the times | Monday December 6 2021 33
Wo r l d
The star news anchor Chris Cuomo has
been sacked by CNN for helping his
brother, the former New York governor
Andrew Cuomo, fight sexual harass-
ment allegations.
Having suspended its highest-rated
presenter last week, the network dis-
missed Cuomo on Saturday, after an
internal investigation revealed he had a
much closer role in his brother’s polit-
ical affairs than CNN had realised. An
allegation of sexual misconduct was al-
so levelled at Chris Cuomo during the
course of the investigation, which he
has denied.
“Based on the report we received re-
garding Chris’s conduct with his
brother’s defence, we had cause to ter-
minate. When new allegations came to
us this week, we took them seriously
and saw no reason to delay taking im-
mediate action,” CNN said.
Cuomo, 51, issued a statement that he
was disappointed and that this was “not
how I want my time at CNN to end”.
the office. Bank of America has not
commented but other big banks such as
Citibank have begun offering staff
shuttle services so they can avoid public
transport.
A Wall Street banker told the
programme: “Some people I work with
have been accosted... I’d say it’s
becoming frequent, if not common.
There’s probably a dozen incidents that
I saw, or have been involved in.”
Many leading financial institutions
have demanded that staff return to the
office after months of working from
home because of coronavirus.
There is hope on Wall Street that
New York’s incoming mayor, Eric
Adams, a former police officer, will be
tough on law and order. “I’m
encouraged that Eric Adams will
take a hard line,” one executive told
CNBC. “But it’s almost like he
can’t get here soon enough to restore
law and order.”A 15-year-old boy accused of a mass
shooting at a Michigan school con-
vinced counsellors that his drawings of
bullets and bloodshed hours earlier
were simply designs for a video game.
School authorities have ordered an
independent investigation into events
leading up to last Tuesday’s massacre at
Oxford High, which included the
teenager and his parents persuading
staff that his sketches of shootings,
bearing words such as “The thoughts
won’t stop, help me”, were nothing to
worry about.
Hana St Juliana, 14, Justin Shilling, 17,
Tate Myre, 16, and Madisyn Baldwin, 17,
were killed. Six other pupils and a
teacher were injured.
Ethan Crumbley has been charged
on 24 counts that include terrorism,
first degree murder and assault with
intent to murder.
“We have clear evidence this was pre-
meditated and he was actually looking
forward to it,” Michael Bouchard, the
sheriff of Oakland County, said at a
weekend press conference.
In a letter to the school community,
Tim Throne, the superintendent of
Oxford school district, said the teen-
ager was sent to the school guidance
counsellor’s office on the morning of
November 30 to discuss “concerning
drawings” found by a teacher.
The previous day the boy had
been questioned by staff
about why he was research-
ing ammunition on his
phone but he brushed it off
by saying that sport shooting
was a family hobby. His
Dress to impress and you’ll
be mugged, bankers warned
Alistair Dawber WashingtonBrother loses TV job in Cuomo abuse row
It completes a humiliating downfall
for Cuomo, who was a star of US even-
ing news outside his famous political
family — one of the most prominent
dynasties in US politics — before being
sucked back in by the scandal that
brought down his brother, 63.
CNN had backed Cuomo, despite
protests from the right-wing press and
dissent from some of his colleagues. He
had recused himself from reporting onthe allegations against his brother. He
was known to have counselled his
brother behind the scenes and worked
with political aides as Andrew Cuomo
was engulfed by sexual harassment
allegations this year, finally stepping
down as governor in August.New documents came to light last
week showing that Cuomo had offered
advice on his brother’s public state-
ments, and used his contacts to inquire
about forthcoming articles about his
brother at other news outlets.
“You need to trust me,” he texted
Melissa DeRosa, his brother's secretary,
earlier this year. “We are making mis-
takes we can't afford.”
In the course of the investigation, a
leading employment lawyer, Debra
Katz, contacted CNN to inform the
network of a sexual misconduct allega-
tion against Cuomo, The New York
Times reported. Katz also represents an
alleged victim of harassment by An-
drew Cuomo. It is unclear if the claim
informed CNN’s final decision to fire
Cuomo, and a spokesman for the an-
chor denied the allegation.
Cuomo interviewed his brother on
air as New York was consumed by the
pandemic last year, and the governor
emerged as a leading figure in the US
response. Their interviews saw ratings
surge but prompted complaints.Hugh Tomlinson Washington
Wall Street bankers are being told to
dress down for work as violent crime
surges in New York.
Amid fears that high-earning staff
could become the target of muggers
and other criminals, bosses at Bank of
America have reportedly told junior
employees to wear less expensive
clothing and ensure that they avoid
carrying anything with the bank’s logo.
The New York Police Department
has reported a 15 per cent increase in
assaults in the 28 days to November 28,
compared with the same period
last year.
The order to wear brown in town
from Bank of America executives
comes as financial high-flyers take
matters into their own hands. One
money manager recently told CNBC’s
On the Money programme that he had
started to carry a Taser when leavingChris Cuomo had
helped his brother
fight sexual
harassment claimsGunman told
school his death
drawings were
for video game
mother texted him about the incident:
“LOL [laughing out loud]. I’m not mad
at you. You have to learn not to get
caught.”
Throne said that when asked about
sketches of a dead body and notes say-
ing “My life is useless” and “The world is
dead”, the boy claimed the drawing was
part of a video game he was designing.
During the 90-minute wait for his
parents to arrive at the school, he asked
for his science homework and exhibit-
ed a “calm” demeanour, Throne said.
Later his answers to “specific probing
questions” — and the parents’ affirma-
tion of those answers — “led counsel-
lors to again conclude he did not intend
on committing either self-harm or
harm to others”, Throne noted.
“The counsellors made a judgment
based on their professional training
and clinical experience and did not
have all the facts we now know,” stated
Throne.
The parents did not mention that
their son had access to a gun.
A judge entered a plea of not guilty
on the shooter’s behalf at an arraign-
ment hearing.
His parents, James and Jennifer
Crumbley, 45 and 43, who gave him the
9mm Sig Sauer semi-automatic pistol
as an early Christmas present, fled after
being charged with involuntary man-
slaughter and were found hiding in a
warehouse in Detroit.
Bouchard said that officers were
“struggling in a bad way” over
what they saw at the scene and
because they had to bypass
dying and injured children to
prioritise taking down the
shooter. The killer had 18 more
rounds on him when they or-
dered him to drop his weapon.
“There could have been
18 more kids,” said
Bouchard.United States
Jacqui Goddard Miami
Baubles and bullets The US Republican congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky caused outrage with his family Christmas
photo, days after four teenagers were killed at a school in Michigan. In a tweet he added: “PS Santa please bring ammo”Trump’s $1bn war chest to rival Twitter
Donald Trump announced that his
new social media company had raised
$1 billion from investors and would
soon rival the “tyranny” of big tech.
Trump, who is banned from
Facebook, Twitter and YouTube after
the capitol riots in January, plans for his
Truth Social platform to start operating
next year. He said it would provide a
forum that would not restrict freedom
of speech.
He said that the financial backing he
had received sent a message to main-
stream social media platforms that
“censorship and political discrimin-
ation” would not be tolerated.Specific details of who the investors
are remain unclear but one firm, Digital
World Acquisition Corp, raised $293
million at a public offering held in Sep-
tember. Its shares shot up, after it said it
was teaming up with Trump, from $10
to as much as $175 in two days but has
since come back down to $45.
It is expected to merge with Trump’s
start-up “Trump Media and Techno-
logy Group” and offer shares publicly.
“$1 billion sends an important mes-
sage to Big Tech that censorship and
political discrimination must end,”
Trump said.
A statement on the company’s web-
site reads: “Truth Social is America’s
‘Big Tent’ social media platform thatencourages an open, free, and honest
global conversation without discrim-
inating against political ideology.”
When revealing the venture in Oct-
ober, Trump said: “We live in a world
where the Taliban has a huge presence
on Twitter yet your favourite American
president has been silenced. This is
unacceptable.” Before his ban Trump
had 89 million followers on Twitter.
Speculation over whether Trump
will run in the 2024 election campaign
continues to swirl. Based in his palatial
retreat at Mar-a-Lago in Miami, Trump
released polling showing that he would
beat President Biden in the swing states
of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Penn-
sylvania and Wisconsin.Foreign StaffEthan Crumbley was
given the pistol as an
early Christmas gift
THOMAS MASSIE/TWITTER