Crime

The teenager whose video was seen 'round the world of George Floyd being murdered by Derek Chauvin has spoken on the guilty verdict that just came down ... and she's elated.

17-year-old Darnella Frazier just reacted to the news Chauvin was found guilty on all 3 counts, and now faces a max sentence of 40 years. She says, "I just cried so hard😩This last hour my heart was beating so fast, I was so anxious, anxiety bussing through the roof. But to know GUILTY ON ALL 3 CHARGES !!!"

Darnella shared her emotions on Facebook ... the same platform where she first posted the infamous 9 minute-plus video, which was the critical piece of evidence in Chauvin's trial.

She added, "THANK YOU GOD THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU😭🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽George Floyd we did it!!🥺❤️❤️❤️❤️justice has been served✊🏽"

Darnella elaborated even further on IG, saying ... "My heart goes out to George Floyd’s family!❤️🙏🏽Although no amount of charges will bring back a loved one, justice was served and his murderer will pay the price. We did it❤️❤️✊🏽#justicewasserved."

It's no exaggeration to say Chauvin's conviction is due in large part to the fact Darnella captured every painful minute his knee was on George Floyd's neck ... nearly 10 minutes.

Her video was played almost daily during Chauvin's trial and, in the end, clearly helped the jury reach its unanimous decision in under 11 hours.

It's been a long road for Darnella -- you might recall, she was going through a hard time in the immediate aftermath of the video going viral -- with some people questioning her motives and even asking why she didn't do more. She and her fam told us she might need therapy.

Eric Nelson is defending Derek Chauvin in trial -- but another attorney with the same name as Chauvin's lawyer is getting mistaken for him... and it's causing a whole lot of grief, and potential danger.

Eric C. Nelson -- a Minneapolis-based family law attorney -- tells TMZ ... people think he's the Eric Nelson defending Chauvin against murder charges right now. It's easy to see how this happens -- same names, same profession and practicing in the same area.

Still, Nelson tells us he wants to set the record straight ... because the deluge of hate and harassment he's getting a result of the mistaken identity is becoming overwhelming, both personally and professionally.

We're told Nelson has been getting BLOWN-UP lately -- both online and over the phone. He says about 95% of calls coming in these days are from randos who think he's the other Nelson, and just wanna talk about the case. Nelson says he's also getting nonstop hate mail.

Be it via email or phone, Nelson tells us he's getting a mix of unsolicited advice from would-be experts ... plus, a ton of hateful voicemails too.

Speaking of those ... TMZ has obtained samples of the messages being left on Nelson's phone, and they're ominous to say the least. People have called him a "piece of s***" and levied veiled threats against his practice ... suggesting he's running a crooked business.

Nelson says he reported that latter message to cops, because he found it a bit too dubious and threatening -- but nothing ever came of it. Adding insult to injury -- Nelson tells us his ratings online have taken a gut punch because of the false assumption he's THAT Eric Nelson.

He says his Google stars went from 5 to 1 in a heartbeat -- but, fortunately, Google saw it was a big misunderstanding and fixed the issue themselves.

As for what Nelson's doing to deal ... he's been sending out automated replies to make it clear he's NOT the Eric Nelson everyone's coming for. His website even blares that warning. Oh, and Nelson's also considering tweaking his biz name to feature his middle name, Carlyle.

Kendall Jenner can hopefully breathe a little easier ... 'cause a man she alleged threatened to kill her has just been ordered to stay the hell away for at least 5 years.

The man, Malik Bowker, was ordered by the judge at a Tuesday hearing to stay at least 100 yards away from Kendall. That includes staying away from her, her home, work, vehicle. He's also prohibited from attempting to obtain her address going forward.

Bowker can also have ZERO contact with her physically ... and no electronic contact as well. That means no snail mail, e-mail, text messages, etc. Zilch. The order's in effect for 5 years. Bowker did not appear at the hearing and Kendall appeared via phone, represented by her attorney.

As we first reported ... Kendall beelined it to court after alleging Bowker traveled across the country to gun her down. She had claimed an LAPD detective told her about the alleged plan. What's more ... Kendall claimed cops told her Bowker's plans included buying an illegal firearm to shoot her ... and then himself.

The judge presiding over Derek Chauvin's murder trial is openly chiding Rep. Maxine Waters for seemingly stoking unrest over the case ... and even said she's opened the door for Chauvin to appeal the verdict.

Defense attorney Eric Nelson brought up the issue after closing arguments wrapped and the jury was ushered away ... griping to Judge Cahill that Rep. Waters' now-viral remarks from this weekend might've possibly tainted the jury ... and might sway their verdict.

ICYMI ... Rep. Waters was on the ground in Minnesota a couple days ago marching with protesters, and said she and the people of Minnesota are banking on a guilty verdict and wouldn't just accept manslaughter. She said if that didn't happen, she encouraged people to stay in the streets and get more confrontational.

Some took that as an "incitement of violence."

Nelson asked for a mistrial, based on Waters' remarks, but the judge didn't go that far ... telling Nelson he had faith jurors had followed his instructions up to this point in avoiding the news and talk of this case. Nelson's point was that there's no realistic way to avoid it ... especially because the jury hadn't been sequestered until today when it started deliberations.

Again, Cahill wouldn't bite ... but did express frustration at Rep. Waters, saying he wished public officials would stop talking about the case ... and even told Nelson it's possible Rep. Waters' words could be grounds for him to appeal a guilty verdict, and get a new trial.

Houston Rockets player Sterling Brown was the victim of a late night attack on Sunday evening and suffered injuries to his face, the team has announced.

Yeah, this is wild.

26-year-old Brown -- the same guy who was unnecessarily manhandled and tased by Milwaukee PD officers back in 2018 -- says he doesn't not know who ran up on him Sunday evening ... but it sounds terrifying.

Here's the statement from the Rockets:

"Last night, Sterling Brown was the victim of an assault. He has no prior knowledge of or interaction with the assailants. He suffered facial lacerations but will make a full recovery. Sterling is not playing tonight because of his prior knee injury."

The Rockets did not specify where the assault took place -- but the team is currently in Miami to play the Heat on Monday night.

As we previously reported, Brown reached a $750k settlement with the City of Milwaukee for the 2018 tasing incident, which was captured on video.

In addition to the money, the City of Milwaukee agreed to issue a statement admitting they violated Brown's constitutional rights.

Brown signed with the Rockets in November 2020.

Story developing ...

Derek Chauvin's defense attorney says his actions as a police officer were reasonable if one takes into account the full scope of George Floyd's arrest ... not just the notorious 9 minutes and 29 seconds he held his knee on Floyd's neck.

That's the crux of attorney Eric Nelson's closing argument for Chauvin, who Nelson says had to take into account the 17 minutes of action that led up to the 9-plus minutes, upon which he claims the prosecution is unfairly focusing.

According to Nelson ... Chauvin used his training and instincts as a police officer to respond to the situation in a way that was reasonable, arguing that his use of force on Floyd was justified.

However, Nelson also delved into the difficulty of interpreting the rules regarding "use of force," telling the jury it's incredibly hard to analyze, and once again ... can't be limited to 9 minutes and 29 seconds.

Nelson argued Chauvin's case needs to be examined from the point of view of an officer who is human and therefore "capable of making mistakes in highly stressful situations."

He adds ... "In this case, the totality of the circumstances that were known to a reasonable police officer in the precise moment the force was used demonstrates that this was an authorized use of force, as unattractive as it may be."

During his attorney's closing argument -- which lasted more than 2 hours before the judge let the jury break for lunch -- Chauvin removed his mask for an extended period of time. It was a bit odd, considering he'd been masked up all trial.

As we reported, the prosecution gave its closing argument earlier Monday, and stated Chauvin "had to know" he killed Floyd ... and that it was not an accident.

The NYPD made the point traffic stops can go south fast -- but in doing so, they appear to have confused H2O for a harmful substance ... that's what the Internet's saying, anyway.

The department's news division posted a video Saturday that shows body cam footage of an NYPD officer making a "routine traffic stop" as they dubbed it. The cop asks for license/registration, and then the man gets out of the car ... to the confusion of the officer.

Before you know it, the guy chucks some type of liquid into the cop's mug, who stumbles back ... clearly shocked by what just happened. You hear his partner seem to ask what it was he threw, but then the video cuts out before you can see what happens next.

Now, NYPD claims this suspect doused the cop with a "chemical" before fleeing, tossing a Molotov cocktail ... before finally being arrested. They add the officer wasn't hurt.

Internet sleuths quickly attempted to pick this apart, however, and pulled screen grabs from the moment this guy threw whatever it was into the cop's face ... and at first glance, they're saying it looks an awful lot like a cup full of ice water without a lid or top -- nothing more.

Unclear if that is, in fact, what it was ... but to us, it does look like agua. Technically, that is a "chemical" in that it's made up of elements from the periodic table ... but the police make it seem like bleach or something that was tossed here. The NYPD hasn't elaborated.

Folks are also questioning their "Molotov cocktail" description ... wondering if it was actually what you'd consider a traditional bottle firebomb, or if it was just the container seen in this video. The NYPD posted an additional photo of what they say is a Molotov cocktail recovered from a traffic stop, but they don't directly connect it to this suspect/sitch here.

We've reached out to the NYPD for clarification ... so far, no word back.

Deshaun Watson claims at least 5 of his accusers performed massage therapy on the QB after alleged sexual misconduct incidents ... and the NFL star believes it's proof the women are lying.

Watson just filed new court docs responding to the 22 female massage therapists who have filed lawsuits against him. And, now that he knows the identities of his accusers, he's going after them one by one.

"In the few days since Mr. Watson has learned the identity of his accusers, his legal team has already uncovered evidence that numerous allegations in this onslaught of cases are simply not true or accurate," Watson's attorney, Rusty Hardin, says in the court docs.

Hardin lays out 6 points which he believes will help to prove his client's innocence ...

--"After the massage therapy sessions with Mr. Watson, 8 plaintiffs bragged about, praised, and were excited about massaging Mr. Watson"

--"7 plaintiffs willingly worked or offered to work with Mr. Watson after their alleged incidents"

--"3 plaintiffs lied about the number of sessions they actually had with Mr. Watson"

--"3 plaintiffs lied about their alleged trauma and resulting harm"

--"5 plaintiffs told others they wanted to get money out of Mr. Watson"

--"5 plaintiffs have scrubbed or entirely deleted their social media accounts"

Hardin clearly believes any woman who would work with Watson after suffering such trauma during an alleged sexual misconduct incident is lying.

Hardin claims he has proof that 5 accusers "chose to work with Mr. Watson even after they claim he acted offensively and aggressively in prior sessions."

"This, of course, raises the question of why they would agree to follow-up therapy sessions when they claim their experiences made them feel like they 'wanted to vomit' and caused them to 'no longer accept massage clients, for fear of a repeat of this type of harassment.'”

As for Hardin's claim that some of the accusers are scrubbing their social media accounts, he believes they're doing it to rework their images.

Watson names four accusers and says, "Before their names became public, their accounts contained pictures that are inconsistent with the image they portray through their petitions."

There was another officer-involved shooting in Minnesota this weekend, but it wasn't at all the kind that people have been protesting over ... not even close.

Burnsville Police say their officers first encountered a suspected car thief Sunday driving a vehicle with stolen plates, which he crashed. BPD says they were notified this same individual allegedly went on to carjack a female at gunpoint later in the day ... and then led police on a wild chase, all while he fired at officers who were in hot pursuit -- so claim the cops.

Part of that incident was captured by a bystander ... who filmed the suspect jumping out of the vehicle, and proceeding to run toward a highway with cruisers hot on his tail. In the clip, it appears the man attempts to carjack yet another vehicle on the road.

The white SUV ended up swerving out of the way, and police units finally caught up to him. The video freezes at that point ... presumably, that's when he was shot. BPD says the suspect was shooting at cops and officers returned fire, and the suspect ended up dead.

The officers involved in the shooting were placed on administrative leave, and the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is investigating ... standard operating procedure.

Now, here's where things get interesting ... a local reporter for FOX9 -- who was covering protests at the Governor's mansion in St. Paul Sunday -- posted video of a group of demonstrators taking a knee in silence, this after they'd apparently heard there was another officer-involved shooting. Not just that ... but she says they planned to head down there too.

Later, she followed-up ... tweeting, "Just an update on this, protestors said later they're heading back to Brooklyn Center because they need more information about what happened in Burnsville first." In other words ... it doesn't look like they had any real info from the jump -- kneeling for a guy cops say was going full GTA.

Lil Durk's concert was cut short Saturday night after gunshots rang out concert in Phoenix at the Celebrity Theatre.

Durk was performing at the Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix when the crowd of 10,000 heard gunfire erupt. The crowd scrambled as people fought to flee the venue.

The Phoenix PD says they couldn't locate anyone who was directly hit by bullets, and reports that one woman was grazed in the leg by a bullet are not true. Phoenix Police say It was reported to their team that the injury was not from gunfire. A few people suffered non-life-threatening injuries from attempting to fleeing the area. This is an ongoing investigation.

Durk seemed upset about something when he posted, "10k people sold out and no drama stop tryna stop us." He posted this before the gunfire but during the concert. It's unclear the drama to which he was referring.

The event was tagged, "Smurkchella," as Lil Durk and other rappers hit the stage.

Various videos were posted showing the mad dash to the exits as the crowd tried to get out of harm's way. Chairs were knocked over, people screaming ... the works.

The show abruptly stopped and that was the end of it.

So far, no suspects are in custody.

A massive police presence has converged on a mall in Omaha, Nebraska -- where another shooting just took place.

The details are scarce at this point, but one thing is clear ... Omaha PD is telling the public to steer clear of the Westroads Mall, where a legion of police cruisers and ambulances have arrived. OPD says there are 2 suspects at large, and that cops are doing a sweep of the facility out of precaution. So far, one person has been transported in critical condition.

Word of the shooting first started percolating on Twitter, where a local reporter said she saw people running for their lives ... but stopped short of saying she heard any shots herself. Another person confirmed people were barreling out of the mall, but with no obvious signs of a shooting just yet. Still, it's clear that one did, in fact, occur.

The mere fact officers were loading up semi-automatics in tactical gear and preparing for some type of gunfight indicates this might have been an active shooter situation at one point.

There has been a slew of shootings recently since restrictions have eased over the pandemic.

We're trying to get more details on what led up to the latest incident -- but haven't been able to get through to anyone. OPD says a press release will be sent out soon detailing the narrative.

Lori Loughlin's husband is free to leave the house earlier than expected ... it's only one day, but it's better than nothing.

Mossimo Giannulli was set to be released from home confinement April 17, which is a Saturday, but it's common policy to grant release on the last preceding weekday if their freedom date falls on a weekend.

So, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Lori's hubby was eligible to get off home confinement Friday, April 16 ... which is what just happened.

As we reported ... Mossimo was originally supposed to be locked up behind bars until the 17th, but got sprung a couple weeks early to serve out the remainder of his sentence at home.

Of course, he tried to get a much earlier release in January over COVID-19 concerns, but the judge shot him down, claiming his worries weren't enough to justify it.

This happened about a month after Lori got released -- just after Christmas -- after serving nearly 2 months for her role in the notorious college admissions scandal.

As you'll recall ... Lori pled guilty last May to 1 count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud. She and Mossimo were accused of paying $500k in bribes to get their daughters into USC and faking a photo that made it look like the girls were college-caliber rowers.

Cariol Horne -- the Buffalo police officer who was fired for trying to stop a chokehold employed by a fellow cop -- says George Floyd's death demonstrates how fearful police are of crossing the thin blue line ... even when they know it's the right thing to do.

Cariol joined "TMZ Live" Friday on the heels of winning a ruling this week to get her pension and back pay reinstated, after she was fired for the 2006 incident in which she intervened during the arrest of Neal Mack ... stopping a white officer from choking him.

Horne tells us she cried for 2 days after Floyd's death because it didn't have to happen, but the case brought to light what she dealt with 15 years ago. She adds that it shows there needs to be systemic change in how police behave when they witness brutality among their peers.

She's already done her part to make it happen, not just with the 2006 incident, but by writing legislation that's been passed into law in Buffalo which obligates officers to stop police brutality, and legally protects those who do.

It's called Cariol's Law, and she's pushing for it to become the norm in the U.S. ... so police can actually play their part in ending police brutality.

As for her legal victory this week, Horne believes the current climate factored in ... as she says people are finally recognizing that police brutality is simply a progression from the days of slavery and segregation.

Deadly mass shootings in America continue at a demoralizing pace, the latest coming out of a FedEx facility in Indianapolis ... leaving 8 dead and an undetermined number wounded.

The gunman opened fire both outside and inside the facility near the Indianapolis Airport late Thursday night, creating a terrifying scene of people running for cover before the shooter turned the gun on himself and took his own life.

Cops were called to the scene around 11 PM, and say the gunman parked outside, got out of his vehicle and quickly began shooting ... first in the parking lot and then made his way in the building. It happened fast -- 1 to 2 minutes, suggesting he used some sort of semi-automatic weapon.

Along with 8 people killed, there are at least 5 others reportedly hospitalized with injuries from the shooting, including one in critical condition. It appears some of the walking wounded took themselves to a hospital, but the number hasn't been determined.

FedEx says it's "shocked and saddened" by the tragic shooting and loss of its team members, and is sending "heartfelt sympathies" to all of those affected.

Sadly, this type of story is hardly shocking to wake up to in the U.S. anymore -- as disgusting as that sounds -- because there have been deadly mass shootings in more than 20 cities in just the past month, as COVID restrictions subside.

Three men in hoods broke into soccer star Chris Smalling's home in Italy on Thursday night ... held him at gunpoint and robbed him of his watches, jewelry and other valuables.

The horrifying incident all went down sometime before 5 AM in Rome, according to multiple reports, when Smalling was jarringly awoken by the assailants.

Per the reports, the men forced Smalling to go to his safe and hand them Rolex watches, cash and a bunch of his other prized possessions.

The men reportedly took off after that ... and Smalling -- who was at the home with his wife and son -- quickly called authorities.

Cops arrived and launched an investigation ... though no arrests have been made yet.

According to reports, Smalling and his family were unharmed during the incident ... though the 31-year-old was obviously emotionally shaken up by it all.

"Thinking about you @ChrisSmalling and your lovely family," Smalling's former teammate, Marcus Rashford, tweeted after learning of the incident on Friday.

"So sorry to wake up to the news this morning. Can’t imagine how you’re feeling but I hope you’re ok."

Smalling's Roma team had played earlier Thursday night ... but the star defender did not participate in the game due to a knee injury.

Adam Toledo was holding a gun mere milliseconds before a Chicago cop fatally shot the 13-year-old ... that's according to Chicago PD, which released more video footage to support that version of the tragedy.

The new videos provide a complete picture of what cops were responding to on March 29 -- a report of shots fired. The new footage shows Adam and a 21-year-old man walking on the block when the shots are heard ringing out ... and then running afterward.

Most importantly, though, police have frozen the moment the officer caught up to Adam in an alley -- and the enhanced video shows the teen was holding something as the cop yelled, "Show me your f**king hands!" CPD says this is when Adam tossed the weapon and then -- fractions of a second later -- turned to raise his hands.

The Toledo family's attorney, Adeena Weiss Ortiz, acknowledged Adam did appear to have a weapon, but during a Thursday news conference added, "He tossed the gun. If he had a gun, he tossed it. The officer said, 'Show me your hands.' He complied. He turned around."

The first body cam footage CPD released on Thursday did not clearly show the weapon in Adam's hand -- but police say the new video shows why the officer fired ... he saw the gun, and believed Adam was turning with it in his hand.