Rapper Silento charged with murdering his older cousin
Rapper Silento was arrested Monday for allegedly fatally shooting his older cousin outside of Atlanta last month, authorities said.
The 23-year-old “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)” singer, whose real name is Richard Lamar Hawk, was charged with murder in the Jan. 21 shooting death of Frederick Rooks, 34, according to the DeKalb County Police Department.
Rooks was found with several gunshot wounds in a residential neighborhood in Panthersville, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported, citing police.
Surveillance footage obtained by investigators showed several cars fleeing the scene and at least one gunshot, according to an incident report obtained by the newspaper.
A motive for the fatal shooting remains unclear.
Hawk has had several recent run-ins with the law leading up to his Monday arrest, including two busts in one week last August in California, the report said.
In one of the cases, Hawk allegedly broke into a random Los Angeles home wielding a hatchet in search of his girlfriend.
The rapper’s hit 2015 song “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)” has received nearly 1.8 billion views on YouTube.
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San Antonio zoo will name a cockroach after your ex, feed it to an animal on Valentine’s Day – livestream it on Facebook
For just $5, the San Antonio Zoo will name a cockroach after your former significant other and feed it to a bird, reptile or mammal. It’s part of the zoo’s “Cry Me a Cockroach” event on Valentine’s Day.
And if your ex-boo was an especially snaky one, pay $20 more to have zoo keepers feed a frozen rat to a reptile instead.
For those not into critters, the zoo offers a $5 herbivore option that consists of romaine lettuce, cabbage and other leafy greens that can be fed to vegetarian animals.
The best part of the deal? You don’t have to be at the zoo to watch your ex-turned-pest get eaten up. San Antonio Zoo plans to stream the feedings on Facebook Live.
You’ll even receive a certificate to share on social media. If you’re feeling brave enough, post it and tag that unlucky someone.
Jilted lovers have until February 13 at 6 p.m. ET to register on the zoo’s website. Only first names will be displayed during the event.
The money raised from the “Cry Me A Cockroach” event will go towards expanding the zoo’s jaguar habitat with a connected overhead catwalk.
via: https://www.kmov.com/news/zoo-will-name-a-cockroach-after-your-ex-feed-it-to-an-animal-on-valentines/article_bc46272f-28d5-55d3-bc7e-3f1f6595a3cb.html
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A 9-year-old girl was handcuffed and pepper sprayed by Rochester Police officers responding to a call of ‘family trouble’
(CNN) — A 9-year-old girl was handcuffed and pepper sprayed by police officers responding to a report of “family trouble” in Rochester, New York, on Wednesday, according to Rochester Deputy Police Chief Andre Anderson.
Two body camera videos of the incident released by the police department on Sunday show officers restraining the child, putting her in handcuffs and attempting to get her inside the back of a police vehicle as she is heard repeatedly crying and calling for her father.
Officers are then seen pepper spraying the girl after she doesn’t follow commands to put her feet inside the car.
The girl was transported to Rochester General Hospital where she was later released, Anderson said.
Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren said during a news conference Sunday that she had spoken with the girl’s mother and that the city’s Person in Crisis mental health team would be reaching out to the family.
“It is clear from the video that we need to do more in supporting our children and families,” Warren said
During the press conference, Rochester Police Chief Cynthia Herriott-Sullivan said that what happened was not acceptable.
“I’m not going to stand here and tell you that for a 9-year-old to have to be pepper-sprayed is OK. It’s not,” Herriott-Sullivan said. “I don’t see that as who we are as a department, and we’re going to do the work we have to do to ensure that these kinds of things don’t happen.”
Police say they were responding to a report of ‘family trouble’
Officers were called to a home on the afternoon of January 29 for a report of “family trouble,” Anderson said Sunday.
The officers were told the girl was “suicidal” and that she had “indicated that she wanted to kill herself and she wanted to kill her mom,” the deputy chief explained.
The girl tried to flee from officers, Anderson said, and video released by police shows an officer chase her and attempt to provide assistance.
Afterward, he said, her mother arrived and the body camera video shows the two arguing.
Anderson said officers then decided to remove the child from the situation and transport her to an area hospital.
But the girl refused to get inside a police vehicle, “thrashed around,” and kicked an officer, knocking his body camera around, according to Anderson.
“It didn’t appear as if she was resisting the officers, she was trying not to be restrained to go to the hospital,” Anderson said. “As the officers made numerous attempts to try to get her in the car, an officer sprayed the young child with OC spray to get her in the car.”
The body camera video shows the girl repeatedly crying out for her father, while being physically restrained by officers. She is seen screaming before her head is held down against the snow-covered ground and is handcuffed. A struggle ensues between the girl and officers as they attempt to get her inside the back of a police vehicle.
At one point, one officer says, “You’re acting like a child,” to which the girl can be heard responding, “I am a child!”
Later in the video, a female officer is seen talking to the girl, eventually saying, “This is your last chance, otherwise pepper spray’s going in your eyeballs.” About a minute later, another officer can be heard saying, “Just spray her at this point.” The female officer is seen shaking a can that appears to be pepper spray and the child continues to scream.
The officers involved in the incident were not identified by police, nor were the child or her mother.
Anderson said Sunday he was “not making any excuses for what transpired” and that the department is “looking at a culture change.” The department is in the process of reviewing many policies and looking to make changes, according to Anderson.
Mayor Warren said she has directed the chief of police to conduct a complete and thorough investigation of the incident and said she welcomes the review of what happened by the city’s police accountability board.
The mayor explained that the video reminded her of her own young daughter.
“I have a 10-year-old daughter. So she’s a child; she’s a baby. And I can tell you that this video, as a mother, is not anything that you want to see. It’s not.,” Warren said. “We have to understand compassion, empathy. When you have a child that is suffering in this way, and calling out for her dad, I saw my baby’s face in her face.”
CNN’s Hollie Silverman and Laura James contributed to this report.
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Photo Credit: Rochester Police Department/Handout via REUTERS
Video: nypost
Teachers suspended over lesson question, ‘How would you punish a slave?’
SUN PRAIRIE, Wis. (AP/Meredith) — Administrators at a Wisconsin middle school said Monday they have suspended teachers who were involved in an activity for sixth graders that included a question about how the students would punish slaves.
An email to parents at Patrick Marsh Middle School in Sun Prairie, about 15 miles (24.14 kilometers) from Madison, apologized for a “grave error in judgment” during the social studies class and said an unnamed number of teachers have been placed on administrative leave.
The lesson was meant to show the politics of ancient Mesopotamia and included one scenario that stated, ”A slave stands before you. This slave has disrespected his master by telling him ‘You are not my master’ How will you punish this slave?” It further explained that under Hammurabi’s Code the slave would be put to death.
Principal Rebecca Zahn and Associate Principal Amy Schernecker said the assignment was upsetting to parents and students. They said they will be following up with students about the event and offering services to those who need additional support.
Michael Johnson, president and CEO of the Boys & Girls Club of Dane County, said the assignment was “insensitive” and “totally inappropriate,” especially on the first day of Black History Month.
via: https://www.kmov.com/news/teachers-suspended-over-lesson-question-how-would-you-punish-a-slave/article_d591ad7f-410a-536f-b684-22b38415b324.html
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