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An Alabama state trooper was arrested last week on charges he raped an 11-year-old girl. Turns out he d been kicked out of the FBI for sexual misconduct allegations but was hired by Alabama after using a fake reference letter. Via Associated Press:
An Associated Press investigation found Christopher Bauer was suspended without pay and stripped of his security clearance in the FBI’s New Orleans office in late 2018 effectively fired amid allegations that included a co-worker’s claim that he raped her at knifepoint.
But Alabama authorities either overlooked or were unaware of that history. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, the state police, told AP that it conducted a
Progressive lawmakers and residents are expressing disappointment after a resolution in support of national police reform died in a council committee in Akron.
Offered by Councilwoman Tara Samples, the resolution urging the U.S. Senate to pass H.R.1280 (the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021) was allowed a week of consideration in the public safety committee before receiving less than the three votes needed to advance to a full vote Monday night.
The committee, chaired by Councilman Donnie Kammer, agreed to take time last week to review the 138-page national police reform bill, first introduced in Congress weeks after a Minneapolis police officer murdered Floyd last year.
Caron Nazario, Daunte Wright, Rayshard Brooks, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Sandra Bland, LaQuan McDonald, Tamir Rice, John Crawford III, Michael Brown, and Elijah McClain comprise, with the exception of Army Lt. Nazario, a list of African Americans who have become the victims of fatal encounters with police.
This list is long and hasnât come to an end.
Unending, common thread
Arguably, Lt. Nazarioâs active duty status spared him from a similar fatal fate. The fact that the police used multiple lies as cause for his detainment and assault gives reason to reexamine misrepresentations that support the deaths of the others named.
This Just In: Modern Policing
Watching the verdict of the Derek Chauvin murder trial come in, most of us were gratified to see the former officer placed into handcuffs and marched out of the courtroom by the officers on duty. He’s a convicted murderer. He belongs in handcuffs.
The outpouring of grief and overflowing frustration in this country about policing and its intersection with racism is demanding attention, as well it should. This is an unanswered public health crisis that threatens the stability of our society.
The hot button of “Defund the Police” adds heat to the discussion, but not enough light. The slogan is helpful in one very important regard. When each community passes a budget each year to fund local law enforcement, it provides authorization for those agencies to act on its behalf.
Joe Biden’s first address to Congress next week.
Scott, the only Black Republican senator in the United States Congress, was named on Thursday.
South Carolina’s Tim Scott (above), the only Black Republican senator in Congress, is set to deliver his party’s response to President Joe Biden’s first address to Congress next week. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
In a statement, Senate Minority Leader
Mitch McConnell called Scott “not just one of the strongest leaders in our Senate Republican Conference. He is one of the most inspiring and unifying leaders in our nation.”
Biden will address a joint session of Congress Wednesday as he nears his first 100 days in office. The president was invited by House Speaker