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Tuesday, June 16, 2020

BLM protester punched in front of police, no arrests made

A lone white man demonstrating for the Black Lives Matter Movement in Bethal, Ohio on Sunday is taking legal action against a counter-protester who punched him in the back of his head. 

The disturbing moment was caught on camera, and occurred in front of a police officer standing a few feet away, TMZ reports.  The cop barely flinches because the handful of officers on the scene were in “no arrest mode” as they worked crowd control, a rep for the Bethel Police Department told the outlet.

“Sir, I just got punched in the back of the head,” the protester tells one of the officers who witnessed the crime, per BuzzFeed News. The cop doesn’t bother with detaining the man who assaulted him. Instead, he informs the victim that “We can take a report from you.”

READ MORE: South Carolina school employee fired after saying protesters should ‘go back to Africa’

According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, the unidentified man initially decided not to press charges, but changed his mind Monday and an arrest warrant was issued for the suspect. 

A local group called Bethel’s Solidarity with Black Lives Demonstration initially planned a peaceful protest on Sunday, expecting about 100 people. The event turned chaotic, however, when more than 250 motorcycles blocked the path of demonstrators. 

WARNING: The following video contains explicit language.

#BLM Bethel, Ohio peaceful protesters attacked by angry mob**2nd Edit: no arrests were made. Investigations are…

Posted by Abbi Remers on Sunday, June 14, 2020

 

Video shared on social media shows people clashing with bikers and counter-protesters snatching signs from #BLM demonstrators. 

Several clips of the protest also how angry white males wearing camouflage gear and carrying rifles and the American flag. Several witnesses say their were warned by these men to flee the scene or face dangerous consequences. 

“I am completely against behavior that is illegal or infringes on any American’s constitutional rights. Some of the law-breaking behavior that we have seen over the last couple of days is appalling and disgusting and does not reflect the values of our community,” said Bethel Mayor Jay Noble. 

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T.I. joins calls for Georgia officer to be fired after holding 5 teens at gunpoint

As if there weren’t already enough issues around policing around the country and in Georgia this week, more police officers have been recorded treating unarmed African American males as a threat.

READ MORE: Black sheriff says that Rayshard Brooks’ shooting was justified

In this case, the victims of racial profiling were teenagers. Video circulated on social media today of white officers in Clayton County, Georgia drawing their guns on a group of teenagers.

 

This was in response to a 911 call where a store owner in the area called police saying the teens were trying to steal from the store and that one of the teens was waving a gun.

According to 11 Alive, the teens were shadowboxing near a convenience store in their neighborhood and then used a local short cut. Somehow or another, as the video begins in the middle of the confrontation, as the teens are standing on the grass with their hands on their heads, more than one officer has his gun trained on them.

This is what you see in the video.

As bystanders question why the officers have guns out, one answers, “I’m being safe.” You can hear others asking the officers not to shoot and the officer says, “Nobody got disrespected, nobody got hurt.”

But Clayton County police released 17 minutes of the altercation, in which an officer asks the teens not to move and hold their hands up. He also asks why the store owner thinks that one of the teens had a gun. As a crowd forms, the officer calls for backup asking the teens to ignore the gathering crowd and pay attention to his commands so that no one gets hurt.

In a statement, Clayton County police and their chief Kevin Roberts explained the reason for the stop.

“Due to the allegation that the juveniles were in possession of a gun, the officer approached them with his duty weapon drawn and pointed at the juveniles. The officer lowered the weapon once the juveniles complied with the officer’s verbal commands to stop and show their hands.”

The teens were frisked and were unarmed. After viewing the store’s surveillance tape, police say they did see what looked like a gun. The teens admitted to an officer that it was a BB gun they had thrown away in the bushes that police say looked like a real gun.

According to police, the teens were then told that playing with a gun that looked so realistic could be dangerous.

 

You can see the entire video via the police officer’s body cam below:

 


At a press conference today, one of the teens and his mother was joined by rapper Clifford “T.I.” Harris, who spoke on behalf of them and their families.

 

“Why don’t we ever see little white kids being held a gunpoint? Period. The constitution was written for all Americans except it seems like you only have to be a certain shade or a certain color to reap the benefits of it,” T.I. said.

“Why are only people of color, young Black boys, young Black girls being gunned down at the hands of policemen and suing excuses like BB guns, water guns,” the rapper, who was born and resides in Atlanta, asked. “There are little white boys that real rifles that go hunting every day, every week with their grandparents and parents. They aren’t being held at gunpoint. Let’s not mix words and understand what we dealing with here.”

READ MORE: Atlanta cop who shot Rayshard Brooks had twelve prior misconduct complaints

Shanelle Williams is the bystander who recorded the video and put in on her Facebook page. She asked the police to be held accountable.

“We’re saying, we would like to see revisions. And not just your revisions. We want you to give your community an opportunity to say, ‘this is how we want you to police us.’ I think that is the only thing that they can do as of right now.

“What would have happened if the community didn’t show up and show out for them that day? … if one of those kids made the wrong move, what would have happened?” she asked.

One of the teens involved in the incident is 13. T.I. and the teen’s mother said he has been traumatized.

“I thought I was going to die,” the teen, only identified as Kamari, said. “I’ve seen all these Black kids just dying and to have myself in that, it was just crazy.”

A protest is planned for Wednesday.

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Wisconsin man spotted walking his dog in KKK robe, hood

A distressing photo emerged online over the weekend showing a man wearing a KKK hood and robe while walking his dog in rural Wisconsin. 

Charles Michael Booth, 50, has been identified as the suspected Klansman in the photo, that was first posted on Facebook by user Rachel Byington, Heavy reports. 

“Hey Vilas County folks. A friend took this photo near the Lakota boat landing off of Highway K in Conover,” Byington captioned the image. “Be careful. I did not take the picture and the person who did wants to remain anonymous,” she added.

Booth’s agitator stunt comes amid ongoing civil unrest over the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and Rayshard Brooks, whose deaths have fueled ongoing debate about race relations in America.  

READ MORE: California sandwich shop closes after franchise owner compares Black Lives Matter to KKK

The image of the Klansman and his pooch has been widely shared across social media, with some users noting that the Ku Klux Klan has a strong presence in that area of northern Wisconsin.

Hey Vilas County folks. A friend took this photo near the Lakota boat landing off of Highway K in Conover. Be careful. I did not take the picture and the person who did wants to remain anonymous.

Posted by Rachel Byington on Saturday, June 13, 2020

Vilas County Sheriff Joe Fath said wearing a KKK robe and hood in public is not a crime, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. 

“It should not have bothered anybody. I realize that that may be offensive to some people, but it’s not a crime.,” said Faith of the handful of complaints the department received about a man in a KKK gown walking his dog June 12.

“He was walking down Highway K, which is about two to three miles out of Conover,” he added. “It’s a country road. It’s not in anybody’s particular neighborhood.”

Deputies reportedly contacted Booth about the incident and he explained that he was simply “taking his dog for a walk.”

Meanwhile, Dane County NAACP president Gregory Jones has described Booth’s antics as a “terrorist act.”

Speaking to  the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, he explained, “[Booth] intended to project what I believe to be white supremacist behaviors by wearing this garb,” Jones said. “It is intended to create fear among people—even people who are not of color.”

He added, “[People in Vilas County] should be mindful and be willing to stand up and say this is not acceptable in our county at all.”

According to county court records, Booth was found guilty in 2013 of criminal damage to property, the report states.

In related news, over 3 million people have signed several online petitions on Change.org  calling for the Ku Klux Klan to be classified as a terrorist organization.

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More Black people were lynched than previously believed, research says

As we prepare to celebrate Juneteeth, it is being reported by the Equal Justice Initiative that more Black people were lynched than previously believed. 

Juneteeth is a holiday commemorating the abolishment of U.S. chattel slavery with the passage of the Emancipation Proclamation, the 13th Amendment, and the union victory during the Civil War. The timely release of Equal Justice Initiative report reminds us of the importance of this era of American history.

READ MORE: Here’s what to know about George Stinney’s wrongful execution in 1944

Following the Civil War, the U.S. entered a tumultuous period from 1865-1877 known as Reconstruction. During this time, the previously seceded Confederate Southern States along with the 4 million newly-emancipated Black American population were hastily reintegrated into the United States. 

Despite the immense violence and oppression that Black Americans faced during two and a half centuries of bondage, most formerly enslaved people in the United States were remarkably willing to live peacefully with those who had once held them captive.

Emancipated Black people began to embrace education, faith, and newfound citizenship, by registering to vote, and even running for and winning elections in southern state legislatures and the U.S. Congress. In less than a decade, however, Black advancement was quickly met with violent backlash by reactionary forces, including the Ku Klux Klan.

lynching thegrio.com
A crowd gathering to witness the killing of Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith, two victims of lynch law in Marion, Indiana, 7th August 1930. This image was the inspiration for the poem ‘Strange Fruit’ by Abel Meeropol. (Photo Lawrence Beitler/by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

In a 2015 report titled Lynching in America, EJI documented 4,500 racial terror lynchings in the period between 1877 and 1950. However, in their newest report, Reconstruction in America, they’ve discovered nearly 2,000 more confirmed racial terror lynchings of Black people by white mobs in America between 1865 and 1876.

The newest total stands at a whopping 6,500, and that’s not including the still unknown lynchings as well as the thousands more who were attacked, sexually assaulted, and terrorized by white mobs and individuals who were shielded from arrest and prosecution.

READ MORE: Decades after his murder, House finally passes Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Bill

 

Despite Constitutional amendments ratified to provide Black people with equal protection under law, this period of Reconstruction invited lawlessness that allowed white perpetrators to enact violence without retribution. In fact, many of these lynchings were celebrated public spectacles, memorialized on souvenir postcards.

According to the report, “within a decade after the Civil War, Congress began to abandon the promise of assistance to millions of formerly enslaved Black people. Violence, mass lynchings, and lawlessness enabled white Southerners to create a regime of white supremacy and Black disenfranchisement alongside a new economic order that continued to exploit Black labor.

“White officials in the North and West similarly rejected racial equality, codified racial discrimination, and occasionally embraced the same tactics of violent control seen in the South.”

People often dismiss these findings as simply a footnote in American history that was suddenly and wholly eradicated by the Civil Rights Movement. But today is the 76th anniversary of the state-sanctioned lynching of George Stinney Jr. via the death penalty which presently continues to disproportionately condemn Black and Brown men, a cause that EJI is committed to fighting.

READ MORE: Minnesota pardons Black man in century-old lynching case

Also, mysterious deaths of Black activists over the years along with a string of recent deaths by hanging, have many fearing that America’s violent past has never indeed ended.

“We cannot understand our present moment without recognizing the lasting damage caused by allowing white supremacy and racial hierarchy to prevail during Reconstruction,” Bryan Stevenson, Director of the Equal Justice Initiative, said in a statement.

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Model Jessica White reacts to boyfriend Nick Cannon reportedly getting his ex pregnant

 

Social media has been all abuzz about Nick Cannon this week after model Jessica White confirmed their relationship on social media on the same day his ex Brittany Bell revealed she was pregnant with their second child together.

“Always been the love of my life always will be,” White wrote on her Instagram Monday, surprising many of her followers. “REAL love can never be broken. You are me and I am you for eternity. @nickcannon you are a king always remember that sh*t.”

Nick Cannon speaks onstage during the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce 2019 State of The Entertainment Industry Conference held at Lowes Hollywood Hotel on November 21, 2019 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Michael Tran/Getty Images)

READ MORE: Nick Cannon to premiere daytime talk show in September

The caption was accompanied by a steamy black and white photo that showed Cannon in a three-piece suit and bowtie with the model behind him wearing nothing but underwear bottoms and an open robe.

The couple has reportedly been on and off again since 2015 following the tv host’s divorce from ex-wife Mariah Carey.

READ MORE: Nick Cannon surprises single mom of disabled son with $5,000 donation

Fans couldn’t rejoice the news for too long. It was noted that two days earlier, Bell, who is the mother to Cannon’s youngest child, Golden, 3, had made her own announcement that she’s expecting a second child.

“And now you know. we are so happy,” the former Miss Arizona U.S.A wrote in her caption accompanied by a picture of Golden dressed in a Spider-Man costume with a cape that read “Big Brother” on the back.

And while Cannon has yet to confirm or deny the news, Bell has responded “Thank You” to followers congratulating both her and Cannon under her pregnancy announcement.

Although White has turned off the comments in her tribute post and made no direct mention of the baby news, Monday she took to her Instagram stories to write, “Unshakable love. Will be with him always. I support and stand by mine.”

View this post on Instagram

♥️ and now you know. 🙂 we are so happy ♥️

A post shared by Brittany Bell (@missbbell) on

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Rep. Ilhan Omar’s father dies from COVID-19 complications

United States Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) confirmed that her father has died from complications of COVID-19 at the age of 67.

“It is with tremendous sadness and pain to say goodbye to my father, Nur Omar Mohamed,” she wrote on Twitter, “No words can describe what he meant to me and all who knew and loved him.”

READ MORE: Ilhan Omar working on law to investigate all officer-involved incidents

Omar, the second Muslim woman elected to Congress, included a phrase from The Quran: “Surely we belong to God and to him shall we return.”

The outspoken representative has been busy advocating for police reform in her Minnesota district, where George Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis police officer.

Omar was raised by her father after her mother died when she was 2 years old in their native Somalia. She and their extended family sought asylum in the United States in 1995 initially moving to Virginia. They later settled in Minneapolis which has a large Somali population.

Nur Omar Mohamed was a taxi driver and later worked for the United States Postal Service. In a 2018 interview with the New York Times, Omar spoke of her father’s influence in her life. “‘Listen, these people who are doing all of these things to you, they’re not doing something to you because they dislike you,’” Omar recalled, “They are doing something to you because they feel threatened in some way by your existence.”

READ MORE: Ilhan Omar says she’ll vote for Biden despite believing his accuser

Omar entered politics after working in Minneapolis as a community organizer. She advocated for reform in the juvenile justice system. She is considered one of the more controversial members of congress. Along with Representatives Rashida Tlaib, Ayanna Pressley, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, they are known as “The Squad.”

The state of Minnesota has nearly 30,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus and just over 1,300 deaths. The state’s Lieutenant Governor, Peggy Flanagan, shared her sympathy with the representative, her brother also died from the virus. “The pain you’re feeling is familiar to me,” she wrote on Twitter, “My heart breaks for you, Sister.”

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Goodell says he ‘encourages’ NFL teams to sign Kaepernick

NFL commissioner, Roger Goodell, says that he would “encourage” a team to sign former San Francisco 49ers quarterback, Colin Kaepernick.

In a conversation with Mike Greenberg for ESPN’s The Return of Sports special, Goodell said that it would be up a team to sign Kaepernick.

READ MORE: Malcolm Jenkins says NFL needs to apologize to Kaepernick

“Well, listen, if he wants to resume his career in the NFL, then obviously it’s going to take a team to make that decision,” Goodell said, “But I welcome that, support a club making that decision and encourage them to do that.”

Kaepernick’s NFL career ended after he began kneeling during the national anthem in the 2016 season to protest racial inequality.

Goodell has recently said that he was “wrong” for not listening to protesting players sooner, however, he didn’t mention Kaepernick by name.

The commissioner also said he would welcome the former quarterback to another role within the organization if he no longer wanted to play. “If his efforts are not on the field but continuing to work in this space, we welcome him to that table and to help us, guide us, help us make better decisions about the kinds of things that need to be done in the communities.”

Goodell went on to say that the league has welcomed Kaepernick to discuss social justice issues before but that now they are “at a point where everybody’s committed to making long-term sustainable change.”

Sportswriter Jason Reid said that Goodell should support the return of Kaepernick to the league. He wrote, “Kaepernick is a problem that won’t go away until he’s back.”

READ MORE: Ex- NFL exec admits Colin Kaepernick’s career ended because of activism

At 33, the former quarterback has maintained an aggressive workout regimen. Last year, he and the NFL attempted to organize an on-field workout for teams to critique his fitness. The event ultimately was not successful, and Kaepernick hosted his own workout.

According to reports, Kaepernick is still motivated to return to the league, and players are lobbying on his behalf.

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You Can Now Buy Spot the Robot Dog—If You’ve Got $74,500

Boston Dynamics is finally making its mechanical canine available for businesses and developers. But know that this puppy ain't for everyone.

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Grammy Awards Renames ‘Urban’ Category After Artists Call for Change

Grammys

The Recording Academy announced last week that it will be eliminating the term “urban” from the Grammys. This change will take effect in time for next year’s 63rd Annual GRAMMYs.

“I’m excited to announce our latest changes, as we’re constantly evaluating our Awards process and evolving it to ensure the GRAMMY Awards are inclusive and reflect the current state of the music industry,” said Harvey Mason Jr., chair and interim president/CEO of the Recording Academy in a written statement. “The Academy accepts proposals for rule changes from members of the music community throughout the year that are carefully reviewed and, if accepted, ultimately ratified at our annual Board meeting, a process that we are proud to have continued in this challenging year.”

Grammy Changes
(Image: Recording Academy)

“As a peer-driven and peer-voted award, members of the music community are directly involved in the growth and preservation of the GRAMMYs process,” said Bill Freimuth, chief awards officer at the Recording Academy. “Each year we receive a number of rule change proposals from artists, producers and songwriters asking us to reevaluate our process to better reflect the current state of the music industry and how it’s evolved over the past 12 months.”

APPROVED RULE AMENDMENTS:

Best Urban Contemporary Album has been renamed Best Progressive R&B Album to appropriately categorize and describe this subgenre. This change includes a more accurate definition to describe the merit or characteristics of music compositions or performances themselves within the genre of R&B.

This category is intended to highlight albums that include the more progressive elements of R&B and may include samples and elements of hip-hop, rap, dance, and electronic music. It may also incorporate production elements found in pop, euro-pop, country, rock, folk and alternative.

Likewise, Best Rap/Sung Performance has been renamed Best Melodic Rap Performance to represent the inclusivity of the growing hybrid performance trends within the rap genre. The expanded category is defined as follows:

This category is intended to recognize solo and collaborative performances containing elements of rap and melody over modern production. This performance requires a strong and clear presence of melody combined with rap cadence, and is inclusive of dialects, lyrics or performance elements from non-rap genres including R&B, rock, country, electronic or more. The production may include traditional elements of rap or elements characteristic of the aforementioned non-rap genres.



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Black Ink Crew Chicago Katrina Jackson Talks Being A Woman in Tattooing and Opening Her Shop In Beverly Hills

Katrina Jackson

Tattooing is a very male-dominated industry with very few women leading shops and garnering high-profile clients. Within the last decade, however, numerous women have defied those stereotypes and have broke ground for others like them to find success in the tattoo world. Katrina “Kat” Jackson found fame on VH1’s Black Ink Crew Chicago and also a new fanbase that was drawn to her beautiful art. Since her departure from the show, the half-black, half-Korean Chicago native decided to elevate her career in tattooing with her own shop in Beverly Hills, becoming the first black woman to do so.

In an email Q&A with BLACK ENTERPRISE, Jackson discusses finding success as a woman in the male-driven industry while overcoming the odds in opening her own shop, Engima Tattoo, in the glitzy Los Angeles neighborhood.

How did you learn to thrive as a woman in a male-dominated industry?

Being a woman in a traditionally male-dominated tattoo industry never made me feel any less than any of my male counterparts. I never felt like I had a disadvantage because I was a woman. I grew up around mainly guys. I’m the only girl and I have three older brothers, so naturally, I always wanted to do whatever the boys did.

Once I got into the tattoo industry, I knew I wanted to be the best. I studied other people’s work and wanted mine to be better. I carry the same confidence as any man in the tattoo industry, if not more, and now I am at a point in my career where my work and my drive is respected by men and women all throughout the world.

What made you pursue tattooing as a career?
Tattooing is something that found me. I didn’t grow up wanting to be a tattoo artist. I got the talent from my mother. She is an artist as well, she just never did anything professionally with it. Instead, she went the corporate route. I always took art classes for my “easy A.”
In my senior year of high school, all my friends started getting tattoos, and they would have me draw them out so they can bring it to the tattoo artist. Once I got my first tattoo, I knew it was something I wanted to try out. I went off to college and it was there that I got my start. I ordered up a tattoo kit and started practicing on my friends in my dorm room. From there it became my passion and my career.
What made you decide to open your own shop and why did you choose Beverly Hills?
I made the decision to open up my own tattoo shop when I walked away from the TV show Black Ink Crew Chicago.” Being on TV and being able to showcase my talents was the opportunity of a lifetime, and I refused to walk away with nothing to show for it!
I always had dreams of moving to LA, and I was living there for 2 years before opening up my tattoo shop. I chose Beverly Hills because I didn’t want my shop to be just another hole in the wall tattoo shop. I wanted it to SCREAM upscale, luxury. And when I found the location, everything literally just felt right.

What were some challenges you encountered when you decided to open your own shop?

Being a first-time business owner was one of the biggest learning experiences of my life! I had no clue about the amount of challenges I would face. The first challenge I encountered was walking away from everything I knew. It wasn’t easy leaving Chicago, or walking away from a hit TV show, but I felt in my heart that God had something greater in store for me. All the other challenges seemed pretty minor from that point. Every day poses a new challenge, whether it has to do with working with contracts and business planning, or plumbing issues that cause damage to the floors, it’s always something, lol.
What advice can you give other black women entrepreneurs interested in owning their own tattoo shop? 
The advice I would give to young black women wanting to open up a tattoo shop or any other business, is to be confident, work hard, perfect your craft, value relationships, and use your resources and most importantly BELIEVE IN YOURSELF. No dream is too big.


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President Trump to sign executive order on police reform

President Donald Trump will sign an executive order today detailing his administration’s stance on police reform.

The order is expected to focus on three areas: credentialing and certifying police officers; creating a database to track officers accused of misconduct and stopping them from going from one police force to another, and sending out social workers with law enforcement on calls with persons suspected of having mental health issues.

READ MORE: Muslims join to demand police reforms, back Black-led groups

Donald Trump theGrio.com
U.S. President Donald Trump signs executive order. (Photo by Andrew Harrer-Pool/Getty Images)

Speaking to reporters at a White House roundtable event on Monday, the president said the order will be “pretty comprehensive.”

“Basically, we’re going to be talking about things that we’ve been watching and seeing for the last month, and we’re going to have some solutions, some good solutions,” Trump said. He said that police departments have “mostly great people, I would say that. I would say that with certainty,” Trump said, “we have mostly great people … but, we will do better, even better.”

Anti-Racism Protests Held In U.S. Cities Nationwide
Chicago Police Department officers gather as curfew nears during a demonstration June 06, 2020 in Chicago, Illinois. This is the 12th day of protests since George Floyd died in Minneapolis police custody on May 25. (Photo by Natasha Moustache/Getty Images)

The executive order is part of the federal response to the wave of protests that has swept the nation following the police killing of George Floyd. The House of Representatives has also introduced a bill that would ban the use of chokeholds, and ban the use of no-knock warrants in drug cases, like the one that led to the killing of Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky.

READ MORE: Obama trends as Twitter shows appreciation for him on Trump’s birthday

Republicans in the Senate are expected to introduce their own police reform proposal this week as well.

According to CNBC, White House officials told reporters that providing federal money to states to support reform is different from “defunding” police departments. Officials said that the federal government will incentivize departments to “improve their training” and retain good officers. “You’re never going to solve this problem by demonizing the police. You have to solve this problem by working with law enforcement to make progress together.”

The signing is expected to happen this afternoon. It was revealed last night that the family of Ahmaud Arbery and their attorney Lee Merritt will stand with the president at the signing of this very important order. According to journalist April Ryan, civil rights leaders are furious at what seems to be a political move on behalf of Mr. Trump.

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911 dispatcher voiced concern over police use of force in Floyd arrest

Minneapolis police released two 911 recordings and a dispatcher’s complaint about officers’ use of force in the killing of George Floyd.

One of the calls was from an off-duty firefighter who was walking in the area, “I literally watched police officers not take a pulse and not do anything to save a man,” the caller said, “and I am a first responder myself, and I literally have it on video camera… this dude, this, they f**king killed him.”

The other said she did not care if she might be considered a “snitch.”

READ MORE: Benjamin Crump says other officers ‘will be charged’ in George Floyd death

According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, a 911 dispatcher who was watching real-time video footage of Floyd’s arrest complained to a police supervisor about what she was seeing.

“I don’t know, you can call me a snitch if you want to but we have the cameras up for (squad) 320’s call, and I don’t know if they had to use force or not,” she is heard to say, “but they got something out of the back of the squad, and all of them sat on this man, so I don’t know if they needed you or not, but they haven’t said anything to me yet.”

The supervisor responds, “Yeah, they haven’t said anything yet…just a takedown, which doesn’t count, but I’ll find out.”

According to protocol, a supervisor should be notified anytime an officer uses force, and then they are to respond to the scene. Sgt. David Pleoger responded to the scene approximately 14 minutes after the dispatcher’s call.

Another 911 call released yesterday features a caller saying that they witnessed officers who “pretty much just killed this guy that wasn’t resisting arrest.” The person was transferred to a sergeant.

Derek Chauvin and Tou Thao theGrio.com
Former MPD officers, Derek Chauvin and Tou Thao, who participated in the assault that resulted in the death of George Floyd

READ MORE: Joe Biden says George Floyd’s death had more global impact than King assassination

46-year-old Floyd died on May 25 after being pinned to the ground by officer Derek Chauvin for eight minutes and 46 seconds.

Chauvin has been charged with second-degree murder. Three other officers have been indicted with winding and abetting manslaughter and murder. The officers have all been fired.

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Composers Are Ditching Hollywood—to Make Videogame Music

Films were once the most coveted medium, but talented composers now view games on an equal footing.

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Ripple20 Bugs Put Hundreds of Millions of IoT Devices at Risk

The so-called Ripple20 vulnerabilities affect equipment found in data centers, power grids, and more.

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Former NBA Forward Al Harrington Wants To Make 100 Black Individuals Rich Through Cannabis

Harrington

Former National Basketball Association forward Al Harrington says he’s on a mission to turn 100 Black individuals into millionaires using the cannabis sector.

According to CNBC, Harrington, the CEO the cannabis company Viola Brands, said one of the ways he’ll achieve that mission is through an incubator program that allows black market cannabis products to become legitimate with the help of his company.

“A lot of brands that are on the black market that has a lot of credibility and unbelievable following, have market share, but they just don’t know how to get into the legal market,” Harrington said.

Harrington said entrepreneurs in the cannabis field find it “nearly impossible to get a license” to grow and monetize products in states where marijuana is legal. The former New York Knick, also added some products could have “million dollar valuations” if promoted and distributed correctly.

Late last year, Harrington raised $16 million in a funding round for Viola Brands though other NBA players including Stephen Jackson. Jackson has been in the news recently as he is a look-a-like and close friend of George Floyd.

“We’re going to continue to support him as he supported us,” Harrington said of Jackson, adding he plans to donate 20,000 CBD topical creams to protesters who suffer from chronic pain.

New York and New Jersey may legalize marijuana in the near future to create new tax revenue due to the coronavirus pandemic and its effect on employment and commercial tax payments. Harrington said during an interview he posted on Twitter that African Americans cannot miss out on the opportunity to generate wealth through cannabis.

“If you can find a way to get into this industry I promise you it’ll be very lucrative,” Harrington said. “We can’t miss out on this opportunity, we missed out on rice, sugar, cotton, alcohol, the lottery, that was all us. We started that and now we have no ownership, no representation in those industries, so I feel like this is the last one.”



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