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Sunday, August 30, 2020
Saturday, August 29, 2020
New tenants in NYC create issues for minority businesses
Businesses are being targeted by the NYPD and FDNY in a project called MARCH.
As new tenants flock to “diverse” and “emerging” New York City neighborhoods, they are more likely to call the authorities on local activities, according to a Buzzfeed News report.
Businesses owned by minority groups are now being targeted by the NYPD and FDNY in a project called MARCH, or multiagency response to community hot spots.
The project targets businesses that are “affecting the quality of life” in a particular area, and makes sure that the businesses are monitored and regulated.
READ MORE: Coronavirus pandemic has eliminated almost half of Black small businesses
Many of these businesses, owned by members of the LGBTQ community and POC, have started racking up fines and code violations, while other businesses have been ignored.
Shanylka Hunt-Mitchell, owner of the Atlantic Boat Club in Brooklyn’s Prospect Heights, had her business reported to the police on two occasions.
Her business was fined $25,000, and she had her license temporarily suspended by the State Liquor Authority. She paid her fine and her liquor license was reinstated with her lawyer’s help, BuzzFeed News reported.
Police kept a close eye on her business and she was fined a second time. She was fined $50,000 for allegedly violating social distancing protocols and serving a drink to someone, which was prohibited because only takeout orders were allowed at the time.
“It’s the responsibility of the location to keep things safe and to operate within code,” Jim Long, a spokesperson for the FDNY, told BuzzFeed News.
“Sometimes our inspections permit an opportunity to correct issues without a fine and there are other times when they will warrant a violation that could lead to a summons if not handled in an expedited fashion.”
READ MORE: Black-owned businesses see sales boost from Blackout Day
Friends and Lovers owner Diana Mora, who is a Latina, had her business inspected by the fire department. She was fined for having candles in open glasses, exceeding the maximum number of people in the building, and having her bar’s license laminated.
In March 2018, Friends and Lovers received $2,500 worth of fines, causing the bar to shutter for weeks until the bar made changes. One of the bar’s required changes was to construct a new wall, which ended up costing about $50,000, BuzzFeed reported.
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‘A time to pick up:’ Hurricane-hurt Louisiana begins cleanup
President Donald Trump toured the damage in Louisiana and Texas.
Residents in southwestern Louisiana embarked Saturday on the epic task of clearing away felled trees, ripped-off roofs and downed power lines after Hurricane Laura tore through parts of the state.
The U.S. toll from the Category 4 hurricane rose to 16 deaths, with more than half of those killed by carbon monoxide poisoning from the unsafe operation of generators. The latest deaths included an 80-year-old woman and an 84-year-old man who died from just such a poisoning.
President Donald Trump toured the damage from Laura in Louisiana and Texas on Saturday. He and Gov. John Bel Edwards made their way down a street blocked by trees and where houses were battered by the storm, which the governor said was the most powerful hurricane to strike the state. That means it surpassed even Katrina, which was a Category 3 storm when it hit 15 years ago on Saturday, to the day.
READ MORE: Hurricane Isaias causes major damage as it approaches the U.S.
Although the storm was not as bad as once feared, authorities were still warning it could leave people with out running water or power for weeks in the stifling late summer heat. It made roads impassable, tore roofs and walls off buildings and strew debris about.
It also led to fires at a chlorine plant in Westlake in the hard-hit Lake Charles area. On Saturday, crews were battling a new blaze, leading authorities to broaden a shelter-in-place order to 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) around the plant, state Department of Environmental Quality spokesman Greg Langley said.
It was at least the second fire at the BioLab plant, which makes swimming pool chemicals, after crews extinguished one that filled the skyline around Lake Charles with billowing black smoke after Laura hit. Authorities believe chemical reactions are causing the soaked chemicals to overheat and burst into flames.
Langley said he believed the new fire was about 90% out by Saturday afternoon.
The shelter in place means any residents of the industrial area around the plant are to stay inside with windows and doors shut, in summer heat with no electricity to power air conditioners.
In Lake Charles, a city of 80,000 residents hit head on, Mayor Nic Hunter said the National Guard would begin handing out tarps Sunday to residents so they could cover damaged roofs.
Katlyn Smith, 24, found more than just damage to the roof when she returned to the Jesse James trailer park in the city on Friday to see what remained of her two-bedroom trailer. Speaking Saturday from the park by telephone, she said the wind ripped the roof off “like a sardine can. And then the walls folded in.” Many of the other trailers in the park were also decimated.
READ MORE: New York man killed by falling tree caused by Hurricane Isaias
Friday night, the few remaining residents barbecued roasts, burgers and chicken in a makeshift grill before the food goes bad. Her car has a flat tire, and she has no cash on hand, so she’s not going anywhere for now.
“There is a time to cry and to be sad and there’s a time to pick up, too. You have to pick yourself up and keeping going and my strength comes from God and my fiance,” she said.
Simply driving was a feat in Lake Charles. Power lines and trees blocked paths or created one-lane roads, leaving drivers to negotiate with oncoming traffic. The parish sheriff’s office posted an extensive update on their Facebook page of streets that were impassable.
The mayor has cautioned people that there is no timetable for restoring electricity and that water-treatment plants “took a beating,” leaving barely a trickle of water coming out of most faucets.
Several hospitals in Calcasieu Parish and one in Cameron Parish evacuated critical patients to other facilities because of water and power issues, the state health department said. Other hospitals are operating on intermittent generator power.
Nineteen babies who weathered the hurricane at Lake Charles Memorial Hospital were brought to other hospitals across around the state. The babies, some on respirators or eating via feeding tubes, were at the neonatal intensive care unit of another hospital and had to be moved Wednesday hours before the hurricane arrived out of concerns that storm surge would swamp the one-story building. Hospital officials said they then decided to move them out of Lake Charles when it became apparent that it could be weeks before water was restored.
Along the coast in Cameron Parish, the receding storm surge left behind sediment and debris. Roads appeared still impassable. At South Cameron High School in Creole, parts of the roof of one building were ripped off, and debris was strewn everywhere. A barge appeared tilted on its side along the water.
Hurricane Laura also killed nearly two dozen people in Haiti and the Dominican Republic en route to the U.S. Gulf Coast.
Associated Press journalists Melinda Deslatte in Baton Rouge, Rebecca Santana in New Orleans and Ellen Knickmeyer in Oklahoma City contributed to this report.
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Kenosha police chief says officers did nothing wrong by ignoring Kyle Rittenhouse
Police were responding to a shots fired complaint, which is not the same as an active shooting.
Armed white teenager, Kyle Rittenhouse, was seen on video walking away from a line of officers during a protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
As theGrio previously reported, Rittenhouse was eventually charged with first-degree murder for the deaths of two men during a protest over Jacob Blake. Blake was an unarmed Black man who was shot in the back by police.
Kenosha Police Chief Daniel Miskinis says his officers did nothing wrong by failing to stop Rittenhouse after the deadly shooting.
READ MORE: Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, arrested for murder in Wisconsin protest shooting
Rittenhouse managed to escape the Kenosha Police Department despite witnesses directing officers to the alleged killer and Rittenhouse himself surrendering by walking towards the officers with his hands up.
“Clearly, they’re not seeing him as a suspect or a threat of any kind,” the chief police officer said.
The officers did not stop to question Rittenhouse, enabling the teen to walk away from the scene and return back home to Antioch, Illinois.
Miskinis said that police were responding to a shots fired complaint, which is not the same as an active shooting. Miskinis also said confusion could have stemmed from the fact that there were others carrying weapons, The Chicago Sun-Times reported.
“There were a lot of people in the area, a lot of people with weapons and unfortunately a lot of gunfire,” Miskinis said.
“So what the officers were walking into, or driving into in this case, was a shots-fired complaint, not a shooting, not a person-down complaint. We have had many of those over the course of this unfortunate event.”
READ MORE: Jacob Blake left paralyzed after shot from behind by police, father says
“We have armed individuals out protesting or counter-protesting or simply walking around exercising their right, who will put their hands up,” Miskinis said.
“It might have been abnormal two weeks ago. It’s no longer abnormal. So there was nothing to suggest this individual was involved in any criminal behavior.”
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Meet the Black Interior Designer Behind GM’s First Fully-Electric Cadillac SUV
Cadillac added luxury and style to its new electric vehicle thanks in large part to a Black woman.
Earlier this month, General Motors unveiled its first fully-electric SUV, the Lyriq. To compete with rival luxury electric vehicle makers like Tesla, the Lyriq offers a number of innovative features as well as a sleek and lavish feel.
First mentioned in January 2019 at the Detroit auto show, the all-electric two-row SUV has the ability to park itself and pull out of a parking space on its own with no one inside. It is also equipped with GM’s advanced Super Cruise semi-autonomous driving system, which allows drivers to completely take their hands off the steering wheel on major highways. In addition, the Lyriq can drive more than 300 miles on a single charge.
Slated to go into production in late 2022, the midsize crossover also includes a massive 33-inch curved glass screen on the interior and advanced lighting technology on the exterior.
BLACK ENTERPRISE spoke to Crystal Windham, who was appointed as Cadillac’s Interior Design Director in 2016, about the unique design of the Lyriq.
“When you are given the opportunity to open the door for Lyriq — everything that you interact with, whether it be touch, explore, or discover — I led several teams that go into that experience,” says Windham, who joined GM back in 1994. More than a decade later, she was named as the first African American woman Director of Interior Design in GM’s history in 2008. Since then she has spearheaded award-winning interiors like the 2016 Chevrolet Malibu and the 2014 Chevrolet Impala.
BE: What makes the design of the Lyriq different from previous designs?
Windham: Very good question. I have been working for Cadillac for over four years and this is the first full-electric vehicle off of this platform. It really allows us to pivot our portfolio in a new direction. We are given the opportunity to elevate the brand while paying homage to our rich heritage. We can celebrate and respect the past in the interior and exterior while focusing on the future.
The fact that it’s battery-electric, we can carve out different spaces within the vehicle. We were able to carve out space down the center of the interior. The center console allowed for a very striking platform for the component to sit on. Also, the lower area is open. You can put a handbag there. To me, having a place for a handbag is extremely important and women ask for that. Now, we have the opportunity to make it right at your fingertip.
To celebrate even more space, we have a center-stacked drawer and a bin for smaller items. We wanted to make sure that the occupant and driver can sit in their zone and have a clear view of the road and have everything at an arm’s length.
This is a dream for me. We are able to make the interior more youthful, useful, dynamic, and premium. We didn’t just stop at creating the space. We did every detail. The lighting, the stitching, [and] the materials. I call it layers of discovery.
BE: Who is this car best suited for?
I’m proud to say that our customers for Lyriq will expand far and wide. I look at the team and we reflect our customer base. It is extremely diverse — from thought perspective, ethnicity, age, and background. I like to think that we can attract the young to the old, just like our teams. We have different colors and functionality plus comfort and amenity that will attract different buyers. Our design environment is simple and easy to love but not boring!
For technology, we can attract both ends of the spectrum. It’s hard to keep the balance of going virtual with buttons but we made it easy to understand and follow. We just wanted to make sure that all aspects of the vehicle can cover a large bandwidth of customers.
Since we are Cadillac, we hope to attract premium customers. We find that even the youth and the more seasoned customers globally can be different and we take that into account.
BE: How has your perspective and identity as a Black woman influenced your work and the design?
As African Americans, Cadillac has a huge impact on our culture. When you drive a Cadillac, you have arrived. It is a symbol of success and we want that to continue. And with that, I say I bring a sense of pride. Not necessarily trendy pride, I want us to move the world and influence the industry. It was a great honor to be in the position to help elevate the brand in this way. We love fashion, we love style, we love to have a little flare, and something unique. I feel that is me and I bring that [to my work].
As a female, we wear so many hats. I am a mother, a wife, a daughter, a sister. When we come into our vehicles, we want them to be a certain way and be about business. I bring that perspective when designing the team, the handbag holder, and when embracing the team as a leader.
I love technology. I embrace it as it shifts and changes. I like to be one of the first to explore. I do not like to be left behind, I want to be at the forefront and lead it. This is what I bring as a leader in the team.
I have a high tolerance for trying new things. There is a certain level of patience and guts needed in order to be the first. When you want to be innovative and elevate the brand, you have to be the first.
BE: Is there anything else that you would like to add?
Never forget that Cadillac is a premium brand and that on the interior side we wanted a strong foundation with beautiful surfacing, continuous dynamic lines, and simple design. It is simple, but it is far from boring.
We also wanted to make sure that the customer has this layer of discovery. The design possesses a visual and emotional appearance, allowing them to fall in love with their vehicle over and over again.
Everything is newly designed. The screen appears to float, the curvature echoes the interior wraparound-lines, the power mounted shifter is next to the steering wheel, the column shifter is right behind the steering wheel all which allows for more space
This interview was lightly edited for brevity and clarity.
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J. LO and A-Rod no longer in talk to buy the Mets
They placed a bid of $1.7 billion.
Latin power couple, Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez have withdrawn their bid to buy the famous New York City sports team, the New York Mets.
The former Yankees star and the GRAMMY award-winning singer were a part of a group of investors including the co-founder of Glaceau, Mike Repole, and NFL stars Travis Kelce and DeMarco Murray. The group decided to withdraw their bid on Friday.
READ MORE: J. Lo and Diddy reunite for a danceoff on Instagram Live
According to Sportico, Rodriguez-Lopez reached the second round of bidding in July. They placed a bid of $1.7 billion, with $300 million coming directly from the couple, according to ESPN.
“Alex and I are so disappointed!! We worked so hard the past 6 months with the dream of becoming the first minority couple and the first woman owner to buy her father’s favorite Major League Baseball team with her own hard earned money. We still haven’t given up!!,” Lopez wrote on Instagram.
The whole group, simply referred to as the consortium, also expressed their disappointment.
“The consortium said that they are disappointed to not be part of the revitalization of New York City and provide an exhilarating experience for the fans and wish the Wilpon family and the entire Mets organization well,” said Lopez’s statement on Instagram.
READ MORE: Jennifer Lopez admits she doesn’t ‘really count’ two of her previous marriages
Rumors about Lopez and Rodriguez’s interest in the Mets began in April. The couple was then seen touring Citi Field, the team’s stadium in Queens, and this confirmed many people’s assumptions.
With the star couple out of the bidding for the Mets, billionaire hedge fund manager Steve Cohen, who was close to buying the team in late 2019 for about $2.6 billion, is currently in negotiations again.
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Officer responsible for George Floyd murder wants case dismissed
Chauvin’s attorney filed a motion on Friday that argued there was no probable cause to support the charges.
Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has requested that a judge dismiss the murder charges against him stemming from the death of George Floyd.
Chauvin’s attorney filed a motion on Friday that argued there was no probable cause to support the second-degree murder and third-degree manslaughter charges against him.
READ MORE: Chauvin faces harsher sentence for killing George Floyd in front of kids
In stark contrast, prosecutors said on Friday that due to the cruelty of Floyd’s killing, they want more severe sentences than state guidelines recommend if Chauvin and the three other officers involved are found guilty.
On May 25, Chauvin was captured on video kneeling on Floyd’s neck for almost eight minutes, sparking outrage and igniting protests against systemic racism and police brutality all around the world.
The three other officers were charged with aiding and abetting.
According to CNN, prosecutors filed a notice that they will be asking for “an upward sentencing departure” in the cases of Chauvin, J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Kiernan Lane and Tou Thao.
Attorney General Keith Ellison told the judge he has reason to go beyond “the sentencing guidelines grid” used in Minnesota.
“Mr. Floyd was treated with particular cruelty,” prosecutors wrote. “Despite Mr. Floyd’s pleas that he could not breathe and was going to die, as well as the pleas of eyewitnesses to get off Mr. Floyd and help him, Defendant and his codefendants continued to restrain Mr. Floyd.”
READ MORE: Judge orders release of bodycam video in George Floyd case
According to the filing, Chauvin also wants the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office disqualified because of “an inappropriate, pretrial publicity campaign.”
The other three former officers also filed motions to dismiss, but Judge Peter Cahill has not ruled on any of the requests.
CNN contacted the former officers’ attorneys for a statement, but has not heard back.
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Drag Queens Trixie Mattel & Katya React to Lucifer | I Like to Watch | Netflix
Drag queens Trixie Mattel and Katya react to scenes from season 5 of the Netflix series Lucifer, in this episode of "I Like to Watch". Watch Lucifer, only on Netflix: https://ift.tt/2QyqY2F SUBSCRIBE: http://bit.ly/29qBUt7 About Netflix: Netflix is the world's leading streaming entertainment service with 193 million paid memberships in over 190 countries enjoying TV series, documentaries and feature films across a wide variety of genres and languages. Members can watch as much as they want, anytime, anywhere, on any internet-connected screen. Members can play, pause and resume watching, all without commercials or commitments. Drag Queens Trixie Mattel & Katya React to Lucifer | I Like to Watch | Netflix https://youtube.com/Netflix Lucifer makes a tumultuous return to the land of the living in hopes of making things right with Chloe. A devil’s work is never done.
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Drag queens Trixie Mattel and Katya react to scenes from season 5 of the Netflix series Lucifer, in this episode of "I Like to Watch". Watch Lucifer, only on Netflix: https://ift.tt/2QyqY2F SUBSCRIBE: http://bit.ly/29qBUt7 About Netflix: Netflix is the world's leading streaming entertainment service with 193 million paid memberships in over 190 countries enjoying TV series, documentaries and feature films across a wide variety of genres and languages. Members can watch as much as they want, anytime, anywhere, on any internet-connected screen. Members can play, pause and resume watching, all without commercials or commitments. Drag Queens Trixie Mattel & Katya React to Lucifer | I Like to Watch | Netflix https://youtube.com/Netflix Lucifer makes a tumultuous return to the land of the living in hopes of making things right with Chloe. A devil’s work is never done.
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GOP portrayal of urban mayhem doesn’t always match reality
The reality on the ground is much more nuanced
At almost every turn at the Republican National Convention, speakers from the president on down portrayed American cities like Portland, Oregon, New York and Chicago as lawless Democratic wastelands that have been overrun with violence, looting and destruction that is forcing residents to flee for safer locales.
The reality on the ground is much more nuanced.
In downtown Portland this week, tourists from Texas enjoyed gyros at a food cart, a couple from the suburbs soaked up the afternoon sun and a recent transplant from Indiana strummed an acoustic guitar outside a shuttered Apple store, in front of a mural that’s dedicated to Black people killed by police.
“It’s a pretty day and we feel just perfectly safe as long as we’ve got our masks on,” said Benjamin Green, a warehouse forklift operator from Beaverton, Oregon. “I don’t see why there’s any need to be scared to walk around out here.”
The picture of American cities overwhelmed by violence has become a central theme of the 2020 presidential race. In his convention acceptance speech Thursday night, President Donald Trump called for “law and order” and said the country can never allow “mob rule.” But for the most part that portrait doesn’t line up with reality.
READ MORE: RNC is our last reminder that Republicans don’t plan on a fair play election
In Portland, protests have played out for more than 90 consecutive nights, frequently ending with vandalism. Hundreds of people have been arrested. But the disruption is mostly concentrated in small pockets of the city.
In those spots, including the two blocks around the federal courthouse and around some police precincts, graffiti is common and stores and restaurants are open, but boarded up. Downtown businesses this week urged the mayor to do more to address the problems.
In contrast, most neighborhoods in the city of nearly 700,000 people are untouched by the violence. Parks attract young families and joggers, and bars and restaurants cater to customers with outdoor seating areas spaced out for COVID-19.
“It seems business as usual,” said Garrett Martin, who was visiting downtown from Fort Worth, Texas, with his fiancee. “We’ve been to a few shops. It’s just the same regulations as everywhere else — we have to wear masks.”
Experts say violent crime has generally remained stable and low. Still, homicides and shootings are on the rise in many cities, but experts say it’s too soon to say whether the trend will continue, or what’s driving it. Double-digit unemployment, frustrations over the pandemic and tensions over police violence could all be factors.
In many major cities, there was looting and some property destruction during the height of the George Floyd racial justice protests, but order was restored months ago in most places.
David Abrams, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, created a database tracking crime statistics in about 25 major cities during the pandemic.
The numbers are nuanced: overall violent crime is down, but there have been increases in homicides and shootings over the summer. For the first half of the year, he said, homicides were up 20% in the cities they follow.
Abrams cautions that it can be misleading to focus on crime statistics over a short time frame, such as week-to-week or month-to-month.
“If you look at a longer time horizon over 10 years, 20 years, 30 years. I mean, crime is down immensely from what it was in the 80s and 90s,” he said.
READ MORE: Activists see disparate police tactics amid Kenosha protests
In New York City, police recorded 280 killings through Aug. 23, up from 208 during the same period last year. Victims include a teacher hit by a stray bullet while walking his dog and a 1-year-old boy shot in his stroller.
But for a broader perspective, there were nearly 2,300 murders in New York City in 1990. In 2000, the number was 673.
The last time New York saw homicides on the scale of 2020 was in 2012, when there were 419. Back then, it was something to celebrate — the lowest number of murders in four decades. Then-Mayor Mike Bloomberg proclaimed New York City the safest big city in America.
That’s around the time that Kelly Baillon moved into her neighborhood just south of Prospect Park in Brooklyn. Baillon said she had never heard a gunshot — until Aug. 14, when her neighbor was shot in the chest outside their apartment building in the middle of the afternoon. Within a week, three more men were shot in her neighborhood, and two died.
“I’m afraid to walk outside,” Baillon said. “I can’t leave my house without feeling like I’m about to start crying. Just sheer anxiety.”
Feeling unsafe, she flew to visit family near Bend, Oregon.
In Minneapolis, city streets have mostly returned to the way they were before the protests and destruction that rocked the city for days after Minneapolis police killed Floyd on May 25, said Michelle Phelps, a sociology professor who studies crime and policing at the University of Minnesota. But there are still some reminders of the violence, in the form of burned out buildings.
Floyd’s killing sparked thousands of protests in cities and small towns across the nation. Nearly all were peaceful, and about 95% of those counted so far by the group crowdcounting.org did not have any property damage.
On Wednesday, a new wave of unrest hit Minneapolis, but in a limited area. False rumors of another police shooting of a Black man drove people downtown, where some then damaged, burglarized or burned businesses. Two police officers were injured. It turned out that the man, a suspect in a homicide, had shot himself as police were closing in.
Focusing just on that chaos misses the deeper story, Phelps said. The rise in homicides is happening in the context of a pandemic that has disrupted lives and amid the public breach of trust that was Floyd’s killing.
“When people are disconnected from their jobs, when people’s employment is terminated or their hours cut back, when whole families are struggling to feed themselves, we have a mass epidemic of homelessness. … We should expect all of that to influence crime as well,” Phelps said. “It’s a powder keg.”
The highest risk of violence, she notes, is borne by young men of color in the poorest neighborhoods.
Phelps, a self-described white lady who lives in an upper-middle class neighborhood, said she knows no one who has moved out of the city, contrary to the assertions by South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, who claimed Wednesday night that people who could afford to were fleeing cities.
Back in Portland, Mayor Ted Wheeler this week took exception to the portrayal of his city as lawless.
“The current national depiction of our city as a dark dystopia with nonstop violence is a lie,” he said.
___
Associated Press writers Michael R. Sisak and Michael Balsamo contributed to this report.
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Activists see disparate police tactics amid Kenosha protests
‘There has been no respect for anybody’s civil rights,’ one protester says
KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) — Police officers in Kenosha were on alert after days of protests over the shooting of Jacob Blake by one of their colleagues, and they’d recently gotten a tip about “suspicious vehicles” from out of state.
So, after watching a group of people fill cans at a gas station Wednesday and then hop into a minivan with Oregon plates, the officers sped in. A bystander’s video shows officers leaping out of black SUVs with guns drawn. About 25 seconds later, an officer shatters the van’s passenger-side window with her baton, unlocks its door and pulls a person out.
The group turned out to be members of Riot Kitchen, a Seattle-based organization that serves food at demonstrations. Jennifer Scheurle, a member of its board of directors, said they were filling up gas cans to power a generator for their food truck.
The nine taken into custody in the SWAT-style operation Wednesday were among dozens of people arrested this week in the Wisconsin city. The arrests have highlighted activists’ complaints that police have been responding to protests over the white officer’s shooting that left Blake, a Black man, paralyzed, even as they’ve tolerated armed militia groups.
READ MORE: Jacob Blake’s children so traumatized after shooting they’ll need therapy, family says
The Riot Kitchen members were charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct, but all were free by Friday morning.
“We reject all claims that our crew was there to incite violence or build explosives,” said Scheurle, who was not among those in Kenosha. “Our nonprofit organization has always been and will always be about feeding people.”
Kenosha Police Chief Daniel Miskinis said at a Friday news conference that “just under 50” people had been arrested during the protests. The department later provided a list of 58 charges, more than half of them for curfew violations, but declined to specify the number of people arrested or provide names.
“I believe everybody out there in law enforcement has been friendly to both sides,” Miskinis said.
READ MORE: Debunking the internet lies about Jacob Blake following Kenosha shooting
An analysis of jail records since the day of Blake’s shooting shows about 45% the people facing charges seemingly related to the protests live outside Wisconsin.
Those arrested were almost 70% white and about two-thirds male. The vast majority were charged with misdemeanors or civil violations, although there were also some felonies. Miskinis said one person had been charged for having a “flamethrower.”
More than 20 of the people remained in jail Friday afternoon.
Adelana Akindes, a 24-year-old from Kenosha, said she spent nearly a day in a crowded cell after being arrested Wednesday while walking toward the demonstrations carrying a shield.
Police had Akindes and three others lie on the ground as they put them in handcuffs, she said, adding that officers did not read their Miranda rights or say why they were being arrested. She was released on Thursday evening and charged with breaking curfew.
“They wanted to scare us,” said Akindes, who is Black. “They wanted to make an example of us.”
The last three nights of protests have been mostly peaceful, and police have not fired tear gas or pepper balls. But they’ve used tactics that local activists see as heavy handed.
On Thursday night, police pulled over several cars of people headed to protests. They arrested a group of people in one vehicle and searched the car of another group.
“There has been no respect for anybody’s civil rights,” said Isaac Wallner, a 30-year-old Kenosha activist. “It’s been a police free for all. They do whatever they want.”
Wallner, who is Black, contrasted this with what he characterized as a tolerant, or even friendly, attitude police have taken toward the white men who’ve come to the city outfitted with heavy vests and long guns, including a 17-year-old charged with fatally shooting two people and wounding a third.
Earlier in the week, sheriff’s deputies shot pepper balls at protesters and arrested them when they failed to quickly leave after being told they were breaking curfew. But officers in an armored vehicle with “Sheriff” on the side were also recorded at night tossing water bottles to men carrying rifles.
“We appreciate you guys. We really do,” someone can be heard calling from the vehicle in a video of the exchange.
Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth said Friday that the officer seen giving out water was not one of his deputies, and the person who said he appreciated what the armed civilians were doing “doesn’t mirror all of law enforcement’s perspective on what happened.”
__
Bleiberg reported from Dallas. Associated Press reporters Lindsay Whitehurst in Salt Lake City and Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, contributed reporting.
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New Jersey teen who held BLM protest gets $2500 bill for police overtime
Democratic lawmakers opposed the Republican mayor’s decision and are seeking to cancel the bill
ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J. (AP) — A teen who organized a Black Lives Matter rally in her northern New Jersey town said she has been sent a $2500 bill from officials for police overtime.
NJ Advance Media reported Friday Emily Gil, 18, of Englewood Cliffs received a letter earlier this month from Mayor Mario M. Kranjac looking for payment of $2,499.26 “for the police overtime caused by your protest.”
A civil liberties advocate called the move “shocking.”
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Gil, a recent high school graduate, had organized a protest on July 25 in the town, just across the river from the uppermost parts of Manhattan. She said she called for action like increasing affordable housing in the town, and chastised Engelwood Cliffs for not implementing it over the years.
The town’s letter said she had not met with officials before her protest, requiring them to hastily come up with security plans.
Gil said she didn’t meet with them in person over coronavirus concerns, but made an offer to meet via Zoom, which wasn’t accepted, and then officials stopped responding to her.
She said she had reached out to Kranjac after getting the bill, but has gotten no response.
Kranjac told NJ Advance Media that protesters’ rights of free speech and assembly were respected, and that Gil was wrong to link affordable housing to her protest.
“As with any privately-sponsored event that takes place in the borough requiring police safety, an invoice was sent to the organizer for police overtime since it would be unfair to require our residents to financially support a private event,” he said.
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An email was sent to Kranjac by The Associated Press seeking comment.
Four Democratic members of the town’s Council issued a statement opposing the Republican mayor’s decision, and said they would seek to cancel the bill. They said he owed the teen an apology.
Jeanne LoCicero, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, told The Associated Press, “the idea of sending a bill to protesters is shocking.”
She said while it’s been attempted before, she hadn’t heard of any other town trying something similar over the protests of recent months.
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