What happened in Lafayette Park?
Protestors were not cleared from Lafayette Park in Washington, D.C., for then-President Donald Trump's photo op, a report finds. Why weren't body cameras worn when Winston Smith Jr. was shot and killed? And hospital workers were suspended for refusing to get a COVID-19 vaccine.
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Fencing, not Trump's photo op
A little over a year ago, Trump walked through Lafayette Park to a St. John's Episcopal Church, where he posed with the Bible for photos. Just before that, federal and military police violently clashed with protestors who had filled the area in the wake of George Floyd's death in the custody of Minneapolis police, driving them out of the park and nearby streets.
On Wednesday, a new report released by the Interior Department’s inspector general concluded U.S. Park Police and the U.S. Secret Service did not clear protestors from the area for the photo op. Instead, they had determined it was necessary to remove protesters from the area so that contractors could install new security fencing. Federal police didn't learn of Trump's plans to walk through the park until hours after they had begun developing plans for the security fencing. Shortly after the report was released, Trump issued a statement thanking the inspector general “for completely and totally exonerating me in the clearing of Lafayette Park!”
Why weren't there body cameras?
No video from the shooting of Winston Smith Jr. has been released. And activists in Minneapolis are calling for the U.S. Marshal for the District of Minnesota to be fired and an investigation into Smith's fatal shooting, which sparked several days of protests and renewed scrutiny of the body camera policy for federal agents. Local activist groups have demanded Ramona Dohman step down as head of the U.S. Marshals Service in the state and protested outside her home Tuesday. Smith, a 32-year-old Black father of three, was fatally shot when officers on a U.S. Marshals Service task force tried to arrest him last week on a warrant for illegal possession of a firearm. Despite a change in Justice Department policy to allow cameras just months ago, the two deputies involved in the shooting had been told they could not use their body-worn cameras.
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No vaccine, no job?
In a controversial move that has drawn protests and outcry, scores of workers at a Houston hospital system have been suspended and face being fired for refusing a COVID-19 vaccination. Houston Methodist CEO Marc Boom said that 27 of the 178 suspended workers have received one dose of the vaccine and that he is hopeful they will get the second dose. All are suspended for two weeks and risk being fired if they fail to be fully vaccinated. "I wish the number could be zero, but unfortunately, a small number of individuals have decided not to put their patients first," Boom said. Hospital workers across the nation risked their lives during the pandemic, yet a recent survey revealed staff vaccination rates vary widely, from 51% to 91%.
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Biden's first European tour
President Joe Biden headed to Europe Wednesday on his first overseas trip in office, an eight-day blitz that will include meetings with key allies and one big adversary – Russia's Vladimir Putin. Biden will attend the Group of Seven summit in Cornwall, England, then head to Brussels for a NATO summit and a meeting with European Union chiefs before sitting down with Putin in Geneva. The European leaders should find Biden more cordial than predecessor Trump, who badgered NATO countries to increase their financial contributions and clashed with Europe on climate change, trade and other issues.
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Mom arrested after 7-year-old's body found by hikers
Less than 12 hours after she was identified as a suspect in the death of her 7-year-old son, a mother from San Jose, California, was arrested Tuesday in Colorado. Samantha Moreno Rodriguez, 35, was arrested by an FBI task force at a hotel in eastern Denver, Las Vegas police Lt. Ray Spencer said. Her son, Liam Husted, was found dead on May 28 by hikers outside Las Vegas. Spencer would not say how Liam died or offer a motive for the slaying. Liam’s body remained unidentified until a family friend told police on Friday that she had not seen him or his mother and she recognized the boy from a rendering.
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🕵️♀️ Learn how to hack Prime Day
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Protestors not cleared for Trump, hospital workers suspended for refusing vaccines, Biden in Europe. It's Wednesday's news.
