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Will Bunch: In cities across the country, cops flood the zone, violate our rights — and make us less safe
After a veteran officer — also head of their police union — shot and killed a 20-year-old unarmed Black motorist named Daunte Wright during a traffic stop over expired tags and a dangling air freshener, you might think cops in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, would have at least a brief moment of reflection, even contrition. Yeah, right. Instead, officers in the Minneapolis suburb — just 10 miles or so from the corner where Derek Chauvin kneeled on the neck of a dying George Floyd, sparking an American racial reckoning that apparently wasn't — raised a version of the "thin blue line" flag over thei...
The Philadelphia Inquirer
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At vigil for Chicago first-grader, neighborhood leaders and family call for shooter to be turned in
CHICAGO – The 7-year-old girl killed Sunday afternoon while with her father in a McDonald’s drive-thru was a first-grade student who attended a Chicago public school in Humboldt Park, and Chicago detectives are investigating her fatal shooting as possibly targeting her father, according to police. Jaslyn Adams, 7, was shot six times Sunday as she and her father waited at the McDonald’s, at 3200 W. Roosevelt Road in the Homan Square neighborhood on the West Side, a preliminary police report states. A responding police officer took the gravely injured child in a squad car and rushed her to Strog...
Chicago Tribune
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Suspects, a father and son, plead not guilty in 1996 Kristin Smart murder case
Nearly a week after their arrests in the 1996 disappearance of Cal Poly student Kristin Smart, Paul and Ruben Flores pleaded not guilty Monday in San Luis Obispo Superior Court to respective counts of murder and accessory. A judge also ruled that Paul Flores will remain in jail without bail and scheduled a hearing Wednesday to find out what, if any, bail amount Ruben Flores can afford given his assets. Ruben Flores’ bail is currently set at $250,000. Deputy District Attorney Chris Peuvrelle, the lead prosecutor in the case, had said last week that he expected to seek a higher bail amount for R...
The Sacramento Bee
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Biden bars federal agencies from using controversial phrase ‘illegal alien’
President Joe Biden’s administration has ordered U.S. immigration agencies to stop using the controversial and dehumanizing phrase “illegal alien” in reference to migrants. The term was common during former President Donald Trump’s administration, turning up frequently in statements and news releases from both Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection. The Washington Post reported that the shift — which also bans the phrase “assimilation” in favor of “integration” — was outlined in memos sent Monday to ICE and CBP. The White House confirmed the change to the Daily N...
New York Daily News
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Father and son plead not guilty in Kristin Smart murder case
Nearly a week after their arrests in the 1996 disappearance of Cal Poly student Kristin Smart, Paul and Ruben Flores pleaded not guilty Monday in San Luis Obispo Superior Court to respective counts of murder and accessory. A judge also ruled that Paul Flores will remain in jail without bail and scheduled a hearing Wednesday to find out what, if any, bail amount Ruben Flores can afford given his assets. Ruben Flores’ bail is currently set at $250,000. Deputy District Attorney Chris Peuvrelle, the lead prosecutor in the case, had said last week that he expected to seek a higher bail amount for R...
The Sacramento Bee
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Spa shooting survivor stood face-to-face with gunman, begged for mercy
ATLANTA — Elcias Hernandez-Ortiz had some free time after running an errand on March 16 and decided to stop by Young’s Asian Massage in Woodstock. Five minutes later after he got there, he was pleading for his life. “Don’t shoot me,” Hernandez-Ortiz, who was released recently from the hospital, pleaded with the gunman. In an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the attorney for Hernandez-Ortiz said he was in a massage room when he heard gunshots. Hernandez-Ortiz opened the door and stood face-to-face with alleged gunman Robert Aaron Long. He dropped to the ground and begged Long to...
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Stalker-plagued Taylor Swift has break-in at New York home
New York (AFP) - An alleged stalker of pop superstar Taylor Swift was arrested after she suffered a break-in at her New York apartment, police said Monday. Hanks Johnson, 52, was charged with criminal trespassing after police responded to an emergency call on Saturday, reporting that someone was breaking into Swift's home in the Tribeca neighborhood of Manhattan. Johnson was released on his own recognizance following an arraignment in Manhattan criminal court Sunday night. According to the New York Daily News, Johnson had shown up at Swift's building to ring the doorbell at least five times ov...
AFP
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Disbarred lawyer sentenced to more than 4 years for stealing NYPD officer’s payout from 9/11 fund
NEW YORK — A disbarred lawyer who previously served as New York Police Department lieutenant was sentenced to four years and three months Monday for stealing nearly $1 million from a fellow officer suffering from cancer caused by work at the toxic rubble of the World Trade Center after the Sept. 11 attacks. Gustavo Vila swindled NYPD Officer John Ferreyra by representing the gravely ill former officer in an application to the September 11 Victims Compensation Fund. In October 2016 the fund issued a payout for Ferreyra that landed in Vila’s account. Vila kept almost all of it for himself and li...
New York Daily News
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Biden administration bans controversial phrase ‘illegal alien’
President Biden’s administration has ordered U.S. immigration agencies to stop using the controversial and dehumanizing phrase “illegal alien” in reference to migrants. The term was common during former President Donald Trump’s administration, turning up frequently in statements and news releases from both Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Customs and Border Protection. The Washington Post reported that the shift — which also junks the phrase “assimilation” in favor of “integration” — was outlined in memos sent Monday to ICE and CBP. The White House confirmed the change to the New York ...
New York Daily News
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Gun rules advanced in many states even before recent shootings
The spree of mass shootings over the past two months has led to renewed calls for more federal gun restrictions. But even before the most recent violence, state lawmakers were busy enacting measures designed to help solve a uniquely American public health crisis. After mass shootings in Atlanta and Boulder, Colorado, claimed the lives of 18 people, President Joe Biden earlier this month announced six executive actions. They would, in part, lead to the banning of untraceable “ghost guns” and set a federal standard for laws that take guns away from people a court deems to be a threat to themselv...
Stateline.org
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