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F r i d ay, M a r c h 7, 2025
Charges weighed in death of student
Officials consider felony hazing, manslaughter counts BY PATRICK SLOAN-TURNER
Staff writer
Authorities are considering charges ranging from felony hazing to manslaughter for at least three fraternity members after a Southern University student’s death, a source said. On Feb. 27, Caleb Wilson, 20, and eight other Omega Psi Phi pledges lined up in order of height for a fraternity ritual, in which each pledge is punched in the chest four times, a source close to the investigation said. Each punch represents one of
the fraternity’s “four cardinal principles”: manhood, scholarship, perseverance and uplift. Wilson, a Kenner native and engineering junior, collapsed after he was punched and experienced a medical episode, but fraternity members did not call 911 and waited to bring him to a hospital, sources have previously said. The alleged hazing took place at a warehouse off Greenwell Springs Road — not a local park, as police said some fraternity members initially told them. The warehouse was being leased
by Todd Smith, owner of California Hardwood Floors. Smith is a member of the graduate chapter of Omega Psi Phi, and he told WAFB that his son is a current member. Smith has not responded to The Advocate’s requests for comment. Louisiana’s anti-hazing law prohibits hazing regardless of whether the targeted person voluntarily allowed it. Violators face a $1,000 fine and six months behind bars. If the person being hazed dies or is seriously injured, penalties
ä See CHARGES, page 6A
Wilson’s hometown pays tribute
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ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO
President Donald Trump on Thursday postponed many tariffs on Mexico and some on Canada.
President postpones more tariffs
Trump changes course amid fears of economic fallout BY CHRISTOPHER RUGABER, JOSH BOAK and ROB GILLIES
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Thursday postponed 25% tariffs on many imports from Mexico and some imports from Canada for a month amid widespread fears of the economic fallout from a broader trade war. The White House insists its tariffs are about stopping the smuggling of fentanyl, but the taxes proposed by Trump have caused a gaping wound in the decades-old North American trade partnership. Trump’s tariff plans have also caused the stock market to sink and alarmed U.S. consumers. In addition to his claims about fentanyl, Trump has insisted that the tariffs could be resolved by fixing the trade deficit and he emphasized while speaking in the Oval Office that he still plans to impose “reciprocal” tariffs starting on April 2. “Most of the tariffs go on April the second,” Trump said before signing the orders. “Right now, we have some temporary ones and small ones,
ä See TARIFFS, page 5A
Opposition to carbon capture grows
STAFF PHOTOS By JOHN McCUSKER
ABOVE: A memorial brass band procession and second-line travels through the Treme neighborhood of New Orleans on Thursday in honor of Caleb Wilson, a Southern University student who died after an alleged hazing incident. Wilson grew up in New Orleans and graduated from Warren Easton HIgh School, where he played in the band. RIGHT: Angela Goodly embraces Sylvia Holmes before Thursday’s second-line in honor of Caleb Wilson.
Rural, conservative residents in state have concerns about leaks, property rights BY DAVID J. MITCHELL Staff writer
Louisiana’s emergence as a hotbed for new technology to store carbon emissions deep underground has long been opposed by environmentalists. But pushback from an unlikely source is now also gaining momentum. Rural and conservative residents in corners of the state where oil and gas tends to be a familiar and often welcomed presence are increasingly voicing their opposition to carbon-capture and sequestration projects. Industry backers, however, say the residents are being misinformed and fed scare tactics.
ä More on the procession and second-line in New Orleans. Page 6A
ä See OPPOSITION, page 7A
State plans to use nitrogen gas for executions, protocol shows BY ANDREA GALLO and JOHN SIMERMAN Staff writers
Attorneys for the state and for death row inmate Jessie Hoffman Jr. agreed Thursday to unseal a redacted version of Louisiana’s new protocol for using nitrogen gas in executions, shedding public light on how the state plans to put him to death on March 18. The protocol states that Loui-
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siana prison officials will strap the death row inmate to a gurney ahead of his execution and bring him to the execution chamber. Prison staff will perform a final inspection of the state’s nitrogen hypoxia system. Then they’ll place a mask and a pulse oximeter onto the inmate, and allow a spiritual adviser to meet with him and have him make a final statement. “The mask is a continuous-flow, full face, supplied air respirator
with head straps,” the protocol states. Prison officials will turn on the nitrogen hypoxia system and either allow the gas to flow for 15 minutes or for 5 minutes after the inmate’s heart rate reaches a flatline on an EKG, whichever is longer. Both the execution chamber and the witness room will have oxygen monitors set up in them. The protocol closely mirrors that of Alabama, the only state to have
carried out nitrogen gas executions in the modern era. Several key clauses in Louisiana’s protocol match Alabama’s plan word for word. The decision to unseal the protocol came after U.S. District Chief Judge Shelly Dick of Louisiana’s Middle District on Wednesday ordered the two sides to reach an agreement on making a redacted version available for public view. She imposed a deadline of 10 a.m.
Business ......................3B Commentary ................7B Nation-World ................2A Classified .....................7D Deaths .........................4B Opinion ........................6B Comics-Puzzles .....4D-6D Living............................1D Sports ..........................1C
Thursday for them to do so, saying she’d hold a court hearing Thursday afternoon if they could not agree. Dick then ordered the protocol unsealed Thursday morning after both sides agreed to it in the court record. Her decision came ahead of a court hearing scheduled for Friday as she considers Hoffman’s
ä See EXECUTIONS, page 5A
100TH yEAR, NO. 250