(Chicago, IL-AP) — Former Vice President Joe Biden is defending his civil rights work. Speaking at a Rainbow PUSH Coalition convention in Chicago today, Biden insisted that he has made a lifetime commitment to civil rights.
He said he has fought his heart out to ensure that equal rights, civil rights and voting rights are “enforced everywhere.” Biden insisted that he never opposed busing.
Biden’s civil rights record was challenged by California Senator Kamala Harris at last night’s Democratic presidential debate in Miami.
(Charlottesville, VA-AP) — The man convicted in a deadly car attack at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia will spend the rest of his life in prison. James Alex Fields Junior was handed down a life sentence today.
He pleaded guilty to nearly 30 federal hate crimes earlier this year for the 2017 crash at the Unite the Right rally.
Fields plowed into a crowd of counter-protestors during the white nationalist rally, killing one person and injuring more than two dozen others. Fields is already serving a life term after being sentenced in Virginia state court.
(Chicago, IL-AP) — The owners of a Chicago restaurant are responding to reports that an employee spit on President Trump’s son, Eric. Alinea Group, which owns the Aviary cocktail bar, confirmed the “unfortunate incident” in a statement. It said “no customer should ever be spit upon.”
The employee has been placed on leave while the company’s HR team investigates the incident. The company also spoke out against the online discussion of the incident, which has included people praising the spitter and others calling for the demise of the restaurant or threatening employees.
The company said it hopes that the incident can “serve to illuminate the current absurdity of the discourse in our politics.”
(Broward County, FL-AP) — Two Florida sheriff’s deputies who responded to the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High school have been fired for neglect of duty.
An internal affairs investigation into police response to the February 2018 shooting shows that Broward County deputies Edward Eason and Joshua Stambaugh failed to meet Sheriff’s Offices standards.
Three others were accused of neglect of duty but were found not guilty. In the meantime the school’s former resource officer Scot Peterson faces criminal charges of felony child neglect, culpable negligence and perjury. He did not go into the school building after hearing gunshots.
(Brooklyn, NY-AP) – Police in New York say they’ve found the body of popular Brooklyn YouTuber Etika. Twenty-nine-year-old Desmond Amofah disappeared last week after posting an apparently suicidal video.
His body was pulled from the East River. The YouTube personality, who reviews video games under the Etika name, also tweeted suicidal messages in April, prompting police to check on him.
(Stamford, CT-AP) — The estranged husband of a missing Connecticut mom wants to see his girlfriend. Fotis Dulos has been barred from contacting Michelle Troconis because they are co-defendants in the missing persons case of Jennifer Dulos.
An attorney for the missing woman’s estranged husband says Troconis believes in his innocence, and they should be allowed to live as they see fit. Fotis Dulos and Troconis are charged with hindering prosecution and evidence tampering in connection with the disappearance.
The New Cannan mother of five has been missing for a month.
(Brooklyn, NY-AP) — Police are trying to determine if a body found in the East River is that of a popular Brooklyn YouTuber missing since last week.
Items belonging to 29-year-old Desmond Amofah were reportedly found on the Manhattan Bridge last night not far from where the body was pulled out near Pier 16 in Lower Manhattan.
Amofah, who goes by Etika online, disappeared after posting an apparent suicidal video. The YouTube personality, who reviews video games, also tweeted suicidal messages in April, prompting police to check on him.
(San Diego CA-AP) — The murder trial of a decorated Navy SEAL resumes today.
Eddie Gallagher is accused of murdering an ISIS prisoner in Iraq, but in a stunning turn of events last week, a witness for the prosecution testified he had killed the prisoner. Nevertheless, prosecutors say they are moving ahead with the case.
Today lead NCIS investigator Special Agent Joseph Warpinski will take the stand in the San Diego courtroom. Warpinski has been accused of misconduct by defense attorneys.
(Washington, DC-AP) — Stephanie Grisham will be the new White House press secretary and communications director.
She will replace Sarah Sanders, who is stepping down at month’s end. Grisham has been First Lady Melania Trump’s chief spokesperson and will be doing both jobs. The announcement came from Mrs. Trump in a tweet today.
The First Lady said she and President Trump can think of no better person to serve the administration and the country. Mrs. Trump stressed that she is excited that Grisham will be working for “both sides of the White House.”
(Miami, FL-AP) — The first Democratic debate in the 2020 presidential election cycle is right around the corner. Some in the first group of ten appearing tomorrow in Miami include Senator Cory Booker, Senator Elizabeth Warren and former Representative Beto O’Rourke.
Big names in the second group appearing on Thursday include former VP Joe Biden, Senator Kamala Harris, South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Senator Bernie Sanders.
The debates will air on NBC, MSNBC and Telemundo from 9:00 to 11:00 p.m. Eastern time.
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