BRIANA: Tonight on NJ Spotlight News, Sayreville suspect in court.

The 29-year-old Virginia man accused of killing a layer of real councilwoman appears in his first court hearing.

>> this family has been waiting to come to court to have justice for the victim here, their daughter.

BRIANA: Also, advocates call for the closure of Elizabeth's immigration detention center.

Lawmakers now requesting the federal government to end its support of the facility.

>> It clearly highlights that President Biden is on the wrong side of this conversation.

BRIANA: Plus, a fight for parental rights.

>> Parents have a God-given right to protect and raise their kids, their way.

BRIANA: New Jersey Republican legislators intervened, filing motions in support of LGBTQ+ parental notification policies in schools.

And, a call for help.

A statewide EMS Task Force is pleading for funding to replace aging equipment -- the nonprofit asking for millions, to continue saving lives.

>> So you just start to erode our capabilities immediately.

Long-term, it would be the end of the task force.

BRIANA: NJSpotlightNews begins right now.

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♪ From NJPBS, this is NJ Spotlight News, with Breonna Vannozzi.

BRIANA: Good evening and thanks for joining us this Monday night, I am Briana Vannozzi.

The man accused of killing Sayreville Councilwoman Eunice Dwumfour will remain behind bars without bail after plead not guilty this morning through his first court appearance at the Middlesex County Courthouse.

The 29-year-old Virginia native is facing several charges, including first-degree murder for the death of the 30-year-old councilwoman who was shot 14 times well in her car outside of her home last February.

A senior correspondent Brenda Flanagan reports, tensions were running high as the dwam four family came face-to-face with their daughter on such a cute killer for the first time.

Reporter: and invariable tents and emotional courtroom scene's.

The victim's family sat in the room behind her alleged killer while his attorney argued he deserved to be released pending the trial.

She died in her car, prosecutors say, shot in the heel of 14 bullets outside her Sayreville home.

After the judge denied bail, the victim's grief stricken mother hurled a water bottle at her daughter's accused murderer.

Eunice Dwumfour was charged with a disorderly persons offense.

Their attorney says shirts of the source should have used better judgment.

>> The entire family is very emotional, this is the first time they have been in close proximity to the individual who is accused of taking their daughter's life.

It was very traumatic and very upsetting for them.

She was handcuffed in the courtroom and taken back into the processing area of the courthouse.

BRIANA: This marks the suspect process first appearance here in New Jersey after he fought extradition from Virginia for eight weeks.

His attorney called the prosecution's case circumstantial, based on phone records and E-ZPass pairings that allegedly tracked him from the murder scene in Sayreville and back again.

>> This is highly circumstantial and doesn't really prove anything beyond a reasonable doubt, that he shot anyone at anytime.

REPORTER: Thomas Ashley tried to get the detention hearing postponed again, asking for more time to review what he called 6000 pages of state evidence.

He also argued that his client had no discernible motive for committing the crime.

>> No indications whatsoever that show that Mr. Bynum had any reason, at any time, to shoot the victim.

None whatsoever.

>> While Council mentions that we have not provided a motive, it is not the state's obligation to explain to the defense way somebody does something.

We're to mature it is clear not only to the defense, that to the people, that this is the person who committed the offense.

REPORTER: The assistant prosecutor says the victim, acting as a religious leader, had shared a communal church with the suspect for months.

>> this family has been waiting to come to court to have justice for the victim here, their daughter.

Eunice Dwumfour, so delaying the case any further, that is where there is injustice.

REPORTER: The prosecutor laid out the evidence against Bynum, who has already been indicted on murder and weapons charges.

She told the court, ballistics matched a Glock handgun in Bynum's possession to shell casings in the murder.

.

Bynum had two restraining orders filed against him after the murder, and posed an extreme flight risk.

Judge Paone called the state's case strong and compelling and ordered Bynum detained.

>> The brutally horrific nature of the crime, and the way of the evidence, this Court finds that the defendant has failed to rebut the presumption for detention with the proof necessary to show that he does not pose a danger to the community.

REPORTER: The defense can challenge the court's decision, but for now, Bynum remains behind bars pending trial.

Brenda Thompson, NJ Spotlight News.

BRIANA: Jersey City officials are defending the fatal police shooting of a man whose family says he was experiencing a mental health crisis.

According to the police director , officer were called to an incident involving 52-year-old Andrew Jerome Washington around 3:00 p.m. on Sunday at the request of members from the Jersey City Medical Center crisis center because they felt unsafe.

Law-enforcement than engaged with Washington for nearly an hour.

When they felt he may harm himself or someone else in the apartment, police officials say they opened the door and were charged by Washington with a knife in hand.

Police used a taser and a firearm shooting the 52-year-old , who was then brought to a local hospital and later died.

Washington's family is demanding more answers about the use of force.

The Attorney General's office is investigating the shooting and Jersey city mayor Steve fullup today urged the office to immediately release police body camera footage to the public.

>> If you look at the set of protocols and you say the police department could have acted differently, we would be having a press conference the same where you are asking us why did we not enter the building after somebody so erratic was saying something that they could have harmed somebody else as well as themselves, and their circumstances could have been different.

This is a tragedy, no question, because somebody lost their life.

The director said it accurately, our hearts go out to the family and certainly we are very very grieved to see anybody lose their life here but I think when you look at the incident and the circumstances, you would be hard-pressed to say that the medical center and the Jersey Police Department could have acted differently in this situation.

BRIANA: Meanwhile, the fate of the Elizabeth Detention Center Hanks in the balance.

Under a law signed by Governor Murphy, the immigration detention facility was slated to permanently close this week.

But a lawsuit filed by the administration could prevent that.

Now some of New Jersey's political heavyweights are getting involved.

>> what has been bitterly disappointing is to see the Biden administration file a statement of interest on their side.

REPORTER: Immigrant rights advocates are calling out the Biden Administration for joining in a lawsuit filed by CoreCivic, the private company running the Elizabeth Detention Center, the last remaining ice facility in the state.

>> in August of 2021, New Jersey signed into law a ban that would prevent any existing ice -- I.C.E.

contracts from renewing or extending their agreements, and it would ban any new contracts from cropping up.

It wasn't until nearly two full years later, in February of 2023, that CoreCivic announced a lawsuit challenging the private provisions of that ban.

They were then joined in the summer by the Biden Administration and the Department of Justice.

REPORTER: The lawsuit says closure of the Elizabeth facility would be catastropic to National Security and Public safety, leading to the release of dangerous noncitizens.

It also claims New Jersey's law is unconstitutional an example , of a state overriding federal statute.

But on several of New Jersey's Friday, Democratic Congressional Delegation together with US Senators Menendez and Booker, sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland admonishing the administration's support of the course of the CoreCivic lawsuit, and reminding the president that abolishing private prisons was a promise he once made, something these protesters haven't forgotten.

>> Biden needs to stick to his campaign promise.

He promised he would not be using private, for-profit prisons for any reason.

>> It is rare that we see the congressional delegations speak with such unified rebuke of a presidential administration.

It clearly highlights that President Biden is on the wrong side of this conversation.

Reporter: under state law, CoreCivic's contract will expire August 31.

But advocates are concerned an injunction could keep the private facility open longer.

They are calling on the Biden Administration to cancel the contract altogether.

>> CoreCivic is the world's largest private prison operator.

And private detention has ballooned under the Biden Administration to a number that we have not seen in administrations past, not under the Trump Administration, not under the Obama administration.

We have a higher number of dollars going toward private immigration detention than ever before.

REPORTER: Do you believe that I.C.E.

operations should cease in a New Jersey?

>> Yes.

I.C.E.

detention is a very recent phenomenon in our nation's history.

It is not required to be detained as part of the immigration process, and it is something that has grown out of control and without proper public oversight.

People who are detained by I.C.E.

don't have a right to an attorney.

There is a lot of simple liberties that don't operate in the same space.

>> The government knows that these abuses are happening and they are still willing to let CoreCivic operate by renewing their contract.

REPORTER: This protester saying New Jersey's law reflects the will of the people.

>> By wanting to impede that lot to be practiced, is a huge disrespect for everybody out here in Jersey.

REPORTER: A decision in the case is expected by the end of this week.

For NJ Spotlight News, I am Joanna Gagis.

BRIANA: Former President Trump now has a trial date in the sweeping Georgia racketeering case.

The federal judge overseeing the election interference lawsuit set the trial for March 4, 2024, despite arguments from Trump's legal team requesting a two-year delay.

That date falls smack in the middle of the 2024 election season, and before Super Tuesday.

It also adds to Trump's hectic legal schedule in the coming year.

The former president and 18 co-defendants are accused of conspiring to illegally overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia.

They were booked at the Fulton County jail last week.

Trump will be arraigned at 9:30 a.m. on September 6.

Plea hearings and arraignments for his codefendants are scheduled for the same day.

Russian authorities on Sunday confirmed the death of Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, who died in the plane crash two months after leading a short-lived mutiny against Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Until recently, it appeared Prigozhin managed to avoid punishment for the armed rebellion, though it is not yet clear what caused the plane crash.

It is widely believed Prigozhin's death was retaliation from the Kremlin, and now it raises questions about the future of the military both active in Ukraine and Africa.

For more, I am joined by Alain Sanders, Professor emeritus of political science at St. Peter's Peterson University -- William Paterson University.

Great to have you on the show.

Obviously the death, now confirmed by Russia of Yevgeniy Prigozhin, removes a rival to President Putin, but also a very useful asset.

What does his death mean in the immediate short-term for Russia?

GUEST: in the immediate short-term, it means that Mr. Putin rules through fear.

You don't challenge Mr. Putin, and if you do, he doesn't forget and he goes after you.

Mr. Prigozhin is not the first person to have crossed the path of Putin and to find himself really in a terrible situation, namely, death.

In the short term it means that Putin moves with fear.

In the longer run, it's not clear what it means because the Wagner Group was a very useful tool for Mr. Putin not just in Ukraine, but also in Africa where the Wagner Group supported all kinds of autocrats.

So it is not clear what it means in the longer term for Ukraine and, of course, for Africa.

BRIANA: The Wagner Group advanced a lot of Russian interests in Africa, like you mentioned.

The head has essentially been cut off from the group, not just with the death of Prigozhin, but also the second in command.

Could we see that military group dissolve, or is there a scenario where perhaps Russia somehow takes over and operates in a smaller form?

GUEST: well, there are two possibilities.

One, Russia could take over Wagner and integrate it into its military forces,, of course, it is not clear that the mercenaries actually are the ground troops, would agree to that.

Another possibility is that other mercenary groups around the world and in Africa, and some of the units of the Wagner group might go over to some of these other mercenary groups so .

It is really an unstable situation right now because we don't really know what is going to happen.

They have done lots of Russia's dirty work and it has kept Russia sort of removed and trying to deny some of the things that the Wagner group did .

The Wagner Group is a very brutal organization -- rape, torture, all kinds of things.

It was used by Russia to support autocrats in Africa and to gain wider influence.

BRIANA: The other question is whether or not this will change Russia's military tactics in Ukraine.

Do we expect that to happen?

GUEST: Well, the Wagner Group was of the most efficient unit part of the Ukraine invasion, but it was efficient because it was extraordinarily brutal um .

Mr. Putin has tried to integrate those forces back into the Russian military.

How successful that will be in the long run, again, remains unclear.

We have got the head of the Wagner Group and the number two in command killed, presumably by Putin.

Now we don't know what is going to happen to the mercenaries on the ground.

Many of these mercenaries are outlaws, they are prisoners.

Mr. Prigozhin made a big thing out of recruiting prisoners out of Russia's prisons, so it is not clear where their loyalties lie.

Their loyalty lies with who pays them, so we will have to follow the money a little bit to find out what happens to these mercenary troops.

BRIANA: Professor emeritus Alain Sanders, thanks, as always.

GUEST: My pleasure.

BRIANA: Two Republican state lawmakers are backing families opposed to the Attorney General's so-called parental rights lawsuit.

Senators Mike Testa and Doug Steinhardt recently filed motions to intervene on behalf of school districts in Middletown, Marlborough, and Hanover, where the Attorney General's office is challenging renewed policies requiring parental notification when a child requests school records to be changed to reflect a different gender.

Parental rights have become a controversial issue in New Jersey and across the country.

Senators Testa and Steinhardt say that state's lawsuit deprives parents of the fundamental rights to raise their children, and they joined me now.

Thank you both for joining me.

It's really good to see you.

Let me ask you first, Senator Steinhardt, I will start with you, why you are getting involved.

GUEST: as a parent of two children, I feel like I am obligated.

The Attorney General's lawsuits presupposes that parents are inherently bad.

That is contrary to centuries of Supreme Court jurisprudence.

Parents have a God-given right to protect and nurture and raise their children and it is ironic, from my perspective, that this lawsuit is the thing that singles out and discriminates against this small section of the population } creating silos of parents and schools and children.

Democrats I think are seeing that New JerseyIANS are generally tolerant of tax increases and wasteful spending, maybe even some corruption, but when you start meddling with parents and children, it will not stand for it.

BRIANA: Senator Tester, a Superior Court judge already intervened here and these rules are on hold for now, meaning that schools cannot enact any of these policies.

Why then choose this legal route?

GUEST: because we have heard from countless parents throughout the state that want something to be done.

Here, we are dealing with an administration that presupposes that parents are abusive and that it is OK for school and administrators to keep a secret with students from their own parents.

I mean, this is pretty insane.

BRIANA: Each school district, of course, has their own policies.

, but there are causes for which a parent should be notified when potential harm could be happening to the students.

Why not allow for the secrecy?

GUEST: That presupposes that parents are not capable of participating in those discussions.

It presupposes that the state or a school is better situated than parents to have knowledge or notice of what is going on in their children's lives.

The fact of the matter is that at the end of the day, all this is really about is the lease, the state seeking to deprive parents of notice of what is going on in their child's lives.

BRIANA: Is also about breaking the bond, the trust that students and teachers build?

GUEST: I don't think that is a bone that Senator Steinhardt or I are looking to break.

However, there are certain subjects that only should be had between either a student and a counselor, or a student and their parents.

I question what the Murphy administration and the Attorney General are attempting to do here.

It sounds to me that they want parents to raise strangers, clothe their children, feed their children and shelter their children.

But God forbid they actually know their own children and have a say in the direction of their child's lives.

Why can't parents be notified of something that is happening with their own child?

I look at this from the perspective as an attorney, you know, a police officer is not allowed to even consider child about an alleged crime without their parents being notified and giving a waiver to allow a police officer to speak to their child.

But in an issue such as this, at a school with no notice whatsoever, no due process whatsoever, the school is able to keep secrets from parents?

I mean, this is purely insane.

BRIANA: Senator Steinhardt, last question to you, where do you go from here?

GUEST: Senator Tester and I are prepared to take this as for as it goes.

Parents have a God-given right to protect and raise their kids their way, in the state does not have a right to step in and usurp that responsibility from parents, especially in the way that they are seeking to do herem thank you both so much for your time.

Thank you for having us.

BRIANA: A statewide group of emergency medical responders, say they are desperate for help.

But it is not volunteers.

The New Jersey EMS Task Force is looking for.

It is cash.

The group of 185 first responders say they need funding to continue saving lives.

Ted Goldberg reports.

>> I know every new concurrently of this thing.

REPORTER: This thing is one of the ambulance buses operated by the New Jersey EMS Task Force.

They have 12 of them statewide.

>> We basically have the ability to transport supine or structure patients, wheelchair patients, or an glittery patient just sitting in seats.

REPORTER: It has everything and EMT needs, a coffee machine, medical supplies -- >> Rents, and a cold packs, warm packs.

We have some automatic blood pressure cap that link up to the iPad here so that we can monitor 10 patients at one time.

REPORTER: And enough space to care for 20 patients.

>> all of these berths are for stretchers.

Reporter: but the stretchers are showing their age.

Latches are rusty, the wind is broken, and the winch has broken multiple times.

>> it is about or health and our bone health.

And our strength.

You have to lift, so the structure itself is over 80 pounds and you put a 200 pound person on it, it takes three people, maybe three.

With the power stretchers, it could take one.

Reporter: the EMS task force has depended on these buses for about 15 years, which is their average life span, and replacing them is pricey.

They're asking for $23 million in federal funding to fix up their fleet and pay for other vehicles and other equipment.

>> we have had rust mitigated just because of Sandy and Irene.

We are driving through water and all of these floods.

You can clean it as much as you can, and dry it as much as you can, but there is still water.

>> We are still functioning a lot.

It's obviously at end-of-life, somewhat beyond end-of-life.

We have been able to continue to operate with them by investing a great deal on them.

The best behind me has over $40,000 of investment upgrades over the last year and half.

Reporter: those upgrades help the task force respond to a variety of emergencies around the state including forest fires , mass casualty events and disturbing vaccines.

In 2021, they helped move around 800,000 doses.

But they are worried that if they can't get funding from the American Rescue plan the task force could dissolve.

>> When you think of calling 911, it is police, fire and EMS.

That safety net is on fire and the task force is the surge capacity forward and guys need extra help.

Reporter: he is an attorney and lobbyist for the task force.

He says if the task force disappears, that will mean a big burden on towns and cities.

>> This eventually will become a property taxpayer issue.

As more at your squad's and more.

Professionals are necessary.

If we don't do something now to stabilize this statewide nationally, we will be hurting at the local level.

REPORTER: Meantime, the task force will do what they can to maintain buses and keep them ready for emergencies.

I am tired Bowe Bergdahl -- I am Ted Goldberg, NJ Spotlight News.

BRIANA: Another Starbucks store in New Jersey but to unionize.

Workers at a Morris County Starbucks location overwhelmingly voted 17-4 to unionize labor there making it the fifth location in the state to do so.

It is all under the leadership of Starbucks workers United.

Four other locations including Hopewell, Hamilton Summit and Montclair, have also unionized.

Employees are requesting quality training and increased health care benefits, along with more consistent scheduling and other work protections.

Starbucks workers United helped galvanize the recent labor movement.

Since December of 2021, more than 80,000 workers in 30 eight states and the District of Columbia have successfully unionized.

Turning now to Wall Street.

Markets are trying to recover from steep losses in August.

Here is how trading numbers ended the day.

♪ BRIANNA: and that will do it for us tonight, but don't forget to download the "NJ Spotlight News" anytime via podcast wherever you stream.

I am Breana Vannozzi.

For all of us here at NJ Spotlight News, thanks for being with us.

We'll see you back here tomorrow.

♪ >> The members of the New Jersey education Association, making public schools great for every child.

RWJ Barnabas Health.

let's be healthy together.

And Orsted, committed to the creation of a new, long-term, sustainable, clean energy future for New Jersey.

♪