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Both teenage shooting victims have died

UPDATE March 31, 2017 3:00 PM

The RPD has confirmed that both teenage victims (Taliek K. Brown, Mikkaisha D. Smoot) from the Wednesday morning triple shooting on Accomodation Street have died.

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UPDATE March 31, 2017 7:45 AM

nbc12 is reporting that both teenage shooting victims have died:

A 15-year-old boy [Taliek K. Brown] shot in the head during a triple shooting in Mosby Court on Wednesday has passed away, according to police.

However, there are conflicting reports about the 16-year-old girl shot in the head. Her family says she has passed away, but Richmond police say she is still in the hospital and has not been declared dead.

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POSTED March 29, 2017 7:54 AM

WTVR is reporting a triple shooting at 1956 and 1970 Accomodation Street:

When police arrived, they found two females and one male shooting victim. […] Two of the victims suffered life threatening injuries and one had a non-life threatening injury, police said.

36 comments

J 03/29/2017 at 10:32 AM

I keep telling you guys. Bloods gang members have invaded Mosby courts and local gang members are in dispute with that praticular group. Mosby court has never been this “HOT”. Mosby Court is like Gilpin Court or Afton Avenue (1994) hot right now .

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Onion Hill 03/29/2017 at 11:59 AM

How many times do we have to hear these same street names associated with shootings before we accept that RRHA is operating a dangerous, public nuisance in upper Mosby? Immediate neighbors or residents should file a nuisance action to have it closed and the residents relocated to safer places in the city.

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J 03/29/2017 at 1:48 PM

The RRHA has been one of the most corrupt and terrible organizations in RVA.

They continue to sit on hundreds of properties that they won’t rent, repair, maintain, sell, or pay taxes on.

There is no reason for a city like Richmond, which is struggling just to pay for schools, to be supporting more public housing units per capita than wealthy cities like NYC, Chicago, LA, etc.

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Will Hall 03/29/2017 at 2:24 PM

@ j So what if it’s a blood gang. I read alot of your comments and it seems that you have an obsession with these street gangs.So what if it’s a gang or not that’s not the point. The issue here is that Mosby court has had a string of murders and the City needs to do something about it. In reality, you can’t just shut down the entire public housing community overnight, but Rrha needs to enforce stricter rules for it’s tenants. Ive talked to Rrha and the police lutenant about ideas that I have, but I have yet to see any of them implemented.The problem that I see is that 95% of the public housing in these communities are given to single women and there kids, and they let there boyfriend’s come live with them and these guys aren’t even on the lease. This isn’t a gang related shooting. My daughter’s go to MLK and one goes to Armstrong,and they know the kids who got shot. I talked to them this morning.These kids aren’t bloods. Regardless of who or what they are something needs to be done, and Rrha needs to implement stricter rules for it’s tenants if they are going to keep these communities open.

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John M 03/29/2017 at 4:33 PM

From the RPD:

Two Teens, Woman Shot in Accommodation Street Aggravated Assaults

Three persons, including two teens, were injured in an early morning shooting today.

At approximately 1:21 a.m., officers were called to the 1900 block of Accommodation Street for the report of random gunfire.

Officers arrived and found a juvenile male and a juvenile female suffering from apparent gunshot wounds. An adult female was also found with an apparent gunshot wound that was not considered life threatening. The two juveniles were transported to a local hospital with injuries that are considered life threatening.

“Two of Richmond’s teenagers were struck down, and a third person was injured, during an early morning shooting today – and in any incident where children are involved, it is especially critical to us to provide closure to the families,” said Chief Alfred Durham. “The Department is working to not only solve this and every case of violent crime in our neighborhoods but we are working diligently on many fronts to reduce the violence before it happens. We have patrol officers, Focus Mission Team units and the Intervention and Prevention units working around the clock to prevent crime – but we need the public to come forward and provide information before violence breaks out.”

Anyone with information is asked to call Major Crimes Detective Joe Fultz at (804) 646-3929 or Crime Stoppers at (804) 780-1000 or at http://www.7801000.com.

Submit tips to GUN250 about persons illegally possessing guns by texting Crime Stoppers at 274637, then using keyword “GUN250” followed by your tip. Rewards up to $250. Crime Stoppers methods are anonymous.

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Paul Hammond 03/29/2017 at 4:56 PM

re Onion Hill: Good news rarely emanates from Accommodation Street. There is another street in Gilpin similarly named Charity Street of which there is very little.

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mary 03/29/2017 at 5:23 PM

At last night’s 7th district meet both the police and management for RRHA spoke about the ongoing problems in the ‘projects.’

The 7th district councilperson and the cops recently set up a neighborhood watch meeting after walking the area and passing out about 500 fliers/invitations: 6 people showed up for the meeting.

As for RRHA, they work diligently with RPD but are handicapped by HUD rules and regulations; and ACLU action over the years which makes it nearly impossible to keep the ‘bad’ guys away from public housing.

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Neighbor 03/29/2017 at 5:53 PM

Luckily there is another housing project like this coming to Glenwood Ave! 82 units, a huge number of which will be Section 8 housing. Instead of tearing down projects, we are just building more! Hope everyone is coming to the meeting tomorrow and have sent in your letters to Newbille and Planning Department.

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J 03/30/2017 at 4:11 AM

@Neighbor … Projects are a Richmond city problem. Where will they put low income housing? The counties do not want to share the burden of the problem

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Chris 03/30/2017 at 5:40 AM

Time for another irrelevant peace March. And don’t forget the candles.

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Some things never change 03/30/2017 at 9:35 AM

500 flyers and 6 people show up. There’s your problem. These people always complain about the City not doing enough, but it is their community, their neighbors, their kids/grand kids, etc that are engaged in this nonsense.

They won’t show up to meetings. They won’t cooperate with police. They won’t hold their community responsible. But they want others to fix it.

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ilya 03/30/2017 at 9:46 AM

The basket of deplorables ride into the comments section on their hobby horses

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Jason Sewell 03/30/2017 at 1:01 PM

In case anyone has a security camera audio recording, jump to 1:21:16 am Wednesday morning. Mine recorded the sound of 4 shots followed a few moments later by a (probably unrelated) police siren.

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WarGibFA 03/30/2017 at 1:29 PM

Out of curiosity, why isn’t the local community more involved in seeking remedies for the violence problem? Is it a lack-of-energy from daily living sort of thing? Or one of those situations where everyone outside of the police knows the problem people/spots, and does not want to make waves because the problem people are related to a bunch of other long-time residents?

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Will Hall 03/30/2017 at 4:13 PM

@wargibfa Here’s a simple answer to your questions. The reason why,and I’m assuming here,that only six people came out to the meetings is because rumors in RRHA travel and spread like colds/viruses. If word gets out that you’re a snitch, what do you think is going to happen? I know some people who wants to get involved but doesn’t because of what I just explained. I read comments about why people in these communities don’t fix their own problems. It’s easier said than done, and if you haven’t lived in RRHA, or a high crime area, then don’t judge the residents here without knowing what these people go through.It’s easy to sit back and judge people on why they don’t fix their own communites, but if you’re never lived in one of these communities, then you wouldn’t understand.I used to live in Whitcomb. I experienced this firsthand. I couldn’t fix it, so I got my family and moved out.I’ve know what some of the problems are, and I took some of my issues to RRHA, and to one of the LT.’s of RPD. Nothing changed. My opinion,and this may sound crazy, is that the city needs crime, because if you don’t have crime, whose going to fill up that new jail? Jails bring in revenue for the city-court fines, bails, lawyer fees, judges, lawyers,etc

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tiny 03/30/2017 at 4:21 PM

Two children in critical condition is a gigantic tragedy. These kids are some momma’s babies.

How do we keep our children safe? Even when a mother tries hard, it is not always possible to save them. There are so much dangers out their in the neighborhood.

The community has failed these children. The schools have failed these children. Social services and perhaps even their own family members have failed these children. There is so much against them.

And yet, if only they have a chance to grow up, maybe they would be able to rise above it. All of our hearts should be breaking for these kids.

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DontMinceWords 03/30/2017 at 6:14 PM

1 a.m. on a school night? Ah, they need new parents/guardians. That’s the first point of failure and the first line of defense.

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WarGibFA 03/30/2017 at 6:26 PM

@15- Thanks for the answer. I asked precisely because this scenario is utterly foreign to me. In the neighborhoods I’ve lived in before,(which were either rural, or not terribly high crime), the problem people were identified, and a lot of pressure was put out by the community at large for them to either Cut That Out or Move Elsewhere. Guess it’s different when there is a very real threat of gun violence involved, or when the problem people outnumber the regular ones.

It’s sad when there’s no other option than to vote with your feet, for these areas.

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EastEnder 03/30/2017 at 7:16 PM

@Will Hall
With all due respect, I don’t think that what’s happening in Mosby, Whitcomb, and other depressed communities in the East End is about a prison-industrial complex that wants people to fill jails for profit. If anything, the Richmond jail, right now, is at over-capacity and people committing violent crimes are receiving probation or other low stakes punishment.

I grew up in a community like Mosby, Whitcomb, Fairmount, etc., and we can’t ignore the deep pathological problems that happen and don’t get addressed by community members themselves. What was particularly frustrating for me, and why I left that community as soon as I could, was the apathy of community folks. Folks that would quickly call you a snitch if you called the police on drug dealers selling drugs, guys beating their girlfriends, or teenagers fighting/doing drug out in the open.

We can only expect cops, social workers, and well-intentioned liberal folks to do but so much…

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Will Hall 03/30/2017 at 8:45 PM

@eastender I agree to disagree. The reason why I say that jails are for profit is because I was in and out of the criminal justice system for 15 years. I have personal experience. I did time in juvenile detention, in Henrico, juvenile prison-bon air, baumont, the old Richmond City Jail, and adult prison.I’m not ashamed of my past, and I even have a speaking engagement planned this summer at the juvenile detention center on Oliver Hill way.I’m going to speak to the juveniles and talk to them about jails and prisons, and try to keep them out of this trap. I’m speaking from experience. I just grew up and turned my life around. When you hear about how Richmond used to be in the 90’s, or if you go on this site and read about the crime Statistics CHPN has, I was involved in alot of that stuff,and I grew up with alot of those people.. But that’s my past and I’m over that now, but I have alot of stories but I can’t share them all on here, but to deny that jails make profits from inmates is to deny reality. This city makes alot of money from bails,court fines/fees, the jail charges inmates $2 a day, phone calls, canteen, lawyers, etc. This is a fact.Jails and prisons don’t do a good job of rehabilitating people. I agree, there are deep pathological problems in these communities. It’s a sickness, and I see it everyday. Your right on that.Let me tell you a true story. My wife is from New Jersey, but when she came down here, she was trying to get on her feet, so she got a place in Gilpin court. She was sitting on her porch one day and saw a shooting. The police were called but no arrest were made. She saw who did the shootings but she didn’t call the police. The next day, the guys who did the shootings came to her place, with four other guys, brandishing their guns, and asked her was she the one who called the police on them since she was sitting on the porch. She said that she didn’t, and they left. So please don’t tell me that this doesn’t happen here because I have alot of stories to tell! I live in East View, and last summer I had kids threatened to shoot my house up because they thought I called the police on them because of what they were doing around the corner, and they thought I saw them. I had to talk to them and explain that I didn’t have anything to do with it. FACTS!Like I said, don’t judge the people here until you walk in there shoes!

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Will Hall 03/30/2017 at 9:07 PM

@eastender One more thing, yes, alot of people in Richmond are receiving probation, but did you know that you have to pay $100 to be on probation now, and you have to pay to be on house arrest? If you don’t believe me, call the probation office on 9th street. It’s about money. They don’t care if you go back in the streets and commit another crime.

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ese 03/30/2017 at 11:57 PM

Children bearing children with minimal-no education nor meaningful guidance. A country that means well but fails impoverished well meaning people and placating ourselves into believing its all “their” fault (choice). Most of these young fellows are not parts of gangs, they’re rejects. Rejects from their welfare supported households because the offer no enumeration. Passed on into the streets, they move-in with daughters/mothers of welfare and produce impoverished progeny (thus the cycle). No training, so, they hustle, steal, sell drugs, the gamut. Guns, Virginia is full of guns so when these young armed uneducated, impoverished, untrained, immature young bravado filled fellows are “disrespected”, they shoot each other!

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John M 03/31/2017 at 7:51 AM

From the RPD:

Victim in Mosby Court Triple Shooting Dies

One of three people shot yesterday in Mosby Court has died. Taliek K. Brown, 15, of the 400 block of East Brookland Park Boulevard was pronounced dead at 4:27 p.m. at a local hospital after being removed from life-support.

At approximately 1:21 a.m., Wednesday, March 29, RPD officers were called to the 1900 block of Accommodation Street for a report of gunfire. They arrived and found Taliek and a juvenile female lying on the ground in front of an apartment building. Both juveniles were suffering from life-threatening gunshot wounds.

An adult female was also located suffering from a non-life threatening gunshot wound.

All three were transported to a local hospital for treatment.

Anyone with information about this shooting is asked to call Major Crimes Detective Joe Fultz at (804) 646-3929 or Crime Stoppers at (804) 780-1000 or at http://www.7801000.com

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EastEnder 03/31/2017 at 8:11 AM

Condolences and prayers to the family and friends of Taliek Brown. Also, I hope the young woman in the hospital can make a recovery. Prayers to her family and friends as well.

@Will Hall. Personal anecdotes about our pasts, living in the hood, and activism aside, I could go on myself, I want to stress one point: I am not denying that prisons and jails are for-profit entities. Nor am I disputing that this country’s public-private penal system is about rehabilitation.

What I am stressing is that in Richmond, VA the jail is at over-capacity, so lighter sentences, and lite punishments are being handed out. For many violent felons, a $100 plus some fees over time to get out of a 10-15 year stretch is a lite tax.

So, given that we have an over-capacity jail, given that we’re not about rehabilitation, given that the criminal system is making profit, and given that there are violent folk who don’t mind a tax for for being out in the “free world” terrorizing communities: what do we do?

At some point, Mosby, and other similar communities, need to look deep within themselves and ask whether or not constant violence and death is acceptable. At what point do we muster righteous rage, and tell the folks committing violent crimes, and making the streets unsafe: enough is enough.

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Chris 03/31/2017 at 9:14 AM

Ilya,

Welcome to reality.

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Will Hall 03/31/2017 at 2:41 PM

@Eastender I know that the jail is overpopulated. You’r3 not talking to someone who doesn’t know jail politics. I’m aware of that.

The old jail was overpopulated, and when I was incarcerated there in the year 2000, you had at least 30 people sleeping on the floor on each tier. That was 17 years ago. The Richmond city jail has always been at over-capacity.

The old Sherriffs didn’t care, and they did every thing that they could to fill up the jails, even if you had to sleep on the floor, while this Sherriff that we have now – C.T. Woody – disagrees with these policies. If he wanted to, he could have people sleeping on the floor as well. Let Richmond get to close to 100 murders this year, I guarantee you that people are going to go back to sleeping on the floor like it was when Michelle Mitchell was Sheriff.

You said:
For many violent felons, a $100 plus some fees over time to get out of a 10-15 year stretch is a lite tax.

This is why you’re wrong. Not all violent felons are released on probation. Most violent felonies guarantee prison time. If you murdered someone in the city of Richmond, you’re going to prison, guaranteed. Most malicious wounding, robberies, will put you in jail or prison.

I have a violent felony on my record, but it took place 18 years ago. I wasn’t put on probation, I did jail/prison time, then afterwards, I had 12 months probation. Then I had to pay over $2,000 to get my license back. Most first time offenders or non violent felons receive probation.

A lot of people are in the jail for petty crimes, or haven’t been convicted of a crime, but are awaiting trial.

Just because someone committed a violent felony doesn’t mean they should be in prison forever. People change. I did.

You said:

At some point, Mosby, and other similar communities, need to look deep within themselves and ask whether or not constant violence and death is acceptable. At what point do we muster righteous rage, and tell the folks committing violent crimes, and making the streets unsafe: enough is enough.

This statement is becoming redundant. I already answered why people don’t take a stand, you just don’t like my answer. The only stand that you can take is for you to get up, and move out, and if people want to be ignorant and destroy themselves, let them do it. I moved out ,and I know alot of people who did.

EastEnder, if you have all of the answers, why don’t you go into these communities, talk to the residents and offer solutions? It’s easy to sit online, and type on a keyboard about what the residents should be doing.

If you have all of the answers, or if it bothers you, or if you think that you a have solution to the problem, I challenge you to go out and speak to the residents. If not, it’s not wise to speak on situations that you don’t know anything about, or speak negatively or the judge the residents in RRHA when you probably haven’t even been in Mosby or Whitcomb courts.

Now if you was an ex teacher, or currently are a teacher at MLK middle, or any one of the schools in these communities, then you may understand what’s going on here, but if you don’t have any personal experience in dealing with the people here in RRHA-Mosby, Whitcomb, Fairfield, etc. then you’re just rationalizing.

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John M 03/31/2017 at 2:57 PM

From the RPD:

Second Victim in Mosby Court Triple Shooting Dies

A second person who was wounded in a triple shooting in Mosby Court earlier this week has died. Mikkaisha D. Smoot, 16, of the 2100 block of Deforrest Street, was pronounced dead at approximately 1:00 p.m. at a local hospital after being removed from life-support.

Yesterday afternoon, another person who was shot during the same incident, Taliek K. Brown, 15, of the 400 block of East Brookland Park Boulevard, was pronounced dead at a local hospital after being removed from life-support.

Their deaths are being investigated as homicides.

At approximately 1:21 a.m., Wednesday, March 29, RPD officers were called to the 1900 block of Accommodation Street for a report of gunfire. They arrived and found Smoot and Brown lying on the ground in front of an apartment building. Both juveniles were suffering from life-threatening gunshot wounds.

An adult female was also located suffering from a non-life threatening gunshot wound. She is expected to recover.

Anyone with information about this shooting is asked to call Major Crimes Detective Joe Fultz at (804) 646-3929 or Crime Stoppers at (804) 780-1000 or at http://www.7801000.com

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EastEnder 03/31/2017 at 3:07 PM

@Will Hall.

You know what, I’m done. I would suggest you take a look at the “recent” folks who have been accused of murder or attempted murder in Richmond to see if they have been “guaranteed jail time.” Again, I stress “recent.”

And to answer you directly, I am from those communities, and guess what, I am a teacher!

Finally, it’s not about rationalizing, it’s about me growing up in violent communities, growing up with violent crime, having violent felons in my family, that leads me to come to the realization that folks that live in those communities (which I used to) need to stop accepting violence.

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Will Hall 03/31/2017 at 3:34 PM

@eastender You say all of that to say what? Everyone who has been convicted of murder in RVA has been to prison, or jail, recently.So your still wrong. I still don’t agree with your last statement because not everyone here accepts violence. Stop stereotyping. As I said, if what happens here bothers you, then you step up to the plate and do something about it.

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Dubois2 03/31/2017 at 6:55 PM

I’ve learned to call the police. And if anyone asks whether I did, guns or no, to tell them to move along. Takes some grit, and I worry about it, but I’ve got a lot less drug dealing and other crappy crime near me. Standing up matters. And over all, I sleep better.

And the question of murder convictions aside, @Will Hall i think your original assertion that Richmond “needs crime” to fill its jail and for revenue production is far from correct.

Every time I see the crime rate drop I see a neighborhood where actual wealth is on the rise. And yes, that’s money In the bank, equity in the house, and good life for the kids kind of wealth.

And as has been covered here ad naseum, the jail is full. Nobody in the prison business needs more criminal bs than we’ve currently got to keep making their money. That’s a sad truth. If there’s a conspiracy that creates criminality here, i don’t believe it is a jail wanting inmates. Perhaps it’s a city wanting most of its impoverished crammed in to a series of nearly contiguous housing projects deep in the east end, where it would like, clearly, to warehouse and forget.

And lastly I’m laughing at anyone who tells a teacher to “step up to the plate”.

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J 04/01/2017 at 12:32 AM

Another kid shot in Mosby court today! With mobile police command present

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Dave 04/01/2017 at 4:48 AM

I’m no conspiracy theorist and I don’t necessarily agree with how Mr. Hall portrays it, but I don’t think anyone can deny that crime is in fact big business. And the business of crime comes in many forms. An example of one such form would be the recent article in the Washington Post about the forfeiture rules of the DEA…

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/03/29/since-2007-the-dea-has-taken-3-2-billion-in-cash-from-people-not-charged-with-a-crime/?utm_term=.880e402af301

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mary 04/02/2017 at 10:20 AM

For a long time people have said that that those who live in the city’s areas of concentrated poverty are just like everybody else. Politicians and their ilk, from council members to mayors and all the way up to the federal level have made and continue to make this claim.

But if I ever believed it, I don’t any more.

People who live in these areas of the city don’t seem willing to take a risk for those they claim to love, or for themselves, in such a basic manner as sharing information that might make a difference in the circumstances that too often result in death.

Recent (and older) comments to such bad news as these recent deaths claim that residents of areas like this don’t call the cops because they fear retaliation. But comments specific to this post, comments from people who claim to have lived in these areas, state quite plainly that “retaliation” happens when the “retaliators” just think the cops have been called – “retaliation” happens just for the suspicion.

So if you’re going to be suspected of working or sharing information with the cops, if you’re at risk anyhow for taking no action, take action.

A lack of understanding the concept of confidentiality makes the problem even worse. And surely that lack can’t all be laid at the feet of our failed public schools, because for those who don’t know what the word means, plenty of people have explained it slowly and simply – seemingly – to no avail.

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