Free Republic

Three former Memphis officers were acquitted Wednesday of state charges, including second-degree murder, in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols after he ran away from a traffic stop in 2023. A jury, which appeared to be all white, took about 8 1/2 hours over two days to find Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith not guilty on all charges after a nine-day trial in state court in Memphis. After the jury’s verdict was read, the defendants hugged their lawyers as relatives of the former officers cried. One relative yelled, “Thank you, Jesus!” The three defendants still face the prospect...

A federal judge said Friday he intends to temporarily block the Trump administration’s plan to place thousands of U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) employees on leave at midnight. Unions representing government employees sued to stop the shutdown of agency operations and restart the flow of foreign aid frozen by President Trump, who has accused the agency of fraud and corruption to justify its imminent shuttering. Judge Carl Nichols, appointed by Trump during his first term, said he would issue a formal order later Friday but that a “limited, very limited” order temporarily pausing the plan would be handed down....

A federal judge blocked the Trump administration from placing thousands of employees at the US Agency for International Development (USAID) on paid leave Friday, halting plans to cut its workforce down to just a few hundred. Washington, DC, US District Judge Carl Nichols imposed a “very limited” restraining order on the administration, Politico reported, sparing at least 2,200 USAID employees from being put on paid leave at midnight. Administration officials had reportedly moved to gut the agency’s more than 10,000-person workforce by the end of the week down to just 290 or so staff members. Just 500 employees at USAID...

VIDEOBy far, the two most prominent of the J6 people were Ray Epps and the "Scaffold Commander" who was urging people via bullhorn to go forward into the Capitol from atop a scaffold on January 6, 2021. Ray Epps we already know. Despite his prominent role on J6 captured on multiple videos the FBI did not seem at all interested in him despite going out their way to track down and arrest peaceful grandmothers who who were invited into the Capitol by the Capitol police. In addition, of all the protestors from that day Epps is the ONLY one who...

Tyre Nichols’s family sued the city of Memphis, the Memphis police chief, seven individual police officers and three Memphis Fire Department officials on Wednesday, describing the fatal beating of the 29-year-old at the hands of police as a “modern-day lynch mob.” “Tyre’s condition in the hospital can be likened to that of Emmitt Till who was also beaten unrecognizable by a lynch mob,” renowned civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Nichols’s family, said in a statement announcing the suit.

Five former Memphis police officers pleaded not guilty Friday to second-degree murder and other charges in the violent arrest and death of Tyre Nichols. Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr., Emmitt Martin III, and Justin Smith made their first court appearances with their lawyers before a judge in Shelby County Criminal Court. The officers were fired after an internal police investigation into the Jan. 7 arrest of Nichols, who died in a hospital three days later. The officers pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct, and official oppression. They are all out...

The family of Tyre Nichols has filed an urgent appeal to the United Nations, requesting action “regarding the torture and extrajudicial killing” of Nichols. “Today, we filed an Urgent Appeal before the United Nations asking it to condemn the tragic killing of Tyre Nichols, to demand transparency from the police department, and to demand that Officer Preston Hemphill and all officers that participated in the incident are criminally charged,” attorneys for the family said in a statement. “The video evidence shows that all who were involved in Tyre’s death committed reprehensible acts that require international condemnation,” they continued. According to...

​Rock star Bono, the ​family of Tyre Nichols, the man who disarmed a mass shooter in California last month and the husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi are among those who will watch President Biden’s State of the Union address from first lady Jill Biden’s box Tuesday night. “Each of these individuals were invited by the White House because they personify issues or themes to be addressed by the president in his speech, or they embody the Biden-Harris Administration’s policies at work for the American people,” the White House said in a statement Tuesday. Second gentleman Doug Emhoff will...

Vice President Harris, Breonna Taylor’s mother and George Floyd’s brother are expected to attend the funeral of Tyre Nichols on Wednesday in Memphis, Tenn. Nichols died earlier this month after being beaten by police officers at a traffic stop. His death has sparked a national outcry among officials and protests calling for police reform. The Rev. Al Sharpton will deliver the eulogy at Nichols’s funeral Wednesday morning at Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church. Sharpton said on Tuesday that Nichols’s funeral will be “about justice,” not politics. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump will also deliver a call to action. Harris’s office told...

New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) said Monday on “CNN This Morning” that racism was involved in the death of Tyre Nichols. Host Don Lemon asked, “Much has been made about the officers, all of them being black. You said that diversifying police departments would allow us to have a level of policing we deserve. These five officers are all black. Is there an entrenched police culture of aggression towards black people?” Adams said, “Clearly, we could not ignore the ethnicity of the officers that are involved. That is the pink elephant in the room. And people talked about...

An online fundraiser for Tyre Nichols’ family has raised more than $1 million in just two days. Nichols’ mom, RowVaughn Wells, started the GoFundMe with the modest goal of getting $10,000 for mental health treatment and to create a memorial skateboard park for her 29-year-old son who died after being brutally beaten by Memphis cops. By early Monday, it was the site’s top fundraiser — having already raised more than $1.1 million with donations from more than 30,000 people. “My husband and I have had our entire world turned upside down by what happened to our son,” Wells said of...

There are many idiotic narratives forming around the beating death of Tyre Nichols by five former Memphis police officers. The most obvious one is that this is somehow a sign of “white supremacy” and “systemic racism” even though all five ex-cops who beat Nichols severely are black. Why would the radical left demand pure cognitive dissonance in order for the people to embrace their narrative? It seems counterproductive, especially in light of the facts that justice is in the process of being served. All five officers were fired, arrested, and charged. The “Scorpion” division of which they were a part...

Representative Jim Jordan (R-OH) said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that there was no “law that can stop that evil” when asked about the death of Tyre Nichols. Host Chuck Todd asked, “Let me start with what we saw. Senator Tim Scott said, ‘We’ve been here too many times before. We cannot continue down this path. America cannot stand silent. Let it serve as a call to action for every lawmaker in our nation at every level.’ What action would you like to see, Congressman?”

Former President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama ramped up their calls for police reform following the release of the video showing the “vicious” beating of Tyre Nichols. “The vicious, unjustified beating of Tyre Nichols and his ultimate death at the hands of five Memphis police officers is just the latest, painful reminder of how far America still has to go in fixing how we police our streets,” they tweeted Saturday. They said responsibility falls on all people to “mobilize” to create change and included a link to a webpage for the Obama Foundation for people to learn about how...

The stepfather of Tyre Nichols has called for criminal charges against the paramedics who appeared to stand by after he was savagely beaten by police, while two deputies who responded after the altercation also face investigation. Released on Friday, video of the January 7 incident in Memphis shows at least 10 cops and two paramedics milling about casually for nearly 20 minutes as Nichols lies on the ground critically injured. He died in hospital three days later. 'Everyone -- the fire department, paramedics that came out that stood around and didn't do anything -- they're just as guilty,' Nichols' stepfather...

Memphis police officers beat motorist Tyre Nichols for three minutes, treating him like “a human piñata” in a “savage” encounter reminiscent of the infamous 1991 police beating of Los Angeles motorist Rodney King, attorneys for the family said Monday. Attorney Ben Crump said police video viewed by the family on Monday showed that Nichols was shocked, pepper sprayed and restrained after the 29-year-old FedEx worker and father were pulled over Jan. 7 minutes from his home while returning from a suburban park where he had taken photos of the sunset. Another attorney, Antonio Romanucci, said that Nichols, who was Black,...

https://snbc13.com/nichelle-nichols-american-actress-and-star-trek-nyota-uhura-has-died-at-89-death/

Nichelle Nichols, an actress whose role as the communications chief Uhura in the original “Star Trek” franchise in the 1960s helped break ground on TV by showing a Black woman in a position of authority and who shared with co-star William Shatner one of the first interracial kisses on American prime-time television, died July 30 at 89.

New video from the Capitol tunnel raises the appalling—but still believable—possibility that the Capitol Police may have killed another woman. After January 6, although the media initially reported that MAGA protesters had trampled Rosanne Boyland to death but, the D.C. coroner attributed it to a drug overdose. Now, though, footage has emerged showing a Capitol Police Officer brutally beating a woman in the Capitol tunnel—a woman who may have been Rosanne Boyland. Julie Kelly has written about a motion for the release of a January 6 prisoner, Ryan Nichols. Nichols, a former Marine with a career as a volunteer search-and-rescuer,...

[Catholic Caucus] Ash Wednesday: Cardinal Implores Faithful NOT to Attend ChurchAsh Wednesday is the doorway into Lent, the season of renewal, but don’t go to church on that day, Westminster Cardinal Vincent Nichols writes in a February 13/14 Pastoral Letter.He protests that, “our churches are safe if the protective measures are fulfilled but we must all be very careful about travelling too far.”Nichols asked his priests, not to make "extra provision" for Ash Wednesday. His focus is on the coronavirus, “We must be so careful and cooperative in the measures we must take, to protect ourselves and to protect others.”Receiving...