#Rev. Al Sharpton | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ausetkmt · 2 years

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Kanye West Confederate Flag Clothing Line Boycott Commentary

If anyone deserves boycotting, it’s Kanye West.

Just ask Rev. Al Sharpton who is calling for a national boycott of West, the controversial hip-hop artist, over his new clothing line that features the dreaded Confederate flag symbol.

Sharpton’s National Action Network is leading the boycott, saying it will not support any store that sells West’s Confederate flag merchandise.

It’s a prudent decision by Sharpton. West should be called out in the same high-profile way he introduced his racially-charged clothes.

The Confederate flag has remained a symbol of racism for many African Americans since the flag was adopted by Southern states during the Civil War. West may have forgotten that Southerners were fighting to keep black people in slavery.

But in an interview with a Los Angeles radio station, West, 36, explained his warped reasoning for using the Confederate flag.

“React how you want,” West said. “Any energy is good energy. You know the Confederate flag represented slavery in a way – that’s my abstract take on what I know about it. So I made the song ‘New Slaves.’ So I took the Confederate flag and made it my flag. It’s my flag. Now what are you going to do?”

Boycott.

“Kanye West selling jackets with the Confederate flag on them is a disgrace and embarrassment,” Rev. K.W. Tulloss, President of the Los Angeles branch of the of National Action Network, said in a statement.

“Many of our ancestors were brutalized, kidnapped , raped, and murdered during slavery under this flag,” Tulloss said. “It’s inexcusable for West to be promoting and merchandising this flag. We’re determined to boycott and shut down any other stores that attempt to sell this merchandise.”

The boycott against West is significant because there are so many young black boys and girls who don’t know the history of the Civil War, the story of slavery, and the visceral reaction from African Americans to the Confederate flag.

Would you want your child embracing West’s racist Confederate flag-clad gear without understanding the decades-old context?

Ironically, West unveiled his Confederate flag clothing line around the same time the new film, “12 Years a Slave,” was released nationwide. The provocative film tells the story of a free black man who was lured from his home in New York in 1841 to be sold into slavery.

So with all the weighty and painful discussion about slavery and the dehumanization of black people, West decides to make a mockery of black oppression for profit. And, as a black man, West proudly – and oddly – claims the Confederate flag as his own.

“The Confederate flag symbolizes dehumanization, injustice and pain. It is a stark reminder of an era in our history that was defined by the abhorrent practice of slavery,” Sharpton said in a statement. “And it is representative of a mentality that looked upon blacks as inferiors who needed to remain in the shackles of subservience.”

There’s no doubt that West is well aware of the controversy surrounding the Confederate flag, but he probably doesn’t care because he stands to make a hefty profit from his clothing line. For West, it’s apparently all about business; it’s all about making money.

And for Sharpton, conversely, it’s all about shutting West down.

Here’s to a successful boycott.

What do you think? Should West’s clothing line be boycotted?

#Rev Al Sharpton #NAN #Boycott #Boycott Kanye #Kanye West Confederate Flag Clothing Line Boycott #Al Sharpton #confederate flag #yeezie's with confederate flag #kanye is a slave

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mentalintimacymagazine · 6 months

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Celebration of the Networks' Milestone 20th Anniversary

TV One Networks announced its comprehensive slate of programming across linear and digital networks at the 2024 virtual Upfront presentation. The presentation was led by Michelle Rice, President, TV One and CLEO TV, Julia VanTuyl, SVP, Ad Sales and Marketing and Austyn Biggers, SVP, Original Programming and Production.For 20 years, TV One Networks has been an industry leader in the space of…

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#2024 #CleoTV #coming soon #Coming soon 2024 #Evelyn Braxton #holidays #Rev Al Sharpton #Tamar Braxton #TV One #Urban Honor Award

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reasoningdaily · 9 months

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Reverend Al Sharpton's pastor brother has been jailed for 30 months for a slew of crimes including drug trafficking, income tax evasion and lying to obtain Social Security disability benefits.

Pastor Kenneth Sharpton Glasgow, 58, the half-brother of the civil rights leader, was sentenced to more than two years behind bars on Thursday for his illegal acts. His prison stint begins on August 17.

Glasgow pleaded guilty to embezzling $407,000 from two non-profit organizations he founded including, The Ordinary People Society (TOPS) located in Dothana, Alabama a felon voting rights advocacy organization, and the Prodigal Child Project.

Though the prosecutors allege he may have taken nearly $1 million from the nonprofits without reporting the income, US District Judge R. Austin Huffaker rejected that claim, The Christian Post reported.

After the sentencing hearing Jim Parkman, one of Glasgow's defense attorneys, told the news outlet it was 'a fair sentence.'

Glasgow is the son of Sharpton's father, Al Sharpton Sr., and Sharpton's older half-sister, Tina Glasgow, ProPublica reported. Tina Glasgow is one of two children Sharpton's mother, Ada, had during her first marriage in Alabama. Pictured: Al Sharpton speaks onstage during the 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture on June 30, 2023 in New Orleans, Louisiana

Glasgow also tried to deceive the Social Security administration in order to collect disability benefits, but was ordered to repay the $376,000 he collected.

Pastor Kenneth Sharpton Glasgow was sentenced to more than two years behind bars on Thursday for his illegal acts. His prison stint begins on August 17

The con-artist pastor, who also runs Kenny Sharpton-Glasgow Ministries International, also pled guilty to conspiring with another man, Willie Frank Peterson, to distribute cocaine. That case is still pending, as per the news outlet.

Previous crimes include an alleged assault on a police officer who reportedly tried to remove the illegal drugs Glasgow had been hiding in his mouth during a traffic stop.

He is scheduled to appear in court later this month regarding the assault charge, but his camp believes that the other charges he is facing will be dropped, News 4 reported.

In March 2018, Glasgow was taken into custody with 26-year-old Jaime Townes after the body of 23-year-old Breunia Jennings was found in a wrecked car in Alabama.

Jennings had been shot in the head and pronounced dead at the scene. Police said they believe Townes was angry at Jennings because he believed she had stolen his car.

Dothan police said several people, including Townes and Glasgow, were arrested at the scene and transported to the department for interviews.

Police then charged Townes and Glasgow with capital murder. According to police, Jennings was shot during a dispute over a car.

The authorities said that 'instead of him (Townes) notifying law enforcement, he took matters in his own hands and jumped in Mr. Glasgow's vehicle to find Breunia Jennings.'

Authorities said numerous shots were fired at the vehicle Jennings was driving and police believe Townes fired those shots.

Glasgow later appeared in court and questioned the murder charge against him.

'I don't know why I am facing capital murder charges,' Glasgow stated, as per The Dothan Eagle.

'I'm not responsible for what someone else does. He just asked me for a ride to take him to look for his car.'

The 23-year-old victim Breunia Jennings was shot in the head and pronounced dead at the scene. Her body was found in a wrecked car in Alabama

According to Alabama law, murder committed by or through the use of a deadly weapon while the victim is in a vehicle is considered a capital crime, the Eagle reported.

Glasgow was charged with murder because it's believed he aided or abetted Townes by letting him use his car.

In this case, aiding or abetting is equally liable for the underlying crime, according to the state's complicity statue.

He was eventually cleared of the capital murder charge.

Kenneth and Al Sharpton share the same father, Al Sharpton, Sr. Glasgow served a 14-year-sentence on robbery and drug convictions more than two decades ago. The experience inspired him to launch the nonprofit The Ordinary People's Society, whose mission is to promote a number of social justice initiatives, including felon voting rights

Glasgow, who was born in Brooklyn but raised in Alabama led a different life than his half-brother Al Sharpton. The brothers - Kenneth and Al - share the same father.

Glasgow was born after Al Sharpton Sr., and Sharpton's older half-sister, Tina Glasgow, began a sexual relationship, ProPublica reported.

During an interview with the publication he said: 'I was born messed up. My fingers messed up. It's meant for me to be messed up.'

Glasgow served a 14-year-sentence on robbery and drug convictions more than two decades ago. The experience inspired him to launch the nonprofit The Ordinary People's Society, who mission is to promote a number of social justice initiatives including, felon voting rights.

His community outreach over the years had helped those afflicted with drug addiction, mass incarceration, homelessness, poverty, unemployment and hunger.

Bryan Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, testified on Glasgow's behalf and described him as having 'no boundaries of who he will help,' the news outlet reported.

Glasgow's defense team said that the judge took into account Glasgow's community work when deciding on his 30-month prison sentence.

#Rev. Al Sharpton's pastor brother is jailed for 30 months for drug trafficking #income tax evasion and lying to obtain Social Security benefits #Al Sharpton #Pastor Kenneth Sharpton Glasgow #Bryan Stevenson

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reasonsforhope · 9 months

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"When President Joe Biden signed a proclamation Tuesday establishing a national monument honoring Emmett Till and his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, it marked the fulfillment of a promise Till’s relatives made after his death 68 years ago.

The Black teenager from Chicago, whose abduction, torture and killing in Mississippi in 1955 helped propel the Civil Rights Movement, is now an American story, not just a civil rights story, said Till’s cousin the Rev. Wheeler Parker Jr.

“It has been quite a journey for me from the darkness to the light,” Parker said during a proclamation signing ceremony at the White House attended by dozens, including other family members, members of Congress and civil rights leaders.

“Back then in the darkness, I could never imagine the moment like this, standing in the light of wisdom, grace and deliverance,” he said.

With the stroke of Biden’s pen, the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument, located across three sites in two states, became federally-protected places. Before signing the proclamation, the president said he marvels at the courage of the Till family to “find faith and purpose in pain.”

“Today, on what would have been Emmett’s 82nd birthday, we add another chapter in the story of remembrance and healing,” Biden said...

On Tuesday, reaction poured in from other elected officials and from the civil rights organizing community. The Rev. Al Sharpton said the Till national monument designation tells him “that out of pain comes power.”

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jefferies said the monument “places the life and legacy of Emmett Till among our nation’s most treasured memorials.”

“Black history is American history,” he said in a written statement...

Till-Mobley demanded that Emmett’s mutilated remains be taken back to Chicago for a public, open casket funeral that was attended by tens of thousands of people. Graphic images taken of Emmett’s remains, sanctioned by his mother, were published by Jet magazine and fueled the Civil Rights Movement...

Altogether, the Till national monument will include 5.7 acres (2.3 hectares) of land and two historic buildings. The Mississippi sites are Graball Landing, the spot where Emmett’s body was pulled from the Tallahatchie River just outside of Glendora, Mississippi, and the Tallahatchie County Second District Courthouse in Sumner, Mississippi, where Emmett’s killers were tried...

The Illinois site is Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ in Chicago, where Emmett’s funeral was held in September 1955...

Mississippi state Sen. David Jordan, 90, was a freshman at Mississippi Valley State College in 1955 when he attended part of the trial of the two men charged with killing Emmett. As a state senator for the past 30 years, Jordan, who is Black, spearheaded fundraising for a statue of Emmett Till that was dedicated last year in Greenwood, Mississippi, a few miles from where the teenager was abducted.

On Tuesday, Jordan praised Biden for creating the Till national monument.

“It’s one of the greatest honors that a president could pay to a person, 14, who lost his life in Mississippi that’s created a movement that changed America,” Jordan told the AP."

-via AP, July 25, 2023

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the-eternal-quest-for-balance · 9 months

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freedomlovingamericans · 2 months

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Never forget who he is! Remember Tawana Brawley and that lie or maybe the fact that he was the one that got a Jewish merchant killed in Harlem. Maybe you know him from the fact that he owes millions in back taxes! Or just because he’s a racist and does nothing for anyone unless he gets paid!

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schraubd · 11 months

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Things People Blame the Jews For, Volume LXIV: Al Sharpton

Among the more prominent fusions of antisemitism and racism is the idea that Black political leaders are really just mouthpieces of the Jews. It combines a belief in Black inferiority (obviously, they can't think for themselves) with a belief in Jewish conspiracy (they're pulling the strings behind the scene).

I pulled this tweet -- a beneficiary of Elon's "blue check" destruction -- not just because it's a sterling example of the genre, but because its choice of example is positively baffling:

The Black Community is in dire need of strong black voices to represent them. Al Sharpton is a pissant sycophant working for the Jews who made him into the charlatan he is today. All Black voices in DC were created & given their positions by the Jews ...who tell them what to…

— The White Lady (@NephilimWatcher) May 19, 2023

(I don't even know what to make about concluding with the motto for "Survivor". So we'll just move along....)

Again, the core allegation here is not unique. But specifically citing Al Sharpton as the template -- that's a decision. To be sure, I don't think in the year 2023 it's useful to reduce Rev. Sharpton just to his role in the Crown Heights riot. But certainly that rather specific history Sharpton has with the Jews makes him an odd choice to hold out as your paradigm case of a Black voice under Jewish control.

What I'm saying is that racists need to learn better history. Among other things they need to learn.

(Hat tip)

via The Debate Link https://ift.tt/Jg8Pwct

#Al Sharpton #anti-semitism #Black #Jews #racism #things Jews are blamed for

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dontmeantobepoliticalbut · 2 years

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Another mass shooting in America, so where's this "good guy with a gun" that conservatives love to screech about whenever we bring up gun control?

A gunman wearing military gear and livestreaming with a helmet camera opened fire with a rifle at a Buffalo, New York, supermarket in what authorities described as “racially motived violent extremism,” killing 10 people and wounding three others Saturday before he surrendered, authorities said.

Police officials said the gunman, who also wore body armor in addition to military-style clothing, pulled up in the afternoon and opened fire amid shoppers at a Tops Friendly Market, the shooting streamed via a camera affixed to the man’s helmet.

“He exited his vehicle. He was very heavily armed. He had tactical gear. He had a tactical helmet on. He had a camera that he was livestreaming what he was doing,” city Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said at a news conference afterward.

Gramaglia said the gunman initially shot four people outside the store, three fatally. Inside the store, a security guard who was a retired Buffalo police officer fired multiple shots at the gunman and struck him, but the bullet hit the gunman’s bulletproof vest and had no effect, Gramaglia added. The Commissioner said the gunman then killed the security guard.

Video also captured the suspect as he walked into the supermarket where he shot several other victims inside, according to authorities.

Police said 11 of the victims were Black and two are white. The supermarket is in a predominantly Black neighborhood a few miles (kilometers) north of downtown Buffalo.

“This is the worst nightmare that any community can face, and we are hurting and we are seething right now,” Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said at the news conference. “The depth of pain that families are feeling and that all of us are feeling right now cannot even be explained.”

Gramaglia said Buffalo police entered the store and confronted the gunman in the vestibule.

“At that point the suspect put the gun to his own neck. Buffalo police personnel -- two patrol officers -- talked the suspect into dropping the gun. He dropped the gun, took off some of his tactical gear, surrendered at that point. And he was led outside, put in a police car,” he said.

The suspected gunman was later identified as Payton Gendron, 18, of Conklin, a New York state community about 200 miles (320 kilometers) southeast of Buffalo, two law enforcement officials told The Associated Press. The officials were not permitted to speak publicly on the matter and did so on the condition of anonymity.

The suspect was being questioned Saturday evening by the FBI, one of the officials said, and Conklin was expected to appear in court later Saturday.

At the news briefing, Erie County Sheriff John Garcia pointedly called the shooting a hate crime.

“This was pure evil. It was straight up racially motivated hate crime from somebody outside of our community, outside of the City of Good neighbors ... coming into our community and trying to inflict that evil upon us,” Garcia said.

Elsewhere, NAACP President Derrick Johnson issued a statement in which he called the shooting “absolutely devastating.”

“Our hearts are with the community and all who have been impacted by this terrible tragedy. Hate and racism have no place in America. We are shattered, extremely angered and praying for the victims’ families and loved ones,” he added.

Separately, the Rev. Al Sharpton called on the White House to convene a meeting with Black, Jewish and Asian “to underscore the Federal government (is) escalating its efforts against hate crimes.” In a tweet, Sharpton said that “leaders of all these communities should stand together on this!”

The shooting came little more than a year after a March 2021 attack at a King Soopers grocery in Boulder, Colorado, that killed 10 people. Investigators have not released any information about why they believe the man charged in that attack targeted the supermarket.

At the scene in Buffalo on Saturday afternoon, police closed off an entire block, lined by spectators, and yellow police taped surrounded the full parking lot.

Braedyn Kephart and Shane Hill, both 20, pulled into the parking lot just as the shooter was exiting. They described him as a white male in his late teens or early twenties sporting full camo, a black helmet and what appeared to be a rifle.

“He was standing there with the gun to his chin. We were like what the heck is going on? Why does this kid have a gun to his face?” Kephart said. He dropped to his knees. “He ripped off his helmet, dropped his gun, and was tackled by the police.”

Tops Friendly Markets released a statement saying, “We are shocked and deeply saddened by this senseless act of violence and our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families.”

At the White House, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said President Joe Biden was receiving regular updates on the shooting and the investigation and had offered prayers with the first lady for the victims and their loved ones.

“The president has been briefed by his Homeland Security advisor on the horrific shooting in Buffalo, N.Y., this afternoon. He will continue to receive updates throughout the evening and tomorrow as further information develops,” she said.

Attorney General Merrick Garland was briefed on the shooting, Justice Department spokesperson Anthony Coley said.

More than two hours after the shooting, Erica Pugh-Mathews was waiting outside the store, behind police tape.

“We would like to know the status of my aunt, my mother’s sister. She was in there with her fiance, they separated and went to different aisles,” she said. “A bullet barely missed him. He was able to hide in a freezer but he was not able to get to my aunt and does not know where she is. We just would like word either way if she’s OK.”

Payton Gendron is the suspect accused of killing at least 10 people at a Tops Friendly Market grocery store in Buffalo, New York, on Saturday, May 14, 2022. Gendron was taken into custody at the scene, Buffalo Police said. Three others were wounded. Gendron is facing first-degree murder charges in New York state court and could also face federal charges, including hate crimes, officials said. The names of the victims have not been released yet.

A racist and anti-Semitic manifesto and a Twitch livestream were attributed online to the gunman, but authorities have not verified those accounts. A graphic video emerged that shows bodies lying in the parking lot as law enforcement officers take the suspect into custody. Gendron is from Conklin, New York. He said in the manifesto he is an 18-year-old college student and a self-described white supremacist. Gendron was shot by a security guard, but was not injured because he was wearing body armor, Buffalo Police said at a press conference

Conklin is more than 200 miles southeast of Buffalo in the Southern Tier region of New York. Gendron included his name in the manifesto and The Associated Press confirmed his identity with law enforcement sources. Gendron appeared in court Saturday night for his arraignment, officials said. He is being held without bail. He is scheduled to return to court in five days, according to authorities. A mugshot has not been released, but photos from the local media show Gendron in court:

The manifesto, which talks about the extremist far-right white or great replacement theory and includes alt-right 4chan memes and jokes, is similar to ones written by shooters who attacked a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, the Tree of Life synagogue in Pennsylvania and an El Paso, Texas, Walmart in recent years, Yale professor Jason Stanley says.

[...]

The manifesto fixates on mass immigration.

“Mass immigration and the higher fertility rates of the immigrants themselves are causing this increase in population. We are experiencing an invasion on a level never seen before in history,” it says. “Millions of people pouring across our borders, legally. Invited by the state and corporate entities to replace the White people who have failed to reproduce, failed to create the cheap labor, failed to create new consumers and tax base that the corporations and states need to have to thrive.”

It continues, “This crisis of mass immigration and sub-replacement fertility is an assault on the European people that, if not combated, will ultimately result in the complete racial and cultural replacement of the European people.”

The manifesto, which refers to “white genocide,” contains a name and says that the author is “18 years old as of writing this. I am the sole perpetrator of the recent attempted mass shooting. I lived in Southern Tier, New York all my life with both my parents and 2 brothers. I believe I am ethnically white since my parent’s nationalities are from north-western Europe and Italy. I graduated highschool with a regents diploma with advanced designation and am currently enrolled in SUNY Broome with a major in Engineering Science.”

It continues, “I would love to continue this but there are bigger problems I’m more concerned with. I am not a warfighter, nor have I been enrolled in any military or tactical training, so excuse any mistakes I make during my attack. I was never diagnosed with a mental disability or disorder, and I believe to be perfectly sane.”

He claimed to be an “INTJ” personality type and included photos of a fake active shooter that often circulate online after mass shootings. The manifesto contains many pages of anti-Jewish memes and graphics.

The manifesto states:

"Why did you decide to carry out the attack?

To show to the replacers that as long as the White man lives, our land will never be theirs and they will never be safe from us.

To directly reduce immigration rates to European lands by intimidating and physically removing the replacers themselves.

To intimidate the replacers already living on our lands to emigrate back to their home countries.

To agitate the political enemies of my people into action, to cause them to overextend their own hand and experience the eventual and inevitable backlash as a result.

To incite violence, retaliation and further divide between the European people and the replacers currently occupying European soil…

To add momentum to the pendulum swings of history, further destabilizing and polarizing Western society in order to eventually destroy the current nihilistic, hedonistic, individualistic insanity that has taken control of Western thought."

The shooting is being investigated as a hate crime and case of racially motivated violent extremism, FBI Special Agent in charge of the Buffalo field office Stephen Belongia said. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York is also assisting in the investigation along with state and local authorities.

Erie County District Attorney John Flynn said at the press conference, “This individual will be arranged on a charge of murder in the first degree.” He called the shooting “despicable.” Flynn added, “That charge of murder in the first degree carries with it a life without parole sentence.” He said additional charges could also be filed at a later date.

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saywhat-politics · 1 year

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North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson is a religious conservative favorite because of his derogatory comments, not in spite of them.

North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, according to a report from Talking Points Memo, has for years used his Facebook feed to promote racist, antisemitic, homophobic and transphobic viewpoints and memes. Elected in 2020, the Republican is reportedly considering a run for governor next year. He is a rising star on the Christian right, and his cache of appalling social media posts is further evidence that there is no daylight between the movement that bills itself as being committed to “family values” and “religious freedom” and the swamps of the bigoted far right.

The lieutenant governor’s prolific Facebook posts promoted a hodgepodge of familiar right-wing conspiracy theories, blaming “globalists,” the “occult” and “the New World Order” for America’s woes. He used racist epithets against the Revs. William Barber and Al Sharpton, the civil rights activists, and claimed expressions of “white pride” aren’t racist. He rejected his own membership in the Black community, writing, “Why would I want to be part of a ‘community’ that sucks from the putrid tit of the government and then complains about getting sour milk?” He dabbled in antisemitic conspiracy theories and regularly posted homophobic and transphobic statements, among them calling homosexuality “a FILTHY ABOMINATION, that satisfies your degenerate, un-natural lust.” (Robinson hasn’t responded to requests for comment from Talking Points Memo or other outlets covering the story.)

#north carolina #republican #lieutenant governor #mark robinson

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madamspeaker · 10 months

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Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, with former congressman Max Rose, and the Rev. Al Sharpton (9th June, 2023)

#nancy pelosi #madam speaker

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crliny1-b1 · 3 months

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Here's a list of Fake Woke, Fake pro-Black, spineless DNC politicians and shills Black Americans should NEVER TRUST! 🎯🤷🏿‍♂️🤨

• Jamal “Fire alarm” Bowman

• Mayor Eric “Gandhi” Adams

• Mayor Brandon Johnson

• Jasmin “Warrior Mammie” Crockett

• Sheila “Oxtail” Jackson Lee

• Jim “fish fry” Clyburn

• Nina “flip-flopper” Turner

• Hakeem “HouseNigga” Jeffries

• Van “Crying kneegrow” Jones

• Cornell “Safe kneegrow” West

• Cori “New nigga” Bush

• Snoop

• Roland “the Buckdancing Bo0tlick” Martin

• Joy “JackAzz” Reid

• Michael Eric Dyson

• Ayanna Pressley

• Cornell Brooks

• Derrick “WeEz aLLz iMmIgRaNtS” Johnson

• Rev. William Barber “The Pork Chop Preacher”

• TD Cakes

• Stacey “Hamburger helper” Abrams

• Bakari Sellout

• Marc “LaMoist” Hill

• Corny Jemele Hill

• Al “FBI” Sharpton

• April Ryan

• Jelani Cobb

• Donna Brazile

• Jaime Harrison

• James Sanders

• Basil Smikle

• Tiffany Crosseyes

• Karen Hunter

• Kerry Washington

• Tamika “Cadillac” Mallory

• P-Lies

• QuestLove

• Jonathan “Buck broken” Caphart

• Gary “Black & brown” Chambers

• Symone “Big back” Sanders

• Greg “the PanAfric@nBo0tyscratcher”

Carr

• Killer Mike

• Benjamin “Mumble Mouth” Crump

• Chris Rock

• Spike Lee

• The Wades

• Barbara Lee

• Raphael “Potato head” Warnock

• DL Hughley

• MC Lyte

• Whoopi Goldberg

• Okrah Winfrey

• Agent DuVernay

• Tyler Perry

• The Obamas

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nadoripeter · 1 year

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#entertainment

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androgynousbirdtale · 1 year

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DA: 5 Memphis cops 'all responsible' for Tyre Nichols' death

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Five fired Memphis police officers were charged Thursday with murder and other crimes in the killing of Tyre Nichols, a Black motorist who died three days after a confrontation with the officers during a traffic stop.

Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy told a news conference that although the officers each played different roles in the killing, “they are all responsible.”

The officers, who are all Black, each face charges of second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression.

Video of the Jan. 7 traffic stop will be released to the public sometime Friday evening, Mulroy said. Nichols’ family and their lawyers said the footage shows officers savagely beating the 29-year-old FedEx worker for three minutes in an assault that the legal team likened to the infamous 1991 police beating of Los Angeles motorist Rodney King. His family urged supporters to protest peacefully.

Nichols’ stepfather, Rodney Wells, told The Associated Press by phone that he and his wife, RowVaughn Wells, who is Nichols’ mother, discussed the second-degree murder charges and are “fine with it.” They had sought first-degree murder charges.

“There’s other charges, so I’m all right with that,” he said.

Asked about the kidnapping charges, the district attorney said: “If it was a legal detention to begin with, it certainly became illegal at a certain point and was an unlawful detention.”

David Rausch, director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, said he saw the video and found it “absolutely appalling.”

“Let me be clear: What happened here does not at all reflect proper policing. This was wrong. This was criminal,” Rausch said during the news conference.

Court records showed that all five former officers — Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr., Emmitt Martin III and Justin Smith — were taken into custody.

Martin’s lawyer, William Massey, confirmed that his client had turned himself in. He and Mills’ lawyer, Blake Ballin, said their clients would plead not guilty. Lawyers for Smith, Bean and Haley could not be reached.

“No one out there that night intended for Tyre Nichols to die,” Massey said.

Both lawyers said they had not seen the video.

“We are in the dark about many things, just like the general public is,” Ballin said.

Second-degree murder is punishable by 15 to 60 years in prison under Tennessee law.

Later Thursday, Nichols’ mother and stepfather were joined by several dozen supporters on a cold night for a candlelight vigil and prayer service at a Memphis skate park. Nichols, who had a 4-year-old son, was an avid skateboarder.

RowVaughn Wells thanked those who attended, then added that her family is “grief stricken.”

She warned supporters of the “horrific” nature of the video set to be released Friday, but she pleaded with supporters to “protest in peace.”

“I don’t want us burning up our city, tearing up the streets, because that’s not what my son stood for,” she said. “If you guys are here for me and Tyre, then you will protest peacefully. You can get your point across, but we don’t need to tear up our cities, people, because we do have to live in them.”

Activists and clergy led the group in prayer and a drummer played a steady rhythm to lead into the spoken part of the vigil. Afterwards, skaters rode their boards as Wells and her husband watched.

The attorneys for Nichols’ family, Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci, issued a statement saying that Nichols “lost his life in a particularly disgusting manner that points to the desperate need for change and reform to ensure this violence stops occurring during low-threat procedures, like in this case, a traffic stop.”

The Rev. Al Sharpton, who runs the National Action Network and will deliver the eulogy at Nichols’ funeral service next week, called the charges “a necessary step in delivering justice” for Nichols.

“There is no point to putting a body camera on a cop if you aren’t going to hold them accountable when the footage shows them relentlessly beating a man to death,” Sharpton said. “Firings are not enough. Indictments and arrests are not convictions. As we’ve done in the past ... we will stand by this family until justice is done.”

At the White House, President Joe Biden said the Nichols family and the city of Memphis deserve “a swift, full and transparent investigation.”

“Public trust is the foundation of public safety, and there are still too many places in America today where the bonds of trust are frayed or broken,” Biden said in a statement.

The Memphis police chief has called the officers’ actions that night “heinous, reckless and inhumane.”

“This is not just a professional failing. This is a failing of basic humanity toward another individual,” Memphis Police Director Cerelyn “CJ” Davis said in a video statement released late Wednesday on social media.

Davis said the five officers found to be “directly responsible for the physical abuse of Mr. Nichols,” were fired last week, but other officers are still being investigated for violating department policy. In addition, she said “a complete and independent review” will be conducted of the department’s specialized units, without providing further details.

Two fire department workers were also removed from duty over the Nichols’ arrest.

As state and federal investigations continue, Davis promised the police department’s “full and complete cooperation” to determine what contributed to Nichols’ Jan. 10 death.

Mulroy told The Associated Press on Tuesday that local and state investigators wanted to complete as many interviews as possible before releasing the video. The timetable has rankled some activists who expected the video to be released after Nichols’ family and the family’s lawyers viewed it Monday.

Crump said the video showed that Nichols was shocked, pepper-sprayed and restrained when he was pulled over near his home. He was returning home from a suburban park where he had taken photos of the sunset.

Police have said Nichols was stopped for reckless driving and at some point fled from the scene.

Relatives have accused the police of causing Nichols to have a heart attack and kidney failure. Authorities have only said Nichols experienced a medical emergency.

When video of the arrest is publicly released, Davis said she expects people in the community to react, but she urged them to do so peacefully.

“None of this is a calling card for inciting violence or destruction on our community or against our citizens,” she said.

One of the officers, Haley, was accused previously of using excessive force. He was named as a defendant in a 2016 federal civil rights lawsuit while employed by the Shelby County Division of Corrections.

The plaintiff, Cordarlrius Sledge, stated that he was an inmate in 2015 when Haley and another corrections officer accused him of flushing contraband. The two officers “hit me in the face with punches,” according to the complaint.

A third officer then slammed his head to the ground, Sledge said. He lost consciousness and woke up in the facility’s medical center.

The claims were ultimately dismissed after a judge ruled that Sledge had failed to file a grievance against the officers within 30 days of the incident.

Washington Post

#tyre nichols #memphis #tennessee #cops #murder #black lives matter #are all cops really bastards?#black people can be racist too #idk if that's what's behind this #ijs #say his name

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