Maxine Waters intervenes when LAPD detains black man
Rep. Maxine Waters was driving around her Los Angeles district when she noticed police detaining a black man — so she stopped to keep them in check, according to a report.
“They stopped a brother, so I stopped to see what they were doing,” Waters (D-Calif.), 81, tells a person who recorded the Friday incident on South Vermont Avenue, TMZ reported.
“They said I’m in the wrong place and that they’re going to give me a ticket,” she adds about the LA County sheriff’s deputies. “That’s OK as long as I watch them.”
A woman is then heard saying: “Gotta do what you gotta do! Make sure!”
“Bye, Maxine!” a man then shouts.
The brief confrontation comes amid widespread demonstrations that have roiled the country in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death in police custody in Minneapolis.
Waters, who founded the Black Women’s Forum, has fought to ban the use of chokeholds by law enforcement.
“It needs to be done all over the nation and any iteration of that, whether it is the arm or the knee or a piece of equipment, used to cut off the breathing to interfere with the ability for those who are the victims of these tactics to be killed,” she said recently, according to Spectrum News 1.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/07/20/rep-maxine-waters-intervened-when-police-detained-black-man/
Photo Credit: flipboard.com
St. Louis couple hit with criminal charges for waving guns at BLM protesters
The St. Louis couple that shot to viral infamy when they pulled guns on Black Lives Matter protesters outside their mansion have been hit with criminal charges over the incident, the city’s top prosecutor said Monday.
Personal injury attorneys Mark and Patricia McCloskey, 63 and 61 respectively, face charges of felony unlawful use of a weapon and fourth-degree assault, Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner, told The Associated Press.
“It is illegal to wave weapons in a threatening manner — that is unlawful in the city of St. Louis,” Gardner said.
The couple were filmed June 28 emerging barefoot from their home in the swanky Central West End neighborhood, each toting a firearm as protesters marched down their private street toward the home of Mayor Lyda Krewson.
The McCloskeys have defended themselves by saying they feared the crowd was going to kill them and burn their lavish house down like the “storming of the Bastille.”
But Gardner said their actions risked creating a violent situation during an otherwise peaceful protest.
Typically, the charges could result in up to four years in prison, but Gardner is recommending a diversion program such as community service, rather than jail time, if the couple is convicted.
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson said in a radio interview Friday that he would likely pardon the McCloskeys if they were charged and convicted.
With Post wires
via: https://nypost.com/2020/07/20/gun-triggered-st-louis-couple-hit-with-criminal-charges/
Photo Credit: UPI
Lowe’s Customer Claims Employee’s ‘Black Panther’ Shirt Is Racist, Returns to Store to Ensure He Was Punished
Lowe’s apologized after a teen employee was forced to change out of a “Black Panther” shirt because a customer claimed it was racist.
Kyle Sales was wearing a shirt that read “Black Panther Wakanda Forever” last weekend while working at a store in Bonney Lake, Washington, when a manager pulled him aside and asked him to change.
“She goes, ‘a customer said your shirt is offensive and racist,’” the 19-year-old told KIRO @7. “This is from a movie. How is this racist?”
Sales was upset but he decided to go home and put a jersey on over the shirt.
“I was very angry. It just did not seem fair in light of all of the things that are happening in our in the world right now,” he said. “This isn’t racist. I shouldn’t be punished for a T-shirt from a movie.”
The change wasn’t the end of the ordeal. A coworker told Sales the woman came back the next day to ask if he was punished.
“She came in throwing a fit saying, ‘What happened to that kid — What was his punishment?’” Sales recounted.
Lowe’s addressed the issue in a statement to the media and revealed the company has already spoken to Sales.
“Mr. Sales should never have been asked to change his shirt, and we have apologized to him directly. We know this is a teachable moment, and we will take action to coach and train the managers at the store to help prevent this from happening again,” the statement read. “Diversity and inclusion are important to our culture at Lowe’s, and we remain committed to fostering an environment where all individuals are safe, treated fairly, valued and respected.”
Sales’ mother Kimberly believes the company owes her son more than an apology.
Photo Credit: Screenshot/KIRO 7
This is the last week of $600 unemployment benefits
The end is near for the $600 federal lifeline for millions of unemployed Americans — even though the economy is still far from recovered from the coronavirus pandemic and new layoffs are being announced regularly.
The coronavirus relief program technically doesn’t expire until July 31, but this coming week will be the last for which benefits are paid — because payments are only provided for weeks ending on either Saturday or Sunday.
Jobless Americans will still get state unemployment benefits, but the sunset of the Congress’ $600 enhancement — part of the $2 trillion economic aid package passed in March — will leave more than 25 million people thousands of dollars poorer each month. And it will expose more of the real pain of mass unemployment, just as many states are reimposing shutdowns.
“These emergency unemployment benefits have been propping up families and propping up the economy now for several months, said Kali Grant, senior policy analyst at the Georgetown Center on Poverty & Inequality. “Ending the benefits prematurely will really set back any economic recovery that may have been on the way.”
Congressional lawmakers are beginning to work this week on the next economic stimulus package. But it’s unlikely they’ll agree on — much less approve — the next step to help unemployed Americans before the payments lapse.
The provision was controversial from the start, mainly because the $600 boost, when added to state benefits, is more than what two-thirds of workers made on the job, according to an estimate from University of Chicago researchers.
But lawmakers approved it in late March as part of a historic expansion of the nation’s unemployment program at a time when health officials didn’t want people out looking for work. The flat $600 payment was much easier for state agencies — which were already struggling as a flood of claims overwhelmed their antiquated technology — to implement.
Congress approved the boost for only four months, thinking that the economy would bounce back quickly once the coronavirus was vanquished and businesses reopened. For a while, that seemed to be the case — with employers hiring more than 7 million workers in May and June after shedding an unprecedented 20.5 million jobs in April.
Senate Republicans, who are expected to release their proposal this week, are generally loath to extend the full benefit. They feel it creates a disincentive for people to return to work, a concern echoed by some business owners. Instead, GOP lawmakers are considering scaling back the enhancement by several hundred dollars and creating a bonus for those who go back to work.
Democrats, on the other hand, want to continue the bigger benefit into 2021. The House included that provision in the $3 trillion coronavirus relief bill it passed in May.
“The right thing to do for families and the economy is extend supercharged unemployment benefits,” said Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat. “They have unquestionably kept the economy afloat.”
Blunting the impact
The augmented benefit has blunted the impact of the coronavirus-induced economic upheaval, which prompted the sharpest and swiftest loss of jobs on record in April. Still, 4.3 million homeowners missed their mortgage payments in May, the highest level since 2011, according to Black Knight, a mortgage data company.Save on productivity-boosting techBig savings on performance business tech to stay fully connected and productive.Ad By Dell See More
And, the vast majority of food banks were still seeing a big jump in demand in early July, compared to a year ago, with 50% more people being served, on average, according to Feeding America, a network of food banks. Just under 30% were new clients.
The $600 payment provides more than $15 billion a week to 25 million Americans, according to an analysis by Andrew Stettner, senior fellow at The Century Foundation. Many are using it to cover their rent or mortgage, buy food and spend on other basic needs.
Shanga McNair of Jacksonville, Florida, is one of them. The veteran bartender lost her job at a brewhouse when the state shut down earlier this spring and then returned to work in early June at a jazz bar for about two shifts a week — down from her typical six. However, state officials closed the bars again in late June after coronavirus cases spiked, sending her back to unemployment. Her side jobs bartending at private parties and banquets have also dried up.
The $600 federal boost, on top of her $275 weekly state benefit, is less than she made while working. It barely pays her rent but has allowed her to keep up with her bills. The 40-year-old, who also visits a local food pantry occasionally to supplement her grocery shopping, figures that if Congress doesn’t extend the enhancement, she has three months to find a job before she’s evicted.
So far, she’s had no luck. McNair has sent scores of applications to restaurants, warehouses, customer service firms and offices, but they have yielded nothing. She even filled out an application while grabbing a bite at Popeye’s after seeing the manager working multiple jobs but was told there was a hiring freeze.
“I hate depending on the government, but everything is out of my control,” said McNair, who is putting two daughters through college and has never collected unemployment before. She has written to her elected representatives in both parties. “You can’t just pull the rug because it’s not over.”
Eliminating the federal benefit will reduce workers’ weekly unemployment payments by 50% to 85%, depending on their state, Stettner said.
As Congress debates what to do, more people are at risk of losing their jobs in fresh rounds of layoffs. United and American airlines have warned this month that tens of thousands of employees could be cut or furloughed this fall. JCPenney announced last week that it would cut 1,000 jobs from its executive and regional offices. Other retailers, including Brooks Brothers and Neiman Marcus, have filed for bankruptcy.
Also, the spike in coronavirus cases has prompted at least two dozen states to halt or reverse their reopening plans, which will also cost people their jobs. For instance, California last week ordered the shuttering of bars, movie theaters and indoor dining at restaurants statewide, as well as the closing of gyms, houses of worship, indoor malls, hair salons and some offices in many counties.
The impact is already showing up in the data. The states with the largest surge in coronavirus cases earlier this month also had the biggest increase in initial unemployment claims, according to William Rodgers III, chief economist at the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University.
Some economists fear that the nascent jobs recovery will be derailed, sending even more people onto the unemployment rolls.
“Conditions in the labor market remain weak and the risk of mounting permanent job losses is high, especially if activity continues to be disrupted by repeated virus-related shutdowns,” said Rubeela Farooqi, chief US economist at High Frequency Economics.
Photo Credit: Reuters
Kentucky couple under house arrest after testing positive for COVID-19, refusing to quarantine
KENTUCKY (WAVE/CNN) — A Kentucky couple is under house arrest after one of them tested positive for coronavirus and refused to sign self-quarantine papers.
On Saturday, Elizabeth Linscott of Hardin County got tested for COVID-19 because she was planning to go visit her parents in Michigan.
“My grandparents wanted to see me, too,” Elizabeth Linscott said. “So, just to make sure if I tested negative, that they would be OK, that everything would be fine.”
After testing positive but without showing any symptoms, Elizabeth says the health department contacted her requesting she sign documents. She choose not to sign.
“Pretty much it was I agreed to consent to. I agreed to comply to call the health department if I was to go. I was to call the health department if i was to leave my house for any reason,” she said. “I had gotten a message from them, a text message that stated ‘Because of your refusal to sign, this is going to be escalated and law enforcement will be involved.'”
On Thursday, the Hardin County Sheriff’s Department greeted Elizabeth’s husband, Isaiah, at their front door.
“I open up the door, and there’s like eight different people, five different cars, and i’m like ‘What the heck’s going on?’ This guy’s in a suit with a mask. It’s the health department guy and they have three papers for us. For me, her and my daughter,” Isaiah Linscott said.
The couple was ordered to wear ankle monitors and to notify law enforcement more than 200 feet
“We didn’t rob a store. We didn’t steal something. We didn’t hit and run. We didn’t do anything wrong,” Elizabeth Linscott said.
The couple says they never denied self-quarantining. They just didn’t agree with the wording of the documents.
“And, that’s exactly what the director of the Public Health Department told the judge, [He said] that I was refusing to self-quarantine because of this, and I’m like that’s not the case at all. I never said that,” she continued.
Even without the ankle monitor, the Kentucky woman plans to be cautious.
Photo Credit: kmov.com
Woman fatally shot after asking man to stop setting off fireworks
A Brooklyn woman was gunned down when she confronted a man setting off illegal fireworks, police sources said Saturday.
Shatavia Walls, 33, who was peppered with gunfire July 7 after asking the man to stop setting off the explosives, died from her injuries Friday night at Brookdale Hospital, the sources said.
Walls was shot eight times at 1259 Loring Ave. in the Pink Houses around 8:30 p.m. Her companion, Kelvin Hernandez, was also struck, the sources said.
Setting off illegal fireworks is a “nonviolent act,” Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams said last month, urging residents to “go talk to the young people or the people on your block who are using fireworks” instead of calling 911 or 311.
Walls made the apparently fatal mistake of telling the man, who remains at large, to cease the pyrotechnics. The suspect left, only to return with a gun, shooting the doomed Walls and Hernandez as they tried to run away, police said.
Adams, who spoke about the fireworks scourge at a news conference last month, insisted Saturday that “the first line of interaction when it comes to non-criminal behaviors should be between neighbors.”
“If a situation escalates to the point where someone is becoming disrespectful or violent, the police should be called,” Adams added. “We can never and will never condone any form of violence. The person who shot Ms. Walls must be found and held criminally responsible. My heart goes out to her and her entire family on this horrific incident.”
Gunfire has exploded across the city after the NYPD disbanded its anti-crime unit of plainclothes cops June 15, with three times as many shootings in the last two weeks of the month over the same period in 2019, police stats show.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/07/18/woman-fatally-shot-after-asking-man-to-stop-setting-off-fireworks/
Photo Credit: WAYNE CARRINGTON
Nine shot, one killed in bloody Saturday as NYC shootings skyrocket
At least nine people were shot, one fatally, across New York City on Saturday — capping another week of violence that saw triple the shootings compared to last year, cops said.
All but one of Saturday’s eight reported incidents occurred in Brooklyn — with six of the shootings in adjacent precincts in Crown Heights, Brownsville, Canarsie and East New York.
The day’s only homicide occurred in broad daylight Saturday afternoon outside the Fly E-Bike store located at 662 Nostrand Ave.
Cops said the deceased 23-year-old was shot in the left thigh and stomach just after 4 p.m. Shell casings and a bullet fragment were recovered at the scene.
Saturday’s gunplay began at 1 a.m., when an unknown assailant shot a 42-year-old man once in the right thigh at Blake Avenue and Miller Avenue, within the confines of the 75th Precinct.
Just 51 minutes later a 23-year-old man was shot in the right groin just a mile and a half away at 416 Chester Street within the confines of the 75th Precinct, police said.
Another man was shot once in the left leg at around 3:25 a.m. on Stanley Avenue in East New York.
The victim was “highly uncooperative with investigators” and declined police transportation himself to the hospital, NYPD said.
Police also responded to a 3:39 a.m. shooting at 235 Westwood Ave. in Staten Island’s 122nd Precinct. The victim was sent to Stand Island North Hospital with non-life threatening injuries after taking one shot to the groin, police said.
Another man was shot in the 73rd Precinct at the corner of Herkimer Street and Rockaway Avenue around 4 a.m., according to police.
As the sun set on Saturday, cops got reports of two more shootings in Brooklyn:
At 11:18 p.m., officers reported a man shot at 4:03 p.m. after a verbal dispute in Canarsie within the confines of the 69th precinct.
Two men also reported being shot at 9:24 p.m. on Carlton Avenue in the confines of the 88th Precinct, police said.
The city saw 63 shootings in the week between 12:01 a.m. June 12 and 7 a.m. Sunday, more than triple the 20 shootings that occurred over the same period last year.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/07/19/nine-shot-one-killed-in-bloody-saturday-as-nyc-shootings-skyrocket/
Photo Credit: Kenneth Bachor/NY Post
Black Lives Matter mural in front of Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue was vandalized Saturday for the third time this week — this time by a black woman yelling, “refund the police!”
In the 3 p.m. episode, black paint was tossed on the yellow BLM mural as two officers tried to stop the woman, who wore a “Jesus Matters” T-shirt, from smearing the paint over the pavement.
“They’re liars!” the woman shouted as she kept pulling her arms away from the two cops. “They say they care about black lives, they’re saying to defund the police.”
As bystanders screamed profanities at the woman and she shouted “Refund the police!” in response, one of the officers slipped and fell in the wet paint, hurting his head and arm.
The woman continued undeterred, yelling and getting on her hands and knees to keep smearing the paint.
“They don’t care! They don’t care about black people!” she yelled. “We’re killing each other left and right! Black Lives Matters — liars!”
Two women, ages 29 and 39, were taken into custody and are expected to be charged with criminal mischief, police said.
The injured officer was taken to Bellevue Hospital, police said.
The mural was also targeted for vandalism Friday afternoon.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/07/18/black-lives-matter-mural-outside-trump-tower-again-defaced/
Photo Credit: nypost.com
Civil rights legend Rep. John Lewis dead at 80
Representative John Lewis, a son of sharecroppers and an apostle of nonviolence who was bloodied at Selma and across the Jim Crow South in the historic struggle for racial equality and who then carried a mantle of moral authority into Congress, died on Friday. He was 80.
His death was confirmed by a senior Democratic official.
He announced on Dec. 29 that he had Stage 4 pancreatic cancer and vowed to fight it with the same passion with which he had battled racial injustice. “I have been in some kind of fight — for freedom, equality, basic human rights — for nearly my entire life,” he said.
On the front lines of the bloody campaign to end Jim Crow laws, with blows to his body and a fractured skull to prove it, Mr. Lewis was a valiant stalwart of the civil rights movement and the last surviving speaker at the historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963.
More than a half-century later, after the killing in May of George Floyd, a Black man in police custody in Minneapolis, Mr. Lewis welcomed the resulting global demonstrations against systemic racism and the police killings of Black people. He saw those demonstrations, the largest protest movement in American history, as a continuation of his life’s work, though his illness had left him to watch from the sideline.
On the front lines of the bloody campaign to end Jim Crow laws, with blows to his body and a fractured skull to prove it, Mr. Lewis was a valiant stalwart of the civil rights movement and the last surviving speaker at the historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963.
More than a half-century later, after the killing in May of George Floyd, a Black man in police custody in Minneapolis, Mr. Lewis welcomed the resulting global demonstrations against systemic racism and the police killings of Black people. He saw those demonstrations, the largest protest movement in American history, as a continuation of his life’s work, though his illness had left him to watch from the sideline.
“It was very moving, very moving to see hundreds of thousands of people from all over America and around the world take to the streets — to speak up, to speak out, to get into what I call ‘good trouble,’” Mr. Lewis told “CBS This Morning” in June.
“This feels and looks so different,” he said of the Black Lives Matter movement that drove the anti-racism demonstrations, which dwarfed the civil rights protests of the 1960s. “It is so much more massive and all inclusive.”
And this time, he said, “there will be no turning back.”
READ MORE HERE????????https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/17/us/john-lewis-dead.html
Whatever happened to the boondocks? Pt 1 Long Version and Pt2 Short Version
With the passing of John Witherspoon it was up in the air as to who would fill John’s Witherspoon shoes as granddad on the boondocks reboot. Until at John’s son J.D Witherspoon. Let him tell it….
Pt 1 Long Version
Pt 2 Short Version