White NYPD cop who broke into black woman’s home, hurled racist slurs ordered to pay $1M
A white former NYPD cop must pay $1 million to a black woman after he broke into her Nashville home and drunkenly berated her with racial slurs in front of her two kids.
Federal Judge Eli Richardson ordered Michael Reynolds to pay Conese Halliburton the sum on Monday in response to the civil lawsuit filed by the woman, The Tennessean reported.
Reynolds resigned from the police force in January after calls for his termination.
“Ms. Halliburton promised from the beginning that she would hold ex-Officer Reynolds fully accountable for his criminal misconduct and obtain justice for her family regarding this despicable incident,” said Halliburton’s attorney, Daniel A. Horwitz. “We are certainly pleased with this development, but we also aren’t finished here.”
Reynolds was attending a bachelor party in Nashville in July 2018 when he busted into Halliburton’s home, believing it was his Airbnb, and threatened the woman with racial slurs and told her he’d “break every f–king bone in your f–king neck.”
Her four sons were home during the incident.
The former cop pleaded no contest to multiple counts of assault with fear of bodily injury and aggravated criminal trespass and was sentenced to 15 days in jail.
Halliburton’s attorney said he didn’t expect his client to collect the $1 million since the former officer had declared bankruptcy.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/10/27/nypd-cop-who-broke-into-home-used-racist-slurs-ordered-to-pay-1m/
Photo Credit: Facebook, Nashville PD
Boy, 3, dies after accidentally shooting himself at own birthday party
A 3-year-old boy has died in Texas after accidentally shooting himself in the chest at his own birthday celebration, authorities said.
The shooting occurred at around 4:15 p.m. Saturday at the unidentified boy’s home in Porter, Texas, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office said.
“Family and friends had gathered earlier to celebrate the birthday of the three-year-old, and while playing cards, heard a gunshot,” authorities said. “The child was located with a gunshot wound to the chest.”
They said they believe the tot had found the pistol and shot himself after it fell out of a relative’s pocket.
He was rushed to a nearby fire station, where he died from his injuries, authorities said.
It’s unclear whether any charges were filed in the case.
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of this tragic accident,” the department said.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/10/25/boy-3-dies-after-accidentally-shooting-himself-at-own-birthday-celebration/
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Cancer survivor reportedly drowns herself after dad dies of COVID-19
A UK woman who survived breast cancer drowned herself in a river after losing her father to the coronavirus, according to a report.
Jane Macgregor-White, a lawyer who was in remission after being diagnosed with cancer in 2107, also was hit hard by the end of a 10-year relationship, the Sun reported about an inquest.
But she appeared to be doing all right and had also been planning a charity hike up Mount Snowdon in her father’s memory.
“She seemed to be well. She may have been a bit quieter than usual but nothing out of the ordinary,” her son Philip Bateman said. “Her death was a complete shock. I think it was the accumulation of effects.”
Bateman said her breakup and her father’s coronavirus death “was too much for her.”
He woke up to text messages from his mother’s ex-partner asking if he had seen his emails, the inquest in Woking, Surrey, heard.
Bateman then saw his mother’s suicide note.
She committed suicide by driving into a river in her hometown of Guildford while drunk in July, the Sun reported.
“We are all gutted she couldn’t come to us,” her brother Jonathan said after the inquest.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/10/26/cancer-survivor-drowns-herself-after-dad-dies-of-covid-19-report/
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Women on Qatar flight strip-searched after newborn found in airport toilet
All of the female passengers aboard a Qatar Airways flight to Australia were removed from the plane and forced to undergo vaginal exams after a newborn was found in a toilet at the airport in the capital of Doha, according to reports.
The women, including 13 Australians, were dragged off the Sydney-bound plane on Oct. 2 at Hamad International Airport, where the newborn was found abandoned, news.com.au reported.
The shocked passengers were strip-searched and subjected to “invasive” exams, prompting Australia to complain about the “grossly disturbing” incident with Qatar, according to the BBC.
Two women from Flight QR908 told Australia’s ABC that they had no idea what was going on when they were rounded up after a three-hour delay, which they said they weren’t informed was due to the baby’s discovery.
“No one spoke English or told us what was happening. It was terrifying,” one of the women, who asked to remain anonymous, told the outlet.
“There were 13 of us and we were all made to leave. A mother near me had left her sleeping children on the plane,” she said. “There was an elderly woman who was vision impaired and she had to go too. I’m pretty sure she was searched.”
The woman added that while she respected the country’s laws and culture, she was considering legal action.
“If the other 12 women came forward with a class action, I would definitely be part of that,” she told ABC.
The other passenger said she was with a group of several other women who began panicking when they realized they were being removed from the airport.
“When I got in there, and there was a lady with a mask on and then the authorities closed the ambulance behind me and locked it,” she said.
“They never explained anything. She told me to pull my pants down and that I needed to examine my vagina,” the woman told ABC. “I said, ‘I’m not doing that’ and she did not explain anything to me. She just kept saying, ‘We need to see it, we need to see it.’”
The woman said she took her clothes off and was touched by the female nurse who inspected her.
“I was panicking. Everyone had gone white and was shaking,” she said. “I was very scared at that point, I didn’t know what the possibilities were.”
She said she jumped out of the ambulance “and then ran over to the other girls. There was nowhere for me to run.”
Kim Mills, who was among the women taken off the flight, told the Guardian Australia that she saw a young woman coming out of an ambulance “crying and distraught.”
“I just turned around and started walking with her trying to comfort her. I said, ‘What’s wrong, what’s going on?’ And she told me that they’d found a baby in the bathroom at the airport and they were examining all the women,” Mills said.
“I was the luckiest one on the whole flight because I have gray hair and I’m in my 60s. They probably looked at me and thought, ‘Well, that’s impossible, it could not be her.’”
By the time the women were allowed to board the plane again, Mills said, her “legs were just wobbling.”
“I was just so pleased to be back on the plane because I was terrified they were going to take me away somewhere … Why didn’t they explain to us what was going on? It was horrible, not knowing, to me that was one of the worst parts of it,” she told the Guardian.
Mills added that the cabin crew members were “absolutely horrified.”
“[The head steward] said the captain and the pilot don’t even know why we’ve been held and what’s going on,” she said, adding that the purser offered an apology on behalf of the captain and the crew when they landed in Sydney.
Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said the “grossly disturbing, offensive, concerning set of events” had been referred to federal authorities in her country.
“It is not something I have ever heard of occurring in my life, in any context,” she said. “We have made our views very clear to the Qatari authorities on this matter.”
The airport said in a statement that the infant was “safe” and being cared for in Qatar — and that medical professionals “expressed concern to officials about the health and welfare of a mother who had just given birth and requested she be located prior to departing.”
Federal Labor leader Anthony Albanese called the incident “completely unacceptable,” according to ABC.
“The government has a relationship with Qatar, the government’s in a position to regulate a range of activities and I would have thought that it needs something other than just strong words,” he said.
New South Wales police said the women received medical and psychological support while in hotel quarantine in Sydney.
Amnesty International called the episode “distressing, and disturbing, and a gross violation of these women’s human rights,” news.com.au reported.
“There needs to be a thorough and independent investigation and all of those involved need to be held to account,” Amnesty International Australia director Samantha Klintworth told 7 News.
Mills called the incident “absolutely terrible.”
“I can’t imagine what it was like for those poor young girls, it must have been horrendous. I’m a mother of three daughters and when I got back on the plane and reflected on it and thought, I am so glad it wasn’t any of my girls,” she told the Guardian.
“I just think of the poor young girls. I don’t know why they had to put them through that, I really don’t.”
The Post has reached out to Qatar Airways for comment.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/10/26/women-on-qatar-flight-stripped-after-newborn-found-in-toilet/
Photo Credit: nypost.com
California grandfather dies after he was beaten for asking man to turn down music
A California grandfather has died after he was allegedly beaten for asking people in a Starbucks parking lot to turn down their music.
Robert Ketner, 69, was slugged after he confronted River Baumann, 20, for blaring tunes last week outside the coffee chain in Rocklin, news station KTXL reported.
“He was kind of sitting outside, drinking his latte when the vehicle of some sort came by,” a relative, who did not want to be identified, told the outlet.
“It was like really loud music; people were complaining about it. So, he pointed out, like, which car it was and asked them to turn their music down.”
Police allege the man punched Ketner and he fell to the ground, suffering an injury to his head that knocked him unconscious, news station KOVR reported.
The retired grandfather was brought to the hospital, where he was put on life support and died four days later, the outlet reported.
“Whatever the argument was, no one deserves to lose their life,” Rocklin police Cpl. Zack Lewis said. “So, it’s a sad thing that we have to experience this.”
Baumann was initially arrested on suspicion of assault in connection with the dispute, but he was hit with a manslaughter charge in the wake of Ketner’s death, the outlets reported.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/10/26/grandfather-dies-after-he-was-beaten-for-asking-man-to-turn-down-music/
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Florida man stole bulldozer, ran down Biden signs
HAINES CITY, Fla. (AP) — A 26-year-old man has been accused of stealing a bulldozer from a Florida construction site, driving it into a neighborhood and knocking down campaign signs for Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, according to authorities and homeowners.
The man took the bulldozer in Haines City on Saturday and repeatedly destroyed Biden signs in full view of people who live in the neighborhood, witnesses said. James Blight was charged with grand theft auto and trespassing, according to the Haines City Police Department.
Former Vice Mayor Adam Burgess lives in the central Florida neighborhood, which he said is predominantly Black. He called it a hate crime.
“This man came onto my property, took the two Joe Biden signs I had in my yard and then came back with a bulldozer to run down my fence,” Burgess told Bay News 9.
Video taken by the news outlet showed the damaged fences. Blight was also accused of bulldozing down a city speed limit sign, among other signs.
Police said Blight claimed he was too drunk at the time to remember what happened. It was not immediately clear whether he has an attorney who could comment on his behalf.
via: https://currently.att.yahoo.com/att/cm/police-florida-man-stole-bulldozer-131026513.html
Photo Credit: wbtv.com
This 5-year-old wrote a book to help kids battle the stress of the coronavirus pandemic
(CNN) — A 5-year-old from Georgia wrote a book to inspire kids to stay positive during the uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic.
When the Covid-19 pandemic began, preschooler Wade Williams had a lot of questions. But his biggest ask was how he could help.
“It all started by him saying ‘Dad I really want to help. I really want to help people,” said Williams’ father Joshua Williams.
With help from his father, Williams published a children’s book titled “Wade Through the Pandemic” to encourage kids to keep a winning mindset despite the impact of the pandemic on their lives.
The book chronicles the of highs and lows of Wade’s life during the pandemic — from not being able to go school or play with friends, his grandmother becoming terribly ill with the virus, and the birth of his baby sister.
“That was our sole purpose of writing this book,” said Williams’ father. “Just to let other children know, we know that this is a tough time.”
“We’re not sugarcoating that everything is perfect. Everything is not perfect. But it will be okay.”
Writing the book served as way for Williams to process the big changes in his life mentally and emotionally due to the pandemic while also sharing his story to create hope for others, said Williams’ father.
The book was published on October 2 and is currently listed in the top 100 in Children’s New Baby Books on Amazon Best Sellers.
Williams’ father says he hopes children who read the book will take away a sense of resiliency.
via: https://www.kmov.com/news/this-5-year-old-wrote-a-book-to-help-kids-battle-the-stress-of-the/article_651fbd48-c0fd-52f8-a601-b7f07ed6e075.html
Photo Credit: Courtesy Charisse Graham
U.S. veteran collapses during jog, thief steals phone and left her to die
The 64 year old Air Force veteran who served in Operation Desert Storm was planning a Veterans Day ceremony for her Maplewood church. She’s no longer around to make it happen.
“She was a firecracker,” Medina said. “She had a lot of energy she used to give to everybody. She loved the idea of community.”
Medina said he’s still struggling to make sense of her death.
Olden was jogging Sunday when she collapsed from a heart attack on Arsenal near the Anheuser-Busch brewery. Officials with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department released surveillance video and said the incident happened in the 1200 block of Lynch but News 4’s crews found the scene on Arsenal, not Lynch.
In the video, a man pulled up to the sidewalk in a red van and stepped outside and walked over to her but not to help.
“What happened to the good Samaritan?” Medina said her life was one worth fighting for. “She would want everybody to keep persevering with a smile. She loved everybody.”
Olden used to work for the Rossman School and retired in May. Officials with the school said she was on campus last Tuesday to be honored for her dedication.
“For seven years, her bright smile and positive spirit were an encouragement to all who entered the Dining Room, and she modeled strength of character and bravery to our students when she shared stories of her service in the Air Force during last year’s Veterans Day assembly. Mrs. Olden was a true role model, a dear friend and an esteemed colleague,” the school said in a Facebook post. “We are heartbroken. She will be missed tremendously.”
via: https://www.kmov.com/news/family-friends-remember-air-force-veteran-left-to-die-on-a-south-st-louis-sidewalk/article_2754250c-159c-11eb-8dd3-b7fd1cc0bfe9.html?block_id=990844
Photo Credit: Rossman School
Texas man sprays woman with hose over BLM argument with neighbor
A Texas man sprayed a woman with a hose in a now-viral video after she allegedly yelled, “White lives matter!” and berated a neighbor over a Black Lives Matter flag in her yard.
Ian Doherty, of southwest Austin, said the incident unfolded Oct. 7 when a woman parked in the middle of the street and flew into a 30-minute tirade because his neighbor’s Black Lives Matter flag was more visible than the American flag — as well as a slew of unrelated gripes, KXAN-TV reported.
Doherty said he went outside and asked the woman to stop yelling, to no avail.
“She told me where to stuff it,” Doherty told the local station. “I don’t remember her exact words, but she swore at me, yelled at me, and then I blew it off.”
So Doherty decided to get out his hose and sprinkler head, which he initially pointed in the direction of the woman’s car, hoping she’d decide to leave, the outlet reported.
The act instead prompted the woman to walk onto his lawn.
The video clip, posted to Facebook, begins with the two squaring off for several seconds, as Doherty asks the woman to get off his property.
The woman can be heard saying, “Turn that damn thing off” and “If you spray me…,” seconds before Doherty turns the hose on her.
“She adopts a really aggressive stance, and she told me to turn my water hose off, and I just wasn’t going to do it,” Doherty told the outlet. “I’m on my property, and she was being ridiculous and abusive and saying the worst things for half an hour. I’m not going to back down on my property.”
The woman is then shown slipping on the curb, before getting back up, as she tries to grab hold of the hose.
“Now I think maybe we should call somebody,” someone can be heard saying in the background.
Austin police responded a short time later, but no charges were filed, according to the report.
The woman shown in the video did not want to comment on the record to KXAN.
But her lawyer sent a letter to the station Thursday saying, “The online article is filled with half-truths and flat out deceptive statements,” without elaborating.
“The neighbors have all made peace with one another and there is nothing to be gained by stirring things up again,” the lawyer wrote.
The neighbor initially targeted in the rant told the outlet that she “would have responded better” if the woman said, “‘Oh hey, by the way, your flags are up wrong.’”
Doherty told the outlet he’s nervous about how much attention the video has received, but said people “have to stand up to bullies and racism, in general.”
“I’m not calling her a racist, I’m not making any attacks against the woman, but she was being antagonistic and a bully, for sure,” he said. “I heard her scream ‘white lives matter,’ and just being ugly in general. I’ve got no time for that. I’m glad I did what I did.”
via: https://nypost.com/2020/10/23/texas-man-sprays-woman-with-hose-over-blm-argument-video/
Photo Credit: Anonymous via Storyful
Texas teen says cops savagely beat her after not wearing mask properly
A Texas teen says police savagely beat her at school after she got in trouble for not correctly wearing a mask — causing her to suffer a broken hand and head injury.
Kaidence Lyons, a 15-year-old student at Clear Creek High School, said she was walking down the hallway Oct. 19 when a staffer scolded her for not properly wearing her mask, news station WTVD reported.
She said the employee called her names, accused her of talking back and told her, “I don’t want to hear nothing [sic]. I’m tired of y’all black kids thinking you can run my school.”
The teen said she was then sent to the principal’s office and taken into a separate room, where she was physically assaulted by three officers and placed in handcuffs.
“They didn’t tell me why I was being arrested, handcuffed and slammed down, hitting for different reasons,” she said.
Her mother Shanna Proctor-Lyons said she was horrified to learn her daughter suffered a broken hand in addition to head and knee injuries in the alleged beatdown.
“I just lost it,” she told WTVD. “I couldn’t understand why my 15-year-old was beaten so badly. They didn’t have any reason why.”
The family’s lawyer, Ronald Haley, Jr., questioned why the room had no cameras and asked that surveillance footage be released of the moments leading up to the incident.
“This was supposed to be a safe haven. It seemed very cavalier for her to be walked to that room casually,” Haley told the outlet.
Galveston County Sheriff Henry Trochesset said Lyons was arrested on charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest — but the teen did not report any injuries at the scene and was at no time in a room without school personnel also present.
“She was never taken to the ground — nothing but being handcuffed. She was not injured,” Trochesset told The Post.
He said the department will launch an investigation into her allegations.
“We got her walking out holding a gatorade bottle, but we’ll look into it,” he said of surveillance footage.
Clear Creek Independent School District said the school police officers are contracted through the sheriff’s office.
The district has also launched its own probe into the incident.
“We are aware of the public allegations made by the student’s family and we take their concerns seriously,” the district said in a statement.
“The school district will continue to work with the student’s family and keep them informed along the way.”
The sheriff’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/10/22/texas-teen-says-cops-savagely-beat-her-after-not-wearing-mask-properly/
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