Synister Aryan Krakkerss was on the run from law enforcement this week after he fled from Parkview Center, a halfway house, leading the Anchorage Police Department to issue a felony warrant for his arrest.
Now, police say that Krakkerss, 45, has been served his warrant and has been jailed at the Anchorage Correctional Complex.
Court records show that he has petitioned to change his name from Synister Aryan Krakkerss to Vincent Synister Calderon. His birth name appears to be Vincent Raul Calderon, and his charge sheet includes armed robbery and felony escape.
The mugshot released by law enforcement shows two SS runes tattooed on Calderon’s right cheek. It’s unclear whether that indicates affiliation with a prison-based Neo-Nazi gang operating in Alaska.
On Jan. 26, 2023, five members and associates of the 1488s, a white supremacist gang, were sentenced in Alaska to life in prison for racketeering and kidnapping resulting in a death, among other offenses.
In March that same year, 27 people were indicted by a grand jury for drug trafficking. Most of the accused were tied to the Aryan Family, another white supremacist prison gang. The group trafficked large amounts of fentanyl and methamphetamine from Washington to Idaho and Alaska.
These gangs tend to be extremely violent.
In 2022, five people affiliated with 1488 were convicted for the death of a gang member whose gang tattoo was brutally removed from his body. The victim had a tattoo cut off from his rib cage with a hot knife before being shot. His body was later burned.
While crowds from Anchorage flocked to the Kenai Peninsula for a weekend of salmon dipnetting, one Anchorage man made a different kind of splash along the Sterling Highway.
Alaska State Troopers reported a chaotic scene Friday evening near Mile 46 when multiple 911 calls came in about an adult male running into traffic, striking vehicles, and undressing himself in a roadside pullout. Responding troopers from Seward and Soldotna eventually located the individual in a nearby vehicle.
The man, identified as 29-year-old Aucha Johnson of Anchorage, was arrested on three counts of first-degree indecent exposure, as well as charges of fourth-degree assault and disorderly conduct. He was transported to Wildwood Pretrial Facility in Kenai, where he was held without bail pending arraignment.
Unlike the thousands peacefully casting nets for wild salmon, Johnson’s Johnson became another wild roadside attraction in Cooper Landing.
The University of Alaska Fairbanks will soon be under new leadership, as University of Alaska President Pat Pitney announced the appointment of retired Ambassador Mike Sfraga, Ph.D., as interim chancellor of UAF. Sfraga, a longtime university insider and recent Biden administration appointee, will assume the role July 28, following the retirement of current Chancellor Dan White at the end of the month.
Sfraga, a UAF alumnus and former university vice chancellor, was confirmed in September 2024 as the United States’ first-ever Ambassador-at-Large for Arctic Affairs. His nomination was backed by Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski after being advanced by President Joe Biden. Despite his high-profile appointment, Sfraga’s tenure as Arctic ambassador was brief and marked by limited public achievements before transitioning back into academia.
President Pitney called Sfraga a “fitting choice to lead America’s Arctic University,” citing his decades-long career within the University of Alaska system and extensive experience in Arctic policy circles. Sfraga will serve in an interim capacity and will not be a candidate for the permanent chancellor position.
Sfraga’s career in the University of Alaska system spans over three decades, with leadership roles ranging from academic posts to administrative offices including UAF vice chancellor, director of the UA Geography Program, and associate vice president of the UA system. He also chaired the U.S. Arctic Research Commission and founded the Polar Institute at the Wilson Center in Washington, D.C.
Sfraga’s appointment comes as UAF begins a search for its next permanent chancellor. President Pitney said additional details on the search process will be released in August.
The investigation into former President Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents and concerns over his cognitive fitness deepened on Friday, as a third former senior White House aide invoked the Fifth Amendment, refusing to answer questions from House investigators.
House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer confirmed that Annie Tomasini, former assistant to the president, deputy chief of staff for Oval Office Operations, declined to answer a series of questions during her closed-door deposition, citing her constitutional right against self-incrimination.
“Today, the third witness in our investigation into the cover-up of President Biden’s cognitive decline and unauthorized executive actions pleaded the Fifth Amendment,” Comer said in a statement. “There is now a pattern of key Biden confidants seeking to shield themselves from criminal liability for this potential conspiracy.”
Tomasini has first refused to appear before the committee, which resulted in the subpoena compelling her attendance.
According to Comer, Tomasini repeatedly invoked the Fifth when pressed on whether she had ever been instructed to mislead the public about Biden’s health or participated in concealing classified materials found at the president’s home or office. She also refused to answer questions about her involvement in managing classified documents discovered at the Penn Biden Center, including an early visit there before the public timeline acknowledged by the White House.
Tomasini joins Dr. Kevin O’Connor, Biden’s longtime personal physician, and senior advisor Anthony Bernal, both of whom also pleaded the Fifth earlier this month when questioned by the Oversight Committee.
The House investigation is examining whether top Biden aides participated in efforts to hide the president’s cognitive decline from the public and to obscure the circumstances surrounding the discovery of classified documents at multiple locations connected to Biden, including his Delaware residence and former Washington, DC office.
“It’s unbelievable that Ms. Tomasini and others refuse to answer basic questions about President Biden’s fitness to serve,” Comer said. “It’s apparent they would rather hide key information to protect themselves and Joe Biden than be truthful with the American people about this historic scandal.”
The Biden White House previously dismissed the GOP-led probe as politically motivated. However, Comer and committee Republicans point to what they describe as a “protective bubble” created by Biden’s closest aides, including Tomasini, Bernal, and Ashley Williams, to insulate the president from scrutiny.
The investigation remains ongoing, with Comer vowing to “continue to pursue the truth and examine options to get the answers we need.”
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform released the video of Annie Tomasini’s deposition:
Anchorage School District Superintendent Dr. Jharrett Bryantt issued a second high-drama letter to families and staff on Friday, continuing to sound alarm bells over budget cuts but offering little accountability for his own role in spreading initial misinformation about the scope of the financial crisis.
In the new letter, Bryantt accuses others of “false claims” and “deliberate disinformation,” while failing to acknowledge that his first letter earlier this week contained inflated figures and exaggerated impacts. That first communication painted a bleak picture that suggested the district was facing a $98 million deficit, an inflated number that included federal funds that were never intended for recurring expenses, as well as one-time vetoes that are still under legislative review.
Nowhere in his latest missive does Bryantt disclose how many layoffs the district was actually able to avoid after reassessing its finances. Instead, he vaguely credits the use of “vacant positions and limited alternative funds” to reduce layoffs, while insisting that the cuts will still lead to “real and lasting impact” on programs ranging from after-school activities to literacy support.
This selective release of information is a calculated communications strategy. “This is damage control, plain and simple,” said a teacher. “They sent out the first letter to create maximum panic, then walked it back slightly without being transparent about the actual numbers.”
Bryantt fails to update the public on how many teachers and support staff have been laid off, how many were reabsorbed into vacancies, or whether the supposed “devastation” announced earlier in the week has been meaningfully mitigated.
In the Friday letter, Bryantt briefly references a positive development: Partial restoration of some federal funds, including those earmarked for the 21st Century Program, following advocacy from a bipartisan group of US senators; he names Sen. Lisa Murkowski in his political missive. But he doesn’t say how much and continues to characterize the district’s situation as an unfolding “crisis,” blaming both state vetoes and federal grant delays.
His letter concludes with a rallying cry against “confusion, false claims, and even deliberate disinformation,” encouraging parents and staff to use the district’s FAQ page to “defend the truth” and “protect the integrity” of ASD.
Read the news article about Bryantt’s first letter here:
We have obtained citizen journalist video of the massive police presence near Mulcahy Stadium on Friday afternoon, when gunshots were heard and youth baseball players were forced to take cover in the dugout during a pre-tournament game, which was then canceled.
Anchorage citizens and visitors are having their lives deeply disrupted by the lawlessness in the Suzanne LaFrance Autonomous Zones that have taken over the city’s greenbelts.
Our early report is at this link and videos are below:
Citizen journalist sent this video of police action, guns drawn near a vagrant camp in Anchorage, where gunfire was heard & youth baseball players took cover in dugout. Anchorage voters, are you paying attention yet or are you hanging out on BSky foaming at the mouth over Trump? pic.twitter.com/U4Uazngkbn
Editor’s note: This news event is changing rapidly and this report will be updated.
6:50 pm update: Suspect has now been arrested, with help of K9. Suspect sustained a bite.
A major incident developed Friday afternoon near Mulchahy Stadium with gunshots heard in the wooded area where vagrant encampments have developed.
A significant law enforcement operation unfolded, as dozens of police vehicles descended on the area in response to an undisclosed situation. But youth in the stadium area reported significant gunfire. Some witnesses said as many as 50 police cars were at the scene. Police had guns drawn and a drone active. There was smoke everywhere, possibly from a smoke bomb used to control crowds, and gunshots were ringing out. It sounded like a gun battle was underway.
According to authorities, officers are actively managing an incident that requires a large-scale police presence, and they have asked members of the public to avoid the vicinity entirely until further notice. Police have also advised those already in the area to follow officer instructions and seek alternate routes.
“Depending on the situation, our response may require the use of a variety of tactics and tools, including drones,” police stated in a public advisory.
Eyewitnesses reported seeing at least 50 police cruisers racing toward the stadium, with sirens blaring. At Mulcahy Stadium, where youth baseball games were underway, players were quickly ushered to safety into the dugout, and then were evacuated out of the dugout. The game under way was called off.
Ketchikan and Fairbanks had Legion high school teams in town for a tournament, and these games have been called for the evening.
No further details about the nature of the incident have been released as of this writing. This story will be updated.
Alaska Congressman Nick Begich is quickly becoming one of the most recognized freshman Republicans in Washington, DC, earning praise for his hard work and steady nature not just from his colleagues but from President Donald Trump himself.
In a packed East Room ceremony on Friday, President Trump signed into law a cryptocurrency reform bill, modernizing federal regulations and providing greater clarity for certain digital asset markets.
During his remarks, the president gave special recognition to Begich, signaling a clear nod of approval as Begich gains traction heading into the 2026 election cycle. He cited a strong poll he had recently seen. Begich was seated directly behind Vice President JD Vance, when the surprising statement was made in support of Begich, who had worked hard on the GENIUS Act, which Trump was preparing to sign. Trump specifically congratulated Begich on his polling numbers, which show he has strong support in Alaska.
President congratulates Congressman Nick Begich on his polling numbers and hard work on crypto currency legislation. pic.twitter.com/9lLaXM4x4E
The newly signed bill aims to establish clearer regulatory frameworks for stablecoins. It passed both houses of Congress with strong support from both Republicans and Democrats.
Begich, serving his first term in Alaska’s at-large congressional seat, has been an outspoken proponent of cryptocurrency innovation and reducing federal barriers to economic development. He is one of the leading experts in Congress on the commodity.
His inclusion in the president’s remarks further proves his rising profile in national Republican circles and solidifies his standing in Alaska politics.
Recent polling shows Begich with strong favorability ratings among Alaska Republicans and increasing support across the general electorate, positioning him as a likely favorite in next year’s congressional election.
Begich was the only member of the House invited who is not a member of the committees responsible for the crypto legislation, the Agriculture Committee (due to its role in commodities trading) and Financial Services Committee.
Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. and its Alaska-based subsidiary Pebble Limited Partnership announced Thursday they are asking a federal judge to fast-track their lawsuit against the Biden veto that blocked even a permit application for development of the Pebble copper project in Southwest Alaska.
In a motion filed in US District Court, the company requested a summary judgment briefing schedule, saying it wants to expedite a legal ruling on what it calls the “unlawfulness” of the EPA’s preemptive veto of the proposed mine.
“While discussions with the EPA have taken place, we have not reached a settlement. As such, today we asked the court to set a briefing schedule for summary judgment motions, as we now believe that will be the quickest, most direct avenue to get the veto removed,” said Ron Thiessen, President and CEO of Northern Dynasty, in a statement.
Thiessen expressed confidence the court would side with the company, calling the Biden Administration’s actions “unlawful” and harmful to the nation’s domestic mineral supply. But that may not apply to the Alaska court, where Judge Sharon Gleason often sides with environmentalist litigants.
“This administration has been emphatic about its desire for the U.S. to be self-sufficient in critical metals like copper and to be the global AI capital,” Thiessen said. “For this to happen, the U.S. must develop secure domestic supplies of important metals such as copper and the withdrawal of this egregious and unsubstantiated veto of the largest undeveloped copper project in the world would go a long way towards achieving this goal.”
The Pebble Project, located about 200 miles southwest of Anchorage and roughly 125 miles from Bristol Bay, has been at the center of environmental and political disputes for years. The EPA preemptively vetoed the project under Section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act, citing potential risks to the Bristol Bay salmon fishery, a decision Northern Dynasty is now challenging in court.
Based in Vancouver, Northern Dynasty controls the 1,840 mineral claims that make up the Pebble deposit through its wholly owned subsidiary, the Pebble Partnership.
Environmental groups and local Alaska Native organizations will fight any effort to revive the project, arguing it threatens one of the world’s most productive salmon fisheries, although that argument is not substantiated by facts.
The company’s legal filing comes as the Trump Administration promotes critical mineral development elsewhere, raising questions about consistency in federal permitting decisions.
The court has yet to set a timeline for the next steps in the litigation.
Earlier this month, Northern Dynasty said that it was in active settlement negotiations with the Environmental Protection Agency over the matter. That July 3 filing in US District Court follows a 90-day litigation pause requested by the federal government in February, and a subsequent 30-day extension in May to allow new EPA leadership to review the case. The agency has now concluded its internal review and is engaged in talks with Pebble Limited Partnership, Northern Dynasty’s US subsidiary.
