A pastor was fatally shot at The Village Flea Market & Mall in Miami-Dade County’s West Little River neighborhood last month. Two people in connection to the incident have confessed.
via social media
Latravia Charm Bell, 20, and Nathaniel Bernard Roberson, 31, were arrested for killing pastor Gregory Boyd, and the couple faces first-degree murder charges.
A man named Mikal Norman is said to be the third person wanted for the crime, with police asking the community to assist in the arrests, Local 10, an ABC-affiliated television station, reported.
On the day before Sept 11, several people opened fire in a crowded parking lot. Boyd was hit in the crossfire while he was walking to his vehicle, according to investigators.
Boyd was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital Ryder Trauma Center, but he died shortly after arriving. He was 54, according to Local 10.
His death sparked outrage by the community, uniting activists and police who posted a $5,000 reward for the names of those involved.
According to a Facebook Live video, there was an argument between two sets of people at the flee market parking lot before shots were fired.
The shooting occured when Local 10 reporters, Terrell Forney and Nick Lupo, were working on another story at the scene of the crime.
The DOJ had been working on the case against these white supremacists since June of 2019
According to the U.S. Justice Department, 21 Utah-based white supremacists have been indicted for allegedly selling drugs and firearms. In recent days, similar charges were brought against white supremacist gang members in Texas, Kentucky, and Mississippi.
Twenty-Four Defendants, Including Alleged Aryan Circle Gang Members and Associates Indicted on Racketeering, Firearms, and Drug Charges in Multiple States https://t.co/wD6CHwkpT0
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah said in a statement that the recent charges were unsealed in federal court following an investigation by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force of the Soldiers of Aryan Culture, Silent Aryan Warriors, Noble Elect Thugs, and associates.
In the statement the defendants were described as “documented gang members and associates of several home-grown white supremacist gangs from around the Salt Lake City and Ogden areas.”
“The Aryan Circle is a violent, race-based organization that operates inside federal prisons across the country and outside prisons in states including Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Missouri,” the statement said.
President Donald Trump came under fire in the first presidential debate for his unwillingness to clearly denounce white supremacy and for telling the right-wing Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by.”
Proud Boys flash the OK hand signal, a gesture often associated with far-right groups, during Proud Boy rally on September 26, 2020 in Portland, Oregon. (Photo by Nathan Howard/Getty Images)
Reversing his stance on Thursday during an NBC town hall, the president repeatedly said he denounced white supremacy.
As reported by Deseret News, U.S. Attorney John Huber said he was concerned that there might be the perception that the Department of Justice directed local jurisdictions to crack down on white supremacists to show the Trump administration is serious about rooting them out.
He said the DOJ had been working on the case since June of 2019 and added that the Utah arrests are the result of investigations that are well over a year old.
According to Reuters, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security have also expressed concern about domestic extremism in the lead up to the Nov. 3 election.
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Rapper Nuke Bizzle was arrested Friday in Los Angeles on federal charges of a financial scheme that involved stealing identities to claim over $1.2M in jobless benefits. According to ABC7, Nuke Bizzle, whose legal name is Fontrell Antonio Baines fraudulently collected insurance benefits allocated for unemployment under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Born in Memphis, the 31-year-old currently lives in Hollywood Hills. Released on Sept. 11, his song EDD, which features another rapper Fat Wizza, bragged about making millions from the Employment Development Department, the office represented by the acronym in the title. In the song, both artists rhymed about how drug dealing is no longer their get-rich choice because now they can just file a claim.
“I just been swipin’ for EDD, go to the bank get a stack at least. This sh*t hit better than selling P’s, I made some racks that I couldn’t believe,” they repeat on the chorus. “I gotta shoutout to Donald Trump,” they continued.
According to ABC7, his charges include three felony offenses: access device fraud, aggravated identity theft, and interstate transportation of stolen property. If convicted of all of the charges, Baines would face up to 22 years in federal prison. The news outlet reported the affidavit cited the song and video as evidence.
In the video, both Nuke Bizzle and Fat Wizza are seen using the computer, picking up and dropping off EDD stamped mail, and throwing around loose cash and debit cards. Baines rapped “unemployment so sweet, we had 1.5 land this week,” while navigating a laptop screen.
The outlet also details a prior arrest on Sept. 23 in Las Vegas, when the rapper was found in possession of eight debit cards, seven in the names of other people.
The affidavit alleges that Baines possessed and used debit cards loaded with unemployment benefits administered by the California EDD by stealing the identities of other people. Evidence confirmed at least 92 debit cards had been equipped with more than $1.2M in fraudulently obtained benefits.
$704K of those benefits were obtained by Baines and company through cash withdrawals, including while in Las Vegas. The money was also spent on various merchandise and services, according to the report.
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The news was revealed by The Katz Company, his talent agency, on social media.
“Affectionately called ‘Chiz,’ he was an actor and storyteller like none-other, embodying loyalty, devotion, and compassion to his artistry. We lost a great one today,” stated the caption.
Chisholm was born in Cleveland, Ohio on April 9, 1943. According to his biography on The History Makers, he served in the U.S. Army as a platoon leader for the 4th Armored Cavalry, 1st Infantry Division during the Vietnam War after being drafted. When he returned home from war, he got right to work on stage. He performed in two plays in his hometown, The Boys From Syracuse and The Threepenny Opera, and in 1968, made his film debut in Uptight.
Throughout his career, he delivered on both stage and screen. Chisholm’s television and movie credits include Premium Rush, Coalition, Dream Street,Law and Order: SVU, High Maintenance, and Chi-Raq.
John Earl Jelks and Anthony Chisholm arrive at the opening of “The Gem of the Ocean” after party at Barbetta on December 6, 2004 in New York. (Photo by Brad Barket/Getty Images)
Actress Viola Davis shared a heartfelt Instagram post in memory of the actor.
“Oh man!! Why did I think you would live forever? Love you Anthony….The acting world will miss your wisdom, your immense talent, your generosity. You were a survivor. Goodnight King. Sleep well. You earned it,” the How To Get Away With Murder star posted.
Chisholm received the NAACP Theatre Award, the AUDELCO Award, the Ovation Award, and the I.R.N.E. Award throughout his career. He received a Tony nomination for playing Elder Joseph Barlow in the August Wilson play Radio Golf, the last of the ten plays in Wilson’s renowned Pittsburgh series. He is survived by his son, Alexander Chisholm, his daughter Che Chisholm, his son-in-law, Peter Vietro-Hannum, and two grandchildren, Ravi and Avani Vietro.
The number of Black immigrants to the United States has increased in recent decades largely due to family reunification
Inspired by the global protests against systemic racism and police brutality, Nigerian American blogger Nifesimi Akingbe donned a black shirt that read “I am Black history,” and began recording a video.
Akingbe then went on to list her frustrations about racism in America and directed her message to Black immigrant communities like her own: This is your battle, too.
Nigerian American lifestyle blogger Nifesimi Akingbe stands outside her home in Randallstown, Md., near Baltimore, on Sunday, Oct. 11, 2020. (AP Photo/Steve Ruark)
“When these cops see us or when some of these racist people see us, they see a Black person,” Akingbe said during the 34-minute video posted on YouTube. They “don’t care if you were born in Alabama, if you were born in Nigeria, in Ghana, in Sierra Leone. They see one color.”
Akingbe, of suburban Baltimore, is among the many young Black immigrants or children of immigrants who say they are speaking out for racial equity while also trying to convince older members of their communities that these issues should matter to them, too.
“I feel like their mindset is different,” the 31-year-old told The Associated Press, referring to immigrants like her parents, who she says tend to overlook racial issues.
To be sure, most Black immigrants have experienced the brutal legacy of European colonization, and those from Latin American and Caribbean nations have a history of slavery in their own countries.
In the U.S., from the civil rights movement to the current Black Lives Matter demonstrations, there have also been generational tensions in the African American community when it comes to taking a stand against racism. But these have largely been over tactics, said David Canton, a professor of African American history at the University of Florida.
“Everybody has a role in the movement. People have to learn to live with that and respect people’s decisions,” Canton said.
Like Akingbe, fellow Nigerian American Ade Okupe has been having conversations with older immigrants in hopes that they will see police brutality as something that also affects them.
So far, the 27-year-old said, he hasn’t been successful.
“It’s a non-issue to the older generation,” said Okupe, who lives in Parkville, a Baltimore suburb. During some of their chats, older immigrants tell him they came to America to work and provide a better life for their children, not to protest about race.
“They want to make sure they are not doing anything that rocks the boat,” said Daniel Gillion, author of “The Loud Minority: Why Protests Matter in American Democracy.”
“They are trying to be good citizens and protests, in their eyes, — pushing back and criticizing the nation — isn’t their perception of being a good citizen.”
For some immigrants, their attitudes are driven by worries about their children.
Elsa Arega, an Ethiopian immigrant who lives in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, was horrified by the police killing of George Floyd in May and cares about what is going on. But she also wants to keep her daughter, a college student in Virginia, safe and fears her daughter could put herself in danger if she participates in protests.
“I just want her to focus on her education,” Arega said, speaking her native Amharic language. “People come to this country to work and change their lives, not to get into an argument with the government.”
The number of Black immigrants to the United States has increased in recent decades largely due to family reunification, the admission of refugees from war-torn countries like Somalia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the diversity visa lottery program, according to the Migration Policy Institute.
This has led to ethnic enclaves across the U.S. West African communities are dominant in New York City, Ethiopians have made their mark in the Washington, D.C., area, and Black immigrants from the Caribbean are prominent in Florida and New York City. Somalis have a sizable presence in Minneapolis, where Floyd died under the knee of a white police officer who was later charged along with three other officers.
The global protest movement sparked by Floyd’s death came eight years after the police shooting death of 18-year-old Ramarley Graham, the son of a Jamaican immigrant, in the Bronx.
In 1999, Guinean immigrant Amadou Diallo was killed in a barrage of 41 shots fired by four white New York City police officers who mistook his wallet for a gun. His death sparked widespread demonstrations but the officers were acquitted of all charges in 2000. That same year, the fatal police shooting of Patrick Dorismond, a 26-year-old Haitian American, ignited another wave of protests against police brutality in New York.
Such police killings can be unsettling to immigrants, many of whom come to the U.S. in search of a better life and then find themselves injected into America’s centuries-old racial strife.
“When they get here and they realize that they are treated no differently, they begin to feel a certain amount of camaraderie with Black Americans,” said Bill Ong Hing, founder of the Immigrant Legal Resource Center and a law professor at the University of San Francisco.
In fact, one of the co-founders of the original network of Black Lives Matter was Opal Tometi, the daughter of Nigerian immigrants. Civil rights leader Malcolm X was also the son of an immigrant, from Grenada.
“At the end of the day, we are all one,” said Kwad Annor, a 25-year-old Ghanaian American who lives in Houston. “We are all one community across the diaspora, whether you are a Black American, raised on the African continent or you’re from elsewhere.”
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The former ‘Saturday Night Live’ star says she wasn’t ‘free’ on the long-running sketch show
While Leslie Jones became much more of a household name during her time on Saturday Night Live she says she’s not looking back. The 53-year-old comedian, who was a featured star on SNL from 2014-2019, became the oldest member to ever join the cast at 47.
After first being part of the writing staff, when Jones officially became part of the ensemble in 2014 it was the first time SNL had more than one African-American female cast member in its history.
“I don’t miss it. At all,” Jones told Entertainment Tonight host Kevin Frazier, in a new interview. “That job was hard, man. That job was like two jobs and very restrictive too. I wasn’t very free there.”
Leslie Jones, Kenan Thompson and Sasheer Zamata attend the 2016 American Museum of Natural History Museum Gala at the American Museum of Natural History on November 17, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)
She did say she does miss her former co-star Kenan Thompson, who’s been at SNL since 2003 and is now the longest-running cast member in the show’s 45-year run.
Jones has moved on to the hosting role on Supermarket Sweep. The classic game show originated in 1965 but became popular during a 90s revival hosted by David Ruprecht. Contestants basically get to power shop the grocery store to earn cash and prizes and Jones says it was one of her personal favorites, so much so that she once auditioned to be on the show.
She told Entertainment Tonight that she and her then-roommate “trained” for Supermarket Sweep, going so far as to practice running up and down the aisles at their local grocery stores. But Jones didn’t get to the audition finals because her roommate had to head to work at Los Angeles’ famed eatery, Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles.
“We were the last four teams and they were bringing people in to compete against each other, but you had to stay for that part,” Jones says adding that potential contestants were told to have the whole day free.
“She was like, ‘I gotta go.’ And I lost my ever-living mind,” Jones remembers. “I don’t think they were ever gonna let me on that lot again ‘cause I called her every type of name I could come up with. I was like, ‘I’ll never talk to you.’ Then I was like, ‘I’m not riding home with you.’”
The Los Angeles Lakers exited the NBA bubble as national champions and celebrated the win with their loved ones at a stylish victory dinner.
The Los Angeles Lakers finally left the COVID-19-mandated NBA bubble after winning their first championship in 10 years and celebrated the trophy with a cozy victory dinner.
As seen on Instagram, players including Lebron James, Dwight Howard, and Rajon Rondo cuddled up with their loved ones during the stylish feast. Photos capturing the affair were uploaded to Instagram by both attendees and celebrity photographers. Supermodel and influencer Winnie Harlow used her social grid to share photos of her and her Lakers boyfriend Kyle Kuzma.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and wife McKenzie also enjoyed the intimate outing. She added multiple photos of the two celebrating “Date Night with a Champ” as she wrote in the Instagram caption, decorated with the gold trophy emoji.
Celebrity and event photographer Stan Potts captured more moments between the reigning champions and their romantic partners entering and exiting the event at popular restaurant Nobu. Savannah James, the wife of the team’s star player, hopped out of a luxury vehicle wearing a white corset top, vintage fitting denim, and a purple protective face mask.
Their historic championship win called for a romantic night out. The players were quarantined away from their families for three months in a bubble system coordinated by the NBA to prevent the spread of COVID-19 as the basketball season continued. The 2020 Laker championship also comes with bittersweet glee as the team takes home the ring in the same year as star player Kobe Bryant’s tragic death.
As the theGrio reported, his widow Vanessa Bryant wished the current team congratulations and said she wished her husband was alive to enjoy the victory.
“Wish Kobe and Gianna were here to see this,” she wrote. Gianna Bryant, 13, and seven others died in the helicopter accident alongside her father.
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As COVID-19 cases increase, concern grows about what the upcoming winter season might bring
The numbers on the coronavirus pandemic are trending in the wrong direction on the eve of flu season, health experts say. According to USA Today, COVID-19 infections are at their highest rate since July.
In the spring, new cases were surging at a rate of almost 32,000 cases in a seven-day period, says the outlet. Then in July, they reached an apex of 67,000, declining to 34,000 in September. Now, the cases are ticking up again with more than 373,000 reported just last week, an increase of 46,000 over the previous week.
As reported by theGrio, now that Americans are trying to return to a semblance of normal life, sports leagues and colleges have contended with significant outbreaks, and some regions of the country are also experiencing major spikes. According to USA Today, 14 states set records in new cases in one week and two states set records for their rate of coronavirus deaths.
WASHINGTON, DC – SEPTEMBER 23: Anthony Fauci, director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at NIH, testifies at a Senate Health, Education, and Labor and Pensions Committee on Capitol Hill, on September 23, 2020 in Washington, DC. Dr. Fauci addressed the testing of vaccines and if they will be ready by the end of the year or early 2021. (Photo by Graeme Jennings- Pool/Getty Images)
“It will just keep burning human wood out there wherever it can find it. If you don’t put it out, those embers lie there, and if you remove your suppression activities, it comes right back,” Dr. Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota told USA Today, likening the pandemic to a wildfire.
Osterholm was among many leading epidemiologists who anticipated the current pandemic, including in a prescient Oprah Show appearance in 2006. “That’s what Europe is seeing right now,” he said. “If we let our foot off the brake completely, you’re going to see widespread transmission everywhere.”
If numbers continue to increase, health expert models say that cases will peak in December with deaths hitting their peak in January. According to the World Health Organization, the United States, followed by India, continues to lead the world in coronavirus cases. By comparison, the US, at 400 million, is just 4% of the global population while India represents 17% of the world’s population and is the second-most populous country in the world with 1.3 billion-plus people.
More than 8 million people have contracted the virus and 218,000 have died. According to the New York Times coronavirus tracker, the Midwest and the rural West that escaped the early ‘wave’ of the coronavirus are now being hard-hit with increasing numbers of cases.
The Times says that their data has shown that the outbreaks have spread most rapidly in places where people spend a lot of time together in close quarters including schools, churches, meat processing plants, and nursing homes. The upcoming flu season may make the impact of the coronavirus even worse as more people head inside if they don’t adhere to COVID-19 mitigation guidelines.
A COVID-19 testing site stands in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Borough Park on October 07, 2020 in New York City. Borough Park is one of numerous Brooklyn neighborhoods that are witnessing a rising number of COVID-19 cases as New York City continues to trend down to around a one percent overall infection rate. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced plans to close nonessential businesses and schools in nine neighborhoods where positive COVID-19 rates have been higher than 3 percent. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Those protocols include social distancing, limiting gatherings, hand-washing, and mask-wearing, and limiting personal ‘quarantine pods‘ to a few selected people.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House advisor on infectious disease for six presidents and an expert in infectious disease for 50 years, says that despite the spikes, things would have to be very dire before he would advocate another lockdown.
“They’d have to get really, really bad,” Fauci said in an upcoming 60 Minutes interview, according to CBS News. “First of all, the country is fatigued with restrictions. So we want to use public health measures, not to get in the way of opening the economy, but to being a safe gateway to opening the economy. So instead of having an opposition: open up the economy [to] get jobs back, or shut down. No. Put ‘shut down,’ away and say, ‘We’re going to use public health measures to help us safely get to where we want to go.”
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