Pandemic sparks renewed interest in laughter yoga -- virtually

Pandemic sparks renewed interest in laughter yoga -- virtually

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  • Fledgling Actor From Texas Bashed a Cop With a Crutch in Capitol Riot: Docs

    Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast / Photos via FBI/GettyAn aspiring actor from Texas, who said he was almost “gassed to death like… a Jew” during the Capitol insurrection, has been charged with using a crutch to bash a cop in the Jan. 6 riot.Luke Coffee, a 41-year-old from Dallas, has been charged with a slew of crimes, including assault of a federal law enforcement officer with a dangerous weapon and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. In a newly unsealed criminal complaint, prosecutors said Coffee is seen in photos and videos using a crutch to assault D.C. Police officers who were trying to protect the Capitol.Before gaining notoriety for storming the Capitol, Coffee worked in post-production on two primetime television shows, including Everwood, according to his IMDB page. Returning to Dallas in 2010 after stints in Hollywood and Cape Town, Coffee established a production house under the umbrella of a company owned by his mentor, director Rocky Powell, according to his website. He has directed a documentary, a TV pilot, and continued acting, with appearances in NBC’s Friday Night Lights and Las Vegas.But his social media shows his affinity for former President Donald Trump and his belief in conspiracy theories, including QAnon and how hydroxychloroquine can cure COVID-19. The day before the riots, Coffee said in one YouTube video, “All hell is going to break loose tomorrow,” before mentioning former Trump strategist Steve Bannon. “Cue the storm baby Q storm,” he added.According to Dallas news site Central Track, Coffee also documented his trip to the Capitol. The morning of the riots, Coffee—who prosecutors say was wearing a brown cowboy hat, camouflage jacket, and a blue bandana—posted a photo alongside another rioter. Behind them, hundreds of rioters with MAGA flags can be seen.“Historic Day for ‘Merica!!” Coffee captioned the photo on Facebook. Criminal Complaint The complaint states that during the riots, Coffee is seen in videos on the steps of the Capitol near the Lower Terrace tunnel entranceway. He is seen turning toward the sea of rioters trying to breach the building and making “several statements,” though it’s not clear what he said.The group of rioters at the Lower Entrance tunnel, which included Coffee, violently attacked officers with blunt objects and threw items at officers, the complaint says. One D.C. cop was “violently dragged down the Lower Terrace steps by protesters.”Coffee was seen holding a crutch over his head before lowering it toward his waist and rushing into the line of D.C. and Capitol Police officers, the complaint says.Bodycam footage shows that, after Coffee was forced back, he charged at the officers again, using the crutch “as a blunt object weapon by positioning the crutch directly toward the officer’s upper chest/head area.” It took about two D.C. officers to hold Coffee and his makeshift weapon back.Prosecutors add that video footage shows the crutch being passed around to several insurrections who all used it to attack officers. Criminal Complaint The FBI was tipped off to Coffee from several witnesses, including a “college classmate who happens to be a Special Agent,” the complaint says. One witness, who said they met Coffee in mid-2020, said they recognized him because he was wearing “attire that stood out.” The witness also added that Coffee featured in a YouTube video last October in which he “discussed several conspiracy theories.”During a Jan. 13 interview with federal authorities, Coffee admitted that he drove to D.C. from Dallas in a truck and was at the Capitol on Jan. 6. While he acknowledged that he “held up a crutch over his head” outside the building, “Coffee stated he did not engage in any type of physical confrontations with the police while at the Capitol Building,” the complaint says.After the riots, Coffee appeared in several YouTube videos where he continued his rants about other conspiracy theories, including questioning the validity of the moon landing, and dabbling in Flat Earth and reptilian beliefs. In a since-deleted Facebook video, he admitted to pushing police with the crutch.“Those cops I fought, uh, I was pushing against, I grabbed a crutch. And I went in and pushed against the line. I pushed all against the line and was, like, trying to drive them back, and God gave me some supernatural energy, and they sprayed in my eyes,” Coffee said in the Facebook video, according to Central Track.Describing the violence as an “antifa false flag attack,” Coffee added that he was “ready to die” with “patriots” exercising their right of freedom of speech.“I was ready to die last night. We thought we were, we were totally gassed. And I literally thought I was getting gassed to death like I was in Nazi Germany, a Jew getting gassed to death. Okay,” he said. Luke Coffee featured in one of the FBI’s Most Wanted posters following the riot. FBI Daniel Caldwell, a 50-year-old from Texas, was also charged Friday with assaulting and “spraying a mist at police officers” who were attempting to protect the Capitol steps on Jan. 6. Caldwell, who is seen in photos and videos in a camouflage outfit and a hoodie that said “Guns SAVE Lives,” was interviewed at a D.C. hotel after the riot. He admitted to being at the Capitol when a fight broke out and a “female was hit in the neck,” he said, according to a newly unsealed complaint.“According to Caldwell, the fight then started and then ‘they took their guys’ and then someone took her (referring to the female who was hit) and took off,” the complaint says. “Caldwell said that individuals stayed in the area and police were spraying mace towards him. Caldwell said he told them if they continued, he would return spray.” Caldwell then said in the interview that “once the officers sprayed him” he retaliated and sprayed about 15 cops. “Caldwell stated that officers then shot him with a big cannon with rubber bullets,” the complaint adds. Criminal Complaint The complaint says the FBI received many tips about Caldwell, including from a witness who said he engaged with the 50-year-old in an Airsoft Military Simulation—or MilSim. The game is described as “a live-action, in-person simulation of armed conflict scenarios conducted by civilians that involve airsoft plastic projectiles launched by replica weapons, but do not involve actual firearms.” The witness told the FBI that he met Caldwell while playing MilSim about three years ago, and described him as a “huge white supremacist” and “a complete wacko.” While playing the game, the witness said, Caldwell “would bring a real firearm to the course and had to be corrected on multiple occasions to return the firearm to his vehicle,” the complaint states. Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

  • Trump lost because 'character counts.' That's why his CPAC speech won't change anything.

    The problem in 2020 was with the Republican candidate. That won't change in 2024 if Trump stays on top.

  • Pilot reports UFO, says missile-like object flew over plane during flight to Phoenix

    A pilot at American Airlines radioed Sunday that an unidentified object flew over their jet during a flight while they were over New Mexico.

  • Jamal Khashoggi: US says Saudi prince approved Khashoggi killing

    An official report says Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved the journalist's murder.

  • Prince Harry on life in California and what he thinks about The Crown

    What Harry thinks of The Crown, what the Queen got Archie for Christmas, and other key information.

  • Prince Harry Tells Friend James Corden He Left the Royal Family Because It Was Destroying His Mental Health

    KOEN VAN WEELPrince Harry has said that he stepped back from royal duties because the British press was “toxic” and “destroying” his mental health.In an extraordinary interview unparalleled in the annals of royal history, Harry gave a candid interview to his close friend James Corden on The Late Late Show while they toured Los Angeles on an open-air double-decker bus. Corden was a guest at Harry and Meghan’s wedding in 2018 and arrived at the evening reception dressed as Henry VIII. Another guest at the wedding, Oprah Winfrey, has taped an interview primarily with Meghan that will be screened next weekend.Oprah Winfrey’s Interview With Meghan Markle and Harry Will ‘Shine a Light on What They Have Been Through’The two men were served afternoon tea, which Corden said he had provided to remind Harry of home, however the tea service was abandoned after the bus braked sharply, depositing the contents of a tea trolley on top of the prince.“Clear it up, Harry,” Corden joked as the prince picked up tea cups and scones.While the 17-minute long package had a humorous tone and was packed with jokes and gags, it also provided the most candid insight yet into why Harry withdrew from royal duties.Asked about his decision to leave royal life, Harry said he was left with no choice because the British press “was destroying my mental health.”He said of the “toxic” situation: “I did what any husband and father would do—I need to get my family out of here.”In what will be perceived as a dig at the royal establishment that refused to accept Harry and Meghan’s proposal of a hybrid public-private role, Harry said: “We never walked away, and as far as I’m concerned, what decisions are made on that side, I will never walk away.”Royal Family ‘Wringing Their Hands’ at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s ActivismHarry said that his life now would continue to be about “public service” and added that he and Meghan were “trying to bring some compassion and try to make people happy and try to change the world in any small way we can.”When Harry said he and Meghan often watched Jeopardy! and Netflix (with whom the couple recently signed a $100 million production deal) in the evenings after putting Archie to bed, Corden asked him about The Crown and its controversial portrayal of his family’s history.Harry, who joked he would like to be played in the series by Damian Lewis, said he preferred it to the tabloid media coverage of the royals because it “does not pretend to be news.”He added: “It’s fictional. But it’s loosely based on the truth.“Of course it’s not strictly accurate, but it gives you a rough idea about what that lifestyle—the pressures of putting duty and service above family and everything else—what can come from that.”He continued: “I’m way more comfortable with The Crown than I am seeing the stories written about my family, or my wife or myself, because it’s the difference between fiction—take it how you will—and being reported on as fact because you’re supposedly news. I have a real issue with that.”Harry also opened up about meeting Meghan and how he knew she was the one on their second date.“We hit it off with each other, and we were just so comfortable in each other’s company,” he said.“Dating me or any member of the royal family is kind of flipped upside down. All the dates become dinners or watching the TV or chatting at home.“We went from zero to 60 in the first two months.”Meghan, who is pregnant with the couple’s second child, made a cameo in the interview via FaceTime when Harry and Corden paid a trip to the house from the ’90s TV show The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.When Corden suggested the couple should buy the house, Meghan said: “I think we’ve done enough moving.”During the visit to the house, Corden and Harry spoke to the owner and jokingly made an offer to buy it, before Harry asked if he could use the toilet.“I’m actually dying for a pee. Can I use your bathroom?” he asked.Showing that family relations are at least still somewhat functional, Harry said his grandmother, the queen, bought his son Archie a waffle maker for Christmas.He revealed Meghan now makes waffles with a “beautiful organic mix” and they eat them for breakfast with toppings including berries and syrup.He also said that both his grandparents know how to use Zoom, but joked that his grandfather slams the laptop shut physically to finish a call.Over to you, Oprah.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

  • Exclusive: Two rights groups quit Hong Kong as security law sends shudders through NGOs

    At least two political rights groups advocating democracy have quietly quit Hong Kong and moved overseas, unnerved by a national security law that has fanned fears over the erosion of freedoms under China’s rule, sources told Reuters. In the past, China-focused rights groups had valued the wide-ranging autonomy, including freedom of speech and assembly, guaranteed for Hong Kong when control over the former British colony was returned to Beijing in 1997. But some non-government organisations (NGOs) say the new legislation means they face a choice of either having to leave Hong Kong or work with the same kind of fears and constraints they would encounter in mainland China.

  • Who’s John Boehner’: Ted Cruz reacts to former Speaker telling him to ‘f*** himself’

    Texas senator shamed for Cancun trip delivered a high-energy CPAC speech studded with Star Wars references

  • Residents of an Indian slum thought they were getting vaccinated like everyone else but were unknowingly part of a clinical trial

    After a white van advertised COVID-19 vaccines to a central-Indian slum, many of its residents feel duped after finding out they were in a trial.

  • TikTokers tried to prove that snow in Texas was 'fake' as weather conspiracy theories ran wild online

    From "fake snow" to Bill Gates, conspiracy theories about the Texas storm are spreading. Right-wing pundits and politicians aren't helping.

  • Biden USTR nominee Tai vows to end trade 'race to the bottom,' counter China

    Katherine Tai, President Joe Biden's top trade nominee, backed tariffs as a "legitimate tool" to counter China's state-driven economic model and vowed to hold Beijing to its prior commitments, while promising a sweeping new approach to U.S. trade. At her Senate confirmation hearing to become U.S. Trade Representative, Tai also called for a revamp of global trade rules to eliminate what she called "gray areas" exploited by China and end a "race to the bottom" that she said had hurt workers and the environment.

  • Merkel says she won't take AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine because she's too old, as 1.4 million jabs are left unused

    The German chancellor said she wasn't eligible because the vaccine isn't approved for people over 65 in Germany.

  • New York prosecutors digging into Trump's tax, financial records

    After a lengthy court battle, the Manhattan District Attorney is in possession of Donald Trump's tax returns and other financial records as part of a criminal investigation into the former president and his family-run Trump Organization, a spokesman for the office confirmed on Thursday. The New York prosecutor's office obtained the voluminous records on Monday, the same day the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Trump's latest attempt to keep his longtime accounting firm, Mazars USA, from turning over the records.

  • ‘Who’s John Boehner’: Ted Cruz reacts to former Speaker telling him to ‘f*** himself’

    Texas senator shamed for Cancun trip delivered a high-energy CPAC speech studded with Star Wars references

  • At pivotal moment in Afghanistan war, Biden weighs a dilemma

    President Joe Biden's choices in Afghanistan boil down to this: withdraw all troops by May, as promised by his predecessor, and risk a resurgence of extremist dangers, or stay and possibly prolong the war in hopes of compelling the Taliban to make peace with a weak and fractured government. Afghanistan presents one of the new administration's tougher and more urgent decisions. The U.S. public is weary of a war nearly 20 years old, but pulling out now could be seen as giving the Taliban too much leverage and casting a shadow over the sacrifices made by U.S. and coalition troops and Afghan civilians.

  • Democratic-led House makes conservation push with lands bill

    The House passed legislation Friday that would create about 1.5 million acres of new wilderness and incorporate nearly 1,200 miles of waterways into the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System as Democrats move to protect more public lands — with President Joe Biden's blessing. Biden has set a goal of conserving at least 30% of U.S. lands and ocean by 2030, a move that supporters say will help curb global warming while preserving some of the nation's most scenic lands for future generations of Americans to enjoy. Republicans said the wilderness area designations would restrict use of those lands and make them more susceptible to catastrophic forest fires.

  • Tiger Woods car crash: Golfing champion will not face criminal charges

    Police say the crash was "purely an accident" after the golfing champion flipped his car on Tuesday.

  • While Biden visits storm-torn Texas, Sen. Ted Cruz will be giving a speech on 'cancel culture' in Florida

    The president is set to tour the state with Gov. Greg Abbott.

  • US implicates Saudi crown prince in Khashoggi's killing

    Saudi Arabia's crown prince likely approved the killing of U.S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, according to a newly declassified U.S. intelligence report released Friday that instantly ratcheted up pressure on the Biden administration to hold the kingdom accountable for a murder that drew worldwide outrage. It leaves no doubt that as the prince continues in his powerful role and likely ascends to the throne, Americans will forever associate him with the brutal killing of a journalist who promoted democracy and human rights.

  • Affirmative action opponents ask U.S. Supreme Court to take up Harvard case

    Opponents of policies used by universities to increase their numbers of Black and Hispanic students asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday to prohibit Harvard University's consideration of race in undergraduate admissions in a case that could end such affirmative action programs. Students for Fair Admissions, a group founded by anti-affirmative action activist Edward Blum, asked the justices to hear its appeal of a lower court ruling upholding Harvard's race-conscious admissions. A lawsuit backed by Blum accused Harvard of discriminating against Asian-American applicants.