During a Democratic campaign event in Milwaukee former President Obama on Friday took a swipe at President Trump over those who have been caught up in special counsel Robert Mueller's probe.
'Nobody in my administration got indicted' — President of shade, Barack Obama pic.twitter.com/UDFuShnNNr
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) October 27, 2018
Democratic officials in Georgia say that thousands of absentee voter requests have gone “missing” in one of the state's most heavily Democratic counties.
The Georgia Democratic Party reports that more than 4,700 vote-by-mail applications went missing in DeKalb County, a Atlanta-area county where more than 54 percent of residents are black.
The New York Times reports that county officials confirmed the missing applications in a phone call with Democratic officials and vowed to notify affected voters of the error. But a spokesman for the county elections board would not confirm the call and Sam Tillman, the chairman of the board, insisted that the county had received just 50 requests of the 4,700 names the party said it submitted.
“After reviewing the list of names, there is only evidence that the county received 50 of those voter absentee ballot request forms,” he said. “All 50 of those forms have been processed. At this time, there is no evidence that there are any missing or lost absentee ballot request forms. The Elections Department receives request forms daily and processes them within three days of receipt. At this time there are approximately 250 forms pending processing.”
Georgia Democratic Party spokesman Seth Brigman rejected the denial and said the episode is another example of voter suppression, a charge that has been leveled repeatedly in the state against Secretary of State Brian Kemp and other officials. Kemp is running in a tight gubernatorial race against former state legislator Stacey Abrams, who would become the nation's first black female governor if elected.
“Our message to voters is this: If you requested a vote-by-mail ballot from your county and your county did not send you a ballot, go in-person if you are able to an early voting site,” Brigman told the Times. “We will not allow Brian Kemp’s voter suppression or mistakes by election officials to take away your right to vote.”
Read more: Thousands of absentee ballot applications “missing” in largely black Georgia county
Former President Barack Obama has appearances in Wisconsin and Michigan on Friday aimed at boosting turnout to aid Democrats, including black voters.
Low turnout in Milwaukee by African-Americans proved costly for Hillary Clinton in 2016 when she narrowly lost Wisconsin. One analysis found turnout fell nearly 20 points compared to Obama’s 2012 run.
It was much the same story in Detroit, and Clinton also lost Michigan.
Obama’s Friday appearance at a Milwaukee high school in a majority black neighborhood is aimed at helping Democratic candidates including U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin and Tony Evers, who is challenging Republican Gov. Scott Walker.
The former president will be in Michigan later Friday for an event at a Detroit high school.
An explosive "pipe-bomb" style device similar to those targeting Democratic politicians and activists critical of President Trump was sent to the Camden office of U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., NJ Advance Media has learned.
Booker has been both a frequent and vocal critic of Trump, as well as a putative 2020 Democratic challenger to replace him.
The package containing the explosive device was intercepted at a South Florida U.S. Postal Service center mail sorting facility in Opa-locka, according to a source familiar with the investigation, which is on-going. The Opa-locka facility handles packages mailed from Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties.
An FBI spokeswoman in Washington, D.C., confirmed that the explosive device addressed to Booker was intercepted in Florida, but declined to be more specific about the location.
Two days after students at Prairie View A&M University sued Waller County over allegations that the county is suppressing the voting rights of black residents, the rural county said it is expanding early voting opportunities for students at the historically black university.
The county will now open a Sunday polling place at Prairie View City Hall and expand voting hours at the university's campus center on Monday through Wednesday of next week to 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., instead of the original 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., according to the NAACP. Students can continue to early vote at the Waller County Community Center in Prairie View on Thursday and Friday of next week.
Waller County Judge Trey Duhon, a Republican, and Elections Administrator Christy Eason announced the expanded early voting opportunities for the students in a statement released Wednesday, but said that the county will be “vigorously opposing” allegations of voter disenfranchisement.
“We have analyzed our resources in an attempt to extend additional hours and times, and have done so, but all citizens of Waller County must be accommodated with the limited resources of a small county,” the statement said.
In a statement released Thursday, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund called the expanded early voting plan “an improvement over the original plan, but still not equal to what other Waller County residents were offered.”
A group of students from a historically black university have filed a lawsuit alleging a southeast Texas county is suppressing the voting rights of its black residents.
In a lawsuit filed in federal court in Houston on Monday, five Prairie View A&M University students allege Waller County election officials are violating the civil rights of black students and residents in Prairie View — which is predominantly African-American — by not providing any early voting locations on campus or anywhere in the city during the first week of early voting, which started Monday.
In the second week of early voting, the county is providing five days in Prairie View, but two of them are off-campus and at a site that is not easily accessible to many students who lack transportation, according to the lawsuit.
Prairie View is located about 50 miles northwest of Houston. The historically black university, which has about 8,400 full and part-time students, represents a significant voting bloc in Waller County.
Read more: HBCU Students sue Texas county, allege voting rights violations
A federal district court judge said she will issue an order to temporarily block election officials in Georgia from tossing out absentee ballots or applications when a voter’s signature does not match the signature on their voter registration card.
Judge Leigh Martin May, on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, said election officials should have to notify voters first before they can reject absentee ballots with mismatched signatures.
May gave Georgia's Secretary of State office as well as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which had filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Georgia Muslim Voter Project against Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp and county registrars, until noon on Thursday to respond to her proposal.
The judge said she will then consider their suggestions and immediately enter an injunction.
"This is not meant to be an opportunity to readdress the propriety of entering the injunction — only its form," she said.
Read more: Judge moves to block Georgia election officials from tossing out absentee ballots
Packages containing potential explosives were sent to the Obama's,the Clinton's, and several others including California Congresswoman Maxine Waters. Waters' Washington D.C. office received a suspicious package and she has released the following statement:
“I have been informed by U.S. Capitol Police that my Washington, DC office was the target of a suspicious package that has been referred to the FBI. I am appreciative of the law enforcement entities who intercepted the package and are investigating this matter. I unequivocally condemn any and all acts of violence and terror.”
The Democratic candidate in Georgia's gubernatorial race, Stacey Abrams, explained participating in a 1992 protest where Abram's burned the state flag as part of her opposition to Confederate symbolism.
The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously voted to advance the bipartisan Justice for Victims of Lynching Act of 2018, historic legislation that would criminalize lynching, attempts to lynch, and conspiracy to lynch for the first time in American history.
The legislation was originally introduced in June 2018 by U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Kamala D. Harris (D-CA), and Tim Scott (R-SC).
“After more than a hundred years of failed efforts, we are now one step closer to finally making lynching a federal crime and putting an end to a long period of Congressional inaction and indifference,” said Senator Booker, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. “This bipartisan legislation is a painful – but necessary – acknowledgement of our nation’s horrific past, stained with the terror of racialized violence committed with near impunity. It sends a very clear signal that we as a nation will not tolerate bias-motivated violence in any form.”
“Lynching is a dark and despicable part of our country’s history. These were acts of violence, needless and horrendous acts of violence that were motivated by racism. And we must acknowledge that, lest we repeat it,” said Senator Harris, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. “These were crimes that were committed against innocent people. These are crimes that should have been prosecuted. There are victims and their families that should have received justice and did not. With this bill, we have a chance to speak the truth about our past make clear that these hateful acts should never happen again.”
“This is an important, long overdue bill that sends a strong message that we will not allow those who spew hate to divide us as a nation,” said Senator Scott. “I want to thank Chairman Grassley and the Judiciary Committee for passing this legislation and helping underscore the severity of this crime.”
From 1882 to 1986, Congress failed to pass anti-lynching legislation 200 times. Lynching was used as an instrument of terror and intimidation 4,084 times during the late 19th and 20th centuries, according to data from the Equal Justice Initiative.
The Justice for Victims of Lynching Act is supported by the NAACP, the Anti-Defamation League, and the Equal Justice Initiative, and has companion legislation in the House of Representatives led by Congressman Bobby L. Rush (D-IL).
Election officials in Bunn, North Carolina removed a poll worker from an early voting site Thursday following allegations that she intimidated several African American voters.
The poll worker has been assigned to office duty away from the voting site pending a meeting Tuesday, the NC State Board of Elections confirmed to The News & Observer on Saturday. On Tuesday, voters who filed complaints will speak with members of the Franklin County Board of Elections.
Members of an African American political action committee, Franklin County PAC, accused the poll worker of repeatedly asking about a half dozen African American voters voters to spell their names on Wednesday, the first day of early voting across the state.
The voter complaint comes amid a highly sensitive atmosphere with accusations of voter suppression, fraud and intimidation targeting people of color in a number of states including, Georgia, North Dakota and North Carolina.
The State Board of Elections & Ethics Enforcement said on Saturday that the agency has been in contact with Lisa Goswick, the Franklin County elections director.
The state agency released a statement to The News & Observer:
“The poll worker in question was taken off of poll duty and is working in the county office until the County Board can meet to discuss the incident. It is our understanding that the County Board will hear from the poll worker involved to get the other side of the story. The board also will hear from several eyewitnesses to the events. Both the State and County Board take these allegations seriously and will continue to gather facts.”
Netflix has canceled “Luke Cage.”
News of the cancellation comes four months after the superhero action drama from Marvel Television debuted its second season on the streaming service — and just days after Netflix pulled the plug on another Marvel show, “Iron Fist.”
“Unfortunately, ‘Marvel’s Luke Cage’ will not return for a third season. Everyone at Marvel Television and Netflix is grateful to the dedicated showrunner, writers, cast and crew who brought Harlem’s Hero to life for the past two seasons, and to all the fans who have supported the series,” Netflix and Marvel Television said in a joint statement.
A source tells Variety that talks for a third season had taken place, but that Netflix ultimately decided that one would not be feasible.
Three former Florida police officers were sent to prison this week after pleading guilty to their roles in a departmentwide conspiracy to frame people of color for crimes they did not commit.
A federal judge on Thursday sentenced Guillermo Ravelo, a 37-year-old former officer with the Biscayne Park Police Department, to 27 months behind bars, the Miami Herald reported. On Wednesday, former officers Charlie Dayoub, 38, and Raul Fernandez, 62, were sentenced to one year apiece after pleading guilty to making false arrests.
Dayoub and Fernandez had cooperated with federal authorities in making a case against former police chief Raimundo Atesiano. The former officers told prosecutors that Atesiano’s goal was to clear cases involving property crimes in the small village north of Miami, even if it meant pinning crimes on innocent people.
“Atesiano was acting under color of law as chief of police when on three separate occasions he ordered officers under his command to falsely arrest and charge individuals with unsolved burglaries,” the U.S. Department of Justice said in September.
Read more: 3 Florida Ex-Cops Sentenced In Scheme To Frame Innocent Black People
A group representing black voters is suing the election commission in Tennessee's largest county, which includes Memphis, after thousands of registrations were deemed invalid by the commission.
The Tennessee Black Voter Project filed a lawsuit Monday in Shelby County Chancery Court asking a judge to allow the group to inspect voter registration forms that the county's Election Commission has rejected.
Groups including the Black Voter Project submitted more than 36,000 registrations to the Election Commission in Shelby County. But the commission said about 55 percent of them were invalid because they were incomplete, were duplicates from previously registered voters or had come from convicted felons.
The group wants to inspect records detailing why the applications were rejected.
Read more: Group sues Tennessee county over invalid voter registrations.
Coles, was last seen on surveillance video in her neighborhood at near 81st and Vernon on the city's South Side. She called sick into work, but was seen on video dressed for work and walking past her vehicle.
Coles is about three months pregnant and has a boyfriend.
Coles is about 5-foot-4, weighs about 125 pounds and has black hair and brown eyes. Police said she has a tattoo of a heart on her right hand and another that says, "Lucky Libra" on her back.
Anyone with information is asked to call 911, Chicago Police Special Victim Unit at 312-747-8274 (Case# JB-462998) or the Postal Inspection Service at 877-876-2455 (Case# 2693502-WPV).
The lives of black women in American politics are remarkably absent from the shelves of bookstores and libraries. For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Politics is a sweeping view of American history from the vantage points of four women who have lived and worked behind the scenes in politics for over thirty years―Donna Brazile, Yolanda Caraway, Leah Daughtry, and Minyon Moore―a group of women who call themselves The Colored Girls. Like many people who have spent their careers in public service, they view their lives in four-year waves where presidential campaigns and elections have been common threads. For most of the Colored Girls, their story starts with Jesse Jackson’s first campaign for president. From there, they went on to work on the presidential campaigns of Walter Mondale, Michael Dukakis, Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Over the years, they’ve filled many roles: in the corporate world, on campaigns, in unions, in churches, in their own businesses and in the White House. Through all of this, they’ve worked with those who have shaped our country’s history―US Presidents such as Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, well-known political figures such as Terry McAuliffe and Howard Dean, and legendary activists and historical figures such as Jesse Jackson, Coretta Scott King, and Betty Shabazz.
For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Politics is filled with personal stories that bring to life heroic figures we all know and introduce us to some of those who’ve worked behind the scenes but are still hidden. Whatever their perch, the Colored Girls are always focused on the larger goal of “hurrying history” so that every American ― regardless of race, gender or religious background ― can have a seat at the table. This is their story.
HARDCOVER------- KINDLE
Blue-chip featherweight prospect Shakur Stevenson, a 2016 U.S. Olympic silver medalist, scored three knockdowns in a spectacular first-round knockout performance against battle-tested veteran Viorel Simion in the co-feature of the Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card headlined by the Terence Crawford-Jose Benavidez Jr. welterweight title fight.
Watch the highlights below:
The police officer who fatally shot 12-year-old Tamir Rice in Cleveland four years ago has withdrawn his application to a police department in eastern Ohio, CNN affiliate WTOV-TV reported, citing the department's police chief.
Timothy Loehmann was hired by the police department in Bellaire, a small town on the Ohio River, about 65 miles southwest of Pittsburgh. Bellaire Police Chief Richard "Dick" Flanagan told WTOV on Wednesday that Loehmann called him saying he was "rescinding his application here at the Bellaire Police Department."
"I had accepted his withdrawal from the Bellaire Police Department," Flanagan said. "He proceeded to tell me that he wanted to pursue the legal end of what's going on there in Cleveland and he just doesn't have the time to travel back and forth."
Flanagan said Loehmann was never sworn in and was still in the training process.
"Everyone assumes he was automatically hired -- no, there is a process," he said. "He did not receive one dime. He was not on the schedule."
The announcement of Loehmann's hiring caused an intense reaction from the community, WTOV reported. Flanagan said that at one point, the department received more than 200 calls between 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. "Our own citizens here in town were not able to get police, EMS or fire service because they couldn't get through anywhere," he said.
While Flanagan originally said that everyone deserved a second chance and that he stood behind the hiring of Loehmann, he told WTOV on Wednesday that he believes the withdrawal is personal and he supports the decision.
"I think he did the right thing by stepping down, not putting the citizens here in town in jeopardy," he said. "In this job you have to make split-second decisions, you have to see things you don't want to see, you have to do things you don't want to do, you have to say things you don't want to say. We're not supermen -- we just wear a uniform and enforce the laws."
