Why The 'Race Card' Is Played

Judge dismisses 1 of 2 wrongful death suits against city TULSA, Okla. – A judge has dismissed a wrongful death lawsuit filed against the city over the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man by a white officer because a similar suit is pending in federal court. The Tulsa World reports  that District Judge Mary Fitzgerald dismissed the lawsuit filed by the family of  Terence Crutcher  on Thursday. Attorneys for the city sought the dismissal, citing unnecessary costs and potentially conflicting rulings.

LaVar Ball: NFL Anthem Protesters Should Find a New League If They Won't Stand LaVar Ball  said  NFL  players should follow the league's new protocol for the national anthem—stand on the sideline or remain in the locker room—or "get out their league." On Saturday,  TMZ Sports  passed along comments from the always outspoken Ball, who noted players in his new Junior Basketball Association won't be allowed to kneel during the anthem. "It's their league," he said of the NFL. "If you don't want to do it, get out their league." NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell released a  statement  about the updated anthem rules, which allow the league to fine teams that have players kneeling while the anthem plays. Further, individual organizations can levy a financial penalty against players who don't abide:

Rhode Island Becomes Latest State to Pass New Gun-Reform Laws Rhode Island on Friday became the latest state to pass new gun restrictions in the wake of several high-profile mass shootings over the last year. Democratic Governor Gina Raimondo signed two provisions into law. One bans bump stocks, the devices that modify semiautomatic rifles into automatic-fire weapons. Though bump stocks rarely make an appearance in shootings, they were used to deadly effect by Stephen Paddock, who killed 58 people in Las Vegas last year. Since then, the federal government has  moved to ban them , though that process could take years.

Betty Shelby talks about starting over one year after her acquittal TULSA, Okla. (KTUL) —  This week marks the one-year anniversary of  Betty Shelby's acquittal in the manslaughter shooting death of Terence Crutcher and the raucous protests that followed. In the eyes of the law, she's innocent.

South Africa outrage over 'naked' school choir performance A "naked" choir performance by a group of South African schoolgirls has led to calls for investigation by the country's education minister. Angie Motshekga said she was "extremely disappointed" after seeing footage of the Xhosa girls performing wearing only a small apron, known as an "inkciyo". The basic education minister said it was an "indignity [which] goes against the values of our cultures". But the choirmaster has defended the choice - saying he was proud. According to  South Africa's Daily Dispatch website , the unnamed teacher said: "We are proud of our Xhosa tradition. We are proud of 'inkciyo'. We are proud of Xhosa women and girls."

Obama’s Surprising New Foes I n Barack Obama’s adopted hometown, of all places, his $375 million Obama Presidential Center is running into growing headwinds from a few gutsy souls. Ironically, the winds aren’t gusting from the usual direction—Republicans and others the left often labels racist Obama-haters. Rather, it’s blowing from the very people who have long lionized Obama: white Chicago lakefront progressives, University of Chicago professors, environmentalists, African-American activists, and a community organization of the kind that once employed Obama as an organizer. On May 14, a preservationist group called Protect Our Parks filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Chicago, seeking a court order that would bar local government agencies from building Obama’s center in the revered and beautiful Jackson Park, which served as the site of the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893. The group also wants to bar the city from giving control of the center’s site to the Obama Founda...

Cal's Lindsay Gottlieb: Airline agent asked for proof biracial son is mine Southwest Airlines apologized Tuesday to Cal women's basketball coach Lindsay Gottlieb after she claimed an airline employee stopped her from boarding because the worker didn't believe her 1-year-old, biracial son was hers. A desk agent questioned Gottlieb ahead of a flight from Denver to Oakland on Sunday, saying she "had to 'prove' that he was my son, despite having his passport,'' Gottlieb said in a series of tweets. "She said because we have different last name. My guess is because he has a different skin color,'' Gottlieb tweeted Monday. Gottlieb was traveling with her fiancé, Patrick Martin, the boy's father, who is black. Airlines aren't required to match the last names of a child and a guardian for domestic flights. "We have reached out to Ms. Gottlieb directly to address her concerns and will utilize the situation as a coaching...

Supreme Court to Police: Get Off the People’s Lawn This week, the Supreme Court held that the Fourth Amendment does not permit a police officer to enter uninvited onto someone’s driveway to search a parked vehicle, without first obtaining a warrant. That’s an important ruling, since no one wants police officers roaming across their private property searching for evidence of a crime. But Justice Clarence Thomas raised another important issue in a concurring opinion: In that scenario, what remedy should there be against the officer’s unlawful behavior? Thomas proposed an answer that bucks Supreme Court precedent, but holds true to the original meaning of the Constitution. The Fourth Amendment protects against unreasonable searches and seizures, and generally requires police to obtain a warrant before searching or seizing someone’s property. The Supreme Court has recognized several exceptions to the warrant requirement, however, including for automobiles—since they can be dr...

White man mows down black good-doer with his truck — then brags about killing ‘some n*gger’ An 18-year-old  white man bragged on social media about hitting and killing a black man with his car  — and according to police, his “morally wrong” comments don’t violate any laws. Alexandria, Louisiana’s KALB noted that it was 31-year-old Sherell Lewis Jr.’s birthday when Matthew Martin struck him while he was apparently cleaning up trash on the side of the road so motorists wouldn’t hit any of it— an act Leesville Parrish Sgt. James Anderson called a “good deed.” After the 18-year-old hit Lewis, known to family and friends as Rell, the man died en route to the hospital. In Snapchat messages to friends after the accident, Martin joked that he hit and killed “some n*gger.” His friends asked him later if his car was OK, and the Hineston, Louisiana man went on to make another joke about killing Lewis. “I feel bad for the family and all,” a Snapchat message purported ...

Trump Responds to Fury Over ‘Roseanne,’ but Not Her Racist Remarks It was not the racist comment that made the president angry. It was the apology from ABC. Wading into a public outcry over remarks by the comedian Roseanne Barr, President Trump did not condemn the Twitter post about a black former aide to President Barack Obama that  led to the swift cancellation  of Ms. Barr’s ABC sitcom. Instead, he expressed his own grievances on Wednesday and Thursday with what the network’s on-air personalities have said about him, and insisted he was the one who deserved an apology. Specifically, the president called out Robert A. Iger, the chairman of Disney, the parent company of ABC, who had phoned the former Obama aide, Valerie Jarrett, on Tuesday to apologize for Ms. Barr’s language. The president,  referring to himself in the third person , complained on Twitter that Mr. Iger had “never called President Donald J. Trump to apologize for the HORRIBLE statements mad...

Popular Chicago vlogger fatally shot while driving, crashes car in South Loop The 30-year-old man has been identified by friends as Zachary Stoner. He went by  "Zack TV" and was a popular Chicago video blogger  in the hip hop community. Stoner was shot in his head and neck before his Jeep drove up on a curb and crashed into a light pole. He was taken in critical condition to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he later died. A Chevy Caprice was also involved in the crash. Witnesses said a group of people jumped out of the Caprice and got into a third car that drove off. That car was possibly gold or tan.

Roseanne Barr lashes out at co-stars; Trump wonders why he hasn’t gotten an apology from ABC, too Roseanne Barr’s Twitter saga didn’t end with  the cancellation of her show Tuesday . Early Wednesday morning, she was back at it, first  blaming Ambien  and defensively comparing ABC’s response to her racist and otherwise offensive tweetstorm to those of other celebrities who have made  controversial comments . And President Trump, who has personally congratulated Barr on the initial success of “Roseanne,” finally weighed in on the rapidly unfolding controversy Wednesday. Trump questioned why the head of ABC parent company Disney had called Valerie Jarrett —  the target of Barr’s racist comments — to apologize, when he hadn’t received similar treatment. “Bob Iger of ABC called Valerie Jarrett to let her know that ‘ABC does not tolerate comments like those’ made by Roseanne Barr,” Trump tweeted. “Gee, he never called President Donald J. ...

Lawyer: NFL Owner Changed Mind About Signing Kaepernick After Trump’s Comments Kaepernick's legal team has deposed more than a dozen people, including owners of the Baltimore Ravens, Houston Texans, New England Patriots and Denver Broncos general manager John Elway gave depositions in the case Attorney Mark Geragos  told the “Straight Aim” podcast  Tuesday that the unidentified owner's testimony proves collusion. "In this civil case, there’s no doubt that the existing coaches — and I’m talking about Super Bowl-winning coaches — have testified under oath that he’s a starting quarterback in this league, and so that’s mind boggling,” Geragos said. “When you ask them … specifically why he isn’t he being hired … they say because of the national anthem policy. The only reason — and the owners will admit that — they haven’t signed him is they’re afraid of Trump, and they’ve colluded because of Trump,” Geragos added. Kaepernick has not played since the 20...

African-American ABC executive who fired Roseanne hired her last year ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey's job just got a bit tougher. Dungey, the first African-American to head programming at a major broadcast network, canceled her network's top-rated show of the 2017-18 TV season on Tuesday, "Roseanne," after racist tweets by the show's star, Roseanne Barr. Dungey couldn't have taken an action of that magnitude in a vacuum. She reports to Disney-ABC TV Group chief Ben Sherwood, who in turn answers to  Disney CEO Robert Iger, who publicly backed the decision , tweeting, "There was only one thing to do here, and that was the right thing." Still, filling the sudden hole in ABC's primetime lineup is a task that will largely fall to Dungey, whose network finished the season with a bit of momentum thanks to the ratings success of "Roseanne" and to a lesser degree "American Idol" and the new drama ...

A Black Panther lawsuit is testing the cultural exchange between Africans and African-Americans Just days after Kendrick Lamar released the song “All The Stars,” British-Liberian artist Lina Iris Viktor filed a  lawsuit (pdf)  which alleges that the rapper conducted “willful brazen, and extensive unlawful” copying of her artwork for the music video. She’s also suing others that participated in the production, such as singer SZA (real name Solana Imani Rowe), the  music video’s director  Dave Meyers, and  Top Dawg Entertainment . In a response  filed on May 18 , Lamar and his fellow defendants argue that “alleged use of the artwork did not proximately cause any of Plaintiff’s alleged damages,” or any profits for Top Dawg entertainment. They added that any of the “alleged infringements were innocent,” and constituted as “fair use.” Both have asked the New York district court for a trial by jury. The case doesn’t just bring up questions over what ...

Man called racist for tweeting video of black woman berating Jewish man on train A man who posted a viral video of a black woman berating an observant Jewish man on a Bronx subway train says he regrets posting the video. In the video, the black woman angrily confronts a Jewish man who called her racist. She initiated the encounter by saying passengers would have offered their seats to a Jewish family but not to a black family.

Black defendants get longer sentences from Republican-appointed judges, study finds WASHINGTON — Judges appointed by Republican presidents gave longer sentences to black defendants and shorter ones to women than judges appointed by Democrats, according to a new study that analyzed data on more than half a million defendants.  “Republican-appointed judges sentence black defendants to three more months than similar non-blacks and female defendants to two fewer months than similar males compared to Democratic-appointed judges,” the study found, adding, “These differences cannot be explained by other judge characteristics and grow substantially larger when judges are granted more discretion.”  The study was conducted by two professors at Harvard Law School, Alma Cohen and Crystal S. Yang. They examined the sentencing practices of about 1,400 federal trial judges over more than 15 years, relying on information from the Federal Judicial Center, the U.S. Sentencing Com...

Pusha-T unearths photo of Drake in black face: “These are his truths” Drake in black face, photo by David Leyes Pusha T  just dropped a new  Drake  diss track,  “The Story of Adidon” , in which he accuses Drake of fathering a secret child with a porn star. Even more damning is the track’s artwork, which features a photo of Drake in black face. As Pusha clarified on Twitter, the image is neither edited nor manipulated. Rather, it comes from a  photo shoot Drake did with photographer David Leyes. “Please stop referring to this picture as ‘artwork’…I’m not an internet baby, I don’t edit images…this is a REAL picture…these are his truths,” Pusha-T tweeted before linking to the photo on Leyes’ website.

Donald Trump Jr. retweeted Roseanne Barr’s racist tweets Donald Trump Jr.  retweeted some of the offensive tweets posted by  Roseanne Barr before her show was canceled Tuesday — calling billionaire George Soros a Nazi  “who turned in his fellow Jews.” After falsely claiming that Chelsea ​Clinton ​is married to Soros’ nephew, Barr responded ​with ​an “apology” that included a bizarre conspiracy-mongering rant about the Democratic donor — which the president’s son then relayed to his 2.84 million followers. “Sorry to have tweeted incorrect info about you!I Please forgive me! By the way, George Soros is a nazi who turned in his fellow Jews 2 be murdered in German concentration camps & stole their wealth-were you aware of that? But, we all make mistakes, right Chelsea?”  Barr wrote in the tweet . The disgraced comedian then followed up with a second tweet, which was also retweeted by Trump Jr.,  saying : “Soros’ goal; the overthrow of us constitu...

Donald Trump's father was arrested at Ku Klux Klan riot in New York in 1927, records reveal On Memorial Day 1927, brawls erupted in New York led by sympathisers of the Italian fascist movement and the Ku Klux Klan. In the fascist brawl, which took place in the Bronx, two Italian men were killed by anti-fascists. In Queens, 1,000 white-robed Klansmen marched through the Jamaica neighbourhood, eventually spurring an all-out brawl in which seven men were arrested. One of those arrested was  Fred Trump  of 175-24 Devonshire Road in Jamaica.

ABC cancels 'Roseanne' after star's racist Twitter rant By Frank Pallotta and Brian Stelter May 29, 2018: 1:58 PM ET ABC canceled its hit sitcom "Roseanne" on Tuesday after the show's biggest star, Roseanne Barr, went on a racist Twitter rant. "Roseanne's Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show," ABC said. The cancellation comes just months after the show premiered to huge ratings. Barr had earlier apologized and said she was "now leaving Twitter." Following Barr's Twitter rant, one of the show's consulting producers, Wanda Sykes, said she's done with the show. "I will not be returning to @RoseanneOnABC," Sykes  tweeted . And Sara Gilbert, who plays Barr's daughter on the ABC sitcom, tweeted that Barr's comments are "abhorrent and do not reflect the beliefs of our cast and crew or anyone associated with our ...