American teens accused of fatally stabbing Italian cop after drug deal gone wrong - Fox News

Two American teenagers have reportedly confessed to stabbing and killing an Italian police officer who was investigating the theft of a bag after a drug deal gone wrong in Rome.

Italian media reported that a detention order was issued for the suspects, identified as Gabriel Christian Natale Hjorth and Lee Elder Finnegan. They are said to have both been born in San Francisco in 2000.

Lee Elder Finnegan (left) and Gabriel Christian Natale Hjorth (right) are accused of fatally stabbing an Italian police officer after a drug deal gone wrong. (Polizia Di Stato)

They are accused of killing Carabinieri paramilitary officer Mario Cerciello Rega, 35, who was reportedly stabbed multiple times.

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The two American teens – believed to be 19 – allegedly snatched a drug dealer’s bag with the phone and cash after he swindled them by giving them aspirin instead of the cocaine they sought, according to reports. The owner of the bag called his phone and one of the thieves allegedly offered to sell the bag back to him for 100 euros ($112).

After they agreed to meet for the exchange, the alleged drug dealer called police.

In this photo released by Carabinieri, is portrayed officer Mario Cerciello Rega, 35, who was stabbed to death in Rome early Friday, July 26, 2019. Italian police said Saturday that two 19-year-old American tourists have confessed to fatally stabbing the Italian paramilitary policeman who was investigating the theft of a bag with a cellphone.

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Two plainclothes paramilitary police officers arrived at the scene of the meeting around 3 a.m.

During a scuffle, Rega – who had just returned from his honeymoon with his longtime sweetheart a few days prior - was stabbed 8 times. He died a short while later in hospital.

Prosecutors said that Finnegan is the main suspect, accusing him of fatally stabbing Rega. Meanwhile, Hjorth is accused of using his bare hands to strike the officer’s partner, who wasn’t seriously injured in the attack.

A car of the Italian Carabinieri, paramilitary police, is parked near a blood stain, the site where Carabiniere Vice Brigadier Mario Cerciello Rega was stabbed to death by a thief in Rome on Friday. (Angelo Carconi/ANSA Via AP)

The Carabinieri said video surveillance cameras and witnesses allowed them to quickly identify the two Americans and find them in a hotel near the scene of the slaying. Police said the pair were “ready to leave” Italy when they were found.

In their hotel room, police found a long knife – possibly the one used to attack Rega – hidden behind the panel in the room’s ceiling. Police also said they found clothes the two purportedly wore during the attack.

A man who was allegedly questioned in the case of a slain Carabinieri policeman is seen on a Carabinieri car as it leaves a police station, in Rome, early Saturday morning, July 27, 2019. A young American tourist has confessed to fatally stabbing an Italian paramilitary policeman who was investigating the theft of a bag and cellphone before dawn Friday, the Italian news agency ANSA and state radio reported. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

The Carabinieri statement said the two Americans admitted responsibility after being questioned by prosecutors and faced with “hard evidence.”

"It was me, but I didn't think he was a policeman," Finnegan reportedly told investigators. "I was afraid of being cheated again."

Both suspects are also being investigated for attempted extortion.

Finnegan's lawyer, Francesco Codini, told the Associated Press that his client exercised his right not to respond to question during a detention hearing held Saturday in the Rome jail where the two teens are being kept. Hjorth's lawyer wasn't immediately available for comment.

Two Italian Carabinieri, paramilitary police officers, stand near a blood stain, the site where their colleague, Carabiniere Vice Brigadier Mario Cerciello Rega, was stabbed to death by a thief in Rome. (Associated Press)

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Rega was described as generous and kind by people who knew him He regularly escorted ailing people to a religious shrine in the town of Loreto, his station commander, Sandro Ottaviani, told reporters. His funeral will take place on Monday.

Authorities said the suspected drug dealer has not been caught.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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2019-07-27 16:12:25Z
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Hundreds detained during opposition election protest in Moscow - CNN

Thousands of Russians pledged to attend the protest in the capital Saturday, after Russian authorities banned a number of independent and opposition candidates from taking part in municipal elections in September.

Authorities stated that the candidates were barred from running because they had failed to obtain a sufficient number of signatures to be put on the ballot paper. Opposition politicians and supporters have rejected this allegation.

The decision has sparked a number of protests across Russia this month, including the largest demonstration in recent years last weekend, when 22,000 people took to the streets. Protesters threatened to hold an even larger demonstration Saturday, which was subsequently declared illegal by the authorities.

Hundreds of riot police were witnessed preparing for the protests Saturday morning, and were later seen linking arms to form a line, pushing protesters away from Moscow's City Hall.

OVD-info, a Russian democracy monitoring organization, said that at least 561 people have been detained thus far during the protests.

CNN witnessed clashes between protesters and police, with at least two protesters left with bloodied faces.

Moscow police said that 3,500 people took part in the protests, including 700 journalists and bloggers.

"A significant number of detainees are not residents of Moscow. All detainees are brought to the territorial police units for investigation," the State Ministry of Internal Affairs in Moscow said in the statement.

A number of arrests and raids were also carried out on opposition candidates in the days and hours leading up to the protest.

Alexei Navalny, Russia's most outspoken opposition figure, was among those detained during the week, and was later sentenced to 30 days in prison for allegedly violating the country's protest laws by calling for the demonstrations Saturday.

Navalny said on Instagram that he was detained as he left his apartment to go on a jog. "People are right when they say that sport is not always good for your health," he quipped. "I have been detained and am now at a police station wearing shorts like a stupid man."

Dmitry Gudkov, a fellow disqualified candidate, was also detained hours before Saturday's protest. He had previously claimed that the country's future was at stake due to the barring of opposition candidates.

"If we lose now, elections will cease to exist as a political instrument," he said. "What we're talking about is whether it's legal to participate in politics today in Russia, we're talking about the country we're going to live in."

Ilya Yashin, an ally of Navalny, reported on Facebook that he had also been detained hours before the demonstration following a raid on his house, and had been taken out of the Russian capital.

Other prominent activists to be detained include Kira Yarmysh, Navalyny's spokeswoman, Lyubov Sobo and Ivan Zhdanov.

Moscow's mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, warned on Twitter that police would react decisively to restore public order.

"According to information from law enforcement authorities, serious provocations are being prepared which pose a threat to the safety, lives and health of people," he said. "Attempts at ultimatums, disorder will not lead to anything good. Order in the city will be maintained."

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2019-07-27 14:30:00Z
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Russian Police Arrest Hundreds at Moscow Election Protest - TIME

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2019-07-27 14:24:27Z
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Italian officer Mario Rega killed: 2 American teens "confessed their deeds" after officer stabbed to death, Rome police say - CBS News

Two American teenagers have been implicated in an Italian policeman's murder and are being held pending formal charges, Italy's Carabinieri police force said Saturday.

The two, both 19 years old, "confessed their deeds" after an Italian paramilitary policeman was fatally stabbed in Rome on Friday while investigating the theft of a bag with a cellphone. Elder Finnegan Lee and Christian Gabriel Natale Hjorth are being detained for aggravated murder and attempted extortion, correspondent Seth Doane reports.

A 35-year-old newlywed Carabinieri officer, Mario Rega, was stabbed to death on a Rome street early Friday morning. The Carabinieri said their investigation reveals that shortly before the murder, the two young men stole a backpack from an Italian man, and then threatened him during a phone call that they would not return the backpack unless they were given 100 euros and a gram of cocaine.

Two Italian Carabinieri stand near a blood-stained street where their colleague, Carabiniere Vice Brigadier Mario Cerciello Rega, was stabbed to death by a thief in Rome, Friday, July 26, 2019. The murder happened a few meters away from a police station and in front of the Italian Court of Cassation. Paolo Santalucia/AP

The man reported the incident to the Carabinieri, who came to the meeting to stop the criminals. But a scuffle unfolded, and the Carabinieri officer was stabbed to death.

Law enforcement found the Americans in their hotel room at Le Méridien Visconti, ready to leave Italy. Police say they searched the room and found the murder weapon – a "knife of considerable size," hidden behind a ceiling panel.

Populist politicians have taken to social media today railing against "foreign animals" being allowed in Italy.

Rega, the slain officer, was from Somma Vesuviana, Italy. He did volunteer work with the poor, accompanied sick people to Catholic shrines, and brought meals to the homeless at Rome's main station. His funeral on Monday will be at the same church where he was married just 43 days ago.

The two Americans are reportedly from California. A lawyer for one of the men was spotted arriving at Regina Coeli, the Rome jail where they are being held.

A preliminary hearing is being held to determine whether to formally charge them.

© 2019 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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2019-07-27 14:05:00Z
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Moscow Police Arrest More Than 400 at Election Protest - The New York Times

MOSCOW — The police in Moscow arrested more than 500 people who had gathered outside City Hall on Saturday to protest what they call unfair elections and demand that opposition candidates be allowed to run for city government.

In anticipation of the unauthorized demonstration, the authorities on Wednesday arrested Aleksei A. Navalny, a foe of President Vladimir V. Putin and a major opposition leader, and sentenced him to 30 days in jail.

Other prominent opposition politicians — including Ilya Yashin, Dmitry G. Gudkov and Ivan Zhdanov — have also been detained. A post on the Facebook page of Mr. Yashin, a street activist, said 10 masked police officers had removed him from his apartment in Moscow overnight before the Saturday demonstration.

The Moscow City Council has 45 seats and is responsible for a very large municipal budget. It is controlled by the pro-Kremlin United Russia party. All of its seats, which have a five-year-term, are up for election on Sept. 8.

To compete in the elections, candidates not endorsed by a political party must collect about 5,000 signatures, depending on the size of their district. Election officials have so far registered nearly 200 candidates, all of whom are largely supportive of Mr. Putin.

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Law enforcement officers detaining a woman during the protest on Saturday.CreditMaxim Shemetov/Reuters

But Moscow’s electoral commission has refused to register several prominent opposition candidates, saying that they had failed to collect enough valid signatures to place them on the September ballot. The candidates, including allies of Mr. Navalny, said the signatures were genuine.

The decision by the electoral authorities to bar some opposition candidates has already sparked days of demonstrations this month. The election dispute comes as the Kremlin is struggling with how to deal with rising opposition in the capital of 12.6 million people.

The protest, which was called by Mr. Navalny, appeared intended also to raise the pressure on Russia’s tightly-controlled political system at a time when Mr. Putin’s rating has dropped because of discontent over years of falling real incomes.

The number of arrests, 561 by Saturday afternoon, was reported by OVD-Info, an independent monitor that tracks data from police precincts. The police could be seen using pepper spray on some crowds.

One of those detained, Alexander Latyshev, 45, told Reuters that he had come to Moscow from the nearby Vladimir region to discuss business with an associate and been randomly arrested by the police.

“I was just sitting on a bench” when they took him, he said from inside a police bus.

There was a heavy police presence at the Moscow mayor’s office on Tverskaya Street, one of Moscow’s main thoroughfares, with police trucks and buses parked in the building’s courtyard and other buses positioned nearby to take detainees away, according to The Associated Press.

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2019-07-27 13:13:14Z
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Moscow Police Arrest Nearly 400 at Election Protest - The New York Times

MOSCOW — The police in Moscow arrested more than 400 people who had gathered outside City Hall on Saturday to protest what they call unfair elections and demand that opposition candidates be allowed to run for city government.

In anticipation of the unauthorized demonstration, the authorities on Wednesday arrested Aleksei A. Navalny, a foe of President Vladimir V. Putin and a major opposition leader, and sentenced him to 30 days in jail.

Other prominent opposition politicians — including Ilya Yashin, Dmitry G. Gudkov and Ivan Zhdanov — have also been detained. A post on the Facebook page of Mr. Yashin, a street activist, said 10 masked police officers had removed him from his apartment in Moscow overnight before the Saturday demonstration.

The Moscow City Council has 45 seats and is responsible for a very large municipal budget. It is controlled by the pro-Kremlin United Russia party. All of its seats, which have a five-year-term, are up for election on Sept. 8.

To compete in the elections, candidates not endorsed by a political party must collect about 5,000 signatures, depending on the size of their district. Election officials have so far registered nearly 200 candidates, all of whom are largely supportive of Mr. Putin.

Image

Law enforcement officers detaining a woman during the protest on Saturday.CreditMaxim Shemetov/Reuters

But Moscow’s electoral commission has refused to register several prominent opposition candidates, saying that they had failed to collect enough valid signatures to place them on the September ballot. The candidates, including allies of Mr. Navalny, said the signatures were genuine.

The decision by the electoral authorities to bar some opposition candidates has already sparked days of demonstrations this month. The election dispute comes as the Kremlin is struggling with how to deal with rising opposition in the capital of 12.6 million people.

The protest, which was called by Mr. Navalny, appeared intended also to raise the pressure on Russia’s tightly-controlled political system at a time when Mr. Putin’s rating has dropped because of discontent over years of falling real incomes.

The number of arrests, 435 by Saturday afternoon, was reported by OVD-Info, an independent monitor that tracks data from police precincts. The police could be seen using pepper spray on some crowds.

One of those detained, Alexander Latyshev, 45, told Reuters that he had come to Moscow from the nearby Vladimir region to discuss business with an associate and been randomly arrested by the police.

“I was just sitting on a bench” when they took him, he said from inside a police bus.

There was a heavy police presence at the Moscow mayor’s office on Tverskaya Street, one of Moscow’s main thoroughfares, with police trucks and buses parked in the building’s courtyard and other buses positioned nearby to take detainees away, according to The Associated Press.

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2019-07-27 13:07:30Z
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Two Americans arrested in Rome over killing of police officer - CNN

The Carabinieri police force said in a statement that the pair were arrested Friday night for "the crime of aggravated murder and attempted extortion."

Police named the suspects as Christian Gabriel Natale Hjorth and Elder Finnegan Lee, and said both were from San Francisco, California. Photos of the pair have not been released.

Italian police officer Mario Cerciello Rega was stabbed eight times at 2 a.m. local time on Friday, in the Prati neighborhood of Rome on Via Pietro Cossa, near the hotel where the two young men were staying, police said. Officer Rega was declared dead at 4:30 a.m.

The police statement said surveillance footage and witness testimonies had allowed the Capitoline Investigative Unit to identify the two responsible for the "heinous crime."

The two Americans were arrested inside their hotel room in Rome.

"They were already ready to leave the country," police said. "During the search of the hotel room, which was occupied by the two detainees, the murder weapon was found and seized, a knife of considerable size, cleverly hidden behind a ceiling panel, as well as the clothes worn during the crime.

"The two, once at the station, were interrogated by the Carabinieri, under the direction of the magistrates of the Public Prosecutor of Rome, in the face of overwhelming evidence, they confessed to the charge."

Only one of the men is accused of stabbing the officer, but both admit to taking part in the fracas, police said.

Police also noted that the Americans had stolen a backpack from an Italian citizen shortly before the murder. The suspects subsequently answered the owner's cellphone, which they had also taken, and told him "they would not return the backpack without 100 euros and 1 gram of cocaine," police added.

After police were contacted by the victim, officers met the American suspects under the guise of retrieving the backpack.

They subsequently identified themselves as law enforcement officers, upon which one of the suspects took out a knife and stabbed the officer eight times before fleeing the scene, police said.

The police said that the pair "did not hesitate to engage in a scuffle which culminated in the tragic deadly wounding of Mario Rega Cerciello."

Matteo Salvini, Italy's far right interior minister, expressed his condolences over the officer's death. "Mario, a police officer, a hero, a boy with all his life ahead of him, who had been married for just 40 days," he wrote on Twitter. "How much sadness, how much anger. A prayer, a hug to his loved ones."

Italian state police (Polizia di Stato, in Italian) also paid tribute to the murdered officer shortly after news of his death emerged, with a number of police cars sounding their sirens outside the Carabinieri headquarters in Rome.

The investigation into the officer's murder is ongoing.

CNN has contacted the US Embassy, which referred questions to the US State Department. CNN has not yet received a response from the State Department.

CNN's Matthew Robinson contributed to this report.

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2019-07-27 12:36:00Z
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