Ex-NYPD Detective Faces Lesser Charge, Mississippi Lawsuit, LSU Rape Case

Imi Brown (0:05)

A retired NYPD detective accused of killing a man on the George Washington Bridge is facing a lesser charge than expected. Now the victim's family is demanding answers.

SPEAKER_2 (0:15)

I am upset, I'm hurt, and I'm not pleased with this court system. But in God we will trust.

Imi Brown (0:26)

And a Mississippi town is back in court over its police department just days after settling a civil rights case with the Justice Department. This time it's over something a man was doing with his cell phone.

And President Trump is taking aim at LeBron James. This time something LeBron did during the national anthem has a president calling him a disgrace.

SPEAKER_3 (0:46)

Unrelated to the game, how do you feel again that Trump tried to take shots at a speech tonight while you were playing as well?

LeBron James (0:53)

Yeah, the slow news day at the office, you know.

Imi Brown (0:56)

It's Monday, October 26

From the Black Effect Podcast Network, I'm Imi Brown. This is Front Page. And here are the day's biggest stories. Stay with me.

The family of a New York man shot and killed on the George Washington Bridge wants to know why the man accused of killing him is no longer facing a murder charge. The victim is 46-year-old Caron Irving. He was on his way home from work when prosecutors say he had a close call with another driver while changing lanes onto the bridge. That other driver was Victor Romero, a retired NYPD detective. Prosecutors say both men hit their brakes to avoid crashing. But instead of letting it go, they said Romero chased Irving in his black Range Rover driving up right behind him. Surveillance video shows Romero tailgating Irving for allegedly firing a gun into his car and driving away.

Irving was killed. Now, here's why his family is upset. Romero was originally arrested on a murder charge. But when he appeared in court, he was charged with manslaughter instead. And there's an important difference. Murder generally involves intentionally killing someone, while manslaughter can involve killing without the same level of intent required for murder. Both are serious crimes, but manslaughter generally carries a lighter punishment. Irving's family say they don't understand why the charges were changed, especially given what prosecutors say happened on that bridge.

SPEAKER_2 (2:25)

I am upset. I'm hurt. And I'm not pleased with this court system. But in God, we will trust. Corona was on his way home from work, hard days work and stayed over time.

Yet you had a retired police officer intentionally fired a bullet and killed him. And instead of it being murder, it's called manslaughter.

But again, in God, we will trust.

Imi Brown (3:05)

The family's attorney, Keith White, says he believes Romero received special treatment because he used to be a police officer. White claims Romero's identity was scrubbed from the internet before his arrest. He says Romero went to work the day after the shooting and was later allowed to walk into the police precinct on his own rather than being taken into custody.

White called it quote, referential treatment.

Keith White (3:27)

So Victor Romero's complete identity was scrubbed from the internet prior to him being arrested. Now, we know that there are cameras every 25 feet on that George Washington bridge. How long do you think that it took for NYPD to identify whose vehicle it was and who is driving? However, Mr. Romero was allowed to go to work the next day.

And then he was allowed to come in to a precinct to ask questions. That's preferential treatment.

Did you see him do a perp walk in there just now? That was a modified perp walk.

Imi Brown (4:09)

Quaron Irvine leaves behind his wife Patricia and their two children, Leah and Hiro. And a GoFundMe page has been set up for the family. There's a simple message about the kind of father and husband he was. Quote, his family was his world.

And a small Mississippi town that just settled a major civil rights case with the Texas Department is being sued again over its police department. The town is Lexington, Mississippi, and this latest lawsuit involves a 29-year-old man who says he was arrested simply for recording police officers with his cell phone. His name is Terrence Gibson. The Southern Poverty Law Center and the ACLU of Mississippi filed the lawsuit on his behalf. And here's what they say happened. Back in May of 2024, Gibson was using his cell phone to record officers while they were working. According to the lawsuit, he was standing a safe distance away and was not interfering with what police were doing. But the lawsuit says Officer Robert Boyd approached him with a taser, threw him to the ground and arrested him. Gibson was charged with resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. He was initially found guilty in court. But when the case went before a higher court, a judge threw out both charges for good. And here's why this matters. In general, people have a First Amendment right to record police officers doing a job in public as long as they aren't interfering with the police work. The lawsuit argues that's exactly what Gibson was doing, and that officers violated his rights by arresting him.