Florida teen arrested, accused of being ‘mastermind’ behind Twitter hack

Graham Clark is currently in jail and being charged as an adult with over 30 felony counts. 

A Florida teen has been arrested and accused of being the “mastermind” behind Twitter’s recent security and privacy breach. 

17-year-old Graham Clark of Tampa, Florida is said to have posed as a member of Twitter’s IT department and gained access to the accounts of Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Kanye West, Apple, Uber and more. The hack was part of a massive bitcoin scam on July 15th, theGrio reported. 

Each of the hacked Twitter profiles sent out messages that included the same bitcoin account, and urged followers to send cryptocurrency on the promise to double any amount received. 

Read More: Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Uber and more hacked on Twitter

“Everyone is asking me to give back, and now is the time,” one of the tweets read. “You send $1,000, I send you back $2,000.”

Apparently, Clark didn’t act alone. 22-year-old Nima Fazeli in Orlando and 19-year-old Mason Sheppard in the UK have also been charged by the US Department of Justice, The Verge reports. The duo, who go by the hacker aliases “Rolex” and “Chaewon,” respectively, are in custody, according to the FBI. 

Chaewon allegedly conspired with an unidentified minor in California, who confessed to helping sell access to Twitter accounts.

According to an affidavit released Friday, authorities say Clark convinced a Twitter employee that he worked in the IT department and that’s how he was able to gain credentials.

“Once we became aware of the incident, we immediately locked down the affected accounts and removed Tweets posted by the attackers,” Twitter said in a statement. “We have locked accounts that were compromised and will restore access to the original account owner only when we are certain we can do so securely.”

Clark is currently in jail and being charged as an adult with over 30 felony counts, including organized fraud, communications fraud, identity theft, and hacking, 

Read More: Twitter was hacked and now some of its most prominent users are caught in a Bitcoin scam

Celebrities hacked on Twitter (via Twitter.com)

Fazeli is facing five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for computer intrusion. Sheppard is facing a 20-year sentence and a $250,000 fine in the US for computer intrusion, wire fraud conspiracy, and money laundering conspiracy, the report states. 

“This could have had a massive, massive amount of money stolen from people, it could have destabilized financial markets within America and across the globe; because he had access to powerful politicians’ Twitter accounts, he could have undermined politics as well as international diplomacy,” said Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren.

“This is not a game… these are serious crimes with serious consequences, and if you think you can rip people off online and get away with it, you’ll be in for a rude awakening, a rude awakening that comes in the form of a 6 AM knock on your door from federal agents,” he added. 

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Gabrielle Union says Terry Crews tried to ‘discredit’ her over AGT drama

The actress says the ‘America’s Got Talent’ host may ‘regret’ being on the wrong side of history.

Gabrielle Union has made clear how she really feels about Terry Crews’ lack of support during her controversial stint on America’s Got Talent.

She previously spoke out about the racism and sexism she experienced as a judge on the NBC talent competition series. The Being Mary Jane alum says she was met with toxicity on her very first day when Simon Cowell began blowing cigarette smoke, which the actress is allergic to, on set. After taking her grievances to network bosses, she was fired from the show in November.

Union has since launched a legal complaint against NBC, Simon Cowell and Fremantle and Syco Entertainment. 

She spoke further about her AGT experience during a recent interview on the Jemele Hill Is Unbothered podcast. While Union touched on everything from Cowell’s smoking habit, to Julianne Hough’s blackface incident, she didn’t hold back while addressing Crews’ stance amid her firing.

Read More: Terry Crews gets dragged for tweeting acronym for ‘coon’

My guest this week on @JHillUnbothered is @itsgabrielleu. We discuss why it’s important for her to use her platform to speak out, raising 5 kids as a mother/stepmother, and how she was once the Draymond Green of youth hoops. Download/subscribe FOR FREE —> https://t.co/Sefnh6kK3h pic.twitter.com/bot1iK476t

— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) July 27, 2020

At the time, Crews caught major heat for not publicly supporting Union the same way she had his back when he came forward with claims of being sexually assaulted by another male at a Hollywood party. 

Late last year, as Union was speaking her truth, Crews appeared on the Today show to praise NBC and gush about his positive experience as host of America’s Got Talent. 

When Hill mentioned his response, Union replied, “The only thing I know for sure is that Terry Crews gets three checks from NBC. So, I don’t know if being worried about job stability — which listen, we all know that if you speak up about racism and white supremacy, you absolutely can be shown the door — I don’t know if that’s the motivation.”

The Bring It On star then referred to his recent tweets warning about the rise of Black supremacy.

“Based on his recent actions, do you really think Terry Crews was an ally, was helpful, was a sounding board?” she asked. “I think Terry Crews is showing us who he is and what he does during times of adversity and it’s not solidarity.”

Read More: Terry Crews dragged on social media for ‘Black supremacy’ comments

ICYMI, my guest on @JHillUnbothered is @itsgabrielleu, who opens up about being called a “witch” (and worse) for supporting her trans daughter, Zaya, and keeps it real about Terry Crews.

Download/subscribe FOR FREE. FULL POD -> https://t.co/96B2UDNSFh pic.twitter.com/psbE74BV3Y

— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) July 28, 2020

Union said she was disappointed Crews didn’t publicly support her.

“Not to say if I offer you solidarity I expect you to be the getaway driver during a bank robbery — that’s what he made it sound like in one of those series of tweets,” she explained. “If you saw something, say something. If you didn’t have my experience, you also have an option to say, ‘I believe Gab, I just had a different experience.’ End of story.”

She added, “You don’t have to do a press tour where your sole objective is to discredit and malign me. You know, I’ve been in Hollywood a very long time. There’s very little that surprises me, but that was very disappointing for sure.”

Gabrielle warned that the White Chicks star may “regret” being on the wrong side of history as more details emerge related to her legal complaint. 

“Since I’ve been so vocal about what happened, the floodgates have opened. This reckoning is just hitting,” she said “There is so much more that is coming. I have a feeling he will probably regret it for a thousand reasons, very soon.”

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Romany Malco - Quarantine Book and Movie Suggestions (2020) | Tijuana Jackson Movie Out Now
Actor/Producer/Director ROMANY MALCO shares some book and movie recommendations to help get you through the 2020 quarantine. What are some of your picks? Feel free to share your suggestions in the comments section. His new film, TIJUANA JACKSON: PURPOSE OVER PRISON is out now on demand. https://ift.tt/2eFI0qP https://ift.tt/3fOCkdO https://www.youtube.com/user/RomanyMalco ##### Reelblack's mission is to educate, elevate, entertain, enlighten, and empower through Black film. If there is content shared on this platform that you feel infringes on your intellectual property, please email me at Reelblack@mail.com and info@reelblack.com with details and it will be promptly removed.

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Google is Making it Easier to Search for and Support Black Businesses

Google introduced a new badge that allows businesses to identify themselves as Black-owned through the company’s Maps and Search listings. The new feature, which was announced Thursday, comes as more consumers are searching for black businesses in recent months.

U.S.-based companies with a verified Business Profile on Google can now add a Black-owned business attribute to their profile, which will make it easier for customers to identify and support them. Those businesses will be marked with a black heart over an orange three-striped background (as seen below). To apply for the badge, black entrepreneurs must verify their company by mail, phone, or email.

“Over the past few months, we’ve seen a surge in online searches for Black-owned businesses. It’s been inspiring to witness so many people look for ways to invest in the Black community,” wrote Jewel Burks Solomon, the Head of Google for Startups, in a blog post. “With this attribute, our goal is to make Search and Maps more inclusive and help support Black-owned businesses when they need it most,” she added.

[Image: Google]

Google partnered with the U.S. Black Chambers, Inc. (USBC) to help spread the word about the new badges. Together, Google and USBC will also provide Black business owners with training to maximize their online presence on Google through the use of Google My Business and Google Analytics.

According to The Verge, Yelp, a popular online service that provides crowd-sourced reviews and business listings, also reported an increase in Black-owned business searches on its site. It received more than 2.5 million searches for those businesses from May 25 to July 10.

Google also introduced badges for “Women-Led” businesses and LGBTQ-friendly businesses back in 2018.

Google Black-owned business badge [Image: Google]

In wake of the Black Lives Matter movement and calls to dismantle systemic racism, Google committed $12 million in funding to organizations working to address racial inequities in June.

Earlier this year, the tech giant appointed Solomon as its first Head of Google For Startups to focus on empowering diverse startup founders with products, connections, and best practices. Prior to her appointment, the Howard University alum worked at Google as an entrepreneur-in-residence for diversity markets from 2014 to 2016 where she helped underserved business owners grow their businesses online using Google tools.

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Video shows LAPD shooting man in the head while arms are up

LAPD Capt. Gisselle Espinoza called the shooting an ‘unintentional head strike.’ 

Officer body cam footage shows a man with his hands up during the George Floyd protests in Los Angeles being shot in the head with less-lethal projectile fired by police. 

The incident occurred in the Fairfax District on the evening of May 30 at the intersection of Beverly Boulevard and Grove Drive. The over 7-minute video shows the victim, CJ Montano, standing in the middle of the street with his hands up as officers on skirmish lines in front of him react to protesters throwing rocks and frozen water bottles at them, CBS Los Angeles reports.

Police are heard screaming “Less lethal!” and “Leave the area!” as they attempt to push back the crowd. They then fire at protesters as they flee. The clip shows Montano dropping to the ground and being rushed away from the scene by other demonstrators.  

Read More: LAPD officers accused of falsifying records could derail over 750 cases

LAPD Capt. Gisselle Espinoza called the shooting an “unintentional head strike.” 

Unreal!! Even though LAPD says this was an “unintentional head strike,” CJ Montano suffered serious bleeding in his brain because of this incident. Less-lethal tactics can still cause severe injuries and even death!! pic.twitter.com/NCdjyJ5MBN

— Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) July 31, 2020

Espinoza said “the circumstances of how Montano was struck, and which officer fired the less-lethal projectile that struck Montano, is still under investigation” by the LAPD Force Investigation Division (FID). 

Montano, who was reportedly taken to a hospital and treated for a head injury, has refused to cooperate with the investigation, police said. 

Many protesters suffered injuries that day from police use of batons and tactical weapons. A Times investigation has found LAPD officers likely violated protocols for use of such weapons, as they are not supposed to fire at people who are fleeing the scene.

Read More: LAPD run by ‘SWAT Mafia’ who ‘glamorize’ lethal force, sergeant says

Department policy requires that less-lethal weapons and projectiles, such as sponge and foam bullets, are only to be used on individuals who are presenting an immediate threat.  Officers are supposed to aim only for the person’s navel, belt line or their arms and legs — never their head or neck.

Montano is the latest case highlighting the LAPD’s excessive use of force during protests over police brutality and injustice. 

The LAPD is reportedly investigating 125 separate complaints from the protests. So far, 10 officers have been removed from field duties pending investigations.

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