense unless essential for public health and safety.

Indiana Chamber of Commerce President and Chief Executive Kevin Brinegar called the law "entirely unnecessary" and said it would bring the state unwanted attention.

Gay rights groups worry it will be used by businesses that do not want to provide services for gay weddings. Gay marriage became legal in Indiana last year following an appeals court ruling.

Pence said that the bill is "not about discrimination" and that 19 states have similar statutes.

Jennifer Pizer, senior counsel for Lambda Legal, a New York-based national gay rights legal group, said Indiana's law was broader than other state religious freedom laws in giving businesses religious rights. She compared it to a bill Republican Arizona Governor Jan Brewer vetoed this year due to concerns it could harm the economy.

"It is a signal to those who want to discriminate that they have greater leeway to do so," Pizer said.

But Indiana University Maurer School of Law professor Daniel Conkle, who supports gay rights, compared the law to a Pennsylvania statute that prevented Philadelphia from barring a group of churches from feeding homeless people in parks.

Conkle said an Indiana caterer who objects to serving a gay wedding could use the law to have his day in court but would be unlikely to prevail.

The Republican mayor of Indianapolis criticized the act as sending the wrong message. "We are a diverse city and I want everyone who visits and lives in Indy to feel comfortable here," said Mayor Greg Ballard.

National Collegiate Athletic Association President Mark Emmert expressed concern about how the law could impact athletes and visitors attending next week's men's Final Four basketball tournament.

(Reporting by Mary Wisniewski; Editing by Lisa Lambert, Jonathan Oatis, Bill Trott and Cynthia Osterman)

Indiana religious objections law stirs debate

Businesses and groups worry that it could lead to legalizing discrimination against gay people. Governor: 'Misunderstanding'