Month: April 2023

Authorities announced on Wednesday that two teenage brothers were arrested in connection with a shooting that left four people dead and 32 injured at a weekend ‘Sweet 16’ party in Alabama.

Alabama Law Enforcment Agency Sgt. Jeremy Burkett said that the boys – 16-year-old Travis McCullough and 17-year-old Ty Reik McCullough from Tuskegee, — were taken into custody on charges of reckless murder on Tuesday night. and will be charged as adults.  Sgt. Burkett said during a press conference Wednesday: “There is a tremendous amount of work to do. We’re going to be careful with everything we say and everything we do. We’re going to stay focused on the victims and their families. “

Gunfire erupted at 10:34 p.m. Saturday at a dance studio on Broadnax Street in Dadeville where friends and family were celebrating the birthday of a 16-year-old girl. The four people killed were identified by police as Shaunkivia Smith, 17; Marsiah Collins, 19; Corbin Holston, 23; and Philstavious Dowdell, 18. Dadeville is about 25 miles northwest of Auburn University. Four people remained hospitalized and listed in critical condition on Wednesday.

Prosecutors and police revealed few details on the arrest, such as the weapons used or possible motive for the attack.  Police said they’re at the early stages of the probe and are still in great need of the public’s help, especially from party guests who have yet to speak to investigators. Sgt. Burkett said: “We need you to come forward for the families, for these victims.” Dadeville Police Chief Jonathan Floyd also asked for the public’s help and patience with the investigation: “If we hurry, if we’re careless and we do make an arrest but it doesn’t result in a conviction, it does not result in ultimate justice for our victims, then we’ve failed our victims. Please be patient, please be understanding.”

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The family of Tyre Nichols has filed a civil lawsuit Wednesday against the city of Memphis, the police department and several individuals over his death at the hands of police officers

The attorney for the family, Ben Crump, said the lawsuit is seeking $550 million for the “torture” of Nichols, 29, who died three days after he was beaten by police during a Jan. 7 traffic stop. Body camera footage of the altercation showed officers striking Nichols repeatedly. Crump said during a press briefing Wednesday outside the Circuit Court Clerk’s Office in Memphis: “This landmark lawsuit is not only to get the justice for Tyre Nichols in the civil courts, but it is also a message that is being sent to cities all across America who have these police oppression units that have been given the license by city leaders to go and terrorize Black and brown communities.”

The suit was filed by Nichol’s mother RowVaughn Wells and the Tyre Nichols estate. The 139-page, 25-count civil complaint includes allegations of excessive force and “deliberate indifference to serious medical needs,” and called the traffic stop “unreasonable.” It also claims the police department failed to properly train its officers, including those in the now-deactivated SCORPION unit that was involved in Nichols’ arrest: “The City of Memphis, through the Memphis Police Department, maintained a custom of tolerance for SCORPION Officers’ unreasonable search and seizure of individuals, use of excessive force, and the violation of the Fourth Amendment prior to the violation of Tyre Nichols’ constitutional rights and death.”

The lawsuit names the city of Memphis, Police Chief Cerelyn Davis, individual police officers, and three Memphis Fire Department employees. It Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis and the five now-former officers charged in connection with Nichols’ death — Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr., Emmitt Martin III and Justin Smith — are among the defendants named in the lawsuit. Preston Hemphill, a police officer who was fired but not charged, is also named in the lawsuit. In addition, emergency medical technicians Robert Long and JaMichael Sandridge, Memphis Fire Lt. Michelle Whitaker, who was also in the first ambulance to arrive, and DeWayne Smith, who was a police lieutenant who retired before he could be fired, were also named in the suit.

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On Tuesday, President Joe Biden signed an executive order aimed at increasing access to child care and to long-term care for older adults and those with disabilities.

The White House said in a statement that Biden’s orders will immediately take effect and will direct federal agencies to identify which of their grant programs are capable of supporting child care and long-term care including for individuals working on federal projects. Per The Associated Press, while the order contains more than 50 directives to improve access and better working conditions for caregivers, “the directives would be funded out of existing commitments. That likely means their impact would be limited and they’d carry more of a symbolic weight about what’s possible. The Democratic president was far more ambitious in 2021 by calling to provide more than $425 billion to expand child care, improve its affordability and boost wages for caregivers.”

The White House said the cost of child care has risen 26% in the past decade and more than doubled over 30 years. Cost of care for those who are elderly or who have disabilities has risen 40% in the past decade. They described the executive order as “the most comprehensive set of executive actions any president has ever taken to improve care for hardworking families while supporting care workers and family caregivers,” and noted that “many Americans — particularly women — stay out of the workforce to care for their families, making it hard for businesses to attract and retain a skilled workforce and for the economy to grow. A BCG brief forecasts losses of $290 billion each year in gross domestic product in 2030 and beyond if the U.S. fails to address the lack of affordable child care.”

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Dominion Voting Systems and Fox News have reached a deal to settle the $1.6 billion defamation case brought against Fox by the electronic voting company. Dominion sued Fox over unfounded accusations from the cable news giant, in which they accused Dominion on-air of helping to rig the 2020 presidential election against former President Donald Trump.

Soon after Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis announced that the case has been resolved, attorneys for Dominion told reporters that Fox would pay $787.5 million to settle the lawsuit. Judge Davis had brought the jury and 12 alternates back into the courtroom following a lengthy break in proceedings. The settlement averted a weeks-long trial that could have seen top Fox TV hosts and network boss Rupert Murdoch testify

Fox said in a statement: “We are pleased to have reached a settlement of our dispute with Dominion Voting Systems. We acknowledge the Court’s rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false. This settlement reflects FOX’s continued commitment to the highest journalistic standards. We are hopeful that our decision to resolve this dispute with Dominion amicably, instead of the acrimony of a divisive trial, allows the country to move forward from these issues.”

Dominion CEO John Poulos told reporters that the settlement was historic, adding, “Fox has admitted to telling lies about Dominion that caused enormous damage to my company, our employees and the customers that we serve. Nothing can ever make up for that. Throughout this process we have sought accountability and believed the evidence brought to light through this case underscored the consequences of spreading lies. Truthful reporting in the media is essential to our democracy.”

The suit brought by Dominion argued that Fox News and its sister network Fox Business “intentionally and falsely” blamed Dominion for the 2020 loss of former President Donald Trump to President Joe Biden by airing unsubstantiated claims about the company. Fox had said in court filings that statements by its hosts about Dominion were protected by the First Amendment; and also said Dominion had not shown that the statements were made with so-called actual malice, which is the threshold for civil defamation claims.

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