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From juvenile hall to firefighting academy; 2 nonprofits help redirect paths with fire training

By CNN

CA: FIRE TRAINING PROGRAM FOR CONVICTS

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    LOS ANGELES (KCAL, KCBS) — As recent events have demonstrated, there is a great need for more people to fight wildfires in the state, and now two nonprofits have joined to address the shortage and provide jobs to underserved communities.

When Eddie Herrera is not fighting fires for Cal Fire, he’s training the next generation at the Future Fire Academy. Herrera spent nearly two decades in prison, and while incarcerated, he became an institutional municipal firefighter.

When he was released from prison, he started working for the state, and now he’s giving back.

“We’re allowing individuals to overcome a lot of the trauma they’ve experienced in their lives, redirecting it in a positive way,” Herrera said.

“What better way than being in a life of service and that’s what they are doing now.”

Anthony Pedro spent nine years in prison and turned his life around by becoming a firefighter and starting the Future Fire Academy.

“There’s this narrative on folks that come from our background. The thing is, we are changing it,” Pedro said.

He devotes his time to helping others like him find a pathway into the fire service.

“Maybe folks that normally wouldn’t have access, we have grant funding to provide it to them for free. We pay them while they are here training,” Pedro said. “Everyone will leave her with a few thousand dollars to go home once they graduate.”

The Future Academy has teamed up with the Anti-Recidivism Coalition, which has its own training center. With the two nonprofits joining forces, fewer people are getting turned away, as recruiting continues in schools, jails and juvenile halls.

“We started hitting every institution. We would plant the seed. Hundreds of people have been directly impacted by those recruitment trips,” Jon Cesario/ARC, firefighter recruitment specialist, said.

Jason Rojas was recruited from juvenile hall, and the 21-year-old just completed the Future Fire Academy, along with 18 others. This isn’t the end of the road for them; they will also get the help they need to apply for a job.

“It’s a new direction I’m heading in life. I want to be successful and make a change, not just for myself but for my family and those around me,” Rojas said.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

Abdul El-Sayed distances himself from left-wing influencer after comments about American Jews

By CNN
(CNN) — Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed sought to distance himself Monday from Hasan Piker after the left-wing streamer and activist suggested to his Twitch viewers last week that American Jews’ support of Israel will make antisemitism worse and invite violence.El-Sayed, who is facing Republican former Rep. Mike Rogers in a critical race in the battle for the Senate majority this November, has appeared with Piker several times on the campaign trail, telling reporters he wanted to court the streamer’s massive young audience even though he disagreed with some of Piker’s views. The two walked into an event in Detroit together on the eve of El-Sayed’s narrow primary win over Rep. Haley Stevens and were photographed the same day together at a pool party with progressive influencers and House candidates.But after months of campaigning alongside Piker, El-Sayed said in a Monday statement specifically addressing Piker’s comments that “nobody speaks for this campaign besides me and my campaign spokespeople.”“I believe all Americans deserve the right to advocate for what they believe without fear of violence. This is particularly true for communities that have been intimidated for their beliefs in the past,” El-Sayed said.“My commitment to Jewish safety is the same as my commitment to the safety of my own daughters,” he added, repeating a sentiment he’s frequently espoused on the campaign trail. “Antisemitism is a scourge, and we need to address it in all its forms. And I stand against any rhetoric that puts the community at risk.”El-Sayed also sought to downplay the significance of the pro-Palestinian influencer to his campaign, as he accused “politicians and pundits” of trying “to make this race about a Twitch streamer.”Piker drew bipartisan backlash after he said last week, “If Jews in America keep putting this idea out there that they are singularly invested in Israel, eventually someone’s going to come around and take action — not against the state of Israel, mind you, but against American Jews.”He defended his remarks on X on Sunday evening as criticism of the conflation of support for Israel with American Jews. “Falsely tying Israel to Jewish people IS increasing antisemitism,” he argued, adding, “this isn’t a call for violence.”While El-Sayed is an outspoken critic of the Israeli government himself, his effort to distance himself from Piker comes as he vies to broaden his support after a bruising Democratic primary and as Rogers seeks to pick up disappointed Stevens voters.Describing Piker as El-Sayed’s “running mate,” Rogers in a social media post cast the streamer’s comments as “more calls for violence coming out of the El-Sayed campaign.”“If Abdul El-Sayed had any courage at all, he would call this out and disavow Hasan Piker once and for all,” he said. “We’re waiting, Abdul…”Michigan Democratic Rep. Hillary Scholten, who supported Stevens in the primary and has not endorsed El-Sayed, also condemned Piker’s remarks.“Piker is a hack who thrives on hate, shock and awe because he lacks substance,” she said. “It’s dangerous for everyone. We should all be calling out this disgusting rhetoric so it loses its grip on our politics once and for all.”The left-wing influencer made the comments last week during a livestream, as he discussed the refusal of state Sen. Jeremy Moss, the Democratic nominee for Stevens’ seat, to endorse El-Sayed.Piker appeared to reference an audio clip that has circulated online in recent weeks that purportedly features Moss, who is Jewish, saying that making sure the US continues supporting Israel is the only purpose of his House campaign. The lawmaker has denied making the remarks, saying in a statement that the clip is “manipulated and unsourced audio with things I never did and never would say.”Piker said: “I don’t know how people don’t recognize how dangerous this predicament is, how dangerous this is for Jews.”“You’re running around basically tying your entire identity to a country that inevitably will be seen as basically Jewish ISIS, and you’re saying, as Jews, this is all we care about,” he said. “You’re making antisemitism worse.”Moss said in a statement Monday that while he and El-Sayed have been having an ongoing conversation about Jewish and Arab safety in the US and abroad, there is still work to be done to unite the Democratic ticket in Michigan.“But provocateurs are exploiting this moment to create further divisions,” he warned. “I will not be lectured by a California podcaster about what Oakland County, Michigan’s Jewish community should and shouldn’t believe. And we certainly won’t be gaslit that we’re responsible for the antisemitic harm upon us.”Piker’s views reflect growing opposition to US support for Israel, particularly among progressives, in response to Israel’s war in Gaza and the ensuing humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave following Hamas’ October 2023 attack.But the streamer also has a long history of incendiary remarks — including saying in 2019 that the United States “deserved 9/11,” a comment from which he backtracked days later.Earlier this month on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” El-Sayed said Piker’s comment about 9/11 was “dumb,” but also cast highlighting it now as playing “gotcha politics.”“I want to be held accountable for what I say and what I do, rather than this idea that we’re so stuck in cancel culture that all of us agreed was a bad idea back in 2020, but we seem to want to bring back,” El-Sayed said in that interview.The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
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