Free Republic

An attempt by President Obama to promote his 'My Brother's Keeper' initiative, which aims to keep youths of color out of trouble, came to a farcical end when rapper Rick Ross's ankle bracelet - which he received on a kidnapping and assault charge - went off. Obama had invited a bevy of hip-hop heavyweights, including Niki Minaj, Common, Busta Rhymes, Pusha T and DJ Khaled, to the meeting at the White House Friday. But none of them - least of all Ross himself - expected the ankle bracelet to interrupt the president, according to TMZ.

As the one-year anniversary of the death of Michael Brown nears, his mother says that she will never forgive Darren Wilson, the Ferguson, Mo. cop who killed him.Asked in a new interview with Al Jazeera America what comes to mind when she thinks of Wilson now, Lesley McSpadden, Brown’s mother, said: “the devil…Evil.”McSpadden also said that she believes that the government — including the U.S. Department of Justice — engaged in a cover-up in order to protect Wilson, who recently gave an extensive interview to The New Yorker.Wilson, who is white, shot Brown multiple times on Aug. 9 in Ferguson,...

You are barely out of your teens, and have been signed to a multiyear, multimillion-dollar contract by a pro team. You can expect another $20 million to $30 million in endorsement deals, and are positioned to become a brand unto yourself: another LeBron, Brady, Kobe, Jeter. What’s even more incredible? If you were to find yourself in this scenario, you would most likely wind up dead broke, if not bankrupt and homeless, by the time you turned 40. “Lots of players are having ­financial trouble, but they won’t talk about it,” says ex-NBA player Adonal Foyle, author of the new...

Up to 1,000 youths reported involved; police say brawls moved elsewhereFights broke out among rival gang members on Carson Beach in South Boston yesterday and spilled out across the city, triggering a massive law enforcement response from at least five agencies to stem the violence. Police said the gang members are part of a group of more than 1,000 youths who have used social media sites like Facebook to plan unruly gatherings on the beach on three of the past four nights.

LONG BEACH, N.Y. - A Long Island police department says it had to call for backup to quell a beach melee involving hundreds of people that spilled out onto the streets and a nearby bus depot. Long Beach police say they are investigating the incident. There was no immediate word on arrests. No injuries were reported. According to Newsday , 11 Nassau police cars and two Metropolitan Transportation Authority police units assisted with the crowd control on Monday evening. Police say a series of fights erupted on the beach just before it closed at 6 p.m. and continued for several...

A 15-year-old boy was arrested May 13 on charges of battery. A man told deputies, according to an Okaloosa County Sheriff's arrest report, that he was walking home from the Fort Walton Beach Skating Center when he was stopped by the teen. The boy asked if the man wanted to fight and the man told him no. The boy then began to punch the man on his arm and face. The boy later told deputies he punched the man because he "mean mugged" him, which meant he stared at him.

SEATTLE - A man was stabbed repeatedly with a fork then punched during a large disturbance involving more than 50 people early Sunday in Seattle's International District, police said. Seattle police were dispatched to the scene, outside a restaurant in the 500 block of Maynard Avenue South, at about 2:35 a.m. There they found 50 or more people spilling onto the street from the restaurant, all pushing and shoving each other. It was unclear if all of them were involved in the disturbance, or had come out to watch. The restaurant staff locked the doors after everyone spilled out, preventing...

A woman who was escorted off an Amtrak train by police this weekend after she allegedly refused to stop talking loudly on her cell-phone has the Internet cheering her fate. Civilians and quiet-car champions are supporting her ejection for violating policy at high volume during the 16-hour journey. It doesn't help her cause that she became belligerent when confronted about it by one of her fellow passengers. KOMO News reports that Lakeysha Beard says she felt "disrespected" by the incident, though passengers said it was Beard who was being rude by refusing to stop yapping while sitting in one of...

The thieves pulled the iron bars out of the windows, outsmarted the motion detector that would have triggered a burglar alarm and did not give the safe or cash register a second look. Instead they went straight for what was most valuable: human hair. By the time the bandits at the My Trendy Place salon in Houston were finished, they had stolen $150,000 worth of the shop’s most prized type, used for silky extensions. The break-in was part of a recent trend of thefts, some involving violence, of a seemingly plentiful material. During the past two months alone, robbers in...

RIVERDALE, Ga. -- A substitute teacher at Riverdale Elementary spent the night at the Clayton County Jail after being arrested Wednesday for allegedly exposing himself and urinating into a trash can in front of a fourth grade class. Coleman Eaton, 60, faces two counts of aggravated child molestation. Riverdale police said they received a call Wednesday morning. Investigators said Eaton was in the class with about 30 students. Students told police that Eaton told the class to turn around and not look, but a couple of students said they did. Jason Cambers' son is in third grade. He said the...

SALEM, Ore. - Salem Police stopped an Amtrak train on Sunday afternoon after reports a woman threatened other passengers when they complained she was speaking too loudly on her cell phone. Lakeysha Beard of Tigard was charged with disorderly conduct after police said she got into a “verbal altercation” with passengers on the train. The other passengers complained she refused to put down her cell phone, even after train staff made repeated announcements for passengers to not use cell phones, according to police. When a passenger confronted her about her loud talking, police said Beard got aggressive. She had reportedly...

People from Mississippi are fat. With an adult obesity rate of 33%, Mississippi gobbled its way to the "chubbiest state" crown for the fifth year in a row, according to a new joint report by Trust For America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Alabama, West Virginia, and Tennessee aren't far behind, with obesity rates over 30%. In fact, eight out of the 10 fattest states are in the South. The region famous for its biscuits, barbecue and pecan pies has been struggling with its weight for years — but then again, so has the rest of the country....

4 kids sicced pit bull on women in SeaTac, cops say By Phillip Lucas Seattle Times staff reporter Four children between the ages of 11 and 15 used a pit bull to attack two women in SeaTac on Sunday evening after one of the victims questioned the group's treatment of the dog, according to the King County Sheriff's Office. The girl, who is from Burien, and the boys — ages 11, 12 and 13 — all from White Center, were taken into custody by sheriff's deputies. All four were released to their parents and the dog was seized by King...