Maxine Waters to those making death threats: You Better shoot straight

Auntie Maxine ain't scared!

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) has addressed a series of recent death threats she said she has received, telling would-be threateners to "shoot straight" during an immigration rally on Saturday.

“I know that there are those who are talking about censuring me, talking about kicking me out of Congress, talking about shooting me, talking about hanging me,” Waters told the crowd in Los Angeles.

“All I have to say is this, if you shoot me you better shoot straight, there’s nothing like a wounded animal,” she added to cheers.

Watch Auntie Maxine make these comments below:

[SOURCE: THE HILL]

Lt. Gen. Darryl A. Williams named West Point's first black superintendent

Lt. Gen. Darryl A. Williams, a 1983 U.S. Military Academy graduate who has held high-ranking Army posts in Europe and Asia, will become the first black officer to command West Point in its 216-year history, academy officials announced Friday.M.O

Williams will assume command as the academy's 60th superintendent during a ceremony Monday morning in West Point's Jefferson Hall, school officials said.

The native of Alexandria, Virginia, has served as the deputy chief of staff for the U.S. Army in Europe and the deputy commanding general for support for the 2nd Infantry Division in South Korea.

Most recently Williams was commander of NATO's Allied Land Command, based in Turkey.

The announcement of Williams' appointment comes less than a year after an African-American cadet and Rhodes Scholar was selected to take the top position in West Point's cadet chain of command. Simone Askew, of Fairfax, Virginia, was selected first captain of the Corps of Cadets last summer and graduated in May.

The academy recently announced that the more than 1,200-member incoming class of 2020 includes 186 African-Americans.

Williams takes over from Lt. Gen. Robert L. Caslen Jr., who's retiring after more than 40 years in the Army, including the last five years as West Point's superintendent.

[SOURCE: STARS AND STRIPES]

Cory Booker, Kamala Harris, Tim Scott Introduce Bill to Make Lynching a Federal Crime

U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Kamala D. Harris (D-CA), and Tim Scott (R-SC), the only African-American members of the United States Senate, have introduced legislation to make lynching - the willful act of murder by a collection of people assembled with the intention of committing an act of violence upon any person – a federal crime. The Justice for Victims of Lynching Act of 2018 will amend the United States Code to specify that lynching is a crime in itself that would warrant an enhanced sentence under existing federal hate crime statues. Leader Mitch McConnell was recently asked about anti-lynching legislation and responded, “I certainly would support it.”

“It’s a travesty that despite repeated attempts to do so, Congress still hasn’t put anti-lynching legislation on the books,” said Senator Booker. “This bill will right historical wrongs by acknowledging our country’s stained past and codifying into law our commitment to abolishing this shameful practice.

“Lynching is a dark, despicable part of our history, and we must acknowledge that, lest we repeat it,” said Senator Harris. “From 1882 to 1986 there have been 200 attempts that have failed to get Congress to pass federal anti-lynching legislation, it’s time for that to change.”

"This measure is certainly well past due and I am glad to be able to join in efforts that will underscore the severity of this crime,” said Senator Scott. “This piece of legislation sends a message that together, as a nation, we condemn the actions of those that try to divide us with violence and hate.”

"It is never too late for our nation to express our sorrow for the decades of racial terror that traumatized millions in this country, said Bryan Stevenson, Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative and the founder of the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, a national memorial acknowledging the victims of racial terror lynchings. “Passing an anti-lynching law is not just about who we were decades ago, it's a statement about who we are now that is relevant, important and timely."

The efforts to pass anti-lynching legislation date back to 1918, when Congressman Leonidas C. Dyer (R-Mo.) became the first member of Congress to introduce a bill on the subject. His bill, intended to punish authorities that failed to prevent lynching, was designed to act as a deterrent that would end the practice. His bill ultimately died in the Senate after facing stiff opposition. After 200 failed attempts by Congress to pass anti-lynching legislation, however, Congress is now prepared to right this shameful failure to criminalize lynching as an instrument of terror and intimidation used against more than 4,000 African-African men, women, and children during the late 19th and 20th centuries, according to data from the Equal Justice Initiative.

As recently as 2005, ninety (90) members of the U.S. Senate passed a bipartisan resolution apologizing to the victims of lynching for the repeated failure of the Senate to enact anti-lynching legislation. These senators expressed their deepest sympathies and most solemn regrets of the Senate to the descendants of victims of lynching, the ancestors of whom were deprived of life, human dignity, and the constitutional protections accorded all citizens of the United States.

This is the Senate companion to legislation introduced last week in the House of Representatives by Congressman Bobby L. Rush (H.R. 6086) and 36 members of the Congressional Black Caucus.

The Justice for Victims of Lynching Act is supported by the following organizations: NAACP, Anti-Defamation League, and Equal Justice Initiative.

Text of the bill can be found here.

In addition to Booker, Harris, and Scott, the legislation was introduced by Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Patty Murray (D-WA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Bill Nelson (D-FL), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Doug Jones (D-AL), Angus King (I-ME), Jack Reed (D-RI), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN).

Congressional Black Caucus issues statement in defense of Maxine Waters

Unlike the current Democratic "leaders," Charles Schumer and Nancy Pelosi, who have offered only criticism and no support to Maxine Waters after her comments asking supporters to confront those who work for Trump, The Congressional Black Caucus has stated their support of Waters:

“Congresswoman Waters has been a champion for justice her entire life so it should not be a surprise to anyone who knows her that she has chosen to stand up and speak out against something as unjust as separating young immigrant children from their parents and is encouraging others to do the same. This is who she is and this is who she will always be, and our country is better because of it. 

“In exercising her constitutional right to freedom of speech at a recent rally, Congresswoman Waters did not, as she has made clear, encourage violence, like President Trump has been doing since the election. She, instead, encouraged Americans to exercise their constitutional rights to freedom of speech and peaceful assembly by letting President Trump and members of his Administration know that separating young immigrant children from their parents is not who we are as a country. 

“We cannot forget that President Trump, as a candidate, encouraged his supporters to beat up his detractors at rallies, and, as president, morally equated white supremacists with anti-racist activists and encouraged police officers to beat up suspects. In fact, almost every day President Trump says something that makes this country more dangerous for people who look like Congresswoman Waters and other minorities. Where is the national conversation on civility in these moments? 

“Does the Administration have a plan to reunite the 2,300 immigrant children who have been separated from their parents? If so, where is it and when will it be implemented? These are the questions we should be asking. But, for some reason, too many folks find it easier to question the motives of the congresswoman who is protesting the unjust policy, instead of the president and administration officials who are implementing it.”

Marilyn Mosby wins re-election as Baltimore state's attorney

Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby won a contentious Democratic primary election Tuesday and became the city’s first top prosecutor to be re-elected in a dozen years after fending off weeks of attacks from her two challengers, defense attorney Ivan Bates and former prosecutor Thiru Vignarajah.

Mosby, 38, emerged on Maryland’s political scene four years ago with a stunning victory over the city’s previous state’s attorney. She rose to national prominence months later by filing charges against six Baltimore police officers involved in Freddie Gray’s arrest.

With 90 percent of precincts counted at 11 p.m., Mosby was leading with about half the nearly 71,000 votes cast. Bates, 49, was in second, and Vignarajah, 41, trailed both. Vignarajah conceded.

In heavily Democratic Baltimore, winning the party’s primary is tantamount to election. No one from another party filed to run in the general election, so Mosby will be the only candidate listed on the ballot in November.

[SOURCE: BALTIMORE SUN]