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Friday, October 30, 2020

Louisville officer sues Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend for emotional distress, assault and battery

Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly was wounded by Kenneth Walker in the raid that resulted in Breonna Taylor’s death.

Sergeant Jonathan Mattingly has filed a civil suit against Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker. 

Mattingly, who was involved in the deadly March 13 no-knock raid on Taylor’s apartment in Louisville, Kentucky, was shot by Walker when he and two other Louisville Metro Police officers broke down her door. Walker claims the trio did not identify themselves as police and says he was defending his home when he wounded Mattingly in the leg. 

Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly (left), one of the three police officers involved in the deadly March 13 no-knock raid on Breonna Taylor’s apartment in Louisville, Kentucky, is suing her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker.

“Walker’s conduct in shooting Mattingly is outrageous, intolerable, and offends all accepted standards of decency and morality,” the lawsuit said, citing one of the legal standards for intentional emotional distress.

Initially charged with attempted murder, Walker has consistently maintained that the officers, Mattingly, Brett Hankison and Det. Myles Cosgrove, did not identify themselves. During grand jury proceedings, over a dozen witnesses also said they did not hear the officers say they were police.

Read More: Louisville police union president says cops ‘were justified’ in Breonna Taylor shooting

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron said one “independent” witness heard police identify themselves. 

Taylor was shot dead by the officers, a slaying that has sparked protests and rocked the nation’s collective consciousness.

Read More: Breonna Taylor’s mother seeks new grand jury, special prosecutor: report

Walker’s attorney, Steve Romines, said that Walker is “immune from both criminal prosecution and civil liability as he was acting in self defense in his own home.” 

He called Mattingly’s lawsuit a “baseless attempt to further victimize and harass” him. 

Read More: Breonna Taylor grand jurors call Louisville cops ‘criminal’ and ‘negligent’ the night of the fatal raid

Walker has filed a lawsuit against the Louisville Metropolitan Police Department, in which it is alleged officers “threatened Kenny’s life, illegally detained Kenny, interrogated him under false pretenses, ignored his account as corroborated by neighbors, and arrested and jailed Kenny.”

Speaking for his client, Romines told CBS News in September that the police accounts didn’t add up.

“The bottom line is this,” he said. “On that night, Kenny Walker was 27 years old… Kenny had never been in trouble in his life. And the police want you to believe that at almost 1 o’clock one evening, he says, ‘My first foray into the criminal justice world, I’m gonna try to shoot a cop.’ It’s a ridiculous position.”

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The 15 Best Horror Movies to Stream This Halloween

You may not be able to hit up a costume party this year, but these flicks will help you enjoy the holiday just the same.

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The Right to Repair Is Back on the Ballot

This week, we discuss the proposed law in Massachusetts that would open up access to the data stored on a car’s internal computer.

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WFH or Work at the Office—More Tech Employees Can Now Choose

The “hybrid workplace” is Silicon Valley’s latest buzzword, as tech companies start giving people more options for how and when and where they get stuff done.

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Lil Wayne Endorses Donald Trump and Social Media Has A LOT To Say

Another Black rapper endorses President Donald Trump! New Orleans’ hip-hop heavyweight, Dwayne Michael Carter Jr., professionally known as Lil Wayne, has thrown on his MAGA hat as he met with Trump and officially endorsed the president for another term according to a Tweet he sent out Thursday.

In this incredibly awkward year, with the coronavirus pandemic, the racial strife, and continued police brutality against Black people, Black rappers endorsing presidents not named Obama has placed the world—or Black Twitter, at least—in a tailspin.

After gaining cooperation from the likes of Ice Cube and an endorsement from 50 Cent (who later withdrew his support and said he was just joking), Trump met directly with Wayne, who seems convinced that Trump will do well by Blacks with his purported Platinum Plan.

Social media immediately took notice!



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How to Escape a Sinking Ship (Like, Say, the Titanic)

First, put on your fanciest clothes. And at 1:15 am, consider heading down to Deck D.

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How Humanity Spent Its First 20 Years in Orbit Aboard the ISS

Two decades ago, three explorers arrived at the International Space Station and marked the beginning of a permanent human presence beyond Earth.

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A Navy SEAL, a Quadcopter, and a Quest to Save Lives in Combat

On the battlefield, any doorway can be a death trap. A special ops vet, and his businessman brother, have built an AI to solve that problem.

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Thursday, October 29, 2020

Netflix on YouTube

Over The Moon Director Glen Keane Illustrates Girl’s Dream Rocket | Netflix
FeiFei’s rocket ship in Over The Moon has inspired girls and boys around the world to conjure up their own dream rockets. Watch Over The Moon’s Oscar®-Winning Animator & Director Glen Keane bring Lulu’s vision to life. Watch OVER THE MOON, on Netflix this fall: https://ift.tt/3ern3yX SUBSCRIBE: http://bit.ly/29qBUt7 About Netflix: Netflix is the world's leading streaming entertainment service with over 195 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. Over The Moon Director Glen Keane Illustrates Girl’s Dream Rocket | Netflix https://youtube.com/Netflix Fueled by memories of her mother, resourceful Fei Fei builds a rocket to the moon on a mission to prove the existence of a legendary moon goddess.


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Letitia Wright, Michael K. Williams to star in civil war drama ‘Surrounded’

The story is told ‘from the eyes of a Black female during the Wild West.’

Letitia Wright, Michael K. Williams and Jamie Bell have been tapped to star in the upcoming civil war drama Surrounded from acclaimed music video director Anthony Mandler. 

The project is a collaboration between Blackhand Media and BRON Studios, and will begin production next month, Shadow and Act reports.

Read More: Letitia Wright on ‘Black Panther’ without Boseman: ‘Not something I want to think about’

Letitia Wright attends the 70th Emmy Awards thegio.com
Letitia Wright attends the 70th Emmy Awards at Microsoft Theater on September 17, 2018 in Los Angeles, California.

Here’s the synopsis:

Five years after the Civil War, former Buffalo Soldier Moses “Mo” Washington travels West to lay claim on a gold mine bequeathed by her late slaveowner father. It is a mean, dangerous world for an unaccompanied Black woman and so Mo travels into the deep frontier disguised as a man. After her stagecoach is ambushed, she is tasked with holding a dangerous outlaw captive and must survive the day when the bandit’s gang tries to free him.

BRON will co-produce with Blackhand Media Production, in association with Mandalay Pictures, 3.16 Productions and Creative Wealth Media, per Deadline.  

Read More: ‘Lovecraft Country’ star Michael K. Williams dances to house in viral video

“I couldn’t be more excited that Surrounded is the first film under my partnership with Aaron L. Gilbert’s BRON and the Blackhand Media banner,” said Mandler. “I’ve always loved the Western genre and the opportunity to tell this story from the eyes of a black female during the Wild West is an honor.”

Meanwhile, Mandler’s feature film directorial debut Monster, based on the bestselling novel by Walter Dean Meyers, will debut on Netflix in 2021. The film stars Kelvin Harrison Jr., John David Washington and Jeffrey Wright, and centers on a teenager accused of participating in a murder committed during a robbery.

Netflix has also picked up Washington’s Born to Be Murdered a thriller, set to drop next year. The film follows a vacationing couple who get caught up in a violent conspiracy, per THR.

Meanwhile, Black Panther star Letitia Wright has joined the critically acclaimed British anthology drama I Am.

“Collaborating with Dominic Savage has been an amazing experience. His unique and sensitive style of directing has stretched me as an artist. I’m so proud that we came together on a story that we both felt was important to explore & share with the world,” said Wright in a press release.

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Facebook offered Trump lower ad rates than Biden: report

A ban on political ads on the platform went into effect Tuesday.

Joe Biden paid more on average than President Donald Trump to run ads on Facebook between July 1 and Oct. 13, 2020, according to the nonprofit newsroom The Markup.

In August, when Trump wanted to warn older voters in Arizona that “The RADICAL Left has taken over Joe Biden and the Democratic Party,” Facebook charged his campaign an “estimated $14 for each 1,000 times the advertisement appeared in people’s feeds,” The Markup writes. 

A few days later, when Biden targeted that same demographic with a message about his plan to expand Medicare and cut drug prices, Facebook charged his campaign more than six times what Trump paid, “an estimated $91 per 1,000 views of his ad,” per the report. 

Read More: Facebook will suspend all political ads the day after Election Day

According to The Markup’s investigation, “the price difference wasn’t an anomaly.”

In July and August, Biden’s campaign paid more than double Trump’s average to run advertisements aimed at Facebook users in swing states.

“Their platform allows political campaigns to have broad reach into demographics like seniors and suburban women that are particularly valuable audiences in 2020,” political consultant Regan Opel told The Markup.

Facebook has defended its ad pricing during this election season.

“This article reflects a misunderstanding of how digital advertising works. All ads, from all advertisers, compete fairly in the same auction. Ad pricing will vary based on the parameters set by the advertiser, such as their targeting and bid strategy,” Joe Osborne, a Facebook spokesperson, told The Markup in an email statement.

Read More: Lil Wayne reveals ‘great’ meeting with Trump, praises his Platinum Plan

(Photo: Getty Images)

Collectively, Biden and Trump have spent $183 million on advertising on Facebook and Instagram this year, according to the report. 

Facebook will make an estimated $420 million on political ads, according to CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Meanwhile, a ban on political ads on Facebook went into effect Tuesday, and will last through this final week before the election on Nov. 3.

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Arizona Coyotes renounce draft pick Mitchell Miller over past racist bullying

‘We do not condone this type of behavior but embraced this as a teachable moment.’

The Arizona Coyotes renounced the rights to draft pick Mitchell Miller after he admitted to bullying a developmentally disabled, Black classmate four years ago.

Miller’s relentless harassment of Isaiah Meyer-Crothers landed him in juvenile court at age 18 in 2016, and he was convicted after pleading guilty to racist “bullying,” CBS Sports reports. Miller confessed to tricking Meyer-Crothers into licking a push pop that he and another teen wiped on a urinal. He also used racial slurs on his victim and referred to him as the “N-word.”

Read More: Arizona man arrested after telling Black men ‘this is a no n—- zone’

The Coyotes selected Miller in the fourth round of the 2020 NHL Draft, as the 111th overall pick, on Oct. 7. The team responded to the report about his hostile past with a statement from president and CEO Xavier Gutierrez. 

“We have decided to renounce the rights to Mitchell Miller, effective immediately. Prior to selecting Mitchell in the NHL Draft, we were aware that a bullying incident took place in 2016. We do not condone this type of behavior but embraced this as a teachable moment to work with Mitchell to make him accountable for his actions and provide him with an opportunity to be a leader on anti-bullying and anti-racism efforts,” the statement reads.

Read More: Arizona police shoot Black man who failed to show up to court with bean bags

Gutierrez also apologized to Isaiah and the Meyer-Crothers family.

“We have learned more about the entire matter, and more importantly, the impact it has had on Isaiah and the Meyer-Crothers family. What we learned does not align with the core values and vision for our organization and leads to our decision to renounce our draft rights. On behalf of the Arizona Coyotes ownership and our entire organization, I would like to apologize to Isaiah and the Meyer-Crothers family,” Gutierrez said. 

Many sports fans and social media users find it quite disturbing that every team knew about Miller’s bullying case and didn’t remove him from their draft lists. Critics say this highlights that there are still major, underlying issues in the NHL. 

Many on Twitter noted that the Arizona Coyotes did not renounce Miller because he bullied a Black kid with disabilities, they did it because the public found out about it. 

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Philadelphia Police, Officials To Release Body Camera Footage of Walter Wallace Shooting

Philadelphia city officials and the police department said they will release the body camera footage and 911-tapes of the Walter Wallace Jr. shooting that occurred on Monday.

Wallace Jr. was shot and killed Monday night by two Philadelphia police officers during a confrontation after police responded to a report of a man carrying a weapon. According to Fox News, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw made the announcement Wednesday, saying the department will release the video “in the near future,” but plans on meeting with Wallace’s family first “to ensure they get an opportunity to view the materials first.”

Since Wallace was shot Monday, Philadelphia has endured three nights of turmoil as thousands have protested and rioted. Videos across social media showed looters running into a Walmart, breaking into a Chick-fil-A, and pulling items out of a Foot Locker. According to the New York Times, protesters also set fires to debris on the street and damaged Philadelphia police cruisers.

Fifty-three officers have been hurt and 172 people have been arrested Monday and Tuesday night combined.

When Outlaw and city officials release the footage, it will be the first time the Philadelphia Police Department has ever released body camera footage of a shooting, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

John McNesby, the president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #5, released a video on Twitter urging Outlaw and city officials to release the footage.

 

“We’re calling on the city leadership to release the facts of this case. It’s not hard,” McNesby said. “It’s cut and dry, release what you have. Support your officers, back your officers and let’s get a handle on this thing.”

Wallace’s father, Walter Wallace Sr., told CNN Tuesday his son was bipolar and in crisis at the time of the incident. Shaka Johnson, an attorney representing the Wallace family, said in a news conference Tuesday, relatives called the authorities three times including once when Wallace’s brother asked for an ambulance.

“Law enforcement was called because they wanted an ambulance to come here,” Johnson told reporters. “The police are who arrived first.”

Johnson added Wallace’s wife told the officers when they arrived Wallace was “manic, bipolar” and in crisis.

“Unfortunately, the officers were not equipped with the training or the proper equipment to deal with a person who was experiencing crisis in that moment,” Johnson told CNN. “You don’t deal with crisis with a firearm.”


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VMI to remove Confederate statue following accusations of racism

The school initially refused to take down the monument of the slave owner who joined the Confederate Army

The Virginia Military Institute will remove a prominent statue of Confederate Gen. Stonewall Jackson amid an investigation into ongoing “structural racism” at the oldest state-run military college.

The administration initially refused to take down the statue of the slave owner who taught at VMI before joining the Confederate Army. But the Board of Visitors unanimously voted for its removal on Thursday, according to the Washington Post. Three of VMI’s 17 board members are Black.

The board’s decision follows a Change.org petition launched by graduate Kaleb Tucker, calling for the school to “acknowledge the racism and black prejudice that still occurs at VMI” and remove the statue of Jackson. 

Read More: Black contractor braves threats in removing Confederate statues in Richmond

“There has been story on top of story of racism and black prejudice within the walls of the institute. However VMI has not once acknowledged allegations nor has there been any just punishment to the doers of this racism and black prejudice,” Tucker wrote in the petition. 

When Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) caught word of allegations of racism against former and current Black cadets, which were made public in a Washington Post article, he ordered an independent investigation into “the clear and appalling culture of ongoing structural racism at the Virginia Military Institute.”

Retired Gen. J.H. Binford Peay III, VMI’s superintendent, defended the statue of Jackson in a July letter to the school community, calling the general a “military genius” and a “staunch Christian.” But Peay also noted that he wanted to “erase any hint of racism at VMI.”

Peay reportedly resigned a week after Gov. Northam announced the investigation.

Read More: Charlottesville tears down Confederate statue outside courthouse

The school allegedly fosters an atmosphere of cultural insensitivity, where the leaders celebrate the slaveholding South during the Civil War.

“I wake up every day wondering, ‘Why am I still here?’ ” said William Bunton, 20, a Black senior from Portsmouth, Va. 

It is unclear where the statue of Jackson will go but it may be transferred to the New Market Civil War battlefield.

The statue was erected in 1912 and up until a few years ago, students allegedly had to salute it when they passed. Blacks make up about 8 percent of VMI’s 1,700 students, according to the report. 

“It’s time to move forward,” said board’s chairman, John “Bill” Boland. [The monument] was drawing a lot of fire and distracting from what our true mission is. The most important thing to me is to maintain our mission and our methods.”

VMI reportedly received $19 million in state funds this past fiscal year.

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Africa's week in pictures: 23 - 29 October 2020

A selection of the week's best photos from across the continent and beyond.

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Hip-hop museum and ‘All In’ director get together to get out the vote

The Universal Hip Hop Museum and Emmy winning filmmaker Lisa Cortes want to reach voters traditional outreach doesn’t with a panel tied in to the film ‘All In’

The Universal Hip Hop Museum and filmmaker Lisa Cortes want to bring some new voters to the table — those that the usual campaigns don’t — apathetic voters who think their vote doesn’t count, younger voters unsure how the process benefits them others that might not watch news 24-7 and are just struggling to get by.

Read More: How are Black Americans going to survive the 2020 election?

They are combining forces for the #AllInForVoting campaign and the #HipHopRocksThe Vote campaign to do a virtual panel tied into the film All In: The Fight for Democracy currently showing on Amazon Prime.

Cortes, a hip hop veteran who once worked with artists like LL Cool J and The Beastie Boys, is the Emmy-winning producer of the HBO documentary The Apollo. She is also the producer-director of 2019’s The Remix: Hip Hop X Fashion on Netflix and directed All In: The Fight for Democracy, a film about the history of voter suppression. The documentary highlights the many ways that voter suppression persists around the country despite the myriad laws on the books to keep Black, brown and poor voters from being disenfranchised.

“We made All In: The Fight For Democracy to look at who gets to participate in our democracy, and who is pushed aside,” Cortes told theGrio. “How can we all fight back? Voting is the cog that makes the machinery of democracy work — and if the machinery breaks for some, it will eventually break for all.

She adds: “Many of the problems we have seen over the past several elections are rooted in an issue that has plagued our country from its founding. From our nation’s beginning, laws were designed to suppress certain segments of the population. Voter suppression is a nonpartisan human rights issue, which if solved, would amplify the voices of the disenfranchised and strengthen our democratic
republic. 

As Stacey Abrams says, “Voter turnout is the best remedy to voter suppression.”

Stacey Abrams voting All In doc thegrio.com
(Credit: Amazon Prime)

Abrams details her fight to win the gubernatorial race in 2018 in Georgia and how it was tainted by voter suppression tactics that helped ultimate victor Brian Kemp into the governor’s mansion in a hotly contested election. Former Attorney General Eric Holder and journalist Ari Berman, among others, talk about how voter suppression continues to play a role in elections at the local, state, and federal levels.

The Universal Hip Hop Museum is still building their home in the Bronx, New York, where hip-hop emerged in the 70s and until then they continue to build bridges with the community. They are hosting this event with Cortes and panelists Rocky Bucano, executive director and president of the Universal Hip Hop Museum, Angela Lang, executive director of BLOC, community organizer Rosa Clemente,
journalist and hip-hop activist, Kevin Powell, famed New York writer, activist, and founder of the Young Lords, Felipe Luciano, Chuck D of Public Enemy and Dayton, Ohio born rapper Yellopain who released the song “My Vote Don’t Count” earlier this year.

Read More: Five reasons to watch ‘City So Real’ the docuseries exploring Chicago politics

The panel takes place on Friday, Oct. 30 starting at 6 p.m. You can view the panel HERE. Afterward, All In: The Fight for Democracy will be available for free from Oct. 30 through to Sunday, Nov. 1 on Amazon Prime’s YouTube channel.


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Coronavirus hardship in Mexico, Nigeria and Bangladesh

Three people from around the world who lost their jobs during the pandemic explain how it has affected their lives.

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Lil Wayne reveals ‘great’ meeting with Trump, praises his Platinum Plan

The hip-hop star shares photo with the president and applauds his record on criminal justice reform.

Lil Wayne is the latest rapper to signal support for President Donald Trump, revealing that he met with the Republican presidential incumbent just days before the 2020 general election on Nov. 3.

In a tweet on Thursday night, the New Orleans hip-hop star shared a photo of he and Trump standing side by side as they smile with their thumbs up.

“Just had a great meeting with @realdonaldtrump @potus,” wrote Wayne, real name Dwayne Carter Jr. He continued, “…besides what he’s done so far with criminal reform, the platinum plan is going to give the community real ownership.”

“He listened to what we had to say today and assured he will and can get it done.”

Read More: Ice Cube explains why he blew off Zoom call with Kamala Harris: ‘I want to get things done’

Trump’s Platinum Plan, his campaign’s offering of policy plans for Black Americans if he is reelected, made headlines in recent weeks after the campaign revealed another fellow hip-hop giant, Ice Cube, had played a role in its execution.

Many were incensed over Ice Cube’s involvement, so much so that the rapper turned Hollywood actor and producer was compelled to publicly denounce Trump, tweeting “I will never support a motha***** like Donald Trump EVER!!!”

Still, Cube — who penned a “Contract for Black America” back in August — defended his working with the Trump campaign as a nonpartisan effort to get things done for Black America, claiming both Democrats and Republicans contacted him and he made the decision to speak with the Trump administration, which he said ultimately altered the plan.

Ice Cube thegrio.com
Ice Cube speaks onstage. (Credit: Getty Images)

Ice Cube also claimed that Democrats told him to wait until after the election to make demands on behalf of the Black community. Biden surrogate Rep. Cedric Richmond, however, denied that ever happened. Richmond added that Biden’s plan for Black Americans was more comprehensive.

Read More: Rep. Cedric Richmond denies Ice Cube was told to hold off demands until after election: ‘That did not happen’

“It’s not as comprehensive as our plan. And so that’s what we told him, and the offer to stay engaged was not, ‘we’ll talk to you after the election.’ It went like this: ‘Here’s my cell number, anything else you want to talk about on this plan or anything you think, you know, we need to talk about further, just pick up the phone and call,” Richmond said.

Lil Wayne makes at least the third hip-hop star to curry favor with Trump — Kanye West also infamously showed his support for the president, going as far as to don Trump’s red MAGA hat.

50 Cent also told his followers to vote for Trump in a tweet complaining about Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden‘s tax plan.

50 Cent later backtracked his statements saying “F**k Donald Trump,” and according to ex-girlfriend Chelsea Handler, the Queens rapper wasn’t serious about his previous support for the president.

Read More: Chelsea Handler offers to pay ex-boyfriend 50 Cent’s taxes if he drops Trump support

(Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for EA Sports Bowl at Bud Light Super Bowl Music Fest )

Lil Wayne’s support for Trump is likely to cause outrage, as most Black Americans are solidly against Trump, who has a long history of racism. This wouldn’t be the first time, however, that Wayne has ruffled feathers for his political comments.

In 2016, he said he didn’t “feel connected” to the Black Lives Matter movement and went as far as to say that there’s “no such thing as racism.” The rapper used an example of a white cop saving his life at 12 as proof of his claim.

“I don’t know what racism is,” he said.

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Men charged with intimidating Black voters ordered to call back victims, admit messages were false

Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman were charged in more than one state for allegedly trying to deter Black voters

Two men are in big trouble for allegedly trying to suppress the Black vote.

Jacob Wohl, 22, and Jack Burkman, 54, were ordered on Wednesday to call back all the recipients of their robocalls whom they spread misinformation to by 5 p.m. on Thursday or they will be in contempt of court. The men are out of jail on a bond of $100,000 according to Metro Times.

They came together to allegedly spread false information to folks in places like Detroit and Ohio to stop them from voting.

Read More: Shaq explains why he never voted before: ‘I didn’t have time’

Jacob Wohl Jack Burkhman black voters thegrio.com
Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman were arraigned in 36th District Court. (credit: screenshot/36th District Court)

“Mail-in voting sounds great, but did you know that if you vote by mail, your personal information will be part of a public database that will be used by police departments to track down old warrants and be used by credit card companies to collect outstanding debts? The CDC is even pushing to use records for mail-in voting to track people for mandatory vaccines. Don’t be finessed into giving your private information to the man, stay safe and beware of vote by mail,” the call said.

They made about 12,000 calls that were false and illegal in Detroit and U.S. District Court Judge Victor Marrero called it “electoral terror.” 

In the order he wrote, “The means Defendants use to intimidate voters, though born of fear and similarly powered by hate, are not guns, torches, burning crosses, and other dire methods perpetrated under the cover of white hoods,” said Marrero. “Rather, Defendants carry out electoral terror using telephones, computers, and modern technology adapted to serve the same deleterious ends.”

Read More: Lizzo stumps for Biden and Harris in digital ad targeting Michigan’s young voters

They were arraigned at the 36th District Court on October 8 and charged with conspiracy to commit an election law violation, intimidating voters, and using a computer to commit the crime of conspiracy and election law.

The Attorney General of Michigan Dana Nessel says the men were clearly trying to deter voters. In a statement, Nessel said, “Voting is a cornerstone of our democracy and all voters should be able to cast their ballot without confusion or fear.”

The pair were also charged in Ohio on Tuesday for supposedly making similar calls in Cleveland and East Cleveland. In addition to that the The National Coalition on Black Civil Participation sued both men under the  Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 claiming they made calls to over 85,000 people in Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.

Marrero ordered the alleged liars to call back victims and say the following:

“At the direction of a United States district court, this call is intended to inform you that a federal court has found that the message you previously received regarding mail-in voting from Project 1599, a political organization founded by Jack Burkman and Jacob Wohl, contained false information that has had the effect of intimidating voters, and thus interfering with the upcoming presidential election, in violation of federal voting-rights laws.”

Burkman’s attorney, Scott Grabel told the judge, “The charges are an absolute atrocity” and that “It did not deter voters.”

Assistant Attorney General Richard Cunningham barked back and said, “We have a very strong case.”

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Learn How to Land in the Top Google Search Results with This $15 Course

Modern businesses require a website in order to attract online customers. This is especially important these days now that customers rely on the Internet to conduct business. Don’t expect potential customers to flock to your website as soon as it goes live, though. First, you need to make sure your website is search engine optimized (SEO) so that it generates traffic.

Performing SEO ensures your website appears at top of search lists, which increases the likelihood of people clicking on your website. SEO best practices are constantly evolving, so if you’re looking for up-to-date information to improve your website’s searchability, Complete SEO Training 2020 + The SEO Course can help for just $14.99.

Complete SEO Training 2020 + The SEO Course offers 10 hours of educational content on how to maximize your website’s organic traffic on Google and other search engines. It covers popular SEO methods such as keyword research, link building, writing engaging SEO content, and much more. Not only will these techniques attract visitors, but they will also help give your visitors a more enjoyable browsing experience that increases the time they spend on your website, which ultimately leads to a higher conversion rate.

Every successful website is easily searchable and must deliver an engaging experience that keeps visitors hooked. If you’re looking for a great way to increase your web traffic organically, learning SEO is the way to go. Complete SEO Training 2020 + The SEO Course is normally $199, but Black Enterprise readers can grab it for $14.99, or 92% off.



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