World

5 Memphis Police Officers ‘All Responsible’ For Tyre Nichols’ Death

Published

2 years ago

2023-01-26

Kiara Grace

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Five Memphis police officers were charged Thursday with second-degree murder and other crimes in connection with the arrest and death of Tyre Nichols, a Black motorist who died three days after a traffic stop with the officers.

At a news conference, Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy said that Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills, Jr., Emmitt Martin III, and Justin Smith had been charged with crimes. The fired officers, all of whom are Black, face second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct, and official oppression charges.

He stated that, while the fired officers played a different role in Nichols’ death, “they are all responsible.”

Mulroy said that a police video of the traffic stop, which Nichols’ family and lawyers say shows officers beating the 29-year-old father and FedEx worker badly for three minutes, will be made public on Friday.

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

If The Police Were White, They Would Have Been Suspended

“There are other charges, so I’m fine with that,” he explained.

Wells, who called for peaceful protests earlier this week if the video is released, is also “ecstatic” that authorities have moved quickly in the case.

During the news conference, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director David Rausch said he had seen the video and found it “absolutely appalling.”

“Let me be clear: What happened here does not reflect proper policing. This was incorrect. “This was heinous,” Rausch said.

According to court records, the five former officers were detained. Smith, Bean, and Haley’s attorneys are not listed in the records. Martin’s attorney, William Massey, confirmed that his client had surrendered. He and Mills’ attorney, Blake Ballin, said they planned to hold a news conference later Thursday to discuss the charges.

15-60 Years In Prison For The Cops Involved

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

Memphis District Attorney: Witness interviews, then video release

mp and Antonio Romanucci, Nichols’ attorneys, issued a statement praising the charges.

“The news today from Memphis officials that these five officers will face criminal charges for their deadly and brutal actions gives us hope as we continue to push for justice for Tyre,” they wrote. “This young man died in a particularly disgusting way, which shows how much change and reform are needed to make sure this kind of violence doesn’t happen during low-risk situations like a traffic stop.”

Justice For No One

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

“Putting a body camera on a cop is pointless if you’re not going to hold them accountable when the footage shows them relentlessly beating a man to death,” Sharpton said. “Firings are insufficient. Indictments and arrests are not the same as convictions. As we have previously, we will support this family until justice is served.”

The fired officers’ actions that night were described as “heinous, reckless, and inhumane” by the Memphis police chief, who urged residents of the predominantly Black city to protest peacefully when the video was released.

“This isn’t just a professional blunder. “This is a failure of basic humanity toward another individual,” Memphis Police Director Cerelyn “CJ,” Davis said in a video statement posted on social media late Wednesday.

Davis said that the five officers who were “directly responsible for Mr. Nichols’ physical abuse” were fired last week, but other officers are still being investigated for breaking department policy. She also said that the department’s specialized units would go through a “comprehensive and independent review,” but she didn’t say what that meant.

Police Department Is Still Investigating

Davis has promised that the police department will help find out what led to Nichols’ death on January 10 while state and federal investigations are still going on.

On Tuesday, Mulroy told The Associated Press that local and state investigators wanted to conduct as many interviews as possible before releasing the video. Some activists were disappointed because they expected the video to be released after Nichols’ family and lawyers saw it on Monday.

Crump stated that the video showed Nichols, a 29-year-old FedEx employee and father, being shocked, pepper-sprayed, and restrained after being pulled over for a traffic stop near his home. He was on his way home from a suburban park where he had photographed the sunset. The legal team says that police beat Nichols for three minutes in a “savage” way that reminded them of the famous beating of Los Angeles driver Rodney King by police in 1991.

Family members have accused the police of causing Nichols’ heart attack and kidney failure. Authorities have only stated that Nichols had a medical emergency.

Davis said she expects the community to react when the arrest video is made public.

“I expect our citizens to exercise their First Amendment right to protest, to demand actions and results, but we must also ensure the safety of our community,” she said. “None of this is a call to start fighting or destroying our community or its people.”

Incident Does Not Reflect Well On the Department

Davis stated that the actions of the fired officers do not reflect the good work that many Memphis police officers do every day, and she promised to take action to improve the agency.

“As a preventive measure, I want to make sure that a full and independent review of all of the Memphis Police Department’s specialized units is done. I also want my executive leadership to make sure that policies and procedures are followed when we meet with the people we swore to serve every day,” she said.

Haley, one of the officers, had previously been accused of using excessive force. While working for the Shelby County Division of Corrections, he was named a defendant in a federal civil rights lawsuit in 2016.

Cordarlrius Sledge was in jail in 2015 when Haley and another corrections officer accused him of flushing drugs, according to the complaint. The two officers “punched me in the face,” according to the complaint. According to Sledge, a third officer slammed his head to the ground. According to the complaint, he lost consciousness and awoke in the facility’s medical center.

After a judge ruled that Sledge had failed to file a grievance against the officers within 30 days of the incident, the claims were eventually dismissed.

Two fire department employees were also fired due to Nichols’ arrest.

SOURCE – (AP)

World

Biden Escalates Ukraine War With Long-Range Missiles

Published

6 days ago

2024-11-18

Geoff Brown

The Kremlin announced on Monday that President Joe Biden’s decision to allow Ukraine to hit targets inside Russia with US military long-range missiles is “fuel to the fire” and will exacerbate international tensions.

Biden’s decision to allow Ukraine to employ US military long-range missiles to strike deep within Russia has raised concerns about growing tensions, with many fearing that this decision could lead to world conflict.

On Monday, with less than two months remaining in office, President Joe Biden authorized American-provided Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) to strike deep within Russia.

“It is obvious that the outgoing administration in Washington intends to take steps and they have been talking about this, to continue adding fuel to the fire and provoking further escalation of tensions around this conflict,” said Peskov, the spokesman for the president.

Peskov reminded journalists of a September statement by President Vladimir Putin, who stated that enabling Ukraine to target Russia would dramatically raise the stakes.

It would alter “the very nature of the conflict dramatically,” Putin stated. This would mean that NATO countries, the United States, and European countries would be at war with Russia.”

Peskov asserted that Western countries that deliver longer-range weaponry also provide targeting services to Kyiv. “This fundamentally changes the modality of their involvement in the conflict,” he said.

Ukraine War Escalation

In June, Putin threatened that if NATO permitted Ukraine to utilize the arsenal of its partners to attack Russian territory, Moscow would send longer-range weapons to others to strike Western targets.

“The Westerners supply weapons to Ukraine and say: ‘We do not control anything here anymore and it does not matter how they are used.'” Putin had said. “We can also say, ‘We supplied something to someone — and now we have no control over anything.'” “And let them think about it.”

Putin again emphasized Moscow’s willingness to deploy nuclear weapons if it perceived a threat to its sovereignty.

Biden’s decision will “mean the direct involvement of the United States and its satellites in military action against Russia, as well as a radical change in the essence and nature of the conflict,” Russia’s Foreign Ministry stated.

The new policy has unpredictable consequences. ATACMS, with a range of roughly 300 kilometers (190 miles), can travel deep behind Ukraine’s 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line, although their range is modest compared to other types of ballistic and cruise missiles.

President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office on January 20, has not responded, but he won the election on promises to stop the conflict, and some people close to him have decried the action as a hazardous escalation.

Missile Decision Sparks Anger

The Military Industrial Complex appears to want to start World War III before my father has a chance to restore peace and rescue lives. We need to lock in those $Trillions. Life be damned!! Imbeciles!” Donald Trump Jr., the President-elect’s son, posted on X

“On his way out of office, Joe Biden is dangerously trying to start WWIII by authorizing Ukraine to use U.S. long-range missiles against Russia,” said Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., on X. “The American people gave a mandate on November 5 against these exact American last decisions.”

Rebekah Koffler, a former Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) officer and author of “Putin’s Playbook,” speculated that the stories were a “trial balloon to disrupt Trump” and that Biden may not have authorized the ATACMS strikes yet.

According to Dani Belo, PhD, Director of Security and International Relations at Global Policy Horizons Research Lab, Ukraine’s ability to currently hit Russian territory has the potential to escalate the war with Russia.

However, Donald Trump’s victory is likely to moderate the escalation.

There is speculation that Donald Trump’s administration would restrict military hardware deliveries to Ukraine, putting political pressure on Kyiv to resolve the crisis. This implies Ukraine has no motivation to escalate now and lose its fighting capability in a matter of months.

Russia sees no reason to escalate the situation at this time. Moscow expects that Trump’s administration will try to finish the war soon, so the Kremlin will likely take a wait-and-see approach until the new presidential administration takes office without significantly escalating the conflict. As a result, any escalation is unlikely.

Source: AP

Trump Shakes Up Pentagon Names Pete Hegseth Defence Secretary

Trump Shakes Up Pentagon Names Pete Hegseth Defence Secretary

World

A Court Filing Reveals Elon Musk Flatly Rejected OpenAI’s ICO in 2018.

Published

1 week ago

2024-11-15

Salman Ahmad

(VOR News) – Elon Musk, the billionaire and CEO of Tesla, claims in a subsequent court filing that was submitted on November 14 that he was successful in stopping OpenAI from doing an initial coin offering (ICO) in 2018.

According to the filing requirements, this information was disclosed.

Musk and his legal team have claimed that two of OpenAI’s founders, Greg Brockman and Sam Altman, tried unsuccessfully to create a token in early 2018 to help the company grow. To the best of our knowledge, this was the founders’ intention.

Elon Musk accurately described the scenario.

Elon Musk made the remark during the pertinent time period, according to the lawsuit’s accusations.

This, in his opinion, would lead to a significant decline in trust in OpenAI and everyone involved in the initial coin offering (ICO). These statements are extracted from his initial declaration.

A unique project backed by Altman, Worldcoin launched a token twenty-three years ago with the goal of creating digital identification for verified individuals.

Furthermore, the company in charge of token distribution was Worldcoin. Through the use of the token, Worldcoin was able to authenticate individual identities.

When OpenAI was first founded, it was a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating safe artificial general intelligence (AGI).

In this context, the acronym AGI stands for artificial global intelligence. “Musk has continuously voiced concern about the grave threat that these sophisticated systems pose to humanity,” his attorney wrote in the complaint. These sophisticated technologies represent a serious threat to humankind.

“Musk remains apprehensive regarding this threat.” “Musk regards these threats with the utmost seriousness.” “Elon Musk has harbored these concerns for an extended period.”

This led to Musk joining OpenAI’s board of directors and continuing to serve as co-chair of the board. Furthermore, he was appointed to that board of directors post.

Elon Musk contributed $44 million to the enterprise.

OpenAI declared in a March 5th news release that it was imperative that the company adopt a profit-making structure in order to obtain the necessary funding to achieve its objectives. In order to enable OpenAI to fulfill its objectives, this transition was necessary.

According to both the OpenAI statement and the amended filing, Elon Musk advocated for the combination of OpenAI and Tesla to help the artificial intelligence startup with its financial issues.

The aforementioned measures were implemented to mitigate the challenges that the organization was facing at that specific moment. Musk submitted his resignation as an OpenAI employee in February 2018.

He founded his own artificial intelligence company, which he named XAI, in the ensuing years. His efforts directly led to the achievement he achieved.

We are deeply disappointed that our friendship with someone we have always held in the highest respect has deteriorated.

As we started to make significant strides toward OpenAI’s goal on our own, this person, who had previously motivated us to achieve greater heights, abruptly predicted that we would fail, established a rival company, and filed a lawsuit against us, according to the group’s press release.

In August of this year, Musk filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEOs, Altman and Brockman, claiming that they had violated federal RICO statutes, engaged in unfair competition, and committed fraud. OpenAI is the target of legal action taken by Elon Musk.

According to Elon Musk, they have engaged in additional illegal activity. Microsoft was named as one of the defendants in the dispute in the updated complaint, which was submitted on November 14.

It’s being presented as a case at the moment. Microsoft and OpenAI started working together in 2019, and Microsoft committed $1 billion in the partnership.

In July 2023, OpenAI’s native cryptocurrency, Worldcoin (WLD), was made available to the general public. Not too long ago, an article published by The Block disclosed this knowledge. When the market closed on November 15 at 11:36 p.m. Eastern Time (16:36 UTC), the price of a share of WLD was $2.21.

SOURCE: TB

World

Trump Appoints Robert F. Kennedy Jr to Head HHS

Published

1 week ago

2024-11-15

Geoff Brown

Trump Appoints Robert F. Kennedy Jr to Head HHS

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to run the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

President-elect Trump appointed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (RFK Jr) to run the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), sending Democrats and Big Pharma allies into a tailspin.

“I am delighted to announce Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and medicine firms, which have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation regarding public health,” Trump stated in his announcement.

“The safety and health of all Americans is the most important role of any administration, and HHS will play an important role in ensuring that everyone is safe from harmful chemicals, pollutants, pesticides, pharmaceutical products, and food additives that have contributed to this country’s overwhelming health crisis.

Mr. Kennedy will restore these agencies to gold-standard scientific Research and Transparency traditions, stopping the Chronic Disease Epidemic and making America Great and Healthy Again!” Trump added.

Reactions to RFK Jr HHS Appointment

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) oversees the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Medicare, Medicaid, and the National Institutes of Health.

Kennedy is a former environmental justice lawyer who has recently started an anti-vaccine nonprofit. He ran for president as an independent candidate in 2024 but dropped out to join Trump’s closest circle.

House Republicans have reacted to Donald Trump’s nomination of former presidential contender Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary.

Chip Roy, a Texas congressman, calls it “great news”. He tells me, “We need disruption throughout the federal government.” He’ll be fantastic at HHS [the Department of Health and Human Services] to do that.”

Roy adds that he expects Kennedy’s candidacy will clear the Senate.

“There’s been a few Kennedy’s in the Senate in the past so maybe there’ll be some legacy there that they will want to move him through,” he speculates.

South Carolina Congressman Ralph Norman concurs with Roy on Kennedy’s confirmation in the Senate: “I believe he was an excellent choice by the president, as have all of them. Kennedy is interested in, and passionate about, the medical industry. He will do a terrific job with it.”

According to Public Citizen, a progressive nonprofit group focused on consumer protection, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “is a clear and present danger to the nation’s health.”

He should not be allowed to enter the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), let alone be appointed director of the nation’s public health agency.”

“Donald Trump’s mishandling of public health policies during the Covid outbreak resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths. “By appointing Kennedy as secretary of HHS, Trump is courting another policy-driven public health disaster,” the organization continued.

Apu Akkad, an infectious disease physician at the University of Southern California, described the statement as a “scary day for public health”.

Meanwhile, pharmaceutical stocks such as Pfizer and Moderna plummeted following news of Kennedy’s nomination for HHS Secretary, as investors considered his potential impact on vaccine sales.

Novavax and BioNTech finished down more than 7%, with almost all losses occurring when word of the selection broke—Novavax shares fell to $7.22, and BioNTech shares fell to $103.56.

Moderna’s stock closed 5.6% at $39.77, reaching its lowest point of the year.

Sanofi’s stock fell 3.4% to $47.82, continuing a weeks-long share price decline that began after the company’s latest earnings report last month.

Pfizer lost less than its competitors on Thursday, closing down 2.6% at $26.02, despite having its sharpest drop of the day immediately following the RFK Jr. announcement.