Demings was criticizing an amendment introduced by Republicans that would prevent defunding of police departments. The bill it was seeking to amend, however, does not have a provision to take funds away from law enforcement. Called the Covid-19 Hate Crimes Act, the legislation seeks to give incentives for hate crime reporting, boost funding to state-run hate crime hotlines and increase penalties for individuals convicted under current hate crime statutes.
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been transferred to a prison hospital, supporters and officials said on Monday, 20 days into a hunger strike that has led the United States to warn Moscow of serious repercussions if he should die in jail. Navalny's lawyer Alexei Liptser said after visiting him in the hospital of penal colony No. 3 in the city of Vladimir, east of Moscow, that his health was deteriorating and he had again been denied access to his own doctors. Russia's prison service said Navalny, 44, was in a "satisfactory" state and he was being given "vitamin therapy" with his consent.
Democratic Rep. Hakeem Jeffries sharply criticized Republican efforts to censure Rep. Maxine Waters. Waters is facing criticism for telling protesters to "get more confrontational." Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the fourth-highest-ranking House Democrat, sharply criticized Republican efforts to censure Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters and said the GOP should deal with its "mess" before attacking Democrats.
Helpful, well-designed pour decor Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
Newly obtained body camera video captured an Arizona sheriff's deputy using a racial slur and pleading to be let off the hook after an officer pulled him over in December on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol. Pinal County Sheriff's Deputy Julian Navarrette was stopped after an Arizona State University police officer observed him speeding and swerving about 2 a.m. Dec. 5 in Tempe, according to an ASU police report. Navarrette was out with friends at the time of the arrest, the report said.
With the conviction of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd on Tuesday, prosecutors will begin turning their attention to making their case against three others who took part in the fatal arrest. Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane, all of whom were fired and arrested days after Floyd died last May, face charges at a trial on Aug. 23 that they aided and abetted second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter of Floyd. Aiding and abetting murder is punishable by up to 40 years in prison, although sentencing guidelines can reduce the maximum to 15 years.
Republican senators questioned Stacey Abrams during a Senate hearing Tuesday about voting rights, quizzing her over whether state laws in Democratic-controlled states are “racist” and whether her own 2018 gubernatorial race was “stolen. Abrams became a voting rights advocate since her failed run for Georgia governor and was credited with helping organize voters in her state to help propel President Joe Biden to the White House. She was testifying to advocate for passage of a sweeping federal overhaul of the U.S. voting system that is being pushed for by Democrats.
The North Carolina Court of Appeals has eliminated what may be the last hurdle between Mark Carver and a new murder trial or even his outright freedom. In a unanimous opinion, three judges from the state's second-highest court dismissed a Gaston County prosecutor's appeal of a lower court ruling that overturned Carver's first-degree murder conviction in the death of UNC Charlotte student Irina Yarmolenko. In a statement Tuesday to the Observer, defense attorney Chris Mumma hailed the ruling, and called on District Attorney Locke Bell to drop the charges and redirect his efforts to finding student's actual killer.
The Pentagon says that the Russian military buildup near Ukraine is larger than the one in 2014. The Defense Department also said that it is not clear "that this is all about training," as Russia says. The US has also raised concerns about Russian plans to block parts of the Black Sea.
With one-third of his eastern Caribbean nation transformed into “a relative wasteland” from the erupting La Soufrière volcano, the prime minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines Tuesday appealed to the international community for help with his country's recovery. It's an extraordinary, existential challenge that is facing us,” Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves said. The leader joined the United Nations in launching an urgent appeal for assistance to address the budding humanitarian crisis and multiple challenges created by the volcano's ongoing explosions.
A sheriff said he welcomed transplants to the Sunshine State, as long as they vote the right way. "Don't register to vote and vote the stupid way you did up north," the Polk County sheriff said. Weighing in on a debate about the effect of new residents on Florida politics, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd proposed a simple solution on Monday.
After 17 years, millions of Brood X cicadas will tunnel their way to the surface and sing their rowdy mating song — a plague of love-struck bugs. This year, the tens of millions of red-eyed critters will return after patiently sucking the fluid of plant roots since their last appearance in 2004, when Triangle scientists forecast “an amazing dome of noise. For all but enthusiasts, cicadas make for a mess of bug bodies and a racket worse than a leaf blower.
Police in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, stopped a group of teens riding their bikes, video shows. One of the teens was seen in the video being handcuffed as cops seized his bike. Police said the teens needed licenses to ride their bikes in the streets.
During closing arguments in the trial of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin on Monday, prosecutor Steve Schleicher told the jury to listen to common sense as they consider the evidence in the death of George Floyd. Believe your eyes,” he said. What you saw, you saw.
Days before the start of jury selection, an appeals court ruled that Cahill should not have thrown out a third-degree murder charge against Chauvin last fall. Then, at the end of that week, the city approved a historic settlement for the Floyd family, which threatened to derail jury selection. "Judge Cahill definitely has control of that courtroom," said Hennepin County Chief Judge Toddrick Barnette, who picked Cahill to preside over Chauvin's trial and the separate trial of the three other officers charged in Floyd's death.
New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has re-introduced the Green New Deal climate and energy proposal alongside Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey. The sweeping deal reflects an environmental plan to combat climate change that AOC originally unveiled in 2019, seeking to fight the climate crisis and tackle inequality simultaneously. AOC, who described the package as “huge in scope” at a press conference on the National Mall said: “It's going to be an all-hands-on-deck approach and we refuse to leave any community behind in the process.”
Facebook's plans to roll out encryption across its messaging services could jeopardise ongoing work to combat child abuse, the Home Secretary has warned. "We cannot allow a situation where law enforcement's ability to tackle abhorrent criminal acts and protect victims is severely hampered," Priti Patel told a charity-hosted event. Facebook says its plans for wider encryption protects users' privacy.
A semitruck drove through a crowd in Minneapolis as people celebrated Derek Chauvin's murder conviction. A truck appeared to drive through a crowd of people in Minneapolis celebrating Derek Chauvin's guilty verdict in George Floyd's death on Tuesday. Video of the incident, posted by journalists Grace Morgan and Samantha Hendrickson, shows the truck quickly being surrounded by people as it turned into the crowd.
Wading back into Republican politics, former President George W. Bush said Tuesday that the GOP he once led has swung too far to the right on issues like immigration, trade and diversity. "I would describe it as isolationist, protectionist and, to a certain extent, nativist," Bush told NBC's "Today" show during an interview to promote his new book on immigration. The name Donald Trump did not surface during the interview, but Bush clearly aimed his comments at his Republican successor whose "America First" agenda included protectionist trade policies and crackdowns on immigration.
The head of STRATCOM said he would put bombers on alert if the ICBM leg of the triad goes away. The STRATCOM commander says he needs a modern ICBM force, not "leftovers of the Cold War." America's top nuclear commander told lawmakers Tuesday that he would push to put US nuclear-capable bombers on alert if the military lost its intercontinental ballistic missiles.
A former sheriff's detective accused of killing his family had been charged with sexual assault of a minor. The former sheriff's deputy who police allege killed his family in Austin, Texas, on Sunday was out on bond after he was accused of sexually assaulting his adopted daughter, court documents indicate. The police say Stephen Nicholas Broderick, 41, killed three people: his estranged wife, Amanda Broderick, 35; his adopted teenage daughter, Alyssa Broderick; and her teenage boyfriend, Willie Simmons III. The Travis County District Attorney's Office has charged Broderick with capital murder in all three deaths, KXAN reported.
We're getting outdoorsy on Clever this week Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
Hester Ford, the oldest living American who was over 115 years old, has died, her family have said. Ms Ford, a North Carolina woman with more than 120 great-great-grandchildren, died peacefully in her home on Saturday, according to her family. According to different census reports, Ms Ford was either 115 or 116 years old at the time of her death.
Now that fired police officer Derek Chauvin has been convicted on all three counts against him, he can still file an appeal. The most likely avenue of appeal is the massive publicity given to the case and the judge's denial of repeated requests by lead defense attorney Eric Nelson to move the case out of Minneapolis or sequester the jury throughout the trial to shield them from any and all news or mention of the case. Judge Peter Cahill, known as a careful jurist, refused to grant Nelson's requests — made at the beginning of the court case and throughout the trial, particularly after the fatal shooting in nearby Brooklyn Center of a 20-year-old Black motorist by white officer there.
Over about two weeks last month, lawyers for the prosecution and defense quizzed potential jurors about their knowledge of Floyd's death, their opinions of Chauvin, and their attitudes about police, racial injustice, and the protests and rioting that followed Floyd's death. Several believe the criminal justice system needs to be reformed. Discussing her opinion about Black Lives Matter, one woman responded, “I am Black, and my life matters."
“High-speed rail is bold and attention-grabbing, but the scale of the project makes it near impossible.”
“While a long, slow train ride across the country can be a great thing, the US needs real high-speed rail too.”
“Liberals are right that America has a car problem — but it's commutes, not road trips, that suck.”
“Investments into a high-speed rail system wouldn’t just improve the railroads — automobile traffic could also see some relief.”
“Big cities that are reasonably close together is pretty much a prerequisite for high-speed rail.”