Trump speaks to West Point graduates about ‘turbulent’ times
WEST POINT, N.Y. — President Trump highlighted unity and America’s core values in remarks to 1,107 graduating cadets of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point on Saturday, steering clear of overt references to current controversies. The ceremony, months in the planning, comes as the backlash to the president’s threat...
Body camera footage released of shooting of handcuffed man in South Carolina
CHESTER, S.C. — Police in South Carolina released body camera video of officers fatally shooting a handcuffed black man they said was wielding a gun in a Walmart parking lot. Ariane Lamont McCree, 28, was shot and killed by police in November outside a Chester Walmart. He was handcuffed at...
Fox News removes altered photos of Seattle protest zone
SEATTLE — Fox News has removed digitally altered photos from its website after the Seattle Times noted misleading images used in the network’s coverage about a Seattle neighborhood that’s become a protest center against police brutality and racial injustice. The Seattle Times reports Fox News’ website featured at least two...
Ethics panel fines former Colorado Gov. Hickenlooper $2,750
DENVER — A Colorado commission fined Democratic U.S. Senate candidate John Hickenlooper $2,750 on Friday for ethics violations he committed as governor that included accepting a private jet flight to an official event and receiving benefits he didn’t pay for at a meeting of government, business and financial leaders in...
Dear white people: Being an ally isn’t always what you think
NEW YORK — In one video clip, a black man kneels in front of a line of police, then one by one young white men move in as shields, human barriers between him and the law. In another, a black woman yells at two white women spray-painting a Starbucks shop...
Body camera video could offer more detail in Floyd encounter
MINNEAPOLIS — Video recorded by a bystander showed the world George Floyd’s horrifying last minutes, capturing his cries and pleas for air as a Minneapolis officer used his knee to pin down Floyd’s neck. But the footage recorded by body cameras that officers wore on their chests as they were...
Despite virus surge, Arizona governor won’t require masks
PHOENIX — Coronavirus infections are surging in Arizona. Hospitalizations are increasing and more people are dying since the state relaxed stay-at-home orders last month. But in one of the nation’s COVID-19 hot spots, Gov. Doug Ducey is not requiring residents of the Grand Canyon state to wear masks in public,...
Atlanta police chief resigns after black man killed in struggle
ATLANTA — Atlanta’s police chief resigned Saturday, less than 24 hours after a black man was killed by an Atlanta officer in a struggle following a field sobriety test. Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced during a news conference that she had accepted the resignation of police Chief Erika Shields....
More global protests emerge over racism, police actions
Far-right activists scuffled with police and other protesters Saturday in London and Paris as more demonstrations in support of Black Lives Matter unfolded across Europe. In the U.S., a police shooting drew people to the scene where a man was killed outside an Atlanta fast-food restaurant. Tensions were high in...
Bill making sale of ‘to-go’ cocktails permanent advanced by Ohio House
A bill passed in the Ohio House on Wednesday would make sales of to-go alcoholic beverages permanently legal in the state. According to Cleveland’s NBC-affiliate WKYC-TV, House Bill 669 was approved by Ohio legislators with by vote of 84-8. The bill now heads to the state Senate for a vote....
Bars reopening in New Orleans. Will tourists come?
NEW ORLEANS — Bar owners in New Orleans prepared for a soft opening, and an uncertain one, as they prepared to let customers in Saturday for the first time in months. Capacity is limited to 25 percent, live music remains prohibited, and nobody knows how many tourists will show on...
Mississippi faces reckoning on Confederate emblem in flag
JACKSON, Miss. — The young activists who launched a protest movement after George Floyd’s death are bringing fresh energy to a long-simmering debate about the Confederate battle emblem that white supremacists embedded within the Mississippi state flag more than 125 years ago. Anti-racism protests have toppled Confederate statues and monuments...
Trump reschedules his Tulsa Juneteenth speech
President Donald Trump pushed back by one day a rally planned in Oklahoma next week so it won’t fall on Juneteenth, the day seen as marking the end of slavery in America. “We had previously scheduled our #MAGA Rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for June 19th — a big deal,” Trump...
Police: Man turned away from Texas bar shoots, wounds 8
SAN ANTONIO — A man who was turned away from a bar in San Antonio shot and wounded at least eight people in the parking lot late Friday, police said. Police were searching for the gunman, who fled the scene Friday night, San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said at...
William Sessions, FBI head fired by President Clinton, dies
SAN ANTONIO — William S. Sessions, a former federal judge appointed by President Ronald Reagan to head the FBI and fired years later by President Bill Clinton, died Friday at his San Antonio home. He was 90. Sessions died of natural causes not related to the novel coronavirus, said his...
With the search for 2 kids at an end, an Idaho community mourns
BOISE, Idaho — Within a few hours, a garden of mementos grew outside the rural crime scene. Pinwheels, flowers and stuffed animals dotted a fence near where police found remains believed to belong to two children in a bizarre case that has captured attention around the world. For police, the...
Firefighters grapple with triple-digit heat against wildfire
TUCSON, Ariz. — Hundreds of Arizona residents under an evacuation notice were allowed to return home Friday but were told to remain ready to leave at a moment’s notice as a wildfire burns in a national forest near Tucson. Firefighters are trying to keep the blaze in canyons and ridges...
New York governor signs police accountability legislation
ALBANY, N.Y. — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed into law on Friday a sweeping package of police accountability measures that received new backing following protests of George Floyd’s killing, including one allowing the release of officers’ long-withheld disciplinary records. The measures were approved this week by the state’s Democratic-led...
Biden’s VP list narrows: Warren, Harris, Susan Rice, others
WASHINGTON — Joe Biden’s search for a running mate is entering a second round of vetting for a dwindling list of potential vice presidential nominees, with several black women in strong contention. Democrats with knowledge of the process said Biden’s search committee has narrowed the choices to as few as...
Trump administration revokes transgender health protection
Washington — In a move applauded by President Trump’s conservative religious base, his administration Friday finalized a rule that overturns Obama-era protections for transgender people against sex discrimination in health care. The Department of Health and Human Services said it will enforce sex discrimination protections “according to the plain meaning...
Judge: Seattle cops must stop using tear gas, pepper spray, flash bangs on peaceful protesters
SEATTLE — A U.S. judge Friday ordered Seattle police to temporarily halt using tear gas, pepper spray and flash-bang devices to break up peaceful protests. The city, long known as liberal with a lengthy history of protests, has been taking hits from all sides including protesters, some city officials, the...
Racist violence in Jacksonville’s past complicates Republican convention
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — When Republicans descend on Jacksonville, Fla., to officially renominate President Trump for a second term, it will be a well-choreographed affair awash in red, white and blue and unfold amid the backdrop of a military town, a bastion of conservatism and a must-win battleground state. But the...
‘Soft opening’ for census door knocking to begin next month
ORLANDO, Fla. — Door knocking by census takers at the homes of people who haven’t yet responded to the 2020 census is scheduled to start next month with a “soft launch,” while a previously postponed count of the homeless will take place in September, U.S. Census Bureau officials said Friday....
Minnesota Senate GOP to block most policing overhaul plans
MINNEAPOLIS — Key Republican lawmakers in Minnesota said Friday they’ll block most of the ambitious changes Democrats want to make to policing in the state where George Floyd died and that they plan to approve only a limited set of police accountability measures. Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka and the...
Book: First lady delayed move to DC to get new prenup
WASHINGTON — First lady Melania Trump delayed her move to Washington after President Trump became president to gain leverage in renegotiating her prenuptial agreement, according to a new book. The White House denounced the book after it became public Friday. Mary Jordan, author of the book “The Art of Her...
