Minnesota lawmakers fail to reach deal on revamping policing
MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota legislative leaders traded barbs Saturday after a special session collapsed with no deal on revamping policing following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, a session that one group called “a train wreck.” The two sides may be back at it in another special session next month....
Shooting in Seattle protest zone leaves 1 dead, 1 injured
SEATTLE — A pre-dawn shooting in a park in Seattle’s protest zone killed a 19-year-old man and critically injured another person, authorities said Saturday. The shooting happened at about 2:30 a.m. in the area near the city’s downtown that is known as CHOP, which stands for “Capitol Hill Occupied Protest,”...
Pompeo calls UN rights body ‘a haven for dictators’
FRANKFURT, Germany — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the decision by the U.N.’s top human rights body to commission a report on policing and race amid international protests spurred by George Floyd’s death “marks a new low” and confirmed the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw from the Human...
Florida hospitals filling up, encountering new kind of coronavirus patient
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — With new cases skyrocketing and hospitalizations increasing, Florida hospitals are confronting a scary new trend: people entering hospitals without the symptoms of coronavirus they were showing a few months ago. The fever check, a basic tool for screening for coronavirus, likely is not much value anymore,...
Barr: Trump has removed top federal prosecutor in Manhattan
WASHINGTON — Attorney General William Barr on Saturday told the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan that President Donald Trump had removed him from the job, deepening tensions between the country’s chief law enforcement officer and a high-profile U.S. attorney who had been overseeing investigations of Trump’s allies. U.S. Attorney Geoffrey...
6 staffers setting up for Trump rally positive for covid-19
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s campaign says six staff members helping set up for his Saturday night rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, have tested positive for coronavirus. The campaign’s communications director, Tim Murtaugh, said in a statement that “quarantine procedures” were immediately initiated and no staff member who tested positive would...
Ex-cop charged in Brooks case involved in earlier shooting
ATLANTA — The former Atlanta police officer charged with felony murder in the death of Rayshard Brooks was involved in another shooting five years ago that left a man with a punctured lung, a newspaper reported Saturday. Citing court documents, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that the older case was investigated...
Thousands headed to indoor Trump rally, raising virus fears
Tens of thousands of people from many states are converging on Tulsa for an indoor rally and other campaign events Saturday for President Trump, raising concerns that the gatherings could help fuel nascent spikes of coronavirus cases in many places. State and city health department officials were already bracing for...
Statues toppled throughout US in protests against racism
SAN FRANCISCO — Protesters in San Francisco tore down a bust of Ulysses Grant and statues of Spanish missionary Junipero Serra and “Star Spangled Banner” writer Francis Scott Key in a scene that was repeated across the U.S. And pre-dawn violence erupted Saturday in a Seattle protest zone largely abandoned...
Metal barriers, Trump gear: Crowd readies for Tulsa rally
TULSA, Okla. — Supporters of President Donald Trump were filling streets Saturday around the Tulsa stadium where the president will hold his first rally in months, ready to welcome him back to the campaign trail despite warnings from health officials about the coronavirus. The crowd — most without masks and...
2nd ex-officer charged in George Floyd’s death posts bail
MINNEAPOLIS — A second former Minneapolis police officer charged in the death of George Floyd is out of jail after posting bail. According to online records, J. Kueng, 26, posted bail of $750,000 and was released from the Hennepin County Jail, with conditions, about 7:30 p.m. Friday. Kueng is charged...
Pennsylvania reports 504 new covid-19 cases, 20 new deaths
The Pennsylvania Department of Health on Saturday reported 504 new coronavirus cases and 20 new covid-19 deaths. The new numbers brings the total case count to 81,266 and 6,419 deaths. The state considers 631 patients as probable cases but not confirmed. More than half of coronavirus cases in the state...
Judge: Bolton can publish book despite efforts to block it
WASHINGTON — Former national security adviser John Bolton can move forward in publishing his tell-all book, a federal judge ruled Saturday, despite efforts by the Trump administration to block the release because of concerns that classified information could be exposed. The decision from U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth is a...
Pa. lawmakers review legislation to allow counting of mail-in ballots before Election Day
Lawmakers in the General Assembly are reviewing potential legislation that would allow election officials to begin counting mail-in ballots before 7 a.m. on Election Day, a provision that advocates say will be crucial in getting timely election results in November. While voting-by-mail election reforms have faced political pushback from Republicans...
Lawmakers use protest momentum to push state racial reforms
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The racial reckoning sweeping the country after the killing of George Floyd in police custody has generated momentum at state capitols for widespread reforms addressing a range of inequities. Lawmakers have floated proposals to address affirmative action, racial disparities in school funding and health care, criminal justice...
Shooting, protests test Atlanta’s image of Black prosperity
Police cars burned in the streets of Atlanta as protesters smashed windows and spray-painted graffiti outside CNN headquarters. Even during the national outcry over police brutality and racial injustice, Chassidy Evans struggled to understand why her hometown, with its legacy of peaceful resistance, had erupted in chaos. Then her uncle,...
Phoenix mandates wearing masks amid surge of virus cases
PHOENIX — The city of Phoenix on Friday approved a measure requiring people to use face masks in public to ward off the spread of the coronavirus as Arizona hit an all-time high for new daily cases. In an emergency meeting called by Mayor Kate Gallego, the City Council voted...
Trump crowd grows, clashes with protesters ahead of rally
TULSA, Okla. —Supporters and detractors of President Donald Trump continued to gather Friday in Tulsa, where Trump is scheduled to take the stage for the first of his signature rallies during the coronavirus pandemic. Verbal clashes sparked at times as hundreds of people converged amid a nationwide push for racial...
Man convicted of terror ties faces charges in Mumbai attacks
LOS ANGELES — A Chicago businessman who spent more than 10 years in prison for aiding terrorist groups has been arrested in Los Angeles to face murder charges in India for attacks in Mumbai in 2008 that killed more than 160 people, U.S. prosecutors said Friday. Tahawwur Rana, a Pakistani-born...
Memorial held for federal officer shot at US courthouse
PINOLE, Calif. — Family and friends mourning a federal law enforcement officer who was fatally shot while guarding a U.S. courthouse in Oakland voiced poignant pleas Friday for an end to the violence that cut short his life, saying America needs to overcome discrimination and hatred. David Patrick Underwood, 53,...
Georgia senators say hate crimes law should protect police
ATLANTA — Republicans in Georgia’s state Senate have added police as a protected class to proposed hate crimes legislation deemed essential by state leaders, complicating chances of its passage by lobbing a political grenade into the belly of the bill with little time left in the legislative session. The Senate...
Bond hearing set for ex-Atlanta cop charged in Rayshard Brooks’ death
ATLANTA — A bond hearing will be held Tuesday for the former Atlanta police officer charged with felony murder and other charges in Rayshard Brooks’ shooting death. Garrett David Rolfe, 27, surrendered Thursday, a day after Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard announced criminal charges in the case. After turning...
Summer vacationers weigh testing, quarantine or staying home
PORTLAND, Maine — Homebound travelers desperate to venture out for the first time since the pandemic are confronting a vacation landscape this summer that may require coronavirus tests for the family and even quarantines. States from Maine to Hawaii are trying to strike a balance between containing the new coronavirus...
N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo ends string of more than 100 daily covid-19 briefings
ALBANY, N.Y. — Gov. Andrew Cuomo wrapped up a string of more than 100 daily briefings that became appointment viewing around the nation, alternatively informative, grave, jocular and combative, by declaring Friday that New York has “done the impossible” in taming the coronavirus. Cuomo appeared alone behind his desk during...
NAACP sues Pennsylvania over primary election access issues
Citing long lines at polls on primary day in Eastern Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Conference of the NAACP is suing the state, seeking to ensure additional protections for voter access are in place in time for the November presidential election. The suit, filed Thursday in Commonwealth Court, charges the state’s decision...
